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.    A 


CATHOLIC    DICTIONARY. 

CONTAINING    SOME    ACCOUNT    OF    THE 

DOCTRINE,   DISCIPLINE,   RITES,   CEREMONIES, 

COUNCILS,  AND  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF 

THE    CATHOLIC    CHURCH 


BY 


WILLIAM  E.  ADDIS 

VBOULkR  PRIEST  :  SOMETIME  FELLOW  OP  THE  BOTAIi  UNIVERSITY  OF  IRELAND 
AND 

THOMAS    AENOLD,    M.A. 

FELLOW  OF  THE  SAME  UNIVERSITY 


ttJ- 


TJNIVEESITY))     «>""-4  Otitis  &«><«>. 

^  03r  ^  ^^.•/J  €riKTey,   oi'Be  fjLrju  Trore  \dda  KaraKOifidfffi' 

«^^  TT^^'O^S  VjJ^r  fidyas  4v  tovtois  Beds,  ovSe  yr}pdffKei 

Soph.  (Ed.  Bex,  841 


FIFTH  EDITION, 


NEW  YORK 
THE  CATHOLIC  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY  CO. 
9  Barclay  Street 

1885 


/   I 


Nihil  obstat. 

EDUAEDUS  S.  KEOGH,  Coxa.  Oeat., 
censoe  deputatus 

Impeimatdr. 

HENRICUS  EDUARDUS, 

CARD.   ARCHIEP.    WESTMONAST. 
Die  18  Dec,  1883. 

Imprimatur. 

JOHN  CARD.  McCLOSKEY, 

ARCHBISHOP  OF  NEW   YORK. 
Feb.  14, 1884. 


Copyright,  Lawrence  Kehoe,  1884. 
[All  rights  reserved.] 


A^ 


PKEFACE  TO  THE  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


This  edition  of  a  mosfc  important  contribution  to  Catholic  lit- 
erature is  presented  to  American  readers  by  special  arrangement 
with  the  publishers  of  the  English  edition,  and  is  printed  from 
duplicates  of  the  English  stereotype  plates.  The  American  edition 
has  been  carefully  revised  and  corrected,  and  additions  adapted  to 
our  own  country  liaye  been  made.  Among  other  things,  the  present 
condition  of  the  religious  orders  and  societies  in  the  United  States 
is  concisely  described  under  the  respective  heads,  and  proper  notice 
is  taken  of  such  peculiarities  in  discipline  and  ritual  as  preyail 
here.  A  second  Appendix  has  been  added,  giving  brief  accounts 
•of  some  of  the  leading  religious  communities,  especially  those  flour- 
ishing in  the  United  States,  omitted  from  the  main  body  of  the 
work.  No  pains,  in  fact,  have  been  spared  to  make  the  American 
edition  of  the  Catholic  Dictioi^ary  accurate  and  complete  in  all 
respects. 

New  York,  February,  1884. 


PREFACE. 


The  work  here  submitted  to  the  public  is  intended  to  meet  a  practical 
want  which  has  long  been  felt  among  English-speaking  Catholics — the 
want,  namely,  of  a  single  trustworthy  source  of  information  on  points 
of  Catholic  doctrine,  ritual,  and  discipline.  All  existing  English  works 
of  a  similar  character — such  as  Hook's  "  Church  Dictionary,"  Blunt's 
"  Dictionary  of  Theology,"  Blunt's  "  Dictionary  of  Sects,"  &c. — were 
compiled  by  Protestants,  and  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  turn  over  ten 
pages  in  one  of  them  without  meeting  with  some  more  or  less  open 
attack  upon  Catholicism.  To  this  censure  the  "  Dictionary  of  Christian 
Antiquities,"  conducted  by  Dr.  Smith  and  Professor  Cheetham,  is  not 
open ;  but  the  large  scale  of  that  work,  and  the  fact  of  its  stopping 
short  at  the  age  of  Charlemagne,  are  sufficient  of  themselves  to  prevent 
it  from  meeting  the  need  above  indicated. 

Their  Eminences  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westminster  and  Car- 
dinal Newman  have  been  pleased  to  express  their  approbation  of  the 
•  imdertaking.  Cardinal  Manning  wrote  :  "  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that 
it  is  proposed  to  publish  a  '  Dictionary  of  Catholic  Theology  and  His- 
tory.' It  will  supply  a  great  want  in  our  English  literature.  Such 
works  exist  in  French  and  German,  but  we  have  nothing  worthy  of  the 
name."  Cardinal  Newman,  after  saying  that  such  a  work  had  been 
long  "  a  desideratum  in  our  literature,"  added :  "  Our  doctrines,  rites, 
and  history  have  been  at  the  mercy  of  Protestant  manuals,  which, 
however  ably  written,  and  even  when  fair  in  intention,  are  not  such  as 
a  Catholic  can  approve  or  recommend.  So  much  have  I  felt  the  need 
that  once,  many  years  ago,  I  began  such  a  work  myself,  though  I  was 
soon  obliged  to  give  over  for  want  of  leisure." 


vi  PEEFACE. 

The  Eev.  W.  E.  Addis,  of  Lower  Sydenham,  and  Thomas  Arnold, 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  University  of  Ireland,  have  written  nearly  the  whole 
work.  They  are  indebted,  however,  to  American  contributors  for  a  cer- 
tain number  of  articles  ;  to  the  Very  Rev.  Father  Bridgett,  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer,  for  the  article  "  Redemptorists  " ; 
and  to  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Sole,  Missionary  Rector  of  Chipping  Norton,  for 
the  article  "  Plain  Chant."  ^  As  a  rule,  the  articles  on  dogma,  ritual, 
the  ancient  Church,  and  the  Oriental  rites,  are  by  Mr.  Addis  ;  those  on 
mediaeval  and  modern  history,  the  religious  orders,  and  canon  law,  by 
Mr.  Arnold.  Theological  subjects  have  been  regarded  chiefly  from  an 
historical  and  critical  point  of  view,  and  questions  of  School  theology 
avoided  as  far  as  possible.  In  almost  every  case  the  quotations  of 
Scripture  are  made  from  the  original  texts,  and  not  from  the  Latin 
Vulgate. 

In  conclusion,  the  Authors  offer  their  best  thanks  to  many  kind 
friends  who  have  helped  and  encouraged  them  in  their  labour.  Their 
gratitude  is  due  in  a  very  special  degree  to  the  Rev.  F'ather  Keogh,  of 
the  London  Oratory.  The  office  of  Censor  which  he  undertook  was  in 
itself  a  tedious  one,  but  besides  this,  and  on  points  which  did  not  con- 
cern him  in  his  official  capacity,  he  furnished  the  writers  with  many 
valuable  suggestions  and  corrections.  At  the  same  time  it  is  right  to 
add  that  the  "  Nihil  obstat "  appended  by  him  certifies  indeed  that  the 
limits  of  Catholic  orthodoxy  have  been  observed,  but  by  no  means 
implies  the  Censor's  personal  agreement  or  sympathy  with  many  of 
the  opinions  expressed. 

^  Printed  in  the  Aj»pendix. 
Novejnhei'  3,  1883. 


>-^  OP  TRR    ^ 

;U3SriyERSITY' 


A    CATHOLIC    DICTIONARY. 


ABBSSS,  from  Abbatissa.  The  su- 
peiior  of  a  commanity  of  nuns,  in  those 
orders  in  which  convents  of  monks  are 
governed  by  abbots.  The  dijrnity  of  an 
abbess  cannot  be  traced  back  so  far  as 
that  of  abbot ;  it  appears  to  have  been 
first  regularly  instituted  about  591 ,  in  the 
time  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Great.  Regu- 
lations touching  their  election,  powers, 
and  righta  were  gradually  framed,  and  in- 
corporated in  the  canon  law.  The  elec- 
tors must,  as  a  general  rule,  be  professed 
nuns.  The  age  at  which  a  nun  can  be 
elected  abbess  has  been  variously  deter- 
mined at  ditferent  times;  linally  the 
Council  of  Trent '  fixed  it  at  not  let's  than 
forty  years,  of  which  eight  should  have 
beeiupa.^sed  in  the  same  monastery.  The 
voting  is  secret ;  generally  a  simple  ma- 
jority of  votes  is  sulficient  for  a  valid 
election,  but  in  the  convents  depending 
on  Monte  Cassino  a  majority  of  two- 
thirds  is  required.  In  the  case  of  a 
doubtful  election,  the  ordinary  intervenes, 
and  selects  the  nun  whom  he  may  think 
most  suitable  for  the  office.  The  bene- 
diction of  an  abbess,  a  rite  generally  but 
■  not  always  necessary,  may  be  performed 
by  the  bishop  on  any  day  of  the  week. 
When  elected,  the  abbess  has  a  right  to 
the  ring  and  staff,  as  in  the  case  of  abbots, 
and  to  have  the  abbatial  cross  borne  be- 
fore her.  In  certain  orders  where  there 
were  usually  double  monasteries,  one  for 
monks  the  other  for  nuns,  as  in  the  Bvi- 
git tines  and  the  order  of  Fontevrault, 
the  monks  were  bound  to  obey  the  abbess 
of  the  related  nunnery.  An  abbess,  more- 
over, could,  and  often  did,  possess  and  ex- 
ercise large  ecclesiastical  patronage,  sub- 
ject to  the  approval  of  the  ordinary. 
These  powers  are  included  within  that 

*  Sess.  XXV.  c  7.  De  Reg.  et  Mon. 


capacity  of  ruling  and  possessing  property 
which  every  truly  civilised  state  has  re- 
cognised in  woman  no  less  than  in  man  ; 
but  when  the  power  of  the  keys,  or  even 
any  exercise  of  authority  bordering  on 
that  power,  i.s  in  question,  the  abbess  is 
no  more  than  any  other  woman.  Thus 
she  cannot,  without  the  bishops  sanction, 
choose  confessors  either  for  lierself  or  for 
her  nuns  ;  nor  can  she  dispense  a  nun  from 
the  obligations  of  the  rule  of  her  own 
authority,  nor  suspend  nor  dismiss  her. 

ABBBT.     A  monastery  governed  by 
an  abbot.     [See  Abbot.] 

ABBOT.  The  "  father"  or  superior 
of  a  comnuiuity  of  men  living  under  vows 
and  according  to  a  ])articular  ru'e.  The 
transference  of  the  idea  of  fatherhood  to 
the  relation  between  the  head  of  a  con 
gregation  or  a  religious  community  and  his 
subjects  is  so  natural  that  aiready  ii  the 
apostolic  times  we  find  8t.  Paul  remiiidf.  g 
the  Corinthians  '  that  they  had  not  inani/ 
fathers  in  Christ  ("for  in  Christ  Jesus  I 
have  begotten  you,"  &c.),notwithstan'iing 
the  apparent  prohibition  in  the  gospel  of 
St.  Matthew.'-*  But  it  was  customary  to 
call  bishops  by  the  Greek  word  for  father ; 
hence  the  corresponding  designation  for 
the  head  of  a  community  of  monks  was 
taken,  to  avoid  confusion,  from  the  Chal- 
daic  form  {abba,  abbas)  of  the  word  wliich 
means  "  father  "  in  the  Semitic  languages. 
In  a  paper  of  extraordinary  research,  but 
more  learned  than  lucid,  contributed  by 
the  late  Mr.  Haddan  to  the"  Dictionary  of 
Christian  Antiquities,"  at  least  a  dozen 
transitory  uses  of  the  word  Abbot,  in 
ancient  times  alone,  are  enumerated.  But 
these  are  of  little  or  no  importance.  The 
true  Abbot,  being  a  natural  outgrowth  of 
the  Christian  doctrine  and  spirit,  comes 


ICor.  iv  15. 


>  zxiii.  9. 


2 


ABBOT 


into  sight  in  the  third  century,  and  still 
fulfils — though  under  a  variety  of  desig- 
nations— his  original  function  in  the 
nineteenth.  The  name  imports  the  rule 
of  others,  but  as  the  essential  foundation 
for  such  rule  it  implies  the  mastery  of 
self.  The  monk  -was  before  the  abbot. 
Eusebius  has  no  mention  of  monks  as 
such  in  his  "  Ecclesiastical  History  ;  "  but 
when  he  tells  us  of  persons,  male  or  female, 
living  austere  lives  and  aiming  at  perfection, 
when  he  notes  that  Narcissus,  bishop  of 
Jerusalem  at  the  end  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, retired  into  the  desert  on  account  of 
difficulties  arising  in  his  diocese,  and 
lived  there  for  many  years  as  a  solitary 
contemplative,  we  see  already  the  germs 
of  the  monastic  life.  St.  Antony  (250- 
355)  is  usually  regarded  as  the  patriarch 
of  the  monks.  But  if  we  hear  much  in 
his  later  years  of  the  numbers  and  the 
reverent  devotion  of  his  disciples,  we 
know  that  for  twenty  years  after  his  first 
quitting  the  world  he  lived  in  nearly  ab- 
solute solitude,  conversing  with  God  and 
taming  his  own  spirit.  The  clamours  of 
persons  desiring  to  see  him  and  ask  coun- 
sel of  him  forced  him  at  last  from  his  cell ; 
and  he,  who  in  conflict  with  his  own 
lower  nature  or  with  evil  spirits  had  at- 
tained an  unwonted  spiritual  strength  and 
a  vast  breadth  of  spiritual  experience, 
consented  now  to  take  upon  him  the 
direction  of  a  number  of  men  of  weaker 
will  and  less  regulated  mind.  If  he  was 
to  do  til  em  any  good,  they  must  place 
themselves  in  his  hands,  and  do  exactly 
what  he  bade  them.  That  mastery  of 
the  passions,  and  subjugation  of  the  natural 
man  under  the  yoke  of  reason,  which  he, 
aided  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  had  worked  out 
for  himself,  they,  following  his  directions, 
must  win  through  him.  Hence  we  find  the 
principle  of  unquestioning  obedience — 
what  Gibbon  calls  the  "  slavish  "  spirit  of 
the  monks — laid  down  from  the  first.  St. 
Pcemen,  a  famous  Egyptian  abbot  of  the 
fourth  century,  said  to  his  disciples, 
"  Never  seek  to  do  your  own  will,  but 
rather  rejoice  to  overcome  it,  and  humble 
yourselves  by  doing  the  will  of  others." 
And,  "  Nothing  gives  so  much  pleasure  to 
the  enemy  as  when  a  person  will  not  dis- 
cover his  temptations  to  his  superior  or 
director."  Induced  partly,  no  doubt,  by 
the  confusions  and  oppressions  of  the 
empire,  but  chiefly  by  the  haunting  thirst 
to  know  the  secret  of  the  perfect  life,  and 
solve  the  riddle  of  existence,  great  numbers 
of  men  towards  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century  sought  the  deserts  that  hem  in 


ABBOT 

the  ralley  of  Egypt,  and  were  formed  into 
monastic  communities  under  abbots. 
Great  captains  of  the  spiritual  life  arose, 
such  as  Pachomius,  Hilarion,  Pambo,  and 
Macarius.  Speaking  of  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  Antony  in  -Egypt  even  m  his 
lifetime,  St.  Athanasius  says :  *'  Among 
the  mountains  there  were  monasteries  as 
if  tabernacles  filled  with  divine  choirs, 
singing,  studying,  fasting,  praying,  exult- 
ing in  the  hope  of  things  to  come,  and 
working  for  almsdeeds,  having  love  and 
harmony  one  towards  another."  For  full 
information  on  these  "  fathers  of  the 
desert,"  the  reader  should  consult  the 
celebrated  work  of  the  Jesuit  Rosweide, 
"  Vitse  Patrum." 

The  status  of  these  early  abbots,  as 
of  the  monks  whom  they  governed,  was  a 
lay  status.  In  the  great  monastic  colonies 
of  Palestine  and  Egypt,  each  containing 
several  hundreds  of  monks,  there  would 
be  but  one  or  two  priests,  admitted  in 
order  to  the  celebration  of  the  divine 
worship.  But  the  proportion  of  ordained 
monks  gradually  increased,  the  bishops 
being  genernlly  glad  to  confer  orders  upon 
men,  most  of  whom  were  of  proved  virtue. 
For  abbots  ordination  before  long  became 
the  rule :  yet  even  in  the  ninth  century 
we  read  of  abbots  who  Avere  only  deacons, 
and  a  Council  of  Poitiers  in  1078  is  still 
obliged  to  make  a  canon  enjoining  upon  all 
abbots,  on  pain  of  deprivation,  the  re- 
ception of  priests'  orders.  The  original 
lay  character  here  referred  to  must  of 
course  not  be  confounded  with  the  status 
of  those  profane  intruders  described  by 
Beda  in  his  letter  to  F^bert,  archbishop  of 
York,  who  were  rich  laymen  pretending 
to  found  monasteries  for  the  sake  of  ob- 
taining the  exemption  from  civil  burdens 
wliich  monastic  lands  enjoyed,  and  could 
only  be  called  pseudo-abbots. 

The  election  of  an  abbot  originally 
rested  with  the  monks,  according  to  the 
rule  "  Fratres  eligant  sibi  abbatem."  We 
meet,  indeed,  with  many  cases  of  episcopal 
intervention  in  elections,  but  the  right  of 
the  monks  is  solemnly  recognised  in  the 
body  of  the  canon  law.  In  the  West,  as 
the  endowments  of  monasteries  increased, 
temporal  princes  and  lords  usurped  the 
right  of  appointing  abbots  in  the  larger 
monasteries,  no  less  than  of  nominating 
bishops  to  the  sees;  the  media3val  his- 
tory of  Europe  is  full  of  stories  of  dis- 
putes thence  arising.  [See  Investiture.] 
At  the  Council  of  Worms  in  1122  Pope 
Calixtus  obtained  from  the  emperor  the 
renunciation  of  the  claim  to  invest  with 


ABBOT 

nnpr  and  crosier  the  persons  nominated  to 
ecclesiastical  dignities.  The  first  article 
of  Magna  Oharta  (1215)  provides  that 
the  Eiiglish  Church  shall  be  free\  by 
which,  among  other  things,  the  right  of 
monks  to  choose  their  own  abbots  was 
understood  to  be  conceded.  Practically, 
the  patronage  of  the  larger  English  abbeys 
for  two  centuries  before  the  Reformation 
was  divided  by  a  kind  of  amicable  arrange- 
ment between  the  Pope  and  the  king. 

St.  Benedict  (480-543),  the  patriarch 
of  Western  monachism,  allows  in  his 
rule  (which  from  its  greater  elasticity 
superseded  other  rules  which  were  for  a 
time  in  competition  with  it ;  see  Rule  of 
St.  Benedict,  of  St.  Columbanus,  &c.)  a 
large  discretion  to  the  abbots  of  his  con- 
vents, who  were  to  modify  many  things 
in  accordance  with  the  exigences  of  cli- 
mate and  national  customs.  Such  modi- 
fications led  of  course  in  time  to  relaxa- 
tion, the  reaction  against  which  led  to 
reforms.  A  curious  report  of  the  dis- 
cussion between  the  monks  of  Molesine 
and  their  abbot  Robert  (1076),  who  wished 
to  restore  among  them  the  full  observance 
of  the  rule  of  St.  Benedict,  may  be  read 
in  the  eighth  book  of  Ordericus  Vitalis. 
Not  prevailing,  St.  Robert,  with  twelve 
companions,  left  Molesme  and  founded 
Citeaux,  under  a  reformed  observance. 
[Cistercian  Order.] 

The  privileges  of  abbots  grew  to  be 
very  extensive.  They  obtained  many 
episcopal  rights,  among  others  that  of  con- 
ferring minor  orders  on  their  monks.  A 
practice  which  had  arisen,  by  which  abbots 
exempt  from  episcopal  jurisdiction  [Ex- 
emption] claimed  to  confer  minor  orders 
even  on  seculars,  was  condemned  by  the 
Council  of  Trent.^  The  use  of  mitre, 
crosier  and  ring  was  accorded  to  the  ab- 
bots of  great  monasteries ;  these  mitred 
abbots  were  named  abhates  infidati.  In 
England  mitred  abbots  had  seats  in  Parlia- 
ment :  twenty-eight,  with  two  Augustinian 
{)riors,  are  said  to  have  sat  in  the  Par- 
iament  immediately  preceding  the  disso- 
lution of  monasteries.  On  the  curious 
exemption,  noticed  by  Beda,'^  in  virtue  of 
which  the  abbots  of  lona  exercised  a 
quasi-episcopal  jurisdiction  in  the  west  of 
Scotland  and  the  Hebrides,  see  Iona. 

The  name  of  ahhe,  abate,  has  come  to 
be  assumed  by  a  class  of  unbeneficed  sec- 
ular clerks  in  France  and  Italy,  apparently 
in  the  following  manner.  The  practice 
by  which  laymen  held  abbeys  in  commen- 

*  Sess.  xxiii.   De  Reform,  c.  10. 

*  Hist.  Eccl.  iii.  4. 


ABBOT  3 

dcrni — commenced  in  troubled  times  in 
order  that  powerful  protectors  might  be 
found  for  the  monks,  and  might  have  in- 
ducements to  exercise  that  protection — 
grew  by  degrees  into  a  scandalous  abuse. 
Young  men  of  noble  families  were  nomi- 
nated to  abbeys,  and  could  enjoy  their 
revenues,  long  before  they  could  take 
priests'  orders;  they  were  not  bound  to 
residence;  and  under  Louis  XIV.  and 
Louis  XV.,  many  of  these  ahbes  commen- 
dat aires  never  saw  the  abbeys  of  which 
they  were  the  titular  rulers.  The  possi- 
bility of  winning  such  prizes  drew  many 
cadets  of  noble  families,  who  had  only 
just  taken  the  tonsure,  to  Versailles ;  those 
who  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  nomina- 
tions still  fluttered  about  the  Court,  not 
being  bound  to  residence ;  and  the  name 
Abb^,  which  was  really,  though  abusively, 
applicable  to  these,  came  to  be  applied  in 
social  parlance  to  the  aspirants  also, 
whom  no  external  signs  distinguished 
from  the  real  abb^s.  By  a  further  exten- 
sion, the  name  came  to  be  applied  as  a 
title  of  courtesy  to  unbeneficed  clerks 
goner>illy ;  just  as  in  England  the  title 
"  esquire,"  which  is  properly  applicable 
only  to  persons  entitled  to  bear  arms,  is 
extended  by  the  courtesy  of  society  to 
anyone  who,  as  far  as  outward  marks  go, 
seems  entitled  to  take  the  same  social  rank. 

Benedictine  abbeys,  following  the  gen- 
eral Oriental  rule,  have  always  been  inde- 
pendent of  each  other  in  government ; 
but^an  honorary  superiority  was  accorded 
in  the  middle  ages  to  the  abbot  of  the 
mother  house  at  Monte  Cassino ;  he  was 
styled  abboif  abbatum.  In  other  orders 
various  names  have  replaced  that  of 
"abbot;"  the  head  of  a  I< ranciscan  friary 
is  a  "  guardian  us,"  that  of  a  Dominican 
convent  a  "prior,"  that  of  a  Jesuit  house 
a  "  rector."  There  is  a  prior  also  in  Bene- 
dictine convents  [Prior],  but  his  normal 
position  is  that  of  lieutenant  to  the 
abbot;  sometimes,  however,  he  is  al- 
most practically  independent  as  the  head 
of  a  prion/,  a  cell  founded  by  monks 
migrating  from  some  abbey. 

The  duties  of  an  abbot  in  early  tim^ 
may  be  learned  from  Rosweide;  some- 
what later,  and  in  the  West,  they  were 
defined  with  great  clearness  and  wisdom 
in  the  rule  of  St  Benedict.  A  deeply 
interesting  sketch  of  the  manner  of  life 
of  an  English  abbot  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury is  preserved  for  us  in  Beda's  "Lives 
of  the  Abbots  of  Wearmouth  and  .1  arrow,"** 
Even  more  trying  was  his  work  in  the 
twelfth  century,  as   we  know  from  th« 


b2 


4  ABBREVlATOllS 

narration  by  Joc^^lyn  de  Brakelonde  of 
the  <i:overnmeat  of  the  Jibbot  Samson  at 
Bury  iSl,  Edmunds ;  with  which  may  be 
read  the  striking-,  and  on  the  whole  ap- 
preciative, commentary  of  Mr.  Carlyle.' 

The  name  correspoudino;  to  Abbot  in 
tlie  Greek  Church  is  Archimandrita,  or 
Hegumenns. 

ABb:s&zvzaT0IIS.  The  name  given 
to  a  class  of  notaries  or  secretaries  em- 
ployed in  the  papal  chancery.  They 
are  tir?-t  met  with  about  the  beginning  ot 
the  fourteenth  century;  were  abolished 
in  the  tilteenth,  but  atterwards  restored. 
They  are  generally  prelates,  and  the  olhce 
is  considered  one  of  great  dignity  and  iuj- 
portance.  It  is  not  incompatible  with 
Church  preferment.  The  name  arose  from 
this,  that  the  ahhreviator  made  a  short 
minute  of  the  decision  on  a  petition,  or 
reply  to  a  letter,  given  by  the  Pope,  and 
afterwards  expanded  the  minute  into  offi- 
cial form.     (Ferraris.) 

ABJUS.A.TIOia- OF  HSSEST.  This 
is  required  in  the  canon  law  as  a  prelimi- 
nary to  baptism,  or,  when,  there  is  no 
question  of  that  (as  in  the  case  of  con- 
Terts  from  the  Eastern  Church),  before 
the  convert  makes  his  confession  of  faith. 
There  are  decrees  of  several  councils  to 
this  etfect:  thus  the  Council  of  Laodicea 
(about  3(34)  ordains  that  Novatian  and 
Photinian  heretics,  "  whether  they  be 
baptised  persons  or  catechumens,  shall 
not  be  received  before  they  have  anathe- 
matised all  heresies,  especially  that  in 
which  they  were  held."  A  celebrated 
instance  of  abjm'ation  is  that  of  Clo\'i8 
(490),  to  whom  St.  Remy  said  before 
baptising  him,  "  Meekly  bow  down  thy 
head,  Sicambrian  ;  adore  what  thou  hast 
burnt,  and  burn  what  thou  hast  adored." 
An  early  German  council  requires  the 
Sax(m  converts  to  renounce  belief  in 
**  Thor  and  Woden  and  Saxon  Odin " 
before  being  received  into  the  Church. 

Ferraris  sums  up  the  canonical  re- 
quirements in  the  matter  of  abjuration  as 
follows  : — that  it  should  be  done  without 
delay  ;  tliat  it  should  be  voluntary  ;  that 
it  should  be  done  with  whatever  degree 
of  publicity  the  bishop  of  the  place  might 
think  necessary  ;  and  that  the  abjuring 
person  should  make  condign  satisfaction 
m  the  form  of  penance. 

The  modern  discipline  insists  mainly 
on  the  po.sitive  part,  the  profession  of  the 
true  fail h.  Thus  in  the  Ritual  of  Stras- 
burg  (1742)  the  abjuration  required  is 
merely  general :  "  Is  it  your  firm  purpose 
*  Past  mid  Present,  part  IL 


ABRAXAS 

to  renounce  in  heart  and  mind  all  the 
errors  which  it  [the  Catholic  religion] 
condemns?"  In  English-speaking  coun- 
tries the  abjuration  is,  so  to  speak,  taken 
for  gi-anted  in  ordinary  cases,  since  con- 
verts are  not  admitted  into  the  Church 
except  after  suitable  instruction,  and  the 
Creed  of  Pope  Pius  IV.,  which  every- 
one desiring  to  become  a  Catholic  must 
read  and  accept,  expressly  denounces 
most  of  those  errors  which  infect  the 
religious  atmosphere  of  this  country. 

ABXtUTZOxr.  A  name  given,  in  the 
rubrics  of  the  Mass,  to  the  water  and  wine, 
with  which  the  priest  who  celebrates 
Mass  washes  his  thumb  and  iudex-tinger 
after  communion.  When  he  has  con- 
sumed the  precious  blood,  the  priest  puri- 
ties the  chalice  [see  Purification]  :  he 
then,  saying  hi  a  low  voice  a  short  prayer 
prescribed  by  the  Church,  holds  his  thumb 
and  iudex-fiiiger,  which  have  touched  the 
Blessed -iSacrament  and  may  have  some 
particle  of  it  adhering  to  them,  over  the 
chalice,  while  the  server  pours  wine  and 
water  upon  them.  He  then  drmks  the 
ablution  and  dries  his  lips  and  the  chalice 
with  the  mundatory.  This  ceremony  wit- 
nesses to  the  reverence  with  which  the 
Church  regards  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  and  to  her  anxiety  that  none  of 
that  heavenly  food  should  be  lost.  It  is 
impossible  to  say  when  this  rite  was  in- 
troduced, but  we  are  told  of  the  pious 
Emperor  Henry  TI.,  who  lived  at  the  be- 
gimiing  of  the  eleventh  centur}',  that  lie 
used  when  hearing  mass  to  beg  for  the 
ablution  aiid  to  receive  it  with  great  de- 
votion. This  ablution  is  mentioned  by 
St.  Thomas  and  Durandus.  The  former, 
however,  gives  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
it  was  consumed  by  the  priest,  and  the 
latter  expre.ssly  says  that  the  ablution 
used  formerly  to  be  poured  into  a  clean 
place.  (Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Missa,"  III. 
xxi.  C.) 

ABRAHAMXTE.  [See  PaULICIAN.] 
ABRAXAS,  'AjSpd^as  Or  'A;ipacru$. 
A  magical  woid  used  by  the  Basilidians, 
a  Gnostic  sect.  They  believed  in  the 
existence  of  oC5  heavens,  over  which 
Abraxas  presided,  the  numeral  value  of 
the  Greek  letters  which  composed  the 
word  being  36.5.'  Many  gems  still  exist 
with  this  word  inscribed  on  them.  An 
account  of  them  and  of  the  immense 
literature  to  which  they  have  given  occa- 
sion, will  be  found  in  Kraus'  "  Archaeolo- 
gical Dictionary,"  under  Abraxas. 

1  Iren.  i.  24.     Many  other  Fathers  mention 
the  word. 


ABSOLUTION 

ABSOI^VTIOXr.  Classical  aiitbors 
nee  the  Latin  word  ohsolutio  (literally,  un- 
bindiug  or  unloosing)  to  signify  acquitta": 
from  a  criminal  charge,  and  ecclesiastica' 
writers  have  adopted  the  term,  employing 
it  to  denote  a  setting  free  from  crime  or 
penalty.  But,  as  crime  and  its  penalties 
are  regarded  even  by  the  Church  from 
yery  diiierent  points  of  view, "  absolution'' 
in  its  ecclesiastical  use  bears  several 
senses,  which  it  is  important  to  distin- 
guish from  each  other. 

I.  Absolution  from  Sin  is  a  remission 
of  sin  which  the  priest,  by  authority  re- 
ceived from  Christ,  makes  in  the  Sacra- 
ment of  Penance.  It  is  not  a  mere 
announcement  of  the  gospel,  or  a  bare 
declaration  that  God  will  pardon  the  sins 
of  those  who  renent.  but  as  the  Council 
of  Trent  defines  (^sess.  xiv.  caii.  S;,  it  i&  a 
judicial  act  by  which  a  priest  as  judge 
passes  sentence  on  the  penitent. 

With  regard  to  absolution  thus  under- 
stood, it  is  to  be  observed,  first,  that  it 
can  be  given  by  none  but  priests,  since  to 
them  alone  has  Christ  committed  the 
necessary  power ;  and,  secondly,  that 
since  absolution  is  a  judicial  sentence, 
the  priest  must  have  authority  or 
jiirisdiction  over  the  person  absolved. 
The  need  of  jurisdiction,  in  order  that  the 
absolution  may  be  valid,  is  an  article  of 
faith  defined  at  Trent  (sess.  xiv.  cap.  7), 
and  it  follows  Irom  the  very  nature  of  abso- 
lution as  defined  above,  since  the  reason 
of  things  requires  that  a  judge  should  not 
pass  sentence  except  on  one  who  is  placed 
under  him,  as  the  subject  of  his  court. 
This  jurisdiction  may  be  ordinary — i.  e. 
it  may  fiow  from  the  office  which  the 
confessor  holds ;  or  delegated — i.  e.  it 
may  be  given  to  the  confessor  by  one  who 
has  ordinary  jurisdiction  with  power  to 
confer  it  on  others,  as  his  delegates. 
Thus  a  bishop  has  ordinary  jurisdiction 
over  seculars,  and  religious  who  are  not 
exempt,  in  his  diocese,  and  within  its 
limits  he  can  delegate  jurisdiction  to 
priests  secular  or  regular.  Again,  the  pre- 
lates of  religious  orders  exempt  from  the 
authority  of  the  bishop  have  jurisdiction 
more  or  less  ample  within  their  own 
order,  and  they  can  absolve,  or  delegate 
power  to  absolve,  the  members  of  the 
order  who  are  subject  to  them;  nor  is  it 
possible,  ordinarily  speaking,  for  the 
bishop,  or  a  priest  who  has  his  powers 
from  the  bishop  only,  to  absolve  such  re- 
ligious. Moreover,  a  bishop  or  a  prelate 
of  a  religious  order,  in  conferring  power 
to  absolve  his  subjects,  may  reserve  the 


ABSOLUTION  6 

absolution  of  certain  sins  to  himself. 
[See  Keserves.]  The  Church,  however, 
supplies  all  priests  with  power  to  absolve 
persons  in  danger  of  death,  at  least  if 
they  cannot  obtain  a  priest  with  the 
usual  "faculties"  or  powers  to  absolve. 
Thirdly,  absolution  must  be  given  in 
words  which  express  the  efficacy  of  ab- 
solution, viz.,  forgiveness  of  sin.  The 
Eoman  Ritual  prescribes  the  form  "  I  ab- 
solve thee  from  thy  s'ins,  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Beyond  all  doubt,  the 
form  "I  absolve  thee  from  thy  sins" 
would  suffice  for  the  validity  of  the  sacra- 
ment. But  would  a  precatory  form  avail 
—such  for  example  as,  "May  Jesus  Christ 
absolve  thee  from  thy  sins  "  ?  The  affirm- 
ative has  been  maintained  by  the  cele- 
brated critic  Morinus,  while  Tourneley 
and  many  others  have  followed  his  opin- 
ion. It  is  certain  that  a  form  of  absolu- 
tion purely  precatory  does  not  suffice  for 
the  validity  of  the  Sacrament  of  Pen- 
ance. In  the  institution  of  this  sacrar 
ment  our  Lord  did  not  say  to  His  Apos- 
tles, "  Whose  sins,  you  shall  ask  to  be  ab- 
solved, shall  be  absolved,"  but  he  insti- 
tuted as  the  form  of  the  sacrament, 
"  Whose  sins  ye  shall  forgwe^  they  are 
forgiven  them."  These  words  show 
that  the  minister  of  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance  does  not  pray  for  the  absolu- 
tion of  the  penitent,  but  pronounces 
the  absolution,  as  a  judicial  sentence, 
as  one  having  judicial  authority.  In  fa- 
vor of  this  opinion  we  have  the  authority 
of  the  Councils  of  Florence  and  Trent,, 
both  of  which  defined  the  form  of  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance  to  be,  "I  absolve 
thee  from  thy  sins,"  adding  that  the  pray- 
ers preceding  or  following  these  words 
are  not  of*  the  essence  of  the  form.  It 
would  seem  from  this  that  these  councils 
defined  the  indicative  lorm  as  essential 
for  the  validity  of  the  sacrament.  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  it  might  be  said  that  as  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance  has  the  nature  of 
a  court,  the  minister  ought  to  pronouace^ 
his  sentence  as  a  judge ;  but  if  the  pure- 
ly precatory  form  is  used,  his  sentence 
does  not  wear  this  character. 

The  absolution  as  used  in  the  Greek 
Church  being  precatory  only  in  the  sound 
of  the  words  and  indicative  in  sense, 
was  probably  valid.  But,  since  the 
decision  of  Clement  VIIL  in  his  brief 
of  1595  to  the  Eastern  Church,  the  pre- 
catory form  is  no  longer  lawful.  He 
required  the  Greeks  to  follow  the  de- 


6 


ABSOLUTION 


cision  of  the  Council  of  Florence  to 
"which  we  have  alluded,  and  employ  the 
indicative  and  purely  judicial  form. 

Lastly,  the  form  of  absolution  must  be 
uttered  by  the  priest  himself  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  person  absolved.  This  fol- 
lows as  a  necessary  consequence  from  the 
nature  of  the  form  of  absolution  sanc- 
tioned by  the  perpetual  tradition  of  the 
Church;  for  the  very  words,  "I  absolve 
iAe^,"  imply  the  presence  of  the  peni- 
tent.    [See  Pexance,  Sacrament  of.] 

IL  Absolution  frmn  censures  merely  re- 
moves penalties  imposed  by  the  Church, 
and  reconciles  the  offender  with  her.  [See 
Censures.]  It  may  be  given  either  in  the 
confessional  or  apart  altogether  froui  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance,  in  the  external  fo- 
rum— i.  e.  in  the  courts  of  the  church.  It 
may  proceed  from  any  cleric,  even  from 
one  who  has  received  the  tonsure  only, 
without  ordination,  provided  he  is  in^- 
vested  with  the  requisite  jurisdiction. 
This  jurisdiction  resides,  in  the  case 
of  censures  imposed  by  an  individual 
authority  through  a  special  sen- 
tence, in  the  ecclesiastic  who  in- 
flicted the  censure,  in  his  superior,  in 
his  successors,  and  in  those  to  whom  com- 
petent authority  has  delegated  power  of 
absolution.  For  example,  if  a  bishop  has 
placed  a  subject  of  his  under  censure, 
absolution  may  be  obtained  (1)  from  the 
bishop  himself,  (2)  from  a  succeeding- 
bishop,  (3)  from  the  metropolitan,  in 
certain  cases  where  an  appeal  can  be 
made  to  him,  or  if  he  is  visiting  the  diocese 
of  his  suffragan  ex  officio,  (4)  from  any 
cleric  deputed  by  one  of  the  above.  With 
regard  to  censures  attached  to  certain 
crimes  by  the  general  law  of  the  Church, 
unless  they  are  specially  reserved  to  the 
Pope  or  the  bishop,  any  confessor  can 
absolve  from  them  ;  and  this  is  generally 
considered  to  hold  good  also  of  censures 
iutlicted  by  the  general  (as  opposed  to  a 
particular)  sentence  of  a  superior.  Again, 
it  is  not  necessary  that  the  person  absolved 
from  censure  should  be  present,  or  contrite, 
or  even  that  he  should  be  living.  As  the 
iffects  of  censures  may  continue,  so  they 
may  be  removed  after  death.  Excom- 
munication, for  instance,  deprives  the  ex- 
communicated person  of  Christian  burial. 
It  may  happen  that  he  desired  but  was 
unable  to  obtain  remission  of  the  penalty 
during  life,  and  in  this  case  he  may  be 
absolved  after  his  soul  has  left  the  body, 
and  so  receive  Catholic  burial  and  a  share 
in  the  prayers  of  the  Church. 

lU.     Absolution  for    the  dead  {pro 


ABSTINENCE 

dcfunctis).  A  short  form,  imploring  eter- 
nal rest  and  so  indirectly  remission  of  the 
penalties  of  sin,  said  after  a  funeral  Mass 
over  the  body  of  the  dead  person,  before  it 
is  removed  from  the  church. 

IV.  Absolutions  in  the  Breviary.  Cer- 
tain short  prayers  said  before  the  lessons  m 
matins  and  before  the  chapter  at  the  end 
of  prime.  Some  of  these  prayers  ex- 
press or  imply  petition  for  forgi\eness  of 
sin,  and  this  circumstance  probably  ex- 
plains the  origin  of  the  name  Absolution 
which  has  been  given  to  such  prayers  or 
blessings. 

ABSTiifl'Eia'CE,  in  its  restricted  and 
special  sense,  denotes  the  depriving  our- 
selves of  certain  kinds  of  food  aiid  drink 
in  a  rational  way  and  for  the  good  of  the 
soul.  On  a  fasting-day,  the  Church  re- 
quires us  to  limit  the  quantity,  as  well  as 
the  kind,  of  our  food  ;  on  an  abstinence- 
day,  the  limit  imposed  affects  only  the 
nature  of  the  food  we  take.  The  defini- 
tion given  excludes  three  possible  miscon- 
ceptions of  the  Church's  law  on  this  point. 
First,  the  Church  does  not  forbid  certain 
kinds  of  food  on  the  ground  that  they 
are  impure,  either  in  themselves  or  if 
taken  on  particular  days.  On  the  con- 
trary, she  holds  with  St.  Paul '  thaf  every 
creature  of  God  is  good,"  and  has  re- 
peatedly condemned-  the  Gnostic  and 
Mauichean  error,  which  counted  flesh  and 
wine  evil.  Next,  the  abstinence  required 
is  a  reasonable  one,  and  is  not,  therefore, 
exacted  from  those  whom  it  would  injure 
in  health  or  incapacitate  for  their  ordinary 
duties.  Thirdly,  Catholic  abstinence  is  a 
means,  not  an  end.  Abstinence,  says 
St.  Thomas,  pertains  to  the  kingdom  of 
God  only  so  far  *'  as  it  proceeds  from  faith 
and  love  of  God."  ^ 

But  how  does  abstinence  from  flesh- 
meat  promote  the  soul's  health  ?  The 
answer  is,  that  it  enables  us  to  subdue  our 
flesh  ^and  so  to  imitate  St.  Paul's  example, 
who  "chastised  Jhis  body  and  brought  it 
into  subjection."*  The  perpetual  tradi- 
dition  of  the  CEurch  is  clear  beyond 
possibility  of  mistake  on  this  matter,  and 
from  the  earliest  times,  the  Christians  at 
certain  seasons  denied  themselves  flesh  and 
wine,  or  even  restricted  themselves  to 
bread  and  water.^     Moreover,  by  abstain- 

»  1  Tim.  iv.  4. 

'  Canon.  Apost.  53.  Concil.  Ancyr.  can.  14. 

3  2  2ndae  IIG,  1.  See  also  the'  prayer  of 
the  Church  ia  the  IMass  for  the  third  Sunday  of 
Lent. 

4  1  Cor.  ix.  27. 

5  Concil.  Laod.  can.  50. 


ABSTINENCE 

in^  from  flesli,  we  give  up  what  is,  on  the 
whole,  the  most  pleasant  as  well  as  the 
most  nourishing  food,  and  so  make  satis- 
faction for  the  temporal  punishment,  due 
to  sin  even  when  its  guilt  has  been  for- 
given.     [See  also  Fasting  and  Satis- 

PACTION.J 

The  abstinence  (as  distinct  from  fast- 
ing) days  in  the  U.  S.  are  all  Fridays,  ex- 
cept that  on  which  Christmas  may  fall, 
the  Sundays  in  Lent,  except  when  the 
obligation  of  abstinence  is  dispensed,  and 
all  Saturdays,  though  these  are  exempted 
by  a  papal  dispensation  renewed  every 
twenty  years.  But  Saturdays  in.  Lent, 
in  Ember  week,  and  vigils  falling  on  Sa- 
turday, are  not  exempted. 

It  may  be  of  some  interest,  in  conclu- 
sion, to  trace  the  history  in  the  Church  of 
abstinence  as  distinct  from  fasting.  Ab- 
stinence-days were  observed  from  ancient 
times  by  the  monks.  Thus  Cassian  tells 
us  that  in  the  monasteries  of  Egypt, 
great  care  was  taken  that  no  one  should 
fast  between  Easter  and  Pentecost,  but 
he  adds  that  the  "quality  of  food  "  was 
unchanged.  In  other  words,  the  religious 
fasted  all  the  year,  except  on  Sundays  and 
the  days  between  Easter  and  Pentecost. 
These  they  observed  as  days  of  abstinence. 
Again,  it  is  certain  that  the  faithful  gene- 
rally did  not,  and,  indeed,  could  not,  fast 
on  Sundays  in  Lent,  for  the  early  Church 
strongly  discouraged  fasting  on  that  day ; 
but  it  is  also  certain  that  they  did  ab- 
stain on  the  Sundays  in  Lent.  For, 
during  the  whole  of  that  season,  says  St. 
Basil,  "  no  animal  has  to  suffer  death, 
no  blood  flows."  We  learn  incidentally 
from  Theophanes  and  Nicephorus,  that  no 
meat  was  exposed  during  Lent  in  the 
markets  of  Constantinople.  The  Sun- 
days, then,  in  Lent  were  kept  in  the 
ancient  Church  as  days  of  abstinence. 
With  regard  to  the  abstinence-days  of 
weekly  occurrence,  Thomassin  shows  that 
Wednesday  and  Friday  have  been  from 
ancient  times  observed  in  the  East,  not  only 
as  abstinence,  but  as  fasting-days.  Clement 
VilL,  in  1595,  in  laying  down  rules  for 
Catholic  Greeks  imder  Latin  bishops,  ex- 
cuses them  from  some  of  the  Latin  fasts, 
on  the  ground  that,  unlike  the  Latins, 
they  faeted  every  Wednesday  and  Friday. 
Thomassin  illustrates  the  custom  of  the 
West,  by  quoting  a  number  of  statutes, 
&c.,  prescribing  sometimes  abstinence 
from  flesh,  sometimes  fasting  and  absti- 
nence, on  Friday.  His  earliest  authority 
is  Nicolas  I.  (858-867),  and  he  con- 
cludes, "even  after  the   year  1400,  the 


ABYSSINIAN  CHURCH         7 

Saturday  abstinence  was  rather  volimtary 
than  of  obligation  among  the  laity  ;  but 
the  Friday  abstinence  had  long  since  passed 
into  a  law.  I  say  abstinence,  for,  in  spite 
of  efforts  made,  the  fast  was  never  well  es- 
tablished." (See  Thomassin,  "  Traits  des 
Jeuues,"  from  which  the  foregoing  histo- 
rical sketch  is  taken.) 

AB-SrSSIM-IAN-  or  ETHIOPXAXr 
CBITBCH.  Tradition  relates  that  the 
officer  of  Candace,  Queen  of  Ethiopia, 
whom  Philip  the  Deacon  met  and  con- 
verted near  Gaza,^  on  his  return  home 
spread  the  Christian  faith  among  the 
peoples  dwelling  on  the  Upper  Nile.  But 
if  this  were  so,  the  seed  then  planted 
must  have  withered  away,  for  in  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century — when  tha 
narrative  of  Rufinus,  in  his  "  Ecclesiastical 
History,"  casts  a  strong  light  for  us  on 
Abyssinian  affairs — the  zeal  of  Athana.sius 
appears  to  have  raised  up  a  church  in  an 
absolutely  heathen  land.  Frumentius  of 
Tyre,  the  apostle  of  Abyssinia,  flrst  visited 
the  country,  when  a  mere  youth,  in  316; 
his  uncle,  with  whom  he  travelled,  was 
murdered  by  the  natives :  he  was  himself 
brought  up  as  a  slave  in  the  court  of 
Axum ;  but  his  virtue  and  intelligence  led 
to  his  beyag  enfranchised  ;  and  in  his  per- 
son Christianity,  to  whicb  he  had  strictly 
adhered,  appeared  attractive.  Repairing 
to  St.  Athanasius,  then  recently  raised  to 
the  patriarchal  chair  of  Alexandria,  Fru- 
mentius was  consecrated  by  him  the  first 
bishop  of  his  adopted  country.  W  hen  he 
returned,  the  king  and  his  people  wilHngly 
received  baptism.  He  chose  Axum  for 
his  see  J  and  this  place  remains  to  this 
day  the  official  centre  of  Abyssinian  Chris- 
tianity. As  the  work  of  conversion  pro- 
ceeded, this  see  became  the  residence  of  a 
Metropolitan  (a^Mwa,  father),  having  under 
him  seven  suffragans.  The  name  and  rank 
of  "  Abuna  "  are  still  retained,  but  the  seven 
suffragans  have  disappeared. 

The  bright  promise  of  this  commence- 
ment was  soon  overclouded.  An  effort, 
indeed,  of  Constantius  to  introduce  Arian- 
ism  failed  ;  but  when,  in  the  fifth  century, 
Alexandria,  along  with  the  majority  of  the 
Eastern  churches,  rejected  the  decrees  of 
Chalcedon,  and  the  patriarchate  became 
Monophysite,  the  Abyssinians  followed  in 
the  wake  of  their  mother  church,  and  they 
have  never  unanimously,  or  for  long  toge- 
ther, shaken  off'  the  heresy  down  to  this 
day.  In  the  sixth  century  the  country 
•was  the  object  of  a  religious  rivaliy  be- 
tween Justinian  and  the  Empress  Theo- 
1  Acts  viii.  27. 


8        ABYSSINIAN   CHURCH 

dora,  the  former  wishing"  to  attach  it  to 
the  Roman  Church,  the  latter  to  preserve 
it  for  her  Monophysite  friends  at  Alexan- 
dria.' The  empress,  aided  by  the  popular 
sympathies,  prevailed ;  and  the  Abyssinian 
church,  cut  off'  from  true  Catholic  com- 
munion, and  severed  from  the  chair  of 
Peter,  became  in  the  course  of  ages  the 
strange,  unprogressive,  semi-pagan  insti- 
tution which  modern  travellers  have  de- 
scribed. Thus,  although  never  persecuted 
for  the  faith  like  the  Irish  and  the  Poles, 
the  Abyssinians  allowed  its  lustre  to  be 
tarnished  and  its  moral  fruits  to  pine  and 
wither,  through  casting  oft'  that  vitalising 
communion  with  the  Holy  See  which  hns 
kept  alive  the  Irish  and  Polish  nationalities 
in  the  face  of  secular  persecution. 

In  the  seventeenth  century,  Abyssinia 
having  been  almost  an  unknown  land  to 
Europe  for  a  thousand  years,  it  was  en- 
tered by  Portuguese  Jesuits,  whose  preach- 
ing was  attended  for  a  time  by  marked 
success.  Two  emperors  in  succession  be- 
came Catholics ;  a  Jesuit  was  nominated 
patriarch  of  (Ethiopia,  and  an  outward 
reconciliation  with  Rome  was  effected. 
But  the  masses  of  the  people  remained 
uninfluenced,  and  their  hearts  still  yearned 
towards  Egypt ;  the  patriarch  Mendez  is 
said  to  have  acted  imprudently  in  attempt- 
ing to  abolish  the  rite  of  circumcision ;  ^ 
the  second  Catholic  emperor  died,  and  his 
son  expelled  the  Jesuits,  and  restored  the 
connection  with  Alexandria.  After  a  long 
interval  of  exclusion.  Catholic  missionaries 
have  again  entered  Abyssinia  in  our  days, 
and  flourishing  congregations  have  been 
formed  in  the  northern  and  north-eastern 
districts,  near  Massowah.'  In  1875, 
Monsignor  Touvier,  stationed  at  Keren, 
was  Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  whole  country. 
About  that  time  missioners  were  sent  into 
Amhara,  the  most  important  province, 
with  the  best  results.  "  The  sending  of 
missioners  into  Amhara,"  wrote  M.  Duflos, 
in  June  1875,  "so  often  criticised,  is  now 
justified  by  the  immense  results  which  it 
jbas  produced." 

The  A  buna,  or  head  of  the  Abyssinian 
church,  is  always  an  Egyptian  monk, 
nominated  by  the  patriarch  *of  Egypt. 
The  cross  is  held  in  honour  by  the  Abys- 
sinians, but  the  use  of  the  crucifix  is  un- 
known. They  tolerate  paintings  in  their 
churches,  but  no  sculptured  figures.   Their 

1  Renaudot,  quoted  in  Gibbon's  Decline  and 
Fall,  c.  47. 

2  Practiped  by  the  Abyssinians  for  sanitary, 
not  for  relipious'reasons. 

»  AnnalioftheFropcu/ation  of  the  Faith,l876. 


AOGEIMETI 

priests  can  marry  once  only,  as  in  the 
Greek  church.  There  is  considerable  de- 
votion to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  but,  along 
with  this  and  other  Christian  charac- 
teristics, various  superstitious  beliefs  and 
practices  are  rife  among  them,  to  the 
great  detriment  of  their  morals  and  in- 
tellectual advancement. 

ACCIDEXTT.  [See  TEAlfSTJBSTAir- 
TIATIOW.] 

ACCX.AMATZOzr.  The  elevation  to 
an  ecclesiastical  dignity  by  the  unanimous 
voice  of  the  electors,  without  voting. 
This  is  one  of  the  three  modes  in  which  a 
Pope  may  be  elected,  and  the  election  is 
said  to  be  per  inapirationem,  because  "  all 
the  Cardinals,  with  a  sudden  and  har- 
monious consent,  as  though  breatlied  on  by 
the  Divine  Spirit,  proclaim  some  person 
Pontiff'  with  one  voice,  without  any  pre- 
vious canvassing  or  negotiation,  whence 
fraud  or  insidious  suggestion  could  be  sur- 
mised."   (Vecchiotti,  "  Inst.  Can."  ii  10.) 

ACCOMMOBATED  SEXSE.  If  we 
quote  Scripture  to  prove  a  point  of  doctrine, 
we  must  of  course  try  to  ascertain  the  pre- 
cise meaning  of  the  sacred  writer,  and  then 
argue  from  the  proper  sense  of  his  words. 
We  may,  however,  take  the  words  of 
Scripture  and  make  an  application  of  them 
which  was  not  originally  intended.  In 
other  words  we  may  accoinmodate  the 
sense  to  the  needs  of  our  own  discourse 
or  the  subject  we  wish  to  illustrate.  Thus 
when  Barouius  said  of  his  unaided  labour 
in  compiling  his  ecclesiastical  Annals,  "I 
have  trodden  the  wine-press  alone,"  he 
Uoed  the  words  of  Isaias  in  an  accom- 
modated sense.  This  practice  is  innocent 
in  itself,  as  is  shown  by  the  example  of 
our  Lord  (Matt.  iv.  4),  and  of  St.  Paul 
(Acts  xxviii.  25-28),  and  is  frequently 
adopted  by  the  Church  in  the  Missal  and 
Breviary. 

ACEPHAIiZ.  In  the  year  482  the 
Greek  emperor  Zeno  issued  his  "  Henoti- 
con,"  in  order  to  reunite  the  Monophysites 
with  the  Church.  The  heretical  leaders — 
e.g.,  Peter  Mongus,  Patriarch  of  Alexan- 
dria— were  ready  to  accept  the  emperor's 
terms,  but  many  of  the  heretics  were  more 
obstinate,  and  so  were  nicknamed  "  head- 
less" {aK€(f)a\oi), 

ACCBMETZ  (sleepless).  A  name 
given  to  Eastern  monks  who  maintained 
perpetual  prayer,  day  and  night.  Each 
monastery  was  divided  into  three  or  more 
choirs,  which  relieved  each  other.  This 
institute  is  said  to  have  been  introduced 
by  Abbot  Alexander,  in  a  monastery  on 
the  Euphrates,  at  the  beginning  of  the 


AOOLYTE 

fifth  century ;  but  their  most  famous  house 
was  that  of  Studium,  in  Constantinople. 
It  was  founded  and  endowed  bv  the  Roman 
Studius,  from  whom  it  took  its  name.  In 
63.'i  the  Acoemeti  attacked  a  formula  used 
by  other  monks — "One  of  the  Trinity 
Buffered  in  the  flesh"— and  tried  to  pro- 
cure its  condemnation  by  the  Holy  See. 
In  this  they  failed ;  they  themselves  fell 
into  Nestorianism,  and  the  formula  was 
approved  by  Pope  John  II,,  and  under 
anathema  by  the  Fifth  General  Cou)icil.^ 

ACOlbYTE,  from  aKoXovdeo),  to  fol- 
low ;  and  here,  to  follow  as  a  server  or 
ministrant :  a  name  given  to  the  highest  of 
the  four  minor  orders.  It  is  the  duty  of 
the  acolyte  to  supply  wine  and  water  and 
to  carry  the  lights  at  the  Mass ;  and  the 
bishop  ordains  him  for  these  functions 
by  putting  the  cruets  and  a  candle  into 
his  hand,  accompanying  the  action  with 
words  indicating  the  nature  of  the  office 
con 'erred.  The  order  of  Acolyte  is  men- 
tioned along  with  the  others  by  Pope 
Coraelius^  in  the  middle  of  the  third 
century.  Their  ordination  is  mentioned  in 
an  ancient  collection  of  canons  commonly, 
though  vvronii:ly,  attributed  to  the  Fourth 
Council  of  Carthage.^  The  functions  of 
acolytes  are  now  freely  performed  by  lay- 
men, though  the  order  is  still  always  re- 
ceived by  those  who  aspire  to  the  priest- 
hood.'' 

ACTZOir.  (1.)  A  word  used  for 
the  Canon  of  the  Ma«s.  Thus  infra  nc- 
tio7iem,  in  the  rubrics  of  the  Missal,  means 
"  within  the  Canon."  Probably,  the  literal 
sense  of  "  action  "  in  this  c^e  is  office  or 
ministry. 

(2.)  The  treatment  of  a  particular 
subject  in  the  session  of  a  council.  (Kraus, 
"Archieol.  Diet") 

ACTS       OP        THE       XWCARTTRS. 

'*  Acta, "  is  technically  used  in  Latin  (1)  for 
the  proceedings  in  a  court  of  justice,  and 
(2)  for  the  official  record  of  such  proceed- 
ings, including  the  preliminaries  of  the 
trial,  the  actions  and  speeches  of  the  con- 
tending- parties,  the  sentence  of  the  judge  ; 
which  last,  when  it  had  been  committed  to 
the  Acta,  was  proclaimed  aloud  by  the 
public  crier.  "  Acta  martyrum,"  then,  in 
its  strict  and  original  sense,  meant  the 
official  and  registered  account  of  a  mar- 
tyr's trial  and  sentence.  Naturally  enough, 
the  early  Christians  were  anxious  to  pos- 

*  In  the  tenth  of  the  fourteen  anathemas  of 
this  Svnod.     Hefele,  Omciliengeschiehte,  ii.  897. 

2  Euseb.  Hist.  vi.  43. 
«  Ilefele,  Cmicil.  ii.  70. 

♦  But  see  Coiicil.  Tridentin.  xxiii.  17. 


ACTS  OF  THE  MARTYBS      9 

seas  these  accurate  narratives  of  the  wit- 
ness which  their  brethren  made  to  the 
truth  of  the  Christian  relij.'ion.  In  some 
cases,  as  appears  from  the  Acta  of  St. 
Tarachus  in  Iluinart,  they  were  able  by 
means  of  a  bribe  to  ^et  a  copy  of  the  offi- 
cial docunjent.  This,  however,  could  not 
alwnys  be  done,  and  the  want  was  suppiied 
sometimes  by  accounts  of  his  tiial  written 
by  the  martyr  himt=elf  and  supplemented 
with  the  history  of  his  "  passion  '"  or  suf- 
fering from  the  hands  of  those  who  had 
witnessed  it;  sometimes  by  accounts  which 
proceeded  entirely  from  Iriends  of  the 
nuivtvr ;  sometimes,  lastly  (as  in  the  Ro- 
man Church),  notaries  were  appointed  for 
the  speci»il  purpose  ot  setting  down  the 
incidents  of  the  martyrdom  in  docunient« 
meant  for  public  use  in  the  Church,  'ihus 
the  expres.<ion  "  Acta  martyrum  "  came 
to  be  used  in  a  more  extended  sense  for 
any  account  of  a  martyr  s  confession  and 
death. 

A  vast  number  of  original  acts  per- 
ished in  the  year  ^^.03,  when  Diocleti-in  by 
an  imperial  edict  required  Christians  to 
deliver  up  to  the  maj^istrates  'heir  sacred- 
books  and  books  in  ecclesiastical  use.  After 
the  persecution  of  Diocletian  was  over, 
l^^usebius  of  Csesarea  made  two  collections 
of  the  Acts  of  Martyrs.     One  of  them,  en- 


titled   TUiV 


ap^aicou  fiaprvpioyv  (rvvaycoyT],  a 


general  Collection  of  the  Acts  of  Martyrs, 
has  perished  ;  the  other,  "  On  the  Martyrs 
of  Palestine,"  still  i^urvives  as  i>n  appendix 
to  the  eighth  book  of  his  Church  History. 
In  the  ninth  century  the  Church  of  Con- 
stantinople possessed  a  great  collection  of 
the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs  in  twelve  volumes, 
and  this  probably  formed  the  ba4s  of  the 
legends  of  saints  and  martyrs  con.piled  by 
Simeon  Metaphrastes  (about  900).  In 
the  West,  the  most  famous  collection  of 
the  [^ives  of  saints  and  martyrs  was  the 
"  Legenda  Aurea"of  Jacobus  de  Voragine 
(died  1298). 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  th« 
value  of  the  extant  Acts  of  the  Martyrs 
varies  very  much.  Some,  like  the  Acts  of 
the  Martyrdoms  of  8t.  Ignatius  and  of  St. 
Polycarp,  rank  among  the  purest  sources 
of  ecclesiastical  history.  In  other  cases 
the  original  Acts  have  beeJ  interpolated 
in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  hard  to  dis- 
tinguish the  basis  of  historical  fact  from 
the  structure  of  legend  and  fable  which 
has  been  rajsed  upon  it.  The  Acts  of  St. 
Cjecilia  furnish  a  striking  instance  of 
Acts  which  exhibit  this  mixed  character. 
( )ther  Acta  again,  like  many  of  those  com- 
piled by  Metaphrastes,  possess  little  or  no 


10 


ADAM 


MsUjrical  value.  After  the  Renaissance, 
criticism  set  itself  to  distinguish  whai  was 
ancient  from  that  which  was  comparatively 
modem  in  the  current  Acts  of  the  Martyrs, 
and  in  1689  the  learned  Ruinart,  a  Bene- 
dictine of  the  congregation  of  St.  Maur, 
published  in  a  folio  volume  the  "Acta 
sincera  martyrum ''  ("  Pure  Acts  of  the 
Martyrs  "),  a  work  which  can  scarcely  be 
surpassed  in  honest  and  accurate  scholar- 
ship. In  1748,  Stephen  Aasemanni,  a 
Maronite,  issued  his"  Acta  SS.  martyrum 
orientalium  et  occidentalium,"  in  two 
volumes  folio.  It  includes  the  history 
of  the  martyrd(Hns  east  and  west  of  the 
Tigris.     [See  also  Bollandists.] 

.A.DAXUC,  the  first  man.  The  Hebrew 
v?ord,  which  probably  means  earth-born  ^ 
is  used  for  man  in  general  and  also,  as  a 
proper  name,  for  the  first  man.  It  is  in 
the  latter  of  these  two  senses  that  the 
word  is  taken  here.  Adam  was  formed 
from  "  the  slime  of  the  earth  "  by  God, 
who  "  breathed  into  his  face  the  breath  of 
life  and  made  him  to  his  own  image  and 
likeness."  From  him  all  mankind  are 
descended.^  So  far  all  is  clear.  But 
there  are  great  differences,  with  regard  to 
the  state  in  which  Adam  was  created, 
between  the  teaching  of  Catholic  and 
Protestant  theologians,  and,  unless  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  with  reference  to 
the  state  of  Adam  in  Paradise  is  clearly 
apprehended,  it  is  impossible  to  understand 
many  other  parts  of  the  Church's  dog- 
matic system.  We  must  begin  by  dis- 
tinguishing between  the  gifts  bestowed  on 
him  in  the  order  of  nature  and  in  that  of 
grace. 

In  the  order  of  nature,  Adam  received 
from  God  human  nature,  including  its 
constituent  principles  and  all  which  flows 
from  them  or  is  due  to  them.  Thus,  as  a 
man,  he  possessed  reason  and  free  will ; 
he  could  know  God  as  the  Author  of  the 
v/orld,  if  he  chose  to  make  a  right  use  of 
his  reason,  and  love  Him  with  his  will  as 
the  giver  of  natural  good.  God  might  have 
left  man  thus,  without  conferring  any 
higher  gift,  for  it  would  not  have  been 
unjust  to  create  man  for  a  state  of  "pure 
nature."  So  created,  he  would  have  been 
subject  to  disease,  suflering  and  death,  to 
ijrnorance  and  to  the  rebellion  of  the  appe- 
tites. He  would  have  been  destitute  of 
grace,  and  could  never  have  hoped  for  the 
happiness  of  heaven.  But,  at  the  sau)e  time, 
ke  would  have  had  the  ordinary  help  of 
Bod's  providence  to  assist  him  in  avoiding 

^  See  Gen.  ii.  7 
»  Gen.  iii.  20. 


ADAM 

sin  and  doing  his  duty  ;  and  if  faithful  to 
the  natural  law,  he  would  have  had  his 
reward,  in  knowing  God  eternally,  so  far 
as  He  can  be  known  by  reason,  and  in 
union  with  Him  by  love. 

Such  a  state  was  possible.^  But  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  God  poured  into  the  soul 
of  Adam,  while  he  was  in  Paradise,'^  a  boon 
which  transcends  all  nature — that  ofsancti- 
fvinjr  grace.  He  was  able  to  believe  in 
God  as  He  is  known  by  the  light  of  faith, 
to  hope  that  he  would  see  Him  after  this 
life  face  to  face,  and  to  love  Him  with 
supernatural  charity.  Fui-ther,this  fullness 
of  the  gifts  of  grace  alfected  his  natural 
powers.  As  grace  subjected  his  soul  to 
God,  so  the  body  in  its  turn  was  subject 
to  the  soul.  The  body  could  neither  sulFer 
nor  die  ;  the  lower  appetite  could  not  rebel 
against  the  reason.^  He  had,  moreover, 
that  full  knowledge  of  things  human  and 
divine  which  beseemed  him,  as  the  head 
of  the  human  race. 

The  Scriptural  account  of  the  fall  is  in 
striking  harmony  with  the  Catholic  doc- 
trine on  original  justice.  Our  temptations 
come  very  often  from  within  ;  in  Adam 
and  Eve,  because  their  appetites  were  in 
perfect  subjection,  such  temptation  was 
impossible.  The  Serpent  tempted  Eve, 
and  Eve  Adam,  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  that  they 
might  "become  as  gods."  By  the  re- 
bellion, Adam  lost  that  sanctifying  grace 
which  made  him  the  friend  of  God.  He 
also  forfeited  that  "  integrity  of  nature," 
as  theologians  call  it,  which  flowed  from 
original  justice,  and  thus  his  body  passed 
under  the  yoke  of  suflering  and  death  ; 
the  flesh  became  a  constant  incentive  to 
sin.  He  still  preserved  reason  and  free 
will,  was  still  capable  of  natural  virtue 
and  even  of  corresponding  to  the  grace  of 
repentance;  but  just  as  the  efiects  of  the 
grace  in  which  he  had  been  constituted 
at  first  overflowed  on  his  natural  faculties, 
so  now  the  fall  from  grace  darkened  his 
intellect  and  weakened  his  will. 

Adam  was  the  representative  of  the 
human  race.  If  he  had  persevered  in 
obedience,  his  descendants  would  have 

^  This  is  evidently  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church.  See  the  propositions  of  Baius,  espe- 
cially 26,  Sft,  condemned  by  the  Popes. 

2  It  is  not  certain,  though  generally  held, 
that  Adam  was  created  in  grace.  The  Council 
of  Trent  left  the  matter  open. 

2  ''  By  sin,"  St.  Paul  says,  *'  [came]  death  " 
(Kom.v.)  Adam  and  Eve  before  the  fall,  although 
naked,  "were  not  ashamed,"  wliich  indicates 
tlie  complete  subjection  of  the  lower  nature 
(Gen.  ii.  25). 


ADAMITES 


inlierited  from  him,  along  -with  hum 
nature,  original  justice  and  the  virtues 
annexed  to  it.  As  it  is,  men  come  into 
the  world  destitute  of  grace,  and  so  un- 
able to  attain  the  end  for  which  they 
were  created  ;  while  their  very  nature  is 
wounded  and  impaired  through  the  fall 
of  their  first  parent.  It  is  heresy,  however, 
to  hold,  with  Calvin  and  the  other  Re- 
formers, that  even  fallen  man  is  wholly 
evdl.  It  is  grace,  not  nature,  which  he  has 
lost,  and  in  his  degradation  he  still  keeps 
reason  and  free  will ;  he  is  still  capable  of 
natural  good.  [See  Ooncupiscestce  and 
Original  Sik.] 

ADAMITES.  (1 .)  An  obscure  Gnos- 
tic sect,  said  to  have  been  founded  by 
Prodieus,  son  of  Oarpocrates,  in  the  second 
century.  They  are  alleged  to  have  met 
together  without  clothes  and  abandoned 
themselves  to  horrible  immorality. 

(2.)  A  fanatical  sect  of  the  middle 
ages.  Their  leader,  who  called  himself 
Adam,  was  a  Frenchman  whose  real  name 
was  Picard  (he  may  perhaps  have  come 
from  Picardy).  From  France  they  spread 
through  Holland  and  Germany,  but  had 
their  chief  settlement  in  Bohemia,  where 
they  flourished  at  the  time  of  the  Hussite 
troubles.  They  were  annihilated  with 
frightful  severity  by  Ziska  in  1421.  They 
recommended  their  followers  to  go  naked, 
andgaveunrestrainedlicence  to  sensuality. 

ABOPTZOir.  The  Roman  law  held 
tiiat  by  adoption  a  civil  or  legal  kindred 
was  established  between  the  parties, 
which  in  many  respects  had  the  same 
effects  as  natural  kindred.  To  this  as  a 
general  principle  the  canon  law  adhered. 
But  since,  in  proportion  to  the  degree  in 
which  the  adoptive  was  assimilated  to 
the  real  relationship,  impediments  to 
marriage  were  multiplied,  it  became  ne- 
cessary in  the  interest  of  Christian  society 
to  -restrict  the  effects  of  adoption  within 
reasonable  limits.  So  intricate  a  subject 
cannot  be  fully  treated  here,  but  the  out- 
lines of  the  compromise  which  the  canon- 
ists ultimately  acquiesced  in  may  be 
briefly  stated. 

The  Roman  law  made  void  a  marriage 
between,  1.  the  adoptive  father  and  his 
adopted  daughter  ;  2.  the  adopted  children 
and  the  natural  children  of  the  same 
parent ;  8.  the  adoptive  father  and  the 
adopted  son  and  the  widows  of  these  two 
respectively.  In  the  first  two  cases  the 
impediment  to  marriage  was  legal  con- 
sanguinity ;  in  the  third,  legal  afiinity. 
The  canon  law  has  affirmed  the  impedi- 
ment in  the  first  and  in  the  third  case. 


PTIONISM 


11 


^  not  marry  his  adopted 
daughter,  nor  the  widow  of  his  adoptive 
father.  In  the  second  case  the  impedi- 
ment only  exists  so  long  as  the  adopted 
child  and  the  child  by  blood,  or  either  of 
them,  remain  in  the  father's  power ;  that 
power  being  withdrawn,  by  death  or  . 
otherwise,  the  impediment  ceases  (See 
the  chapter  in  Vecchiotti,  "  Inst.  Can."  v. 
13,  De  cognatione  civili  seu  legali.') 

Adoption  has  never  been  recognised 
as  a  legal  institution  in  England  or  Scot- 
land. In  the  United  States  it  is  ad- 
mitted, with  more  or  less  of  restriction 
according  to  the  ideas  of  jurisprudence 
prevailing  in  different  States.  In  Massa- 
chussetts,  by  the  law  of  1876,  adoption 
is  an  impediment  to  marriage  between  the 
adopter  and  the  adopted,  but  to  no  other 
unions.  The  Code  Napoleon  allows 
adoption,  but  under  rigorous  conditions. 
(See  Whitmore's  "  Law  of  Adoption  in 
the  U.S.") 

ASOPTION-ZS3MC.  A  heresy  which 
arose  in  Spain  and  is  closely  allied  to 
Nestorianism.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
eighth  century,  Felix,  bishop  of  Urgel,  and 
Elipandus,  bishop  of  Toledo,  maintained 
the  opinion  that  Christ  as  man  is  the 
adopted  son  of  God.  They  supported  this 
error  by  passages  quoted  from  the  Fathers 
and  by  the  expression  '*  homo  adojjtivus " 
which  occurs  in  the  Mosarabic  Missal. 
Pope  Hadrian,  in  a  letter  to  the  Bishops 
of  Spain,  condemned  this  error  as  Nesto- 
rian,  and  a  like  sentence  was  passed  against 
it  in  three  synods  convoked  by  Charle- 
magne, at  Ratisbonne  in  792,  at  Francfort 
in  794,  and  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  799. 
Alcuin,  Paulinus  of  Aquileia  and  Agobard 
wrote  against  the  error.  Both  Felix  and 
Elipandus  died  in  heresy,  but,  owing  to. 
the  zeal  of  Leidrad  of  Lyons  and  Bene- 
dict of  Aniane,  who  made  repeated  visits 
to  Spain,  the  followers  of  the  heresi- 
archs  were  converted  and  the  error  died; 
out. 

The  Catholic  Doctors  in  their  contro- 
versy with  the  Adoptionists  rightly  urged 
that  adoption  implies  that  the  person 
adopted  was,  previous  to  his  adoption, 
alien  to  the  person  who  adopts  him. 
Now,  even  as  man,  Christ,  far  from  being 
alien  to  God,  was  the  natural  son  of  God. 
His  sacred  Humanity  was  united  from  the 
first  moment  of  its  existence  to  the  Per- 
son of  God  the  Word.  When  we  say 
"this  man,"  we  indicate  not  only  the 
possession  of  human  nature  :  the  words 
signify  a  person.  Hence  "the  man  Christ" 

r\-f  <'  O.liviaf  in    \\\a   Vii-i-mon    ■nQ■^^Tl•o  "    jg  eQUl* 


or  *'  Christ  in  his  human  nature 


12  ADORATION  OF  THE  CROSS,  ETC. 

Talent  to  God  the  Son  subsisting  in  hu- 
man nature ;  and  He  cannot  have  been 
adopted,  for  the  simple  reason  that  He 
was  son  by  nature.  So  St.  Paul  speaks  of 
Him  even  in  his  humanity  as  the  proper 
Son  of  God.  God,  he  says,  did  not  spare  his 
own  son  (roC  Ibiov  vloii)  "  but  gave  him 
up  for  us  all; "  ^  where  the  reference  clearly 
is  to  Christ  as  man. 

The  Adoptionist  heresy  "  halts  be- 
tween two  opinions  " — viz.  Catholic  doc- 
trine and  Nestorianism.  If  in  Christ 
there  had  been  two  persons,  one  human 
and  one  divine,  then  there  might  also 
have  been  two  sons,  one  by  adoption,  one 
by  nature.  (See  Petavius, "  De  Incarnat." 
i.  22,  and  vii.  1  seq. ;  and  for  the  opinion 
of  Scotus,  who  seems  to  have  used  the 
form  "  Christ  as  man  is  the  adopted  Son 
of  God,"  but  in  an  orthodox  sense,  see 
BiUuart,  **  De  Incarnat."   Diss,  xxi.) 

ADOSATZOXr    OF    TKB    CROSS, 

A.C.  [See  Latkia.  See  also  Perpetual 
Adoration.] 

iVBiriiTERT.  The  Catholic  Church 
holds  that  the  bond  of  marriage  is  not 
and  ought  not  to  be  dissolved  by  the 
adultery  of  either  party ;  see  the  decree 
of  the  Council  of  Trent  (Sess.  xxiv..  Can. 
7.)  It  remains  to  consider  in  what  way 
the  act  affects,  though  it  cannot  break, 
the  nuptial  tie.  The  canon  law  allows 
of  divorce  from  bed  and  board  {a  toro  et 
cohahitatione),  whether  permanent  or  tem-  j 
porary,  for  various  causes.  Of  these 
causes  adultery  is  one  of  the  chief.  The 
right  to  this  species  of  divorce,  or,  as  it 
is  called  in  England,  judicial  separation, 
accrues  to  either  party  in  consequence  of 
the  adultery  of  the  other,  provided  that 
the  guilt  be  certain  and  notorious,  whether 
in  fact  or  in  law.  It  was  formerly  held 
that  this  right,  though  it  undoubtedly 
belonged  to  the  husbcind  after  the  mis- 
conduct of  his  wife,  ought  not  to  be  simi- 
larly extended  to  a  wife  on  account  of  the 
adultery  of  the  husband.  This  opinion  is 
not  now  held,  and  it  is  agreed  that  the 
adultery  of  either  party  is  a  suiRcient 
cause  entitling  the  innocent  person  to 
claim  a  judicial  separation  for  life. 

Several  questions,  however,  arise.  Is 
tbe  husband  whose  wife  has  committed 
adultery  bound  to  separate  himself  from 
her,  or  does  he  merely  enter  into  a  right 
"which  he  may  either  exercise  or  not  as  he 
fikes  ?  Arguments  of  great  weight  have 
been  adduced  by  canonists  on  either  side 
of  this  question.  But  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  wife,  in  the  parallel  case,  is  not 
*Kom.viii.  82. 


ADVENT,  SEASON  OF 

so  bound,  and  that  for  reasons  such  afl 
these:  (1.)  that  her  husbands  guilt  im- 
plies no  acquiescence  on  her  part,  which 
could  hardly  be  the  case  were  the  wife  the 
offender ;  (2.)  that  the  honour  of  the 
family  and  the  legitimacy  of  the  children 
are  not  stained  or  imperilled  in  the  one 
case  as  they  are  in  the  other ;  (3.)  that 
her  insisting  on  being  separated  from  him 
is  not  likely  to  lead  to  the  husband's  re- 
formation, but  rather  the  contrary. 

Another  question  arises  as  to  the 
legal  effect  of  the  commission  of  adultery 
by  the  innocent  party  after  the  sentence 
of  divorce  (judicial  separation)  has  been 
pronounced.  On  this  point,  opinions  are 
greatly  divided,  some  holding  that  the 
divorce  is  a  res  judicata,  which  no  subse- 
quent misconduct  on  the  part  of  the  spouse 
innocent  at  the  date  of  the  sentence  can 
affect ;  others  maintaining  that  the  sen- 
tence itself  saddles  the  party  relieved  with 
an  implied  condition  *^  quamdiu  bene  se 
gessei'it^''  and  that  if  that  condition  is 
violated,  the  spouse  against  whom  the 
judgment  was  given  may  justly  claim  the 
restitution  of  conjugal  rights. 

Various  impediments  to  divorce  on 
account  of  adultery  are  allowed  by  the 
canon  law,  of  which  the  chief  are,  the 
proof  of  adultery  against  the  spouse  seek- 
mg  a  divorce,  and  condonation. 

In  the  U.  S.  the  effect  in  the  civil  law 
of  adultery  as  related  to  divorce  is  re- 
gulated in  the  various  states  by  statute. 
In  some  of  the  more  conservative  states 
the  English  common  law,  as  modified 
by  Protestantism,  distinguishes  between 
adultery  of  the  wife  and  adultery  of 
the  husband.  In  the  former  case  the 
husband  can  demand  a  divorce  a  vin- 
culo, in  the  latter  the  wife  is  entitled 
to  a  divorce  a  mensa  et  thoro  only. 
[See  Marriage.] — Vecchiotti,  v.  14, 
§  123.  _ 

ADVENT,  SEASON*  OF.  The 
period,  of  between  three  and  four  weeks 
from  Advent  Sunday  (which  is  always 
the  Sunday  nearest  to  the  feast  of  St. 
Andrew)  to  Christmas  eve,  is  named  by 
the  Church  the  season  of  Advent.  Dur- 
ing it  she  desires  that  her  children  should 
practice  fasting,  works  of  penance,  medi- 
tation, and  prayer,  in  order  to  prepare 
themselves  for  celebrating  worthily  the 
coming  {adventum)  of  the  Son  of  God  in 
the  flesh,  to  promote  his  spiritual  advent 
within  their  own  souls,  and  to  school 
themselves  to  look  forward  with  hope  and 
joy  to  his  second  advent,  when  he  shall 
come  again  to  judge  mankind. 


ADVENT,  SEASON  OF 

It  is  impossible  to  fix  the  precise  time 
wheu  the  season  of  Advent  began  to  be 
observed.  A  canon  of  a  Council  at 
Saragossa,  in  380,  forbade  the  faithful  to 
absent  themselves  from  the  Church  ser- 
vices during  the  three  weeks  from  Decem- 
ber 17th  to  the  Epiphany ;  this  is  per- 
haps the  earliest  trace  on  record  of  the 
observance  of  Advent.  The  singing  of 
the  "  greater  antiphons  "  at  Vespers  is 
commenced,  according  to  the  Roman 
ritual,  on  the  very  day  specified  by  the 
Council  of  Saragossa ;  this  can  hardly  be 
a  mere  coincidence.  In  the  fifth  century 
Advent  seems  to  have  been  assimilated  to 
Lent,  and  kept  as  a  time  of  fasting  and 
abstinence  for  forty  days,  or  even  longer 
— i.e.  from  Martinmas  (Nov.  11)  to  Christ- 
mas eve.  In  the  Sacramentary  of 
Gregory  the  Great  there  are  Masses  for 
five  Sundays  in  Advent ;  but  about  the 
ninth  century  these  were  reduced  to  four, 
and  so  they  have  ever  since  remained. 
"  We  may  therefore  consider  the  present 
disciplme  of  the  observance  of  Advent  as 
having  lasted  a  thousand  years,  at  least 
as  far  as  the  Church  of  Rome  is  con- 
cerned." ^ 

With  regard  to  fasting  and  abstinence 
during  Advent,  the  practice  has  always 
greatly  varied,  and  stiU  varies,  in  different 
parts  of  the  Church.  Strictness  has  been 
observed,  after  which  came  a  period  of 
relaxation,  followed  by  a  return  to  strict- 
ness. At  the  present  time  the  Fridays 
in  Advent  are  observed  as  fast  days  in 
most  parts  of  the  United  States;  but 
in  France  and  other  Continental  coun- 
tries the  ancient  discipline  has  long  ago 
died  out,  except  among  religious  com- 
munities. 

There  is  a  marvellous  beauty  in  the 
offices  and  rites  of  the  Church  during  this 
season.  The  lessons,  generally  taken  from 
the  prophecies  of  Isaias,  remind  us  how 
the  desire  and  expectation,  not  of  Israel 
only,  but  of  all  nations,  carried  forward 
the  thoughts  of  mankind,  before  the  time 
of  Jesus  Christ,  to  a  Redeemer  one  day  to 
be  revealed ;  they  also  strike  the  note  of 
preparation,  watchfulness,  compunction, 
hope.  In  the  Gospels  we  hear  of  the 
terrors  of  the  last  judgment,  that  second 
advent  which  those  who  despise  the  first 
will  not  escape  •,  of  the  witness  borne  by 
John  the  Precursor,  and  of  the  "  mighty 
works  "  by  which  the  Saviour's  life  sup- 
plied a  solid  foundation  and  justification 
for  that  witness.    At  Vespers,  the  seven 

1  Gueranger's  Liturgical  Year,  translated 
by  Dom  Shepherd,  1867. 


ADVOOATUS  ECCLESI^       13 

greater  antiphons,  or  anthems — beginning 
on  December  17th,  the  first  of  the  seven 
greater  Ferias  preceding  Christmas  eve — 
are  a  noteworthy  feature  of  the  liturgical 
year.  They  are  called  the  O's  of  Advent, 
on  account  of  the  manner  in  which  they 
commence ;  they  are  all  addressed  to 
Christ ;  and  they  are  double — that  is,  they 
are  sung  entire  bcth  before  and  after  the 
Magnificat.  Of  the  first,  O  Sapientia,  qucs 
ex  ore  Altissimi pi'odiisti,  &c.,  a  trace  still 
remains  in  the  words  O  Sapientia  printed 
in  the  calendar  of  the  Anglican  Prayer 
Book  opposite  December  16 — words  which 
probably  not  one  person  in  ten  thou9«,nd 
using  the  Prayer  Book  understands.  The 
purple  hue  of  penance  is  the  only  colour 
used  in  the  services  of  Advent,  except  on 
the  feasts  of  saints.  In  many  other  points 
Advent  resembles  Lent:  during  its  con- 
tinuance, in  Masses  de  Tempore,  the  Gloria 
in  excelsis  is  suppressed,  the  organ  is 
silent,  the  deacon  sings  Benedicavius  Do- 
mino at  the  end  of  Mass  instead  of  iife, 
Missa  est,  and  marriages  are  not  solemn- 
ised. On  the  other  hand,  the  Alleluia,  the 
word  of  gladness,  is  only  once  or  twice 
interrupted  during  Advent,  and  the  organ 
finds  its  voice  on  the  third  Sunday ;  the 
Church,  by  these  vestiges  of  joy,  signify- 
ing that  the  assured  expectation,  of  a 
Redeemer  whose  birth  she  wiU  soon 
celebrate  fills  her  heart,  and  chequers 
the  gloom  of  her  mourning  with  these 
gleams  of  brightness.  (Fieury,  "Hist. 
Eccles."  xvii,  57 ;  Gueranger's  "Liturgical 
Year.") 

ABVEITT  OF  CHRIST.  [See  MlL- 
LENARIANISM.] 

AnVOCATUS     SSI.       ADVOCA- 

TITS  BXABOXiZ.  [See  Canonisation.] 
ABVOCATVS  ECCXiESXJE.  Fer- 
raris distinguishes  four  classes  of  advocati 
ecclesiarum,  but  the  most  important  class, 
and  that  with  which  alone  we  shall  con- 
cern ourselves  here,  was  that  of  advocate- 
protectors,  princes  or  barons,  or  other 
powerful  laymen,  who,  for  a  consideration, 
undertook  to  protect  the  property  of  a 
church  or  monastery,  as  well  as  the  lives 
of  the  inmates.  In  the  turbulent  period 
between  the  ninth  and  the  thirteenth 
centuries  this  practice  was  largely  resorted 
to.  The  advocatus  sometimes  received  a 
kind  of  rent,  either  in  money  or  in  kind, 
but  more  generally  he  was  put  in  possession 
of  Church  lands,  which  he  might  use  for 
his  own  benefit  on  condition  of  protecting 
the  rest.  "  But  these  advocates  became  too 
often  themselves  the  spoilers,  and  op- 
pressed the  helpless  ecclesiastics  for  whose 


u 


AEON 


defence  they  had  been  engaged."*  The 
Lateran  Council,  in  1215,  had  to  deci-ee 
(chap.  45)  "  that  patrons  or  advocates,  or 
vidames,  should  not  in  future  encroach  on 
the  property  entrusted  to  them ;  if  they 
presume  to  do  otherwise,  let  them  he 
restrained  by  aU  the  severity  of  the  canon 
law."  As  law  and  order  became  stronger 
in  Europe,  the  practice  of  employing  advo- 
cati  uatumlly  fell  into  disuse.    (Ferraris.) 

Asoxr.    [See  Gnostic] 

da.£:Trcjs  and  AETZAM'S.  Aetius 
was  a  native  of  Antioch,  born  in  the  first 
half  of  the  fourth  century.  He  was  a 
good  example  of  the  "  Graeculus  esuriens  " 
satirised  by  Juvenal ;  after  having  been 
successively  a  slave,  a  charcoal-burner,  a 
tinker,  and  a  quack  doctor,  he  apolied 
himself  to  the  profession  of  philosophy, 
and  linaUy  to  that  of  theology.  He 
became  a  pupil  of  Leontius,  who,  on  being 
made  patriarch  of  Antioch  in  350,  or- 
dained Aetius  deacon.  The  Arian  senti- 
ments to  which  he  could  not  help  giving 
expression,  led  to  his  expulsion  from 
Antioch  ;  he  sought  refuge  at  Alexandria, 
where  he  learnt  from  a  sophist  the 
Aristotelian  logic,  and  contrived  to  in- 
gi-atiate  himself  with  George  the  Arian 
patriarch.  Aided  by  a  zealous  disciple, 
Eunomius,  who  joined  him  at  this  time, 
he  denied  not  only  the  doctrine  of  Nice, 
which  the  great  Athanasius  was  engaged 
in  defending,  but  also  that  of  the  Homoiou- 
sians  that  the  Son  was  like  to  the  Father. 
The  laxity  and  recklessness  of  his  language 
were  such  that  the  people  called  him  "the 
atheist."  In  358,  hearing  that  Eudoxus, 
an  inveterate  and  audacious  Arian,  was 
installed  at  Antioch,  Aetius  went  thither, 
and  soon  became  a  person  of  some  import- 
ance. But  Eudoxus  could  not  prevail 
upon  the  bishops  of  the  neighbouring  sees 
to  consent  to  his  reinstating  Aetius  in  the 
diaconate.  Basil  of  Ancyra  complained 
to  the  Emperor  Constantine  of  the  licence 
which  was  allowed  to  heresy  at  Antioch  ; 
and  the  Emperor  in  alarm  ordered  Eudoxus 
and  Aetius  to  come  to  Constantinople. 
The  authorship  of  an  exposition  of  faith 
in  which  the  unlikeness  of  the  Son  to 
the  Father  was  maintained  was  brought 
home  to  Aetius,  and  the  Emperor  banished 
him  to  Phrygia  (360).  His  place  of  exile 
was  changed  to  Mopsuestia,  and  after- 
wards to  an  imhealthy  town  in  Pisidia. 
Here  he  is  said  t-o  have  maintained  his 
heresy  yet  more  openly,  and  published  in 
support  of  it  a  syllabus  of  forty-seven 

1  Hallam's  Middle  Ages,  c.  vii.  part  1 . 


AFFINITY 

articles,  which  St.  Epiphamus  has  pi-o- 
served  and  refuted.  The  date  of  his  death 
is  not  recorded.  (Fleury,  "  Hist.  Eccles." 
xii.-xiv.) 

AFFZNZTT,  in  the  proper  sense  of 
the  word,  is  the  connection  which  arises 
from  cohabitation  between  each  one  of 
the  two  parties  cohabiting,  and  the  blood- 
relations  of  the  other.  It  is  regarded 
as  an  impediment  to  marriage  in  the 
Jewish,  Roman,  and  canon  law. 

In  the  Jewish  law  a  man  is  forbidden, 
by  reason  of  affinity,  to  marry  his  step- 
mother, step-daughter,  and  step-grand- 
daughter, his  mother-in-law  and  daughter- 
in-law,  the  widow  of  his  father's  brother 
(the  Vulgate  adds  the  widow  of  his  mo- 
ther's brother),  the  widow  of  his  brother, 
if  he  has  left  ciiildren.* 

In  the  Roman  law  marriage  was  for- 
bidden between  a  man  and  his  mother-in- 
law,  daughter-in-law,  step-mother,  step- 
daughter, the  wife  of  his  deceased  brother, 
the  sister  of  his  deceased  wife.  It  also 
forbade  a  step-lather  to  maiTy  the  widow 
of  his  step-son,  and  a  step-mother  to 
marry  the  surviving  husband  ot  her  step- 
daughter. 

The  canon  law,  starting  from  the 
principle  that  man  and  woman  who  have 
intercourse  with  each  other  become  one 
flesh,  considered  the  marriage  of  one  party 
with  the  relations  of  the  other  as  equiva- 
lent to  a  marriage  with  his  or  her  own 
relation.  Affinity  was  computed  by  de- 
grees just  as  consanguinity  was,  accord- 
ing to  the  legal  maxim  "  the  degree  of  a 
person's  consanguinity  with  one  of  a 
married  pair,  is  the  degree  of  his  affinity 
to  the  other."  Thus  gradually  marriage 
was  forbidden  to  the  seventh  degree  of 
affinity.^  Further,  although  the  relations 
of  one  married  person  could  espouse  the 
relations  of  the  other,  on  the  principle 
that  "  affinity  does  not  produce  affinity," 
still  the  impediment  of  affinity  w^as  ex- 
tended to  the  children  a  woman  had  by 
her  second  marriage  and  the  relations  o£ 
her  first  husband.  Moreover,  two  other 
kinds  of  affinity  were  introduced,  viz.  of 
the  second  and  third  class  {secundi  et  tertii 
generis),  so  that  marriage  was  unlawful 
between  a  man  married  to  a  widow  and 
those  who  had  affinity  to  his  wife's  former 
partner,  or,  again,  who  had  affinity  to 
those  who  were  in  affinity  to  the  former 
partner.      Finally,  all  these    degrees  of 


»  Levit  xviii.  8, 14-17 ;  xx.  11,  12,  14,  20, 
21 ;  Deut.  xxii.  30  ;  xxvii.  20,  23. 
>  Concil.  Rom.  anno  721. 


AFRICAN  CHURCH 

aflSnity  were  contracted  by  unlawful  in- 
tercourse as  well  as  by  marriage. 

In  1215  tbe  fii'tietli  canon  of  the  Fourth 
Lateran  Council  abolished  the  impedi- 
ment from  affinity  of  the  second  and  third 
class,  as  well  as  that  from  affinity  between 
the  children  a  woman  had  in  second  mar- 
riaj^e  and  the  relations  of  her  first  hus- 
band, and  limited  the  impediment  of 
affinity  in  the  strict  sense  to  the  first  four 
degrees.  Lastly,  the  Council  of  Trent  ^ 
confined  the  impediment  of  affinity  from 
unlawful  intercourse  to  the  first  two  de- 
grees, and  so  the  law  of  the  Church  con- 
tinues to  the  present  day.  Thus,  affinity 
arising  from  previous  marriage,  to  the 
fourth  degree,  and  from  unlawful  inter- 
course, to  the  second  degree,  (both  inclu- 
sive) makes  marriage  null  and  void,  and,  if 
it  supervenes  after  marriage,  deprives  the 

Siilty  party  of  his  or  her  marriage  rights, 
owever,  with  one  possible  exception, 
viz.  that  between  a  man  and  the  woman 
whose  mother  or  daughter  he  has 
mamed,  or,  vice  versa,  between  a  woman 
and  a  man  to  whose  father  or  son  she 
has  been  married,  affinity  impedes  mar- 
riage only  by  ecclesiastical,  not  by  natural 
law,  so  that  the  Pope  can  grant  a  dispen- 
sation.^ 

Besides  the  various  classes  of  affinity 
properly  so  called,  there  are  further  two 
species  of  quasi-affinitif,  known  as  lec/al 
and  spiritual-aMnity.  With  regard  to  the 
former,  the  Church  has  adopted  the  de- 
termination of  the  Roman  law,  according 
to  which  marriage  cannot  be  contracted 
between  an  adopted  son  and  the  widow 
of  his  adoptive  father,  or  between  the 
adoptive  father  and  the  widow  of  the 
adopted  son.  [See  Adoption.]  Accord- 
ing to  the  canon  law,  spiritual  affinity 
nullified  marriage  between  the  widow  or 
widower  of  the  God-parent  in  baptism 
and  the  person  baptised  or  confirmed,  and 
between  the  widow  or  widower  of  the 
God-parent  and  either  parent  of  the  per- 
son confirmed  or  baptised.  Since,  how- 
ever, the  Council  of  Trent,  in  reforming 
the  older  law  on  spiritual  relationship, 
{cognatio  spiritucdis)  makes  no  mention 
of  sphitual  affinity,  it  is  generally  sup- 
posed, that  the  latter  is  no  longer  to  be 
recognised  as  an  impediment  to  marriage. 
AFaZCAST  CHITRCK  AND  COUIO'- 
CTlbS.  Among  the  witnesses  of  the 
Pentecostal  miracle  ^  were  Jews,  not  from 

*  Sess.  xxiv.  c.  4. 

2  Gurv,    Moral   Theol    "De    Matrimon.'' 
I  813,  with  Ballerini's  Note. 
«  Acta  ii.  10. 


AFRICAN  CHURCH 


16 


Egypt  only,  but  also  from  "  the  parts  of 
Libya  about  Cyrene,"  and  by  some  of 
these  Christianity  must  have  been  ex- 
tended in  North  Africa  at  a  very  early 
period.  Eusebius  teUs  us  that  St.  Mark 
went  into  Egypt,  and  founded  the  Church 
of  Alexandria,  of  which  he  was  the  first 
patriarch.  The  first  see  founded  farther 
west  is  believed  to  have  been  Carthage, 
which,  at  the  time  when  we  first  hear  of 
it,  through  Tertullian,  one  of  its  presby- 
ters, writing  about  200,  was  already 
the  centre  of  a  flourishing  Afro-Romaa 
Christian  province,  in  which  the  majority 
of  the  inhabitants  were  Chi-istians.  Mona- 
chism  sprang  up  in  Egypt  [Abbot,  St. 
Antonyj  in  the  third  century,  and  the 
heresy  of  Arius  appeared  at  Alexandiia 
near  the  beginning  of  the  fourth.  A  flood 
of  light  is  thrown  upon  the  condition  of 
the  African  Church  in  the  fifth  centmy 
by  the  writings  of  its  greatest  son,  St. 
Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  whose  vasr 
and  disciplined  genius  has  never  ceased 
to  instruct  and  delight  the  Catholics  of 
every  later  age.  When  St.  Auirustine 
died  (430),  his  episcopal  city  was  being 
besieged  by  the  Vandals  from  Spain,  who 
soon  after  made  themselves  masters  of 
the  whole  of  Roman  Africa.  They  were 
Arians,  and  cruelly  persecuted  the  ortho- 
dox Church,  which  in  the  time  of  St. 
Augustine  could  count  its  four  hundred 
sees.  The  Donatist  schism,  which  seduced 
great  numbers  into  a  state  of  alienation 
from  Catholic  communion,  had  already 
arisen  about  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century.  [Arianism,  Donatists.]  Be- 
lisarius  in  the  sixth  century  defeated  the 
Vandals  and  recovered  Africa  for  the 
Emperor  Justmian  ;  but  Christianity  had 
not  had  time  to  recover  from  the  blows 
which  war  and  heresy  had  inflicted,  be- 
fore the  swords  of  the  Arabs,  fanatical 
propagators  of  the  religion  of  Moliammed, 
hewed  down,  from  the  Nile  to  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules,  all  authority  but  their  own. 
Under  then-  baneful  sway,  which  in  the 
early  ages  of  Islam  was  wielded  with 
great  political  skill,  Christianity  became 
all  but  extinct  in  North  Africa.  Only  in 
our  own  day,  through  the  conquest  of 
Algeria  by  the  French,  the  Cross  has 
driven  back  the  Crescent  on  the  Barbary 
coast ;  and  the  intrepid  Lavigerie,  Arch- 
bishop of  Algiers,  seems  likely  to  re- 
iUume  a  ray  of  the  ancient  glory  of  the 
African  Church. 

The  present  state  of  Christianity  in 
Africa  may  be  briefly  described  as  fol- 
lows; (1)  in  Egypt,  to  which  is  annexed 


16 


AFRICAN  COUNCILS 


Arabia,  there  are  two  vicariates,  one  for 
the  Latins,  the  other  of  the  Coptic  rite. 
Following  the  Mediterranean  coast,  we 
find  (2)  a  vicariate  at  Tunis,  and  (3)  an 
archbishop's  see  at  Algiers,  with  two  suf- 
fragan sees,  Constantina  and  Oran.  4. 
Ceuta,  a  Spanish  possession  opposite  Gib- 
raltar, gives  part  of  his  title  to  the  Bishop 
of  ( -adiz.  5.  In  the  islands  on  the  west 
coast  of  Africa  are  four  bishoprics  :  the 
Canaries,  under  Seville ;  Madeira,  St. 
Thomas,  and  the  Cape  de  Verd  Islands, 
under  Lisbon.  6.  The  vicariate  of  Sene- 
gambia.  7.  All  the  coast  from  Sierra 
Leone  to  the  Niger,  including  the  vicari- 
ate of  Benin,  has  been  lately  committed 
by  the  Holy  See  to  the  charge  of  the 
Society  of  African  Missions  at  Lyons.  8. 
The  see  of  Angola  (Portuguese).  9.  A 
large  thinly-peopled  district,  between 
the  Portuguese  possessions  and  the  Orange 
River,  has  been  recently  erected  into  a 
vicariate  under  the  title  of  Cimbebasia. 
10.  At  the  Cape  are  two  vicariates,  the 
Eastern  and  the  Western.  11.  The  vica- 
riate of  Natal.  12.  The  see  of  Port 
Louis,  Mauritius,  is  immediately  depen- 
dent on  the  Holy  See.  13.  The  vicari- 
ate of  Madagascar.  14.  The  flourishing 
missions  at  Zanzibar  are,  we  believe,  un- 
der a  prefect  apostolic.  16.  The  vicari- 
ate of  the  Gallas.  16.  The  Abyssinian 
Christians  [Abyssinian  Church]  are 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Latin  vicar 
apostolic  of  Egypt.  17.  The  vicariate  of 
Central  Africa  with  its  seat  at  El  Obeid 
in  Cordofan. 

Thus  is  Africa  ringed  round  with 
Catholic  missions,  so  that,  if  France  should 
ever  have  a  Christian  government,  or 
Portuguese  governors  go  out  animated 
by  the  iervour  of  the  Albuquerques  of 
former  days,  a  great  and  sudden  spread  of 
Christianity  among  the  descendants  of 
Ham  is  far  from  improbable.  On  the 
other  hand  it  has  to  be  admitted  that  the 
Moravians,  the  Presbyterians,  the  Inde- 
pendents, the  Anglicans,  and  other  sects, 
nave  shown  much  activity  in  indoctrina- 
ting the  native  tribes  (especially  of  South 
Africa  and  Madagascar)  in  their  respec- 
tive systems,  and  met  with  considerable 
success. 

ArazcAxr  coirxrcxXiS.  These  were 
for  the  mo^t  part  held  at  Carthage.  In 
the  first  four  centuries  the  African  Church, 
full  of  activity  and  fervour,  and  repre- 
sented by  men  of  the  highest  intellectual 
eminence,  amonj?  whom  we  need  but 
name  St.  Cyprian  and  St.  Augustine, 
bore  its  part  "to  the  full  in  those  memor- 


AGAPE 

able  conciliar  discussions  which  settled 
the  form  of  doctrine  and  discipline  that 
Christianity  was  to  bear  in  the  world. 
The  chief  subjects  discussed  at  the  Afri- 
can councils  which  preceded  the  Vandal 
invasion  were,  the  re-baptism  of  heretics 
returning  to  the  Church,  the  Donatist  con- 
troversy, the  heresy  of  Pelagius,  and  the 
adjustment  of  questions  of  discipline  either 
internal  or  between  Africa  and  Rome. 
Fleury  enumerates  seventeen  Councils  of 
Carthage,  the  last  of  which,  held  in  536, 
busied  itselfwith  rep  airing  the  havoc  which 
the  ravages  of  the  Arian  heretics  had 
made.  We  read  of  an  African  Council, 
the  last  of  the  entire  series,  held  in  646, 
which  condemned  the  Ecthesis  of  Hera- 
clius.  In  the  following  year  the  Caliph 
Othman  despatched  the  expedition  which, 
with  others  that  followed  it,  brought  utter 
ruin  on  the  Roman  and  Christian  civilisa- 
tion of  Africa. 

AGAPE  (from  ayajrrjj  love).  A 
name  given  in  Jude  12  to  the  brotherly 
feasts  of  the  early  Christians,  which  are 
described  at  length  in  1  Cor.  xi.  They 
were  instituted  in  part  on  the  analogy  of 
the  common  meals  usual  among  the 
Greeks  {(rva-aiTia)  to  which  each  contri- 
buted his  share  ;  but  this  common  meal 
was  elevated  by  the  spirit  of  Christian 
charity  and  designed  to  commemorate  the 
last  supper  which  Christ  held  with  His 
disciples,  as  well  as  to  serve  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor.  Thus  it  received  a  liturgical 
character,  so  that  the  Apostle  calls  it "  the 
supper  of  the  Lord."^  It  was  also  closely 
connected  with  the  sacred  mysteries,  and, 
more  probably,  preceded  them.  However, 
this  custom  of  taking  other  food  before 
the  communion  soon  died  out,  although 
in  St.  Augustine's  time  the  custom  still 
survived  of  permitting  communion  once 
a  year — viz.  on  Holy  Thursday — to 
those  who  had  just  partaken  of  the 
agape.^ 

The  Agape  thus  separated  from  the  Eu- 
charist survived  for  many  centuries  in  the 
Church,  although  it  was  evident  even  in 
St.  Paul's  day  how  liable  it  was  to  abuse, 
and  the  complaints  of  St.  Augustine  prove 
that  he  was  familiar  with  similar  scan- 
dals. The  Synod  of  Gangra,  about  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century,  anathemati- 
ses those  who  despise  the  Agape,  although 
Van  Espen  is  of  opinion  that  in  this  place 

^  In  Estius  ad  he.  convincing?  reasons  are 
eiven  for  distiniruishin^r  the  "  Supper  of  the 
Lord  "  from  the  Eucharist. 

2  See  Estius,  and  the  Council  of  Hippo, 
Hefele,  Conoiliengeschicftte,  ii.  p.  58. 


AGE,  CANONICAL 

the  Agape  means  no  more  than  a  common 
meal  charitably  supplied  to  the  poor.^  Be 
that  as  it  may,  the  Agapai  still  continued  to 
he  celebrated  in  the  Uhui'ch.  The  Council 
of  Laodicea  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth 
century,  forbade  "  eating  in  the  house 
of  God,''  but  the  Synod  in  Trullo,  centuries 
after,  had  to  repeat  the  prohibition,  which 
was  placed  by  Gratian  in  the  corpus 
juris?' 

AGE,  CAsrOKTlCAlb.  The  Church, 
like  the  State,  fixes  certain  ages  at  which 
her  subjects  become  capable  of  incurring 
special  obligations,  enjoying  special  pri- 
vileges, of  entering  on  special  states  of 
life,  or  of  holding  office  and  dignity.  The 
following  is  a  summary  of  the  principal 
determinations  regarding  age,  so  far  as 
they  affect  (1)  the  ordinary  life  of  a 
Christian,  (2)  the  ecclesiastical  and  re- 
ligious state.  It  must  be  observed  that 
the  canonical  age  is  reckoned  from  the 
day  of  birth,  not  from  that  of  baptism. 

1 .  With  regard  to  ordinary  Christians. 
—The  age  of  i-eason  is  generally  supposed 
to  begin  about  the  seventh  year,  though 
of  course  it  may  come  earlier  in  some  cases, 
later  in  others.  At  that  time  a  child  be- 
comes capable  of  mortal  sin,  and  so  of 
receiving  the  sacraments  of  penance  and 
extreme  unction,  which  are  the  remedies 
for  post-baptismal  sin.  The  Holy  Eu- 
charist and  Confirmation,  according  to  the 
discipline  of  the  West,  are  usually  given 
some  time  after  the  use  of  reason  has  been 
attained,  when  the  child  has  received  some 
instruction  in  Christian  doctrine,  and  is 
able  to  understand  the  nature  of  these 
sacraments.  Further,  at  seven  years  of 
age,  a  child  becomes  subject  to  the  law 
of  the  Church  (e.g.  with  regard  to  absti- 
nence, Sunday  Mass,  &c.),  and  can  con- 
tract an  engagement  of  marriage.  [See 
Espousal.] 

The  age  of  puberty  begins  in  the  case 
of  males  at  fourteen,  in  that  of  females  at 
twelve.  Marriage  contracted  by  persons 
under  these  ages  is  null  and  void  {nisi 
malitia  suppleat  (etatem).  Till  the  age  of 
puberty  is  reached,  no  one  can  be  required 
to  take  an  oath. 

At  twenty-one,  the  obligation  of  fast- 
ing begins;  it  ceases,  according  to  the 
common  opinion,  at  sixty. 

2.  With  regai'd  to  religious  and  eccle- 
siastics.— At  seven  a  person  may  be  ton- 
sured. No  special  age  is  named  in  the 
canon  law  for  the  reception  of  minor 
orders.    A  sub-deacon  must  have  com- 


AGNUS  DEI 


17 


^  Hefele,  ih.  L  78 1. 


2  Hefele,  i.  767. 


pleted  his  twenty-first,  a  deacon  his 
twenty-second,  a  priest  his  twenty-fourth, 
and  a  bishop  his  thirtieth  year.  A  cleric 
cannot  hold  a  simple  benefice,  before 
entering  on  his  fourteenth  year ;  an  eccle- 
siastical dignity — e.g.  a  canonry  in  a 
cathedral  church — till  he  has  completed 
his  twenty-second  year ;  a  benefice  with 
cure  of  souls  attached  to  it,  before  he 
has  begun  his  twenty-fifth  year;  a  dio- 
cese, till  he  has  completed  his  thirtieth 
year. 

A  religious  cannot  make  his  profession 
till  he  is  at  least  sixteen  years  old,  and 
has  passed  a  year  in  the  noviciate.  He 
must  be  thirty  years  of  age  before  he  can 
hold  a  prelacy  which  involves  quasi- 
episcopal  jurisdiction.  A  ghl  must  be 
over  twelve  years  of  age  before  she  assumes 
the  religious  habit.  A  woman  under  forty 
cannot  be  chosen  religious  superior  of  a 
convent,  unless  it  is  impossible  to  find  in 
the  order  a  religious  of  the  age  required, 
and  otherwise  suitable.  In  this  case,  a 
religious  thirty  years  old  may  be  chosen, 
with  the  consent  of  the  bishop  or  other 
superior.  (See  Council  of  Trent,  Sess. 
xxiii.  xxiv.  xxv.  Ferraris,  "  Bibliotheca 
Prompta.") 

AGNOETJE.  A  sect  of  Monophys- 
ites  founded  by  the  Alexandrian  deacon 
Themistius,  and  hence  also  called  Themis- 
tians.  Themistius,  although,  being  a  Mono- 
physite,  he  held  only  one  nature  of  the 
Incarnate  Word,  maintained  that  this 
nature  was  subject  to  ignorance.  Timo- 
thy, Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  and  his 
successor  Theodosius  (537-539)  opposed 
this  assertion,  which  led  logically  to  the 
confession  of  two  natures,  or  to  the  open 
denial  of  Christ's  divinity.  Thereupon, 
the  Agnoetae  formed  themselves  into  a 
special  sect  which  lasted  till  the  eighth 
century.  (See  Petavius,  "  De  Incarnat." 
1.  xvi.  I'l.  Hefele,  "  Oonciliengeschichte," 
ii.  574.) 

AGWrXTS  DEI.  (1)  A  prayer  in  the 
Mass,  Vhich  occurs  shortly  before  the 
communion — "  Lamb  of  God,  who  takest 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  have  mercy 
on  us.  Lamb  of  God,  who  takest  away 
the  sins  of  the  world,  have  mercy  on  us. 
Lamb  of  God,  &c.,  give  us  peace."  It 
has  been  used  since  the  time  of  Pope  Ser- 
gius  in  the  seventh  century.  Originally 
( according  to  some,  till  the  time  of  John 
XXH.),  each  petition  ended  with  "  have 
mercy  on  us "' ;  and  this  custom  still  con- 
tinues in  the  Lateran  basilica  (Gavant.). 
(2)  The  figure  of  a  lamb  stamped  on  the 
wax  which   remains  from    the  Paschal 


18 


ALB 


ALBIGENSES 


candles,  and  solemnly  blessed  by  the  Pope 
on  the  Thursday  after  Easter,  in  the  first 
and  seventh  years  of  his  Pontificate. 
Amalarius,  writing  early  in  the  ninth 
century,^  mentions  the  fact  that  in  his 
time  the  Agnus  Dei's  were  made  of  wax 
and  oil  by  the  Archdeacon  of  Rome, 
blessed  by  the  Pope,  and  distributed  to 
the  people  on  the  octave  of  Easter.  A  bull 
of  Gregory  XIII.  forbids  persons  to  paint 
or  gild  any  Agnus  Dei  blessed  by  the  Pope, 
under  pain  of  excommunication.^ 

AIiB.  A  vestment  of  white  linen, 
reaching  from  head  to  foot  and  with 
sleeves,  which  the  priest  puts  on  before 
saying  IN^ass,  with  the  prayer — '*  Make  me 
white,  0  Lord,  and  cleanse  me,"  &c.  It 
sprang  from  the  under-garment  (the  tunica, 
or  TTohrjprjs)  of  the  Romans  and  Greeks, 
which  was  usually  white,  although  alba 
does  not  occur  as  a  technical  term  for  the 
white  tunic  till  nearly  the  end  of  the  third 
centuiy.  The  Greek  under-garment  had 
sleeves,  and  it  w^as  this  which  the  Chris- 
tians adopted  for  ecclesiastical  use.  The 
alb  was  adopted  for  Church  use  from 
early  times.  Eusebius  speaks  of  bishops 
clothed  in  the  holy  nohr,pr]s,  A  canon 
attributed  to  the  Fourth  Council  of  Car- 
thage, 398,  and  which  certainly  belongs 
to  that  period,  orders  deacons  to  use  the 
alb  "  only  at  the  time  of  the  oblation  or 
of  reading."  In  589,  the  Council  of  Nar- 
bonne  forbade  deacons,  subdeacons,  or 
lectores  to  put  off  the  alb  before  the  end 
of  Mass.  At  the  same  time,  long  after 
this  date  the  alb  continued  to  be  worn,  at 
least  by  clerics,  in  daily  life.  Thus,  in 
889,  a  Bishop  of  Soisson  forbids  an  eccle- 
siastic to  use  at  Mass  the  same  alb  which 
he  is  accustomed  to  wear  at  home. 

The  shape  of  the  alb  has  remained 
much  as  it  was,  for  it  is  a  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  it  ever  was  a  tight-fitting  gar- 
ment. As  a  rule,  too,  it  was  always  made 
of  linen,  whence  it  is  often  called  linea, 
but  it  was  sometimes  made  of  silk,  and 
adorned  with  gold  and  with  figures.  It 
was  also  in  ancient  times  ornamented  with 
stripes  of  purple  or  gold.  Another  ancient 
ornament  of  the  alb  consisted  in  the  joara- 
tu7-a,  which  was  in  use  from  the  eleventh 
to  the  sixteenth  century.  This  paratura 
(from  2}arare,  to  adorn  :  French,  parure) 
was  a  square  piece  of  coloured  embroidery 
from  half  a  foot  to  one  foot  in  length, 
sewed  on  at  four  places  in  the  alb. 

The  mystical  meaning  of  this  vestment 

1  Fleury,  xlvii.  36. 

«  St.  Liguori,  Theol  Moral  vii.  n.  209. 


is  plainly  indicated  by  the  prayer  given 
above.     (Hefele,  "  Beitrage,"  &c.) 

AIiBIGEXTSES.  These  heretics  were 
so  named  from  the  town  of  Alby  in  Lan- 
guedoc,  where  a  Council  was  held  in  1176 
which  condemned  their  doctrines.  They 
owed  their  Manichsean  tenets  to  the  Pauli- 
cian  sect,  which,  originally  formed  in  Ar- 
menia in  tlie  eighth  century,  was  exiled 
to  Bulgaria,  and,  becoming  very  powerful 
there,  gradually  extended  its  numbers  and 
influence  up  the  valley  of  the  Danube,  and 
passed  out  of  Swabia  into  the  south-east 
of  France.  Their  teachers  assumed  a 
great  simplicity  of  manners,  dress,  and 
mode  of  life ;  they  inveighed  against  the 
vices  and  w^orldliness  of  the  clergy;  and 
there  was  sufficient  truth  in  these  censures 
to  dispose  their  hearers  to  believe  what 
they  advanced  and  reject  what  they  de- 
cried. They  taught  the  well-known  doc- 
trine of  the  Manichseaus,  that  there  are 
two  opposing  creative  principles,  one  good, 
the  other  evil ;  the  invisible  world  pro- 
ceeding from  the  former,  the  body  and  all 
material  things  from  the  latter.'  They 
also  rejected  the  Old  Testament,  said  that 
infant  baptism  was  useless,  and  denied 
marriage  to  the  "  perfect,'*  as  they  called 
their  more  austere  members.  The  con- 
demnation of  their  tenets  by  the  Council 
of  Alby  produced  little  or  no  effect ;  they 
still  multiplied  and  spread  ;  and  Raymond 
VI.,  Count  of  Toulouse,  protected  them. 
Innocent  III.  sent  Peter  of  Castelnau  to 
Languedoc,  as  his  legate,  to  oppose  the 
spread  of  the  mischief.  In  1206  Diego, 
the  holy  Bishop  of  Osniaiu  Spain,  attended 
by  Dominic  his  sub-prior,  engaijed  in  a 
mission  in  the  south  of  France,  the  result 
of  which  was  to  bring  back  great  numbers 
to  the  Catholic  faith.  The  legate  having 
been  murdered  in  1208  by  a  servMut  of  the 
Count  of  Toulouse,  Innocent  proclaimed  a 
crusade  or  holy  war,  with  indulgences, 
against  the  Albigensian  heretics,  and  re- 
quested Philip  II.,  the  King  of  France,  to 
put  himself  at  its  head.  The  king  refused, 
but  permitted  any  of  his  vassals  to  join  it 
who  chose.  An  army  was  collected,  com- 
posed largely  of  desperadoes,  mercenary 
soldiers,  and  adventurers  of  every  descrip- 
tion, whose  sole  object  was  plunder.  Ray- 
mond, in  (Treat  fear,  not  only  promised  all 
that  was  demanded  of  hitii,  but  assumed 
the  Cross  himself  against  his  proteffSs. 
The  war  opened  in  1209  with  the  siege  of 

^  Protestant  writers  have  denied  this,  but 
it  has  been  conclusively  established  by,  among 
others,  Mr.  Hallam,  in  his  History  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  ch.  ix.  part  2. 


ALEXANDRIA 

Beziers  and  the  massacre  of  its  inhalDi- 
tants.  Simon  de  Montfort,  the  father  of 
the  famons  Earl  of  Leicester,  was  made 
Count  of  the  territories  conquered.  The 
war  lasted  many  years  and  became  politi- 
cal ;  in  its  progress  great  atrocities  were 
committed,  Languedoc  was  laid  desolate, 
and  the  Provencal  civilisation  destroyed. 
Peace  was  made  in  1227,  and  the  tribunal 
of  the  Inquisition  established  soon  after. 
St.  Dominic,  who  preached  zealously  in 
Languedoc  while  the  w^ar  was  proceeding, 
and  founded  his  celebrated  Order  in 
1215,  is  thought  by  some  to  have  been 
the  tirst  Inquisitor;  but  this  seems  to  be 
a  mistake.  (Gibbon,  liv. ;  Eleury,  Ixxii.). 
AIiSXAIO-DRZA  (Church  of).  The 
foundation  of  this  Church  by  Mark  the 
Evangelist,  the  ep^rjvevriis  Tlerpov,  as 
he  is  called  by  Papias,  has  been  already 
noticed  [African  Church].  The  names 
of  eighteen  bishops  of  Alexandria  between 
St.  Mark  and  St.  Athanasius  are  on  re- 
cord, but  little  is  known  about  most  of 
them.  Demetrius,  who  died  in  234,  is 
knowm  as  having  been  the  great  Origen's 
bishop,  who  first  favoured  and  afterwards 
persecuted  that  extraordinary  man.  The 
eighteenth  in  succession  to  St.  Mark  was 
Alexander,  one  of  the  fathers  who  sat  at 
Nicsea.  Under  him  arose  the  Arian  con- 
troversy [Artans,  AriusI.  Athanasius 
{see  that  article)  succeeded  Alexander  in 
326,  and  after  battling  with  Arianism  for 
more  than  forty  years,  passed  the  close  of 
his  stormy  life  in  peace,  dying  in  373. 
Even  in  the  fourth  century,  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  people  of  Alexandria  were 
idolaters,  as  is  shown  by  the  story  of 
George  the  intrusive  Arian  bishop,  mur- 
dered in  a  popular  rising  because  he  was 
believed  lo  have  insulted  some  of  the 
heathen  rites.  In  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries  Monophysite  bishops  had  pos- 
session from  time  to  time  of  the  see  of 
Alexandria,  which  now  began  to  be  called 
a  patriarchate  [Patriarchate].  The 
people  of  Egypt  became  generally  at- 
tached, with  the  greater  part  of  their 
clergy,  to  the  doctrine  of  one  nature  in 
Christ,  and  rejected  the  decrees  of 
Chalcedon.  But  these  decrees,  after  a 
long  period  of  more  or  less  direct  opposi- 
tion, were  espoused  by  the  Byzantine 
emperors,  and  imposed  by  force  on  all  the 
countries  under  their  rule.  Hence  it 
happened  that  the  Coptic  Monophvsites, 
when  Amrou,  the  lieutenant  of  Omar, 
invaded  Egypt  in  638,  were  in  the  posi- 
tion of  an  oppressed  sect,  and  they 
eagerly  joined  their  forces  to  those  of  the 


ALEXANDRIA 


19 


Arabs  in  order  to  drive  oat  the  Greek 
officials  and  the  orthodox  creed.  From 
that  time  the  patriarchate  of  Alexandria 
has  been  Monophysite,  and  severed  from 
Catholic  communion.  Alexandria  having 
again  become  a  place  of  considerable 
trade,  there  is  now  a  fair  sprinkling  of 
Catholics  in  the  population,  for  whom 
Gregory  XVI.  created  a  Vicariate.  On 
the  present  Patriarch  of  Alexandria  of 
the  Latin  rite,  see  Patriarch. 

AlESXAN-DRIil.  (School  of).  Found- 
ed by  Alexander  the  Great  about  a.d. 
330,  Alexandria  rapidly  grew  in  popula- 
tion and  wealth,  and  numbered,  towards 
the  Christian  era,  more  than  six  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants.'  Under  the 
Ptolemies  Greek  literature  flourished  there 
with  extraordinary  brilliancy  in  every 
department  of  thought.  The  Jews,  who 
settled  there  in  great  numbers,  struck  by 
the  fecundity  of  the  Greek  mind,  strove 
to  turn  it  from  its  errors,  and  convert  it 
to  the  belief  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead. 
The  Hebrew  Scriptures  were  under  this 
impulse  translated  into  Greek  [Septua- 
gint  Version],  and  a  school  of  eminent 
writers  arose,  among  whom  the  most 
distinguished  were  Philo  and  Josephus. 
In  a  place  so  full  of  learning  and  intellec- 
tual strife,  Christianity  could  only  hold 
its  ground,  after  being  once  planted,  by 
entering  seriously  into  the  philosophical 
debate,  and  justifying,  by  arguments 
which  the  learned  would  appreciate,  the 
wisdom  of  God  in  the  revelation  through 
Christ.  Hence  arose  the  Christian  school 
of  Alexandria,  the  great  lights  of  which 
— Pantsenus,  Origen,  and  Clement — lived 
in  the  third  century.  Among  the  numer- 
ous works  of  Origen  the  most  celebrated 
are  his  commentaries  on  Scripture  (he 
was  the  founder  of  Biblical  ciiticism),  the 
"Principia"andthebook8"ContraCelsum." 
Clement  is  known  chiefly  as  the  author  of 
the  "Pedagogus"  and  the  "Stromata." 
The  latter  (the  name  means  "  hangings," 
"  tapestries  ")  is  a  multifarious  treatise,  in 
which  he  professes  to  fashion  a  web  of 
Christian  philosophy,  discussing  the  con- 
duct and  the  sentiments  which  should 
belong  to  a  Christian  in  all  the  more 
important  relations  and  emergencies  of 
life.  The  rise  of  Arianism,  and  the  con- 
flicts to  w^hich  it  led,  checked  the  pros- 
perity of  the  School  of  Alexandria.  St. 
Athanasius  writes  rather  as  a  worker 
than  as  a  thinker,  and  after  him  no  great 
name  occurs  till  that  of  Cjril  of  Alex- 


1  Gibbon,  ch.  x. 


c2 


20       ALLEGORICAL  SENSE 

andria,  who,  though  not  inactive   as   a 
writer,    employed    his    stern    will     and 
vigorous  intellect  chiefly  in  repressing  all 
dissent  from  the  creed  of  Ephesus  (430). 
AIiIiEGORZCAXi      SENSE.         [See 

Mystical  Sense.] 

AXi]LEIiXJXA.  From  two  Hebrew 
words  united  by  a  hyphen,  meaning 
*♦  praise  Jah,"  or  "  praise  the  Lord."  It 
occurs  frequently  in  the  last  fifty  psalms, 
but  nowhere  else  in  the  Old  Testament, 
except  Tobias,  c.  13.  In  the  Apocalypse, 
St.  John  mentions  that  he  heard  the 
angels  singing  it  in  heaven.  The  early 
Christians  kept  the  word  in  its  original 
Hebrew  form,  and  we  know  from  St. 
Jerome  that  children  were  taught  to  pro- 
nounce it  as  soon  as  they  could  speak, 
while  it  was  sung  during  his  time  by  the 
Christian  coantry-people  in  Palestine,  as 
they  drove  the  plough. 

According  to  Sozomen,  the  Roman 
Church  did  not  use  it  in  her  public 
services,  except  on  Easter  Sunday.  At 
present,  it  constantly  occurs  in  the  Roman 
Mass  and  office ;  indeed,  it  is  always  used 
in  the  Mass  between  the  Epistle  and 
Gospel  except  at  certain  times  when  the 
Church  omits  it  altogether,  as  a  sign  of 
mourning.  It  is  thus  omitted  from 
Septuagesima  to  Holy  Saturday  ;  in  ferial 
Masses  during  Advent ;  on  the  feast  of  the 
Holy  Innocents,  unless  it  falls  on  a  Sunday ; 
and  on  all  vigils  which  are  fasting-days,  if 
the  Mass  of  the  vigil  be  said.  It  is,  how- 
ever, used  in  the  Mass  on  the  vigil  of 
Easter  (Holy  Saturday)  and  of  Pentecost, 
because  the  Masses  were  anciently  said  at 
night,  and  belonged  to  tlie  solemnity  of 
the  respective  feasts.  (Benedict  XIV. 
«  De  Miss."  ii.  5.) 

AIi^  SAimTS.  As  early  as  the 
fourth  century,  the  Greeks  kept  on  the 
first  Sunday  after  Pentecost  the  feast  of 
all  martyrs  and  saints,  and  we  still 
possess  a' sermon  of  St.  Ohrysostom  de- 
livered on  that  day.  In  the  West,  the 
feast  was  introduced  by  Pope  Boniface 
the  Fourth  after  he  had  dedicated,  as  the 
Church  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the 
Martyrs,  the  Pantheon,  which  had  been 
made  over  to  him  by  the  Emperor  Phocas. 
The  feast  of  the  dedication  was  kept  on 
the  thii'teenth  of  May.  About  731  Gregory 
III.  consecrated  a  chapel  in  St.  Peter's 
Church  in  honour  of  all  the  saints,  from 
which  time  All  Saints'  Day  has  been  kept 
in  Rome,  as  now,  on  the  first  of  Novem- 
laer.  From  about  the  middle  of  the  ninth 
century,  the  feast  came  into  general  ol> 
servance  throughout  the  West.     It  ranks 


ALL  SOULS  DAY 

as  a  double  of  the  first  class  with  an 
octave. 

AI.Ii  SOTTI.S  DAY.  A  solemn 
commemoration  of,  and  prayer  for,  a.l  the 
souls  in  Purgatory,  which  the  Church 
makes  on  the  second  of  November.  The 
Mass  said  on  that  day  is  always  the  Mass 
of  the  dead,  priests  and  others  who  are 
under  obligation  of  reciting  the  breviary 
are  required  to  say  the  matins  and  lauds 
from  the  office  of  the  dead  in  addition  to 
the  office  which  is  said  on  that  day  ac- 
cording to  the  ordinary  com*se,  and  the 
vespers  of  the  dead  are  said  on  the  first  of 
November,  immediately  after  the  vespers 
of  All  Saints.  This  solemnity  owes  its 
origin  to  the  Abbot  Odilo  of  Olugny, 
who  instituted  it  for  all  the  monasteries  of 
his  congregation,  in  the  year  998.  Some 
authors  think  there  are  traces  at  least  of 
a  local  celebration  of  this  day  before 
Odilo's  time.  With  the  Greeks  Satm-day 
was  a  day  of  special  prayer  for  the  dead, 
particularly  the  Saturday  before  Lent  and 
that  which  preceded  Pentecost.  (Thomas- 
sin,  "  Trait6  des  Festes,"  liv.  ii.  ch.  21.) 

AIilMCS  (from  eXerjiioo-vvT)),  Originally 
a  work  of  mercy,  spiritual  or  temporal, 
and  then  used  to  denote  material  gifts 
bestowed  on  the  poor. 

Almsgiving  is  frequently  and  urgently 
enjoined  in  the  Old  Testament.^  So 
highly  did  the  Jews  think  of  this  duty, 
that  in  Ohaldee  almsgiving  is  expressed 
by  a  word  which  signifies  justice  or 
righteousness,  and  in  the  LXX  the  word 
€\€T]fiO(rvvT)  or  "  almsgivmg "  is  often 
used  to  translate  the  Hebrew  for  justice 
or  righteousness.  In  the  New  Testament 
Christ  makes  almsdeeds  in  those  who  are 
able  to  perform  them  an  absolute  condition 
of  salvation.^  St.  Paul  exhorts  the  faith- 
ful to  lay  by  every  week  something  for  the 
needs  of  the  poor ;  and  the  numerous  reli- 
gious orders  which  devote  themselves 
chiefly  or  in  part  to  the  care  of  the  poor, 
prove  that  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  His 
Apostles  still  animates  the  Church. 

All  are  of  course  strictly  bound  to  re- 
lieve the  poor,  when  they  are  in  extreme 
necessity — i.e.  when  they  are  in  proximate 
danger  of  death,  or  grievous  sickness 
through  want.  Besides  this,  St.  Liguori 
teaches,  that  persons  are  bound  out  of 
that  part  of  their  income  which  remains 
over  when  they  have  made  suitable  pro- 
vision for  themselves  and  their  familieg, 
to  relieve  the  ordinary  necessities  of  the 

»  E.g.,  Levit.  xix.  9,  10;  xxiii.  22;  Deut. 
XV.  11. 

2  Matt.  XXV.  34,  seq. 


ALMONER 

poor.  The  sum  which  a  rich  man  is 
strictly  bound  to  give  in  charity  must 
vary  in  varvinj^  circumstances,  and  can 
never  be  fixed  exactly,  but,  apart  from 
strict  obligation,  the  blessings  promised 
to  generous  almsgiving  for  tlie  love  of 
God,  will  always  prove  a  strong  incentive 
with  the  Christian  soul.  Ecclesiastics 
are  bound  to  spend  all  the  revenues  of 
their  benefices,  except  what  is  required  for 
their  own  maintenance,  in  pious  uses. 
The  poor  of  the  place,  if  they  are  in 
serious  need,  must  be  considered  tirst,^  and 
if  the  cure  of  souls  is  attached  to  the 
benefice,  the  cleric  who  holds  it  is  bound 
to  seek  out  the  poor  in  his  district.  (St. 
Liguor.  "  Theol.'^  lib.  iii.  31,  seq.,  lib.  iv. 
497.) 

.A-XiIMCOXBR  {eleemosynarius).  An 
ecclesiastic  at  the  court  of  a  king  or 
prince,  or  in  a  noble  mansion,  having 
the  charge  of  the  distribution  of  alms. 
From  the  fourteenth  century  the  office  of 
Grand  Almoner  in  France  rose  into  even 
greater  importance,  because  this  officer 
had  the  charge  of  the  king's  ecclesiastical 
patronage.  The  Revolution  swept  it 
away;  under  the  Second  Empire  it  re- 
appeared ;  but  it  probably  has  not  sur- 
vived Sedan.  One  of  the  Anglican  bishops 
has  the  title  of  Lord  High  Almoner,  and 
dispenses  the  sovereign's  alms.  Army 
chaplains  are  called  almoners  in  France  ; 
the  aumonie)'  de  la  Jlotte  is  a  functionary 
of  considerable  importance,  on  whose 
nomination  chaplains  are  appointed  to 
ships,  and  also  to  hospitals. 

AXtOGI.  A  name  given  by  Epiphanius 
to  heretics  who  denied  the  doctrine  of  the 
Word  (Aoyof)  and  rejected  St.  John's 
writings  (i.e.  the  Apocalypse  as  well  as 
the  Gospel)  on  the  ground  that  they  did 
not  agree  with  the  rest  of  Scripture. 
Epiphanius  speaks  of  Theodotus  of  By- 
zantium as  an  offshoot  of  this  sect.  This 
man,  known  as  Theodotus  the  tanner, 
held  that  Jesus  was  a  mere  man,  born, 
however,  miraculously  of  a  virgin  ;  that 
Christ  was  united  to  him  at  his  baptism, 
descending  on  him  as  a  dove  and  confer- 
ring supernatural  powers.  Artemon 
taught  the  same  doctrine.  The  heretics 
claimed  to  have  the  early  Roman  Church 
on  their  side,  alleging  that  it  had  been 
corrupted  by  Zephyrinus,  an  assertion, 
as  a  contemporary  writer  quoted  by  Euse- 
bius  observe.*,  abundantlj^  confuted  by  the 
writings  of  the  first  Christians,  and  the 
hymns  in  which  '^from  the  beginning'' 
Christ  had  been  called  God.     Theodotus 

1  So  at  least  some  grave  authors  say. 


ALTAR 


21 


was  excommunicated  by  Pope  Victor  at 
the  end  of  the  second  century.  Theodotus 
the  money-changer,  taught  similar  doc- 
trine, with  the  addition  of  certain  Gnostic 
extravagances.  He  made  Christ  an  aeon 
who  had  descended  on  Jesus,  Melchisedec 
an  aeon  superior  to  Christ.' 

Eusebius,  with  otheranicent  authorities, 
speaks  of  Paul  of  Samosata  as  renewing 
the  error  of  Artemon.  Paul,  bishop  of 
Antioch,  was  notorious  for  his  avarice, 
love  of  worldly  pomp  and  irregular  life. 
He  conceived  of  the  Word  and  Holy 
Ghost  as  mere  attributes  of  God,  not 
divine  Persons.  Jesus  was  a  mere  man, 
born  of  a  virgin  and  enlightened  in  an  extra- 
ordinary degi'ee  by  the  Word  or  Wisdom 
of  God.  After  twice  deceiving  the  bishops 
assembled  in  council  at  Antioch  by  false 
statements  and  false  promises,  he  was 
deposed  at  a  third  Antiochene  council  in 
269.^     [See   Antioch,  Councils  of.] 

Similarly  Beryllus,  bishop  of  Bostra 
in  Arabia,  denied  the  pre-existence  and 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  bishops 
who  met  in  council  against  him  called  in 
Origen  to  their  help,  and  the  latter  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  back  Beryllus  to  the 
truth.3 

AI.TAR.  The  Hebrew  word  n^ltp 
whichjis  usually  translated  "  altar,"  means 
literally  "  a  place  for  sacrifice ; "  and  in 
the  New  Testament  its  equivalent  is 
dvataa-Trjpiov.  The  sacred  writers  avoid 
the  common  Greek  word  for  altar, /3co/mo'?,^ 
"  a  raised  place,"  adopting  the  unclassical 
word  Svaiaa-TTipiov,  because  by  doing  so 
they  avoided  the  heathen  associations  con- 
nected with  the  common  Greek  term,  be- 
sides expressing  much  more  distinctly  the 
purpose  of  sacrifice  for  which  an  altar  is 
built.  Whether  the  Christian  altar  is 
mentioned  by  name  in  the  Bible  is  doubt- 
ful. There  is  some  ground  for  supposing 
that  it  is  referred  to  in  Matt,  v.  23,  and 
in  Hebrews  xiii.  10.  It  has  been  argued 
that  when  our  Lord  imposes  a  precept  of 
forgiveness  before  the  gift  is  presented  at 
the  altar,  he  did  not  mean  to  give  the  Jews 
a  new  law  with  regard  to  their  sacrifices, 
which  were  soon  to  pass  away,  but  to 
establish  the  .indissoluble  connection  be- 
tween the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice  of  his 
Church  and  brotherly  love.  Similarly,  it 
is  urged  that  when  the  writer  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  asserts  "we  have  an  altar, 

1  Euseb.  V.  28  ;  Phihsophum.  vii,  35,  36, 

2  Hefele,  QmciUengeschichte,  i.  135  seq. 

3  Euseb.  Hist.  vi.  33, 

4  Bwfxbg  occurs  only  once  in  the  X.  T.,  and 
then  of  a  heathen  altar;  Acts  xvii-  ? 


22 


ALTAR 


of  which  they  have  no  right  to  eat  who 
serve  the  taherriacle,"  he  is  setting  altar 
against  altar,  and  declaring  the  impossi- 
bility of  partaking  in  the  Jewish  sacrificial 
feastiugs  and  joining  at  the  same  time  in 
the  sacrificial  banquet  of  the  new  law^. 
It  is  certainly  difficult  to  understand  the 
"  altar "  as  the  altar  of  the  cross,  which 
is  never  once  called  an  altar  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  though,  of  course,  an  altar 
it  indisputably  is,  still  nobody  ate  of  the 
sacrifice  offered  on  it.  At  the  same  time, 
these  interpretations  are  by  no  means  held 
by  all  Catholic  commentators.^ 

However  it  may  stand  with  the  name, 
the  existence  of  the  thing  is  implied  in  the 
New  Testament  doctrine  of  sacrifice  [see 
Mass],  and  the  name  occurs  in  the  very 
earliest  Christian  writers.  "Thei-e  is  one 
desh,"  says  St.  Ignatius  the  disciple  of  St. 
John,  "  one  flesh  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  one  chalice  for  union  with  bis  blood, 
one  altar  (Ova-uKrrrjpiop),  as  one  bishop.'"^ 
So  Tertullian  descrilaes  Christians  as  stand- 
ing at  "  the  altar  of  God ; "  ^  and  the  same 
word  "  altar  "  is  used  in  the  Apostolic  Con- 
stitutions and  in  the  ancient  litm-gies. 
These  testimonies  are  in  no  way  weakened 
by  passages  in  Miuucius  Felix  and  Arnobius, 
who  in  their  controversies  with  Pagans 
deny  the  existence  of  Christian  •  altars. 
Obviously,  they  deny  that  altars  such  as 
the  Pagan  ones  were  in  use  among  Chris- 
tians ;  just  as  one  of  these  authors  allows 
that  there  w-ere  no  temples  among  Chris- 
tians, though  churches  are  distinctly  re- 
cognised in  the  edicts  of  the  Diocletian  era, 
and  are  known  to  have  existed  at  a  still 
earlier  date.* 

In  early  times  the  altar  was  more 
usually  of  wood ;  and  an  altar  of  this  kind 
is  still  preserved  in  the  church  of  St.  John 
Lateran  at  Rome,  on  which  St.  Peter  is 
said  to  have  celebrated  Mass.^  But  the 
tombs  of  martyrs  in  the  Catacombs  and 
elsewhere  were  also  used  for  the  Holy 
Sacrifice,  the  slab  of  marble  which  covered 
the  sepulchre  serving  as  the  altar-table ; 
and  for  almost  fourteen  centuries,  that 
part  of  the  altar  on  which  the  Eucharist 
IS  consecrated  has  always  been  of  stone  or 

1  Maldonatns  ipnores  that  given  ahove,  of 
Matt.  V.  23.  Estius,  following'  St.  Thomas, 
distinctly  rejects  that  of  Heb.  xiii.  10. 

2  Phi/ud.  4. 

5   De  Orat.  19. 

*  Cardinal  Newman's  Devehrpmcnt,  27. 

*  It  is  encldsed  in  the  Papal  altar  of  this 
church,  excej)r  a  portion  of  it,  which  is  pre- 
served in  the  church  of  St.  Pudentiana  :  eo,  at 
least,  says  the  writer  of  the  article  "Altar"  in 
Kxaus'  Real  Encyclopddie. 


ALTAR 

marble.  After  the  time  of  Oonstantine, 
when  sumptuous  churches  were  erected, 
careful  arrangements  w^ere  made  for  the 
position  of  the  altar.  It  did  not  lean  as 
it  often  does  now  against  the  sanctuary 
wall,  but  stood  out  with  a  space  round  it, 
so  that  the  bishop  when  celebrating  Mass 
looked  towards  the  people.  Thus  the 
altar  looked  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
portals  of  the  church,  and  often  both 
were  turned  towards  the  east.  This  an- 
.cient  arrangement  is  still  exemplified  by 
the  "  Papal "  altars  in  the  Roman  basilicas, 
but  particularly  in  St.  Peter's,  where  the 
Pope  still  says  Mass  on  the  great  Festivals, 
looking  at  one  and  the  same  time  to  the 
people,  to  the  portals  of  the  church,  and 
to  the  east.^  The  altars  in  the  Catacombs 
were  still  employed,  but  even  new  altars 
were  sanctified  by  relics,  a  custom  to 
which  so  much  importance  was  attributed 
that  St.  Ambrose  would  not  consecrate  an 
altar  till  he  found  relics  to  place  in  it. 
Then,  as  now,  the  altar  was  covered  with 
linen  cloths,  which,  as  appears  from  a 
rubric  in  the  Sacramentary  of  St.  Gela- 
sius,  were  first  blessed  and  consecrated. 
It  was  surmounted  by  a  canopy,  supported 
by  columns  between  which  veils  or  cur- 
tains were  often  hung,  and  on  great  festi- 
vals it  was  adorned  vnth.  the  sacred  vessels 
placed  upon  it  in  rows,  and  with  flowers. 
The  cross  was  placed  over  the  canopy,  or 
else  rested  immediately  on  the  altar  itself. 
The  language  and  the  actions  of  the  early 
Christians  alike  bespeak  the  reverence  in 
which  the  altar  was  held.  It  was  called 
"  the  holv,"  "  the  divine  table,"  '*  the  altar 
of  Christ^,"  "  the  table  of  the  Lord.'  The 
faithful  bowed  towards  it  as  they  entered 
the  church  ;  it  was  known  as  the  aavKos 
rpan-f^a,  or  "table  of  asylum,"  from 
which  not  even  criminals  could  be  forced 
away.^  Finally,  before  the  altar  was  used, 
it  was  solemnly  consecrated  by  the  bishop 
with  the  chrism.  The  date  at  which  this 
custom  was  introduced  cannot  be  accu- 
rately determined ;  but  the  Council  of 
Agde,  or  Agatha,  in  Southern  Gaul,  held 
in  the  year  606,  speaks  of  this  custom  as 
familiar  to  everybody.* 

The  rubrics  prefixed  to  the  Roman 
Missal  contain  the  present  law  of  the 
Church  with  regard  to  the  altar.  It  must 
consist  of  stone,  or  at  least  must  contain 
an  altar-stone  large  enough  to  hold  the 


*  Rock,  Hierurgia,  497,  seq. 
'  Synod  of  Orange,  anno  441.     Hefele,  CbiH 
cilienqeschichte,  ii.  p.  293. 
3  Hefele,  ibid.  p.  653. 


ALTAR-BREADS 

Host  aLd  the  greater  part  of  the  chalice; 
and  this  altar^  or  the  altar-stone,  must 
have  heen  consecrated  by  a  bishop,  or  by 
an  abbot  who  has  received  the  requisite 
faculties  from  the  Holy  See.  [See  CoN- 
BECRATiON  OP  ALTARS.]  The  altar  is  to 
be  covered  with  three  cloths,  also  blessed 
by  the  bishop,  or  by  a  priest  with  special 
faculties.  One  of  these  cloths  should  reach 
to  the  ground,  the  other  two  are  to  be 
shorter,  or  else  one  cloth  doubled  may 
replace  the  two  shorter  ones.  If  possible, 
there  is  to  be  a  "  pallium,"  or  frontal,  on 
the  altar,  varying  in  colour  according  to 
the  feast  or  season.  A  crucifix  ^  is  to 
be  set  on  the  altar,  between  two  candle- 
sticks :  the  Missal  placed  on  a  cushion,  at 
the  right-hand  side  looking  towards  the 
altar:  under  the  crucifix  there  ought  to 
be  an  altar-card,^  with  certain  prayers 
which  the  priest  cannot  read  from  the 
Missal  without  inconvenience. 

With  regard  to  the  number  of  altars 
in  a  church,  Gavantus  says  that  originally, 
even  in  the  West,  one  church  contained 
only  one  altar.  On  this  altar,  however, 
the  same  author  continues,  several  Masses 
were  said  on  the  same  day,  in  proof  of 
which  he  appeals  to  the  Sacramentary  of 
Leo.  He  adds  that  even  in  the  fourth 
century  the  church  of  Milan  contained 
several  altars,  as  appears  from  a  letter  of 
St.  Ambrose,  and  he  quotes  other  examples 
from  the  French  Church  in  the  sixth 
century. 

A£TAXl-BRZ:i)LDS  are  round  wafers 
made  of  fine  wheaten  Hour,  specially  pre- 
pared for  consecration  in  the  Mass.  The 
altar-breads  according  to  the  Latin  use 
(followed  also  by  the  Maronites  and  Ar- 
menians) must  be  unleavened.  They  are 
usually  stamped  with  a  figure  of  Christ 
crucified,  or  with  the  I  H  S.  They  are 
of  two  sizes:  one  larger,  which  the  priest 
himself  consecrates  and  receives,  or  else 
reserves  for  the  Benediction  with  the 
Blessed  Sacrament ;  the  other  smaller,  con- 
secrated for  the  communion  of  the  faith- 
ful. 

The  practice  of  stamping  altar-breads 
-with  the  cross  or  I H  S  seems  to  be  ancient, 
and  is  widely  diffused.  Merati  mentions 
the  fact  that  the  cross  is  stamped  on  the 

^  The  rubric  says  only  a  cross,  but  a  cruci- 
fix is  prescribed  by  subsequent  decrees  of  the 
Congregation  of  Rites.  Liguor.  Theol  Mor.  vi.  n. 
393. 

2  Tahella  secretarvm,  in  use  since  the  six- 
teenth centur}\  The  rubric  mentions  one  under 
the  cross,  but  now  two  others  are  placed,  one 
at  each  end  of  the  altar. 


AMEN 


28 


altar-breads  used  by  Greek,  Syrian,  and 
Alexandrian  (Coptic  ?)  Christians. 

AIiTAR-CI.OTHS.  The  rubrics  o 
the  Missal  require  three  fair  cloths  to  be 
placed  on  the  altar,  or  two  cloths  of  which 
one  is  doubled.  They  must  be  blessed  by 
the  bishop,  or  by  a  priest  with  special 
faculties.  In  the  fourth  century  St.  Opta- 
tus  speaks  of  the  linen  cloth  placed  on  the 
altar  as  usual  in  his  time,  and  Pope  Sil- 
vester is  said  to  have  made  it  a  law  that 
the  altar-cloth  should  be  of  linen.  Men- 
tion, however,  is  made  by  Paulus  Silen- 
tiarius  of  purple  altar-cloths,  and,  in  fact, 
both  the  material  and  the  number  of  these 
cloths  seem  to  have  varied  in  early  times. 
(See  Rock,  "  Hierurgia,"  p.  503  ;  Kraus, 
"  Archfeol.  Diet.'''— Alt  art  ilcher.) 

AlmTATLt  STRIPPZirG  OF.  [See 
Holy  Week.  ] 

AMBO  (Gr.  dva^aiueiv,  to  ascend). 
A  raised  platform  in  the  nave  of  early 
Christian  churches,  surrounded  by  a  low 
wall ;  steps  It^d  up  to  it  from  the  east  and 
west  sides.  The  place  on  it  where  the 
Gospel  was  read  was  higher  than  that 
used  for  reading  the  Epistle.  All  church 
notices  were  read  from  it ;  here  edicts  and 
excommunications  were  given  out ;  hither 
came  heretics  to  make  their  recantation ; 
here  the  Scriptures  were  read,  and  sermons 
preached.  It  was  gradually  superseded  by 
the  modern  pulpit.  A  good  example  of 
the  "  ambo  "  may  be  seen  iu  the  church  of 
San  Olemente  at  Rome.     (Ferr.^ris.) 

AZVIBROSZAN-  CHAXTT.  [SeePlAlN 

Chant.] 

AMBROSZAUr  IiITURGlT.    An  an- 

cie]it  Ijiturgy  still  used  in  the  church  of 
Milan  instead  of  the  Roman  Mass,  from 
which  it  differs  in  many  striking  points. 
We  read  in  Walafrid  Strabo,  an  author 
of  the  ninth  century,  that  St.  Ambrose 
regulated  the  Mass  and  Office  of  his  church 
at  Milan,  but  some  parts  of  this  rite  are 
older  than  St.  Ambrose,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Ambrosian  Missal  Contains  great 
additions  which  date  from  St.  Gregory  the 
Great.  According  to  the  Ambrosian  rite, 
there  is  no  Mass  for  the  Fridays  in  Lent ; 
and  the  offering  of  bread  and  wine  by  the 
people  for  the  sacrifice  is  still  retained  in 
solemn  Masses.  The  Ambrosian  rite  was 
confirmed  by  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  in  1 497, 
and  is  still  retained.  (Ceillier,  "  Auteurs 
Sacr^s,"  tom.  xiii.  c.  I) 

AlMtEsr.  A  Hebrew  word  signifying 
"truly,"  "certainly."  It  is  preserved  in 
its  original  form  by  the  New  Testament 
writers,  and  by  the  Church  in  her  Liturgy, 
According  to  Benedict  XIV.,  it  indicates 


24 


A^IICE 


ANGEL 


assent  to  a  truth.,  or  it  is  the  expression  of 
a  desire,  and  equivalent  to  yevotro,  "so 
be  it."  1 

"  Amen  "  signifies  assent  when  uSed  at 
the  end  of  the  Creeds.  In  the  ancient 
Church  the  communicants  used  it  as  an 
expression  of  their  faith  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament.  Thus  we  read  in  the  Apos- 
tolic (JonstitutioDs  ^  — "  Let  the  bishop 
give  the  oblation,  saying,  *  The  Body  of 
Christ,'  and  let  the  recipient  say, '  Amen.' '' 
St.  Ambrose  explains  the  "  Amen  "  used 
thus  in  communicating  as  meaning  "  it  is 
true." 

At  the  end  of  prayers  "  Amen  "  signi- 
fies our  desire  of  obtaining  what  we  ask. 
Thus  it  is  said  by  the  server,  after  the 
collects  in  the  Mass,  as  a  sign  that  the 
faithful  unite  their  petitions  to  those  of 
the  priest.  In  Justin's  time,  the  people 
themselves  answered  '^  Amen"  as  the  priest 
finished  the  prayers  and  thanksgivings  in 
the  Mass,  and  was  about  to  distribute  the 
Holy  Communion.^ 

AMICi:  {Amictiis.  Called  also  "  hu- 
merale,"  '^  superhumerale,"  "  anaboladi- 
um,"  i'rom  dva^aXKciv,  and,  in  a  corrupt 
form,  "  anabolagium  ").  A  piece  of  fine 
linen,  oblong  in  shape,  which  the  priest 
who  is  to  say  Mass  rests  for  a  moment  on 
his  head  and  then  spreads  on  his  shoulders, 
reciting  the  prayer — "  Place  on  my  head, 
0  Lord,  the  helmet  of  salvation,"  &c. 

For  many  centuries  priests  celebrated 
with  baf-e  neck,  as  may  be  seen  from 
many  figures  in  the  Roman  Catacombs, 
and  from  the  Mosaic  at  San  Vitale  in 
Ravenna.  Tne  amice,  however,  is  fre- 
quently mentioned  after  the  opening  of  the 
ninth  century.*  Originally,  as  Innocent 
III.  expressly  testifies,  it  covered  the  head 
as  well  as  the  neck ;  and  to  this  day  Capu- 
chin and  Dominican  friars  wear  the  amice 
over  their  heads  till  they  reach  the  altar. 
It  also  was  not  at  first  concealed  by  the 
alb,  as  is  now  the  case,  and  it  was  often 
made  of  silk  and  ornamented  with  figures. 
At  present  it  is  made  of  linen,  and  only 
adorned  with  a  cross,  which  the  priest 
kisses  before  putting  on  the  amice. 

Mediaeval  writers  have  given  very 
many  and  very  different  symbolical  mean- 
ings to  this  vestment.     The  prayer  already 

1  De  Mis$.  ii.  5.  He  adds  a  third  sense — 
viz.  consent  to  a  request — but  gives  no  clear 
instance  of  this  use. 

2  viii.  12. 

5  Apol.  i.  67. 

*  "It  was  introduced  in  the  eighth,"  says 
Dr.  Rock  ;  but  see  Hefele,  Beitr'dge  zur  Kirchm- 
geschichU,  &c.,  11. 


quoted  from  the  Roman  IVIissal  speaks  of 
it  as  figuring  the  ''  helmet  of  salvation,* 
and  a  similar  prayer  occurs  in  most  of  the 
ancient  Latin  Missals. 

ATTAGM-OSTES.      [See  LeCTOR.] 

ANAGOCZCAIi  (literally,  •'  leading 
up  ").  A  name  given  to  things  typical  of 
Christ  in  the  Old,  or  to  the  actions  of 
Christ  in  the  New,  Testament,  so  far  as 
they  signify  the  eternal  glory  which  awaits 
the  elect.  The  anagogical  is  a  subdivision 
of  the  spiritual  or  mystical  sense.  (See 
St.  Thomas,  *S'.  i.  1,  10.) 

AN-APHORA.  Greek  word  for  Offer- 
tory, in  the  Mass. 

AXTATKEIVEA.  A  thing  devoted  or 
given  over  to  evil,  so  that  ^*  anathema  sit" 
means,  "  let  him  be  accursed."  St.  Paul 
at  the  end  of  1  Corinthians  pronounces 
this  anathema  on  all  who  do  not  love  our 
blessed  Saviour.  The  Church  has  used 
the  phrase  "  anathema  sit "  from  the  ear- 
liest times  with  reference  to  those  whom 
she  excludes  from  her  communion  either 
because  of  moral  offences  or  because  they 
persist  in  heresy.  Thus  one  of  the 
earliest  councils — that  of  Elvira,  held  in 
306 — decrees  in  its  fifty-second  canon  that 
those  who  placed  libellous  writings  in  the 
church  should  be  anathematised ;  and  the 
First  General  Council  anathematised  those 
who  held  the  Arian  heresy.  General 
councils  since  then  have  usually  given 
solemnity  to  their  decrees  on  articles  of 
faith  by  appending  an  Anathema. 

Neither  St.  Paul  nor  the  Church  of 
God  ever  wished  a  soul  to  be  damned. 
In  pronoimcing  anathema  against  wilful 
heretics,  the  Church  does  but  declare  that 
they  are  excluded  from  her  communion, 
and  that  they  must,  if  they  continue  obsti- 
nate, perish  eternally. 

AITGEIL.  The  word  {ayycKos,  a 
translation  of  •jJN^P)  means  messenger, 
and  is  applied  in  a  wide  sense  to  priests,^ 
prophets,^  or  to  the  Messias*  as  sent  by 
God.  Specially,  however,  it  is  used  as  the 
name  of  spiritual  beings,  created  by  God 
but  superior  in  nature  to  man.  The  ex- 
istence of  such,  superhuman  intelligences 
was  conjectured  even  by  heathens  such  as 
Plato ;  and  although  the  Sadducees  "*  be- 
lieved "  neither  in  angel  or  spirit,"  angels 
are  mentioned  so  frequently  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testament  that  it  would  be  idle 
to  allege  Scriptural  proofs  on  the  matter. 

1  Mai.  ii.  7.  ^  Acrg.  i.  13. 

2  Is.  xlii.  19.  Tliere  are  different  views  held  ' 
on  this  passage,  but  this  is  not  the  place  to 
discuss  them. 

*  Acts,  xxiii.  8. 


ANGEL 

When  they  were  created,  Scripture  does 
not  distinctly  tell  iis.  "  The  most  ancient 
Fathers,"  says  Petavius,  "  especially  the 
Greeks  and  such  Latins  as  are  used  to 
follow  the  Greeks,''  held  that  the  angels 
were  created  "  before  the  heavens  and  all 
material  things."  The  contrary  opinion, 
that  the  heavens  were  first  created  and 
the  angels  in  the  heavens,  is  that  of  St, 
Thomas,  and  has  been  commonly  held  since 
his  time  among  the  Latins.  The  Fourth 
Lateran  Council  declares  that  God  created 
angels  and  material  beings  "  at  the  same 
time  from  the  beginning."  But  the  coun- 
cil had  no  intention  of  deciding  this  ques- 
tion, which  still  remains  open,  as  has  been 
pointed  out  by  St.  Thomas  himself,  by 
Vasquez,  Petavius  and  others. 

With  regard  to  the  nature  of  angels, 
many  early  Fathers  believed  that  they 
were  corporeal.  This  opinion  is  not  difh- 
cult  to  account  for  when  we  consider  such 
a  history  as  that  of  the  marriages  between 
the  "sons  of  God"  and  ''the  daughters 
of  men,"  given  in  the  sixth  chapter  of 
Genesis.'  At  the  Seventh  General  Coun- 
cil, the  Patriarch  Tarasius  argued  that 
angels  might  be  painted,  because  they 
were  '^circumscribed  (eVftSf)  TrepiypaTTToi 
€l(Tiv)  and  had  appeared  to  many  in  the 
form  of  men ; "  nor  did  the  council  censure 
his  words,  limiting  itself  to  a  simple  de- 
cision that  it  was  lawful  to  represent 
angels  in  pictures.  However,  our  Lord's 
words  ^  inaply?  that  angels  are  incapable  of 
marriage,  and  so  exclude  the  interpretation 
which  regards  the  "  sons  of  God "  in 
Genesis  vi.  as  a  synonym  for  angels. 
Many  of  the  Fathers  deny  that  angels  have 
bodies ;  so  do  all  modern  theologians. 
The  Fourth  Lateran  Council  separates  an- 
gelic from  corporeal  natures,  and  Peta- 
vius rightly  characterises  the  contrary 
opinion  as  "proximate  to  heresy."  At 
the  same  time,  angels  are  capable  of  as- 
suming bodies  \  to  which  they  are  for  the 
time  intimately  united  ;  which  they  move 
and  which  they  use  to  represent  either  their 
own  invisible  nature  or  the  attributes  of 
God.  Passages  of  Scripture,  which  imply 
this,  will  readily  occur  to  the  reader. 

The  angels,  then,  are  purely  spiritual 
intelligences  and,  for  thai  very  reason, 
superior  to  man,  who  is  composed  of  body 
and  soul.     They  are  immortal,  since  death 

'  But  that  the  "sons  of  God"  may  mean 
pious  men  is  proved  by  Ps.  Ixxiii.  15  (Ixxii.  in 
Vulg.),  Osee  ii.  1,  &c. 

2  Tiie  yafielv  of  Matt.  xxii.  30  exactly  cor- 
responds to  the  "took  to  themselves  wives"  in 
the  Hebrew  of  Genesis  vi.  2. 


ANGEL 


25 


consists  in  the  separation  of  soul  and  body, 
nor  could  they  be  destroyed,  except  by  the 
omnipotence  of  God.  Their  knowledge, 
unlike  that  of  man,  which  is  slowly  ac- 
quired by  means  of  the  senses,  depends 
upon  images  received  from  God  along 
with  the  nature  he  has  given  them.  They 
do  not  reason,  as  we  do,  for  the  keenness 
of  their  intellect  enables  them  to  see  by 
intuition  the  conclusions  which  are  in- 
volved in  principles.  Their  intelligence 
is  in  perpetual  exercise,  and  although  the 
future,  the  thoughts  of  the  human  soul, 
and  above  all  the  mysteries  of  grace,  are 
hidden  from  them,  except  so  far  as  God 
is  pleased  to  reveal  them,  still  they  can 
know  and  understand  many  things  which 
are  hidden  from  us.  They  can  move  from 
place  to  place  with  a  swiftness  impossible 
to  man.  Finally,  they  are  endowed  with 
free-will  and  are  able  to  communicate 
with  each  other.  ^ 

To  a  nature  so  noble  God  added  sanc- 
tifying grace.  They  received  power  to 
know  God  as  revealed  by  faith,  to  hope 
in  Him,  to  love  Him,  and  afterwards,  if 
they  were  worthy,  see  Him  ftice  to  face. 
But,  during  the  time  of  their  probation, 
Lucifer  and  many  other  angels  fell.  It 
is  hard  to  determine  the  precise  nature  of 
their  sin,  but  we  may  quote  Petavius, 
who  places  it  in  "  a  desire  of  absolute 
dominion  over  created  things,  and  in 
hatred  of  subjection."  The  rebel  angels 
were  at  once  deprived  of  all  supernatural 
gifts  and  thrust  into  hell  without  hope  of 
pardon  ;  the  angels  who  had  persevered 
were  at  once  rewarded  with  everlasting 
bliss.  The  very  greatness  and  perfection 
of  angelic  nature,  says  St.  Gregory  the 
Great,  made  their  sin  unpardonable. 

Holy  writ  represents  the  number  of 
the  good  angels  as  exceedingly  great.^ 
They  are,  according  to  the  common  teach- 
ing of  theologians,  divided  into  three 
hierarchies,  each  of  which  includes  three 
orders.  The  first  triplet  consists  of  Sera- 
phim, Cherubim,  Thrones ;  the  second  of 
DominationB,  Principalities,  Powers;  the 
third  of  Virtues,  Archangels,  Angels. 
This  enumeration  occurs  for  the  first  time 
in  Pseudo-Dionysius,  from  whom  it  was 
adopted  by  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  and 
so  became  current  in  the  Church.  But 
it  is  founded  on  the  mention  of  seraphim 
and  cherubim  in  Isaias  and  Ezechiel ;  of 

*  The  text  contains  a  summary  of  the  teach- 
ing of  theologians.  It  is  contained  in  Scripture 
or  deduced  from  it,  as  may  be  seen  by  consult- 
ing St.  Thomas,  pt.  i. 

5  Dan.  vii.  lO. 


26 


ANGEL 


ANGELUS 


angels .  and  of  archano-els  tliroiigliout 
Scripture ;  and  of  the  other  orders  in  St. 
Paul  s  Epistles  to  the  Ephesians  and  Oolos- 
sians.  The  meaning  of  St.  Paul  is  much 
disputed.  But  we  may  remark  that  very 
early  writers  divide  the  angels  into  orders, 
and  count  thrones,  dominations,  See. 
among  them,^  thougli  it  is  well  to  re- 
member that  the  exi^itence  of  these  par- 
ticular classes  of  angels  is  no  article  of 
faith. 

As  to  the  employment  of  the  angels, 
we  read  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
that  they  are  "all  ministering  spirits.'' 
They  serve  God  continually  in  lieaven, 
and  they  also  defend  countries,  cities, 
churches,  Szc,  besides  offering  to  God  the 
prayers  of  the  faitliful,  particularly,  ac- 
cording to  the  Fathers  and  ancient  litur- 
gies, those  which  ascend  to  heaven  during 
the  Mass.  Furtlier,  each  man  has  an 
angel  who  watches  over  him,  defends  him 
from  evil,  helps  him  in  prayer,  :  uggests 
good  thoughts,  and  at  last,  if  he  is  saved, 
presents  his  soul  to  God.- 

The  Church,  on  her  part,  shows  to  the 
angels  that  veneration  or  inferior  honour 
which  is  their  due,  and,  knowing  from 
Christ's  words  ^  that  they  are  acquainted 
with  things  which  pass  on  earth,  she 
begs  their  prayers  and  their  Irind  offices. 
It  is  true  that  St.  Paul  condemns  the 
6pT](rK€La,  or  religion  of  angels,  in  writing 
to  the  Colossians,  but  every  scholar  is 
aware  that  he  is  warning  them  against  the 
Gnostic  error  which  regarded  angels  as 
the  creators  of  the  world ;  and  with  equal 
reason,  the  same  passage  might  be  alleged 
as  in  condemnation  of  humility.  It  is  triie 
also  that,  when  St.  John  in  the  Apocalypse 
bowed  down  before  an  angel,  the  latter 
said,  "  See  thou  do  it  not,  for  I  also  am 
thy  fellow-servant.  .  .  .  Adore  God."'*  But 
if  Protestants  think  the  veneration  of 
angels  idolatrous,  or  at  least  unlaw^ful, 
they  ought  not  to  suppose  the  holy 
Apostle  so  ignorant  as  to  offer  it — not  to 
speak  of  his  shortly  after  repeating  the 
crime.  Rather,  surely,  the  angel  refused 
the  homage  out  of  respect  to  the  honour 
which  human  nature  has  received  from 
the  Incarnation  and  to  the  apostolic  dig- 
nity ;  just  as  a  bishop  might  out  of  hu- 
mility decline  the  homage  of  one  whom, 
although  inferior  to  himself  in  ecclesiasti- 
cal rank,  he  venerated  for  his  great  virtue. 

1  See  Bp.  Lightfoot's  nDte  on  Coloss.  i.  16. 
»  Gen.  xlriii.  16  ;  Matt,  xviii.  10. 
5  Luc.  XV.  10. 

*  Apoc.   xix.  10  ;  xxii.  8.    Another  inter- 
pretation &  also  given  by  Petayius. 


The  Catholic  may  answer  those  who  ac- 
cuse the  Church  of  idolatry  for  her  cultus 
of  angels,  as  St.  Augustme  and  St.  Cyril 
answered  long  ago,  that  we  adore  God 
alone  with  latria  or  supreme  adoration, 
and  that  to  Him  alone  ^ve  offer  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Mass. 

AITGBZ.S,  EVZI..     [See  Demons.] 

AlfGEXiS,  FEAST  OF.  Since  the 
fifth  century  churches  were  dedicated, 
both  in  the  East  and  West,  to  the  holy 
angels.  In  the  West,  there  was  a  famous 
apparition  of  St.  Michael  on  Blount  Gar- 
ganus,  an  event  which  Baronius  places 
in  the  year  493,  and  this  apparition  gave 
occasion  to  the  feast  of  St.  Michael  which 
the  Roman  Church  keeps  on  September 
29,  and  which  is  mentioned  in  the  martyr- 
ologies  of  Jerome,  Bede,  and  others,  as 
the  Dedication  of  St.  Michael.  There 
was  another  apparition  of  the  same  arch- 
angel in  France  during  706.  "  It  is  this 
apparition,"  says  Thomassin,  "  on  Mount 
Michael,  or  In  Periculo  A/ar?s,  which  was 
once  so  celebrated  in  France,  and  of  which 
the  commemoration  is  still  observed  in 
some  dioceses.'' 

In  the  East,  the  constitution  of  Manuel 
Commenus  mentions  a  feast  of  the  ap- 
parition of  St.  Michael  on  September  6, 
and  of  the  angels  in  general  on  Novem- 
ber 8. 

The  feast  of  Angel  Guardians  was  in- 
stituted under  Paul  V.,  at  the  request  of 
Ferdinand  of  Austria,  afterwards  emperor. 
(Thomassin,  "  Traits  des  Festes.") 

ASrCEIi  GVARDIAM-S.  [See  Al7- 
GELS.] 

ABTGEXrXCAZiS.  An  Order  of  nuns, 
following  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine, 
founded  by  Luigia  di  Torelli,  Countess  of 
Guastalla,  about  1530.  She  had  been 
married  twice,  but  being  left  a  second 
time  a  widow  when  only  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  she  resolved  to  devote  the 
rest  of  her  life  and  her  large  fortune  to 
the  divine  service. 

She  founded  her  first  conTent  at  Milan. 
Her  religious  took  the  name  of  Angelicals 
in  order  to  remind  themselves  whenever 
they  uttered  it  of  the  purity  of  the  an- 
gels. Every  nun  adopts  the  name  of 
"Angelica,"  prefixing  it  to  that  of  a 
patron  saint  and  her  family  name — e.g. 
"  Angelica  Maria  Anna  di  Gonzaga." 
Their  constitutions  were  drawn  up  by  St. 
Charles  Borromeo,  Archbishop  of  Milan. 

AXTGEliirs.  By  this  name  is  de- 
noted the  Catholic  practice  of  honouring 
God  at  morning,  noon,  and  evening,  by 
reciting  three  Hail  Mary's,  together  with 


ANGLICAN 

sentences  and  a  collect,  to  express  the 
Christian's  rejoicing  trust  in  the  mysteiy 
of  the  Incarnation.  The  first  sentence 
begins  "  Angelus  Domini  nuntiavit 
Marise ; "  whence  the  name  of  the  devo- 
tion. A  bell,  called  the  Angelus  bell, 
rings  at  the  several  hours.  The  evening 
Angelus  veas  introduced  by  Pope  John 
XXII.  in  the  fourteenth  century ;  that 
at  noon,  according  to  Mabillon,  arose  in 
France,  and  received  Papal  sanction  at 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

AlffCZiICAir  CHTTRCR.  The  in- 
troduction of  Christianity  and  Catholi- 
city into  England  is  treated  in  the  article 
Conversion  of  Nations  —  Britons  — 
Anglo-Saxons. 

The  separation  of  England  from  the 
communion  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
the  establishment  of  a  national  institu- 
tion, retaining  the  old  titles  of  the  sees, 
the  Church  lands,  the  tithes,  and  portions 
of  the  old  ecclesiastical  discipline,  were 
transactions  not  easily  or  suddenly  effec- 
ted. They  may  be  regarded  as  spread 
over  a  period  of  thirty-two  years,  from 
1531,  when  Henry  VIII.  first  claimed  the 
title  of  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church,  to 
15t)3,  when  the  adoption  of  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  of  Religion  by  the  Convocation 
of  the  Province  of  Canterbury,  at  the 
very  time  when  a  general  council  was 
sitting  at  Trent,  consummated  the  schism, 
and  launched  the  Anglican  Church  on  an 
independent  course. 

In  1530  the  bishops,  with  Archbishop 
Warham  at  their  head,  were  in  full  com- 
munion with  Home ;  clergy  and  laity 
alike  acknowledged  that  when  a  religious 
question  arose  the  ultimate  appeal  lay  to 
the  chair  of  Peter ;  and  the  Christianity 
of  an  Englishman  was  the  same  as  that 
of  a  Frenchman  or  a  Spaniard.  But  there 
was  a  body  of  sectaries  scattered  through 
the  country,  the  Lollards,  fanatically  at- 
tached to  subversive  ideas,  assisted  by  the 
numerous  abuses  which  great  wealth  had 
brought  into  the  Church,  and  promising  a 
"pure Gospel"  to  their  followers,  like  the 
Cathari  of  the  middle  ages.  As  the  Van- 
dals found  allies  in  the  Donatists,  so  any 
enemy  who  might  attack  Catholicism 
in  England  was  sure  of  the  enthusiastic 
support  of  th(i  Lollards.  Wolsey  died 
in  1530 ;  and  Thomas  Cromwell  then 
gave  the  king  the  famous  advice  to  fol- 
low the  example  of  Gustavus  Vasa — who 
dad  carried  through  a  religious  revolution 
in  Sweden — and  by  a  breach  with  Rome 
bring  the  clergy  into  a  condition  of  uncon- 
ditional submission  to  himself.     Two  ob- 


ANGLICAN  CHURCH 


27 


jects  which  he  ardently  desired  might 
thus,  Henry  saw,  be  compassed — one,  a 
divorce  from  his  wife  ;  the  other,  the  re- 
plenishment of  his  treasury  from  the 
wealth  of  the  Church. 

Tlie  first  step  was  taken  in  1531,  when 
the  Attorney-General  filed  a  bill  against 
the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  as  having 
been  the  "  fautors  and  abettors  "  of  Wol- 
sey in  breaking  the  Act  of  Premunire. 
[See  Premfnire,  Act  of.]  The  Convo- 
cation voted  a  large  grant  of  money  to 
the  king,  imagining  that  nothing  more 
was  required  of  them  ;  but  Henry  re- 
fused to  receive  it  unless  words  were  in- 
serted in  the  preamble  to  the  grant, 
importing  that  he  was  the  "  protec- 
tor and  only  supreme  head  of  the 
Church  and  clergy  of  England."  The 
consternation  of  the  clergy  was  great; 
they  debated  the  matter,  and  finally  con- 
sented to  go  to  the  utmost  verge  of  law- 
ful compromise.  They  recognised  the 
king  as  the  "  chief  protector,  the  only 
and  supreme  lord,  and,  as  far  as  the 
laiu  of  Christ  ivill  allow,  the  supreme 
head,"  of  the  English  Church  and  clergy. 
The  saving  clause  preserved  the  conces- 
sion from  being  heretical,  but  it  was  evi- 
dently perilous ;  for  the  king  might,  and 
in  fact  did,  employ  the  remaining  words 
for  his  own  purposes,  and  omit  the  saving 
clause. 

Archbishop  Warham  died  in  1532, 
and  by  the  appointment  of  Cranmer  as 
his  successor,  Henry  secured  a  pliant  in- 
strument in  the  prosecution  of  his  designs 
against  the  Church.  The  Pope  consented 
to  the  appointment  and  expedited  the 
usual  bulls ;  under  the  authority  of  these 
Cranmer  was  consecrated,  and  took  in 
public  the  oath  of  canonical  obedience  to 
the  Pope,  having  previously  made  a 
private  protest  before  witnesses  that  his 
oath  should  not  prejudice  the  "  rights  of 
the  king,"  nor  his  own  co-operation  with 
him  in  "reforming  "the  Church  of  England, 
Events  now  moved  rapidly.  Cranmer  de- 
clared the  king  divorced  from  Catherine 
(1533),  and  Acts  of  Parliament  were 
passed  (1534)  abolishing  all  appeals  to 
Rome,  making  the  "  King  in  Chan- 
cery "  the  final  court  of  appeal  in  ecclesi- 
astical causes,  and  recognising  him  as  the 
supreme  head  of  the  English  Church.  By 
a  clause  in  the  Act  of  Supremacy  a  new 
oath  was  imposed  on  the  bishops,  by 
which  they  were  required  to  recognise, 
without  any  saving  clause,  the  supremacy 
of  the  king,  and  to  abjure  that  of  the 
Pope.      All  the   influence  of  the  new 


28 


ANGLICAN  CHURCH 


ANGLICAN   CHURCH 


pniiiate  was  employed  in  getting  the 
bishops  to  take  this  oath  ;  still  it  remains 
matter  for  amazement  that  they  were 
foimd  so  pliable  as  all,  with  one  excep- 
tion, to  do  so.  That  exception  was  Fisher, 
Bishop  of  Rochester,  who  for  the  crime 
of  refusing  to  the  king  his  title  of  supreme 
head  of  the  Church,  was  thrown  into 
prison  and  after  a  time  beheaded  (1535). 
A.  few  days  afterwards  Sir  Thomas  More 
sufiered  death  for  the  same  offence. 

The  English  Church  was  now  in  a 
state  of  schism,  being  separated  from  the 
see  of  Peter,  through  union  with  which 
it  had  been  for  nine  hundred  years  in 
communion  with  the  Church  universal. 
But  no  other  change  was  made,  and  by 
the  statute  of  the  Six  Articles  (1539) 
Henry  strove  to  repress  the  rising  tide  of 
heterodox  innovation.  In  the  next  reign, 
that  of  Edward  VI.,  the  Protestant  party 
obtained  the  reins  of  power.  First  one 
Prayer  Book  (1549),  and  then  another 
(1552) — the  second  diverging  consider- 
ably more  from  Catholic  doctrine  than  the 
first — were  substituted  for  the  missal  and 
breviary.  In  these  changes,  Cranmerand 
his  associates,  several  of  whom  were 
foreigners,  were  unceasingly  active.  The 
bishops  generally — such  is  usually  the  lot 
of  time-servers — found  that  if  they  were 
expected  to  give  up  Rome  in  the  last 
reign,  they  had  to  give  up  a  gi-eat  deal 
more  in  this,  even  fundamental  doctrines 
of  the  Catholic  faith.  Several,  as  Gardi- 
ner, Tonstall,  Day,  Heath,  and  Veysey, 
resisted,  with  more  or  less  of  consistency, 
the  novelties  which  the  primate  and 
council  were  continually  foisting  upon 
them,  and  were  deprived  of  their  sees. 
The  majority,  it  is  to  be  feared,  acquiesced 
in  all  the  iniquities  and  follies  of  the 
reign,  even  in  that  monstrous  injunction' 
of  the  council  (1652)  requiring  them  to 
remove  the  altars  from  all  parish  churches 
in  their  dioceses.  A  formulary  of  faith, 
in  forty-two  articles,  was  drawn  up  by 
Cranmer  and  Ridley,  but  too  short  a  time 
before  the  death  of  Edward  to  allow  of 
its  being  either  embodied  in  a  statute  or 
assented  to  by  Convocation. 

In  the  reign  of  Mary,  all  the  religious 
changes thathadbeenmade  under  Edward 
VI.  were,  so  far  as  possible,  undone,  and 
Ihe  old  state  of  things  restored.  Cardinal 
Pole  was  made  archbishop  of  Canter- 
buiy,  the  authority  of  Rome  was  recog- 
nised, and  the  nation  reconciled  to  the 
Holy  See.  Everyone  knows  with  how 
great  severity  Mary's  government  pro- 
ceeded against  the  Protestants,  Cranmer, 


Ridley,  Latimer  and  many  others  being 
burnt,  and  hundreds  forced  to  flee  for 
their  lives  into  foreign  countries. 

At  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  the 
bishops,  and  the  higher  clergy  generally, 
were  staunch  Catholics.  But  it  was 
Elizabeth's  evident  interest  as  the  dajgh- 
ter  of  Ann  Boleyn — whojse  marriage  with 
her  father  two  Popes  had  declared  to  be 
null  and  void — to  renoimce  the  authority 
of  Rome  and  throw  herself  into  the  arms 
of  the  Protestant  party.  Counsellers  and 
ministers  of  great  ability  and  determina- 
tion were  soon  by  her  side,  ready  to  con- 
firm her  in  this  course,  and  to  point  out 
the  best  means  for  effecting  it.  Pole  was 
dead  ;  Heath,  archbishop  of  York,  held 
the  seals  as  chancellor  ;  they  were  imme- 
diately taken  from  him,  and  given  to 
Nicholas  Bacon,  a  Protestant.  Elizabeth 
made  it  known  at  once  that  she  did  not 
believein  transubstantiation,by  forbidding 
the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  to  elevate  the  host 
when  saying  Mass  before  her  in  her  private 
chapel.  Seeing  this.  Archbishop  Heath, 
upon  whom  the  office  fell,  as  Canterbury 
was  vacant,  refused  to  take  a  part  in  her 
coronation  ;  Oglethorp,  of  Carlisle,  alone 
among  the  bishops,  was  found  sufficiently 
complying.  Parliament  met  early  in 
1559,  and  in  the  course  of  the  session 
two  important  Acts,  those  of  Supremacy 
and  Uniformity,  were  passed.  In  the  first 
the  queen  was  styled,  not  ^'  supreme 
head  "  of  the  Church,  but  "supreme  gover- 
nor, as  well  in  all  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical 
things  or  causes  as  temporal."  Practi- 
cally, these  words  had  the  efiectof  sever- 
ing England  from  the  Holy  See,  and 
throwing  her  into  schism,  just  as  eftectu- 
ally  as  the  earlier  form.  By  the  Act  of 
Uniformity,  the  second  Prayer  Book  of 
Edward  VI.  was  restored,  and  its  use 
made  compulsory,  some  slight  alterations 
being  introduced,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  make  acquiescence  less  difficult 
for  those  who  leaned  to  the  Catholic  doc- 
trine.* 

The  English  laity,  as  represented  by 
Parliament,  had  now  adopted  the  Pro- 
testant religion ;  it  remained  to  see  what 
the  bishops  and  clergy  would  do.  The 
bishops,  all  but  one,  stood  fii-m.  Only 
Kitchen,  of  Llandaff,  could  be  induced 

*  The  words  of  administration  in  the  book 
of  1549  ("The  body  of  Jesus  Christ,"  &c.), 
■which  have  a  Catholic  sound,  were  now  pre- 
fixed to  tlie  Zwingh'an  fonn  of  administration 
("  Take  and  eat  this  in  remembrance,*  &c.), 
employed  in  the  book  of  1552 ;  and  so  the 
words" have  remained  ever  since. 


ANGLICAN  CHURCH 

to  take  the  oath  imposed  by  the  new  Act 
of  Supremacy.  Had  the  inferior  clergy 
shown  a  similar  spirit,  it  is  possible  that 
the  plans  of  the  Court  would  have  failed; 
for  it  was  notorious  that  the  elections 
had  been  grossly  tampej'ed  with  by 
the  agents  of  the  Government,  and  that 
the  general  feeling  in  the  country  was 
far  less  favourable  to  Protestantism 
than  the  easy  passing  of  the  Act  of 
Uniformity  appeared  to  indicate.  But 
although  a  large  number,  perhaps  about 
half,  of  the  cathedral  clergy,  archdeacons, 
and  heads  of  colleges  at  the  universities, 
followed  the  lead  of  the  bishops,  and  re- 
fused the  oath,  yet  the  other  half,  driven 
on  by  interest,  fear,  or  conviction,  to  un- 
say those  pledges  of  fidelity  to  Rome 
which  they  had  solemnly  given,  with 
the* mouth  if  not  with  the  heart,  in  the 
reign  of  Mary,  consented  to  abjure  the 
Pope,  and  adopt  the  Erastian  principle 
that  the  sovereign  of  a  country  should 
have  the  supreme  control  of  its  religion. 
This  being  so,  the  Government  feared 
not  to  eject  the  recusants  at  once,  for 
they  knew  that  among  the  men  of  uni- 
versity training  whose  Protestant  senti- 
ments had  made  them  exiles  under  Mary, 
they  woidd  find  numbers  more  or  less 
qualified  in  point  of  character  and  learn- 
ing to  take  the  vacant  posts,  and  eager  to 
obey  the  Government  in  all  things. 

But  it  was  necessary  to  find  a  work- 
ing head  for  the  new  Church,  and  after 
some  time  Matthew  Parker  was  pitched 
upon,  and  consecrated  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  at  Lambeth,  according  to 
the  ordinal  of  Edward  VI.,  in  December 
1559.  [Anglican  Orders.]  Parker  had 
been  a  Caltholic  priest,  and  the  head  of  a 
college  at  Cambridge ;  nevertheless,  in 
violation  of  his  canonical  obligations,  he 
had  married  a  wife ;  and  the  irregularity 
thus  incurred  obliged  him  to  remain  in 
hiding  during  the  reign  of  Mary.  All  the 
bishops  who  refused  the  oath  were  de- 
posed. Three  of  their  number  (the  bishops 
of  St.  Asaph,  Chester,  and  Worces- 
ter) escaped  to  the  Continent ;  the  first- 
named,  Thomas  Goldwell,  took  part  in 
the  later  sittings  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 
Men  were  soon  found  to  accept  the  tem- 
poralities of  the  vacant  sees,  with  all  the 
conditions  attached  to  them  by  the  State. 
Thus  Grindal  was  made  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don ;  Cox,  of  Ely ;  Cheney  (who,  Cam- 
den tells  us,  had  been  a  warm  friend  and 
admirer  of  Luther),  of  Gloucester ;  and 
Jewell,  of  Salisbury.  With  equal  ease 
the  vacancies  in  the  ranks  of  the  higher 


ANGLICAN  CHURCH 


29 


clergy  and  the  authorities  at  the  univer- 
sities were  filled  up. 

To  consummate  the  severance  of  the 
new  Church  from  Catholic  Christendom, 
it  was  still  necessary  to  provide  it  with  a 
distinct  symbol.  This  was  done  in  the 
Convocation  of  1562,  which  unanimously 
adopted,  on  Parker's  suggestion,  the  re- 
vised Articles  of  Edward  VI.  From 
forty-two  they  were  reduced  to  thirty- 
nine,  but  the  omitted  articles  referred  to 
points  of  minor  importance.  Substanti- 
ally the  Creed  then  adopted,  and  ever 
since  adhered  to  by  the  Anglican  Church, 
represents  the  opinions  of  Cranmer  and 
Peter  Martyr.  A  useful  note  in  Lingard*s 
History  of  England  (vol.  vi.,  note  gg) 
analyses  the  divergeiices  of  the  religious 
system  put  forth  in  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  from  Catholic  belief.  In  few 
words  it  may  be  stated  that,  while  the 
Articles  adhere  to  the  ancient  doctrine 
on  the  Trinity,  the  Incarnation,  and  the 
Redemption  of  man,  they  broach  novel 
views  on  justification  (the  Lutheran  tenet 
of  justification  "by  faith  only"  being 
distinctly  adopted),  on  Purgatory  (which 
they  deny),  and  on  the  Sacraments  (which 
they  reduce  from  seven  to  two).  They 
also  declare  that  general  councils  may  not 
be  summoned  except  by  the  command- 
ment and  will  of  princes  (Article  21)  ; 
that  they  may  err  even  on  matters  of 
faith  (ibid.)  ;  that  all  the  patriarchates, 
both  East  and  West,  have  erred  in  mat- 
ters of  faith  (Article  19) ;  that  the  English 
sovereign  (though  he  or  she  must  not 
meddle  with  "the  ministering  of  God's 
word  or  of  the  sacraments ")  has  supreme 
authority  over  all  ecclesiastical  persons 
and  in  aU  Church  causes  within  his  or 
her  dominions  (Article  37) ;  and  that 
the  Pope  has  no  juiisdiction  in  England 
(ibid.) 

The  necessity  of  finding  a  firm  sup- 
port in  the  government  against  the  Catho- 
lic party,  which  was  still  strong  down  to 
the  accession  of  James  I.,  seems  to  have 
driven  the  Anglican  leaders  into  the 
excessive  Erastianism  exhibited  by  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles.  This,  while  it  gave 
them  strength  on  the  side  of  the  govern- 
ment, alienated  from  them  large  numbers 
of  the  more  conscientious  and  consistent 
Protestants ;  and  more  than  any  other 
single  cause  has  contributed  to  that 
progressive  attenuation  of  the  national 
Church  by  secessions,  which  at  the  pre- 
sent day  *^has  left  her  with  little  more 
than  half  the  English  people  within  her 
pale.     For  an  account  of  the  procedure  of 


80 


ANGLICAN  ORDERS 


the  Holy  See  with  reference  to  Elizabeth, 
see  Deposition,  Bull  op. 
^  AZTGliZCAXr  ORDERS.    The  valid- 

ity of  Anglican  orders  is  a  subject  of 
controTersy  or  not,  according  to  the  view 
taken  of  the  nature  and  effects  of  ordina- 
tion. The  late  Archbishop  Whately  (see 
his  treatise  on  the  "  Kingdom  of  Christ," 
2}assim)  held  (1)  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  consisted  of  many  separate  com- 
munions having  nothing  necessarily  in 
common  but  the  profession  of  belief  in 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  Redeemer  of  mankind ; 
(2)  that  Christ's  kingdom  was  "  not  of 
this  world,"  i.e.  not  intended  to  be  sus- 
tained by  temporal  coercion,  as  earthly 
kingdoms  are ;  (3)  that  every  Christian 
Church  or  sect,  while  repudiating  all 
coercive  means  either  for  or  against  itself, 
had  the  right  to  organise  itself  and 
manage  its  internal  affairs;  (4)  that  a 
necessary  part  of  such  organisation  was 
the  appointment  of  office-bearers  and 
ministers.  Considered  thus,  Anglican 
orders  are  undoubtedly  "  valid ;"  for  no 
one  doubts  that  the  Anglican  Church  has 
a  separate  corporate  existence,  and  laws 
and  a  government  of  its  own,  nor  that  its 
clergy  are  regularly  appointed  in  con- 
formity to  those  laws.  Nor  would  any 
one  holding  this  view  justly  object  to  the 
ordination  of  Anglican  clergymen,  who 
have  submitted  to  the  Roman  Church 
and  desire  to  become  priests ;  for  he 
would  admit  that  his  view  of  ordination 
and  that  held  in  the  Catholic  Church 
were  totally  distinct  things,  so  that  to 
treat  an  Anglican  cleryman  as  if  he  had 
not  been  previously  ordained  would 
merely  imply  a  radical  difference  of  con- 
ception as  to  the  nature  of  ordination, 
and  convey  no  slur  on  the  rites  or 
formalities  by  which  his  admission  as  an 
office-bearer  in  the  Anglican  Church  had 
been  prefaced. . 

But  it  is  well  known  that  there  is  a 
large  and  increasing  section  of  Anglicans, 
who  hold  much  the  same  theory  as  to  the 
nature  and  effects  of  ordination  that 
Catholics  do — viz.  that  in  virtue  of 
authority  derived  in  an  unbroken  chain 
from  the  Apostles  [Apostolical  Strc- 
cession]  the  bishop  who  ordains  a  priest 
confers  on  him  the  right  and  the  duty  of 
offering  the  sacrifice  of  the  New  Law  by 
celebrating  the  Eucharist,  and  of  absolv- 
ing penitents  from  their  sins.  If  Anglican 
ordination  really  conferred  these  powers, 
the  consideration  of  the  manner  in  which 
they  have  been  used  for  the  last  three 
hundred   years,  and  of   the  manner  in 


ANGLICAN  ORDERS 

which  they  are  used  now,  would  be  one 
of  the  most  painful  and  perplexing  sub- 
jects of  thought  on  which  a  Catholic 
could  enter.  At  the  same  time,  the 
Anglican  party  referred  to  have  no  choice 
but  to  claim  f6r  their  ordinations  nothing 
less  than  the  potency  above  described, 
for  they  hold,  as  we  do,  that  a  priest  in 
the  Catholic  Church  is  either  all  this,  or 
he  is — nothing.  Hence  an  earnest  and 
searching  controversy  has  arisen  of  late 
years,  with  the  view  of  sifting  and  testing 
the  validity  of  those  orders  of  which  the 
consecration  of  Parker  by  Barlow  in  1659 
was  the  fountain  head. 

The  subject  is  encumbered  with  in- 
numerable details,  and  we  have  only  space 
for  a  few  important  propositions  in  con- 
nection with  it. 

1.  The  Roman  Church,  though  it  has 
never  pronounced  a  formal  decision  on 
the  validity  of  Anglican  orders,  has  in 
practice  treated  them  as  invalid,  since 
Anglican  clergymen  have  to  go  through 
all  the  usual  stages  before  being  admitted 
to  the  priesthood,  as  though  they  weie 
simple  laymen. 

2.  No  record  of  the  consecration  of 
Barlow  (who  consecrated  Parker)  is  in 
existence,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  he 
was  ever  consecrated  at  all. 

3.  The  ordinal  used  at  Parker's  con- 
secration— that  of  Edward  VI. — shows  a 
manifest  intention  of  not  making  a  Catholic 
bishop,  as  then  and  now  understood,  but 
of  appointing  a  sort  of  overseer,  who, 
deriving  his  power  from  the  sovereign, 
should  administer  discipline,  teach,  and 
preach. 

4.  Similarly,  the  Anglican  ordinal  for 
making  priests,  at  any  rate  down  to  the 
time  of  Charles  II.,  bore  on  its  face  the 
intention,  not  to  make  sacrificing  priests, 
but  "a  Gospel  ministry." 

6.  Even  if  their  orders  were  valid, 
Anglicans  would  not  any  the  more  belong 
to  the  true  Church.  **  Catholics  believe 
their  orders  are  valid,  because  they  are 
members  of  the  true  Church,  and  Angli- 
cans believe  they  belong  to  the  true 
Church,  because  their  orders  are  va- 
lid.' ^  (Canon  Estcourt's  "  Question  of 
Anglican  Ordinations  discussed,"  1873; 
F.  Hutton's  "The  Anglican  Minis- 
try," 1879,  a  luminous  and  able  trea- 
tise.) 

AxrzMAi.s,  z.O'WER.  The  doctrine 
of  St.  Thomas  on  the  nature  of  the  brutes, 
stands  midway  between  the  extreme  doc- 

*  Cardinal  Newman's  Essays  Crit.  and  Hut 
(1877),  vol.  ii.  p.  87. 


ANGLICAN  ORDERS 

trine,  held  in  ancient  and  revived  in  modern 
times,  that  the  brutes  have  rational  souls, 
and  the  equally  extreme  doctrine  of 
Descartes,  that  they  are  mere  machines. 
St.  Thomas  admits  that  the  brutes  have 
souls,  by  which  they  live  and  feel,  and 
know  and  desire  the  particular  objects 
vehich  are  presented  to  them.  They  can 
store  up  past  impressions  in  their  memory ; 
they  can  recall  absent  images  by  imagina- 
tion. Further  they  cannot  go.  They 
are  incapable  of  forming  abstract  ideas, 
and  they  have  no  free  will.  "In  the 
works  o*f  brutes,"  St.  Thomas  says,  "  we 
see  certain  instances  of  sagacity,  inasmuch 
as  the  brutes  have  a  natural  inclination 
to  proceed  with  the  most  perfect  order, 
and,  indeed,  their  actions  are  ordered  with 
supreme  skill."  He  explains  that  this 
skill  comes  from  God,  the  supreme  arti- 
ficer, and  he  continues,  "  On  this  account 
certain  animals  are  called  prudent  and 
sagacious,  although  they  themselves  have 
no  reason  or  free  will,  as  is  clear  from  the 
fact,  that  all  animals  of  one  species  go  to 
work  in  the  same  way."  ^ 

From  this  it  follows,  as  will  be  plain 
to  anyone  who  has  learned  the  elements 
of  the  Thomist  philosophy,  that  all  the 
operations  of  the  brute  soul  are  performed 
through  the  bodily  organs.  The  imagina- 
tion and  the  memory  are  sensitive  powers, 
no  less  than  sight  and  hearing:  it  is  only 
the  intellect  and  the  will  which  deal  with 
immaterial  ideas,  and  which  act  without 
material  organs ;  and  intellect  and  will 
are  wanting  in  brutes.  From  the  opera- 
tions of  the  soul  in  brutes  St.  Thomas 
infers  its  nature,  in  accordance  with  the 
philosophic  maxim  "  essence  and  operation 
correspond  to  each  other."  '^  As  their 
souls  operate  through  matter,  so  they 
spring  from  matter  and  perish  with  it. 
They  are  not  created  by  God,  but  are 
derived  with  their  bodies  from  their 
parents  by  natural  generation.^  With- 
out matter,  they  are  utterly  incapable  of 
operation,  and  therefore  of  existence,  for 
nothing  can  exist  unless  it  acts  in  some 
way  or  other.  Hence,  their  soul  is  ex- 
tino;uished  with  the  dissolution  of  the 
body.* 

These  philosophical  principles  deter- 
mine the  morality  which  regulates  the 
conduct  of  man  to  the  brutes.  As  the 
lower  animals  have  no  duties,  since  they 
are  destitute  of  free  will,  without  which 

1  Sum.  i.  2.  13,  2. 

2  Ibid.  i.  75,  3. 

3  Ibid.  i.  118,  1. 

4  Ibid.  i.  75,  3. 


ANNATES 


81 


the  performance  of  duty  is  impossible,  so 
they  have  no  rights,  for  right  and  duty 
are  correlative  terms.  The  brutes  are 
made  for  man,  who  has  the  same  right 
over  them  which  he  has  over  plants  or 
stones.  He  may,  according  to  the  express 
permission  of  God,  given  to  Noe,  kill 
them  for  his  food,  and  if  it  is  lawful  to 
destroy  them  for  food,  and  this  without 
strict  necessity,  it  must  also  be  lawful  to 
put  them  to  death,  or  to  inflict  pain  on 
them,  for  any  good  or  reasonable  end, 
such  as  the  promotion  of  man's  know- 
ledge, health,  &c.,  or  even  for  the  pur- 
poses of  recreation.  But  a  limitation 
must  be  introduced  here.  It  is  never 
lawful  for  a  man  to  take  pleasure  directly 
in  the  pain  piven  to  brutes,  because,  in 
doing  so,  man  degrades  and  brutallses 
his  own  nature.  Hence  the  touching 
rules  in  the  Old  Testament  which  pre- 
scribe mercy  on  man's  part  to  the  beasts. 
Moreover,  we  are  bound  for  our  own 
sakes  not  to  inflict  long  and  keen  suffering 
on  the  brutes,  except  some  considerable 
good  results.  If  we  accustom  ourselves 
to  see  animals  tortured,  we  are  apt  to 
become  callous  even  to  human  suflerings, 
and  we  do  wrong  in  exposing  ourselves  to 
such  a  danger,  unless  on  the  weighty 
grounds  of  a  higher  benevolence.  "A 
man,"  says  Billuart,  "  who  puts  brutes  to 
death  in  a  cruel  manner,  and  delights  in 
their  torments,  sins  venially,  by  abusing 
his  power  as  master  and  lord.  For  by 
such  cruelty  a  man  accustoms  himself  to 
be  cruel  to  his  fellow-men ;  whence  we 
read  in  Prov.  xii.  '  the  just  man  knoweth 
[i.e.  considers  and  regards]  the  souls  of 
his  beasts,  but  the  heart  of  the  wicked  is 
cruel.'"  1 

AM-WATES  (Annatce)  or  FIRST 
FRT7ZTS.  According  to  the  definition 
of  Ferraris,  "  Annates  are  a  certain  por- 
tion of  the  revenues  of  vacant  benefices 
which  ought,  according  to  the  canons  and 
special  agreements,  to  be  paid  to  the 
Roman  Pontiff  and  the  Cmia."  The  por- 
tion due  in  the  case  of  inferior  benefices 
seems  to  have  been,  before  the  Council  of 
Constance,  one  half  of  the  gross  revenues  of 
the  first  year,  and  in  the  case  of  bishoprics 
and  abbeys,  a  sum  regulated  according  to 

'  Billuart,  J)e  Justit.  Diss.  x.  a.  1.  For  the 
spirit  of  the  O.  T.  on  this  matter,  see  Exod.  xx. 
10,  xxiii,  12,  where  the  beasts,  like  men,  have  a 
day  of  rest  provided  for  them  ;  Deut.  xxv.  4, 
*'  thou  shaft  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth 
out  thy  corn  ;  "  xxu  6,  Avhere  the  Jews  are  for- 
bidden to  take  the  bird  with  the  brood  on 
which  she  is  sitting. 


32 


ANNIVERSARY 


"  the  ancient  taxation."  At  that  council 
a  decree  was  passed  after  much  discussion, 
of  which  the  general  effect  was  to  allow 
to  the  Roman  Pontiff"  the  tirst  year's  in- 
come of  all  dignities  and  benetices  in  his 
gift.  The  Council  of  Basle  complained  of 
the  burden  of  the  "  annates/'  yet  when  it 
was  a  question  of  maintaining  the  anti- 
pope  Felix,  whom  they  had  set  up,  they 
imposed  a  still  heavier  burden,  in  the 
shape  of  "  first  fruits,"  on  the  nations 
adhering  to  them. 

The  annates  were  finally  transferred 
from  the  Pope  to  the  King  by  a  statute 
passed  in  1534.  They  are  still  payable  to 
the  sovereign  in  the  case  of  Anglican 
bishoprics  and  Crown  livings. 

Owing  to  tbe  revolutions  which  within 
the  last  ninety  years  have  so  completely 
altered  the  face  of  Eui-ope,  annates  form, 
at  the  present  day,  a  scarcely  appreciable 
portion  of  the  revenues  of  the  Holy  See. 
Their  place  is  supplied  more  or  less  im- 
perfectly by  the  voluntary  contributions 
usually  called  "  Petei-'s  Pence  "  [see  that 
article]. 

Zahlwein  remarks : — "  Annates  (1)  are 
paid  for  the  support  of  the  Pope,  the  Car- 
dinals, and  other  otiScials.  (2)  They  are 
applied  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
legates  and  apostolic  nuncios,  whom  the 
Popes  find  it  necessary  to  send  to  various 
nations  and  the  Courts  of  princes.  (3)  By 
means  of  these  annates,  aid  is  extended  to 
bishops  who  have  been  expelled  from  their 
sees,  and  to  princes  unjustly  dislodged 
from  their  thrones."  It  was  probably  by 
means  of  this  fund  that  the  Popes  were 
enabled  to  extend  a  generous  hospitality 
for  many  years  to  the  son  and  grandson 
of  our  James  II. 

ASTNZVERS  ART.  An  "  anniver- 
sary "  is  defined  as  "  that  which  is  done 
for  a  deceased  person  on  the  expiration  of 
a  year  from  the  day  of  death,"  and  is 
especially  understood  of  the  celebration 
of  Mass  for  the  benefit  of  his  soul.  When 
a  testator  directs  that  such  an  anniver- 
sary shall  be  celebrated,  without  specify- 
ing whether  once  or  oftener,  the  canon 
law  interprets  his  intention  as  being  that 
the  foundation  shall  be  in  perpetuum.  If 
the  anniversary  falls  on  a  greater  double, 
the  Mass  of  Requiem  may  be  said ;  if  on 
A  double  of  the  second  class,  it  must 
be  anticipated  or  postponed.  (Ferraris, 
Annimrsai'ium.^ 

Airxririo'czATZON'  of  the 
B3^ESSEI>  VZRGZXr  (Annunttatio, 
evuyyf\t(Tix6s,     ;!(aptrtcr/iOs).        The     word 

si^rnifies    "declaration,"    or    "announce- 


ANNUNCIA.TION 

ment  "—i.e.  of  the  fact  that  God  the  Son 
was  to  be  born  of  Mary — but  at  the  very 
moment  in  which  the  fact  was  announced, 
it  actually  took  place ;  so  that,  in  comme- 
morating the  "  Annunciation,"  we  really 
commemorate  the  Incarnation  of  God  the 
Word. 

St.  Luke  tells  us,  tliat  the  Angel 
Gabriel  was  sent  by  God  to  Nazareth, 
where  he  saluted  Mary  with  the  words, 
"HaH,  full  of  grace."  The  Evangelist 
speaks  of  Mary  as  "  espoused  "  to  Joseph, 
and  Calmet,  on  this  ground,  thinks  that 
she  was  still  unmarried.  But  the  great 
majority  of  Catholic  writers  believe  that 
the  word  "  espoused  "  must  not  be  pressed ; 
that  Mary,  when  the  angel  came,  was 
already  St.  Joseph's  wife,  and  was  living 
in  his  house.  St.  Ambrose,  in  his  com- 
mentary on  Luke,  lib.  ij.,  remarks  that 
the  salutation,  "  Hail,  full  of  grace,"  was 
unknown  before.  *'It  was  reserved  for 
Mary  alone.  For  rightly  is  she  called 
full  of  grace,  who  alone  obtained  a  grace 
merited  by  none,  save  only  her,  that  she 
should  be  tilled  with  the  Author  of  Grace." 
At  first,  Mary  was  disturbed  by  the  salu- 
tation, and  even  when  told  that  she  was 
to  be  the  Mother  of  our  Lord,  she  replied, 
"  How  shall  this  be,  since  1  know  not 
man  ?  "  Catholic  divines  point  out  that 
she  did  not,  like  Zacharias,  show  want  of 
faith.  She  accepted  the  fact,  and  only 
inquired  about  the  manner  of  its  accom- 
plishment. According  to  the  common 
explanation,  she  had  made  a  vow  of  vir 
ginity,  which  she  was  anxious  to  keep, 
though,  as  St.  Bernard  says,  she  was 
willing  to  surrender  it  at  God's  bidding. 
The  angel  told  her  the  child  was  to  be 
conceived  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Mary  herself  was  to  supply  ail 
which  an  ordinary  mother  supplies  for 
the  formation  of  her  child's  body,  so  that 
Mary  is  truly  the  Mother  of  God.  The 
rest  was  done  by  the  operation  of  the 
Trinity,  though  it  is  attributed  specially 
to  the  Holy  Ghost,  because  it  was  a  work 
of  grace  and  love — grace  and  love  being 
particularly  appropriated  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.  This  mystery  was  accomplished 
when  the  Blessed  Virgin  said,  "  Behold 
the  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  be  it  done  unto 
me  according  to  thy  word."  Then  God 
the  Son  was  hypostatically  united  to 
human  nature. 

The  Annunciation,  as  a  feast,  belongs 
both  to  Christ  and  to  his  Blessed  Mother; 
but  Suarez  says,  that,  as  the  gift  of  Christ 
to  man  was  not  perfectly  accomplished 
till  the  moment  of  his  birth,  therefore 


the  feast  of  the  Annunciation  is  to  be 
regarded  chietlj  as  a  least  of  Mary,  that 
of  Christmas  as  a  feast  of  Christ.  The 
feast  of  the  Annunciation  is  celebrated  on 
March  25,  Some  authors— f?.^.  Thomassin 
and  Tillemont — think  that  this  date  was 
chosen  simply  because  it  is  nine  months 
l^efore  Christmas ;  nine  months  being  the 
usual  period  which  elapses  between  con- 
ception and  birth.  Benedict  XIV.,  on  the 
other  hand,  contends  that  the  25th  of 
March  was  known  by  ancient  tradition  to 
have  been  the  actual  day.  Certainly, 
St.  Augustine,  in  the  fourth  book  of  his 
work  on  the  Trinity,  cap.  v.,  speaks  of  an 
ancient  tradition  to  that  eflect,  while  the 
same  day  is  marked  for  the  Annunciation 
in  the  Greek  Menologies  and  Menaea,  in 
the  Calendars  and  Martvrologies  of  the 
Copts,  Syrians,  Chaldeans,  as  well  as  in 
the  Sacramentary  of  St.  Gregory,  and 
generally  in  the  Missals,  &c.,  of  the  West. 
It  is  true  that  a  Council  of  Toledo,  in  the 
seventh  century,  ordered  the  feast  to  be 
kept  on  January  18,  but  the  object  of  the 
council  was,  not  to  fix  the  true  date,  but 
to  provide  against  the  inconvenience  of 
celebrating  the  Annunciation  in  Lent. 

We  do  not  lind  any  certain  and  express 
mention  of  the  feast  in  early  writers, 
though  Martene  rightly  infers  from  St. 
Augustine's  words,  already  alluded  to, 
that  the  custom  of  celebrating  it  is  very 
ancient.  We  tind  it  mentioned  by  the 
Council  in  TruUo  (C92),  in  an  ancient 
Marty rology  falsely  attributed  to  St. 
Jerome,  and  in  homilies  which  pass  under 
the  name  of  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  and 
which  may  belong  to  the  beginning  of  the 
fifth  centiiry.  The  Bollandiste  even  argue 
from  the  general  diffusion  of  the  feast, 
that  it  may  have  been  of  Apostolic  insti- 
tution. 

AXOMCCAir.  [See  Artan.] 
AifTKEiil.  [See  Antiphon.] 
AKTTHOlinr,  ST.,  ORBER  OP.  Pro- 
perly speaking,  there  is  no  such  Order. 
For  although,  as  we  have  seen  [Abbot], 
Anthony  was  the  patriarch  of  the  mon- 
astic family,  still  he  composed  no  rule  ; 
and  if  certain  schismatic  convents  of 
Armenians  and  Copts  boast  that  they 
p'jssess  such  a  rule,  it  is  always  found  on 
examination  that  it  is  the  rule  of  St. 
Basil,  or  some  modification  of  it. 

The  Antonines,  an  order  of  monks  to 
serve  the  sick,  was  founded  by  Gas- 
tin,  a  gentleman  of  Dauphine,  in  1095, 
just  at  the  time  when  the  terrible 
and  mysterious  disease  called  St,  An- 
thony's fire   was    causing    great   mor- 


ANTICIIRIST 


33 


tality  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone.  In  1040 
Jocelyn,  a  pilgrim,  had  brought  relics 
of  St.  Anthony  to  the  church  of  St. 
Didier  la  Mothe,  near  Vienne.  Praying 
before  these  relics  in  1095,  Gastin,  his 
son  being  then  dangerously  ill,  vowed  to 
give  his  goods  to  found  a  hospital  if  his 
son  got  well.  The  son  recovered,  and 
eagerly  joined  his  father  in  the  fulfilment 
of  his  vow.  They  took  the  monastic 
habit,  and  established  a  hospital  for  the 
reception  of  persons  ill  of  St.  Anthony's 
fire.  The  order  flourished  greatly.  Bene- 
dict VIII.  in  1297  ordained  that  the 
Antonines  should  live  as  canons-regular 
imder  the  rule  of  St.  Austin.  From  lack 
of  recruits  the  order  was  in  1777  fused 
with  the  Order  of  Malta,  tliough  at  the 
Eevolution  there  still  survived  06  Anto- 
nines, but  three  of  whom  took  the  oath 
of  the  Civil  Constitution  of  the  clergy. 

AXTTBROPOniORPHZTES.  An  in- 
significant sect  of  the  fourth  century, 
called  also  Audians,  after  their  founder 
Audius,  a  native  of  Mesopotamia.  Ground- 
ing their  heresy  on  many  passages  in  Scrip- 
ture, especially  in  the  Old  Testament,  they 
maintained  that  God  had  a  human  shape. 
Thej-^  died  out  before  the  end  of  the  fifth 
century.  When  Cassian,  towards  tlie  year 
400,  travelled  among  the  monks  of  Egypt, 
he  found  that  anthropomorphism,  though 
with  a  complete  absence  oi  heretical  in- 
tention or  perversity,  was  rife  among 
them ;  but  whether  they  inherited  the 
tenet  from  the  Audians,  or  derived  it  from 
some  other  source,  is  uncertain. 

iLDTTICBRXST.  A  word  which,  so 
far  as  the  New  Testament  is  concerned, 
only  occurs  in  St.  John's  Epistles.  In 
itself  it  might  mean — "  like  Christ,"  or 
"mstead  of  Christ,'  as  dvridcos  signifies 
Godlike,  or  dvOvnciTos  pro-consul,  but  the 
Antichrist  of  St.  John  isChrist's  adversary. 
"  Ye  have  heard, ''he  says,"  that  Antichrist^ 
is  coming,  and  now  there  have  been  many 
Antichrists.  .  .  .  This  is  the  Antichrist 
who  denies  the  Father  and  the  Son."  In 
the  fourth  chapter  he  makes  the  charac- 
teristic of  Antichrist  {to  tov  avrLXptarov) 
consist  in  not  confessing  Jesus:  ^  and  more 
fully  in  the  seventh  verse  of  the  Second 
Epistle,  he  places  the  guilt  of  Antichrist 

»  1  Ep.  ii.  18.  The  reading  o  iv.  "  that  the 
Antichrist  comes,"  is  that  of  the  received  text, 
but  Lachmana,  'lischendorf,  and  Tregelles  omit 
the  article. 

2  "  Every  spirit  which  does  not  confess 
Jesus."  So  the  Greek,  according  to  the  editions 
just  quoted.  The  Vulgate  has  "erery  spirit 
which  dissolves  Jesus." 


34 


ANTICHRIST 


ANTIDICOMARIANITES 


in  Ms  denial  that  Christ  has  "  come  in  the 
flesh."  Thus  St.  John  identifies  the  Anti- 
christian  spirit  with  the  Doeetic  heresy, 
though  he  seems  also  to  allude  to  a  single 
person  who  is  to  come  in  the  last  days. 
St.  Paul,  in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the 
Thessalonians  is  more  explicit.  He  does 
not,  indeed,  use  the  word  "  Antichrist," 
but  he  speaks  of  a  person  whom  he  de- 
scribes as  the  "  man  of  sin,"  "  the  son  of 
perdition  who  opposeth  and  raiseth  him- 
self over  all  that  is  called  God,  or  is  an 
object  of  awe,  so  as  to  sit  in  the  temple  of 
God,  exhibiting  himself  as  God."  At  pre- 
sent, there  is  a  power  which  hinders  his 
manifestation.  The  Thessalonians  looked 
on  the  "  day  of  the  Lord  "  as  already 
imminent.  Not  so,  St.  Paul  replies ;  three 
things  must  happen  first — an  apostasy  or 
defection  must  occur;  the  hindrance  to 
the  manifestation  of  Antichrist  must  be 
removed,  and  then  Antichrist  himself  re- 
vealed. This  "  man  of  sin  "  is  usually 
called  "  Antichrist,"  and  to  this  termino- 
logy we  shall  conform  during  the  rest  of 
the  article. 

As  to  this  Antichrist,  we  must  dis- 
tinguish between  what  is  certain  and  what 
is  doubtful. 

It  is  the  constant  belief  of  the  whole 
Church,  witnessed  by  Father  after  Father 
from  Irenaeus  downwards,  that  before  our 
Lord  comes  again,  a  great  power  will 
arise  which  will  persecute  the  Church, 
and  lead  many  into  apostacy.  All  that 
is  "  lawless,''  all  that  oppose  "  lawful  au- 
thority "  in  Church  or  State,  partake  so 
far  of  his  spirit,  who  is  called,  in  the 
words  of  the  Apostle,  the  "  lawless  one  " 
by  pre-eminence.  But  this  must  not  lead 
us  to  treat  Antichrist  as  a  mere  personiti- 
cation  of  evil,  or  to  forget  the  universal 
belief  of  Fathers  and  theologians  that  he 
is  a  real  and  individual  being  who  is  to 
appear  before  the  end  of  the  world. 

So  much  for  what  is  certain.  When 
we  come  to  details,  the  Fathers,  Bossuet 
says,  "  do  but  grope  in  the  dark,  a  sure 
mark  that  tradition  had  left  nothing  de- 
cisive on  the  subject."  All,  or  nearly  all, 
are  agreed  in  considering  that  the  "  mys- 
tery of  iniquity  already  worked  "  in  Nero, 
that  the  power  which  hindered  the  ap- 
pearance of  Antichrist  was  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  that  he  was  to  appear  as  the 
Messias  of  the  Jews,  and  to  possess  himself 
of  their  temple.  Further,  from  very  early 
times,  St.  Paul's  "  man  of  sin  "  was  iden- 
tified with  one  of  the  two  Apocalyptic 
beasts,  in  Apoc.  xiii.,  and  with  the 
little  horn,  in  l)aniel  vii.,  which  rootfl  out 


the  other  ten  horns,  or  kings,  speaks 
blasphemies  and  destroys  the  saints.  A 
time  was  expected  when  the  Roman  power 
would  be  divided  into  ten  kingdoms.  Anti- 
christ was  to  destroy  three  of  these,  to 
subdue  the  rest,  till,  after  a  reign  of  three 
and  a  half  years,  he,  in  turn,  was  de- 
stroyed by  Christ.  It  was  also  commonly 
held  that  Antichrist  was  to  be  a  Jew,  of 
the  tribe  of  Dan,  because  that  tribe  is 
described  as  a  serpent  by  the  dying  Jacob,* 
and  is  omitted  from  the  list  of  tribes  in 
the  Apocalypse.^  Many  other  features  in 
the  picture  might  be  given.  Some  re- 
garded Antichrist  as  generated  by  Satan ; 
others,  as  actually  Satan  incarnate.  The 
Arian  persecution  in  Africa,  the  domina- 
tion of  Islam,  were  looked  upon  as  likely 
to  usher  in  the  reign  of  Antichrist.  Among 
other  curious  beliefs  we  may  mention  that 
of  some  among  the  B^guines,  who  sup- 
posed that  as  Lucifer  had  come  from  the 
highest  order  of  angels,  so  Antichrist 
would  spring  from  the  most  perfect  Order, 
viz.  the  Franciscan.  In  contrast  with 
these  aberrations  of  fancy,  St.  Augustine 
in  the  West,  and  St.  John  Damascene  in 
the  East,  preserve  a  marked  moderation 
of  tone  in  discussing  this  subject. 

At  the  Protestant  Reformation,  an  en- 
tirely new  view  appeared  on  the  field. 
Even  heretics  had  not  ventured  to  assert 
that  St.  Paul,  in  the  "  man  of  sin,"  meant 
to  describe  the  Pope.  Wicliffe,  indeed, 
had  called  the  Pope  "  Antichrist,"  while 
the  name  was  applied  to  Pope  Silvester 
by  the  Waldensians,  to  John  XXII.  by 
the  B^guines ;  but  the  word  was  used  in 
that  vague  sense  in  which  everyone  who 
does  or  teaches  evil  is  an  Antichrist. 
Indeed,  till  Luther's  time  it  was  generally 
agreed  that  Antichrist  was  to  be  an  indi- 
vidual, and  this  fact,  which  the  plain  sense 
of  St.  Paul's  words  implies,  is  enough  of 
itself  to  refute  the  absurd  opinion  that 
Antichrist  means  the  line  of  Popes.  All 
Protestant  writers  of  respectable  attain- 
ments have  now  rejected  this  monstrous 
interpretation.  Yet  it  is  well  not  to  for- 
get that  it  was  once  almost  an  article  ot 
Protestant  faith,  and  it  was  actually  made 
a  charge  against  Archbishop  Laud  on  his 
trial  that  he  refused  to  recognise  Anti- 
christ in  the  Bishop  of  Rome. 

(Chietiy  taken  from  Dollinger's  "First 
Age  of  the  Church,"  Appendix  I.) 

ASTTZDZCOnXARZAirXTES  (lit- 
erally "  opponents  of  Mary  ").  A  sect  of 
heretics  in  Arabia,  to  whom  St.  Epipha- 


Gen.  xlix.  17. 


>  ApocTii.6. 


ANTIOOH 

nius  directed  an  epistle  and  of  whom  he 
gives  an  account  in  his  work  on  heresies. 
They  held,  tliat,  after  Christ's  birth,  Mary- 
had  other  children  by  St.  Joseph.  They 
are  said  to  have  derived  this  error  from 
disciples  of  Aj^ollinaris.  The  Oollyridians, 
a  sect  of  the  same  time  and  country,  also 
mentioned  by  Epiphanius,  went  to  the 
opposite  extreme.  Women  of  this  sect 
ottered  cakes  or  rolls  {KoXXvpides)  in  Mary's 
honour  and  afterwards  partook  of  them. 
This  superstition  first  arose  in  Thrace 
and  Scytliia.  Against  these  heresies  St. 
Epiphanius  lays  down  the  Catholic  prin- 
ciple, that  Mary  is  to  be  honoured,  but 
God  only  to  be  adored.  (See  Fleury, 
xvii.,  26.  Hefele  in  Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

iL37TZOCH.  The  city  in  which  the 
disciples  of  our  Lord  were  first  called 
Christians,  It  was  the  chief  centre  of  the 
Gentile  Church,  and  here  the  chief  apostles, 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  other  apostolic 
men,  such  as  St.  Barnabas,  laboured. 
Besides  this,  Antioch  had  a  title  to 
spocial  pre-eminence  in  the  fact  that  it 
was  for  a  time  the  actual  see  of  St.  Peter, 
who  founded  the  Church  and  held  it,  ac- 
cording to  St.  Jerome,  for  seven  years. 
He  was  succeeded  by  St.  Evodius  and  St. 
Ignatius.  Moreover,  the  civil  greatness 
of  the  city  combined  with  its  traditional 
glory,  as  St.  Peter's  see,  to  give  it  a  high 
rank  among  the  Churches  of  the  world. 
It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  Antioch  should 
have  been  regarded  in  early  times  as  the 
third  among  the  episcopal  cities  of  the 
Catholic  world.  The  difficulty  rather  lies 
in  the  fact  that  the  third,  instead  of  the 
second,  place  was  assigned  to  it,  and  that 
it  ranked  after  Alexandria,  the  see  of  St. 
Mark.  This  apparent  anomaly  may  be 
explained  by  the  civil  superiority  of  Alex- 
andria, and  this  is  the  solution  actually 
given  by  Baronius ;  or,  again,  it  may  be 
said  that  St.  Peter  only  fixed  his  see  at 
Antioch  for  a  time,  whereas  he  placed 
his  representative  St.  Mark  as  the  per- 
manent bishop  of  Alexandria. 

However,  the  bishops  of  Antioch  did 
not  even  maintain  their  rank  as  third 
among  Christian  bishops,  though  it  was 
theirs  by  ancient  privilege.  At  the 
Second  and  Fourth  Councils,  they  per- 
mitted the  bishop  of  Constantinople  to 
assume  the  next  place  after  the  Roman 
bishop,  so  that  Antioch  became  the  fourth 
among  the  patriarchates.  Shortly  after 
the  Fourth  General  Council,  Antioch  fell 
lower  still.  Anatolius,  bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople in  St.  Leo's  time,  ordained  a 


ANTIOCH 


35 


patriarch  of  Antioch,  and  this  infringement 
of  the  independence  which  belonged  to 
Antioch  as  a  patriarchate  came  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  settled  custom. 

The  patriarchate  of  Antioch  em- 
braced the  following  provinces:  Phoe- 
nicia prima  et  secunda,  Cilicia,  Arabia, 
Mesopotamia,  Osroene,  Euphratesia,  Syria 
secunda,  Isauria  and  Palestine.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  Persia  was  subject  to 
it.  Antioch  claimed  jurisdiction  over 
Cyprus,  but  the  latter  asserted  its  inde- 
pendence at  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  and 
at  a  later  date  Anthimus,  metropolitan  of 
Cyprus,  resisted  Peter  the  Fuller,  who 
claimed  authority  as  patriarch  of  Antioch. 
Anthimus  professed  to  have  found  the 
body  of  St.  Barnabas  in  the  island  and  so 
to  have  proved  the  apostolic  foundation 
of  his  Church.  The  territory  of  Antioch 
was  abridged  further  by  the  rise  of  the 
patriarchate  of  Jerusalem.  At  Chalcedon, 
Juvenal  of  Jerusalem  secured  the  three 
Palestines  as  his  own  patriarchate.  This 
he  did  by  an  agreement  with  Maximus  of 
Antioch,  which  was  ratified  by  the  coun- 
cil and  the  Papal  legates. 

The  bishop  of  Tyre  held  the  first 
place  among  the  metropolitans  subject  to 
Antioch  ;  he  was  called  irpcoTodpoms,  and 
he  had  the  right  of  consecrating  the  new 
patriarch,  though  in  the  middle  of  the 
fifth  century,  as  we  have  seen,  this  privi- 
lege was  usurped  by  Constantinople.  The 
patriarch  consecrated  the  metropolitans ; 
they  consecrated  the  bishops,  though 
Pope  Leo  wished,  that  even  bisliops  should 
not  be  consecrated  without  the  patriarch's 
approval. 

Under  the  Emperors  Zeno  and  Anas- 
tasius  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  century, 
Monophysite  patriarchs  were  placed  at  An- 
tioch, and  this  Monophysite  patriarchate 
lasts  to  the  present  day,  though  the  patri- 
arch's residence  was  removed  to  Tagrit 
and  later  to  Diarljekir.  There  was  a 
Greek  orthodox  patriarch,  who  generally 
resided  at  Constantinople,  but  he  too  fell 
away  in  the  general  defection  of  the 
Greeks  from  Catholic  unity.  This  schis- 
matic patriarchate  of  the  orthodox  Greeks 
still  continues.  At  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century,  the  conquests  of  the 
crusaders  led  to  the  establishment  of  a 
Latin  patriarchate. 

At  present,  besides  the  Syro-Monophy- 
site  or  Jacobite,  and  the  Greek  schismatic 
patriarch,  there  are — the  Latin  Catholic 
patriarch,  who,  at  present,  does  not  really 
govern  any  Church  in  the  East ;  the  Greek 
Melchite  patriarch,  for  the  united  Greeks 


d2 


36 


ANTIOOII 


the  Syrian  patriarch,  for  those  of  the 
Syrian  rite  who  returned  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  from  Monophysite  error  to 
the  Church ;  the  Maronite  patriarch,  who 
has  au:hority  over  all  Maronite  settle- 
ments. (From  Le  Quien,  "  Oriens  Chris- 
tianas," torn,  ii.  De  Fatriarchatu  Antio- 
cherio ;  except  the  last  paragraph,  which 
is  from  Moroni,  "  Dizionario,"  sub  voce.) 

Among  the  many  councils  assembled 
at  Antioch,  special  importance  belongs  (1) 
to  three  comicils  held  between  2Q4:  and 
269  against  Paul  of  Snmosata.  At  the 
third  council,  in  209,  Paul  was  deposed 
and  his  formula  that  the  Son  was  of  one 
substance  (ohoovo-los)  with  the  Father 
condemned,  probably  because  Paul  meant 
by  it,  that  the  Son  pre-existed  only  as  an 
attribute  of  the  Father,  not  as  a  distinct 
Person,  just  as  reason  in  man  is  a  mere 
faculty,  not  a  distinct  person.  The 
fathers  of  the  council  addressed  an  en- 
cyclical letter  to  Dionysius  of  Rome, 
Maximus  of  Alexandria,  and  to  the  other 
bishops.  Dionysius  died  that  same  year, 
but  his  successor,  Felix  I.,  published  a 
decisive  statement  of  the  Catholic  faith 
against  the  errors  of  the  heresiarch.  Paul, 
however,  maintained  possession  of  the 
episcopal  house  ;  whereupon  the  orthodox 
applied  to  the  emperor  Aurelian,  who 
decreed  that  the  bishop's  house  was  to 
belong  to  him  "  with  whom  the  Italian 
bishops  and  the  Roman  see  were  in  com- 
munion." 

(2)  To  the  Synod  in  encaniis,  held  in 
341.  It  consisted  of  97  bishops,  met  to 
consecrate  the  "  Golden  Church "  begun 
by  Constantine  the  Great,  whence  the 
name  eV  iyKaiviois.  The  majority  of 
the  Fathers  held  the  Catholic  faith,  and 
had  no  thought  of  betraying  it ;  and  hence 
their  25  canons  relating  to  matters  of 
discipline  attained  to  great  authority 
throughout  the  Church.  But  they  were 
deceived  by  the  Eusebian  party  [see 
Artans],  renewed  the  sentence  of  de- 
position H gainst  Athanasius,  and  put  forth 
four  Creeds,  which  though  they  approach 
the  Nicene  confession,  still  faU  short  of  it 
by  omitting  the  decisive  word  "consub- 
stantial." 

Apart  from  its  influence  as  a  patri- 
archate and  as  the  meeting-place  of  coun- 
cils, Antioch  also  wielded  great  powers 
over  the  Church  as  a  school  of  theology 
and  of  scriptural  exegesis.  This  school 
already  existed  in  the  fourth  century, 
when  Dorotheus  and  Lucian — who  died, 
as  a  martyr,  in  311 — were  its  chief  orna- 
ments.     The  Antiochenes  were  learned 


ANTIPIION 

and  logical,  the  enemies  of  allegorical  inter- 
pretation and  of  mysticism,  but  their  love 
of  reasoning  and  tlieir  common  sense  de- 
generated at  times  into  a  rationalistic  ten- 
dency, so  much  so  that  Theodore  of 
Mopsuestia  has  ever  been  regarded  as 
the  forerunner  of  Nestorius.  But  un- 
doubtedly, Antioch  rendered  great  ser- 
vices in  the  literal  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture. Unlike  the  Alexandrians,  the 
great  scholars  of  Antioch  turned  aside 
from  allegorical  interpretations,  and  were 
distinguished  for  their  critical  spirit  and 
grammatical  precision.  Among  their 
fo-remost  commentators  were— IJiodore, 
bishop  of  Tarsus,  ( +  about  394),  for- 
merly priest  at  Antioch,  whose  writings, 
though  vehemently  denounced  for  their 
Nestorian  tendency,  and  no  longer  extant, 
once  enjoj-ed  a  vast  reputation ;  John 
Chrysostom,  the  greatest  of  all  literal 
expositors ;  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  (  + 
429),  like  Diodorus,  inclining  to  Nes- 
torianism,  but  gifted  with  talents  which 
can  still  be  discovered  even  in  the  frag- 
ments and  Latin  translations  of  his  com- 
mentaries which  survive,  and  known 
among  the  Nestorians  as  "  the  commen- 
tator "  par  excellence ;  Theodoret  ( + 
about  458),  whose  commentaries  on  St. 
Paul  are  "  perhaps  unsurpassed "  for 
*'  appreciation,  terseness  of  expression  and 
good  sense."  ^ 

iilTTIPKOSr.  The  word  signifies  "al- 
ternate utterance."  St.  Ignatius,  one  of 
the  Apostolic  Fathers,  is  believed  to  have 
first  instituted  the  method  of  alternate 
chanting  by  two  choirs,  at  Antioch.  In 
the  time  of  Constantine,  according  to 
Sozomen,  the  monks  Flavian  and  Dio- 
dorus introduced  it  among  the  Greeks. 
In  the  Latin  Church  it  was  first  employed 
by  St.  Ambrose  at  Milan  in  the  fourth 
century,  and  soon  became  general.  But 
in  process  of  time  the  word  came  to  have 
a  more  restricted  sense ;  according  to 
which  it  signifies  a  selection  of  words  or 
verses  prefixed  to  and  following  a  psalm 
or  psalms,  to  express  in  brief  the  myster}'- 
which  the  Church  is  contemplating  in 
that  part  of  her  office. 

In  the  Mass,  the  Introit  (introduced 
by  Pope  Celestine  I.  in  the  fifth  century), 
the  Offertory,  and  the  Communion,  are 
regarded  as  Antiphons.  But  it  is  in  the 
canonical  hours  that  the  use  of  the  Anti- 
phon  receives  its  greatest  extension.  At 
Vespers,  Matins,  and  Lauds,  when  the 
office  is  a  double  [Double],  the  Antiphons 

1  Lightfoot  on  Galatians,  p.  230. 


ANTIPHONARY 

are  doubled — that  is,  the  whole  Antiphon 
is  said  both  before  and  after  the  psalm  or 
canticle.  On  minor  feasts,  the  Antiphons 
are  not  doubled  ;  then  the  first  words 
only  are  said  before  the  psalm,  and  the 
whole  at  the  end  of  it.  Liturgical  writers 
say  that  the  Antiphon  means  charity ; 
and  that  when  it  is  not  doubled,  the 
meaning  is  that  charity,  begun  in  this 
life,  is  perfected  in  the  life  to  come  ;  when 
it  is  doubled,  it  is  because  on  the  greater 
feasts  we  desire  to  show  a  more  ardent 
charity.  Except  the  Alleluias,  few  Anti- 
phons are  sung  in  "Paschal  time,  for  the 
joy  of  the  season  inflames  of  itself,  and 
without  extraneous  suggestion,  the  charity 
of  the  clergy.  On  most  Sundays  the  An- 
tiphons at  Vespers  are  taken  from  both 
Testaments,  but  in  Paschal  time  only 
from  the  New.  On  the  greater  Anti- 
phons, see  the  article  Advent. 

The  final  Antiphons  of  the  B.  V.  M. 
formed  no  part  of  the  original  Church 
office ;  they  came  into  the  breviary  later. 
They  are  four  in  number,  one  for  each 
season  of  the  year.  The  first,  "  Alma 
Redemptoris,"  sung  from  Advent  to 
Candlemas,  was  written  by  Hermannus 
Contractus,  who  died  in  1054.  Chaucer's 
beautiful  use  of  this  in  the  Prioresses  Tale 
shows  how  popular  a  canticle  it  must 
have  been  with  our  forefathers.  The 
second,  ^*  Ave  Regina,"  sung  from  Candle- 
mas to  Maundy  Thursday,  was  written 
about  the  same  time,  but  the  author  is 
unknown.  The  third,  "  Regina  Cceli, 
Isetare,"  is  used  in  Paschal  time  ;  and  the 
fourth,  "  Salve  Recrina  "  (to  which,  as  is 
well  known,  St.  Bernard  added  the  words 
"O  Clemens,"  &c.),  written  either  by 
Pedro  of  Compostella  or  Hermannus 
Contractus,  is  sung  from  Trinity  to 
Advent. 

ANTZPHON-ARir.  The  book  in 
which  the  antiphons  of  the  breviary, 
with  the  musical  notes  belonging  to  them, 
are  contained. 

APOCRISIARZUS  {dnoKpiveoSai, 
to  answer.)  Ecclesiastical,  but  chiefly 
Papal,  emissaries  to  the  Court  of  the 
Emperor  were  designated  by  this  name 
from  the  fourth  to  the  ninth  century.  So 
long  as  the  civil  power  persecuted  the 
Church,  there  was  no  place  for  such  offi- 
cials ;  but  after  the  conversion  of  Con- 
stantine,  the  recognition  by  the  Roman 
emperors  of  the  divinity  of  Christianity 
and  the  claims  of  the  hierarchy  gave  rise 
to  numberless  questions,  within  the  bor- 
derland of  the  civil  and  the  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction,  which  it  was  important  for 


APOCRYPHA 


87 


the  Popes  to  press  on  the  notice  of  the  em- 
perors, and  obtain  definite  ansioers  upon, 
so  that  a  practical  adjustment  might  be- 
come possible.  The  Apocrisiarius,  there- 
fore, corresponded  to  the  Nuncio  or 
Legate  a  latere  of  later  times,  and  was 
usually  a  deacon  of  the  Roman  Church. 
Gregory  the  Great  resided  in  this  charac- 
ter for  three  years  at  Constantinople  in 
the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Mauricius. 
After  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century 
we  hear  no  more  of  such  an  emissary, 
because  the  adoption  of  the  extravagances 
of  the  Iconoclasts  by  the  imperial  Court 
led  to  a  breach  with  Rome.  But  when 
Charlemagne  revived  the  Empire  of  the 
West,  similar  diplomatic  relations  arose 
between  him  and  the  Holy  See,  which 
again  required  the  appointment  of  Apocri- 
siarii.  It  appears  that  under  the  fii-st 
Frankish  emperors  the  imperial  arch- 
chaplain  was  at  the  same  time  Papal 
Apocrisiarius.  Subsequently  the  name  was 
given  to  officials  of  Court  nomination, 
who  held  no  commission  from  Rome ;  and 
in  this  way  the  title  in  its  old  sense  came 
to  be  disused,  and  was  replaced  by  Legatus, 
or  Nuntius. 

APOCRVPH  A  (from  a7r6Kpv(f)os,  hid- 
den). It  corresponds  to  the  Jewish  word 
t3)l,  which  the  Jews  applied  to  books  with- 
drawn from  public  use  in  the  synagogue, 
on  account  of  their  unfitness  for  public 
reading.^  But  the  later  Jews  had  also 
the  notion  that  some  books  should  be 
withdrawn  from  general  circulation  be- 
cause of  the  mysteriouo  truths  they  con- 
tained.'^ 

The  early  Fathers  used  "apocryphal  " 
to  denote  the  forged  books  of  heretics, 
borrowing,  perhaps,  the  name  from  the 
heretics  themselves,  who  vaunted  the 
"  apocryphal "  ^  or  "  hidden  "  wisdom  of 
these  writings.  Later — e.(/.  in  the  "  Pro- 
logus  galeatus  "  of  Jerome — apocryphal  is 
used  in  a  milder  sense  to  mark  simply 
that  a  book  is  not  in  the  recognised  canon 
of  Scripture ;  and  Pope  Gelasius,^  in  a  de- 
cree of  494,  uses  the  term  apocryphal  in 
a  very  wide  manner,  (1)  of  heretical  for- 
geries ;  (2)  of  books  like  the  "  Shepherd 
of  Hermas,"  revered  by  the  ancients,  but 
not  a  part  of  Scripture  ;  (3)  of  works  by 
early  Christian  writers  (Arnobius,  Cas- 
sian,  &c.)  who  had  erred  on  some  points 

^  Buxtorf.  Lex.  Chald,  et  Bobbin,  sub  voc. 

2  4  Esdr.  xiv.  46. 

3  Tertull.  l)e  An.  2.     Clem.  Alex.  Strom. 
ill.  4,  29  ;  Euseb.  Bist.  iv.  22. 

4  Fleury,  Hist.  xxx.  35 ;  but  see  also  Hefele, 
Conciliengeschichte,  ii.  618, 


APOCRYPHA 


APOCRYPHA 


of  doctrine.  We  need  scarcely  add  that 
the  Protestant  custom  of  calling  Wis- 
dom, Machahees,  &c.,  "Apocrypha,"  is 
contrary  to  the  faith  and  tradition  of  the 
Church.    [See  Detjteeo-canonical.] 

The  name  is  now  usually  reserved  by 
Catholics  for  books,  laying  claim  to  an 
origin  which  might  entitle  them  to  a 
place  in  the  canon,  or  which  have  been 
supposed  to  be  Scripture,  but  which  have 
been  finally  rejected  by  the  Church.  In  the 
Old  Testament  the  most  important  apo- 
cryphal books  are — 3  and  4  Esdras,  both 
of  which  are  cited  by  early  writers  as 
Scripture,  the  latter  being  also  used  in  the 
Missal  and  Breviary ;  3  and  4  Machabees ; 
the  prayer  of  Manasses,  which  is  found  in 
Greek  MSS.  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  is 
often  printed,  in  a  Latin  version,  in  the  ap- 
pendix to  the  Vulgate  ;  the  book  of  Enoch 
{cf.  Jude  14),  which  TertuUian  regarded 
as  authentic  (it  only  exists  at  present  in 
an  Ethiopic  version) ;  a  151st  Psalm  attri- 
buted to  David,  which  is  found  in  Greek 
MSS.,  and  in  the  Syriac,  Ethiopic,  and 
Arabic  versions  of  the  Psalms  ;  eighteen 
psalms  attributed  to  Solomon,  written 
originally,  according  to  some  scholars,  in 
Hebrew,  according  to  others,  in  Greek.^ 

There  is  a  great  mass  of  New  Testa- 
ment apocryphal  literature.  Some  books, 
such  as  the  "  Epistle  of  Barnabas,"  the 
two  "  Epistles  of  Clement,"  the  "  Shep- 
herd of  Hermas,"  may  in  a  certain  sense 
be  called  apocryphal,  because,  though  not 
really  belonging  to  Scripture,  they  were 
quoted  as  such  by  ancient  writers,  or  were 
inserted  in  MSS.  of  the  New  Testament. 
Some  other  books  mentioned  byEusebius 
— viz.  the  "  Acts  of  Paul,"  the  "  Apoca- 
lypse of  Peter,"  the  "Teachings  of  the 
Apostles  "  (hibaxai  Tav^AnoaToXayv),  seem 
to  have  belonged  to  this  better  class  of 
apocryphal  literature.  Besides  these, 
Eusebius  mentions  apocryphal  books  in 
circulation  among  heretics — viz.  the 
«  Gospels  "  of  Peter,  Thomas,  Matthias  ; 
the  "  Acts  "  of  Andrew,  John,  and  the 
rest  of  the  Apostles.*  Fragments  remain 
of  the  ancient  Gospels  "  according  to  the 
Hebrews,"  "of  the  Nazarenes,"  "according 
to  the  Egyptians,"  of  the  preaching  and 
Apocalypse  of  Peter,  &c.,  and  have  been 
repeatedly  edited.' 

Later  times  were  no  less  fruitful  in 

1  See  Reusch,  Einleit.  in  das  A.  T.  p.  176. 

2  Euseb.  H.  E.  ill.  25. 

'  By  Fabricius,    Codex  Apocryphuit  N.  T. 
1703-i9)  ;  Grabe,  Spicilegium  Patrum,  Oxoniae 
1700)  ;  Hilgenfeld,  N.  T.  extra  Canonem  re- 
ceptum  ri865). 


apocryphal  literature,  and  we  still  possess 
a  great  number  of  these  later  forgeries, 
entire  and  complete.  They  have  been 
edited  by  Fabricius  in  the  work  already 
named  ;  by  Thilo,  "  Codex  Apocryphus 
Novi  Testamenti,"  1831,  of  which  work 
only  the  first  volume,  containing  the 
apocryphal  Gospels,  appeared;  by  Tis- 
chendorf  ("Evangelia  Apocrypha,''  1876, 
second  edition  enlarged  ;  "  Acta  Aposto- 
lorum  Apocrypha  "  1851 ;  "  Apocryphal 
Apocalypses,"  186G),  and  by  other  scholars. 
This  is  not  the  place  to  attempt  an  enu- 
meration of  these  apocryphal  books,  but 
we  may  mention  some  which  enjoyed  a 
special  popularity  in  the  Chm'ch,  and  ex- 
ercised a  marked  influence  on  Catholic 
literature.  A  number  of  apocryphal 
Gospels  treat  of  the  infancy  and  youth  of 
our  Lord,  and  of  the  history  of  his 
blessed  Mother  and  foster-father.  Among 
these  the  "  Protevangelium  of  James" 
holds  the  first  place.  It  describes  the  early 
history  of  Mary,  our  Lord's  birth  at 
Bethlehem,  and  the  history  of  the  wise 
men  from  the  East.  This  gospel  was 
much  used  by  the  Greek  Fathers;  portions 
of  it  were  read  publicly  in  the  Eastern 
Church,  and  it  was  translated  into  Arabic 
and  Coptic.  It  was  prohibited  for  a 
time  among  the  Latins,  but  even  in  the 
West  it  was  much  used  during  the  middle 
ages.  Other  Gospels,  such  as  the  Arabic 
"  Evangelium  Infantige  Salvatoris,"  con- 
tain legendary  miracles  of  our  Lord's 
infancy.  We  have  a  second  class  of 
apocryphal  Gospels,  which  treat  of  the 
Passion  and  Resurrection  of  Christ.  Of 
this  class  is  the  "  Gospel  of  Nicodemus."* 
It  is  probably  of  very  late  origin,  but  it 
was  a  favourite  book  in  the  middle  ages. 
The  Greek  text  still  exists,  but  it  was  also 
circulated,  before  the  invention  of  print- 
ing, in  Latin,  Anglo-Saxon,  German,  and 
French.  Closely  connected  with  this 
Gospel  are  a  number  of  documents  which 
have  sprung  from  very  ancient  but  spuri- 
ous "Acts  of  Pilate."  These  ancient 
Acts,  which  were  known  to  Justin  and 
Tertullian,  have  perished,  but  they  called 
forth  several  imitations  which  still  survive. 
The  one  which  is  best  known  is  a  letter 
of  Lentulus  to  the  Roman  senate  describ- 
ing the  personal  appearance  of  our  Lord. 
It  is  a  forgery  of  the  middle  ages. 

Further,  apocryphal  literature  is  rich 
in  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  and  here,  as 
in  the  apocryphal  Gospels,  we  find  earlv 
but  spurious  Acts,  revised  and  enlarged, 
and  so  originating  fresh  forgeries.  Thus 
the  "Acts  of  Paul  and  Thecla,"  in  their 


APOLLINARIANISM 

existing  form,  are  the  recension  of  a  very 
early  work — ^forged  as  early  at  least  as 
Tertullian's  time.  The  fullest  of  all  these 
"Acts"  is  the  "Historia  Certaminis 
Apostolorum."  It  can  scarcely  be  older 
than  the  ninth  century,  but  it  is  of  con- 
siderable value,  because  the  author  has 
made  diligent  use  of  earlier  Acts,  some  of 
which  have  perished. 

Of  apocryphal  Epistles  we  have,  among 
others,  a  letter  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Laodi- 
ceans  (only  existing  in  Latin),  which, 
though  rejected  by  Jerome,  was  accepted 
as  canonical  by  many  great  Latin  theolo- 
gians of  a  later  day,  won  a  place  in  many 
copies  of  the  Latin  Bible,  and  for  more 
than  nine  centuries  "  hovered  about  the 
doors  of  the  sacred  canon."  ^  We  may 
also  mention  a  letter  of  St.  Paul  to  the 
Corinthians,  and  another  of  the  Corinthi- 
ans to  St.  Paul  (both  only  in  Armenian) ; 
letters  supposed  to  have  passed  between 
St.  Paul  and  Seneca  (known  to  Jerome 
and  Augustine) ;  spui'ious  letters  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  to  St.  Ignatius,  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Messina,  «S:c.,  &c. 

Lastly,  we  have  apocryphal  Apoca- 
lypses of  Paul  (called  also  dva^ariKov  ; 
see  2  Cor.  xii.  1.),  Thomas,  Stephen — 
nay,  even  of  St.  John  himself. 

APOIiZiZN-ASlZAN'ISM.  Apollin- 
aris  was  the  son  of  a  grammarian,  also 
called  ApoUinaris,  who  migrated  from 
Alexandria  to  Laodicea,  where  the 
younger  ApoUinaris  was  born,  and  of 
which  city  he  afterwards  became  bishop. 
He  was  distinguished,  not  only  for  his 
great  literary  knowledge  and  skill,  but 
also  for  his  austerity  of  life.  He  was  a 
voluminous  author.  He  wrote  in  defence 
of  the  Christian  religion  against  Porphyry, 
and  showed  like  zeal  against  the  Arians, 
who  in  revenge  inflicted  a  cruel  wrong 
upon  him.  He  was  dear  in  his  youth  to 
St.  Athanasius,  and  he  was  in  friendly 
relations  with  SS.  Epiphanius,  Basil, 
Gregory  of  Nazianzus.  Hence,  for  a  long 
time  the  Catholics  were  unwilling  to 
believe  that  the  errors  attributed  to  him 
were  really  his.  Athanasius  wrote  against 
his  heresy  without  mentioning  his  name, 
and  at  the  Alexandrian  Council  of  362, 
the  Apollinarians  seem  either  to  have 
retracted  their  errors  for  the  moment,  or 
else  to  have  deceived  the  Catholic  bishops.^ 
But  "  towards  376  or  876,"  says  Fleury, 
"their  errors  manifested  themselves  so 
plainly  as  to  make  further  toleration 
mipossible.    The  Egyptian  bishops  exiled 

1  Lightfoot,  Ep.  to  Colos.  p.  365. 
'  Hefele,  Conciliengeschichte,  i.  729. 


APOLOGIST 


39 


in  Palestine  for  the  faith  opposed  [Apol- 
linaris]  vigorously,"  ^  and  St.  Basil  wrote 
against  the  heresiarch.  ApoUinaris  was 
condemned  in  a  Roman  synod  under  Pope 
Damasus  in  374.  Two  years  later,  the 
same  Pope,  in  another  Roman  synod 
anathematised  the  heresy  and  deposed 
ApoUinaris  with  his  two  disciples  Timothy 
and  Vitalis,  Apollinarist  bishops  at  Alex- 
andria and  Antioch.'*  They  were  con- 
demned again  in  the  first  canon  of  the 
Second  General  Council,  and  their  assem- 
blies were  forbidden  by  Theodosius. 

ApoUinaris  was  not  always  consistent 
with  himself,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  dis- 
tinguish his  doctrine  from  later  accretions, 
which  it  may  have  received  through  his 
followers.  A  fuU  account  of  his  doctrine 
so  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained  will  be 
found  in  Petavius,^  from  whom  we  have 
taken  the  following  summary  : — 

First,  ApoUinaris,  Uke  the  Arians, 
denied  that  our  Lord  had  a  human  intelli- 
gence. He  admitted  that  Christ  had  a 
soul  by  which  he  lived  and  felt,  but  he 
said  that  the  place  of  the  intellect  and 
spirit  were  supplied  by  the  eternal  Word. 
A  human  intelligence,  he  argued,  would 
have  been  useless  to  our  Lord,  and  incon- 
sistent with  his  sinlessness,  because  a 
created  intelligence  must  needs  be  pecca- 
ble. Here  ApoUinaris  virtually  denied 
that  Christ  is  perfect  man,  and  destroyed 
aU  real  belief  in  the  Incarnation. 

Next,  he,  or  at  least  his  followers,  held  . 
that  our  Lord's  flesh  was  of  one  substance 
with  his  divinity,  so  that  the  divinity 
actually  suffered  and  died.  They  denied 
that  he  took  flesh  from  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  asserting  that  Christ  brought  his 
body  with  him  from  heaven,  and  that 
this  body  existed  "  before  the  ages."  On 
this  point,  the  Apollinarians  repeated  an 
old  Gnostic  error,  and  were  the  fore- 
runners of  the  Monophysites.  They  ob- 
jected to  the  Catholic  doctrine,  according 
to  which  Christ  is  true  man,  because  they 
thought  it  introduced  a  fourth  person 
over  and  above  the  three  Persons  of  the 
Trinity.  As  ApoUinaris  denied  the  hu- 
manity of  Christ  by  depriving  him  of  an 
intelligent  soul,  so  he  did  in  reality  deny 
his  divinity,  for  a  Godhead  which  can  die 
or  suffer  is  no  Godhead  at  all.  (See  Petav. 
loc.  cit. ;  Fleury ;  Nevnnan,  "  Tracts  The- 
ological and  Ecclesiastical,"  267  seq.) 

APOXiOGXST.  The  word  is  used 
generally  to  denote  writers  who  defend 

^  Hist.  xvii.  25. 

2  Hefele,  Conciliengeschichte,  i.  740,  742. 

'  De  Incarnat.  i,  6. 


40 


APOSTACY 


APOSTLE 


Christianity  and  the  Churcli  from  attack. 
It  is  also  applied  in  a  special  sense  to 
those  Christian  writers  of  the  first  four 
centuries,  who  vindicated  the  faith  and 
discipline  of  Christ  from  the  torrent  of 
obloquy  to  which  they  were  exposed  in 
Pagan  society.  Such  were  Justin  Martyr, 
Minucius  Felix,  Tertullian,  Theop'hilus, 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  Lactantius,  &c., 
besides  others,  such  as  Quadratus,  Aris- 
tides,  and  Melito,  whose  works  have  not 
come  down  to  us. 

APOSTACT.  It  is  of  three  kinds : 
that  from  the  Christian  faith  ;  that  from 
ecclesiastical  obedience ;  and  that  from  a 
religious  profession,  or  from  holy  orders. 
An  apostate  from  the  faith  is  one  who 
wholly  abandons  the  faith  of  Christ,  and 
joins  himself  to  some  other  law,  such  as 
Judaism,  Islam,  Paganism,  &c.  It  is  a 
mistake,  therefore,  to  brand  as  apostacy 
any  kind  of  heresy  or  schism,  however 
criminal  or  absurd,  which  still  assumes  to 
itself  the  Christian  name.  While  the 
Turks  were  in  the  heyday  of  their  power, 
and  had  great  command  over  the  Medi- 
terranean, the  captivity  of  Christians 
among  them,  and  apostacy  resulting  from 
such  captivity,  were  matters  of  everyday 
occurrence;  hence  a  great  number  of 
decisions  and  opinions  respecting  the 
treatment  of  apostates,  on  their  wishing 
to  return  to  Christianity,  may  be  found 
in  the  writings  of  canonists.  The  second 
kind  of  apostacy,  that  from  ecclesiastical 
obedience,  is  when  a  Catholic  wilfully 
and  contumaciously  sets  at  nought  the 
authority  of  the  Church.  Such  apostacy, 
'f  persisted  in,  becomes  Schism  [q,v.']. 
fhe  third  kind  is  that  of  those  who 
abandon  without  permission  the  religious 
order  in  which  they  are  professed,  as  when 
Luther  abandoned  his  profession  as  an 
Augustinian,  and  married  Catherine  Bora. 
He  is  also  an  apostate  who,  after  having 
received  major  orders,  renounces  his  cleri- 
cal profession,  and  returns  to  the  dress 
and  customs  of  the  world,  "  an  act  which 
entails  ecclesiastical  infamy,  and,  if  there 
is  marriage,  excommunication."  (Ferraris, 
Aposfasia ;  Mack's  article  in  Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

APOST:lzs  (from  aTro'trroXos',  one 
who  is  sent).  The  word  is  not  much  used 
in  classical  Greek  except  to  denote  "a 
naval  expedition."  In  the  LXX  it  occurs 
only  once,  3  Kings  xiv.  6,  where  Ahias 
says  to  the  wife  of  Jeroboam,  "  I  am  a 
hard  messenger  {cmoa-ToKoi)  to  thee." 
It  was,  however,  in  common  use  among 
the  later  Jews,  who  applied  it  to  the 


eniiss^-ies  sent  by  the  rulers  of  the  race 
on  Riiy  foreign  mission.  These  "  apostles  " 
formed  a  council  round  the  Jewish 
patriarch,  and  executed  his  orders  abroad. 
Probably  our  Lord  adopted  the  word 
from  the  current  language  of  his  time.^ 

The  name  is  given  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment first  of  all  to  the  twelve  whom  our 
Lord  chose.  "  The  names  of  the  twelve 
apostles,"  St.  Matthew  says,  "  are  these : 
the  first,  Simon,"  &c.  But  it  is  by  no 
means  restricted  to  them :  Matthias  and 
Paul  were  of  course  apostles,  though  not 
of  the  twelve ;  so  was  Barnabas.'^  More- 
over, St.  Paul  seems  to  call  the  seventy 
disciples  apostles,  and  to  bestow  it  also 
upon  Andronicus  and  Junias.^  Certainly, 
in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  and  in  the 
office  of  the  Church  the  word  is  used  of 
persons  like  Silas,  Timothy,  Luke,  and 
others  who  were  associated  with  Paul  in 
his  work.*  Finally,  the  word  Apostle  in 
the  New  Testament  still  retains  its  wide 
and  original  meaning  of  messenger.* 

It  is  plain,  however,  from  Scripture 
and  tradition,  and  from  the  very  fact  that 
the  Church  was  an  organised  body,  that 
the  office  of  Apostle  was  something 
definite  and  distinct.  It  has  been  argued 
that  an  Apostle,  in  the  strict  sense,  had  to 
be  taken  from  those  who  had  seen  our 
Lord,  and  that  the  office  of  the  Apostolate 
was  always  accompanied  with  the  power 
of  working  miracles.  Neither  of  these 
points  can  be  proved.  No  doubt,  it  was 
providentially  arranged  that  the  twelve 
should  be  able  to  give  personal  witness  to 
the  resurrection,  and  St.  Paul  himself 
appeals  to  his  having  seen  our  Lord  as 
proof  of  his  equality  with  the  older 
Apostles.  No  doubt,  God  did  confirm  the 
teaching  of  the  Apostles  by  giving  extra- 
ordinary efficacy  to  their  words,  and 
setting  his  seal  to  it  by  miracles.  But 
this  is  no  proof  that  the  essential  charac- 
ter of  the  Apostolate  depended  either  on 
the  gift  of  miracles  or  on  having  seen 
our  Lord.  There  are,  however,  three 
marks  of  the  Apostolic  office  which 
necessarily  belong  to  it,  and  which,  talfen 
together,  separate  it  from  all  other  eccle- 
siastical dignities.  First,  the  Apostles 
were  bishops,  and  so  had  the  sacrament 
of  order  in  all  its  fullness;  they  were 
able  to  consecrate  and  ordain,  to  con- 
firm, &c.    Next,  either  mediately,  through 

*  Lightfoot  on  Galat.  92  seq. 

3  Acts  xiii.  2,  3  :  Galat.  ii.  9  ;  1  Cor.  ix.  5. 
'  1  Cor.  XV.  7 ;  Rom.  xvi.  7. 

*  See  Lightfoot,  loc,  cit.,  and  £stiiu(m  Bom.i. 

*  Philipp.  ii.  25. 


APOSTLES  CREED 

the  ministry  of  man,  or  immediately  from 
God  himself,  they  had  received  a  com- 
mission to  preach  the  Gospel  throughout 
the  world.  They  were  to  be  witnesses  to 
Christ  "  even  to  the  end  of  the  earth." 
Thirdly,  they  received  full  and  perfect 
power  of  binding  and  loosing,  of  founding 
Churches,  of  ordaining  bisbops  and  other 
ecclesiastics,  throughout  the  world.  This 
universal  jurisdiction,  however,  they  were 
obliged  to  exercise  in  union  with  St.  Peter, 
who  was  the  centre  of  unity  and  head  of 
the  Church,  and  in  subordination  to  him. 
Further,  this  universal  jurisdiction  was 
peculiar  to  themselves  ;  they  could  rot — 
except  in  a  certain  modified  sense,  which 
will  be  explained  presently — transmit  it  to 
their  successors.  It  is  Peter  only,  who 
had  any  individual  successor  in  his 
primacy  and  his  universal  jurisdiction. 
Accordingly,  if  we  are  asked  how  far  the 
Apostolic  office  continues  in  the  Church, 
we  may  answer  briefly  as  follows: — In 
episcopal  order  and  in  universal  jurisdic- 
tion {i.e.  in  two  out  of  the  three  notes  of 
an  Apostle)  the  bishops  of  Rome  are  the 
successors  of  St.  Peter.  Other  bishops 
succeed  the  Apostles  in  order  only,  not  in 
universal  jurisdiction.  But  the  episcopate 
conjointly  have  universal  jurisdiction,  and 
so  together  represent  the  Apostolic  college. 
This  jurisdiction  they  exercise  in  sub- 
ordination to  the  Pope,  as  the  Apostles 
exercised  theirs  in  subjection  to  St. 
Peter.  (See  Petav.  "  De  Hierarch."  1,  5 
and  6.) 

APOSTIJES  CHEES.  [See  CrEEDS.] 
iiPOSTZ.ES,  FEASTS  OF.  Before 
the  fifth  century  the  Roman  calendar 
contained  no  festivals  proper  to  any  of 
the  Apostles  except  that  of  SS.  Peter  and 
Paul,  on  June  29.  Low  Sunday — the 
Gospel  of  which  recalls  the  grant  of 
spiritual  powers  by  the  risen  Christ  to 
the  assembled  Apostles — was  often  called 
in  antiquity  "  the  Sunday  of  the  Apos- 
tles"; it  was  one  of  the  chief  feasts  in  the 
Ethiopian  calendar.  In  the  Sacramentary 
of  Pope  Leo  all  the  Apostles  are  com- 
memorated on  June  29  ;  for  in  the  Mass 
for  that  day  there  is  a  collect  which  runs, 
"  Omnipotens  sempiterne  Deus,  qui  nos 
omnium  apostolorum  merita  sub  una 
tribuisti  celebritate  venerari."  Hence 
tlie  "  Festival  of  the  Twelve  Apostles," 
{2vva^is  rSiV  ^(obcKa  ^ AiToaTokoiv)  came 
to  be,  and  is  still,  observed  in  the*  Greek 
Church  on  June  30.  St.  Jerome  gives  as 
a  reason  for  having  but  one  festival  for 
the  Apostles, "  ut  dies  varii  non  videantur 
dividere  quos  una  dignitas  apoetolica  in 


APOSTOLIC  CANONS 


41 


coelesti  gloria  fecit  esse  sublimes."  The 
feast  of  the  ''Division  of  the  Apostles" 
referring  to  their  final  dispersion  from 
Jerusalem  thirteen  years  after  the  Ascen- 
sion, occurs  in  the  Roman  calendar  on 
the  fifteenth  July.  The  feast  of  SS. 
Philip  and  James  was  fixed  on  the  1st  of 
May,  after  the  translation  of  their  relics 
into  the  "  Basilica  omnium  Apostolorum  " 
at  Rome  in  the  sixth  century ;  November 
30th  was  fixed  as  the  feast  of  St.  Andrew 
by  a  bull  of  Boniface  VIII.  in  1295. 

APOSTOI.IC  OAxroirs.  A  tradi- 
tion (accepted  because  unexamined)  long 
prevailed  that  these  Canons  were  dictated 
by  the  Apostles  themselves  to  St.  Cle- 
ment of  Rome,  who  committed  them  to 
writing.  Accurate  research  has  dispelled 
this  notion.  Yet  although  all  are  agreed 
that  they  do  not  come  to  us  with  the 
weight  of  Apostolic  sanction,  their  real 
value  and  the  antiquity  that  should  be 
assigned  to  them  are  still  much  disputed, 
and  they  have  been,  and  still  are,  appealed 
to  as  an  important  witness  in  many 
modern  controversies.  Daill^  the  Cal- 
vinist,  astounded  at  the  important,  or 
rather,  essential,  place  which  they  assign 
to  bishops  in  the  Christian  economy, 
strove  to  prove  that  they  were  a  work  of 
no  earlier  date  than  the  fifth  century. 
The  Anglican  divines  Beveridge  and 
Pearson,  especially  the  former,  having 
as  they  conceived  a  deep  interest  in  prov- 
ing the  acceptance  by  the  primitive  Church 
of  high  views  of  episcopal  power,  examined 
with  great  learning  and  power  the  ques- 
tion of  the  origin  of  these  Canons,  and 
endeavoured  to  prove  that  they  must 
have  been  compiled  not  later  than  the 
end  of  the  second  or  beginning  of  the 
third  century.  The  latest  German  re- 
searches (see  JKraus'  "Real  Encykl."')  tend 
to  the  conclusion  that,  as  collections,  that 
of  the  first  fifty  Canons  (see  below)  cannot 
be  dated  earlier  than  the  middle  of  the 
fourth,  while  the  remainder  must  be 
assigned  to  the  sixth  century.  Bunsen, 
in  his  work  on  "  Hippolytus  and  his  Age," 
printed  a  translation  of  the  Canons  and 
also  of  several  versions  of  the  Constitu- 
tions, with  a  voluminous  commentary, 
the  intent  of  which  is  to  show  that  these 
ancient  documents  "  know  of  no  sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  acknowledge  no  definition  of 
the  Catholic  Church,"  and,  generally,  ai*e 
in  "  flagrant  contradiction  "  with  the  later 
canon  law.  That  one  .of  the  authors  of 
that  strange  hybrid  the  "Evangelical 
Church  of  Prussia  "  could  have  persuaded 
himself  that  the   spirit  which  breathes 


42 


APOSTOLIC  CANONS 


APOSTOLIC  CANONS 


from  tlie  Canons  resembles  in  any  way 
that  which  dictated  the  ecclesiastical 
legislation  of  the  Prussian  Government, 
is  surely  a  singular  instance  of  self-decep- 
tion !  The  temperate  statement  of  Soglia 
seems  to  come  much  nearer  the  truth. 
From  these  Canons,  he  says,  it  may  he 
clearly  seen  and  proved,  "  that  the  ordin- 
ations of  bishops,  presbyters,  and  other 
clerics  are  no  growth  of  a  later  discipline, 
that  the  dogma  of  the  oblation  and  sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass  is  not  new,  nor  the  dis- 
tinction between  clergy  and  laity,  nor  the 
power  of  a  bishop  over  his  clergy,  nor 
excommunication,  nor  many  other  similar 
institutes,  which  have  been  assailed  by 
heretics  on  the  score  of  novelty." 

After  briefly  describing  what  the 
Canons  are,  we  shall  reproduce  the 
judgment  which  competent  theologians 
have  formed  of  their  contents. 

The  Apostolic  Canons  are  usually  found 
inMSS.  appended  to  the  last  or  eighth  book 
of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions.  In  some 
copies  they  are  but  fifty  in  number,  in 
others  eighty -five.  The  collection  of  fifty 
exists  in  a  Latin  form,  having  been  trans- 
lated by  Dionysius  Exiguus  from  the 
original  Greek  towards  the  end  of  the 
fifth  century.  These  fifty  were  always 
regarded  in  the  West  as  authoritative  in 
a  sense  in  which  the  remaining  Canons  were 
not ;  in  the  East  no  such  distinction  was 
made  between  them  and  the  other  thirty- 
five.  From  the  analysis  made  by  Drey 
("Neue  Untersuchungen,"  &c.)  it  would 
appear  that  twenty -two  out  of  the  whole 
number  substantially  embody  injunctions 
and  rules  contained  in  the  extant  apostohc 
epistles;  ten  are  closely  connected,  both 
in  time  and  import,  vnth.  these :  twenty 
date  from  the  age  of  the  great  persecu- 
tions ;  and  the  remainder  are  assignable 
to  the  Nicene  and  post-Nicene  periods. 
With  regard  to  their  contents,  "  the 
greater  number,  76  out  of  85,  relate  to 
the  clergy,  their  ordination,  the  conditions 
of  consecration,  their  official  ministrations, 
orthodoxy,  morality,  and  subordination, 
also  to  their  temporalities,  and  to  the 
relation  of  the  diocese  to  the  province  ;  so 
that  it  is  clear  that  the  regulation  of  the 
discipline  afiecting  ecclesiastical  persons 
was  the  main  object  of  the  collection." 

With  regard  to  the  authority  that 
should  be  assigned  to  them,  while  on  the 
one  hand  the  Emperors  Constantine, 
Theodosius,  and  Justinian,  the  Council 
of  Ephesus,  and  especially  St.  John 
Damascene,  who  ranks  them  with  the 
Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  are  all  in 


their  favour,  the  consensus  of  opinion 
against  them,  since  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  they  were  first  critically  examined, 
is  very  strong.  It  is  urged  that  Eusebius 
and  St.  Jerome  are  silent,  though  if  such 
a  collection  of  Canons  had  come  down 
j  from  the  Apostles,  they  must  have  known 
of  them ;  also  that  in  the  controversy 
(third  century)  between  Pope  Victor  and 
St.  Cyprian,  neither  party  appealed  to 
them,  though,  had  they  been  generally 
known,  and  believed  to  be  genuine,  they 
would  at  once  have  decided  the  point  in 
dispute.  Again,  it  is  plain  that  many 
things  mentioned  in  them — e.g.  metro- 
politans, division  of  dioceses,  distinction 
of  Church  from  episcopal  property,  &c. — 
are  of  post- Apostolic  age.  Thirdly,  they 
teach  in  many  places  a  doctrine  which  it 
is  impossible  to  ascribe  to  the  Apostles, 
as  when  (No.  17)  they  forbid  only  that  a 
man  who  has  been  twice  married  after  his 
baptmn  should  be  admitted  into  the  ranks 
of  the  clergy,  whereas  the  letter  of  Inno- 
cent I.  (404)  to  Victricius,  bishop  of 
Rouen,  proves  that  a  second  marriage  dis- 
qualified from  ordination,  even  when  the 
first  had  been  contracted  before  baptism  ; 
or  (No.  66)  when  they  lay  down  an  un- 
wise rule  on  fasting;  or  (Nos.  46,  47) 
enjoin  as  to  the  re-baptism  of  heretics  the 
contrary  of  that  which  Victor,  following 
the  true  apostolic  tradition,  maintained  in 
the  dispute  with  Cyprian.  Either  there- 
fore it  must  be  said  that  the  Church 
teaches  a  doctrine  and  discipline  repug- 
nant to  what  the  Apostles  taught — an 
assertion  which  would  be  impious — or  it 
must  be  allowed  that  these  Canons,  in 
their  entirety  at  least,  cannot  be  ascribed 
to  the  Apostles. 

That  Bunsen  should  have  thought 
that  these  Canons  breathed  a.  spirit  alien 
from  that  of  the  Roman  Church  is  extra- 
ordinary. In  them  we  view  the  Catholic 
Church  as  one  body,  attaching  great 
importance  to  unity,  knowing  its  own 
mind,  imposing  a  strict  discipline  on  all 
its  members  lay  and  clerical,  just  as  we 
see  the  Church  in  communion  with  Rome 
doing  at  this  day.  The  thirty-fifth  Canon, 
enjoining  on  bishops  obedience  to  their 
metropolitans  in  the  interest  of  that 
"  unanimity  "  by  which  God  is  glorified, 
foreshadows — one  might  almost  say, 
suggests — the  language  of  the  Leos 
and  the  Gregories  concerning  the  chair 
of  Peter,  for  what  could  prevent  dissen- 
sion among  the  metropoUtans,  unless 
they,  too,  had  some  one  to  look  up  to  and 
obey  ? 


APOSTOLIC  FATHERS 

APOSTOZiIC  FATHERS.  A  name 
given  to  Christian  authors  who  wrote  in 
tlie  age  succeeding  that  of  the  Apostles. 
Hefele's  edition  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers 
(4tli  ed.  Tubingen,  1865)  contains: — 
(1)  An  epistle^  falsely  ascribed  to  St. 
Barnabas.  Hefele  places  it  between 
107-120.  (2)  Two  letters  (so-called)  of 
Clement,  Bishop  of  Rome.  The  former 
of  the  two  (genuine),  is  assigned  to  the 
close  of  the  first  century.  The  second 
(spurious),  is  not  a  letter,  but  a  homily  of 
uncertain  date.  (3)  The  letters  of  St. 
Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch.  Seven 
letters  in  the  shorter  Greek  recension 
are  genuine ;  they  belong  to  the  early 
part  of  the  second  century.  (4)  A  letter 
of  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  and 
disciple  of  St.  John.  (5)  An  anonymous 
epistle  to  Diognetus.  Hefele  and  many 
others  suppose,  that  the  author  lived 
shortly  after  the  Apostles.  (6)  The 
"  Shepherd  of  Hermas,"  an  apocalyptic 
book,  dating  probably  from  the  middle  of 
the  second  century.  (7)  An  account  of 
the  martyrdom  of  St.  Polycarp,  given  by 
the  contemporary  Church  of  Smyrna. 
(8)  Early  Acts  of  the  Martyrdom  of  St. 
Ignatius.  The  great  edition  of  Cotelerius, 
appeared  at  Paris,  1662.  It  does  not 
give  the  epistle  to  Diognetus,  and  on  the 
other  hand  contains  the  Pseudo-Clemen- 
tine writings,  with  the  Apostolic  Canons 
and  Constitutions,  An  elaborate  account 
of  the  whole  literature  of  the  subject  will 
be  found  in  the  new  edition  by  Gebhardt, 
Harnack  and  Zahn  (Leipsic,  1876,  seq). 

APOSTOl^ZCAI.  COirSTZTV- 
TlOiarS  (Stnra^ets-  Or  diarayai).  Eight 
books,  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  eccle- 
siastical affairs.  They  profess  to  contain 
the  words  of  the  Apostles  written  down 
by  St.  Clement  of  Rome.  The  first  Greek 
printed  text  was  edited  by  Turrianus,  and 
published  in  1563. 

The  spurious  character  of  the  book 
was  soon  evident  to  Catholic  scholars, 
such  as  Baronius,  Bellarmine,  and  Petavius, 
who  were  at  one,  at  least  on  the  main 
point,  with  Protestants  like  Daill^  and 
Blondel.  But  it  is  more  difficult  to  say 
when  the  foundation  of  the  book  was 
laid,  and  when  it  took  its  present  form. 
Eusebius  mentions  the  "  so-called  teach- 
ings of  the  Apostles"  (jcov  dnoa-ToXwv  ai 
"keyoiievai  di8axai),  and  similarly  Atha- 
nasius  speaks  of  the  "teaching  of  the 
Apostles,"  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  they 
refer  to  some  work  of  which  the  present 
Constitutions"  are  a  later  recension. 
Epiphanius  quotes  the  "Constitution  of  the 


APOSTOLICUS 


43 


Apostles"  (didra^is),  but  his  quotations 
never  exactly  correspond  to,  while  one  of 
them  differs  widely  from,  our  present  text. 

Pearson  assigns  the  work,  as  it  stands, 
to  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century. 
Lagarde,  one  of  the  leading  modem 
authorities  on  the  subject,  says  it  is  now 
the  general  opinion  of  the  learned,  that 
the  book  "  grew  up  secretly  "  in  the  third 
century,  and  that  the  two  last  books, 
(7th  and  8th)  were  added  afterwards. 
There  is  an  excellent  edition  by  De 
Lagarde,  1862. 

APOSTOliZCZ.  A  sect  of  Gnostics 
described  by  St.  Epiphanius  in  his  work  on 
heresies;  they  called  themselves  by  this 
name  because  they  pretended  to  imitate 
the  Apostles  in  absolutely  renouncing  the 
world.  They  held  matter  to  be  altogether 
corrupt  and  impure,  and  consequently 
rejected  marriage,  though  they  appear 
not  to  have  been  averse  to  irregular 
connections.  They  were  at  no  time 
numerous,  and  were  dying  out  when 
Epiphanius  wrote.  In  the  twelfth  century 
a  sect  appeared  in  Rhineland,  and  also  in 
France,  which  took  the  same  name,  and 
held  to  a  great  extent  the  same  doctrines ; 
but  these  Apostolics  allowed  of  marriage. 
St.  Bernard  preached  two  sermons  against 
them.  They  were  always  reviling  the 
hierarchy,  the  corruption  of  which  they 
declared  to  be  so  great  as  to  have  vitiated 
all  the  sacraments  of  the  Church  except 
that  of  Baptism.  A  similar  sect,  calling 
themselves  "  Apostolic  Brethren,"  ap- 
peared in  North  Italy  towards  the  end 
of  the  thirteenth  centui'y ;  their  leaders, 
Segarelli  and  Dulcino,  both  suffered  at 
the  stake.  For  an  account  of  their  wild 
fanatical  tenets,  see  Milman's  "  Latin 
Christianity,"  vii.  360. 

APOSTOZ.zcirs.  Tl^e  word  was 
applied  to  bishops  generally  in  the  ancient 
Church,  rather, however, as  an  epithet  than 
as  a  title.  Then  it  was  restricted  to 
metropolitans  or  primates;  thus  Pope 
Siricius  writes  (about  a.d.  390),  "ut 
extra  ccnscientiam  sedis  apostolicae,  id 
est,  primatis,  nemo  audeat  ordinare." 
Even  Alcuin,  writing  at  the  beginning  of 
the  ninth  century,  uses  the  word  in  this 
sense.  Yet  long  before  this  the  use  of 
the  term  "  sedes  apostolica  "  kut^  ^'^oxv^f 
for  the  see  of  Rome  (comp.  Beda's  "  Hist. 
Eccl."  passim),  had  laid  a  foundation  for 
the  restriction  of  the  term  Apostolicus  to 
the  Roman  pontiff.  From  the  ninth  cen- 
tury onwards  we  find  it  applied  only  to 
the  Popes,  and  in  course  of  time  it  came  to 
be  used  of  them  as  a  title  end  official 


44 


APPEAL 


APPEAL 


designation.  The  Council  of  Rheims 
(1049)  recojrnised  the  right  of  the  Pope 
to  this  title,  "  quod  solus  Romanse  sedis 
pontifex  universalis  ecclesiee  primas  esset 
et  Apostolicus,"  and  excommunicated  an 
archbishop  of  Compostella  for  assuming 
to  himself  "  culmen  Apostolici  nominis," 
the  eminence  of  the  apostolic  name.  In 
the  middle  ages,  Apostolicus  (in  Norman 
French  apostoile)  became  the  current 
name  for  the  reigning  Pope.  (Kraus' 
"  Real  Encyld.;"  Smith  and  Cheetham.) 

AWBAJt,  He  who  appeals  has  re- 
course to  the  justice  of  a  superior  judge 
from  -what  he  conceives  to  be  the  unjust 
sentence  of  an  inferior  judge. 

Appeals  may  be  either  judicial  or 
extra-judicial.  A  judicial  appeal  is  from 
the  sentence  of  a  judge  acting  as  a  judge. 
An  extra-judicial  appeal  is  from  the  in- 
jurious action  of  any  superior,  whereby 
the  appellant  thinks  his  rights  are  in- 
fringed— e.g.  in  a  case  of  disputed  patron- 
age, or  abusive  exercise  of  power.  In 
these  cases,  as  the  extra-judicial  appeal  is 
not  in  the  cause,  but  begins  or  lays  the 
foundation  for  the  cause,  it  is  not,  pro- 
perly speaking,  an  appeal  at  all.  But 
there  is  one  kind  of  extra-judicial  appeal 
which  is  really  such ;  it  is  when  the 
appeal  is  made  from  a  judge  who  has  not 
decided  judicially — e.g.  who  has  given 
sentence  without  hearing  the  arguments 
of  counsel  or  the  evidence  of  witnesses 
when  these  were  required  or  allowed  by 
the  law.  In  this  case  the  appeal  is  extra- 
judicial (for  it  is  made  against  an  arbi- 
trary act,  rather  than  a  motived  judg- 
ment), yet  it  is  a  true  appeal,  for  it  is 
made  from  a  judge  to  a  judge. 

The  ol^ect  of  appeals  is  the  redress  of 
injustice,  whether  knowingly  or  ignorantly 
committed.  An  appeal  need  not  imply 
that  the  ongilnal  sentence  was  unjust,  for 
the  production  of  new  evidence  in  the 
superior  court  may  change  the  aspect  of 
a  case,  and  cause  a  decision  which  was 
just  on  the  assumption  of  one  set  of  facts 
to  be  justly  set  aside  on  the  discovery  of 
further  facts. 

Appeal  can  be  made  from  any  judge 
recognising  a  superior ;  thus  no  appeal  is 

Sossmle,  in  secular  matters,  from  the 
ecision  of  the  sovereign  power,  or  the 
highest  secular  tribunal,  in  any  country, 
for  these,  in  such  matters,  recognise  no 
superior.  Again,  there  can  be  no  appeal 
from  the  Pope ;  "  for  he,  as  the  vicar  of 
Christ,  recognises  no  superior  on  earth, 
and  it  is  of  the  essence  of  an  appeal  that 
it  be  made  from  a  lower  to  a  higher 


judge,  by  whom  the  sentence  of  the  first 
may  be  corrected."  ^  Those  who  appeal 
from  the  judgment  of  the  Pope  to  a  future 
general  council,  of  whatever  rank  or 
condition  they  may  be,  are  formally  ex- 
communicated in  the  bull  "In  Ooena 
Domini."  Nor  can  appeal  be  made  from 
a  general  council  legitimately  convened 
and  approved,  "  because  it,  being  in  union 
with  the  Roman  Pontiff  who  approved 
it,  represents  the  whole  Church,  from 
the  sentence  of  which  there  can  be  no 
appeal."'* 

As  a  rule,  appeals  should  proceed 
regularly,  through  all  the  intermediate 
jurisdictions,  to  the  supreme  tribunal ; 
but  canon  law  admits  of  many  exceptions 
to  this.  "  In  the  first  place,  all  persons  are 
at  liberty  to  appeal  to  the  Pope  imme- 
diately, passing  over  all  intermediate 
judges,  in  ecclesiastical  and  spiritual 
causes;  and  those  subject  to  his  tem- 
poral rule  can  do  so  in  temporal  causes 
also."  ^  The  reason  is,  that  the  Pope  is 
"  the  ordinary  judge  of  all  Christians, 
having  concurrent  power  with  all  ordi- 
naries." Many  other  cases  are  specified 
in  the  canon  law,  in  which  appellants  are 
authorised  to  appeal  to  a  higher  court  at 
once,  passing  over  the  intermediate  juris- 
dictions. 

At  the  same  time  there  are  numerous 
causes  in  w^liich  no  appeal  is  permitted ; 
these  are  summed  up  in  the  following 
lines,  which  are  a  sort  of  memona 
technica : — 

Sublimis  judex,  scelus,  exsecutio,  pactum, 
Contemptus,  et  res  minimse,  dilatio  nulla, 
Clausula  quae  removet,  res  quae  notoria  constat, 
Et  textus  juris  clarus,  possessio,  fatum. 

There  can  be  no  appeal  from  a  "  sublimis 
judex,"  such  as  the  Pope,  or  the  sovereign 
authority  in  a  state.  "  Scelus  : "  that  is, 
those  convicted  of  criminal  offences  and 
who  have  confessed  their  guilt  have  no 
appeal.  "  Exsecutio  :"  that  is,  when  the 
cause  has  become  a  "res  judicata,"  the' 
execution  of  the  sentence  cannot  be 
stayed  by  appeal;  this  seems  to  be  a 
particular  case  of  "  fatum."  "  Pactum :  '* 
if  the  parties  have  consented  to  a  com- 
promise during  the  progress  of  the  suit, 
there  can  be  no  appeal.  Contempt  of 
court  by  a  contumacious  refusal  to  appear 
to  the  judge's  citation  is  another  cause 
which  deprives  a  litigant  of  the  right  to 
appeal ;  as  is  (in  civil  causes)  the  utterly 

1  Ferraris,  Appellatio,  art.  iii. 
«  IbicU  '  Ibid.  §10. 


APPELLANTS 

insignifieant  nature  of  the  point  raised, 
according  to  the  maxim,  de  minimis  non 
curat  lex.  "  Dilatio  nulla :"  that  is,  in 
thiugs  which  do  not  admit  of  delay,  there 
can  he  no  ajjpeal — at  any  rate,  no  such 
appeal  as  would  have  the  effect  of  sus- 
pending- the  execution  of  the  sentence ; 
as  in  a  case  about  opening  a  will,  or 
issuiug  supplies  of  food  to  soldiers,  and 
the  like.  '*  Clausula  quae  removet :"  that 
is,  when  the  original  suit  was  conducted 
by  delegation  from  the  supreme  tribunal 
under  the  clause  "  appellatione  remota," 
the  ordinary  right  of  appeal  is  annulled. 
The  next  two  cases  explain  themselves ; 
by  "  possessio  "  is  meant  that  brief  enjoy- 
ment of  the  subject  of  litigation  which 
does  not  prejudice  in  an  appreciable 
degree  the  right  of  the  other  party  ;  and 
by  "  fatum "  those  prescribed  terms  and 
dates  which  are  otherwise  named  "  fata- 
lia,"  and  the  exact  observance  of  which  is 
necessary  in  order  that  an  appeal  may 
proceed.  For  instance,  unless  an  appeal 
against  a  sentence  be  lodged  within  ten 
days  from  its  delivery,  it  cannot  be  made 
at  all. 

Finally,  no  appeal  having  suspensive 
eflfect  lies  from  a  sentence  of  excommuni- 
cation, nor  from  legitimate  disciplinary 
correction  of  a  superior  paternally  ad- 
ministered without  legal  process.  (Fer- 
raris, Appellatio.) 

APPEILILASTTS.  This  was  the  name 
given  to  the  party  among  the  French 
clergy,  headed  by  the  Cardinal  de 
Noailles,  archbishop  of  Paris,  and  four 
bishops,  who  appealed  to  a  future  general 
council  against  the  constitution  Unigenitus 
(1713),  by  which  the  Holy  See  had  con- 
demned a  hundred  and  one  propositions 
of  a  more  or  less  Jansenistic  character, 
extracted  from  the  writings  of  the  Pere 
Quesnel.     [Jansenists.] 

•  APPROBATZOxr.  The  formal  judg- 
ment of  a  prelate,  that  a  priest  is  lit  to 
hear  confessions.  It  does  not  involve 
jurisdiction — i.e.  a  bishop  does  not  neces- 
sarily give  a  priest  power  to  hear  con- 
fessions in  his  diocese,  because  he  pro- 
nounces him  fit  to  do  so,  though  in  fact  a 
bishop  always  or  almost  always  gives  a 
secular  priest  jurisdiction,  at  the  time  he 
approves  him.  This  approbation  by  the 
bishop,  or  one  who  has  quasi-episcopal 
jurisdiction,  is  needed  for  the  validity  of 
absolution  given  by  a  secular  priest,  un- 
less the  said  priest  has  a  parochial  bene- 
fice.^   The  bishop  who  approves  must  be 

1  Concil.  Trident,  xxiii.  15. 


APSE 


45 


the  bishop  of  the  place  in  which  the  con- 
fession is  heard  and  this  approbation  may 
be  limited  as  to  time,  place,  and  circum- 
stances. 

Regulars,  in  order  to  confess  members 
of  their  own  order,  require  the  approval 
of  their  superiors ;  to  confess  seculars, 
that  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese. 

APSE  (Greek,  n>/rtV,  a  wheel  or 
arch).  Nothing  is  known  of  the  shape  of 
the  Christian  churches  which  were  built 
before  the  time  of  Constautine.  As- 
suming, therefore,  that  ecclesiastical 
architecture  dates  from  the  fourth  century, 
the  apse  may  be  considered  as  one  of  ita 
primitive  features,  for  it  already  existed 
in  many  of  the  basilicas  or  halls  of  jus- 
tice or  commerce,  which,  when  Christi- 
anity rose  into  the  ascendant,  were  freely 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  bishops  by 
the  civil  power.  It  was  the  semicircular 
termination  of  the  basilica  in  which  sat 
the  judges;  the  same  construction  may 
often  be  seen  in  French  courts  of  justice 
at  this  day.  When  utilised  for  Christian 
worship,  its  extreme  end  was  occupied  by 
the  bishop's  chair ;  the  seats  of  the  clergy, 
following  the  semicircle,  were  on  his 
right  and  left ;  the  altar  was  in  the  middle 
of  the  apse,  or  just  in  front  of  it ;  and 
beyond  the  altar  was  the  choir.  In  the 
Byzantine  style,  which  arose  in  the  East 
alter  Constantine  had  transferred  the  seat 
of  empire  to  his  new  city  on  the  Bos- 
phorus,  the  apse  was  retained ;  a  notable 
instance  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  church 
of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople,  built  in 
the  sixth  century.  It  appears  also  in  the 
old  Byzantine  churches  at  Ravenna,  and 
also  in  several  clnu'ches  on  the  Rhine,  of 
later  date  but  in  the  same  style.  In  France 
and  England  the  Byzantine  architecture 
received  that  splendid  development  which 
is  called  Norman  ;  but  the  apse,  in  all  large 
churches  at  least,  still  held  its  ground, 
though  it  occasionally  took  a  triangular 
or  a  polygonal  form.  Norwich  Cathedral 
is  perhaps  the  finest  example  of  the 
round  apse  to  be  found  in  England. 
The  cathedral  of  Durham,  of  which  the 
nave  and  choir  were  finished,  much  as 
we  now  see  them,  about  the  beginning 
of  the  twelfth  century,  had  originally  an 
apse,  but  on  account  of  a  failure  in  the 
masonry,  this  was  taken  down  giid  the 
present  magnificent  chapel  of  the  Nine 
Altars  substituted  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. In  the  later  styles  which  followed 
the  Norman,  the  French  builders  as  a 
rule  retained  the  apse,  while  the  English 
generally  abandoned  it  for  the  rectangu- 


46 


AQUAKU 


lar  form.     (Oudin,  "Manuel  d'Arcli^olo- 

ii.QTrARZi.    [See  Ettcratites.] 
ARCHiLis-GBii.    [See  Angel.] 

ARCHBISHOP  (Gr.  apxteTTia-KOTTOs). 
The  word  first  occurs  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury; St.  Athanasius  speaks  of  himself 
and  also  of  Alexander,  his  predecessor  in 
the  see  of  Alexandria,  under  this  name. 
In  earlier  times  those  bishops  who  had 
Buffi-agan  bishops  depending  on  them, 
and  exercised  spiritual  jurisdiction  within 
a  certain  geographical  area  which  was 
their  j^rovince,  were  called  metropolitans. 
As  Christianity  extended  itself,  the 
bishops  of  the  more  important  cities  under 
the  metropolitans  came  themselves  to 
have  suffi'agan  bishops  under  them,  to 
whom  they  were  metropolitans.  It  be- 
came necessary,  therefore,  to  find  some 
new  title  for  the  old  metropolitans,  and 
the  terms  pj'imate,  exarch  [see  those 
articles]  and  archbishop  came  into  use. 
In  tbe  West  the  name  "  archbishop"  was 
scarcely  heard  before  the  ninth  century. 
For  a  time  the  words  patriarch  and 
archbishop  appear  to  have  been  used  in- 
terchangeably. At  present  the  terms 
"  archbishop  "  and  "  metropolitan  "  have 
the  same  meaning,  except  that  the  latter 
implies  the  existence  of  suffragans,  where- 
as there  may  be  archbishops  without  suf- 
fragans, as  in  the  case  of  Glasgow. 

In  the  middle  ages  the  archbishops 
possessed  an  ample  jurisdiction  :  they  had 
the  right  of  summoning  provincial  coun- 
cils; they  could  judge  their  suffragans  as 
a  tribunal  of  first  instance,  and  hear  on 
appeal  causes  referred  to  them  from  the 
episcopal  courts  within  the  province. 
The  jurisdiction  of  a  metropolitan  over 
his  suff'ragans  in  a'iminal  causes  was  trans- 
ferred by  the  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  xiii. 
De  Ref,  c.  8)  to  the  Holy  See ;  in  dvil 
causes  it  remains  intact.  Provincial  coun- 
cils, owing  to  the  difficulties  of  the  times, 
have  been  less  frequent  in  recent  times 
than  formerly;  but,  by  the  Council  of 
Trent  (sess.  xxiv.  2,  De  Ref.),  metropoli- 
tans are  bound  to  convene  them  every 
three  years.  An  archbishop  can  receive 
appeals  from  his  suffragans  in  marriage 
cases,  and  (with  the  authority  of  the  pro- 
yincial  council)  visit  any  suffragan's 
diocese.  The  right  also  devolves  upon 
him  of  appointing  a  vicar  capitular  on 
the  decease  of  a  suffragan  bishop,  if  the 
chapter  fail  to  appoint  one  within  eight 
days.  Two  venerable  insignia  still  mark 
Ms  superior  dignity — the  pallium  with 
which  he  is  invested  by  the  Holy  See,  and 


ARCHDEACON 

the  double  cross  borne  on  his  "  stemma'  'over 
his  arms.  An  archbishop  has  the  right 
of  carrying  his  cross  throughout  his  pro- 
vince, except  in  the  presence  of  the  Pope 
or  a  Cardinal  Legate.  Until  the  arch- 
bishop has  received  the  pallium  he  can 
only  style  himself  A.  elecf.us ;  and,  although 
confirmed  and  consecrated,  he  cannot  con- 
voke a  council,  consecrate  chrism,  or  exer- 
cise any  other  acts  of  higher  jurisdiction 
and  order. 

Up  to  1789  the  Church  in  that  part 
of  tbe  United  States  formerly  subject 
to  England  continued  to  be  adminis- 
tered by  the  Yicar- Apostolic  of  the  Lon- 
don District,  Father  John  Carroll  being 
local  superior;  in  1789  Baltimore  was 
erected  into  an  episcopal  see,  Father 
Carroll  becoming  the  bishop.  In  1793 
Xew  Orleans,  then  under  Spanish  rule, 
was  erected  into  a  see.  In  1808  New 
York  and  Boston  were  established,  and 
Baltimore  became  aaarchiepiscopal  see. 
Philadelphia  came  next,  being  made 
a  see  in  1809.  Oregon  City  from  the 
first  (1846)  took  metropolitan  rank. 
The  dates  of  the  establishment  of  the 
present  metropolitan  sees  are  as  fol- 
lows, the  first  date  being  that  of  the 
foundation  of  the  see  and  the  second  of 
its  elevation  to  a  metropolis:  Balti- 
more, 1789-1808;  New  Orleans,  1793- 
1850;  New  York,  1808-1850;  Boston, 
1808-1875;  Philadelphia,  1809-1875; 
Cincinnati,  1822-1850;  St.  Louis,  1826 
^1847;  Chicago,  1844-1880;  Milwau- 
kee, 1844-1875;  Oregon  Citv,  1846- 
1846 ;  Santa  F^,  1850-1875 ;  San  Fran- 
cisco, 1853-1853. 

ARCKSEACOir  (Gr.  dpxi^iaKovos). 
At  a  very  early  period  it  was  the  prac- 
tice for  a  bishop  to  select  one  of  the 
deacons  of  his  church  to  assist  him  both 
in  the  divine  worship  and  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  diocese.  As  waa 
natural,  his  choice  fell,  not  necessarily 
upon  the  senior  deacon,  but  upon  him  in 
whose  ability  and  firmness  he  could  most 
confide.  Thus  we  read  of  Eleutherus  aa 
the  deacon  of  Pope  Anicetus,  in  the  second 
century ;  of  St.  Lawrence  the  deacon  of 
Sextus  II.  in  the  third  ;  and  of  St.  Atha- 
nasius, who  as  the  deacon  of  Alexander, 
the  bishop  of  Alexandria,  attended  him  at 
the  Council  of  Nicsea.  The  name  "  Arch- 
deacon "  first  occurs  in  the  writings  of  St. 
Optatus  of  Mile\is  (about  370).  The  im- 
portance of  the  office  continually  grew,  and 
we  learn  from  St.  Jerome  that  in  his  time  it 
was  considered  a  degradation  for  an  arch- 
deacon to  be  ordained  priest.    It  was  the 


ARCHES,  COURT  OF 

duty  of  the  archdeacon,  under  the  Bishop's 
direction,  to  manage  the  Church  property ; 
provide  for  the  support  of  the  clergy,  the 
poor,  widows,  orphans,  pilgrims,  and 
prisoners ;  to  keep  the  list  of  the  clergy, 

.-ftr;.  An  able  archdeacon,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  often  succeeded  to  tbe  see  on 
the  death  of  the  bishop  who  had  ap- 
pointed him.  At  first  there  was  but  one 
archdeacon,  but  in  the  immense  dioceses 
which  the  conversion  of  the  Western 
nations  caused  to  arise,  the  episcopal 
duties  could  not  be  effectually  performed — 
so  far  as  the  temporal  side  of  them  was 
concerned — without  the  appointment  of 
several  archdeacons  as  the  bishop's  dele- 
gates. That  they  should  gradually  be 
invested  with  the  jurisdiction  possessed  by 
the  bishop,  and  ultimately  even  receive 
independent  powers,  was  a  natural  con- 
sequence of  this  state  of  things.  In  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  their 
power  rose  to  its  height.  About  1100 
Remigius,  upon  transferring  his  episcopal 
throne  from  Dorchester  to  Lincoln,  di- 
vided his  vast  diocese  into  seven  arch- 
deaconries, in  each  of  which  the  arch- 
deacon resided  in  the  chief  town  of  his 
province  with  quasi-episcopal  state,  and 

-Exercised  a  jurisdiction  which  was  often 
formidable  even  to  laymen.  Armed  with 
such  high  privileges,  the  archdeacons  be- 
gan to  encroach  on  the  authority  of  the 
bishops,  and  this  led  to  their  downfall. 
Long  before  this  the  Church  had  ordered 
that  archdeacons  on  their  appointment 
must  receive  priestly  consecration  ;  now  a 
series  of  councils  in  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries  occupied  themselves 
with  limiting  their  powers  and  bringing 
them  back  into  a  due  subordination  to 
the  bishops  ;  finally,  the  Council  of  Trent 
confirmed  and  extended  these  restrictions, 
taking  from  the  archdeacons  and  giving 
back  to  the  bishops  that  jurisdiction  in 
matrimonial  and  criminal  causes  which 
had  been  the  chief  source  of  their  in- 
fluence. In  the  U.  S.  the  office  of  arch- 
deacon does  not  exist,  and  the  functions 
usually  performed  by  an  archdeacon  are 
attached  to  the  office  of  the  bishop's 
vicar-general,  an  office  nearly  corre- 
sponding to  that  of  the  archdeacon  in  the 
primitive  church.     [Vicar-Genekal.] 

ARCHES,  COtTRT  OP.  An  ancient 
court,  in  which  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  is  still  exer- 
cised by  a  judge  Imown  as  the  Dean  of 
Arches.  It  received  its  name  from  Bow 
Church  in  Cheapside  (S.  Maria  de  Arcu- 
bus),  in  which  its  sittings  were  wont  to 


ARCH-PRIEST 


47 


be  held.  (  See  Hook's  "  Church  Diction- 
ary.") By  a  clause  in  the  Public  Wor- 
ship Act  (1877)  the  offtce  of  Dean  of 
Arches  is  merged  in  that  of  the  judge 
appointed  under  that  Act.  There  is  an 
appeal  from  the  sentence  of  this  court  to 
the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy 
Council,  which  now  represents  the  old 
Court  of  Delegates,  and  practically,  as 
representing  the  Crown,  upholds  the  doc- 
trine of  the  royal  supremacy  by  deciding 
without  appeal  all  spiritual  causes  that 
may  be  brought  before  it. 

ARCHZiviAN-DRlTS.  [See  Abbot.] 
ARCHIVES,  ARCHZVXST  (Greek 
ap;tfia).  The  utility  of  the  preservation 
of  public  records  was  fully  understood  by 
the  ancients ;  the  record  office  at  Rome, 
which  Virgil  alludes  to  {"  popu'i  tabu- 
laria  vidit"),  was  an  enormous  building. 
Kpiscopal  archives  have  probably  been  kept 
from  the  very  beginning  of  the  Church. 
The  archivist  or  Proto-scriniarius  of  Rome 
was  an  important  personage ;  besides 
having  charge  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
records,  he  was  the  head  of  all  the  secre- 
taries and  notaries  of  the  Roman  Court. 
A  decree  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  (1G26)  specifies  what  ought 
to  be  preserved  in  an  episcopal  archive — 
namely,  the  processes  and  proceedings  in 
all  causes  tried  in  the  bisl  op's  court ; 
episcopal  sentences,  precepts,  decrees, 
mandates,  &c. ;  reports  and  registers  of 
all  kinds  relating  to  ecclesiastical  affairs 
within  the  diocese ;  and  com^Jete  inven- 
tories of  Church  property,  movable  and 
immovable.     (Ferraris,  Archioium.) 

ARCH-PRrsST  (Gr.  apxiirpea-^vTc 
pos).  The  chief  of  the  presbyters,  aa 
the  archdeacon  was  the  chief  of  the  dea- 
cons. The  name  dates  from  the  fourth 
century.  The  ar<h-pnest  was  usualh'-  the 
oldest  of  the  priests  attached  to  the  cathe- 
dral ;  yet  instances  are  not  wanting  of 
their  being  chosen  by  the  bishops  for 
special  qualifications,  without  regard  to 
seniority.  The  principal  function  of  the 
arch-priest  was,  during  the  illness  or 
absence  of  the  Iji&hop,  to  replace  him  in 
the  Church  offices.  He  occupied  the 
place  of  the  bishop  in  the  ceremonies  of 
public  worshi^o,  as  the  archdeacon  did  in 
the  administration  of  the  diocese.  As 
population  increased,  a  rural  arch-priest 
was  placed  in  each  of  the  larger  towns, 
who  was  to  the  local  clergy  what  the 
arch-p]iest  of  the  catliedral  was  to  the 
cathedral  clergy.  In  course  of  time  the 
latter  came  to  be  called  the  derm,  the 
former  rural  deans.      The  privileges    of 


48 


ARISTOTLE 


ARIQS  AND  ARIANISM 


arch-priests,  like  those  of  archdeacons, 
"were  often  usurped  by  laymen  in  the  ages 
after  Charlemagne.  Great  divergences 
grew  up  in  different  countries,  with  regard 
to  the  duties,  rank,  and  privileges  assigned 
to  them.  In  later  times  they  appear  to 
have  been  superseded  to  a  great  extent 
by  mcars  foran  {q.v.'). 

Towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  tlie  Holy  See,  finding  that  the 
Catholic  clergj'  in  England  were  much  in 
need  of  a  recognised  head,  yet  unwilling 
to  send  a  bishop,  lest  the  government 
should  t;ike  it  as  an  excuse  for  fresh 
cruelties  against  the  Catholics  generally, 
appointed  George  Blackwell  superior 
of  the  English  mission,  with  the  title 
and  authority  of  "  Arch-priest."  A  con- 
sultative body  of  twelve  assistant  priests 
was  nominated  at  the  same  time.  This 
was  in  lo98.  After  some  years  Blackwell 
took  a  course  about  the  new  oath  of  alle- 
giance which  displeased  the  Holy  See, 
and  he  was  superseded  (1G08)  by  Birk- 
head.  Towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
James,  and  after  Birkhead  had  been  suc- 
ceeded by  a  third  arch-priest,  Harrison, 
the  violence  of  the  persecution  being  now 
much  abated,  Gregory  XV.  decided  that 
the  time  was  come  to  send  a  bishop  to 
England.  The  first  vicar-apostolic  was 
accordingly  appointed,  in  1623. 

iiRXSTOTi.E.    [See  Philosophy.] 

ARZUS    AlfS    ARZAZO-ZSIVI.     The 

heresy  of  Arius  consisted  in  the  denial 
of  the  Son's  consubstantiahty  with  the 
Father,  and  so  virtually  of  Christ's  true 
and  eternal  Godhead.  In  opposition  to 
this  error,  the  first  Nicene  Council  de- 
fined that  the  Son  is  "only-begotten, 
born  of  the  Father,  i.e.  of  the  Father's 
substance;"  that  he  is  "not  made,"  as 
creatures  are,  but  that  he  is  "  consub- 
stantial "  with  the  First  Person  of  the 
Blessed  Trinity.  The  council  added  a 
condemnation  under  anathema  of  certain 
Arian  propositions,  in  which  this  heresy 
was  summed  up.  To  understand  them, 
we  must  know  something  of  the  way 
in  which  Arianism  arose  and  spread ; 
and  this,  again,  we  cannot  do,  till  we 
have  acquainted  ourselves  with  the  teach- 
ing on  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  which 
prevailed  in  the  early  Church.  We  shall 
take  the  points  in  order,  reserving  for 
the  close  of  the  article  an  account  of 
Arianism  in  its  later  developments. 

1.  It  might  seem  as  if  there  could  be 
little  need  of  dwelling  on  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  as  held  by  the  Ante-Nicene 
Fathers.     Every  Christian  is  bound  to 


know  and  believe  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  and  it  cannot  be  supposed,  that 
the  early  Fathers  and  Martyrs  of  the 
Church  were  ignorant  of  a  fundamental 
doctrine  of  the  faith.  Scripture,  too, 
sets  the  matter  at  rest.  Our  Lord  pro- 
claims the  unity  of  his  nature  with  that 
of  the  Father.  "I  and  the  Father  are 
one."  "The  Father  is  in  me  and  I  in 
the  Father."  "  The  Word  was  with  God,** 
St.  John  says, "  and  the  Word  was  God." 
Now,  i]i  one  sense  it  is  true,  that  Arius 
could  find  no  support  for  his  heresy 
in  the  Ante-^^icene  age.  Scripture  de- 
clared and  the  Church  taught  from  the  be- 
ginning three  propositions  from  which  the 
whole  of  the  Nicene  definition  follows  by 
logical  consequence :  viz.  first,  that  the 
Son  is  distinct  from  the  Father  ;  next,  that 
the  Son  is  God  ;  and,  thirdly,  that  there  is 
but  one  God.  All  this  is  certain,  but  it  is 
also  true  that  the  Ante-Nicene  Fathers 
often  used  inaccurate  language  on  this 
subject ;  that  we  do  not  find  in  them  the 
fuU  and  developed  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
as  the  Nicene  Council  defined  it ;  and  that 
this  explains  to  a  certain  extent  the  suc- 
cess of  Arianism  and  the  calamities  it 
brought  upon  the  Church.  Nor  need  we 
wonder  at  tliese  defects  in  the  teaching  of 
the  early  Fathers.  They  were  not  and 
could  not  be  content  with  th  simple 
enunciations  of  the  propositions  enume- 
rated above  :  they  endeavoured  (and  how 
could  they  do  otherwise  ?)  to  reconcile  the 
apparent  contradictions  which  they  in- 
volve, and  to  recommend  them  as  reason- 
able to  those  outside  the  (/hurch.  And 
in  this  part  of  their  work,  they  were  not 
secure  from  error.  One  or  two  leading 
instances  will  be  gi^en  of  the  eiTors  into 
which  many  of  them  fell  when,  instead 
of  merely  delivermg  the  tradition  which 
they  had  received,  they  began  to  specu- 
late and  reason  about  it.  A  difficulty 
met  them,  the  moment  they  began  to  con- 
sider the  eternity  of  the  Son.  A  son  is 
generated,  and  generation  postulates  a  be- 
ginning: how,  then,  could  the  Son  be  eter- 
nal? TRey  did  not  cut  the  knot,  as 
Arius  did,  by  denying  the  eternity  of  the 
Son,  because  the  Catholic  faith  saved 
them  from  such  an  error ;  but  still  many 
of  them  did  introduce  a  theory  incon- 
sistent with  the  unchangeable  simpli- 
city of  God.  The  Word,  they  admitted, 
was  eternal,  but  many  of  them — all,  in- 
deed, except  St.  Irenaeus  and  the  Fathers 
of  the  Alexandrian  school — denied  that 
he  had  always  been  Son.  With  us,  the 
word  is  conceived  first  of  all  in  the  mind 


ARIUS  AND  ARIANISM 

and  tlien  comes  forth  as  articulate  sound. 
So,  they  maintained,  the  Word  had  al- 
ways been  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father 
{Xoyos  €u8id0eTos)  ',  afterwards  he  issued 
forth  as  the  first-begotten  of  all  crea- 
tion (Xoyoff  TrpocpopiKos),  and  by  this  pro- 
cession or  generation  became  the  Son. 
They  were  led  into  similar  error  in  con- 
sidering the  relation  of  the  Word  to 
creatures.  Down  to  St.  Augustine's  time, 
the  Fathers  generally  attributed  the  divine 
apparitions  in  the  Old  Testament  to  God 
the  Son,  and  this  interpretation  led  some 
into  erroneous  ideas  on  the  subordination 
of  the  Son  to  the  Father.  Thus  Justin 
speaks  of  a  "  God  under  the  maker  of  the 
the  universe,"  and  argues  that  the  "  maker 
and  Father  of  all  "  could  not  "  have  left 
the  region  above  the  sky  and  appeared  in 
a  little  corner  of  the  earth."  ^  Tertullian 
speaks  of  a  "  son  visible  according  to  the 
measure  of  his  derivation,"^  while  lan- 
guage of  the  same  import  was  used  by 
Origen  and  Novatian.'  Another  source 
of  erroneous  language  arose  in  the  third 
century.  The  Sabellians  denied  a  real 
distinction  between  Father  and  Son,  and 
in  his  anxiety  to  establish  the  distinction 
between  these  divine  Persons,  Dionysius 
of  Alexandria,  in  the  year  260,  compared 
the  relation  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  to 
that  between  a  vine-dresser  and  the  vine, 
asserted  that  the  Son  was  "  made  by  God  " 
{TTolrjfia  Tov  deov)  that  he  was  "foreign 
to  the  essence  of  the  Father  {^ivov 
kut'  ova-iav),  and  "  did  not  exist  till  he 
was  made."  In  the  same  year,  another 
Dionysius,  bishop  of  Rome,  on  account  of 
charges  brought  by  certain  orthodox  pre- 
lates against  his  namesake  of  Alexandria, 
summoned  a  synod  at  Rome,  and  issued  a 
memorable  document  to  the  bishops  of 
Egypt  and  Libya.  ""  Had  the  Son,"  the 
Pope  argues,  "  been  created,  there  would 
have  been  a  time  when  he  was  not ;  but 
the  Son  always  was."  Thereupon,  the 
Alexandrian  bishop,  in  two  letters  which 
he  sent  to  Rome,  explained  away  his  for- 
mer inaccurate  language,  showed  that 
his  adversaries  had  taken  a  one-sided  view 
of  his  teaching,  and  distinctly  confessed 
the  Son  s  eternity.  This  case  is  instruc- 
tive in  several  ways.  It  shows  that  early 
Fathers,  who  used  words  which  sound  like 
Arianism,  were  very  far  from  the  Arian 
belief ;  and  it  is  evidence  of  the  vigilance 
with  which  the  successor  of  St.  Peter 


1  Justin.  Dial  60. 

»  Adv.  Prax.  14. 

•  Petav.  De  Trinit.  viii.  2,  4  aeq. 


ARIUS  AND  ARIANISM       49 

watched,  as  his  supreme  ofE.ce  required 
him  to  watch,  over  the  deposit  of  the 
faith.i 

2.  The  orthodox  doctrine  had  been 
maintained  in  Alexandria  by  subsequent 
bishops,  when,  about  the  year  318  or 
320,  Arius  began  to  put  forward  a  heresy 
which  engaged  all  the  energies  of  the 
Church  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  a  Libyan  by  birth ; 
he  had  twice  joined  the  Meletian  schism, 
but  had  been  reconciled  to  the  Church, 
and  was  exercising  the  office  of  a  priest 
in  Alexandria.  The  bishop  Alexander, 
Socrates  tells  us,  was  discoursing  to  his 
clergy  on  the  Trinity  in  Unity.  Arius, 
who  was  distinguished  for  his  learning 
and  logical  skill,  contradicted  the  bishop, 
urged  that  the  Son,  because  begotten, 
must  havehad  "a  beginning  of  existence ;" 
that  there  was  a  time  when  he  did  not 
exist  (rjv  ore  ovK  ^v)  ;  and  that  he  was 
made,  like  other  creatures,  out  of  nothing 
(e'l  OVK  ovToav  e;^et  t^v  VTroarTacnp).  If 
we  add  to  this  that,  according  to  Arius, 
the  Son  was  liable  to  sin  in  his  own 
nature,  and  that  his  intelligence  was 
limited,  we  have  a  complete  statement  of 
the  Arian  doctrine.  He  not  only  held 
that  the  Father  was  separated  from  the 
Sou  by  a  priority  of  time — or  rather  like 
time,  since  time  in  the  proper  sense  began 
with  the  Son — but  he  denied  that  the  Son 
was  from  the  Father's  substance.  He 
did  not  merely  reject  the  word  oixoova-ios 
or  consubstantial,  as  an  orthodox  synod 
at  Antioch  had  done  in  269,^  but  also  the 
other  language  in  which  early  Fathers 
had  expressed  the  same  idea. 

Arius  won  many  to  his  side :  in  par- 
ticular he  was  supported  by  the  famous 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  who  had  great 
influence  on  Constantine.  He  had  friends 
among  the  other  bishops  of  Asia,  and 
even  among  the  bishops,  priests,  and  nuns 
of  the  Alexandrian  province.  Meanwhile, 
he  was  condemned  in  two  Alexandrian 
synods  and  obliged  to  leave  the  city.  He 
took  refuge  first  in  Palestine,  afterwards 
in  Nicomedia;  he  gained  the  favour  of 
Constantia,  the  emperor's  sister,  and  he 
disseminated  his  doctrine  among  the  pop- 
ulace by  means   of    the  notorious  book 

^  Hefele,  Cnnciliengeschichte,  i.  255  seq.  See 
on  the  whole  subject,  Petavius,  De  Trin. ;  New- 
man, History  of  Arianism,  and  Causes  of  the 
Success  of  Arianism. 

2  Hefele,  Conciliengesehichte,  i.  140.  We  are 
of  course  aAvare  that  the  fact  of  this  rejection 
has  been  doubted,  but  we  cannot  believe  there 
is  any  serious  ground  for  questioning  it. 


60      ARIUS  AND  ARIANISM 


ARIUS  AND  ARIANISM 


whicli  he  called  OaKeia,  or  "  entertain- 
ment," and  by  songs  adapted  for  sailors, 
millers,  and  travellers.  At  first  Constau- 
tine  looked  on  the  whole  affair  as  a  strife 
of  words,  and  sent  Hosius  of  Cordova 
to  Alexandria,  that  he  might  restore 
peace  between  Arias  and  his  bishop. 
This  attempt  failed,  and  the  First  General 
Council  met  at  Nicaea.  It  anathematised 
Arius,  with  all  who  affirmed  "  that  there 
was  a  time  when  the  Son  of  God  was  not ; 
that  he  was  made  out  of  nothing ;  that  he 
was  of  another  substance  or  essence  j  than 
the  Father]  ;  that  he  was  created,  or  alter- 
able or  changeable."  This  symbol  was 
adopted  after  many  disputes,  in  which 
the  deacon  Athanasius,  then  only  twenty- 
five  years  old,  was  the  great  champion  of 
the  faith.  Arius  and  those  who  refused 
to  anathematise  him  were  banished. 

However,  when  the  cause  of  Arianism 
seemed  desperate,  it  suddenly  revived, 
Oonstantia  pleaded  this  cause  with  her 
brother  on  her  death-bed.  Constantine 
asked  Athanasius  (bishop  of  Alexandria 
since  328)  to  restore  Arius  to  Church 
communion.  This  great  confessor  firmly 
refused,  and,  though  the  Emperor  did  not 
insist,  Athanasius  was  grievously  calum- 
niated and  exiled  to  Treves.  Other 
opponents  of  the  heresy  met  with  like 
treatment.  Eustathius  of  Antioch  and 
Marcellus  of  Ancyra  were  deposed.  The 
Emperor  called  Arius  to  Constantinople, 
with  the  view  of  restoring  him  to  the 
communion  of  the  Church.  It  is  right  to 
add,  that  Arius  had  assured  the  Emperor 
on  oath,  that  the  doctrine  for  which  he  had 
been  excommunicated  was  not  really  his. 
Before,  however,  he  had  attained  his  end, 
a  sudden  death  struck  him  down  as  he 
walked  through  Constantinople  escorted 
by  his  followers.  He  died  in  the  year 
836,  the  eightieth  of  his  age. 

Arius  was  dead,  but  his  heresy  still 
prospered.  Constantius,  who  came  to  the 
throne  in  337,  recalled  Athanasius  next 
year  to  Alexandria.  Soon,  however,  a 
charge  of  Sabellianism  was  brought  against 
the  saint ;  he  fled  for  his  life  from  his 
episcopal  city,  and  took  refuge  in  Rome, 
when  Pope  Julius  in  a  synod  solemnly 
acquitted  him.  But  a  council  at  Antioch 
confirmed  his  deposition,  and  drew  up 
four  confessions  of  faith,  in  which  the  word 
"  con.substantial "  was  studiously  omitted. 
Through  favour  of  Constans,  who  ruled 
tbe  West,  a  council  met  at  Sardica  in  343 
or  344,  declared  their  adherence  to  the 
Nicene  Creed,  and  restored  Athanasius, 
with  JNfarcellus  and  others,  to  their  sees. 


In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Arian  or 
Eusebian  bishops  held  a  counter-council  at 
Philippopolis,  the  Sardican  decrees  en- 
joyed an  almost  oecumenical  authority, 
and  Constantius  permitted  the  return  of 
Athanasius  to  Alexandria.  However, 
after  the  death  of  his  brother  Constans, 
Constantius  renewed  his  persecution  of 
the  Catholics.  At  Aries  and  Milan  synods 
condemned  Athanasius,  while  Pope  Libe- 
rius  and  other  bishops  who  would  not  sub- 
scribe the  condemnation  were  exiled. 
Again  an  intruder  seized  the  episcopal 
throne  of  Alexandria,  and  Athanasius,  in 

356,  sought  an  asylum  with  the  Egyptian 
monks. 

This  temporary  triumph  of  Arianism 
proved  its  ruin.  The  heretics  presented 
an  appearance  of  unity  so  long  as  they 
were  engaged  in  a  struggle  for  life  or 
death  with  the  orthodox.  No  sooner  did 
they  feel  themselves  secure  than  they 
began  an  internecine  conflict  with  eacn 
other.  The  strict  Arians,  led  by  Aetius, 
a  deacon,  and  a  bishop  Eunomius,  taught 
that  the  Father  and  Son  were  unlike,  and 
that  the  latter  was  made  out  of  nothing. 
They  were  also  known  as  Eunomians, 
Anomoeans  (from  avo/xoioy,  unlike),  or 
Exucontians,  because  they  said  the  Son 
sprang  from  nothing  (e^  ovk  ovtcov). 
Another  party,  known  as  Semiarians,  a 
name  they  received  about  368,  when 
they  held  a  famous  synod  at  Ancyra, 
confessed  that  the  Son  was  "  like  in  sub- 
stfince  to  the  Father  (o/ioios  kut'  ovcriav), 
Basil  of  Ancyra,  Eustathius  of  Sebaste, 
Macedouius,  and  Auxentius  of  Milan, 
were  the  most  noted  among  them.  A 
third  party,  led  by  Ursacius,  Valens  and 
Acacius  (from  whom  they  are  sometimes 
called  Acacians),  rejected  the  phrase  "  like 
in  substance  or  essence,"  and  contented 
themselves  with  the  vague  statement  that 
the  Son  was  "like"  the  Father.  The 
Council  of  Ancyra,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
Seraiarian.  The  second  Sirraian  synod,  in 

357,  condemned  the  Semiarian  as  well  as 
the  orthodox  formula,  while  Semiarianism 
secured  a  fresh  victory  in  the  third  council 
held  at  the  same  place.  Pope  Liberius, 
under  fear  of  death,  is  believed  by  many 
to  have  subscribed  this  third  Sirmian 
formula,  while  at  the  same  time  he  anathe- 
matised those  who  denied  that  "  the  Son 
is  in  essence  and  in  all  things  like  to  the 
Father."  In  369  the  Emperor  did  his 
utmost  to  establish  Semiarianism,  but  his 
eflbrts  were  in  vain.  The  Eastern  bishops, 
160  in  number,  met  at  Seloucia  ;  400 
Western  bishops  at  Rimini     The  latter 


ARIUS  AND  ARIANISM 

stood  firm  at  first  to  the  faith  defined 
at  Nicaea,  but  they  were  overcome  by 
threats  and  by  bodily  suffering.  At  last 
both  the  Eastern  and  Western  council 
subscribed  a  formula,  in  which  the  word 
"  essence  "  was  rejected  altogether  as  un- 
Bcriptural,  and  the  Son  was  defined  to  be 
"  like  the  Father  in  all  things." 

This  defeat  of  the  Semiarians  by 
Arians  inclined  the  former  to  accept  the 
Nicene  faith,  and  at  a  council  held  at 
Alexandria  in  362  Athanasius,  who  had 
returned  to  his  see  on  the  accession  of 
Julian  the  Apostate,  received  many  of 
them  into  communion.  The  Acacians,  on 
the  other  hand,  allied  themselves  with  the 
strict  Arians.  Arianism  found  a  power- 
ful supporter  in  the  Emperor  Valens  (364- 
378),  who  expelled  Athanasius  from  his 
see.  This  was  his  fifth  exile.  But  the 
palmy  days  of  the  heresy  were  over.  His 
people  insisted  on  the  recall  of  Athanasius 
to  his  see,  in  which  he  remained  till  his 
death,  in  373.  Ambrose  in  the  West,  and 
in  the  East  the  three  Cagpadocian 
Fathers,  Basil  the  Great,  Gregory  of 
Nazianzus,  and  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  fought 
the  battle  of  the  faith.  The  orthodox 
Emperor  Theodosius  secured  the  peace  of 
the  Church,  and  the  Nicene  decrees  were 
enforced  ngain  by  the  General  Council  of 
Constantinople  (381). 

So  much  for  the  history  of  Arianism 
among  the  subjects  of  the  Koman  Empire. 
It  had  still  a  great  part  to  play  among 
the  Barbarians.  The  West  Goths  received 
Christianity  in  the  Arian  form  through 
their  great  missionary  Ulfila  (consecrated 
bishop  by  Eusebius  of*Nicomedia  m  341), 
and  Valeus  allowed  a  part  of  their  nation 
to  settle  in  Thrace  on  the  condition  that 
they  became  Arians.  Soon  after,  the 
East  Goths  in  Italy,  the  Vandals  in 
Africa,  the  Suevi  in  Spain,  the  Burgun- 
diansin  Gaul,  the  Lombardians  who  emi- 
grated to  upper  Italy,  became  Arians.  "Jhe 
Vandal  persecution  of  the  Catholics, 
which  rivalled  that  of  Diocletian  in 
severity,  began  under  Genseric  in  427  and 
lasted  till  533,  when  the  Byzantine 
general  Belisarius  conquered  Africa.  In 
Spain,  which  had  fallen  under  the  power 
of  the  West  Goths,  Ilermenegild,  son  of 
the  king,  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  Arian 
fanaticism  of  his  father,  in  584.  Her- 
menegild's  brother  Reccared,  who  began 
to  reign  in  686,  became  a  Catholic  and 
established  the  faith  in  Spain,  with  the 
help  of  a  great  council  which  met  at 
Toledo  in  589.  About  a  century  earlier, 
Clovis,  with  3000  of    his  Franks,  had 


ASCENSION,  FEAST  OF       61 

received  Catholic  baptism,  and  the 
triumph  of  the  Frankish  arms  sealed 
the  fate  of  Arianism. 

ajUmES,   covxa-czi.s  or.    (1)  In 

314,  assembled  chietiy  to  settle  the  Dona- 
tist  disputes.  This  cotmcil  represented  the 
entire  Western  Church.  The  number  of 
the  bishops  who  met  is  uncertain,  and  the 
acts  have  perished.  But  we  know  that  the 
Holy  See  was  represented  there  by  two 
priests  and  two  deacons,  and  Constantino 
himself  says  he  assembled  ''very  many 
bishops  from  diverse  and  almost  innumer- 
able districts."  It  appears  from  the 
letter  of  the  council  to  Pope  Silvester, 
that  the  Donatists  were  condemned,  and 
C8ecilian,the  orthodox  bishop  of  Carthage, 
acquitted.  A  synod  at  Rome  in  the  pre- 
vious year  had  given  the  same  decision. 
The  council  also  decreed  that  Easter 
should  be  observed  on  the  same  day 
throughout  the  world,  the  day  to  be 
notified  by  the  Pope  (Can.  1)  ;  that 
baptism  conferred  with  the  proper  form, 
was  valid  even  if  given  by  heretics 
(Can.  8) ;  that  a  bishop  should  be  con- 
secrated l3y  three  others  (Can.  20)  ;  that 
a  married  priest  or  deacon  who  lived  with 
his  wife  should  be  deposed  (Can.  29) 
(see  Hefele,  "Concil."  p.  201  seq.).  In 
353  a  council  at  Aries  was  terrified  by 
the  Emperor  Constantius  into  a  con- 
demnation of  St.  Athanasius  (Hefele,  ib. 
p.  652.)  Various  other  synods  which 
met  in  the  same  place  are  mentioned  by 
Hefele. 

ARTZCIiS  OP  FAZTB.  [See 
Dogma.] 

ASCBirszoxr,  fz:ast  op.  This 
feast  had  been  kept  from  time  immemorial 
in  St.  Augustine's  day,  and  he  attributes 
its  institution  to  the  Apostles.  We  have 
a  sermon  among  the  works  of  St.  Chryso- 
stom  preached  on  Ascension  Day.  St. 
Augustine  calls  it  Quadragesima,  because 
kept  forty  days  after  Easter ;  the  Greek 
name  Tessarocostes  or  Tetracostes  was 
given  for  the  same  reason.  Gregory  of 
Tours  mentions  a  prot^ession  which  used 
to  be  held  on  this  day,  in  memory  of  that 
which  the  Apostles  made  from  Jerusalem 
to  Bethany  and  the  Mount  of  Olives.  It 
was  also  the  custom  in  ancient  times  to 
bless  the  bread  and  new  fruits  in  the  Mass 
of  this  day. 

The  practice  of  lighting  the  paschal 
candle  in  solemn  Mass  till  the  feast  of 
the  Ascension  was  established  throughout 
the  Franciscan  Order  by  a  decree  dated 
1263.  In  1607  the  Congregation  of  Rites 
ordered  that  the  paschal  candle  should  be 


e2 


52       ASCENSION  OF  CHKIST 

lighted  w  hen  Mass  is  sung  and  in  Vespers, 
on  Easter  Sunday,  Easter  Monday,  Easter 
Tuesday,  on  Saturday  in  Low  Week,  and 
on  Sundays  till  Ascension  Day,  when  it  is 
extmguished  after  the  Gospel.  The  rite 
symbolises  ('hrist's  departure  from  the 
Apostles.     (Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Festis.") 

Ascsxrsxosr  of  chrxst.  Our 
Lord  ascended  into  heaven  forty  days 
after  his  resurrection,  and  therefore, 
according  to  the  common  reckoning,  on 
a  Thursday.  The  opinion  of  Chrysostom 
that  the  Ascension  took  place  on  a  Satur- 
day, is  quite  singular.  He  ascended  by 
his  own  power — not,  indeed,  St.  Thomas 
remarks,  by  the  power  proper  to  a  natural 
body,  but  by  tlie  virtue  proper  to  him  as 
God  and  by  that  which  belongs  to  a 
blessed  spirit.  Such  an  ascension,  St. 
Thomas  continues,  "is  not  against  the 
nature  of  a  gloritied  body,  the  nature  of 
which  is  entirely  subject  to  the  spirit." 
Chi'ist  ascended  from  Mount  Olivet  in  the 
presence  of  his  disciples,  whom  he 
blessed  as  he  parted  from  them.  He  took 
his  seat  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  the 
sitting  posture  symbolising  his  rest  from 
toil  and  his  judicial  power;  the  "right 
hand  "  of  God  denoting,  according  to  many 
of  the  Fathers,  the  equality  of  Jesus  Christ 
God  and  man  with  God  the  Father  : 
according  to  some  other  writers,  signifjdng 
that  as  man  he  holds  the  next  place  to 
God  in  heaven.  Angels,  as  has  been 
generally  inferred  from  the  sacred  narra- 
tive, attended  him  in  his  ascent,  and  the 
souls  of  the  just,  who  had  been  detained 
in  Limbo,  entered  heaven  with  him.  Thus 
"  ascending  on  high,  he  led  captivity 
captiA^e." 

Theologians  give  many  reasons  for 
our  Lord's  ascension.  The  glory  which 
he  receives  in  heaven  is  due  to 
the  merits  of  his  sacred  humanity. 
For  Christians,  too,  it  was  "expedient  that 
he  should  go.''  Faith  is  exercised  by  the 
fact  that  we  can  no  longer  see  our  Lord  : 
His  ascent  into  heaven  is  the  pledge  that 
we  shall  follow  him  if  we  are  worthy. 
Above  all,  according  to  the  constant 
teaching  of  the  Fathers,  Christ  exercises 
his  priestly  office  in  heaven.  Just  as  the 
high-priest  on  the  day  of  Atonement 
ofiered  sacritice  without  on  the  brazen 
altar,  and  tlien  with  the  blood  of  the 
Bacrifice  and  with  burning  incense,  entered 
the  holy  of  holies,  so  the  high-priest  of 
the  new  law,  having  ofiered  himself  as  a 
sacrifice  on  Mount  Calvary,  continually 
presents  his  merits  and  exhibits  his 
eacrod  wounds  before  the  Eternal  Father. 


ASCET^ 

Whether  he  as  man  actually  prays  for  iw- 
is  uncertain.  Of  course  he  does  not  pray 
as  the  saints .  do,  for  they  are  creatures, 
and  ask  of  God  what  they  cannot  give  by 
their  own  power.  And  the  words  "  Christ, 
pray  for  us,"  could  not  be  lawfully  used, 
on  account  of  the  scandal  and  confusion 
they  would  create.  But  it  is  quite 
possible  that  Christ,  as  Petavius^  expresses 
it,  by  "  a  voluntary  condescension  "  still 
prays  for  us,  as  he  did  while  on  earth. 
(Benedict  XIV.  "De  Festis.") 

ASCETiE  (Gr.  daK€(o,  daKrjTTjs).  The 
belief  that  through  bodily  "  exercise, ' 
and  a  strict  discipline  imposed  on  the 
senses,  it  was  in  the  power  of  man  to  per- 
fect his  moral  nature  and  rise  to  spiritual 
heights  not  otherwise  attainable,  had 
been  common  both  among  Jews  and 
Pagans  for  some  time  before  the  coming 
of  Christ.  Philo's  account  of  the  Essenes 
is  well-known — a  Jewish  sect  of  mystical 
and  ascetic  tenets,  much  diffused  in 
Palestine  in  the  first  century  before 
Christ,  with  its  initiations,  grades,  and 
secrets,  living  in  villages  because  of  the 
luxury  and  immorality  of  the  towns, 
renouncing  marriage,  and  following  rules 
of  strict  temperance  La  regard  to  food, 
sleep,  and  whatever  else  nature  craves. 
The  Therapeutse  in  Egypt  were  a  similar 
sect.  Their  name — and  that  of  the 
Essenes  is  said  to  have  the  same  mean- 
ing— signifies  healing,  for  they  believed 
that  their  discipline  healed  the  concretam 
labem  of  the  soul's  impurity. 

In  the  Pagan  world  similar  doctrines 
were  widely  held  by  the  Stoics.  Both 
among  them  and  !he  Essenes  the  doc- 
trine of  the  two  principles,  the  persuasion 
that  matter  was  essentiall'  evil,  and 
that  he  was  most  perfect  who  was 
freest  from  the  blasting  touch  of  animal 
existence,  coloured  largely  both  their 
theories  and  their  practice.  The  Christian 
Ascetes  could  not  so  deem  of  that  fleshly 
nature  of  which  Christ  their  divine  Lord 
had  deigned  to  be  a  partaker  :  to  master 
the  lower  nature  was  their  aim,  not  to 
eradicate  it;  desire  and  fear,  joy  and 
grief,  they  did  not  regard  as  in  themselves 
evil,  but  as  to  be  brought  by  discipline 
iiito  a  strict  subordination  to  the  true  end 
of  man,  which  is  to  know  and  love  God, 
and  do  his  will.  The  means  which  they 
employed  were  voluntary  chastity,  fast- 
ing, perseverance  in  prayer,  voluntary 
poverty,  and  maceration  of  the  flesh.  In 
the  Aposcolical  Constitutions  (KrauB, 
p.  96)  the  Ascetaj  are  mentioned  as  an 
^  De  Incurnat.  xii.  8. 


ASCETICAL  THEOLOGY 

intermediate  order  of  Christians  between 
the  clergy  and  the  laity.  As  a  general 
rule,  they  did  not  go  out  of  the  world, 
like  anchorites  and  monks,  but  strove  to 
live  a  perfect  life  in  the  world.  Abuses 
after  a  time  appeared,  particularly  in 
regard  to  the  yvucuKcs  aweiauKToi,  wo- 
men who  lived  under  the  same  roof 
with  Ascetes  for  the  benefit  of  their 
instruction  and  example. 

Modern  life,  especially  when  permeated 
with  Baconian  ideas  respecting  the  true 
task  of  man  in  the  world,  is  pointedly 
unascetic.  If  we  turn  over  a  series  of 
pictures  of  eminent  modern  men,  there  is 
one  common  feature  which  we  cannot  fail 
to  notice,  whether  the  subject  of  the  pic- 
ture be  artist,  or  literary  man,  or  man  of 
action,  and  whatever  intelligence,  power, 
or  benevolence  may  breathe  from  the  face 
— namely,  the  absence  of  an  expression  of 
self-mastery.  A  similar  series  of  por- 
traits of  men  who  lived  in  the  middle 
ages,  when  law  was  weaker  than  at 
present,  but  the  sense  of  the  necessity  of 
self-control  stronger,  reveals  a  type  of 
countenance  in  which  the  calmness  of 
self-conquest,  gained  by  the  Christian 
daKrjcris,  is  far  more  frequently  visible 
than  in  later  ajjes. 

iLSCETXCAXi  THEOIiOGY'.  A 
name  given  to  the  science  which  treats  of 
virtue  and  perfection  and  the  means  by 
which  they  are  to  be  attained.  Whereas 
mystical  theology  deals  with  extraordinary 
states  of  prayer  and  union  with  God, 
ascetical  writers  treat  of  the  ordinary 
Christian  life.  The  number  of  ascetical 
writers  has  at  all  times  been  great  in  the 
Church,  but  during  the  last  three  centuriei 
special  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
life  of  secular,  as  distinct  from  religious, 
persons.  St.  Francis  of  Sales  and  St. 
Alphonsus  Liguori  may  be  mentioned  as 
modern  saints  whose  ascetical  works  are 
most  esteemed. 

ASK  -WESZa-ESSAir.  The  first 
day,  according  to  our  present  observance, 
of  the  forty  days'  fast  of  Lent.  But  that 
it  did  not  come  within  the  quadragesimal 
period  in  primitive  »times  we  know  from 
the  testimony  of  Gregory  the  Great,  who, 
in  speakmg  of  the  fast,  describes  it  as  of 
thirty-six  days'  duration — that  is,  as  ex- 
tending over  six  weeks,  from  the  first 
Sunday  in  Lent  to  Easter  Day,  omitting 
Sundays.  Thirty-six  days  are  nearly  a 
tenth  part  of  the  year,  and  thus,  by  ob- 
serving the  fast,  Christians  were  thought 
to  render  a  penitential  tithe  of  their  lives 
to  God.    Lent;  therefore,  at  the  end  of 


ASH  WEDNESDAY 


58 


the  sixth  century,  began  on  the  first 
Sunday,  and  we  know  from  the  Sacra- 
mentary  of  Gelasius  that  the  pra'^tice  was 
the  same  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  century. 
At  what  time  Ash  Wednesday  and  the 
three  following  days  were  added  to  the 
fast  has  not  been  precisely  ascertained. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  Sacramentary  of 
Pope  Gregory  there  is  a  Mass  for  Ash 
Wednesday,  underthe  heading  "Feria  IV., 
caput  jejunii "  (beginning  of  the  fast) ; 
whence  it  might  be  inferred  that  Pope 
Gregory,  in  spite  of  the  words  cited  above, 
had  himself  before  his  death  sanctioned 
the  alteration  in  question.  But  this 
would  be  an  unsafe  conclusion,  for  one  of 
the  best  MSS.  of  the  Sacramentary  does 
not  contain  this  heading.  However  this 
may  be,  a  Capitulary  of  the  Church  of 
Toulon  (714)  and  the  liturgical  work  of 
Amaury  (about  820)  describe  the  Lenten 
usage  as  identical  with  our  own.  There 
can  be  no  difficulty  in  understanding  the 
motive  of  the  change ;  for  by  the  addition 
of  the  four  days  preceding  the  first 
Sunday,  the  number  of  fasting  days 
before  "Easter  (the  Sundays  being  omitted) 
becomes  exactly  forty,  and  accords  with 
the  fa.sts  recorded  of  Moses  and  Elias, 
and  with  that  of  our  Saviour  in  the 
wilderness  of  Judea. 

The  office  for  Ash  Wednesday  opens 
with  the  solemn  ceremony  which  has 
given  the  day  its  name.^  After  an  in- 
troit  and  four  collects,  in  which  pardon 
and  mercy  are  implored  for  the  penitent, 
the  faithful  approach  and  kneel  at  the 
altar  rails,  and  the  priest  puts  ashes  on 
the  forehead  of  each,  saying,  "  Memento, 
homo,  quia  pulvis  es,  et  in  pulverem  rever- 
teris "  (Remember,  man,  that  thou  art 
dust,  and  shalt  return  to  dust).  The 
ashes  are  obtained  by  burning  the  palms 
of  the  previous  year.  The  Lenten  pas- 
torals of  Bishops,  regulating  the  obser- 
vance of  the  season,  usually  prescribe  that 
the  fast  on  Ash  Wednesday  shall  be  more 
rigorously  kept  than  on  any  other  day  in 
Lent  except  the  four  last  days  of  Holy 
Week. 

The  administration  of  the  ashes  was 
not  originally  made  to  all  the  faithful, 
but  only  to  public  penitents.  These  had 
to  appear  before  the  church  door  on  the 
first  day  of  Lent,  in  penitential  garb  and 
with  bare  feet.  Their  penances  were  there 
imposed  upon  them ;  then  they  were 
brought  into  the  church  before  the  bishop, 
who  put  ashes    on   their   heads,  saying, 

^  In  French,  Mercredi  des  Cendi  es  j  in  Ger- 
man, Aschermiiiwoche. 


54 


ASPERGES 


besides  the  words  "Memento,"  &c.,  "age 
poenitentiam  ut  habeas  vitam  seternain," 
E^peut  (or,  do  penance),  that  thou  mayst 
have  eternal  life.  He  then  made  them  an 
address,  after  which  he  solemnly  excluded 
them  from  the  church.  Out  of  humility 
and  affection,  friends  of  the  penitents, 
though  not  in  the  same  condition,  used  to 
join  themselves  to  them,  expressing  in 
their  outward  guise  a  similar  contrition, 
and  offering  their  foreheads  also  to  be 
sprinkled  with  ashes.  The  number  of 
thebe  persons  gradually  increased,  until 
at  length  the  administration  of  ashes  was 
extended  to  the  whole  congi-egation,  and 
the  rite  took  its  present  form.  ("  Diet,  of 
Antiq."  Smith  and  Oheetham ;  Kossing, 
in  Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

ASPSBGSS.  A  name  given  to  the 
sprinkling  of  the  altar,  clergy,  and  people 
with  holy  water  at  the  beginning  of 
High  Mass  by  the  celebrant.  The  name 
is  taken  from  the  words,  "  Asperges  me," 
*^Thou  shalt  wash  me,  O  Lord,  with 
hyssop,''  &c.,  with  which  the  priest  begins 
the  ceremony.  During  the  Easter  season 
the  antiphon  "  Vidi  aquam "  is  substi- 
tuted. This  custom  of  sprinkling  the 
people  with  holy  water  is  mentioned  in 
the  Oan*)n  of  a  synod  quoted  by  Hincuiar 
of  Rheims,  who  lived  at  the  beginning  of 
the  ninth  century.- 

ASPE^sionr.    [See  Baptism.] 

ASSUIVXPTIOIf.  After  the  death  of 
her  divine  Sou  the  Blessed  Virgin  lived 
under  the  care  of  St.  John.  It  is  not 
quite  certain  where  she  died.  Tillemont 
conjectures  from  a  passage  in  a  letter  of 
the  Fathers  assembled  in  the  General 
Council  of  Ephesus  that  she  was  buried 
in  that  city,  but  the  common  tradition 
of  the  Church  represents  her  as  having 
died  at  Jerusalem,  where  her  empty  tomb 
was  shown  to  pilgrims  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury. In  any  case,  it  is  certain  that  she 
really  died,  and  that  her  exemption  from 
sin  original  and  actual  did  not  prevent 
her  paying  this  common  debt  of  humanity. 
The  very  fact  that  she  had  received  a 
passible  nature  rendered  her  liable  to 
death.  Except  for  the  special  gift  of 
immortality  which  he  received  from  God, 
Adam  would  have  died  in  the  course  of 
nature,  even  if  he  had  never  sinned ;  and 
St.  Augustine  declares  that  our  Blessed 
Saviour  would  have  died  by  the  natural 
decay  of  old  age,  if  the  Jews  had  not  laid 
violent  hands  upon  Ilim.^ 

Slill,  although  the  Blessed  Virgin 
tasted  of  deatli,  her  body  was  preserved 

1  Billuart,  De  Myster.  Diss.  xiv.  a.  1. 


ASTROLOGY 

from  corruption  and  it  was  united  to  hel 
soul  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The 
Church  signifies  her  belief  in  this  fact  by 
celebrating  the  feast  of  her  Assumption 
on  the  fifteenth  of  August.  There  is  no 
distinct  assertion  of  the  corporal  assump- 
tion in  the  prayers  of  the  feast,  but  it  is 
plain  that  the  Church  encourages  and  ap- 
proves this  belief  from  the  fact  that  she 
selects  for  the  lessons  during  the  octave 
a  passage  from  St.  John  Damascene  in 
which  the  history  of  this  corporal  as- 
sumption is  given  in  detail.  This  pious 
belief  is  recommended  by  its  intrinsic 
reasonableness,  for  surely  it  is  natural  to 
suppose  that  our  Lord  did  not  suffer  that 
sacred  body  in  which  he  himself  had 
dwelt  and  from  which  he  had  formed 
his  own  sacred  humanity  to  become  a 
prey  to  corruption.  It  is  confirmed  by 
the  testimonies  of  St.  Andrew  of  Crete, 
of  St.  John  Damascene,  and  of  many 
ancient  Martyrologies  and  Missals,  cited 
by  Butler  in  his  note  on  this  feast.  It  is, 
moreover,  a  striking  fact  that,  notwith- 
standing the  zeal  of  the  early  Church  in 
collecting  and  venerating  relics,  no  relics 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin's  body  have  ever 
been  exhibited.  Much  weight,  too,  must 
be  given  to  the  common  sentiment  of  the 
faithful.  "  Admirable,"  says  Petavius, 
"  is  the  admonition  of  Paulinus  of  Nola, 
an  author  of  the  greatest  weight,  who 
bids  us  adhere  to  the  common  voice  of 
the  faithful,  since  the  spirit  of  God  breathes 
upon  them  all."  ^ 

The  corporal  assumption  is  not  an  article 
of  faith.  Still  Melchior  Canus  sums  up 
the  general  teaching  of  theolojjians  on 
this  head  when  he  says  : — "  The  denial 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin's  corporal  assump- 
tion into  heaven,  though  by  no  means  con- 
trary to  the  faith,  is  still  so  much  opposed 
to  the  common  agreement  of  the  Church, 
that  it  would  be  a  mark  of  insolent  te- 
merity."^ 

The  feast,  according  to  Butler,  was 
celebrated  before  the  sixth  century  in  the 
East  and  West.  The  Greeks  called  it 
KoifiTjcris  or  fxeTda-raats ;  the  Latins,  dor- 
mitio,  pnusatio,  fransitus,  assumjitio.' 

ASTBOliOGir.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Church  on  this  matter  is  clearly  laid  down 
by  St.  Thomas.  There  is  nothing  contrary 
to  the  faith  in  holding  that  the  stars 
affect  the  bodies  of  men,  and  so  indirectly 
cause  passions  to  which  most  men  will 
give  way.  Taking  this  influence  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  for  granted  (and  its  ex- 

*  Petav.  De  Ivcamat.  xiv  2. 

2  Melchior  Canus,  De  Loas  Theohg.  xii.  10. 


ASYLUM 

istence  or  non-existence  is  a  question  of 
pliysical  science,  not  of  theology),  an 
astrologer  may  make  probable  guesses  at 
the  truth.  But  he  cannot  predict  with 
certainty  our  future  actions,  for  it  is  of 
faith  tliat  the  will  in  all  cases  remains 
free. 

Astrology  was  forbidden  to  the  early 
Christians.  A  law  of  the  emperor  Hono- 
rius  condemned  astrologers  to  banishment. 
The  practice  of  astrology  was  condemned 
in  1586  by  a  bull  of  Sixtus  V.^ 

ASv£irxtl.  A  place  to  which  a 
criminal,   pursued    by   the    ministers  of 

i'ustice,  may  escape,  and  where  so  long  as 
le  remains  he  cannot  be  arrested.  Such 
asylums,  the  inviolable  character  of  which 
was  nearly  always  connected  with  some 
notion  of  the  religious  sanctity  of  the  spot, 
were  common  among  the  nations  of  anti- 
quity. Rome,  says  the  legend,  grew  out 
of  an  asylum  for  malefactors  of  every 
description ;  and  Moses  (Deut.  xix.  2) 
appointed  cities  of  refuge,  whither  men 
who  had  committed  involuntary  homicide 
might  flee  and  be  safe.  The  same  piivi- 
lege  passed  over  to  the  Church,  and  was 
sedulously  respected  by  the  Christian  em- 
perors. Theodosius  punished  the  viola- 
tion of  the  protective  Sfinctity  of  a  church 
as  a  crime  of  lese-majesty.  But  the  im- 
munity from  the  consequences  of  crime 
arising  from  the  extended  assertion  of 
the  principle  of  sanctuary  led  to  many 
abuses,  and  by  the  legislation  of  Justinian 
those  guilty  of  certain  specified  crimes 
were  to  find  no  right  of  asylum  in  the 
churches. 

For  particulars  as  to  the  immunities 
long  enjoyed  by  certain  famous  English 
sanctuaries — e.ij.  St.  Cuthbert  s  franchise, 
Beverley,  and  Westminster— see  the  ar- 
ticle SA.NCTUARY. 

ATHATTASXAN*      CRESB.         [See 

Creeds.] 

ATOio-SMExrT.  [See  Saceittce  op 
Christ.] 

ATTRIBUTES     OP     COB.        [See 

God.] 

ATTRZTZoasr,  as  distinct  from  con- 
trition, is  an  imperfect  sorrow  for  sin. 
Contrition  is  that  sorrow  for  sin  which  has 
for  its  motive  the  love  of  God  whom  the 
sinner  has  offended.  Attrition  arises  from 
a  motive  which  is  indeed  supernatural — 
that  is  to  say,  apprehended  by  faith — but 
which  still  falls  short  of  contrition.  Such 
motives  are — the  fear  of  hell,  the  loss  of 
heaven,  the  •  turpitude  of  sin.     By  this 

J  Summ.  i.  115, 4 ;  Fleury,  Uht.  vi.  20  j  xxii. 
19 ;  clxxvii.  66. 


ATTRITION 


66 


last,  we  understand  the  turpitude  of  sin 
as  revealed  by  faith.  We  may  also,  for 
the  sake  of  clearness,  exclude  from  our 
definition  that  kind  of  sorrow  which  theo- 
logians call  sermliter  servilis — the  sorrow 
which  makes  a  man  renounce  sin  because 
he  is  afraid  of  hell,  while  at  the  same 
time  he  would  be  ready  to  offend  God 
if  he  could  do  so  without  incurring  the 
penalty. 

All  Catholics  are  bound  to  hold  that 
attrition,  as  explained  above,  is  good  and 
an  effect  of  God's  grace.  This  is  clear 
from  the  words  of  our  Lord,  "  Fear  him 
who  can  destroy  both  body  and  soul  in 
hell;"  from  the  declaration  of  the  Tri- 
dentine  Council,  that  attrition  which  pro- 
ceeds from  considering  "  the  baseness  of 
sin  or  from  the  fear  of  hell  and  punish- 
ment, if  it  excludes  the  purpose  of  sinning 
and  includes  the  hope  of  pardon,  ...  is  a 
true  gift  of  God  and  an  impulse  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  "  ^  and  from  subsequent  pronounce- 
ments of  the  Popes,  particularly  of  Alex- 
ander YIII.  The  council  put  forward 
this  Catholic  truth  against  Luther,  and 
succeeding  Popes  against  the  Jansen- 
sists. 

Further,  the  Council  of  Trent  teaches'^ 
that  attrition  does  not  of  itself  avail  to 
justify  the  sinner.  Sin  which  separates 
the  soul  from  God  is  only  annulled  by 
love  which  unites  it  to  him. 

But  a  question  was  long  keenly  de- 
bated among  Catholic  divines,  viz.  whether 
if  a  man  comes  with  attrition  to  the 
sacrament  of  penance  and  receives  abso- 
lution, this  avails  to  restore  him  to  God's 
grace.  The  negative  opinion  was  held  by 
the  French  clergy  in  their  assembly  gene- 
ral of  the  year  1700,  and  prevailed  in  the 
universities  of  Paris  and  Louvain.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  affirmative,  according 
to  which  a  sinner  who  receives  absolu- 
tion with  attrition  is  justified  through 
the  grace  which  the  sacrament  confer.=, 
has  always  apparently  been  the  com- 
moner tenet  in  the  schools.  It  rests  on 
the  strong  argument  that  as  perfect  con- 
trition justifies  without  the  actual  re- 
ception of  the  sacrament  of  penance,  it  is 
hard  to  see  why  this  sacrament  should 
have  been  instituted,  if  perfect  contrition 
is  needed  to  get  any  good  from  it.  Alex- 
ander VII.  in  1667  forbade  the  advocates 
of  either  opinion  to  pronounce  any  theo- 
logical censure  on  their  opponents.  But 
at  present  the  opinion  that  attrition  with 

»  Concil.  Trident,  sess.  xiv.  cap.  4.  De  Penttr 
8  lhi<L 


66     AUDIANS  OR  AUDEANS 


AUGUSTINIAN  HEEMITS 


the  sacrament  of  penance  suffices  is 
universally  held.  St.  Liguori^  calls  it 
*'  certain." 

AUBZAM'S  or   iLVDSAirs.      [See 

AjS'THROrOMORPHTTES.] 

AUDITOR  OP  ROTA,    [See  RoTA.] 
AUGUSTIUZAXiT   CASTOM-S.       The 

pretensions  to  high  antiquity  made  by 
this  order,  or  on  its  behalf,  have  involved 
the  history  of  its  origin  in  much  obscurity. 
Their  commencement  has  been  ascribed 
to  some  supposed  resolution  taken  by  the 
Apostles  to  renounce  all  private  property 
and  live  in  common.  This  being  difficult 
of  proof,  the  foundation  of  the  order  was 
at  least  confidently  referred  to  St.  Au- 
gustine of  Hippo,  whose  rule,  it  was  said, 
the  regular  canons  had  never  ceased  to 
follow.  But  it  cannot  be  shown  that  St. 
Augustine  ever  composed  a  rule,  properly 
so  called.  Pie  did,  indeed,  write  a  treatise 
"  De  Moribus  Clericorum,"  and  he  also 
wrote  a  letter  (No.  109)  in  which  he  laid 
down  a  rule  of  life  for  the  religious  women 
under  his  direction,  not  binding  them  to 
Btrict  enclosure,  but  requiring  them  to  re- 
nounce all  individual  property.  But  when 
and  by  whom  the  injunctions  contained  in 
this  letter  were  adapted  to  communities 
of  men,  are  points  which  have  never  been 
cleared  up.  Moreover,  it  has  been  urged, 
that  if  St.  Augustine  promulgated  a  rule 
and  founded  congregations  which  have 
had  perpetual  succession  ever  since,  it 
seems  impossible  to  explain  how  St. 
Benedict  should  have  been  universally 
regarded  for  centuries  as  the  founder  of 
Western  monachism. 

In  one  sense,  indeed,  the  regular 
Canons  of  St.  Austin  may  lay  claim  to  an 
antiquity  with  which  no  other  order  can 
compete ;  for,  as  canons,  they  grow  out 
of  an  institution  and  a  way  of  life  which 
reach  nearly  to  the  apostolic  age.  [Canon.] 
Considered,  however,  as  a  particular  in- 
stitution, the  mode  in  which  they  arose 
has  been  thus  explained.  Discipline  hav- 
ing become  much  relaxed  among  the 
canons  of  the  various  cathedrals  in  the 
Frankish  emipire,  a  council  held  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelie  m  816  drew  up  a  rule  for 
their  observance.  But  as  this  rule  did 
not  absolutely  prohibit  the  acquisition  or 
enjoyment  of  private  property,  abuses 
again  crept  in ;  and  the  Popes  Nicholas 
II.  and  Alexander  II.,  strenuously  assisted 
by  St.  Peter  Damian,  held  councils  at 
Rome  in  1059  and  1063,  by  the  decrees 
of  "which  the  rule  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was 

»  Moral  Theol  vi.  n.  440. 


amended,  and  in  particular  the  canoni 
were  bound  to  a  community  life  and  to 
the  renunciation  of  private  property 
(Fleur}^  "Hist.  Eccl."b:i.).  Even  after 
these  councils,  the  canons  of  many 
churches  lived  in  much  the  same  way  as 
before  ;  those,  therefore,  who  obeyed  the 
rule  prescribed,  by  way  ot  distinction 
from  the  recalcitrants,  were  called  regular 
canons.  The  rule  itself  after  a  time  was 
commonly  described  as  the  rule  of  St.  Au- 
gustine, apparently  because  it  was  held  to 
be  in  conformity  with  his  1 09th  letter  and 
the  general  spirit  of  his  teaching.  The 
adoption  of  this  rule  facilitated  the  for- 
mation of  independent  bodies  of  regular 
canons,  neither  connected  with  cathedrals 
nor  with  collegiate  churches,  as  had 
hitherto  been  the  case  ;  accordingly,  soon 
after  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century, 
we  read  of  the  foundation  of  societies  of 
canons,  following  the  rule  of  St.  Austin, 
in  several  countries  of  Europe.  In  Eng- 
land these  canons — who  were  regarded  as 
monks,  not  as  friars — were  very  popular 
and  had  many  houses ;  they  were  called 
Black  Canons.  A  t  the  time  of  the  Disso- 
lution there  were  about  203  of  the 
houses  in  England ;  two  out  of  their 
number,  Waltham  and  Cirencester,  were 
presided  over  by  mitred  abbots.  New- 
stead  Abbey,  the  birthplace  of  the  poet 
Byron,  was  originally  an  Augustinian 
house. 

In  Ireland  this  order  was  even  more 
popular  than  in  England,  holding  there, 
in  fact,  much  the  same  prominent  ]>osition 
that  the  Benedictines  held  among  the  En- 
glish. D'Alton  puts  the  number  at  223 
monasteries  and  33  nunneries.  The 
Augustinian  priors  of  Christ  Church  and 
All  Hallows,  Dublin,  and  of  the  monas- 
teries at  Connell,  Kells,  Louth,  Athassel, 
Killagh,  Newtown,  and  Eaphoe,  had 
seats  in  the  Irish  parliament.  (H^lyot, 
"  Ordres  Monastiques ;  "  Dugdale's  "  Mon- 
asticon.") 

AirGxrsTixa-XADr  hsrbiits.  The 
remarks  made  in  the  foregoing  article  on 
the  Canons  apply  equally  to  the  preten- 
sions to  an  historical  descent  from  St.  Aus- 
tin made  by  the  Hermits  who  bear  his 
name.  In  point  of  fact  the  order  origi- 
nated in  a  union  of  several  existing  con- 
gi-egations  efiected  in  1265  under  the 
direction  of  Pope  Alexander  IV.  Their 
houses  soon  became  very  numerous,  and 
the  usual  variations  in  regard  to  the  strict 
observance  of  their  rule,  followed  by  re- 
formations of  greater  or  less  fame,  made 
their  appearance.     They  were  regarded 


AUEEOLE 

as  friars,  not  as  monks,  and  were  express- 
ly aggregated  to  the  other  orders  of  friars 
by  Pius  V.  in  1567.  Their  house  at 
"Wittenberg  had  the  dubious  honour  of 
counting  Martin  Luther  among  its  mem- 
bers. In  1532,  Father  Tliomas  of  Jesus, 
a  Portuguese,  instituted  the  Discalced 
(or  Reformed)  Friars,  who  are  inde- 
pendent, having  a  vicar-general  of  their 
own  at  Rome.  The  Augustinian  Her- 
mits are  said  to  have  possessed  in  the 
sixteenth  century  three  thousand  con- 
vents" with  thirty  thousand  friars,  be- 
sides three  hundred  nunneries  follow- 
ing a  similar  rule. 

In  England,  according  to  Tanner, 
there  were  about  thirty-two  houses  of 
Augustinian  Hermits  at  the  Dissolution. 
The  most  celebrated  was  the  friary  at 
Oxford,,  which  educated  many  dis- 
tinguished men.  Here  Erasmus  lodged 
witli  his  friend  Prior  Charnock  when  he 
visited  Oxford.  A  grey  crumbling  gate- 
way in  New  Inn  Hall  Lane  alone  is  left 
to  mark  the  spot.  Capgrave,  the  well- 
known  hagiographer,  was  an  Augustinian 
Hermit.  At  the  present  time  there  is  one 
house  of  Augustinian  friars  in  England 
(at  Hoxton,  London,  N.).,  none  in  Scot- 
land, and  twelve  in  Ireland — viz.,  Drog- 
heda,  in  the  province  of  Armagh ;  Dub- 
lin, Rathfarnham-,  Callan,  New  Ross, 
Grantstown,  Fethard,  Cork,  Limerick, 
Dungarvan,  Ballyhaunis,  and  Galway. 
(Dugdale's  "Monasticon.")  The  calced 
friars  of  this  order  were  first  in- 
troduced into  the  U.  S.  in  1790, 
when  some  friars  from  the  Irish  pro- 
vince established  the  priory  and  Church 
of  St.  Augustine's  in  Philadelphia. 
At  Villanova,  near  Philadelphia,  is 
situated  the  mother-house  of  the  or- 
der in  the  U.  S.,  which  has  also  houses 
in  the  dioceses  of  Albany,  Boston,  and 
Ogdensburg. 

ikUREOIiE  (from  '  aureoliis,  golden, 
gilt,  of  golden  colour).  1,  In  Christinn 
art  it  is  the  gold  colour  surrounding  the 
whole  figure  in  sacred  pictures,  and  repre- 
senting the  glory  of  the  person  represented. 
It  is  distinct  from  the  nimbus,  which  only 
covers  the  head.  The  aureole  (also  called 
8cutum,  vesica,  piscis,  &c.)  was  usually  re- 
served for  pictures  of  the  three  divine 
Persons,  of  (Christ,  and  of  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin along  with  the  Holy  Child.  (Kraus, 
"  Archaeol.  Diet.") 

2.  In  theology,  it  is  defined  as  a  cer- 
tain accidental  reward  added  to  the 
essential  bliss  of  heaven,  because  of  the 
excellent  victory  which  the  person  who 


AZYMITES 


57 


receives  it  has  attained  during  his  warfare 
up-  n  earth.  It  is  given,  accorduig  to  St. 
Thomas,^  to  virgins,  martyrs,  and  to  doc- 
tors and  preachers.  Virgins  have  tri- 
umphed with  special  glory  over  the  flesh ; 
martyrs,  over  the  world,  which  persecuted 
them  to  death ;  preachers,  over  the  devil, 
whom  they  have  driven,  not  only  from 
their  own  hearts,  but  also  from  those  of 
others. 

AiTTOCEPHAliI  {avTOKe(fia\oL).  A 
name  given  by  Greek  canonists  to  metro- 
politans who  were  not  subject  to  a  patri- 
arch. Such  were  the  metropolitans  of 
Cyprus,  who  contrived  to  free  themselves 
from  subjection  to  the  Patriarch  of  An- 
tioch ;  or,  again,  the  archbishops  of  Bul- 
garia, who  were  independent  of  Constanti- 
nople. 

ATTTO  i>A  PE.    [See  Inquisition.] 

iLUXIIiZARY       BISHOP.  [See 

Bisnop.] 

AVE  niASZA.  This  familiar  prayer, 
called  also  the  Angelical  Salutation,  con- 
sists of  three  parts — (l)the  salutation  of 
the  Archangel  Gabriel,  Ave  [Maria]  (/ratio 
plena,  Dominus  tecum  ;  benedicfa  tu  in 
mulierihus ;  (2)  the  words  of  Elizabeth  to 
our  Lady,  et  benedict  us  fructus  ventris  tui ; 
(3)  an  addition  made  by  the  Church, 
Sancta  Maria,  Mater  Dei,  ora  pro  nobis 
peccatoribus  nunc  et  in  hora  mortis  nostrce. 
Parts  I  and  2  seem  to  have  come  into 
common  use  as  a  formula  of  devotion  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury ;  the  use  of  them  is  enjoined  by  the 
Constitutions  of  Odo,  bishop  of  Paris,  in 
1196.  The  third  part  gives  a  compact 
and  appropriate  expression  to  the  feelings 
with  which  Christians  regard  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  The  words  nunc.  .  .  .  nostrce  are 
said  to  have  come  from  the  Franciscans  j 
the  rest  of  the  Averse  is  believed  to  have 
first  come  into  use  in  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  whole  Ave  Maria 
as  it  now  stands  is  ordered  in  the  brevi- 
ary of  Pius  V.  (1.'68)  to  be  used  daily 
before  each  canonical  hour  and  after  Com- 
phne. 

AZyXMCZTES  (a  priv.  CvyLrf).  By  this 
term  the  Greek  Schismatics  designate 
Christians  of  the  Latin  Church,  because 
the  jatter  use  unleavened  bread  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Eucharist.  In  the 
Western  Church  the  point  has  never  been 
regarded  as  of  vital  importance  ;  the  priest 
is  only  enjoined  sub  gravi  to  use  unleavened 
bread ;  and  the  Council  of  Florence  de- 
clared (1439)  that  after  consecration  the 

*  Supplem.  qu.  xcvi. 


68 


BACCANARISTS 


BAIUS 


body  of  our  Lord  was  really  present  (vera- 
citer  conJi<;i)  whether  the  bread  u?ed  were 
made  with  or  without  leaven.  But  the 
Greek  ecclesiastics  who  assented  to  this 
article  were  ill  received  by  their  country- 
men on  their  return  to  Constantinople 
(Gibbon,  ch.  Ixvii.),  and  this  point  of 
using  or  not  using  leaven  is  still  one  of 


the  marks  of  difference  between  East  and 
West.  The  arguments  either  way  are 
well  summed  up  by  Fritz  (art.  Aztjmites, 
Wetzer  aud  Welte).  The  original  pro- 
priety of  using  or  not  using  leaven  turns 
mainly  on  the  question  whether  Maundy 
Thursday  was  within  the  period  of  the 
Azymes;  on  which  see  Holy  Week. 


BACCASTARXSTS       (or     PacCAN^A- 

RTSls),  or  Regular  Clerks  of  the  Faith  of 
Jesus.  The  object  of  this  congregation, 
founded  at  the  end  of  the  last  century  by 
one  Baccanari  or  Paccanari,  a  native  of 
the  Trentino,  was  to  revive  the  suppressed 
Society  of  Jesus  under  another  name.  In 
1798,  having  obtained  ecclesiastical  ap- 
proval for  his  project,  Baccanari  with 
twelve  companions  took  possession  of  a 
country  house  near  Spoleto,  and  com- 
menced a  monastery.  They  wore  the 
Jesuit  habit,  and  made  the  three  simple 
vows,  to  which  they  added  afterwards  a 
fourth  vow  of  unconditional  obedience  to 
the  Pope.  Many  others  joined  them,  and 
they  had  branches  in  France  and  even  in 
Holland.  But  as  the  prospect  of  a  speedy 
revival  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  grew 
brighter,  members  of  Baccanari's  congre- 
gation began  to  desert  him,  some  joining 
the  Jesuit  colleges  which  had  never  ceased 
to  subsist  in  liussia,  others  repairing  to 
the  kingdom  of  Naples,  where  the  Society 
was  re-established  in  1804.  Finally,  in 
1814,  the  Jesuits  being  everywhere  re- 
stored, the  remaining  Baccanarists  applied 
for  admission  into  the  order,  and  the  con- 
gregation of  the  Faith  of  Jesus  came  to 
an  end. 

BAZITS.  A  famous  theologian  of  the 
Universityof  Louvain,  who  anticipated  the 
errors  of  Jansenius.  His  real  name  was 
Michael  Bay.  He  was  born  at  Melin  in 
the  Low  Countries,  in  1618.  He  studied 
at  Louvain,  where  he  taught  philosophy 
and  took  his  Doctor's  degree.  In  1551  he 
became  Professor  of  Scripture,  and  in  1603 
lie  was  sent  to  the  Council  of  Trent  by  the 
King  of  Spain,  returning  in  the  following 
year  to  the  university.  He  won  great 
repute  by  his  undoubted  learning  and  by 
his  blameless  life,  and  honours  were  heaped 
upon  him.  In  1578  he  was  made  chan- 
cellor of  the  university,  and,  at  a  later 
date,  General  Inquisitor  for  the  Nether- 
lands. He  continued  to  teach  till  his 
death,  in  1689. 


However,  his  life  was  a  stormy  one. 
Baius  deserted  the  scholastic  method  and 
did  much  to  revive  the  study  of  the 
Fathers.  No  one,  of  course,  could  justly 
blame  him  for  promoting  patristic  learn- 
ing. But  he  marred  the  services  which  he 
might  well  have  rendered  to  the  Church, 
by  exaggerating  and  misinterpreting 
the  Augustinian  doctrine  on  grace.  His 
lectures  excited  opposition  especially 
among  the  Franciscans,  and  several  pro- 
positions taken  from  his  oral  teaching 
were  delated  to  the  Sorbonne  and  con- 
demned there.  In  1563  and  1564  he 
published  various  treatises  on  free  wiU, 
original  justice,,  justification,  &c.  Three 
years  later,  Pius  V.  condemned  76  pro- 
positions, representing  on  the  whole  the 
opinions  of  Biius,  although  some  are  not 
actually  contained  in  his  works.  These 
propositions  were  condemned  ''in  globo  et 
respective,''  as  heretical,  erroneous,  sus- 
picious, rash,  scandalous  and  ofiensive  to 
pious  ears— «.e.  each  of  the  propositions 
merited  one  of  these  censures,  but  no 
particular  censure  was  attached  to  any 
one  proposition.  The  name  of  Baius  was 
not  mentioned  in  the  bull,  which  was 
communicated  privately  to  the  theological 
faculty  at  Louvain  without  being  pro- 
mulgated. Various  disputes  arose  on  the 
authority  and  sense  of  this  buU  which 
need  not  detain  us  here.  Gregory  XIII. 
confirmed  the  bull  of  his  predecessor,  and 
again  condemned  the  propositions.  The 
famous  Jesuit  Toletus  took  the  constitu- 
tion of  Gregory  to  Louvain,  where  it  was 
read  before  the  assembled  university. 
Thereupon  Baius  acknowledged  that  many 
of  the  condemned  propositions  were  to  be 
found  in  his  writings.  "  I  condemn  them,'* 
he  said,  "  according  to  the  intention  of  the 
bull,  and  as  the  bull  condemns  them." 
Toletus,  it  is  reported,  frequently  declared 
that  he  had  never  met  a  more  learned  or 
more  humble  man. 

The  following  are  the  chief  heads  of 
the  erroneous  system  which  Baius  main- 


BALDACCHINO 

tained.  He  rea:arded  original  justice, 
including  the  perfect  subjection  of  tlie 
lower  nature,  as  a  part  of  human  nature, 
not  as  a  free  gift  of  God  to  our  first 
parents.  Starting  from  this  principle,  he 
held  further  that  eternal  life  would  have 
been  due  to  Adam,  in  the  event  of  his 
perseverance,  as  a  matter  of  rigorous 
justice,  excluding  grace  and  mercy  al- 
together. Consequently,  man,  after  the 
fall,  was,  till  restored  by  grace,  mutilated 
in  nature  and  capable  only  of  sin.  Baius 
did  not  deny  the  freedom  of  the  will  in 
terms,  but  he  did  so  in  effect,  for  he  made 
it  consist  in  the  mere  absence  of  external 
restraint.  Man  chose  to  sin,  but  he  could 
not  choose  anything  else.  The  Benedic- 
tine Gerberon  published  the  works  of 
Baius  with  the  documents  relating  to  the 
controversy  in  a  quarto  volume  at  Cologne 
in  1696.  (See  Kuhn, "  Dogmatik,"  vol.  iy. 
p.  319  seq. ;  and  his  article  Baius  in 
Wetzer  and  Welte.  Linsenmann,  "Mi- 
chael Baius  und  die  Grundlegung  des 
Jansenisaius,"  Tiibingen,  1867.) 

BAiiBiiCCHZiro.  A  canopy,  such 
as  is  often  suspended  over  the  high-altar, 
usually  hanging  from  the  roof  of  the 
church,  though  sometimes,  as  at  Rome, 
it  rests  on  four  piUars. 

From  the  time  when  Constantine 
began  to  build  sumptuous  churches,  the 
altar-table  was  overshadowed  by  a 
canopy  made  in  the  form  of  a  cupola  and 
surmounted  by  a  cross.  It  was  adorned 
with  sculptures  and  rested  on  columns  of 
precious  material.  This  canopy  was 
named  ciborium,  KtlSoopiov,  from  its  resem- 
blance to  the  bowl  of  a  cup,  and  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  was  placed  in  a  vessel  sus- 
pended by  a  cord  from  the  interior  of  this 
canopy. 

The  name  Baldacchino  is  said  to  have 
come  into  use  in  the  middle  ages  and  to 
be  derived  from  Baaldak,  the  name  by 
which  Babylon  was  known  during  the 
time  of  the  crusades.  Baaldak  or  Baby- 
lon was  celebrated  for  the  manufacture  of 
fine  silken  stuffs,  and  with  these  the  canopy 
was  frequently  hung.  (Rock,  "Hierurgia," 
p.  506  seq.) 

Baldacchino  is  also  used  as  the  name 
of  the  canopy  which  is  carried  over  the 
priest  who  bears  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in 
procession  on  Holy  Thursday,  Corpus 
Christi,  &c.     (Gavantus.) 

BAXrxrCBR.  An  ecclesiastical  banner 
is  one  in  which  the  stufi^,  whether  of  silk 
or  linen,  on  which  religious  persons,  ob- 
jects, or  mottos  are  depicted,  is  not  nailed 
to  the  staff,  as  in  the  case  of  an  ordinary 


BANNS  69 

,  but  to  a  transverse  bar  which  is 
attached  to  the  staft"  and  with  it  forms 
the  figui-e  of  a  cross.  Of  this  kind  were 
the  cavalry  standards  {vm:illd)  used  in 
the  Roman  army.  At  the  head  of  the 
staff,  above  the  banner,  and  also  in  those 
signa    militaria   which  were   without   a 


banner,  was  fixed  some  emblem 


possessmg 


significance  in  the  eyes  of  the  soldiers,  as 
an  eagle,  or  a  serpent,  or  a  ball,  or  a  bronze 
figure  of  Victory,  or  of  Mars,  or  of  the 
reigning  emperor.  Constantine,  after  his 
vision,  and  the  victory  which  followed 
over  Maxentius,  ordered  that  the  sacred 
standard  (Jabarum)  which  had  been  shown 
to  him  should  be  adopted  throughout  the 
army,  the  eagle  or  other  figure  at  the 
head  of  the  staff  being  replaced  by  the 

sacred  monogram  ;^  or  -^  ,  representing 

the  first  two  letters  of  the  Greek  XPI2T02. 
The  Christian  apologists — e.g.  Minucius 
Felix  and  Tertullian — are  fond  of  drawing 
attention  to  the  resemblance  which  a 
Roman  military  standard  bore  to  a  cross. 
The  adoption  of  the  labarum  would  at 
once  satisfy  the  large  and  ever  increasing 
number  of  Christians  in  the  imperial 
armies,  and  not  displease  the  Pagan 
soldiers,  because  the  traditional  shape 
was  not  departed  from.  • 

As  the  soldier  in  battle  looks  to  the 
colours  of  his  regiment,  and  while  they 
float  aloft  knows  that  the  day  may  still 
be  won,  and  is  animated  to  do  valiantly, 
so  should  Christians,  as  the  Church  by 
her  sanction  of  banners  reminds  us,  fix 
their  gaze  on  that  Cross  of  Christ  which 
is  the  standard  of  their  warfare,  and  be 
continually  animated  by  the  thought  to 
fresh  courage. 

Banners  are  chiefly  used  in  processions, 
but  they  are  also  hung  round  or  near  the 
altar,  their  prime  significance  being  in  all 
cases  that  they  show  forth  the  victory  of 
Christ. 

In  the  military  orders  [see  that  article] 
a  practice  was  introduced  for  each  knight 
at  the  time  of  his  admission  to  hang  up 
his  banner  in  the  church;  hence  the 
mouldering  relics  which  may  be  seen  in 
Henry  VII.'s  Chapel,  Westminster,  in  St. 
George's  Chapel,  Windsor,  and  other 
places.  C'  Diet,  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Antiq.,"  Smith  ;  Smith  and  Cheetham ; 
Schmid  in  Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

BAiarxrs.  The  proclamation  of  in- 
tended marriage,  in  order  that  if  anyone 
is  aware  of  an  impediment,  he  may  state 
it  to  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  and  so 
prevent  the  celebration  of  the  wedding. 


60 


BAPTISM 


BAPTISM 


Such  proclamations  were  introduced  first 
of  all  by  the  custom  of  particular  places, 
but  it  was  not  till  1215  that  they  were 
imposed, at  the  Fourth  Lateran  Council, by 
a  general  law  binding  the  whole  Church.* 
The  Council  of  Trent  *  orders  the  banns  to 
be  proclaimed  by  the  parish  priest  of  the 
persons  who  intend  to  marry,  during 
Mass  on  three  continuous  festivals.  At 
the  same  time,  it  permits  the  ordinary  to 
dispense  from  the  obligation  of  proclaim- 
ing the  marriage,  for  a  grave  reason. 
According  to  theologians  and  the  S. 
Congregation  of  the  Council,  the  banns 
must  be  proclaimed  in  the  parish  church 
of  the  contracting  parties,  and  in  each 
parish  church  if  they  live  in  different 
parishes,  at  the  principal  Mass  on  three 
continuous  Sundays  or  holidays  of  obliga- 
tion— or  at  least  on  days  when  there  is 
sure  to  be  a  concourse  of  people  in  the 
church.  It  is  generally  held  that  if  the 
marriage  does  not  take  place  within  two 
months,  or  at  most  four,  of  the  last 
publication,  the  banns  must  be  proclaimed 
anew. 

BiLPTISM  (from  ^uTTTiafJios,  dipping, 
or  immersion  ^  in  water).  A  spiritual 
meaning  was  given  to  baptism  by  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  who  baptised  or  im- 
mersed his  disciples  in  the  Jordan,  to 
signify  the  repentance  and  renewal  by 
which  the  whole  man  was  to  be  cleansed 
and  purified.  The  Talmud  of  Babylon  * 
mentions  a  baptism  of  Jewish  proselytes, 
but  it  is  impossible  to  say  when  this  rite 
arose.  In  any  case,  it  is  certain  that 
when  our  Lord  made  baptism  the  rite 
>f  initiation  into  his  Church,  he  employed 
a  symbolism  already  familiar  to  the 
Jews.  But  Christ  exalted  the  act  to  a 
dignity  beyond  the  baptism  of  John, 
changing  the  "  baptism  of  penance " 
into  the  sacrament  of  regeneration.  The 
Gospels  do  not  tell  us  when  Christian 
Ijaptism  was  instituted,  and  a  great 
variety  of  opinions  has  prevailed  upon 
this  point  among  the  Fathers  and  theo- 
logians of  the  Church.  We  may,  how- 
ever, safely  assume  that  Christ  instituted 
baptism  before  his  Passion,  for  since  bap- 
tism is,  as  we  shall  see  further  on,  the  gate 
of  the  sacraments,  the  Apostles  could  not 

1  Fleury,  Hist.  Ixxvii.  62. 

2  Sess.  xxiv.  c.  1. 

5  Tingere  is  the  corresponding  Latin  word 
used  by  Tertullian. 

4  Dollinger,  First  Age  of  the  CJiurch,p.  318. 
The  Jewish  baptism  is  fully  described  by  Bux- 
torf,  sub  voc.  ^^.     See  also  Ewald,  Geschichte 

de$  Volhes  Israel^  vol.  vii.  p.  155. 


have  received  Holy  Communion  at  the  Last 
Supper,  unless  they  had  been  previously 
made  Christians  by  baptism.  Christ  him- 
self did  not  as  a  general  rule  baptise  ;  still 
he  did,  according  to  an  ancient  tradition, 
baptise  St.  Peter,  who  conferred  the 
sacrament  on  St.  Andrew,  St.  Andrew  on 
St.  James  and  St.  John,  and  they  on  the 
rest  of  the  twelve.^  After  Christ's 
Passion  and  Resurrection,  or  at  latest 
after  Pentecost,  the  precept  of  rec^eiving 
baptism  became  binding  on  all  human 
beings. 

After  this  sketch  of  the  history  of  the 
institution  and  promulgation  we  vasiy  go 
on  to  consider  the  sacrament  as  it  ex- 
ists in  the  Church.  We  shall  treat 
of  the  following  points  in  order  :  viz. 
the  essentials  in  the  administration  of 
the  sacrament,  its  eflPects,  its  necessity, 
and  the  ceremonies  with  which  it  is 
given. 

I.  Under  the  first  head  questions  occur 
as  to  the  matter,  the  form,  the  minister, 
and  the  subject  of  baptism.  («)  The 
matter  is  water,  poured  on  the  head  of 
the  candidate.  The  Scripture  makes  it 
clear  enough  that  water  is  to  be  used,  but 
it  is  not  so  plain  at  first  sight  that  the 
sprinkling  or  pouring  of  water  will  suffice. 
In  Apostolic  times  the  body  of  the  bap- 
tised person  was  immersed,  for  St.  Paul 
looks  on  this  immersion  as  typifying 
burial  with  Christ,  and  speaks  of  baptism 
as  a  bath.^  Immersion  still  prevails 
among  the  Copts  and  Nestorians,  and  for 
many  ages  baptism  was  so  given  among 
the  Latins  also,  for  even  St.  Thomas,  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  speaks  of  baptism 
by  immersion  as  the  common  practice 
{communior  usus)  of  his  time.^  Still  the 
rubric  of  the  Roman  Rituale,  which  states 
that  baptism  can  be  validly  given  by 
immersion,  infusion,  or  aspersion,  is  fully 
justified  by  tradition.  Persons  on  a  sick- 
bed, in  danger  of  death,  were  baptised 
where  they  lay  without  immersion.  This 
baptism  was  always  considered  sufficient, 
and  in  case  of  recovery  they  had  only  to 
get  the  ceremonies  supplied  and  to  be 

^  See  a  fragment  of  Clem.  Al.  from  his  lost 
work  Hypotyposes  (Clem.  Al.  torn.  iii.  p.  494,  in 
Dindorf 's  ed.). 

2  Rom.  vi.  4  ;  Ephes.  v.  26  (Aovrpw). 

3  It  is  not  true  that  the  Greeks  and  all  other 
Orientals  baptise  by  immersion.  The  child  is, 
indeed,  according  to  the  common  Oriental  rite, 
placed  in  tlie  font ;  but  the  actual  baptism  is 
by  infusion  of  water  on  its  head.  Billuart, 
f)e  Bapt.  i.3,  where  Goar  is  quoted.  Denzinger, 
Ritns  Orientalium,  p.  17.  St.  Thom.  Sum.  ilL 
G6,  7. 


BAPTISM 

confirmed.^  It  is  only  necessary  for  the 
validity  of  the  sacrament  to  pour  the 
water  once — for  although  a  threefold  in- 
fusion or  immersion  has  been  given  from 
the  earliest  times,  still  here,  too,  we  meet 
with  exceptions,  for  Gregory  the  Great 
allowed  the  Spanish  Church  to  continue  its 
custom  of  baptising  by  one  immersion. 

(/3)  The  form  or  words  used  in  the 
sacrament  are  "  I  baptise  thee  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  or  words  equivalent 
to  these.  Thus  the  Greek  form  "The 
servant  of  Christ  N.  is  baptised  in  the 
name,"  &c.,  is  valid,  as  appears  from  the 
instruction  of  Eugenius  IV.  to  the  Arme- 
nians, and  from  subsequent  decisions  of 
the  Holy  See.  A  form  similar  to  that  of 
the  Greeks  is  used  by  all  the  Orientals, 
except  the  Copts,  Abyssinians,  and 
Maronites,  who  approximate  to  the  Latin 
form.^  Many  great  theologians  suppose 
that  the  Apostles,  for  a  time,  in  virtue  of 
a  special  dispensation,  baptised  simply  in 
the  name  of  Christ ;  but  this  opinion 
seems  to  rest  on  a  very  questionable  in- 
terpretation of  passages  in  the  New 
Testament. 

(y)  The  minister  of  baptism,  says 
Eugenius  IV.,  in  the  instruction  quoted 
above,  "  is  a  priest  to  whom  in  virtue  of 
his  office  it  belongs  to  baptise."  The 
Roman  Rituale  prescribes  that  baptism 
should  be  given  by  the  parish  priest  of 
the  place,  or  by  another  priest  appointed 
by  him,  or  by  the  ordinary.  A  deacon  is 
the  extraordinary  minister  of  solemn 
baptism.  The  Pontifical  mentions  bap- 
tising as  one  of  his  duties,  a  duty,  however, 
which  he  can  lawfully  exercise  only  by 
delegation  from  the  bishop  or  priest. 
But  besides  this,  in  case  of  necessity,  any 
one,  even  a  heretic  or  Jew,  may  baptise  if 
he  uses  the  proper  matter  and  form,  and 
intends  to  do  what  Christ  ordained  ;  and 
even  if  no  such  necessity  exist,  baptism  so 
given,  although  unlawful,  is  still  valid. 
That  one  who  is  not  a  priest  may  baptise 
is  clear  from  the  fact  that  Philip  the  dea- 
con did  so,  as  we  learn  from  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  Tertullian  expressly  says  that 
baptism  can  be  given  "  by  all."  ^  The 
88th  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Elvira,  in 
306,  assumes  the  same  truth.  There  was, 
however,  a  difficulty  in  early  times  about 
baptism  given  outside  of  the  Church — viz. 
by  heretics.  St.  Cyprian  and  Firmilian  de- 

1  Euseb.  Hist.  vi.  43,  with  the  notes  of 
Valesius. 

2  Denzinger,  loc.  cit.  p.  18. 
»  De  Bapt,  17. 


BAPTISM 


61 


nied,  St.  Stephen,  the  contemporary  Pope, 
affirmed,  its  validity.  The  Pope  appealed 
in  favour  of  his  view  to  Apostolic  tradi- 
tion. It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  Pope's 
teaching  prevailed.  The  great  Council  of 
Aries  in  314  decided  for  the  validity  of 
heretical  baptism,  and  the  Fourth  Lateran 
Council  defined  it.  •  The  18 ih  Canon  of 
the  Council  of  Nicaea  in  no  way  contrar- 
diets  this  article  of  faith,  for,  though  it 
orders  the  disciples  of  Paul  of  Saraosata 
to  be  rebaptised,  these  heretics  had  in  all 
probability  corrupted  the  form  of  bap- 
tism.^ 

(S)  The  Recipient  of  Baptism. — All 
human  beings,  even  infants  and  adults 
who  have  never  had  the  use  of  reason, 
are  capable  of  receiving  this  sacrament. 
Adults  are  bound  by  the  precept  of 
Christ  to  come  and  be  baptised ;  parents 
and  guardians  are  bound  by  the  same  pre- 
cept to  bring  their  children,  or  other 
persons  in  their  charge,  who  have  not 
come  to  the  use  of  reason,  and  to  have 
them  baptised.  In  the  middle  ages  and 
in  modern  times  various  sects  have  re- 
pudiated infant  baptism.  It  is  difficult  to 
give  strict  proof  from  Scripture  in  favour 
of  it,  nor  can  it  be  denied  that  in  the 
early  ages  persons  often  deferred  their 
own  baptism  or  that  of  their  children, 
except  in  danger  of  death,  from  a  dread 
of  incurring  the  responsibilities  of  the 
Christian  life.  At  the  same  time  the 
Catholic  doctrine  that  children  are  to  be 
baptised,  may  be  inferred  from  Scripture, 
and  is  abundantly  justified  by  tradition. 
Thus  we  read  of  the  Apostles  baptising 
whole  houses ;  and  the  very  fact  that  our 
Lord  promises  his  kingdom  to  children 
sliows  that  he  did  not  mean  to  exclude 
them  from  the  sacrament  of  regeneration. 
The  early  Fathers  supply  the  needed 
comment  on  Scripture.  VVe  have  an 
explicit  testimony  for  infant  baptism  in 
St.  Irenseus.  "  Christ,"  he  writes,  "  came 
to  save  all — all,  I  say,  who  through  him 
are  horn  again  to  God,  infants  and  little 
ones,  and  boys  and  young  men,  and  the 
aged." 2  In  a  letter  written  by  St. 
Cyprian  and  sixty-four  bishops  assembled 
in  council,  an  answer  is  given  to  the 
question  whether  the  baptism  of  children 
must  be  deferred,  on  the  analogy  of  cir- 
cumcision, till  the  eighth  day.  The 
bishops  answer  unanimously  in  the  nega- 
tive. If,  the  saint  argues,  adults  are 
admitted  to   the  font,  how  much  more 

^  Hefele,  Co^Jcmengesc/uVA^c,  i.  p.  417,  "whtr* 
an  ahernative  explanation  is  given. 
»  Iren.  ii.  22,  4. 


62 


BAPTISM 


should  those  he  haptised  at  once  who 
have  not  sinned,  except  so  far  as  hy 
natural  descent  from  Adam  they  have 
contracted  in  the  moment  of  birth  the 
infection  of  ancient  death,  who  for  this 
very  reason  come  more  easily  to  the  re- 
mission of  sins,  because  it  is  the  sins 
of  another,  not  their  own,  which  are 
remitted  to  them.^ 

II.  The  Effects  of  Baptism.— (a)  It 
remits  ail  sin,  original  and  actual. 
"  Be  baptised,"  St.  Peter  said,^  "  everyone 
of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for 
the  remission  of  your  sins."  "  I  believe  in 
one  baptism,"  says  the  Nicene  Creed,  "  for 
the  remission  of  sins." 

(/3)  It  remits  all  the  penalties  due  for 
Bin  before  God,  whether  temporal  or 
eternal.  A  temporal  punishment  often 
remains  due  to  sin,  even  after  its  guilt 
has  been  removed  by  absolution.  Baptism, 
as  the  Church  defines,  leaves  no  such 
penalties,  and  the  apostolic  origin  of  this 
belief  is  proved  by  the  practice  of  the 
early  Church,  which  imposed  no  penance 
for  the  gravest  crimes  if  committed  before 
baptism.  The  rebellion  of  the  flesh  does 
of  course  remain  after  baptism,  but  this 
rebellion  is  not  sin,  unless  the  will  fully 
consents  to  it.^  (y)  It  bestows  sanctify- 
ing grace  and  the  infused  virtues.  A  diffi- 
culty was  felt  even  among  Catholic  divines 
with  regard  to  the  case  of  children.  All 
admitted  that  children  received  the  for- 
giveness of  sins,  but  how  could  they  have 
grace  and  the  infused  virtues  imparted  to 
them  ?  How,  for  example,  could  a  child 
receive  faith  in  baptism,  when  it  plaiuly 
remains  unable  to  exercise  faith  till  the 
age  of  reason  ?  The  answer  is  that  the 
capacity  is  one  thing,  the  actual  exercise 
another.  A  man  in  sleep  may  have  the 
capacity  for  or  habit  of  faith,  though  he 
cannot  exercise  it  till  he  wakes.  More- 
over, the  very  fact  that  baptism  gives  a 
title  to  the  possession  of  heaven  proves 
that  it  always  confers  grace,  since  it  is 
the  grace  of  God,  not  the  mere  absence  of 
sin,  which  enables  us  to  enter  there.  The 
Council  of  Vienne  contented  itself  with 
pronouncing  the  opinion  that  grace  is  con- 
ferred in  baptism  "  more  probable."  Since 
then,  the  Council  of  Trent  defined  that  all 
the  sacraments  of  the  new  law  confer 
grace  on  those  who  rightly  receive  them.* 

1  Epi$t.  Ixiv.  ed.  Hartel. 

»  Acta  ii.  38. 

5  Decret.  pro  Armen.  in  Bulla  Eugen.  IV. 
Concil.  Trident,  sess.  vi.  Cap.  14  ;  sess.  v. 
Decret.  de  Peccat.  Orig. 

*  Sess.  vii.  De  Sacram.  in.  genere. 


BAPTISM 

(S)  It  imprints  a  "  character  "  or  in- 
delible mark  on  the  soul,  whence  it  can- 
not be  reiterated.  [See  under  Character.] 
(e)  It  makes  the  recipient  a  member  of 
Christ  and  of  the  Church,  and  makes  it 
possible  for  him  to  receive  the  other 
sacraments. 

An  infant  is  unable  to  put  a  bar  in  the 
way  of  sacramental  grace,  and  therefore 
must  receive  the  full  elFect  of  baptism 
rightly  administered.  "With  adults  it  is 
different.  In  them  positive  dispositions 
are  called  for.  In  order  to  receive  baptism 
validly,  an  adult  is  only  required  to  have 
the  intention  of  doing  so.  If  the  inten- 
tion be  there,  he  receives  the  character 
and  incurs  the  responsibilities  of  a  Chris- 
tian ;  but  in  order  to  obtain  the  grace  of 
the  sacrament,  he  must  come  with  faith 
and  with  contrition  perfect  or  imperfect — 
i.e.  he  must  from  a  supernatural  motive 
detest  his  sins,  and  resolve  to  begin  a  new 
life.^  Thus  a  person  who  comes  without 
at  least  attrition  for  all  his  mortal  sins, 
and  the  purpose  of  amendment,  would 
receive  neither  grace  nor  forgiveness.  K, 
however,  he  afterwards  supplied  the  re- 
quisite dispositions,  the  grace  of  the 
sacrament  would  revive,  and  he  would 
receive  remission  of  original  sin,  and  of 
all  actual  sins  (including  the  temporal 
punishment  annexed)  which  he  had  com- 
mitted up  to  the  date  of  his  baptism.^ 

III.  The  Necessity  of  Baptism. — The 
"passage"  (from  death  to  life),  says  the 
Council  of  Trent,  "  cannot  be  made  since 
the  promulgation  of  the  Gospel  except  by 
the  laver  of  regeneration,  or  by  the  desire 
of  it,  as  it  is  written,  *  Unless  a  man  be 
born  of  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  he 
cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.' " 
It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  Tertulliau 
makes  precisely  the  same  application  of 
this  text  against  the  heretics  of  his  day.* 
Accordingly,  infants  dying  unbaptised  are 
excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
although,  according  to  the  opinion  now 
universally  held,  they  do  not  undergo 
suffering  of  any  kind  in  the  next  world. 
[See  Lijoo.]  Protestant  difficulties  on 
this  point  arise  from  inadequate  ideas  on 
grace  and  the  sovereignty  of  God.  Heaven 
is  a  reward  which  is  no  way  due  to  human 
nature,  and  God  can  withhold  it,  as  he 
pleases,  without  injustice.  In  adults  the 
baptism  of  desire  or  of  blood  may  supply 
the  place  of  baptism  by  water.    Thus  an 

1  Catech.  Rom.  ii.  cap.  2,  40. 
'  Billuart,  De  Baptism,  iv.  2. 
5  Concil.  Trid.    sess.  vi.  cap.  4.      TcrtnU. 
De  Baptism.  13. 


BAPTISM 


act  of  the  perfect  love  of  God  remits  sin, 
original  and  actual,  and  confers  sanctify- 
ing grace.  Our  Lord  in  St.  John's  Gospel 
promises  that  he  will  love  those  who  love 
him,  a  promise  which  would  not  be  ful- 
filled if  a  man  who  loved  God  above  all 
things  and  for  his  own  sake,  were  still 
allowed  to  remain  God's  enemy  in  conse- 
quence of  unforgiven  sin.  The  baptism  of 
blood — i.e.  martyrdom — not  only  forgives 
sin  but  remits  the  temporal  penalties  of 
sin  also.  St.  Cyprian  says  of  catechumens 
who  died  before  being  baptised  with 
water,  that  they  had  in  fact  been  baptised 
"with  the  most  glorious  and  greatest 
baptism  of  blood,"  ^  and  Tertullian  wit- 
nesses to  the  belief  of  the  early  Church 
that  the  Holy  Innocents  were  sanctified 
by  their  blood. ^  ♦ 

IV.  Conditional  Baptism  is  given 
when  there  is  some  doubt  whether  a 
person  has  been  validly  baptised.  The 
form  prescribed  in  the  Roman  Rituale  is 
"  If  thou  hast  not  been  baptised,  I  baptise 
thee,"&c.,  and  in  this  country  this  form 
is  used  in  the  case  of  all  persons  who 
have  received  baptism  from  a  Protestant 
minister,  wh~en  they  are  reconciled  to 
the  Church.^  In  early  times  the  condition 
was  not  expressed  in  words.  Fleury 
could  not  find  any  trace  of  the  conditional 
form  before  the  time  of  Alexander  III., 
and  St.  Thomas  alleges  a  decretal  of  this 
Pope  for  its  use.^ 

V.  The  Ceremonies  of  Baptism. — The 
following  is  a  summary  of  the  ceremonies 
prescribed  by  the  Roman  Rituale,  with 
their  signification  as  given  in  the  Roman 
Catechism,  The  sacrament  is  to  be  ad- 
ministered, apart  from  cases  of  necessity, 
in  the  church  or  baptistery  near  the 
church.  However,  the  children  of  kings 
and  princes  may  be  baptised  in  their  private 
chapels.  Baptismal  water  is  in  all  cases 
to  be  used.  The  person  baptised  is  to 
receive  a  baptismal  name,  and  the  Rituale 
recommends  the  parents  to  impose  the 
name  of  a  saint,  that  the  child  may  profit 

1  Ep.  Ixxiii.  ed.  Hartel. 

2  "  Testimonium  Christi  sanguine  libave- 
runt,"  Adv.   Valentm.  2. 

3  The  Yicars  Apostolic  in  England  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century  ordered  that  all 
converts  from  Protestantism  born  after  1773, 
should  be  conditionally  baptised.  This  order 
was  re-enacted  by  the  first  provincial  synod  of 
Westminster,  cap.  xvi.  The  water  uj^ed  is  to  be 
holy  water,  not  water  taken  from  the  font,  and 
all  the  ceremonies  are  to  be  omitted. 

4  Fleur}-,  Hist.  xciv.  31.  St.  Thorn,  iii.  66, 
9.  The  form  St.  Thomas  quotes  is  fuller  than 
the  one  in  present  use. 


V    /3APTISM 


63 


by  ^lTTB"^!$ampIe  and  patronage.  The 
priest  meets  the  child  at  the  door  of  the 
Church ;  drives  the  devil  from  him ; 
breathes  thrice  upon  his  face,  to  signify 
the  new  spiritual  life  which  is  to  be 
breathed  into  his  soul ;  puts  salt  into  his 
mouth,  as  a  sign  that  he  is  to  be  freed 
from  the  corruption  of  sin  ;  signs  him  on 
the  forehead  and  breast  with  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  and  leads  him  into  the  temple 
of  God.  Then  the  priest  solemnly  exor- 
cises the  child ;  anoints  his  ears  and 
nostrils  with  spittle — after  our  Lord's 
example,  who  thus  restored  the  blind 
man's  sight — and  asks  him  in  three 
separate  interrogations  whether  he  re- 
nounces Satan,  all  his  works  and  all  his 
pomps.  He  next  anoints  him  with  the 
oil  of  catechumens  on  the  breast  and  be- 
tween the  shoulders.  The  ancient  athletes 
were  anointed  before  their  contests  in  the 
arena,  and  in  the  same  v/ay  the  young 
Christian  is  prepared  for  the  "  good  fight " 
which  lies  iDefore  him.^  The  recipient 
then,  through  his  sponsors,  professes  his 
faith  by  reciting  the  Creed,  and  the  priest 
pours  water  three  times  on  his  head,  in 
the  form  of  a  cross,  at  the  same  time  pro- 
nouncing the  words  "  I  baptise  thee,"  &c. 
After  baptism,  chrism  is  put  on  the  top 
of  his  head,  to  signify  his  union  with 
Christ,  the  head  of  his  Church ;  he  re- 
ceives a  white  garment,  and  a  burning 
light  in  his  hands,  symbols  of  innocence 
and  of  the  light  of  faith  and  charity. 

These  rites  are  recommended  as  well 
by  their  beautiful  symbolism  and  the 
majestic  words  which  accompany  them 
as  by  their  venerable  antiquity.  Ter- 
tullian "^  mentions  the  triple  renunciation 
made  in  baptism,  the  unction,  the  triple 
immersion.  The  Sacramentary  of  Gela- 
sius^  (died  496)  contains  almost  every 
ceremony  of  baptism  to  be  found  in  the 
present  Rituale.  Two  difi*erences,  how- 
ever, must  be  noted.  In  the  West 
solemn  baptism  was  given  as  a  rule  only 
at  Easter  and  Pentecost ;  in  the  East  it 
was  also  given  at  the  Epiphany.*  Again, 
the  ceremonies  now  in  use  were  intended 
primarily  for  adults,  and  instead  of  being 
given  together  were  spread  over  three  or 
four  weeks.  Thus  in  the  Gelasian  Sacra- 
mentary, the  ceremonies  of  baptism  begin  on 

1  "  Quasi  athleta  ; "  Billuart,  De  Baptism. 
V.  2. 

2  De  Cornn.  3,  where  he  also  mentions  the 
custom  of  tasting  milk  and  honey  after  bap- 
tism ;  De  Baptism.  7. 

5  Fleury,  Hist.  xxx.  62. 

*  Thomassin,  Traite  des  Festes,  ii.  7 


64         BAPTISM  OF  SHIPS 

the  third  Sunday  in  Lent,  although  the  bap- 
tism itself  did  not  take  place  till  Holy 
Saturday.  (See  Chardou,  "  Histoire  des 
Sacrements.") 

BA.PTISM  OP  SHIPS.  Baptism, 
or,  more  correctly,  blessing,  of  ships,  a 
form  in  the  Koman  Rituale.  Certain 
prayers  are  said,  in  which  God  is  asked 
to  bless  the  ship  and  those  who  tra- 
vel in  it,  as  he  blessed  the  ark  of  Noe 
and  helped  Peter  when  he  was  sinking  in 
the  deep.  This  form  is  not  found  in  the 
older  "  Ordines."  The  practice  of  blessing 
ships  seems  to  have  become  common 
during  the  lime  of  the  Crusades. 

BAPTISM  All  N-AME.  A  name 
given  in  baptism,  to  signify  that  the  bap- 
tised person  has  become  a  new  creature  in 
Christ.  Tile  Rituale  forbids  heathenish 
Dames,  and  advises,  though  it  does  not 
enjoin,  the  taking  of  a  saint's  name. 

The  custom  of  taking  a  new  name  in 
baptism  was  not  usual  in  the  early  Church 
— though  we  find  instances  of  it  from  the 
third  century  onwards.  Then,  and  long 
after,  Christians  bore  not  only  the  names 
of  saints,  but  also  those  (1)  of  feasts — e.g. 
Epiphanius,  Natalis  (from  Christmas), 
Paschasius,  kc.\  (2)  of  virtues — e.g.  Faith, 
Innocent,  Pius,  &c. ;  (3)  animals — e.g. 
Leo,  Columba,  Ursula,  &c.  (Hefele, 
"  Beitrage,'"  398.) 

BAPTISMAI.  -WATER.  Water 
blessed  in  the  font  on  Holy  Saturday 
and  the  vigil  of  Pentecost,  which  must 
be  used  at  least  in  solemn  baptism. 
The  priest  signs  the  water  v.dth  the  cross, 
divides  it  with  his  hand,  pouring  it  to- 
wards the  north,  south,  east  and  west ; 
breathes  into  it,  and  places  in  it  the  pas- 
chal candle,  after  which  some  of  it  is 
sprinkled  on  the  people  and  some  removed 
for  private  use.  The  priest  then  pours 
oil  of  catechumens  and  chrism  into  the 
■water. 

The  origin  of  this  custom  of  blessing 
the  water  is  lo.st  in  immemorial  antiquity. 
A  form  for  blessing  the  water  is  found 
eveu  in  the  Apostolic  Constitutions,^  in 
ancient  Western  and  in  all  the  Oriental 
liturgies.* 

BAPTISTERT  (called  also  in  Greek 
<haiTiaTi)piov,  the  place  of  illumination). 
That  part  of  the  church  in  which  solemn 
baptism  is  adrainist^i-ed.  Anciently,  when 
baptism  was  constantly  given  to  adults 
and  the  rite  of  immersion  prevailed,  it 
was  inconvenient  to  baptise  in  the  churcli 

*  Apnst.  Conttit.  vii.  43. 

*  Denziuger,  liitu$  Orient,  p.  24. 


BARNABITES 

itself,  and  hence  after  the  conversion  of 
Constantino  separate  buildings  for  the 
administration  of  baptism  were  erected 
and  attached  to  the  cathedral  chui-ch. 
Eusebius  ^  mentions  a  baptistery  of  this 
kind  in  the  basilica  at  Tyre,  and  examples 
of  such  buildings  still  exist  at  Rome, 
Pisa,  Pistoia,  Modena,  Padua,  &c.  It 
was  only  gradually  that  baptism  was  ad- 
ministered in  any  but  cathedral  churches. 
The  ancient  baptistery  was  sometimes 
round,  sometimes  it  had  four,  eight,  or 
twelve  sides.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  distin- 
guishes the  outer  part  of  the  baptistery 
{irpoavXios  oIkos),  in  which  the  catechu- 
mens renounced  Satan,  &c.,  from  the  inner 
portion  {ia-uirepos  oIkos),  in  which  they 
were  .baptised. 

The  modern  baptistery  is  merely  a  part 
of  the  church  set  apart  for  baptism.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Roman  Rituale,  it  should 
be  railed  off,  it  should  have  a  gate  fas- 
tened by  a  lock,  and  be  adorned,  if  possi- 
ble, with  a  picture  of  Christ's  baptism  by 
St.  John.  It  is  convenient  that  it  should 
contain  a  chest  with  two  compartments, 
one  for  the  holy  oils,  the  other  for  the 
salt,  candle,  &c.,  used  in  baptism.  (See 
De  Montault,  "  Construction  des  Eglises," 
p.  105.) 

BAREFOOTED  FRIARS.  [See 
DiSCALCED.] 

SARXiAAlMF.  [See  Hesychasts.] 
BARSTABITES.  The  proper  desig- 
nation of  the  religious  of  this  order  is 
that  of  "  Regular  Clerks  of  the  Congre- 
gation of  St.  Paul ; "  they  are  popiLlarly 
called  Barnabites  on  account  of  a  church 
of  St.  Barnabas  at  Milan  which  belonged 
to  them  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Their 
principal  founder  was  the  holy  priest 
Antonio  Maria  Zaccaria  (died  1539) ;  with 
him  were  joined  Bartolommeo  Ferrari  and 
Giacomo  Antonio  Morigena.  The  fre- 
quent wars  by  which  the  north  of  Italy 
had  been  devastated ;  the  influx  of  Lu- 
theran soldiers,  whose  example  tended  to 
propagate  a  spirit  of  contempt  for  the 
sacraments  and  the  clergy  ;  and  the  fre- 
quency of  pestilential  disorders  caused  by 
the  famine  and  miseiy  of  the  population, 
had  produced  about  1530  a  state  of  things 
which  powerfully  appealed  to  the  charity 
and  pity  of  the  true  pastors  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  occun-ed  to  Zaccaria  that  a 
better  way  of  combating  these  evils  could 
not  be  found  than  by  organising  a  con- 
gregation of  secular  clergy,  not  going  out 
of  the  world  but  living  in  it  and  working 

1  //.  J?,  x.4,46. 


BASILIANB 

for  it,  and  "bound  by  a  rule — that  is,  dili- 
gently attending  to  their  own  sanctifica- 
tion  while  preaching  reformation  to  others, 
— "  who  should  regenerate  and  revive  the 
love  of  the  divine  worship  and  a  truly 
Christian  way  of  life  by  frequent  preach- 
ing and  the  faithful  administration  of  the 
Sacraments."  In  1533  the  foundation  of 
such  a  congregation,  under  a  special  rule 
approved  by  the  Holy  See,  was  sanctioned 
by  Clement  VII.  The  members  pronounced 
their  vows  before  the  Archbishop  of  Milan, 
and  chose  Zaccaria  for  their  superior.  The 
order  soon  spread  into  France  and  Ger- 
many. In  1579  their  constitutions  were 
examined  by  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  Arch- 
bishop of  Milan,  protector  of  the  congre- 
gation, and  being  approved  by  him  were 
tinally  confirmed.  They  called,  and  still 
call,  their  establishments  colleges.  They 
are  governed  by  a  General  residing  at 
Home,  elected  for  three  years,  and  capable 
of  re-election  once.  Besides  the  three 
usual  vows  they  take  a  fourth,  never  to 
seek  any  office  or  ecclesiastical  dignity, 
and  to  accept  no  post  outside  of  their  order 
without  the  permission  of  the  Pope.  The 
habit  is  merely  the  black  soutane  worn 
by  secular  priests  in  Lombardy  at  the  time 
of  their  foundation.  Their  principal 
house  is  now  at  Rome ;  and  they  have 
about  twenty  colleges  in  all,  one  in 
Paris,  and  others  in  various  parts  of 
Italy  and  Austria.  This  order  has  never 
been  introduced  into  the  United  States. 
Among  the  eminent  men  of  this  or- 
der may  be  mentioned  Sauli,  called 
the  Apostle  of  Corsica ;  Bascape,  the 
biographer  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo;  and 
Gavanti,  the  well-known  waiter  on  ru- 
brics and  ceremonies.  (Helyot,  "  Ordres 
Monastiques.") 

Bil.SIX.ZA»JS.  This  order  takes  its 
name  from  the  great  St.  Basil  (died  379), 
bishop  of  Csesarea  in  Cappadocia.  On 
his'return  to  his  own  country  after  a  long 
journey  through  Egypt,  Palestine  and 
Mesopotamia — made  that  he  might  collect 
the  experience  of  monks  and  solitaries 
living  under  many  different  rules — Basil, 
still  thirsting  for  the  perfect  life  in  which 
self  should  be  subdued  and  union  with 
Christ  attained,  withdrew  into  a  desert 
region  of  Pontus,  where  his  mother 
Emelia  and  his  sister  Macrina  had  already 
established  monasteries,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  great  order  which  bears 
his  name.  To  those  who  placed  them- 
selves under  his  direction  he  gave  two 
rules,  the  Great  and  the  Little — the  for- 
mer containing  fifty-five,  the  latter  three 


BASILICA 


65 


hundred  and  thirteen  articles.  This  two- 
fold rule  became  so  famous  and  popular 
in  the  East  as  to  supplant  all  others  •,  and 
at  this  day  it  alone  is  recognised  and  fol- 
lowed by  the  monks  of  the  Greek  Church. 
The  order  never  penetrated  into  France  or 
England;  but  in  southern  Italy  there 
were  many  Basilian  convents  in  existence, 
even  before  the  time  of  St.  Benedict,  who 
regarded  both  the  rule  and  its  author  with 
great  veneration,  and  appears  to  have  had 
it  before  him  when  framing  his  own  rule. 
In  Russia,  the  first  missionaries  to  which 
were  Greek  monks,  the  Basilian  order  re- 
ceived an  immense  development.  Nearly 
all  of  them  have,  since  the  division  of  the 
ninth  century,  adhered  to  the  Photian 
schism ;  there  are,  however,  in  Austrian 
Poland  and  Hungary  several  communities 
of  Basilian  monks  which  are  in  com- 
munion with  Rome ;  the  monks  of  these 
call  themselves  Ruthenians.  In  Spain 
there  were  several  Basilian  monasteries, 
reformed  and  unreformed,  up  to  the  date 
of  the  suppression  in  1835.  The  habit  of 
the  Basilians  is  scarcely  to  be  distinguished 
from  that  of  the  Benedictines.  Nearly 
all  the  convents  of  Basilian  nuns,  founded 
by  St.  Macrina,  like  those  of  the  monks, 
have  embraced  the  Eastern  schism. 
[See  Supplement.] 

SASIImICA.  iPaa-iKiKT}).  This  name 
began  to  be  applied  to  Christian  churches 
about  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century. 
The  earlier  expressions  were  ^' house  of 
prayer  "  {oIkos  irpoo-evKrrjpios),  "  oratory  " 
{tt poa-evKTrjpiov),  and  "  Lord's  house  " 
{KvpiaKov,  c?ommecMwi),  besides  the  loosely- 
employed  term  "  ecclesia." 

It  has  been  commonly  held  that  the 
ancient  Roman  basilicas  (large  halls,  like 
the  "  Basilica  Portia"  built  by  Cato  about 
180  "B.C.,  used  for  the  purposes  of  justice 
or  commerce)  passed  in  considerable  num- 
bers into  Christian  hands,  after  the  con- 
version of  Constantine,  and  were  used  for 
Christian  worship ;  that  new  churches 
were  built  after  the  model  of  these,  and 
that  the  name  "basilica"  was  naturally 
applied  to  buildings  of  either  class.  Closer 
investigation  has  furnished  grounds  for  a 
somewhat  diflerent  view.  In  a  learned 
paper  contributed  by  Professor  Kraus  of 
Freiburg  (than  whom,  on  questions  of 
archaeology,  Europe  can  produce  no  more 
competent  scholar)  to  the  "  Real  Encykl. 
der  christlichen  Alterthiimer,''  the  follow- 
ing conclusions  are  given,  as,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  writer,  solidly  established  by  the 
evidence.  (1 )  What  the  Romans  meant 
by  "  basilica  "  was  a  fine,  stately,  splendid 


66  BASILICA 

"buildirig-,  no  notion  of  what  was/an/z^t/or 
princely  connected  itself  in  their  minds 
with  the  torm.  (2)  Christian  congreg-a- 
ti(ms  used  huildings  or  rooms  set  apart  for 
divine  worship,  from  the  first.  (3)  Before 
the  time  of  Oonstantine,  these  were,  at 
Rome,  ordinary  chambers  in  private  houses, 
the  triclinia,  or  other  large  rooms  in  the 
dwellings  of  the  wealthy,  and,  specially, 
the  private  basilicas  of  Roman  palaces. 
Such  a  basilica  is  mentioned  in  the  Cle- 
mentine "  Recognitions  "  (a  work  which, 
apart  from  all  question  as  to  its  genuine- 
ness, is  certainly  of  a  date  not  later  than 
the  third  century)  as- having  formed  part 
of  tlie  mansion  of  Theophilus,  a  wealthy 
citizen  of  Antioch,  even  in  the  Apostolic 
age,  and  been  used  by  the  Christians  as  a 
church.  (4)  The  form  of  these  private 
basilicas  probably  bore  a  considerable  re- 
semblance to  that  of  the  pre-Augustan 
forensic  basilicas,  such  as  the  Portian  basi- 
lica already  noticed ;  this  point,  however,i8 
not  at  present  determined  with  absolute 
certainty.  (5)  It  is  not  probable  that, 
apart  from  the  chambers  or  halls  and 
private  basilicas  above  mentioned,  the 
Christians  of  the  pre-Nicene  period  pos- 
sessed, at  least  in  Rome,  any  churches 
properly  so  called  wkhin  the  city.  (6) 
feesides  the  private  basilicas,  sepulchral 
buildings  were  used  for  Christian  worship 
in  the  period  referred  to — exceptionally, 
and  in  times  of  persecution,  those  under 
ground  (Catacombs) ;  regularly,  the  "  Me- 
mories ^  and  Cells  of  Martyrs  built  above 
ground.  Both  parts  of  this  proposition 
can  be  proved  by  abundant  evidence. 
(7)  The  Christian  basilica  of  the  age  of 
Constantine  is  not  a  simple  adaptation  or 
imitation  of  the  forensic  basilica  of  the 
preceding  period.  For  the  forensic  basilica 
appears  to  have  had  no  one  determinate 
shape ;  sometimes  it  had  an  apse,  some- 
times not,  and  it  was  entered  either  from 
one  end  or  from  the  side— whereas  the 
Christian  basilica,  faithful  to  the  form  of 
the  crypt,  or  "  Memory,"  of  the  earlier 
time,  had  always  an  apse,  and  was  always 
entered  from  the  end  opposite  the  apse. 
At  the  same  time,  the  forensic  basilica, 
with  its  constant  m^e7-7?fl/ feature  of  a  space 
divided  by  rows  of  columns  into  three 
aisles— a  form  very  suitable  to  the  needs 
of  a  large  congregation — was  certainly  not 
overloojted  by  Christian  architects.  (8) 
The  final  conclusion  is  that  the  Christian 
basilica  of  the  age  of  Constantine  arose 
out  of  the  combination  of  two  factors — one 
the  sepulchral  "Cella,"  terminating  in  one 
or  three  apses ;  the  other,  the  great  three- 


BASILICA 

aisled  hall,  so  familiar  to  Roman  eyes, 
whether  in  the  forensic  or  in  the  private 
basilicas. 

The  origin  of  the  Christian  basilica 
having  been  considered,  it  remains  to  show 
what  were  its  parts,  structural  features, 
and  arrangements  for  worship.  As  a 
general  rule,  it  was  built  in  an  east  and 
west  direction,  the  altar  or  table  being 
sometimes  at  one  end,  sometimes  at  the 
other.  It  was  usually  surrounded  by 
an  outer  wall.  Through  a  portico  or 
colonnade,  forming  a  vestibule,  admission 
was  obtained  into  a  quadrangle  (atrium) j 
round  which  ran  an  arcade,  separated  by 
a  low  partition  from  the  enclosed  space 
{area),  which  was  open  to  the  air.  In 
the  middle  of  the  "  area  "  was  the  "  can- 
tharus,"  or  water-basin,  where  the  faith- 
ful washed  their  faces  and  hands  before 
entering  the  church.  The  rigiit-hand 
arcade  was  for  men ;  that  on  the  left, 
for  women;  here  penitents  must  remain 
during  the  service ;  those,  however,  whose 
ofi^ences  were  of  a  very  heinous  type  were 
excluded  even  from  these,  and  had  to 
stand  in  the  open  area.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  atrium  was  an  oblong  hall, 
formed  by  rows  of  piUars,  which  was 
sometimes  called  the  "  narthex "  or 
"  ferula."  Passing  through  this,  the  wor- 
shipper entered  the  church  by  a  door  which 
was  called  the  "Beautiful  Gate."  He 
found  himself  in  a  nave  {vaos)  with  two 
flanking  aisles  (from  which  it  was  separated 
by  pillars),  but  without  a  transept ;  as  he 
proceeded,  he  came  upon  the  "  ambo " 
[see  that  article] ;  beyond  which  were 
the  "  cancelli,"  or  rails,  parting  off  the 
choir — which  was  for  the  clergy — from 
the  rest  of  the  church.  At  the  end  of 
all  was  the  semicircular  vaulted  apse  [see 
Apse],  with  the  bishop's  chair  in  the 
centre,  and  seats  for  the  clergy  on  either 
hand;  just  in  front  of  the  apse  was  the 
altar  or  table.  During  the  divine  worship, 
the  men  occupied  the  south,  the  women  , 
the  north,  aisle ;  the  space  between  was 
left  free. 

At  Rome  thirteen  churches  stiU  retain 
the  name  of  "  basilicas  " — five  larger,  and 
eight  smaller.  Those  of  the  former  class 
are  St.  Peter's,  St.  John  Lateran,  St.  Mary 
Major,  St.  Paul  Without  the  Walls,  and 
St.  Lawrence.  Among  the  smaller  basili- 
cas, San  Clemente  (beneath  which  an  older 
church  was  discovered  a  few  years  ago  by 
the  Irish  Dominican,  Father  Mullooly), 
Santa  Croce  in  Gerusalemme,  Santa  Sabi- 
na,  and  San  Sebastiano,are  of  great  interest 
and   beauty.      (Kraus,    "  Real-Encyklo- 


BASILli)IANS 

padie."  Platner,  "  BesckreibuDg  der  Stadt 
Ilom,"1829.  vol.  i.  p.  417.) 

BiLSiXiiDXAirs.  [See  Gnostics.] 
BASZi£,  COUZO'CIIi  OF.  The  schism 
in  the  Papacy,  healed  with  difficulty  at 
the  Council  of  Constance  through  the 
election  of  Martin  V.,  produced  in  the- 
fifteenth  century  a  prevalent  sentiment 
that  the  most  effectual  safeguard  against 
the  recurrence  of  so  terrible  an  evil  lay  in 
the  frequent  assemblage  of  general  coun- 
cils. •  It  was  provided  accordingly,  by  one 
of  the  decrees  of  Constance  (1414-1418), 
that  a  general  council  should  in  future 
be  held  every  five  years.  Martin  V.,  in 
pursuance  of  the  decree,  convoked  a 
council  for  1423,  to  meet  at  Pavia;  but 
various  difHculties  arose,  and  it  was  finally 
arranged  that  Basle  should  be  the  place 
of  meeting,  and  the  time,  July  1431. 
Martin  also  named  CardinalJulian  Cesarini 
papal  legate  and  president  of  the  assem- 
bly. But  before  the  day  of  meeting  the 
Pope  died ;  and  a  doubt  as  to  the  inten- 
tions of  his  successor  influenced  many 
bishops,  so  that  there  was  but  a  slender 
gathering  at  the  formal  opening  of  the 
council.  Cesarini,  however,  who  had 
himself  been  absent  on  the  opening  day, 
having  been  sent  into  Bohemia  to  endea- 
vour to  effect  a  reconciliation  with  the 
Hussites,  sent  out  messengers  and  letters 
in  all  directions ;  and  soon  a  great  number 
of  French  and  German  bishops — most  of 
whom  sincerely  desired  to  carry  out  a  real 
reformation,  both  "  in  the  head  and  the 
members  "  of  the  Church — was  assembled 
at  Basle.  The  new  Pope,  Eugenius  IV., 
was  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance 
of  talring  advantage  of  the  humiliation  of 
the  Eastern  Empire  (which,  owing  to  the 
encroachments  of  the  Ottoman  power, 
was  now  reduced  to  a  small  district  round 
Constantinople)  to  open  negotiations — 
earnestly  desired  by  the  Greeks  themselves 
— for  the  healing  of  the  Photian  schism, 
and  reunion  of  the  East  and  West.  The 
joint  council  which  would  be  necessary 
for  this  purpose  could  not,  the  Pope  saw, 
be  held  at  Basle,  because  the  Greeks 
would  never  consent  to  cross  the  Alps. 
Again,  the  Hussites  in  Bohemia  having 
recently  gained  some  important  military 
successes,  the  Pope  considered  that  bishops 
could  not  safely  proceed  to  a  city  which 
seemed,  in  Italian  eyes,  to  be  within  the 
reach  of  the  dreaded  Procopius.  Other 
special  objections  were  alleged  in  the  bull, 
which  transferred  the  council  to  Bologna. 
The  bishops  at  Basle,  headed  by  Cesarini — 
who  wrote  to  the  Pope,  endeavouring  to. 


BASLE,  COUNCIL  OF 


67 


show  that  the  particular  reasons  alleged 
for  the  transfer  were  founded  on  mistake, 
or  had  little  weight — vehemently  opposed 
the  removal  of  the  council,  and  continued 
their  sittings.  They  came  chiefly  from 
France  and  Germany;  Italy,  England, 
and  Spain,  furnished  each  a  very  slender 
contingent.  The  number  present,  even  at 
the  most  important  sessions,  does  not 
appear  to  have  exceeded  fifty.  According 
to  the  relative  importance  which  good 
men  might  attach  to  the  project  of  re- 
union with  the  Greeks  or  to  the  reform  of 
ecclesiastical  abuses,  they  might  honestly 
prefer  a  city  south  or  north  of  the  Alps 
as  the  place  of  meeting  for  the  council. 
The  general  opinion,  however,  seems  to 
have  been  at  this  time  in  favour  of  Basle. 
The  Pope  himself,  finding  in  1432  that  he 
could  not  bring  over  the  Emperor  Sigis- 
mund  to  his  opinion,  began  to  waver,  and 
sent  a  legate,  Christopher,  Bishop  of 
Cervia,  to  Basle  with  authority  to  nego- 
tiate with  the  council  on  the  question. 
By  February  in  the  following  year,  he 
had  come  to  tlie  conclusion  that  it  was 
expedient  to  yield  still  further;  a  bull 
appeared,  explaining  the  reasons  why  the 
Pope  had  hitherto  objected  to  Basle,  and 
the  considerations  which  now  induced  him 
to  withdraw  his  opposition  and  send  legates 
to  the  council.  This  he  did;  but  hU 
legates,  who  were  to  agree  to  the  dis- 
cussion only  of  certain  subjects  prescribed 
by  the  Pope,  were  ill  received  at  the 
council.  Several  other  decrees  and  bulls 
were  issued  on  one  side  and  on  the  other 
in  this  controversy ;  at  last,  in  February 
1434,  a  letter  from  the  Pope  was  read  at 
the  council,  with  the  terms  of  which  they 
declared  themselves  satisfied,  and  they 
admitted  the  papal  legates.^  But  before 
long  a  breach  occurred,  which  proved  to 
be  irreparable.  At  its  twenty-first  session 
(June  1435)  the  coimcil  adopted  a  decree 
for  the  reform  of  the  Roman  Chancery — 
abolishing  first-fruits,  cutting  down  fees, 
and  regulating  ofiicial  charges  and  per- 
quisites. The  Pope  might  well  complain 
that  a  measure  so  important  had  been 
adopted  without  previous  consultation 
with  him.  He  refused  his  sanction,  and 
the  council  launched  an  anofry  decree 
against  him.     Meantime  the  Eastern  em- 


^  A  consideration  of  these  dates  shoAVS  how 
unfounded  is  the  view  of  Gibbon  (Decline  and 
Fall,  ch.  Ixvi.)  that  the  revolt  of  the  Romans 
against  the  Pope,  and  his  consequent  flight — 
an  event  which  happened  in  Mai/  1434 — com- 
pelled Eugenius  to  make  a  humiliating  submisr- 
sion  to  the  Council. 


f2 


68        BASLE,  COUNCIL  OF 

peror,  John  Palseologus,  had  been  in  ne- 
gotiation both  with  the  Pope  and  the 
council  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed  re- 
union of  East  and  West ;  one  consequence 
of  which,  the  Emperor  fondly  hoped, 
would  be  the  effective  armed  hitervention 
of  Western  Europe  to  roll  back  the  tide 
of  Ottoman  invasion.  A  synod  can  seldom 
hold  its  own  with  a  single  ruler  in  such 
transactions ;  moreover,  the  envoys  of  the 
council  were  empowered  to  propose  to 
the  Emperor  and  the  Greeks  no  place  of 
meeting  more  acceptable  than  Avignon, 
to  which  Ferrara,  offered  by  the  Pope, 
would  appear  to  them  infinitely  preferable. 
A  division  hereupon  sprang  up  in  the 
council  itself,  the  minority — among  whom 
was  the  excellent  and  able  Nicholas  of 
Cusa,  a  theologian  from  Coblentz — ^voting 
for  the  removal  of  the  council  to  Italy, 
while  the  majority  were  in  favour  of 
Avignon.  In  October  1437,  Eugenius 
published  a  bull  in  which  he  formally 
transferred  the  council  from  Basle  to 
Ferrara;  and  although,  at  the  first  ses- 
sion held  in  the  last-named  city,  in  Janu- 
ary 1438,  the  number  in  attendance  was 
scanty,  the  Papal  influence  gradually  as- 
serted its  ascendancy,  and  defections  from 
the  council  at  Basle  began  to  be  of  fre- 
quent occurrence.  In  his  famous  work, 
written  some  years  before,  *'  Concordantia 
Catholica,"  Nicholas  of  Ousa  had  said, 
"  Where  there  is  no  true  oecumenical 
council,  the  most  certain  synod  is  that  in 
which  the  Pope  is  found  ;  "  and  agreeably 
to  this  maxim,  Nicholas  himself  now 
abandoned  the  cause  of  the  council,  and 
repaired  to  Ferrara.  From  the  time  of 
the  publication  of  the  bull  of  October  1437, 
the  acts  of  the  Council  of  Basle  are  con- 
sidered as  of  no  authority.  Before  that 
dat«,  in  the  years  between  1431  and 
1436,  their  most  meritorious  and  success- 
ful work  was  the  pacification  of  the 
Hussites,  whom  they  succeeded  to  a  great 
extent  in  reconciling  to  the  Church,  by 
conceding  the  demand  of  the  more  mode- 
rate party — the  Utraquists  [see  that 
article]  —  for  communion  under  both 
species. 

The  recalcitrants  at  Basle,  headed  now 
"By  the  Cardinal  of  Aries,  exasperated  by 
the  desertions  from  their  ranks  and  the 
growing  influence  of  the  Council  of  Ferra- 
ra, proceeded  to  extreme  measures.  They 
erected  into  a  universal  axiom  that  theory 
of  the  subjection  of  Popes  to  General 
Councils  which,  as  enunciated  by  ihe 
Council  of  Constance,  had  been  a  parti- 
cular proposition,  referring  only  to  one 


BEATIl^C  VISION 

Pope  and  a  special  complex  of  circum- 
stances. Next  (May  1439),  they  pretended 
to  depose  Eugenius,  in  whose  stead  they 
chose  Amadeus  of  Savoy.  This  auti-pope 
took  the  title  of  Felix  V.  But  he  was 
feebly  supported,  and,  after  playing  his 
miserable  part  for  five  years,  abdicated  in 
April  1445.  At  the  same  time,  the  Council 
of  Basle,  which,  after  lingering  on  for 
several  years  in  almost  entire  obscurity, 
had  transferred  its  sittings  to  Lausanne, 
gave  a  last  sign  of  life  by  recognising  the 
pontificate  of  Nicholas  V.  ^  Nothing  more 
is  heard  of  them  afterwards. 

BEATIFIC  vision-.  The  sight  of 
God  face  to  lace,  which  constitutes  the 
essential  bliss  of  angels  and  men.  The 
Council  of  Florence  defines  that  the 
"  souls  of  those  who  after  receiving  bap- 
tism have  incurred  no  stain  of  sin  what- 
soever, or  who  after  incurring  such  stain 
have  been  puritied,  in  the  body  or  out  of 
the  body,  ....  are  at  once  received  into 
heaven  and  clearly  see  God  Himself  as 
He  is,  in  three  Persons  and  one  sub- 
stance, some,  however,  more  perfectly 
than  others,  according  to  the  diversity  of 
their  merits."^ 

Many  passages  of  Scripture  speak  of 
this  vision  as  the  reward  of  the  just. 
"  When  he  shall  appear,"  St.  John  says, 
"  we  shall  be  like  to  him,  because  we 
shall  see  hira,  as  he  is."  Similarly, 
St.  Paul  contrasts  the  seeing  through  a 
glass  in  an  obscure  manner  with  that 
vision  "  face  to  face  "  which  is  reserved 
for  the  life  to  come.'^  Petavius  adduces  a 
multitude  of  Patristic  testimonies  on  this 
point,  and  explains  passages  from  other 
Fathers  who  seem  to  affirm  the  absolute 
impossibility  of  seeing  God  as  he  is.  At 
the  same  time,  he  confesses  franldy  that 
some  ancient  Catholic  writers  spoke  am- 
biguously and  others  erroneously  with 
regard  to  the  vision  of  God.  They 
had  a  difficulty  in  supposing  it  possible 
even  for  the  blessed  to  behold  the  divine 
essence. 

It  is  with  the  eyes  of  the  soul,  not 
with  the  bodily  eyes,  that  God  is  seen.  This 
follows  from  the  very  fact  that  God  is  incor- 
poreal. Nor  can  any  created  intellect  in 
its  own  strength  or  by  the  force  of  its 
nature  enjoy  the  beatific  vision,  for  there 
is  no  proportion  between  the  divine  natui*e 
and  any  created  intelligence.  In  order 
that  the  blessed  may  see  Him,  God  in- 
fuses a  supernatural  quality  which  elevates 
and  perfects  the  intellect  and  makes  it  cap- 

*  Decret.  unionis. 

»  1  John  iii.  2  ;  1  Cor.  xiii.  12. 


BEATIFIC  VI^ON 

able  of  the  l)eatific  vision.  Just  as  the  natu- 
ral eye,  in  order  that  it  may  see,  requires 
first  tlie  presence  of  the  object,  and  then 
light,  in  order  that  the  image  of  the  object 
may  be  received,  so  the  intellect,  in  order  to 
see  God,  requires  not  only  tlie  proximity  of 
the  divine  essence,  but  also  an  interior  dis- 
position by  which  it  is  elevated  to  an  act 
above  its  natural  powders. ^  The  schoolmen 
fitly  call  this  quality  in  the  intellect  of 
the  blessed  the  "  light  of  glory,"  a  term 
which  occurs  in  the  Fathers — e.^.,  in  St. 
Augustine,  though  not  in  the  same  definite 
sense.  The  Council  of  Vienne  adopted 
the  expression  in  its  condemnation  of  the 
error  "  that  the  soul  does  not  need  the 
light  of  glory,  which  elevates  the  soul  so 
that  it  beholds  God  aud  enjoys  him  in 
bliss."  The  word  "  light  "  is  of  C''>urse  a 
mere  metaphor,  for  the  light  of  glory  is 
immaterial.  Nor  is  it  anything  outside 
the  intellect,  or  again  an  object  which  the 
intellect  perceives.  It  is  in  the  intellect 
and  enables  it  to  see  God, 

By  the  ordinary  law  of  God,  this 
vision  is  not  given  in  the  flesh,  since  no 
man  can  see  God's  face  and  live,  although 
great  authorities  maintain  that  it  has 
been  bestowed  in  exceptional  cases  even 
daring  this  life.  St.  Thomas,  for  instance, 
maintains  that  Moses  and  St.  Paul  enjoyed 
the  beatific  vision  before  their  death, 
though  the  gift  was  not  a  permanent  one, 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  a  question  long 
di.=icussed  in  the  Church,  whether  the 
saints  saw  God  face  to  face  before  the  day 
of  judgment.  The  Council  of  Florence, 
quoted  above,  closed  the  controversy,  and 
this  definition  is  the  true  development  of 
Patristi'-.  teaching.  From  the  tirst  it  was 
held  that  martyrdom,  as  Ihe  perfect  purga- 
tion of  the  soul,  admits  to  the  immediate 
possession  of  glory,  a  tenet  which  logically 
involves  the  belief  that  heaven  since  Christ's 
ascension  has  been  opened  to  all  who 
are  fitted  by  perfect  purity  for  the  vision 
of  God.  St.  Gregory^  places  the  difier- 
ence  between  the  saints  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  in  this  very  point,  that  whereas 
the  former  had  to  wait  for  the  vision  of  God 
till  Christ's  descent  into  limbo,  the  latter, 
when  "  their  earthly  house  of  this  habita- 
tion is  dissolved,"  have  a  "house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 
The  words  of  the  council,  with  which 
we  began,  explain  what  it  is  that  the 
beatific  vision  implies.  The  saints  and 
angels   see    God — i.e.  His    essence,   His 


i  St.  Thorn,  i.  12,  5. 

>  Petav.  De  Deo,  vii.  13. 


BEATIFICATION  69 

attributes,  and  the  three  Persons  of  the 
Trinity.  Further,  seeing  God,  they  see 
creatures  in  Him,  who  is  the  supreme 
cause,  in  whom  all  things  live  and  move 
and  exist.  The  saints  do  not,  indeed, 
know  all  that  God  can  do,  because  even 
to  the  blessed  he  remains  in  a  certain 
sense  incomprehensible,  and  it  is  one 
thing  to  see  an  object  before  us,  quite 
anotlier  to  know  that  object  in  the  utmost 
extent  to  which  it  can  be  known.  Such, 
perfect  comprehension  of  the  divine  nature 
belongs  to  God  himself,  and  cannot  be 
communicated  to  any  creature.  But  the 
saints  see  in  God  aU  the  facts  concerning 
creatures  which  it  is  suitable  for  them  to 
know.  They  have,  for  example,  a  special 
knowledge  of  those  who  are  placed  under 
their  patronage ;  they  are  aware  when 
souls  on  earth  implore  their  prayers ;  they 
are  acquainted  with  the  best  means  of 
helping  their  clients.  The  most  plausible 
objection  which  is  made  to  the  invocation 
of  the  saints  falls  to  the  groimd  if  this 
point,  which  St.  Augustme  sets  forth  with 
great  fulness,  is  well  understood.  We 
ask  the  saints  to  pray  for  us,  not  because 
we  believe  them  omniscient  or  omni- 
present, but  because,  seeing  God,  they  see 
in  Him  all  that  He  wishes  them  to 
see. 

Lastly,  though  all  the  blessed  see  God, 
they  do  so  with  difterent  degrees  of  per- 
fection. The  vision  of  God  is  the  reward 
of  merit,  and  as  God  repays  every  man 
according  to  his  works,  as  the  crown  pro- 
mised in  heaven  is  a  crown  of  justice, 
therefore  the  vision  of  God  cannot  be 
given  in  precisely  the  same  manner  to  aU. 
This  truth  v/as  denied  by  Jovinian  in 
ancient,  by  Luther  in  modern,  times,  and 
the  anathema  of  the  Council  of  Trent — 
sess.  yi.  cap.  16,  can.  32 — is  directed 
against  the  latter.  (See  Petavius,  "  De 
Deo,"  lib.  vii.) 

BSATZFZCATioidr.  The  act  of 
declaring  a  person  or  persons  deceased, 
whose  virtues  have  been  proved  by 
sufficient  testimony,  and  whose  power 
with  God  has  been  demonstrated  by 
miracles,  to  be  among  the  number  of  the 
blessed. 

To  pay  honour  to  the  dead  whom  the 
general  voice  declares  to  have  lived  well 
is  an  instinct  of  human  nature.  Roman 
citizens  brought  the  images  of  their  dis- 
tinguished ancestors  into  their  viias ; 
under  the  empire  they  recognised  the  far- 
reaching  power  and  august  majesty — 
sometimes  the  beneficence — of  tlieir  rulers 
by  deifying  them  after  death;  in  China, 


70 


BEATIFICATION 


tlie  worship  of  ancestors  is  to  this  day  the 
most  living  portion  of  the  popular  re- 
ligion ;  among  ourselves,  the  numbers  of 
monuments  in  our  public  places  every- 
where, though  in  many  cases  rather 
attesting  the  vanity  of  the  living  than 
the  merits  of  the  dead,  prove  the  uni- 
versality of  the  impulse.  A  modern 
writer  of  note '  has  said  that  everything 
depends  on  how  a  people  "  does  its  Hero- 
worship."  The  Church,  divinely  founded 
and  di\'inely  guided  as  she  is,  so  far  re- 
cognises this  view  that  she  encourages  us 
to  distinguish  with  singular  honour  cer- 
tain of  her  children  who  have  gone  before 
us  in  the  Christian  warfare,  bids  us  re- 
serve this  honour  for  those  whose  virtue 
reached  the  "  heroic  "  level,  and,  that  we 
may  not  be  deceived,  establishes  a  careful 
and  deliberate  process  whereby  to  test 
the  truth  of  facts  and  probe  the  moral 
significance  of  actions.  Her  judgments 
and  her  processes  need  not  fear  a  com- 
parison with  those  of  public  opinion. 
The  State,  which  modern  irreligion  invites 
us  to  regard  as  a  moral  agency  the  fiat  of 
which  is  not  to  be  appealed  against,  has 
also  modes  of  conferring  honour,  and  does 
not  wait  for  their  death  before  it  rewards 
its  servants.  It  has  peerages,  baronetcies, 
orders,  stars,  money,  and  offices.  If  we 
examine  on  what  grounds  these  distinc- 
tions are  dispensed,  we  find  that  it  is  for 
rare  intellectual  ability — usually  attended 
by  the  gift  of  expression — for  the  capacity 
of  amassing  money,  for  courage  with 
direction,  and  for  simple  courage  ;  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  patriotic  devotion  being 
supposed  to  be  present  in  each  case.  In 
this  way,  and  on  these  grounds,  the 
modem  State  honours  its  heroes.  To  the 
Church,  the  more  or  less  of  ability  pos- 
sessed by  those  whom  she  recommends 
for  our  veneration  is  a  matter  of  no  con- 
cern. She  is  as  willing  to  raise  a  St. 
Isidore,  the  gardener  of  Madrid,  to  the 
ranks  of  the  Blessed,  as  an  Augustine  of 
Hippo  or  a  Thomas  Aquinas.  The  proof 
of  eminent  virtue  is  all  that  she  demands, 
and  as  a  conclusive  and  compendious  test 
of  the  presence  of  this  high  order  of  vir- 
tue, she  requires  the  authentication  of 
miracles  wrought  by,  or  through  the 
intercession  of,  the  person  whose  vir- 
tues are  under  debate.  Such  are,  in  her 
estimate,  the  only  sound  bases  of  a 
popular  cuUus,  and  when  these  condi- 
tions have  been  comphed  with,  such  a 
cultus  has  been  never  known  to  be  dis^ 
credited. 

»  Mr.  Carlyle. 


BEATIFICATION 

The  possession  of  virtue  rising  to  the 
heroic  level,  and  the  illustration  of  that 
virtue  by  miracles,  are  matters  of  fact, 
which  must  of  course  be  established  by 
testimony.  The  witnesses,  in  most  cases, 
can  be  no  other  than  the  countiymen  and 
country^'Omen  of  the  reputed  saint,  for 
only  they  can  have  seen  his  life  from  so 
near  at  hand  as  to  be  competent  to  speak 
with  certitude  respecting  it.  In  the  early 
times,  individual  bishops,  and  afterwards 
metropolitans,  acting  upon  this  local 
testimony,  and  sifting  it  in  the  best  way 
they  could,  declared  the  blessedness  of 
certain  persons,  and  proposed  their  me- 
mories for  the  veneration  of  the  faithfuL 
But  it  is  notorious  that  local  testimony  is 
rarely  free  from  bias,  that  national  and 
provincial  sympathies,  or  even  antipathies, 
are  apt  to  disturb  the  judgment,  and  that 
for  this  reason  the  universal  Church 
could  not  safely  endorse  without  inquiry 
even  the  unanimous  judgment  of  his  own 
countrymen  on  the  virtues  of  a  reputed 
saint.  Earl  Waltheof,  put  to  death  by 
William  the  Conqueror,  was  regarded  by 
the  English  as  a  martyr,  and  miracles 
were  said  to  be  worked  at  his  tomb  ;  the 
same  thing  happened  in  the  case  of  Simon 
de  Montfort ;  but  it  may  reasonably  be 
doubted  whether  antipathy  to  the  Nor- 
man and  the  foreigner  was  not  a  sub- 
stantial factor  in  these  reputations  for 
sanctity.  Considerations  of  this  kind 
prevailed,  many  centuries  ago,  to  cause 
the  inquiry  into  reputed  sanctity  to  be 
reserved  to  the  central  authority  in  the 
Church,  the  Holy  See,  and  to  recommend 
the  wisdom  and  necessity  of  the  decision 
that  without  the  sanction  of  that  see  no 
religious  cultus  may  lawfidly  be  paid  to 
the  memory  of  any  holy  person,  however 
eminent  for  virtue  or  notorious  for  mira- 
cles. As  early  as  the  fourth  century,  in 
the  case  of  Vigilius,  bishop  of  Trent,  we 
find  the  authority  of  Home  invoked  to 
recognise  a  martyr  or  confessor  as  such, 
and  sanction  his  being  honoured  in  the 
liturgy.  The  procedure  to  be  obseiwed 
was  gradually  regularised,  defects  re- 
medied, and  safeguards  supplied  ;  and  in 
the  tenth  century  we  meet  with  the  com- 
plete process  of  a  canonisation,  of  which 
the  object  was  St.  Ulrich,  bishop  of 
Augsburg.  Still,  however,  through  the 
inordinate  fondness  with  which  those  of 
a  particular  country  or  religious  order 
regarded  holy  persons  of  their  own  blood 
or  profession,  instances  of  abusive  cultus 
sometimes  occurred  ;  and  accordingly  we 
find  Alexander  III.,  in  1170,  publishing  a 


BEATIFICATION 

decree  in  which  it  is  declared  unlawful  to 
honour  any  person  puhlicly  as  a  saint, 
however  celebrated  for  miracles,  without 
the  consent  of  the  Roman  Church.  Still 
more  important  is  the  bull  of  Urban  "VIII. 
(1684),  in  which  the  form  of  procedure 
in  cases  of  canonisation  is  minutely  pre- 
scribed, and  various  abuses  condemned. 
In  this  bull,  however,  the  Pope  declared 
"that  he  did  not  wish  to  prejudice  the 
case  of  those  [servants  of  God]  who  were 
the  objects  of  a  cultus  arising  either  out 
of  the  general  consent  of  the  Church,  or 
a  custom  of  which  the  memory  of  man 
ran  not  to  the  contrary,  or  the  writings 
of  the  Fathers,  or  the  long  and  inten- 
tional tolerance  of  the  Apostolic  See  or 
the  Ordinary.'*  (Ferraris,  Cultus  Sancto- 
rum.^ 

It  remains  briefly  to  explain  in  what 
manner  the  duty,  thus  reserved  to  the 
Holy  See,  of  testing  the  evidence  offered 
in  proof  of  sanctity  is  discharged.  The 
celebrated  treatise  of  Pope  Benedict  XIV. 
on  Heroic  Virtue  (of  which  a  translation 
was  published  some  years  ago  by  the 
English  Oratorians)  is  the  standard  au- 
thority on  the  subject.  There  are  three 
recognised  degrees  of  sanctity — that  of 
Venerable,  that  of  Blessed,  and  that  of 
Saint.  On  the  first  and  third  we  shall 
speak  moi-e  fully  under  the  head  of  Canoni- 
sation ;  it  is  with  the  title  of  Blessed, 
given  on  the  completion  of  the  process  of 
Beatification,  that  we  are  at  present  con- 
cerned. At  the  present  time,  Beatifica- 
tion is  nearly  always  a  stage  on  the  road 
to  Canonisation ;  the  same  rigorous  proof 
of  eminent  virtue  and  the  working  of 
miracles  is  demanded  in  one  case  as  in 
the  other.  But  whei-eas  the  cultus  of  a 
canonised  Saint  belongs  to  the  universal 
Church,  and  churches  and  altars  can  be 
freely  erected  in  his  or  her  honour,  and 
images,  pictures,  or  statues  of  him  or  her 
displayed  without  special  permission,  in 
the  case  of  one  of  the  Blessed  it  is  other- 
wise. The  honour  and  veneration  which 
are  authorised  ia  their  regard  are  limited 
and  partial ;  and  because  the  cultus  of 
one  of  them  is  permitted  to  one  country, 
or  city,' or  order,  or  branch  of  an  order,  it 
does  not  follow  that  it  should  be  practised 
elsewhere  ;  and  the  attempt  to  extend  it 
without  special  permission  is  condemned. 
Nor  is  it  lawful,  without  such  permission, 
to  display  their  pictures  or  images  in 
churches,  nor,  under  any  circumstances, 
can  Mass  be  said  or  the  breviary  recited 
in  their  honour. 

Thirteen  or  fourteen  difFerent  steps 


BEATIFICATION 


71 


may  be  distinguished  in  the  process  of 
Beatification;  the  general  object  of  all 
these  slow  and  lengthy  inquiries — ex- 
tending always  over  many  years,  and 
sometimes  from  one  century  to  another — 
being  to  unite  the  credibihty  and  authen- 
ticity which  can  only  be  founded  on  the 
reports  of  witnesses  locally  and  personally 
cognisant  of  the  facts  to  the  authority  of 
a  juridical  investigation  conducted  by 
tramed  and  impartial  intellects.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  the  character  and 
behaviour  of  the  reputed  saint  are  sub- 
jected to  the  severest  possible  strain;  that 
the  "fierce  light  w^hich  beats  upon  a 
throne"  is  nothing  to  that  which  so 
minute  and  protracted  an  inquiry  turns 
upon  the  everyday  life  of  the  person  sub- 
mitted to  it.  "The  person  who  is  to  be 
beatified  must  have  practised  in  the 
heroic  degree  chiefly  the  three  theological 
virtues,  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity,  and 
the  four  cardinal  virtues,  Prudence,  Jus- 
tice, Courage  and  Temperance,  with  all 
that  these  suppose  and  involve ;  nor  is  it 
enough  to  show  that  these  have  been 
practised  to  this  degree  of  perfection 
under  certain  circumstances:  numerous 
acts,  a  permanent  and  habitual  practice, 
principally  of  charity,  are  required ;  and, 
with  regard  to  the  cardinal  virtues,  the 
habit  of  that  virtue  which  was  the  proper 
and  distinguishing  excellence  of  the  per- 
son's calling.  Thus  justice  and  temper- 
ance are  required  in  statesmen  and  pre- 
lates ;  in  Popes,  zeal  for  the  defence  and 
propagation  of  the  Catholic  faith ;  in  kings, 
loyal  attachment  to  the  Church  and  the 
Holy  See ;  in  married  women,  gentleness 
and  devotion  ;  "  &c.^ 

The  first  step  of  the  process  is  a 
formal  inquiry  instituted  by  the  bishop  of 
the  diocese  as  to  the  fact  of  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  person  whose  beatification  is 
demanded  for  virtue  and  miraculous 
power.  This  being  accomplished,  either 
the  same  bishop  or  a  Roman  official 
inquires  into  the  fact  of  non-cultus — that 
is,  whether  the  bull  of  Urban  VIII.  (sup- 
posing the  case  not  to  be  included  among 
the  exceptions  therein  specified)  has  been 
hitherto  scrupulously  complied  with. 
Thirdly,  the  acts  or  minutes  resulting 
from  these  two  inquiries  are  sent  to  Rome, 
to  the  secretary  of  the  Congregation  of 
Rites.  [Roman  Congregations.]  Be- 
fore this  body  the  process  is  now  opened, 
at  the  request  of  the  postulatois,  or  sup- 
porters of  the  beatification.  The  fifth 
step  is  the  nomination  of  a  promotor  Jidei 
»  De  Moy  in  Wetzer  and  Wdte. 


72 


BEATIFICATION 


(called  in  popular  language  the  "  devil's 
advocate  "),  whose  duty  it  is  to  point  out 
any  flaws  or  weak  points  in  the  evidence 
adduced,  and  raise  all  kinds  of  objections. 
Sixthly,  the  Congregation  examines,  if 
the  person  wei-e  an  author,  all  the  works, 
printed  or  in  manuscript,  which  were 
ascertained  t^  he  of  his  composition,  and 
draws  up  a  formal  report  on  them.  If 
this  he  favourable,  the  seventh  stage  is 
reached,  that  of  the  introduction  of  the 
apostolic  process ;  for  Eome,  so  to  speak, 
now  makes  the  cause  its  own,  and  gives 
a  commission  to  the  Congregation  of 
Rites  to  try  it,  investigating,  not  only  the 
notoriety,  but  the  reality  and  nature  of 
the  -v-irtues  and  miracles  ascribed  to  the 
heatijicandus.  This  commission,  without 
a  special  Papal  dispensation,  is  never 
issued  till  at  least  ten  years  have  passed 
since  the  first  transmission  of  the  acts  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Congregation.  The 
next  step  is  the  appointment  by  the 
Congregation,  under  what  are  called 
Utterce  remissionales,  of  a  delegation  of 
three  bishops,  or  other  high  functionaries, 
to  deal  with  the  case  systematically,  and 
examine  witnesses  in  respect  of  the  re- 
puted virtues  and  miracles.  The  acts  of 
this  delegation,  which  are  often  ex- 
tremely voluminous,  are,  as  the  ninth 
stage,  sent  to  the  Congre^^ation,  by  which 
they  are  examined,  and  arguments  heard, 
pro  and  contra,  from  the  postulators  and 
the  promotor  Jidei.  If  the  result  is 
favourable  to  the  heatijicnndus,  a  second 
and  still  more  searching  inquiry  into  the 
real  and  inmost  nature  of  all  that  has 
been  deposed  respecting  him  is  committed 
to  a  new  delegation;  this  is  the  tenth 
stage.  The  process,  being  returned  to  the 
Congregation,  is  finally  considered  by 
them,  both  as  to  its  form  and  as  to  its 
substance;  and  the  virtues  and  rciracles 
are  separately  the  subject  of  debate  in 
three  successive  assemblies  or  congrega- 
tions, at  the  last  of  which  the  Pope  him- 
self is  present.  After  having  sought  to 
know  the  will  of  God  by  prayer,  the 
Pope  makes  known  his  judgment  to  the 
secretary  of  the  Congregation.  A  new 
general  congregation  is  then  held,  at 
which  it  is  considered  whether  the  beati- 
fication may  be  proceeded  with  without 
further  delay ;  if  the  decision  be  favour- 
able, the  Pope  appoints  a  day  for  the 
ceremony,  and  orders  a  brief,  setting  forth 
the  apostolic  sentence,  to  be  prepared. 
The  final  stage  of  this  long  process,  the 
beatification  itself,  takes  place  in  the 
Vatican  church ;  it  includes  the  public 


BEATITUDE 

reading  of  the  brief,  the  chanting  of  the 
Te  Deum,  the  unveiling  of  the  image  or 
picture  of  the  newly-beatified  on  the 
altar,  the  incensing  of  the  image,  the 
reading  of  the  new  collect,  &c. 

By  an  ''  equipollent  beatification  "  is 
meant  the  Papal  authorisation  of  the 
public  cultus  of  a  confessor  or  martyr, 
founded  on  the  proof  of  one  or  more  of 
the  exceptional  conditions  stated  in  the 
bull  of  Urban  VIII.      [See   Canonisa- 

TT0I«".] 

BEATITXTBE,  or  bliss,  is  defined  by 
St.  Thomas  as  that  perfect  good  which 
completely  appeases  and  satisfies  the  appe- 
tite.^ God  alone  can  constitute  man's  per- 
fect bliss,  for  man's  will  seeks  the  fulness 
of  all  good,  and  this  cannot  be  found  ex- 
cept in  God.  Had  man  been  left  without 
grace,  then  he  would  have  found  his  natu- 
ral beatitude  in  knowing  God  most  per- 
fectly as  the  author  of  nature,  and  in 
adhering  to  him  by  natural  love,  sweetly 
and  constantly.'^  He  would  have  at- 
tained this  happiness,  after  passing  success- 
fully through  his  probation  in  this  mortal 
life.  As  it  is,  man  has  been  raised  to  a 
supernatural  state,  and  his  bliss  consists 
in  God,  seen  face  to  face  in  the  heavenly 
country.    [See  Beatific  Vision.] 

So  far  all  the  Catholic  theologians  are 
at  one.  All  admit  that  God  is  man's  last 
end  and  that  he  attains  this  end  through 
the  beatific  vision.  But  if  we  question 
theologians  more  closely  and  wish  to  know 
the  precise  manner  in  which  the  blessed 
reach  perfect  happiness,  various  answers 
are  given,  of  which  three  may  be  repeated 
here.  The  Thomists,  following  apparently 
the  clear  teaching  of  their  master,^  place 
the  essential  happiness  of  the  blessed 
(heatitudo  formolis)  in  the  act  of  the  in- 
tellect by  which  the  saints  see  God  as  he 
is.  They  argue  that  while  the  will  is  an 
appetite  which  tends  to  its  object  and 
rests  in  it,  it  is  by  the  intellect  that  an  im- 
material object  actually  becomes  present 
to  the  soul.  Thus  while  the  will  of  the 
blessed  rests  in  God,  it  is  the  intellect 
which  actually  apprehends,  acquires  and 
possesses  Him.  The  delight  which  the 
will  takes  in  good  attained  does  not  con- 
stitute the  possession  of  this  good,  but 
presupposes  it.  The  Thomists  allege  fur- 
ther that  the  intellect  is  the  noblest  of  the 
faculties,  and  that  the  bliss  of  man  must 
consist  in  the  exercise  of  this  power.* 

»  See  1  2ndaB,  2,  8. 

'  Billuart,  De  Grat.  Diss.  ii.  1. 

5  See  1  2nd{E,  4,  2. 

*  Billuart,  De  UUimo  Fine,  Diss.  U.  2. 


B^GUINES  AND  BEGHARDS 

Here,  we  may  add,  they  make  a  legiti- 
mate application  of  Aristotle's  principles. 
"  That  which  is  proper  to  each  by  nature," 
says  this  philosopher/  '•  is  best  and  sweet- 
est for  each  ;  sweetest  then  for  man  is 
the  intellectual  life  (6  kuto.  tov  vovv 
^tos),  since  this  (i.e.  reason)  chiefly  con- 
stitutes man.  Such  a  life,  therefore, 
is  most  happy."  St.  Basil,  St.  Cyril 
of  Alexandria,  and  St.  Augustine  (con- 
sciously or  unconsciously)  mnde  a  similar 
application  of  the  Aristotelian  princi- 
ple.2 

The  second  opinion  is  that  of  Scotus, 
which  places  beatitude  in  the  act  of  the 
will  by  which  it  loves  God  with  the  love 
of  friendship  ;  a  third,  that  of  several 
Jesuit  theologians,  who  make  it  consist  in 
the  exercise  of  intellect  and  will  com- 
bined. It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say 
that  the  Thomists  only  place  the  essence 
or  spring  of  beatitude  in  the  vision  of 
God  by  the  intellect.  Hence  flow  the 
fidl  satisfaction  of  the  will,  the  happy 
necessity  of  loving  God,  the  knowledge 
which  the  saints  have  that  tlieir  happi- 
ness is  et  ernal.  A  iter  the  resurrection  this 
bliss  will  overflow  into  the  body,  bestow- 
ing upon  it  the  four  gifts  of  impassibility, 
subtlety  (by  which  it  will  be  able  to  pene- 
trate other  bodies,  as  the  risen  Christ 
penetrated  the  closed  doovs), agility  (wliich 
will  make  it  capable  of  the  swiftest  mo- 
tion), clarity  (through  which  it  will  be- 
come luminous  or  transparent). 

BSGUXXTES  and  BEG-HARBS.  The 
Beguines  of  Flanders  are  an  interesting 
and  ancient  foimdation.  An  attempt,  in- 
deed, was  made  in  the  seventeenth  century 
to  trace  their  origin  to  St.  Begga,  the 
mother  of  Pepin  of  Herstal,  who  flour- 
ished about  A.D.  700  ;  but  in  the  judg- 
ment of  Hefele  ^  the  attempt  failed.  That 
they  can  be  traced  back  to  the  twelfth 
century,  and  are  consequently  older  tlian 
either  the  Franciscans  or  Dominicans,  is 
unquestionable.  The  scandals  caused  by 
the  conduct  of  a  dissolute  Bishop  of 
Liege,  about  1180,  aroused  the  zeal  of  a 
holy  priest  of  the  diocese,  Lambert  le 
Beghe,  who  spent  his  fortune  in  founding 
an  institution  at  Liege  for  widows  and 
single  women  desirous  to  consecrate  their 
lives  to  God,  and  opened  it  in  1184. 
The  associates  called  themselves  Beghines, 
corrupted  to  Beguines,  after  their  founder, 
and  the  name  of  Beguinage  was  given  to 
the  abode,  or  rather  group  of  abodes,  in 

1  Eth.  Nicom.  X.  7. 

2  Petav.  De  Deo,  vii.  8. 

5  Art '  Beghines '  in  Wetzer  and  Welte. 


BELLS 


73 


which  they  lived.  For  the  Beguinage,  re- 
sembling in  this  respect  the  ancient  lauroy 
is  not  a  convent,  but  a  collection  of  small 
houses  (each  inhabited  by  one  or  two 
Beguines,  who  do  their  own  housekeeping), 
surrounded  by  a  wall,  and  with  a  chapel 
in  the  centre.  The  Beguines  do  not  take 
perpetual  vows,  nor  do  tiiey  renounce 
private  property;  they  can  leave  the  asso- 
ciation whenever  they  desire  it,  and  re- 
claim the  capital  which  they  may  have 
contributed  to  it.  But  each  Beguine  on 
admission  to  the  habit  makes  a  vow,  in  the 
presence  of  the  cure  who  has  the  spiritual 
charge  of  the  community,  of  obedience 
and  chastity  so  long  as  she  remains  in  the 
Beguinage.  They  employ  themselves,  ac- 
cording to  the  strength  or  capacity  of  the 
several  members,  in  educational  work 
(including  large  Sunday-schools  for  girls) 
and  corporal  works  of  mercy  of  various 
kinds,  besides  taking  part  in  the  divine 
oihce.  Some  of  their  communities  in  the 
fourteenth  century  fell  into  the  error  of  the 
Fraticelli,  or  brethren  of  the  free  spirit, 
and  incurred  condemnation  on  that  ac- 
count from  the  Council  of  Vienne  (1311). 
At  the  present  day,  they  are  still  flourish- 
j  ing  in  Belgium,  their  original  seat ;  there 
I  are  B^guinages  at  Ghent,  Bruges,  Ant- 
I  werp,  Mechlin,  and  other  places.  In  the 
i  great  Beguinage  at  Ghent  there  were  in 
I  1857  six  hundred  professed  Beguines,  and 
t\vo\\\\n^re(\.locataires — that  is,  ladies  liv- 
ing within  the  enclosure,  paying  a  certain 
pension,  and  to  some  extent  participating 
in  the  religious  life  of  the  sisters.  There 
are  Beguinages  in  Germany,  and  one  was 
lately  founded  at  Castel-naudary,  in  the 
south  of  France,  by  a  zealous  priest  of 
Carcassonne,  M.  Soubiran-la-Louviere, 
which  promised  to  be  eminently  success- 
ful and  useful. 

The  Beghards  had  no  special  founder, 
but  were  associations  of  laymen  li^'ing 
together  in  imitation  of  the  Beguines. 
They  iirst  appear  in  the  early  part  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  Heresy  and  anti- 
nomianism  made  great  ravages  in  their 
ranks  in  the  following  age,  and  the  seve- 
rities of  which  they  were  consequently 
the  object  caused  the  greater  number  to 
pass  into  the  third  orders  of  the  Mendicant 
fraternities.  They  were  finally  suppressed 
by  Innocent  X.  in  1650. 

BEIiIiS.  Nothing  certain  is  known 
as  to  the  date  of  their  introduction,  which 
has  been  attributed  sometimes  to  St. 
Paulinus  of  Nola,  sometimes  to  Pope 
Sabinian.  During  the  heathen  persecu- 
tion it  was  of  course  impossible  to  call 


74 


BELLS 


the  faithful  by  any  signal  which  would 
have  attracted  public  notice.  After  Con- 
Btantine's  time,  monastic  communities 
used  to  signify  the  hour  of  prayer  by 
blowing  a  trumpet,  or  by  rapping  with  a 
haminer  at  the  cells  of  the  monks. 
AValafrid  Strabo,  in  his  celebrated  book 
on  the  divine  offices,  written  about  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century,  speaks  of  the 
use  of  bells  as  not  very  ancient  in  his 
time,  and  as  having  been  introduced  from 
Italy.  However,  we  learn  from  the  his- 
tory of  St.  Lupus  of  Sens  that  church- 
bells  were  known  in  France  more  than 
two  centuries  before  Strabo's  time.^  For 
long  the  Eastern  Church  employed  instead 
of  bells  clappers,  such  as  we  still  use  on 
Good  Friday,  and  bells  were  not  known 
among  the  Orientals  till  the  ninth  cen- 
tury.'^ Even  then  their  use  cannot  have 
become  universal  among  them,  for  Fleury 
mentions  the  ringing  of  church-bells  as 
one  of  the  customs  which  the  Maronites 
adopted  from  the  Latins  on  their  reunion 
with  the  Catholic  Church  in  1183.^  The 
classical  words  for  bell  are,  Kcodcau  and 
tinfinnahulum.  From  the  seventh  cen- 
tury onwards,  we  find  the  names  campana 
(from  the  Campanian  metal  of  which  they 
were  often  made),  nola  (from  the  town 
where  their  use  is  said  to  have  been  intro- 
duced), and  cloccce^  (French  cloche). 
Originally  church  bells  were  compara- 
tively small.  Large  ones  of  cast  metal 
first  appear  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries;  those  of  the  greatest  size 
in  the  fifteenth.  In  the  tenth  cen- 
tury the  custom  began  of  giving  bells 
names.* 

Before  the  Church  sets  aside  bells  for 
sacred  she  blesses  them  with  solemn  cere- 
monies. The  form  prescribed  in  the 
Pontifical  is  headed  "  the  blessing  of  a 
bell,"  though  it  is  popularly  called  "  the 
baptism  of  a  bell,"  a  title  by  which  the 
oftice  is  mentioned  as  early  as  the  eleventh 
century.®  The  bishop  washes  the  bell 
with  blessed  water,  signs  it  with  the  oil 
of  the  sick  outside,  and  with  chrism  inside, 
and  lastly  places  under  it  the  thurible 
with  burning  incense.  He  prays  re- 
peatedly that  the  sound  of  the  bell  may 
avail  to  summon  the  faithful,  to  excite 
their  devotion,  to  drive  away  storms,  and 

«  Fleury,  Hist,  xlviii.  42. 

•  Kraus,  Kirchengeschichte,  p.  172. 
»  Ixxiii.  46. 

•  First  occurs  in  Bonifacius,  Ep.  134 ;  per- 
haps from  the  old  German  chlachan=frangi. 
Krano,  p.  288. 

ft  Kraus,  ibid. 

•  Fleuiy,  lix.  20. 


BENEDICTINES 

to  terrify  evil  spirits.  This  power  of 
course  is  due  to  the  blessings  and  prayers 
of  the  Church,  not  to  any  efficacy  super- 
stitiously  attributed  to  the  bell  itself. 
Thus  consecrated,  bells  become  spiri- 
tual things,  and  cannot  be  rung  without 
the  consent  of  the  ecclesiastical  authori- 
ties. 

Hitherto,  we  have  been  treating  of  the 
large  church-bell.  Small  bells  are  also 
used  during  Mass,  and  are  rung  by  the 
server  at  the  Sanctus  and  at  the  Eleva- 
tion. The  object  of  this  rite  is  to  excite 
the  attention  and  devotion  of  the  faithful. 
The  practice  of  ringing  the  bell  at  the 
Elevation  was  introduced  after  the  custom 
of  elevating  the  Host  [see  Elevation]  had 
become  common  in  the  Church.  The 
Elevation-bell  is  mentioned  by  William  of 
Paris.  In  the  U.  S.  it  is  the  custom  to 
ring  the  bell  also  as  the  priest  spreads  his 
hands  over  the  Host  and  chalice  before 
the  consecration,  and  at  the  Domine,  non 
sum  dignus,  before  the  priest's  communion. 
This  bell  is  not  rung  when  Mass  is  said 
before  the  Blessed  Sacrament  exposed,  nor 
again  in  the  private  chapel  of  the  Apos- 
tolic palace  if  the  Pope  says  or  hears 
Mass.^ 

BEXrBBICAlMraS  DOMZXrO,  i.e. 
"  Let  us  bless  the  Lord,"  a  form  used  in 
the  Breviary  at  the  end  of  each  hour  ex- 
cept Matins,  and  at  the  end  of  Mass  in- 
stead of  Ite  Missa  est  on  days  when  the 
Gloria  in  excelsis  is  not  said.  Various 
reasons  are  given  for  the  use  of  JBene- 
dicamus  Domino  for  the  usual  Ite  Missa 
est.  Cardinal  Bona  thinks  that  the  Ite 
Missa  est  was  omitted  first  of  all  during 
penitential  seasons,  such  as  Advent  and 
Lent,  because  then  the  people  did  not  im- 
mediately leave  the  church,  but  waited 
for  the  recitation  of  the  hours,  and  that 
gradually  the  Benedicamus  Domino  came 
to  be  used  in  ferial  Masses  generally.  In 
Masses  for  the  dead,  Requiescant  in  pace 
took  the  place  of  the  Ite  Missa  est,  perhaps 
because  the  people  often  had  to  remain 
for  the  funeral  rites.  (Benedict  XIV. 
«*DeMiss."ll,24.) 

BEXrEDZCTZirES.  The  patriarch 
of  monks  in  the  West,  St.  Benedict, 
having  first  established  his  order  at 
Subiaco,  removed  it  to  Monte  Cassino,  on 
which  Apollo  was  in  those  days  still 
worshipped,  in  529.  The  rule  which  he 
compiled  for  his  monks  was  regarded  as 
fraught  with  singular  wisdom,  and 
dictated  by  a  marvellous  insight  into 
human  nature,  neither  prescribing  to  aU 

1  Benedict.  XIV.  De  Miss.  u.  11, 19. 15,  81. 


BENEDICTINES 

an  asceticism  only  possible  to  a  few,  nor 
erring  on  the  side  of  laxity.  It  regulated 
with  great  minuteness  the  mode  of  cele- 
brating the  divine  office  at  the  canonical 
hours ;  and,  eschewing  all  idleness,  ordered 
that  the  monks,  when  not  employed  in 
the  divine  praises,  or  in  taking  necessary 
food  and  rest,  should  engage  themselves 
in  useful  works,  either  manual  labour,  or 
study,  or  copying  books,  or  teaching. 
Every  monastery  was  to  have  a  library, 
and  every  monk  was  to  possess  a  pen  and 
tablets.  The  clothing,  of  which  the  pre- 
vailing colour  was  black,  was  to  vary  in 
material  and  warmth  at  the  discretion  of 
the  abbots,  according  to  the  exigences  of 
different  climates  and  circumstances.  The 
abstinence  from  meat  enjoined  by  the 
rule  (except  in  the  case  of  the  sick)  is 
perpetual  ;  but  there  is  some  doubt 
whether  the  prohibition  was  meant  to  ex- 
tend to  poultry  and  winged  game,  as  well 
as  the  tiesh  of  four-footed  animals.  A 
singular  clause  in  the  rule,  and  one  which 
was  fruitful  in  results,  was  that  which 
ordered  that  aU  persons  whatever,  with- 
out distinction  of  age,  rank,  or  calling, 
should  be  admissible  to  the  order  of  St. 
Benedict.  If  parents  offered  a  son  to  the 
service  of  God  in  a  monastery,  even  if  he 
were  but  a  boy  of  five  years  old,  the 
monks  were  to  receive  and  take  full 
charge  of  him.  Thus  our  own  Beda  was 
given  over  when  only  seven  years  old  to 
the  monks  of  Wearmouth  and  Jarrow, 
and  the  good  Orderic,  the  historian  of 
Normandy,  was  committed  by  his  father 
in  his  tenth  year  to  the  kind  hands  of  the 
monks  of  St.  Evroult,  and  saw  his  native 
land  no  more.  Out  of  this  practice  of 
offering  young  boys  to  the  monasteries  a 
great  system  of  monastic  schools  naturally 
arose. 

St.  Maur,  a  disciple  of  St.  Benedict, 
founded  the  first  Benedictine  monastery 
in  France,  in  his  master's  lifetime,  at 
Glanfeuil,  near  Angers.  In  Spain  they 
were  introduced  about  633.  Eng- 
land has  cause  to  be  grateful  to 
the  Benedictine  order,  which  first 
taught  Christianity  to  the  Saxons  of 
the  South.  The  Monastery  on  Monte 
Cassino  was  destroyed  by  the  Lombards 
towards  the  end  of  the  sixth  century, 
but  the  monks  took  refuge  at  Eome, 
where  Pope  Gregory  gave  them  St. 
Andrew's  Church.  The  Benedictine 
abbot  of  St.  Andrew's  was  the  person 
chosen  by  the  Pope  to  head  the  mission 
which  he  sent  to  the  Court  of  Ethelbert, 
and  he  will  be  remembered  through  all 


BENEDICTINES 


75 


time  as  St.  Augustin,  the  Apostle  of 
England.  Benedictine  monks  from  Eng- 
land—St. Willibrord  (699)  and  St.  Boni- 
face (750) — introduced  Christianity  in 
the  Low  Countries  and  the  Rhineland. 
Volumes  might  be  written  on  the  mani- 
fold servdces  which  the  German  Benedic- 
tines, going  forth  from  the  tomb  of  St. 
Boniface  at  Fulda,  and  settling  themselves 
down  as  welcome  guests  at  numberless 
points  in  the  forests  which  then  covered 
the  Teutonic  land,  rendered  to  their  half- 
savage  countrymen,  accustoming  them  by 
degrees  to  the  restraints  of  religion  and 
law,  and  training  and  cultivating  both 
the  land  and  the  people.  But  all  human 
institutions  are  liable  to  change,  and  even 
this  famous  order,  chiefly  through  the 
intrusion  of  ambitious  laymen  into  the 
office  of  abbot,  witnessed  before  the  end 
of  the  eighth  century  a  great  decline  of 
monastic  virtue.  St.  Benedict  of  Anian 
then  appeared  as  a  reformer  and  restorer. 
So,  when  the  fierce  Danish  and  Norman 
barbarians  in  the  9th  and  10th  centuries 
had  destroyed  monasteries  in  Ireland, 
France  and  England,  and  murdered  great 
numbers  of  monks,  while  those  who  were 
spared  lived  with  little  regularity,  the 
reformation  of  Cluny  by  St.  Peter  the 
Venerable,  and  that  carried  on  by  the 
great  St.  Dunstan  in  England,  caused  the 
old  life,  in  its  lovely  peace  and  fruitfiil- 
ness,  to  floui'ish  again.  It  is  said  that,  a 
calculation  being  made  in  the  first  half  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  it  was  found  that 
up  to  that  time  twenty-four  Popes,  two 
hundred  cardinals,  seven  thousand  arch- 
bishops, fifteen  thousand  bishops,  and  a 
still  greater  number  of  saints,  had  been 
given  to  the  Church  by  the  Benedictine 
order. 

In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
many  relaxations  and  corruptions  crept 
into  the  Benedictine  monasteries  in  various 
parts  of  Europe.  In  France  the  reaction 
against  these  led  to  the  foundation  of  the- 
reformed  congregation  of  St.  Vanne,  in 
which  the  rigid  observance  of  the  rule 
was  revived  (1560)  ;  and  out  of  this  pro- 
ceeded the  yet  more  celebrated  congrega- 
tion of  St.  Maur  (1618),  to  which  a  great 
number  of  French  monasteries  adhered. 
This  congregation,  by  its  colossal  patristic 
and  historical  labours,  directed  by  such 
men  as  Mabillon,  Martene,  Ruinart, 
Rivet,  and  DAch^ry,  rendered  incalcul- 
able services  to  the  learned  world.  Two 
such  works  as  the  *'  France  Littdraire  "  and 
the  "  Recueil  des  Historiens,"  if  they  had 
accomplished  nothing  else,  would  entitle 


76 


BKNEDICTINES 


the  congregation  to  the  gratitude  of  all 
men  of  letters.  At  the  Revolution  the 
order  was  entirely  suppressed  in  France. 
In  the  present  century  it  has  again  taken 
root,  and  begun  to  bear  fruit  of  the  old 
kind;  witness  the  new  foundation  at  So- 
lesmes,  the  residence   of  the   pious  and 

fifted  DomGu^ranger;  the  community  at 
*ieiTe-qui-Vire  (founded  by  the  Pere 
Muard,  who  died  in  1854);  and  the 
Benedictine  nunneries  of  Pradines  and 
Flavigny.  In  Spain  and  Germany  also 
the  order  was  suppressed  during  the  re- 
volutionary troubles  ;  in  the  former  coun- 
try it  has  not  yet  been  re-introduced ;  in 
Germany  it  has  reappeared  at  Munich. 

In  England,  at  the  dissolution,  there 
were  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  Bene- 
dictine abbeys,  priories,  and  nunneries, 
the  revenues  of  which  appear  in  the  "  Valor 
Ecclesiasticus,"  and  about  a  hundred  other 
cells  and  priories  of  less  importance, 
besides  those  previously  suppressed  by 
Wolsey  (twenty-nine,  of  which  the 
majority  were  Benedictine)  and  the 
"  alien  "  priories — that  is,  those  which 
were  cells  of  foreign  abbeys.  All  these 
were  suppressed,  with  what  ruinous 
results  to  education,  art,  and  learning, 
all  the  world  knows.  Domi  Feckenham, 
the  last  abbot  of  Westminster  in  pos- 
session, made  a  noble  speech  in  the 
House  of  Lords  against  the  change 
of  religion  in  the  first  year  of  Eliza- 
beth. Feckenham  was  thrown  into 
prison  and  kept  there  for  the  rest  of 
his  life.  One  of  his  monks,  Dom  Sigebert 
Buckley,  after  forty  years'  imprisonment, 
died  at  a  great  age  in  1610 ;  before  dying 
he  gave  the  habit  to  two  English  Bene- 
dictines who  had  been  professed  abroad, 
and  was  thus  the  link  between  the  monks 
of  old  and  those  of  modem  times.  For 
several  generations  the  English  Benedic- 
tines were  obliged  on  account  of  persecu- 
tion to  have  their  houses  abroad,  whence 
they  sent  men  to  the  English  mission. 
Mr.  Law's  "  Calendar  of  English  Martyrs '' 
(1876)  contains  the  names  of  nine  or  ten 
Benedictine  missioners  hanged,  drawn, 
and  quartered  between  1558  and  1681. 
At  the  present  time  the  Benedictines 
have  ten  or  eleven  houses  in  England. 

The  Benedictines  of  Monte  Cassino 
are  now  divided  into  nine  "congrega- 
tions," in  each  of  which  the  several 
communities  are  affiliated  under  one 
President.  The  dress  is  all  black,  habit, 
belt,  scapular,  and  hoed. 

The  oldest  foundation  in  the  United 
States  is  St.  Vincent's  Abbey  in  West- 


BENEDICTION,  ETC. 

moreland  Co.,  Pennsylvania.  It  was 
established  in  1846  as  a  priory  by  a 
colony  of  monks  from  Bavaria,  and  was 
erected  into  an  abbey  in  1855  by'  a 
Papal  Brief,  its  founder,  Abbot  Wim- 
mer,  being  in  1866  confirmed  abbot 
for  life,  and  appointed  President  of 
the  North  American  Cassinese  Congre- 
gation then  established.  Besides  the 
many  offshoots  from  St.  Vincent's,  in- 
cluding two  other  abbeys,  a  colony  of 
monks  from  Einsiedeln,  in  Switzerland, 
was  in  1854  established  at  St.  Mein- 
rad's,  Indiana;  and  in  1870  St.  Mein- 
rad's  was  erected  into  an  abbey,  which, 
with  another  abbey,  an  offshoot  from 
it,  and  their  dependencies,  remains  in 
the  bond  of  the  Swiss  Congi-egation. 
In  addition  to  these,  there  is  in  the  In- 
dian Territory  the  Abbey  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  which  belongs  to  the  French 
Congregation. 

BBSrSBZCTZOir       OF       THS 

s:lesssb    SACBikXMCEia-T.      A  rite 

which  has  now  become  very  common  in 
the  Catholic  Church.  The  priest  takes 
the  Host  I'rom  the  tabernacle,  places  it 
in  the  monstrance,  and  then  puts  the 
monstrance  containing  the  Host  on  a 
throne  above  the  tabernacle.  The  priest 
then  incenses  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
while  the  choir  (at  least  in  the  U.  S.) 
usually  sing  the  "0  Salutaris  Hostia." 
Next  the  Te  Deum,  the  litany  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  or  some  other  canticle  or 
antiphon,  is  sung,  followed  by  the  "  Tan- 
tum  Ergo,"  during  which  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  again  incensed,  and  the 
prayer  "  Deus,  qui  nobis,"  &c.  is  recited. 
Finally,  the  priest,  mantled  with  the  veil, 
makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  the 
monstrance  over  the  people.  The  Congre- 
gation of  Rites  orders  this  Benediction  to 
be  given  in  silence  ;  probably  to  show  that 
it  is  not  the  earthly,  but  the  Eternal 
Priest  who  in  this  rite  blesses  and  sanc- 
tities his  people.  If  a  bishop  gives  Bene- 
diction of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  he  makes 
the  sign  of  the  cross  over  the  people  three 
times. 

The  rite  is  comparatively  modem. 
Processions  and  expositions  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  date  from  the  early  part  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  but  at  first,  apparently, 
the  Host  was  replaced  in  the  tabernacle, 
without  any  benediction  being  given  to 
the  people.  "The  custom"  [of  benedic- 
tion], says  the  learned  Thiers,  m  a  treatise 
on  the  exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment, published  in  1673,  "  appears  to  me 
somewhat  novel  {assez  nouvelle)  for  I  haw 


BENEDICTIONALE 


BENEFIT  OF  CLERGY       77 


found  no  Ritual  or  Ceremonial  older  than 
about  a  hundred  years  which  mentions  it." 
The  same  author  tells  us,  that  the  custom 
of  singing  the  "  O  Salutaris  Hostia  "  ^  at  the 
Elevation  in  the  Mass  was  introduced  by- 
Louis  XII.  of  Franc^,  a  little  before  his 
death,  in  1515,  at  a  time  when  he  was 
harassed  by  various  enemies.  Thiers  also 
mentions  that  the  Carthusians  still  main- 
tained the  custom  of  replacing  the  Host, 
after  exposition,  without  giving  benedic- 
tion.^ 

BEiTEBlCTiON'iki.i:.  A  collection 
of  forms  of  blessing,  compiled  for  the  con- 
venience of  priests,  from  the  Roman  Ritual, 
Pontifical,  Missal,  &c.  Such  books  may 
be  lawfully  published  with  the  approba- 
tion of  the  ordinary,  but  they  possess  no 
authority  in  themselves.  "  These  books 
only  are  to  be  employed,  and  these  Bene- 
dictions only  to  be  given  which  conform 
to  the  Roman  Ritual."  (Decree  of  S. 
Congreg.  of  Rites,  April  7,  1832.) 

BExrEFZCE.  An  ecclesiastical  bene- 
fice is  a  perpetual  right,  established  by  the 
Church  in  lavour  of  an  ecclesiastical  per- 
son, of  receiving  the  profits  of  Church 
property,  on  account  of  the  discharge,  by 
Buch  person,  of  a  spiritual  office. 

The  term  had  its  origin  in  a  special  use 
of  the  Latin  word  beneficiuni  which  arose 
in  the  dark  ages,  and  was  connected  with 
the  difference  between  allodial  and  feudal 
property.  The  allodial  estate  of  a  Teuton 
was  his  absolute,  hereditary,  freehold  pro- 
perty, which  royal  favour  had  not  given, 
and  royal  rapacity  seldom  dared  to  de- 
prive him  of.  But  a  king  coald  reward  a 
faithful  follower  by  the  grant,  usually  for 
life,  of  lands  belonging  to  the  crown ;  and 
estates  so  granted  were  called  heneficia, 
as  being  pure  emanations  of  the  king's 
grace  and  favour,  though  it  is  true  that 
military  service  was  always  an  implied 
condition  of  the  tenure.  As  the  landed 
possessions  of  the  Church  increased,  usur- 
pations of  them  by  unscrupulous  laymen 
became  frequent.  TBS  clergy  found  that, 
practically,  they  had  no  other  defence 
against  this  species  of  rapine  but  by 
granting  portions  of  Church  property  to 
lay  lords,  on  condition  of  military  service 
against  those  who  might  disturb  them  in 
the  quiet  possession  of  the  rest.  The 
tenure  being  much  the  same,  Church 
lands  thus  came  to  be  called  heneficia ) 
and  this  name  was  gradually  transferred 
to  the  beneficial  enjoyment  of  all  Church 

*  Traite  de  Vexposition  du  Saint  Sacrement 
tk  rautel,  ill.  ch.  v. 
»  Ibid.  m.  7. 


property,  after  the  lands  above  described 
had  been,  with  the  advent  of  more  peace- 
ful times,  restored  to  ecclesiastical 
hands. 

According  to  the  canonists,  six  things 
are  required  in  a  benefice.  First,  that  it 
should  be  established  by  episcopal  autho- 
rity. Secondly,  that  it  should  have  some 
spiritual  work  annexed  to  it — thus  the 
function  of  an  organist,  or  a  verger,  being 
merely  temporal,  is  incompatible  with  the 
possession  of  a  benefice.  Thirdly,  that  it 
should  be  conferred  by  an  ecclesiastical 
person.  (Lay  patrons  are  not  properly 
said  to  confer,  but  to  jyresent  to,  a  benefice.) 
Fourthly,  that  it  should  be  conferred  on 
a  clerk  who  has  at  least  received  the 
tonsure.  Fifthly,  that  it  should  be  for 
life.  Sixthly,  that  whoever  has  the  right 
of  conferring  it  should  not  keep  it  for 
himself,  but  give  it  to  another.  Ferraris, 
Beneftcium. 

BESTEFXT  OF  ClbERGY.  By  this 
was  originally  meant  the  privilege  enjoyed 
by  persons  in  holy  orders  of  claiming,  if 
charged  with  any  felony  (unless  it  were 
high  treason,  or  arson),  to  be  tried  in  the 
bishop's  instead  of  the  king's  court.  The 
ancient  usage  was,  says  Blackstone,  "  for 
the  bishop,  or  ordinary,  to  demand  his 
clerks  to  be  remitted  out  of  the  king's 
courts  as  soon  as  they  were  indicted." 
Henry  II.  endeavoured  to  do  away  with 
the  exemption,  and  to  subject  clerks 
charged  with  felony  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
his  own  court ;  but  the  reaction  in  popular 
feeling  which  followed  the  murder  of  St. 
Thomas  a  Becket  prevented  the  realisa- 
tion of  his  intention.  After  much  conflict 
between  the  secular  and  ecclesiastical 
courts,  it  was  settled,  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VI.,  that  a  clerk  charged  with 
felony  should  first  be  arraigned  in  the 
king's  court,  after  which  he  might  either 
plead  his  benefit  of  clergy  at  once,  de- 
clining the  j  urisdiction,  or,  after  conviction, 
by  way  of  arresting  j  udgment.  Originally, 
only  persons  who  had  the  clerical  dress 
and  tonsure  were  oititled  to  the  privilege ; 
but  a  laxer  test  was  gradually  accepted, 
until  it  came  to  be  a  settled  thing  that 
every  prison**  who  could  read  should  be 
allowed  the  benefit  of  clergy,  even  though 
neither  ordained  nor  tonsured.  It  was 
found  that  too  many  laymen  were  thus 
let  in,  and  by  a  statute  of  1487  it  was 
enacted  that  a  layman  might  not  claim 
the  privilege  more  than  once,  and,  when 
allowed  it,  he  was  to  be  burnt  with  a  hot 
iron  "  on  the  brawn  of  the  left  thumb  " 
— an  effectual,  if  barbarous,  mode  of  iden- 


78 


BERENGARIUS 


tification — so  that  he  should  not  illegally 
claim  it  a  second  time. 

After  benefitof  clergy  had  been  claimed 
and  allowed,  the  culprit  was  remitted  to 
the  bishop's  court,  and  there  tried.  An 
elaborate  procedure  was  followed,  of 
which  the  ordinary  result  is  said  to  have 
been  an  acquittal.  If,  however,  the  tem- 
poral courts  surrendered  the  accused  to 
the  ordinary  absque  purgatione  fadenda, 
he  had  to  be  imprisoned  for  life. 

The  later  history  of  benefit  of  clergy 
tm*ns  upon  a  statute  of  1576.  The  govern- 
ment of  Elizabeth  were  resolved  to  take 
away  all  criminal  jurisdiction  from  the 
bishops,  but  the  principle  of  immunity  to 
the  educated  classes  as  compared  with  the 
uneducated  was  inwoven  by  so  long  a 
usage  into  judicial  practice,  and  was  so 
convenient  for  the  former,  that  it  is  easy 
to  understand  why  it  should  not  readily 
be  relinquished.  By  the  statute  above 
mentioned,  it  was  forbidden  to  surrender 
any  prisoner  to  the  ordinary ;  but  when 
benefit  of  clergy  had  been  allowed,  and 
burning  inflicted  in  the  usual  way,  the 
prisoner  was  to  undergo  no  further  punish- 
ment— except  that'the  judge  might,  at  his 
discretion,  order  him  to  be  kept  in  gaol 
for  any  period  within  a  year.  Acts  were 
afterwards  passed,  allowing  Peers,  even 
though  they  could  not  read,  to  claim 
benefit  of  clergy,  and  extending  the  statute 
to  female  defendants,  on  their  being  burnt 
and  imprisoned  for  less  than  a  year.  But 
"  those  men  who  could  not  read,  if  under 
the  degree  of  peerage,  were  hanged."  It 
should  be  understood  tbat  not  all  felonies 
were  within  benefit  of  clergy.  High  tret^- 
son  and  arson,  as  already  mentioned,  were 
always  excluded  from  it ;  and  other  crimes, 
such  as  murder,  burglary,  imnatural  crime, 
&c.,  were  expressly  withdrawn  from  it  by 
difierent  statutes. 

As  more  and  more  criminals  were 
found  able  to  read,  the  state  of  the  law 
was  thought  to  tend  too  much  to  laxity. 
Acts  of  1718  and  1720  provided  that  any 
person  convicted  who  was  entitled  to 
Denefit  of  clergy,  with  consequent  burning 
and  short  imprisonment,  might  be,  in 
Bubstitution  for  such  burning,  «&c.,  sen- 
tenced to  transportation  to  America  for 
seven  years.  Benefit  of  clergy  was  finally 
abolished  in  1827.  (Blackstone's  "  Com- 
mentaries," book  iv.) 

BSRExroii.szu-8.  A  writer  of  the 
eleventh  century,  celebrated  for  having 
anticipated  the  Sacramentarians  of  a  later 
age  in  assailing  the  mystery  of  the  Eucha- 
rist.   He  was  bom,  prowibly  at  Tours, 


BERENGARIUS 

about  A.D.  1000,  and  was  about  forty  yeais 
of  age  when  he  was  made  Archdeacon 
of  Angers.  At  this  period  of  his  life  he 
gave  vent  to  the  crude  and  novel  theory 
on  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  which  au 
inquisitive  intellect,  joined  to  a  vain  and 
unstable  character,  suggested  to  him.  His 
former  friends,  Adalbert  of  Liege,  and 
Hugh,  bishop  of  Langres,  wrote  to  him 
letters  of  earnest  remonstrance  ;  but  being 
at  this  time  supported  by  the  king  of 
France,  Bruno,  bishop  of  Angers,  and 
other  persons  of  influence,  he  disregarded 
their  admonitions.  The  French  king, 
Henry  I.,  seeing  that  a  line  of  German 
popes  was  apparently  firmly  fixed  in  the 
chair  of  Peter,  and  apprehensive  lest  the 
papal  influence  should  be  used  to  further 
imperial  designs  against  France,  is  said  ^ 
to  have  meditated  the  formation  o'f  a 
Gallican  schism,  and  in  pursuance  of  this 
design  to  have  encouraged  Berengarius  to 
resist  the  authority  of  Rome.  The  treatise 
in  which  he  set  forth  his  peculiar  teaching 
has  been  lately  discovered  and  printed.  In 
the  judgment  even  of  those  who  would  be 
most  inclined  to  take  a  favourable  view,'^  it 
is  described  as  "  hard,  harsh,  and  obscui*e." 
It  is  certain  that  he  denied  any  real  or  ob- 
jective change,  any  trans ubstantiation  of 
the  bread  and  wine  ;  with  Erigena  he  held 
that  the  presence  of  the  body  of  Christ  in 
the  Sacrament  was  only  real  in  so  far  aa 
it  was  spiritually  conceived,  and  rejected 
the  opposite  tenet  of  Paschasius  Radbert. 
A  letter  of  his  to  Lanfranc,  then  Prior 
of  Bee,  referring  to  these  views,  found  its 
way  to  Rome  ;  the  matter  "was  immedi- 
ately taken  up,  and  in  a  council  held  at 
Rome  in  1050,  the  ancient  faith  of  the 
Church  was  emphatically  reasserted,  and 
the  tenets  of  Berengarius  and  Erigena 
condemned.  Again,  in  the  Synod  of 
Vercelli  (Sept.  1050),  and  shortly  after- 
wards at  Paris,  Berengarius  was  con- 
demned. For  some  time,  so  long  as 
he  was  able  to  avoid  attendance  at  any 
of  these  synods,  he  treated  their  decisions 
with  contempt.  But  the  King  of  France, 
who  had  now  learned  to  form  a  truer 
estimate  of  the  great  character  and 
apostolic  aims  of  Leo  IX.,  withdrew  his 
support  of  Berengarius,  who  was  conse- 
quently compelled  to  appear  at  a  synod 
held  at  Tours  in  1064,  over  which  the 
legate  Hildebrand  (afterwards  Gregory 
Vn.)  presided.  Berengarius  made  and 
signed  the  recantation  required  of  him, 

*  By  Staudenmaier,  art.  "Berengarius  "  in 
Wetzer  and  Welte. 

'  Milman,  LmHu  Christianityt  iii.  890. 


BERRETTA 

Ijut  not  long  afterwards  be  reasserted 
the  condemned  error.  This  happened 
eeveral  times  over,  Berengarius  sub- 
scribing whatever  orthodox  formulary 
might  be  set  before  him,  and  then,  in 
some  fresh,  publication,  giving  an  inad- 
missible turn  to  the  subscription  which  he 
had  made.  The  last  of  his  retractations 
— from  which  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
subsequently  receded — was  pronounced 
at  the  Council  of  Bordeaux,  in  1080. 
Malmesbury  ^  declares  that  he  changed  his 
views  before  his  death  (in  1088),  and 
lamented  that  he  could  not  effect  the 
like  change  in  all  who  had  espoused  his 
opinions.  The  same  writer — the  passage 
has  been  often  quoted — professes  to  give 
us  his  dying  words.  It  should  be  men- 
tioned that  he  died  on  the  feast  of  the 
Epiphany.  "To-day,  being  the  day  of 
his  manifestation,  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
will  appear  to  me,  either,  as  I  hope,  to 
raise  me  to  glory  for  my  repentance,  or, 
as  I  fear,  to  punish  me  for  the  heresy 
which  I  have  been  instrumental  in  spread- 
ing." 

It  should  be  added  that  William  of 
Malmesbury  quotes  a  long  passage  from 
a  Latin  poem  by  Hildebert,  bishop  of  Le 
Mans,  a  former  pupil  of  Berengarius,  in 
which  he  warmly  eulogises  the  temper- 
ance,charity,andself-denialof  his  depai-ted 
master,  and  that  Malmesbury  himself 
writes  of  h.im  in  the  same  strain,  though, 
whether  he  is  merely  echoing  the  encomi- 
ums of  Hildebert,  or  speaking  from  some 
independent  source  of  information,  there 
are  no  means  of  ascertaining. 

SBRHETTA.  A  square  cap  with 
three  or  sometimes  four  prominences  or 
projecting  corners  rising  from  its  crown. 
There  is  usually  a  tassel  in  the  middle 
where  the  corners  meet.  It  is  worn  by 
a  priest  as  he  approaches  the  altar  to  say 
Mass,  by  ecclesiastics  in  choir,  &c.  It  is  of 
two  colours,  black  or  red.  The  latter 
colour  is  used  by  cardinals,  the  former  by 
all  other  clerics.  A  bishop's  berretta 
should  be  lined  with  green ;  in  other  re- 
spects it  is  like  that  of  an  ordinary  priest. 
A  four-cornered  berretta  belongs  to  P^o- 
tors  of  Divinity,'*  though  Benedict  XIV., 
mentions  that  in  his  time  Spanish  ecclesi- 
astics generally  wore  a  berretta  of  this  kind. 

The  word  is  derived  from  bmnis,  a 
mantle  with  a  hood,  and  that  again  from 

*  Malm.  Gest.  Beg.  lib.  iii. 

2  Who,  however,  are  forbidden  to  use  this 
peculiar  berretta  in  sacred  functions.  S.  R.  C. 
7  Dec.  1844.  But  there  is  some  doubt  as  to  the 
precise  force  of  this  decree. 


BIBLE 


79 


TTvppos,  flame-coloured.  "At Rome,"  saya 
Benedict  XIV.,  "and  in  most  churches,  the 
berretta  was  unknown  as  late  as  the 
ninth  century.  Its  ecclesiastical  use  be- 
gan when  priests  gave  up  the  ancient 
custom  of  covering  their  heads  with  the 
amice  till  the  actual  beginning  of  the 
Mass."  (Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Miss."  i.  9.) 
BETHI.EH&MIT&S.  Matthew  Paris 
speaks  of  some  "  fratres  Bethleemitae " 
to  whom  a  house  was  granted  at  Cam- 
bridge, on  the  way  leading  to  Trumping- 
ton,  in  1267 ;  their  habit,  he  says,  was 
like  that  of  the  Friars  Preachers,  with  the 
addition  of  a  red  and  blue  star  on  the 
breast.  Of  this  foundation  nothing  fur- 
ther is  known. 

2.  An  order  bearing  the. same  name 
was  founded  by  a  noble  Spanish  gentle- 
man of  Tenerifle,  Peter  of  B^tencourt,  at 
Guatemala,  in  Central  America,  about  the 
year  1660.  He  founded  a  hospital,  con- 
vent, and  school  under  the  patronage  of 
Our  Lady  of  Bethlehem,  with  an  order  of 
monks  to  attend  the  sick  and  teach  in  the 
school.  The  Bethlehemites  were  rapidly 
propagated  through  every  part  of  Spani^ 
America.  In  1687  Innocent  XL  placed 
them  under  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine. 
They  are  said  to  possess  some  forty  houses 
even  now,  the  chief  establishment  being  at 
Guatemala. 

BZBiLE  (from  Qi^Xiov,  a  letter  or 
paper,  and  that  from  /3i/3Xo  j,  the  inner  bark 
of  papyrus).  A  name  given  to  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Jews  and  the  Christians.  In 
itself  "  Bible  "  might  mean  a  book  of  what- 
ever kind,  just  as  its  synonym  "  Scrip- 
tures "  {ypa(f)ai)  means  originally  writings 
of  any  sort.  Gradually  the  Jews  who 
spoke  Greek  employed  the  word  "  Bible  " 
as  a  convenient  name  for  their  "sacred 
books.  Thus  the  Greek  translator  of 
Ecclesiasticus,  writing  soon  after  132  A.C., 
mentions  the  law  and  the  prophets  and  the 
rest  of  the  Bible  (ra  Xonra  rav  ^i^Xiav); 
and  a  similar  instance  might  be  quoted 
from  first  Machabees.^  Our  Lord  and 
his  disciples  received  the  Jewish  collec- 
tion of  the  sacred  books  with  the  same 
reverence  as  the  Jews  themselves,  and 
gave  it  the  title  usual  at  the  time — viz. 
"  the  Scriptures."  But  after  an  interval 
there  came  a  change.  The  Apostles  and 
their  disciples  wrote  books  professing 
sacred  authority.  These  writings  ap- 
peared in  the  latter  half  of  the  first  cen- 
tury, and  were  quoted  within  the  Church 

1  Ecclus.  Praef.  ;  1  Mach.  xii.  9.  In  Dan. 
ix.  1,  we  find   ey  rais  /St^Aois,  a  translation  of 

•Dn2D3- 


80 


BIBLE 


with  the  same  formulas — "  it  is  written," 
&c. — which  had  been  used  hefore  to  intro- 
duce citations  from  the  law  and  the  pro- 
phets. These  hooks  of  Christian  author- 
ship were  called,  first  of  all,  "  the  books  " 
or  "  scriptures  of  the  new  covenant,"  and 
from  the  beginning  of  the  thurd  century, 
the  shorter  expression  "  new  covenant " 
came  into  vogue.  In  Chrysostom  and  suc- 
ceeding writers  we  find  "bible  "  ('^T^la) 
as  the  familiar  term  for  the  whole  collec- 
tion contained  in  either  "  covenant,"  or,  as 
we  should  now  say,  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.^ 

Under  the  article  Canon  the  reader 
will  find  some  account  of  the  way  in 
which  and  the  authority  by  which  the 
list  of  sacred  books  has  been  made,  while 
the  nature  of  their  inspiration  is  also 
treated  in  a  separate  article.  Here  we 
take  for  granted  that  the  Bible  con- 
sists of  a  number  of  inspired  books,  con- 
tained in  the  Vulgate  translation  and  enu- 
merated by  the  Council  of  Trent ;  and  we 
proceed  to  treat  of  its  authority,  its  in- 
terpretation, and  of  its  use  among  the 
faithful. 

1.  The  Church  holds  that  the  sacred 
Scripture  is  the  written  word  of  God, 
The  Council  of  Trent,  "  following  the  ex- 
ample of  the  orthodox  Fathers,  receives 
with  piety  and  reverence  all  the  books  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,  since  one  God 
is  the  author  of  each."  These  words  of 
the  council,  which  are  an  almost  verbal  re- 
petition of  many  early  definitions,  separate 
the  Bible  utterly  from  all  other  books.  Of 
no  human  composition,  however  excellent, 
can  it  be  said  that  God  is  its  author.  And 
the  divme  origin  of  Scripture  implies  its 

ferfect  truth.  We  know  for  certain,  St. 
renseus  argues,  that  the  Scriptures  are 
perfect,  since  they  are  spoken  by  the 
Word  of  God  and  by  the  Spirit.*  Some 
few  Catholic  theologians  have,  indeed, 
maintained  that  the  Scriptures  may  err  in 
mininm — i.e.  in  small  Matters  of  historical 
detail  which  in  no  way  affect  faith  or 
morals.  Nor  in  doing  so  do  they  contra- 
dict any  express  definition  of  Pope  or 
council,  though  such  an  opinion  has  never 
obtained  any  currency  m    the  Church. 

»  "Tlie  scripture?  of  the  new  covenant," 
Euseb.  iii.  25 ;  **  the  books  of  the  neiv  covenant," 
by  implication  iu  Melito  of  Sartlis,  about  170  A.n. 
(apud  Euseb.  iv.  2G).  The  "new  document"  and 
Testament,  Tertull.  Adi\  Marc.  iv.  1  (*•  novum 
instnimentuni  ").  VVe  liave  translated  fiiaO.ixjj 
**  covenant."  It  never  means  "testament"  in  the 
ChriBtian  Scriptures  except  in  Heb.  ix.  15-17 

*  Iren  ii.  28,  2. 


BIBLE 

But  of  course  the  modern  Protestant 
theories  which  reduce  the  historical  ac- 
counts of  the  Bible  to  mere  myths,  or 
again  which,  while  they  allow  that  the 
Scripture  contains  the  word  of  God, 
deny  that  it  is  the  written  word  of  God, 
are  in  sharp  and  ob\-ious  contradiction  to 
the  decrees  of  the  Church. 

2.  The  Church,  then,  affirms  that  aU 
Scripture  is  the  word  of  God,  but  at 
the  same  time  it  maintains  that  there  is  an 
unwritten  word  of  God  over  and  above 
Scripture.  Just  as  Catholics  are  bound 
to  defend  the  authority  of  the  Bible  against 
the  new  school  of  Protestants  who  have 
come  to  treat  it  as  an  ordinary  book,  so 
they  are  compelled  to  withstand  that 
Protestant  exaggeration,  on  the  other  side, 
according  to  which  the  word  of  God  is 
contained  in  Scripture  and  in  Scripture 
alone.  The  word  of  God  (so  the  Council 
of  Trent  teaches)  is  contained  both  in 
the  Bible  and  in  Apostolical  tradition,  and 
it  is  the  duty  of  a  Christian  to  receive 
the  one  and  the  other  with  equal  venera- 
tion and  respect.  The  whole  history  and 
the  whole  structure  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment witness  to  the  truth  and  reason- 
ableness of  the  Catholic  view.  If  our 
Lord  had  meant  his  Church  to  be  guided 
by  a  book  and  by  a  book  alone,  He  would 
have  taken  care  that  Christians  should  be 
at  once  provided  with  sacred  books.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  He  did  nothing  of  the 
kind.  He  refers  those  who  were  to  em- 
brace his  doctrine,  not  to  a  book,  but  to 
the  lining  voice  of  his  apostles  and  of  his 
Church.  "He  who  heareth  you,"  he 
said  to  the  apostles,  "  heareth  m'e."  For 
twenty  years  after  our  Lord's  ascension, 
not  a  single  book  of  the  New  Testament 
was  written,  and  all  that  time  no  Christian 
could  appeal,  as  many  Protestants  do  now, 
to  the  Bible  and  the  Bible  only,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  the  New  Testament 
did  not  exist,  and  the  faithful  were  evi- 
dently called  upon  to  believe  many  truths 
for  which  no  strict  and  cogent  proofs 
could  be  brought  from  the  pages  of  the 
Jewish  Scriptures.  Further,  when  the 
wiitings  of  the  New  Testament  were 
issued,  they  appeared  one  by  one,  in  order 
to  meet  special  exigencies,  nor  is  the  least 
hint  given  that  the  Apostles  or  their  dis- 
ciples provided  that  their  writings  should 
contain  the  whole  sum  of  Christian  truth. 
St.  Paul  wrote  to  various  churches  in 
order  to  give  them  instruction  on  particu- 
lar points,  and  in  order  to  preserve  them 
from  moral  or  doctrinal  errors  to  which 
they  were  exposed  at  the  moment.     Far 


BIBLE 

from  professing  to  communicate  the  whole 
circle  of  doctrine  in  a  written  form,  he 
exhorts  his  converts  in  one  of  his  earliest 
epistles,  to  "  hold  the  traditions  which  " 
they  ^'  had  learned,  whether  by  word  or 
by  "  his  "  epistle  ;  "  a  few  years  later  he 
praises  the  Corinthians  for  keeping-  the 
traditions  (Trapadoaeis)  as  he  delivered 
them,  and  towards  the  close  of  his  life, 
lie  warns  St.  Timothy  to  keep  the  "  de- 
posit "  of  the  faith  (jrapadrjKriv)  without 
a  syllable  to  imply  that  this  deposit  had 
been  committed  to  writing.^  So,  with 
regard  to  the  Gospel  records,  St.  John  ex- 
pressly declares  that  they  were  from  the 
necessity  of  the  case  an  incomplete  ac- 
count of  Christ's  life.*^  The  Christians 
who  lived  nearest  to  Apostolic  times 
believed,  as  the  Apostles  themselves  had 
done,  that  Scripture  is  a  source,  but  by  no 
means  the  only  source,  of  Christian  doc- 
trine. Tertullian  constantly  appeals  to  the 
tradition  of  the  Apostolic  Churches,  and 
lays  down  the  principle  on  which  all  his 
arguments  against  heresy  tui-n — viz.,  that 
the  Apostles  taught  both  by  word  and  by 
letter.^  A  little  before  TertuUian's  time, 
St.  Irenasus  actually  put  the  imaginary 
case  that  the  Apostles  had  left  no  Scrip- 
ture at  all.  In  this  case,  he  says,  we 
should  still  be  able  to  follow  the  order  of 
tradition,  which  [the  Apostles]  handed 
down  to  those  into  whose  hands  they 
committed  the  Churches.'* 

3.  There  is  a  controversy  no  less  vital 
between  Catholics  and  Protestants  as  to 
the  interpretation  of  Scripture^  A  popu- 
lar Protestant  theory  makes  it  the  right 
and  the  duty  of  each  individual  to  inter- 
pret the  Bible  for  himself  and  to  frame 
His  own  religion  accordingly  j  the  Catho- 
lic, on  the  contrary,  maintains  that  it  be- 
longs to  the  Church,  and  to  the  Church 
alone,  to  determine  the  true  sense  of  the 
Sdripture,  and  that  we  camiot  interpret 
contrary  to  the  Church's  decision,  or  to 
*'  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Fathers," 
without  making  shipwi-eck  of  the  faith. 
The  Catholic  is  fully  justified  in  believing 
with  perfect  confidence  that  the  Church 
cannot  teach  any  doctrine  contrary  to  the 
Scripture,  for  our  Lord  has  promised  that 
the  gates  of  hell  will  not  prevail  against 
his  Church.  On  the  other  hand,  Christ 
has  made  no  promise  of  infallibility  to 
those  who  expound  Scripture  by  the  light 
of  private  judgment.  St.  Peter  tells  us 
distinctly  that  some  parts  of  the  New 

1  2  Thess.  ii.  14  ;  1  Cor.  xi.  2 ;  1  Tim.  vi.  20. 
*  John  xxi.  25  ;  and  see  Acts  xx.  35. 
»  Praescript.  21.  *  Irea,  iii.  4, 1. 


BIBLE 


81 


Testament  are  hard  to  understand.  More- 
over, the  experience  of  centuries  has 
abundantly  confirmed  the  Catholic  and 
disproved  the  Protestant  rule  of  inter- 
pretation. Unity  is  the  test  of  truth. 
If  each  man  received  the  Holy  Ghost, 
enabling  him  to  ascertain  the  sense  of  the 
Bible,  then  pious  Protestants  would  be  at 
one  as  to  its  meaning  and  the  doctrines 
which  it  contains,  whereas  it  is  notorious 
that  they  have  differed  from  the  first  on 
every  point  of  doctrine.  The  principle 
of  private  judgment  has  been  from  the 
time  it  was  first  applied  a  principle  of 
division  and  of  confusion,  and  has  led 
only  to  the  multiplication  of  heresies  and 
sects,  agreed  in  nothing  except  in  their 
common  disagreement  with  the  Church. 
Nor  does  the  authority  of  the  Church  in 
any  way  interfere  with  the  scientific  ex- 
position of  Scripture.  A  Catholic  com- 
mentator is  in  no  way  limited  to  a  servile 
repetition  of  the  intei^retation  already 
given  by  the  Fathers.  He  is  not,  indeed, 
permitted  to  give  to  any  passage  in 
Scripture  a  meaning  which  is  at  variance 
with  the  faith,  as  attested  by  the  decision 
of  the  Church  or  the  unanimous  consent 
of  the  Fathers.  But  he  may  differ  as  to 
the  meaning  of  passages  in  Scripture,  even 
from  the  greatest  of  the  Fathers ;  he  ia 
not  bound  to  consider  that  these  passages 
necessarily  bear  the  meaning  given  them  by 
general  councils  in  the  preambles  to  their 
decrees ;  he  may  even  advance  interpreta- 
tions entirely  new  and  unknown  before. 
When,  for  example,  God  is  said  to  have 
hardened  Pharao's  heart,  a  Catholic  com- 
mentator cannot  infer  from  this  that  the 
book  of  Exodus  makes  God  the  author  of 
sin,  but  he  may,  if  he  sees  cause,  give  an  ex- 
planation of  the  words  which  differs  from 
that  of  St.  Auo-ustine  or  St.  Thomas,  or, 
indeed,  from  that  of  all  the  Fathers  and 
Doctors  of  the  Church  taken  together.  ^ 

4.  We  now  come  to  the  use  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  Catholic  principles  on 
this  head  follow  from  what  has  been 
already  said.  It  is  not  necessary  for  all 
Christians  to  read  the  Bible.  Many  na- 
tions, St.  Irenseus  tells  us,  were  con- 
verted and  received  the  faith  without 
beirig  able  to  read.*^  Without  knowledge 
of  letters,  without  a  Bible  in  their  own 
tongue,  they  received  from  the  Church 
teaching  which  was  quite  sufficient  for 
the  salvation  of  their  souls.  Indeed,  if 
the  study  of  the  Bible  had  been  an  indis- 

1  Pallavacini,  Hist.  Concil.  Trident,  in 
Mohler's  Symbolik,  p.  386. 

2  Iren.  iii.  4,  2. 


82 


BIBLE 


pensable  requisite,  a  great  part  of  the 
numan  race  would  have  been  left  without 
the  means  of  grace  till  the  invention  of 
printing.  More  than  this,  parts  of  the 
Bible  are  evidently  unsuited  to  the  very- 
young  or  to  the  ignorant,  and  hence 
Clement  XI.  condemned  the  proposition 
that  "  the  reading  of  Scripture  is  for  all." 
These  principles  are  fixed  and  invari- 
able, but  the  discipline  of  the  Church 
with  regard  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible 
in  the  vulgar  tongue  has  varied  with 
varying  circumstances.  In  early  times, 
the  Bible  was  read  freely  by  the  lay  peo- 
ple, and  the  Fathers  constantly  encou- 
rage them  to  do  so,  although  they  also 
insist  on  the  obscurity  of  the  sacred  text. 
No  prohibitions  were  issued  against  the 
popular  reading  of  the  Bible.  New  dan- 
gers came  in  during  the  middle  ages. 
When  the  heresy  of  the  Albigenses 
arose  there  was  a  danger  from  corrupt 
translations,  and  also  from  the  fact 
that  the  heretics  tried  to  make  the 
faithful  judge  the  Church  by  their  own 
interpretation  of  the  Bible.  To  meet 
these  evils,  the  Councils  of  Toulouse 
(1229)  and  Tarragona  (1234)  forbade  the 
laity  to  read  the  vernacular  translations 
of  the  Bible.  Pius  IV.  required  the 
bishops  to  refuse  lay  persons  leave  to  read 
even  Catholic  versions  of  Scripture  un- 
less their  confessors  or  parish  priests 
judged  that  such  reading  was  likely  to 
prove  beneficial.  During  this  century,  Leo 
XII.,  Pius  VIII.,  and  Pius  IX.  have 
warned  Catholics  against  the  Protestant 
Bible  Societies,  which  distribute  versions 
(mostly  corrupt  versions)  of  the  Bible 
with  the  avow:ed  purpose  of  pei-verting 
simple  Catholics.  It  is  only  surprising 
that  any  rational  being  could  have  thought 
it  possible  for  the  Holy  See  to  assiune  any 
other  attitude  towards  such  proceedings. 
It  is  right,  however,  to  observe  that  the 
Church  displays  the  greatest  anxiety  that 
her  children  should  read  the  Scriptures,  if 
they  possess  the  necessary  dispositions. 
'*  You  judge  exceedingly  well,"  says  Pius 
VI.,  in  his  letter  to  Martini,  the  author  of  a 
translation  of  the  Bible  into  Italian,  "  that 
the  faithful  should  be  excited  to  the  reading 
of  holy  Scriptures :  for  these  are  the  most 
abundant  sources,  which  ought  to  be  left 
open  to  everyone,  to  draw  from  them 
purity  of  morals  and  of  doctrine.  This 
you  have  seasonably  effected  ....  by 
publishing  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  the 
language  of  your  country,  ....  especi- 
ally when  you  show  that  you  have  added 
ex])lauatory  notes,  which  being  extracted 


BISHOP 

from  the  holy  Fathers  preclude  every 
possible  danger  of  abuse." 

BIBX.IA  PAUPSBITM.  The  Bible 
of  the  poor.  A  representation  in  between 
forty  and  fifty  pictures  of  events  in  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  with  short  ex- 
planations and  Scriptural  texts  appended 
in  Latin  or  German.  The  redemption  by 
Christ  is  the  central  idea  of  the  collection, 
so  that  the  Old  Testament  subjects  are 
chosen  for  their  typical  significance.  The 
paintings  were  often  copied  from  the 
MSS.  and  represented  in  sculpture,  or  on 
walls,  glass,  the  antipendia  of  altars,  &c. 
At  Vienna  there  is  an  antipendium  thus 
adorned  which  dates  from  the  twelfth 
century.  The  Court  library  of  the  same 
city  contains  two  copies  of  the  "  Biblia 
Pauperum,"  both  of  the  year  1430.  They 
are  block-books.  Copies  printed  on 
movable  types  soon  followed,  but,  owing 
to  the  popularity  of  the  book,  copies  were 
soon  worn  out,  and  are  now  very  rare. 

BZCS-ATMC7.     [See  Ikregulaeity.] 

BISHOP.  I.  Meaning  of  the  Name 
and  Divine  Institution  of  the  Office. — The 
word  bishop  is  derived  from  the  Greek 
iTria-KOTTos,  which  latter  occurs  in  writers 
of  the  earliest  age  in  the  general  sense  of 
"  overseer,"  and  was  specially  applied  in 
later  Greek  to  the  officers  whom  the 
Athenians  sent  to  subject  states.  In  the 
LXX  ^  eTTLo-KOTTos  is  used  for  an  officer 
or  prefect  of  any  kind.  The  Christians 
adopted  the  word  as  the  title  of  an  eccle- 
siastical dignitary  who  has  received  the 
highest  of  the  sacred  orders  and  is  in- 
vested with  authority  to  rule  a  diocese 
as  its  chief  pastor. 

A  bishop,  therefore,  is  superior  to 
simple  priests,  and  the  Council  of  Trent 
defines  that  this  superiority  is  of  divine 
institution.  '*  If  anyone  deny,"  says  the 
council,  "  that  there  is  in  the  Church  a 
hierarchy  instituted  by  divine  ordinance, 
which  consists  of  bishops,  presbyters,  and 
ministers,  let  him  be  anathema ;"  and 
again,  "if  anyone  affirm  that  bishops 
are  not  superior  to  presbyters,  or  that 
they  have  not  the  power  of  confirming 
and  ordaining,  or  that  the  power  which 
they  have  is  common  to  presbyters  also, 
let  him  be  anathema."'-* 

The  Anglican  Church,  as  is  well 
known,  did  not,  at  least  formally,  cast  off 
belief  in  the  divine  institution  of  epi- 
scopacy, and  learned  Anglican  divines, 
among  whom  Pearson  is  the  most  cele- 
brated, have   strenuously  vindicated  the 

*  E.g.  Num.  xxxi.  14 ;  2  Par.  xxxiv.  12. 
'  Coucil.  Trident,  sess.  xxiii.  can.  6,  7. 


BISHOP 

episcopal  authority.  With  most  of  the 
Protestant  "bodies  it  has  been  otherwise. 
They  do  not  pretend  to  have  bishops,  or 
if  they  have  superintendents  whom  they 
call  by  that  name,  they  attribute  to  them 
no  authority  except  such  as  has  been 
bestowed  upon  them  by  the  Church.  They 
deny,  in  other  words,  that  the  episcopate 
is  of  divine  institution,  and  directly 
impugn  the  definitions  of  Trent  on  this 
subject.  They  admit,  of  course,  that 
bishops  (enla-KOTTot)  are  frequently  men- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament,  but  they 
urge  that  in  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles 
bishop  and  presbyter  are  two  names  for 
the  same  office.  They  suppose  that 
originally  there  were  three  grades  in  the 
hierarchy — viz.  the  Apostles,  whose  office 
ended  with  their  life-time,  and  who  left 
no  successors  ;  the  bishops  or  presbyters, 
corresponding  to  the  ministers  or  clergy- 
men of  the  present  day  ;  and  deacons. 
They  defend  their  position  chiefly  on  the 
following  grounds : — 

We  first  find  the  word  iirLa-Konos  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  xx.  ^8.  "  Take 
heed,"  St.  Paul  says,  to  the  clergy  of 
Ephesus,  "  take  heed  to  yourselves  and  to 
the  whole  flock,  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
made  you  bishops."  It  is  plain,  however 
(so  it  is  urged),  that  these  "  bishops  "  were 
mere  presbyters,  so  that  "  bishop  "  and 
presbyter  in  New  Testament  language  are 
synonymous,  for  St.  Luke  tells  us  at  the 
beginning  of  the  same  chapter  that  the 
Apostle  was  addressing  "the  presbyters 
of  the  Church  "  whom  he  had  summoned 
to  Miletus.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
Apostle  s  life  the  Church  was  still  with- 
out bishops  in  the  mcdern  sense,  for  St. 
Paul  addressed  an  epistle  to  the  faithful 
at  Philippi  "with  the  bishops  and  the 
deacons."  Here  the  plural  number  and 
the  fact  that  no  allusion  is  made  to 
presbyters  as  distinct  from  the  "  bishops  " 
are  said  to  prove  that  in  that  age  iivia-KOTTos 
or  "  bishop  "  meant  presbyter.  Later 
still,  St.  Paul  writes  to  Titus  that  he  had 
left  him  in  Crete  to  "  appoint  p-eshyters 
in  every  city,"  and  continues — "  for  the 
bishop  must  be  irreproachable,"  &c. 
Presbyterian  writers  also  allege  certain 
confirmatory  evidence  from  antiquity — 
some  words  of  St.  Jerome  (who,  however, 
anxious  as  he  was  to  exalt  the  priestly 
dignity,  expressly  mentions  the  power  of 
conferring  orders  as  marking  the  dis- 
tinction between  bishop  and  priest),  and 
the  supposed  tradition  of  the  Alexandrian 
Church.  The  reader  who  is  curious  on 
this  latter  point  will  find  a  full  discussion 


BISHOP  83 

of  it  in  Pearson's  "  Vindiciae  Ignatianse." 
But  Presbyterian  arguments  from  anti- 
quity need  not  detain  us  here.  Even  oh 
their  own  showing,  Presbyterians  can  but 
produce  one  or  two  doubtful  testimonies, 
and  they  have  against  them  a  cloud  of 
witnesses  dating  from  the  sub-Apostolic 
age.  One  additional  remark,  however, 
must  be  made  before  we  end  our  state- 
ment of  the  Presbyterian  case.  We  have 
seen  that  there  are  plausible  reasons  for 
holding  that  the  words  presbyter  and 
bishop  are  synonymous  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. It  is  right  to  add  that  Clement  of 
Rome,  writing  towards  the  end  of  the  first 
century,  does  not  seem  to  recognise  any 
distinction  in  meaning  between  the  two 
words  .^ 

In  spite  of  the  objections  just  stated, 
the  arguments  for  the  divine  institution 
of  episcopacy  are  clear  and  cogent.  We 
need  not  deny  that  the  same  persons  were 
at  first  called  indifterently  bishops  and 
presbyters.  It  is  possible,  as  some  ancient 
writers  suppose,  that  at  Philippi  and  other 
places,  a  number  of  persons  received  epi- 
scopal consecration ;  that  they  were  occu- 
pied for  a  time  in  administering  the 
sacraments  and  preaching  at  the  place  of 
their  consecration,  and  ready,  as  conve- 
nience required,  to  be  removed  to  such 
other  Churches  as  the  Apostles  should 
empower  them  to  govern  with  proper 
episcopal  jurisdiction.  Or  again,  we  may 
suppose,  with  other  great  authorities,  that 
the  Apostles  did  not  at  once  provide  toe 
newly-founded  Churches  with  bishops,  but 
left  them  for  a  season  under  clergy  of  the 
second  order,  who  at  that  time  were  called 
indiflferently  "bishops"  and  presbyters.'^ 
Whatever  theory  we  adopt  as  to  the 
early  use  of  the  word  "bishop,"  it  is 
certain  that  there  are  clear  traces  of  the 
episcopal  office,  as  we  now  understand  it, 
within  the  lifetime  of  the  Apostles,  and 
with  the  sanction  of  their  authority. 

For,  first,  St.  James  the  Less  was  be- 
yond reasonable  doubt  bishop  of  Jerusa- 
lem.     Thus,  in  the  year  44,  when   St. 

^  ClGin.  1  Ep.  42.  He  thrice  mentions  enC 
a-Konoi.  kclI  Sia/covot  together,  as  in  Phil.  i.  1,  which 
s  striking,  because  the  object  of  his  epistle  is 
to  defend  the  authority  of  the  presbyters.  See 
Lightfoot,  in  loc. 

^  Petavius,  De  Eccks.  Hierarch.  lib.  iv. 
ad  init.,  gives  both  theories  as  probable,  quoting 
Fathers  of  the  Church  for  each.  The  latter 
seems  much  the  more  attractive  on  intrinsic 
grounds.  The  former  is  recommended  by  the 
language  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  where  Acts 
XX.  28,  is  interpreted  of  bishops  in  the  proper 


g2 


u 


BISHOP 


Peter  was  released  from  prison  he  desired 
information  to  be  g-iven  to  James  and  the 
brethren.  At  the  Apostolic  Council  James 
delivers  judgment  ("wherefore  I  judge"). 
St.  Paul  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians 
describes  Judaisers  from  Jerusalem  as 
*'  certain  who  came  from  James,"  thus 
naming  the  Church  by  its  bishop ;  in 
Acts  xxi.  18,  St.  Paul  is  said  to  have 
made  a  formal  visit  to  St.  James  and  to 
his  presbyters.  Moreover,  in  the  middle 
of  the  second  century  all  parties  were 
agreed  in  regarding  St.  James  as  bishop 
of  Jerusalem.^  This  is  clearly  proved  by 
Dr.  Lightfoot,  now  bishop  of  Durham, 
who  rightly  describes  St.  James  as  "  the 
precedent  and  pattern  of  the  later  episco- 
pate.'' We  refer  to  Dr.  Lightfoot  for 
this  admission,  not  only  because  of  his 
great  learning  and  high  ability,  but  also 
because  he  is  perhaps  the  very  ablest 
writer  who  has  ever  written  against  the 
Apostolic  origin  of  episcopacy. 

Next,  St.  Paul  gave  Titus  power  to 
ordain  presbyters ;  he  gives  St.  Timothy 
directions  for  the  way  in  which  he  is  to 
receive  accusations  against  presbyters. 
Clearly  then  both  Timothy  and  Titus 
were  ecclesiastical  officers  superior  to  the 
clergy  of  the  second  order. 

Thirdly,  the  Angels  of  the  Churches 
in  the  ApocahT)se  cannot  possibly  be  an- 
gels in  the  ordinary  sense,  for  some  of 
them  are  charged  with  serious  faults. 
Nor  can  the  Angels  be  identified  with  the 
dliurches,  since  both  Angels  and  Chui'ches 
are  represented  by  distinct  symbols. 
"  The  seven  stars,"  St.  John  says,  "  are 
the  angels  of  the  seven  churches,  and  the 
seven  candlesticks  are  the  seven  churches." 
What,  then,  were  the  Angels  of  the 
Churches  ?  Each  of  them  represents  the 
Church  of  a  city,  and  is  responsible  for 
the  purity  of  its  doctrine  and  its  morals. 
They  answer  to  the  idea  of  diocesan 
bishops  and  to  nothing  else.'^ 

This  inference  from  Scripture  rises 
to  demonstration  if  considered  in  con- 
nection with  the  earliest  tradition.  Poly- 
carp,  the  disciple  of  St.  John,  writes  as  a 
bishop  and  distinguishes  himself  from  his 
presbyters.  The  Ignatian  epistles  no- 
toriously exalt  the  episcopal  office  as  the 

>  Lightfoot,  Ep.  to  Philippians,  "  Essay  on 
the  Christian  MiniatrjV  Konth,  ReU.  Sacr.i. 
p.  228. 

2  See  the  authorities  for  this  interpretation 
in  Petav.  he.  cit.  lib.  i.  2.  It  was  adopted  by 
Grotius,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  Protes- 
tant comnaentators,  and  himself  member  of  a 
Presbyterian  sect 


X  BISHOP 

centre  of  unity,  and  insist  on  the  necessily 
laid  both  on  presbyters  and  laymen  of 
submission  to  the  bishop.  St.  Ignatius 
wrote  only  a  few  years  after  St.  John's 
death,  and  his  letters  prove  that  episco- 
pacy was  established  in  his  time,  not 
only  at  Antioch,  where  he  himself  was 
bishop,  but  at  each  of  the  six  Churches  in 
Asia  Minor  to  which  he  writes,  nor  does 
he  hint  that  there  was  any  Church  with 
other  than  an  episcopal  organisation. 
True,  the  authenticity  of  these  letters  has 
been  disputed,  but  this  on  most  inade- 
quate grounds.  Indeed,  many  eminent 
German  scholars,  prejudiced  as  they  are 
against  the  Ignatian  teaching  on  episco- 
pacy, have  been  compelled  by  the  weight 
of  evidence  to  admit  the  authenticity  of 
these  epistles.  The  Clementine  homilies 
supply  another  important  contribution  to 
the  evidence.  Their  witness  is  ail  the 
more  valuable  because  they  are  deeply 
marked  with  heresy.  Still  the  author  of 
these  homilies,  difiering  as  he  does  from 
Catholics  on  other  points,  agrees  with 
them  in  affirming  the  Apostolic  origin  of 
the  episcopal  ofiice.^  These  homilies  come 
from  early  times :  they  cannot  be  placed 
later  than  the  end,  and  should  perhaps  be 
placed  at  the  beginning,  of  the  second  cen- 
tury. Now,  if  we  allow  the  Apostolic 
institution,  this  ancient  evidence  presents 
no  difficulty.  It  does  but  confirm  the  con- 
clusion we  had  already  reached  from  an 
examination  of  the  New  Testament  records. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  maintained 
that  bishops  in  the  modern  sense  began 
to  be  after  the  death  of  the  Apostles,  or 
at  least  without  then*  sunction,  it  is  im- 
possible to  understand  how  in  so  brief  a 
space  Churches  all  over  the  world  ex- 
changed Presbyterian  for  episcopal  govern- 
ment. Nor  is  this  all.  We  must  sup- 
pose that  in  a  very  short  time — with- 
in a  century  at  the  most — all  recollec- 
tion of  the  original  state  of  things  had 
perished.  St.  Irenaeus  cannot  even  un- 
derstand that  the  name  of  "  bishop  "^  had 
ever  been  given  to  mere  presbyters.  We 
say  nothing  of  later  Fathers,"^  for  in  the 
Church  of  the  fourth  century  it  is  ad- 
mitted to  have  been  a  settled  maxim  that 
bishops  only  could  ordain,  and  Epiphauius 
describes  the  doctrine  of  Aerius,  the  first 
presbyterian,  as  frantic. 

II.  Nature  of  the  Episcopal  Office. — We 

^  See,  e.g.,  the  Epistle  of  Clement  to  .James. 

*  iii.  14, 2.  The  passable  is  very  instructive. 
St.  Irenoeus  says  St.  Paul  at  Miletus'"  convoked 
the  bi.shops  aiid  the  presbyters."  He  is  evidently 
unable  to  understand  the  interchange  of  uomeB. 


BISHOP 

may  now  dismiss  the  controversial  part  of 
the  subject,  and  proceed  to  explain  the 
duties,  rights  and  position  of  a  bishop  in 
the  Church.  A  bishop  is,  according  to 
the  Council  of  Trent,  the  successor  of  the 
Apostles.  He  has  received  the  sacrament 
of  order  in  all  its  fulness.  He  can,  like 
the  Apostles,  confirm ;  he  can  ordain 
priests  and  consecrate  other  bishops.  The 
Pope  himself,  so  far  as  order  goes,  is  sim- 
ply' a  bishop.  Moreover,  the  bishop  is  the 
member  of  a  hierarchy  which  is  divinely 
constituted,  and  which  collectively  repre- 
sents the  college  of  the  Apostles.  The 
Holy  Ghost  has  appointed  bishops  "to 
rule  the  Church  of  God,"  and  although 
the  Pope  can  suppress  sees  or  change  their 
boundaries,  he  cannot  do  away,  through- 
out the  Church,  with  bishops  governing 
their  sees  with  ordinary  jurisdiction, 
because  this  would  involve  a  change  in 
the  divine  constitution  of  the  Church, 
which  is  inalterable.  Again,  even  an  in- 
dividual bishop  has  certain  duties  to  the 
whole  Church.  It  is  his  duty  to  bear 
witness  to  the  faith  and  tradition  of  his 
predecessors  and  of  his  flock,  and  he  sits 
as  a  judge  in  general  councils.  Of  course 
all  these  rights  are  held  and  duties  exer- 
cised in  union  with  and  in  submission  to 
the  see  of  Peter. 

In  his  own  diocese  it  is  a  bishop's  duty 
(a)  to  teach.  He  himself  is  required  by 
the  Council  of  Trent  to  preach  the  word 
of  God,  unless  he  be  lawfully  hindered, 
nor  can  anyone,  secular  or  regular,  preach 
in  the  diocese  without  his  leave.  He 
must  watch  over  purity  of  doctrine,  espe- 
cially in  all  schools  public  and  private,  and 
appoint  professors  in  the  seminary  and 
clerical  colleges.  No  book  treating  on  reli- 
gion (de  rebus  sacris)  can  be  published 
tin  it  has  been  examined  by  the  bishop's 
orders  and  received  his  imprimatur.^ 

(6)  To  guard  the  morals  of  his  flock, 
and  especially  to  maintain  discipline 
among  his  clergy  ;  to  take  measures  for 
the  due  performance  of  divine  worship  : 
to  see  that  tfce  people  are  provided  with 
the  sacraments,  &c.  He  himself  (or  another 
bishop,  with  his  leave)  must  confirm,  or- 
dain priests,  consecrate  the  holy  oils, 
churches,  altars,  chalices,  &c.  He  must 
also  approve  priests,  and  give  them  their 
faculties  to  hear  confessions,  to  adminis- 
ter the  other  sacraments,  &c.,  &c. 

(c)  To  reside.'^     {d)  To  make  a  visita- 

1  Concil.  Trident,  sess.  v.  cap.  2,  De  Reform. ; 
Bess,  xxiv,  cap.  4,  De  Reform. ;  sess.  iv.  De  Edit, 
et  Usn  SS.  lib. 

2  Ibid.  sess.  xxiii.  cap.  1,  De  Eeform. 


BISHOP 


8& 


tion  of  all  the  churches  in  his  diocese  at 
least  every  two  years.^ 

In  order  that  he  may  perform  these 
duties,  a  bishop  possesses  certain  rights : — 

(a)  He  may  make  laws  for  his  dio- 
cese :  not,  however,  such  as  are  contrary 
to  the  law  of  the  Church. 

(/3)  He  decides  in  the  first  instance 
all  ecclesiastical  causes,  (y)  He  can  in- 
flict penalties,  suspension,  excommunica- 
tion, and  the  like. 

(S)  He  may  dispense  from  the  observ- 
ance of  his  own  laws,  and  although,  gene- 
rally speaking,  a  bishop  cannot  dispense 
in  laws  made  by  those  who  have  power 
superior  to  his  own,  still  the  general  law 
of  the  Church  enables  him  to  dispense  in 
certain  cases  of  irregularity,  in  the  pro- 
clamation of  banns,  in  oaths  (unless  the 
dispensation  tends  to  the  injury  of  a  third 
party),  and  in  simple  vows,  except  vows  of 
chastity  and  vows  to  enter  religion,  or  to 
make  pilgrimages  to  Rome,  the  Holy  Land, 
or  St.  James  of  Compostella,  &c.,  &c.  Some 
bishops  have  additional  power  to  dispense 
by  virtue  of  lawful  custom  or  by  delegation 
from  the  Pope. 

(f)  Certain  other  rights  of  bishops 
are  summed  up  under  the  general  head  of 
"  administration."  A  bishop  may  erect 
or  suppress  churches  or  benefices,  provided 
he  observes  the  canonical  regulation  re- 
specting such  matters.  Hecollates  to  all 
benefices,  parish  churches,  prebends  in 
his  diocese,  except  such  as  are  reserved  to 
the  Pope.  He  assigns  their  duties  to  his 
clergy,  and  determines  the  persons  among 
his  subjects  who  are  to  be  admitted  to 
the  ecclesiastical  state  or  to  higher 
orders.  He  watches  over  the  manaore- 
ment  of  temporal  goods  pertaining  to  the 
Church  or  to  pious  places.  As  Apostolic 
Delegate,  he  becomes  in  certain  cases  men- 
tioned by  the  law  the  executor  to  carry 
out  the  intentions  of  those  who  have  given 
or  left  money  for  pious  uses.'* 

in.  Titles,  Insignia,  S^c,  of  Bishops. — 
All  priests  saying  Mass  in  the  diocese 
praj^  for  the  bishop  by  name  in  the  Canon, 
He  is  received  by  the  priests  and  people 
at  the  door  of  the  church  when  he  comes  on 
ofiicial  visits.  He  receives  certain  titles 
of  honour.  In  the  first  ages  he  was  called 
Most  Holy,  Most  Blessed,  Lord  {domi- 
nus),"  Your  Holiness"  {sanctitas  tua),  &c., 
&c.,  some  of  which  titles  are  now  reserved 


1  Concil.  Trid.  sess.  xxiv.  cap.  3. 

2  Ibid.  sess.  xxii.  cap.  8,  De  Reform. 
Chiefly  from  Card.  Soglia,  Institut.  Juris, 
Ecel, 


83 


BISHOP 


to  the  Pope.  Desiderius  of  Gators,  about 
650,  calls  himself  servus  servoi-uin}  At 
present  a  "bishop  is  called  "  most  illustiious 
and  most  reverend  Lord  ;  "  the  Pope  ad- 
dresses him  as  '-venerable brother,"  "your 
fraternity,"  &c.,  while  the  bishop  speaks 
of  himself  as  "  N.,  by  the  grace  of  God 
and  of  the  Apostolic  See,  Bishop  of  N." 
The  insignia  of  his  office  are  the  pastoral 
staff  {pedum,  haculus),  the  ring,  pectoral 
cross,  episcopal  throne,  the  mitre,  ponti- 
fical vestments,  gloves  and  sandals.  In 
many  countries  the  bishop  has  special 
rights  and  titles  of  honour  accorded  to 
him  by  the  laws  of  the  State. 

IV.  Election,  8fc., of  Bishops. — Bishops 
were  first  of  all  chosen  by  the  Apostles. 
St.  Paul,  for  instance,  left  St.  Titus  at 
Crete,  with  authority  to  ordain  priests,  &c. 

In  the  third  century  bishops  were 
chosen,  as  Cyprian  says,  "  by  the  vote  of 
.  aU  the  faithftil  and  by  the  judgment  of 
the  bishops  "  of  the  province" — i.e.  the  peo- 
ple chose  a  bishop,  but  the  bishops  of  the 
province  could  put  a  veto  on  this  choice  : 
nay,  the  bishops  could  in  extreme  cases 
actually  choose  the  bishop.  The  fourth 
canon  of  Nicsea  recommends  {irpoarr^Kd) 
that  a  bishop  be  appointed  (KaBlaTaa-dai) 
by  the  bishops  of  the  province.  If  this 
is  impossible,  three  bishops  are  to  con- 
secrate him  with  the  consent  of  the  rest. 
The  confirmation  of  the  whole  matter  {to 
Kvpos  Tfav  yivofievcov)  is  to  rest  with  the 
metropolitan .  Two  interpretations  of  this 
canon  were  current  in  the  Church.  The 
Greek  canonists,  following  the  lead  of  the 
Seventh  General  Council,  understood  the 
Nicene  canon  as  reserving  the  choice  of  a 
new  bishop  to  the  bishops  of  the  province, 
and  so  annulling  the  old  form  of  election 
by  clergy  and  people.  In  the  West,  the 
canon  was  interpreted  as  merely  requiring 
the  presence  of  the  bishops  of  the  pro- 
vince at  the  consecration.  Hence  in  the 
Latin  Church  popular  election  continued, 
at  least  in  form,  till  the  eleventh  century. 
After  that,  the  bishop  was  elected  by  the 
cler^  of  the  cathedral  church,  the  confir- 
mation resting,  as  before,  with  the  metro- 
politan.3  Gradually,  from  the  eleventh 
centuiy  onwards,  the  right  of  confirmation 
passed  from  the  metropolitan  to  the  Pope.'' 
Later  on,  from  the  time  of  Clement  V.,  the 
Pops  reserved  the  whole  appointment  of 
bishops  in  certain  cases,  and  at  last  in  all 
cases,  to  themselves.     This  last  state  of 

»  Kraus,  Archcenhg.  Did.  Art.  "Bischof." 

'  Cv]irian,  Ep.  Ixviii. 

»  Itefele,  Concilien.  i.  p.  S82. 

*  Kraus,  Kirchenqetchichte,  p.  826. 


BISHOP 

things,  however,  did  not  continue.  The 
Popes  restored  in  some  countries  the  right 
of  electing  bishops  to  the  chapters,^  and 
the  right  is  still  continued  in  Germany  (ex- 
cept Bavaria  and  part  of  Austria)  and  in 
Switzerland.  In  other  countries  the  Pope 
has  given  to  Catholic  sovereigns  the  right 
of  nominating  to  vacant  bishoprics.  Such 
rights  have  been  conceded  to  the  Kings  of 
France,  Portugal,  Spain,  Naples  and 
Sicily,  Sardinia,  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria 
with  certain  exceptions,  and  by  the  Con- 
cordat of  1817  to  the  King  of  Bavaria. 
Even  Protestant  Governments  in  Germany 
are  permitted  to  inspect  a  list  of  names 
proposed  provisionally  by  the  chapters  and 
to  exclude  such  names  as  are  displeasing  to 
them.  In  England  the  cboice  of  bisbops 
belongs  simply  and  exclusively  to  the  Pope. 
At  the  same  time  certain  privileges  have 
been  granted  in  this  respect  to  the  Englisb 
Church  by  Pius  IX.  A  week  after  the 
see  is  vacant  the  canons  are  required  to 
elect  a  vicar  capitular.  A  month  later, 
under  the  presidency  of  the  metropolitan, 
or  failing  him  of  the  senior  bishop,  they 
by  their  separate  votes  recommend  three 
persons  for  the  vacant  see.  Each  of  these 
persons  must  have  obtained  an  absolute 
majority  of  the  votes  of  the  chapter. 
The  names  are  given  or  sent  in  alphabeti- 
cal order  to  the  metropolitan.  The  bishops 
of  the  province  {i.e.  of  England)  examine 
the  names,  annex  their  judgment  upon  each 
of  them,  and  transmit  them  to  the  Congre- 
gation of  Propaganda.  It  need  scarcely 
be  said  that  this  recommendation  is  wholly 
ditferentfrom  true  and  canonical  election.'' 
The  person  thus  elected,  nominated  or  re- 
commended must  be  thirty  years  of  age,  in 
holy  orders,  of  Catholic  parentage,  of 
good  fame,  able  to  produce  the  public 
testimony  of  some  university  or  academy 
to  his  learning.^  If  the  person  elected 
accepts,  he  must  within  a  fixed  time  ask 
for  the  Papal  confirmation,  by  which  the 
person  elected  is  approved  and  made  bishop 
of  the  see.  This  confirmation  is  given  by 
the  Pope  in  a  consistory  (5f  Cardinals, 
and  in  virtue  of  it  the  bishoj)  designate 
contracts  spiritual  marriage  with  his  see 
and  receives  full  jurisdiction  within  it. 
He  cannot,  of  course,  previous  to  his  con- 
secration, confirm,  ordain,  &c.,  but  he  can 
delegate  power  for  the  performance  of  these 
and  other  acts  of  episcopal  order  to 
another  bishop. 

^  Soglia,  Institut.  Juris privat.  v.  38. 

^  See  Synod.  Provinc.  Westmonast.  decret. 
xii.  nnd  the  Instruction  of  Propaganda  iu  the 
Appendix. 

'  Concil.  Trid.  sess.  xxii.  cap.  2,  De  Reform. 


BISHOP 

It  is  evident  from  what  has  "been  said 
that  the  discipline  of  the  Church  with 
regard  to  the  appointment  of  bishops  has 
varied  from  age  to  age,  and  that  the 
Holy  See  now  exercises  a  more  immediate 
control  over  the  matter  than  was  usual 
in  the  primitive  or  even  the  mediaeval 
Church.  From  the  first,  however,  the 
Pope  possessed  the  full  power  of  governing 
the  whole  Church.  No  one  is,  and  no  one 
ever  could  be,  a  Catholic  bishop,  unless 
either  expressly  or  tacitly  recognised  as 
such  by  the  Pope.  Varying  circumstances 
made  it  prudent  for  the  Pope  to  exercise 
his  control  in  a  less  or  in  a  greater  degree, 
but  the  principle  of  government  has  re- 
mained the  same.  The  Pope,  by  the  law 
of  Christ,  is  the  head  of  the  Church.  On 
the  other  hand,  patriarchs  and  metro- 
politans are  of  ecclesiastical  institution ; 
they  could  therefore  possess  no  inherent 
right  to  confirm  bishops,  and  they  suffered 
no  wrong  when  the  Pope  withdrew  it 
from  them. 

V.  Consecration  of  Bishops. — The  con- 
secration of  bishops  used  to  be  performed 
by  the  metropolitan  and  two  other  bishops. 
According  to  the  present  discipline,  the 
consecration  of  bishops  is  reserved  to  the 
Pope,  or  to  a  bishop  specially  commis- 
sioned by  him.  The  consecrator  is  assisted 
by  two  other  bishops,  for  which  latter  the 
Pope  sometimes  permits  mitred  abbots,  or 
even  simple  priests,  to  be  substituted. 
The  consecration  should  take  place  within 
three  months  of  confirmation,  and  on  a 
Sunday,  or  feast  of  an  Apostle.  The 
bishop-elect,  who  must  already  have  been 
ordained  priest,  takes  an  oath  before  the 
bishop  who  is  to  consecrate  him,  that  he 
will  be  faithful  to  the  Holy  See,  that  he 
will  promote  its  authority,  and  that  he 
will,  at  stated  intervals  prescribed  by  law, 
and  different  for  different  countries,  visit 
the  city  of  Rome,  and  give  an  account  to 
the  Pope  of  his  whole  pastoral  office. 
Afterwards,  the  elect  is  consecrated  bishop 
by  imposition  of  hands,  the  tradition 
of  staff  and  ring,  the  unction  with  the 
chrism,  the  imposition  of  the  book  of  the 
Gospels  on  his  shoulders,  and  other  rites 
prescribed  in  the  Pontifical.'  Thus  the 
fullness  of  the  priesthood  is  received,  and 
the  person  consecrated  acquires  episcopal 
order  in  addition  to  episcopal  jurisdiction, 
which  he  already  held.     [See  also  Oedhk, 

SACRAAtENT  OF.] 

VI.  Translation,  Resignation,  Depo- 
sition  of  Bishops. — So  sacred  is  the  con- 
nection between  a  bishop  and  his  see,  that, 
as  Innocent  III,  declares,  the  power  to 


BISHOP  IN  PARTIBUS,  ETC.    87 

sever  it  belongs,  "not  so  much  by  canoni- 
cal legislation,  as  by  divine  institution,  to 
the  Roman  Pontiff,  and  to  him  alone." 
This  follows  from  principles  already  stated. 
The  Pope  alone  can  make  a  bishop ;  and 
therefore  the  Pope  alone  can  unmake 
him. 

Translation  from  one  see  to  another 
was  absolutely  forbidden  by  the  Nicene 
Council  (Can.  15),  and  by  the  Council  of 
Antioch,  which  met  in  341.  This  pro- 
hibition was,  however,  modified  by  the 
14th  of  the  Apostolic  Canons,  which  per- 
mits translation  if  the  reasons  are  very 
urgent  and  approved  by  the  judgment  of 
"  many  bishops."  ^  At  first,  such  transla- 
tion was  effected  by  provincial  councils. 
In  the  ninth  century,  Hincmar  of  Rheims 
says  a  bishop  might  be  translated  "  by  the 
ordinance  of  a  synod,  or  by  the  consent  of 
the  Apostolic  See  ;  "  but  by  the  law  which 
has  prevailed  from  the  twelfth  century 
the  consent  of  the  Pope  is  always  required. 
The  Pope's  leave  is  also  required  for  re- 
signation. Finally,  the  "  grave  causes  " 
against  bishops  such  as  deserve  deposi- 
tion or  privation  can  only  be  examined 
and  terminated  by  the  definitive  sentence 
of  the  Pope.^  Less  serious  charges  may 
be  examined  and  decided  in  a  provincial 
council. 

BISHOPS,  SUFFRAGAXr  (Lat.  8uf- 
fragari,  to  vote,  to  support).  The  term  has 
two  meanings,  according  to  the  twofold 
signification  of  the  Latin  verb  from  which 
it  is  derived.  In  the  more  common  sense, 
it  means  an  auxiliary  bishop  {mjfraganeus) 
who  is  consecrated  to  assist  another  bishop, 
who  from  age,  ill-health,  or  other  valid 
reason,  has  become  unequal  to  the  ad- 
ministratiop  of  his  diocese.  But  the  suff- 
ragan, unlike  the  coadjutor,  cannot  exer- 
cise jurisdiction ;  he  only  performs  those 
things  which  belong  to  the  episcopal 
office  and  order.  He  may,  however,  be 
nominated  by  the  bishop  whom  he  assists 
as  his  vicar-general;  in  which  case  he 
has  the  right  to  exercise  jurisdiction.  In 
the  other  sense,  those  are  suffragan  bishops 
{suffragantes)  who  are  members  of  a  col- 
lege having  equal  deliberative  and  decisive 
rights,  under  a  metropolitan. 

BISHOPS,  xsTViiAR.  [See  Bishop 

IS  PARTIBIJS.] 

BISHOP  IM-  PARTIBVS  IXTFIDE- 

XilVM.  A  bishop  consecrated  to  a  see 
which  formerly  existed,  but  which  has 

»  Hefele,  Condi,  i.  p.  804 ;  Neander,  Kir- 
chengeschichte,  iii.  p.  233. 

*  ConciL  Trid.  sess.  xxiv.  cap.  5,  Dc  Keform, 


88    BISHOP  IN  PARTIBUS,  ETC. 

been,  chiefly  through  the  devastations  of 
the  followers  of  Mahomet,  lost  to  Christen- 
dom. Such  a  bishop  may  also  be  described 
as  a  "  Titular  "  bishop. 

The  creation  of  sucb  titular  bishops 
dates  only  from  the  pontificate  of  Leo  X., 
but  they"  existed  de  facto  from  the  time 
when  the  first  Christian  see  was  widowed 
by  the  attacks  of  a  foreign  enemy  or  the 
action  of  a  hostile  government.  Gregory 
the  Great  provided  for  several  Illyrian 
bishops,  whom  an  inroad  of  the  Avars  had 
driven  irom  their  sees,  by  appointing  them 
to  vacant  sees  in  Italy,  till  they  should  be 
able  to  return  home.  The  Moorish  con- 
quest of  Spain  widowed  a  great  number 
of  sees,  the  prelates  of  which  fled  to  the 
parts  still  unconquered,  chiefly  settling  at 
Oviedo,  which  thence  had  the  name  of 
"the  City  of  Bishops."  But  it  was  the 
progress  of  Mohammedan  arms  in  the 
East,  devastating  numberless  Churches  in 
Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Africa,  which, 
till  then,  bad  been  flourishing  bishoprics, 
that  caused  a  great  and  sudden  rise  in  the 
number  of  titular  bishops,  attached  to  no 
special  sphere  of  duty,  but  wandering 
from  place  to  place,  some  hoping  one  day 
.to  return,  others  seeking  for  suitable  work 
wherever  it  might  be  off'ered.  This  state 
of  things  led  to  great  abuses ;  for  a  bishop 
whose  see  was  in  partibus  would  often 
enter  some  remote  portion  of  the  diocese 
of  a  more  fortunate  brother  further  west, 
and  there  exercise  in  various  ways,  with- 
out the  permission  of  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese,  his  episcopal  office.  Clerks  whom 
their  own  bishop  would  not  have  promoted 
to  priests'  orders  often  received  through 
the  agency  of  these  wandering  bishops 
the  ordination  which  they  desired.  This 
abuse  was  condemned  by  a  decree  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,^  which  expressly  forbids 
these  wandering  bishops — "  clero  carentes 
et  populo  Christiano" — to  promote  candi- 
dates for  ordination  to  any  orders  what- 
ever, without  the  consent  of  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese. 

With  the  increasing  complication  of 
political  affairs  in  Europe,  circumstances 
could  not  but  arise  which  should  induce 
the  Popes,  while  providing  for  Catholic 
populations  more  or  less  at  the  mercy  of 
Protestant  Governments  pastors  armed 
with  full  episcopal  powers,  to  prefer  in- 
vesting them  with  the  titles  of  ancient 
sees,  now  extinct,  to  asserting  their  claim 
to  local  titles  and  thus  arousing  the  hos- 
tility or  suspicion  of  unfriendly  Govern- 

1  Seas.  xiv.  De  Eef.  il. 


BLASPHEMY 

ments.  Considerations  of  this  nature  were 
the  cause  why  Catholic  affairs  in  Great 
Britain  were  committed  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  bishops  in  partibus,  from  the 
appointment  of  the  first  Vicar  Apostolic 
(1623)  to  the  creation  of  anew  hierarchy 
in  1850.  Besides  the  Vicars  Apostolic  in 
a  non-Catholic  country,  the  Vicars  of 
Cardinal-bishops,  auxiliary  bishops  in 
countries  where  it  is  usual  to  appoint 
tliem,  and  Papal  Nuncios,  usually  had 
their  sees  in  parti^us  infidelium. 

Bishops  inpartibus  could  attend  gene- 
ral councils.  They  are  considered  as 
truly  wedded  to  the  Churches  of  which 
they  bear  the  titles,  so  that  they  cannot 
be  appointed  to  other  sees  except  upon 
the  conditions  common  to  all  episcopal 
translations.  They  are  not  obliged,  like 
other  bishops,  to  make  periodical  visits 
ad  limina  apostolarum,  because  they  have 
no  dioceses  to  report  of.  They  are  to 
inform  themselves,  if  possible,  of  the  con- 
dition of  titular  dioceses.  By  a  decree  of 
the  Propaganda,  Feb.  28,  1882,  the  for- 
mula in  partibus  injidelium  was  abolish- 
ed, and  non-resident  bishops  are  to  be 
known  as  "  titular  "  bishops  of  their  sees. 
Bi.ii.CK  FRXARS.  [See  Domini- 
cans.] 

BXiASPHSM-r  (GT.0\aa-(j)T)fxla;  ety- 
mol.  uncertain).  Originally,  injurious  and 
opprobrious  words  generally;  afterwards 
it  was  restricted  to  language  dishonouring 
to  God — contumeliosa  in  Deum  locutio — 
but  yet  so  that  the  offence  committed 
against  those  known  to  be  God's  servants 
was  held  to  be  committed  against  God 
himself;  as  when  Stephen  was  charged 
by  the  Pharisees  with  speaking  "  blasphe- 
mous words  against  Moses ; "  finally,  and 
in  modem  use,  the  employment  of  such 
language  against,  or  concerning,  God  only. 
In  Matt.  xii.  31,  we  read  that,  while  every 
other  sin  and  blasphemy  are  pardonable, 
"the  blasphemy  of  the  Spirit"  shall  not 
be  forgiven.  Various  explanations  of  this 
passage  have  been  given  by  theologians. 
[See  Sin,  Unpakdonable.J  There  is  a 
chapter  on  "  Blasphemy  "  in  the  body  of 
the  Canon  Law,  which  prescribes  the 
penalties  to  be  awarded  to  the  various 
persons  who  may  be  guilty  of  it.  In 
England  the  statute  10  William  III.  ch. 
32,  modified  by  62  George  III.  ch.  160^ 
contains  the  existing  law  in  respect  of 
blasphemy.  In  all  the  United  States 
insulting  conduct  towards  public  reli- 
gious worship  is,  by  statute  law,  pun- 
ishable. In  some  States  the  English 
common    law    as    to    blasphemy    still 


BLESSmG 

holds  good;  in  others  this  matter  has 
heen  regulated  by  statute.  The  French 
code,  while  not  punishing  blasphemy, 
as  such,  restrains  it  indirectly  by  severe 
regulations  repressive  of  anything  hke 
what  we  should  consider  "  brawling  "  in 
church. 

Protestant  divines  have  often  stigma- 
tised the  rapturous  language  in  which 
Catholics  indulge  in  praise  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  as  "  blasphemous,"  on  tlie  ground 
that  God  is  indirectly  dishonoured  when 
his  creature  is  thus  exalted.  But  tliis 
seems  to  involve  a  misuse  of  the  term 
"  blasphemy,"  which  implies  a  conscious 
and  intentional  use  of  language  which  the 
speaker  knows  to  be  injurious  to  the 
Being  of  whom  it  is  uttered.  No  excess 
of  "■  profane  swearing,"  culpable  as  it  may 
be,  can  amount  to  blasphemy,  because  the 
intentional  contempt  of  God  is  not  there. 
In  the  same  way,  to  speak  of  Mary  as 
"  negotiating  our  peace,"  not  only  is  not 
"  blasphemous,"  but  conveys  an  important 
truth  ;  while  to  deny  that  her  Son  "  nego- 
tiated our  -peace  "  in  a  higher  sense  would, 
of  course,  be  blasphemous  in  the  highest 
degree. 

BliESSZia'G,  in  its  most  general 
sense,  a  form  of  prayer  begging  the  favour 
of  God  for  the  persons  blessed.  God  is 
the  source  of  all  his  blessing,  but  certain 
persons  have  special  authority  to  bless  in 
his  name,  so  that  this  blessing  is  more 
than  a  mere  prayer ;  it  actually  conveys 
God's  blessftg  to  those  who  are  fit  to  re- 
ceive it.  Thus  in  the  old  law  God  said 
of  the  sons  of  Aaron,  "  They  shall  invoke 
my  name  on  the  children  of  Israel,  and  I 
will  bless  them ;"  *  and  Christ  said  to  his 
disciples,  "  Into  whatsoever  house  you 
enter,  first  say :  Peace  be  to  this  house  : 
and,  if  the  son  of  peace  be  there,  your 
peace  shall  rest  upon  him."^  Accord- 
ingly, the  Church  provides  for  the  so- 
lemn blessing  of  Jier  children  by  the 
hands  of  her  ministers.  Such  ble^^ings 
are  given, 

(1)  By  priests.  "  It  is  the  part  of  a 
priest  to  bless,"  the  Pontifical  says,  in  the 
office  for  their  ordination.  This  blessing 
may  be  given  privately,  at  discretion.  It 
is  given  according  to  a  prescribed  form  to 
the  penitent  before  confession ;  to  those 
who  have  received  communion  out  of 
Mass ;  on  many  other  occasions,  some  of 
which  are  determined  by  custom,  but 
above  all  at  the  end  of  all  Masses  except 
those  for  the  dead.     The  priest  raises  his 

1  Num.  vi.  27. 
*  Luc.  X.  6. 


BLESSING  89 

right  hand  and  makes  the  sign  of  the 
cross  once  over  the  people.  This  custom 
of  priests  blessing  at  Mass  is  not  very 
ancient.  The  older  writers  on  ritual 
make  no  mention  of  it,  and  although  it 
was  known  to  the  author  of  the  "  Micro- 
logup,"  a  contemporary  of  Gregory  VII., 
the  custom  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
universally  received  even  then.  At  one 
time  priests  used  to  make  the  sign  of  the 
cross  three  times  over  the  people.  Pius 
V.  restricted  them  to  a  blessing  with  a 
single  sign  of  the  cross,  except  in  solemn 
masses ;  Clement  VIII.  made  the  rule, 
which  forbids  a  priest  to  bless  with  the 
triple  sign  of  the  cross,  absolute. 

(2)  ]3y  bishops.  A  bishop  immediately 
ifter  his  consecration  is  conducted  round 
the  church,  blessing  the  people ;  and  after- 
wards, returning  to  the  altar,  blesses  them 
solemnly,  making  the  triple  sign  of  the 
cross.  He  uses  the  same  rite  of  blessing 
whenever  he  says  Mass.  An  abbot, 
according  to  the  decrees  of  Alexander 
VII,,  can  give  the  blessing  with  the  triple 
sign  of  the  cross  only  when  he  celebrates 
Mass  pontificallv.  (See  Benedict  XIV. 
"  Ue  Miss."  ii.  24). 

(3j  By  the  Pope.  The  Pope  blesses 
the  people  solemnly  at  Easter,  on  the 
feast  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  also 
on  other  special  occasions.  To  this  Papal 
blessing  {Benedict io  Pontijicia  seu  Apos- 
tolica)  a  plenary  indulgence  is  attached, 
to  be  gained  by  the  faithful  on  certain 
conditions.  Bishops  in  virtue  of  a  special 
indult  sometimes  receive  the  privilege  of 
bestowing  the  Papal  blessing  at  stated 
times.  The  bishop  gives  it  after  Mass, 
first  causing  the  Apostolic  letters,  which 
confer  the  plenary  indulgence,  to  be  read. 
The  power  of  bestowing  it  is  also  some- 
times communicated  to  simple  priests — e.g. 
to  regulars,  at  the  conclusion  of  a  mission, 
&c. 

Hitherto  we  have  been  occupied  with 
blessings  bestowed  upon  the  faithful  in 
general.  But  there  are  also  blessings 
reserved  for  special  persons  or  for  special 
objects.  Gavantus  and  other  writers  on 
ritual  divide  blessings  of  this  kind  ^  into 
two  classy — viz.  into  henedictiones  invoca^ 
tivce,  or  blessings  which  merely  invoke  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  persons  or  things ; 
and  henedictiones  constitutivts,  or  blessings 
which  set  apart  a  person  or  thing  for  the 
service  of  God.  To  the  former  class 
belongs  the  blessing  of  houses,  fields,  ships, 

^  This  division  really  includes  all  blessings, 
for  such  as  are  given  to  the  faithful  generally 
fall  under  the  head  of  Benedictiones  invocativa. 


90 


BLOOD 


candles,  food,  &c.,  &c. ;  to  the  latter  the 
blessinof  of  sacerdotal  vestments,  corporals, 
altar-cloths,  &c.  It  is  impossible  to  dis- 
tinguish accurately  between  the  use  of  the 
word  consecration  and  blessing  when  it  is 
used  in  the  sense  of  benedictio  constitutiva ; 
but  consecration  denotes  a  more  solemn 
form  of  blessing,  so  that  we  speak  of 
blessing  an  abbot  or  a  bell,  but  of  conse- 
crating a  chalice  or  an  altar.  Of  these 
blessings  some  (such  as  that  of  the  Agnus 
Dei,  and  the  rose  sent  to  sovereigns)  are 
reserved  to  the  Pope ;  others  {e.g.  the 
blessing  of  a  king  or  queen  at  their 
coronation,  of  bells,  vestments,  &c.)  are 
proper  to  bishops ;  others  (such  as  the 
blessing  of  houses,  fields,  medals,  crosses, 
&c.)  may  be  given  by  simple  priests,  though, 
of  course,  for  many  blessings  special  facul- 
ties are  required. 

With  regard  to  the  rite  employed, 
the  more  ordinary  blessings  are  given  by 
the  priest  in  surplice  and  stole,  with 
prayer,  accompanied  by  the  sign  of  the 
cross  and  very  often  by  the  use  of  holy 
water.  In  other  more  solemn  blessings 
other  rit€s  are  added,  such  as  exorcisms, 
incensation  and  anointing  with  the  holy 
oils.  The  principles  on  which  these  special 
blessings  rest  are  very  simple.  God  made 
all  things  good,  but  although  matter  stiU 
remains  good,  it  has  been  marred,  and  is 
constantly  abused  by  the  spirits  of  evil. 
Hence  the  Church,  in  the  power  and 
name  of  Christ,  rescues  persons  and  things 
from  the  power  of  the  devil.  Further, 
she  prays  that  the  things  which  she 
blesses  may  avail  to  the  spiritual  and 
bodily  health  of  her  children.  It  may  be 
asked,  how  water,  or  medals,  or  candles, 
can  possibly  help  us  on  the  way  to  heaven. 
In  themselves  plainly  they  have  no  such 
power.  But  they  tend  to  excite  good 
dispositions  in  those  who  use  them  aright, 
not  only  because  they  remind  us  of  holy 
things,  but  also  because  they  have  been 
blessed  for  our  use  by  the  prayers  of  the 
Church.  There  is  siii-ely  no  superstition 
in  believing  that  if  the  Church  prays  that 
the^  sight  or  use  of  pious  objects  may 
excite  good  desires  in  her  children,  God 
will  listen  to  these  prayers  and  touch  in  a 
spcial  way  the  hearts  of  thosfe  who  use 
them  aright. 

BXiOOD.  [See  Baptism  op  Blood 
under  Baptism.  See  also  Precious 
Bloot).] 

BOBSMZAV    BRETHREXr.      The 

gentleness  with  which  the  Council  of 
Basle  dealt  with  the  Hussites,  and  the 
evident  desire  of  the  majority  of  the  pre- 


BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN 

lates  to  go  to  the  verge  of  lawful  con-* 
cession  in  order  to  restore  them  to  the 
imity  of  the  Church,  deprived  the  schism 
of  much  of  its  raison  d'etre.  The  moderate 
party  (Calixtines)  were  disposed  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  concession  as  to  com- 
munion under  both  species,  joined  to  a 
promise  that  clerical  abuses  should  be 
reformed ;  while  the  violent  section 
(Taborites),  after  a  long  succession  of 
victories  over  their  German  foes,  were 
signally  defeated  at  Laban  (14o4),  and 
after  that  found  it  necessary  to  abate 
their  pretensions.  Some  years  passed  ;  a 
Taborite  remnant  which  had  found  shelter 
at  Lititz,  on  the  frontiers  of  Moravia  and 
Silesia,  throve  unmolested ;  its  leaders 
plunged  anew  into  the  dreamy  mysticism 
which  has  such  charms  for  the  Slavonian 
mind ;  they  fraternised  with  some  scat- 
tered Calixtine  pastors,  who  were  dis- 
contented with  what  they  regarded  as 
the  undue  pliability  of  the  mass  of  their 
party,  and  the  "  Union  of  the  Bohemian 
Brothers  "  (1457)  was  the  result.  Three 
of  their  leading  men,  Kunwald,  Pre- 
lautsch,  and  Krenor,  were  ordained  (1467) 
by  a  Vaudois  bishop.  Under  the  Bohe- 
mian prince  George  Podiebrad  (died  1471) 
they  were  subjected  to  m'lch  persecution. 
Wladislav,  his  successor,  left  them  undis- 
turbed, and  in  his  long  reign  they  grew 
greatly  in  numbers  and  solidity;  about 
1500,  they  possessed  two  hundred  churches 
in  Bohemia  and  Moravia.  When  the 
Reformation  came,  the  br^ren,  after 
vamly  endeavouring  to  extract  an  approval 
of  the  '^Apology ''  for  their  system  which 
they  had  drawn  up  from  the  wary 
Erasmus,  made  overtures  to  Luther. 
These  were  well  received;  but  the 
brethren  were  scandalised  at  the  lack  of 
discipline  which  prevailed  among  Luther's 
followers,  and  for  a  long  time  there  was  a 
coolness ;  ultimately,  however,  something 
like  a  cordial  understanding  was  estab- 
lished. The  toleration  which  the  brethren 
had  long  enjoyed  was  withdra^vn,  about 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  by 
Ferdmand,  brother  to  Charles  V. ;  and 
many  of  them  emigrated  in  consequence 
to  Prussia  and  Poland.  The  Emperors 
Maximilian  and  Rodolph  (1504-1612) 
were  favourable  to  them  ;  the  latter  gave 
them  permission  to  found  an  Academy 
and  a  Consistoiy,  to  hold  churches  and 
found  new  ones  on  the  estates  of  their 
adherents.  With  prosperity,  says  their 
historian,  Oomenius,  came  the  relaxation 
of  their  peculiar  discipline.  They  joined 
the  general  rising  of  the  Bohemian  Pro- 


BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN 

testants  against  Ferdinand  II.,  and  after 
the  battle  of  the  White  Hill  (1620)  were 
implicated  in  the  consequences  of  their 
defeat.  Many  thousands  of  them  aban- 
doned their  native  soil ;  and  of  those  who 
remained,  hoping  against  hope  that  the 
old  state  of  things  would  one  day  be 
restored,  the  greater  number,  at  last  re- 
nounckig  that  hope,  quitted  Bohemia  in 
1721  and  found  a  refuge  on  the  estate  of 
Count  Zinzendorf,  in  Lusatia.  Under  the 
name  Het-rn-huters  or  Moravians,  the 
new  organisation  which  these  refugees, 
aided  by  their  patron  Zinzendorf  (who  to 
a  mystical  and  imaginative  turn  united 
much  quiet  power  and  practical  sagacity), 
succeeded  in  forming,  has  gained  a  world- 
wide notoriety.  The  Brethren  who  still 
lingered  on  in  Bohemia  adhered  under 
Joseph  II.  (1780-1790)  to  the  Helvetic 
Confession,  because  that  Emperor  would 
tolerate  in  his  dominions  no  other  Protes- 
tant doctrine  but  either  that  or  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg.  As  a  distinct 
sect  the  Bohemian  Brethren  no  longer 
exist. 

With  regard  to  their  doctrine  and 
discipline,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  that 
they  neither  admitted  the  authority  of 
the  chair  of  Peter,  nor  the  unity  of 
the  visible  Church.  After  the  Reforma- 
tion period  they  adopted  Luther's  opinions 
on  most  other  points,  but  would  not  follow 
him  in  embracing  the  tenet  of  consub- 
stantiation :  they  would  only  allow  of  a 
mystical  union  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  with  the  elements,  and  denied  any- 
thing like  a  real  presence.  Their  organisa- 
tion was  the  most  remarkable  thing  about 
them.  They  divided  themselves  into  three 
classes,  the  Beginners,  the  Proficients,  and 
the  Perfect  {incipientes,  proficientes,  per- 
fectt).  From  the  ranks  of  the  Perfect 
were  chosen  the  ministers,  who  were  also 
of  three  kinds,  acolytes  or  deacons,  pas- 
tors or  priests,  and  bishops  or  presidents. 
They  had  four  fast  days  of  obligation  in 
the  year.  In  relation  to  sin,  the  laity  (if 
their  offences  were  of  an  open  nature — 
for  such  only,  in  the  absence  of  confession, 
could  the  system  reach)  were  subjected 
to  three  degrees  of  discipline :  warning, 
public  reproof,  and  excommunication. 
(Ginzel's  article  in  Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

BOXiKAia'DZSTS.  A  name  given  to 
the  Jesuit  editors  of  the  great  "  Acta 
Sanctorum,"  or  Lives  of  the  Saints.  The 
first  plan  of  the  work  came  from  the 
Flemish  Jesuit  Rosweid,  who  calculated 
the  size  of  the  whole  work  at  eighteen 
▼olumes.     He,  howeyer,  died  in  1629,, 


BOLSENA,  MASS  OF         91 

without  actually  beginning  the  work. 
His  papers  were  entrusted  to  another 
Jesuit,  John  Bolland  (born  in  the  Nether- 
lands, 1696— died  1665),  who  settled  at 
Antwerp  and  opened  a  correspondence 
with  learned  men  over  Europe,  in  order 
to  procure  the  documents  useful  for  his 
purpose.  The  plan  grew  in  the  hands  of 
Bolland  us,  and  in  1635  his  brother- Jesuit 
George  Henschen  (born  1600— died  1681) 
was  appointed  to  help  him.  In  1643,  two 
lai^  folios  appeared,  containing  the  lives 
of  the  Saints  who  are  commemorated  in 
January;  they  were  followed  in  1658  by 
three  more  folios,  containing  the  Saints 
for  February.  Two  years  later  a  new 
labourer  was  secured,  the  Jesuit  Daniel 
Papebrock  (born  1628— died  1714),  and  at 
the  wish  of  Pope  Alexander  VII.,  Hen- 
schen and  Papebrock  travelled  through 
France,  Germany,  and  Italy,  where  they 
found  many  precious  MSS.  A  little  later 
BoUand  died,  but  the  num1)er  of  those 
who  laboured  at  the  work  was  continually 
recruited  from  the  society ;  indeed,  even 
after  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuits,  the 
Bollandist  Lives  were  still  continued  by 
ex- Jesuits,  until  m  1794  the  French  Revo- 
lutionary troops  entered  the  Netherlands, 
and  put  an  end  for  the  time  to  this  great 
undertaking.  At  that  date  the  lives  had 
reached  the  63rd  volume,  which  was 
printed  at  Tangerloo  in  the  very  year  the 
French  troops  entered,  and  contained  lives 
of  the  saints  from  the  12th  to  the  16th 
October.  The  papers  of  the  Jesuit 
fathers  were  scattered,  some  perishing 
entirely,  others  being  preserved  in  the 
Royal  Library  at  Haag,  and  in  the  Bur- 
gundian  Library  at  Brussels.  Napoleon 
desired  in  vain  to  procure  a  continuation 
of  the  work.  At  last,  in  1837,  the  Belgian 
Government  entrusted  the  prosecution  of 
the  work  to  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and 
next  year  a  prospectus  was  pubhshed, 
"  De  Prosecutione  Operis  Bollandiani." 
The  first  volume  of  the  new  series  was 
published  about  nine  years  later.  A  new 
edition  in  sixty-one  vols,  folio — viz.  down 
to  the  last  volume  published — has  been 
issued  at  Paris  by  Palm^,  1863-1875. 

SOXiSSlirA,  MASS  OR  BXZBACILB 
OP.  A  portent  which  is  said  to  have 
happened  at  Bolsena  (the  ancient  Volsi- 
nium)  in  the  reign  of  Urban  IV.  This 
Pope  was  still  in  doubt  whether  he  should 
cause  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi  to  be 
kept  throughout  the  Church.  While  he 
held  his  court  at  Orvieto  in  the  year  1264, 
a  priest  in  the  neighbouring  city  of  Bol- 
sena spilt  a  drop  of  the  Precious  Blood 


92 


BONI  HOMINES 


from  the  chalice  with  which  he  was  saying 
Mass,  and  tried  to  conceal  the  accident 
by  covering  the  spot  where  the  consecrated 
wine  had  fallen,  with  the  corporal.^  Sud- 
denly the  corporal  was  covered  vnth.  red 
spots  in  the  shape  of  a  host.  This  miracle 
led  the  Pope  to  delay  the  institution  of 
the  feast  no  longer.  The  corporal  is  still 
preserved  at  Orvieto,  and  the  event  is 
commemorated  in  a  famous  picture  of 
Raphael's  in  the  Vatican.  (See  Hefele  in 
"Wefzer  and  Welte,  and  Benedict  XIV. 
"  De  Festis,"  De  Festo  Cofporis  Christi, 
where  another  account  is  also  given, 
according  to  which  the  miracle  hap- 
pened to  remove  the  priest's  doubts  in 
transubstantiation.) 

SOIVZ  HOMZXrss.  Several  monastic 
brotherhoods  have  borne  this  name. 
(1)  The  order  founded  in  the  eleventh 
century  by  St.  Stephen  Grandmont  was 
once  so  called.  A  house  of  theirs  at 
Vincennes  having  been  transferred  by 
Henry  III.  in  1684  to  the  Minims,  a 
branch  of  the  Franciscans,  these  (2)  came 
to  be  called  in  France  Bons  hommes. 
(3)  A  Portuguese  order  of  Canons, 
founded  in  the  fifteenth  century  by  John 
Vicenza,  Bishop  of  Lamego,  had  the  same 
appellation.  After  a  time  they  had  four- 
teen houses  in  Portugal,  and  we  read  of 
their  sending  missionaries  to  the  Indies 
and  to  Ethiopia.  (4)  Matthew  Paris 
•describes  the  arrival  in  England  in  1267 
of  £ome  friars  of  an  order  previously  un- 
known, whom  he  calls  fratres  saccati. 
Comparing  this  with  a  passage  in  Poly- 
dore  Vergil  referring  to  the  same  year, 
we  find  that  these  unknown  religious 
professed  the  rule  of  St.  Austin,  and  were 
called  in  England  "  Boni  Homines." 

Boger  de  Hoveden,  under  the  year 
1176,  gives  an  abstract  of  the  proceedings 
of  a  council  held  at  Lombers,  near 
Toulouse,  which  examined  and  condemned 
some  heretics  calling  themselves  Boni 
Homines,  whose  tenets  seem  to  have 
closely  resembled  those  of  the  Cathari 
.  and  Paulicians.    [Albigenses.] 

BO'WZxrG.    [See  Genuflexion.] 

BRASSSS.  Engraved  sepulchral 
memorials  on  brass  are  so  called,  which 
began  to  a  large  extent  to  supersede  stone 
tombs  and  effigies  in  the  course  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  One  great  advantage 
of  their  use  was  that  th^  could  be  let 
into  the  pavement :  they  took  up  no  room 
in  the  church.  Once  introduced,  the 
fashion  spread  rapidly,  improvements  and 
developments  appeared ;  and  during  three 
oentunes  brasses  may  be  said  to  have  been 


BREVIARY 

in  general  use.  The  material  employed 
was  hard  latten  or  sheet  brass.  The 
Reformation  brought  in  a  period  oi 
plunder  and  destruction,  from  which 
(especially  the  former,  because  of  the 
intrinsic  value  of  the  metal)  our  brasses 
sufiered  enormously.  Their  number  must 
have  been  very  great,  if  it  be  true  that 
four  thousand  are  still  preserved  in  various 
parts  of  England.  They  were  once 
equally  common  in  France,  Germany, 
and  Holland ;  in  France,  however,  all 
that  escaped  the  Huguenots  were  purloined 
by  the  revolutionists.  There  are  tine 
brasses  at  Meissen  and  Freiberg  in  Saxony, 
at  Werden  and  Paderborn  in  Westphalia, 
and  at  Bruges  in  Flanders.  The  greater 
number  of  those  preserved  in  England  are 
in  the  eastern  counties ;  the  churches  of 
Ipswich,  Norwich,  Lynn,  and  Lincoln, 
are  exceptionally  rich  in  them.  The 
chapel  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  once 
possessed  a  large  number ;  but  many  have 
disappeared,  and  of  those  that  remain 
some  have  been  sadly  mutilated.  The 
earliest  English  brass  now  in  existence  is 
said  to  be  that  of  Sir  Roger  de  Trumping- 
ton,  at  Trumpington,  near  Cambridge; 
its  date  is  1289.  That  of  Sir  John 
d'Abernon,  at  Stoke  d'Abernon  in  Surrey, 
(1327),  is  exceedingly  fine ;  the  effigy  is 
the  size  of  life.  In  Acton  Burnell  church 
there  y»  a  well-known  one  of  a  Lord 
Burnell,  dating  from  the  same  century. 
In  the  fifteenth  century  this  art,  in  re- 
spect both  of  design  and  of  execution, 
reached  its  acme.  In  the  cathedral  of 
Constance  there  is  a  fine  brass  of  English 
workmanship  commemorating  a  bishop  of 
Salisbury,  Robert  Hallam,  who  died 
during  the  council  held  at  that  city 
(1414-17).  In  the  sixteenth  century  the 
figures  become  portraits.  "  The  incised 
lines  were  filled  up  with  some  black 
resinous  substance,  and  the  armorial 
decorations  and  back-ground  with  mastic, 
or  coarse  enamel  of  various  colours." 
(Parker's  "Gloss,  of  Arch.").  The  sub- 
ject of  English  brasses  is  exhaustively 
treated  in  the  work  of  Cotman. 

BREVIART.  The  word  Breviary, 
or  compendium,  is  of  mediseval  origin,  and 
Fleury  could  find  no  example  of  its  use 
before  the  year  1099.^  But  the  recitation 
of  the  Breviary  is  the  continuation  of  a 
practice  which  was  in  use  from  the  in- 
fancy of  the  Church,  nay,  which  the 
Church  herself  received  from  the  Syna- 
gogue. We  may  divide  the  history  of 
the  Breviary  prayer  into  four  periods: 
»  Fleuiy,  Hint.  Ixiv.  64. 


BREVIARY 

the  first  from  tlie  beginning  of  Church 
history  down  to  Pope  Damasus  in  the 
fourth  century ;  the  second  extending  to 
the  reign  of  Gregory  VII.  in  the  eleventh; 
the  third  to  that  of  Pius  V.  in  the  six- 
teenth ;  while  the  fourth  period  stretches 
from  Pius  V.  to  our  own  day.  In  these 
periods  we  propose  to  tsace  the  history  of 
the  hours  of  prayer,  the  ori^n,  the  com- 
pletion, and  the  final  revisions  of  the 
Breviary.  We  shall  treat  in  conclusion 
of  its  component  parts,  of  the  obligation  of 
reciting  it,  and  of  the  authority  which 
belongs  to  its  teaching. 

I.  The  Hours  of  Prayer  in  the  first 
Four  Centuries. — Even  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  we  find  the  third,  sixth,  and 
ninth  hours  specially  mentioned.  F^om 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  Cy- 
prian,^ and  others,  we  learn  that  the 
observance  of  these  hours  was  general 
among  Christians,  and  that  mystic 
significations  were  attached  to  them. 
In  the  eighth  book  of  the  Apostolic 
Constitutions*  morning  and  evening 
prayer  are  mentioned  in  addition  to 
the  three  hours  already  named,  and  all 
five  hours  are  regarded  as  times  of  public 
prayer.  To  these  five  hours  we  must  add 
the  nocturnal  prayers  on  the  vigils  of 
feasts.  This  last  became  more  prominent 
when  the  times  of  persecution  passed 
away,  and  the  ccenobitical  or  monastic 
life  grew  and  flourished.  Cassian  tells  us 
that  the  monks  divided  the  nocturnal 
office  into  three  nocturns.  Thus,  count- 
ing the  nocturnal  office  as  one,  we  get 
six  hours,  corresponding  to  matins  with 
lauds,  prime,  tierce,  sext,  none  and  vespers, 
in  the  present  Breviary.  We  may  men- 
tion here,  for  the  sake  of  convenience, 
though  the  fact  belongs  to  our  second 
period,  that  St.  Benedict,  in  the  sixth 
century,  added  compline  to  the  hours,  and 
80  completed  the  number  seven,  answering 
to  the  praises  '^  seven  times  a  day  "  of 
which  the  psalmist  speaks.^  The  service 
at  these  hours  consisted  of  psalms,  lections, 
and  prayers.  As  early  at  least  as  the 
time  of  Athanasius/  it  was  the  custom 
in  the  East  to  have  the  alternate  verses 
of  the  psalm  intoned  by  different  choirs, 
and  this  practice  was  introduced  at  Milan 

^  TertuU.  De  Orat.  Domin.  25  ;  Clem.  Al. 
Strom,  vii.  7  ;  Cyprian.  De  Orat.  Dom.  34,  35. 

2  Ap.  Const,  viii.  33.  Praj^er  at  "  cock- 
crow "  is  also  mentioned. 

3  Some  liturgical  writers  make  seven  hours, 
counting  matins  and  lauds  as  one.  Bona  counts 
seven  day  hours,  and  makes  matins  correspond  to 
the  "midnight  praise"  spoken  of  in  the  Psalms. 

*  Theodoret.  Hht.  ii.  29. 


BREVIARY 


93 


under  St.  Ambrose.^  The  lections  were 
usually  from  Scripture,  but  on  the  feasts 
of  the  Martyrs  their  Acts  were  also  read. 
Much  was  left  to  free  choice  in  the  selec- 
tion of  the  Scriptural  lessons.**  The 
prayers  were  recited  after  each  psalm,  and 
the  office  concluded  wi^  the  blessing  of 
the  celebrant.* 

II.  Origin  of  the  Breviary.  Daynams 
to  Gregory  VII. — Great  changes  occuiTed 
during  this  second  period.  According  to 
a  tradition  which  is  not  well  attested,  but 
which  is  most  likely  correct  in  substance, 
St.  Jerome,  at  the  request  of  Pope  Damasus, 
arranged  the  psalms  for  the  different  hours 
and  put  the  lections  together  in  books 
called  Lectionaries,  and  these  Lectionaries 
were  provided  with  indices  marking  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  lections.  Later 
on,  in  the  middle  ages,  we  find  the  word 
Breviary  used  for  a  collection  of  rubrics, 
pointing  out  the  way  in  which  the  office 
was  to  be  said  on  each  day,  and  sometimes 
these  rubrics  were  united  with  the  office 
itself  so  as  to  form  one  book,  which  was 
called  Plenarium,  and  answers  to  our 
present  Breviary.^  Further,  hymns  were 
added  to  the  office  as  early  as  the  sixth 
century,^  although  particular  churches 
varied  in  this  respect,  and  the  Roman 
Church  did  not  adopt  them  till  our  third 
period.®  At  the  same  time  lections  were 
introduced  from  the  writings  of  the 
Fathers,  and  these  as  well  as  the  psalms 
and  responsories  were  adapted  to  the 
different  feasts.  Lastly,  the  influence  of 
the  Roman  Church  introduced  uniformity 
throughout  the  West.  We  find  an  Eng- 
lish council  in  the  year  748  passing  a 
decree  that  the  feasts  should  be  kept  "  in 
all  things  pertaining  to  them  .  .  .  in  cele- 
bration of  Masses,  in  mode  of  singing, 
according  to  the  written  copy  which  we 
have  from  the  Roman  Church."  Charle- 
magne introduced  the  Roman  office 
throughout  most  of  his  vast  empire,  and 
at  last,  in  1048,  the  Council'  of  Burgos 
ordered  its  use  in  Spain.' 

III.  The  Completion  of  the  Bi-eviary. 
Gregory  VII.  to  Pius  V. — Hitherto  we 
have  traced  the  origin  of  the  Breviary 
offices;  we  now  find  the  word  "Breviary  " 
in  its  modern  sense.    "  A  certain  shorten- 

1  August.  Confess,  ix.  7. 
3  The  Council  of  Laodicea,  canon  17,  order* 
a  lection  after  each  psalm. 

3  Probst,  Brevier  und  Brevier-gebet,  p.  2S. 
The  permission,  however,  Merati  says,  was  aot 
universal. 

4  Ibid.  p.  32. 

5  Concil.  Agath.  can.  30. 

«  Probst,  p.  34.  7  Ibid.  p.  86,  Mfp 


94 


BREVIARY 


BREVIARY 


ing  cf  the  office,"  says  Meratus,  "was 
made  by  Gregory  VII.,  and  the  office  so 
shortened  was  called  Breviary."  Under 
Innocent  III.  the  office  was  abbreviated 
still  further.  Next,  changes  were  made 
in  its  arrangements  by  the  Franciscan 
General  Haymo,  and  Nicholas  III.  pre- 
scribed the  use  of  the  Breviary  thus  modi- 
fied in  the  churches  of  Rome.  Cardinal 
Quignon  made  additional  and  radical 
alterations.  In  his  Breviary  the  psalms 
were  recited  every  w^eek ;  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  New  Testament  and  a  great  part 
of  the  Old  were  read  in  the  course  of  the 
year  ;  the  chapters,  responsories,  and 
versicles  were  excluded.  The  use  of  this 
Breviary  was  permitted  from  the  time  of 
Paul  III.  to  that  of  Pius  V.— viz.  for 
about  forty  years.^ 

IV.  Final  Eevisiom  of  the  Breviary. 
Pius  V.  to  the  preserd  day. — The  Council 
of  Trent,  findiug  that  the  commission 
which  it  had  appointed  to  revise  the 
Breviary  had  not  time  to  complete  their 
work,  left  the  matter  in  the  Pope's  hands.'^ 
Pius  v.,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Barna- 
bite  Fathers,  eflected  the  desired  revision, 
and  imposed  the  new  Breviary  on  the 
whole  Latin  Church,  permitting,  however, 
churches  to  retain  a  special  Breviai^'  of 
their  own,  if  they  could  allege  a  prescrip- 
tion of  200  years  on  its  behalf.  Addi- 
tional improvements  were  effected  by  a 
commission  under  Clement  VIII.  Bellar- 
mine  and  Baronius  were  members  of  it, 
and  to  them  we  owe  great  ameliorations 
in  the  lections  of  the  second  nocturn 
which  contain  the  history  of  the  Saints. 
The  finishing  touches  were  added  by 
Urban  VIII. ;  once  more  the  lections  were 
revised,  and  with  the  help  of  thi*ee  learned 
Jesuits  many  barbarisms  and  false 
quantities  were  removed  from  the  hymns, 
bince  the  time  of  this  Pope  the  Breviary 
has  remained  unaltered,  except  that  of 
course  offices  for  saints  canonised  since 
that  time,  and  for  new  feasts,  have  been 
added  by  the  authority  of  different  Popes. 
It  is  true  that  new  Breviaries  were  con- 
structed in  France  during  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries ;  but  the 
bishops  who  brought  them  into  use  had 
no  power  to  do  so  lawfully,  and  these 
new  Breviaries  are  now  entirely  or  almost 
entirely  abandoned.  These  modern  Galli- 
can  Breviaries  must  not  be  confused  with 
the  ancient  Galilean  office,  current  in 
France  before  Charlemagne's  time. 

V.  The  Arrangement  of  the  Breviary. 

1  Fleuiy,  Contin.  cxxxyi.  49  ;  Probst,  p.  46. 
*  Seas.  XXV.  contin. 


— The  Breviary  is  divided  into  four 
parts :  viz.  a  winter,  spring,  summer,  and 
autumn  quarter.  Lach  part  coutains 
(a)  the  psalter — i.e.  the  psalms  arranged 
for  each  day'  of  the  week.  {3)  The 
proper  of  the  season — i.e.  hymns,  anti- 
phons,  chapt^i-s,  and  lessons,  with  re- 
sponsories and  versicles,  for  each  day  of 
the  Church*  year,  including  the  movable 
feasts,  (y)  The  proper  of  the  saints — i.e. 
prayers,  lessons,  responsories,  Szc,  for  the 
immovable  feasts.  (8)  The  common  of  the 
saints — i.e.  psalms,  with  antiphons,  lec- 
tions, &c.,for  feasts  of  a  particular  class,  e.^. 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  of  a  Martyr,  Szc.  To 
this  division  the  Little  Office  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  the  office  of  the  dead,  the  peni- 
tential and  gradual  psalms  are  added, 
(e)  A  supplement  containing  offices  which 
do  not  bind  the  whole  Church,  but  are 
recited  only  in  particular  countries,  &c. 
Besides  this,  a  diocese,  province  or  county, 
&c.,  or,  again,  an  order  or  congregation, 
may  have  a  special  supplement  with 
offices  approved  for  use  in  that  district. 
This  second  supplement  forms  no  part  of 
the  Breviary.  It  is  printed  separately  for 
the  persctns  who  are  to  use  it,  and  then, 
usually,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  bound 
into  the  Breviary.  Every  day  the  office 
is  composed  of  matins  and  lauds,  prime, 
&c.,  but  the  rules  which  determine  the 
mode  of  their  recitation  are  too  elaborate 
to  be  given  here. 

VI.  The  Ohligation  of  Reciting  Office. 
— At  first  all  the  faithful  were  accustomed 
to  assist  at  the  canonical  hours.  "  The 
piety  of  the  lay-people,"  says  Thomassin, 
"  cooled  :  the  clergy  did  not  relax  their 
primitive  fervour."  From  the  sixth  cen- 
tury downwards,  many  councils  speak  of 
this  obligation  on  the'part  of  clerics,  but 
they  do  not  so  much  enforce  it  as  take 
for  gi-anted  a  law  already  enforced  by  the 
custom  of  the  Church.  The  present  disci- 
pline of  the  Church  imposes  the  obliga- 
tion (a)  on  aU  clerics,  even  if  not  in 
holy  orders,  who  hold  a  benefice.  By 
omitting  their  duty  they  forfeit  the  fruits 
of  their  benefice  and  must  make  restitu- 
tion (so  the  Fifth  Lateran  Council, 
session  ix.) ;  (j3)  on  all  persons  in  holy 
Orders,  i.e.  on  subdeacons,  deacons, 
priests  ;  {y)  on  religious  men  and  women, 
professed  for  the  duties  of  the  choir.  In 
the  two  last  cases  Billuart  considers  that 
the  obligation  cannot  be  proved  by  any 
positive  law,  but  is  founded  on  custom 
which  has  the  force  of  precept.^  AU  these 

1  Billuart,  Dt  Relig.  ii.  8,  3,  where  he  says 
that  the  cauuns  speak  ''either  of  priests  only, 


BRIDAL  WREATH 

persons  are  required  under  pain  of  mortal 
sin  to  recite  the  office  at  least  in  private. 

VII.  The  Authority  of  Statements  in 
the  Breviary. — As  the  Church  herself  im- 
poses the  recitation  of  the  Breviary,  it 
cannot  contain  auythinj^  contrary  to  faith 
or  morals ;  otherwise  the  Church  herself 
would  he  leading:  her  children  into  error. 
But  no  Catholic  is  obliged  to  believe 
historical  statements  merely  because  they 
are  found  in  the  Breviary,  and  as  a  matter 
of  fact  many  of  them  have  been  questioned 
and  denied  by  Catholic  critics  and  his- 
torians. 

The  principal  books  on  the  Breviary 
are :— in  the  middle  ages,  Amalarius  of 
Metz,  who  wrote  four  books  "  De  Eccle- 
eiastico  Officio,"  in  the  year  820;  the 
author  of  a  work  caUed  "  Micrologus  de 
Ecclesiasticis  Observationibus,"  written  in 
the  time  of  Gregory  VII. ;  John  Beleth, 
a  Paris  theologian,  who  wrote,  about  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  "  De  Divlnis 
Officiis ;"  the  abbot  Rupert,  "  De  Divinia 
Offieiislibri  xii,"(died  1135)  and  Durandus, 
"  Rationale  Divinorum  Officiorum  "  (about 
1286).  In  modern  times  the  principal 
authors  are ; — Grancolas,  "  Coinmentarius 
historicusin  Romanum  Breviarium;"Bona, 
"  De  Divina  Psalmodia ; "  but  above  all 
Gavantus,  who  published  "  Commentaria 
in  Rubricas  Missalis  et  Breviarii,"  in  1628, 
and  Meratus,  who  edited  the  work  of 
Gavantus  with  elaborate  notes.  (From 
Gavantus,  with  Merati's  notes,  and 
from  Probst,  "Brevier  und  Brevier- 
gebet.") 

BRIDikXi  -WREATH.  [See  MAR- 
RIAGE.] 

BRIBGITTIETES.  This  Order  was 
founded  about  1844  by  St.  Bridgit  of 
Sweden,  author  of  the  "  Revelations  "  so 
well  known  and  so  greatly  esteemed  by 
persons  aspiring  to  perfection.  Each 
momistery  is  double,  for  nuns  and  for 
monks;  but  the  fcuudation  of  the  nun- 
neries, which  were  to  contain  on  the 
average  sixty  inmates,  was  the  principal 
object  (  f  the  founder  ;  the  related  houses 
of  monks  were  to  have  thirteen  inmates 
each,  priests,  besides  four  deacons.  The 
constitutions  of  the  order,  which  took  the 
name  of  the  Order  of  the  Saviour,  were 
said  to  have  been  communicated  to  St. 
Bridgit  by  divine  revelation  ;  the  rule  was 
that  of  St.  Austin.  The  first  monastery 
was  bwlt  on  the  saint's  estate  of  Wastein 
in  the  diocese  of  Lincopen.     The  order 

on  of  beneficed  clerks,  or  of  the  public  offlce,"  &c 
See  also  Liguor.     Theol,  Moral,  v.  §  140. 


BULL 


05 


spread  through  all  the  northern  countries 
of  Europe,  and  was  of  notable  service  to 
the  Church.  The  convent  of  Wastein, 
partly  through  the  extraordinary  constancy 
of  the  nuns,  partly  from  their  finding 
friends  where  they  could  have  least  ex- 
pected them,  survived  the  change  of  reli- 
gion in  Sweden  for  many  years,  and  waa 
only  suppressed  in  1595.  In  England 
there  was  one  great  and  wealthy  Bridgit- 
tiue  house,  Sion  Convent,  near  Brentford. 
This  was  one  of  the  few  monasteries 
restored  by  Queen  Mary  ;  but  being  again 
suppressed  under  Elizabeth,  the  nuns, 
that  they  might  be  free  to  observe  their 
rule,  took  refuge  at  Lisbon.  They  have 
had  a  perpetual  succession  in  Portugal 
down  to  our  own  day ;  and  a  few  years 
ago  some  of  them  went  to  England  and 
founded  the  Bridgittine  convent  of  Sion 
House,  Spetisbury,  in  Dorsetshire. 

BRZSF.  A  Papal  Brief  is  a  letter 
issuing  from  the  Court  of  Rome,  written 
on  fine  parchment  in  modern  characters, 
subscribed  by  the  Pope's  Secretary  of 
Briefs,  dated  "  a  die  Nativitatis,"  and 
sealed  with  the  Pope's  signet-rin^,  the 
seal  of  the  Fisherman.    [See  Bull], 

SXTIiGARZAM'S.  This  was  another 
name  for  the  Paulician  heretics,  owing  to 
their  long  sojourn  in  Bulgaria.  Con- 
stantino Copronymus,  about  a.d.  750, 
transplanted  great  numbers  of  Paulicians 
from  the  banks  of  the  upper  Euphrates  to 
Constantinople  and  Thrace  ;  whence  their 
preachers  passed  into  Bulgaria  and  ob- 
tained many  followers.  Another  powerful 
colony  of  these  sectaries  was  brought  to 
the  valleys  of  the  Balkans  in  970,  by  John 
Zimisces,  with  the  view  of  detaching 
them  from  the  Moslem  alliance,  and 
employing  them  as  a  barrier  against  the 
barbarians  of  Scythia.  They  occupied 
Philippopolis,  and  soon  gained  great  influ- 
ence in  Bulgaria.  About  1200  their 
Primate  lived  at  or  near  that  city,  and 
governed  by  his  vicars  affiliated  bodies 
in  France  and  Italy.  By  three  channels 
they  obtained  access  to  Western  countries 
— the  trade  of  Venice,  the  military  service 
of  the  Byzantine  emperors,  and  the  pil- 
grim track  to  Jerusalem  along  the  valley 
of  the  Danube.  Mmgled  with  the  Cathari 
and  other  heretics,  they  were  found  in 
considerable  numbers  in  the  south  of 
France  at  the  time  of  the  Albigensian 
Crusade,  [Albigenses.]  (Gibbon,  "  De- 
cline and  Fall,"  ch.  liv.) 

BUIi&.  A  Papal  Bull  is  so  named 
from  the  bulla  (or  round  leaden  seal,  hav- 
ing on  one  side  a  representation  of  SS. 


96    BULL  IN  CCENA  DOMINI 

Peter  and  Paul,  and  on  the  other  the 
name  of  the  reigning  Pope),  which  is 
attached  to  tlie  document  (bj  a  silken 
cord,  if  it  he  a  "  Bull  of  Grace,"  and  by 
one  of  hemp  if  a  "  Bull  of  Justice  ")  and 
gives  authenticity  to  it.  Bulls  are  en- 
grossed on  strong  rough  parchment  in 
gothic  characters,  and  begin  "  [Leo] 
Episcopus  servus  servorum  Dei  ad  per- 
petuam  rei  memoriam."^  A  Bull  is  dated 
*'  a  die  Incarnationis,"  and  signed  by  the 
functionaries  of  the  Papal  Chancery.  It 
is  a  document  of  a  more  formal  and 
■weighty  character  than  a  Brief,  and  many 
memorable  Papal  decisions  and  con- 
demnations have  been  given  in  this  form, 
such  as  the  bull  Unam  SaTtctam  of  Boni- 
face Vni.,  the  bull  Vnigenitus  of  Clement 
XL,  &c.,  &c. 

BTTXiZi  nr  CtEHtlL  DOMZXJZ.  This 
was  a  Papal  sentence  of  excommunication 
formerly  published  against  heretics  every 
Maundy  Thursday.  The  latest  form 
which  it  assumed  was  given  to  it  by 
Urban  VIII.  in  1627.  It  excommunicates 
all  heretics,  mentioning  the  chief  modern 
sects  and  hereaiarchs  by  name,  as  well  as 
those  who  aid  and  abet  them,  or  read 
their  works ;  all  those  who  appeal  from 
the  Pope  [Appeal]  to  a  future  general 
council ;  pirates  and  wreckers ;  Christians 
who  ally  themselves  with  the  Turks ; 
those  who  maltreat  Papal  officials  or 
falsify  Papal  bulla,  and  many  others.  By 
degi-ees  a  spirit  of  marked  opposition  to 
the  publication  of  the  bull  in  their 
dominions  displayed  itself  on  the  part  of 
many  Catholic  sovereigns;  Pope  Cle- 
ment XIV.  yielded  to  their  wishes,  and 
after  1773  the  periodical  publication  of 
the  bull  was  discontinued. 

BX7I.Z.ARIUM.  A  collection  of 
Papal  bulls  is  so  called.    That  of  Cocque- 

*  Or  "  ad  futuram  rei  memoriam  ; "  or,  if  the 
bull  relates  to  doctrine,  the  words  "ad  ...  . 
memoriam"  are  omitted,  and  tlie  style  usually 
is,  "universis  Cliristi  fidelibus  salutem  et  apos- 
tolicam  benedictionem." 


BY  THE  GRACE  OF  GOD,  ETC. 

lines  (Rom.  1737)  containing  the  bulla  of 
all  the  Popes  from  Leo  the  Great  to  Bene- 
dict XIII.  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated. 
BiTRXAXi.    [See  Funeral]. 

BITRSE  (BURS.a.,  also  PEBiL). 
A  square  case  into  which  the  priest  puts 
the  corporal  which  is  to  be  used  in  Mass. 
It  was  introduced  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. It  should  be  of  the  same  colour  as 
the  vestments  of  the  day.  Usually  it  has 
a  cross  in  the  middle.  The  priest  places 
it  above  the  chalice,  with  the  open  side 
towards  his  own  breast.  When  he  reaches 
the  altar,  he  extracts  the  corporal  and 
plpces  the  burse  on  the  Gospel  side. 
Pius  V.  allowed  the  Spanish  priests  to 
carry  the  corporal  outside  the  burse. 
(Beuedict  XIV.  "  De  Miss."  i.  5.) 

BY  THS  GRACE  OF  COD  iLITB 
FAVOUR  OF  THE  APOSTOX.ZC 
SEE.  Bishops  and  archbishops  now  use 
this  formula  ('*  Dei  et  Apostolicas  Sedis 
Gratia  ")  at  the  beginning  of  their  pastorals 
and  instructions.  Something  resembling 
it  came  in  vei-y  early ;  thus  St.  Boniface, 
the  Apostle  of  Germany,  called  himself 
the  Servus  apostolicce  sedis,  and  an  arch- 
bishop of  Cologne  in  the  eleventh  century 
took  the  appellation  of  Christi  et  Clavigerx 
ejus  sermis.  But  there  was  for  a  long 
time  no  uniformity ;  in  Hoveden's 
'•  Chronicle "  may  be  read  a  brief  of 
Geoffrey,  Archbishop  of  York,  in  which 
there  is  no  reference  whatever  to  the 
Holy  See,  while  not  many  pages  further 
on  is  a  series  of  decrees  of  Archbishcp 
Hubert,  each  of  which  ends  with  the 
words  "  Salvo  in  omnibus  sacrosanctse 
Romanse  ecclesise  lionore  et  privilegio." 
In  some  European  countries,  the  sover- 
eigns evincing  a  desire  to  appropriate  for 
use  in  their  own  proclamations  the  phrase 
Dei  Gratia,  the  bishops  Lave  used  instead 
the  formula  divina  yratia.  In  1209, 
Otho  IV.,  one  of  the  candidates  for  the 
Imperial  crown,  adopted  the  style  of 
"  Roman  Emperor  by  the  grace  of  God 
and  favour  of  the  Holy  Apostolic  See." 


CJEREMOIUZAI.E         3BPZSCOPO- 

RUM.  A  book  containing  the  ceremonies 
to  be  observed  by  bishops,  in  the  perfor- 
formance  of  episcopal  acts.  An  edition 
"  emended  and  reformed  "  was  published 
by  authority  of  Clement  VIII.  In  the 
bull,  "  Oum  novissime,"  the  Pope  strictly 
requires  all  whom  it  concerns  to  follow  the 
prescriptions  of  this  Cseiemouiale,  and 
several  of  the  subsequent  Popes  have 
renewed  and  confirmed  the  same  law. 
("  Maniiale  Decret.  SS.  Rit.  Congr."  n.  94, 
seq.-) 

CJEREnsosJlAlUTrs.  A  name 
given  to  the  ecclesiastic  who  superintends 
the  ceremonies  in  solemn  offices.  In 
cathedral  churches  one  such  master  of 
ceremonies  should  be  chosen  by  the  bishop, 
another,  with  the  approval  of  the  bishop, 
by  the  chapter.  In  episcopal  functions 
he  may  wear  a  violet  cassock  and  hold  a 
ferule  in  his  hand.  The  dignitaries  even 
of  the  chapter  are  bound  to  obey  him 
during  the  functions,  for  he  is  their 
director,  not  their  servant.  Besides  the 
income  which  may  belong  to  him  as 
canon,  &^c.,  he  has  a  right  to  the  ofi'e rings 
made  by  clergy  and  people  on  Good 
Friday  after  the  adoration  of  the  cross. 
("  Manuale  Decret.  SS.  Kit.  Congr.") 

caESAHIAHTS.  The  adherents  of  a 
pious  German  friar  of  the  order  of  St. 
Francis,  Caesar  of  Spires,  were  so  called. 
Osesar  was  one  of  those  who,  when  Elias 
of  Gorton  a,  the  general  of  the  order  after 
St.  Francis,  attempted  to  introduce  relax- 
ations of  the  rule,  resisted  him  ;  in  con- 
sequence of  which  Elias,  having  deceived 
the  Pope,  threw  C?e?ar  into  prison.  After 
having  been  in  conlinement  more  than 
two  years,  the  poor  friar,  finding  one  day 
the  door  of  his  dungeon  open,  went  out 
to  warm  himself  in  the  sun's  rays.  His 
gaoler,  a  rough  unfeelinglay  brother,  com- 
ing in  and  thinking  th'at  Caesar  meditated 
escape,  struck  him  on  the  head  with  a 
bludgeon  with  such  \dolence  that  he  died 
of  the  effects  of  the  blow.  This  was  in 
1239.  Under  the  generals  Orescenzio 
and  John  of  Parma,  who  in  various  ways 
incurred  the  disapproval  of  the  stricter 
Franciscans,  the  party  of  Csesar  lingered 
on  ;  but  after  the  glorious  St.  Bonaventure 
became  general  (1256)  and  the  rule  and 


spirit  of  St.  Francis  were  restored  in  their 
first  purity,  the  name  of  Csesarians  was 
soon  forgotten.  (Fleury,  "Hist.  Eccl." 
xxxi.) 

CAG-OTS.  The  name  given  to  a 
race  of  Christian  Pariahs  who  first  came 
into  notice  in  the  south  of  France 
about  the  tenth  century.  The  term  haa 
been  thought  to  be  derived  from  caas- 
Goth,  dog  of  a  Goth,  as  if  they  were  a 
remnant  of  the  Visigoths  who  occupied 
Aquitaine  till  they  were  expelled  by  the 
Franks ;  but  this  derivation  is  quite  un- 
certain. The  Cagots  were  not  allowed  to 
live  in  towns  or  villages,  buHn  groups  of 
dwellings  set  apart  for  them,  called 
cagcftetnes.  Like  the  Swiss  cretins,  they 
were  looked  down  upon  as  an  inferior 
race ;  yet  this  inferiority  was  not 
apparent:  in  physical  development  and 
intelligence  they  seem  to  have  been  on  a 
par  with  their  neighbours;  their  skin, 
however,  was  said  to  emit  a  peculiar 
odour,  by  which  they  could  always  bo 
recognised.  They  were  required  to  go 
into  church  by  a  separate  door,  to  use  a 
special  henitier,  and  to  sit  only  on  benches 
set  apart  for  them.  No  trades  but  those 
of  butcher  and  carpenter  were  open  to 
them.  They  are  said  still  to  be  numerous 
in  the  valleys  of  the  western  Pyrenees. 

CAIiATRAVA,  ORBER  OF.  One 
of  the  three  great  military  orders  of 
Spain ;  the  other  two  were  the  knights  of 
Santiago  and  those  of  Alcantara.  The 
Templars  in  Spain  had  had  immense 
estates  conferred  upon  them,  and  corre- 
sponding services  in  the  unremitting  war 
against  the  Moors  were  expected  from  them. 
Calatrava,  a  town  on  the  upperGaudiana, 
on  the  borders  of  Andalusia  and  Castile, 
was  a  post  of  great  military  importance 
to  the  sovereigns  of  the  latter  country, 
whether  for  offensive  or  defensive  pur- 
poses. In  the  twelfth  century  it  was  en- 
trusted to  the  guardianship  of  the  Tem- 
plars ;  but  these,  finding  the  charge 
embarrassing,  abandoned  the  place  after 
eight  years.  Sancho  III.,  King  of  Castile, 
desired  to  find  a  body  of  knights  who 
would  undertake  its  defence  j  and  his 
wishes  were  soon  fuUy  met  by  the  energy 
and  ability  of  a  Spanish  Cistercian  monk, 
Velasquez  by  name,  who  with  the  con- 


08  CALENDAR,  EOCLESIASTIOAL     CALENDAR,  EOCLESU.STICAL 


currence  of  his  order  founded,  in  1158, 
ft  chivalrous  institute,  the  knights  of 
which  were  to  live  under  a  strict  rule  and 
devote*  themselves  to  the  protection  and 
extension  of  the  Christian  kingdom  to 
which  they  belonged.  A  knight  of  Cala- 
trava  bound  himself  to  perpetual  chastity, 
and  this  obligation  was  only  relaxed  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  when  permission 
was  granted  to  the  knights  to  marry  once. 
He  was  enjoined  to  have  his  sword  ready 
to  his  hand  whUe  he  slept  and  also  while 
he  prayed.  Silence  was  prescribed  at 
meals  ;  "the  fare  was  plain,  meat  not  being 
allowed  more  than  thrice  a  week.  The 
chaplains  of  the  order  were  at  first  allowed 
to  take  the  field  in  expeditions  against 
the  Moors ;  but  this  was  afterwards  for- 
bidden. In  1197  Oalatrava  was  taken  by 
the  Moslems,  and  the  knights  retired  to 
Salvutierra,  in  the  north  of  Spain,  and 
took  the  name  of  that  city  till  their 
former  home  was  recovered.  The  order 
soon  became  very  rich,  and  the  extensive 
influence  and  patronage  which  its  wealth 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  grand-mas- 
ters caused  the  office  to  be  eagerly 
sought  by  ambitious  men.  Such  violent 
quarrels  and  animosities  arose  from  this 
cause  (which  was  similarly  operative  in 
the  case-  of  the  other  military  orders) 
that  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  in  the 
fifteenth  century  wisely  procured  the 
Papal  sanction  to  the  annexation  of 
the  grand-mastership  of  all  three  orders 
to  the  crown  of  Castile.  In  the  general 
suppression  of  the  monastic  orders 
which  the  present  century  has  witnessed 
in  Spain,  the  knights  of  Calatrava  have 
lost  an  their  property,  but  as  a  source 
of  honorary  distinction  the  order  still 
survives.  (H^lyot ;  Prescott's  "Ferdinand 
and  Isabella.") 

CAXtSITBAR,  SCCKESZASTZ- 

CILX».  An  arrangement,  founded  on  the 
Julian-Gregorian  determinations  of  the 
civil  year,  marking  the  days  set  apart 
for  particular  religious  celebration. 

The  Diocletian  persecution  made 
havoc  among  Christian  records  and 
writings  of  every  kind,  and  for  this 
reason  but  few  calendars  of  great  anti- 
quity have  been  preserved.  One  of  the 
earliest,  dated  about  350,  is  little  more 
than  a  list  of  holy  days;  it  places 
Christmas  Day  on  December  25,  and 
the  Feast  of  St.  Peter's  Chair  on  Feb- 
ruary 22.  In  a  calendar  prefixed  to 
the  "  Responsoriale "  of  Gregory  the 
Great,  there  is  no  mention  of  the  Cir- 
cumcision, nor  of  Aflh  "Wednesday,  but 


in  other  respects  it  closely  resembles  the 
present  Roman  Calendar.  The  various 
scientific  and  historical  questions  in- 
volved in  the  determination  of  Easter 
attracted  the  earnest  attention  of  the 
Church  from  an  early  period.  The 
Venerable  Beda  wrote  an  elaborate  work 
"  De  Compute  ;  "  he  is  also  thought  by 
many  to  have  been  the  real  author  of 
the  essay  on  the  true  calculation  of 
Easter,  given  in  the  form  of  a  letter  of 
the  Abbot  Ceolfrid  to  Naiton,  King  of 
the  Picts,  which  he  has  ijiserted  in  the 
fifth  book  of  his  "  Ecclesiastical  History.'^ 
A  treatise  "  De  Compute  "  is  also  among 
the  works  of  Rabanus  Maurus,  the  great 
Archbishop  of  Mayence,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  ninth  century.  It  was  ordered  by 
the  Council  of  Orleans  (541)  that  bishops 
should  every  year  announce  the  date  of 
Easter  on  the  festival  of  the  Epiphany. 

Since  Easter  varies  every  year,  the 
liturgical  arrangements  of  the  Church, 
which  depend  on  Easter,  must  vary  in 
like  manner;  and  the  calendar,  which 
notifies  those  arrangements,  can  only  be 
good  for  the  year  to  which  it  refers. 
From  the  first  Sunday  after  Epiphany  to 
Advent  Sunday — that  is,  from  alx)ut  the 
middle  of  January  to  the  end  of  Novem- 
ber— there  is  not  a  single  Sunday  of  which 
the  ritual  observance  is  not  liable  to 
variation  from  year  to  year,  according  to 
the  varying  date  of  Easter.  The  calendar 
which  announces  the  actual  course  of  the 
liturgy  for  every  day  of  the  year,  may 
be  called  the  liturgical  calendar.  It 
takes  into  account  the  relative  importance 
of  the  celebrations  which  come  hito  com- 
petition on  the  same  day,  in  accordance 
with  canon  law  and  the  decrees  of  the 
Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites,  and  shows 
which  celebration  is  to  prevail  and  be  had 
in  use.  A  glance  at  this  calendar  will 
show  that  many  saints  are  ti-ansfeired  in 
it,  as  to  the  celebration  of  their' festivals, 
and  that  Masses  in  their  honour  cannot  be 
said  on  their  own  proper  days;  but  a 
little  further  search  will  generally  show 
that  the  festival  has  only  been  transferred 
a  few  days  later — that  is,  to  the  first 
vacant  day.  Ownng  to  the  different 
dignity  of  feasts  (see  Double,  Semi- 
Double,  Feasts)  their  priority,  and  the 
extent  to  which  they  may  be  transferred, 
are  often  difficult  matters  to  decide.  In 
general  outline  this  liturgical  calendar 
is  the  same  for  the  whnle  Church ;  the 
feasts  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Blessed 
Mother  are  observed  by  all  Catholics  on 
the  same  days    so  also  are  the  principal 


CALENDAR,  JULIAN-GREGORIAN 

feasts  of  the  Apostles,  and  of  some  of  the 
more  eminent  martyrs  and  saints.  But 
special  circumstances,  arisinj^  out  of  the 
history  of  each  Christian  nation,  affect  its 
Jiturg-ical  calendar  to  a  certain  extent ; 
St.  Patrick's  day,  which  is  a  holiday  of 
obligation  in  Ireland,  is  not  so  in  England  ; 
and  the  octave  assigned  to  the  feast  of  St. 
Edward,  king  and  confessor,  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Westminster,  is  not  observed  in 
[reland.  Many  other  modifications  more 
or  less  important  might  be  mentioned,  in 
virtue  of  which  not  only  each  Christian 
nation,  but  every  religious  order,  every 
ecclesiastical  province,  every  diocese — one 
might  ahiiost  say  every  city,  at  least  in  a 
Catholic  land,  for  the  "  fete  patronale  "  of 
Cambray  is  not  that  of  Douay,  and  each 
causes  a  slight  disturbance  of  the  general 
ordo  in  its  own  favour — may  be  said  to 
have  a  liturgical  calendar  of  its  own. 

In  the  common  ecclesiastical  calendar 
prefixed  to  Catholic  directories,  the  "Pro- 
prium  de  Tempore  "  (that  is.  the  arranp-e- 
ment  of  feasts  and  ofhces,  most  of  which 
depend  on  Easter,  from  Advent  to  Pente- 
cost), is  given  in  the  liturgical  directory, 
but  the  feasts  of  saints  are  assigned  to 
their  fixed  days. 

Still  more  general  is  that  description 
of  ecclesiastical  calendar  in  which  the 
*'  Proprium  de  Tempore  "  is  omitted,  and 
only  the  fixed  festivals  retained.  This,  if 
we  exclude  from  it  the  festivals  of  our 
Lord  and  the  Blessed  Virgin,  is  little 
more  than  a  calendar  of  saints'  days,  and 
would  tend  to  pass  into  a  Martyrology. 
The  "  Acta  Sanctorum  "  of  the  Bollandists 
may  be  regarded  as  a  colossal  calendar  of 
saints,  arranged  according  to  the  succes- 
sive occurrence  of  their  festivals  in  the 
civil  year,  and  enriched  with  biographies 
and  collateral  information.  A  Greek 
Menolocry  is  something  between  a  calendar 
and  a  Martyrology. 

CAIiSSJBAR,  3irX.IAir-GR&GO- 
RXiLlO',  THS.  Julius  Csesar,  in  the 
year  708  of  the  city,  caused  the  civil 
calendar,  which  had  fallen  into  confu- 
sion, to  be  reformed  by  dividing  the  year 
into  twelve  months,  each  with  the  same 
number  of  days  as  at  present,  and  pro- 
viding that  an  additional  day  should  be 
given  to  February  in  every  fourth  year, 
in  order  that  the  natural  year,  which 
was  believed  to  be  865  days  6  minutes 
in  length,  might  keep  even  pace  Avith 
the  legal  year.  But  as  the  real  excess 
of  the  time  taken  ir  the  solar  revolution 
over  365  days  does  not  amount  to  six 
hours,  but  only  to  five  hours  and  forty- 


CALVARIANS 


99 


nine  minutes  (nearly),  it  was  an  inevit- 
able consequence  of  the  disregard  of 
this  fact  that  the  addition  of  nearly 
forty-four  minutes  too  much  every  leap- 
year  should  again  in  course  of  time 
make  the  natural  and  civil  years  dis- 
agree. The  accumulated  error  caused 
the  difference  of  a  day  in  about  134 
years ;  thus  the  vernal  equinox,  w^hich 
in  the  year  of  the  Council  of  Niceea 
(325)  fell,  as  it  ought  to  fall,  on 
March  21,  in  1582  occurred  ten  days 
earlier.  But  since  Easter  ought  to  be 
kept  on  the  Sunday  after  the  first  full- 
moon  following  the  vernal  equinox,  it 
is  obvious  that,  with  so  serious  a  differ- 
ence between  the  real  equinox  and  the 
equinox  of  the  Calendar,  Easter  might 
easily  be  kept  a  month  too  late ;  the 
Paschal  full-moon  might  have  octcurred 
on  some  day  between  March  11  (the  date 
of  the  real  equinox)  and  March  21,  but 
be  disregarded  in  favour  of  the  next 
full-moon,  which  fell  after  the  equinox 
of  the  calendar.  Gregory  XIII.,  con- 
sultmg  with  men  of  science,  effectually 
remedied  the  evil,  and  provided  against 
its  recurrence.  He  ordered  that  the 
days  between  October  4  and  October  15 
in  the  current  year  (1582)  should  be 
suppressed,  and  that,  beginning  with 
1700,  three  out  of  everv  four  centesimal 
leap-years— 1700,  1800,  1900,  but  not 
2000— -should  be  omitted,  so  that  those 
years  should  have  only  365,  not  366 
days.  This  change,  having  originated 
at  Rome,  was  long  resisted  in  Protestant 
countries,  and  in  English-speaking  coun- 
tries not  adopted  until  1751,  by  which 
time  the  accumulated  error  amounted  to 
eleven  days ;  these  days  were  suppress- 
ed between  September  2  and  14,  1752. 
In  Russia  the  Julian  Calendar  is  still 
adhered  to,  with  the  result  that  their 
com]mtation  of  time  is  now  twelve  days 
in  arrear  of  the  rest  of  Europe. 

CAI.IXTZM-ES.    [See  Hfssites.] 
CAIiVABZiLM-S.     On  the  steep  com- 
manding hill  known  as  Mont  Valerien, 
looldng  down  upon  the  Bois  de  Boulogne 
and  famous  in  connection  with  many  re- 
markable incidents  in  the  siege  of  Paris 
some  years  ago,  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of 
Audi  established,  about  1 635,  an  institute 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Calvary. 
The  name  of  the  priest  was  Hubert  Char- 
pentier,  and  the  object  of  the  association 
'  of  priests  which  he  founded  was  to  honour 
I  the  Passion  of  Jesus  Christ  and  labour 
for  the  promotion  of  Catholicism  in  Beam, 
i  where  the  Protestants  were  then  working 
2 


100     QALVIN  AND  CALVINISM 

with  considerable  success.  It  would  ap- 
pear that  this  institute  of  Calvarians  dis- 
appeared during  the  Revolution. 

A  congregation  of  Calvarian  nuns, 
founded  at  Poitiers  in  1617  by  the  Pere 
Joseph,  a  Capuchin  and  intimate  friend 
of  Cardinal  Richelieu,  aided  by  the  high- 
born Antoinette  d'Orl^ans,  still  flourishes 
in  France. 

There  is  also  a  congregation  of  Cal- 
varian sisters,  established  by  Virginia 
Braccelh  at  Genoa  in  1619  for  the  purpose 
of  supporting  and  educating  destitute  and 
homeless  girls,  which  has  received  many 
favours  from  successive  Popes. 

CAIiVZHr  AN-D  CAX.VIItriS2VX. 
Calvin  was  born  in  1509  at  Noyon  in 
Picardy.  His  father  (Chauvin),  who  was 
an  episcopal  fiscal-procurator,  secm-ed  a 
good  education  for  his  son  in  the  noble 
family  of  Montmor.  Young  Calvin  was 
provided  with  a  benefice,  though  he  never 
received  more  than  the  tonsure,  and  went 
to  study  theology  at  Paris.  There,  how- 
ever, the  influence  of  Oiivetan  and  Farel 
won  him  over  to  the  heresy  of  the  Re- 
formers ;  he  gave  up  all  idea  of  the 
priesthood,  and  went  to  study  law  at 
Bomyes.  The  change  which  had  begun 
at  Paris  was  made  complete.  The  Luthe- 
ran AVolmar  persuaded  him  to  give  up 
the  law  and  to  devote  himself  entirely 
to  theology.  Laiter,  when  it  was  no 
longer  safe  for  him  to  remain  in  France, 
he  fled  to  Basle,  went  afterwards  to  Fer- 
rara,  and  finally  settled  at  Geneva  in  1536, 
as  professor  of  theology  and  preacher. 
However,  in  1538,  he  was  driven  from 
the  town,  and  remained  for  three  years 
at  Strasburg,  where  he  married  and 
formed  in'.imate  connexions  with  the  Ger- 
man Reformers.  In  1541  he  was  recalled 
to  Geneva,  and  here  he  organised  his 
Consistory,  through  which  till  his  death, 
in  1564,  he  exercised  an  absolute  power 
in  temporal  as  well  as  in  spiritual  matters. 
Calvin  brooked  no  contradiction.  Cas- 
tellio  had  to  leave  Geneva  for  attacking 
the  dof.trine  of  predestination,  and  the 
Spaniard  Michael  Servetus  (Sarvede), 
who  attacked  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
was  burnt  alive,  an  outo-da-fb  which 
was  approved  by  Melanchthon  and  Bucer. 

As  to  Calvin's  extraordinary  talents, 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  Both  in  Latin 
and  French,  his  writings  are  a  model  of 
clear,  concise  nervous  language ;  he  had 
great  stores  of  varied  learning  at  his 
command;  his  commentaries  on  Scripture 
still  hold  a  very  high  place  in  the  esteem 
of  Protestant  scholars,  and  his  subtlety 


CALVIN  AND  CALVINISM 

and  power  of  reasoning  fitted  liim  to 
become  the  great  theologian  of  the  Re- 
formed sects.  With  a  vast  section  of 
Protestants  in  Switzerland,  HoUand, 
England,  Scotland,  &c.,  his  Institutes  {In- 
stitutio  Religionis  Christiance)  possessed 
almost  unlimited  authority,  and  were 
esteemed  as  the  greatest  work  which  had 
appeared  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles. 
It  is  this  book  which  contains  the 
methodical  exposition  of  his  doctrinal 
system.  It  aflbrds  abundant  proof,  not 
only  of  Calvin's  exalted  talents,  but  also 
of  the  gulf  which  separated  him  from  the 
tradition  of  the  Church.  Its  peculiar 
doctrines  have  long  since  lost  their  hold 
on  Protestants  of  the  better  sort,  and  hia 
system  outrages  the  principles  of  natural 
as  well  as  of  revealed  religion.  It  is  im- 
portant, however,  to  remember  what  the 
system  was  which  so  many  found  purer 
and  more  attractive  than  that  of  the 
Church. 

According  to  Calvin,  God  ordains  some 
to  everlasting  life,  others  to  everlasting 
punishment.  God  does  not  choose  the 
elect  for  any  good  he  sees  in  them,  or 
which  he  sees  they  wiU  do ;  nor  does  hd 
select  some  for  eternal  reprobation  be- 
cause of  their  evil  deeds  foreseen  by  him. 
Indeed,  as  the  whole  nature  of  fallen 
man,  in  Calvin's  view,  is  ''utterly  de- 
void of  goodness ;  is  a  seed-bed  of  sin," 
which  "  cannot  but  be  odious  and  abo- 
minable to  God ; "  as  man  has  no  free- 
will, and  as  God's  grace  is  absolutely 
irresistible ;  it  follows  that  there  can  be  no 
question  of  merits  foreseen,  on  acco'Uit  of 
which  God  chooses  the  elect,  or  of  de- 
merits, because  of  which  the  reprobate 
are  rejected.  Calvin's  words  are  explicit 
on  this  point.  "  If,"  he  writes,  "  we  cannot 
assign  any  reason  for  his  [God  s]  bestow- 
ing mercy  on  his  people,  but  just  that 
it  pleases  him,  neither  can  he  have  any 
reason  for  reprobatinir  others  but  his  will."  * 
Here  of  course  Calvinist  heresy  is  in 
sharp  antagonism  to  Catholic  doctrine, 
according  to  which  God  by  his  eternal 
decree  condemns  none,  except  for  their 
sins  foreseen  by  Him  and  of  course  freely 
committed. 

As  to  the  means  by  which  the  elect 
actually  enter  into  a  state  of  salvation 
Calvin  was  at  one  with  the  rest  of  the 
Reformers.  He  taught  that  justification 
is  eifected  by  faith  and  by  faith  alone. 
Calvin's  doctrine  on  the  sacraments — of 
which  he  only  recognised  Baptism  and 
the  Eucharist — stands  midway  between 
1  Instit.  lib.  ilL  22. 


CAMALDOLI 

that  of  Luther  and  Zwingli.  He  con- 
sidered the  doctrine  of  the  latter  (which 
made  the  sacraments  mere  signs  of 
Christian  profession,  tokens  by  which  a 
man  is  known  as  such  among  his  fellow- 
Christians)  to  be  erroneous  and  even 
profane.  He  speaks  of  the  sacraments  as 
mystical  signs  instituted  by  God,  who 
tbrough  them,  not  only  reminds  men  of 
past  benefits,  but  also  renews  these  bene- 
fits, seals  his  promises,  strengthens  and 
increases  the  faith  of  the  recipient  by  the 
operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Thus  to 
Calvin  the  sacraments  were  not  bare 
signs,  but  real  channels  of  grace.  But  it 
was  to  tlie  elect  only  that  they  conveyed 
this  grace.  To  others  they  were  bare 
and  inoperative  symbols.* 

The  Calvinistic  worship  was  much 
more  bare  and  simple  than  the  Lutheran, 
and  the  constitution  of  the  Calvinistic 
sects  was  rigidly  Presbyterian.  But  Cal- 
vin had  higher  notions  of  Church  free- 
dom and  independence  than  Luther.  He 
maintained  that  the  Church  was  altogether 
independent  of  the  State,  and  the  govern- 
ment which  he  established  at  Geneva  was 
theocratic  in  its  character.  The  influence, 
however,  of  Calvin's  doctrine  was  not 
confined  to  sects  with  Presbyterian  con- 
stitution. His  Institutio  represented  the 
dominant  theology  in  the  Anglican  Church 
down  to  the  time  of  Laud. 

CAMAXiBOlil.  The  austere  order 
of  Camaldoli  was  founded  by  St.  Romuald 
in  1012  on  a  small  plain  among  the  Apen- 
nines bearing  that  name,  about  thirty 
miles  east  of  Florence.  He  had  previously 
been  abbot  of  several  Benedictine  monas- 
teries, the  monks  of  which,  unable  to  bear 
the  rigorous  penitential  life  which  he 
wished  them  to  practise,  had  all  after  a 
time  expelled  him.  The  foimdation  of 
1012  has  always  been  known  as  the 
Hermitage  of  Camaldoli.  Romuald  built 
separate  cells  for  his  disciples,  most  of 
whom  had  to  repair  to  the  chapel  at  the 
canonical  hours,  but  there  was  a  class 
among  them  called  recluses  who  were 
exempted  from  this  obligation.  He  gave 
a  white  habit  to  his  hermits,  whom  he 
obliged  to  fast  during  two  Lents  in  the 
year,  and  to  abstain  perpemally  from 
meat ;  moreover,  during  the  rest  of  the 
year  they  had  to  fast  on  bread  and  water 
on  three  days  in  the  week.  After  some 
time  a  monastery  was  built  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountains,  at  a  place  called  Fonte- 
buono,  and  peopled  by  monks   under  a 

•.or;   these,    however,  wore    the   same 
1  MOhler,  Symholik^  bk.  i.  ch.  4. 


CAMALDOLI 


101 


habit  as  the  hermits,  and  were  bound  to 
the  same  rule  of  life.  Alban  Botler,  who 
seems  to  have  visited  Camaldoli  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  thus 
writes  of  it.*  "  The  hermitage  is  two 
short  miles  distant  from  the  monastery 
[Fontebuono].  It  is  a  mountain  quite 
overshaded  by  a  dark  wood  of  fir-trees. 
In  it  are  seven  clear  springs  of  water. 
The  veiy  sight  of  this  solitude  in  the 
midst  of  the  forest  helps  to  fill  the  mind 
with  compunction,  and  a  love  of  heavenly 
contemplation.  On  entering  it  we  meet 
with  a  chapel  of  St.  Antony  for  travellers 
to  pray  in  before  they  advance  any  fur- 
ther. Next  are  the  cells  and  lodgings  for 
the  porters.  Somewhat  further  is  the 
church,  which  is  large,  well  built,  and 
richly  adorned.  Over  the  door  is  a  clock 
which  strikes  so  loud  that  it  may  be 
heard  all  over  the  desert.  On  the  left 
side  of  the  church  is  the  cell  in  which 
St.  Romuald  lived,  when  he  first  estab- 
lished these  hermits.  .  .  .  The  whole 
hermitage  is  now  enclosed  with  a  wall ; 
none  are  allowed  to  go  out  of  it;  but  they 
may  walk  in  the  woods  and  alleys  within 
the  inclosure  at  discretion.  Everything 
is  sent  them  from  the  monastery  in  the 
valley ;  their  food  is  every  day  brought 
to  each  cell,  and  all  are  supplied  with 
wood  and  necessaries,  that  they  may  have 
no  dissipation  or  hindrance  in  their  con- 
templation. ...  No  rain  or  snow  stops 
anyone  from  meeting  in  the  church  to 
assist  at  the  divine  office.  They  are 
obliged  to  strict  silence  in  aU  public 
common  places,  and  everywhere  daring 
their  Lents,  also  on  Sundays,  holy  days, 
Fridays,  and  other  days  of  abstinence, 
and  always  from  comphne  till  prime  the 
next  day." 

The  order  became  very  wealthy,  and 
many  of  its  hermitages  were  after  a  time 
changed  into  monasteries.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  general  of  the  order,  who  was 
also  ex-officio  prior  of  CamaldoH,  should 
be  taken  from  among  the  hermits  and  the 
monks.  Rudolph,  the  fourth  general, 
drew  up  in  1102,  the  first  written  consti- 
tutions of  the  order,  in  which  he  slightly 
mitigated  the  severity  of  the  original  rule. 
In  process  of  time  the  order  was  separated 
into  five  provinces  or  congregations :  that 
of  Camaldoli,  or  the  Holy  Hermitage ;  that 
of  St.  Michael  at  Murano,  near  Venice ; 
that  of  the  hermits  of  Monte  Corona  near 
Perugia,  a  reformation  founded  by  Paul 
Giustiuiani  early  in  the  sixteenth  century; 
that  of  Turin  ;  and  that  of  France. 
1  Lives  of  the  Saints,  Feb.  7. 


102 


CAMERA 


The  Camaldolese,  if  the  vandalism  of 
the  present  Government  of  Italy  has  not 
yet  destroyed  their  monasteries,  have  still 
a  famous  house  near  Rome,  besides  several 
in  other   parts  of  Italy.     Pope  Gregory 
XVI.  belonrred  to  this  order.     (H^Iyot.) 
CAMEEUA.     [See  Curia  Romais-a.] 
CATUCEiiZiX.     [See  Chaxcel.] 
CAsrsZiSSMrAS.      [See     Puiufica- 

TIO.V.] 

CAIO'BX.ES  and  I.ZGHTS.  St.  Luke, 
in  Acts  XX.  7,  mentions  the  "great 
number  of  lamps"  which  burnt  in  "the 
upper  chamber,"  whUe  St.  Paul  "  conti- 
nued his  speech  until  midnight."  The 
fact  that  Christian  assemblies  during  the 
times  of  persecution  were  held  before 
dawn  made  a  similar  employment  of 
lights  necessary,  but  we  may  well  believe 
that  the  Christians,  familiar  as  they  were 
with  the  symbolical  meaning  of  the  candle- 
stick in  the  tabernacle  and  temple,  also 
attached  a  symbolical  significance  to 
the  lights  which  they  burned  during  the 
holy  mysteries.  This  conjecture  is  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that  the  Church  of  the 
fourth  century  still  continued  the  reli- 
gious use  of  lights  when  they  were  no 
longer  needed  to  dispel  the  darkness. 
"  Throughout  the  churches  of  the  East," 
says  Jerome,  writing  against  Yigilantius, 
"  lights  are  kindled  when  the  gospel  is  to 
be  read,  although  the  sun  is  shining :  not, 
indeed,  to  drive  away  the  darkness,  but  as  a 
sign  of  spiritual  joy."  So  -Paulinus  of 
Nola  speaks  of  "altars  crowned  with  a 
forest  of  lights,"  and  similar  language 
might  be  quoted  from  Prudentius.  The 
use  of  lights  at  Mass  is  mentioned  in  all 
the  Oriental  liturgies. 

With  regard  to  the  West,  a  very 
ancient  African  canon  makes  mention  of 
the  candle  Landed  to  the  acolyte  at  his 
ordination ;  *  while  the  media3val  author  of 
the'' Micrologus"  says  :  ''According  to  the 
Roman  order  we  never  celebrate  Mass 
without  lights  ....  using  them  as  a  t}'pe 
of  that  light  ....  without  which  even 
in  raid-day  we  grope  as  in  the  night."  Nor 
was  the  use  oi"  lights  confined  to  Mass. 
St.  Gregory  Nazianzen  speaks  of  the 
lights  borne  by  the  neophytes  at  baptism, 
"emblems,"  he  says,  "of  those  lamps  of 
faith  with  which  radiant  souls  shall  hasten 
forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom ;  **  and  our 
custom  of  carrying  lights  at  funerals  can 
be  traced  back  to  tlie  fourth  century. 

The  present  custom  of  the  Church  re- 
quires that  caudles  should  be  lighted  on 
the  altar  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
»  Hefele,  Concil.  ii.  70. 


CANON 

of  Mass,  nor  can  lighted  candles  be  dis- 
pensed with  on  any  consideration.  A 
parish  priest,  for  instance,  must  not  say 
Mass  for  his  flock,  even  on  a  Sunday,  un- 
less candles  can  be  procured.  The  can- 
dles must  be  of  pure  wax  and  of  white 
colour,  except  in  Masses  for  the  dead, 
when  the  S.  Cong.  Rit.  prescribes  candles 
"  de  commuiji  cera  " — i.e.  of  yellow  wax. 
Two,andnot  more  than  two,  may  be  lighted 
at  a  priest's  low  Mass,  unless  the  Mass  be 
said  for  the  parish,  or  for  a  convent,  or  on 
one  of  the  greater  solemnities,  when  four 
candles  may  be  used.^  Six  candles  are 
lighted  at  High  Mass,  seven  at  the  Mass 
of  a  Bishop.  Twelve  candles  at  least 
should  be  lighted  at  Benediction  of  the 
Blessed  Sacrament,  or  six  if  Benediction 
is  given  with  the  pyx.'^  Candles  must  also 
be  lighted  when  Communion  is  given, 
whether  in  the  church  or  in  private 
houses  ;  and  one  lighted  candle  is  required 
in  the  administration  of  Extreme  Unction. 
(See  Rock  "  Hierurgia,"  On  the  Use  of 
Lights.) 

CAXTOlO'  (member  of  a  chapter).  The 
clergy  of  every  large  church  in  ancient 
times  were  termed  canonici,  as  being 
entered  on  the  list  (for  this  is  one  of  the 
meanings  of  Kavo>v)  of  ecclesiastics  serv- 
ing the  church.  A  more  definite  meaning 
was  attached  to  the  word  in  consequence 
of  the  labours  of  Chrodegang,  Bishop  of 
Metz,  in  the  eighth  century,  to  revive  a 
stricter  discipline  among  his  clergy,  and 
give  sc(ipe  for  the  exhibition  among  them 
of  sliming  examples  of  virtuous  living. 
He  formed  the  clergy  of  his  cathedral  into 
a  community,  bound  by  a  rule  (KavMv  in 
the  common  sense),  under  which  they 
iiverl  in  common,  on  the  proceeds  of  an 
undivided  property,  and  recited  the  divine 
office  in  choir  with  the  same  regularity  as 
monks.  Many  other  cathedrals  and  large 
churches,  thence  named  collegiate,  orga- 
nised themselves  in  the  same  way.  In  the 
course  of  ages,  the  obligation  oV  living  in 
common  was  abandoned,  and  the  common 
property  was  divided  into  portions  or 
prebends  [Prebend],  one  for  each  canon  ; 
yet  still  the  clergy  of  each  cathedral 
formed  a  united  body  [s-^e  Chapter]  which 
the  Council  of  Trent  calls  an  "  ecclesias- 
tical senate,"'  declaring  that  those  who 
were  called  to  fill  places  in  it  ought — inas- 
much as  cathedral  dignities  were  origin- 
ally instituted  in  order  to  preserve  and 

*  "  Plus  quam  duo,"  according  to  a  decree 
of  the  S.  Cong.  ;  Manuale,  n.  377. 

2  See  the  uote  in  Manuale  Decret.  to  Q.  2766» 

*  Sess.  xxiv.  De  ktform.  c.  12. 


CANON  LAW 

increass  discipline,  supply  society  witli 
examples  of  pious  life,  and  assist  the 
bishops — to  be  chosen  with  extreme  care 
and  circumspection.  In  some  cathedrals 
the  community  life  instituted  by  Chrode- 
gang  was  retained,  and  other  separate 
institutions  similarly  ordered  arose  ;  with 
reference  to  these  see  the  articles  Aus- 
tin Canons,  Kegtjlar  Canons.  The 
secular  canons,  with  whom  we  are  at  pre- 
sent concerned,  having  the  administration 
of  large  properties,  and  holding  in  cathe- 
drals, relatively  to  bishops,  a  position 
which  might  be  one  of  willing  subordina- 
tion, yet  might  easily  become  one  of  an- 
tagonism, form  the  subject  of  numerous 
chapters  of  the  canon  law.  A  canonry  is 
defined  as  a  spiritual  right — arising  out  of 
election  or  reception  into  the  chapter — 
first,  to  a  stall  in  choir  and  a  voice  in 
chapter  ;  next,  to  a  prebend  or  competent 
portion  of  the  chapter  revenues,  on  the 
earliest  possible  opportunity.  Till  the 
acquisition  of  a  prebend,  the  holder  of  a 
canonry  is  a  minor  canon  (canonicus 
minor) ;  after  it,  a  major  or  full  canon. 
The  Council  of  Trent  {loc.  cit.)  ordered 
that  no  one  should  be  appointed  to  a 
canonry  with  cure  of  souls  attached,  under 
twenty-four  years  of  age.  When  there  is 
no  cure  of  souls,  a  person  may  receive  a 
canonry  in  a  collegiate  church  at  as  low 
an  age  as  fourteen ;  in  a  cathedral  where 
the  prebends  are  distributed  among  canons 
with  difterent  orders,  the  recipient  of  a 
subdiaconal  canoniy  must  be  twenty-one  ; 
of  a  diaconal,  twenty-two ;  of  a  sacer- 
dotal, twenty-four  years  of  age.  In 
a  cathedral  where  the  canonries  are 
not  distributed,  he  must  be  at  least 
twenty-two.  The  Council  ordered  that 
all  cathedral  canons  should  possess  a 
grade  of  orders  not  lower  than  the 
subdiaconate,  and  recommended  that  at 
least  half  of  them  should  be  in  priest's 
orders ;  it  also  obliged  them  to  reside  not 
less  than  nine  months  in  the  year.  With 
regard  to  their  duties,  it  saj's : — "  Let  all 
be  bound  to  attend  the  divine  oifices  in  per- 
son and  not  by  substitutes,  and  to  assist 
and  serve  the  bishop  when  celebrating 
Mass,  or  pontificating  in  any  other  man- 
ner, and  to  praise  the  name  of  God  reve- 
rently, distinctly,  and  devoutly  in  hymns 
and  canticles  in  the  choir  appointed  for 
psalmody." 

CAiaOTX  liA'W.  From  the  earliest 
times  the  determinations  of  the  Church 
received  the  name  of  Canons,  that  is,  rules 
.directory  in  matters  of  faith  and  conduct. 
Thus  we  read  of  the  Apostolic  Canons, 


CANON  LAW 


103 


the  Canons  of  the  Council  of  Nice,  or  of 
Chalcedon,  &c.  A  tendency  afterwards 
appeared  to  restrict  the  term  Canon  to 
matters  of  discipline,  and  to  give  the  name 
of  dogma  to  decisions  bearing  on  faith. 
But  the  Council  of  Trent  confirmed  the 
ancient  use  of  the  word,  calling  its  deter- 
minations "  canons,"  whether  they  bore  on 
points  of  belief  or  were  directed  to  the 
reformation  of  discipline. 

Canon  Law  is  the  assemblage  of  rules 
or  laws  relating  to  faith,  morals,  and 
discipline,  prescribed  or  propounded  to 
Christians  by  ecclesiastical  authority. 
The  words  ''or  laws"  are  added  to  the 
definition,  lest  it  be  thought  that  these 
rules  are  only  matters  of  publication  and 
persuasion,  and  not  binding  laws,  liable 
to  be  enforced  by  penalties.  The  detiui- 
tion  shows  that  the  object  of  canon  law 
is  "  faith,  morals,  and  discipline ;  "  and 
nothing  but  these  is  its  object.  "  To 
Christians  " — that  is,  baptised  persons 
are  the  subject  of  canon  law;  and  that 
without  reference  to  the  question  whether 
they  are  or  are  not  obedient  to  the  Church 
and  within  her  pale.  For  theologians 
teach  that  the  character  imprinted  by 
baptism  on  the  soul  is  ineffaceable  ;  and 
in  virtue  of  this  character  the  baptised  are 
Christ's  soldiers,  and  subject  of  right  to 
those  whom  he  appointed  to  rule  in  his 
fold.  The  unbaptised  (Turks,Pagans,  &c.), 
speaking  generally,  are  not  the  subjects  of 
canon  law.  Yet  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  the  Church  has  no  rights  and  no 
duties  in  regard  to  such  persons  ;  by  the 
commission  of  Christ  she  has  the  right  of 
visiting,  teaching,  and  then  baptising 
them  ("euntes  docete  omues  gentes, 
baptizando,"  &c.).  "  Propounded  " — for 
some  of  these  rules  belong  to  the  natural 
or  to  the  divine  law,  and  as  such  are  not 
originally  imposed  by  the  Church,  but 
proposed  and  explained  by  her.  "By 
ecclesiastical  authority  " — hence  canon 
law  is  distinguished  from  systems  of  law 
imposed  by  the  civil  authority  of  States, 
as  being  prescribed  by  the  power  with 
which  .Jesus  Christ  endowed  the  Church 
which  He  founded  ("  qui  vos  audit,  me 
audit;  pasce  oves  meas,"  &c.). 

Be  lore  we  proceed  to  give  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  history  of  canon  law,  to 
notice  its  parts,  ascertain  its  sources,  and 
describe  its  principal  collections,  a  pre- 
liminary objection,  striking  at  the  root  of 
its  authority,  and  almost  at  its  existence, 
must  be  examined.  It  is,  that  the  con- 
sent of  the  civil  power  in  any  country  ia 
necessary  to  give  yalidity  to  the  deter* 


104 


CANON  LAW 


minations  of  the  canon  law  in  that 
country.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
'*  placitum  regium,"  or  "  rovfil  assent ;  " 
it  implies,  whatever  may  be  the  form  of 
the  government,  that  State  authorisation 
is  necessary  before  it  can  become  the  duty 
of  a  Christian  to  obey  the  ecclesiasttcal 
authority.  On  this  Cardinal  Soglia 
writes  as  follows  : — "  K  we  inquire  into 
the  origin  of  the  'placitura,'  we  shall 
find  it  in  the  terrible  and  prolonged 
schism  which  lasted  from  the  election  of 
Urban  VI.  to  the  Council  of  Constance. 
For  Urban,  lest  the  schism  should  give 
occasion  to  an  improper  use  of  Papal 
authority,  granted  to  certain  prelates  that 
there  should  be  no  execution  of  any 
apostolic  letters  in  their  cities  and  dio- 
ceses, unless  such  letters  were  first  shown 
to  and  approved  by  those  prelates,  or 
their  officials.  The  rulers  of  European 
States  also  began  carefully  to  examine  all 
bulls  and  constitutions,  in  order  that  their 
subjects  might  not  be  deceived  by  pseudo- 
pontifls.  But  these  measures,  it  is  evi- 
dent, were  of  a  precautionary  and  tem- 
porary character.  However,  when  the 
cause  ceased,  the  eiFect  did  not  also  cease  ; 
on  the  extinction  of  the  schism,  the 
Placitum  did  not  disappear,  but  was  re- 
tained by  the  civil  power  in  many  coun- 
tries, and  gradually  extended.  At  first, 
says  Oliva,  the  Placitum  was  applied  to 
Papal  rescripts  of  grace  and  justice  given 
to  individuals ;  afterwards  it  was  ex- 
tended to  decrees  of  discipline,  and  in  the 
end  even  to  dogmatic  bulls."  The 
Cardinal  explains  in  what  sense  the  cele- 
brated canonist  Van  Espen,  who  was 
prone  unduly  to  magnify  the  civil  power, 
understood  the  application  of  the  Placi- 
tum to  dogmatic  rescripts,  and  proceeds  : 
— "It  is  evident  that  this  theory"  (of 
possible  danger  or  inconvenience  to  the 
State  if  Papal  bulls  were  published  with- 
out restraint)  "  arose  out  of  the  sugges- 
tions of  statesmen  and  politicians,  who, 
as  Zallwein  says,  out  of  a  wish  to  flatter 
and  please  the  princes  whom  they  serve, 
and  to  enlarge  their  own  and  their 
•masters'  jurisdiction,  as  well  as  out  of  the 
hatred  of  the  ecclesiastical  power  by 
which  they  are  often  animated,  invent  all 
kinds  of  dangers,  harms,  and  losses,  by 
which  they  pretend  the  public  welfare  is 
threatened,  and  artfully  bring  these  views 
under  the  notice  of  their  masters.  ,  .  . 
'If,'  proceeds  the  same  Zallwein,  *the 
ecclesiastical  sovereigns  whom  Christ  hath 
eet  to  rule  over  the  Church  of  God,  were 
to  urge  their  "  placitum  "  also,  whenever 


CANON  LAW 

political  edicts  are  issued,  which,  as  often 
happens,  are  prejudicial  to  the  eccle- 
siastical state,  hostile  to  ecclesiastical 
liberties,  opposed  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Pontift'  and  bishops,  and  aggressive 
against  the  very  holy  of  holies,  what 
would  the  civil  rulers  say  ?  '  Followii^g 
up  the  argument,  Govart  says,  'If  a 
prince  could  not  be  said  to  have  full  power 
and  jurisdiction  in  temporals,  were  his 
edicts  to  depend  on  the  "  placitum  "  of 
the  Pope  and  bishops,  and  could  their 
publication  be  hindered  by  others ;  so 
neither  would  the  Pope  have  full  power 
in  spirituals,  if  his  constitutions  depended 
on  the  "  placitum. "  of  princes,  and  could 
be  suppressed  by  them.  Wherefore  if,  ia 
the  former  case,  whoever  should  maintain 
the  affirmative  might  justly  be  said  to 
impugn  the  authority  of  the  prince,  so 
and  a  fortiori  in  the  second  case  mu?t 
the  supporter  of  such  an  opinion  be  said 
to  undermine  with  sinister  intention  the 
Papal  authority,  or  rather  to  destroy  it  al- 
together.' The  sum  of  the  argument  is, 
that  *  by  the  "  placitum  regium  "  the 
liberty  of  the  ecclesiastical  '  magisterium  ' 
and  government  divinely  entrusted  to  the 
Church  is  seriously  impaired,  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  divinely  appointed  pri- 
macy destroyed,  and  the  mutual  inter- 
course between  the  head  and  the  membei's 
intercepted.  Therefore,  if  the  Church,  to 
guard  against  still  greater  evils,  endures 
and  puts  up  with  the  "  placitum,"'  she 
never  consents  to  or  approves  of  it.' "' 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  interest 
of  the  laity,  and  the  Christian  people 
generally,  it  is  obvious  that  the  lovers  of 
true  liberty  must  disapprove  of  the  "  placi- 
tum." It  is  impossible  that  the  Church, 
or  the  Roman  Pontiff"  as  the  mouth-piece 
of  the  Church,  should  issue  any  decree  or 
have  any  interest  inimical  to  the  welfare 
of  the  general  Christian  population  in 
any  State.  Any  obstacles,  therefore, 
which  governments  may  interpose  to  the 
free  publication  and  execution  of  ecclesi- 
astical rescripts  cannot  arise  from .  solici- 
tude for  the  public  welfare.  Whence, 
then,  do  they  arise,  or  have  they  arisen  ? 
Evidently  from  the  arbitrary  temper  of 
kings,  the  jealousies  of  nobles,  and  tlie 
desire  of  bureaucrats  to  extend  their 
power.  These  two  latter  classes,  at  least 
all  but  the  noblest  individuals  among  them, 
are  usually  predisposed  to  hamper  the 
action  of  the  Church  and  the  clergy,  lest 
their  own  social  influence  should  be 
diminished  relatively  to  that  of  the  latter. 
This  ifl  no  interest  which  deserves  to  en- 


CANON  LAW 

gage  popular  sympatliies,  but  rather  the 
contrary. 

Historical, — Jurisdiction  is  implied 
in  the  terms  of  the  commis.sion  of  bind- 
ing and  loosing  which  Christ  gave  to 
the  Apostles,  and  especially  to  Peter. 
While  Cnristians  were  few  and  apostles 
and  others  who  had  ''seen  the  Lord" 
were  still  alive,  the  apostolic  authority 
could  he  exercised  with  little  help  from 
written  documents  or  rigid  rules.  As 
these  early  conditions  passed  away,  the 
necessity  of  a  system  of  law,  in  order  to 
ensure  uniformity,  equity,  and  perspicuity 
in  the  exercise  of  the  Church's  jurisdiction, 
could  not  hut  become  increasingly  mani- 
fest. After  the  Apostles  h:id  passed 
away,  having  devo*lved  upon  the  bishops 
all  of  their  authority  which  was  not 
limited  to  them  in  their  apostolic  charac- 
ter, each  bishop  became  a  centre  of  juris- 
diction. Li  deciding  any  cases  that  might 
be  brought  before  him,  he  liad  three 
things  to  guide  him — Scripture,  tradition, 
and  the  "holy  canons," — thai  is,  the  disci- 
plinary rules  which  Church  synods,  be- 
ginning with  the  Council  of  Jerusalem, 
had  established.  Many  of  these  primitive 
canons  are  still  preserved  for  us  in  the 
collection  known  as  the  Apostolical 
Canons  [see  that  article],  although,  taken 
as  a  whole,  they  ai'e  of  no  authority. 
Till  Christianity  conquered  the  imperial 
throne,  questions  of  jurisdiction  and  law 
did  not  come  into  prominence ;  after 
Constantine  the  case  was  very  different. 
The  Council  of  Nice,  besides  its  dogmatic 
utterances,  framed  a  quantity  of  canons 
for  the  regulation  of  Church  discipline, 
which,  along  with  those  of  Sardica,  were 
soon  translated  into  Latin,  and  widely 
circulated  in  the  West.  An  important 
step  towards  codification  and  uniformity 
of  procedure  was  taken  at  the  end  of  the 
fifth  or  early  in  the  sixth  century,  when 
Dionysius  Exiguus,  under  the  direction 
of  Popes  Anastasius  and  Symmachus, 
made  a  large  compilation  of  canons  for 
the  use  of  the  Latin  Church.  In  this  he 
included  fifty  of  the  Apostolic  canons, 
translated  from  the  Greek,  considering 
the  rest  to  be  of  doubtful  authority  ;  the 
canons  of  Chalcedon,  with  those  of  which 
that  council  had  made  use  ;  the  canons  of 
Sardica,  and  a  large  number  promulgated 
by  African  councils ;  lastly,  the  decretal 
letters  of  the  Popes  from  Siriciusto  Anas- 
tasius  II.  The  next  collection  is  that 
supposed  to  have  been  made  by  St.  Isidore 
of  Seville,  early  in  the  seventh  cen*tury. 
About  A.D,  860,  a  collection  of  canons  and 


CANON  LAW 


106 


decretals  appeared,  seemingly  at  Mayence, 
which  were  ostensibly  the  compilation  of 
Isidore  of  Seville.  In  an  age  of  great  ignor- 
ance, when  criticism  was  neither  in  I'avour 
nor  provided  with  means,  it  is  not  wonder- 
ful that  this  collection,  which  invested  with 
the  spurious  authority  of  recorded  de- 
cisions a  system  of  things  existing  tra- 
ditionally, indeed,  but  liable  to  constant 
opposition,  passed  speedily  into  general 
recognition  and  acceptance.  Six  centuries 
passed  before  it  was  discovered  that  these 
pseudo-Isidorian .  or  False  Decretals,  as 
they  are  now  called,  were  to  a  great 
extent  a  forgery.  [False  Decretals.] 
Nevertheless,  as  Cardinal  Soglia  remarks, 
the  collection  contains  in  it  nothing  con- 
trary to  faith  or  sound  morals ;  otherwise 
its  long  reception  would  have  been  im- 
possible ;  nor  does  the  discipline  which 
it  enjoins  depend  for  its  authority  upon 
this  collection,  but  either  upon  consti- 
tutions of  earlier  and  later  date,  or  upon 
custom,  "quae  in  rebus  disciplinaribus 
multum  valet." 

Many  collections  of  canons  were  made 
and  used  in  national  churches  between 
the  date  of  Dionysius  Exiguus  and  that  of 
the  author  of  the  "  Decretum."  In  Africa 
there  was  the  Codex  Africanus  (547)  and 
the  "  Concord antia  Canonum  "  of  Bishop 
Cresconius  (697)  ;  in  Spain  the  chapters 
of  Martin,  bishop  of  Braga  (572),  besides 
the  work  by  Isidore  of  Seville  already 
mentioned  ;  in  France,  a  Codex  Canonum, 
besides  the  capitularies  of  the  Merovingian 
and  Carlovingian  kings.  [CAriTULAKY.] 
Passing  over  these,  we  come  to  the  cele- 
brated compilation  by  Gratian,  a  ]3ene- 
dictine  monk  (1151),  which  the  com- 
piler, whose  main  purpose  was  to  reconcile 
the  inconsistencies  among  canons  of  difier~ 
ent  age  and  authorship  bearing  on  the 
same  subject,  entitled  "  Concordantia 
discordantium  Canonum,"  but  which  is 
generally  known  as  the  "Decretum  of 
Gratian."  Having  brought  our  historical 
sketch  to  the  point  where  ecclesiastical 
law,  no  longer  perplexed  by  the  multi- 
plicity of  canons  of  various  date  and  place 
and  more  or  less  limited  application, 
begins  to  provide  herself  with  a  general 
code — a  "corpus  juris  " — applicable  to  the 
whole  Catholic  world,  we  drop  the  his- 
torical method  and  turn  to  the  remaining 
heads  of  the  inquiry. 

Canon  law  consists   of   precepts    of      , 
difierent  kinds.     Hence  it  is  divided  into 
foiu*  parts — precepts  of  the  natural  law, 
positive  divine  precepts,  dii'ections  left  b^ 
the    Apostles,  and  ecclesiastical  constif 


106 


CANON  LAW 


tutictns.  Upon  each  of  these  Cardinal 
Soglia  discourses  solidly  and  lucidly  in 
the  second  chapter  of  his  Prolegomena. 

With  "regard  to  the  sources  whence 
these  precepts  tiow,  they  might,  strictly 
speaking,  he  reduced  to  three — God,  who 
impresses  the  natural  law  upon  the  con- 
science, and  reveals  the  truths  which 
men  are  to  helieve ;  the  Apostles ;  and  the 
Supreme  Pontiffs,  either  alone  or  in  con- 
junction with  the  hishops  in  general 
councils.  Canonists,  however,  find  it 
more  convenient  to  define  the  sources  of 
canon  law  in  the  following  manner : 
1.  Holy  Scripture ;  2.  Ecclesiastical  tra- 
dition ;'  3.  The  decrees  of  councils ;  4. 
Papal  constitutions  and  rescripts  ;  5.  The 
writings  of  the  Fathers ;  6.  The  civil 
law.  On  this  last  head  Soglia  remarks 
that  "many  things  relating  to  the  ex- 
ternal polity  of  the  Church  have  heen 
borrowed  from  the  imperial  enactments 
of  Rome,  and  incoi-porated  in  the  canon 
law." 

The  Collections  of  canon  law,  consider- 
ing it  as  a  system  in  present  force  and 
obligation,  commence  with  the  "  Decretum 
of  Gratian "  already  mentioned.  This 
great  work  is  divided  into  three  parts.  The 
lirst  part,  in  101  "Distinctions,"  treats 
of  ecclesiastical  law,  its  origin,  principles, 
and  authority,  and  then  of  the  different 
ranks  and  duties  of  the  clergy.  The 
second  part,  in  thirty-six  "  Causes,"  treats 
of  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  their  forms  of 
procedure.  The  third  part,  usually  called 
"  De  Consecratione,"  treats  of  things  and 
rites  employed  in  the  service  of  religion. 
From  its  first  appearance  the  Decretum 
obtained  a  wide  popularity,  hut  it  was 
soon  discovered  that  it  contained  numerous 
errors,  which  were  con'ected  under  the 
directions  of  successive  Popes  down  to 
Gregory  XIII.  Nor,  although  every 
subsequent  generation  has  resorted  to  its 
pages,  is  the  Decretum  an  authority  to 
this  day — that  is,  whatever  canons  or 
maxims  of  law  are  found  in  it  possess 
only  that  degree  of  legality  which  they 
would  possess  if  they  existed  separately  : 
their  being  in  the  Decretum  gives  them 
no  binding  force.  In  the  centuiy  after 
Gratian  several  supplementary  "collections 
of  Decretals  appeared.  These,  with  many 
of  his  own,  were  collected  by  the  orders 
of  Gregorj'  IX.,  who  employed  in  the 
work  the  extraordinary  learning  and 
acumen  of  St.  Ilaymond  of  Pennafort, 
into  five  books,  known  as  the  Deci-etais 
of  Gregory  IX.  These  are  in  the  fullest 
tense  authoritative,  having  been  delibe- 


CANON  LAW 

ratelv  ratified  and  published  by  that  Pope 
(1234).  The  Sext,  or  sixth  book  of  the 
Decretals,  was  added  by  Boniface  VIJI. 
(1298).  The  Clementines  are  named 
alter  Clement  V.,  who  compiled  them 
out  of  the  canons  of  the  Council  of  Vienne 
(1310)  and  some  of  hisow^n  constitutions. 
The  Extravofiantes  of  John  XXII.,  who 
succeeded  Clement  V.,  and  the  Extrava- 
gantes  Communes,  containing  the  Decretals 
of  twenty-five  Popes  ending  wuth  8ixtus 
IV.  (1484),  complete  the  list.  Of  these 
five  collections — namely,  the  Decretals, 
the  Sext,  the  Clementines,  the  Extrava- 
gants  of  John  XXII.,  and  the  Extra va- 
gants  Common — the  "  Corpus  Juris  Eccle- 
siastici  "  is  made  up. 

To  these  a  very  important  addition 
has  to  be  made  in  "  Jus  novissimum  " — 
modern  law.  Under  this  head  are  com- 
prised the  canons  of  general  councils 
since  that  of  Vienne,  contained  in  great 
compilations  such  as  those  of  Labbe  and 
Harduin,  and  the  Decretal  Letters  of 
Popes,  published  in  the  form  of  Bullnria, 
and  coming  down  (in  the  case  of  the  great 
Turin  Bidlarium  of  1857)  to  the  ponti- 
ficate of  Pius  IX.  The  decisions  of 
Roman  congregations  and  of  the  tribunal 
of  tlie  Rota  [Rota]  also  form  part  of  this 
modern  law.  The  rules  of  the  Roman 
Chancery,  first  formulated  by  John  XXII. 
and  now  numbering  seventy-two,  are 
everywhere  of  authority,  provided  that 
they  do  not  conflict  with  a  contrary  law, 
a  clause  in  a  Concordat,  or  a  legitimate 
custom.  Lastly,  the  Concordats,  or  treaties 
entered  into  by  the  Holy  See  with  various 
countries  for  the  regulation  of  ecclesi- 
astical affairs  constitute  special  systems 
of  law  for  those  countries.     [Concordat.] 

In  England,  as  in  other  European 
countries,  the  canon  and  civil  law  were 
studied  together  before  the  Reformation, 
and  formed  a  code,  applicable  not  only  to 
spiritual  suits  but  to  the  large  class  of 
mixed  cases,  which  was  enforced  in  the 
Church  courts.  Provincial  constitutions 
were  passed  from  time  to  time  by  difier- 
ent  archbishops  of  Canterbury,  but  from 
their  increasing  number  and  the  want  of 
a  methodical  arrangement,  many  of  them 
were  gradually  forgotten  or  neglected. 
A  great  service,  therefore,  was  rendered  to 
the  English  Church  of  his  day  by  William 
Lyndewode,  chaplain  to  Archbishop 
Chicheley  and  official  of  the  Court  of 
Arches,  who  collected  and  arranged 
(about  1425),  under  the  title  of  "Pro- 
vincfale,"  the  constitutions  of  fourteen 
archbishops  of  Canterbury,  from  Stephen 


CANON  OF  THE  MASS 

Langton  to  Chicheley,  classifying  them 
according  to  their  subjects  in  five  books, 
ill  imitation  of  the  Decretals  of  Gregory 
IX,  To  this  collection  the  constitutions 
of  the  legates  Otho  (1237)  and  Othobon 
(12G2)  were  subsequently  appended. 
These  English  constitutions,  and  canon 
law  generally  (except  so  far  as  modified 
by  the  statutes  and  canons  which  con- 
summated the  Anglican  schism,  and 
raised  the  reigning  sovereign — being  an 
Anglican  Protestant,  1702— to  the  head- 
ship of  the  national  church),  are  still 
recognised  as  authoritative  in  Anglican 
ecclesiastical  courts. 

CABTOZH-  OF  THE  HIASS.  That 
TDart  of  the  Mass  which  begins  after  the 
'^'Sanctus"  with  the  prayer"Te  igitur,"and 
ends,  according  to  some,  just  before  the 
"  Pater  noster,"  according  to  others,  with 
the  consumption  of  the  sacred  species. 
The  name  Canon  is  given  to  this  part  of 
the  Mass  because  it  contains  the  fixed  rule 
according  to  which  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
New  Testament  is  to  be  oftered.  Other 
names  are  given  to  it  by  early  writers. 
Thus  St.  Gregory  calls  it  '^  the  prayer ;  " 
Vigilius,  "the  text  of  the  canonical 
prayer;"  Walafrid  and  others,  "the  ac- 
tion," the  last  of  these  names  being  still 
used  in  the  Missal,  as  well  as  the  word 
Canon,  The  Canon  consists,  according  to 
the  Council  of  Trent,  "  of  our  Lord's  very 
words,  and  of  prayers  received  from 
apostolical  tradition  or  piously  ordained 
by  holy  Pontifi*s."  ^  That  the  Canon  of  the 
Roman  Mass  comes  in  its  substance  from 
very  ancient  times  is  clearly  shown,  (1) 
by  the  fact  that  Pope  Vigilius,' in  the 
sixth  century,  attributes  it  to  the  tradition 
of  the  Apostles ;  (2)  because  the  words  of 
consecration,  with  those  which  immedia- 
tely precede  them,  do  not  exactly  corre- 
spond to  the  Scriptural  narrative,  and  seem 
to  represent  an  independent  apostolical 
tradition ;  (3)  because  the  list  of  saints  men- 
tioned consists  merely  of  Apostles  and 
martyrs,  a  mark  that  the  Canon  is  earlier 
than  the  fourth  century,  coming  from  an 
age  before  the  cultus  of  confessors  had 
been  introduced  in  addition  to  the  earlier 
cultus  of  martyrs. 

The  words  ''  a  holy  sacrifice,  a  spot- 
less victim,"  were  added  by  St,  Leo  the 
Great,  Pope  St.  Gregory  the  Great 
added  the  words  "  and  dispose  our  days 
in  thy  peace,  and  bid  us  be  saved  from 
eternal  damnation,  and  to  be  numbered 
in  the  flock  of  thy  elect,"  Since  Gre- 
gory's time  no  change  has  been  made  in  the 
*  Sess.  xxii.  cap.  4,  De  Sacrific.  Miss. 


CANON  OF  THE   SCRIPTURE    107 

Canon.   (Benedict  XIV.  "De  Miss,"  11, 

12.) 

CAiroxir  OP   the  scripture. 

The  word  canon  {Kava>v)  signifies  a  rod, 
and  then  specially  a  measuring-rule.  It 
was  used  by  a  natural  metaphor  for  a  rule 
in  ethics,  art,  &c.,  and  by  the  Alexandrian 
writers  it  was  applied  to  the  standard  or 
classical  authors  who  furnished  the  model 
or  rule  of  correct  writing.  In  Gal,  vi.  16, 
2  Cor,  x,  13-16,  the  word  bears  the  gene- 
ral sense  (1)  of  a  rule  by  which  Christians 
should  walk  ;  (2)  of  a  measure  of  attain- 
ments assigned  or  permitted  to  an  indivi- 
dual. 

As  applied  to  Scripture,  the  original 
sense  of  the  word  is  hard  to  determine. 
We  first  find  the  derivatives  oi  Canon  used 
with  regard  to  the  Bible.  Thus  Origen 
speaks  of  "  canonical  scriptures,"  "  canon- 
ised books."  The  actual  word  canon,  ac- 
cording to  Credner,!  first  occurs  after  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century.'^  It  may, 
as  Oredner  thinks,  have  been  given  to  the 
list  of  Scriptural  books  because  they  were 
a  rule  for  the  faith,  or,  again,  as  Dr. 
Westcott  argues  with  great  show  of  reason, 
it  may  mean  that  these  books  were  "  ad- 
mitted by  the  rule  "  of  the  Church.  In 
other  words,  the  canon  of  Scripture  may 
have  an  active  or  a  passive  sense. 

The  object  of  this  article  is  to  sketch 
the  history  of  the  canon  or  list  of  sacred 
books,  among  Jews  and  Christians,  and 
then  to  explain  Catholic  as  contrasted 
with  heretical  principles  on  this  matter. 

I.  The  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament. — 
For  the  sake  of  clearness  we  begin  with 
the  list  of  Old  Testament  books  as  given 
by  the  Council  of  Trent,  "  lest  any  doubt 
might  arise  concerning  those  that  are  ap- 
proved of"  as  inspired  Scripture.  They 
are  the  following : — Genesis,  Exodus,  Le- 
viticus, Numbers,  Deuteronomy,  Josue, 
Judges,  Ruth,  four  books  of  Kings  (the 
first  two  being  also  known  as  1  and 
2  Samuel),  1  and  2  Paralipomenon  (or 
Chronicles),  1  and  2  Esdras  (the  second 
being  otherwise  called  Nehemias),  Tobias, 
Judith,  Esther,  Job,  Psalms,  Proverbs, 
Ecclesiastes,  Canticles,  Wisdom,  Ecclesias- 
ticus,  Isaias,  Jeremias  with  Barueh,  Eze- 
chiel,  Daniel,  the  twelve  minor  prophets, 
1  and  2  Machahees.  The  books  marked 
in  italics  are  generally  known  among 
Catholic  critics  as  deutero-canonical,^  not 

^  Gesehiehte  des  iV.  T.  Kanon,  Yolkmar's 
ed,  186.S,  p.  103, 

2  It  occurs,  indeed,  in  Origen,  but  only  in 
the  Latin  version, 

3  If  we  look  at  the  reception  of  the  Old 
Testament    books    among    Christians^  Esther 


108    CANON  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE         CANON  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE 


because  their  authority  is  at  all  inferior  to 
that  of  the  other  Scriptures,  but  because 
their  place  in  the  canon  was  established 
after  that  of  the  other  books.  We  shall 
call  them  henceforth,  then,  by  this  name. 
Their  inspiration  is  denied  by  the  Protes- 
tant churches,  and  the  charge  of  having 
added  apocryphal  books  to  the  Bible  is 
often  brought  against  the  Church.  Hence 
special  attention  must  be  paid  to  the  his- 
tory of  their  reception  among  Jews  and 
Christians.  We  may  now  proceed  to 
consider  the  history  of  the  canon  of  the 
Old  Testament. 

(a)  Among  the  Jeivs. 

This  part  of  the  subject  is  wrapped  in 
great  obscurity.  At  present,  indeed,  the 
Jews  accept  only  such  books  as  actually 
exist  in  Hebrew  and  Chaldee,  and  are 
bound  up  in  the  modern  Hebrew  Bibles, 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  the  deutero-can- 
onical  books.  It  has  often  been  asserted 
that  this  canon,  as  at  present  recognised 
by  them,  was  fixed  probably  by  Esdras, 
and  in  any  case  long  before  our  Lord's 
time  ;  that  it  was  recognised  by  Him  and 
by  his  apostles,  so  that  Catholics  in  main- 
taining the  authority  of  the  deutero- 
canonical  books  are  guilty  of  innovation. 
We  shall  see  that  each  one  of  these  state- 
ments is  contrary  to  fact. 

The  Jewish  collection  seems  to  have 
begun  with  the  five  books  of  Moses. 
They  were  placed  "  in  the  side  of  the  ark 
of  the  covenant."  ^  A  collection  of  Solo- 
mon's proverbs  copied  out  by  the  men  of 
Ezechias  is  mentioned  in  Proverbs  xxv.  1. 
Daniel  ix..  1.  mentions  "the  books  "  (not 
"  books  "  as  in  the  Douay  translation)  in 
which  he  observed  the  seventy  years  of 
desolation  prophesied  by  Jeremias. 
Daniel  may  refer  here  to  some  collection 
of  pi-ophetic  writings  already  made ;  and 
Zacliarias,  vii.  12,  puts  the  "■  former  pro- 
phets" in  juxtaposition  with  the  law. 
With  regard  to  the  popular  opinion  that 
Esdras  collected  the  sacred  booksand  closed 
the  Jewish  canon,  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
this  supposed  fact  rests  upon  the  author- 
ity of  a  cliapter  in  the  Mishna  (viz.  Pirke 
Avoth),  and  that  the  tradition  is  admitted 
by  all  modem  scholars  to  contain  fabu- 

should  be  reckoned  as  deutero-canonical,  for  in 
the  time  of  St.  Athanasius,  and  even  as  late  as 
the  sixth  century,  its  canonicity  was  still  an 
open  question  in  the  Church.  As,  however,  it 
was  ]irobably  always  received  by  the  Jews 
(see  the  introduction  to  Keil's  Commentary  on 
Esther),  and  has  been  generally  acknowledged 
by  the  Protestant  Churches,  it  is  counted  here 
u  proto-canonical. 
1  Deat.  xxxL  25  $eq. 


lous  details.  It  may  contain  this  element 
of  truth,  that  Esdras  did  collect  the  Scrip- 
tural books  written  up  to  his  daj',  but  as 
to  closing  the  scriptural  canon,  nothing 
like  historical  proof  can  be  adduced  for 
it,  and  it  is  itself  utterly  improbable. 
"  We  do  not  even  know,"  writes  a  learned 
Protestant,  "  whether  Esdras  died  before 
or  after  the  last  prophet.  But  how  could 
he  close  the  canon  unle'ss  he  knew)  for 
certain  that  the  spirit  of  prophecy  was 
extinct  ?  Even  if  Malachias  did  die  before 
Esdras,  how  did  Esdras  know  that  the 
Lord  would  never  raise  up  another  dvr}p 
6(6wvev(TTos  to  his  people  ? "  ^  In  2 
Mach.  ii.  13,  Nehemias  is  recorded  to  have 
founded  a  library  "  and  gathered  into  it 
the  [writings]  about  the  kings  and  pro- 
phets and  the  [writings]  of  David  and 
letters  of  kings  concerning  oflerings."  The 
passage  is  most  obscure,  and  in  any  case 
says  nothing  about  the  completion  of  the 
canon.  In  the  later  times,  however,  of 
the  Jewish  commonwealth,  a  distinct 
step  in  advance  seems  to  have  been  made. 
We  find  the  sacred  books  regarded  as  a 
whole  with  certain  recognised  divisions. 
In  the  prologue  to  the  book  of  Ecclesias- 
ticus  mention  is  made  of  "  the  law,  the 
prophets,  and  the  rest  of  the  books ; ''  and 
a  similar  division  into  the  law,  prophets 
and  psalms,  appears  in  Luke  xxiv.  44. 

A  little  later,  we  meet  with  what  may 
fairly  be  taken  as  proof  for  the  existence  of 
a  Hebrew  canon.  Josephus  enumerates 
twenty-two  books  of  the  Hebrew  canon : 
viz.  five  books  of  the  law,  thirteen  books 
of  the  prophets,  and  four  which  contain 
hymns  and  moral  precepts.  We  cannot 
be  quite  certain  what  the  books  are  to 
which  Josephus  refers,  but  undoubtedly 
the  list  which  he  received  is  almost,  and 
probably  it  is  quite,  the  same  as  that  con- 
tained in  our  present  Hebrew  Bibles  and 
accepted  by  Protestants.  Reusch  sug- 
gests the  following  as  the  list  of  books 
intended : — five  books  of  Moses,  thirteen 
books  of  the  prophets  [viz. :  (1)  Josue, 
(2)  Judges  and  Ruth,  (3)  Samuel,  (4) 
Kings,  (6)  Chronicles,  (6)  Esdras  and 
Nehemias,  ^7)  Esther,  (8)  Job,  (9)  Isaias, 
(10)  Jeremias  with  Lamentations,  (11) 
Ezechiel,  (12)  Daniel,  (13)  the  minor 
prophets],  and,  lastly.  Psalms,  Proverbs, 
Canticles,  and  Ecclesiastes.  Melito  (c. 
179)  made  inquiries  about  the  books  re- 
ceived in  the  Hebrew  canon,  and  his  list 
corresponds  to  that  conjecturally  attri- 
buted to  Josephus,  except  that  he  omits 

*  Nagelsbach  in  Herzog's  Encyclopmdia  of 
Prot.  Theology,  quoted  by  Reusch. 


CANON  01'^  THE  SCRIPTURE 

Esther.  In  the  next  century,  Origen,  in 
enumerating  the  twenty-two  hooks  which 
the  Hehrews  hand  down,  mentions  not 
only  the  Lamentations,  but  also  the 
letter  of  the  prophet  under  the  one  head 
Jeremias. 

So  far  Jewish  tradition  seems  to  agree, 
at  least  very  nearly,  with  the  Protestant 
canon  of  the  Old  Testament ;  but  it  only 
seems.  Up  to  this  point  we  have  given 
no  more  than  the  tradition  of  the  Pales- 
tinian Jews.  The  Alexandrian  Jews — or, 
as  it  would  perhaps  be  more  correct  to  say, 
the  Hellenistic  Jews — possessed  Greek 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  known  as  the 
LXX,  and  these  copies  contained  all  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  which  Catho- 
lics acknowledge.  Obviously  it  cannot 
have  been  without  strong  reason  that  such 
a  book  as  that  of  Wisdom  or  Ecclesias- 
ticus  was  put  in  the  same  volume  with  Job 
or  Proverbs.  Among  the  Jews  of  Alexan- 
dria, as  Dr.  Westcott,  one  of  the  highest 
Protestant  authorities  on  the  subject  ad- 
mits, translations  were  made  of  later  books 
(1  Machab.  Ecclus.  Baruch,  &c.),  and  new 
ones  were  written  (Wisdom  and  2  Mach.), 
and  these  "  were  reckoned  in  the  sum  of 
their  religious  literature  and  probably 
placed  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
Hagiographa  (i.e.  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Job, 
&c.)  in  common  esteem."  ^  Nor  is  this  all. 
As  many  Jews  went  beyond  the  Palesti- 
nian and  Babylonish  canon,  so  some  great 
and  orthodox  Jewish  teachers  fell  short 
of  it.  During  the  first  century  a.d. 
the  canonicity  of  Canticles  and  Ecclesi- 
astes  was  still  disputed  in  the  Jewish 
schools.  The  school  of  Schammai  denied 
the  •  canonicity  of  the  latter,  and  in  a 
Jewish  council  about  the  year  90  a.d. 
discussed  freely  the  canonicity  of  each  of 
these  books,  and  finally  decided  it  in  the 
afiirmative.'^  If  the  Jews  did  at  last  de- 
cidedly reject  the  books  which  they  did 
not  find  in  their  Hebrew  Bible,  but  which 
were  contained  in  the  LXX,  this  may  rea- 
sonably be  attributed  to  the  growing  aver- 
sion which  they  felt  to  Greek  literature 
in  general  and  to  the  LXX  in  particular. 
In  any  case,  the  Christian  Church  never 
received  the  canon  of  Scripture  from  the 
Jews,  because  till  long  after  the  Jews  had 
rejected  Christ  they  had  no  fixed  canon. 
Nor  can  any  Protestant  consistently  ac- 
cept the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  on 
Jewish  authority,  unless  he  attributes  in- 

^  Article  '  Canon '  in  Smith's  Bible  Dic- 
tionary. 

2  See  Delitzsch,  introduction  to  Commentary 
om  Canticles,  p.  14  j  to  JEcclesicutes,  p.  196. 


CANON  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE    109 

fallibility  to  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the 
Christian  name.^    The  Palestinian  canon, 
so  far  as  it  can  be  said  to  have  existed  in 
the  time  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  did 
not  receive  any   distinct  approval  from 
them.      No  doubt  the  deutero-canonical 
books  (Wisdom,  Machabees,  &c.),  are  not 
expressly  quoted  as  Scripture  in  the  New 
Testament,  though  the  New  Testament 
does  contain  a   good  many  allusions  to 
them ;  but  precisely  the  same  may  be  said 
of  several  Old  Testament  books  accepted 
by  Protestants — e.g.  of  Judges,  Ecclesias- 
tes,  Canticles.      Moreover,   oat  of,    say, 
350  quotations  of  the  Old  Testament  in 
the  New,  about  300  are  from  the  LXX, 
which     contain     the     deutero-canonical 
books ;   80  that  Augustine  speaks  of  the 
LXX  as  "  approved  by  the  Apostles."  ^ 
O)  In  the  Chi-istian  Chureh. 
We  have  seen  that  when  Christianity 
began  to  be,  a  definite  canon  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  not  yet  established  among 
the  Jews,  and    further   that    the  New 
Testament  does  not  furnish  any  list  of 
Old  Testament  books  received  by  Christ 
and  his  Apostles.     It  can,  however,  be 
proved  from  tradition,  that  the  full  list  of 
Old  Testament  books  (including  Wisdom, 
Machabees,  &c.)  was  authorised  by  the 
Apostles.     The  testimony  of  the  Chris- 
tian writers  during  the  first  three  cen- 
turies is  unanimous  on  this  point.     We 
can  trace  the  reception  of  these  books 
from  the  very    time    of  the    Apostles. 
Clement   of    Rome,    Polycarp,   IrensBus, 
Tertullian,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and 
others    quote     them,    and    many    early 
writers  quote  them  as  Scripture.    To  this 
unanimity  among  the  Christians  of  the 
first  three  centuries  there  is  one  exception 
and   only  one.     Julius   Africanus,   in   a 
letter  to   Origen,  refused  to   accept  the 
history  of  Susanna  as  canonical.    But  this 
exception  proves  how  strong  was  the  tra- 
dition of  the  Church  ;  for  Julius  Africanus 
objects  to  the  histoiy  of  Susanna  merely 
on  critical  grounds,  and  Origen  expressly 
receives  it  (although  well  aware  that  it 

^  Prof.  Robertson  Smith,  in  his  recent  lec- 
tures on  the  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish 
church,  admits  that  the,  Jewish  canon  was  not 
definitely  fixed  in  Christ's  time,  but  tries  to 
justify  the  Protestant  rejection  of  the  deutero- 
canonical  books  on  the  ground  that  these  books 
do  not  conti-ibute  to  the  development  of  revela- 
tion. But,  in  fact,  the  book  of  Wisdom  does 
develop  the  religious  ideas  of  Israel,  and  pre- 
pare the  way  for  New  Testament  doctrine  on 
the  A6vo5,  and  this  has  been  repeated!}'  urged 
by  theologians,  in  defence  of  the  CathoMe 
canon. 

»  August.  Ep,  28,  apud  Benseli. 


110  CANON  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE 

was  not  to  be  found  in  the  Hebrew  text 
of  Daniel)  "because  it  was  held  as  canoni- 
cal in  the  churches—"  quia  in  ecclesiis 
tenetur."  Nothing,  then,  can  be  more 
complete  than  the  Ante-Nicene  tradition 
for  the  Catholic  canon  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. For  the  deutero-canonical  books, 
we  have  the  witness  of  Father  after 
Father ;  we  find  them  placed  in  eveiy 
MS.  of  the  LXX,  translated  in  the  old 
Latin  version,^  and  quoted  in  controversy 
against  heretics. 

Still,  among  the  Fathers  of  the  fourth 
century  there  was  serious  doubt  concern- 
ing the  authority  of  the  deutero-canonical 
books.  Jerome  and  Rufinus  follow  the 
canon  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  declare 
that  the  deutero-canonical  books  are  not 
"  canonical,"  but  "  ecclesiastical "  —  i.e. 
thevwerereadinchurch,butdid  not  possess 
full,  dogmatic  authority.  St.  Athanasius 
excludes  Esther  from  the  canon  and  all 
the  deutero-canonical  books  except  Bar- 
uch  and  the  letter  of  Jeremias.  With 
him  agrees  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  ex- 
cept that  he  does  not  exclude  Esther. 
Gregoiy  Nazianzen  and  Amphilochius  ex- 
clude all  the  deutero-canonical  books  and 
also  Esther,  though  the  latter  speaks  doubt- 
fully about  Esther.  On  the  other  hand, 
St.  Augustine  gives  a  list  of  the  canonical 
books  which  is  precisely  the  same  as  that 
now  accepted  in  the  Church.  A  multi- 
tude of  Fathers  —  Basil,  Chrysostora, 
Ambrose,  Leo,  &c. — quote  the  deutero- 
canonical  books  just  as  they  quote  the 
other  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  Nay, 
so  strong  was  the  feeling  within  the  Church 
in  favour  of  the  extended  canon,  that  even 
Fathers  who  in  theory  rejected  the  deu- 
tero-canonical books,  in  practice  quote 
them  as  Scripture.  Thus  the  witness  of 
the  Church  in  the  fourth  century,  though 
less  strong  than  that  of  the  Ante-Nicene 
leathers,  is  still  strong  in  favour  of  the 
deutero-canonical  books.  The  Church  as 
f».  whole  received  them,  though  individual 
Fathers  of  great  name  rejected  them. 

It  was  probably  this  divergence  of 
opinion  which  had  arisen  which  led  to 
cx)nciliar  decisions  ;  and  here,  too,  we 
see  the  greater  weight  of  authority  and 
tradition  enlisted  on  'the  side  of  the 
deutero-canonical  books.       There    is  no 

1  Clem.  Rom.  (1  Cor.  iii.  27,  55),  Polyc. 
(Ep.  10),  quote  deutero-canonical  books  of  Old 
Testament ;  Iren.  (iv.  5,  2  ;  iv.  26,  3).  TertuU. 
(  Prcescript.  7 ;  Scorp.  8),  Clem.  Al.  (  Strom,  iv. 
23,  &c.),  quote  them  as  Scripture.  The  letter 
ttf  Julius  Africanus  is  edited  bv  Routh,  Bell. 
Sacr.  tom.  ii.  The  opinion  of  Origen  is  given 
in  his  Comm.  in  Motth,  61,  Apod  Reusch. 


CANON  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE 

reason  to  believe  that  the  Council  of 
Nicsea  made  any  list  of  canonical  books, 
though  St.  Jerome  says  he  had  read  that 
that  council  "  reckoned  Judith  "  as  part  of 
Scripture.^  A  little  later,  however,  the 
Council  of  Laodicea  (between  343  and 
381)  canon  60,  rejected  all  the  deutero- 
canonical  books  except  Barucb.^  But 
in  393  all  these  books  were  accepted  by 
the  Council  of  Hippo,  and  again  approved 
as  canonical  in  a  letter  of  Pope  Innocent 
to  Exsupeiius  of  Toulouse.  From  this  time 
the  reception  of  the  deutero-canonical 
books  became  more  and  more  established, 
though  as  yet  there  was  no  binding  decision 
of  the  Church  upon  the  point.  Even  late 
in  the  middle  ages,  the  authority  of  Jerome, 
whose  "  Prologus  Galea t us  "  was  widely 
known,  made  even  orthodox  teachers 
speak  doubtfully  about  the  canonicity  of 
Judith,  &c.'  In  1442  the  matter  came 
before  the  General  Council  of  Florence, 
which  represented  the  East  as  well  as  the 
West,  and  in  the  decree  of  union  for  the 
Jacobites  the  full  list  of  Old  Testrtraent 
books  was  approved.^  Finally,  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  (Sess,  iv.  Decret.  de  Canon. 
Scriptur.)  gives  the  list  of  Old  Testament 
books  with  which  we  began,  detinirg  un- 
der anathema  that  all  of  them,  with  all 
their  parts,  as  contained  in  the  Vulgate 
translation,  were  "  sacred  and  canonical." 
A  few  words  may  now  be  added  on. 
the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  out- 
side the  Church.  The  schism atical  Greeks 
appear  to  have  followed  faithfully  their 
ancient  traditions  and  the  teachin<r  of 
Florence.  The  schismatical  Council  of 
Jerusalem,  which  met  in  1672,  gives  a  list 
of  sacred  books  which  agrees  -^Tith  that  of 
Trent,  and  accepts  the  deutero-canonical 
books  on  the  authority  of  tradition  and  the 
Church.  With  Protestants  it  has  been 
otherwise.  AU  Protestant  sects,  so  far  as 
we  know,  reject  the  canonical  authority  of 
the  deutero-canonical  books.  Some,  how- 
ever, are  more  peremptoiy  in  their  rejec- 
tion than  others.  Lutherans  and  Angli- 
cans treat  these  books  -with  a  certain 
special  reverence,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact 
they  have  been  retained  in  almost  all  Pro- 
testant translations  of  the  Bible.  On  the 
other  hand,  tb.e  Scotch  Presbyterians  in 
their  Confession  of  Faith  place  the  deutero- 
canonical  books  on  a  level  with  any  other 
human  writings,  and  since  1825  there  have 
been  in  Germany  and  elsewhere  fierce  dis- 
cussions, whether  or  no  the  "  Apocrypha  " 


»  Ilefele,  Concil.  i.  p.  371. 

2  Ihid.  \.  p.  775. 

3  Jbid.  vii,  p.  796. 


CANON  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE 

sliould  still  be  bound  up  -with  the  Bible 
(or  as  a  Catholic  would  say,  with  the  rest 
of  the  Bible).  The  question,  however,  is 
no  longer  so  important  to  Protestants  as  it 
used  to  be.  The  denial  of  all  supernatural 
inspiration  has  become  common  among 
their  theologians,  so  that  for  this  large 
and  influential  section  of  Protestants, 
discussion  about  the  list  of  inspired  books 
is  altogether  idle  or  can  have  at  most  only 
an  historical  value. 

II.  Canon  of  the  New  Testament. — Like 
the  Old,  the  New  Testament  contains  a 
certain  number  of  deutero-canonical  books, 
though  the  fact  for  long  received  com- 
paratively very  little  attention  in  modern 
times,  because  the  Protestant  confessional 
standards,  while  they  reject  the  deutero- 
canonical  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
inconsistently  enough  accept  those  of  the 
new.  The  Council  of  Trent  gives  the 
following  list  of  New  Testament  books 
(those  which  are  deutero-canonical  are 
printed  in  italics): — four  Gospels,  the 
Acts,  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  (viz.  to  ih.Q 
Romans,  two  to  the  Corinthians,  to  the 
Galatians,  to  the  Ephesians,  to  the  Philip- 
pians,  to  the  Colossians,  two  to  Timothy, 
to  Titus,  to  Philemon,  to  the  Hebrews), 
first  and  second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  first, 
second,  and  thii'd  Epistle  of  St.  John,  the 
E[nstle  of  St.  James,  the  Epistle  ofSt.Jude, 
the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John. 

With  regard  to  all  these  books,  except 
such  as  are  deutero-canonical,  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  their  authority  was 
ever  doubted  in  the  Church,  although  the 
distinct  reference  to  New  Testament 
Scriptures  becomes  much  marked  and 
frequent  in  Christian  writers  only  after 
the  immediate  disciples  of  the  Apostles 
had  passed  away  and  the  need  of  written 
records  became  more  urgent.  Still,  from 
very  early  times  we  obtain  testimonies  to 
the  existence  of  Scriptures  besides  those 
which  the  Christian  inherited  from  the 
Jewish  Church.  Thus  St.  Peter  classes 
St.  Paul's  letters  with  "  the  rest  of  the 
Scriptures,"  and  the  epistle  which  is  as- 
cribed to  St.  Barnabas,  and  which  belongs 
to  a  very  early  period,  makes  a  quotation 
from  St.  Matthew,  with  the  formula  "  it 
is  written."  About  the  middle  of  the 
second  century  Justin  Martyr  tells  us  that 
*•  Memoirs  "  written  "  by  the  Apostles  and 
by  those  who  followed  them  "  were  read  in 
the  religious  assemblies  of  the  Christians. 
The  description  which  Justin  ^ves  of  his 
"  Memoirs  "  answers  exactly  to  our  four 
Gospels,  and  he  mentions  the  Apocalypse 
by  name.    Shortly  after  Justin's    time 


CANON  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE    111 

(about  180),  the  famous  Muratorian  Canon 
offers  the  earliest  formal  list  of  New 
Testament  books.  This  precious  relic 
exists  only  in  a  mutilated  form  and  in  a 
text  which  is  often  so  corrupt  that  it  is 
difficult  to  divine  its  meaning.  Accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Westcott,  the  Muratorian 
Canon  contained  all  the  New  Testament 
books  at  present  received,  except  "the 
Epistle  of  James,  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, and  2  Peter,  while  it  notices  the 
partial  reception  of  the  [spurious]  Apo- 
calypse of  Peter,"  and  his  words  express 
the  general  opinion  of  scholars  except 
that  many  with  very  strong  reasons  add 

1  Peter  also  to  the  list  of  omitted  books. ^ 
The  Peshito  or  Syriac  translation,  which 
belongs  to  the  third  century,  omits  Jude, 

2  Peter,  2  and  3  John,  and  the  Apoca- 
lypse. Eusebius  sums  up  the  opinions 
which  prevailed  in  the  Ante-Nicene  age 
as  follows:  he  divides  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament  into  such  as  are  *^  ac- 
knowledged "  {ofMoXoyovfxeva),  viz.  the 
four  Gospels,  Acts,  &c.,  and  those  which 
were  "  disputed  '*  (dvTikeyofieva)  embracing 
the  deutero-canonical  books.  He  him- 
self was  evidently  accustomed  to  see  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  treated  as  canon- 
ical, but,  he  says,  "  Some  have  denied  its 
authority,  asserting  that  it  is  disputed  by 
the  Roman  Church  as  not  being  the  Apos- 
tle's work."  Finally  it  is  clear  from  Euse- 
bius that  there  were  certain  uninspired 
and  unapostolic  books  which  he  himself 
pronounces  spurious,  but  which  were  not 
yet  clearly  separated  from  those  in  the 
canon.*^ 

From  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century 
the  canon  of  the  New  Testament  gradu- 
ally became  more  settled.  True,  the 
Syrian  church  still  clung  to  the  canon  of 
the  Peshito,  but  in  the  Church  at  large 
the  whole  of  the  New  Testament  was 
received.  Two  books,  however,  were  still 
regarded  with  partial  suspicion.  In  the 
East,  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  definitely 
exclude  or  pass  over  in  silence  the  Apo- 
calypse of  St.  John ;  Amphilochius  and 
Epiphanius  mention  the  douots  entertained 
with  regard  to  it.  In  the  West,  although 
the  Council  of  Carthage  in  397  and 
Pope   Innocent  ratified   the   full  list   of 

1  Hilgenfeld,  Kanon  des  N.  T.  p.  43. 

2  The  statement  in  the  text  is  substantially 
true,  but  (1)  the  disputed  books  are  subdivided 
" generally  known  "  and  "spurious;"  (2)  the 
Apocalypse  is  placed  according  to  one  opinion 
given,  among  the  "acknowledged,"  according 
to  another  among  the  "spurious^"  Euaeb.  H.  E. 
iii.  25. 


112  CANON  OF  THE  SCEIPTURE 

New  Testament  books,  still  even  to  a 
late  period  doubts  existed  in  some  parts 
of  the  Church  as  to  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  Even  St.  Isidore  of  Seville, 
writing  early  in  the  seventh  century,  says 
that  most  Latins  were  uncertain  whether 
it  was  St.  Paul's,  "because  of  the  dis- 
crepancy in  the  style."  ^ 

All  doubts  as  to  the  canonical  books 
of  the  New  Testament  were  finally  set  at 
rest  for  Catholics  by  the  Councils  of 
Florence  and  Trent.  Protestants,  on  the 
contrary,  on  their  revolt  from  the  Church, 
were  utterly  unable  to  find  any  rational 
principle  on  which  they  could  determine 
the  list  of  New  Testament  books.  Luther 
accepted  or  rejected  New  Testament 
books,  according  as  he  found  or  did  not 
find  the  "Gospel"  in  them.  He  called 
the  Epistle  of  St.  James  "  a  letter  of 
straw,"  which  "  attributes  righteousness 
to  works,  dead  against  St.  Paul."  It  was 
reason  enough,  he  said,  for  him  not  to 
think  highly  of  the  Apocalypse  "that 
Christ  therein  is  neither  taught  nor  ac- 
knowledged, although  this  above  all  was 
an  Apostle's  business  "  !  ^  He  partly  liked 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  because  it 
enforced  belief  in  the  priesthood  of 
Christ ;  partly  disliked  it,  because  of  the 
doctrine  contained  in  cap.  6  and  10.^ 
This  breach  with  tradition  on  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  New  Testament  as  well  as  on 
the  doctrine  was  healed  for  a  time  among 
Protestants,  and  for  a  long  time  the 
entire  canon  of  the  New  Testament  was 
generally  accepted  amongst  them,  al- 
though the  Westminster  Confession  of 
1648  contains  the  only  list  of  New  Testa- 
ment writings  drawn  up  by  any  of  the 
older  Protestant  authorities.  Of  modern 
Protestant  critics  little  need  be  said. 
The  remarks  made  above  on  their  treat- 
ment of  the  Old  fully  apply  to  their  treat- 
ment of  the  New  Testament.  This 
method  is  widely  different  from  that  of 
Luther,  but  it  is  not  without  reason  that 
they  claim  to  inherit  his  spirit. 

III.  The Pi'tnciples  on  ivhichthe  Canon 
of  Scripture  rests. — Catholics,  believing  in 
the  infallible  authority  of  the  Church, 
have  fuU  security  that  the  books  of  the 
Catholic  Bible  are  all  true  and  inspired 
Scripture.  Before  the  Scripture  was  writ- 
ten, or,  again,  the  canon  of  Scripture  was 

1  Apud  Credner,  p.  293.  In  the  middle 
ages  the  spurious  Epistle  to  the  Laodiceans 
found  wide  acceptance,  especially  in  the  Frankish 
and  English  churches,  Credner,  p.  299. 

2  Hilgenfeld,  p.  91. 
»  Ibid.  p.  98, 


CANON  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE 

fixed,  the  faithful  were  guided  by  the 
infallible  teaching  of  their  pastors,  and 
from  this  same  teaching  they  receive  with 
perfect  confidence  the  written  word  of 
God  in  all  its  books  and  in  all  its  parts. 
There  are  three  other  principles  put 
forward  as  sufficient  to  determine  the 
canon  of  Scripture— all  of  them,  as  may 
be  briefly  shewn,  utterly  inadequate. 

According  to  a  theory  once  popular 
among  Protestants,  Scripture  attests  itself 
by  a  ''self-evidencing  light."  In  other 
words,  a  pious  person  who  peruses  the 
Bible  knows  by  the  effect  produced  upon 
his  conscience  and  feeling  that  the  book 
he .  reads  is  the  inspired  word  of  God. 
This  theory  is  abundantly  refuted  by  the 
most  obvious  facts  of  history.  The  Fathers 
of  the  Church  were  not  at  one  as  to  the 
canon, -yet  in  charity  we  may  believe  that 
they  read  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
with  pious  feelings.  Nay,  the  Reformers 
who  are  said  to  have  restored  "the  gospel" 
were  not  at  one  with  regard  to  the  hooka 
which  make  up  the  New  Testament. 
Besides,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  the 
moral  good  which  we  get  or  think  we  can 
get  from  a  book  cannot  possibly  assure 
us  that  it  was  all  written  under  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  contains 
nothing  but  the  truth  of  God.  Indeed, 
the  bare  statement  of  this  theory  suffices 
for  its  refutation. 

Another  theory,  which  we  may  call 
the  literary,  bases  the  authority,  of  the 
Scriptural  books  and  their  title  to  a  place 
in  the  canon,  on  a  critical  investigation  of 
the  internal  and  external  evidence  which 
can  be  produced  in  their  behalf.  This 
method  is  pursued  by  almost  every  learned 
Protestant  at  the  present  day — by  extreme 
sceptics  like  Hilgenfeld  and  Keim,  who 
examine  tradition  to  undermine  the  auth- 
enticity of  Scripture;  and  by  sober  and 
patient  investigators  like  Dr.  Westcott 
who  is  a  devout  believer  in  the  authority 
of  Scripture.  But  to  base  the  canon  on 
critical  investigations,  however  accurate 
and  thorough,  involves  a  misconception  of 
the  object  for  which  Scripture  was  given. 
Scripture  is  given  to  the  whole  Church :  it 
is  meant  for  the  guidance  of  all  the  faith- 
ful, and  all,  either  directly,  by  reading  it 
themselves,  or  indirectly,  by  hearing  por- 
tions of  it  read  or  expounded  by  their 
pastors,  have  the  right  to  benefit  by  its 
salutaiy  lessons.  Indeed,  the  argument 
tells  yet  more  strongly  against  Protestants. 
If,  as  they  hold.  Scripture  is  the  sole  rule  of 
faith,  and  if  learning  and  critical  training 
are  needed  to  ascertain  what  the  Scripture 


CANON  PENITENTIARY 

13,  then  one  of  two  consequences  necessa- 
rily follows.  All,  except  an  infinitesimal 
fraction  of  mankind  must  give  up  the 
attempt  to  secure  a  right  rule  of 
faith  altogether,  or  else,  instead  of  the  in- 
fallibility of  the  Church,  they  must  accept 
the  infallibility  of  some  particular  school 
among  learned  men. 

Protestants  when  they  appeal  to  Scrip- 
ture against  the  Church,  forget  that  it  is 
only  from  this  very  Church,  and  on  her 
authority,  that  Scripture  is  received ;  and 
we  may  conclude  with  the  words  of  a 
Protestant  scholar  who  has  done  more 
than  any  other  to  illustrate  the  history  of 
the  canon.  Protestants,  he  says,  have 
built  a  new  Church  on  the  foundation  of 
Scripture,  first  without  understanding, 
then  without  the  will  to  understand,  that 
Scripture  itself  rests  on  nothing  but  tradi- 
tion.^ 

CANOIO'  PENXTSXTTIAR-S-.  The 
Council  of  Trent  ordered'^  that  in  every 
cathedral  church,  if  possible,  a  penitenti- 
ary, with  a  claim  to  hold  the  next  vacant 
prebend,  should  be  appointed  by  the 
bishop ;  he  was  to  be  forty  years  of  age, 
and  either  a  master  of  arts,  or  doctor,  or 
a  licentiate  in  theology  or  canon  law. 

CANOxr,  PRivziiEGE  OF.  [See 
I]m:munities.] 

CAMOxr  THEOZiOCiAir.  The 
Council  of  Trent  directed  ^  that  in  all 
churches  where  a  prebendal  provision 
was  already  made  for  lectures  on  Theo- 
logy and  Holy  Scripture,  the  bishops 
should  see  that  the  foundation  was  not 
defeated  of  its  purpose  ;  and  also  that  for 
the  future,  in  all  cathedral  churches,  or 
even  collegiate  churches,  existing  in  large 
towns,  and  having  a  numerous  body  of 
clergy,  a  Canon  Theologian  with  the 
above-mentioned  duties  should  be  ap- 
pointed, and  competently  provided  for  out 
of  the  chapter  funds.  . 

CASrOlO-S    OF    THE    APOST]bX:S. 

[See  Apos'iolic  Canons,] 

CASroigrsss.  Chapters  of  Canonesses 
are  mentioned  in  the  capitularies  of  Louis 
le  Debonuaire,  which  allow  them  to 
possess  property,  both  common  and  pri- 
vate, and  only  require  that  they  should 
take  the  vows  of  chastity  and  obedience. 
In  the  following  centuries  these  chapters, 
especially  in  France  and  Germany,  became 
very  numerous.  They  were  distinguished 
from  nunneries  by  the  permission  to  the 
members  to  hold  private  property.     The 

*  Credner,  Zur  Geschichte  des  Canons. 
2  Sess.  xxiv.  De  Reform,  cap.  8. 

*  Sess.  v.  De  Reform,  cap.  1. 


CANONISATION 


113 


duties  of  the  Canonesses  were,  to  teach 
young  girls,  work  at  church  embroidery, 
copy  and  illuminate  service-books,  &c. 
The  right  of  holding  property  naturally 
introduced  much  laxity,  and  introduced 
into  the  order  of  Canonesses  a  class  of 
wealthy  and  titled  ladies,  who  were  in- 
disposed to  submit  to  any  severity  of  dis- 
cipline. Hence  a  crisis  arrived  in  the 
history  of  these  chapters,  similar  to  that 
which  we  have  described  with  reference 
to  Canons ;  and  Regular  Canonesses, 
bound  by  the  vow  of  poverty  and  observ- 
ing a  strict  rule  of  life,  existed  side  by 
side  with  Secular  Canonesses,  to  whom 
the  chapter  was  little  more  than  an 
agreeable  retreat,  enabling  ladies  who  did 
not  wish  to  marry,  or  had  outlived  their 
charms,  to  live  in  the  society  of  persona  of 
their  own  rank,  much  as  they  would  have 
done  in  the  world.  At  the  Reformation, 
such  being  the  character  of  these  chap- 
ters, it  caused  no  surprise  that  the  mem- 
bers of  several  of  them — ladies  of  princely 
or  noble  rank — followed  the  example  of 
their  male  relatives  and  repudiated  the 
Catholic  faith.  Some  of  these  still  exist: 
at  Gandersheim,  Herford,  Sec.  Wilhel- 
mina,  sister  of  Frederick  the  Great,  the 
"  Abbess  of  Quedlinburg,"  was  the  head 
of  one  of  these  Protestant  chapters.  If 
any  of  the  Canonesses  wish  to  marry,  she 
must  resign  her  canonry. 

CAirosrxsATioir.  As  now  under- 
stood and  practised.  Canonisation  is  the 
tinal  process  in  the  recognition  and  esti- 
mation of  the  virtues  of  a  servant  of  God, 
preparatory  to  his  (or  her)  being  "  eleva- 
ted to  the  altars,"  and  commended  to  the 
perpetual  veneration  and  invocation  of 
Christians  throughout  the  Catholic 
Church.  In  the  article  on  "  Beatifica- 
tion "  all  the  previous  steps  in  the  process 
were  described — those  steps  which  have 
the  result  of  declaring  their  object  to  be 
"blessed,"  and  entitled  as  such  to  a 
limited  cultus,  either  in  a  particular 
country,  or  in  a  particular  order,  &c. 
Before  proceeding  to  canonisation,  it 
must  be  proved  that  at  least  two  miracles 
have  been  wrought  through  the  interces- 
sion of  the  "  Blessed  "  person  since  the 
beatification.  This  proof  is  attended 
with  the  same  formalities,  and  surrounded 
by  the  same  rigorous  conditions,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  miracles  proved  before  beatifi- 
cation. After  it  has  been  established, 
the  three  congregations  (of  which  the 
last  is  public  and  in  the  presence  of  the 
Pope),  which  were  requisite  before  beati- 
fication, are  again  convened ;  and  upon  the 


114 


CANONISATION 


CANTICLES 


direction  of  the  Pope,  after  tlie  last  con- 
gregation, the  promoter  of  tlie  faith  and 
the  secretary  of  the  Congregation  of  Rites 
agree  to  a  form  of  decree,  declaring  that 
no  doubt  exists  relative  to  the  miracles  m 
question,  and  that  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  canonisation  should  not  be  proceeded 
with.  This  then  takes  place,  usually  in 
St.  Peter's.  After  various  ceremonies, 
the  postulator  of  the  cause  (who  is  usually 
a  person  of  high  rank  or  distinction  in  the 
country  or  order  to  which  the  saint  be- 
longed) asks  twice  that  the  name  of  the 
servant  of  God  whose  cause  he  pleads  may 
be  enrolled  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Saints ; 
the  Pope  replies  each  time  that  it  is  best 
to  explore  the  will  of  God  still  further  by 
prayer;  litanies  and  the  "Veni  Creator" 
are  chanted;  at  the  third  request  the  Pope 
declares  and  ordains,  "  in  honour  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  for  the  glory  of  the  Catholic 
faith  and  the  progress  of  the  Christian 
religion,  in  virtue  of  the  authority  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  the  Holy  Apostles 
Peter  and  Paul,  and  of  his  own  plenary 
and  proper  authority,"  that  the  servant  of 
God  in  question  shall  be  inscribed  on  the 
register  of  the  Saints  ("Canon  Sanc- 
torum "),  and  that  his  (or  her)  memory 
shall  be  celebrated  on  a  given  day,  in 
every  part  of  the  Church.  A  solemn 
Mass,  in  which  the  Pope  himself,  unless 
disqualified  by  illness  or  old  age,  officiates, 
is  then  celebrated,  in  honour  of  the  new 
Saint. 

The  actual  procedure  will  be  more 
clearly  imderstood  if  we  describe  and 
partly  translate  some  Papal  Bull  of 
Canonisation ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  we 
will  take  the  Bull  of  Alexander  VII.  con- 
cerning St.  Francis  de  Sales,  dated  April 
19, 1665.  After  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life, 
a  specification  of  seven  miracles  proved  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  Congregation  of 
Rites,  a  reference  to  his  beatification  in 
1661,  and  a  mention  of  the  princes  and 
others  (including  Henrietta  Maria,  Queen 
of  England)  by  whom  the  cause  had  been 
zealously  promoted,  the  bull  proceeds :  — 

"At  length,  deeming  it  to  be  just  and 
due  that  we  should  give  glory,  praise, 
and  honour  on  earth  to  those  whom  God 
honours  in  heaven,  we,  with  the  cardinals 
of  the  holy  Roman  Church,  the  patriarchs, 
archbishops  and  bishops,  our  beloved  sous 
the  prelates  of  the  Roman  curia,  our  offi- 
cials and  suite,  the  secular  and  regular 
clergy,  and  an  immense  multitude  of 
people,  have  this  day  met  together  in  the 
holy  Vatican  basilica ;  and  after  three 
petitions  for  the  decree  of  canonisation, 


presented  to  us  on  the  part  of  the  Most 
Christian  King  by  our  beloved  son,  the 
illustrious  Charles,  Duke  of  Crequy, 
ambassador  from  the  said  king ;  after 
sacred  hymns,  litanies,  and  other  prayers, 
duly  imploring  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
Spirit : — 

"  In  honotu*  of  the  most  holy  and  un- 
divided Trinity,  for  the  exaltation  of  the 
Catholic  faith  and  the  increase  of  the 
Christian  religion,  by  the  authority  of 
Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  blessed 
Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  and  ourselves, 
after  mature  deliberation,  and  having 
many  times  implored  the  divine  aid,  by 
the  counsel  of  our  venerable  brothers,  the 
cardinals  of  the  holy  Roman  Church,  and 
of  the  patriarchs,  archbishops,  and  bishops 
met  together  in  the  city,  we  have  decided 
and  defined  the  Blessed  Francis  de  Sales, 
Bishop  of  Geneva,  to  be  a  Saint,  and 
have  inscribed  him  on  the  catalogue  of 
the  Saints,  as,  by  the  tenor  of  these  pre- 
sents, we  do  decide,  define,  and  inscribe 
him ;  appointing  that  his  memory  shall 
be  cherished  and  honoured  with  pious 
devotion  by  the  universal  Church,  as  a 
holy  confessor  and  bishop,  on  the  29th 
day  of  January  in  each  year.  In  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Amen."  A  grant  of  indul- 
gences on  the  usual  conditions  to  those 
who  shall  visit  the  Saint's  tomb  on  his 
festival,  follows ;  a  plenary  indidgence  to 
all  present  at  the  canonisation  is  an- 
nounced ;  and  then  the  bull  proceeds : — 
"We  therefore  bless  God, who  is  wonder- 
ful in  his  saints,  because  we  have  received 
mercy  in  the  midst  of  his  temple,  in  that 
He  hath  granted  to  us  in  the  Church  a 
new  patron  and  intercessor  with  his 
divine  majesty,  for  the  greater  tranquillity 
of  the  same  Chm-ch,  the  spread  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  and  the  enlightenment  and 
conversion  of  heretics  and  all  who  wander 
from  the  path  of  salvation."  After  clauses 
relating  to  the  publication  of  the  bull,  and 
forbidding  any  infraction  of  it,  the  instru- 
ment ends  with  the  date,  and  the  signa- 
tures of  the  Pope  and  thirty-eight  car- 
dinals. 

CAXTTATS  SITXrSA'S'.  A  name 
given  to  the  fourth  Sunday  after  Easter, 
from  the  introit  of  the  Mass,  which  begins 
with  the  words  "  Sing  to  the  Lord  a 
new  song.'  The  name  "  Cantate  Sunday  " 
often  appears  during  the  middle  ages  as 
well  known,  and  was  used  to  mark  the 
date,  even  in  ordinary  life.  The  name  is 
probably  as  old  as  the  twelfth  century. 

CAJa-TXCXiES.     See  HXMKS. 


CANTOR 

CikirTOR,  also  called  "episcopus 
chori/'  "chori  regens,"  was  the  official 
in  a  cathedral  or  collegiate  church  who 
instructed  the  choristers  and  younger 
clerics  in  music,  and  directed  the  singing 
of  the  office,  &c.  In  many  foundations, 
the  office  of  cantor  was  raised  to  a  dignity, 
in  the  canonical  sense,  and  had  a  prebend 
of  considerable  value  attached  to  it.  A 
cantor  thus  provided  for  often  appointed 
sub-cantors  {succentores),  who  were  se- 
lected from  the  choral-vicars,  and  en- 
trusted with  the  teaching  of  the  eccle- 
siastical chant,  while  the  cantor  himself 
exercised  control  over  the  choral-vicars 
and  superintended  the  performance  of  the 
divine  offices. 

CAPXTiLZi  PUSJXSKXVIESrT.  It  is 
certain  from  Scripture  that  the  magistrate 
nlay  lawfully  put  malefactors  to  death. 
Capital  punishment  was  enacted  for  certain 
grievous  crimes  in  the  old  law,  and  the 
Christian  dispensation  made  no  essential 
change  in  this  respect,  for  St.  Paul,  in 
Rom.  xiii.  4,  expressly  says  that  the 
magistrate  "beareth  not  the  sword  in 
vain;  for  he  is  a  minister  of  God,  an 
avenger  to  execute  wrath  upon  him  that 
doeth  evil."  The  unanimous  opinion  of 
theologians  is  in  favour  of  the  lawfulness 
of  capital  punishment ;  and  if  the  Church 
has  given  no  formal  decision  on  the  matter, 
this  probably  is  only  because  the  question 
has  never  till  of  late  j^ears  assumed  any 
great  importance.  Argentre,  however,  in 
his  "  Oollectio  de  Novis  Erroribus,"  i.  86, 
mentions  an  erroneous  proposition  of  the 
Waldenses,  denying  the  lawfulness  of 
capital  punishment.  The  theologians  of 
that  time,  a  number  of  whom  are  quoted 
by  Argentr^,  treated  the  proposition  as 
heretical. 

St.  Thomas  defends  the  lawfulness 
of  capital  punishment  on  the  following 
principle.  The  State,  he  argue;?,  is  like 
a  body,  composed  of  many  members,  and 
as  a  surgeon  may  cut  oiF  one  corrupt 
limb  to  save  the  others,  so  the  magistrate 
may  law^fuUy  put  a  malefactor  to  death 
and  thus  provide  for  the  common  good. 

It  is  only  the  magistrate  who  can 
inflict  the  penalty  of  death,  because  as 
the  justitication  of  the  penalty  is  the  com- 
mon good,  it  can  be  imposed  by  him  alone 
to  whom  the  care  of  the  common  good 
belongs — viz.  by  the  magistrate. 

A  parent  has  the  power  to  impose 
remedial  chastisements,  but  not  to  kill. 
A  private  person  may  of  course  work  for 
the  common  good,  but  if  the  good  he 
would  do  involves  the  injury,  above  all  if 


CAPITAL  SINS 


116 


it  involves  the  death,  of  another,  he  has 
no  authority  to  decide  that  any  member 
of  the  State  is  to  be  exterminated  for  the 
good  of  the  whole. 

As  to  outlaws,  who  may  in  certain 
cases  be  put  to  death  by  private  persons, 
the  sentence  is  really  pa'ssed  by  the  State, 
the  individual  who  slays  them  being  the 
mere  executioner. 

The  magistrate  derives  this  authority 
from  God,  and  it  is  conveyed,  not  only  by 
the  positive  law  of  God  in  Scripture,  but 
also  by  the  natural  law  written  on  the 
heart.  The  number  of  capital  offences 
must  be  determined  by  the  good  of  the 
community ;  so  that  laws  are  rightly  more 
severe  at  one  time  or  in  one  place  than  in 
another.  The  strange  theory  of  Scotus 
that  the  positive  law  of  God  forbids 
homicide,  and  that  therefore  a  magistrate 
can  only  put  to  death  where  God  himself 
has  dispensed  him  from  the  observance  of 
the  law — viz.  for  murder,  adultery,  blas- 
phemy, &c.  and  the  other  cases  provided 
for  in  the  Pentateuch — ^is  generally  re- 
jected. This  opinion  errs  in  taking  for 
granted  that  the  magistrate's  authority 
to  slay  is  conveyed  only  through  the 
positive  law,  and  id  assuming  that  the 
judicial  precepts  of  the  Jewish  code  are 
in  force  among  Christians. 

If  a  capital  offence  has  been  com- 
mitted, the  prince,  even  if  certain  of  the 
prisoner's  guilt,  must  not  condemn  him 
without  fair  trial,  although  here  an  excep- 
tion may  be  made  if  the  guUt  is  notorious 
and  great  evils  would  ensue  from  delay 
of  execution.  Time  must  be  allowed  the 
prisoner  to  prepare  for  death  and  receive 
the  sacraments,  and  this  time  must  be 
given  even  if  there  is  danger  of  his 
escaping.  Finally,  the  canon  law  strictly 
forbids  ecclesiastics,  even  if  they  hold 
temporal  jurisdiction,  to  take  any  part  in 
passing  or  executing  sentence  of  death. 
(St.  Thomas,  2  2nd«,  Ixiv. ;  Billuart,  "  De 
Justit."  diss.  X.;  St.  Liguori,  "Theol. 
Moral.^  lib.  iv.  tract,  iv.  cap.  1.  dub.  2.) 

CAPITAI.  SIIO-S  (in  English  called 
deadly  sins),  so  named  because  they  are 
the  fountain-lieads  from  which  all  other 
sins  proceed.  St.  Thonias,  following  St. 
Gregory  the  Great,  enumerates  seven — 
viz  vainglory,  envy,  anger,  avarice,  sloth 
(which  he  calls  iristitia,  "  sadness,"  or 
distaste  for  labour  in  God's  sei-vice,  but 
which  is  generally  known  as  acedia), 
gluttony,  lust.  Other  writers  substitute 
pride  for  vainglory;  others,  again,  like 
Cassian,  count  both  pride  and  vainglory, 
and  so  make  eight  capital  sins.  St.  Thomas 


i2 


116 


CAPITULARY 


CAPUCHINS 


divides  them  as  follows.  "  Man,"  lie  says, 
"  is  led  to  sin  by  seeking  tliat  which  is 
good  inordinately,  or  by  an  unreasonable 
aversion  from  that  which  is  good,  because 
of  incidental  evil  which  is  joined,  or 
thought  to  be  joined,  with  it.  Man  seeks 
inordinately  the  goods  of  the  soul  (pride), 
or  of  the  body  (gluttony  and  lust),  or, 
lastly,  external  goods  (avarice).  He  has 
an  unreasonable  aversion  to  his  own  good, 
because  of  the  labour  needed  to  secure  it 
(sloth),  or  to  another's  good,  because  it 
seems  to  detract  from  his  own  (envy  and 
anger)."     (1  2nd8e,  Ixxxiv.  4.) 

C.aPZTirZiAR'S'.  A  set  of  capitula, 
or  chapters,  each  of  which  was  a  special 
law,  like  the  "chapters"  in  the  annual 
volume  of  statutes  passed  by  the  British 
Parliament.  The  word  has  been  extended 
to  the  ecclesiastical  canons  passed  in  pro- 
vincial councils — e.g.  to  the  chapters  of 
Martin  of  Duma,  passed  at  Braga  m  572 — 
but  it  is  usually  restricted  to  the  legisla- 
tion of  the  Frankish  kings  of  the  first  and 
second  dynasties. 

These  Capitularies  have  been  published 
by  Baluze,  and  more  recently  by  Pertz; 
they  have  been  carefully  analysed  by 
M.  Guizot  in  his  "  Hist,  de  la  Civilis.  en 
France." 

I.  The  Capitularies  of  the  Merovingian 
kings  begin  with  Childebert  (554).  Com- 
piled as  they  were  so  soon  after  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Salian  Franks  to  Christianity, 
it  is  needless  to  say  that  ecclesiestical  in- 
fluence is  apparent  in  every  part  of  them. 
Among  the  more  prominent  matters  of 
which  they  treat,  are  the  right  of  sanc- 
tuary, the  observance  of  the  Sunday,  the 
right  to  grant  lands  to  the  Church,  &c. 

II,  The  Capitularies  of  Pepin  le  Bref, 
the  father  of  Charlemagne,  are  five  in 
number,  but  only  one  of  them  can  be 
c  lied  in  the  fullest  sense  a  work  of  legis- 
lation, as  having  been  framed  "  in  generali 
{opuli  conventu."  They  are  much  occu- 
pied with  clerical  discipline  and  the  regu- 
lation of  marriage. 

HI.  Tlie  Capitularies  of  Charlemagne, 
eixty-fivein  number,  contain  1,150  separate 
chapters.  They  range  in  date  from  769 
to  803.  They  are  classified  by  M.  Guizot, 
according  to  their  subjects,  into  political 
(273),  moral  {S7),  penal  (ISO),  civil  (110), 
reliffions ,  (Jio) ,  ca7ionical  (2dl) ,  domestic 
(73),  and  miscellaneous  or  occasional  (12). 
A  large  propoBtion  of  them  can  in  no 
sense  be  called  laws ;  so  far  from  it  that 
M.  Guizot  distinguishes  them  into  docu- 
ments of  twelve  ditt'erent  kinds.  These 
twelve  classes  include  new  laws  (properly 


80  called),  ancient  laws  revived,instruction8 
to  the  missi  Dominici,  circulars  to  the 
bishops  and  counts  conveying  admonitions 
or  inviting  opinions,  answersof  the  emperor 
to  questions  put  to  him,  judicial  decrees, 
memoranda,  &c.  &c.  In  fact,  this  un- 
wieldy collection  faithfully  represents  the 
imperial  system  itself,  which  was  a  sort 
of  hodge-podge  of  paternal  government, 
flexible  administration,  and  rigid  law; 
each  of  these  three  being  so  far  pressed  as 
the  Emperor,  under  the  circumstances  of 
each  case,  judged  to  be  expedient. 

IV.  The  Capitularies  of  Louis  le  De- 
bonnaire,  twenty  in  number,  were  added 
to  those  of  Charlemagne,  and  the  whole 
collection,  digested  into  seven  books, 
published  between  820  and  842,  by  Anse- 
gisus,  Abbot  of  Fontenelle,  and  Benedict 
of  Mayence — the  same  to  whom  many 
writers  ascribe  the  fabrication  of  the 
False  Decretals.  Charles  the  Bald  added 
fifty-two,  and  the  succeeding  Carlo vingian 
kings,  down  to  Charles  the  Simple  inclu- 
sive, some  ten  or  eleven  more.  After 
Charles  the  Simple,  the  laws  of  France 
ceased  to  be  called  Capitularies. 

caPFA  mAGWTA.  The  barbarous 
word  "cappa,"  said  to  be  derived  from 
capere  {quia  capit  totum  hominem,  "  be- 
cause it  covers  the  whole  person  "),  was 
originally  used  by  ecclesiastical  writers 
to  denote  the  pluviale,  or  cope,  as  appears 
from  Dui-andus  and  Honorius.  The  cappa 
magna  is  a  long  vestment,  the  hood  of 
which  is  lined  with  silk  or  with  fur,  ac- 
cording to  the  season  of  the  year  at  which 
it  is  to  be  worn.  It  is  used  by  cardinals, 
bishops,  and,  in  many  churches,  also  by 
canons.  It  seems  to  have  been  at  first 
the  choir  vestment  of  canons  regular. 
(From  Gavant.  with  Merati's  notes.) 

CAPVCHZHrs.  A  reform  of  the 
Franciscan  order  instituted  by  Matteo  di 
Bassi  of  Urbino,  who,  being  an  Obser- 
vantine  Franciscan  at  Monte  Falco,  and 
having  convinced  himself  that  the  copuche 
or  cowl  worn  by  St.  Francis  was  different 
in  shape  from  that  worn  by  the  friars  of 
his  own  time,  adopted  a  long  pointed 
cowl,  according  to  what  he  conceived  to 
be  the  original  form.  In  1526  he  obtained 
the  consent  of  Pope  Clement  VII.  to  the 
wearing  of  this  habit  by  himself  and  his 
companions,  with  the  further  permission 
to  live  the  life  of  hermits,  and  preach  the 
gospel  in  every  country,  on  condition  that 
once  in  each  year  they  should  present 
themselves  at  the  general  chapter,  wher- 
ever it  might  be  held,  of  the  Observantine 
firiars.    Matteo  began  hereupon  to  proach 


OAPUCfflNS 

puHicly  in  the  March  of  Ancona ;  but 
the  provincial  of  the  Observantines, 
hearing  of  it,  treated  him  as  an  apostate 
friar  [Apostacy]  and  threw  him  into 
prison.  He  was  released  through  the 
interference  of  the  Duchess  of  Camerino, 
the  Pope's  niece  ;  and  he,  with  two  zealous 
followers,  Louis  and  Raphael  of  Fossom- 
brone,  took  refuge  for  a  time  with  the 
Camaldules  in  their  convent  at  Massaccio. 
They  were  also  kindly  treated  by  the 
Conventual  branch  of  their  order  [Fran- 
ciscans, Conventuals],  and  a  bull  was 
finally  obtained  from  the  Pope  in  1528, 
authorising  the  union  which  Matteo  and 
his  companions  had  entered  into  with  the 
Conventuals,  sanctioning  for  them  the 
hermit  life,  and  allowing  them  to  wear 
beards  and  to  use  the  long-pointed 
capuche  from  which  they  have  derived 
their  name.  After  this  the  order  grew 
with  great  rapidity,  and  it  has  produced 
down  to  the  present  time  numbers  of  men 
eminent  for  every  Christian  virtue,  great 
preachers,  and  accomplished  scholars ; 
yet,  strange  to  say,  the  first  projectors  of 
the  institute,  unlike  the  great  majority  of 
founders  of  orders,  did  not  persevere  in 
the  observance  of  its  statutes.  Matteo 
di  Bassi,  for  whom  independence  of  exter- 
nal control  seems  to  have  possessed  an 
extraordinary  attraction,  finding  that  the 
Pope  had  forbidden  Capuchins  who  did 
not  remain  in  their  monasteries  and  obey 
the  vicar-general,  to  wear  the  pointed 
cowl,  immediately  cut  ofi:'the  half  of  his, 
and  quitted  the  order.  Louis  of  Fossom- 
brone  was  expelled  from  it  on  account  of 
the  violence  of  his  language,  when,  by  the 
Papal  confirmation  of  another  friar  as 
vicar-general  in  1536,  his  ambitious  desire 
to  be  continued  in  the  ofiice  was  frus- 
trated. 

The  statutes  of  the  order  were  drawn 
up  in  1529.  The  government  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  vicar-general,  for  they 
were  at  first  subject  to  the  general  of  the 
Conventuals,  and  only  obtained  exemption 
from  this  obedience  in  1617.  Matins 
were  to  be  said  at  midnight,  and  the 
other  canonical  hours  at  the  times  origi- 
nally assigned  to  them  ;  hours  for  mental 
prayer,  for  silence,  and  for  taking  the 
discipline,  were  prescribed.  They  were 
to  have  no  revenues,  but  to  live  by 
begging  ;  everything  about  their  churches 
and  convents  was  to  be  poor  and  mean ; 
the  very  chalices  were  to  be  of  pewter, 
and  in  the  decorations  of  the  altars,  gold, 
silver,  and  silk  were  excluded.  They 
might  eat  one  kind  of  meat  in  refectory, 


CAPUCHINS 


117 


and  wine  was  allowed ;  but  if  any  Capuchin 
wished  to  diet  himself  more  rigorously 
he  was  not  to  be  prevented.  In  their 
begging  rounds  the  friars  were  not  to  ask 
either  for  meat,  eggs,  or  cheese,  though 
they  might  accept  them  if  offered.  One 
of  the  most  illustrious  names  in  this  order 
is  that  of  St.  Fidelis  of  Sigmaringen,  a 
zealous  and  powerful  preacher,  martyred 
by  the  Calvinists  of  the  Grisons  in  1622 
(see  Alban  Butler,  April  24). 

The  third  vicar-general,  Bernardino 
Ochino,  attained  an  unhappy  notoriety 
through  having  adopted  Lutheran  opinions 
and  married  a  young  girl  from  Lucca.  This 
was  at  Geneva,  where  he  established  him- 
self in  1542.  Ochino  afterwards  went  to 
England,  while  Edward  VI.  was  on  the 
throne,  and  after  having  travelled  through 
many  parts  of  Germany,  and  become 
known  as  a  gifted  preacher  of  the  new 
opinions,  he  settled  at  Zui-ich.  But, 
like  the  late  Rev.  Blanco  White,  who 
deserted  the  Church  for  Anglicanism,  but 
could  not  stop  there,  Ochino  was  com- 
pelled after  a  while  by  internal  restless- 
ness, against  his  own  manifest  interest, 
to  seek  to  undermine  the  Lutheranism 
which  he  had  embraced.  In  1563  he 
printed  a  book  called  "  Trig-inta  Dialogi,"' 
in  which  it  is  intimated  that  if  a  man  has 
an  unsuitable  wife,  and  feels  quite  cei-tain 
that  the  impulse  which  moves  him  is 
from  God,  he  may  without  sin  take  to 
himself  a  second  wife.  The  leaders  of 
the  Reformed  party  at  Zurich,  such  as 
Bullinger  and  Wolf,  were  scandalised  at 
this  apparent  vindication  of  polygamy, 
and  Ochino  was  driven  by  his  Protestant 
friends  out  of  Switzerland  and  sought 
refuge  in  Poland.  Even  here  he  was  not 
suffered  to  rest,  and  on  the  forced  journey 
to  Moravia,  where  he  hoped  to  find  shel- 
ter, after  losing  three  out  of  his  four  chil- 
dren by  the  plague,  he  died  at  Sshlackau 
before  the  eud  of  1564,  but  in  such  iso- 
lation and  obscurity  that  no  particulars  of 
his  death  were  ever  ascertained. 

At  the  time  when  Helyot  wrote,  near 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  tlie 
order  of  Capuchins  was  divided  into  more 
than  fifty  provinces  and  three  "  custodies," 
numbering  sixteen  hundred  convents  and 
twenty-five  thousand  friars,  besides  their 
missions  in  Brazil  and  various  parts  of 
Africa.  The  French  Revolution — though 
there  were  a  few  who  yielded — tempted 
with  no  other  result  than  illustrating  the 
serene  and  stable  virtue  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  Capuchins.  When  Bel- 
gium was  annexed  to  France  in  1797, 


jm 


CARDINAL 


and  soldiers  were  sent  to  turn  out  the 
friars  at  Louvain  into  the  street,  the 
gfuardian  thus  expelled  cried  out,  "  I  pro- 
test in  the  sight  of  Heaven  that  it  is  only- 
force  which  makes  us  go  out  of  our  house ; 
that  I  and  my  brothers  remain  Capu- 
chins ;  that  we  are  suflfering  for  religion, 
and  are  ready,  if  need  be,  to  be  martyrs 
in  its  cause."  A  large  number  of  their 
convents  was  suppressed  during  the  revo- 
lutionary troubles;  in  France,  however, 
they  had  revived  again  to  a  considerable 
extent,  but  the  persecuting  "  Liberalism  " 
which  has  for  a  long  time  had  sway 
there  ejected  them  again  (1880).  They 
are  at  present  most  numerous  in  Austria; 
in  Switzerland  also  there  are  many,  and 
altogether  they  are  said  still  to  number 
several  thousands.  There  are  at  present 
seven  Capuchin  convents  in  England  and 
Wales,  and  three  in  Ireland.  Though 
not  so  numerous  in  the  U.  S.  as  the 
other  Franciscans,  the  Capuchins  have 
convents  in  the  dioceses  of  Green  Bay, 
Leavenworth,  Milwaukee,  and  New 
York.  (H61yot ;  "  Bernardino  Ochino," 
by  Benrath,  1875 ;  American,  English, 
and  Irish  "  Catholic  Directories.") 

CARDZXTJLIL  {cardo,  a  hinge).  Like 
most  arrangements  which,  though  made 
by  man,  carry  out  the  Divine  purpose, 
correspond  to  the  wants  of  human  so- 
ciety, and  are  destined  to  live,  gi'ow  and 
endure,  the  great  institution  of  the  Car- 
dinalate  sprang  from  small  and  almost 
imnoticed  beginnings.  The  words  cardi- 
nalis,  cardinare,  incardinare,  are  found  in 
ante-Nicene  ecclesiastical  writers,  and  are 
used  to  designate  the  fixed  permanent 
clergy  of  any  church — those  who  were  so 
built  into  it  and  necessary  to  its  being  that 
it  might  be  said  to  revolve  round  them 
as  a  door  round  its  hinge.^  They  are  thus 
distinguished  from  those  bishops,  or 
priests,  or  deacons,  whose  connection  with 
a  church  was  loose  or  temporary.  In  the 
Roman  Church  parish  churches  or  Titles 
seem  to  ha  ve  been  first  instituted  in  the  time 
of  Pope  Marcellus  (304),  and  the  priests  to 
whose  charge  they  were  permanently  com- 
mitted were  styled  cai'dtnal  priests.  The 
deacons  of  the  Roman  Church,  as  of  many 
other  important  Churches,  were  at  first 
seven  in  number,  in  imitation  of  the 
original  Apostolic  institution.  They  were 
not  at  first  assigned  to  particular  districts ; 

1  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  use  of 
this  metaphor  dates  from  the  remotest  ant»''  lity. 
The  five  princes  of  the  Philistines  werv  called 
D^jnpj  literally  "axles"  or  "hinges"  of  the 
people.    See  Josue  xiiL  8 1  Judges  iiL  8. 


CARDINAL 

but  as  time  went  on,  and  varioas  charitable 
institutions  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and 
poor,  with  chapels  attached  to  them,  arose 
here  and  there  throughout  the  fom-teen 
"  regions  "  into  which  the  city  was  divided 
under  Augustus,  each  deacon  came  to 
have  one  or  more  regions,  with  the  insti- 
tutions locally  contained  in  it,  assigned  to 
his  care ;  and  from  the  fixed  character  of 
their  charge,  they  were  called  cardinal 
deacons.  For  a  long  time  there  was  no 
such  thing  as  a  cardinal  lishop,  because 
the  Roman  Pontifi"  himself  presided  in  the 
see  in  that  capacity.  But  there  we?e 
several  bishoprics  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bom-hood  of  Rome — namely,  Portus  (at  the 
mouth  of  the  Tiber),  Ostia  (on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  river),  Prseneste,  Sabina, 
Tusculum,  Albano,  and  St.  Rufina — the 
bishops  of  which  appear  from  very  early 
times  to  have  sat  in  synod  with  the  Bishop 
of  Rome :  a  relation  which,  with  increasing 
exercise  and  deepening  comprehension  of 
the  Papal  prerogatives,  was  naturally  de- 
veloped by  degrees  into  a  closer  con- 
nexion. History  does  not  enable  us  to 
describe  or  date  the  stages  of  this  change. 
In  the  eleventh  century  we  find  all  the 
above-named  sees  (reduced  now  to  six, 
for  St.  Rufina  had  been  united  to  Portus) 
incorporated  in  the  Roman  Church,  and 
their  occupants  holding  their  appoint- 
ments dii-ectly  and  solely  from  the  Pope. 
This  is  the  picture  which  we  derive 
from  the  writings  of  St.  Peter  Damian 
(d.  1071),  who  was  himself  Cardinal 
Bishop  of  Ostia.  The  council  held  at 
Rome  in  1059,  under  Nicholas  II.,  decreed 
that  Popes  should  thenceforth  be  elected 
on  the  judgment  of  the  six  cardinal  bishops, 
with  the  assent  of  the  Roman  clergy,  the 
applause  of  the  people,  and  the  ratification 
of  the  Emperor.  Of  the  Roman  clergy, 
the  cardinal  priests  and  deacons  were  the 
most  prominent  and  influential  portion. 
Hence  it  is  easy  to  understand,  considering 
the  instability  of  popular  opinion,  and  the 
transitory  character  of  human  sovereignty, 
that  the  election  of  the  Pope  gmduaUy 
came  to  be  vested  in  the  cardinals  ex- 
clusively, who,  in  their  grades  of  bishop, 
priest,  and  deacon,  represented  the  ancient 
"  presbyterium  "  of  the  Roman  Church  in 
the  fullest  and  most  satisfactory  manner. 

In  the  twelfth  century  the  number  of 
the  cardinal  bishops,  as  already  stated, 
was  six ;  that  of  the  cardinal  priests, 
twenty-eight;  and  about  this  time  the 
number  of  the  cardinal  deacons  was  raised 
from  seven  to  fourteen,  one  for  each 
region,  whence  they  were  caUed  "  regi(Ui- 


CARDINAL 

ary "  deacons.  The  dignity  of  their  office 
grew,  while  its  functions  either  dwindled 
or  were  otherwise  discharged ;  and  in 
process  of  time  the  cardinal  deacons,  still 
deriving  their  titles  from  the  chapels 
formerly  attached  to  the  charitable  insti- 
tutions of  which  they  had  the  charge 
(St.  Hadrian,  St.  Theodore,  &c.),  ceased 
to  have  local  duties,  and,  like  the  car- 
dinals of  higher  rank,  were  drawn  into 
the  august  circle  of  the  immediate  coun- 
sellors and  assistants  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs. 
In  the  course  of  the  twelfth  century  their 
number  .was  further  raised  to  eighteen, 
making  a  total  of  fifty-three  cardinals; 
and  this  number  remained  fixed  for  a  con- 
siderable time.  Then  a  period  of  fluctua- 
tion ensued,  during  which  the  Sacred 
College  was  sometimes  reduced  to  a  mere 
handful  of  persons.  The  Council  of  Basle 
ordered  that  the  number  of  cardinals 
should  be  fixed  at  twenty-four;  but  the 
decree  was  not  ratified  by  the  Pope,  and 
no  attention  was  paid  to  it.  Leo  X.  raised 
the  number  to  sixty-five.  The  final  regu- 
lation, which  prevails  to  this  d^,  was 
contained  in  the  Constitution  Postquam 
vetus  of  Sixtus  V.,  •  published  in  1586. 
By  this  it  was  ordered  that  the  number 
of  cardinals  should  never  exceed  seventy, 
thus  composed :  six  of  episcopal  rank, 
holding  the  old  suburban  sees  before 
mentioned ;  fifty  described  as  priests,  hold- 
ing a  corresponding  number  of  "  Titles  "  or 
parishes  in  Rome ;  and  fourteen  described 
as  deacons.  By  a  Constitution  of  St. 
Pius  V.  (1567),  all  customs  or  privileges 
in  virtue  of  which  the  name  of  Cardinal 
had  been  assumed  by  the  clergy  of  any 
other  church  {e.ff.  by  the  canons  of  Com- 
postella,  Milan,  &c.)  were  abrogated,  and 
it  was  forbidden  to  apply  it  in  future  to 
any  but  the  senators  of  the  Roman  Church. 
The  cardinals  owe  their  appointment 
solely  to  the  Pope.  They  have  for  many 
centuries  been  taken  in  part  from  all  the 
great  Christian  nations  of  Europe,  though 
the  number  of  Italian  cardinals  has  always 
preponderated.  The  appointment  of  a 
future  cardinal  is  announced  by  the  Pope 
in  consistory,  but  the  name  is  reserved  in 
petto.  At  a  subsequent  consistory  it  is 
made  public.  The  actual  appointment,  in 
the  case  of  ecclesiastics  residing  in  Rome, 
proceeds  as  follows:  On  a  day  named, 
the  candidate  goes  to  the  Papal  palace, 
and  receives  from  the  Pope  the  red  biretta ; 
afterwards,  in  a  public  consistory,  at  the 
close  of  an  imposing  ceremonial,  the  Pope 
places  upon  his  head  the  famous  red  hat. 
In  a  second  consistory  he    "closes  his 


CARDINAL 


119 


mouth  "  (o8  claudit) — that  is,  forbids  him 
for  the  present  to  speak  at  meetings  of 
cardinals;  in  a  third,  he  "opens  his 
mouth " — that  is,  he  removes  the  former 
prohibition,  giving  him  at  the  same  time 
a  ring,  and  assigning  to  him  his  "  Title." 
If  the  candidate  is  absent,  being  prevented 
by  just  cause  from  visiting  Rome  at  that 
time,  the  red  biretta  is  sent  to  him,  and 
on  receivinj?  it  he  is  bound  to  make  oath 
that  he  will  within  a  year  visit  the  tombs 
of  the  Apostles. 

The  duties  of  cardinals  are  of  two 
kinds — those  which  devolve  on  them  while 
the  Pope  is  living,  and  those  which  they 
have  to  discharge  when  the  Holy  See  is 
vacant.  As  to  the  first,  it  may  be  briefly 
said  that  they  consist  in  taking  an  active 
part  in  the  government  of  the  universal 
Church;  for  although  the  Pope  is  in  no 
way  bound  to  defer  to  the  opinions  of  the 
Sacred  College,  in  practice  he  seldom,  if 
ever,  takes  an  important  step-  without 
their  counsel  and  concurrence.  Such  a 
school  in  the  science  and  art  of  govern- 
ment in  all  its  forms  as  the  College  of 
Cardinals  exists  nowhere  else  in  the  world. 
They  are  brought  into  immediate  contact 
with  the  various  peculiarities  of  national 
character,  the  prejudices  and  cherished 
aims  of  dynasties,  the  conservatism  that 
with  more  or  less  intelligence  supports, 
and  the  communism  that  with  more  or 
less  wickedness  undermines,  the  fabric  of 
Christian  society.  In  consistory,  where 
the  cardinals  all  meet  in  a  kind  of  senate 
under  the  presidency  of  the  Pope,  and 
discuss  affairs  "  exclusa  omni  forma  judi- 
ciali,"  the  powers  of  statement  and  reply 
are  cultivated;  in  the  various  Congrega- 
tions [see  Cojs'GKEGATiON,  Roman],  they 
learn  to  manage  in  detail  the  vast- and 
complicated  concerns  of  a  commimion 
which  Tsdth  its  one  faith  and,  substan- 
tially, one  ritual,  is  found  congenial  to 
every  people  and  at  home  in  every  climate. 
Hence  flow  that  largeness  of  temper,  that 
breadth  of  view,  that  readiness  to  drop 
the  accidental  if  only  the  essential  be 
maintained,  that  conciliatory  bearing,  and 
that  antique  cpurtesy,  by  which  the  finest 
specimens  of  cardinal  ambassadors  have 
always  been  distinguished.  History  can 
show  few  nobler  pictures  than  that  of 
Cardinal  Consalvi  confronting  the  force 
and  cunning  of  the  First  Napoleon  in  the 
zenith  of  his  power,  and  compelling  the 
draughting  of  the  Concordat  in  the  form 
that  the  Pope,  not  the  First  Consul, 
required. 

All  the  cardinals  now  take  precedence 


x2()        CARDINAL  LEGATE 

of  bishops,  arclibisliops,  and  even  patri- 
archs. This  was  not  so  formerly;  the 
change  was  gradually  introduced.  They 
have  many  other  privileges,  which  canon- 
ists— who  generally  hold  that  the  rank  of 
cardinal,  in  its  temporal  aspect,  is  equiva- 
lent to  that  of  a  reigning  prince— have 
elaborately  defined  in  their  treatises.  On 
their  seals  they  have  their  own  arms,  with 
the  red  hat  as  crest;  they  are  styled 
Eminentissimi,  and  Reverendissimi. 

At  a  vacancy  of  the  Holy  See,  the 
duties  of  the  cardinals  become  confined  to 
protecting  the  Church  and  maintaining  all 
things  in  theb  due  order,  till  a  Conclave 
can  be  assembled  for  the  election  of  a  new 
Pope.    [Conclave.] 

The  TJ.  S.  have  one  cardinal,  their 
first,  John  McOloskey,  Archbishop  of 
"N'ew  York,  created  March  15, 1876 ;  Ire- 
land one,  John  McCabe,  Archbishop  of 
Dublin ;  England  has  three,  Henry  Ed- 
ward Manning,  Archbishop  of  West- 
minster; Edward  Howard  and  John 
Henry  Newman,  both  these  last  being, 
in  the  sacerdotal  order,  simply  priests. 

The  Sacred  College  numbers  at  present 
(1881)  about  sixty-four  members. 

„  CARDZITAI.   LEGATE.      [See   LE- 
GATE.] 

CARDZlTAXi      PROTECTOR.        A 

member  of  the  Sacred  College,  belonging 
by  birth  to  one  of  the  more  considerable 
Catholic  nations,  who  has  received  the 
purple  partly  on  that  account.  His  local 
knowledge  of  his  own  people  and  their 
ways,  through  being  "to  the  manner 
born,"  qualify  him  to  be  a  trusted  referee 
when  any  (juestions  affecting  the  interests 
of  the  nation  to  which  he  belongs,  or  of 
individuals  of  that  nation,  are  brought 
forwaft'd  at  Rome,  and  the  name  of  "  Car- 
dinal Protector  "  has  hence  naturally  been 
assigned  to  him.  A  remarkable  instance, 
illustrating  the  representative  weight  which 
such  cardinals  often  enjoy  in  the  Sacred 
College,  was  that  of  the  French  Cardinal 
Maury,  described  by  Consalvi  in  his  power- 
ful narrative  of  the  Conclave  which  pre- 
ceded the  election  of  Pius  VH.  There 
are  also  Cardinal  Protectors,  of  religious 
orders,  of  colleges,  &c. 

CARlWEEXiZTES,  ORBER  OF.       In 

the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  a  cru- 
sader named  Berthold  vowed  at  the  com- 
mencement of  a  battle  that  if  by  the 
mercy  of  God  his  side  was  victorious,  he 
would  embrace  the  religious  life.  The 
victory  was  won,  and  Berthold  became  a 
monk  in  Calabria.  Soon  after,  the  prophet 
Ellas  is  said  to  have  appeared  to  him  and 


CARMELITES,  ORDER  OF 

revealed  something  to  him  in  consequence 
of  which  Berthold  left  Italy,  and  repair- 
ing to  Mount  Carmel  (1156) — thatlnoun- 
tain,  so  conspicuous  and  so  beautiful, 
which  juts  out  into  the  sea  to  the  south 
of  Acre — took  up  his  abode  there.  Every- 
one knows  the  connection  of  Carmel  with 
some  of  the  leading  incidents  of  the  pro- 
phet's life  (3  Kings,  xviii;  4  Kings,  iv). 
A  cavern  near  the  summit  was  then 
shown  as  the  habitation  of  Eli  as,  and  the 
ruins  of  a  spacious  monastery,  the  history 
of  which  is  unknown,  covered  the  ground. 
An  eyewitness,  John  Phocas,  who  visited 
the  holy  places  in  1185,  thus  writes: — 
"  Some  years  ago  a  white-haired  monk, 
who  was  also  a  priest,  came  from  Cala- 
bria, and  through  a  revelation  from  the 
prophet  Elias,  established  himself  in  this 
place.  He  enclosed  a  small  portion  of 
the  ruins  of  the  monastery,  and  built  a 
tower  and  a  little  church,  assembling 
in  it  about  ten  brothers,  who,  Vvdth  him, 
inhabit  at  present  this  holy  place."  Ber- 
thold, therefore,  may  in  one  sense  be  con- 
sidered as  the  founder  of  the  Carmelite 
order,  and  its  first  general.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  cannot  be  questioned  that  Ber- 
thold found  hermits  living  on  the  moun- 
tain when  he  arrived  there,  attracted  by 
the  peculiar  sanctity  which  the  residence 
of  the  great  prophet  had  conferred  on 
the  spot;  these  appear  to  have  joined 
him,  and  to  have  accepted  along  with  him 
and  his  immediate  followers  the  rule 
which  was  framed  for  them  in  1209  by 
Albert,  patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  These 
hermits  may  have  had  a  long  line  of  pre- 
decessors, nor  is  there  any  historical  or 
moral  impossibility  in  the  assumption 
that  holy  men  had  lived  on  the  mountain 
without  interruption  since  the  days  of 
Elias,  although  positive  evidence  is  want- 
ing. This  belief  in  the  possible  succes- 
sion of  a  long  line  of  saintly  anchorites 
was  gradually  merged  in  the  fixed  per- 
suasion that  the  very  order  of  Our  Lady 
of  Mount  Carmel,  such  as  it  was  in  the 
thirteenth  and  following  centuries,  had 
existed  there  in  unbroken  continuity, 
keeping  the  three  vows,  and  with  here- 
ditary succession,  from  the  time  of  Elias. 
It  was  in  this  extreme  form  that  the 
Cajrmelite  view  of  the  antiquity  of  their 
order  was  combated  in  the  seventeenth 
century  by  the  learned  Papebroke,  the 
BoUandist,  who  in  the  volumes  of  the 
"  Acta  Sanctorum  "for  March  gave  Lives 
of  Berthold  and  Cyril,  in  which  it  was 
assumed  that  the  former  was  the  Jirsty 
\  and  the  latter  the  third,  geneial  of  the 


CARMELITES,  ORDER  OF 

order.  A  violent  controversy  arose ; 
several  Carmelite  wi-iters  published  large 
treatises  ;  other  Jesuits  came  to  the  assis- 
tance of  Papebroke  ;  the  Spanish  Inquisi- 
tion was  induced  to  issue  a  decree  censur- 
ing the  published  volumes  of  the  "  Acta 
Sanctorum ;  "  and  Rome,  while  refusing 
to  adopt  or  ratify  this  censure,  thought^  it 
expedient  to  impose  silence  on  the  dis- 
putants (1698). 

The  rule  given  to  the  order  by  the 
patriarch  Albert  was  in  sixteen  articles. 
It  forbade  the  possession  of  property; 
ordered  that  each  hermit  should  live  in  a 
cell  by  himself;  interdicted  meat  alto- 
gether ;  recommended  manual  labour  and 
silence ;  and  imposed  a  strict  fast  from  the 
Exaltation  of  the  Cross  (Sept.  14)  to 
Easter,  Sundays  being  excepted. 

The  progress  of  the  Mohammedan 
power  in  Palestine,  after  the  illusory  treaty 
entered  into  by  the  Emperor  Frederic  11. 
in  1229  with  the  Sultan  Kameel,  made  it 
more  and  more  difficult  for  Christians  to 
live  there  in  peace  ;  and  under  their  fifth 
general,  Alan  of  Brittany,  they  aban- 
doned Oarmel  and  established  themselves 
in  Cyprus  (1238)  and  other  places.  They 
held  their  first  chapter  at  Aylesford  in 
Hampshire,  in  1245,  and  elected  an 
Englishman,  St.  Simon  Stock,  to  the 
generalship.  Under  him  the  order  was 
greatly  extended,  and  entered  upon  a 
flourishing  period.  To  this  Saint  Our 
Lady  is  said  to  have  shown  the  Scapular 
in  a  vision.  [See  Scapular.]  After  passing 
into  Europe  they  found  it  necessary  to 
live  in  common,  and  no  longer  as  hermits. 
This,  with  other  mitigations  of  the  primi- 
tive rule,  was  sanctioned  by  Innocent  IV., 
who  confirmed  them  in  1247  under  the 
title  of  the  order  of  friars  of  Our  Lady  of 
Mount  Oarmel.  Their  habit  was  origin- 
ally striped,  but  ultimately  the  dress  By 
which  they  are  so  well  known,  the  brown 
habit  with  white  cloak  and  scapular,  was 
adopted.  They  were  recognised  as  one  of 
the  mendicant  orders,  and  were  popular- 
ly known  as  "  White  Friars. ' '  Many  dis- 
tinguished  men  and  eminent  ecclesiastics 
have  worn  their  habit.  In  mediaeval  En- 
gland we  can  point  to  the  vast  and  solid 
capacity  of  Thomas  of  Walden,  confessor 
to  Henry  V.,  and  one  of  the  theologians 
at  the  Council  of  Constance,  who  in  a 
work  of  profound  learning  and  great  elo- 
quence, the  "  Doctrinale  Fidei,"  confuted 
the  sophi  strips  advanced  by  Wyclif  against 
the  faith  and  discipline  of  the  Church. 

The  Papal  schism  led  to  much  confu- 
sion and  relaxation  of  discipline,  a  portioir 


CARjNIELITES,  ORDER  OF  121 

of  the  order  siding  with  the  Avignon 
Pope  and  electing  a  different  general. 
England  remained  true  to  Urban  VI.  To 
put  an  end  to  the  dissimilarity  of  practice 
which  prevailed,  Eugenius  IV.  issued  a 
bull  in  1431,  in  which  permission  was 
given  to  eat  meat  three  times  a  week, 
Avith  other  indulgences.  But  these  were 
not  accepted  in  all  the  convents.  Gradu- 
ally the  names  of  Observantines  and  Con- 
ventuals crept  in,  to  distinguish  the  Car- 
E2^ites  who  observed  the  rule  as  ratified 
by  x^nocent  IV.  from  those  who  accepted 
the  mitigations  of  Eugenius.  Special 
congregations  aiming  at  a  strict  obser- 
vance of  the  rule  aros§  in  Italy  and 
France ;  among  these  was  the  congrega- 
tion of  Mantua,  founded  by  the  unhappy 
Thomas  Connecte,  who  is  noticed  by 
Addison  in  the  "  Spectator."  In  England 
at  the  time  of  the  dissolution  of  the 
monasteries,  the  Carmelites  were  in  a  very 
flourishing  condition.  Impartial  wit- 
nesses declare  that  in  no  country  of 
Europe  did  the  glory  of  their  institute 
shine  out  with  greater  lustre  than  in 
England,  They  had  fifty-two  houses.^ 
In  London  the  library  of  the  White 
Friars  was  the  best  to  be  found  in  the 
city ;  the  books  bestowed  on  it  by  Thomas 
Walden  alone  were  valued  at  two  thou- 
sand gold  pieces.  All  these  were  destroyed 
or  dispersed  at  the  dissolution.- 

The  later  glories  of  the  order  belong 
chiefly  to  Spain,  and  are  due  to  the  heroic 
virtue  of  a  woman,  St.  Teresa.  Carme- 
lite nuns  had  been  first  instituted  by  John 


1  Namely  at — 

Appleby 

Lynn 
Maldon 

Aylesford 

Berwick 

Marlborough 

Blakenev 

Newcastle 

Bolton  (York) 

Northallerton 

Boston 

Northampton 

Bristol 

Norwich 

Burnham 

Nt)ttingham 

Cambridge 

Oxford 

Cardiif 

Plymoufh 

Chester 

Pontefract 

Coventry 

Bichmond 

Denbigh 

Euthin 

Doncaster 

Sandwich 

Drayton 

Scarborougn 

Gloucester 

Seale 

Hitchin 

Shene 

Hulne  (near  AlnM'ick)  Shoreham 

HuU  Shrewsbury 

Ipswich  Stamford 

Lenton  (Notts)  Sutton  (York) 

Lincoln  Taunton 

London  Warwick 

Losenham  Winchester 

Ludlow  Yarmouth 

Lvme  Eegis  York  . 
2  BiUiotheca  Carmelitana,  Orleans,  1762. 


122 


CARNIVAL 


Soreth,  general  of  the  order  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  Relaxations  of  the  rule  had 
crept  into  their  convents  as  into  those  of 
the  friars.  St.  Teresa  lived  for  many- 
years  in  the  convent  of  Avila,  which  was 
under  the  mitigated  obsei-vance.  Amidst 
great  obstacles,  and  in  the  teeth  of  much 
persecution,  she  carried  out  her  object  of 
introducing  a  reform  among  the  nuns  by 
returaing  to  the  ancient  rigour  of  the 
rule.  She  thus  became  the  founder  of 
the  Discalced  Carmelite  nuns.  Nor  did 
her  zeal  stop  here,  but  extended  itself  to 
a  reformation  of  the  friars,  in  which  also, 
aided  by  the  counsel  of  St.  Peter  of 
Alcantara,  and  the  labours  and  sufferings 
of  St.  John  of  the  Cross,  who  joined  the 
new  order,  she  was  completely  successful. 
At  the  time  of  her  death,  in  1582,  she  had 
assisted  in  the  foundation  of  seventeen  re- 
formed convents  for  women  and  fifteen 
for  men.  These  Discalced  Carmelites, 
wliose  institute  rapidly  spread  to  all  the 
Catholic  countries  of  Europe,  and  to  the 
Spanish  colonies,  were  at  first  subject  to 
the  government  of  the  unreformed  order ; 
but  Clement  VIII.,  in  1693,  gave  them  a 
general  of  their  own.  Several  other  re- 
forms have  been  introduced  since  that  of 
St.  Teresa  in  various  countries,  which  we 
have  not  space  here  to  notice.  At  present, 
in  spite  of  the  devastation  wrought  during 
the  revolutionary  epoch,  and  the  spirit  of 
imbelief  which  engenders  and  is  encour- 
aged by  revolutions,  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  Carmelite  monasteries  still  exists. 
In  France,  though  they  were  swept  away 
at  the  first  revolution,  they  had  been  re- 
introduced, and  till  lately  possessed  some 
sixty  houses.  But  the  iniquitous  decree 
of  March  29,  1880,  lately  issued  by  the 
Republican  Government  of  France,  has 
resulted  in  the  violent  seizure  of  all  the 
houses  of  men,  and  in  turning  the  friars 
adrift.  In  Spain,  we  believe,  they  are  at 
present  numerous. 

In  the  U.  S.  there  are  Calced  Car- 
melite friars,  who,  though  not  many, 
have  convents  in  the  dioceses  of  Leaven- 
wortli,  Newark,  and  Pittsburgh.  The 
discalced  nuns  of  St.  Teresa's  reform 
were  introduced  into  the  U.  S.  in  1790, 
and,  besides  their  original  foundation  at 
Baltimore,  now  have  two  other  con- 
vents, one  in  St.  Louis,  the  other  in 
New  Orleans.  In  all  three  the  rule  is  fol- 
lowed to  the  letter.  (H61yot ;  "  Biblio- 
theca  Carmelitana  " ;  Tanner  ;  Dugdale. 

CARXrzVAlL  (from  caro,  vale,  the 
time  when  we  are  about  to  say  farewell 
to  flesh-meat ;  or  uhi  caro  valet — in  allu- 


CARTHUSTANS,  ORDER  OF 

sion  to  the  indulgence  of  the  flesh  in  the 
days  which  precede  the  fast),  the  three 
days  before  Lent,  though  the  name  some- 
times includes  the  whole  period  between 
February  3,  the  feast  of  St.  Blasius,  and 
Ash- Wednesday.  The  Carnival  in  Catho- 
lic countries,  and  in  Rome  itself,  is  a  special 
season  for  feasting,  dancing,  masquerading 
and  mirth  of  all  sorts.  In  itself  this  cus- 
tom is  innocent,  although  the  Church 
from  Septuagesima  onwards  assumes  the 
garb  of  penance,  and  prepares  her  children, 
by  the  saddened  tone  of  her  office,  for  the 
Lenten  season.  But  the  pleasures  of  the 
Carnival  easily  degenerate  into  riot,  and 
the  Church  therefore  specially  encourages 
pious  exercises  at  this  time.  In  1656  the 
Jesuits  at  Macerati  introduced  the  cus- 
tom of  exposing  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
through  the  Carnival.  This  devotion 
spread  through  the  Church,  and  Clement 
XIII.,  in  1765,  granted  a  plenaiy  indul- 
gence on  certain  conditions  to  those  who 
take  part  in  it. 

CARTHUSZAXrS,  ORBSR  OF. 
The  founder  of  this  celebrated  order  was 
St.  Bruno,  in  the  eleventh  century.  A 
well-known  story,  once  inserted  in  the 
Roman  Breviary,  ascribes  his  retirement 
from  the  world  to  the  marvellous  resuscita- 
tion of  a  noted  Paris  doctor,  as  his  body 
was  being  carried  to  the  grave.  But  there 
is  no  contemporary  evidence  to  sustain  the 
story,  and  it  was, probably  on  this  account, 
left  out  of  the  Breviary  by  Urban  VI II. 
Bruno  was  a  native  of  Cologne,  and  gave 
proof  of  more  than  common  piety,  recollec- 
tion, and  mortification  even  from  his  ten- 
der years.  When  he  was  grown  up,  he 
was  at  first  entered  among  the  clergy  of 
St.  Cunibert's  at  Cologne,  whence  he  passed 
to  Rheims,  a  city  then  celebrated  for  its 
episcopal  school.  Bruno  made  here  great 
progress  in  learning,  and  was  appointed 
"  scholasticus  "  (Fr.  icoldtre)  ;  many  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  age  were  his  pupils. 
He  had  much  to  suffer  from  the  conduct 
of  the  unworthy  Archbishop  of  Rheims, 
Manasses,  suspended  in  1077 ;  and  the 
resolution  to  quit  the  world  seems  to  have 
arisen  in  him  about  this  time,  and  grew 
in  strength  continually.  Leaving  Rheims, 
uncertain  in  what  way  God  willed  him  to 
carry  out  his  clearly-seen  vocation,  he  re- 
paired to  St.  Robert  of  Molesm©,  the 
founder  of  the  Cistercian  order,  by  whom 
he  was  referred  to  St.  Hugh,  Bishop  of 
Grenoble.  With  six  companions,  Bruno 
presented  himself  to  the  bishop,  and  opened 
to  him  their  desire  to  found  an  institute 
in  which  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good 


CARTHUSIANS,  ORDER  OF 

of  man  should  "be  sought  on  a  foundation  I 
of  riji'orous  austerity  and  self-discipline. 
The  good  bishop  was  overjoyed  at  seeing 
tliem  ;  in  their  request  he  saw  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fulfilment  of  a  wonderful 
dream  w^hich  be  had  had  the  night  before. 
Soon  afterwards  he  led  them  to  the  desert 
of  the  Chartreuse,  an  upland  valley  in  the 
Alps  to  the  north  of  Grenoble,  more  than 
4,0C0  feet  above  the  sea,  and  only  to 
be  reached  by  threading  a  gloomy  and 
difficult  ravine.  High  crags  surround  the 
valley  on  all  sides ;  the  soil  is  poor,  the 
cold  extreme  — snow  lies  there  most  of  the 
year — and  the  air  is  charged  with  fog. 
Bruno  accepted  this  site  with  joy,  and  he 
and  his  companions  immediately  built  an 
oratory  there,  and  small  separate  cells,  in 
imitation  of  the  ancient  Lauras  of  Pales- 
tine. This  was  in  1086,  and  the  origin  of 
the  Carthusian  order,  which  takes  its 
name  from  Chartreuse,  is  dated  from  this 
foundation. 

St.  Bruno,  when  he  had  been  only  two 
or  three  years  at  the  Chartreuse,  was  sum- 
moned to  Rome  by  an  imperative  man- 
date from  Urban  H.,  who  had  been  his 
pupil.  AVith  grief  he  left  his  beloved  com- 
panions, the  most  prudent  and  devoted  of 
whom,  Landwin,  he  appointed  prior  in  his 
room,  and,  recommending  the  monastery 
to  tbe  protection  of  the  Abbot  of  Chaise 
Dieu,  departed  for  Italy.  He  was  neA-er 
able  to  return,  but  after  founding  convents 
at  Squillace  and  La  Torre  in  Calabria,  died 
at  the  last-named  place  in  1101.  The 
celebrated  Abbot  of  Cluny,  Peter  the 
Venerable,  writing  about  forty  years  after 
St.  Bruno,  describes  in  few  words  the 
manner  of  life  which  the  saint  instituted, 
and  to  which  his  monks — the  only  ancient 
order  in  the  Church  which  has  never  been 
reformed  and  never  needed  reform — have 
always  faithfully  adhered.  "  Their  dress," 
he  writes,  ''  is  meaner  and  poorer  than 
that  of  other  monks  ;  so  short  and  scanty, 
and  so  rough,  that  the  very  sight  affrights 
one.  They  wear  coarse  hair-shirts  next 
their  skin  ;  fast  almost  perpetually  ;  eat 
only  bran  bread  ;  never  touch  flesh,  either 
sick  or  well ;  never  buy  fish,  but  eat  it  if 
given  them  as  an  alms ;  eat  eggs  and 
cheese  on  Sundays  and  Thursdays ;  on 
Tuesdays  and  Saturdays  their  fare  is  pulse 
or  herbs  boiled ;  on  Mondays,  Wednes- 
days, and  Fridays  they  take  nothing  but 
bread  and  water  ;  and  they  have  only  one 
meal  a  day,  except  within  the  octaves 
of  Christmas,  Faster,  Whitsuntide,  Epi- 
phany, and  some  other  festivals.  Their 
constant  occupation  is  praying,  reading, 


CARTHUSIANS,  ORDER  OP    123 

and  manual  labour,  which  consists  chiefly 
in  transcribing  books.  They  say  the  lesser 
hours  of  the  divine  office  in  their  cells  at 
the  time  when  the  bell  rings,  but  meet 
together  at  vespers  and  matins  with  won"- 
derful  recollection."  This  manner  of  life 
they  seem  to  have  followed  for  some  time 
without  any  written  rule.  Gulgo,  the 
fifth  prior  of  the  Chartreuse  (1228)  made 
a  collection  of  their  customs  ;  and  in  later 
times  several  other  compilations  of  their 
statutes  were  framed,  of  which  a  com- 
plete code  was  arranged  in  1581,  and  ap- 
proved of  by  Innocent  XL  in  1G88.  The 
glorious  difficulty  of  the  very  perfect  life 
aimed  at  by  the  Carthusians  is  recognised 
by  the  Church,  which  "■  allows  religious 
men  of  any  of  the  mendicant  orders  to 
exchange  their  order  for  that  of  the 
Carthusians,  as  a  state  of  greater  austerity 
and  perfection  •,  but  no  one  can  pass  from 
the  Carthusians  to  any  other  order,  as 
Faguanus,  the  learned  canonist,  proves  at 
large."  ^  The  name  of  Chartreuse  was 
given  to  each  of  their  monasteries  ;  this 
was  corrupted  in  England  into  CJiarter- 
house.  Among  their  original  customs  was 
that  of  taking  a  walk,  which  they  called 
spatiament  (from  the  Latin  spatiari)^  with- 
in the  bounds  of  their  desert ;  and  to  this 
day  the  monk  of  the  Grande  Chartreuse 
takes  his  daily  "  spaciment."  The  ordin- 
ary dress  is  entirely  white  ;  but  outside 
the  boundaries  of  his  monastery  the  Car- 
thusian wears  a  long  black  cloak  and  hood. . 
In  1391  Boniface  IX.  formally  renewed, 
the  exemption  of  the  order  from  episcopal 
control ;  and  in  1508  Julius  II.  ordained 
that  their  monasteries  in  every  part  of  the 
world  should  obey  the  prior  of  the  Grande 
Chartreuse  and  the  chapter  general  of  the 
order. 

Among  the  distinguished  men  who 
have  borne  the  Carthusian  habit  are 
St.  Hugh,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  Cardinal 
d'Albergati,  the  learned  and  holy  Denis 
Rickel,  commonly  called  Denis  the  Carthu- 
sian, and  Walter  Hilton  (1433),  whose 
"  Ladder  of  Perfection,"  a  work  of  mysti- 
cal theology,  was  published  by  Abraham 
Woodhead  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  Chartreuses  or  Charterhouses  in 
England  at  the  time  of  the  dissolution 
were  nine  in  number.'^     A  large  proportion 

1  Alban  Butler,  Life  of  St.  Bruno,  Oct.  6. 

2  Namely  at — 

Beauvale  (Notts)  Mount  Grace  (York.) 

Coventry  Shene 

Epworth  (Line.)  Witham  (Line.)  ; 
Hinton  (Som.)  and  two  cells,  at 

Hull  Mendip  (Som.) 

London  Shapwick  (Dors.) 


124 


CASSOCK 


of  the  monks  and  friars  then  in  England, 
like  the  secular  clerg-y,  accepted,  in  words 
at  any  rate,  the  new  doctrine  of  the  royal 
supremacy ;  but  the  Carthusians  stood 
firm.  Even  Mr.  Froude^the  thorough-going 
apologist  of  Tudor  tyranny,  acknowledges 
that  the  London  Carthusians  met  death 
like  heroes.  Haughton,  their  prior,  and 
several  of  the  monks,  were  hanged  in 
]*63o  ;  one,  Maurice  Chauncey,  accepting 
the  supremacy,  was  allowed  to  leave  Eng- 
land, but  bitterly  repented  his  weakness, 
was  reconciled  to  the  Church,  and  wrote 
an  interesting  and  touching  narrative  of 
the  whole  tragedy.  The  remaining  eight 
monks  of  the  London  house  perished  of 
i  ail-fever,  foul  air,  and  starvation,  after 
being  imprisoned  some  months  in  New- 
gate. The  Carthusians  of  Shene,  in 
Surrey,  fifteen  in  number,  withdrew  to 
Flanders  on  the  death  of  Queen  Mary, 
and  abode  in  various  places  ;  at  the  time 
when  Alban  Butler  wrote  they  were 
settled  at  Nieuport,  and  were,  with  the 
Brigittine  nuns  of  Sion  [Brtgittines], 
"  the  only  two  Eiglish  orders  which  were 
never  dispersed." 

When  H^lyot  wrote,  early  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  there  were  172  Car- 
thusian houses  altogether,  of  which  five 
were  nunneries ;  about  seventy-five  out  of 
the  whole  number  were  in  France.  These 
were  all  swept  away  at  the  Revolution. 
The  Jacobin  government  tried  to  sell  the 
Grande  Chartreuse,  but  no  one  would  bid 
for  it,  on  account  of  the  poverty  of  the 
soil.  After  the  Restoration  some  of  the 
monks  returning  from  abroad  were  allowed 
to  reoccupy  it ;  amongst  these  was  the 
genei-nl,  Dom  Moissonnier,  who,  like  an- 
other Simeon,  died  in  peace  eleven  days 
after  his  re-enti-}^  into  the  beloved  solitude. 
For  a  long  time  the  monks  were  very  poor, 
having  to  pay  rent  for  their  own  barren 
lands  to  the  government ;  but  since  they 
invented  the  famous  liqueur  named  after 
the  monastery,  the  revenue  from  the  sale  of 
which  is  considerable,  they  have  been 
iairly  well  off.  In  1870  they  numbered 
about  forty,  with  twenty  lay  brothers,  and 
sixty  servants. 

in  England,  a  large  Carthusian  mon- 
aiftery  has  for  some  years  been  rising 
among  the  Sussex  hills,  near  Steyning. 
(H6lyot ;  Alban  Butler,  Oct.  6  ;  Tanner's 
"  Notitia.") 

CASSOCXL  (vestis  talaris,  toga  9uh- 
tanen,  smdane).  A  close-fitting  garment 
leachhig  to  the  heels  {iisque  ad  taloft), 
which  is  the  distinctive  dress  of  clerics. 
The  cassock  of  simple  priests  is  black  j 


CATACOMBS 

that  of  bishops  and  other  prelates,  purple ; 
that  of  cardinals,  red ;  that  of  the  Pope, 
white.  Originally  the  cassock  was  the 
ordinaiy  dress  common  to  laymen ;  its 
use  was  contiimed  by  the  clergy  while 
lay  people,  after  the  immigration  of  the 
Northern  nations,  began  to  wear  shortei 
clothes,  and  thus  it  became  associated  with 
the  ecclesiastical  state.  The  Council  ol 
Trent,  Be  Reform,  cap.  6,  requires  all 
clerics,  if  in  sacred  orders,  or  if  they  hold 
a  benefice,  to  wear  the  clerical  di-ess; 
although  in  Protestant  countries  clerics 
are  excused  from  doing  so  in  public,  on 
account  of  the  inconveniences  likely  to 
arise. 

CASTTISTRT.  The  science  which 
deals  with  cases  of  conscience.  [See 
MoEAL  Theology.] 

CASUS.  A  name  given  to  real  or 
imaginary  cases  in  canon  law,  moral 
theology,  or  ritual,  collected  together  in 
order  to  illustrate  difficult  points  in  these 
branches  of  learning.  Such  a  collection 
of  cases  to  illustrate  the  "  Decretum  oi 
Gratian  "  was  made  about  1200  by 
Benincasa  Senensis;  about  1245  Bernard 
of  Bologna,  aftei-^s^ards  Archdeacon  ot 
Compostella,  made  a  similar  collection  to 
aid  in  the  study  of  Gregory  IX.'s  Decretals. 
Since  that  time,  collections  of  this  kind 
without  number,  in  all  these  three  branches 
of  learning,  have  appeared.  At  confer- 
ences of  the  clergy,  "  cases  "  of  this  kind 
are  generally  discussed. 

CAST7S  RESEI&VATZ.  [See  RE- 
SERVED Cases.] 

CATACOACBS.  A  sketch  of  the 
present  state  of  knowledge  about  the 
Roman  catacombs,  considering  the  high 
religious  interest  of  the  subject,  may  fairly 
be  expected  in  a  work  like  the  present. 
We  shall  briefly  describe  their  position,  ex- 
plain their  origin,  and  trace  their  history; 
then,  after  describing  the  catacomb  of 
San  Callisto,  as  a  model  of  the  rest,  we 
shall  show,  so  far  as  our  limits  will  allow, 
what  a  powerful  light  the  monuments  of 
the  catacombs  supply  in  illustration  of  the 
life,  and  in  evidence  of  the  faith,  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  primitive  ages. 

The  word  "  catacomb  "  had  originally 
no  such  connotation  as  is  now  attached 
to  it ;  the  earliest  form,  catarumhcs 
{Kara,  and  KVfx^r],  a  hollow) — probably 
suggested  by  the  natural  configuration 
of  the  gi'ound — was  the  name  given  to 
the  district  round  the  tomb  of  Coecilia 
Metella  and  the  Circus  Romuli  on  the 
Appian  Way.  All  through  the  middle 
acres  "ad  catacimibas"  meant  the  sub- 


CATACOMBS 

teimnean  cemetery  adjacent  to  tlie  far- 
famed  basilica  of  St.  Sebastian,  in  the 
region  above  mentioned;  afterwards,  the 
signification  of  the  term  was  gradually 
extended,  and  applied  to  all  the  ancient 
underground  cemeteries  near  Rome,  and 
even  to  similar  cemeteries  in  other  places, 
at  Paris,  for  instance.  The  bodies  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  were  believed  to 
have  rested  here  nearly  from  the  date  of 
their  martyrdom  to  the  time  of  Pope 
Cornelius,  who  translated  them  to  where 
they  are  now  (Bed. ''  Be  Sex  Mt.  Mimdi:  " 
"  corpora  apostoiorum  de  catacumbis  leva- 
vlt  noctu  '')  ;  it  was  therefore  most  natural, 
apart  from  the  sacred  associations  which 
the  memorials  of  other  martyrs  aroused, 
that  <or  this  reason  alone  pilgrims  should 
eagerly  visit  this  cemetery. 

I.  Some  twenty-five  Christian  ceme- 
teries are  known,  and  have  been  more  or 
Jess  carefully  examined ;  but  there  are 
luany  others,  which,  either  from  their 
}ia\ing  fallen  into  ruin  or  being  blocked 
up  with  earth  and  rubbish,  remain  unex- 
plored. Those  that  are  known  and  acces- 
siDle  are  found  on  every  side  of  Rome, 
but  they  are  clustered  niost  thickly  at  the 
south-east  corner  of  the  city,  near  the 
Via  Appia  and  the  Via  Ardeatina.  The 
most  noteworthy  of  all,  the  cemetery  of 
San  Callisto,  is  close  to  the  Appian  Way  ; 
near  it  are  those  of  St.  Prsetextatus,  St. 
Sebastian,  and  St.  Soteris.  Passing  on 
round  the  city  by  the  east  and  north,  we 
find  the  cemetery  of  Santi  Quattro,  near 
the  Via  Appia  Nova,  that  of  St.  Ciriaca 
on  the  road  to  Tivoli,  the  extremely  in- 
teresting catacomb  of  St.  Agnes  on  the 
Via  Nomentana,  and  that  of  St.  Alexander, 
farther  out  from  Rome  on  the  same  road. 
Next  comes  'the  cemetery  of  St.  Priscilla, 
on  the  Via  Salaria.  Continuing  on,  past 
the  Villa  Borghese,  we  come  upon  the 
valley  of  the  Tiber,  beyond  which,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  river,  we  find  in  succes- 
sion the  cemeteries  of  Calepodius  and 
Generosa.  Crossing  again  to  the  left 
bank,  we  come  upon  the  cemetery  of  St. 
Luciua  on  the  Via  Ostiensis,  that  of  SS. 
Nereo  ed  Achilleo  (known  also  by  the 
name  of  S.  Domitilla)  on  the  Via  Ardea- 
tina, and,  finally,  that  of  St.  Balbina 
between  the  last-named  road  and  the 
Appian  AVay. 

II.  The  origin  of  the  catacombs  is  now 
thoroughly  understood.  It  was  long  be- 
lieved that  they  were  originally  mere 
isand-pits,  arena?'icB,  out  of  which  sand  was 
dug  for  building  purposes,  and  to  which 
the  Chiistians  resorted,  partly  for  the  sake 


CATACOMBS 


125 


of  concealment,  partly  because  the  softness 
of  the  material  lent  itself  to  any  sort  of 
excavation.  This  was  the  view  of  Baro- 
nius  and  of  scholars  in  general  down  to 
the  present  century,  when  the  learned 
Jesuit,  F.  Marchi,  took  the  subject  in 
hand.  He  made  personal  researches  in 
the  catacomb  of  St.  Agnes,  and  gradually 
the  true  origin  and  mode  of  construction 
of  these  cemeteries  broke  upon  his  mind. 
His  more  celebrated  pupil,  the  Commenda- 
tore  de'  Rossi,  aided  by  his  brothers,  con- 
tinued his  explorations,  and  has  given  to 
the  world  a  colossal  work  on  the  Roman 
Catacombs,  which  Dr.  Northcote  and  Mr. 
Brownlow  made  the  foundation  of  their 
interesting  book,  "Roma  Sotterranea." 
Padre  Marchi  drew  attention  to  the  fact 
that  among  the  volcanic  strata  of  the 
Roman  Campagna,  three  deposits  are  espe- 
cially noticeable — a  hard  building  stone, 
called  the  tufa  litoide;  a  soft  stone,  the 
tufa  granolare ;  and  a  sandstone  of  scarcely 
any  coherency  called  pozzolana.  The  sand  - 
pits,  arenaricB,  of  course  occur  in  beds  of 
this  pozzolana  ;  and  if  they  had  been  the 
origin  of  the  catacombs,  the  latter  would 
have  been  wholly  or  chiefly  excavated  ia 
the  same  beds.  But  in  point  of  fact  the 
catacombs  are  almost  entirely  found  in 
the  tufa  granolare,  which  exactly  suited 
the  purposes  which  the  early  Christians 
had  in  view.  In  the  fii-st  place,  they  were 
obliged  by  the  imperial  laws  to  bury 
their  dead  outside  the  walls  of  the  city. 
Secondly,  they  naturally  would  not  place 
the  cemeteries  at  a  greater  distance  than 
they  could  help  ;  and  in  fact  all  the  cata- 
combs above  named,  except  that  of  St. 
Alexander,  are  within  two  miles  and  a 
half  of  the  city  walls.^  Thirdly,  the 
tufa  granolare,  being  softer  than  the  titfa 
litoide,  the  necessary  galleries,  chambers, 
and  loculi  (receptacles  for  the  dead)  could 
more  easily  be  worked  in  it,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  was  sufficiently  coherent  to 
allow  of  its  being  excavated  freely  with- 
out danger  of  the  roof  and  sides  of  the 
excavations  falling  in  or  crumbling  away. 
The  pozzolana  was  softer,  but  from  its 
crumbling  nature  narrow  galleries  could 
not  be  run  in  it,  nor  loculi  hollowed  out, 
without  the  employment  of  a  great  deal 
of  masonry  for  the  sake  of  security,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  two  or  three  instances 
of  arenarice  turned  into  catacombs  which 
do  exist ;  thus  greater  expense  and  trouble 
woidd  arise  in  the  end  from  resorting  to  it 
than  from  excavating  in  the  tufa  granolare. 
If  it  be  asked  why  the  Roman  Chri»- 
1  The  walls  of  Aurelian. 


126 


CATACOMBS 


tians  did  not  bury  their  dead  in  open-air 
cemeteries,  the  answer  is  twofold.  In  the 
_  first  place,  the  Church  grew  up  amid 
persecution,  and  the  Christians  naturally 
strove  to  screen  themselves  and  their 
doings  from  public  observation  as  much 
as  possible,  in  the  burial  of  their  dead  as 
in  other  matters.  The  sepulchral  inscrip- 
tions and  decorations  which  they  could 
safely  affix  to  the  graves  of  their  beloved 
ones  in  the  subterranean  gloom  of  the 
catacombs,  could  not  with  common  pni- 
dence  have  been  employed  on  tombs  ex- 
posed to  public  view.  In  the  second  place, 
the  needs  of  prayer  and  the  duty  of  public 
Avorship  were  in  this  manner  reconciled 
with  the  duty  of  sepulture  to  an  extent 
not  otherwise,  under  their  circumstances, 
attainable.  The  relatives  might  pray  at 
the  tomb  of  a  departed  Hnsman ;  the  faith- 
ful gather  round  the  "  memory "  of  a 
martyr ;  the  Christian  mysteries  might  be 
celebrated  in  subterranean  chapels,  and  on 
altars  hewn  out  of  the  rock,  with  a  con- 
venience, secrecy,  and  safety,  which,  if 
the  ordinaiy  mode  of  burial  had  been 
followed,  could  not  have  been  secured. 
Nor  was  the  practice  a  novelty  when  the 
(Christians  resorted  to  it.  Even  Pagan 
underground  tombs  existed,  though  the 
general  custom  of  burning  the  dead,  which 
prevailed  under  the  emperors  before  Con- 
fctantine,  caused  them  to  be  of  rare  occur- 
rence; but  the  Jewish  cemeteries,  used 
under  the  pressure  of  motives  very  similar 
to  those  which  acted  upon  the  Christians, 
had  long  been  in  operation,  and  are  in  part 
distinguishable  to  tliia  day. 

The  7tioclu8  operandi  appears  to  have 
been  as  follows.  In  ground  near  the  city, 
obtained  by  purchase  or  else  the  property 
of  some  rich  Christian,  an  area,  or  ceme- 
teiy  "lot,"  wfiS  marked  out,  varying  in 
extent  but  commonly  having  not  less  than 
a  frontage  of  a  hundred  and  a  depth  of 
two  hundred  feet.  At  one  corner  of  this 
area  an  excavation  was  made  and  a  staii'- 
case  constructed;  then  narrow  galleries, 
usually  little  more  than  two  feet  in  width, 
with  roof  flat  or  slightly  arched,  were 
carried  round  the  whole  space,  leaving 
enough  of  the  solid  rock  on  either  side  to  ad- 
mit of  oblong  niches  (locvli) — large  enough 
to  hold  from  one  to  three  bodies,  at  varying 
distances,  both  vertically  and  laterally, 
according  to  the  local  strength  of  the 
material — l)eing  excavated  in  the  walls. 
After  burial,  the  loculus  was  hermetically 
sealed  by  a  slab  set  in  mortar,  so  that  the 
proximity  of  the  dead  body  might  not 
afiect  the  purity  of  the  air  in  the  catacomb. 


CATACOMBS 

Besides  these  loculi  in  the  walls,  cuhicula, 
or  chambers,  like  our  family  vaults,  were 
excavated  in  great  numbers ;  these  wore 
entered  by  doors  from  the  galleries,  and 
had  loculi  in  their  walls  like  the  galleries 
themselves.  There  were  also  arcosolia — 
when  above  the  upper  surface  of  a  loculus 
containing  the  body  of  a  martyr  or  con- 
fessor, the  rock  was  excavated,  so  as  to 
leave  an  arched  vault  above,  and  a  flat 
surface  beneath  on  which  the  Eucharist 
could  be  celebrated — and  "  table-tombs," 
similar  in  all  respects  to  the  arcosolia 
except  that  the  excavation  was  quad- 
rangular instead  of  being  arched.  Open- 
ings were  frequently  made  between  two 
or  more  adjoining  cuhicula,  so  as  to 
allow,  while  the  Divine  Mysteries  were 
being  celebrated  at  an  aj'cosoHum  in  one 
of  them,  of  a  considerable  number  of 
worshippers  being  present.  When  the 
walls  of  the  circumambient  galleries  were 
tilled  with  the  dead,  cross  galleries  were 
made,  traversing  the  area  at  such  dis- 
tances from  each  other  as  the  strength  of 
the  stone  permitted,  the  walls  of  which 
were  pierced  with  niches  as  before.  But 
this  additional  space  also  became  tilled  up, 
and  then  the  fossors  were  set  to  work  to 
burrow  deeper  in  the  rock,  and  a  new 
series  of  galleries  and  chambers,  forming  a 
second  underground  story  or  jnnno,  was 
constructed  beneath  the  tirst.  Two,  three, 
and  even  four  such  additional  stories  have 
been  found  in  a  cemeterj'.  Another  way 
of  obtaining  more  space  was  by  lowering 
the  floor  of  the  galleries,  and  piercing  with 
niches  the  new  wall-surface  thus  supplied. 
It  is  obvious  that  expedients  like  these 
could  only  be  adopted  in  dry  and  deeply- 
drained  ground,  and  accordingly  we  always 
find  that  it  is  the  hills  near  Rome  in  which 
the  cemeteries  were  excavated — the  val- 
leys were  useless  for  the  purpose ;  hence, 
contrary  to  what  was  once  believed,  no 
system  of  general  communication  between 
the  dififerent  catacombs  ever  existed. 
Such  communication,  however,  was  often 
effected,  when  two  or  more  cemeteries  lay 
contiguous  to  each  other  on  the  same  hill, 
and  all  kinds  of  structural  complications 
were  the  result ;  see  the  detailed  account 
in  "  Roma  Sotterranea  "  of  the  growth  and 
gradual  transformation  of  the  cemetery  of 
San  Callisto. 

III.  With  regard  to  the  history  of 
the  catacombs,  a  few  leading  facts  are  all 
that  can  here  be  given.  In  the  tirst  two 
centuries,  the  use  of  the  catacombs  by  the 
Christians  was  little  interfered  with; 
they  filled  up  the  area  with  dead,  and 


CATACOMBS 

decorated  tlie  underground  chambers  with 
painting  and  sculpture,  much  as  their 
means  and  taste  suggested.  In  the  third 
century  persecution  became  fierce,  and 
the  Christians  were  attacked  in  the  cata- 
combs. Staircases  were  then  destroyed, 
passages  blocked  up,  and  new  modes  of 
ingress  and  egress  devised,  so  as  to  defeat 
as  much  as  possible  the  myrmidons  of  the 
law;  and  the  changes  thus  made  can  in 
many  cases  be  still  recognised  and  under- 
stood. On  the  cessation  of  persecution, 
after  a.d.  300,  the  catacombs,  in  which 
many  martyrs  had  perished,  became  a 
place  of  pilgrimage ;  immense  numbers  of 
persons  crowded  into  them  ;  and  different 
Popes — particularly  St.  Damasus,  early  in 
the  fifth  century — caused  old  staircases  to 
be  enlarged,  and  new  ones  to  be  made, 
and  Immnaria  (openings  for  admitting 
light  and  air)  to  be  broken  through  from 
the  cubicula  to  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
in  order  to  give  more  accommodation  to  the 
pious  throng.  These  changes  also  can  be 
recognised.  Burial  in  the  catacombs 
naturally  did  not  long  survive  the  con- 
cession of  entire  freedom  and  peace  to  the 
Church  ;  but  still  they  were  looked  upon 
as  iioly  places  consecrated  by  the  blood  of 
martyrs,  and  as  such  were  visited  by  in- 
numerable pilgrims.  In  the  seventh  and 
eighth  centuries  Lombard  invaders  dese- 
crated, plundered,  9nd  in  part  destroyed 
the  catacombs.  This  led  to  a  period  of 
translations,  commencing  in  the  eighth 
century  and  culminating  with  Pope 
Paschal  (a.d.  817), by  which  all  the  relics 
of  the  Popes  and  principal  martyrs  and 
confessors  which  had  hitherto  lain  in  the 
catacombs  were  removed  for  greater  safety 
to  the  churches  of  Rome.  After  that, 
the  catacombs  were  abandoned,  and  in 
great  part  closed ;  and  not  till  the  six- 
teenth century  did  the  interest  in  them 
revive.  The  names  of  Onufrio  Panvini, 
Bosio,  and  Boldetti  are  noted  in  connec- 
tion with  the  renewed  investigations  of 
w^iich  they  were  the  object ;  and  since 
the  appearance  of  the  work  of  the  Padre 
Marchi  already  mentioned,  the  interest 
awakened  in  all  Christian  countries  by 
the  remarkable  discoveries  announced  has 
':?ever  for  a  moment  waned. 

IV.  Having  thus  attempted  to  sketch 
the  origin  and  trace  the  history  of  the 
catacombs,  we  proceed  to  describe  what 
may  now  be  seen  in  the  most  important 
portion  of  the  best  known  among  them  all 
— the  cemetery  of  San  Callisto.  Entering 
it  from  a  vineyard  near  the  Appian  Way, 
the  visitor  descends  a  broad  flight  of  steps. 


CATACOI^IBS 


127 


fashioned  by  Pope  Damasus  from  the 
motive  above  mentioned,  and  finds  him- 
self in  a  Idnd  of  vestibule,  on  the  stuccoed 
walls  of  which,  honey-combed  with  loculi, 
are  a  quantity  of  rude  inscriptions  in 
Greek  and  Latin,  some  of  which  are  thir- 
teen and  fourteen  centuries  old,  scratched 
by  the  pilgrims  who  visited  out  of  devo- 
tion the  places  where  Popes  and  martyrs 
who  had  fought  a  good  fight  for  Christ, 
and  often  their  own  kinsfolk  and  friends, 
lay  in  the  peaceful  gloom,  awaiting  the 
resurrection.  By  following  a  narrow 
gallery  to  the  right,  a  chamber  is  reached 
which  is  called  the  Papal  Crypt ;  for  here 
beyond  all  doubt  the  bodies  of  many  Popes 
of  the  third  century,  after  Zephyrinus 
(203-217)  had  secured  this  cemetery  for 
the  use  of  the  Christians  and  coiiiraitted 
it  to  the  care  of  his 'deacon  Callistus,  were 
laid,  and  liere  they  remained  till  they 
were  removed  by  Paschal  to  the  Vatican 
crypts.  This  is  proved  by  the  recent  dis- 
covery, in  and  near  the  Papal  Crypt,  of 
the  slabs  bearing  the  original  inscriptions 
in  memory  of  the  Popes  Eutychian, 
Auteros,  Fabian,  and  Lucius.  A  passage 
leads  out  of  the  crypt  into  the  cubiculum 
of  St.  Caecilia,  where,  as  De'  Rossi  has 
almost  demonstrated,  the  body  of  the 
saint,  martyred  in  the  first  half  of  the 
third  century,  was  originally  deposited  by 
Pope  Urban,  though  it  was  afterwards 
removed  by  Paschal  to  her  church  in  the 
Trastevere,  where  it  now  lies  under  the 
high-altar.  In  this  cubiculum  are  paint- 
ings of  St.  Csecilia  and  of  Our  Lord,  the 
latter  "according  to  the  Byzantine  type, 
vnth  rays  of  glory  behind  it  in  the  form  of 
a  Greek  cross."  But  these  paintings  are 
late — not  earlier  than  the  tenth  century. 
Besides  the  Papal  Crypt  and  the  chamber 
of  St.  Csecilia,  there  are  in  this  part  of 
the  cemetery  "  several  cubicula  interesting 
for  their  paintings,  chiefly  referable  to 
Baptism  and  the  Eucharist,  the  fish  being 
the  principal  emblem  of  the  latter.  In 
one  of  these  crypts  is  a  painting  of  four 
male  figures  with  uplifted  hands,  each 
with  his  name,  placed  over  an  arcosoUum ; 
in  another  are  representations  of  peacocks, 
the  emblem  of  immortality;  in  a  third, 
Moses  striking  the  rock,  and  ascending  to 
the  mount ;  in  a  fourth,  a  grave-digger 
{fossor)  surrounded  with  the  implements 
of  his  trade ;  in  a  fifth,  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, with  the  miracle  of  the  paralytic 
taking  up  his  bed  ;  in  a  sixth,  a  banquet 
of  seven  persons,  supposed  to  be  the  seven 
disciples  alluded  to  in  the  twenty-first 
chapter    of   St.    John's    Gospel.    These 


128 


CATACOMBS 


paintings,  as  well  as  the  greater  part  of 
the  catacomb,  are  referred  to  the  last  half 
of  the  third  century."  ^ 

V.  For  a  detailed  ans^\er,  accompanied 
with  proofs,  to  the  question,  what  testi- 
mony the  catacombs  bear  to  the  nature  of 
the  religious  belief  and  life  of  the  early 
Christians,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
pages  of  "  E-oma  Sotterrauea,"  or  to  the 
larger  work  of  De'  Rossi.  He  will  there 
find  sufficient  evidence  to  convince  him  of 
the  truth  of  two  main  propositions — 
(1)  that  the  religion  of  those  Chtistians 
was  a  sacramental  religion  ;  (2)  that  it 
was  the  reverse  of  puritanical :  that  is, 
that  it  disdained  the  use  of  no  external 
helps  which  human  art  and  skill  could 
furnish,  in  the  effort  to  symbolise  and  en- 
force spiritual  truth.  With  reference  to 
the  first  proposition,  let  him  consider  how 
the  sacrament  of  Raptism  is  typically  re- 
presented in  the  catacombs  by  pj^intings 
of  Noe  in  the  ark,  the  rock  smitten  jand 
water  gushing  forth,  a  fisherman  drawing 
fish  out  of  the  water  accompanied  by  a 
man  baptising,  and  the  paralytic  carrying 
his  bed  {"■  Roma  Sotterranea,"  p.  265) ; 
and  also  how  the  mystery  of  the  Eucharist 
is  still  more  frequently  and  strikingly 
portrayed  by  pictures  in  which  baskets  of 
bread  are  associated  with  fish,  the  fish 
being  the  well-known  emblem  of  Our 
Lord.^  The  second  proposition  is  so 
abundantly  proved  by  the  remains  of 
Christian  art  of  very  ancient  date  still  to 
be  seen  in  the  catacombs,  in  spite  of  the 
havoc  and  ruin  of  fifteen  centuries,  that 
it  would  be  a  waste  of  words  to  attempt 
to  establish  it  at  length.  Adopting  the 
general  forms  and  methods  of  the  con- 
temporary Pagan  art,  but  carefully 
eliminating  whatever  in  it  was  immoral 
or  superstitious,  we  find  the  Christian 
artists  employ imr  Biblical  or  symbolical 
subjects  as  the  principal  figures  in  each 
composition,  while  filling  in  their  pictures 
with  decomtive  forms  and  objects — such 
as  fabulous  animals,  scroll-work,  foliage, 
fruit,  flowers,  and  birds — imitated  from 
or  suggested  by  the  pre-existing  heathen 
art.  A  type  for  which  they  had  a 
peculiar  fondness  was  that  of  the  Good 
Shepherd.  The  Blessed  Virgin  and  Child, 
with   a  figure    standing    near    supposed 

^  Murray's  Handbook  of  Rome  and  its 
Environs. 

2  There  were  other  reasons  for  this ;  but 
the  fact  that  the  initials  of  the  Greek  words 
signifying,  "Jesus  ('hrist,  Son  of  God,  Saviour," 
made  up  the  word  IX0Y2,  fish,  undoubtedly  had 
much  to  do  with  the  general  adoption  of  the 
emblem. 


CATECHISM 

to  be  Isaias,  is  represented  in  an  ex- 
ceedingly beautiful  but  much  injured 
painting  on  the  vaulted  roof  of  a  loculus 
m  the  cemetery  of  St.  PrisciUa.  De' 
Rossi  believes  this  painting  "  to  belong 
almost  to  the  apostolic  age "  ("  Roma 
Sotterranea,"  p.  258).  Another  favourite 
type  of  Our  Lord  was  Orpheus,  who  by 
his  sweet  music  drew  all  creatures  to  hear 
him.  The  vine  painted  with  so  much 
freedom  and  grace  of  handling  on  the 
roof  of  the  entrance  to  the  cemetery  of 
Domitilla  is  also,  in  De'  Rossi's  opinion, 
work  of  the  first  century.  ("  Roma 
Sotten-anea,"  Northcote  and  Brownlow ; 
Murray's  "  Handbook  of  Rome.") 

CATAF.A.KQ'D'E.  An  erection  like 
a  bier  placed  during  Masses  of  the  dead, 
when  the  corpse  itself  is  not  there,  in  the 
centre  of  the  church,  or  in  some  other 
suitable  place,  surrounded  with  burning 
lights  and  covered  with  black  cloth.  It  is 
also  called  "feretrum,"'*  castrimi  doloris," 
&c.  (Merati's  "  Novae  Observationes  "  on 
Gavantus,"  Part  ii.  tit.  13.) 

CATECHZSnc.  A  summary  of 
Christian  doctrine,  usually  in  the  form  of 
question  and  answer,  for  the  instruction 
of  the  Christian  people.  From  the  be- 
ginning of  her  history,  the  Church  fulfilled 
the  duty  of  instructing  those  who  came 
to  her  for  baptism.  Catechetical  schools 
were  established,  and  catechetical  instruc- 
tion was  carefully  and  methodically  given. 
We  can  still  form  an  accurate  idea  of  the 
kind  of  instruction  given  in  the  early 
Church,  for  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  has  left 
sixteen  books  of  catechetical  discourses, 
explaining  the  Creed  to  the  candidates  for 
baptism,  and  five  more  in  which  he  seta 
forth  for  the  benefit  of  the  newly-bap- 
tised*, the  nature  of  the  three  sacraments 
(Baptism,  Confirmation,  Eucharist)  which 
they  had  just  received.  St.  Augustine 
wrote  a  treatise  on  catechising,  at  the  re- 
quest of  Deo  Gratias,  a  deacon  and  cate- 
chist  at  Carthage.  When  the  world  be- 
came Christian  there  was  no  longer  the 
same  necessity  for  instructing  converts, 
but  the  children,  and,  indeed,  the  people 
generally,  still  needed  catechetical  instruc- 
tion. Hence  we  find  a  council  held  at 
Paris  in  829  deploring  the  neglect  of 
catechetical  instruction,  while  the  Eng- 
lish Council  of  Lambeth  in  1281  requires 
parish-priests  to  instruct  their  people  four 
times  a  year  in  the  principal  parts  of 
Christian  doctrine — viz.  the  articles  of  the 
Creed,  commandments,  sacraments,  &c. 
The  treatise  of  Gerson,  "  De  Parvulis  ad 
Christum  trahendis,"  gives  some  idea  of 


CATEOHIST 

catechetical  instruction  towards  the  close  of 

the  middle  ages. 

Catechetical  instruction  was  one  of 
the  subjects  which  occupied  the  Council 
of  Trent,  and  the  Fathers  arranged  that  a 
Catechism  should  be  drawn  up  by  a  com- 
mission and  be  approved  by  the  council. 
This  plan  fell  through,  and  they  put  the 
whole  matter  in  the  Pope's  hands.  Pius 
IV.  entrusted  the  work  to  four  theolo- 
gians— viz.  Calinius,  Archbishop  of  Zara; 
Fuscararius  (Foscarari),  Bishop  of  Mo- 
dena  ;  Marinus,  Arcbbishop  of  Lanciano  ; 
and  Fureirius  (Fureiro),  a  Portuguese. 
All  of  them  except  the  first  were  Domini- 
cans. Scholars  were  appointed  to  see  to 
the  purity  of  style.  St.  Charles  Borro- 
meo  took  a  great  part  in  assisting  the  un- 
dertaking. In  1564  the  book  was  finished, 
whereupon  it  was  examined  by  a  new 
commission  under  Cardinal  Sirletus.  To- 
wards the  close  of  I0G6  the  Catechism 
appeared,  under  the  title  "  Catechismus 
Komanus,  ex  Decreto  Concilii  Tridentini, 
Pii  V.  Pont.  Max.  jussu  editus.  Romse, 
in  sedibus  Populi  Romani,  apud  Aldum 
Manutium."  The  original  edition  coulains 
no  chapters  and  no  answers.  This  Cate- 
chism possesses  very  high,  though  not  ab- 
solute, authority,  and  has  been  regarded 
as  a  model  of  clearness,  simplicity  and 
purity  of  language,  of  method  and  of 
doctrinal  precision.  But  it  was  not  fitted 
for  direct  use  in  catechetical  instruction, 
being  intended  for  parij^h  priests  and 
others  who  have  to  catechise  rather  than 
for  those  who  receive  instruction.  Cate- 
chisms, therefore,  of  various  sizes  have 
been  prepared  by  bishops  for  their  dio- 
ceses, or,  as  in  England,  the  bishops  in 
concert  approve  a  Catechism  for  use  in 
the  whole  country  or  province. 

CATSCHIST,  A  name  originally 
given  to  those  who  instructed  persons  pre- 
paring for  baptism.  Catecbists  were  in 
early  times  also  called  vavroXoyoi,  be- 
cause they  brought  the  sailors  on  board 
the  ship  of  the  Church. 

Cik'TSCHWSSSrs.  Those  who  were 
being  instructed  and  pi eparedfov  baptism. 
We  meet  with  the  first  mention  of  cate- 
chumens in  Justin  Martyr,  in  Tertullian, 
and  in  the  (Jlementines.  Tertullian  dis- 
tinguishes two  chisses  of  catechumens  : 
viz.  the  "  novitioli,"  or  beginners,  and  the 
**aquam  aditiiri,"  or  those  who  were 
nearly  ready  for  baptism  and  were  admit- 
ted to  the  sermon  and  liturgy.  In  the 
Apostolic  Constitutions,  the  catechumens 
are  classified as(l)  "  audientes"  or  a/c/}OQ)/iei/oi 
—i.e, "  hearers  "  who  attended  the  sermon  ; 


CATHEDRA:  EX  CATHEDRA  129 

(2)  "genuflectentes"  or  yowKXlvovTes,  who 
also  assisted  at  the  prayers  which  fol- 
lowed the  sermon,  and  r*^ceived  the 
bishop's  blessing  on  bended  knee  ;  (.3)  the 
"competentes"  or  (p  cot  l(6  fie  uot, who  were  al- 
io wed  to  bear  the  full  statement  of  Chris- 
tian mysteries,  particularly  the  doctrine 
of  the  Eucharist.  There  was  a  famous 
catechetical  school  at  Alexandria.  Usu- 
ally catechumens  remained  under  instruc- 
tion for  two  or  three  years,  and  oft«n 
longer,  but  the  time  of  probation  was 
short-ened  when  there  was  sufficient  rea- 
son. (  From  Kraus,  "  Kirchengeschichte," 
p.  86.) 

CATKARZ.     [See  Albigexses.j 

CATKSDRA:     EX    CATKESRA. 

Cathedra,  in  tlie  ecclesiastical  sense,  means 
(1)  the  chair  in  which  the  bishop  sits.  It 
was  placed  in  early  times  behind  the  al- 
tar, which  did  not  stand,  as  it  usually 
does  now,  against  the  wall,  but  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  choir.  The  wooden  chair 
which  St,  Peter  is  said  to  have  uvsed,  is 
still  preserved  in  the  Vp.tican  basilica. 
Eusebius  relates  that  the  chair  of  St. 
James  still  existed  in  Jerusalem  down  to 
the  time  of  Constantine.  The  chair  of 
St.  Mark  at  Jerusalem  was  regarded  with 
such  religious  awe  that  Peter  of  Alexan- 
dria, archbishop  and  martyr,  did  not  dare 
to  sit  upon  it,though  it  was  used  by  his  suc- 
cessors. (Thomassin, ''  Traite  des  Festes.") 
(2)  Cathedra  was  used  by  a  natural 
extension  of  meaning  for  the  authority  of 
the  bishop  who  occupied  it,  so  that  the 
feast  of  the  Cathedra  or  chair  commemo- 
rated the  day  on  which  the  bishop  en- 
tered on  his  office.  Thus  we  have  three 
sermons  of  St.  Leo  on  the  ^'  natalis  eathed- 
rse  suae  " — i.e.  his  elevation  to  the  pontifi- 
cate. In  the  Sacramentary  of  St.  Gregory 
we  find  a  Mass  for  "  the  (yhair  of  St. 
Peter,'' on  the  24th  of  February.  Accord- 
ing to  John  Ijelith,  a  liturgical  writer  of 
the  middle  ages,  this  feast  was  intended 
to  celebrate  St.  Peter's  episcopate  both  at 
Antioch  and  Rome.  .\  feast  of  St. 
Peter's  chau'  is  mentioned  in  a  sermon  at- 
tributed to  St.  Auiiustine,  and  in  a  canon 
of  the  Second  Council  of  Tours,  which  met 
in  567.  In  the  course  of  the  middle  ages, 
the  feast  in  February  w^as  associated  with 
St.  Peter's  chair  at  Antioch.  Paul  IV., 
in  a  Bull  of  the  year  1558.  complains  that 
although  the  feast  of  St.  Peter's  chair  at 
Rome  was  celebrated  in  France  and 
Spain,  it  was  forgotten  in  Rome  itself, 
although  the  feast  of  his  chair  at  Antioch 
was  kept  in  Rome.  Accordingly  Paul 
IV.  ordered  that  the  feast  of  St.  Peter'g 


130 


CATHEDRAL 


chair  at  Rome  should  be  ohserved  on 
January  18.  The  feast  of  St.  Peter's 
chair  at  Antioch  is  kept  on  February  22.. 
(Thoinassin,  ib.) 

(3)  Cathedra  is  taken  as  a  symbol  of 
authoritative  doctrinal  teaching.  Our  Lord 
said  that  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  sat 
''  super  cathedram  Moysis** — i.e.  on  the 
chair  of  Moses.  Here  plainly  it  is  not  a 
material  chair,  of  which  Christ  speaks,  bat 
the  "  chair,"  as  Jerome  says,  is  a  metaphor 
for  the  doctrine  of  the  law.  This  meta- 
phor became  familiar  in  Christian  litera- 
ture. Thus  Jerome  speaks  of  the  ^'chair 
of  Peter  and  the  faith  praised  by  apostolic 
mouth.''  Later  theologians  use  "  ex  cath- 
edra "  in  a  still  more  special  sense,  and 
employ  it  to  mark  those  definitions  in  faith 
and  morals  which  the  Pope,  as  teacher  of 
all  Christians,  imposes  on  their  belief. 
The  phrase  is  comparatively  modern, 
and  Billuart  adduces  no  instance  of  its 
use  before  1305.  It  is  often  alleged  that 
the  theologians  explain  the  words  "ex 
cathedra  "  in  many  different  ways,  but  a 
clear  and  authoritative  account  of  the 
meaning  is  given  by  the  Vatican  Council, 
which  declares  that  the  Pope  is  infal- 
lible" when  he  speaks  *ex  cathedra' — i.e. 
when,  exercising  his  office  as  the  pastor 
and  teacher  of  aU  (^^hristians,  he,  in  virtue 
of  his  supreme  apostolic  authority,  defines 
a  doctrine  concerning  faith  and  morals,  to 
be  held  by  the  whole  Church."  (From 
Ballerini,  "I)e  Primatu,"  and  the  Bull 
"  Pastor  aetemus,"  cap.  iv.) 

CATHSDRAI.  {KuOibpa,  the  raised 
seat  of  the  bishop).  The  cathedral 
church  in  every  diocese  is  that  church  in 
which  the  bishop  has  his  chair  or  seat ; 
whence  see,  the  English  form  of  sihye. 
It  is  sometimes  called  simply  Domus, 
"  the  house  "  {Duomo,  Ital. ;  I)om,  Ger.)  ; 
for,  as  "palace  "  sufficiently  indicates  the 
residence  of  a  king,  "  so  the  Lord's  house, 
which  is  the  cathedral  church,  the  palace 
of  the  king  of  kings,  and  the  ordinary 
seat  of  the  supreme  pastor  of  a  city  and 
diocese,  is  sufficiently  ^denoted  by  the 
single  word  Domus."  (Ferraris,  in  Uc- 
clesia.)  A  cathedral  was  in  early  times 
called  the  Matrix  Ecclesia,  but  that  name 
is  now  given  to  any  church  which  has 
other  churches  subject  to  it. 

The  establishment  of  a  cathedral 
church,  the  conversion  of  a  collegiate 
church  into  a  cathedral,  and  the  union  of 
two  or  more  cathedrals  under  the  same 
bishop,  are  all  measures  which  cannot  be 
legally  taken  without  the  approbation  of 
the  Pope.     The  temporal  power  has  often 


CATHEDRATICUM 

performed  these  and  the  like  acts  by  way 
of  usurpation,  as  when  the  revolutionary 
govArnment  of  France  reduced  the  number 
of  French  dioceses  from  more  than  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty  to  sixty;  but  a  regular 
and  lawful  state  of  things  in  such  a  case 
can  only  be  restored  by  the  State's  enter- 
ing into  a  convention  with  the  Holy  See, 
which  is  ahvays  ready,  without  abandon- 
ing principle,  to  conform  its  action  to  the 
emergent  necessities  of  the  times.  Thus, 
in  the  case  just  mentioned,  by  the  Con- 
cordat with  Napoleon  in  1802,  Rome 
sanctioned  the  permanent  suppression  of 
many  old  sees,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  French  episcopate  now  numbers 
eighty-four  bishops  instead  of  the  larger 
number  existing  before  the  Revolution. 
Analogous  changes  are  provided  for  in 
the  Anglican  communion  by  the  theory 
of  XhQ  Royal  Supremacy,  though  this 
theory  has  been  slightly  modified  by  the 
progress  of  political  development  since 
the  Reformation.  The  sovereign  is  still 
supreme  in  theory  "  in  aU  causes  and 
over  all  persons,  ecclesiastical  as  well  as 
civil,"  within  the  Anglican  communion  ; 
but  the  supremacy  cannot  be  exercised  in 
any  important  matter  without  the  consent 
of  the  majority  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, expressed  through  a  responsible 
ministry.  An  Act  of  Parliament,  em- 
bodying as  it  does  the  united  will  and 
action  of  sovereign  and  Parliament,  solves 
all  difliculties.  'Thus  in  1833  ten  Protes- 
tant sees  hi  Ireland  weT'e  suppressed  at  a 
stroke,  and  within  the  last  few  years 
several  suffragan  sees,  at  Nottingham  and 
elsewhere,  have  been  erected — always  by 
Act  of  Parliament.  In  every  such  case, 
whatever  legality  the  Act  may  have  is 
solely  due  to  the  action  of  the  temporal 
power ;  ecclesiastical  authority  has  nothing 
to  do  with  it. 

The  Council  of  Trent  forbids  the 
holding  of  more  than  one  cathedral 
church,  or  the  holding  of  a  cathedi-al 
along  with  a  parish  church  by  the  same 
bishop.^  It  enjoins  that  ordinations 
shall,  60  far  as  possible,  be  publicly  cele- 
brated in  cathedral  churches,  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  canons.^ 

CATHHDRAXi  and  MOXrASTZC 
SCHOOZ.S.    [See  Schools.] 

CATHEDRATZCirm.  This  pay- 
ment, as  originally  regulated  by  the 
Second  Council  of  Braga  (572),  was  a 
"Visitation  fee  due  from  every  parish 
church  in  his  diocese  to  the  bishop  on  th« 

^  Sess,  vii.  2  ;  xxiv.  17,  De  Reform. 
^  Sess.  xxiii.  8,  De  Reform. 


CATHOLIC 

occasion  of  his  annual  visit  to  it.  The 
amount  was  two  shillings  (solidi)  in  gold. 
In  process  of  time  coins  of  greater  value 
were  tendered — thus  in  the  kingdom  of 
Naples  the  cathedraticum  was  considered 
to  he  two  ducats — and  when  such  had 
hecome  the  established  custom  a  return 
to  the  smaller  money  was  not  allowed. 
Wherever  there  is  a  beneficed  clergy  this 
fee  is  still  legally  due  to  the  bishop,  nor 
can  any  period  of  actual  immunity  from 
the  burden,  however  prolonged,  confer  a 
claim  to  future  exemption.  But  since 
the  Council  of  Trent  it  has  been  customary 
to  pay  it  in  synod,  not  during  the  visi- 
tation ;  whence  it  is  also  called  "  Synod- 
aticum."  The  churches  and  monasteries 
of  the  regular  clergy  are  exempt  from 
the  payment  of  the  Cathedraticum,  though 
it  must  be  paid  on  account  of  all  secular 
benefices  which  are  in  the  possession  of 
monasteries.  (Ferraris ;  Fleury,  "  Hist. 
Eccl."  xxxiv.) 

CATHOXiXC  ("general"  or  uni- 
versal). The  word  occurs  in  profane 
authors — e.f/.  in  Polybius — but  among 
Christians  it  received  a  special  or  tech- 
nical sense,  and  was  applied  to  the  true 
Church,  spread  throughout  the  world,  in 
order  to  distinguish  it  from  heretical 
sects.  Thus  one  of  the  very  earliest 
Christian  writers,  Ignatius  of  Antioch, 
says,  "  Where  Christ  is,  there  is  the 
Catholic  Church ;  where  the  bishop  is, 
there  must  the  people  be  also."  Thus 
*'  Catholic  "  became  the  recognised  name 
of  the  Church.  As  "  heresy,"  Clement 
of  Alexandria  tells  us,  denotes  separation 
(since  heresy  signifies  individual  choice), 
so  the  words  "Catholic  Church"  imply 
unity  subsisting  among  many  members. 
Again,  St,  Augustine,  in  his  epistle  against 
the  Donatists,  tells  them  that  the  question 
at  issue  is  "  Where  is  the  Church  ?  "  He 
appeals  to  the  traditional  name  "  Catholic 
Church,"  which  is  given  to  one  body  and 
to  one  -body  only;  he  proves  that  the 
name  has  been  given  rightly,  as  is  shown 
by  the  very  fact  that  the  Catholic  Church, 
unlike  the  Donatist  sect,  is  diffused 
throughout  the  world ;  and  he  concludes 
that  as  the  Church  is  one,  as  this  one 
Church  is  the  Catholic  Church,  as  the 
Catholic  Church  is  the  body  of  Christ, 
therefore  that  he  who  is  without  its  pale 
cannot  "  obtain  Christian  salvation." 

The  name  "  Catholic  "  was  also  ap- 
plied from  very  early  times  to  individual 
members  of  the  Church.  This  use  occurs 
e.g.  in  Cyprian,  and  the  saying  of  Pacian 
(Ep.  1  ad  Sempron.)  is  familiar  to  every- 


CATHOLICUS 


131 


body:  " Christian  is  my  name;  Catholic  is 
my  surname."  Lastly,  the  word  "  Catho- 
lic "  is  used  of  the  faith  which  the  Church 
of  God  holds.  We  meet  with  the  phrase 
*'  Catholic  faith  "  in  Prudentius,  and  fre- 
quently of  course  in  later  writers.  (For 
Catholic  Church  see  Church.) 

"  Catholic "  is  also  used  in  various 
subsidiary  senses,  viz. : 

(1)  Of  letters  addressed  to  the  faith- 
ful in  general,  whether  by  the  Apostles, 
who  wrote  "  Catholic  epistles  "  as  distinct 
from  epistles  to  the  Galatians,  &c.,  or  by 
later  bishops.     (See  Euseb.  iv.  23.) 

(2)  In  Greek,  of  cathedral  churches 
as  distinct  from  parish  churches ;  of  the 
chief  church  as  distinct  from  oratories; 
and,  in  the  later  Byzantine  period,  of 
parish  as  distinct  from  monastic  chapels. 

(3)  Catholicus,  originally  a  civil  title 
used  during  Constan tine's  time  in  Africa 
and  given  apparently  to  the  "  procurator 
fisci,"  was  bastowed  on  the  Bishop  of 
Seleucia,  as  representing  the  Patriarch  of 
Antioch,  and  also  on  the  chief  ecclesi- 
astic among  the  Persian  Nestorians.  The 
title  was  also  current  among  Armenians 
and  Ethiopians.  It  is  said  to  have  de- 
noted a  primate  with  several  metropoli- 
tans under  him,  but  himself  subject  to  a 
patriarch.     [See  Catholicus.] 

(4)  "  Catholic  thrones "  was  a  title 
given  to  the  four  patriarchal  sees. 

(5)  "  Catholic  King "  was  a  title 
given  to  Pepin  (767),  and  other  kings  of 
France  (Froissart  says  it  was  borne  by 
Philip  of  Valois),  who  were  afterwards 
called  "Most  Christian."  "Catholic 
King  "  became  in  modern  times  the  usual 
title  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns.  The  title 
"  Catholic  "  was  conferred  by  Alexander 
VI.  on  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  (Kraus, 
"  Real  Encyclopadie ;  "  and  for  the  title 
"  (>atholic  liing  "  see  also  Fleury,  cxvii.  11.) 

CilTHOI.ICl7S.  Certain  Oriental 
patriarchs  in  Mesopotamia,  Armenia,  and 
Persia  have  anciently  borne  and  perhaps 
still  bear  this  name.  It  must  have  been 
intended  to  signify  the  wide  sweep  of  the 
jurisdiction  which  the  bearer  of  this 
dignity  enjojed  over  the  provinces  and 
dioceses  under  his  rule.  Yet  the  catholici 
were  never  placed  on  a  level  with  the 
patriarchs  of  the  five  great  sees,  Rome, 
Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Alexandria,  and 
Constantinople.  On  the  erection  of  the 
Armenian  church,  through  the  labours  of 
Gregory  the  .Illuminated,  early  in  the 
fourth  century,  its  episcopal  head  was 
named  "  Catholicos."  As  time  went  on  we 
find  him  indifferently  styled  the  Catholic 
2 


132 


CELEBRANT 


of  Persia  or  of  the  Araienians.  There 
was  also  a  Catholic  of  Seleucia  on  tlie 
Tigris.  Both  these,  after  the  general 
revolt  of  the  Oriental  churches  against 
the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  lost  the  ortho- 
dox faith ;  one  was  Monophysite,  the 
other  Nestoiian.  The  Nestorian  Catholic 
of  Seleucia  had  man^  archhishops  and 
bishops  under-  his  jurisdiction,  whose 
dioceses  are  said  to  have  reached  even 
beyond  the  Ganges.  Both  were  origin- 
ally subject  to  the  Patriarch  of  An- 
tioch ;  but  the  Catholicus  of  Seleucia, 
pleading  the  remoteness  of  his  see,  ob- 
tained the  consent  of  the  Patriarch  to  his 
ordination  of  archbishops  by  his  own 
sole  authority ;  and  the  concession  of 
this  right  was  almost  equivalent  to  the 
erection  of  a  new  patriarchate.  Thus  we 
find  the  Arabic  canons  of  Nice  directing 
that  the  Pati'iarch  of  Seleucia  shall  have 
the  sixth  place  in  councils,  after  the  five 
pati'iarchs  above  mentioned,  and  that  the 
seventh  should  be  assigned,  with  the  title 
of  Catholicos,  to  the  patriarch  of  the 
Ethiopians.  Persecution  seems  to  have 
driven  the  ^Vi'^t^i^i^ii  Catholic  out  of 
Persia;  in  the  fifteenth  century  we  find 
him  established  at  Sis  in  Cilicia,  but 
a.most  isolated  there,  and  knowing  little 
oF  what  went  on  in  the  real  Armenia. 
This  state  of  things  led  to  the  assumption 
of  pMtriarchal  power  by  the  abbot  of 
r'chmiadzin,  near  Mount  Ararat,  and  by 
iiis  successors  down  to  the  present  day. 
Latterly  the  Armenian  uniate  church, 
which  is  in  communion  with  the  Holy 
See,  hrts  been  prospering  and  advancing  ; 
the  late  p'atriarch  of  this  church,  Mgr. 
Hassoun,  who  resided  at  Constantinople, 
has  been  recently  made  a  Cardinal :  the 
Kupelianist schism  has  been  extinguished; 
and  there  is  a  fair  prospect  of  the  return 
of  the  whole  Armenian  nation  to  Catholic 
unity. 

Anastasius  the  Sinaite,  writing  in  the 
seventh  century,  speaks  of  a  Catholicus 
of  the  Nestorians,  who  was  obeyed  by  a 
great  number  of  bishops  and  metro- 
politans. (Thomassin,  "Vetus  et  Nova 
Ecclesiae  Disciplina.") 

CEXiSBRASTT.  The  priest  who 
actually  ofifers  IMass,  as  distinct  from 
others  who  assist  him  in  doing  so.  Cele- 
bration of  Mass  is  equivalent  t-o  ofifering 
Mass.  But  "  celebrant "  is  also  used  by 
good  liturgical  writers — e.g.  by  Qavantus 
— for  the  chief  otticiant  at  other  solemn 
oflices,  such  as  vespers. 

CEltSSTZZa-ZAlO-  RERMZTS.  A 
branch  of  the  Franciscans,  authorised  by 


CELIBACY 

St.  Celestine  Y.  in  1294,  and  named  after 
him.  The  object  of  their  institution  was 
to  practise  the  rule  of  St.  Francis  with 
greater  exactitude.  They  suffered  much 
persecution,  and  soon  after  the  death  of 
their  first  superior,  Liberatus,  ceased  to 
exist  as  a  separate  body. 

csZiESTZM-ZAWS.  This  order  was 
founded  about  1254  by  the  holy  hermit 
Peter  of  Morone,  and  took  the  above 
name  after  the  elevation  of  their  founder 
to  the  supreme  pontificate,  with  the  title 
of  Celestine  V.,  in  1294.  Its  rule  was 
austere ;  the  religious-  had  to  rise  at 
2  A.M.  to  say  matins ;  abstained  perpetu- 
ally from  meat  unless  in  case  of  illness, 
and  fasted  every  day  from  the  Exaltation 
of  the  Cross  to  Easter,  and  twice  a  week 
for  the  rest  of  the  year.  They  increased 
rapidly,  and  spread  into  France  and 
Germany,  but  do  not  appear  to  have  ever 
established  themselves  in  England.  Most 
of  their  priories  in  Germany  were  in  those 
provinces  which  the  movement  begun  by 
Luther  most  affected,  and  they  conse- 
quently perished.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  centur}^  there  were  ninety- 
six  priories  m  the  Italian,  and  twenty- 
one  in  the  French  province  ;  the  chief  or 
mother  house  being  the  convent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  at  Morone,  near  Sulmona, 
the  only  abbey  in  the  order.  The  French 
Celestinians,  whose  principal  house  was 
at  Paris,  were  included  among  the  fifteen 
hundred  convents  which,  upon  various 
grounds  more  or  less  specious,  were  sup- 
pressed by  the  commission  of  176G  pre- 
sided over  by  the  contemptible  Lomenie 
de  Brienne,  Archbishop  of  Toulou^e. 
The  order  has  not  since  been  revived  in 
France.  Of  the  once  numerous  Italian 
priories  very  few  now  exist. 

CEZiZBACir  of  the  clergy.  The  law 
of  the  Western  Church  Ibrbids  persona 
living  in  the  married  state  to  be  ordained, 
and  persons  in  holy  orders  to  marry.  A 
careful  distinction  must  be  made  between 
the  principles  on  which  the  law  of  celi- 
bacy is  based  and  the  changes  which  have 
taken  place  in  the  application  of  the  prin- 
ciple. 

The  principles  which  have  induced 
the  Church  to  impose  celibacy  on  her 
clergy  are  (a)  that  they  may  serve  God 
with  less  restraint,  and  with  undivided 
heart  (see  1  Cor.  vii.  ;i2) ;  and  (/3)  that,  being 
called  to  the  altar,  they  may  embrace  the 
life  of  continence,  which  is  holier  than 
that  of  marriage.  That  continence  is  a 
more  holy  state  than  that  of  mariiajge 
is  distinctly  affirmed  in  the  words  of  our 


CELIBACY 

blessed  Lord  ("There  are  eunuchs  who 
have  made  themselves  eunuchsfor  the  king- 
dom ofheaven's  sake.  He  that  can  receive 
it,  let  him  receive  it  ").  It  is  taught  by  St. 
Paul  ("  He  that  giveth  his  virgin  in  marri- 
age doeth  vi^ell,  and  he  that  giveth  her 
not,  doeth  better")  and  by  St.  John 
(Apoc.  xiv.  4).  Christian  antiqmty  speaks 
with  one  voice  on  this  matter,  and  the 
Council  of  Trent,  sess.  xxiv.  De  Matr. 
can.  10,  anathematises  those  who  deny 
that  "  it  is  more  blessed  to  remain  in  vir- 
ginity or  in  celibacy  tlian  to  be  joined  in 
marriage."  Thus  all  Catholics  are  bound 
to  hold  that  celibacy  is  the  preferable 
state,  and  that  it  is  specially  desirable  for 
the  clergy.  It  does  not,  however,  follow 
from  this  that  the  Church  is  absolutely 
bound  to  impose  a  law  of  celibacy  on  her 
ministers,  nor  has  she,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
always  done  so. 

There  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
any  Apostolic  legislation  on  the  matter, 
except  that  it  was  required  of  a  bifthop 
that  he  should  have  been  only  once  mar- 
ried. In  early  times,  however,  we  find  a 
law  of  celibacy,  though  it  is  one  which 
difiers  from  the  present  Western  law,  in 
full  force.  Paphnutius,  who  at  the  Coun- 
cil of  Nicsea  resisted  an  attempt  to  impose 
a  continent  life  on  the  clergy,  still  admits 
that,  according  to  ancient  tradition,  a 
cleric  must  not  marry  after  ordination. 
This  statement  is  confirmed  by  the 
Apostolic  Constitutions,  vi.  17,  which 
forbid  bishops,  priests,  tod  deacons  to 
marry,  while  the  27t'h  {al.  25th)  Apos- 
tolic Canon  contains  the  s-.ime  prohibition. 
One  of  the  earliest  councils,  that  of 
Neocsesarea  (between  314-^25),  threatens 
a  priest  w^ho  married  after  ordination  with 
degradation  to  the  lay  state.  Even  a 
deacon  could  marry  in  one  case  only — 
viz.  if  at  his  ordination  he  had  stipulated 
for  liberty  to  do  so,  as  is  laid  down  by 
the  Council  of  Ancyra,  in  314.  Thus  it 
was  the  recognised  practice  of  the  ancient 
Church  to  prohibit  the  marriage  of  those 
already  priests,  and  this  discipline  is  still 
maintained  in  the  East. 

A  change  was  made  in  the  West  by 
the  33rd  Canon  of  Elvira  (in  305  or  306). 
It  required  bishops,  priests,  and  all  who 
served  the  altar  ("  positis  in  ministerio  ") 
to  live,  even  if  already  married,  in  con- 
tinence. The  Council  of  Nicsea  refused 
to  impose  this  law  on  the  whole  Church, 
but  it  prevailed  in  the  West.  It  was 
laid  down  by  a  synod  of  Carthage  in  390, 
by  Innocent  I.  20  years  later  ;  while 
Jerome  (against  Jovinian)  declares  that  a 


CELIBACY 


isa 


priest,  who  has  "  always  to  offier  sacrifice 
for  the  people,  must  always  pray,  and 
thi-refore  always  abstain  from  marriage." 
Leo  and  Gregory  the  Great,  and  the  Eighth 
Council  of  Toledo  in  653,  renewed  the 
prohiljitious  against  the  marriage  of  sub- 
deacons. 

So  the  law  stood  when  Hildebrand, 
aftei-wards  Gregory  VII.,  began  to  exer- 
cise a  decisive  influence  in  the  Church. 
Leo  IX.,  Nicolas  II.,  Alexander  II.,  and 
Hildebrand  himself  wheu  he  came  to  be 
Pope,  issued  stringent  decrees  against 
priests  living  in  concubinage.  They  weie 
forbidden  to  say  Mass  or  even  to  serve  at 
the  altar  ;  they  were  to  be  punished  with 
deposition,  and  the  faithful  were  warned 
not  to  hear  their  Mass.  So  far  Gregory 
only  fought  against  the  corruption  of  the 
times,  and  it  is  mere  ignorance  to  repre- 
sent him  as  having  instituted  the  Irw  of 
celibacy.  But  about  this  time  a  change 
did  occur  in  the  canon  law.  A  series  of 
synods  from  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century  declared  the  marriage  of  persons 
in  holy  orders  to  be  not  only  unlawiul 
but  invalid.  With  regard  to  persons  in 
minor  orders,  they  were  allowed  for  many 
centuries  to  serve  in  the  Church  whiie 
living  as  married  men.  From  the  tw^elfth 
century,  it  was  laid  down  that  if  thoy 
married  they  lost  the  privileges  of  the 
clerical  state.  However,  Boniface  VIII.,  in 
1300,  permitted  them  to  act  as  clerics,  if 
they  had  been  only  once  married  and  tl:en 
to  a  virgin,  provided  they  had  the  per- 
mission of  the  bishop  and  wore  the  clerical 
habit.  This  law  of  Pope  Boniface  w^as 
renewed  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  sess. 
xxiii.  cap.  6,  De  Reform.  The  same 
Council,  can.  9.  sess.  xxiv.,  again  pro- 
nounced the  marriage  of  clerks  in  holy 
ordera  null  and  void.  At  present,  in  the 
West,  a  married  man  can  receive  holy 
orders  only  if  his  wife  fully  consents  and 
herself  makes  a  vow  of  chastity.  If  the 
husband  is  to  be  consecrated  bishop,  the 
wife  must  enter  a  religious  order. 

We  may  now  turn  to  the  East,  and 
sketch  the  changes  which  the  law  of  celi- 
bacy has  undergone  among  the  Greeks.  In 
the  time  of  the  Church-historian  Socrates 
(about  450),  the  same  law  of  clerical 
celibacy  which  obtained  among  the 
Latins  was  observed  in  Thessaly,  Mace- 
donia, and  Achaia.  Further,  the  case  of 
Synesius  in  410  proves  that  it  was  un- 
usual for  bishops  to  live  as  maiTied  men, 
for  he  had,  on  accepting  his  election  as 
bishop,  to  make  a  stipulation  that  h» 
should  be  allowed  to  live  with  his  wi^ 


134 


CELL 


The  synod  in  TruUo  (692)  requires  "bishops, 
if  married,  to  separate  from  tlieir  wives, 
and  forbids  all  clerics  to  marry  after  the 
suhdiaconat^.  However,  a  law  of  Leo 
tha  Wise  (886-911)  permitted  subdeacons, 
deacons,  and  priests,  who  had  married 
after  receiving  their  respective  orders,  not 
indeed  to  exercise  sacred  functions,  hut 
still  to  remain  in  the  ranks  of  the  clergy 
and  exercise  such  offices  (e.a.  matters  of 
administration)  as  were  consistent  with 
the  marriage  which  they  had  con- 
cluded. 

The  practical  consequences  of  these 
enactments  are  (1)  that  Greek  candidates 
for  the  priesthood  usually  leave  the 
sfeminaries  before  being  ordained  deacons, 
and  return,  having  concluded  marriage, 
commonly  with  daughters  of  clergymen; 
(2)  that  secular  priests  live  as  married 
men,  but  cannot,  on  the  death  of  their 
wife,  marry  again ;  (3)  that  bishops  are 
usually  chosen  from  the  monks.  (From 
Hefele,  "  Beitrage  zur  Kii-chengeschichte, 
Archaologie  und  Liturgik.") 

CEMi.  (I)  A  colony  or  offshoot 
from  some  large  monastery.  Cells  were 
fii'st  heard  of  in  the  Benedictine  order, 
and  were  usually  planted  on  estates  that 
had  been  granted  to  the  mother  house. 
They  were  also  called  "  provostships," 
"  obediences,"  or  "  priories."  They  were 
originally  ruled  by  provosts  or  deans,  re- 
movable at  the  discretion  of  the  abbot  of 
the  mother  house.  Some  cells  were  of 
sufficient  importance  to  be  called  abbeys ; 
but  their  abbots  could  only  be  elected 
with  the  consent  and  subject  to  the  confir- 
mation of  the  abbot  of  the  mother  house. 
The  inmates  of  the  cell  were  bound  to 
render  yearly  a  stated  portion  of  their 
revenues  to  the  house  on  which  they 
depended,  and  to  present  themselves  there 
in  person  on  particular  days.  Instances 
of  important  cells  in  England  were, 
Tynemoutli  Priorv,  depending  on  St. 
AJban's  ;  Leighton  Buzzard,  on  Woburn, 
(Cistercian);  and  liermondsey,  a  cell  of 
the  Cluniac  abliey  of  I^a  Charite,  in 
France.  This  last  is  also  an  instance  of 
an  "alien  priory,'  of  which  there  were 
great  numbers  in  England  at  the  dissolu- 
tion.    (Ferraris,  Mimastirium.) 

(2)  The  separate  chamber  or  hut  of 
any  monk,  friar,  or  hermit,  is  popularly 
termed  his  "  cell,"  as  i'l  Milton's  lines — 

And  mav  at  length  my  weary  age 
Find  out  the  |)eaceful  honnitage, 
The  hairy  gown,  aiui  inossy  cell. 

(3)  In  primitive  times  the  name 
*  cella "  was  given  to  a  small  memorial 


CEMETERY 

chapel,  erected  over  the  tomb  of  some 
friend  or  relative  in  a  sepulchral  area,  in 
which  "  agapse "  and  commemorative 
celebrations  were  held  on  the  anniversary 
of  death. 

CEIVISTSRY'  {KoifirjTTjpiov,  sleeping- 
place).  In  this  article  only  burial- 
grounds  or  churchyards  "  sub  dio,"  or  in 
the  open  air,  will  be  noticed  ;  for  subter- 
ranean burial-places  see  Catacombs. 

Even  during  the  ages  of  persecution 
open  air  cemeteries  were  in  use  at  Rome, 
as  has  been  shown  by  De'  Rossi,  as  well 
as  in  the  provinces.  Thus  the  cemetery 
named  after  Callistus,  who  was  placed  in 
charge  of  it  by  Pope  Zephy^inus,  was 
partly  above  and  partly  belo"w  ground; 
that  at  Vienne  on  the  Rhone  entirely 
above  ground.  After  Constantine,  sub- 
terranean interment  was  of  course  aban- 
doned. The  old  Roman  law,  as  old  as 
the  Twelve  Tables,  which  forbade  intra- 
mural sepulture,  was  gradually  disregard- 
ed ;  after  619  it  became  common  to  bury  at 
Rome  within  the  walls ;  and  it  is  only  in 
modern  times  that  the  sounder  practice 
of  antiquity  has  been  everywhere  re- 
stored. 

A  cemetery  or  churchyard,  in  order  to 
be  fit  to  receive  the  bodies  of  Christians, 
must  first  be  consecrated  and  set  apart  by 
tlie  bishop  for  that  purpose.  The  rite 
may  be  seen  in  the  Pontificale.  From 
its  tenor  it  is  evident  that  it  contemplates 
the  burial  of  none  but  Christians  within 
the  space  to  be  consecrated ;  mdiscriminate 
burial  is  therefore  an  abuse.  The  admis- 
sion to  ecclesiastical  burial  in  a  cemetery 
so  consecrated  is  regarded  as  a  species  of 
communion.  Hence  it  has  ever  been  held 
that  the  burial  of  excommunicated  per- 
sons, and  others  with  whom  in  their  life 
we  could  not  communicate,  in  a  Catholic 
cemetery,  is  unlawful.  If  such  an  inter- 
ment has  been  violently  elffcted.  Innocent 
III.  ordered  that  the  remains  of  the  ex- 
communicated person  so  buried  among 
those  of  the  faithful  should,  if  ihey  could 
be  distinguished,  be  exhumed ;  if  not, 
that  the  cemetery  should  be  reconciled  by 
the  aspersion  of  holy  water  solemnly 
blessed,  as  at  the  dedication  of  a  church. 
In  a  recent  instance  in  Canada,  wheie 
the  civil  power,  acting  upon  the  sentence 
of  a  lay  tribimal,  forcibly  effected  the 
burial  of  an  excommunicated  person  in 
the  Catholic  cemetery,  the  Bishop  of 
Montreal,  Mgr.  Bourget,  laid  the  poition 
of  the  cemetery  so  desecrated  under  an 
interdict.* 

*  See  an  account  of  the  "  Gnibord  case,' '  in 


CENSURE 

Cemeteries  enjoyed  the  same  riglit  and 
degree  of  asylum,  in  tlie  case  of  criminals 
fleeing  to  them  for  shelter,  as  the  churches 
to  which  they  were  attached. 

The  Council  of  Lyons  (1244)  ordered 
that  all  trading,  marketing,  adjudication, 
trial  of  criminals,  and  secular  business  of 
every  land,  in  churchyards  no  less  than 
in  churches,  should  be  put  an  end  to. 
(Ferraris,  C'cetnetej-mm.) 

CEDTSURS  may  be  defined  as  a 
spiritual  penalty,  imposed  tor  the  correc- 
tion and  amendment  of  offenders,  by 
which  a  baptised  person,  who  has  com- 
mitted a  crime  and  is  contumacious,  is 
deprived  by  ecclesiastical  authority  of  the 
use  of  certain  spiritual  advantages.  Thus 
a  censure  presupposes  not  only  guilt  but 
obstinacy  ;  its  immediate  effect  is  the  de- 
privation of  spiritual  goods  ;  it  only  affects 
those  who  by  baptism  have  become  sub-- 
iects  of  the  Church-  It  may  be  true,  as 
Fleury  ^  says,  that  under  Gregory  VII. 
censures  were  multiplied  in  a  manner  un- 
known to  the  early  Church,  and  this  may 
have  been  necessitated  by  the  increasing 
wickedness  of  the  times.  But  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  use  of  censures  dates  from 
the  very  infancy  of  the  Church. 

Censures  are  divided,  according  to  the 
nature  and  extent  of  the  pains  they  in- 
flict, into  excommunicaticms,  suspensions, 
and  interdicts  [see  mider  those  articles]. 
"  Oensuraj  latae  seutentiae  "  are  incurred 
on  the  violation  of  the  law,  ipso  facto ; 
"Censurse  sententiae  ferendae,"  only  on 
the  sentence  of  the  ecclesiastical  judge. 
They  may  be  passed  ab  homine — i.e.  they 
may  be  issued  by  a  mandate  respecting 
some  single  action  or  business ;  or,  again, 
a  jure — i.e.  a  permanent  law  may  be 
passed,  binding  under  censure.  In  the 
former  case,  unless  already  incurred,  they 
expire  with  the  death  of  the  legislator ; 
in  the  latter,  they  continue  still  in  force. 
Some  censures  are  reserved,  others  not 
reserved — i.e.  the  superior  may  reserve 
the  power  of  absolution  from  censures  to 
himself,  or  he  may  commit  it  to  the 
ordinary  ministers  [see  Absolution]. 

That  the  Church  has  the  power  of  in- 
flicting censures  appears  from  the  words 
of  Christ — "He  that  wiU  not  hear  the 

tlie  Catholic  Review  of  New  York,  September  25, 
1875.  A  French  Canadian  priest  writes  to  us 
(May  5,  1881): — "The  man  was  buried  by 
force  in  the  Catholic  burying- ground,  and  the 
spot  is  considered  with  horror  by  all  Catholics 
visiting  that  grand  and  imposing  Montreal 
cemetery." 

^  See  the  Discourse  prefixed  to  livr.  Ix. 


CEREMONY  (SACRED)      185 

Church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  a  heathen 
and  a  publican  " — as  well  as  from  the  con- 
stant practice  of  the  Church  herself 
Censures  can  be  imposed  according  to  the 
ordinary  law,  by  ecclesiastics  possessing 
jurisdiction  in  the  external  courts  ("forum 
externum"  as  distinct  from  the  internal 
court  or  tribunal  of  confession).  Thus 
censures  may  be  imposed  by  the  Pope  or 
a  general  council  for  the  whole  Church  ; 
by  an  archbishop  for  his  own  diocese,  also 
in  the  dioceses  of  his  suffragans  during  a 
visitation,  or  with  respect  to  cases  brought 
to  his  tribunal  by  appeal  from  one  of  his 
suffragans  ;  by  bishops  and  vicar-generals 
in  their  own  dioceses :  by  cardinals  in  the 
churches  from  which  they  take  their 
titles  ;  by  legates  in  the  territory  of  their 
legation;  by  provincial  councils  in  the 
province  ;  by  chapters  in  the  vacancy  of 
a  see  tiU  the  election  of  a  vicar-capitular, 
on  whom  the  power  then  devolves;  by- 
generals,  provincials,  local  superiors  of 
regulars,  according  to  the  statutes  of  their 
order.  Thus  parish  priests  as  such  have 
no  power  of  this  kind.  Still  such  authority 
may  be  delegated  to  all  ecclesiastics :  not 
however,  to  women — e.g.  to  abbesses. 

Persons  who  have  not  reached  the  age 
of  puberty  are  not  included  among  the 
persons  whom  the  censure  strikes ;  nor 
again  are  sovereigns,  unless  the  censure 
be  inflicted  by  the  Pope.  Cardinals  are 
not  subjected  even  to  Papal  censures,  un- 
less they  are  specially  mentioned  as  so 
subject.  (From  Guiy,  "  Theolog.  Moral.") 

CERE»XO»JY  (SACRED),  in  its 
widest  sense,  denotes  any  external  act 
used  in  the  worship  of  God.  Some  cere- 
monies are  essential — such,  for  example,  as 
concern  the  matter  and  form  of  the  sacra- 
ments ;  others  are  accidental — e.g.  the 
sacraments  can  be  given  validly,  or  the 
worship  of  God  could  be  carried  on,  with- 
out them.  Of  accidental  ceremonies, 
some  descend  from  the  apostolic  age, 
others  have  been  added  in  the  course  of 
time  by  the  Church.  That  the  Church 
has  power  to  institute  or  to  change  such 
ceremonies  is  plain  from  the  practice  in 
all  ages,  and  is  defined  by  the  Council  of 
Trent.^  The  Council  further  declares  that 
the  approved  rites  of  the  Church,  in  the 
solemn  administration  of  the  sacraments, 
cannot  be  despised,  or  changed  by  indi- 
vidual caprice,  without  sin.^ 

Scripture  and  reason  combine  to  show 
the  wisdom  of  the  Church's  doctrine  on 
this  head.     Scripture — for  God  ordained 


xxi.  cap.  2,  De  CogaoMHi.  **''"• 


Sess.  vii.  can.  13,  De  Sacram. 


^ 


ksity; 


*^^?,rwft-n-«S\^ 


136 


CERINTHIANS 


ceremonies  in  the  old  law,  and  Christ 
made  outward  ceremonies  essential  to 
the  administration  of  Baptism  and  the 
Eucharist.  Reason — because  it  is  natural 
for  man,  who  is  composed  of  body  and 
soiil,  to  express  his  interior  devotion  by 
exterior  acts  ;  because  man  is  impressed  by 
teaching  which  is  conveyed  in  the  form 
of  symbol,  and  which  appeals  to  his  eyes 
as  well  as  to  his  ears ;  because,  lastly,  as 
both  body  and  soul  come  from  God,  we 
are  bound  to  use  both  in  his  service. 

The  position,  however,  and  importance 
of  ceremonies  in  the  Christian  is  very 
diiferent  from  that  which  they  held  in 
the  Jewish  Ohiu'ch.  In  the  latter  a  mul- 
titude of  ceremonies  were  binding  by 
divine  law ;  in  the  Christian  worship,  on 
the  other  hand,  only  a  very  few  cere- 
monies have  been  instituted  by  Christ; 
the  rest  are  alterable  at  the  will  of  the 
Churcli.  Another  reason  gave  ceremonies 
a  much  more  important  place  in  the 
Jewish  than  they  have  in  the  Christian 
Church.  The  Jews,  St.  Thomas  says, 
were  looking  forward  in  faith  and  hope, 
not  only  to  heavenly  joys,  but  also  to  the 
means  by  which  these  joys  could  be 
obtained.  Heaven  and  the  means  of 
getting  there  were  both  future  to  them, 
and  both  were  symbolised  by  their  cere- 
monies. With  us  the  means  of  salvation 
are  secured  by  acts  already  past  {e.g. 
Christ's  passion),  or  by  acts  actually  per- 
formed in  our  midst  {e.g.  the  sacraments). 
Our  ceremonies  symbolise  grace  already 
won  for  us,  and  regard  the  future  only  so 
far  as  they  typify  heaven.  The  blessed 
in  heaven  have  nothing  more  to  hope  for ; 
therefore  with  them  there  are  no  figures 
or  symbols  ("  nihil  figurale  "),  "  but  only 
thanksgiving  and  the  voice  of  praise,  and 
80  it  is  said  concerning  the  city  of  the 
blessed  :  I  saw  no  temple  in  it,  for  the 
Lord  God  Almighty  is  its  temple  and  the 
Lamb."  ^ 

CERXXTTHZAirs.  Cerintlius  was  a 
native  of  Alexandria^  but  taught  his  heresy 
in  proconsular  Asia.  He  was  a  contem- 
porHry  of  St.  John,  who  on  one  occasion 
left  the  public  baths  at  Ephesus,  be- 
cause Cerinthus  was  there,  the  Apostle 
fearing  to  be  in  the  same  place  with  an 
"enemy  of  the  truth."  Irenseus  says 
St.  John  wrote  his  Gospel  to  confute  hira. 
Cerinthus  was  (1)  a  Judaiser.  He  seems 
to  have  held  a  gross  doctiine  on  the 
Millennium,  to  have  enforced  the  rite 
of  circumcision  and  the  observance  of 
sabbaths.  Moreover,  it  is  related  that 
1  1  2nd»,  qn.  ciii.  a.  8. 


CHALCEDON,  COUNCIL  OF 

the  Cerinthians,  like  the  Ebionites,  ac- 
cepted only  St.  Matthew's  Gospel. 

(2)  He  was  als(5  a  Gnostic,  so  that  he 
forms  the  link  between  the  Judaising  and 
Gnostic  sects.  He  attributed  the  creation 
of  the  world  and  the  giving  of  the  Jewish 
law  to  an  angel  or  angels  far  removed 
from  and  ignorant  of  the  supreme  Being. 
The  reader  will  observe  that  Cerinthus 
made  his  creative  angel  ignorant  of,  hut 
not  antagonistic  to,  the  supreme  God  ;  so 
that  he  was  not  obliged  to  break  entirely 
with  Judaism,  as  the  later  Gnostics  did. 
(From  Lightfoot  on  Colossians  :  "  Essay 
on  the  Colossian  Heresy.") 

CESSATIO  A  Bivzxrzs.  A  prohi- 
bition which  obliges  the  clergy  to  abstain 
from  celebrating  divine  offices  or  giving 
Church-burial,  in  some  specified  place. 
It  is  distinct  from  an  interdict,  because 
(1)  an  interdict  may  affect  only  certain 
persons :  cessatio  a  divinis  is  always  local — 
i.e.  it  forbids  anyone  to  celebrate  the 
divine  offices  in  a  particular  place ;  (2) 
an  interdict  is  a  censure,  and  therefore 
inflicted  to  correct  offenders:  not  so 
cessatio  a  divinis,  which  may  be  ordered 
as  an  expression  of  the  Church's  sorrow, 
to  repair  some  injury  done  to  the  divine 
honour,  SiC. ;  (3)  during  an  interdict 
offices  may  be  celebrated  with  closed 
doors,  and  publicly  on  certain  feasts : 
neither  is  permissible  during  cessatio  a 
divinis. 

Cessatio  a  divinis  is  in  some  cases  pre- 
scribed, as  a  matter  of  course,  by  the 
general  law  of  the  Church — e.g.  when  a 
church  is  desecrated ;  but  it  may  also  be 
imposed  by  all  who  have  power  to  inflict 
censures.  (Gury,  "  Theolog.  Moral.") 
Fleury  gives  several  instances  of  cessatio 
a  divinis  from  the  history  of  the  French 
church  in  the  sixth  century.  ^ 

CHAZ.CEDOTJ,  GEXO-ERAIi  COTTXr- 
CJJm  op.  The  fourth  general  council, 
which,  in  451,  condemned  the  errors  of 
Eutyches  and  affirmed  two  natures  in 
Christ. 

The  opposition  to  Nestorius  who  said 
there  were  two  persons  in  Christ,  led 
many,  particularly  among  the  monks, 
into  the  opposite  extreme  of  maintaining 
that  there  was  one  nature,  as  there  was 
one  person  only,  in  our  Lord.  Among 
those  who  fell  into  this  error,  which  was 
closely  connected  with  Apollinarianism,  a 

^  Liv.  xxxiv.  68.  He  calls  them  all  inter- 
dicts, but  one  or  two  of  his  instances  {e.g.  tlie 
cessation  of  the  offices  at  St.  Denys,  in  Paris, 
because  it  had  been  polluted  by  bloodshed) 
exactly  correspond  to  the  cessatio  a  divinis. 


CHALOEDON,  COUNCIL  OF 

conspicuous  place  belonged  to  Eut3'che8, 
an  old  monk  who  had  been  for  thirty 
years  Archimandrite  of  a  monastery  near 
Constantinople  which  numbered  not  less 
than  300  religious.  In  448  Eusebius  of 
Dorylseiim  accused  Eutyches  of  heresy 
in  a' synod  at  Constantinople.  Eutyches 
expressed  his  belief  as  follows  :  "  I  confess 
that  our  Lord  was  of  two  natures  before 
the  union,  but  after  the  union  [i.e.  the 
union  of  the  two  natures  in  the  Incar- 
nation] I  confess  one  nature."  The  synod, 
over  which  Flavian,  bishop  of  Constanti- 
nople, presided,  maintained  two  natures  in 
Christ  "  after  the  union "  [i.e.  Incarna- 
tion], and  Eutyches  was  condemned  and 
deposed.  His  error  cut  at  the  very  roots  of 
true  belief  in  the  Incarnation.  He  main- 
tained that  in  Christ  the  human  was 
absorbed  in  the  divine  nature,  so  that 
Christ's  body  was  not  of  one  substance 
with  ours — ^was  not,  indeed,  the  ''  body  of 
a  man."  Carried  to  its  logical  conse- 
quences, the  Eutychian  heresy  involved  a 
denial  of  Christ's  humanity  and  even  of 
his  diyinity,  for  Christ  would  liaye  had 
one  mixed  nature,  partly  human,  partly 
divine,  and  in  reality  neither  divine  nor 
human. 

After  the  synod,  Eutyches  appealed  to 
Leo,  professing  his  desire  that  the  matter 
had  been  laid  before  Leo  sooner,  and  his 
readiness  to  accept  the  Pope's  judgment. 
He  also  wrote  to  Chrysologus  of  Ravenna, 
who  referred  him  to  the  chair  of  Peter ; 
and  it  is  probable,  though  not  quite  cer- 
tain, that  he  also  addressed  himself  to 
Dioscorus  and  other  bishops.  Pope  Leo, 
after  examining  the  acts,  approved  the 
sentence  pasjsed  in  the  synod  at  Con- 
stantinople. Dioscorus,  on  the  other  hand, 
who  was  really  of  one  mind  with  Euty- 
ches, managed  through  his  influence  with 
the  JEmpress  Eudocia,  to  secure  the  convo- 
cation of  a  general  synod  at  Ephesus. 
Thereupon  Leo,  who  received  on  May  13, 
449,  an  invitation  to  take  part  in  the 
comicil,  despatched  three  legates  to  repre- 
sent him  there,  and  gave  into  their  hands 
several  letters,  among  which  was  his  fa- 
mous ''  dogmatic  epistle  "  to  Flavian.  In 
it  the  Pope  teaches  with  all  possible  full- 
ness and  clearness  the  existence  of  two  dis- 
tinct natures  in  the  incarnate  God.  "  He 
who,  remaining  in  the  form  of  a  God,  made 
man,  also  in  the  form  of  a  servant  was 
made  man.  For  each  nature  without  de- 
fect preserves  its  proper  characteristics 
{pi'oprietatet7i  suam),  and  as  the  form  [i  e. 
nature]  of  a  servant  does  not  take  away 
the  form  of  God,  so  the  form  of  God  does 


CHALCEDON,  COUNCIL  OF     137 

not  diminish  the  form  of  a  servant.  .  .  . 
Each  form  in  union  with  the  other  does 
what  is  proper  to  it:  the  Word,  that  is  to 
say,  operating  that  which  is  proper  to  the 
VVord,  and  the  flesh  performing  that  which 
is  proper  to  the  flesh, .  .  .  The  one  [i.e.  the 
divine  nature]  shines  forth  in  miracles,  the 
other  [i.e.  the  human  nature]  succumbs 
to  injuries.  And  as  the  Word  does  not 
fall  away  from  equality  with  the  Father's 
glory,  so  the  flesh  does  not  leave  the 
nature  of  our  race.  For  one  and  the  same, 
a  point  often  to  be  repeated,  is  truly  son 
of  God,  and  truly  son  of  man.  ...  To 
hunger,  to  thirst,  to  be  weary,  and  to 
sleep,  is  evidently  proper  to  man.  But 
to  satisfy  five  thousand  men  with  five 
loaves,  and  to  give  the  woman  of  Samaria 
living  water  ....  is  without  doubt 
divine,  ...  It  does  not  belong  to  the 
same  nature  to  say,  I  and  the  Father  are 
one,  and  again,  the  Father  is  greater  than 
I,"  In  August  of  the  same  year  the 
bishops  began  to  assemble  at  Ephesus  in 
the  council  which  for  its  evil  repute  has 
earned  the  name  of  Latrocinium  or 
Robber-synod.  The  council  met  on  the 
8th  of  the  month  and  consisted  apparently 
of  about  1 30  bishops,  though  one  ancient 
account  raises  the  number  to  300.  Dios- 
corus presided,  while  two  Papal  legates, 
besides  Domnus  of  Antioch,  Juvenal  of 
Jerusalem,  Flavian  of  Constantinople, 
were  present.  Flavian  and  Eusebius  were 
condemned  as  heretics  and  deposed,  as  it 
was  pretended,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of 
the  council,  but  the  coarse  and  fanatical 
Dioscorus  would  allow  no  notes  of  the 
proceedings  to  be  made  except  by  his 
own  creatures,  and  he  was  afterwards 
accused  of  having  falsified  the  Acts.  He 
called  in  soldiers  and  monks  armed  with 
cudgels,  cruelly  maltreated  Flavian  and 
cast  him  into  prison,  and  forced  the  other 
Fathers  by  outrage  and  starvation  to  sign 
a  blank  paper,  on  which  he  afterwards 
wrote  the  condemnation  of  Flavian,  who 
died  shortly  aftenvards  of  the  ill-usage 
he  had  received.  Leo,  with  the  whole 
West,  rejected  this  council,  while  the 
churches  of  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Pontus, 
would  hear  nothing  of  it.  It  was,  how- 
ever, confirmed  by  the  Emperor  Theo- 
dosius  11. ,  and  for  the  time  it  was  im- 
possible to  convoke  another  synod. 

Better  times  came  with  the  accession  of 
Marcian  and  Pulcheria  to  the  throne. 
Marcian  at  once  annulled  the  decreees  of 
the  Latrocinium,  and  in  concert  with 
Valentinian  III.,  the  Western  emperor, 
and  with  the  approval  of  Pope  Leo  and 


133    CHALCEDON,  COUNCIL  OF 

of  Anatolius,  the  new  bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople, who  had  now  subscribed 
Leo's  letter  to  Flavian,  convoked  a  new 
council,  which  was  to  meet  at  Niceea. 
Afterwards,  however,  Clialcedon  was 
chosen  as  the  place  of  meeting,  because  of 
its  proximity  to  Constantinople,  which 
made  it  possible  for  Marcian  to  attend 
the  council  and  at  the  same  time  to 
look  after  civil  affairs  in  the  capital  of  his 
empire.  The  council  opened  on  October 
8,  451,  and  closed  on  November  1  of  the 
same  year.  The  Fathers  held  their 
sessions  m  the  church  of  St.  Euphemia, 
which  stood  near  the  Bosphorus  on  a 
gentle  eminence  just  opposite  Constanti- 
nople. The  number  of  assembled  bishops 
was  about  600.  The  external  order  of 
the  council  was  in  the  hands  of  an 
imperial  commission,  consisting  of  civil 
officers ;  but  the  Papal  legates  "  manifested 
an  unmistakeable  superiority  over  the 
other  voters,  as  representing,  according 
to  their  own  explicit  statement,  the  head 
of  the  whole  Church,  and  as  holding  fast 
to  the  conviction  that  every  resolution  of 
the  synod  to  which  they  did  not  agree  was 
DuUand  void."^  This  claim  was  fully  re- 
cognised by  the  council,  as  will  presently 
appear. 

In  the  first  session,  Dioscorus  was 
declared  guilty  of  murder  and  of  other 
moral  oliences,  particularly  of  violence 
and  outrage  upon  the  Fathers  who  met 
at  Ephesus.  In  the  second,  the  epistle  of 
Leo  to  Flavian  was  unanimously  approved. 
The  Fathers  exclaimed,  "  That  is  the 
faith  of  the  Fathers :  that  is  the  faith  of 
the  Apostles.  So  we  all  believe.  Peter 
has  spoken  through  Leo.  That  was  also 
Cyril's  faith,  and  that  is  the  imih  of  the 
Fathers."  In  the  third  session  Dioscorus 
was  deposed.  In  the  fourth  the  letter  of 
Leo  to  Flavian  was  approved  by  a  formal 
vote.  In  the  fifth  session,  the  dogmatic 
formula  of  Chalcedon  which  had  been 
drawn  up  by  a  commission,  was  adopted 
by  the  council. 

In  this  formula  the  council  defined 
that  there  was  "  one  and  the  same  Christ 
the  Son,  Lord,  only-begotten,  in  two 
natures,  without  confusion,  without  change 
[this  is  directed  against  Eutyches]  with- 
out division,  without  separation  [this 
against  Nestorius,  who  divided  Christ 
into  two  persons] ;  the  difference  of  the 
natures  being  in  no  wise  destroyed  on 
account  of  the  union,  but  rather  the  pro- 
perty {18i6tt]tos)  of  each  nature  being 
preserved  and  meeting  (o-vvrpexoixnjs) 
»  Hefele,  Condi,  ii.  p.  421. 


CHALCEDON,  COUNCIL  OF 

in  one  Person  and  Hypostasis."  At  the 
close  of  the  council  the  Fathers  wi-ote  to 
Pope  Leo,  who  "  had  presided  over  all 
the  assembled  [bishopsl  as  the  head  over 
the  members,  begging  him  "  by  his 
assent  also  to  honour  their  decision" 
{rifxriaov  kcu  rais  aa7s  yj/^TjCpnis  ttjv  Kplcnv). 
The  Emper<u-  also  asked  the  Pope 
to  confirm  the  decrees  of  the  coun- 
cil. Accordingly,  on  March  21,  453,  Leo 
addressed  a  circular  to  the  bishops  who 
had  attended  the  council  confirming  their 
definition  of  the  faith. 

The  confirmation  of  the  council  would 
have  been  obtained  much  sooner  and 
much  more  easily,  if  the  dogmatic  con- 
troversy had  been  the  only  matter  of  dis- 
cussion. But  it  was  not  so.  At  the  end 
of  the  fourteenth  session,  the  Papal  legates 
withdrew,  and  in  their  next  meeting  the 
Fathers  of  the  Council  passed  thirty 
canons,  relating  to  Church  government, 
clerical  and  monastic  discipline,  &c.,  of 
which  the  28th  is  the  most  important. 
The  church  of  Constantinople,  though 
not  of  Apostolic  foundation,  naturally 
acquired  great  influence  from  its  position 
as  an  imperial  city,  and  as  early  as  381 
the  Second  General  Council  assigned  it 
"  the  pre-eminence  of  honour"  after  the 
Church  of  Eome,  on  the  ground  that 
Constantinople  itself  was  New  Rome. 
This  canon,  however,  was  ignored  by 
Rome.  At  Chalcedon,  Anatolius  of 
Constantinople  saw  that  the  time  was 
unusually  favourable  for  asserting  the 
doubtful  privilege  of  his  see  and  for  ex- 
tending it.  He  had  not  much  to  fear 
from  the  jealousy  or  conservatism  of  the 
great  patriarchates  or  exarchates  in  the 
East.  The  sees  of  Alexandria  and  Ephesus 
were  vacant,  Maximus  of  Antioch  was 
his  creature,  Juvenal  of  Jerusalem  was  in 
his  debt  for  helping  him  to  obtain  juris- 
diction over  the  three  Palestinian  pro- 
vinces. In  these  circumstances,  the  28th 
canon  of  (chalcedon  was  agreed  to  with 
little  difficulty.  The  former  part  of  this 
canon  merely  reaffirms  the  decree  of  the 
second  general  synod  to  which  the  canon 
of  Chalcedon  expressly  refers.  The 
Fathers,  the  bishops  of'  Chalcedon  say, 
had  rightly  assigned  [patriarchal]  privi- 
leges to  the  elder  Rome,  because  of  its 
imperial  dignity,  and  had  from  similar 
motives  assigned  the  second  rank  to 
New  Rome — i.e.  Constantinople.  The 
latter  part  of  the  28th  canon 
goes  much  further.  It  sanctions  the 
practice  which  had  prevailed  since 
Chrysostom's  time — ^viz.  that  the  Bishop 


OH.\LDEAN  CHRISTIANS 

of  Constantinople  should  be  supreme,  not 
only  over  the  district  {dioUijais)  of 
Thrace,  but  also  over  Pontus  and  Asia, 
which  had  been  formerly  independent. 
The  metropolitans  of  these  districts  were 
to  receive  consecration  from  Constantinople. 

Leo  absolutely  refused  to  confirm  this 
canon,  and  Anatolius  acknowledged  that 
"  the  whole  force  and  confirmation  of 
that  which  had  been  done  was  reserved  to 
the  authority  of  [his]  beatitude  " — i.e.  to 
the  authority  of  his  Holiness  the  Bishop 
of  Kome.  In  like  manner  the  council 
itself  and  the  Emperor  Marcian  had  ex- 
pressly allowed  that  the  canon  was  in- 
valid without  the  approbation  of  the 
Apostolic  See.  Indeed,  for  a  considerable 
time  the  Greeks  themselves  did  not  appeal 
to  the  canon  in  question,  and  their 
canonists  ^  omitted  it  in  their  collections. 
Justinian,  however,  confirmed  the  high 
rank  of  Constantinople,  and  this  very 
canon  of  Chalcedon  was  confirmed  at  the 
great  Eastern  synod  in  TruUo,*^  although 
Rome  still  abstained  from  sanctioning  it. 
But  after  a  Latin  Empire  had  been  estab- 
lished in  the  East,  and  a  Latin  Patriarchate 
at  Constantinople,  the  Eourth  Lateran 
Synod  under  Innocent  III.,  in  the  year 
1215,  ordained  that  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople was  to  hold  rank  immediately 
after  the  Pope,  and  therefore  above  the 
Patriarchs  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch. 
(From  Hefele,  '*  Concil."  vol.  ii.) 

CHAIiDEAXr  CHRZSTIAITS, 

RITE,  &.C.  A  name  given  both  in  the 
East  and  West  to  Nestorians  when  re- 
united to  the  Church,  the  name  Syrian 
being  reserved  for  those  who  have  re- 
turned to  the  Church  from  the  Jacobite 
or  Monophysite  sect. 

Through  the  influence  of  Ibas,  bishop 
of  Edessa,  and  of  the  school  in  that  city, 
Nestorianism  spread  through  Mesopo- 
tamia, Assyria,  Persia,  and  countries 
further  east.  The  Nestorians  had  an 
organised  hierarchy  under  their  patri- 
arch of  Seleucia — Ctesiphon — but  at  the 
Council  of  Florence,  when  the  Greek 
schism  was  healed  for  the  moment,  many 
Nestorian  Christians  also  were  reconciled. 
Timothy,  archbishop  of  the  Nestorians 
in  Cyprus,  abjured  his  errors,  and  was 
by  a  bull  of  Eugenius  IV.  (1445)  re- 
ceived into  communion  with  the  Church, 
and  the  Pope  forbade  anyone  to  "  call  the 

1  Till  the  time  of  Photius.  Hergenrother, 
Fhottus,  i.  p.  87. 

2  But  the  decision  of  the  Council  in  TruUo 
on  this  point  was  not  received  in  the  other 
Eastern  patriarchates.  Hergenrother,  ib.  p.  223. 


CHALICE 


139 


Chaldeans  Nestorians."  Another  section 
of  Nestorians  became  Catholic  under 
Julius  III.  (1552),  when  Siud,  patriarch 
at  Mosul,  accepted  confirmation  in  his 
office  from  the  Pope.  This  union  was 
contimied  by  the  patriarch  Elias,  in  whose 
time,  after  negotiations  extending  over 
six  years,  a  synod  was  held  at  Anied,  in 
1G16.  In  this  synod  the  patriarch,  five 
^ichbishops  and  one  bishop  subscribed  a 
profession  of  Catholic  faith  and  were  re- 
united to  the  Roman  Church.  Meanwhile, 
on  more  occasions  than  one,  Chaldeans 
relapsed  into  heresy  and  schism.  But 
another  reunion  took  place  under  Pope 
Innocent  X.,  which  Pope  placed  over  all 
Chaldean  Christians  a  patriarch,  Joseph  I., 
who  took  up  his  abode  at  Amed,  usually 
known  as  Diarbekir.  Since  then  the 
Catholic  Chaldeans  have  always  had  their 
own  patriarch  and  their  liturgy  in  the 
Chaldee  language. 

CHAIiICE  (calix,  TTOT^piov).  The  cup 
used  in  Mass,  for  the  wine  which  is  to  be 
consecrated.  The  rubrics  of  the  Missal 
require  that  it  should  be  of  gold  or  silver, 
or  at  least  have  a  silver  cup  gilt  inside. 
It  must  be  consecrated  by  the  bishop  with 
chrism,  according  to  a  form  prescribed  in 
the  Pontifical.  It  may  not  be  touched  ex- 
cept by  persons  in  holy  orders. 

We  know  nothing  about  the  chalice 
which  our  Lord  used  in  the  first  Mass. 
Venerable  Bede  relates  that  in  the  seventh 
century  they  exhibited  at  Jerusalem  agreat 
silver  cup,  with  two  handles,  which  our 
Saviour  himself  had  used  in  celebrating  the 
Eucharist,  but  antiquity  knows  nothing  of 
this  chalice,  and  it  has  no  better  claim  to  be 
regarded  as  genuine  than  the  chalice  of 
agate  which  is  still  shown  at  Valencia 
and  claims  also  to  be  that  used  by  Christ. 
Probably,  the  first  chalices  used  by  Chris- 
tian priests  were  made  of  glass.  It  seems 
likely  at  least,  though  the  inference  can- 
not be  called  certain,  from  Tertullian's 
words,  that  in  his  time  glass  chalices  were 
commonly  used  in  church,  and  undoubtedly 
such  chalices  were  still  common  during 
the  fifth  century,  as  appears  from  the 
testimonies  of  St.  Jerome  and  Cyprianus 
Gallus,  the  biographer  of  St.  CaBsarius  of 
Aries.  Gregory  of  Tours  mentions  a 
crystal  chalice  of  remarkable  beauty, 
which  belonged  to  the  church  of  Milan. 

However,  even  before  persecution  had 
ceased,  the  Church  began,  from  natural 
reverence  for  Christ's  blood,  to  employ 
more  costly  vessels.  The  Roman  Book 
of  the  Pontifis  says  of  Pope  Urban  I. 
(226)  that  "  he  made  all  the  holy  vessela 


140 


CHALICE 


of  silver."  So,  too,  we  read  in  the  acts  of 
St.  Laurence's  martyrdom,  that  he  was 
charged  by  the  heathen  with  having  sold 
the  altar-vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  and 
with  having  given  the  proceeds  to  the 
poor ;  while  St.  Augustine  mentions  two 
golden  and  six  silver  chalices,  which  were 
exhumed  Irom  the  crypt  of  the  church  at 
Oirta.  Of  course,  such  precious  chalices 
became  more  common  when  the  Church 
grew  rich  and  powerful.  Thus  St. 
Chrysostom  describes  a  chalice  "  of  gold 
and"^  adorned  with  jewels."  In  867  the 
Emperor  Michael  IIL  sent  Pope  Nicolas  I., 
among  other  presents,  a  golden  chalice, 
surrour.ded  by  precious  stones,  and  with 
jacinths  suspended  on  gold  threads  round 
the  cup.  A  precious  silver  chalice  adorned 
with  figures  belonged  to  the  church  at 
Jerusalem,  and  was  presented  in  869  to 
Ignatius  of  Constantinople.  But  it  is  need- 
less to  multiply  instances  on  this  head. 

Still  for  a  long  time  chalices  of  horn, 
base  metal,  &c.,  were  still  used,  and  Bin- 
terim  says  that  a  copper  chalice  in  which 
Ludger,  the  Apostle  of  Miinster,  in  the 
eighth  century,  said  Mass,  is  still  preserved 
at  Werden,  where  he  founded  an  abbey. 
But  very  soon  afterwards  chalices  of  glass, 
horn, base  metal,  t&c,  were  prohibited  by  a 
series  of  councils  in  England,  Germany, 
Spain,  and  France,  although  chalices  of 
ivory,  .'md  of  precious  stone  {e.g.  of  onyx) 
were  still  permitted.  Gratian  adopted  in 
the  Coj-jms  Juris  a  canon  which  he  attri- 
butes to  a  Council  of  Eheims,  otherwise 
unknown.  The  words  of  the  canon  are, 
"let  the  chalice  of  the  Lord  and  the 
paten  be  at  least  of  silver,  if  not  of  gold. 
But  if  anyone  be  too  poor,  let  him  in  any 
case  have  a  chalice  of  tin.  Let  not  the 
chalice  be  made  of  copper  or  brass,  be- 
cause from  the  action  of  the  wine  it  pro- 
duces rust,  which  occasions  sickness.  But 
let  none  presume  to  sing  Mass  with  a 
chalice  of  wood  or  glass."  (Hefele, 
"Beitrage,"ii.  p.  322  sry.) 

The  practice  of  consecrating  chalices 
is  very  ancient.  A  form  for  this  purpose 
is  contained  in  the  Gregorian  Sacrament- 
ary,  as  well  as  in  the  most  ancient "  Ordines 
Romani."  and  such  consecration  is  usual 
among  the  Greeks  and  Copts.  In  the 
Latin  Church,  the  bishop  anoints  the  in- 
side of  the  chalice  with  chrism,  using  at 
the  same  time  appropriate  prayers.  The 
consecration  is  lost  if  the  chalice  be  broken 
or  notably  injured,  or  if  the  inside  is  regilt. 
A  decree  prohibiting  all  except  those  in 
eacred  orders  to  touch  the  paten  or  chalice 
is  attributed  to  an  early  Pope,  St.  Sixtus, 


CHANCEL 

by  the  author  of  the  "Liber  Pontificalis." 
But  Merati,  who  quotes  this  statement, 
admits  that  a  Roman  Ordo  res-ards  it  as 
lawful  for  acolytes  to  do  so.  However,  a 
Council  of  Braga,  held  in  563,  confines 
the  right  of  touching  the  sacred  vessels  to 
those  who  at  least  are  subdeacons. 

Besides  the  chahce  from  which  the 
priest  took  the  Precious  Blood,  the  ancients 
also  used  ''baptismal  chalices,"  from 
which  the  newly-baptised  received  com- 
munion under  the  species  of  wine,  and 
"  ministerial  chalices  "  {"  calices  ndnis- 
teriales,""scyphi"),  in  which  the  Precious 
Blood  was  given  to  the  people.  This 
'*  ministerial "  chalice  was  partly  filled 
with  common  wine,  and  into  this  wine 
the  celebrant  poured  a  small  quantity  of 
the  Precious  Blood  from  the  "  calix  oifer- 
torius  " — i.e.  the  chalice  with  which  he 
said  Mass.  (Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Miss."  i. 
cap.  4.) 

CHAIiZCE-VEXli.  The  veil  with 
which  the  chalice  is  covered,  called  also 
"  peplum  "  and  "  sudarium."  It  used  to  be 
of  linen,  but  must  now  be  of  silk,  as  the 
rubric  requires.  The  Greeks  use  three 
veils,  one  of  which  covers  the  paten, 
another  the  chalice,  a  third  both  paten 
and  chalice.  They  call  the  third  veil  d^p, 
because  it  encompasses  the  oblations. 
Cardinal  Bona  says  this  Greek  custom 
began  in  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  and 
thence  spread  through  the  East.  (Bene- 
dict XIV.  "  De  Miss."  i.  cap.  5.) 

Benedict  XIV.  considers  the  antiquity 
of  the  chalice-veil  to  be  proved  by  one  of 
the  Apostolic  Canons — viz.  72  {al.  73), 
which  forbids  the  application  of  the 
church  vessels  or  veils  {pOovrjv)  to  pro- 
fane uses.  Hefele  thinks  this  jcanon  may 
belong  to  the  latter  half  of  the  third 
century.  But  there  does  not  seem  to  be 
any  reason  for  alleging  that  the  veil 
meant  is  the  chaiice-veil.  Gavantus  says 
that  the  chalice-veil  is  mentioned  in  the 
liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom  (which,  how- 
ever, has  been  altered  since  the  saint's 
time) ;  that  silken  chalice- veils  were  given 
to  Pope  Hormisdas  (514-623),  and  that 
Amalarius  mentions  the  Roman  custom 
of  bringing  the  chalice  to  the  altar 
wrapped  in  a  veil. 

CHAiarcEXi.  The  part  of  a  church 
between  the  altar  and  the  nave,  so  named 
from  the  rails  (cancelli)  which  separated 
it  from  the  nave.  The  word  was  in  use 
before  the  Reformation,  and  th.e  Anglicans 
still  retain  it.  Among  English  Catholics 
it  is  now  little  used,  the  portion  of  the 
church  near  the  altar,  separated  by  rails 


CHANCELLOR,  EPISCOPAL 

from  the  nave,  being  desipTiated  the 
"sanctuary."  In  cathedrals  and  conven- 
tual churches,  where  space  is  required  to 
accommodate  the  canons  or  the  reli- 
gious, a  portion  of  the  church  between 
the  sanctuary  and  the  nave  is  taken  for 
the  purpose  ;  it  is  not  however  called  the 
"cliKncel,"  but  the  "choir,"  Fr.  cliceur. 
[See  Choir.] 

CHANTCEXiXiOR,  SPZSCOPAZi 

{cancellarius,  from  cancelli,  a  lattice,  rail- 
ings). The  place,  surrounded  by  railings  or 
lattice  work,  where  the  legal  instruments 
which  decisions  in  an  imperial  or  royal 
court  made  necessary  were  prepared,  was 
called  "  cancellaria."  The  word  "  can- 
cellarius  "  is  first  used  in  the  sense  of  a 
secretary  or  notary  by  Cassiodorus — that 
is,  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  centiu-y. 
The  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  was  in 
primitive  times  exercised  by  his  arch- 
deacon [Archdeacon]  ;  but  in  proportion 
as  the  powers  of  the  archdeacons  were  en- 
larged, a  tendency  manifested  itself  to 
make  their  jurisdiction  independent  of 
episcopal  control,  until  at  last  an  appeal 
actually  lay  from  the  archdeacon  to  the 
bishop.  Such  a  state  of  things  would 
inevitably  make  the  bishop's  own  official, 
his  "  chancellor  " — the  person,  whether  a 
clerk  or  a  layman,  who  had  the  charge  of 
the  judicial  records  of  the  diocese— a  per- 
sonage of  greater  importance.  We  find, 
accordingly,  that  in  the  three  centuries 
preceding  the  Reformation,  while  the 
power  of  the  archdeacon  had  everywhere 
declined,  or  was  declining,  the  influence 
and  importance  of  the  bishop's  chancellor 
were  always  on  the  ascendant.  We  find 
St.  Edmund  Rich,  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, in  the  thirteenth  century,  carrying 
on  an  important  and  delicate  negotiation 
with  the  monks  of  Christchurch  chiefly 
through  Richard,  his  chancellor,  after- 
wards celebrated  in  the  Church  as  St. 
RichfU'd,  bishop  of  Chichester.  (See 
Gervase  of  Canterbury.)  Canon  Law 
contains  many  regulations  respecting  the 
fees  of  office  which  chancellors  are  entitled 
to  demand. 

CUA.IO'CERY,  EPZSCOPAZ..  See 
the  article  on  Episcopal  Chancellors. 
From  the  chancery  of  a  bishop  proceed 
all  those  documents,  deeds,  certificates, 
licences,  dispensations,  ifec,  which  are 
necessary  to  the  publication,  recognition, 
and  execution  of  the  acts  which  he  per- 
forms in  the  exercise  of  the  fivefold 
jurisdiction  attributed  to  him  by  the 
canon  law,  in  which  are  included  the 
powers  of  ordering,  judfftnff,  correcting, 


CHAPLAIN 


141 


dispensing,  and  administering.  To  these 
may  be  added  the  power  of  delegating  or 
deputing.  (SogUa,  "  De  Potestate  Juris- 
dictionis.") 

CHAsrcEiKir,  PAPAXi:  chaio-. 
CERY     TAXES,     Ac.       [See     Curia 

ROMANA.] 

CHAZTT  ECCXiESIASTZCA:L, 

GREGORZASr,  &c.  [See  Plaiist 
Chant.] 

CHANTRY-  (Lat.  capellania,  Fr. 
thapellenie).  The  ancient  name  in  En- 
gland— 

(1)  of  a  chapel,  aisle,  or  part  of  an 
aisle,  in  a  church,  set  apart  for  the  offer- 
ing of  the  Holy  Sacrifice  for  the  benefit 
of  the  soul  of  a  particular  person,  gene- 
rally the  founder,  or  for  some  other  pious 
purpose ; 

(2)  of  the  institution  and  endowment 
of  such  a  service :  as  when  Chaucer  praises 
his  "  Persona  "  for  not  leaving  his  parish, 

*'  To  seeken  him  a  chaunterie  for  soules." 

All  chantries  were  dissolved  by  the  Acts 
of  1545  and  1547.  They  were  then 
found  to  be  more  than  a  thousand  in 
number. 

Chantries  in  the  second  of  the  above 
senses  are  divided  by  the  canonists 
into  three  classes.  (1)  Mercenary,  as 
when  a  testator  leaves  property  to  a  lay- 
man with  the  charge  of  causing  Masses 
to  be  said  for  his  soul.  (2)  Collative, 
when  property  is  left  with  an  express  in- 
junction that  out  of  the  revenue  arising 
from  it  daily  Mass,  or  a  certain  number 
of  Masses  in'the  year,  should  be  celebrated ; 
as  to  these  chantries,  the  collation  of  the 
priests  to  serve  them  properly  belongs  to 
the  bishop.  (3)  Chantries  in  private 
patronage.  These  only  differ  from  the 
second  class  in  that  the  nomination  to 
them  rests  with  the  private  patron ;  but 
the  institution  must  still  come  from  the 
bishop.     (Ferraris,  Capellania). 

CH APXiAZSr  {capeUanus,  from  capella, 
chapel).  The  word  capella,  the  de- 
rivation of  which  is  doubtful,  appears 
to  have  first  come  into  use  in  Gaul,  and 
to  have  been  applied  to  the  buildings, 
smaller  than  churches,  which  kings  or 
bishops  erected  in  their  own  palaces,' that 
they  might  more  conveniently  and  fre- 
quently attend  divine  worship.  The 
priest  appointed  to  the  charge  of  such  a 
chapel  was  called  the  "  capeUanus "  or 
chaplain.  As  the  number  of  such  chapels 
increased,  the  chaplains  became  a  numer- 
ous body,  and  were  placed  under  an  arch- 
chaplain,  who  was  also  called  the  Grand 


142 


CHAPLAIN 


Almoner.  Charlemagne  selected  bishops 
for  this  office  of  Grand  Almoner. 

There  are  chaplains  of  many  kinds^  as 
the  following  enumeration  shows : — 

(1)  Army  chaplains.  Various  indults, 
privileges,  and  faculties  have  been  granted 
to  Catholic  sovereigns  by  the  Holy  See 
in  relation  to  priests  stationed  in  barracks, 
or  serving  with  an  army  in  the  field.  In 
modern  times  the  sovereigns  have  usually 
endeavoured  to  place  army  chaplains 
under  the  sole  control  of  a  royal  or  im- 
perial chaplain-major.  This  has  been  re- 
sisted by  the  Church,  and  it  is  decided 
that  such  chaplains,  in  the  absence  of  an 
apostolic  brief  otherwise  providing,  must 
be  approved  by  the  ordinary  of  the  place. 
Thus  a  marriage  contracted  before  an 
army  chaplain,  in  the  absence  of  such 
brief  as  aforesaid,  is  held  to  be  null  if 
celebrated  without  the  licence  of  the 
bishop. 

There  are  now  two  priests  holding 
commissions  as  chaplains  in  the  U.  S. 
army,  but  there  is  no  Catholic  chaplain 
in  the  U.  S.  navy. 

2.  Auxiliary  chaplains.  Appointed 
by  parish  priests  as  their  coadjutors,  and 
removable  by  them,  but  not  without  just 
cause.     (See  Ferraris,  Capellanus,  §  41.) 

3.  Cathedral  chaplains.  After  the 
common  life  of  canons  ceased,  and  each 
drew  his  portion  or  prebend  from  the 
common  fund,  it  became  usual  for 
them  to  reside  at  a  distance  from  the 
cathedral  or  collegiate  church  to  which 
they  belonged,  and  to  pay  chaplains  to 

?erforni.  their  duties  in  choir  for  them, 
his  practice  was  checked  by  the  Council 
of  Trent.    [See  Canon]. 

4.  Chaplains  oi  chantries  (capellaniae). 
[See  Chantry.]  A  large  proportion  of 
the  chantries  which  once  existed  were 
founded,  not  that  Mass  might  be  said  for 
souls,  but  in  honour  ot  the  131ossed  Virgin 
Mary,  or  of  some  saint,  or  some  particular 
mystery.  The  chaplains  serving  these 
were  and  are  carefully  regulated  by  the 
canon  law,  so  that  the  course  oC  episcopal 
and  parochial  discipline  might  not  be 
troubled  by  their  presence  in  a  diocese. 

5.  Chaplains  of  confraternities.  [See 
Confraternity.]  Such  chaplains  cannot 
have  processions  without  the  express 
licence  of  the  bishop.  They  are  not  to 
be  removed  without  cause  by  the  bishop 
against  the  vnsh  of  the  brotherhood. 

6.  Court  chaplains.  How  these  ori- 
l^nated  under  the  early  Frankish  kings 
has  been  already  explained.  Charlemagne 
gave  to  his  episcopal  arch-chaplain  pre- 


CHAPTEK,   CATHEDRAL 

cedence  over  all  the  archbishops  and 
bishops  of  his  empire.  The  chaplains  of 
the  imperial  and  royal  courts  had  great 
power  for  centuries.  By  a  Papal  brief 
dated  in  1857  the  Holy  See  restored  the 
office  of  arch-chaplain  or  Grand  Almoner 
in  France  ;  but  with  the  collapse  of  the 
Second  Empire  the  brief  became  inope- 
rative. At  the  Courts  of  Catholic  sove- 
reigns in  Germany  the  chaplains  of  an 
imperial  or  royal  chapel  now  constitute  a 
body  of  canons,  and  the  chapel  of  the 
palace  is  regarded  as  a  collegiate  church. 

7.  Domestic  chaplains.  Priests  ap- 
pointed to  say  Mass  in  the  chapels  at- 
tached to  private  houses,  but  there  are 
no  such  chaplains  in  this  country. 

8.  Episcopal  chaplains.  In  early 
times  the  bishops  had  their  private  ora- 
tories, and  as  their  dwellings  grew  to  be 
palaces  their  first  care  was  to  provide 
them  with  suitable  chapels,  the  clergy 
attached  to  which  became  episcopal  chap- 
lains. In  large  and  wealthy  dioceses 
these  became  numerous,  and  were  then 
placed  under  an  episcopal  arch-chaplain. 
At  the  present  day,  when  the  Church  has 
in  most  countries  of  Europe  been  reduced 
to  the  greatest  poverty,  the  chaplains  of 
bishops  usually  act  as  their  secretaries,  or 
as  masters  of  the  ceremonies  when  they 
celebrate  High  Mass. 

9.  Chaplains  of  nunnetnes.  These  are 
of  course  very  numerous,  and  to  be  found 
in  every  part  of  the  Catholic  world. 
Canon  law  requires  that  they  shall  be 
of  mature  age,  and  in  other  ways  enacts  a 
minute  discipline  for  their  guidance. 

10.  Pontifical  chaplains,  attached  to 
the  Pope's  chapel.  They  are  of  three 
classes :  honorary,  ceremonial,  and  secre- 
tarial. 

11.  Chaplains  of  public  institutions : 
e.g.  workhouses,  prisons,  hospitals,  and 
lunatic  asylums.  In  all  such  appoint- 
ments the  chaplain  is,  as  a  rule,  nomi- 
nated by  the  civil  authority,  with  the 
approval  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese. 

CHAPTER,  CATHEDRA!..      [For 

the  derivation,  see  Chapter,  Conven- 
tual). The  ancient  name  for  the  clergy 
of  a  cathedral  church  was  Presbyterium  ; 
the  term  "  chapter  "  was  borrowed  from 
the  assemblies  of  regulars.  The  history 
of  chapters  has  been  already  partly  traced 
in  the  article  Canon.  With  the  increase 
of  the  corporate  property  of  chapters, 
the  extended  patronage  arising  from  that 
increase,  and  the  sense  of  dignity  which 
the  possession  of  that  patronage  en- 
gendered, a  strong  tendency  developed 


CHAPTER,  CATHEUKAL 

itself  in  the  course  of  the  middle  ages 
towards  the  independent  existence  of 
chiapters,  both  cathedral  and  collegiate, 
and  their  exemption  from  episcopal 
control.  There  was  a  danger  lest  the 
canons  of  his  cathedral,  instead  of  form- 
ing the  trusted  council  of  the  bishop,  and 
assisting  him  in  the  administration  of  the 
diocese,  as  in  primitive  times,  should  be 
transformed  into  a  body  of  dignified  and 
wealthy  ecclesiastics,  burdened  by  very 
light  duties,  admission  amongst  whom 
would  be  desired  by  the  upper  classes  for 
their  sons,  from  motives  much  short  of 
the  purest.  This  happened  to  a  great 
extent,  and  as  a  natural  consequence  col- 
lisions between  bishops  and  chapters  came 
to  be  of  frequent  occurrence.  The  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  applied  itself  to  remedy  this 
state  of  things,  and  partially  restored  the 
authority  of  the  bishops  over  the  chapters. 
A  general  right  of  visitation  and  cor- 
rection was  asserted  for  them.'  A  bishop 
was  authorised  to  convene  the  chapter 
for  any  affairs  which  did  not  solely 
concern  the  interests  of  the  canons  and 
their  dependents ;  this  power,  however, 
was  not  to  extend  to  his  vicar-^eneral. 
At  meetings  so  convened  the  bishop  was 
to  preside,  and  due  rank  and  honour  were 
to  be  accorded  him.  On  the  other  hand, 
many  things  important  for  the  welfare  of 
the  diocese  could  at  no  time  be  settled  by 
the  bishop  without  the  consent  or  advice 
of  his  chapter;  and  in  this  respect  the 
Council  made  no  change.  Thus  the 
consent  of  the  chapter  is  required  in  the 
administration  or  alienation  of  the 
see-property,  or  in  any  case  in  which 
diminution  of  the  authority  and  privi- 
lecres  of  the  cathedral  is  threatened  ;  their 
advice  must  be  had  by  the  bishop  before 
ordaining  or  instituting  clerks,^  before 
proclaiming  public  processions,  convening 
synods,  Sec,  Szc.  In  li^ngland,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Elizabethan  schism,  the 
reformirg  influence  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  could  not  assert  itself ;  and  hence, 
though  the  chapters  were  left,  no  attempt 
was  made  to  bring  bask  their  action  and 
authority  into  that  harmony  with  those 
of  the  bishops  w^iich  primitive  piety 
required.  Thus  tlie  present  singular  state 
of  things  gradually  arose.  The  dean  and 
chapter  of  an  Anglican  cathedral  have 
their  own  separate  property,  the  bishop 
of  the  same  cathedral  has  his,  and  neither 
side  interferes  with  the  other.  The 
chapter,  say  of  Worcester  Cathedral,  has 

^  Sess.  vi.  c.  4,  De  Reform. 

«  Ferraris,  "  Capitulum,"  art.  11.  §  16. 


CHAPTER,  CONVENTUAL      143 

complete  power  over  the  church  itself, 
with  the  exceptions  presently  to  be 
mentioned  ;  but  there  its  connection  with 
the  diocese  ceases.  It  has  no  more  to  do 
with  its  government  by  the  bishop  than 
the  chapter  of  Munich  has.  At  a  vacancv 
of  the  see,  indeed,  the  chapter  meets  to 
go  through  the  mockery  of  electing  a 
new  bishop  ;  but,  as  everyone  knows,  in 
the  congS  d'elire  sent  down  to. them  from 
London,  the  name  of  the  Crown  nominee 
is  specified,  and  the  chapter  is  not  at 
liberty  to  reject  it.  On  the  otlier  hand, 
the  bishop  has  a  legal  right  to  a  chair  or 
throne  in  the  cathedral,  and  to  hold  con- 
firmations in  it,  and  here  his  power  ends. 
He  has  no  authority  to  summon  meetings 
of  the  chapter  for  any  purpose  whatever, 
nor  to  control  the  dean  or  the  canons  in 
any  way,  except  so  far  as,  in  their  merely 
clerical  capacity,  they  may  become  amen- 
able to  his  jurisdiction.  The  result  is 
that  an  Anglican  chapter  has  entirely 
lost  the  primitive  character  of  the  ''se- 
natus  episcopi,"  and  is  generally  regarded 
as  a  convenient  institution  by  which  a 
Government  can  pension  and  reward  its 
principal  clerical  supporters.  In  the 
Catholic  Church,  amidst  the  unnumbered 
ills  that  have  come  upon  it  in  every 
country  of  Europe,  it  is  consoling  to 
reflect  that  this  particular  evil  at  least, 
so  rife  in  the  middle  ages,  has  in  our  day 
almost  disappeared ;  everywhere  har- 
mony and  co-operation  reign  between  the 
bishops  and  the  cathedral  chapters. 

In  England  every  Catholic  diocese 
has  its  chapter,  presided  over  by  a  pro- 
vost, and  usually  numberiug  ten  canons. 
In  Ireland  ten  of  the  twenty-eight  dio- 
ceses have  chapters,  presided  over  by 
deans,  and  usually  containing  five  or  six 
dignitaries  of  the  diocese,  besides  the 
Canon  Theologian  and  Canon  Peniten- 
tiary prescribed  by  the  Council  of  Trent. 
In  the  United  States  there  are  no  chap- 
ters. 

CHAPTER,  coirvsro'TirAib 

{capitulum,  a  chapter).  It  was  and  is  the 
common  practice  of  monks  to  assemble 
every  morning  to  hear  a  chapter  of  the 
rule  read,  and  for  other  purposes.  Both 
the  meeting  itself  and  the  place  of  meet- 
ing gradually  obtained  the  name  of 
Capitulum  or  chapter  from  this  practice. 
The  assembly  of  the  monks  of  one 
monastery  being  thus  designated  "  the 
chapter,"  it  is  easy  to  understand  that 
assemblies  of  all  the  monks  in  any  pro- 
vince, or  of  the  whole  order,  came  to  be 
called  "  provincial "  or  '*  general  "  chap- 


144 


CHAPTER-HOUSE 


ters.  A  general  chapter,  in  the  case  of 
most  of  the  orders,  is  held  once  in  three 
years. 

CHAPTSR-HOtrSE.  The  place  of 
meeting  of  the  canons  of  a  cathedral,  or 
the  religious  of  a  monastery.  Till  the 
thirteenth  century  it  was  generally  rec- 
tangular; after  that  time  the  polygonal 
or  round  form  came  in,  as  at  Salisbury, 
Luicoln,  and  York.  Chapter-houses  were 
sometimes  richly  adorned ;  at  West- 
minster Abbey,  for  instance,  a  band  of 
fresco,  the  painting  of  which  htis  con- 
siderable merit,  ran  round  the  interior  of 
the  building ;  the  remains  of  this,  lately 
opened  to  public  view,  are  of  great 
interest.  A  large  round  chapter-house, 
with  seats  for  sixty — the  number  of  the 
monks — extremely  plain  in  its  archi- 
tecture, but  effective  from  the  symmetry 
and  boldness  of  its  forms,  was  lately 
erected  by  the  Cistercians  at  their  house 
of  Mount  St.  Bernard's  in  Leicestershire. 

CHAPTERS.  [See  Three  Chap- 
tees,  The.] 

CHARACTER  (xapaKTrjp).  A  Stamp 
on  coins,  seals,  &c.,  and  in  its  theological 
sense,  a  spiritual  mark  indelibly  impressed 
on  the  soul,  by  baptism,  confirmation,  and 
holy  order,  which  sacraments  cannot  be 
reiterated  without  sacrilege.  That  these 
sacraments  do  really  impress  a  character 
is  taught  by  the  Council  of  Florence,  in 
the  "  decree  of  union,"  and  is  solemnly 
affirmed  by  the  Council  of  Trent  (Sess. 
vii.  can.  9,  De  Sacram.  in  Gen.)  as  an 
article  of  faith.  The  Fathers  of  Trent 
content  themselves  with  defining  character 
as  a  *'  spiritual  and  indelible  mark,"  on 
account  of  which  the  three  sacraments 
which  confer  it  cannot  be  reiterated.  But 
St.  Thomas,  who  is  followed  by  other 
theologians,  points  out  that  character 
marks  the  recipient  in  some  special  way 
for  the  worship  of  God  and  also  conveys 
certain  powers.  Tims  baptism  stamps  a 
man  indelibly  as  a  Christian  and  enables 
him  to  receive  the  other  sacraments: 
confirmation  makes  him  a  good  soldier  of 
Christ,  and  conveys  particular  powers  of 
confef^sing  the  faith :  by  holy  order  he 
becomes  a  minister  of  Christ,  and  is 
empowered  to  perform  certain  sacred 
functions.^ 

The  truth  of  the  Church's  doctrine  on 
this  matter  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  it 
has  always  been  accounted  sacrilege  to 
reiterate  the  three  sacraments  of  baptism, 
confirmation  and  order.  There  must,  there- 
fore, be  something  in  these  sacraments 
1  III.  qu.  Ixiii.  a.  2. 


CHARITY,  WORKS  OF  CHRISTIAN 

which  separates  them  from  the  other 
four,  which  may  be  lawfully  received  over 
and  over  again.  Nor  can  it  be  said  with 
any  show  of  reason  that  the  modern 
doctrine  of  character  is  an  invention  of 
the  middle  ages,  first  set  forth  by  Inno- 
cent III.  From  the  earliest  times,  Chris- 
tian writers — e.(/.  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria ^ —  speak  of  baptism  as  "  the  seal  of 
the  Lord  '  {o-cppaylda  rov  Kvpiov).  So  con- 
firmation was  known  as  the  "  seal,"  and 
it  is  still  conferred  in  the  Greek  rite  with 
the  words  the  '<  seal  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
What  can  this  language  mean,  if  con- 
sidered in  connection  with  the  fact  that 
baptism,  confirmation  and  order  were 
never  reiterated,  except  this,  that  these 
sacraments  set  a  seal  on  the  soul  which 
could  never  be  blotted  out,  by  sin  or  even 
by  apostacy  ?  St.  Augustine  gives  clear 
witness  to  the  tradition  of  the  Church  on 
character,  and  as  the  sense  of  his  state^ 
ments  has  been  disputed,  we  will  quote  a 
brief  summary  of  his  teaching  from  the 
most  eminent  of  Protestant  Church  his- 
torians. Augustine,  says  Neander,^  "  in 
connection  with  baptism  often  uses  the 
comparison  with  the  mark  (*  character 
militaris')  which  was  impressed  upon 
soldiers,  as  a  token  of  imperial  service, 
and  which  remained  indelibly  fixed  even 
on  those  who  were  untrue  to  their  service, 
though  in  that  case  it  only  witnessed 
against  them."  This  is  simply  the  Tri- 
dentine  doctrine  of  sacramental  character. 

CBARZTir.    [See  THEOLOGICAL  VlK- 

TUES.] 

CHARZTV,  WORKS  OF  CHRIS- 
TZAXr.  Our  Lord  himself  declared  "  by 
this  shall  men  know  that  ye  are  my 
disciples,  because  ye  love  one  another," 
and  the  heathen  felt  that  a  new  spiritual 
power  was  in  their  midst  when  they 
beheld  the  manifestations  of  Christian 
love.  The  fact  that  the  Christian  religion 
taught  its  disciples  to  pray  for  all  men, 
to  love  all,  and  to  sacrifice  themselves  for 
all,  is  a  most  solid  and  a  most  touching 
proof  that  the  Christian  religion  is  divine. 
With  scarcely  an  exception,  every  work 
and  institute  of  mercy  existing  in  the 
world  is  of  Chiistian  origin,  direct  or 
indirect.  The  same  kind  of  proof  may 
be  brought  to  show  that  the  Catholic 
religion  is  the  one  true  form  of  Chris- 
tianity. No  doubt,  many  Protestants 
have  been  conspicuous  for  philanthropy, 
and,  as  Protestants  have  preserved  much 
of  the  Catholic    belief,  we  need  not  be 

^  De  Divite  Servanda,  c.  42. 
2  Kirchengtachichte,  iv.  p.  441. 


CHARITY,  WORKS  OF 

iurprised  to  find  this  belief  producing  its 
natural  fruit  in  works  of  mercy.  It  is 
true,  however,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
the  Catholic  Church  has  laboured  for  the 
souls  and  bodies  of  men  to  an  extent  un- 
known in  other  systems,  and  Protestants 
offer  an  unconscious  testimony  to  the 
superiority  of  the  Catholic  religion  by 
imitating  many  of  its  institutes  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor  and  suffering.  Much 
information  on  this  head  will  be  found  in 
the  articles  on  religious  orders  founded 
for  works  of  this  kind.  Here,  we  can  only 
give  a  brief  account  of  the  dilferent  direc- 
tions in  which  Catholic  charity  has  shown 
itself.  We  shall  speak  first  of  spiritual, 
then  of  corporal,  mercy. 

(A.)  We  find  religious  orders  erected 
with  the  special  view  of  succouring  the 
fallen,  or  saving  those  who  are  exposed 
to  danger  of  sin.  Such  was  the  double 
order  of  Fontevraud,  erected  for  male  and 
female  penitents,  towards  the  close  of  the 
eleventh  century,  by  Robert  of  Arbris- 
selles,  who  was  endowed  with  wonderful 
power  for  the  conversion  of  sinners.  The 
order  spread  over  France,  Spain,  and 
England.  A  century  later,  the  famous 
preacher  Fiilk  of  Neuilly  and  Raymund  de 
Falmariis  also  laboured  for  fallen  women. 
Other  orders  with  this  object  have  been 
founded  in  modern  times.  The  orders 
established  for  the  instruction  of  the 
poor  in  Christian  doctrine  by  means  of 
missions,  &c.,  and  for  the  teaching  of 
youth,  both  of  the  higher  and  lower 
classes,  are  past  reckoning.  The  missions 
to  the  heathen  are  a  creation  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church.  They  were  adopted  by  Pro- 
testants long  after  the  rise  of  the  new 
belief,  and,  like  Sunday-schools,  missions 
to  people  already  Christian,  sisterhoods, 
&c.,  are  borrowed  from  the  old  religion. 

(B.)  The  care  of  the  Church  for  the 
bodies  of  the  poor  shines  forth,  not  only 
in  the  lives  of  saints,  but  in  the  Church's 
ordinary  law.  By  ancient  regulation,  a 
fourth  part  of  the  Church  revenues  was 
devoted  to  the  poor :  if  extreme  distress 
prevailed,  even  the  sacred  vessels  were 
sold  for  the  support  of  the  needy.  In 
many  monasteries  hundreds  of  poor  people 
were  fed  every  day ;  while  in  most  churches 
funds  for  the  poor,  called  "  mensse  pau- 
perum,"  "  mensse  S.  Spiritus,"  were  esta- 
blished. Further,  the  Church  showed  her 
care  for  the  suffering  and  the  indigent  by 
the  foundation  of  houses  in  which  they  were 
received  and  tended.  Public  institutions 
of  this  sort  were  scarcely  possible  during 
the  period  of  heathen  persecution;  but 


CHARITY,  WORKS  OF       146 

whenever  the  peace  of  the  Church  was 
secured,  the  bishops  began  to  have  houses 
erected  for  the  reception  of  strangers 
(Xenodochia),  of  the  sick  (Nosocomia), 
of  the  poor  (Ptochotrophia),  of  orphans 
and  foundlings  (Orphanotrophia  and  Bre- 
photrophia),  and  of  old  people  (Geronto- 
comia).  About  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century,  we  hear  of  a  hospital  for  the 
sick  at  Sebaste  in  Armenia;  while  the 
hospital  erected  through  the  zeal  of  Basil 
the  Great  was  of  a  size  so  vast  that  it 
was  often  compared  to  a  town.  In  the 
different  sections  of  the  building  unfor- 
tunate people  of  every  kind  were  received 
— the  poor,  exiles,  lepers,  &c.  Half  a 
century  earlier,  St.  Chrysostom  spent  all 
the  spare  revenues  of  his  church  in  re- 
stormg  old  hospitals  and  erecting  new 
ones.  In  the  AVest,  Paulinus  founded  a 
house  for  the  poor,  for  the  sick,  and  for 
widows.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  in 
Western  as  well  as  Eastern  Europe  the 
first  institutions  of  this  kind  were  erected 
by  bishops.  Not  that  the  laity  were 
remiss  in  promoting  works  of  charity. 
Fabiola,  the  friend  of  St.  Jerome,  the 
Emperor  Justinian,  the  Empress  Eudoxia, 
and  a  multitude  besides,  were  all  distin- 
guished as  the  founders  of  hospitals ;  still, 
the  bishops  led  the  way. 

The  earliest  hospitals  in  the  middle 
ages  appear  to  have  been  founded  by 
monks  from  Ireland,  or  from  Irish  monas- 
teries elsewhere.  The  good  work  was 
greatly  promoted  by  Alcuin,  who  seems 
to  have  influenced  Charlemagne,  in  this 
direction,  and  to  have  encouraged  the 
bishops  to  found  hospitals  in  their  dio- 
ceses. Two  years  after  Charlemagne's 
death,  a  Council  of  Aix  la  Chapelle  is- 
sued statutes  on  this  matter  which  de- 
serve special  notice.  The  bishops  were 
required,  after  the  example  of  the  Fa- 
thers, to  provide  a  house  for  the  poor, 
and  to  support  it  from  the  Church  funds. 
The  canons  were  to  resign  a  tenth  part  of 
their  income  in  its  favour.  It  was  to  be 
near  the  church,' and  under  the  care  of  a 
cleric,  and  in  penitential  seasons  the  can- 
ons were  to  wash  the  feet  of  the  poor. 

Whether  these  hospitals  were  endow- 
ed by  clerics  or  lay  people,  they  were  plac- 
ed under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church, 
a  point  settled  in  the  East,  e.g.,  by  the 
ordinances  of  Justinian,  and  in  the  West 
by  Charlemagne  and  the  decrees  of 
councils  and  Popes.  Even  if  a  prince 
founded  a  hospital,  still  it  was  not  as  a 
secular  ruler  but  as  a  Christian  that  he 
did  so ;  it  was  not  state  policy,  but  the 


146        CHARITY,  WORKS  OF 

living  spirit  of  Christianity  whicli  had 
called  hospitals  into  being:  it  -was  not 
State  revenues,  but  gifts  bestowed,  some- 
times by  ecclesiastics,  sometimes  by  secu- 
lar rulers,  sometimes  by  private  individuals, 
but  always  for  the  love  of  God,  which 
maintained  them  after  their  foundation. 
The  Council  of  Trent,  again,  enforces  the 
obligation  which  lay  upon  bishops  of 
watching  over  benevolent  institutions. 
And  the  Church  did  her  work  well. 
"  With  such  intelligence,"  says  Von 
Raumer,  "  was  the  inner  management  [of 
such  institutions]  conducted  as  in  truth 
to  excite  astonishment  and  admiration." 
True,  even  in  the  middle  ages  lay  ad- 
ministrators did  occasionally,  to  the  great 
injury  of  the  suffering  poor,  usurp  the 
control  of  hospitals.  But  it  was  the  Re- 
formation which  began  to  sever  on  prin- 
ciple the  bond  which  connected  works  of 
benevolence  with  the  power  of  the  Church, 
tUl  modern  statecraft  completely  snapped 
the  link  and  substituted  natural  for  Chris- 
tian benevolence.  No  Catholic  can  ap- 
prove of  a  change  which  is  opposed  to  the 
whole  tradition  of  the  Chu-rch  and  to 
every  Catholic  instinct.  Nor  do  results 
recommend  the  so-called  emancipation  of 
benevolence  from  the  Church.  The  feeling 
of  brotherhood  between  rich  and  poor  has 
been  changed  to  a  great  extent  into  posi- 
tive enmity,  and  the  State  itself  has 
suffered  in  consequence  from  the  spread 
of  Socialism.  The  poor  accej^-t  State  aid 
without  gratitude,  because  it  is  very  often 
given  without  real  charity.  Every  expe- 
rienced person  knows  the  horror  with  which 
they  regard  the  workhouse,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  readiness  with  which  in- 
digent Catholics  enter  a  house  of  refuge 
cared  for  by  religious— such,  for  example, 
as  the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor  or  the 
Sisters  of  Nazareth. 

This  leads  us  to  speak  of  another 
characteristic  feature  in  Catholic  charity. 
It  was  not  only,  or  even  chiefly,  that  the 
Church  founded  houses  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor  and  suffering;  she  infused  into 
her  children  a  spirit  which  made  them 
count  it  an  honour  to  tend  their  suffering 
brethren,  and,  if  need  be,  to  sacrifice  life 
itself  in  their  behalf.  From  early  times, 
bishops,  like  St.  Basil  the  Great  and  St. 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  found  time  to  tend 
the  sick  and  minister  to  them  with  their 
own  hands.  Persons  of  the  highest  rank, 
such  as  PlaciUa,  wife  of  Theodosius  the 
Great,  performed  the  most  menial  services 
for  them.  In  the  middle  ages,  St.  Eliza- 
beth of  Hungary,  from  the  time  of  her 


CHARITY,  WORKS  OF 

widowhood — i.e.  from  her  twenty-first 
year — went  daily  to  the  hospital,  gave  the 
patients  food  and  medicine,  bound  up  their 
wounds  and  applied  remedies  to  ulcers, 
from  the  very  sight  of  which  others 
shrank  in  horror.  Everybody  knows  the 
love  St.  Francis  had  for  the  poor,  and  his 
tender  care  of  the  suffering,  particularly 
of  lepers.  Whole  orders  were  founded 
for  this  personal  attendance  on  helpless 
sufferers,  and  the  poor  learned  to  love 
those  who  were  born  to  wealth,  when 
they  saw  the  richest  and  the  noblest 
among  them  making  themselves  the  ser- 
vants of  the  poor ;  they  learned  to  bear 
their  own  poverty  patiently,  when  they 
saw  the  rich  counting  it  an  honour  to  be 
poor  for  Christ's  sake.  Among  such  orders 
we  may  name  the  Canons  Regular  of  St. 
Antony  of  Vienne,  founded  by  a  French 
nobleman,  Gaston,  towards  the  end  of 
the  eleventh  century,  for  the  succour  of 
persons  afflicted  with  "  St.  Antony's  fire," 
a  horrible  disease,  then  raging  in  West- 
em  Europe;  the  Jesuats,  a  confraternity 
formed  by  B.  John  Colombino,  which 
occupied  itself  in  the  preparation  of  medi- 
cines, &c.,  for  the  sick ;  the  "  Clerks  Regu- 
lar, INIinisters  of  the  Sick,''  also  called  "  the 
Fathers  of  a  Good  Death,"  established  at 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  by  St. 
Camillus  of  Lellis ;  the  "  Sisters  of  Chari- 
ty," founded  by  St.  Vincent  of  Paul ;  and 
other  orders  founded  for  the  same  ends 
and  animated  by  the  same  heroic  zeal,  the 
name  of  which  is  legion. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  also  allevi- 
ated the  hardships  of  prison  life.  The  lot 
of  prisoners  was  changed  wherever  Chris- 
tianity became  the  religion  of  the  State. 
The  sexes  were  separated ;  care  was  taken 
that  they  should  never  lack  the  consola- 
tions of  religion ;  greater  liberty  and  better 
food  was  allowed  to  them  on  Sundays; 
the  bishop  had  to  visit  the  prisons  every 
week,  and  to  see  that  there  were  no 
abuses  in  the  administration  of  discipline. 
In  the  middle  ages,  the  Church  exercised 
her  tempering  and  restraining  influence 
on  the  roughness  and  barbarity  of  the 
times.  During  that  period,  the  conslant 
wars  subjected  many  innocent  persons  to 
imprisonment;  and,  accordingly,  it  was 
common  for  pious  persons  to  devote  large 
sums  of  money  to  the  redemption  of  cap- 
tives. Help  was  given  in  other  ways,  but 
all  the  works  of  mercy  to  captives  were 
surpassed  by  the  Trinitarian  Order — an 
institute  devoted  to  the  redemption  of 
captives  from  slavery  under  the  Saracens. 
The  rule  of  the  Order  of  the  Trinity  was 


CHARTOPHYL^X 

approved  bv  Innocent  III.,  in  1198;  in 
1223,  a  similar  order,  "  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  captives,"  was  established  in  Spain. 
In  the  seventeenth  century,  St.  Vincent  of 
Paul  laboured  for  the  galley-slaves,  and 
changed  places  which  had  been  like  hell 
on  earth  into  abodes  of  penance,  resigna- 
tion and  peace.  The  Sisters  of  Notre 
Dame  de  la  Oharitd,  of  St.  Joseph,  &c.. 
have  undertaken  the  superintendence  of 
female  prisoners,  and  till  lately  almost 
every  prison  for  women  in  France  and 
Belgium  was  under  the  care  of  nuns. 
Statesmen  themselves  have  admitted  that 
by  religious,  and  religious  only,  could 
prisons  be  successfully  managed. 

We  pass  over,  for  want  of  space,  the 
orders  devoted  to  the  care  of  the  insane, 
the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb,  &c.,  and  will 
only  touch  in  conclusion  on  one  other 
work  of  Catholic  charity.  In  earlj^  times 
and  in  the  middle  ages  it  was  often  ditti- 
cult  to  borrow  money  except  at  usurious 
rates.  To  meet  this  evil,  the  Franciscan 
Father  Barnabas  of  Terni,  under  Piiis  II, 
(1458-64), erected  the  first  Monte  di  Pieta, 
at  Perugia,  in  the  States  of  the  Church. 
The  rich  contributed  capital,  from  chari- 
table motives,  and  this  was  lent  to  the 
poor,  on  security  indeed,  but  at  a  very 
low  rate  of  interest.  Soon  almost  every 
cit}'-  in  Italy  had  its  Monte  di  Pieta. 
Several  Popes,  the  Fifth  Lateran  Council, 
and  the  Council  of  Trent,  confirmed  these 
institutions,  which  in  past  times  produced 
incalculable  good. 

No  doubt  many  of  these  orders  and 
institutes  of  charity  fell  away  from  their 
first  zeal,  and  were  abused  for  selfish  ends. 
But  holy  souls  have  never  been  wanting 
to  reform  what  was  amiss,  and  to  come 
with  fresh  help  to  the  relief  of  their 
brethren.  The  words  of  the  Psalm  have 
been  constantly  fulfilled  by  Christ  in  his 
Church:  "He  will  judge  the  poor  of  his 
people,  and  save  the  children  of  the  poor." 
(From  Hefele,  "  Beitriige  zur  Kirchen- 
geschichte,  Archaologie,"  &c.) 

CKil.RTOPHVI.AX  (more  often  spelt 
Carthophylax) .  The  name  signifies  "  keeper 
of  th?  records  "  merely,  and  such  was  the 
origiaal  function  of  the  ecclesiastics  who 
held  the  office  in  the  Eastern  Church, 
answering  to  that  of  bihliothecm-ius  among 
the  Latins ;  but  in  course  of  time  other 
duties,  carrying  with  them  a  correspond- 
ing increase  of  charge,  influence,  and  dig- 
nity, were  imposed  on  the  cbartophylax. 
Yet  it  appears  from  the  canons  of  Nice 
that  in  the  fourth  century  the  cbartophy- 
lax of  a  cathedral  was  inferior  in  rank  to 


cm  SUBLE 


147 


l2 


the  archdeacon,  and  was  bcuiid  to  obey 
him.  But  at  Constantinople,  the  power 
and  pre-eminence  of  the  cbartophylax,  as 
a  kind  of  secretary  or  grand  chamberlain 
to  the  Patriarch,  attained  after  a  time  to 
a  great  height.  An  exact  appreciation  of 
his  office,  and  of  the  dignities  attaching 
to  it,  as  they  stood  in  the  ninth  century, 
is  given  by  a  contemporary  writer — Anas- 
tasius  the  bibliothecarian.  The  post  of 
cbartophylax  in  other  cathedral  churches 
in  the  East  appears  to  have  been  assimi- 
lated more  or  less  to  that  of  the  church 
ofjConstantinople  ;  and  hence  this  official, 
representing  the  bishop  and  exercising  his 
jurisdiction,  held  in  the  Eastern  nearly 
the  same  position  as  the  archdeacon  in 
the  Western  Church.  Even  at  this  day 
the  Uniate  Greeks  of  the  Austrian  Empire 
retain  the  office  ;  with  them,  "  the  cartho- 
phylax directs  the  business  of  the  episcopal 
chancery,  and  is  one  of  the  members  of 
the  metropolitan  or  cathedral  chapter, 
along  with  the  archpriest  or  chief  provost, 
the  archdeacon  or  lector,  the  primicerius 
or  precentor,  the  ecclesiarch  or  church- 
warden, and  the  scholaster  or  master  of 
ceremonies."  (See  the  rest  of  the  article 
by  Hausle,  in  Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

CHARTREUX.  [See  Carthusians.] 
CHASTTBIiS  (Lat.  casida,  'pcenula, 
planeta;  and  in  Greek,  <f)eX6viov  or  (f)€- 
Xayviov,  from  (f>aiv6XT]s,  or  cf)e\6vr]s,  identi- 
cal with  pcsnula).  The  chief  garment  of 
a  priest  celebrating  Mass.  It  is  worn  out- 
side the  other  vestments.  Among  the 
Greeks,  it  still  retains  its  ancient  form  of 
a  large  round  mantle.  Among  the  Latins, 
its  size  has  been  curtailed,  but  it  still 
covers  the  priest  on  both  sides,  and  de- 
scends nearly  to  the  knees.  In  France, 
Ireland,  the  TJ.  S.,  and  often  in  England, 
a  cross  is  marked  on  the  back :  in  Italy, 
this  cross  is  usually  in  iront.  In  the 
West,  all  who  celebrate  Mass  wear  the 
same  chasuble,  but  among  the  Greeks,  the 
chasuble  of  a  bishop  is  ornamented  with 
a  number  of  crosses  {(f)atv6XLov  iroXvo-Tav- 
piov),  while  an  archbishop  wears  a  differ- 
ent vestment  altogether,  viz.  the  o-ukkos, 
which  is  supposed  to  resemble  the  coat  of 
Christ  during  his  Passion.  In  Russia, 
even  bishops,  since  the  time  of  Peter  the 
Great,  have  worn  the  (tukkos. 

The  chasuble  is  derived  from  a  dress 
once  commonly  worn  in  daily  life.  Classi- 
cal writers  often  mention  the  "  psenula," 
or  large  outer  garment  which  the  Romans 
wore  on  journeys  or  in  military  service. 
"  Casula,"  from  which  our  word  chasuble 
is  obtained,  does  not  occur  in  pure  La- 


148 


CHASUBLE 


CHERUBIM 


tinity.  It  was,  however,  used  in  later 
ages,  as  an  equivalent  for  the  "  pasnula," 
or  mantle.  We  first  meet  with  the  word  in 
the  will  of  Caesawus  of  Aries  (about  540), 
and  in  the  biography  of  his  contempo- 
rary Fulgentius  of  Ruspe.  In  both  in- 
stances, '*  casula  "  denotes  a  garment  used 
in  common  life.  Isidore  of  Seville  (about 
630)  uses  the  word  in  the  same  sense, 
and  explains  it  as  a  diminutive  of  "  casa," 
because,  like  a  little  house,  it  covered  the 
whole  body.  The  same  author  tells  us 
that  "plaueta"  comes  from  the  Greek 
TrKavc^o,  ''to  wander,"  because  its  ample 
folds  seemed  to  wander  over  the  body. 
It  is  plain,  from  the  examples  given  by 
Ducange,  that  "  planeta,"  like  "  casula  " 
and  "  paenula,"  denoted  a  dress  worn  by 
laymen  as  well  as  clerics. 

It  is  in  the  former  half  of  the  sixth 
century  that  we  find  the  first  traces  of 
the  chasuble  as  an  ecclesiastical  vestment. 
In  the  famous  mosaic  at  San  Vitale,  in 
Ravenna,  the  archbishop,  Maximus,  is 
represented  wearing  a  vestment  which  is 
clearly  the  chasuble,  and  over  which  the 
palhura  is  suspended.  The  chasuble  has 
the  same  shape  which  prevailed  till  the 
eleventh  century.  The  Fourth  Council 
of  Toledo,  in  633,  makes  express  mention 
of  the  "  planeta,"  as  a  priestly  vestment. 
Germanus,  Archbicshop  of  Constantinople, 
about  715,  uses  the  word  (f)€Xoiviov  in  the 
same  technical  sense ;  while  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  ninth  century,  Amalarius  of 
Metz  speaks  of  the  "  casula  "  as  the  "  gene- 
ral garment  of  sacred  leaders  "  ("  generale 
indumentum  sacrorum  ducum").  Almost 
at  the  same  time,  Rabanus  Maurus  gives 
the  derivation  of  "  casula  "  quoted  above 
from  Isidore  of  Seville,  and  goes  on  to 
say  that  it  is  "  the  last  of  all  the  vest- 
ments, which  covers  and  preserves  all  the 
rest."  Later  authors  of  the  middle  age 
copy  their  predecessors ;  and  even  Inno- 
cent III.  adds  nothing  of  his  own  save 
certain  mystical  meanings  implied  in  the 
use  of  the  vestment. 

To  sum  up,  the  chasuble  was  first  of 
all  an  ordinary  dress;  from  the  sixth 
century  at  latest  it  was  adapted  to  the 
use  of  the  Church,  till  gradually  it  be- 
cama  an  ecclesiastical  dress  pure  and 
simple.  But  did  it  at  once  become  dis- 
tinctive of  the  priesthood  ?  The  question 
admits  of  no  certain  answer.  The  eighth 
*'Ordo  Romanus"  distinctly  prescribes  that 
acolytea,  in  their  ordination,  should  receive 
the  "  planeta  "  or  chasuble.  Amalarius,  in 
like  manner,  declares  that  the  chasuble 
belongs  to  all  clerics.    On  the  other  hand, 


almost  all  ancient  writers  who  refer  to 
the  Church  use  of  the  chasuble  regard  it 
as  the  distinctive  dress  of  priests.  Cardi- 
nal Bona  mentions  this  difficulty  without 
venturing  to  explain  it.  Hefele  suggests 
that  as  the  Greek  cpeXoviov  signifies  (1)  a 
chasuble  in  the  modern  sense,  (2)  a  kind 
of  collar,  reaching  from  the  neck  to  the 
elbows,  which  is  worn  by  lectors  or 
readers,  so  the  Latin  word  "  planeta  "  may 
have  been  also  employed  as  the  name  of 
two  distinct  vestments.  But  even  if  this 
explanation  is  correct,  the  fact  remains 
that  even  now  the  deacon  and  subdeacon 
in  High  Mass  during  Advent  and  Lent 
wear  chasubles  folded  in  front,  laying  them 
aside  while  they  sing  the  Gospel  and 
Epistle.  This  custom  is  mentioned  by 
Hugo  of  St.  Victor  (d.  1140). 

The  form  of  the  chasuble  has  mider- 
gone  great  alterations.  The  ancient 
chasuble,  which  enveloped  the  whole 
body,  was  found  very  inconvenient,  and 
hence,  in  the  twelfth  century,  it  was 
curtailed  at  the  sides,  so  as  to  leave  the 
arms  free.  Of  this  kind  is  a  chasuble 
said  to  have  been  used  by  St  Bernard. 
In  shape,  it  resembles  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Gothic  chasuble  although 
the  ornaments  upon  it  are  not  Gothic, 
but  Romanesque.  At  a  later  date,  the 
chasuble  was  stiU  further  curtailed,  till 
in  the  Rococo  period  all  resemblance  to 
the  original  type  disappeared.  However, 
even  in  Italy,  attempts  were  made  to  re- 
call the  ancient  shape,  at  least  to  a  certain 
extent.  Thus  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  in 
a  provincial  council,  ordered  that  the 
chasubles  should  be  about  four  and  a  hall 
feet  wide,  and  should  reach  nearly  to  the 
heels. 

Various  symbolical  significations  have 
been  given  to  the  chasuble.  The  earliest 
writers  make  it  a  figure  of  charity,  which, 
as  Rabanus  Maurus  says,  *'  is  eminent 
above  aU  the  other  virtues."  This  is 
the  most  popular  explanation  of  the  sym- 
bolism; but  we  also  find  it  regarded  by 
an  ancient  writer  as  typical  of  good 
works ;  ancient  Sacramentaries  and  Mis- 
sals consider  it  as  the  figure  of  sacer- 
dotal justice,  or  of  humility,  charity  and 
peace,  which  are  to  cover  and  adorn  the 
priest  on  every  side ;  while  the  prayer  in 
the  Roman  Missal  connects  the  chasuble 
with  the  yoke  of  Christ.  (Hefele,  "  Beit- 
rage  zur  Kirchengeschichte,  Archaologie 
und  Litnrgik,"  p.  195  seq.) 

CHSRUSXm.  Superhuman  beings, 
often  mentioned  in  Scripture.  They 
guarded  the  entrance  to  Paradise  after 


CHILIASM 

the  fall;  the  images  of  two  cherubim 
OYershadowed  the  ark ;  God  is  represented 
in  the  Psalms  as  sitting  or  throned  upon 
the  cherubim  ;  Ezekiel  saw  them  in  vision, 
with  wings,  with  human  hands,  full  of 
eyes  and  with  four  faces,  viz.  those  of  a 
man,  lion,  ox,  and  eagle.  The  Fathers 
generally  are  agreed  in  regarding  them  as 
angels;  for  the  opinion  of  Theodore  of 
Mopsuestia,^  who  denied  this,  seems  to 
be  quite  singular  in  Christian  antiquity. 
They  form  the  second  among  the  nine 
orders  of  angels.  What  the  meaning  of 
the  word  is,  it  is  difficult  even  to  con- 
jecture. Most  of  the  Fathers  explain  the 
word  as  meaning  knowledge,  or  the  full- 
ness of  knowledge  ;  but,  as  Petavius  justly 
remarks,  this  derivation  finds  no  support 
either  in  Hebrew  or  Ohaldee.  Many  con- 
jectural derivations  have  been  suggested 
by  modern  scholars.  In  a  cuneiform  in- 
scription copied  by  M.  Lenormant,  "  Kiru- 
bu  "  is  a  synonym  of  the  Steer-god,  whose 
winged  image  tilled  the  place  of  guardian 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Assyrian  palaces. 
With  this  word  the  Hebrew  cherub  may 
be  connected,  and  the  etymology  may  be- 
long to  some  non-Semitic  language.^ 

CHZI.ZASni.  [SeeMlLLENARlAlflSM.] 

CKIVAI^Rir  (Lat.  caballus,  a  horse). 
The  system  of  ideas  prevalent  among  the 
mounted  men-at-arms  (Fr.  chevalier,  It. 
cavaliei'o,  Span,  caballero,  Ger.  Ritter, 
Eng.  knif/ht)  of  the  middle  ages,  and 
which  still  influences  their  descendants 
and  European  society  in  general,  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  is  known  by  this 
name. 

The  Equites,  the  equestrian  order,  of 
ancient  Rome  summon  before  the  mind 
no  corresponding  associations.  The  three 
patrician  tribes  constituted,  indeed,  the 
"  horsemen  "  in  the  organisation  of  Servius 
TuUius,  and  had  the  first  place  both  in 
arms  and  in  politics.  But  before  the  end 
of  the  Republic  commercialism  invaded 
the  equestrian  order,  and  when  we  speak 
of  a  "  Roman  knight,"  or  eques,  the  name 
suggests  a  selfish  capitalist,  wringing 
taxes  out  of  oppressed  provincials,  and 
living  in  vulgar  luxury  at  Rome  ;  it  is  as 
far  as  possible  from  calling  up  any  of  the 
ideas  which  we  associate  with  the  term 
"  chivalry." 

After  the  disruption  of  the  empire  of 
Charlemagne,  the  importance  of  horse- 
soldiers  in  war  continually  increased. 
For  this  there  were  various  reasons : 
among  others  the  improvements  made  in 

*  Petav.  De  Angelis,  lib.  ii.  cap.  3. 

*  See  Cheyne  on  Isaiah,  vol.  ii.  p.  273. 


CHIVALRY 


149 


armour,  which  required  that  the  weight 
of  the  panoply  should  be  borne  by  the 
horse  he  rode,  so  that  the  warrior  might 
preserve  freedom  and  celerity  of  move- 
ment. But  the  chief  reason  was  the 
condition  of  European  society,  under 
which,  in  the  absence  of  strong  central 
authority  in  the  various  countries,  power 
was  sown  broadcast  over  thousands  of 
principalities,  counties,  and  fiefs.  The 
holders  of  these  had  no  other  way  of 
deciding  which  should  rule  the  other,  or 
believed  they  had  none,  but  by  going  to 
war.  Horses  and  armour,  like  breech- 
loading  rifles  at  the  present  day,  gave  an 
advantftge  to  those  using  them  over  foot- 
soldiers  ;  whoever,  therefore,  could  afford 
it  went  into  battle  on  horseback.  The 
"  miles  Crassi "  was  a  sturdy  footman, 
armed  with  the  pilum,  the  ensis,  and  the 
scutum ;  the  "  miles "  of  the  eleventh 
century  was  a  horseman  cased  in  as  much 
armour  as  he  could  bear  the  weight  of, 
and  attended  by  lightly-armed  followers 
on  foot.  The  principles  of  courage  and 
fidelity  may  have  been  transmitted  to  the 
knights  of  the  eleventh  century  from  their 
Teutonic  or  Iberian  ancestors ;  in  these 
respects  a  Hermann  or  a  Viriathus  left 
little  to  be  desired.  But  if  ferocity  and 
rapacity  were  to  be  indulged  without 
check,  if  cruelty  and  injustice,  availing 
themselves  of  the  weakness  of  law,  were 
to  be,  without  protest,  the  accompaniment 
and  the  fruit  of  the  warrior's  toils,  no 
amelioration  of  the  general  lot  could  be 
hoped  for,  though  extraordinary  villany 
might  be  repressed  by  extraordinary 
chastisement,^  until  the  expiration  of  the 
long  period  required  to  weld  a  loose 
feudal  aristocracy  into  an  orderly  law- 
governed  State.  Religion  here  stepped 
in,  and  endeavoured  to  consecrate  and 
transform  that  rough  struggle  for  supe- 
riorit)'-  which  was  everywhere  going  on. 
The  cavalier  was  not  to  desist  from  war  ; 
that  was  an  impossible  requirement,  and 
he  was  generally  fit  for  not  much  else ; 
but  he  was  to  draw  the  sword  for  just 
causes  only,  to  succour  the  oppressed, 
resist  attack  and  encroachment,  and 
support  his  liege  lord  according  to  his 
oath.  He  was  to  be  imnovable  in  his 
faith,  obedient  to  the  holy  Church,  fall 
of  respect  for  her  ministers,  and 'devoutly  _ 
submissive  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  the 
Roman  Pontiff.  For  the  honour  and 
service  of  the  ever  blessed  Mother  of 
God,  whose  faithful  vassal  he  was  to  be, 

^  As  in  tlie  ease  of  Thomas  de  Laon,  related 
by  Guibert  de  Nogent. 


150 


CHIVALRY 


CHIVALRY 


women  were  to  find  in  Hm  an  honourable, 
fearless,  and  virtuous  protector.  A  bigli 
standard  of  self-respect  could  not  but 
accompany  the  consecration  to  these  lofty 
ends.  The  word  of  the  kniprht  once 
given,  whether  to  friend  or  foe,  must  be 
irrevocable ;  he  must  be  no  truce-breaker 
or  snatcher  of  mean  advantages;  his 
honour  must  be  without  stain.  Courtesy 
and  humanity  were  to  mark  his  bearing 
and  his  acts.  In  a  word,  the  Christian 
soldier  was  to  have  all  those  perfections 
of  character  and  all  those  graces  d^etat 
which  the  revelation  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  institution  of  the  Sacraments  have 
rendered  possible  :  he  would  then  be  a 
perfect  mirror  of  chivalry.  Tliis  was  the 
ideal ;  but  when  we  ask  in  what  degree 
was  it  ever  realised,  we  are  forced  to 
admit  that  human  passion  and  perversity 
have  played  their  part,  and  made  chivalry 
by  no  means  an  unmixed  blessing  to 
the  world.  The  reverence  for  woman, 
grounded  on  a  just  devotion  to  the 
Mother  of  God,  was  turned  into  an  idola- 
try ;  human  love  (such  was  the  baser 
teaching)  was  to  fill  the  soul  of  the  true 
knight  and  to  predominate  over  all  other 
thoughts  ;  nay,  the  very  forms  and  words 
of  the  divine  ofiice  were  blasphemously 
parodied  in  the  service  of  this  vicious 
development.^  Again,  the  self-respect  of 
the  true  knight  was  depraved  into  a  pride 
of  class,  which  looked  down  on  the 
labouring  non-fighting  multitude  as  base 
roturiers  and  plebeians,  the  shedding  of 
whose  blood  was  a  very  trifling  matter ; 
his  sense  of  honour  often  became  an 
absurd  punctihousness,  tyrannising  over 
the  free  speech  and  action  of  other  men. 
Human  rights  and  human  equality  were 
thus  ignored  ;  but  this  was  not  the  doc- 
trine of  chivalry — it  was  the  corruption  of 
that  doctrine.  The  true,  noble,  knightly 
spirit  and  its  counterfeit  went  on  side 
by  side,  energising,  founding,  and  de- 
stroying, for  centuries.  The  Popes,  be- 
ginning with  Urban  II.  and  ending  with 
Pius  v.,  preached,  blessed,  and  aided  the 
holy  wars,  by  which,  in  the  cause  of 
justice,  the  places  made  sacred  by  our 
Lord's  sojourn  and  sufterings  were  to  be 
taken  out  of  the  hands  of  persecuting 
infidels,  or  Christian  lands  to  be  delivered 
from  Moslem  thraldom.  Numerous  orders 
of  chivab'y  were  instituted — the  Templars, 
the  Knights  Hospitallers,  or  of  St.  John 
of  Jerusalem,  the  Knights  of  the  Sword, 
the  Teutonic  Knights,  those  of  Cala- 
*  As  in  Gower*8  Confessio  Amaniis,  and 
Chaucer's  Court  of  Love. 


trava,  Alcantara,  and  many  more — the 
labours  of  which,  speaking  generally,  were 
an  honour  to  human  nature  and  a  benefit  to 
mankind.  The  spu'it  of  chivalry  was  re- 
fined and  exalted  by  the  invention  of 
fruitful  conceptions,  such  as  that  of  the 
Saint  Graal,  by  which  the  whole  tone  of 
romance  literature  was  elevated.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
while  the  form  and  ceremonial  of  chivalry 
were  greatly  developed,  its  essence — the 
contention  for  justice — ^was  shamefully 
forgotten.  King  Edward  III.  instituted 
the  Order  of  the  Garter,  but  waged  un- 
just wars  with  France,  causing  incredible 
misery  ;  his  son,  the  Black  Prince,  waited 
on  the  French  king,  his  prisoner,  at  table, 
but  ordered  the  indiscriminate  massacre 
of  the  people  of  Limoges. 

Burke  wrote,  beholding  the  first 
shameful  excesses  of  the  French  Jaco- 
bins, " The  age  of  chivalry  is  past; "  but 
the  age  of  chivalry  will  never  be  wholly 
past,  while  faith  survives  and  wrongs 
remain  to  be  redressed.  Wherever,  and 
so  far  as,  the  true  Catholic  faith,  and  the 
imitation  of  Christ  and  his  saints,  inspire 
a  population,  a  class,  or  an  individual, 
there,  and  in  that  proportion,  the  spirit  of 
chivalry,  dormant  and  entranced  as  it 
seems  now,  will  revive.  That  spirit  is, 
as  we  have  said,  essentially,  the  readiness 
to  contend  for  justice.  For  the  present 
it  remains  passive  in  every  part  of  Europe, 
stupefied,  as  it  were,  by  the  audacity  of 
the  so-called  Liberals,  who,  having  got 
into  their  hands  the  organisations  of 
government  in  most  of  the  States,  are 
carrying  their  hostility  to  divine  faith, 
the  Church,  and  the  Pope  into  practice 
with  a  vigour  and  a  malice  which  Chris- 
tians find  a  difficulty  in  conceiving.  But 
it  will  awake,  and  when  it  does  it  will 
not  ask  whether  universal  suffrage  has 
decided  this  way  or  that,  but  whether  it 
is  just  that  this  or  that  change  should  be 
made  or  unmade.  Parliamentary  govern- 
ment assisted  a  tju-aut  in  England  to 
deprive  the  people  of  their  religion,  and 
enacted  that  none  who  did  not  com- 
municate with  heresy  should  serve  their 
country.*  Parliamentary  government  in 
France  has  recently  sanctioned  the  perpe- 
tration of  measures  of  violence  against 
the  religious  orders,  so  flagrant  in  their 
iniquity,  that  the  infidels  of  othe?-  coun- 
tries were  almost  scandalised.  The  temper 
of  true  chivalry,  when  its  awakening 
comes,  will  perhaps  work  changes  which 
the  verdict  of  the  ballot-box  would 
1  Test  Act  of  1673. 


CHOIR 

neither  initiate  nor  ratify,  yet  -whicli  may 
"be  ultimately  found  to  be  beneficial  and 
curative  to  European  society. 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  an  order 
of  chivalry  which  has  abandoned  the 
Catholic  i'aith,  and  repudiated  obedience 
to  the  chair  of  Peter,  has  forfeited  its 
title.  An  order  like  the  Garter,  in  which 
the  official  chief  of  the  religion  of  the 
false  prophet  is  one  of  the  "  knights,"  has 
evidently  nothing  of  chivalry  about  it  but 
the  name.  (See  Kenelm  Digby's  "  Broad 
Stone  of  Honour"  and  ''  Mores  Catholici.") 

CHOIR  (chorus).  From  the  ''band  " 
of  singers  at  the  divine  worship,  who 
were  placed  between  the  clergy  in  the 
apse  and  the  people  in  the  body  of  the 
church,  the  space  between  the  sanctuary 
and  the  nave  came  to  be  called  the  c/ioi?-. 
In  the  course  of  time,  the  superior  clergy 
of  a  cathedral  or  collegiate  church  found 
it  necessary  to  migrate  from  the  confined 
space  of  the  apse  or  sanctuary,  which 
they  occupied  in  primitive  times,  and  to 
establish  themselves  in  seats,  called  stalls, 
on  either  side  of  the  choir.  These  stalls 
were  often  ornamented  in  the  most  ex- 
quisite manner. 

The  recitation  of  the  breviary  for  each 
day  takes  place  ''  in  choir  "  in  cathedrals, 
collegiate  churches,  and  the  great  ma- 
jority of  convents. 

CHORAL  VICARS.  These  were 
anciently  clerics  to  whom  the  precentor 
(i.e.  the  canon  who  had  the  charge  of  the 
music),  in  a  cathedral  or  collegiate  church, 
committed  the  immediate  superintendence 
of  the  choir.  In  the  re-constituted  chap- 
ters of  France  and  Germany  choral  vicars 
are  directly  appointed  to  perform  this 
duty,  in  concert  with  the  canons,  and 
receive  salaries  accordingly. 

CHORAUKES  {x"P^^^V^)  ^i*v  ^ 
flute-player  in  an  orchestra).  In  the 
Eastern  Church  the  name  appears  to 
have  been  transferred  to  the  choir-boys 
of  a  cathedral  generally. 

CHOREPISCOPUS  (Gr.  x^P^'^*^- 
a-KOTTos,  lit.  a  country  superintendent  or 
bishop).  Nothing  is  heard  of  such  persons 
in  the  first  three  centuries.  The  first 
mention  of  them  is  in  the  canons  of  the 
councils  of  Ancyra  and  Neocsesarea  (314), 
and  they  probably  arose  in  Asia  Minor. 
A  chorepiscopus  was  appointed  and  or- 
dained by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  to 
whom  he  was  answerable  for  the  right 
discharge  of  his  duties.  A  certain  dis- 
trict was  assigned  to  him  to  administer ; 
he  was  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  the  poor 
and  the  maintenance  of  all  Christian  in- 


CHOREPISCOPUS 


151 


stitutions,  and  he  had  the  power  of  con- 
ferring  minor   orders,   even  to  the  sub- 
diaconate  inclusive.   It  has  been  argued — ■ 
especially    by     the    Protestant     writers 
Hammond,  Beveridge,  and  others — that 
they  were  true  bishops,  although  of  in- 
ferior dignity   and   power  to  the  recog- 
nised  bishops   of  sees.      The  fact    that 
fifteen  "  country-bishops  "  subscribed  the 
Nicene  canons  seems  to  lend  support  to 
such  a  view.     But  the  better  opinion  is 
that,  ,  notwithstanding   the   name,   they 
were  neither  true  bishops  nor  an  order  of 
clergy  interposed   between   bishops    and 
priests,  but  simply  priests,  invested  with 
a  jurisdiction  smaller  than  the  episcopal, 
but   larger  than  the   sacerdotal.     Many 
notices  of  them  scattered  up  and  down  in 
ecclesiastical  history,  and  the  consenting 
tradition  of  the  Fathers,  adjust  themselves 
to  this  view  of  their  office,  and  not  to  the 
former.     Thus   a   canon   of    Neocsesarea 
likens  them  to  the  seventy-two  disciples 
sent  out  by  Christ ;  but  these  were  always 
associated  with  the  priesthood,  not  with 
the  episcopate.     The  Nicene  canon  which 
authorises  a  bishop  to  treat  one  who  had 
been  deposed  from  the  see  for  heresy,  but 
who  desired  to  return  to  the  Church,  as  a 
chorepiscopus,  and  give  him  employment 
and  rank  as  such,  is  itself  a  proof  *hat 
they   were  not  bishops;  for  the  council 
would    not   have    empowered    a    single 
bishop  to  reinstate  to  his  former  place  a 
deposed   member   of  the   order.     Yet  it 
might  seem  as  if  they  formed  something 
like  an  intermediate  clerical  order,  for  a 
canon  of  Chalcedon  says.  Si  quis  ordina- 
verit  per  pecunias    episcopum,   aut  chor- 
episcopum,  aut  preshyterum,  aut  diaeonum 
("if  anyone  shall  have  ordained  for  money 
a  bishop,  or  a  chorepiscopus,  or  a  priest, 
or  a  deacon ' ') .   It  is  certain,  however,  that 
in  no  age  of  the  Church  have  the  grades 
of  holy  (or  superior)  order  been  reckoned 
as  more  than  three — bishop,  priest,  and 
deacon.   A  chorepiscopus,  therefore,  must 
have  been  either  a  bishop  or  a  priest ;  but 
we  have  shown  that  he  was  not  a  true 
bishop ;  he  was  therefore   a  priest,   but 
one   who   received  on   his    appointment 
a  spiritual  jurisdiction  higher  than  any 
priest  could  pretend  to.     The  Council  of 
Laodicea     calls     them     rrfptoBevrai,     or 
*'  circuit  officers,"  which  shows  that  they 
were  then  expected  to   make  visitation 
tours  in  their  districts.     St.  Basil  had  no 
fewer  than  fifty  chorepiscopi  under  him, 
governing  districts  of  his  extensive  Cappa- 
docian  see,  like  the   archdeacons  whom 
Remigius    appointed    in    the    different 


OHORISTER 


CHRIST 


counties  when  he  organised  his  great  see 
of  Lincoln.^ 

In  the  Western  Church  we  hear 
nothing  of  chorepiscopi  before  the  Coimcil 
of  Eiez,  in  the  fifth  century.  But  after 
500  the  notices  of  them  become  numerous, 
and  under  Charlemagne,  according  to 
Thomassin,  their  numbers  and  power 
were  such  as  to  be  formidable  even  to  the 
bishops  themselves.  In  the  later  Carlo- 
vingian  times  unworthy  persons  were 
often  foisted  into  the  sees  through  lay 
interference,  for  the  sake  of  the  wealth 
with  which  they  were  endowed,  and  such 
bishops  were  glad  to  devolve  as  much  of 
their  functions  as  they  could  divest  them- 
selves of  on  chorepiscopi,  engaged  at  a 
low  rate  of  remuneration,  and  live  in 
sloth  and  luxury  at  Court.  This  abuse 
called  forth  the  zeal  of  the  Roman 
Pontiffs,  and  by  a  series  of  Papal  briefs 
and  conciliar  decrees,  from  Leo  III.  to 
the  end  of  the  ninth  century,  restraining 
the  authority  of  the  chorepiscopi,  annul- 
ling many  of  their  acts,  arid  ordering  that 
no  more  should  be  appointed,  the  en- 
deavour was  persistently  made  to  compel 
the  bishops  to  perform  their  own  duties 
and  not  attempt  to  delegate  them.  No- 
thing more  is  heard  of  this  class  of  clergy 
after  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century. 
(Thomassin;  Soglia;  SmithandCheetham.) 

CHOKZSTSR.  A  singer  in  a  choir, 
whether  cathedral,  collegiate,  or  parochial. 
The  name  is  usually  applied  to  boys  rather 
than  men. 

The  regular  singers  {KavoviKoi  -^akTai) 
of  a  church  received  in  early  times  a  kind 
of  ordination,  without  imposition  of  hands, 
which  could  be  conferred  by  a  presbyter. 
The  form  of  words  prescribed  by  the 
Fourth  Council  of  Carthage  was,  "See 
that  thou  believe  in  thy  heart  what  thou 
singest  with  thy  mouth,  and  approve  in 
thy  works  what  thou  believest  with  thy 
heart."  (Smith  and  Cheetham,  article 
Cantor.) 

CHRISM.  Olive  oil  mixed  with 
balm,  blessed  by  the  bishop  and  used  by 
the  Church  in  confirmation  as  well  as  in 
baptism,  ordination,  consecration  of  altar- 
stones,  chalices,  churches,  and  in  the 
blessing  of  baptismal  water.  The  oil, 
according  to  the  Roman  Catechism,  signi- 
fies the  fullness  of  grace,  since  oil  is  diffu- 
sion ;  the  balm  mixed  with  it,  incorruption 
and  the  "  good  odour  of  Christ." 

In  itself  the  word  chrism  (xP^^^I^") 
need  not  mean  more  than  "  anything 
smeared  on ;  "  but  even  in  classical  writers 
1  Hear.  Huntend. 


it  denotes  especially  a  scented  unguent, 
while  the  common  oil  was  called  eXaiov. 
It  was  this  simple,  unperfumed  oil  which 
was  used  in  the  earliest  times  for  sacred 
purposes,  but  from  the  sixth  century  oil 
mixed  with  balm  began  to  be  employed. 
This  balm  {^oka-afMos,  in  the  classics  otto- 
^akaafiov)  is  a  kind  of  perfumed  resin,  pro- 
duced by  a  tree  which  grows  in  Judaea  and 
Arabia.  This  Eastern  balm  was  alwa.ys 
used  in  the  West  till  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  Paul  III.  and  Pius  IV.  permitted  the 
use  of  a  better  kind  of  balm,  brought  by 
the  Spaniards  from  the  West  Indies.  The 
Orientals  did  not  content  themselves  with 
simply  mixing  balm.  Thus  the  Greeks 
mingle  forty  different  spices,  and  the 
Maronites,  before  they  were  reunited 
to  the  Catholic  Church,  prepared  their 
chrism  from  oil,  saffron,  cinnamon,  essence 
of  roses,  white  incense,  Szc. 

The  consecration  of  the  oils  during 
the  Mass  goes  back  to  the  earliest  times. 
Cyprian  mentions  it  in  Ep.  70,  addressed 
to  Januarius  ;  and  St.  Bas*il  attributes  the 
origin  of  this  blessing  to  apostolic  tra- 
dition. It  of  course  included  ^hrism  in 
the  strict  sense,  Avhen  that  came  into  use. 
In  the  West  this  blessing  was  always  re- 
served to  bishops ;  in  the  East,  as  may  be 
seen  from  Goar's  "  Euchologium,"  it  was 
only  given  by  the  patriarchs.  At  first  the 
oils  used  to  be  blessed  on  any  day  at 
Mass,  but  in  a  letter  of  Pope  Leo  to  the 
emperor  of  the  same  name,  in  the  Synod 
of  Toledo  (490),  and  in  all  the  older 
Sacramentaries  and  ritual-books,  Maunday 
Thursday  is  fixed  for  this  blessing.  It 
was  only  in  France  that  the  custom  sur- 
vived of  blessing  the  oils  on  any  day,  till 
uniformity  with  the  use  of  other  churches 
was  introduced  by  the  Council  of  Meaux, 
in  845.  The  function  took  place  in  the 
second  of  the  three  Masses  which  used  to 
be  said  on  Maunday  Thursday;  whence 
the  name  "  Missa  Chrism atis."  The  bless- 
ing of  the  chrism  was  called  "  Benedictio 
chrismatis  principalis."  All  the  clergy  of 
the  diocese  used  to  assist,  till,  in  the 
eighth  century,  the  custom  altered  and 
only  those  who  lived  near  the  cathedral 
came,  while  the  others  had  the  holy  oils 
sent  to  them.  The  chrism  used  to  be 
kept  in  a  vessel  like  a  paten  with  a  de- 
pression in  the  middle.  A  "  patena  chris- 
malis"  of  this  kind  is  mentioned  by 
Anastasius,  in  his  Life  of  St.  Silvester. 
(Kraus,  "  Real-Encyclopadie.") 

CHRIST,  "  Anointed  "  (Gr.  xptordy, 
from  XP^^))  ^  translation  of  the  Ilebrew 
word  0'^^,  as   is   expressly  stated   in 


CHRIST 

John  i.  42 :  "  We  have  found  the  Messias, 
which  is  interpreted  Christ."  In  the  Old 
Testament  the  word  is  used  of  the  hio-h- 
priest,  who  was  anointed  for  his  office 
{e.g.  in  Levit.  iv.  3)  ;  of  kings,  who  were 
also  anointed — e.g.  1  Reg.  xxiv.  7,  where 
David  calls  Saul  "the  anointed  of  the 
Lord:"  in  the  second  Psalm,  ** against 
the  Lord,  and  against  his  anointed  "  (where 
Xpicrrbs  is  the  word  in  the  LXX) ;  with 
which  we  may  compare  other  places,  such 
as  Dan.  ix.  25,  Ilab.  iii.  13,  Ps.  cxxxi.  17. 
The  Hebrew  word  designates  the  king  who 
was  to  come,  the  promised  Messias.  In 
the  doctrinal  language  of  post-hiblical 
Judaism,  this  expected  deliverer  is  called 
almost  with  the  significance  of  a  proper 
name,  n'^EJ'D,  of  which  "Messias"^  is 
only  another  form,  and  "  Christ,"  as  we 
have  seen,  a  translation.  Hence,  when 
our  Lord  came,  "the  Christ"  (6  Xpio-roy)~ 
was  his  official  title,  while  "  Jesus  "  was 
his  ordinary  name.  When  the  word 
occurs  in  the  Gospels,  it  constantly  im- 
plies a  reference  to  the  Messiah  as  por- 
trayed by  the  prophets. 

The  history  of  Christ's  life  belongs  to 
a  Biblical  rather  than  a  theological  dic- 
tionary; it  is  only  the  teaching  of  the 
Church  on  his  Person  and  office  which 
concerns  us  here.  We  may  divide  the 
subject  into  two  halves,  treating  under 
(A)  of  what  Christ  is ;  under  (B)  of  his 
work. 

(A)  Natures  and  Person  of  Cki'ist. — 
Jesus  Christ,  according  to  the  words  of  a 
Catechism  familiar  to  Catholics,  is  "God 
the  Son  made  man  for  us."  He  has  there- 
fore two  natures :  that  of  God,  and  that 
of  man.  As  God,  according  to  the  Nicene 
Creed,  He  was  born  of  his  Father,  before 
all  worlds :  He  is  God  from  God — i.e.  He, 
being  true  and  perfect  God,  proceeds  from 
God  the  Father,  who  is  also  true  and 
perfect  God — He  is  light  from  light ;  be- 
gotten, not  made,  as  creatures.  He  exists 
from  all  eternity.  He  is  almighty,  om- 
niscient, incapable  of  error  or  of  sin. 
At  the  moment  of  his  Incarnation,  He 
further  became  true  man,  without,  how- 
ever, in   any   way  ceasing  to  be   God. 

*  The  Greek  word  Messias  (Msaatas  or  Me- 
<ri'as)  is  immediately  derived,  not  from  the  He- 
brew, but  from  the  Chaldee  XPT'tJ'lp*  the  n 
being  omitted  between  the  two  long  vowels,  as 
in  Mifi<i=  STTID'  Nehem.vii.  54,  and  the  o-some- 

T        •      • 

times  doubled,  as  in  'A|3eo-o-oAai/*. 

2  It  usually  has  the  article  in  the  Gospels, 
but  occurs  oftener  than  not  without  it  in  St. 
Paul's  Ejiistles. 


CHRIST 


168 


This  truth  is  vigorously  expressed  by  St. 
Leo  in  his  dogmatic  epistle  to  Flavian, 
which  was  accepted  by  the  Fathers  of 
the  Fourth  (Ecumenical  Council.  "  The 
Son  of  God,"  Leo  says,  "  enters  the  abase- 
ment of  this  world  (Jicec  mundi  injima), 
descending  from  his  heavenly  seat,  and 
[yet]  not  receding  from  his  Father's 
glory  ;  begotten  according  to  a  new  order 
and  by  a  new  birth.  By  a  new  order: 
because  being  invisible  in  his  own  nature 
{in  suis)  He  became  visible  in  ours ;  being 
incomprehensible,  He  willed  to  be  com- 
prehended; remaining  before  time,  He  be- 
gan to  be  from  a  (certain)  time."  Moreover, 
he  had  a  true  body,  as  the  Church  taught 
from  early  times  against  the  Docetae  ;  a 
true  human  soul,  so  that  as  man  He  could 
fear,  sorrow,  reason,  &c.,  as  the  Church 
taught  against  the  heretic  Apollinaris;  a 
human  will,  as  distinct  from  his  divine 
wiU,  as  was  defined  in  the  Sixth  General 
Council  against  the  Monothelites.  Thus,  in 
the  words  of  the  Fourth  General  Council, 
"  Christ  Jesus  [the]  only  begotten  Son,  is 
to  be  acknowledged  in  two  natures,  with- 
out confusion,  without  change  .  .  .  since 
the  difference  of  the  natures  is  by  no 
means  annulled  on  account  of  the  union, 
but  rather  the  property  of  each  nature 
preserved."  Lastly,  those  two  natures 
are  united  (so  the  Council  of  Ephesus  de- 
fined) in  one  Person.  Our  body  and  soul 
are  united  in  one  person,  so — though,  of 
course,  the  analogy  is  imperfect — the 
divine  and  human  natures  were  united  in 
one  Divine  Person,  who  acted  and  sufi'ered 
in  either  nature.  To  believe  otherwise, 
is  to  assert,  with  the  Nestorians,  that 
there  are  two  Sons  and  two  Christs. 

Such  are  the  chief  definitions  of  the 
Church  on  the  Natures  and  Person  of 
Christ ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  point  out 
some  important  corollaries  from  these 
first  principles  of  the  faith.  The  follow- 
ing seem  to  be  the  most  important. 

(1)  Christ,  having  a  human  soul,  had 
true  human  knowledge,  as  distinct  from 
that  which  belonged  to  Him  as  God. 
His  human  soul  did  not,  and  could  not, 
know  God  Avith  that  perfect  and  infinite 
comprehension  with  which  God  compre- 
hends Himself  The  contrary  proposition, 
held  by  Augustine  of  Rome,  was  con- 
demned by  Nicholas  V,  Christ  acquired 
knowledge  in  the  same  way  as  other  men 
— i.e.  experimentally ;  for,  as  we  read  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  He  "learned 
obedience  from  the  things  which  he 
suffered."  It  is  important,  however,  not 
to    misunderstand   Catholic  doctrine  on 


154 


CHEIST 


this  head.  Even  in  Christ  as  man,  there 
was  no  ignorance  which  had  to  he  re- 
moved by  instruction  or  experience.  On 
the  contrary,  as  Christ's  soul  was  hypo- 
statically  united  to  the  Word,  as  He  was 
the  head  from  which  grace  and  glory  was 
to  How  into  the  members,  it  was  fitting 
that  He  should,  from  the  first  moment  of 
his  earthly  existence,  see  God  face  to 
face  with  his  human  soul,  as  the  blessed 
do  in  heaven.  This  beatific  knowledge 
was  always  present,  even  when  the  in- 
ferior part  of  his  soul  was  in  agony  on 
the  cross.  Again,  St.  Thomas  argues 
that  as  the  soul  of  Christ  is  the  most 
perfect  of  all  created  things,  therefore 
^'  no  perfection  found  in  creatures  is  to 
be  denied  to  it ;  "  and  he  goes  on  to  say 
that,  besides  the  knowledge  of  God  seen 
in  his  essence,  and  of  all  things  seen  in 
God,  besides  the  experimental  knowledge 
common  to  all  men,  the  soul  of  Christ  had 
a  knowledge  infused  or  poured  into  it, 
by  which  He  knew  most  fully  all  the 
mysteries  of  grace,  and  every  object  to 
which  human  cognition  extends  or  can 
extend. 

(2)  Christ  was  absolutely  sinless  and 
incapable  of  sin,  because  his  actions  were 
the  actions  of  God,  who  is  holiness  itself; 
80  that  in  Plim  sin  was  a  physical  im- 
possibility. Moreover,  in  Him  there  could 
be  no  involuntary  rebellion  of  the  flesh 
or  lower  appetites,  no  temptation  from 
within,  because  in  Him  human  nature 
was  united  to  the  Word,  and  it  was  the 
office  of  the  Word  to  ride  the  human 
nature  united  to  it  and  to  hold  it  in  abso- 
lute subjection.  He  could,  indeed,  as  the 
statements  of  the  Gospels  prove,  wonder 
and  fear  and  suffer  mental  distress,  but 
in  Him  these  feelings  were  in  perfect  sub- 
jection to  reason. 

(3)  Christ  had  the  fullness  of  all 
grace — i.e.  over  and  above  the  grace  of 
the  hypostatic  union  grace  was  infused 
into  his  soid  so  that  it  was  most  perfectly 
sanctified,  according  to  the  prophecy  of 
Isaias,  "  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me." 

(4)  Christ  did  not  only  take  a  real 
human  body,  but  he  took  one  subject  to 
those  defects  which  followed  from  the 
common  sin  of  mankind,  except  so  far  as 
these  defects  were  repugnant  to  the  end 
of  the  Incarnation.  The  reason  of  his 
taking  these  defects  (the  capability  of 
hunger,  thirst,  and  the  like),  and  no 
others,  was  that  Christ  became  subject  to 
infirmity,  with  the  precise  object  of 
satisfying  for  the  sins  of  human  nature. 
Therefore  he  took  upon  Him  in  his  own 


CHRIST 

body  the  weaknesses  caused  by  Adam's 
sin.  He  did  not,  however,  assume  bodily 
defects  so  far  as  they  are  incentives  to 
sin  or  impediments  to  virtue,  since  this 
would  have  been  inconsistent  with  his 
office  as  redeemer.  The  interesting  ques- 
tion on  the  personal  appearance  of  Christ 
will  be  treated  in  a  separate  article 
[Christ,  Personal  Appearance  and 
Representations  of]. 

(5)  Inasmuch  as  divine  and    human 
nature,  although  remaining  each  of  them 
distinct  in  its  own  properties,  were  united 
in  the  Person  of  the   Word,  it   follows 
that  human  attributes  may  be  predicated 
of  or  ascribed  to  God  the  Son ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  divine  attributes  may  be 
predicated  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus.   Thus, 
although  it  was  his  human  nature  which 
Christ  took  from  Mary,  and  although  she 
is  not  the  mother  of  the  Godhead,  still 
the  Council  of  Ephesus  defined  that  the 
Blessed   Virgin  is  really  and   truly  the 
Mother  of  God.     So,  again,  we  may  truly 
say,  God  suffered,  God  died,  or  the  man 
Jesus   Christ    is    the   eternal    God,    by 
whom  all  things  were  made.     [See  Com- 
MTJNiCATio    Idiomatum.]    Moreover,    as 
Cardinal  Franzelin  writes  in  his  treatise 
on  the  Incarnation, "  the  sacred  Humanity, 
or  human  nature  with  all  its  component 
parts.,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  nature  of  the 
Word,"  is  the  object  of  supreme  ador- 
ation, though,  of  course,  we   adore   the 
flesh  not  because  it  is  flesh  but  because  it 
is   united  to  the  Word.     He   continues, 
"  This  is  clearly  and  plainly  taught  in  the 
definitions   of  councils  and   in  the  dis- 
cussions of  the  Fathers."    Thus  the  Fifth 
General    Council  ^    anathematises   those 
who  "  affirm  that  Christ  is  adored  in  two 
natures,  in  such  sense  that  two  adorations 
are  introduced,  one  proper  to  God  the 
Word,  and  one  proper  to  the  man  [Christ] 
....  and  do  not  adore  with  one  single 
adoration  God  the  Word  incarnate  with 
his  own  flesh,  as  the  Church  of  God  has 
received  from  the  beginning."     Cardinal 
Franzelin  also  quotes  words  of  St.  Atha- 
nasius  against  the  Apoliinarists,  "  It  [i.e. 
the  body  of  Christ]  is  worshipped  with 
due  and  divine  adoration,  for  the  Word, 
to  whom  the  body  belongs,  is  God ;  "  and 
of  St.  John  Damascene  (*'  Fid.  Orthodox." 
iii.  8),  "  Nor  do  we  deny  that  the  flesh 
[of  Christ]  is  to  be  adored ;  nor  again  do 
we  give  supreme  worship  to  a  creature ; 
for  neither  do  we  adore  it  as  mere  flesh, 
but  as  united  to  the  Godhead."    It  will 

^  It  is  the  ninth  of  the  fourteen 
mas.    Hefele,  Concil.  ii.  p.  897. 


CHKIST 

be  observed  that  these  principles  formu- 
lated in  the  early  Church  contain  within 
them  a  full  justification  of  the  adoration 
which  the  Church  srives  at  this  day  to  the 
AVounds,  Blood,  Heart,  &c.,  of  Christ. 
If  we  may,  because  of  the  hypostatic 
union,  adore  the  flesh  of  Christ,  which  is 
a  part  of  liis  Humanity,  then  undoubtedly 
we  may  for  the  same  reason  adore  his 
Heart,   which   is   a    part   of  his   sacred 


CHRIST 


155 


(B)  The  Wo9'k  and  Office  of  Christ.— 
(1)  Christ  came  chiefly,  as  the  Fathers 
declare,  to  take  mvay  sin.  This  great  truth 
is  constantly  asserted  in  Scripture.  "  The 
discipline  of  our  peace  was  upon  him,  and 
by  his  bruises  we  are  healed."  ^'  Christ 
redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law, 
being  made  a  curse  for  us."  "  God  send- 
ing his  own  son,  in  the  likeness  of  sinful 
flesh,  even  of  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the 
flesh ;  "  and  thus  in  the  Nicene  Creed  we 
confess  that  God  was  made  man  "  for  us 
men  and  for  our  salvation."  This  point 
is  treated  more  fully  in  the  article  on  the 
Sacrifice  and  Satisfaction  of  Christ.  Here, 
it  is  enough  to  say  that,  although  God 
might  have  forgiven  sin  without  any 
satisfaction  at  aU,  still  it  was  his  will 
that  a  perfect  satisfaction  should  be 
made,  and  be  made  by  man.  Accor- 
dingly, God  the  Son  was  incarnate.  He 
was  a  natural  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  since  in  Him  the  divine  and  human 
natures  were  united.  As  man.  He  was 
able  to  sufier  and  die  ;  because  He  was 
God,  his  satisfaction  possessed  an  infinite 
value,  more  than  sufficient  to  compensate 
for  the  infinite  dishonour  done  to  God's 
majesty  by  sin.  He  of  his  free  will 
ofiefed  Himself  to  endure  the  penalties 
incurred  by  men  who  were  his  brethren. 
He  could  not  of  course,  in  the  strict  and 
proper  sense,  make  our  sins  his  own,  nor 
was  Christ  as  man  punished.  But  He 
allowed  wicked  men  to  work  their  will 
upon  Him,  and  as  the  new  Adam  or  head 
of  the  human  race,  took  on  Himself  the 
obligation  of  satisfying  for  the  offences  of 
mankind.  It  was  this  free  will  with 
which  He  suffered  that  gave  their  meri- 
torious character  to  the  pains  which  He 
underwent.  By  his  passion  he  merited 
every  grace  v/hich  has  descended  or  ever 
will  descend  on  man,  for  even  under  the 
old  law  all  grace  and  pardon  was  be- 
stowed for  the  merits  of  Christ  foreseen. 
By  the  merits  of  his  passion  He  op  the 
day  of  his  ascension  opened  Heaven  "  to 
all  who  believe."  There  He  presents  his 
five  wounds  and  pleads  the  efficacy  of  the 


work  He  accomplished  on  Calvary ;  while 
on  earth  He  continues  and  applies  his 
sacrifice  in  the  holy  Mass,  thus  remaining 
a  priest  for  ever.^ 

(2)  Christ  came  to  teach,  so  fulfilling 
the  prophetic  as  well  as  the  priestly 
office.  "  Behold,"  God  says  in  Isaias,  "  I 
have  given  him  for  a  witness  to  the 
people,  for  a  leader  and  a  master  to  the 
Gentiles."  He  Himself  declared  that  He 
came  "  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth."  He 
revealed  the  nature  of  the  Triune  God, 
and,  first  to  his  apostles,  then  through 
them  and  their  successors  to  the  world. 
He  explained  the  mysteries  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  the  way  to  heaven. 
He  gave  perfect  instruction  in  morals, 
particularly  in  the  sermon  on  the  mount, 
in  which  He  speaks  with  authority,  as 
the  giver  of  the  new  law.  Lastly,  He 
taught,  as  no  mere  man  could,  by  ex- 
ample, exhibiting  Himself  as  the  model 
of  every  virtue. 

(3)  Christ  is  the  Head  of  the  Church, 
militant  in  this  world,  suffering  in  Purga- 
tory, and  triumphant  in  heaven,  and  this 
headship  belongs  to  Christ  as  man,  for 
St.  Paul  in  Ephes.  i.,  after  mentioning 
the  fact  that  God  raised  Christ  from  the 
dead,  adds  that  He  made  "  Him  head 
over  all  the  church."  This  proves  that  the 
headship  belongs  to  Christ  as  man,  for  it 
was  in  his  human  nature  that  Christ 
was  raised  from  the  dead.  Christ  is  head, 
not  only  because  He  is  supereminent  in 
dignity  as  compared  with  the  members  of 
his  mystical  body,  but  also  because  grace 
and  glory  flow  from  him  to  the  members 
of  his  Church  in  earth  and  Purgatory 
and  in  heaven.  Even  Catholics  living  in 
mortal  sin  are  members  of  Christ,  con- 
nected with  Christ  their  head  by  the  gift 
of  faith ;  and  the  proposition  of  Quesnel, 
that  "  he  who  does  not  lead  a  life  worthy 
of  a  son  of  God  and  of  a  member  of 
Christ  ceases  to  have  God  within  him  for 
his  father  and  Christ  for  his  head,"  was 
condemned  by  Pope  Clement  XI.  More- 
over, Christ  is  head  of  his  Church  because 
it  receives  its  constitution  and  its  doctrine 
from  Him. 

(4)  Christ,  as  man,  holds  a  Idngly  &% 
well  as  a  priestly,  ^jo?<;er.  The  Prophets 
foretold  Him  as  king,  and  the  "  anointed 
king  "  is  a  recognised  name  of  the  Messias 
in  Jewish  writers.  He  exercises  this 
regal  power,  not  only  over  his  Church, 

1  The  opinion  held  by  some  of  the  ancients 
that  Christ  inherited  the  priesthood  by  descent 
from  Aaron  on  his  mother's  side,  is  refuted  by 
Petavius,  De  Incar.  xii.  15. 


166    CHEIST,  APPEARANCE  OF 

but  also  over  all  men,  so  far  as  his  law 
binds  them  all.  As  God,  of  course.  Christ 
is  supreoie  over  all,  both  in  temporal  and 
spiritual  matteis.  But  it  cannot  be  af- 
firmed, at  least  for  certain,  that  He,  as 
man,  possessed  temporal  dominion.  "  As 
man,"  Petavius  says,  "  I  consider  'that  He 
was  by  no  means  a  temporal,  but  only  a 
spiritual  king;  especially  so  long  as  he 
lived  a  man  among  men.  For  He  did  not 
answer  falsely  to  Pilate  the  governor, 
when  he  inquired  concerning  his  king- 
dom :  '  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.' " 
Whence  Augustine  "thus  explains  the 
place  in  the  second  Psalm  where  Christ 
says  that  He,  after  his  resurrection,  was 
constituted  king :  '  But  I  am  constituted 
king  by  him  over  Sion  his  holy  moun- 
tain : '  viz.  by  pointing  out  that  that  Sion 
and  that  mountain  are  not  of  this  world. 
^For  what  is  his  kingdom,  except  those 
who  believe  in  Him  ?  '  See,  too,  the  same 
Father  in  his  12th  Book  against  Faustus, 
cap.  42,  where  he  explains  more  fully  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  from  the  prophecy  of 
the  Patriarch  Jacob,  and  demonstrates 
that  it  does  not  belong  to  this  world — 
that  it  is  not  temporal  but  spiritual."  ^ 

(5)  Closely  connected  with  Christ's 
regal  dignity  is  his  office  of  Judge.  This 
also  belongs  to  Christ  as  man.'*  "  He  has 
been  appointed  by  God,"  in  the  words  of 
St.  Peter,  "judge  of  the  living  and  the 
dead."  He  is  eminently  fitted  for  this 
office  by  his  perfect  justice  and  integrity, 
his  knowledge  of  man's  heart,  and  his 
mercy. 

Other  titles  of  Christ,  such  as  Advocate, 
Shepherd,  &c.,  have  been  virtually  ex- 
plained already.  Others  will  be  discussed 
m  other  articles.  (From  St.  Thomas,  P. 
iii. ;  Billuart,  Cardinal  Franzelin,  but 
above  aU,  Petavius,  in  their  treatises  "  De 
Incarnatione.") 

CHRIST,  PERSOia-AX.  APPEAH- 
ILKCS   AND    REPRESEIffTiiTXOin-S 

OP.  Two  views  on  Christs  personal 
appearance  have  prevailed  in  the  Church. 
During  the  first  three  centuries,  when 
Christians  were  persecuted  and  oppressed, 
it  was  generally  held  that  our  Lord  as- 
sumed a  bodily  form  without  comeliness 
or  beauty.  Thus  Justin,  "  Dial.  c.  Tryph.," 
speaks  of  Christ  as  arifxos  koI  deidrjSf 
"without  honour  and  unsightly:  "  a  view 

J  Petav.  De  Incamat.  xii.  15. 

*  The  Father  is  said  to  have  given  all  judg- 
ment to  the  Son.  Petavius  says  that  the  office 
of  judge  "resides  properly  in  the  human  nature, 
like  the  office  of  priest,  mediator,  &c.,  though 
Ito  fbrce  and  value  comes  from  the  Godhead." 


CHRIST,  APPEARANCE  OF 

which  he  repeats  six  or  seven  times  at 
least,  and  which  is  also  asserted  by 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  and 
Origen  (against  Celsus).  This  view  was 
based  on  the  prophecy  of  Isaias :  "  De- 
spised and  the  most  abject  of  men,  a 
man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  in- 
firmity ;  and  his  look  was,  as  it  were, 
hidden  and  despised;  whereupon  we  es- 
teemed him  not."  This  conception  of 
Christ's  personal  appearance,  joined  with 
the  danger  of  scandal  to  converts  from 
heathenism,  may  account  for  the  fact 
that  the  ante-Nice ne  Church  was  not  ac- 
customed to  make  a  religious  use  of  pic- 
tures and  statues  representing  Christ  in 
his  natural  form.  Christians  preferred 
to  pourtray  Him  under  sjnnbolical  forms — 
e.g.  that  of  the  Good  Shepherd — or  to 
honour  Him  by  honouring  his  cross. 
Indeed,  we  find  the  first  certain  instances 
of  statues,  or  natiu-al  representations  of 
Christ,  among  heathen  and  heretics.  Thus 
Lampridius,  in  his  Life  of  the  heathen 
emperor  Alexander  Severus  (222-235), 
c.  29,  tells  us  that  the  latter  placed  in  his 
Lararium,  or  chapel  for  the  protecting 
gods  of  the  house,  figures  of  Apollonius, 
Abraham,  Orpheus,  and  Christ;  while 
Irenseus  (i.  25)  relates  of  the  Carpocra- 
tians,  an  early  Gnostic  sect,  that  they 
had  paintings  and  other  representations 
of  Christ,  and  asserted  that  Pilate  had 
caused  Christ's  portrait  to  be  taken  during 
his  lifetime.  The  respect  which  the 
Carpocratians  paid  to  these  images  was 
evidently  quite  unchristian,  for  they 
ofiered  a  similar  veneration  to  likenesses 
of  Pythagoras,  Plato,  Aristotle,  and 
others. 

A  second  and  widely-different  view 
of  Christ's  outward  appearance  began  to 
gain  ground  after  the  triumph  of  the 
Church  under  Constantine.  Chrysostom 
and  Jerome  ^  regard  Christ  as  the  ideal 
of  human  beauty;  and  the  advocates  of 
this  theory  also  supported  it  by  an  appeal 
to  the  Old  Testament,  and  quoted  the 
verse  of  the  Psalm,  "  Thou  art  beautiful 
above  the  sons  of  men."  This  naturally 
became  the  most  popular  view,  and  it  is 
the  only  one  that  could  be  adopted  in  the 
religious  use  of  art.  At  the  same  time, 
we  may  observe  that  this  belief  of  Chry- 
sostom and  Jerome  has  not  been  accepted 
without  reserve  by  all  later  theologians. 
Billuart,  for  example,  denies  that  our 
Lord's  body  while  still  passible,  exhibited 

*  Hefele  cites  Chrysost.  0pp.  t.  v.  p.  162, 
Hieron.  t.  ii.  p.  684,  both  in  Benedict.  Ed. 


CHRIST,  APPEARANCE  OE 

any  extraordinary  "beauty ;  and  St.  Thomas 
was  of  the  same  opinion.^ 

Whatever  we  may  think  on  this 
matter,  in  any  case  the  divergence  of 
opinion  with  regard  to  it  in  the  early 
Church  seems  to  create  a  strong  presump- 
tion against  the  authenticity  of  any  like- 
ness of  Christ  attributed  to  persons  who 
had  seen  Him.  Indeed,  St.  Augustine 
("De  Trin."  viii.  4)  allows  that  there 
was  no  sure  tradition  in  the  Church  on 
the  bodily  appearance  of  Christ.  This 
presumption  is  confirmed  by  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  portraits  of  Christ  for  which 
an  early  origin  is  claimed. 

The  earliest  witness  to  the  existence 
of  these  ancient  likenesses  is  Eusebius. 
In  his  "  Church  History,"  vii.  18,  he  tells 
us  that  he  had  seen  a  statue  of  Christ 
erected  at  Csesarea  Philippi  by  the  woman 
who  was  healed  of  an  issue  of  blood. 
There  was  a  figure  also  of  the  woman 
herself  kneeling  at  Christ's  feet.  In  the 
fragments  of  the  Arian  historian  Philo- 
storgius  we  find  this  same  statue  of  Christ 
mentioned,  with  an  additional  remark 
well  worthy  of  notice.  Pbilostorgius  says 
that  at  first  it  was  not  known  to  whom 
or  by  whom  the  statue  had  been  erected, 
till,  on  clearing  the  inscription,  it  was 
found  that  it  had  been  raised  by  the 
woman  with  an  issue  of  blood,  to  Christ. 
Very  likely  the  statue  was  erected  to 
Hadrian,  or  some  other  heathen  emperor, 
and  the  female  figure  kneeling  at  his 
feet  may  have  symbolised  a  suppliant 
province ;  while  the  inscription  may  have 
run— "To  the  Saviour  of  the  World" 
{crcoTtipL  Tov  Koo-fiov),  8.  title  whlch 
his  flatterers  would  readily  give  to  the 
emperor,  and  which  may  have  misled  the 
Christians  who  read  it  at  a  later  time. 

Another  tradition  attributes  portraits 
of  our  Lord  to  St.  Luke.  This  tradition 
is  never  mentioned  by  early  writers. 
Theodorus  Lector  (518)  mentions  a  por- 
trait of  the  Blessed  Virgin  painted  by 
St.  Luke,  but  he  does  not  speak  of  his 
having  painted  our  Lord's  likeness.  Por- 
traits of  our  Lord  from  the  hand  of  St. 
Luke  are  first  mentioned  by  Simeon 
Metaphrastes,  the  "  Menologium  "  of  the 
Emperor  Basil  (980),  and  Nicephorus 
Callisti — manifestly  authorities  of  too  late 
a  date  to  inspire  much  confidence  in  a 
statement  which  is  unlikely  on  the  face 

1  Billuart,  De  Myster.  Diss.  vii.  a.  11 : 
"  Humana  faciei  et  corporis  Christi  forma  non 
fait  insigniter  venusta,  neque  insig^iiter  defor- 
mis."  He  quotes  St.  Thomas  on  Ps.  xllv.  and 
on  Isai.  liii. 


CHRIST,  APPEARANCE  OF  167 

of  it.  Accounts  which  make  St.  Luke  a 
sculptor  (a  statue  of  Christ  said  to  have 
been  executed  by  St.  Luke  is  preserved 
at  Sirolo ;  one  "  by  Nicodemus,"  at  Lucca) 
are  of  still  later  origin. 

There  is  another  class  of  likenesses, 
the  so-called  ^Ikovcs  ax^Lponol-qTat,  images 
not  made  with  hands,  of  which  the  most 
famous  are  the  portrait  sent  to  Abgarus 
and  the  "  Veronica  "  likeness. 

As  to  the  former,  Eusebius,  at  the 
beginning  of  his  History  (i.  13),  mentions 
a  correspondence  between  our  Lord  and 
Abgarus,  king  of  Edessa.  Moses  of 
Chorene,  an  Armenian  historian  of  the 
fifth  century,  adds  that  Christ  sent 
Abgarus  a  portrait  of  Himself,  wonder- 
fully impressed  on  a  cloth.  This  likeness 
is  said  to  have  been  removed  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  thence  to  the  church  of 
St.  Silvester,  at  Rome,  where  it  is  still 
shown.  It  belongs  to  the  Byzantuie  type 
of  art,  and  represents  our  Saviour  with  a 
lofty  brow,  clear  eyes,  long,  straight  nose, 
and  reddish  beard.  Genoa  also  claims  to 
possess  this  miraculous  picture. 

Veronica  is  said  to  have  been  one  of 
the  women  who  accompanied  our  Lord 
on  his  way  to  Calvary.  She  gave  Him 
her  veil  that  He  might  wipe  away  the 
perspiration  from  his  face,  and  when  our 
Lord  had  done  so,  the  impress  of  his 
countenance  was  found  upon  the  cloth. 
It  is  alleged  that  this  likeness  was  brought 
to  Rome  about  the  year  700,  and  it  be- 
longs at  this  day  to  the  relics  of  St. 
Peter's  church  at  Rome,  where  it  is  only 
shown  to  persons  of  princely  rank,  who, 
however,  must  first  be  made  titular 
canons  of  St,  Peter's.  Mabillon  and  the 
BoUandist  Papebroch  suppose  that  the 
Veronica  came,  by  mere  error,  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  name  of  a  person,  the  word 
really  being  a  barbarous  compound  of 
vei'a  and  icon  (fi/ccoi/),  and  meaning 
"true  image."  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
mediaeval  writers  give  the  name  Veronica 
to  the  image  itself  and  not  to  a  woman. 
Thus  MattJiew  of  Paris  (ad  ann.  1216) 
speaks  of  "  the  representation  of  our 
Lord's  face,  which  is  called  Veronica." 
A  recent  archaeologist,  William  Grimm, 
derives  the  word  from  BepovUrj,  the 
name,  according  to  John  Malala,  a  By- 
zantine historian  of  the  sixth  century, 
which  belonged  to  the  woman  with  the 
issue  of  blood. 

In  this  utter  absence  of  any  authentic 
likeness  of  Christ  or  account  of  his  appear- 
ance, different  types  of  face  were  assigned 
to  our  Lord  in  different  countries.  Photius 


168 


CHRISTIANS 


CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE 


(Ep.  64)  testifies  that  this  was  the  case 
in  his  day ;  and  a  recent  traveller  and  Bihli- 
-  cal  scholar,  Dr.  Scholz,  found  a  number  of 
different  types  prevailing  in  difierent 
Eastern  nations.  Thus  the  Copts,  Syrians, 
Armeniaus,  &c.,  each  give  a  special  type 
of  face  to  pictures  of  our  Lord.  At  the 
same  time  great  influence  was  exercised 
(1)  by  a  description  to  he  found  in  St. 
John  Damascene  (ed.  Le  Quien,  t.  i. 
p.  631),  and  which  is  as  follows :  "  Christ 
was  of  imposing  stature,  with  eyebrows 
nearly  meeting,  beautiful  eyes,  crisp  hair, 
somewhat  stooping,  in  the  bloom  of 
youth,  with  black  beard  and  yellow  com- 
plexion, like  his  mother ; "  (2)  by  a  forged 
letter  of  "Publius  Lentulus,"  a  friend  of 
Pilate,  addressed  to  the  Roman  Senate, 
which  contains  the  following  description : 
"  He  is  a  man  of  slender  figure,  dignified, 
of  a  venerable  countenance,  which  in- 
spires love  and  fear  in  those  who  see  him. 
His  hair  is  curled  and  crisp,  dark  and 
glossy,  falling  over  his  shoulders  and 
parted  in  the  middle,  after  the  fashion  of 
the  Nazarenes  (?  Nazarites).  The  brow  is 
very  clear,  the  face  without  wrinkle  or 
spot,  pleasing  by  its  moderately  red 
,.  colour.  Nose  and  mouth  are  faultless ; 
the  beard  strong  and  reddish,  like  the 
colour  of  the  hair,  not  long,  but  parted  ; 
the  eyes  of  indistinct  colour  and  clear." 
We  cannot  determine  the  date  of  the 
forgery,  but  in  its  present  form  it  became 
well  known  about  St.  Anselm's  time.  A 
third  description  of  Christ's  form  is  foimd 
in  Nicephorus  Callisti.  It  belongs  to  the 
fourteenth  century. 

The  famous  work  of  Jablonski,  "  De 
Origine  Imaginum  Christi  Domini,"  is  a 
standard  authority  on  this  subject.  A 
treatise  on  the  Abgarus  likeness  appeared 
in  1847,  by  Samuelian,  an  Armenian 
Mechitarist  monk  at  Vienna.  The  subject 
has  also  been  treated  by  GlUckselig, 
"  Christusarchaologie,"  1863.  (Hefele, 
"  Beitrage  zur  Archaologie,"  &c.) 

CHRIST!  ASrS  (Xpia-Tiavol).  A 
name  first  given  at  Antioch  to  the 
followers  of  Christ  about  the  year  43,  as 
we  learn  from  Acts  xi.  26.  The  name  can 
scarcely  have  arisen  from  the  disciples 
themselves,  for  it  seems  at  first  to  have 
been  used  contemptuously — at  least  this 
seems  a  fair  inference  from  Acts  xxvi.  28, 
1  Pet.  iv.  14-16  (the  only  other  places  of 
the  New  Testament  where  the  word 
occurs),  as  well  as  from  Tacitus,  "  Annal." 
XV.  44.  Still  less  could  it  have  come 
from  the  Jews,  who  would  never  have 
admitted  |;hat  the  adherents  of  a  sect 


which  they  hated  and  despised  could 
rightly  claim  so  honourable  a  title  as 
"  disciples  of  the  Messias."  On  the  con- 
trary, they  called  Christ's  disciples 
"  Nazarenes,"  "  Galileans."  Probably, 
the  heathen  at  AntiocK  mistook  "  Chris- 
tus  "  for  a  proper  name,  and  called  the 
disciples  "  Christiani,"  just  as  they  called 
those  who  adhered  to  Pompey's  party 
"Pompeiani."  It  was  at  Antioch  that 
the  first  church  of  converts  from  heathen- 
ism was  formed,  and  no  doubt  it  then 
became  plain  to  the  heathen  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  disciples  was  distinct  from 
Judaism,  and  this  led  to  the  imposition 
of  a  special  name.  Besides  the  form 
"  Christiani,"  we  also  find  that  of  "  Chres- 
tiaui,"  many  heathen,  in  tlieir  ignorance  of 
the  Messianic  doctrine,  deriving  Christ's 
name  from  pcp^crros,  "  good,"  instead  of 
from  xp^<^i  "  to  anoint."^ 

In  later  times  the  word  has  been  used 
(1)  for  those  who  imitate  the  life  as  well 
as  hold  the  faith  of  Christ  f  (2)  for  Catho- 
lics ;  (3)  for  baptised  persons  who  believe 
in  Christ ;   (4)  for  all  baptised  persons. 

CHRISTIAN-  BOCTRIM-E:  FA- 
THERS AND  CODTFRATERNITir 
OP  THS.  Ignorance  of  their  religion 
being  seen  to  be  one  of  the  chief  causes  of 
the  terrible  instability  which  caused  whole 
populations  in  the  sixteenth  century,  con- 
founded by  the  harangues  of  Protestant 
preachers  which  they  knew  not  how  to 
answer,  to  lapse  into  hereby,  earnest  eflbrts 
were  made  by  it  any  good  men  to  procure 
that  the  teaching  of  the  true  doctiine  of 
Christ  should  be  more  general  and  syste- 
matic. To  this  end  a  number  of  priests  and 
laymen,  with  Marco  Cusani,  a  gentleman  of 
Milan,  for  their  head,  formed  themselves 
into  a  society,  about  1560,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  teaching  the  catechism  to  children 
on  Sundays,  and  to  the  ignorant  generally, 
in  the  country  districts,  on  Church  holi- 
days. Cusani  came  to  Rome  in  the  year 
above  named,  and  found  there  many  sup- 
porters and  associates,  among  whom 
were  Csesar  Baronius,  and  Francis  Maria 
Tarugi,  two  of  the  most  prominent 
among  the  companions  of  St.  Philip  Neri. 
The  Popes  strongly  encouraged  the  pious 
enterprise,  which  was  exactly  in  accord- 
ance with  the  spirit  which  the  Council  of 
Trent  laboured  to  revive  in  every  part  of 
the  Catholic  world.  The  priests  belong- 
ing to  the  institute  were  the  "  Fathers  " — 
the  laymen  the  "  Confraternity  "—of  the 
Christian  Doctrine  ;  but  the  whole  society 

1  Tertull.  Apohg.  3. 

^  St.  Thomas,  2  2,  qu.  i24»  a.  6. 


CHRISTIAN  BROTHERS 

■was  often  spoken  of  "by  the  name  of  con- 
fraternity. St.  Pius  v.,  by  a  bull  in 
1571,  ordered  that  such  associations 
should  be  established  by  parish  priests 
generally,  accorded  special  indulgences 
to  their  members,  and  gave  to  the 
Fathers  the  church  of  St.  Agatha.  This 
being  found  too  small  for  them,  Clement 
VIII.,  in  1596,  granted  them  the  fine 
church  of  St.  Martin  dei  Monti.  This 
Pope  also  directed  Cardinal  Bellarmine 
to  compose  a  short  catechism  for  use  in 
the  schools  of  the  confraternity.  In  pro- 
cess of  time  the  name  of  provost  was 
given  to  the  chief  among  the  Fathers,  and 
that  of  president  to  the  head  of  the  con- 
fraternity. Four  definitors,  two  chosen 
by  the  clerical,  two  by  the  lay  members, 
decided  any  difficult  or  disputed  question 
that  might  arise.  Although  they  wore 
the  dress,  slightly  modified,  of  the  secular 
clergy,  and  were  not  bound  to  any  office 
in  common,  the  Holy  See  did  not 
view  any  light  treatment  of  their  obliga- 
tions with  indifference,  and  Urbcin  VIII. 
(1627)  ordered  that  members  leaving  tlie 
community  should  incur  the  penalties 
of  apostasy  as  if  they  were  monks. 
[Apostasy.]  Paul  V.  raised  them  to  the 
rank  of  an  archconfraternity.  In  later 
times  the  Fathers,  taking  the  name  of 
Congregation,  appear  to  have  been  en- 
tirely separated  from  the  archconfrater- 
nity. From  the  continuation  of  H^lyot 
by  Badiche,  it  would  appear  that  the 
head  of  this  congregation  is  at  present 
styled  vicar-general.  (H6lyot,  "  Ordres 
Monastiques.'") 

CHSLISTIAM-  BROTHERS.  The 
proper  title  is  "  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools."  This  admirable  institution  was 
founded  by  the  Venerable  Abb6  de  la 
SaUe,  the  process  of  whose  canonisation 
was  begun  at  Rome  some  years  ago 
and  finished  in  1883.  Born  in  1651  at 
Reims,  where  his  father  was  a  distin- 
guished advocate  and  king's  counsel, 
Jean  Baptiste  devoted  his  remarkable 
powers  of  mind  and  will  fit  an  early  age 
to  the  divine  service,  and,  having  been  or- 
dained was  nominated  Canon  of  Reims. 
The  education  of  the  poor,  to  promote 
which  schools,  called  "  little  schools," 
had  begun  to  be  organised  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  after  the  legal  establish- 
ment of  the  University  of  Paris,  was 
checked  by  the  Hundred  Years'  War 
which  raged  in  France  at  short  intervals 
from  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  to 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
In  1570  a  society  of  teachers  was  esta- 


CHRISTIAN  BROTHERS       159 

blished  under  the  title  of  "the  master- 
writers  "  {maitres  ecrivains)  at  Paris, 
whence  it  spread  to  other  cities.  Their 
aim  was  to  teach  writing  and  arithmetic, 
and  a.  little  Latin,  so  that  their  pupils 
might  be  qualified  to  assist  the  clergy  in 
the  church  offices.  They  received  many 
privileges,  which  they  construed  into  a 
monopoly  of  teaching.  About  the  year 
1680,  many  good  and  earnest  persons, 
both  among  the  clergy  and  the  laity, 
were  engaged  m  promoting  the  Christian 
education  of  the  people.  Prominent 
among  these  was  a  M.  Nyel  of  Rouen, 
who  selected  teachers  and  trained  them, 
and  then  sent  them  to  the  cities  or  great 
seigneuries  which  offered  to  provide 
buildings  and  salaries.  The  Abb^  de  la 
Salle,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of 
M.  Nyel,  had  his  attention  thus  drawn 
to  the  subject,  the  importance  of  which 
soon  engrossed  his  thoughts.  In  his  capa- 
cious mind  the  spirit  of  system  was  united 
to  a  sound  common-sense,  quick  percep- 
tion of  character,  and  the  teuderest 
charity.  He  took  charge  of  several  of 
M,  Nyel's  teachers,  and  engaged  others ; 
but  finding  that  many  of  these  young 
men  were  anxious  about  their  future, 
and  dreading  to  embark  in  a  calling 
which  the  death  of  their  leader  might 
deprive  of  stability  and  social  favour,  he 
resolved  to  renounce  his  church  prefer- 
ment, and  also  his  private  fortune,  that 
he  might  be  able  to  say  to  them  that  he, 
even  as  they,  had  no  help  or  trust  save 
in  God.  He  accordingly  resigned  his 
canonry,  and  distributed  his  patrimony 
to  the  poor.  This  was  in  1684 ;  in  the 
same  year  he  drew  up  the  first  rules  for 
his  teachers,  and  selected  the  name  which 
they  should  bear;  the  origin  of  the 
brotherhood  therefore  dates  from  this 
time.  The  teaching  in  all  his  schools 
was  to  be  gratuitous  for  the  day  scholars, 
but  boarders  and  day-boarders  were 
also  received.  The  venerable  founder 
himself  often  taught  in  his  schools,  and, 
with  his  sure  eye  for  organisation,  re- 
formed the  instruction  in  many  large 
schools  {e.g.  in  that  connected'  with  St. 
Sulpice  at  Paris)  the  inefficiency  of  which 
had  baffled  the  effbrts  of  their  managers. 
De  la  Salle  insisted  that  Latin  should  be 
be  no  longer  an  obligatory  subject  in 
schools  for  the  children  of  the  poor,  but 
that  the  basis  of  their  teaching,  after  the 
Catechism,  should  be  their  own  language ; 
let  them  first  leani  to  read  and  write 
French  correctly,  and  tl  en,  if  they  had 
time   and   means,   they   might  take  up 


160     CHRISTIAN  BROTHERS 

Latin.  On  this  account  the  Venerable  de 
la  Salle  is  often  regarded — and,  it  would 
seem,  with  justice — as  the  originator  of 
primary  schools  and  primary  instruction, 
which,  till  his  time,  had  been  confounded 
with  secondary.  It  is  true  that  St.  Joseph 
Calasanctius  had  founded  at  Rome  long 
before  (1597)  his  admirable  institution  of 
the  Scuole  Pie,  or  Pious  Schools,  in  which 
instruction  was  given  gratuitously ;  but 
the  line  was  not  clearly  drawn  in  these, 
as  regards  the  subjects  taught,  between 
what  constitutes  ^■jrimary  and  what  con- 
stitutes secondary  instruction.  Latin  was 
not  exclude'd,  and  the  teachers  were  en- 
couraged to  aspire  to  the  priesthood ; 
hence  the  Pious  Schools  passed  by  degrees 
into  the  rank  of  secondary  establishments. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  rule  of  the  Vener- 
able de  la  Salle  required  that  the  Brothers 
who  bound  themselves  by  vow  to  devote 
their  lives  to  teaching  in  the  schools,  and 
wore  the  religious  habit,  should  be  and 
remain  laymen,  equally  with  the  pro- 
fessors and  assistant  teachers  who  were 
employed  under  them.  And  this  has  con- 
tinued to  be  the  practice  of  the  congrega- 
tion ever  since.  For  the  training  of  the 
Brothers  the  founder  instituted  a  noviciate ; 
for  that  of  the  professors,  &c.,  a  normal 
school.  Founded  at  Reims  in  1685,  this 
appears  to  have  been  the  first  training 
school  for  primary  teachers  in  Europe. 
It  was,  and  still  is,  a  part  of  the  rule, 
that  the  Brothers  should  work  in  pairs. 
They  take  the  three  religious  vows,  after 
having  attained  to  at  least  twenty-three 
years.  Their  habit  gives  them  an  eccle- 
siastical appearance ;  it  consists  of  a  long 
black  cassock,  with  a  cloak  over  it  fastened 
by  iron  clasps,  a  falling  collar,  and  a  hat 
with  wide  brims. 

The  founder  lived  to  see  the  fruit 
of  his  labours  in  the  establishment  of 
his  schools  in  many  of  the  principal 
towns  of  France.  He  died  in  1719, 
leaving  his  congregation  so  firmly  planted 
that  aU  the  convulsions  by  which  French 
society  has  since  been  torn  have  not  been 
able  to  extirpate  it.  It  has  moreover 
spread  to  many  countries  beyond  the  limits 
of  France,  and  has  been  imitated  by  other 
teaching  associations. 

From  a  table  which  had  very  kindly 
been  furnished  by  the  Vice-Principal  of 
St.  Joseph's  College,  England,  it  appears 
that  at  the  end  of  1880  the  Brothers  had 
under  their  charge  2,048  schools,  attend- 
ed by  325,558  scholars,  of  whom  286,004 
were  receiving  gratuitous  instruction. 
Out  of  this  general  total  France  and  her 


CHRISTIA:tT  BROTHERS,  IRISH 

colonies  contributed  261,000  scholars; 
Belgium,  nearly  19,000;  the  U.  S.,  Cana- 
da, and  Spanish  America,  36,000;  and 
England,  upwards  of  2,000.  Nearl  v  12,- 
000  Brothers,  5,000  Professors,  and''2,500 
Novices  were  employed  in  the  schools. 

It  should  have  been  mentioned  that  a 
Bull  of  approbation  in  favour  of  the 
Christian  13rothers  was  granted  by  Bene- 
dict XIII.  iu  1725,  elevating  them  into  a 
religious  congregation. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  in  1699, 
long  before  Sunday  schools  were  thought 
of  in  England,  the  Venerable  de  la  Salle 
established  one  {ecole  dominicale)  at  St. 
Sulpice,  which  was  to  be  open  from  noon 
to  three  o'clock,  and  give  secular  instruc- 
tion. Similar  schools,  open  on  festivals, 
were  established  by  St.  Charles  Borromeo 
at  Milan,  about  1580 ;  see  his  Life  by  Bas- 
cape,  vii.  42. 

("  Vie  du  V^n^rable  J.  B.  de  la  SaUe," 
Rouen,  1874.) 

CBRXSTZAir  BROTHERS, 

OF  Ieeland.  a  religious  congregation 
founded  in  1802  in  the  city  of  Waierford 
by  Edmond  Ignatius  Rice,  of  Callan,  in 
the  county  Kilkenny.  Mr.  Rice  had  resid- 
ed in  "Waterford  since  1780,  and  thus  had 
an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  demora- 
lising effect  of  the  penal  laws,  which 
proscribed  Catholic  education.  He  used 
to  relate  with  what  pain  he  saw  crowds 
of  poor  children  wandering  through  the 
streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  in  idleness, 
and  its  usual  attendant,  vice;  and  how, 
meeting  a  nimaber  of  them  one  day  at  a 
village  near  the  town,  he  drew  them 
round  him,  and  by  questioning  them  ascer- 
tained the  fact  of  their  neglected  condi- 
tion, and  in  particular  their  deplorable 
ignorance  of  the  first  elements  of  religion. 
It  was  on  this  occasion  that  he  conceived 
the  idea  of  devoting  his  life  and  ample 
property  to  the  cause  of  the  education  of 
the  poor. 

He  adopted  the  rules  and  general 
system  of  the  institute  founded  by  the 
Venerable  de  la  Salle,  conceiving  that  he 
could  find  no  better  model.  His  first  school 
was  opened  at  Mount  Sion  in  the  city 
of  Waterford,  on  May  1,  1804,  and  was 
eminently  successful ;  m  muah  so,  that  in 
a  short  time  the  altered  habits  and  de- 
meanour of  the  children  in  the  streets 
became  a  common  topic  of  remark.  The 
bishop  of  Waterford  was  a  warm  admirer 
and  supporter  of  Mr.  Rice,  and  he  was 
soon  invited  by  other  bishops  to  open 
similar  schools  in  their  dioceses.  In  the 
course  of  a  few  years  houses  of  the  in- 


CHRISTIAN  NAME 

etitute  were  established  in  Dublin,  Cork, 

Limerick,  and  other  centres  of  popula- 
tion ;  and  the  result  appeared  so  satis- 
factory that  the  bishops,  in  1818,  me- 
morialised the  Holy  See  to  approve  the 
congregation,  and  grant  it  a  constitution, 
Rome  took  two  years  to  consider  the 
question,  and  on  September  5,  1820,  the 
Apostohc  Brief  of  Pius  VII.  (Ad  Pas- 
toj-alis)  granted  the  prayer  of  the  memo- 
rial and  confirmed  the  institute.  The 
members  bind  themselves  by  the  usual 
religious  vows,  and  are  subject  to  a  Su- 
perior-General, who  lias  three  Assistants 
to  aid  him  in  the  government  of  the  body. 
Houses  of  the  order  are  now  found  in 
almost  every  town  in  Ireland,  and  in 
several  of  the  British  colonies.  The  Bro- 
thers at  present  number  about  600,  and 
their  pupils  40,000.  Their  system  of 
teaching  has  met  with  the  warm  approval 
of  successive  Royal  Commissions,  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  into  the  state  of  edu- 
cation in  Ireland.  (See  "  Testimonies  in 
favour  of  the  Christian  Brothers  and  their 
Schools,"  Dublin,  1877.)  The  Brothers, 
after  the  establishment  of  the  Irish  system 
of  national  education  in  1832,  placed  their 
schools  for  a  time  in  connection  with  the 
Board,  and  accepted  the  grant ;  but  find- 
ing that  the  rules  of  the  Board  as  to  the 
absolute  division  of  secular  from  religious 
teaching  were  gradually  leading  them  into 
concessions  alien  from  the  spirit  of  their 
founder  and  the  Church,  they  with- 
drew from  all  connection  with  Govern- 
ment, and  have  since  carried  on  their 
schools  independently.  Nor  have  they 
seen  any  cause  to  repent  of  having  thus 
thrown  themselves  boldly  on  the  generous 
Catholic  sympathies  of  the  Irish  people. 
(From  information  supplied  by  Brother 
J.  A.  Grace,  of  Belvidere  House,  Drum- 
condra.) 

CKRiSTiAir  UAJiiLTi.  [See  Bap- 
tismal Name,] 

CHRISTINAS  DAT.  The  25th  of 
December,  on  which  the  Church  cele- 
brates Christ's  birth.  Whether  or  not 
the  birth  of  our  Lord  really  occurred  on 
this  day,  ancient  authorities  are  not 
agreed.  "  Clement  of  Alexandria  mentions 
the  opinion  of  some  who  placed  it  on  the 
20th  of  April,  and  of  others,  who  thought 
it  took  place  on  the  20th  of  May,^  while 
St.  Epiphanius  and  Cassian  state  that  in 
Egypt  Christ  was  believed  to  have  been 

1  This  statement  is  given  on  the  authority 
of  Benedict  XIV.  It  is  clear  from  Clement's 
words  (  Strom,  i.  c  146)  that  he  knew  of  no  cer- 
tain tradition  as  to  the  date  of  Christ's  birth. 


CHRISTMAS  DAY 


161 


born  on  the  6th  of  January.  For  a  long 
time  the  Greeks  had  no  special  feast 
corresponding  to  Christmas  Day,  and 
merely  commemorated  our  Lord's  birth 
on  the  Epiphany.  St.  Chrysostom  in  a 
Christmas  sermon,  delivered  at  Antioch 
in  the  year  386,  says,  "  it  is  not  ten  years 
since  this  day  [Christmas  Day  on  Decem- 
ber 25]  was  clearly  known  to  us,  but  it 
has  been  familiar  from  the  beginning  to 
those  who  dwell  in  the  West."  "  The 
Romans,  who  have  celebrated  it  for  a 
long  time,  and  from  ancient  tradition, 
have  transmitted  the  knowledge  of  it  to 
us."  St.  Augustine  gives  similar  testimony 
as  to  the  custom  of  the  Latin  Church. 
We  may  therefore  conclude,  that  in  the 
fourth  century  Christmas  Day  had  been 
celebrated  from  time  immemorial  in  the 
West,  and  about  Chrysostom's  day  it  began 
to  be  observed  in  the  East ;  and  it  seems 
to  have  spread  rapidly  there,  as  appears 
from  the  writings  of  the  two  Gregories 
(of  Nazianzum  and  of  Nyssa). 

Two  or  three  points  in  the  celebration 
of  the  Christmas  festival,  as  at  present 
practised,  deserve  special  notice.  It  is 
well  known  that  in  ancient  times  the 
greater  feasts  were  preceded  by  vigils, 
which  the  faithful  kept  in  the  church, 
spending  the  night  in  fasting  and  prayer. 
For  grave  reasons,  the  Church  abolished 
this  custom,  among  the  faithful  generally, 
and  restricted  the  observance  of  vigils  in 
the  proper  sense  to  the  religious  orders, 
who  say  the  night  office,  while  to  the 
lay  people  a  vigil  is  merely  an  ordinary 
fastmg-day.  But  when  other  vigils  were 
abolished,  that  of  Christmas  was  still 
preserved,  and  to  this  day,  according  to 
ancient  custom,  the  people  meet  in  the 
church  to  assist  at  the  singing  of  the 
divine  office,  and  at  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass,  which  is  offered  after  midnight. 

Next,  on  Christmas  Day,  against  the 
rule  which  prevails  on  -every  other  day  in 
the  year,  priests  are  allowed  to  celebrate 
three  Masses.  In  ancient  times,  however, 
the  custom  of  allowing  a  single  priest  to 
celebrate  more  than  one  Mass  was  not 
limited  to  Christmas  Day.  Two  Masses 
used  to  be  said  on  January  1 — one  Mass  of 
the  octave  of  the  Nativity,  another  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  Three  Masses  were  said 
on  Holy  Thursday — one  for  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  penitents,  another  for  the  consec- 
ration of  the  holy  chrism,  a  third  to 
commemorate  the  solemr/itv  of  the^  day. 
Two  Masses  were  said  on  tnt  Ascension — 
one  of  the  vigil,  and  another  of  the  feast. 
A  Roman  Ordo  mentions  the  custom  of 


162       CHURCH  REGISTERS 


CHURCH  HISTORY 


saying  three  Masses  on  tlie  feast  of  St. 
John  Baptist,  while  it  appears  from  Pru- 
dentius  that  the  Popes  used  to  celebrate 
two  Masses  on  the  least  of  St.  Peter  and 
St,  Paul — one  in  the  Vatican  hasilica, 
anothtr  in  the  church  of  St.  Paul.  To 
return  to  Christmas  Day:  the  Roman 
Ordiiies  prove  that  the  Popes  used  on  that 
feast  to  say  three  Masses — the  first  in 
the  Liberian  basilica ;  the  second  in  the 
church  of  St.  Anastasia,  whose  memory 
is  celebrated  on  the  same  day,  December 
25  ;  the  third  in  the  Vatican  church.  In 
other  places,  particularly  in  France,  the 
same  priest  used  to  say  two  Masses  on 
Christmas  Day.  When  the  Roman  Ordo 
was  received  in  France  by  the  command 
of  Charlemagne,  the  Roman  custom  of 
saying  three  Masses  was  introduced  in 
France  also,  the  privilege  being  given 
first  of  all  to  bishops  only,  and  then  to 

Sriests  also.  To  sum  up :  throughout  the 
ihurch,  or  at  least  in  a  great  part  of  it, 
there  were  two  Masses — one  for  the  vigil 
of  Christmas,  another  for  the  feast  itself. 
At  Rome  there  were  three,  because  the 
feast  of  St.  Anastasia  fell  on  the  same 
day ;  and  the  Roman  custom  spread 
throughout  the  West.  Those  three  Masses, 
however,  were  always  said,  not  together, 
but  at  considerable  intervals — viz.  at  mid- 
night, dawn,  and  in  the  day  time — a 
custom  still  observed  in  cathedral  and 
collegiate  churches.  A  mystical  explana- 
tion of  the  three  Masses  is  given,  and  they 
are  supposed  to  figure  the  three  births  of 
our  Lord — viz.  of  His  Father  before  all 
ages,  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  in  the 
hearts  of  the  faithful. 
•  An  old  chronicler  (Albertus  Ai^enti- 
nensis)  relates  that  during  the  Christmas 
INIass  celebrated  "  at  cock-crow,"  Charle- 
magne stood  with  drawn  sword  and  read 
the  gospel,  "  A  decree  went  forth  from 
Csesar  Augustus."  Martene  mentions  the 
ancient  custom,  according  to  which  the 
eraperor,  or,  failing  him,  any  sovereign 
who  was  present  in  the  Papal  chapel 
on  Christmas  night,  used  to  read  the 
fifth  lesson  in  the  ofiice,  with  his  sword 
in  his  hand.  "  At  present,"  says  Benedict 
XIV.,  "on  Christmas  night  the  Pope 
blesses  a  ducal  cap  and  sword,  which  he 
either  gives  to  some  prince  who  is  there, 
or  else  sends  it  as  a  present.  (Benedict 
XIV.,'^DeFe8ti8.") 

CHTTRCB  BOOKS  OR  REGIS- 
TSRS.  The  Roman  Ritual  in  the  Eng- 
lish edition  enumerates  the  following 
books  or  registers  to  be  kept  by  every 
parish  priest  (a  name  which  here  no  doubt 


is  meant  to  include  priests  in  charge  of  a 
mission) — viz.  the  register  of  baptisms, 
confirmations,  marriages  and  deaths  (''  libri 
baptizatorum,  confirmatorum,  matrimoni- 
orum,  defunctorum").^ 

The  origin  of  the  baptismal  register  is 
very  ancient.  The  catechumens  were 
accustomed  some  time  before  baptism, 
and  usually  in  the  fourth  week  of  Lent, 
to  give  their  names  to  the  bishop,  that  he 
might  enter  them  in  a  list  known  as  the 
"  book  of  life,"  or  "  roll  of  catechumens  " 
("catalogus  catechumenorum ").  The 
Council  of  Trent  (sess.  xxiv.  De  Reform. 
Matrim.  c.  2)  orders  parish  priests  to 
write  down  in  a  book  the  names  of  the 
god-parents  at  baptism. 

The  "  book  of  the  dead  "  may  be  con- 
nected in  origin  with  the  diptychs  of  the 
ancient  Church,  in  which  the  names  of 
benefactors,  &c.,  were  enrolled,  m  order 
that  they  might  be  prayed  for  specially  in 
the  commemoration  of  the  dead ;  but  it  is 
not  till  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century 
that  we  find  the  names  of  the  dead  regis- 
tered in  the  present  manner.  The  keep- 
ing of  a  register  of  marriages  was  intro- 
duced (or  rather  made  of  universal  obliga- 
tion) by  the  Council  of  Trent,  sess.  xxiv. 
De  Reform.  Matrim.  c.  1,  in  these  words: 
"  Let  the  parish  priest  have  a  book,  in 
which  he  is  to  enter  the  names  of  the 
persons  married  and  of  the  witnesses,  the 
day  on  which  the  marriage  was  contracted, 
and  the  place  at  which  it  was  celebrated, 
which  book  he  is  to  keep  carefully  under 
his  charge."  The  register  of  persons  con- 
firmed, like  that  of  deaths,  was  prescribed 
by  various  provincial  councils. 

CHURCH  HZSTOR7.  It  is  the 
object  of  the  following  article  to  give  !=ome 
account  of  the  chief  histories  of  the 
Church.  AVe  confine  ourselves,  with  re- 
gard to  Church  histories  written  in  modern 
times,  to  such  as  have  come  from  Catho- 
lics, and  we  shall  speak  only  of  histories 
which  deal  with  the  fortunes  of  the  whole 
Catholic  Church,  as  distinct  from  the  par- 
ticular branches  of  it  .which  have  flour- 
ished in  this  or  that  nation.  What  we 
have  to  say  is  taken  in  substance  from  a 
learned  essay  by  Bishop  Hefele  in  the  Ger- 
man "  Catholic  Cyclopaedia."  Following 
his  guidance  we  divide  the  literature  of  the 
subject  into  three  epochs.  The  first 
period  (A)  comprises  the  ancient  Church 

1  AeconUng  to  Wetzer  and  Welte  the  Ritual 
also  mentions  the  "Liber  smtus  animariim," 
whicli  <'ontains  tabulated  reports  of  the  bap- 
tisms, marringt's,  and  number  of  children  wa» 
have  made  their  first  communion,  &c. 


CHURCH  IHSTORY 

historians  down  to  the  time  of  Oharle- 
magDe,  crowned  Roman  Emperor  in  800. 
During  this  period  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
were  the  chief  representatives  of  civilisa- 
tion and  Catholic  Christianity.  The 
second  period  (B),  from  Charlemagne  to 
the  rise  of  the  Protestant  religion,  em- 
hraces  the  whole  of  the  middle  ages, 
during  which  the  German  and  Romance 
nations  were  united  in  one  Church  and 
under  one  head,  viz.  the  Pope.  The  third 
period  (C)  extends  from  the  sixteenth 
century  to  the  present  day.  Under  the 
first  period  we  shall  begin  with  the  Greek 
and  then  pass  on  to  the  Latin  historians. 
{A)  The  first  Church  historian  «of 
whom  any  memorial  has  been  preserved, 
w*is  Plegesippus,  a  Jewish  convert, 
who  lived  about  the  middle  of  the 
second  century.  He  wrote  a  work  in  five 
books  called  vTro^jLvrifiara.  or  Memoirs. 
Great  use  of  it  was  made  by  Eusebius,  to 
whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  eight  frag- 
ments which  remain  ;  the  work  itself  is 
lost.  These  fragments  have  been  edited 
and  illustrated  with  learned  notes  by  the 
great  Protestant  scholar,  Dr.  Routh,  in 
his  "Reliquiae  Sacrae."  Hegesippus  also 
drew  up  a  catalogue  of  the  Roman  bishops 
down  to  Anicetus,  and  this  may  have 
been  a  separate  work.  (1)  The  real 
Father  of  Church  history  is  Eusebius,  who 
was  bishop  of  Ceesarea  in  the  earlier  half 
of  the  fourth  century.  His  "  Ecclesiastical 
History  "  in  ten  books  begins  with  Christ 
and  ends  with  the  victory  of  Constantine 
over  Licinius,  in  324.  He  used  a  number 
of  old  documents,  which  have  perished 
long  since,  such  as  writings  of  early  Fathers, 
letters,  and  particularly  documents  taken 
from  the  archives  of  the  empire  and  placed 
at  his  disposal  by  Constantine.  This  history 
was  translated  into  Latin  by  Rufinus.  In 
spite  of  the  roughness  of  his  style,  the 
credulity  which  made  him  accept  uu- 
historical  matter  (e.ff.  the  correspondence 
between  Christ  and  Abgarus),  and  the  fact 
that  his  narrative  is  otteu  incomplete,  the 
documents  which  Eusebius  used,  and  which 
have  perished  since,  give  a  value  alto- 
gether singular  to  his  "  Church  History," 
His  Life  of  Constantine  in  four  books  also 
contains,  although  it  is  written  in  the  tone 
of  a  panegyric,  information  of  the  first 
importance.  The  "Chronicle''  of  Eusebius 
belongs  rather  to  profane  than  to  eccle- 
siastical history,  and  is  besides  more  u.«e- 
fui  for  the  history  of  the  Old  than  of  the 
New  Testament.  The  first  book  seems  to 
have  contained  a  brief  sketch  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  world,  from  the  establishment 


CHURCH  HISTORY 


163 


of  the  first  of  the  great  empires  down  to  his 
own  day.  The  second  book  (;(poi/iKovAcaz'a)i/) 
contained  chronological  and  synchronistic 
tables  from  the  time  of  Abraham  to  that 
of  Constantine.  It  was  founded  on  a 
similar  work  of  Julius  Afiicanus  (third 
century).  The  Greek  original  perished  in 
the  ninth  century,  and  we  were  left  with 
nothing  exceptfragmentsand  a  Latin  repro- 
duction of  the  second  book  by  Jerome,  who 
allowed  himself  to  add  and  to  alter  freely. 
However,  an  early  Armenian  version  of 
the  entire  Chronicle  (with,  however,  some 
gaps)  was  printed  at  Venice  towards  the 
end  of  last  century,  and  edited  by  the 
Mechitarist  monk  Aucher,  with  a  Latin 
version  and  with  the  Greek  fragments 
(Venice,  1818).  (2)  Socrates,  a  lawyer, 
or,  as  he  calls  himself,  o-xo^ao-riKos,  at 
Constantinople,  wrote  a  history  of  the 
Church  from  305  to  439 — i.e.  to  his  own 
time.  His  history  is  in  seven  books,  and 
deserves  high  praise  for  the  diligent  use 
of  the  sources  (particularly  of  the  works  of 
St.  Athanasius),  for  the  exactness  of  the 
chronological  data,  for  the  agreeable  style, 
and,  on  the  whole,  for  impartiality.  He 
was  clearly  a  Catholic,  although  inclined 
to  regard  the  rigorist  views  of  Novatian 
with  favour,  and  although,  as  Photius 
remarks,  he  was  "  not  over-accurate "  in 
his  account  of  dogmatic  matters.  (3) 
Sozomen,  like  Socrates,  a  lawyer  at  Con- 
stantinople, but  originally  from  Palestine, 
wrote  in  nine  books  the  history  of  the 
Church  from  324  to  423,  He  does  not 
seem  to  have  known  the  work  of  Socrates, 
to  which  his  own  is  in  most  respects  de- 
cidedly inferior,  (4)  Theodoret,  bishop 
of  Cyrus  in  Syria,  and  perhaps  the  most 
learned  theologian  of  his  age,  wrote,  about 
450,  the  history  of  the  Church  from  320 
to  428.  It  is  the  briefest  but  the  best 
continuation  of  Eusebius.  Its  chief 
fault  lies  in  the  almost  entire  omission  of 
dates,  (5)  Theodore  Lector  lived  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  and  was 
attached  as  lector  to  the  church  of  Con- 
istantinople.  He  wrote  a  history  made  up 
of  extracts  from  the  works  of  Socrates, 
Sozomen,  and  Theodoret,  and  this  book 
still  exists  in  MS.  He  also  continued  the 
history  of  Socrates  down  to  527,  but  of 
this  original  history  only  fragments  re- 
main. (6)  The  last  Greek  Church-his- 
torian of  this  period  is  Evagrius,  a  Syrian, 
born  at  P'piphania  about  536.  He  was  a 
lawyer,  high  in  office  at  Antioch.  He 
wrote  in  six  books  the  history  of  the 
Church  from  the  Council  of  Ephesus  in 
431  to  594,  so  that  his  work  is  of  special 
2 


164 


CHURCH  HISTORY 


CHURCH  HISTORY 


importance  for  the  Nestorian  and  Mono- 
physite  controversies.  He  is  learned,  ortho- 
dox, and  writes  in  a  cultivated  style,  but 
is  credulous  and  fond  of  marvels. 

The  Greek  text  of  Eusebius  (Church 
History),  Socrates,  Sozomen,  Tlieodoret, 
and  Evagrius,  with  fragments  of  Theodorus 
liector,  was  edited  for  the  first  time  by 
Robert  Stephens,  Paris,  1544.  An  edition 
incomparably  superior  was  issued  under 
the  care  of  "Henri  de  Valois  (Valesius),  a 
lawyer,  who  was  entrusted  with  this  work 
by  the  French  bishops.  He  corrected  the 
text  by  collation  of  MSS.,  and  enriched 
h-is  editions  by  notes  and  dissertations  of 
profound  learning,  which  can  never  lose 
their  value.  The  work  appeared  at  Paris, 
1659-73,  in  three  folios — the  first  con- 
taining the  works  of  Eusebius  relating  to 
Church  history  except  the  Chronicle ;  the 
second,  Socrates  and  Sozomen ;  tbe  third, 
Theodoret,  Evagrius,  and  the  fragments  of 
Theodorus  Lector  and  of  the  Arian  histo- 
rian, Philostorgius,  who  in  the  interest  of 
his  party  wrote  a  Church  history  in  twelve 
books,  from  the  rise  of  Arianism  to  the 
year  423.  A  new  and  convenient  edition 
of  the  ancient  Church  historians  was  edited 
by  Reading  and  published  at  Cambridge, 
1 720.  Since  then  Eusebius  has  been  edited 
by  several  critics,  among  whom  we  may 
mention  Stroth  (Halae  ad  Salam.,  1779), 
Heinichen,  Burton  (Oxford,  1838,  an 
edition  of  inferior  merit).  Heinichen's 
last  edition  (Lipsiae,  1868)  contains  a 
good  text  and  valuable  notes,  excursus,  &c., 
taken  from  many  sources. 

In  this  first  period  the  Latins  did  much 
less  than  the  Greeks  for  Church  history. 
KuMnus,  about  400,  made  a  free  translation 
of  Eusebius,  compressing  the  work  of  the 
latter  into  nine  books  and  adding  two  of 
his  own,  which  gave  the  history  of  the 
<,'hurch  from  318  to  395.  Rufinus  is  an 
i:iiiccurate  and  sometimes  a  partial  writer. 
1'he  best  edition  is  by  Cacciari  (Romee, 
1740).  Sulpitius  Severus,a  contemporary 
of  Rufinus,  wrote  a  "Sacred  History" 
("  Historia  Sacra,'^  also  "Chronica  Sacra") 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  400. 
The  style  is  justly  celebrated,  but  the  work 
is  too  meagre  to  be  of  much  value,  though 
it  gives  some  details  on  the  history  of  the 
PrisciUianists.  The  best  editions  are  by 
Hieron.  de  Prato,  (Veronae,  1741),  and  by 
the  Oratorian  Gallandius  in  vol.  viii.  of  his 
"  Bibliotheca  Patrum."  Orosius,  a  Spanish 

Eriest,  at  the  request  of  St.  Augustine,  wrote 
is  "Seven  Books  of  Histories  against 
the  Pagans,"  which  is  really  a  profane 
history,  written,  however,  in  the  Chris- 


tian interest,  with  the  special  intention 
of  showing  that  the  calamities  of 
the  empire  were  not  caused  by  the 
triumph  of  the  Christian  religion.  Lastly, 
Cassiodorus,  after  he  had  retired  from 
his  high  civil  offices  and  had  become 
superior  of  the  monastery  he  founded, 
abbreviated  and  harmonised  the  histories 
of  Socrates,  Sozomen,  and  Theodoret. 
This  "  Historia  Tripartita,"  as  it  was 
called,  consisted  of  twelve  books,  and 
was,  with  the  works  of  Rufinus,  the  great 
authority  during  the  middle  ages  on  the 
history  of  the  early  Church. 

{B)  In  the  second  period,  the  relative 
merits  of  Greeks  and  Latins  with  regard 
to  Church  history,  were  reversed.  Ainong 
the  former,  literature  of  this  kind  almost 
died  out;  among  the  latter  it  began  to 
flourish  vigorously  when  the  storm  of 
the  barbarian  invasion  was  past.  Indeed, 
between  600  and  1,500,  the  East  boasts 
only  one  famous  Church  historian,  viz. : 
Nicephorus  Callisti,  a  clergyman  at  Con- 
stantinople about  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  He  wTote  the  history  of 
the  Church  down  to  610 — in  which  year 
the  Emperor  Phocas  died — using  very  dili- 
gently the  authors  (many  of  them  lost  to 
us)  in  the  library  of  St.  Sophia,  but  with- 
out the  critical  spirit  or  the  power  to  dis- 
tinguish history  from  legend.  His  work 
has  been  edited  by  the  Jesuit  Fronton  le 
Due  (Paris,  1630). 

As  we  have  already  said,  the  richness 
of  historical  literature  in  the  West  ofiers 
a  striking  contrast  to  the  poverty  of  the 
East  in  this  respect.  However,  the  most 
valuable  historical  literature  of  the  middle 
ages  does  not  fall  under  review  here.  It 
is  composed  of  annals  and  chronicles 
without  number,  and  also  of  the  histories, 
civil  and  ecclesiastical,  of  particular  races 
and  nations.  To  the  latter  class  belong 
a  history  of  the  Fi-anks  by  St.  Gregory  of 
Tours  (t  595);  the  "Eccle'siasticalHistoiy 
of  the  English  Nation"  (gentis  Anglorum) 
by  Venerable  Bede  (f  735)  ;  of  the  Lom- 
bards by  Paulus  Diaconus  (t  799)  ;  of  the 
Scandinavian  North  by  Adam  of  Bremen 
(canon  of  Bremen  from  1067) ;  of  Bremen, 
Hamburg,  Lower  Saxony  and  AVest- 
phalia,  by  Kranz,  a  canon  of  Hamburg 
(11517).  To  these  we  may  add  a  history 
of  the  church  of  Rheims  by  Flodoard 
(t  966).  Of  general  histories,  the  follow- 
ing are  extant : — (1 .)  Ten  books  of  Church 
history,  by  Hajmo,  from  840  bishop  of 
Halberstadt.  This  work,  mostly  compiled 
from  Rufinus,  gives  the  Church  history  of 
the  firgt  four  centuries.    (2.)  About  the 


CHURCH  HISTORY 

time  lived  Anastasius,  librarian  of  the 
Roman  Church,  and  appointed  by  Nicho- 
las I.  abbot  of  a  monastery  on  the  further 
side  of  the  Tiber.  He  wrote  an  "  His- 
toria  Ecclesiastica  sen  Ohronographia  Tri- 
partita," which  is  translated  and  compiled 
from  three  Byzantine  historians,  and  goes 
asfar  asthe  ninth  century.  Commonly^too, 
the  famous" Liber Pontificalis," also  called 
"De  Vitis  Romanorum  Pontificum,"  is 
ascribed  to  him.  But  the  learned  authors 
of  the  "  Origines  de  leglise  de  Rome " 
(Paris,  1826),  followed  by  Hefele,  have 
proved  that  the  book  is  much  older,  and 
that  Anastasius  cannot  have  written 
more  than  the  lives  of  some  of  the  last 
Popes  in  the  series.  The  latest  edition  of 
this  book  is  by  Blanchinus  and  Vignolius. 
(3.)  About  1142,  Ordericus  Vitalis,  an 
EngUshman  and  Abbot  of  St.  Evroul,  in 
Normandy,  wrote  thirteen  books  of  eccle- 
siastical history  from  the  time  of  Christ  to 
the  twelfth  century.  (4.)  Some  150  years 
later,  the  Dominican  Bartholomew  of  Luc- 
ca wrote  a  Church  historj^  in  twenty-four 
books  from  Christ  till  1312.  (6.)  The  great 
Church  history  of  the  middle  ages  came 
from  Antoninus,  Archbishop  of  Florence  in 
the  fifteenth  century.  He  relates  the  his- 
tory of  the  world,  secular  and  profane,  from 
the  beginning  to  1459.  Here  we  see  the 
first  dawn  of  historical  criticism.  Lauren- 
tius  Valla  and  Nicolas  of  Cusahad  already 
pointed  out  the  spurious  character  of  the 
so-called  "  Donation  of  Constantino,"  and 
of  other  documents  accepted  in  the  middle 
ages,  and  the  new  epoch  of  historical 
literatm-e  was  soon  to  begin. 

(  C)  Many  causes  conspired  at  the  time 
of  the  Reformation  to  awaken  a  new  in- 
terest in  Church  history,  and  to  introduce 
a  new  method  of  studying  it.  The  fall  of 
the  Eastern  empire  brought  Greek  litera- 
ture and  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage to  Western  Europe,  so  that  it 
became  possible  to  consult  the  sources. 
The  invention  of  printing  made  these 
sources  widely  accessible,  while  the  fact 
that  the  Protestants  represented  their  re- 
ligion as  a  revival  of  primitive  Christi- 
anity impelled  Catholics  to  study  with 
exactness  the  history  of  the  early  Church. 
In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  famous  work  of  the  Magdeburg  Cen- 
turiators  began  to  be  written  and  pub- 
lished. It  was  a  history  of  the  Church, 
written  in  an  intensely  Lutheran  spirit, 
divided  into  centuries,  of  which  the  first 
five  were  prepared  at  Magdeburg,  whence 
the  name,  though  the  whole  work  was 
printed  at  Basle  in  1599  in  thirteen  folios. 


CHURCH  HISTORY 


165 


The  director  of  the  work  was  Matthias 
Flacius,  who  had  a  number  of  learned 
men  working  under  him,  collecting  ma- 
terials, kc,  while  the  Protestant  princes 
supported  him  with  money.  To  meet  the 
impression  the  "  Centuries  "  were  likely 
to  make,  Caesar  Baronius,  afterwards  Car- 
dinal, began  his  "  Ecclesiastical  Annals," 
a  work  of  stupendous  learning,  and  a 
treasure  house  of  valuable  documents,  so 
that  at  this  day,  as  Hefele  says,  Protes- 
tants use  it  a  hundred  times  for  once  that 
they  have  recourse  to  the  forgotten 
"Magdeburg  Centuries."  The  first  edi- 
tion, ending  with  1198,  was  published  at 
Rome  in  twelve  folios  (1588-1607).  It 
was  continued  by  the  Polish  Dominican 
Bzovius,  in  eight  folios,  reaching  to  1564 
(Rome,  1672) ;  by  Spondanus,  Bishop  of 
Pamiers,  in  two  folios  (Paris,  1640), 
reaching  to  1640.  The  best  continuation, 
rich  in  documents,  is  by  the  Oratorian 
Raynaldus,  in  nine  folios  (Rome,  1646- 
1677).  Laderchius,  also  an  Oratorian, 
added  three  folios  (Rome,  1728-37)  which 
however  only  contain  the  history  of  sevea 
years.  The  two  Pagi,  uncle  and  nephew, 
both  Franciscans,  gave  to  the  world 
learned  and  valuable  notes  on  Baronius, 
entitled  "  Critica  Historico-Chronologica 
in  Universos  Annales,  etc.,  Baronii" 
(Antw.  1705).  They  were  published 
complete  by  the  younger  Pagi  after  his 
uncle's  death.  Mansi's  edition  of  Ba- 
ronius is  the  most  esteemed  ;  it  contains, 
besides  the  text  of  Baronius,* the  notes  of 
the  Pagi  and  the  continuation  of  Ray- 
naldus, in  thirty-eight  folios  (Lucca, 
(1738-69).  This  costly  edition  is  un- 
happily disfigured  by  errors  in  printing. 
Recently,  a  continuation  by  the  Oratorian 
Theiner  in  three  folios  coming  down  to 
1583  has  been  printed  at  Rome  and 
Paris  (1856,  seq.),  while  the  whole  work 
has  been  reprinted  at  Bar-le-Duc  (1864, 
seq.)  ^ 

The  great  work  of  Petaviua  on  the 
history  of  dogma,  the  admirable  editions 
of  the  Fathers  by  the  Benedictines  of  St. 
Maur,  and  many  other  works  of  a  critical 
nature,  prepared  the  way  for  the  labours 
of  the  French  Church  historians  of  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 
The  greatest  names  in  this  golden  age  of 
ecclesiastical  learning  are,  (1)  Natalis 
Alexander.  His  great  work  in  thirty 
octavo  volumes,  containing  the  history  of 
the  Jewish  Church,  and  of  the  Chi'istian 

1  These  last  statements  are  made  on  the 
authority,  not  of  Hefele,  but  of  Kraus,  Kirclieit- 
geschichte,  ad  init. 


166         CHURCH  mSTORY 

to  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  (Paris 
1676,  seq.),  was  placed,  "because  of  its 
Gallican  views,  on  the  Index  by  Innocent 
XL  An-  edition  by  Roncaglia,  with  the 
entii-e  text  of  Alexander,  but  with  the 
addition  of  notes  correcting  his  Gallican 
utterances,  appeared  at  Lucca  in  1734. 
There  have  been  many  subsequent  edi- 
tions. (2)  Fleury,  sous-prScepteu?-  of  the 
French  princes,  and  Prior  of  Argenteuil, 
wrote  the  history  of  the  Church  down  to 
141 4,  hi  twenty  quarto  volumes.  Unlike 
Baronius  and  Natalis,  who  wrote  in  Latin, 
rieury  wrote  in  French.  The  strength  of 
Natalis  Alexander  lay  in  learned  and 
minute  discussion  ;  Fleury  contents  him- 
self with  giving  the  results  of  criticism, 
and  tells  the  history  of  the  Church  in  a 
manner  attractive  to  the  educated  public, 
and  in  language  clear,  dignified,  and 
simple.  Nothing  can  be  more  charming 
than  the  skill  with  which  he  introduces 
extracts  from  ancient  authorities,  or  the 
exquisite  tact  with  which  he  catches  the 
spirit  and  portrays  the  manners  of  the 
early  Christians.  In  spite  of  his  Galli- 
canism,  Fleury  has  been  commended  in 
the  highest  terms  by  Cardinal  Newman 
and  Hefele.  Indeed,  no  competent  judge 
would  question  his  extraordinary  merits, 
and  to  this  day  his  work  is  unsurpassed. 
Fleury  found  several  continuators,  of 
whom  Faber,  a  bitter  and  exaggerated 
Gallican,  is  the  best  known,  but  none  of 
them  were  in  any  way  worthy  to  compare 
with  him.  (S)  Le Naiu  Tillemont, perhaps 
the  mostlearned  and  accurate  of  all  Church 
historians.  He  was  a  priest  entirely 
devoted  to  prayer  and  study,  connected 
with  the  solitaries  of  Port  Royal,  though 
not  himself  a  Jansenist.  His  famous 
"  M^moires  pour  servir  h,  I'histoire  eccl6- 
siastique  "  give  materials  for  the  history 
of  the  Church,  mostly  in  biographical 
form,  down  to  the  year  613,  in  sixteen 
quarto  volumes  (Paris,  1693).  The  his- 
tory is  given  almost  entirely  in  the  words 
of  the  ancient  documents,  but  these  ex- 
tracts from  ancient  authorities  are  united 
with  an  art  which  gives  to  the  whole  the 
smoothness  and  finish  of  a  mosaic.  Tille- 
mont's  accuracy  would  of  itself  entitle 
him  to  rank  as  an  historical  genius.  It 
never  fails  him,  notwithstanding  the  vast 
amount  of  details  with  which  he  deals. 
The  notes  at  the  end  of  each  volume  are 
models  of  critical  acumen.  The  readers 
of  Gibbon  are  aware  how  highly  he 
valued  TiUemont,  and  how  greatly  he  is 
'  indebted  to  him.  The  French  Church 
historians  soon  after  this  date  show  a 


CHURCH  HISTORY 

marked  falling  off.  They  are  many  of 
them  agreeable  writers,  but  without 
depth  of  learning..  Among  them  we  may 
name  Choisy  (''  Histou-e  de  I'Eglise," 
Paris,  1706-23),  the  Jansenist  Racine, 
Ducreux,  Berault  Bercastel,  a  popular 
writer  whose  history,  published  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  has  been  re-edited 
and  continued  down  to  our  own  time  by 
Henrion  (Paris,  1841).  A  history  on  a 
large  scale  has  been  wiitten  by  the  x^bbe 
Rohrbacher,  "  Histoire  Universelle  de 
I'Eglise  "  (Paris  1842-48). 

The  Italians,  since  Baronius,  have  done 
much  less  for  the  history  of  the  Chui-ch 
than  the  French.  The  best  Italian  Church 
histories  are  those  of  Cardinal  Orsi, 
whose  "  Storia  Eccl."  (Rome,  1748)  gives 
the  history  of  the  Church  in  the  first  six 
centuries ;  and  of  SaccareUi  {"  Historia 
Ecclesiastica,"  down  to  1185).  The  work 
of  Graveson,  a  Frenchman  settled  in  Italy, 
is  now  almost  forgotten.  Berti's  com- 
pendium has  little  worth.  Works  of 
moderate  compass  have  been  written  by 
Delsignore  ("  Institutiones  Historicse," 
Romae,  1837),  and  by  Palma  ("  Praelec- 
tiones  Hist.  Eccles."  Romae,  1838). 

Much  labour  has  been  devoted  to 
Church  history  in  Germany,  but  the  most 
complete  and  popular  of  German  Church 
histories  is  the  Protestant  work  of 
Neander.  For  a  long  time  German  Catho- 
lics did  little  or  nothing  for  this  study, 
till  a  new  era  was  opened  by  Stolberg. 
The  first  fifteen  volumes,  containing  the 
"  History  of  the  Religion  of  Jesus  Christ " 
from  the  creation  to.A.D.  430,  were  pub- 
lished at  Vienna  and  Hamburg  in  1806, 
seq.  This  work  with  its  continuation  by 
Kerz  and  Brischar  is  very  voluminous.  A 
popular  history  going  down  to  1153,  was 
wiitten  by  Katerkamp  (Miinster,  1819- 
34),  and  a  useful  compendium  by  Hortig 
in  1826.  DoUinger,  about  ten  years  later, 
published  a  compendium  which  carries 
the  history  of  the  Church  down  to  the 
sixteenth  century.  He  also  began  a 
Church  history  on  a  larger  scale,  but  un- 
happily only  two  volumes  of  this  excel- 
lent and  learned  work  appeared.  The 
first  volume  ends  with  Constantino  ;  the 
second  gives  the  external  history  of  the 
Church  down  to  680,  An  English  ver- 
sion by  Dr.  Cox  is  taken  partly  from  the 
compendium,  partly  from  the  larger  his- 
tory, but  the  translation  is  far  from  accu- 
rate. Mohler's  lectures  on  Church  history 
were  edited  and  published  long  after  his 
death  in  an  imperfect  form.  The  com- 
pendium of  Alzog  (eighth  edition,  1867) 


GHUROH  OF  CHPJST 

ifl  a  most  useful  work ;  it  has  been  trans- 
lated into  Englisli.  A  Cliuicli  history  of 
great  learning,  but  heavy  in  style,  has 
recently  appeared  from  the  pen  of  Cardinal 
Hergenrotber.  The  manual  of  Kraus 
(Treves,  1871-75)  is  indispensable  to  the 
student.  In  its.  own  special  line  it  has  no 
rival.  A  Church  history  in  the  proper 
sense  it  can  scarcely  -be  called.  It  is 
rather  an  analysis  of  the  facts,  with  a  list 
of  the  original  sources,  and  of  the  whole 
literatm-e  down  to  modern  times,  relating 
to  each  part  of  the  subject,  while  syn- 
chronistic tables  are  given  in  an  appendix. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  too  much  in  praise 
of  this  book.  An  immense  amount  of 
matter  is  compressed  into  less  than  1,000 
pages ;  the  arrangement  is  a  marvel  of 
simplicity  and  system,  and  the  complete- 
ness of  the  information  on  books  of  refer- 
ence is  no  less  admirable.  It  need  hardly 
be  said  that  Bishop  Hefele's  History  of  the 
Councils  (in  seven  volumes),'of  which  a 
second  edition  is  now  in  progress,  is  thei 
best  book  on  the  subject  and  of  European 
reputation. 

In  English  we  have  no  Catholic 
Church  History  worth  mentioning,  though 
of  course  particular  portions  of  the  sub- 
ject have  been  treated  of  with  great  suc- 
cess by  Dodd,  Challolner,  Butier,  Lingard, 
Oliver,  Tierney,  Kock,  Northcote,  and 
above  aU  by  Cardinal  Newman. 

CHURCH  OF  CHRIST  s  CATHO- 
]bZC  CHURCH.  The  Roman  Catechism, 
in  expounding  the  ninth  article  of  the 
Creed,  urges  priests  to  explain  the  nature 
and  authority  of  the  Catholic  Church  to 
their  flocks  with  special  frequency  and 
earnestness,  because  of  the  supreme  import- 
anccwhich  belongs  to  the  point  of  Christian 
doctrine.  All  heresy  involves  a  rejection 
of  the  Church's  authority ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  impossible  to  accept  the  true 
doctrine  concerning  the  Church,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  be  a  heretic.  Hence,  in  aU 
ages,  and  against  all  forms  of  error,  the 
Fathers  and  Doctors  of  the  Catholic 
Church  have  appealed  to  her  teaching  as 
the  infallible  ride  of  faith.  If  such  an 
appeal  was  necessary  at  every  time,  there 
is  a  more  than  ordinary  need  at  the  pre- 
sent day  for  insisting  upon  this  article  of 
the  Creed,  "  I  believe  in  the  holy  Catholic 
Church,"  It  is  misunderstood  by  Pro- 
testants more  utterly  than  by  most  at 
least  of  theii'  predecessors  in  separation, 
and  the  true  sense  of  the  ninth  article^  in 
the  Apostles'  Creed  is  the  hinge  on  which 
,all  our  controversy  with  Protestants  turns. 
We  propose  to  consider  {A)  the  Church  of 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST       167 

Christ  as  described  in  the  New  Testament ; 
{J3)  this  Church  as  it  existed  in  the  ages 
which  came  immediately  after  that  of  the 
Apostles  ;  ( C)  to  show  that  the  present 
Catholic  Roman  Church  is  the  Church 
foimded  by  Christ  and  attested  by  Scrip- 
ture and  tradition;  that  she,  atid  she 
alone,  is  the  heir  to  the  promises  of  Christ 
and  the  ark  of  salvation  ;  (JD)  having  dis- 
cussed the  general  characteristics,  we  shaU 
conclude  with  a  more  detailed  accoimt  of 
its  component  parts  and  constitution. 

(A)  The  Church  as  set  forth  in  the  New 
Testament. — It  is  well  known  that  the 
Protestant  Reformers  made  the  Bible,  and 
the  Bible  only,  the  rule  of  faith.  With 
them  the  Bible  came  first,  the  Church  came 
second,  and  occupied  a  very  subordinate 
position.^  The  individual,  enlightened  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  read  the  Bible  and  received 
the  true  faith  from  its  pages.  A  number 
of  these  individuals,  gathered  together, 
formed  a  church.  This  idea  of  the  Church, 
it  may  be  safely  said,  is  still  held  by  the 
great  mass  of  Protestants,  though  it  has 
lost  ground,  no  doubt,  among  the  learned. 
Now,  the  first  thing  which  ought  to  strike 
an  intelligent  reader  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is,  that  there  is  an  importance 
attached  to  the  Church  which,  from  the 
Protestant  point  of  view,  is  exaggerated 
and  out  of  aU  due  proportion,  while,  on 
the  contrary,  no  adequate  provision  is 
made  for  furnishing  mankind  with  the 
one  and  only  means  of  attaining  the 
truth — viz.  the  Bible.  There  is  no  means 
of  evading  this  plain  and  evident  fact. 
Christ  never  once  told  his  disciples  to 
write  books,  or  promised  them  his  help  in 
doing  so.  Books  indeed  were  written, 
describing  the  life  of  our  Lord,  and  the 
Apostles  wrote  various  epistles,  as  occa- 
sion served ;  but,  so  far  as  we  can  learn 
from  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament,  the 
Apostles  did  not  leave  any  list  of  inspired 
writings,  and,  except  in  one  solitary  in- 
stance, they  never  once  even  allude  to 
the  fact  that  there  were  any  inspired 
writings  at  aU,  except  those  of  the  old 
law.2  Surely,  this  is  very  strange,  on  the 
Protestant  theory.  It  cannot  be  affirmed 
that  these  writings  bore  the  marks  of  in- 
spiration on  the  surface,  for  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church  (till  the  Church  decided) 
were  not  agreed  about  the  number  and 

1  See  for  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  the 
(Ihurch  Mohler's  admirable  account,  Sym- 
holik,  p.  895,  seq.,  where  abundant  references  are 

2  See  St.  Peter  2Ep.  iii.  16,  where  St.  Paul's 
epistles  are,  by  implication,  cadled  Scripture. 


168       CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 

titles  of  the  Biblical  "books;  and  those 
who  do  not  care  much  for  the  Fathers 
may  be  reminded  that  the  Reformers 
themselves  were  at  variance  with  one 
another  on  the  same  question.  But  this 
becomes  stranger  stUl,  on  the  Protestant 
theory,  when  we  find  that,  while  our 
Lord  and  his  Apostles  preserve  a  silence 
which  is  scarcely  broken,  on  the  New 
Testament,  they  apeak  frequently  and  in 
most  exalted  terms  of  the  Church.  We 
find  Christ  telling  his  disciples  to  hear 
the  Church.  St.  Paul  speaks  of  the 
Chui'ch  of  God ;  of  the  Church  which 
Christ  has  purchased  with  his  blood,  of 
the  Church  which  is  the  pillar  and  ground 
of  the  truth,  of  the  Church  as  "  the  house 
of  God.'  This  is  very  intelligible  to  Cath- 
olics, who  hold  that  the  Church  has  in- 
fallible authority  in  all  controversies  of 
faith,  so  that,  given  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  the  inspiration  of  Scripture  would 
be  accepted,  and  the  decision  of  questions 
as  to  the  books  which  composed  it  would 
follow  as  a  matter  of  course ;  on  the  Pro- 
testant hypothesis,  the  phenomenon  is  in- 
explicable. 

Great  importance,  then,  was  given  by 
the  Apostles  to  some  Church  or  other. 
Let  us  see  what  they  understood  by  this 
Church. 

The  Church  which  they  recognised 
was,  first  of  all,  a  visible  body.  No  other 
kind  of  Church  would  have  answered  to 
the  intention  of  Christ  in  founding  it.  His 
disciples  were  to  be  like  "  a  city  that  is 
set  on  a  mountain "  (Matt.  v.  14),  "  a 
candle  put  on  a  candlestick"  (t6.  15). 
Christ's  Church  was  not  to  consist  merely 
in  the  invisible  union  of  pious  believers  in 
Him.  Far  from  this,  in  a  series  of  para- 
bles our  Lord  warns  his  followers  that 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  ^ — i.e.  the  Church 
which  He  was  to  establish  (since  none 
but  the  good  can  enter  heaven  in  the 
literal  sense) — was  to  consist  of  good  and 
bad.  He  compares  his  Church  to  a  field 
in  which  good  grain  and  weeds  grow 
together  till  the  day  of  judgment;  to  a 
net  which  takes  good  and  bad  fish ;  to 
a  wedding-feast  where  all  the  guests 
are  not  clothed  in  the  wedding-garment 
of  charity  ;  to  virgins,  some  of  whom  are 
wise,  some  foolish.'^    The  same  charac- 

»  This  title,  peculiar  to  Matthew,  exactly 
answers  to  the  old  D^D^  H-Id!?©  "^  *^^  Syna- 
gogue. The  other  Gospels  say  "  Kingdom  of 
God."  See  Delitzsch,  History  of  Redemption, 
p.  185. 

3  Matt.  xiii.  24-^0,  47-60,  xxlL  2,  seq., 
XXY.  1,  uq. 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 

teristic  of  the  Church  follows  by  a  neeeb- 
sary  consequence  from  the  duties  of  man- 
kind with  regard  to  her,  which  will  be 
presently  explained.  There  would  be  no 
meaning  in  the  admonition  to  "  hear  the 
Church,"  if  she  were  invisible.  We  could 
not  accept  her  as  our  infallible  guide, 
as  the  uufaUing  oracle  of  truth,  if  she 
consisted  only  of  pious  people,  who  are 
known  and  can  be  known,  as  such,  to  God 
alone.  It  is  true  that  there  is  an  invisible 
Church,  or,  rather,  that  the  visible  Church 
has  an  imdsible  side.  The  Church  is  in- 
visible so  far  as  she  has  an  invisible 
Head,  Jesus  Christ ;  so  far  as  she  is  united 
by  prayer  and  union  under  the  same  Head, 
Christ,  to  the  souls  in  Purgatory,  and 
to  the  "  Church  of  the  fijst-born  who  are 
written  in  Heaven."  ^  It  is  true  also  that  the 
Church  to  a  great  extent  works  invisibly. 
She  is  compared,  not  only  to  a  spreading 
tree  in  which  the  birds  of  the  air  lodge, 
but  also  to  the  hidden  leaven,  the  working 
of  which  is  concealed  from  the  eye  of  the 
observer.  The  Church  gives  visible  sacra- 
ments, but  God  alone  can  distinguish 
with  absolute  certainty  the  souls  on 
which  the  invisible  grace  of  the  sacra- 
ments produces  its  due  efiect.  So  much 
every  Catholic  will  gladly  allow.  But  it 
is  one  thing  to  make  this  admission,  quite 
another,  and  a  very  different  thing,  to 
contend,  with  Luther,  that  God  first  of  all 
enlightens  the  individual  on  the  nature  of 
the  gospel,  and  that  the  individual  so  en- 
lightened, and  already  a  member  of  the 
invisible  Church,  pronounces  the  body  or 
bodies  in  which  this  true  gospel  is  taught 
to  be  the  true  visible  Church.  According 
to  Catholics,  the  recognition  of  and  submis  - 
sion  to  the  visible  Church  is  the  ordained 
means  of  sharing  in  the  invisible  treasures 
of  grace.  The  visible  Church  precedes 
the  invisible.  The  Lutheran  reverses  this 
order,  and  thereby  separates  himself  from 
the  teaching,  not  only  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  but  also  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  Lutheran  doctrine  moreover  contra- 
dicts, the  Catholic  is  in  perfect  harmony 
with,  the  whole  purpose  of  the  Incarnation. 
The  Son  of  God  did  not  content  Himself 
with  working  invisibly  on  the  hearts.  He 
assumed  a  visible  body,  went  about  teach- 
ing and  doing  good,  and  at  the  same  time 
added  to  his  words  and  works  the  in- 
visible agency  of  His  divine  Spirit.  There- 
fore he  left  visible  representatives,  who 
were  to  be  known  and  seen  by  all,  and  at 
the  same  time  took  care  that  this  out- 
ward Church  should  be  quickened  by 
Heb.  xii.  23. 


CHUKOH  OF  CHKISI 

the  invisible  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  rules  and  quickens  the  Church,  as 
the  soul  rules  and  quickens  the  body. 

The  Church,  then,  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  a  visible  body,  and  it  was  fur- 
ther invested  with  authority.  A  visible 
body  differs  from  a  mere  mob  or  accidental 
gathering  of  individual  units,  because  the 
former  has,  while  the  latter  has  not,  a  re- 
gularly appointed  government.  We  have 
seen  alreadv  that  the  Church  was  to  be 
clothed  with  power,  from  the  fact  that  all 
men  were  to  hear  her.  This  power  was 
to  be  wielded  by  the  officers  and  rulers  of 
the  Church.  Our  Lord  chose  and  trained 
his  Apostles.  As  He  was  leaving  the 
earth,  he  declared, "  All  power  is  given  to 
me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  there- 
fore teach  all  nations."  ^  How  great  the 
power  was  which  had  been  given  to  our 
Lord  and  which  He  committed  to  the 
twelve  appears  from  his  own  words  to 
them,  "  Whatsoever  you  shall  bind  upon 
earth,  shall  be  boimd  also  in  heaven  :  and 
whatsoever  you  shall  loose  upon  earth, 
shallbe  loosed  also  in  heaven  j"^  and  again, 
"  Whose  sins  ye  shall  forgive,  they  are  for- 
given them  :  and  whose  you  shall  retain, 
they  are  retained,"  ^  . 

The  consideration  of  the  Church  as  a 
visible  body  naturally  leads  us  to  speak  of 
her  unity.  W'e  can  see  that  our  Lord 
meant  to  found  one  Church,  because  He 
compares  his  Church  to  a  house,  the  keys 
of  which  He  put  into  Peter's  hands ;  and 
again.  He  likens  his  Church,  in  pointed 
and  emphatic  words,  to  one  single  flock 
under  one  single  shepherd.  The  Church, 
then,  is  one,  because  she  is  a  single  body 
constituted  under  one  invisible  Head, 
Jesus  Christ,  and  also  under  one  earthly 
head,  our  Lord's  representative  upon  earth 
— viz.  St.  Peter.  Christ  did  not  permit 
his  followers  to  form  themselves  into 
voluntary  and  independent  societies, 
united  by  individual  inclinations,  or  for 
purposes  of  convenience.  He  built  his 
house  upon  a  rock,  and  He  gave  St.  Peter 
power  to  open  and  to  shut  the  doors — i.e. 
to  admit  some  to  membership  and  to  ex- 
chide  others,  according  to  the  statutes 
which  Christ  Himself  had  framed,  St. 
Paul  develops  the  idea  of  this  unity,  and 
shows  exactly  in  what  it  consisted,  in  the 
maxim,  "  One  body  and  one  Spirit  .  .  . 
one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism."''  In 
other  words,  the  unity  of  the  Church  is 
assured  by  the  unity  of  God  Himself,  who 
founded  one  Church  and  continues  to  rule 


1  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 
•  John  XX.  23 


2  Matt,  xviii.  18. 
*  Ephes.  iv.  4. 


CHUKCH  OF  CHRIST       169 

it  by  his  earthly  representatives.  This 
unity  manifests  itself  in  a  double  way. 
First,  it  implies  unity  of  faith — "One 
faith."  Among  the  members  of  merely 
human  institutions  opinions  must  needs 
vary.  Not  so  with  the  members  of  the 
Church,  who  are  united  in  the  one  in- 
variable truth,  proclaimed  by  the  incarnate 
God.  Accordingly,  St.  Paul  beseeches  his 
converts  to  persevere  in  this  unity  of  be- 
lief, in  which  they  had  been  established 
by  the  grace  of  God.  "  I  beseech  you, 
brethren,  by  the  name  of  our  Lm'd  Jesus 
Christ,  that  you  all  speak  the  same  thing, 
and  that  there  be  no  schisms  among  you ; 
but  that  you  be  perfect  in  the  same  mind, 
and  in  the  same  judgment."  ^  Far  from 
tolerating  various  ways  of  thinking ;  far 
from  allowing  scope  for  private  judgment 
on  articles  of  faith,  or  admitting  that  men 
were  free  to  indulge  in  great  latitude  of 
belief,  provided  that  they  were  sincere  and 
attentive  to  the  natural  precepts  of 
morality,  St.  Paul  exclaims,  "  If  any  one 
preach  to  you  a  gospel  besides  that  which 
you  have  received,  let  him  be  accursed."  ^ 
The  word  "  heresy,"  which  is  used  at  first 
without  any  bad  meaning  in  the  sense  of 
"  party"  or  "school,"  occurs  in  the  later 
writings  as  a  term  of  reproach,  used  to 
mark  those  who  chose  for  themselves  in- 
stead of  submitting  to  the  faith  of  the 
Church,  as  if  that  fact  alone  were  sufficient 
to  brand  those  who  presumed  to  exercise 
this  choice.  We  are  not  left  to  guess 
how  the  Apostles  judged  of  such  a  course. 
"  A  man  that  is  a  heretic,"  St.  Paul 
writes,  "after  the  first  and  second  ad- 
monition, avoid  :  knowing  that  he  that  is 
3uch  an  one  is  subverted  and  sinneth,  being 
condemned  by  his  own  judgment."  ^  St. 
Peter  describes  heretical  parties  or  schools 
as  "sects  of  perdition,"*  and  St.  John, 
with  all  his  gentleness,  is  no  less  stringent. 
"  If  any  man  come  to  you  and  bring  not 
this  doctrine,  receive  him  not  into  the 
house  or  aay  to  him,  God  save  you."^ 
Next,  the  unity  of  the  Church,  as  St.  Paul 
conceives  it,  implies  that  the  faithful  are 
not  only  one  because  they  hold  the  same 
faith,  but  also  because  they  participate  in 
the  same  sacraments — "One  baptism." 
In  baptism  all  are  born  again  ;  they  be- 
come children  of  the  same  Father  in 
heaven,  and  for  that  very  reason  are  united 
as  brethren  to  each  other.  "  As  many  of 
you  as  have  been  baptised  in  Christ,  have 
put  on  Christ.  There  is  neither  Jew  nor 
Greek;   there  is  neither  bond  nor  free; 

1  1  Cor.  1. 10.  «  GaJ.  i.  9. 

5  Titus  iii.  11.       4  2  Pet.  ii.  7.      »  2  John  10. 


170       CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 


there  is  neitlier  male  nor  female.  For 
you  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  '  More- 
over, St.  Paul  only  names  baptism  as  one  of 
the  sacraments  by  which  the  unity  of  the 
Church  is  secured,  and  in  which  this  unity 
displays  itself,  for  he  attributes  the  same 
unifying  influence,  and  that  in  a  higher 
degree,  to  the  Eucharist.  "The  chalice  of 
benediction,  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the 
communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  And 
the  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the 
partaking  of  the  body  of  the  Lord  ? 
For  we  being  many  are  one  bread,  one 
body,  all  who  partake  of  one  bread."  ^ 

The  unity  of  the  Chm-ch,  then,  depends 
on  the  unity  of  her  organisation,  her  com- 
mon faith  and  teaching,  the  discipline  to 
which  all  are  subject,  the  life  of  prayer 
and  of  sacramental  grace  to  which  all  her 
members  are  called.  But  this  sacramental 
life  makes  the  Church  holy,  just  as  it 
makes  her  one.  There  is,  indeed,  a  marked 
difference  in  our  Lord's  teaching  on  the 
sanctity  as  contrasted  with  his  state- 
ments on  the  unity  of  the  Church.  As  has 
been  already  proved,  Christ  warns  us 
that  all  the  members  of  his  Church  would 
not  be  holy,  while  He  never  gives  the 
slightest  hint  that  this  Church  could  by 
any  possibility  be  split  into  opposing  sects. 
But  in  spite  of  sins  and  delects  in  her 
members,  the. Church  was  to  be  in  a  true 
and  real  sense  holy.  She  deserves  to  be 
so  called  because  in  Christ  her  Head  she 
possesses  the  source  of  all  sanctity ;  be- 
cause by  true  doctrine  on  morals,  as  well 
as  on  faith,  she  teaches  the  way  to  heaven ; 
while  by  prayer  and  the  sacraments  she 
puts  into  men's  hands  the  weapons  of  this 
spiritual  warfare,  by  which  they  can  over- 
come evil  and  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith. 
Christ  "  loved  the  Church  and  delivered 
himself  up  for  it,  that  he  might  sanctify  it, 
cleansing  it  by  the  laver  of  water  in  the 
word  of  life."  *  He  loves  the  Church  as 
husbands  ought  to  love  their  wives;  so 
that  the  marriage  bond  is  a  type  of  the 
union  between  Christ  and  his  mystical 
body.*  Moreover,  in  spite  of  scandals, 
which  were  by  no  means  lacking  in  Apo- 
stolic times  and  were  often  of  the  grossest 
character,  the  sanctity  of  the  Church  shone 
forth  in  the  lives  of  her  children.  St. 
Paul  appeals  in  all  humility  to  his  own 
work,  to  his  self-denial,  his  arduous  toils, 
his  charity  and  gift  of  sympathy,  to  the 

»  Gal.  iii.  27-29. 

2  1  Cor.  X.  16, 17.  A  more  accurate  transla- 
tion would  be  "  It  is  one  bread,  we  the  many 
are  one  body,  for  all  of  us,"  &c. 

5  Ephes.  V.  25.  *  Ephea.  v.  28 


fruitfulnes.s  of  his  Apostolic  teaching.  For 
the  first  time  Jews  and  heathen  saw  men 
gi^e  up  their  goods  and  hold  all  things  in 
common ;  they  beheld  not  only  men  who' 
were  pure  and  faithful  to  their  wives,  but 
also  others  who  embraced  a  perfection  un- 
known even  to  the  great  saints  of  the  old 
law — men  who  embraced  the  celibate  life, 
making  themselves,  in  Christ's  words, 
"  eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's 
sake."'  St.  Paul  specially  commends  the 
unmarried  state,  and  that  not  simply  "  on 
account  of  the  present  necessity,"  but 
further,  on  general  grounds,  because  "  he 
that  is  without  a  wife  is  solicitous  for  the 
things  that  belong  to  the  Lord,  that  be 
may  please  God.  But  he  that  has  a  wife 
is  solicitous  for  the  things  of  the  world, 
how  he  may  please  his  wife,  and  he  is 
divided."  ^  Thus,  while  the  heathen 
rulers  were  actually  trying  to  force  their 
subjects  into  marriage,  in  order  to  deliver 
them  from  the  evils  of  profligacy,  the 
members  of  the  Christian  commonwealth 
exhibited  to  the  world  a  new  order  of 
things,  in  which,  on  the  one  hand,  the  holy 
marriage  tie  became  indissoluble,  and  was 
rendered  holier  still  by  a  great  sacrament, 
while,  on  the  other^  many  pressed  on  to  a 
higher  state  and  even  on  earth  led  an 
angelic  life.  On  this  supernatural  sanctity 
of  the  Church,  flowing  from  union  with 
Christ,  developing  itself  in  charity,  zeal, 
benevolence,  virginity,  and  a  thousand 
other  ways,  Christ  promised  to  set  his 
seal  by  miracles.  '^  These  signs  shall 
follow  them  that  believe.  In  my  name 
they  shall  cast  out  devils :  they  shall  speak 
with  new  tongues.  They  shall  take  up 
serpents:  and  if  they  shall  drink  any 
deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  them:  they 
shall  lay  their  hands  upon  the  sick  and 
they  shall  recover."  ^  This  sanctity  of  the 
Church,  begun  and  really  energising  upon 
earth,  was  to  be  perfected  in  heaven.  At 
the  day  of  judgment,  the  wheat  was  to  be 
separated  from  the  weeds,  the  good  fish 
from  the  bad.  Then  the  prophet's  words 
were  to  be  fulfilled :  "  Arise,  arise,  put  on 
thy  strength,  0  Sion;  put  on  the 
garments  of  thy.  glory,  O  Jerusalem, 
the  city  of  the  holy  one  :  for  henceforth 
the  uncircumcised  and  unclean  shall  no 
more  pass  through  thee."  ^  The  marriage 
of  the  Lamb,  of  which  St.  John  speaks  in 
the  Apocalypse,  will  be  solemnised,  and 

1  1  Cor.  vii.  32,  33. 

2  Mark  xvi.  17,  18.  The  authenticity  of 
this  section  of  St.  Mark  is  disputed,  but  in  any 
case  it  is  very  earlv,  for  Irenaus  quotes  it. 

8  Is.  Ui.  I 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 

the  bride  of  Christ  will  take  her  proper 
place  in  his  glory. 

The  Catholic  and  Apostolic  character 
of  the  Church  in  the  New  Testament  need 
not  detain  us  long;  we  have  only  to  point 
out  that  these  marks  are  included  in  the 
picture  already  drawn.  The  Jewish 
Church  was  national  and  therefore  parti- 
cular. The  Church  of  Christ  received  a 
commission  to  teach  all  nations  ;  the  wall 
of  partition  between  Jew  and  Gentile  was 
broken  down ;  the  Church  was  to  be 
Catholic  or  universal.  To  this  Catholic 
Church  the  Apostles  gave  laws.  When 
questions  and  disputes  arose  as  to  the  ob- 
ligation of  the  Jewish  law,  the  Apostles 
vdth  the  "  ancients "  gave  a  decisive 
judgment,  accompanying  it  with  the 
wonis,  "  It  hath  seemed  good  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  to  us."  ^  On  the  foundation  of 
prophets  and  apostles  "  the  Church  was 
built,"  Jesus  Christ  Himself  being  the  chief 
corner-stone."  ^  The  influence  of  the  Apos- 
tles was  felt  in  every  part  of  the  Church, 
because  all  doctrine  and  all  authority  to 
teach  descended  from  them.  It  was  to 
theApostles  Christ  had  entrusted  the  com 
mission  of  teaching  and  baptising  all 
nations.  They  in  turn  ordained  others 
and  gave  them  power  to  hand  on  like 
authority  to  "  faithfvil  men  "  who  were  to 
represent  Christ  in  future  generations. 
"  For  this  cause,"  St.  Paul  writes  to  Titus, 
"  I  left  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldst 
set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting, 
and  shouldst  ordain  presbyters  in  every 
city,  as  I  also  appointed  thee."  ^  Thus, 
the  orders  and  mission  of  the  whole  Church 
were  to  be  apostolic,  and  the  teaching  or 
loctrine  of  the  Church  was  to  be  apostolic 
.tlso.  -What  St.  Paul  said  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians,  he  said  virtually  to  all  Christians 
with  whom  he  was  connected,  directly  or 
indirectly.  "  Stand  firm :  and  hold  the 
traditions  which  you  have  learned,  whe- 
ther byword  or  by  our  epistle."*  One 
w  )rd  more  is  needed  before  we  quit  this 
pa.'t  of  our  subject.  It  is  sometimes  ob- 
jected that,  after  all,  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  is  not  really  Catholic,  because  it 
does  not,  in  matter  of  fact,  include  with- 
in its  pale  all  mankind,  or  even  all  who 
profess  themselves  Christians.  The  fact  is 
indisputable,  but  no  inference  against  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  can  be  deduced 
from  it.  The  Church  of  the  Apostles  was 
not  Catholic  in  this  sense.  It  was  Catho- 
lic, hOC  because  it  embraced  all  mankind, 
but  because  it  claimed  universal  jurisdic- 


-    Acts  XV, 

'  Tit  i  6. 


2  Ephes.  ii.  20. 
<  2Thessal.  ii.  14. 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST       171 

tion  ;  because  it  asserted  its  right  to  con- 
trol the  hearts  and  consciences  of  all  the 
children  of  Adam;  because  it  claimed  to 
speak  in  the  name  of  him  who  had  re- 
ceived the  nations  for  his  inheritance.  No 
obduracy  on  the  part  of  the  heathen,  no 
apostasy  on  the  part  of  Christians,  could 
alter  the  character  of  the  Catholic  Apo- 
stolic Church.  Let  sects  increase  ever  so 
much,  and  spread  and  flourish  in  human 
estimation,  still  the  Church  remained,  the 
bride  of  Christ  and  the  sole  heir  to  his 
promises.  To  each  new  sect  the  Church 
could  say,  "  Piior  veui :  I  was  here  before 
you:  I,  not  you,  have  received  the 
commission  to  teach  and  rule  the  nations." 
Another  gift  was  necessary,  without 
which  the  Church's  unity  could  not  have 
continued,  and  even  if  it  could  have  been 
maintained,  would  have  been  an  evil 
rather  than  a  blessing.  There  is  no  real 
advantage  in  an  iron  constraint  which 
forces  men  to  repeat  the  same  formulas 
and  acquiesce  in  the  same  decisions;  there 
is  no  advantage  in  unity,  unless  it  be 
unity  in  the  truth.  Accordingly,  our 
Lord  made  his  Church  infallible. 
Against  her  He  promised  that  "the  gates  of 
hell" — i.e.  the  powers  of  evil  and  of  error 
issuing  forth  from  the  gates  of  the  infernal 
city — would  never  prevail.  He  was  the 
truth  itself,  the  uncreated  Wisdom,  and 
to  Him  his  disciples  could  boldly  go,  be- 
cause He  "  had  the  words  of  eternal  life." 
But  they  were  not  to  be  worse  oil'  when 
his  visible  presence  left  them.  "  Behold, 
I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  con- 
j  summation  of  the  world."  ^  The  Holy 
j  Ghost  was  to  teach  them  "  all  things."  "^ 
I  Hence  St.  Paul  speaks,  in  a  passage  already 
j  quoted,  of  "  the  house  of  God,  which  is 
I  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar 
I  and  the  ground  of  the  truth." ^  No  error 
i  could  ever  darken  the  Chiu'ch :  no  perse- 
cution could  ever  destroy  her.  Those 
who  revolted  from  her  were  self-con- 
demned ;  and  those  who  listened  to  her 
could  never  be  led  astray  by  doubt  or 
misbelief.  What  the  Scriptures  were, 
what  the  Scriptures  meant — all  was  to  be 
settled  for  them  by  the  Church.  They 
were  favoured  with  a  full  perception  of 
the  truth  and  with  an  abundance  of  grace 
impossible  under  the  Jewish  dispensation. 
Just  as  our  Lord  impressed  his  hearers 
by  the  very  fact  that  He  spoke  as  one 
having  authority  and  not  as  the  Scribes, 
so  the  Church,  by  her  lofty  prerogatives  as 
the  bride  of  Christ  and  organ  of  the  Holy 

1  Matt,  xxviii.  20.         2  john  xiv.  26. 
5  1  Tim.  iii.  16. 


172       OHUROH  OF  CHRIST 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 


Ghost,  was  to  win  the  hearts  of  men  to 
love  and  reverence.  "  Thy  teacher  shall 
not  flee  awaj  from  thee  any  more,  and 
thine  eyes  shall  see  thy  teacher.  And  thine 
ears  shall  hear  the  word  of  one  admonish- 
ing thee  behind  thy  back.  This  is  the 
way,  walk  ye  in  it :  and  go  not  aside 
neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left."  ^ 
(7?)  The  C/mrch  of  the  first  Ages  after 
the  Apostles. — AVe  have  been  trying  to 
show  that  the  Church  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  One,  Holy,  Catholic  and  Apos- 
tolic, the  indefectible  and  infallible  organ 
of  the  truth,  from  which,  and  not  from 
their  private  stud}"-  of  Biblical  records,  all 
nations  were  to  leani  the  truth.  Did  any 
change  occur  in  the  rule  of  faith  when 
the  Apostles  were  no  longer  upon  earth  ? 
When  the  Apostles  were  gone,  did  the 
Protestant  religion  begin  to  be,  so  that 
Christians  went  for  their  faith,  not  to  the 
Church,  but  to  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments?  Now, on  the  face 
of  it,  it  is  unlikely  that  our  Lord  ordained 
an  elaborate  system  which  was  to  con- 
tinue for  a  brief  space  and  then  give  place 
to  one  radically  different.  But  this  im- 
probability rises  to  sheer  impossibility,  when 
we  reflect  that  our  Lord,  far  from  pre- 
paring his  disciples  for  such  a  change, 
distinctly  promised  that  He  was  to  be 
with  his  Church  "  all  days ;  "  that  the 
gates  of  hell  were  not  to  prevail  against 
It;  and  so  clearly  implied  that  the  Apostles 
were  to  have  successors,  endowed  with 
the  same  powers  and  with  the  same 
infallibility.  If  we  turn  from  the 
New  Testament  to  the  writings  of  the 
first  Christians,  we  find  everything  in 
exact  correspondence  with  the  Catholic 
theory  of  the  Church.  When  St.  John, 
the  last  of  the  Apostles,  died,  there  is  no 
trace  of  any  revolution  which  occurred  in 
the  system  of  Christian  government.  We 
find  the  bishops  ruling  just  as  the  Apostles 
had  done,  and  making  the  same  claiiQS 
to  Bpeak  in  the  name  of  Christ.  St. 
Ignatius,  the  disciple  of  St,  John,  pro- 
claims the  Church's  unity,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  union  with  and  submission  to  her. 
"  Do  nothing,"  he  writes,  "  without  the 
bishop.  .  .  Jesus  Christ  is  one.  .  .  There- 
fore, let  all  of  you  meet  together,  as  in 
one  temple,  as  at  one  altar,  as  in  one  Jesus 
Christ."  *  We  are  to  receive  one  Eucharist, 
for  there  is  one  flesh  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  one  altar,  one  chalice,  as  there 
is  one  bishop.'  Our  Lord  breathed 
**  incorruption  into  his  Church."  *    In  his 

1  Is.  XXX.  20,  21.  5  Ad  Philudelph.  4. 

•  Ad  Magne$.  7.  ^  Ad  Ephes.  17. 


epistles  the  term  "  Catholic  Church  "  ap- 
pears for  the  first  time  in  Christian  litera- 
ture,^ and  it  embodies  the  same  idea 
which  he  expresses  elsewhere,  when  he  tells 
the  Ephesians  to  be  "  united  in  the  mind 
of  God  ; "  and  goes  on  to  say  that  the 
bishops  established  throughout  the  world 
{Kara  ra  rrepara)  "  are  in  the  mind  of  .lesus 
Christ."^  In  this  Church  he  recognised  a 
visible  head,  the  Church  which  "  presides 
{7TpoKddr}Tai)in  the  region  of  the  Romans. '^^ 
St.  Ignatius  is  the  only  disciple  of  the 
Apostles  who  speaks  e.v  jjrofcsso  on  doc- 
trinal matters  i^  documents  whioli  still 
survive.  St.  Irenaeus  belongs  to  the 
second  stage  of  the  Church's  history.  He 
was  the  faithful  disciple  of  St.  Polycarp, 
who  was,  like  St.  Ignatius,  the  disciple  of 
St.  John.  St.  Irenseus  wrote,  not  later 
than  190,  a  treatise  "against  heresies," 
the  earliest  dogmatic  treatise  which 
has  been  preserved  to  us.  He  stood 
face  to  face  with  developed  systems  of 
heresy,  and  this  forced  him  to  state  at 
length  and  with  precision  the  Catholic 
rule  of  faith.  This  rule  in  his  estimation 
certainly  was  not  the  "  Bible  and  the 
Bible  only."  "We  must  not,"  he  says, 
"  seek  from  others  the  truths  which  it  is 
easy  to  obtain  from  the  Church,  since  into 
her,  as  into  a  rich  treasury,  the  Apostles 
poured,  as  into  a  full  stream,  all  which  per- 
tains to  the  truth ;  so  that  all  who  will 
may  drink  at  her  hands  the  water  of  life. 
She  is  the  gate  of  life  ;  as  for  all  the  rest, 
they  are  thieves  and  robbers."  "*  He  even 
puts  to  himself  the  imaginary  case  that 
"  the  Apostles  had  left  no  Scriptures,"  an 
hypothesis  which  on  the  Protestant  theory 
would  b?ve  made  true  Christianity  im- 
possible. Irenaeus  judged  differently. 
"  Suppose,"  he  says,  "the  Apostles  had  left 
us  no  Scriptures,  should  we  not  follow  the 
order  of  tradition  which  they  handed 
down  to  those  into  whose  hands  they  en- 
trusted the  churches?"*  "The  true 
knowledge  is  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles 
and  the  ancient  constitution  of  the  Ohiu'ch 
over  the  whole  world  {to  dpx^^^^  t^s  ^k- 
kXtjo-uis  (Tvcrrrijxa  Kara  ttuvtos  rov  Koafiov).^ 
This  Church,  "planted  even  to  the  ends  of 
the  world  by  the  Apostles  and  their  dis- 
ciples, inherits  [their]  faith." ^  He  regards 
the  character  of  the  Church's  tradition, 
as  in  itself  the  witness  to  its  truth.  Each 
heretic  in  turn  "  wished  to  set  up  for  a 
teacher,  and  seceded  from  the  sect  in 


1  Ad  S7nt/rn.  8. 
I  Ad  Ephes.  3. 
3  Mom.,  ad  init. 
*  Iren.  iii.  4, 1, 


*  Iren.  iii.  4,  1. 
«  Ibid.  iv.  S3.  8. 
7  Hid.  i.  10,  1. 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 

which  he  found  himself  at  first.  ...  No 
man  could  tell  the  number  of  those  who, 
each  on  a  different  plan,  separated  from 
the  truth."  1  "But  the  Church,  dwelling, 
so  to  speak,  in  one  house,  as  with  one  soul 
and  one  heart, constantly  teaches,  preaches, 
delivers  this  [Apostolical  tradition]  as 
with  one  mouth.  There  are  diverse  lan- 
guages ia  the  world,  hut  still  the  force 
of  tradition  ia  one  and  the  same."  In 
Germany,  in  Gaul,  and  Spain,  in  the  East, 
and  in  Africa,  the  Church  holds  the  same 
faith.'^  God  Himself  has  bestowed  the 
faith  upon  her,  and  with  it  the  "  Holy 
Spirit,  the  pledge  of  incorruption  and  con- 
firmation of  our  faith.  .  .  .  Where  the 
Church  is,  there  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
where  the  Spirit  of  God  is,  there  is  the 
Church  and  all  grace ;  and  the  Spirit  is 
truth. "^  Hence  to  be  outside  of  the 
Church  is  the  same  thing  as  to  be  outside 
of  the  truth.  The  quotations  given  abun- 
dantly prove  that  Irenseus  believed  the 
Church  to  be  one,  Catholic,  infallible  in 
her  teaching,  and  the  source  of  sanctity.' 
He  is  no  less  explicit  in  laying  down  her 
Apostolic  character.  Indeed,  he  makes 
this  last  the  foundation  of  all  the  Church's 
prerogatives.  "  We  must  obey  those  who 
have  the  succession  from  the  Apostles."  It 
is  from  those  "  who  have  this  succession 
from  the  Apostles,  soundness  of  doctrine, 
conversation  without  reproach,  speech 
pure  and  incorruptible,  that  we  must  learn 
the  truth."  "  They  are  the  men  who  ex- 
pound the  Scriptures  for  us  without 
danger "  of  error.  And,  if  we  ask  how 
we  are  to  know  that  the  bishops  have 
retained  sound  doctrine  and  the  true  tra- 
dition, the  answer  is  that  "  with  the  suc- 
cession of  the  episcopate  they  have  re- 
ceived a  sure  gift  of  ti-uth  {charisma 
veritatis)  according  to  the  good  will  of 
the  Father."  "*  We  cannot  put  the  belief  of 
St.  Irenseus  better  than  in  the  words  of  a 
learned  Protestant  far  removed  from  any 
sympathy  with  it.  '^  Irenaeus^  makes  the 
preservation  of  sound  doctrine  and  the 
presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  dependent 
upon  the  bishops  who  in  legitimate  suc- 
cession represent  the  Apostles,  and  •  .  . 
this  manifestly  because  he  wants  at  any 
price  to  have  a  security  for  the  unity  of 
the  visible  Church."  St.  Irenaeus  finds  the 
centre  of  this  unity  in  the  Roman  Church, 
"  with  which,  because  of  its  more  powerful 
principality,  every  Church  must  agree — 
that  is,  the  faithful  everywhere — in  which 

I  Iren.  i.  28,  1,  2.        3  lUd.  iii.  24, 1. 
»  Ibid.  i.  10,  2.  *  Ibid.  iv.  26,  2  and  5. 

*  Ziegler,  Irenaus,  p.  160. 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST       173 

the  tradition  of  the  Apostles  has  ever  been 
preserved  by  those  on  every  side."  But 
the  interpretation  of  these  words  belongs 
to  the  article  on  the  Pope. 

Other  testimonies  may  be  added  from 
the  same  period.  Clement  of  Alexandria 
tells  us  that  "  the  true  Church  is  one,  the 
Church  which  is  really  ancient."  ^  It  is 
one,  he  says,  because  God  is  one,  though 
men  try  to  split  it  up  into  many  heresies. 
He  speaks  of  heresies  "  which  abandon  the 
Church  which  is  from  the  beginning,"  and 
avers  that  "  he  who  falls  into  heresy,  goes 
through  a  desert  without  water."  ^  Ter- 
tullian  holds  similar  language  in  con- 
troversy with  heretics.  Over  and  over 
again  he  appeals  to  the  Apostolic  founda- 
tion of  the  Catholic  Church.  "  We  commu- 
nicate with  the  Apostolic  Church,  because 
there  is  no  difference  of  doctrine  between 
us;  this  is  an  evidence  of  truth" — i.e.  aproof 
that  what  we  teafh  is  true.^  The  Apostles 
knew  all  truth,*  and  taught  it  to  the 
churches.*  He  proves  the  truth  of  Catho- 
lic doctrine  from  the  fact  that  the  Church 
is  preserved  from  error  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
whose  office  it  is  so  to  preserve  her;  from 
the  very  fact  that  all  Catholics  hold  the 
same  doctrine,  arguing  that  if  the  churches 
had  fallen  into  error,  they  would  not  all 
have  fallen  into  the  same  error,  since  "  that 
which  is  found  one  [and  the  same]  among 
many,  is  not  an  error,  but  a  tradition."  ® 
Finally,  to  return  to  TertuUian's  teaching 
on  the  Apostolicity  of  the  Church,  with 
which  we  began,  he  urges  that  Catholics 
can,  heretics  cannot,  claim  communion  with 
any  Church  of  Apostolic  origin.' 

We  have  said  enough  perhaps  on  this 
division  of  the  subject ;  but  fromTertullian 
we  may  fitly  pass  to  him  who  used  to  call 
Tertullian  his  master,  the  great  St. 
Cyprian.  He  defines  the  Church  as  "  the 
laity  united  to  their  bishop  {sacerdoti) 
and  pastor."  The  Church  is  one  and  un- 
divided, "being  bound  in  one  by  the  adhe- 
sion of  bishops  in  mutual  communion."' 
The  saying  which  is  regarded  as  express- 
ing the  very  essence  of  Popish  bigotry, 
and  which  has  ever  been  specially  offensive 
to  Protestants,  viz.  "  no  salvation  outside 
the  Church "  ("  extra  ecclesiam  nulla 
salus  ")  is  found  word-  for  word  in  Cy- 
prian.*     Heresy  is  a  stain  which   even 

1  Clem.  Al.,  Strom,  vii.  17. 

2  Ihid.  i.  19.  5  Hid.  25. 

3  Prsescr.  21,  32.        «  Ihid.  28. 

*  Ibid.  22.  7  Adv.  Marc.  i.  21. 

8  Cyprian,  Ep.  Ixvi.  ;  th»  nambering  of 
the  epistles  here  follows  .^-the.r^oenfc  critical  > 
edition  by  Hartel. 


9  Ep.  Ixxiii. 


V       OF   TRJ^     '^ 

'Uiri7ERSI 


174       OHURCH  OF  CHRIST 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 


blood  shed  for  the  truth  of  Christ  can- 
not wash  Away.^ 
.  ( C)    The  Catholic  Roman  Church,  the 

C'lurch  of  the  New  Testmnent  and  of  the 
luv  iters. — The  real  difficulty  in  the  contro- 
\  ei'sy  with  all  who  are  not  Catholics  is  to 
prove  that  the  four  notes  of  the  Church 
;.nven  in  the  Constantinopohtan  Creed, 
•'  one,  holy,  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Climvh,"  are  the  true  marks  by  which  the 
(Jhurch  of  Christmay  be  distinguished  from 
the  sects.  When  that  is  done,  the  ques- 
tion between  Catholics  and  their  opponents 
is  almost  at  an  end,  for  a  Protestant  body 
can  scarcely  pretend  with  seriousness  to 
te  the  "one,  holy,  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Church."  In  fact,  no  single  Protestant 
body,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  professes  to 
be  the  one  Church.  But  neither  can  it  be 
maintained  tliat  Protestant  bodies  taken 
together,  or  Protestants  and  Catholics  to- 
gether, or  Anglicans,  Gijeeks  and  Roman 
Catholics  together,  form  the  one  Church. 
These  different  bodies  are  not  one  in  doc- 
trine; they  hold  no  visible  communion 
with  each  other;  much  less  are  they  ruled 
by  one  visible  government ;  they  cannot, 
therefore,  form  one  viflible  body.  Just  as 
little  can  any  of  the  bodies  which  are 
severed  from  the  unity  of  the  faith,  claim 
the  title  of  Catholic.  No  Protestant  sect 
asserts  its  right  to  universal  dominion; 
such  sects  are  essentially  national  or  local 
in  their  character,  and  exhibit  a  certain 
amount  of  toleration  to  each  other.  The 
Scotch  Presbyterian  Church  is  not  aggres- 
sive in  England :  the  English  Episcopalian 
Church  makes  no  attempt  to  exercise  juris- 
diction over  the  French  or  Italian  nations. 
No  Protestant  body  dares  to  say,  "  I  am 
the  Catholic  Church;  out  of  my  pale  there 
is  no  salvation ;  all  men  must  hear  me  and 
submit  to  me :  if  they  refuse,  it  is  at  their 
peril."  Even  the  Greek  schismatical 
Church  does  not  seriously  attempt  to 
convert  the  French  or  even  the  English 
to  its  special  form  of  Christianity.  Simi- 
larly it  might  be  shown  that  no  separated 
body  can  rightly  call  itself  holy  or  Apos- 
tolic ;  but  we  need  not  enter  at  length  on 
the  treatment  of  these  pomts,  because  we 
shall  have  to  point  out  presently  that 
the  Catholic  Roman  Church  is  in  exclusive 
possession  of  these  marks,  which  serve  with 
the  other  two  to  distinguish  the  true  Church. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  no  single  Protestant 
body,  no  schismatical  body  of  auy  kind, 
can  by  any  possibility  have  received  its 
■  ion  from  the  Apostles.  At  some  time 
other,  each  separated  itself  from  the 
1  De  Unitat.  Ecdesiw,  14. 


imity  of  the  Church  and  started  a  new  and 
independent  life,  so  that  its  present  doc- 
trine and  its  present  independent  state 
cannot  have  come  down  to  it  in  unbroken 
succession  from  the  Apostles  of  Christ. 
Indeed,  no  Protestant  Church  professed  to 
have  received  its  doctrine  in  unbroken 
succession  from  the  Apostles.  The  Angli- 
can body,  for  example,  declares  expressly 
that  Christianity  was  grossly  corrupted ; 
that  this  corruption  affected  the  English 
church  among  others,  and  that  she  at  the 
time  of  the  Reformation  reverted  to  the 
simplicity  of  primitive  doctrine.  The 
mark  of  sanctity  was  conspicuously  absent 
in  the  founders  of  the  Greek  schism  and  of 
the  Protestant  churches.  Nor  can  any 
body  which  is  not  Catholic  possess  the 
means  of  hohness.  Even  if  the  true 
sacraments  are  given,  they  are  given  and 
taken  against  Christ's  will,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  they  are  given  outside  of  the 
Church  which  He  founded  and  by  those 
who  hold  no  commission  to  administer 
them.  They  are  therefore  given  and  re- 
ceived sacrilegiously  and  cannot  profit  the 
recipient,  unles^  he  is  excused  by  invin- 
cible ignorance. 

The  Catholic  Roman  Church,  on  the 
other  hand,  claims  with  good  right  to  be 
"  one,  holy.  Catholic  and  Apostolic."  She 
is  one  because  all  her  members  are  united 
under  one  visible  head,  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  who  is  the  centre  of  unity,  and  who 
has  received  supreme  power  to  rule  and 
govern  the  Church  of  God.  He  does  so 
along  with  the  bishops  whom  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  appointed  also  "to  rule  the  Church 
of  God,"  an  office  which  they  exercise  in 
union  with,  and  in  subordination  to,  the  suc- 
cessor of  St.  Peter.  The  Church,  then ,  if  we 
look  at  its  constitution,  is  one,  as  truly  as, 
indeed  far  more  truly  than,  any  nation  can 
be  one.  Some  years  ago  a  great  deal  was 
said  about  the  unity  of  Germany,  which 
was  eagerly  desired  by  many.  Germans 
had  many  points  in  common :  they  all 
spoke  the  same  language ;  the  same  blood 
flowed  in  their  veins ;  they  were  proud  of 
the  same  literature;  they  were  bound  to- 
gether by  many  ennobling  recollections, 
and,  in  some  measure,  by  common  aspira- 
tions. But  the  German  States  were  not 
one,  because  they  were  not  under  one 
government.  After  a  military  struggle, 
the  unity  of  the  empire  was,  at  least 
to  a  great  extent,  secured,  because  the 
great  majority  of  Germans  were  placed 
under  one  single  rule.  This  imity  Christ 
provided  for  his  Church  by  placing  it 
under  Peter  and   his  successors.     But, 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 

whereas  earthly  governments  cease  to 
be,  and  nations  may  be  severed  and 
divided,  Christ  took  care  that  the  go- 
vernment of  his  Church  should  never 
fail — that  it  shoidd  continue  to  the  end  | 
of  time,  one  and  indivisible.  He  made  1 
Peter  the  rock,  and  promised  that  the  j 
gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail  against  I 
the  Church  built  upon  it.  That  this  unity  i 
of  government  is  possessed  by  the  Catho- 
lic Roman  Church  at  this  day,  is  an  un- 
questioned and  unquestionable  fact.  No 
less  clear  is  the  Church's  unity  in  faith. 
AIL  Roman  Catholics  believe  the  Church 
in  communion  with  the  Pope  to  be  in- 
fallible in  faith  and  morals.  The  freest 
discussion  is  permitted  on  matters  of 
opinion — even  of  theological  opinion.  But 
all  the  faithful,  by  the  very  fact  that  they 
are  Catholics,  admit  that  they  are  bound 
to  hear  the  voice  of  the  Church,  and  when 
the  Pope  solemnly  issues  a  definition  of 
faith,  when  the  pastors  united  teach  a  truth 
as  of  faith,  then  all  controversy  is  at  an  end. 
The  Protestant  principle  of  private  judg- 
ment is,  from  the  very  necessity  of  the  case, 
a  principle  of  division.  A  behef  in  the 
gift  of  infallibility  which  our  Saviour  has 
bestowed  on  his  Church  is  in  its  own 
nature  a  principle  of  unity.  This  unity 
of  government  and  belief  is  perfected  by 
unity  of  worship.  The  Catholic  Church 
aU  over  the  world  offers  to  God  the  one 
worship  really  worthy  of  Him — viz.  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  Everywhere  she 
administers  the  same  sacraments  with  the 
same  essential  rites. 

The  Catholic  Roman  Church  is  also 
holy.  She  gives  the  true  sacraments,  and 
it  is  in  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and  there 
only,  that  these  sacraments  are  means  of 
grace.  Because  of  her  infallibility  she 
teaches,  and  is  sure  to  teach,  a  holy  doc- 
trine, thereby  differing  from  the  Protestant 
Reformers,  who  taught  that  man  is  justi- 
fied by  mere  faith  without  good  works ; 
that  man's  will  is  not  free  ;  that  God  has 
predestined  some  to  eternal  ruin  without 
any  fault  of  theirs.  It  may  be  safely  said 
that  if  a  Protestant  is  virtuous,  it  is  not 
because,  but  in  spite  of,  the  heresy  taught 
by  those  who  founded  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion, while  a  bad  Catholic  is  bad  because 
he  does  not  practise  the  faith  which  he 
holds.  Further,  the  holiness  of  the 
Church  is  seen  in  the  sanctity  of  Christ 
and  his  Apostles  who  founded  her;  in  the 
constancy  of  the  martyrs  who  sealed  her 
faith  with  their  blood ;  in  the  lives  of  the 
great  saints,  who  have  adorned  her  in  all 
ages;  in  the  lofty  perfection  to  which  her 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST       175 

priests  and  religious  are  called.  The  Re- 
formers ought  to  have  been — considering 
the  exalted  mission  which  they  professed 
to  have  received  direct  from  heaven — men 
of  manifest  and  heroic  sanctity.  Let  the 
reader  study  the  character  of  Luther  as 
portrayed  by  learned  Protestants,  such  a? 
Hall  am  or  Sir  William  Hamilton  in  his 
Essays  :  let  him  then  peruse  the  defence  of 
Luther  against  his  Protestant  assailants, 
by  Archdeacon  Hare  •,  and  he  will  see  how 
far  Luther  fell  short  of  the  ordinary  moral 
standard,  let  alone  heroic  sanctity.  Is  it 
credible  that  God  used  such  a  man  as  the 
great  instrument  for  re-introducing  the 
gospel  into  Europe  P  Then  let  the  reader 
turn  to  the  lives  of  the  great  Catholic 
saints — St.  Ignatius,  St.  Charles  Borromeo, 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  and  many  others — 
whom  God  raised  up  at  the  very  time  when 
so  many  were  deserting  the  Church  of  Christ 
and  stigmatising  her  as  apostate  and  cor- 
rupt. Or,  again,  let  anyf)ne  impartially 
consider  the  state  to  which  a  priest  is 
called,  and  compare  it  with  that  of  a  Pro- 
testant clergyman.  The  former  is  for- 
bidden the  enjoyment  of  domestic  life, 
that  he  may^  give  himself  entirely  to  the 
service  of  God  and  his  brethren.  Day  by 
day  he  must  recite  the  Divine  Office;  prac- 
tically he  is  obliged  to  offer  frequently  the 
holy  sacrifice,  so  that  he  has  the  most 
powerful  motive  for  keeping  his  conscience 
pure.  The  life  of  a  priest  is  utterly  unlike 
that  of  other  men.  A  Protestant  minister, 
on  the  other  hand,  scarcely  differs,  so  far 
as  his  state  goes,  from  the  laymen  around 
him,  and  if,  as  is  often  the  case,  he  is  a  man 
of  exemplary  zeal  and  self-denial,  it  is  not 
his  Church  which  makes  him  so.  Lastly, 
the  Catholic  Church  at  all  times  produces 
eminent  servants  of  God,  who,  according 
to  Christ's  promise,  perform  works  of 
wonder,  like  his  own.  So  confident  is 
the  Catholic  Church  that  she  possesses  a 
succession  of  saints  whose  sanctity  is  evi- 
denced by  miracles,  that  she  actually  pos- 
sesses a  regular  tribunal  for  t!ie  investi- 
gation of  their  heroic  virtues  and  the 
miracles  which  attested  it.  It  is  certain 
that  no  heretical  sect,  no  church  except 
the  Catholic  Roman  Church,  would  ven- 
ture, in  the  broad  light  of  civilisation,  to 
set  up  such  a  court. 

The  Church  is  continually  aggressive, 
and  she  will  acknowledge  no  rival. 
Wherever  it  is  possible  she  sends  her  mis- 
sionaries and  plants  churches.  She  claims 
universal  jurisdiction.  The  common  sense 
of  mankind  acknowledges  her  Catholic 
character.     Various  sects  claim  the  nam© 


176       CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 

Df  Catholic,  bat  they  never  succeed  in 
persuading  others  to  acknowledge  this 
claim,  and  they  scarcely  seem  to  believe 
in  it  themselves.  They  are  known  as 
the  Church  of  a  particular  country,  as 
the  Church  of  England,  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  (fee;  by  the  name  of  some  heret- 
ical founder,  Calvinists,  Lutherans,  &c.; 
never  as  Catholics.  Even  separatists  who 
have  maintained  the  priesthood  and  the 
Cathohc  rites  are  not  known  to  the  world 
generally  as  Catholics  but  as  Jansenists, 
"Old  Catholics,"  Sec.  The  argument  of  St. 
Augustine  holds  as  good  now  as  in  his  own 
day.  He  says  he  was  kept  in  the  Church 
by  the  "  very  name  of  Catholic  which  not 
without  cause  among  so  many  heresies 
that  Church  alone  has  obtained ;  so  that, 
although  all  heretics  wish  to  be  called 
Catholic,  no  heretic,  if  a  stranger  asks  the 
way  to  the  Catholic  Church,  dares  to 
point  out  his  own  basilica  or  house."  ^  The 
Church  in  no  way  remits  her  claim  to  be 
Catholic  when  she  also  speaks  of  herself 
as  Roman.  It  is  the  distmctive  mark  of 
Catholics  to  be  in  communion  with  the 
Roman  see.  And  this  use  of  Roman  as 
equivalent  to  Catholic  is  not  of  recent 
date.  "  The  Catholics,"  Cardinal  Newman 
writes,  "  during  this  period  [viz.  that  of 
the  Arian  Goths]  were  denoted  by  the 
additional  title  of  Romans.  Of  this  there 
are  many  proofs  in  the  histories  of  St. 
Gregory  of  Tours,  Victor  of  Vite,  and  the 
Spanish  councils."  .  .  .  After  giving  one 
accidental  reason  for  which  the  Catholics 
at  that  time  were  called  Romans,  Cardinal 
Newman  proceeds :  "  The  word  certainly 
contains  also  an  allusion  to  the  faith  and 
communion  of  the  Roman  See.  In  this 
sense  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  in  his 
letter  to  Acacms  of  Beroea,  contrasts  it 
with  Nestorianism,  which  was  within  the 
empire  as  well  as  Catholicism;  during  the 
controversy  raised  by  that  heresy,  he  ex- 
horts him  and  others  to  show  themselves 
*  approved  priests  of  the  Roman  religion.'" 
Later  on  similar  passages  are  adduced 
from  the  Emperor  Gratian  and  St. 
Jerome.^ 

The  Roman  Church  is  Apostolic,  be- 
cause her  doctrine  is  the  faith  once  revealed 
to  the  Apostles,  which  faith  she  guards 
and  explains,  without  adding  to  it  or  taking 
from  it ;  because  the  orders  of  her  clergy 
come  by  unbroken  succession  from  the 
Apostles ;  because  she  is  in  communion  with 
Rome,  the  Apostolic  see  by  pre-eminence, 

*  August  Ep.  Fundam.  c.  4,  quoted  by 
Billuart. 

«  Development^  p.  280,  »eq. 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 

for  the  Roman  bishop  is  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  to  whom  Christ  entrusted  his 
flock,  to  whom  He  gave  the  keys  of  his 
house,  so  that  communion  with  Rome 
makes  the  Church's  mission— that  is,  her 
authority  to  teach — apostolic.  Other  sees 
of  Apostolic  foundation  have  fallen  away 
into  heresy ;  and  in  the  Cathohc  Roman 
Church  the  See  of  Peter  remains  the  un- 
failing centre  of  unity.  Sects  may  pre- 
serve the  Apostolic  succession  of  bishops, 
and  so  may  have  true  orders;  but  no 
sect  can  have  Apostolic  mission  and  so  be 
Apostolic,  because  all  mission  is  lost  the 
moment  that  a  separation  from  the  Roman 
See  is  effected. 

(D)  The  Constitution  of  the  Church. 
— We  may  now  dismiss  controversy,  and 
attempt  a  concise  account  of  the  mili- 
tant Church  and  the  belief  of  Catholics 
regarding  it.  It  may  be  defined  as  "  the 
society  of  the  faithful  who  are  baptised 
and  united  by  the  profession  of  the  same 
faith,  participation  in  the  same  sacraments 
and  the  same  worship,  to  each  other,  and 
who  are  under  one  head  in  heaven,  viz. 
Christ,  one  head  on  earth,  viz.  the 
Pope,  his  Vicar."  Thus  the  Church 
consists  of  those  who  "  are  baptised,"  be- 
cause baptism  makes  us  members  of  the 
Church ;  who  are  united  in  faith,  sacra- 
ments and  worship,  because  since  the 
Church  is  intended  to  put  men  in  pos- 
session of  heaven,  her  members  must  be 
united  in  the  means  necessary  for  the 
attainment  of  this  end — viz.  faith,  sacra- 
ments, and  worship ;  her  members  are 
all  under  one  head,  otherwise  the  Church 
would  not  be  one  body ;  lastly,  the  Church, 
being  a  visible  body,  must  have  a  visible 
head  and  centre  of  unity. 

The  Church  then,  though  it  consists  of 
good  and  bad  members,  does  not  include 
heretics,  schismatics,  or  (at  least  in  the 
strict  and  full  sense  of  membership)  per- 
sons severed  from  her  unity  by  the  greater 
excommunication.^  This  Church  is  divided 
into  the  ecdesia  docens  (i.e.  the  body  of  the 
pastors  who  teach  the  faith)  and  the 
ecdesia  credens  {i.e.  the  faithful  who  are 
taught  the  faith  and  who  accept  it).  The 
teaching  or  ruling  bod}-  of  the  Church  is 
composed,  (1)  of  the  Pope,  who  is  the 
vicar  of  Christ  and  successor  of  Peter; 
who  is  the  centre  of  unity,  so  that  none 

1  Certain  questions  agitated  in  the  theo- 
logical schools  are  i)aMsed  over  here :  e.g.  whether 
"pure  schismatics  "  (i.e.  persons  holding  the 
full  faith  of  the  Church,  but  separated  by 
schism)  may  still  be  called  members  of  the 
Church. 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 

who  are  not  in  communion  with  him  are 

Catholics  at  all ;  and  who  possesses  imme- 
diate and  ordinaiyjiirisdiction  over  all  the 
faithful — i.e.  not  only  over  all  the  laity, 
but  over  all  other  pastors,  whatever  their 
dig-nity  may  be.^  (2)  Of  the  bishops, 
who  rule  separate  portions  of  Christ's 
flock  which  have  been  committed  to  their 
charg:e,  with  ordinary  jurisdiction  and  in 
virtue  of  divine  appointment,  but  still  in 
union  with  and  in  subordination  to  the 
Pope.  (3)  Of  the  inferior  clergy,  who 
are  subordinate  to  the  bishops  and  repre- 
sent them,  but  who  are  not  necessary  to 
the  Church  in  the  same  sense  as  that 
in  which  the  bishops  are,  since  bishops, 
governing  their  flocks  with  ordinary  juris- 
diction belong  to  the  divine  and  inalter- 
able constitution  of  the  Church  ;  not  so 
vicars-general,  parish-priests,  &c.  The 
Pope,  indeed,  may  remove  bishops,  may 
alter  the  boundaries  of  dioceses,  suppress 
them  or  unite  them  ;  a  country  mav  lose 
its  hierarchy  and  become  subject  to  N^icars 
Apostolic,  who  are  mere  delegates  of  the 
Pope.  But  there  always  has  been  and 
there  always  will  be  an  episcopate,  pre- 
siding over  dioceses  and  ruling  them,  in 
subjection,  of  course,  to  the  Pope,  but  still 
with  ordinary  jurisdiction. 

The  ecclesia  cj'edens,  or  body  of  the 
faithful,  is  infallible  in  its  belief  concern- 
ing faith  in  morals :  i.e.  in  theological  lan- 
guage, the  Church  has  a  passive  infalli- 
bility ;  but,  as  the  faithful  are  bound  to 
learn  the  faith  from  their  pastors,  it  follows 
that  the  Church  has  an  active  as  well  as  a 
passive  infallibility:  i.e.  tlie  fn it hful  can- 
not err  in  what  they  believe,  because  the 
same  Holy  Spirit  which  enables  them  to 
believe  what  their  pastors  teach  pr(<\  ides 
that  these  pastors  shall  teach  the  truth 
with  unerring  voice.  The  pastors  of  the 
Church  may  exercise  this  divine  gift  in 
several  ways.  The  Pope,  in  his  supreme 
office  of  universal  teacher,  may  define  a 
doctrine  on  faith  and  morals,  to  be  held 
by  the  whole  Church  ;  in  which  case,  ac- 
cording to  the  decision  of  the  Vatican 
Council,  he  is  infallible.  Again,  the  Pope 
may  convoke  a  particular  synod  and  in 
union  with  it  define  a  doctrine  of  faith , which 
he  afterwards  promulgates  to  the  whole 
Church.  Once  more,  the  Pope  may  convoke 
a  general  council,  and  confirm  its  decisions 
on  matters  of  faith .  Lastly,  the  Church  dis- 
persed may  exercise  her  infallibility :  i.e. 
the  Pope  and  the  bishops  throughout  the 
world,  in  the  ordinary  performance  of 
their  duty,  and  without  formally  concert- 

1  Concil.  Vatican.,  "  Past,  aetern."  cap.  3. 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST       177 

ing  together,  may  teach  certain  truths  to 
the  body  of  the  Church  as  of  divine  faith. 
In  all  these  cases.  Catholics  without  ex- 
ception maintain,  and  are  bound  to  main- 
tain, that  the  teaching  given  is  infallible. 
It  only  remains  to  determine  the 
subject-matter  to  which  this  infallibility 
extends.  Clearly,  neither  Pope  nor 
Church  can  put  forth  new  dogmas  for 
acceptance.  The  faith  has  been  "  once  de- 
livered to  the  saints."  The  Vatican  Coun- 
cil lays  down  this  point  with  great  luci- 
dity. "The  Holy  Ghost  was  not  pro- 
mised to  the  successors  of  Peter  in  order 
that,  through  his  revelation,  they  might 
manifest  new  doctrine,  but  in  order  that 
throuofh  his  assistance  [the  successors  of 
Peter]  might  religiously  guard,  and  faith- 
fully expound,  the  revelation  handed 
down  by  the  Apostles,  or  the  deposit  of 
the  faith."  The  Church,  then,  has  no  in- 
spiration :  she  cannot  receive  fresh  revela- 
tions, to  be  imposed  on  the  belief  of  the 
faithful.  Her  office  is  confined  to  ex- 
pounding the  original  revelation,  to  the 
condemnation  of  new  error  and  the  draw- 
ing out  of  ancient  truth,  which  may  not, 
as  yet,  have  been  perfectly  understood  by 
the  faithful.  Hence  when  the  Church 
defines  an  article  of  faith — such,  for  exam- 
ple, as  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin — there  is  a  double  obligation 
of  belief.  First,  we  are  bound  to  confess 
that  the  doctrine  is  true  and  to  be  accepted 
without  doubt ;  next,  that  this  doctrine 
was  revealed  to  the  Apostles  and  pre- 
served in  the  deposit  of  faith,  as  contained 
in  Scripture  and  tradition.  It  need 
scarcely  be  said  that  this  belief  in  the 
permanent  and  inalterable  character  of 
revealed  truth  is  ])erfectly  consistent  with 
the  theory  of  development  as  maintained 
by  Cardinal  Newman  and  other  eminent 
Catholic  divines.  It  is  one  thing  to  hold 
that  the  deposit  of  faith  was  given  in  its 
fullness  to  the  Apostles  ;  quite  another  to 
assert  that  every  article  of  this  faith  has 
been  apprehended  fully  and  clearly  by  the 
faithful  generally  in  all  parts  of  the 
Church.  On  certain  great  and  central 
truths — e.f/.  the  Divinity  of  Christ;  his 
presence  in  the  Eucharist;  the  forgiveness 
of  sin  through  baptism  and  penance  ;  the 
unity  and  infallibility  of  the  Church — the 
faith  of  Catholics  has  been  clear  from 
the  first.  On  other  questions  a  certain 
obscurity  prevailed,  and  the  Catholic 
dogmas  were  developed  by  the  slow  action 
of  time  and  controversy'  Consequences 
had  to  be  drawn  from  principles,  and  only 
by  degrees  did  it  appear  how  much  these 


178       CHURCH  OF  CHRIST 

principles  involved.  Individual  Fathers 
might  fall  into  exaggeration  or  commit 
themselves  to  incomplete  and  one-sided 
statements.  They  might  fix  their  atten- 
tion on  the  truths  which  it  was  their 
husiness  at  the  moment  to  defend  against 
the  heresy  of  the  day,  and  fall  into  in- 
accurate language,  wliich  could  be  used — 
unjustly,  indeed,  hut  not  without  a  show 
of  plausibility — by  heretics  who  fell  into 
error  at  the  opposite  extreme  from  the 
errors  which  these  Fathers  opposed.  It 
may  be  freely  admitted,  then,  that  the  de- 
finitions of  councils  have  gone  beyond  the 
teaching  of  individual  Fathers,  but  then 
this  is  precisely  because  these  Fathers  had 
fallen  short  to  some  extent  of  the  origiDal 
teaching  of  the  Apostles.  In  the  course 
of  years  heresy  was  met  by  new  and  ade- 
quate expression  of  truth,  delivered  from 
the  first ;  but,  after  all,  the  stream  of  doc- 
trine rose  no  higher  than  its  source. 

Thus  the  Church's  infallibility  in  de- 
fining articles  of  faith  is  limited  to  the 
definition  of  truths  already  contained  in 
Scripture  and  Tradition.  But  within  this 
province  her  word,  and  her  word  alone,  is 
decisive.  To  her,  and  not  to  private  in- 
dividuals, it  belongs  authoritatively  to 
interpret  Scriptures.  She  has  determined 
the  books  of  which  Scripture  is  made  up ; 
it  is  hers  to  judge  of  their  meaning.  So, 
too,  she  is  the  guardian  of  tradition  and 
no  one  can  appeal  either  to  Scripture  or 
to  history  against  her  definition  without 
making  shipwreck  of  the  faith  and  for- 
feiting the  name  of  Catholic  by  the  very 
act.  Individuals  may  of  course  devote 
themselves  to  the  study  of  Scriptural  exe- 
gesis, and  of  history,  and  the  Church  in  all 
ages  has  encouraged  these  studies  and 
commended  those  who  have  pursued  them. 
Moreover,  few  studies,  if  pursued  in  a  really 
scientific  and  impartial  spirit,  tend  more 
to  strengthen  belief  in  the  Church's  claim. 
But  to  say  that  a  private  person  may  on 
the  strength  of  his  investigations  set  at 
defiance  the  Church's  definition  is  tan- 
tamount to  a  denial  of  the  Church's 
infallibility. 

We  have  just  said  that  the  Church's 
infallibility  in  articles  of  faith  does  not  ex- 
tend beyond  the  truths  contained  in  the 
original  revelation.  But  almost  all  theo- 
logians are  agreed  that  the  Church  is 
endowed  with  a  further  infallibility,  on 
matters  which  are  so  closely  connected 
with  revealed  truth  that,  unless  the  Church 
were  infallible  in  pronouncing  upon  them, 
her  infallibility,  in  defining  the  faith  itself, 
would  come  to  nothing,  or  at  least  fail  to 


CHURCH 

effect  the  ends  for  which  it  was  bestowed 
upon  her.  Thus  the  Church  is  infallible  in 
deciding  that  a  book  contains  heretical  doc- 
trine :  in  affirming,  for  example,  that 
false  and  heretical  propositions  are  to 
be  found  in  the  work  of  Jansenius  on 
grace.  Otherwise  the  Church's  con- 
demnation of  false  doctrine  would  be 
almost  useless,  since  the  faithful  would  be 
free  to  maintain  that  the  Church  had  mis- 
understood the  meaning  of  the  supposed 
heretic,  and  thus  they  might  continue  to 
feed  on  poisonous  pastures.  So  again,  the 
Church  is  infallible  in  the  canonisation  of 
saints :  i.e.  in  deciding  that  a  particular 
individual  practised  virtue  in  an  heroic 
degree  and  now  reigns  with  Christ  in 
heaven :  else  she  would  be  proposing  false 
models  to  her  children,  and  encouraging  a 
veneration  completely  misplaced:  to  do 
which  would  amount  to  nothing  less 
than  forfeiting,  or  at  least  obscuring, 
her  note  of  sanctity.  Similar  cases  in 
which  the  Church's  infallibility  extends 
beyond  the  deposit  of  faith  might  be 
mentioned.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  Church  is  not  infallible  in  such 
facts  as  are  merely  personal  and  historical. 
She  may  err  in  her  judgment  on  the  guilt 
or  innocence  of  individuals  who  come  be- 
fore her  tribunal ;  documents  may  be  ac- 
cepted as  genuine  in  her  councils  which 
are  really  spurious ;  historical  errors  may 
exist  in  the  offices  of  the  Breviary,  ap- 
proved as  it  is  by  the  judgmeut  of  the 
Pope  and  the  Church.  Error  on  such 
matters  is  possible,  because  they  form  no 
part  of  the  faith,  nor  does  error*  in  regard 
to  them  detract  from  the  perfection  with 
which  the  Church  guards  that  faith. 

(For  the  Church  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, see  the  admirable  account  in  Doilin- 
ger's  ^*  First  Age  of  the  Church."  Mohler's 
Symbolism  ("Symbolik")  contains  a  mas- 
terly exposition  of  the  difi'erences  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants  on  the  subject  of 
the  Church.  Cardinal  Newman's  "  Deve- 
lopment of  Christian  Doctrine  "  abounds 
with  valuable  matter  on  this  subject.) 

CHURCH:  PI.ACE  OF  CHRZS- 
TZAX  ASSEMBXiY.  Churches  may, 
in  one  sense,  be  said  to  be  ns  old  as  Chris- 
tianity itself,  for  places  of  Christian  meet- 
ing are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament — e.r/.  in  1  Cor.  xi.  22,  xiv.  ,34. 
At  first  no  doubt  private  houses  were  used 
tor  this  purpose,  and  thus  St.  Paul, 
Coloss.  iv.  lo,  writes, "  Salute  the  brethren 
whoareatLaodicea,andNymphas,and  the 
Church  that  is  in  his  house."  The  same 
expression  is  used  of  Prisca  and  Aquila, 


CHURCH 

both  at  Rome,  in  Rom.  xvi.  5;  and  at 
Ephesus,  1  Cor.  xvi.  19 ;  and  also  of 
Philemon,  either  at  Colossse  or  Laodicea 
(Philemon,  2).  This  state  of  things  con- 
tinued after  the  Apostolic  age,  though  it  is 
impossible  to  determine  exactly  when  the 
gatherings  in  the  houses  of  private  Chiis- 
tians  gave  way  to  assemblies  held  in  build- 
ings erected  for  the  purpose.  Justin  gives 
a  famous  description  of  the  celebration 
of  the  Eucharist  among  Christians  of  his 
time,  but  he  does  not  make  any  mention  of 
churches  in  the  later  sense.  Some  light  is 
thrown  on  the  early  Christian  assemblies  by 
the  words  quoted  byDe  Rossi,  "  collegium 
quod  est  in  domo  Sergise  Paulinse  "  ^  ("  the 
club  which  is  in  the  house  of  Sergia 
Paulina") ;  for  the  Christians  were  first 
recognised  by  the  Roman  government  as 
"  Collegia  "  or  burial  clubs,  and  protected 
by  this  legal  toleration  they  no  doubt 
held  their  first  assemblies  for  public  wor- 
ship. However,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
third  century,  we  find  clear  proof  that 
churches  properly  so  called  began  to  be 
erected.  Thus  ^lius  Lampridius  in  his 
Life  of  Alexander  Severus  (222-235)  re- 
lates that  this  Emperor  confirmed  the 
Christians  in  possession  of  a  place  of  wor- 
ship. St.  Gregory  the  wonder-worker 
is  said  by  his  namesake  of  Nyssa,  to  have 
built  several  churches ;  and  when  the  per- 
secution of  Diocletian  broke  out,  the  sight 
of  Christian  churches  was  familiar  to  all, 
The  edict  of  that  Emperor,  usually 
assigned  to  the  year  302,  ordered  their 
destruction.  As  soon  as  this  last  persecu- 
tion was  over,  and  the  peace  of  the  Church 
secured  by  Constantine,  Christians  began 
to  erect  churches  on  a  magnificent  scale, 
and  thus  seized  the  first  opportunity  of 
manifesting  that  outward  respect  to  God 
and  his  house  which  is  characteristic  of 
Catholics.  Eusebius  has  left  an  elaborate 
description  of  the  church  built  at  Tyre 
between  313  and  322.  He  tells  us  of  its 
great  wall  of  enclosure,  which  has  left  its 
traces  to  tliis  day  ;  of  its  portico  opening 
into  the  atrium,  in  the  centre  of  which 
there  was  a  fountain  for  the  purification 
of  the  worshippers  as  they  entered ;  of  the 
great  doors,  the  nave,  the  aisles  with 
galleries  above  them;  of  the  "thrones" 
for  the  clergy,  and  of  "  the  most  holy 
altar"  surrounded  with  railings  of  ex- 
quisite work.'^  In  short,  the  Church  ex- 
hibited the  pomp  of  Catholic  worship  as 
soon  as  it  was  possible  to  do  so. 

^  Roma  Sotterranea,  i.  p.  209,  quoted  by  Dr. 
Lightfoot,  Comment,  on  Colossians. 
2  Euseb.  H.  E.  X.  4,  §  37,  seq. 


CHURCH 


179 


The  changes  of  style  in  church-  building 
at  different  epochs  do  not  concern  us 
here;  but  it  is  worthwhile  to  note  the 
arrangements  of  the  earliest  Christian 
churches. 

According  to  the  rule  laid  down  in  the 
Apostolic  Constitutions,^  the  Church  was 
to  have  the  sanctuary  at  the  east  end,  the 
reason  being  that  by  this  means  the  Chris- 
tians in  church  were  enabled  to  pray  as 
they  wore  used  to  pray  in  private,  i.e. 
facing  the  east.''  However,  this  rule  was 
by  no  means  universally  observed.  The 
church  at  Tyre,  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken,  had  the  entrance  at  the  east  and 
the  sanctuary  of  course  at  the  west ;  and 
ancient  churches  in  Ivome  (e.</.  St.  John 
Lateran)  are  preserved  in  this  manner. 
The  fact  is  that,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
it  was  impossible,  according  to  the  position 
which  the  bishop  occupied,  that  both  he 
and  his  tiock  should  pray  facing  in  the 
same  direction.  If  the  rule  in  the  Apo- 
stolic Constitutions  was  followed,  the 
people  faced  east,  the  bishop  west ;  if  the 
church  was  placed  like  that  built  at  Tyre, 
or  like  those  said  to  have  been  erected  by 
Constantine  at  Rome,  then  the  people  had 
to  face  westwards,  but  the  celebrant 
looked  towards  the  east.  The  form  of 
the  church  described  in  the  Apostolic 
Constitutions  was  an  oblong,  terminating 
at  the  inner  end  in  a  semicircular  projec- 
tion, called  concha  or  apse.  In  this  apse 
the  altar  was  placed ;  behind  the  altar  the 
bishop's  throne  was  placed;  the  priests 
occupied  seats  which  formed  a  semicircle, 
the  bishop's  seat  being  in  the  midst,  and 
the  bishop  and  the  priests  being  so  placed 
as  to  look  towards  the  people.  Origen  calls 
this  place  in  which  the  seats  of  the  bishops 
and  priests  were  set  round  the  altar,/we«6y- 
terium.  It  corresponds  to  what  we  now 
call  the  sanctuary,  a  name  which  was  not 
introduced  till  the  middle  ages.  Of  the 
deacons,  some  stood  in  the  presbyterium, 
others  were  stationed  in  the  body  of  the 
church  to  keep  order  among  the  people. 
In  the  church  of  St.  Agnes  in  the  Roman 
Catacombs,  we  can  still  discover  this 
ancient  arrangement  of  the  presbyterium. 
At  each  side  of  the  apse — i.e.  at  the  north 
and  south  corners,  if  the  apse  looked  east — 
there  were  naaroipopia  or  cells  for  the  re- 
servation of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and 
for  keeping  the  sacred  vessels. 

The  laity  were  placed  in  the  nave,  a 
name  which  has  arisen  from  the  compari- 
son of  the  Church  to  a  ship,  which  we 


»  C 


pos 
lem 


Al.  Strom,  vii.  7. 


vS 


180 


CHURCH 


CHURCH 


meet  -witli  even  in  the  Apostolic  Constitu- 
tions. '*  In  the  middle  stood  the  reader 
ou  a  raised  place."  Since  the  bishop  also 
is  said  to  have  sat  in  the  middle,  although 
his  throne  really  stood  at  the  east  end,  we 
are  justified  in  supposing  that  the  reader's 
pulpit  was  between  the  north  and  south 
sides  of  the  nave — in  other  words,  at  the 
east  of  the  nave,  and  so,  close  to  the  pres- 
byterium.  St.  Cyprian^  describes  the 
conspicuous  position  of  the  reader,  as  he 
stood  on  the  pulpit  {jmlpitum)  in  the  sight 
of  the  congregation. 

Nearest  to  the  presbyterium,  places 
were  reserved  for  the  vii-gins,  widows  and 
aged  women.^  The  next  part  of  the  nave 
was  parted  off  into  two  spaces,  each  with 
separate  doors  :  one  of  these  portions  was 
for  men,  the  doors  being  guarded  by 
ostiarii',  the  other  for  women,  the  doors 
being  placed  in  charge  of  deaconesses. 
We  learn  from  the  direct  testimony  of 
Origen  that  the  last  place,  i.e.  the  most 
remote  from  the  altar — was  given  to  the 
catechumens.  No  doubt,  however,  the 
catechumens  were  placed  nearer  to  the 
altar  than  the  penitents,  though  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  determine  the  position  occupied 
by  the  different  classes  of  penitents.  Ter- 
tullian^  speaks  of  criminals,  who  were 
driven  not  only  from  the  threshold,  but 
from  any  place  under  the  roof  of  the 
church ;  and  Cyprian  says  of  penitents, 
*  Let  them  come  to  the  threshold  of  the 
church,  but  by  no  means  pass  over  it."^ 
We  may  perhaps  conclude  that  the  more 
advanced  class  of  penitents  (the  "  hearers'') 
were  placed  in  the  porch  (vapdr]^),  while 
persons  under  excommunication  were  put 
outside  of  the  church  altogether.  The 
buildings  attached  from  ancient  times  to 
the  church,  such  as  the  sacristy,  baptist- 
ery, (fcc,  are  described  in  separate  articles. 

As  has  been  already  said,  we  are  con- 
sidering the  church  from  the  theological 
or  ecclesiastical,  not  from  the  architec- 
tural point  of  view,  so  that  we  say  nothing 
of  the  different  styles  which  have  pre- 
vailed in  the  East  and  West.  According- 
ly, having  described  the  arrangements  of 
a  Christian  church  in  primitive  ages,  we 
may  now  pass  on  to  speak  of  the  modern 
regulations  on  the  subject  of  church- 
building.  We  shall  follow  as  our  guide  a 
recent  writer  on  this  subject,  Msgr.  de 
# 

'  Cyprian,  Ep.  xxxviii.,  ed.  Hnrtel. 

2  npea/SuTifies,  in  the  Apostolic  Constitu- 
tions. There  is  some  dispute  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  word. 

3  Tertull.  De  Pudicit.  c.  4. 

*  Cyprian  (ed,  Hartel),  Ep.  xxx.,  §  6, 


Montault,  in  his  "  Traits  pratique  de  1ft 

Construction  des  Eglises." 

A  church  is  a  building  intended  for 
the  general  use  of  the  faithful,  and  is  for 
this  reason  distinct  from  a  chapel,  which 
is  intended  for  the  convenience  of  some 
family,  college,  &c. ;  or  from  an  oratory, 
which  is  essentially  domestic  or  private. 
The  principal  churches  are  called  basili- 
cas, and  these  again  are  subdivided  into 
greater  and  patriarchal,  and  into  minor 
basilicas.  The  chief  church  of  a  diocese 
is  called  a  cathedral,  and  a  cathedral 
may  be  patriarchal,  primatial,  metro- 
politan, according  to  the  dignity  of  the 
prelate  who  holds  it.  An  abbatial  church 
is  the  seat  of  an  abbot ;  if  served  by  a 
chapter,  a  church  is  called  collegiate. 
The  title  parish-church  explains  itself. 
The  greater  Basilicas  are  called  "  most 
holy,"  while  "  most  illustrious "  and 
"  illustrious  "  (peHnsigne  and  insigne)  are 
names  of  honour  given  respectively  to 
lesser  basilicas  and  collegiate  churches, 
by  favour  of  the  Holy  See. 

The  place  on  which  a  church  is  to  be 
built  is  to  be  designated  by  the  bishop, 
as  is  expressly  ordered  both  by  the  Ponti- 
fical and  canon  law.  There  must  be  an 
open  space  all  round  the  church,  but  this 
prescription  of  the  Pontifical  does  not 
forbid  the  placing  of  houses  for  the 
bishop  or  clergy  at  the  side.  There 
should  be  no  window  or  door  opening 
into  a  private  house,  unless  permission  to 
that  effect  has  been  obtained  from  Rome. 
There  is  no  rule  which  requires  the  sanc- 
tuary to  be  placed  at  the  east  end,  though 
Ferraris  considers  this  arrangement  more 
suitable.  In  the  middle  ages,  pains  were 
taken  to  place  the  sanctuary  so  that  it 
looked  towards  the  point  at  which  the 
sun  rose  when  the  foundations  were  traced. 
During  the  last  three  centuries  this  orien- 
tation, as  it  is  called,  has  been  much 
neglected.  Nor,  again,  need  the  church 
be  of  any  particular  style,  since  the  Church 
has  sanctioned  by  use  all  kinds  of  eccle- 
siastical architecture.  Moreover,  churches 
are  built  in  all  forms  and  shapes :  that  of 
a  Latin  cross,  of  a  Greek  cross  (which  is  a 
cross  with  four  equal  branches),  of  a  rect- 
angle, circle,  &c.  The  plans  when  com- 
pleted must  be  submitted  to  the  bishop 
and  approved  by  him. 

The  laity  are  placed  in  the  nave  of 
the  church.  The  separation  of  the  sexes, 
which,  as  we  have  seen  above,  dates  from 
the  infancy  of  the  Church,  continued 
during  the  middle  ages.  It  was  the 
custom  to  place  the  women  on  the  northi 


OHimCH  PROPERTY 

the  men  on  the  south  side  of  the  nave. 
This  separation  of  men  from  women  in 
church  is  now  very  generally  neglected, 
but  it  is  required  by  the  Roman  Ritual 
and  the  "  Cere^uonial  of  Bishops,"  when 
it  can  be  managed  without  inconvenience. 

Catholics  are  of  course  hound  to  show 
i-espect  to  the  church  as  the  house  of 
God.  Men  must  uncover  their  heads, 
women,  according  to  St.  Paul's  rule,  must 
have  their  heads  covered.  Ecclesiastical 
authority  from  time  to  time  has  in- 
tervened^ to  suppress  abuses  contrary  to 
this  respect,  and  has  severely  interdicted 
unnecessary  talking,  the  sale  of  pious 
objects,  begging,  &c.,  in  the  church.  It 
is,  however,  to  be  observed  that  ecclesias- 
tical authority  permits  certain  reunions 
which  are  not  of  a  strictly  religious  cha- 
racter to  take  place  in  church.  Thus  in 
1669  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites 
"  declared  that  it  was  not  contrary  to  the 
ecclesiastical  rite,  nay,  that  it  was  praise- 
worthy," for  the  medical  college  of 
Salerno  to  "  confer  the  Doctor's  degree  in 
the  church." 

With  regard  to  the  7'epair  of  churches, 
the  expense  must  be  met,  according  to 
Benedict  XIV.  and  other  canonists,  (1) 
from  the  revenues  of  the  church,  if  suffi- 
cient for  the  purpose ;  (2)  by  those  who 
are  obliged,  whether  by  custom  or  parti- 
cular statute,  to  do  so  ;  (3)  by  the  parish 
priest  if  his  professional  income  allows  of 
it,  the  assistant  clergy  being  also  bound 
to  contribute  on  the  same  condition  ;  (4) 
by  the  patron  ;  (6)  failing  all  these,  a  tax 
must  be  imposed  on  the  parishioners. 
For  the  rebuilding  of  churches,  the  Con- 
gregation of  Rites  sometimes  permits  the 
people  of  the  place  to  work  on  holidays  of 
obligation  according  to  the  discretion  of 
the  ordinary,  provided  that  the  work  on 
these  days  is  done  gratuitously.  In  order 
to  change  the  site  of  a  church,  very  grave 
reasons  are  required,  and  often,  particularly 
if  a  cathedral  church  is  in  question,  leave 
must  be  obtained  from  Rome. 

The  particular  parts  of  the  church, 
choir,  porch,  &c.,  and  the  furniture,  altars, 
images,  &c.,  are  treated  of  in  separate 
articles.  Of  the  early  history  of  churches, 
a  good  account  will  be  found  in  the  recent 
work  of  Probst,  "  Kirchliche  Disciplin  in 
den  drei  ersten  Jahrhunderten." 

CHURCH  PROPERTY*  {bona  eccle- 
siasticd).  The  right  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  equally  with  any  other  corpora- 
tion or  moral  person,  to  acquire  and  pos- 
sess property,  seems  obvious  to  common 
sense ;  but  since  this  right  is  often  con- 


OHUROH  PROPERTY        181 

tested  in  theory  and  withheld  in  practice 
in  our  own  day,  it  may  be  desirable  to  go 
into  the  matter  in  some  detail :  to  examine 
the  principle  in  human  nature  on  which 
the  temporal  endowments  of  the  Chm-ch 
are  founded ;  to  distinguish  the  various 
kinds  of  ecclesiastical  property,  and  the 
purposes  for  which  such  property  is  re- 
quired ;  then,  after  sketching  the  history 
of  Church  endowments  in  Europe,  to  give 
some  account  of  the  efforts  which  medi- 
aeval and  modern  legislation  has  made 
to  arrest  theu*  increase  and  oust  their 
possessors. 

How  the  Church  came  to  possess  pro- 
perty any  person  who  is  a  Catholic  in 
more  than  name  can  discover  by  merely 
analysing  the  feelingswhich  spontaneously 
arise  in  his  own  mind  when  he  is  invited, 
or  has  the  opportunity,  to  make  an  offer- 
ing for  some  religious  object.  In  making 
it  he  feels  that  it  is  not  he  who  lays  the 
Church,  but  the  Church  that  lays  him, 
under  an  obligation  ;  enabling  him  by 
such  acts  to  unite  himself  to  her  glorious 
cause,  assist  her  in  fulfilling  her  divine 
mission,  help  to  have  the  divine  praises 
celebrated  with  greater  frequency  and 
splendour,  minister  to  the  poor  and  sufier- 
ing,  and  ])articipate  in  the  merits  of  her 
missioners  labouring  amongst  the  heathen. 
"  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  re- 
ceive." Such  being  the  natural  sentiments 
of  everyone  who  knows  what  being  a 
Catholic  means,  there  is  no  reason  to  fear 
that  temporal  possessions  will  ever  be 
wanting  to  the  Church,  although  the 
spoliations  which  she  has  had  to  endure, 
and  is  stiU  enduring,  in  eveiy  part  of 
Europe,  cannot  but  cause  great  local  em- 
barrassment and  temporary  arrest  of  her 
activity.  Wherever  there*^  are  Catholics 
deserving  the  name,  there  the  Church  will 
have  property,  whatever  infidel  legislation 
may  contrive.  The  real  danger  is,  lest 
the  persevering  efforts  of  the  modern 
State  to  shut  out  religion  from  education 
should  succeed  in  training  up  a  generation 
of  men  and  women  to  whom  the  genuine 
spirit  of  Catholicism  would  be  unknown, 
and  who  would  consequently  starve  the 
Church  by  their  own  illiberality,  and  ob- 
serve her  persecution  by  their  rulers  with 
complacency.  On  this  subject  some  re- 
marks will  be  found  under  Edtjcatioh" 
and  Schools. 

Property  is  of  two  kinds,  moveable 
und  immoveable.  The  so-called  Liberals 
of  our  day  cannot  deny  that  the  Church 
must  possess  some  amount  of  the  former 
at  least,  if  her  functions  are  to  be  per- 


182        CHURCH  PROPERTY 

formed  at  all.  Christ's  kingdom,  though 
not  **  of  this  world,"  is  in  this  world  ;  its 
ministei-s  and  subjects  are  human  beings, 
its  medium  is  social  life,  its  local  habita- 
tion is  the  world  of  sense :  it  therefore, 
while  its  end  is  heavenly,  needs  external 
and  material  resources.  Money,  if  not 
exceeding  the  limits  of  "  evangelical 
poverty,"  and  church  requisites  of  all 
kinds,  it  is  admitted  even  by  her  enemies 
that  the  Church  must  possess.  But  tbey 
draw  a  line  between  moveable  and  im- 
moveable property — between  money  and 
land  ;  pretending  that  it  is  the  duty  and 
interest  of  the  State  to  debar  her  from  the 
enjoyment  of  real  property,  lest,  we  sup- 
pose, she  should  become  too  powerful,  or 
lest  wealth  should  corrupt  her  ministers 
and  divert  them  from  their  true  vocation.^ 
This  last  plea,  of  course,  is  hypocritical. 
On  the  other  side,  we  shall  quote  an  ad- 
mirable passage  from  Card.  Soglia,  in  which 
he  has  shown  for  what  purposes  the  Church 
requires  property,  and  by  what  an  indis- 
putable right  she  acquires  and  enjoys  it. 
"  It  is  asked,"  he  says,  "  whence  does 
the  Cliurch  derive  th.e  right  of  acquiring 
and  possessing  real  or  landed  property 
{bona  stahilia  et  frugiferci)  ?  Is  it  from 
the  civil  law,  or  from  some  other  system  of 
law,  human  or  divine  ?  Unless  I  am 
much  mistaken,  a  terse  and  solid  answer 
to  this  question  can  be  drawn  from  a  con- 
sideration of  tbe  divine  constitution  of  the 
Church.  We  know  for  certain,  from 
sacred  literature  and  tradition,  that  there 
is  in  the  Church  a  supreme  power  of  ad- 
ministering religion  and  society,  peculiar 
to  it,  instituted  by  Christ,  and  entirely 
distinct  from  the  civil  power.  It  is  also 
a  certain  and  establislied  truth  that  she 
possesses  an  inherent  right  to  provide 
herself  with  all  those  apt  and  suitable 
means  which  may  be  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  religion  itself  and  of 
Christian  society.  But,  in  order  to  the 
worship  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls 
in  the  Christian  society,  churches  and 
altars  must  be  built ;  sacred  vessels,  orna- 
ments, and  other  things  subsidiary  to  the 
Divine  worship  must  be  provided;   the 

*  The  innumerable  unjust  spoliations  of 
wliich  the  Church  has  been  made,  and  is  still 
beinf?  made,  the  victim  in  Italy,  and  especially 
at  Rome  (of  which  the  robbery  of  the  estates 
of  the  Colle^'e  of  Propaganda  'is  a  recent  and 
flagrant  instance),  are  justified  on  some  sucj^ 
flimsy  reasoning  as  that  described  in  the  text ; 
the  real  reason  of  course  being  that  Italian 
Liberals  hate  religion,  and  hatred,  as  Aristotle 
Bays,  desires  for  its  objects  annihilation — 
rb  tiitt  tlvai. 


CHURCH  PROPERTY 

bishops,  priests,  and  ministers  who  serve 
the  Church  and  apply  all  their  energies 
to  the  promotion  of  the  eternal  salvation 
of  men,  must  be  supported ;  clerks  must 
be  trained  in  letters  and  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline ;  the  poor,  the  sick,  widows  and 
orphans  must  betaken  care  of;  hospitality 
must  be  practised  towards  the  faithful; 
captives  must  be  redeemed,  and  many 
similar  works  carried  on:  all  which  things 
cannot  be  done  without  buildings,  re- 
venues, abundant  resources,  and  large  ex- 
penses. It  follows  that  the  Church  pos- 
sesses by  her  very  constitution,  and  by 
the  will  of  her  divine  Founder,  the  right 
of  procuring,  acquiring,  and  possessing 
property,  whether  personal  or  real,  in 
order  that  she  may  have,  at  hand  what  is 
necessary  in  order  to  defray  the  expendi- 
ture above  mentioned;  just  as  civil  society 
has  the  right  of  demanding  taxes  and 
levying  imposts,  or  even  of  possessing 
landed  property,  if  public  necessity  and 
utility  require  it."^  The  Cardinal  goes 
on  to  maintain  that  the  Church  has  at  all 
times  exercised  this  right,  even  in  the 
teeth  of  the  prohibition  of  the  civil  pi^wer  ; 
and  as  a  case  in  point,  he  cites  her  acqui- 
sition of  property  during  the  third  cen- 
tury, when,  as  a  "collegium  illicitum," 
she  could  not,  according  to  the  Roman 
jurisprudence,  legally  hold  it.  That  the 
Chm-ch  acted  wrongly  in  making  these 
acquisitions  it  would  be  absurd  and  im- 
pious to  maintain ;  but  the  rightfulness  of 
her  action  can  be  vindicated  on  no  other 
principle  than  one  which  asserts  her  right 
to  hold  property  to  be  jure  dicino,  and 
independent  of  the  consent  of  the  civil 
power. 

The  historical  aspect  of  the  subject 
must  now  be  briefly  treated.  It  is  the 
remark  of  St.  Austin,'^  that  when  our 
Lord,  who  could  have  provided  for  Him- 
self and  the  Apostles  in  other  ways,  sanc- 
tioned the  use  of  a  bag  or  purse,  in  which 
the  ofierings  of  his  followers  were  kept, 
and  from  which  money  was  taken  for  the 
poor  and  the  requirements  of  festivals, 
He  desired  to  teach  his  Church  that  she 
had  the  right  of  possessing  property.  We 
learn  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  that 
they  received,  dating  from  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  large  sums  of  money  Avhich  the 
new  believers  poured  into  their  hands ; 
that  in  those  first  days  of  fervour  private 
property  passed  temporarily  into  abeyance, 
and  the  Apostles  distributed  to  "every 

'  Institutiones  Canonicae,  iii.  1,  §  8. 
»  Quoted  by  Ott,  in  the  art.  "Biens  Eccl^ 
siastiques,"  VVetzer  and  Welte. 


CHURCH  PROPERTY 

one  according  as  he  had  need;"^  moreover, 
that  when  the  *'  serving  of  tables  "  threat- 
ened to  become  so  onerous  as  to  divert  the 
Apostles  from  their  proper  work,  they  ap- 
pointed deacons^  to  receive  and  administer 
under  their  direction  the  Church  funds. 
It  is  also  explicitly  stated  in  the  New 
Testament  that  the  labourer  is  worthy  of 
his  hire ;  "  ^  that  if  the  clergy  sow  to  the 
laity  spiritual  things^  it  is  no  great  matter 
if  they  reap  their  carnal  things,*  and  that 
"  the  Lord  ordained  that  they  who  preach 
the  Gospel  should  live  by  the  Gospel,"  ^  The 
principle  of  Church  endowment  and  Church 
property  is  thus  seen  to  have  fuU,  explicit 
and  undeniable  Scriptural  warrant. 

Space  does  not  admit  of  our  showing 
In  detail  the  manner  in  which  this  prin- 
ciple was  applied  from  age  to  age :  how 
Church  funds,  from  being  in  the  beginning 
purely  diocesan,  came  to  be  also  capitular, 
parochial,  and  monastic ;  and  how  the  ad- 
mission of  the  feudal  customs  endowed — if 
we  might  not  say,  burdened — the  Church, 
not  only  with  broad  lands,  but  with  a 
vast  temporal  jurisdiction  in  the  shape  of 
lordships  and  principalities.  It  may  be 
interesting,  however,  to  note  the  position 
in  which  the  question  stood  at  the  time 
when  peace  was  restored  to  the  Church 
by  Constantino.  In  the  imperial  ordi- 
nances preserved  by  Eusebius,  it  is  com- 
manded that  the  sites  of  all  their  churches 
shall  be  restored  to  the  Christians;  and 
this  is  followed  by  the  significant  proviso 
that,  "  since  the  Christians  are  known  to 
have  had  not  only  those  places  where  they 
were  accustomed  to  meet,  but  other  places 
also,  belonging  not  to  individuals  among 
them,  but  to  the  right  of  the  whole 
body  of  Christians,  you  [the  praetors,  pro- 
curators, &c.]  will  also  command  all  these, 
by  virtue  of  the  law  before  mentioned, 
without  any  hesitancy,  to  be  restored  to 
these  same  Christians:  that  is,  to  their 
body,  and  to  each  conventicle  respective- 
ly." In  another  ordinance,  addressed  to 
Anulius,  the  emperor  intimates  that  this 
restitution  is  to  be  made  in  favour  of  "  the 
Catholic  Church  of  the  Christians  in  the 
several  cities  or  other  places,"  and  that 
Anulius  is  to  "make  all  haste  to  restore, 
as  soon  as  pofisible,  all  that  belongs  to  the 
churches,  whether  gardens  or  houses,  or 
anything  else."^  We  here  see  the  civil 
power  recognising  the  legality  of  those 


1  Acts  iv.  35. 
5  Luke  X.  7. 
5  1  Cor  ix.  14. 
«  Euseb.     Hist. 
translation). 


Eccles. 


2  Acts  vi.  2. 
4  ICor.  ix.ll. 

X.     6    (Bohn's 


CHURCH  PROPERTY       183 

acquisitions  which,  as  mentioned  in  a  pre- 
vious paragraph,  had  been  made  in  con- 
travention of  the  civil  law. 

The  unrestricted  right  to  enjoy  pro- 
perty  thus    recognised    in    the    Church 
opened  the  way  to  abuses,  as  was  only 
natural ;  these  abuses  were  restrained  by 
edicts  of  the  emperors  Valentinian  and 
Theodosius.    An  edict  of  Marcian  (f  457) 
removed  many  of  these  restrictions,  and 
allowed  all  persons  ample  facilities   for 
endowing  the  Church  with  any  descrip- 
tion of  property,  whether  by  will  or  dis- 
position inter  vivos.     In  the  West,  as  each 
nation  was  converted,  it  voluntarily  and 
joyfully  enriched  with  lands  and   goods 
the  Church  which  had  brought  to  it  the 
message  of  salvation.     In  the  ninth  and 
tenth  centuries  the   incursion   of  Pagan 
Danes,   Normans,   and   Hungarians,  and 
the  confusions  thence  arising,  caused  great 
havoc  and  waste  of  the  Church's  patri- 
mony ;  but  the  unity  of  the  ecclesiastical 
organisation  being  preserved,  and  heresy 
kept  at  bay,  the  damage  done  was  speedily 
repaired  on  the  return  of  peace.     From 
the  eleventh  century  to  the  fifteenth  ex- 
tended that  marvellous  period  of  Euro- 
pean development  in  which  the  Church, 
pouring  out    her  treasures  with  a  free 
hand,^  covered  the  face  of  the  Continent 
and  of  our  own  island  with  a  network  of 
cathedrals,  convents,  colleges,  and  parish 
churches,   the    beauty   and    majesty    of 
which  later  and  colder  ages  admire  but 
cannot  emulate.     The  inroads  made  upon 
the  Church's  fortune  by  the  Reformation 
and  modern  revolutions  can  only  be  indi- 
cated in  general  terms.     In  England  the 
Church  was  deprived  of  the  cathedrals, 
parish   churches,   universities,    hospitals, 
see-lands,  glebes,  hospitals,  and  a  variety 
of  other  property,  moveable  and  immove- 
able ;   all  which  were  transferred  to  the 
new  church  founded  by  Elizabeth.    With 
regard    to   the  monasteries,   their  lands 
passed  chiefly  into  the  hands  of  private 
persons,  their  personal   property  to  the 
Crown.     In  France,  the  enormous  landed 
possessions  of  the  Church  were  confiscated 
at  the  Revolution,  and  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion for  a  time  suppressed.     By  the  Con- 
cordat which  the  First  Consul  concluded 
with  the  Holy  See  in  1802,  the  latter 
agreed  to  recognise  the  title  of  the  holders 
of  all  Church  lands  alienated  up  to  that 
time,  and  the  French,  State  on  the  other 
hand  undertook  to  pay  an  annual  grant 

■^  "  Aurum  Ecclesia  habet,  non  ut  servet,  sed 
ut  eroget  et  subveniat  in  necessitatibus."  St. 
Ambr.  quoted  by  Soglia,  I,  c% 


184     CHURCHING   OF  WOMEN 


CmCUMCELLIONES 


from  the  pu"blic  revenue  for  the  support 
of  the  clergy.  This  grant  amounts  at 
the  present  time  to  about  two  millions 
sterling,  a  sum  hearing  hut  a  small  pro- 
portion to  the  rental  of  the  property  lost, 
In  Spain,  the  tithe  has  heen  abolished  in 
recent  times,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
lands  belonging  to  the  clergy,  both  secular 
and  regular,  sold.  But  the  position  was 
somewhat  ameliorated  by  the  Concordat 
of  1851,  which,  while  proyiding  a  new 
**  dotation  "  for  the  clergy  by  means  of 
a  special  tax,  leaves  the  Chiu-ch  free  to 
administer  the  property  still  remaining  to 
her,  and  to  make  fresh  acquisitions.  In 
Portugal  the  state  of  things  is  much  the 
same  as  in  Spain,  but  rather  less  favour- 
able to  the  Church.  In  Italy,  the  tithe, 
or  a  portion  of  it,  is  still  payable  to  the 
clergy ;  this  is  also  the  case  in  Austria 
and  Bavaria.  In  Prussia  the  ancient 
patrimony  of  the  Church  was  all  lost 
during  the  wars  of  the  French  Revolution, 
and  was  replaced  by  an  annual  grant  of 
very  moderate  dimensions.  The  practical 
effect  of  the  May  laws  of  1877,  which 
impose  upon  the  bishops  and  clergy  con- 
ditions which  it  is  impossible  for  them  to 
comply  with  and  remain  at  the  same  time 
faithful  to  Christ  and  his  Vicar,  is  to 
retrench  this  moderate  endowment  very 
seriously,  and  to  leave  several  sees  and 
hundreds  of  cures  destitute  of  occupants. 
In  Ireland,  the  Protestant  Church,  which 
it  was  the  policy  of  the  statesmen  of 
Elizabeth  to  force  upon  the  people,  and  to 
endow  with  the  tithes  and  lands  of  the 
ancient  Church,  has  recently  (1869)  been 
disestablished.  No  part  of  the  recovered 
fund  has  been  returned  to  the  Catholics ; 
but  indirectly,  from  the  appropriation  of 
a  considerable  portion  of  it  to  the  encou- 
ragement of  intermediate  schools,  which 
are  to  a  large  extent  Catholic,  some 
advantage  has  accrued  from  disestablish- 
ment to  the  cause  of  religion. 

Laws  of  mortmain,  having  for  their 
object  either  to  restrict  or  entirely  pro- 
hibit the  acquisition  of  landed  property 
by  the  Church,  have  formed  a  prominent 
feature  in  secular  legislation  in  most 
countries  of  Europe,  from  the  thirteenth 
century  down  to  the  present  day.  But 
it  will  be  convenient  to  treat  of  such 
legislation  under  a  separate  article  [see 
Mortmain]. 

CHTrRCHHa-G  OF  -WOMESr  AF- 
TER CHZI.BBXSTK.  A  blessing 
which  the  priest  gives  to  women  after 
childbirth  according  to  a  form  prescribed 
in  the  Roman  Ritual.    He  sprmkles  the 


woman,  who  kneels  at  the  door  of  the 
church  holding  a  lighted  candle,  with  holy 
water,  and  having  recited  the  28rd  Psalm, 
he  puts  the  end  of  his  stole  into  her  hand, 
and  leads  her  into  the  church,  saying, 
"  Come  into  the  temple  of  God.  Adore 
the  Son  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  who  has 
given  thee  fruitfulness  in  childbearing." 
The  woman  then  advances  to  the  altar  and 
kneels  before  it,  while  the  priest,  having 
said  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving,  blesses  her, 
and  again  sprinkles  her  with  holy  water 
in  the  form  of  a  cross.  The  rubric  in  the 
Ritual  reserves  this  rite  for  women  who 
have  borne  children  in  wedlock.  Women 
are  under  no  strict  obligation  of  present- 
ing themselves  to  be  churched,  though  jt 
is  the  "pious  and  laudable  custom,"  as 
the  Ritual  says,  that  they  should  do  so. 
Properly  speaking,  the  churching  of  wo- 
men is  not  counted  among  strictly  paro- 
chial rights  ;  still  it  ought  to  be  performed 
by  the  parish  priest,  as  appears  from  a 
decision  of  the  S.  Congregation  of  Rites, 
December  10,  1703. 

This  rite  was  suggested  probably  by 
the  prescriptions  of  the  old  law  in  Levit. 
xii.  In  the  Christian  Church,  the  first 
mention  of  the  rite  is  said  to  be  foimd  in 
the  so-called  Arabic  canons  of  the  Nicene 
Council.  Among  the  Greeks,  the  blessing 
after  childbirth  is  given  on  the  fortieth 
day  after  the  birth  of  the  child,  and  the 
child  must  be  brought  with  the  mother 
to  the  church. 

CHirBCH-ir.a.RX>.  [See  Cemetery.] 
CZBORZxriVf .  The  use  of  theciborium, 
or  canopy  over  the  altar,  has  been  al- 
readv  described  in  the  article  Baldac- 
OHiNo.  In  English  ciborium  is  the  name 
commonly  given  to  the  pyx  in  which  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  is  kept.  Pyx  (also 
Vas)  is  the  recognised  name  in  our  pre- 
sent liturgical  books,  and  under  that  head 
the  subject  will  be  treated.  The  name 
"  Ciborium  minus  "  is  first  used  for  the 
receptacle  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  in 
the  middle  ages.  It  is  found  in  an  Ordo 
Roman  us  printed  in  the  "Bibliotheca  Patr." 
Lugdun.  vol.  xiii.  724.  (Kraus,  "  Real- 
Encyclopadie.") 

czRCiriiKCEZiiiZOxrES.  A  name 
given  to  certain  Donatist  fanatics  [see 
DoNATiSTs] .  These  heretics  were  naturally 
enraged  and  embittered  when  Constantine 
deprived  them  of  their  churches  and 
banished  the  most  distinguished  among 
their  bishops.  Their  fury  increased 
when  Constans  renewed  his  father's 
laws  in  their  full  severity  ;  and  hence 
crowds  of  Donatists,  belonging  to  the 


CIRCUMCISION,  FEAST  OF 

lower  classes,  gathered  together  under 
the  leadership  of  some  cleric  or  layman, 
made  open  war  on  the  Catholics,  and 
brought  immense  suffering  upon  them. 
These  Donatists  called  themselves  Agon- 
istici,  "  men  eager  for  the  fight ; "  their 
adversaries  called  them  Circumcelliones, 
because  they  wandered  "  round  the 
country  huts,"  ("circa  cellas  rusticas") 
to  do  all  the  mischief  they  could.  They 
exacted  provisions  by  force,  put  out  the 
eyes  of  Catholic  clerics,  possessed  them- 
selves of  their  churches,  &;c.  &e.  They 
themselves  were  actuated  by  a  morbid 
craving  for  martyrdom ;  so  much  so  that 
they  not  unfrequently  inflicted  death  on 
themselves.  This  fanaticism  lasted  be- 
yond the  middle  of  the  fourth  century. 
Mention  is  made  of  it  by  Optatus,  "  De 
Schism.  Donat."  ii.  c.  18  seq.  iii.  c.  4,  and 
by  Augustine  in  his  works  against  the 
Donatists.  Besides  Circumcelliones,  we 
also  find  the  forms  Circelhones  and 
Circuitores.  (Kraus,  "  Real-Encyclo- 
padie.") 

CZRCVMCZSZOie-,  FZIiiST  OF. 
The  connection  of  circumcision  with  grace 
and  the  removal  of  original  sin  will  be 
discussed  in  the  article  on  the  Sacraments 
OF  THE  Old  Law.  Here  it  is  enough  to 
say  that  circumcision  was  the  rite  by 
which  every  male  Jew  entered  into  the 
covenant  of  God  with  Abraham,  and  be- 
came a  partaker  in  its  privileges  and 
blessings ;  and  that  it  was  also  instituted 
as  a  remedy  for  original  sin.  The  law  of 
circumcision  was  imposed  on  the  Jews 
under  the  penalty  of  excision  from  the 
people  of  God.  This  law  could  not  in 
any  way  bind  our  Lord.  He  was  abso- 
lutely sinless,  and  therefore  stood  in  no 
need  of  any  remedy  for  original  sin.  He 
was  the  Son  of  God  by  nature,  and 
therefore  did  not  require  adoption  into 
the  number  of  God's  children.  Still,  as 
St.  Luke  relates,  our  Saviour  was  cir- 
cumcised eight  days  after  his  birth,  ac- 
cording to  the  precept  in  Levit.  xii.  3,  and 
then  ho  received  the  holy  name  of  Jesus. 
The  rity  no  doubt  was  performed  at  home, 
probably  in  the  cave  at  Bethlehem,  and 
Benedict  XIV.  remarks  that  painters  err 
in  representing  the  scene  as  taking  place 
in  the  Temple.  Circumcision  was  some- 
times performed  by  the  father  of  the 
family :  Abraham,  for  example,  in  Gen. 
xvii.  23,  is  said  to  have  circumcised  "  Is- 
mael  his  son  and  all  that  were  born  in 
his  house ; "  sometimes  by  the  mother,  as 
appears  from  Exod.  iv.  25,  and  1  Mach.  i. 
S3  J  80  that  Christ  may  have  received  the 


CIRCUMCISION,  FEAST  OF    186 

rite  either  from  his  Blessed  Mother  or  St. 
Joseph. 

Various  reasons  are  given  by  theolo- 
gians and  spiritual  writers  which  made 
it  fitting  f(y  our  Lord  to  be  circumcised. 
As  it  pleased  God  to  send  his  Son,  "made 
under  the  law,  to  redeem  those  who  were 
under  the  law,"  so  it  became  Christ  to 
submit  to  the  yoke  law  by  receiving  cir- 
cumcision, that  he  might  free  his  brethren 
from  subjection  to  that  law.  Moreover, 
he  came  "  in  the  likeness  of  fiesh  of  sin," 
and  therefore  he  allowed  Himself  from 
the  first  to  be  numbered  in  appearance 
with  sinners,  and  thus  to  afford  a  perfect 
model  of  obedience  and  humility.  Lastly, 
although  in  his  circumcision  Christ  did 
not  actually  redeem  us  by  the  blood  which 
He  shed,  still  the  drops  which  then  flowed 
were  a  pledge  of  all  the  blood  which  was 
to  follow,  when  He  hung  upon  the  croas. 
Thus,  in  the  beautiful  language  of  a  me- 
diaeval writer,  Peter  of  Blois,  once  Arch- 
deacon of  London,  "  He,  viho  for  thirty 
years  was  to  work  salvation  in  the  midst 
of  the  earth,  from  his  very  cradle  and 
from  the  breasts  of  his  mother,  began 
the  business  of  our  salvation,  and  tasted 
the  first-fruits  of  his  Passion." 

We  find  the  first  mention  of  the  feast 
by  its  present  name  in  Canon  17  of  a 
council  which  met  at  Tours  in  567.  "  In 
order,"  so  the  canon  runs,  "to  tread  under 
foot  the  custom  of  the  heathen,  our  fathers 
ordained  that  private  litanies  should  be 
held  {fieri)  at  the  beginning  of  January 
{in  Kalendis),  psalms  sung  in  the  churches, 
and  at  the  eighth  hour  on  the  first  of  the 
month  {in  ipsis  Kalendis)  the  Mass  of  the 
Circumcision,  pleasing  to  God,  should  be 
said."  It  is  clear  from  this  canon  that 
the  feast  was  already  ancient  in  the  sixth 
century.  In  the  "  Codex  Sacramentorum 
Ecclesiae  Romanse,"  which  Benedict  XIV. 
attributes  to  St.  Leo  and  to  his  predeces- 
sors, and  in  a  Roman  Calendar  not  later 
than  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  the 
feast  is  named  the  "  Octave  of  our  Lord," 
and  this  name  is  used  along  with  that  of 
the  Circumcision  in  the  "Corpus  Juris."  But 
it  is  evident  from  the  prayers,  gospel,  kc. 
appointed  for  this  "  Octave  of  the  Lord  " 
that  the  Circumcision  was  commemorated 
on  that  day.  In  the  Martyrology  of 
Usuard,  the  feast  is  mentioned  by  its  pre- 
sent name.  In  the  Roman  Martyrology 
the  double  title  is  used,  "  the  Circumcision 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Octave 
of  his  Nativity." 

In  eome  ancient  Missals  we  find  two 
Masses  appointed  for  January  1 :  a  Maes 


186 


CISTERCIANS 


CISTERCIANS 


of  tlie  Blessed  Virgin,  and  another  for  the 
Circamcision  of  our  Lord.  Durandus, 
writing  in  the  thirteenth  century,  speaks  of 
this  custom  as  still  continuing  in  his  time. 
Connected  with  it  is  a  name  given  to  the 
feast,  or  rather  to  the  day,  in  an  ancient 
Roman  Calendar,  viz.  Natale  S.  Mariae, 
*'the  feast  of  Holy  Mary."  The  origin 
both  of  the  name  and  of  the  custom  of 
saying  the  Mass  de  Beata  Virgine  are 
thus  explained  in  the  Micrologus:  "Lately, 
when  we  celebrated  our  Lord's  Nativity, 
we  could  not  give  any  special  office  to  his 
Mother.  Therefore  not  unsuitably  do  we 
venerate  her  more  specially  on  the  Octave 
of  the  Lord  [i.e.  on  Jan.  1.] ;  lest  she 
should  seem  to  have  no  share  in  the  so- 
lemnity of  her  Son,  though  we  do  not 
doubt  that  in  that  same  solemnity  she 
deserves  the  chief  honour  after  our  Lord," 
A  curious  and  interesting  relic  of  this 
ancient  usage  still  survives.  The  Mass  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  indeed,  can  no  longer 
be  said  on  that  day,  but  there  is,  both  in 
the  Mass  and  Office  of  the  Circumcision, 
a  marked  and  repeated  reference  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  which  seems  strange  and 
almost  inexplicable  till  we  see  how  it 
arose. 

The  Circumcision  used  to  be  kept  as 
a  fast,  though  probably  the  fast  was  not 
prolonged  beyond  three  in  the  afternoon. 
St.  Augustine  in  his  second  sermon  for 
Jan.  1,  St.  Peter  Chrysologus,  and  other 
Fathers,  inveigh  against  the  heathen  re- 
velry on  this  day,  connected  as  it  was  with 
the  idolatrous  worship  of  Janus  and 
Strenia  and  with  immoial  excesses.  This 
no  doubt  occasioned  the  institution  of  the 
fast.  Certain  Sacramentaries  contain  a 
Mass  for  Jan.  1  "ad  prohibendum  ab 
idolis."    (Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Festis.") 

CZSTSKCZAI7S.  Of  the  ancient 
and  illustrious  order  of  Citeaux,  the 
most  flourishing  and  prolific  of  all  the 
offshoots  from  the  great  Benedictine  trunk, 
there  are  now  but  scanty  traces  remaining. 
The  monastery  at  Citeaux  itself  has  been 
turned  into  a  Reformatory  and  Peniten- 
tiary, managed  by  secular  priests,  after 
the  failure  of  a  Socialist  experiment  made 
by  the  Fourierists  to  establish  what  in 
the  jargon  of  the  sect  is  caUed  a  phalan- 
sthre  within  those  venerable  walls.  Sic 
transit  gloria  onundi! 

St.  Robert,  the  son  of  a  gentleman  of 
Champagne,  devoted  himself  at  an  early 
age  with  all  his  heart  to  the  service  of 
God.  He  took  the  Benedictine  habit,  and 
studied  carefully  the  rule  of  the  great 
founder,  from  many  things  in  which  he 


found  that  the  majority  of  the  French 
monks  deviated  considerably.  The  chief 
points  of  diiference  seem  to  have  regarded 
the  use  of  tro;tvser8  and  furred  garments,  eat- 
ing meat,  and  using  fat  in  cooking,  none  of 
which  things  were  allowed  by  the  rule, 
yet  were  generally  practised  in  France. 
In  several  monasteries  over  which  he 
presided  St.  Robert  and  the  monks  could 
not  agree,  on  account  of  the  strict  obser- 
vance of  the  rule  which  he  desired  to  in- 
troduce. In  1075  he  founded  a  monastery, 
consisting  of  a  group  of  cells,  in  the 
forest  of  Molesme,  near  Chatillon.  Here 
he  and  other  fervent  hermits  lived  many 
years ;  but  his  thoughts  still  ran  on  the 
necessity  of  closer  conformity  to  the  rule, 
and  as  most  of  his  followers  saw  things 
difi'erently,^  he  at  last  quitted  Molesme, 
and,  followed  by  twenty  zealous  adherents^ 
formed  a  new  monastery  in  a  desert  then 
covered  with  forest  and  thickets,  at  a 
place  called  Cistercium  (Citeaux),  five 
leagues  from  Dijon.  This  was  in  1098, 
which  is  regarded  as  the  date  of  the 
foundation  of  the  order.  St.  Robert  was 
not  to  water  the  shoot  which  he  had 
planted,  for  in  the  following  year,  the 
monks  of  Molesme  having  apphed  to 
Rome  and  represented  the  forlorn  condi- 
tion in  which  his  departure  had  left  them, 
the  Pope  directed  St.  Robert  to  appoint 
his  successor  at  Citeaux,  and  return  to  his 
former  charge.  St.  Robert  obeyed,  and 
for  the  rest  of  his  life  remained  at  Molesme, 
where  he  died  in  1110.  Alberic,  his  suc- 
cessor at  Citeaux,  drew  up  the  first  code 
of  Cistercian  statutes;  it  was  he  who 
changed  the  habit  from  brown  to  white ; 
and  in  his  time  the  order  took  the  Blessed 
Virgin  for  their  special  patroness,  and  the 
first  Cistercian  nunnery  w^as  founded. 
Alberic  dying,  in  1109,  was  succeeded  by 
Stephen  Harding,  an  Englishman  from 
the  monastery  of  Sherborne,  a  man  of 
great  energy,  wisdom,  and  virtue,  who  in 
his  twenty-five  years  of  office  governed 
Citeaux  with  so  much  ability  and  success 
that  he  is  usually  regarded  as  the  second 
founder  of  the  order.  Stephen,  who  is 
honoured  among  the  saints  on  April  17, 
had  been  prior  under  Alberic.  In  his 
time,  and  in  great  part  by  his  exer- 
tions, were  founded  the  four  famous 
monasteries  of  La  Fert^,  (1113)  Pontigny 
(1114),  Clairvaux  (1116),  and  Morimond 
(1116),  which  maintained,  after  Citeaux,  a 
kind  of  superiority  in  the  order  down  to 
the  time  of  its  destruction.     St.  Stephen, 

^  See  their  arguments  in  the  eighth  book  oC 
Ordericus  Vitalis. 


CISTERCIANS 

in  whom  the  instinct  of  government  was 
strong,  took  care  that  all  the  new  ahbeys, 
wherever  founded,  should  be  subordinate 
to  the  mother  house,  and  that  the  abbots 
should  often  confer  together  on  common 
affairs  ;  he  is  said  to  have  first  instituted 
"  general  chapters."  He  wrote  the  account 
of  Cistercian  observances  called  the 
"Charte  de  Charity,"  and  caused  the 
"  Usages  "  and  the  "  Exordium "  of 
Citeaux  to  be  compiled.  The  Usages, 
according  to  Alban  Butler,  "  have  always 
made  the  code  of  this  order."  A  touching 
story  is  told  about  the  arrival  of  St.  Ber- 
nard at  Citeaux  in  1113.  The  sturdy 
English  abbot  had  given  offence  at  the 
Burgundian  Court  by  objecting  to  its  too 
frequent  visits  to  the  monastery ;  the  monks 
were  left  in  extreme  poverty ;  sickness  laid 
many  of  them  prostrate ;  no  new  subjects 
presented  themselves ;  and  it  seemed  as  if 
the  order,  too  austere  for  the  weakness  of 
human  nature,  must  speedily  perish. 
Stephen  betook  himself  to  prayer,  and 
soon  afterwards  the  youthful  Bernard, 
with  some  thirty  of  his  kinsmen  and 
friends,  presented  himself  at  the  gate  of 
Citeaux  and  requested  admission,  the 
attraction  of  the  place  to  these  high- 
minded  men  having  been  that  very  aus- 
terity which  appalled  souls  less  firm.  The 
accession  of  such  a  novice  was  in  itself  an 
invigoration  of  the  order ;  and  the  abbot, 
who  soon  discovered  his  merit,  sent  Ber- 
nard two  years  later,  at  the  head  of  a 
colony  of  twelve  monks,  to  found  a  new 
monastery  at  Clairvaux.  By  the  middle 
of  the  twelfth  century  there  were  five 
hundred  abbeys  of  the  filiation  of  Ci- 
teaux ;  soon  after  1200  the  number  had 
increased  to  eighteen  hijndred.  In  Eng- 
land the  order  soon  took  deep  root ;  the 
first  abbey  founded  here  seems  to  have 
been  that  of  Furness  in  Lancashire,  which 
the  united  exertions  of  Stephen  of  Blois 
and  the  abbot  his  namesake  erected  in 
1127.  Several  military  orders — e.g.  those 
of  Calatrava,  Alcantara,  and  Avis — were 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  abbot  of 
Citeaux.  For  two  hundred  years,  says 
Alban  Butler,  the  order  admitted  no  re- 
laxation of  its  observances.  The  rule  of 
St.  Benedict  was  followed  in  all  its  rigour ; 
there  was  little  sleep  to  be  had,  much  hard 
labour  to  be  done ;  fasting  was  observed 
from  b'ept.  14  to  Easter ;  meat,  fish,  eggs, 
and  grease  were  never  touched,  and  even 
milk  but  rarely.  Their  churches,  instead 
of  being  profusely  adorned  with  sculp- 
ture and  painting  according  to  the  fashion 
of  the   times,    were    distinguished    by 


CISTERCIANS 


187 


a  bare  simplicity,  as  may  be  seen  at  Pon- 
tigny  to  this  day. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  the  preva- 
lence of  wars  in  Europe  caused  many 
abbeys  to  be  disturbed,  plundered,  and 
impoverished.  Discipline  suffered,  for 
under  sucli  circumstances  the  rule  could 
not  possibly  be  observed.  Long  contro- 
versies arose  in  the  order  as  to  the  law- 
fulness or  the  expediency  of  dispensing 
with  the  rule,  especially  as  to  eating  meat. 
The  Papal  decrees  called  the  Clementine 
(1265)  and  the  Benedictine  (1333),  while 
changing  several  matters  of  jurisdiction, 
confirmed  the  observances,  which  certain 
abbots  had  even  then  begun  to  infringe. 
But  the  tendency  to  relaxation  gradually 
became  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  and  in 
1475,  a  brief  of  Sixtus  IV.  authorised  the 
general  chapter  and  the  abbot  of  Citeaux 
to  permit  to  any  monks  who  applied  for 
it,  the  use  of  meat.  The  variety  of 
practice  which  ensued  was  so  embarrass- 
ing, that  in  1485  the  general  chapter 
decreed  that  meat  should  be  used  in  all 
the  convents  on  three  days  in  the  week. 
Meanwhile  a  counter-current  of  austerity 
exhibited  itself  in  many  places,  and  a 
reformation,  reviving  the  primitive  Cister- 
cian rigour,  was  introduced  by  Martin  de 
Vargas  in  Spain  (1430),  and  spread  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  same  century  through 
the  provinces  of  Tuscany  and  Lombardy. 
In  later  times  there  were  three  or  four 
celebrated  reforms  of  this  order;  on  one 
of  which — instituted  at  la  Trappe  by  the 
Abbede  Ranc^ — see  the  article  Trappists. 
The  reformed  congregation  of  Feuillans 
was  founded  in  1577  by  Dom  Jean  de  la 
Barriere ;  that  at  Sept  Fonds,  in  the  fol- 
lowing century,  by  the  abbot  Eustache  de 
Beaufort.  The  convents  generally,  inclu- 
ding those  of  the  English  province,  fol- 
lowed what  was  called  the  "  common 
observance  "  according  to  the  dispense  of 
Sixtus  V. 

At  the  Dissolution  there  were  upwards 
of  a  hundred  Cistercian  houses  in  Eng- 
land; the  names  are  given  below.^  Unlike 

^  This  list  of  Cistercian  houses  existing  at 
the  date  of  suppression  is  extracted  from  the 
materials  provided  by  Tanner's  Notitia. 
Nunneries  are  distinguished  by  an  asterisk. ;- 
cells  by  the  letter  C. 


Alba    Landa 

(Caerm.) 
Appleton  *  (York.) 
Baredale  (York.) 
Basingwerk 
Beaulieu 
Barnoldswick 
Bildwas  (Salop) 


Bindon  (Dors.) 
Biham  (Line.) 
10  Bittlesden  (Bucks) 
Blea  Tarn,  C. 
Bockland  (D(?v.) 
Bordeslev  (Wore.) 
Boxley  (Kent) 
Brewood  *  (Salcgjr^ 


188 


CISTERCIANS 


the  Friars,  wlio  planted  themselves  in  all 
the  large  towns,  the  Cistercians,  whose 
original  aim  was  personal  sanctification 
in  solitude  through  prayer  and  penance, 
usually  built  their  houses  by  preference 
in  lonely  valleys  and  sequestered  nooks. 

The  French  Revolution  swept  away 
their  foundations  in  most  countries  of 
Europe,  but  several  Cistercian  convents 
still   remain  in  Austria,   Belgium,    and 


Bruerne  (Oxf.) 
Buekfastleigh 

(Dev.) 
Bvland  (York.) 
Calder 
20  Cliff  (Som.) 

Cogireshall  (Essex; 
Cokehill*  (Wore.) 
Ck)mbe  (Glouc),  C. 
Combe  (Warw.) 
Combermere 
Gotham*  (Line.) 
Croxton  (Staff.) 
Cumhyre  (Radn.) 
Demhale  (Chesh.) 
30  Dieulacres  (Staff.) 
Douglas 

Dunkeswell  (Dev.) 
Dunscroft  (York.), 

C. 
Ellerton  *  (York.) 
Essholt  *  (York.) 
Farringdon,  C. 
Flexley  (Glouc.) 
Ford  (Dev.) 
Fors  (York.) 
40  Fumess 

Garendon  (Leic.) 
•Gokwell*  (Line.) 
■Grace    Dieu 

(Mourn.) 
Gree^ifield  *  (Line.) 
Hampole  *  (York.) 
Hales  (Glouc.) 
HevenA'ng*  (Line.) 
Holm  Cultram 

(Cum.) 
Horwell    (Warw.), 

60  Hutton  (Staff.) 
Jorvaulx 
Keldon  *  (York.) 
Kingswood(  Wilts.) 
Kemmer  (Merion.) 
Kirklevs  *  (York.) 
Kirkstall  (York.) 
Kirksted  (Line.) 
Lanakebran 

(Corn.),  C. 
LeightonBuzzardjC. 

60  Legborne  *  (Line.) 
Llanclere  *  (Card.) 
Llanlugan  * 
(Montg.) 
Llantarnam 
(Monm.) 
London :  Tower  hill 
„    St.  James's,  C. 
Louth  (Line.) 
Margan  (Glam.) 


Marham  *  (Norf.) 
May  nan  (Denb.) 
70  Medmenham 
(Bucks) 
Melsa  (York.) 
Mereval  (Warw.) 
Neath 
Netley 
New  Minster 
(Northumberland.) 
Newenham  (Dev.) 
Pinler  *  (Warw.) 
Pipe  well      (North- 
ants) 
Quarrer  (Hants) 
BO  Revesby  (Line.) 
Rewley  (Oxf.) 
Rievaulx  (York.) 
Robertsbridge 

(Suss.) 
Roch  (York.) 
Rosedale  (York.) 
Rufford  (Notts) 
Rushin  (Man.) 
Sawley  (York.) 
Sawtre  (Hunts) 
90  Sewesley*   (North- 
ants) 
Sib  ton  (Suff.) 
Sinningthwaite  * 

(York.) 
Stanlegh  (Wilts) 
Stoneleigh(Warw.) 
Strata  Florida 

(Card.) 
Stratford  at  Bogh 
Stykeswold  * 

(Line.) 
Swineshed  (Line.) 
Swinhey*  (York.) 
100  Thame  (Oxf.) 
Tarrant  Kaines  * 

r  Dorset) 
TitXv  (Essex) 
Tintern  (Monm.) 
Vale  Royal 
(Chesh.) 
Valle  Crucis 

(Denb.) 
Vaudey  (Line.) 
Warden  (Beds.) 
Waverlev  (Surrey) 
W^halley 
110  Winteney  * 
(Hants) 
Woburn 
Worcester  * 
Wyckham*  (York.) 
114  Ystrat  Marchel 
(Montg.) 


CIVIL  LAW 

Poland.  In  1805  a  colony  of  Cistercian 
monks  arrived  in  the  U.  S.  from  Olair- 
vaux.  But  they  did  not  remain,  and 
they  established  themselves  at  Tracadie 
in  Nova  Scotia.  In  1848  another  band 
came,  this  time  from  Ireland,  and  found- 
ed the  Abbey  of  La  Trappe,  at  Gethse- 
mani,  Ky.  Still  later  New  Melleray  Ab- 
bey, near  Dubuque,  Iowa,  was  establish- 
ed, and  both  abbeys  are  now  flourishing. 

(H^lyot, "  Ordres  Monastiq  ues ; "  Alban 
Butler,  April  17  and  24 ;  Wetzer  and 
Welte,  art.  Citeaux ;  Tanner  s  "  Notitia.") 

CZVZZ.  JmATW.  The  law  of  Rome,  be- 
ginning with  the  Twelve  Tables,  and  end- 
ing with  the  Code  and  Pandects  of  Justi- 
nian, is  so  called.  Immense  powers  of 
mind  were  employed  during  many  cen- 
turies in  harmonising,  rationalising,  and 
completely  adapting  to  the  wants  of  social 
life,  the  laws  of  Rome.  On  this  see  Sa- 
vigny,  Walter,  Phillips,  &c.  After  the  in- 
road of  the  Lombards  iifto  Italy,  the  in- 
crease of  anarchy  and  barbarism  in  every 
part  of  Europe  caused  the  authority  of 
the  civil  law  to  decline.  The  customs  of 
the  Franks,  the  Burgundians,  the  Angles, 
or  the  Visigoths,  were  of  more  account 
with  the  conquerors  of  Europe  than  all 
the  wisdom  of  Ulpian  or  Papiuian  ;  and 
out  of  these  customs  the  lex  loci,  or  com- 
mon law  of  each  country,  gradually  arose. 
In  the  twelfth  century,  society  being  now 
in  a  more  stable  condition,  the  study  of  the 
civil  law  was  revived  at  the  University  of 
Bologna,  whence  it  spread  to  other 
countries.  The  rulers  of  the  Church  have 
observed  no  uniform  attitude  towards  this 
study,  because,  as  circumstances  varied,  so 
did  the  duty  of  the  Church  vary.  St. 
Chrysostom,  when  he  was  converted  to 
God,  abandoned  for  ever,  as  he  tells  us, 
the  study  of  the  Roman  law.  Yet  St. 
Gregory  the  Great  often  made  use  of 
the  imperial  laws  himself,  and  advised 
the  bishops  of  several  countries,  when 
these  laws  did  not  conflict  with  the 
canons,  to  promote  their  observance.  After 
the  twelfth  century  the  civil  and  canon 
law  [Canon  Law]  were  studied />^?-i;?assw; 
the  Roman  Pontiff"  admitted  that  "  the 
laws  were  a  support  to  the  canons  ;  "  and 
Honorius  III.,  early  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, ordered  that  there  should  always  be 
a  school  of  both  laws,  "utri usque  juris," 
in  the  Roman  Curia.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  German  and  imperial  legists,  who 
were  possessed  by  the  idea  of  "  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire  "  and  aU  that  the  phrase 
involved,  strove  to  give  to  the  civil  a 
universality  equal  to  that  of  the  canon  law, 


CIVIL  LAW 

and  to  make  all  national  codes  give  way 
to  it.  As  mankind,  religiously,  were 
gathered  into  one  Church,  so,  civilly,  ac- 
cording to  these  dreamers,  they  were  or 
ought  to  be  members  of  i)ut  one  State, 
the  Empire,  the  head  of  which  delegated 
more  or  less  of  his  power  to  the  kings 
and  princes  of  other  lands.  With  such 
theories  of  the  civilians  the  Church  could 
have  nothing  to  do ;  and  there  was  some 
danger,  if  she  should  show  unmixed 
favour  and  countenance  to  tha  study  of 
the  civil  law,  lest  the  Governments  outside 
the  Empire,  which  maintained  their  abso- 
lute independence,  and  did  not  mean  to 
supersede  their  own  codes  by  the  Roman 
law,  should  take  umbrage  at  her  proce- 
dure, and  curtail  her  liberty  of  action 
within  their  borders.  Hence  we  meet 
with  various  Papal  briefs  and  orders 
tending  to  discourage,  or  at  least  to 
place  under  restraint,  the  study  of  the 
civil  law.  Pope  Innocent  IV.,  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  bishops  of  all  Euro- 
pean countries  except  Germany,  deplored 
the  extravagant  addiction  of  the  clergy 
to  this  study  ("tota  clericorum  multi- 
tudo  ad  audiendas  seculares  leges  con- 
currit  " ),  and  forbade  the  civil  law  to  be 
publicly  taught,  unless  by  the  desire  of  the 
local  sovereign.  Nevertheless,  the  intrin- 
Bic  excellences  of  the  Roman  Law  are  so 
great  that  recourse  to  it  could  but  be 
moderated  ;  the  Pontiffs  neither  could 
nor  wished  to  supersede  it  by  any  other. 
In  all  countries  it  was  introduced  along 
with  the  canon  law  into  Church  courts  ; 
and  the  rule  which  the  canonists  still 
observe  *  gradually  arose — namely,  that 
where  the  canons  are  silent  or  obscure, 
if  the  matter  under  adjudication  be  of  a 
spiritual  nature,  reference  shall  be  made 
to  the  writings  of  the  Fathers ;  but  if  it  be 
of  a  secular  nature,  to  the  civil  law.  In 
England  a  line  of  great  lawyers,  com- 
mencing with  Glanvile  in  the  twelfth 
century,  and  including  the  names  of  Brit- 
ton,  Bracton,  and  Littleton,  laboured  to 
refine  and  harmonise  the  common  law ; 
and  no  other  code  was  recognised  in  the 
King's  courts.  But  in  the  Church  courts  the 
civil  law,  as  already  stated,  was  in  use ;  and 
it  was  carefully  studied,  and  degrees  were 
given  in  it,  at  the  two  Universities.'^    At 

*  Soglia,  lib.  i.  cap.  3. 

2  Among  those  present  at  the  Convocation 
which  condemned  Wyclif,  in  1382,  were  "  doc- 
tores  legum"  (or  "utriusque  juris,"  or  "juris 
canonici  et  civilis"),  a  bishop  "vocatus  in- 
cipiendum  in  jure  civili,"  and  "  doctores  de- 
ttetorum"  (or  "in  decretis")   whose  degree 


CLERGY,  CLERICAL  STATE  189 

the  Reformation  the  study  of  the  canon 
law  was  abandoned  at  Oxford;  the  law 
of  the  land  did  not  even  yet  appear  to 
have  been  rationalised  sufficiently  forth© 
purposes  of  academical  study  ;  and  hence 
to  this  day  the  only  legal  degrees 
conferred  by  Oxford  are  in  civil  law 
(Bachelor  and  Doctor),  a  branch  of  learn- 
ing the  importance  of  which  in  legal 
education  is,  indeed,  now  fully  recognised 
amongst  us,  but  of  which  the  actual 
authority  and  practical  application  are, 
we  suppose,  more  limited  in  England  than 
in  any  other  European  country. 

CrVXX.  MARRIAGE.  [See  MABf- 
RIAGE.] 

cZtAUDESTZUS.   [See  Mahhiaqe.] 
cZiARSS.    [See  Poor  Clares.] 
cXiATTSURA.    [See  Enclosure.] 

CIiSRGY,      CX.ERICAII      STATS, 

CI.ERXC,  CXiERK,  A.C.  The  clerical 
state  is  the  rank  or  condition  of  those  who 
are  separated  from  the  mass  of  the  faith- 
ful, attached  in  a  special  manner  to  the 
divine  service  and  made  capable  of  ad- 
ministering the  power  of  the  Church. 

The  word  is  of  course  derived  from 
the  Greek  Kk^pos,  a  lot,  a  word  which 
frequently  occurs  in  its  literal  sense  in  the 
LXX  and  New  Testament.  But  how  did 
the  word  lot  come  to  denote  "  the  cler^ry  "  ? 
The  answer  to  this  question  is  very  far  from 
easy.  St.  Jerome's  beautiful  explanation, 
that  the  clergy  are  so  called  because  the 
Lord  himself  is  the  lot,  i.e.  the  portion, 
of  clerics,  does  not  seem  to  be  borne  out 
by  the  history  of  the  word.  The  Pontifi- 
cal, it  is  true,  evidently  alludes  to  this 
mystical  signification,  and  no  one  will 
deny  that  such  an  application  may  most 
fitly  and  naturally  be  made;  but  it  is 
quite  another  thing  to  maintain  that  the 
name  was  first  given  among  Christians 
for  the  reason  assigned  by  Jerome.  The 
following  seems  to  us  on  the  whole  the 
way  in  which  the  terra  "clergy"  gradu- 
ally assumed  a  technical  and  restricted 
sense.  The  notion  of  lot  easily  led 
to  the  sense  of  office  allotted.  Thus  St. 
Peter  says  of  Judas,^  "he  received  the  lot 
of  this  ministry  "  {t6u  KX^pov  ttjs  diaKovlas 
ravTrjs)  and  Irena^us  says  of  Pope  Hyginus 
that  he  held  "the  ninth  lot  of  epis- 
copal succession  from  the  Apostles  * 
(evvarov  Kkrjpov)  ;  of  Eleutherus  that  he 
obtained  "the  lot  of  the  episcopate."'  A 
little  later  than  Irenaeus — viz.  in  Clement 

was  in  canon  law  alone.  See  Fascic.  JSizau, 
p.  286. 

1  Acts  i.  17. 

«  Iren.  i.  27,  1 ;  iiL  8,  8. 


190  CLERGY,  CLERICAL  STATE 

of  Alexandria  ^  and  Tertidlian- — we  meet 
with  tlie  word  in  its  modern  sense.  The 
former  relatesof  St.  John,  that  he  travelled 
from  Ephesus  through  the  surrounding 
country,  "in  some  places  to  establish 
bishops,  in  others  set  up  entire  churches, 
in  others  to  admit  some  one  individual  to 
the  ranks  of  the  clergy  (/cXr}po>  leva  ye  rtva 
KKrjpaxTMv)  of  those  who  were  signified  to 
him  by  the  Spirit:  "  i.e.  when  a  college  of 
presbyters,  &c.,  already  existed,  St.  John 
admitted  a  fresh  member.  Tertullian 
speaks  of  those  who  are  puffed  up  "  ad- 
versus  clerum'' — i.e.,  as  is  clear  from  the 
context,  "  against  the  clergy."  Thus  the 
word  appears  to  have  meant  (1)  a  lot;  (2) 
an  office  allotted ;  (3)  as  early  at  least  as 
the  close  of  the  second  century,  those  who 
held  the  office,  or  perhaps  to  whom  the 
office  was  allotted — viz.  the  clergy.  It 
may  be  objected  that  the  technical  use  of 
the  word  is  much  earlier,  and  that  we 
find  an  example  in  1  Pet.  v.  3,  where  we 
read  in  the  advice  given  to  the  "  ancients," 
"  neither  as  domineering  over  the  clergy, 
but  being  made  a  pattern  of  the  flock 
from  the  heart."  But  "  dominantes  in 
cleris"  (KaTaKvpievovres  rav  Kkr]pa>v)  can- 
nbt  have  the  meaning  given  to  it  in  tljie 
Douay  version.  This  is  shewn  both  by  the 
connection,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  word 
is  in  the  plural.  Estius  calls  attention  to 
each  of  these  points  and  interprets  the 
passage  as  a  prohibition  forbidding  the 
"  ancients "  to  domineer  over  the  "  lots,** 
or  congregations  placed  under  their  care. 
The  word  "  cleris  is  parallel  and  equiva- 
lent to  the  "gregis"  or  ^' flock"  which 
occurs  in  the  latter  half  of  the  verse.' 

While,  however,  the  name  is  wanting 
in  the  New  Testament,  the  thing  intended 
by  the  name  is  there.  The  very  fact  that  the 
epistles  of  St.  Paul  mention  bishops  who 
**  are  to  rule  the  Church  of  God,"  and  pre- 
lates whom  the  faithful  are  to  "  obey  "  and 
to  whom  they  are  to  "  be  subject,"  is 
proof  conclusive  that  the  distinction  be- 
tween clergy  and  laity  was  fully  recog- 
nised by  the  Apostles.  The  (church  did 
but  act  in  accordance  with  the  revelation 
entrusted  to  her,  when  she  separated  the 
clergy  from  the  laity  by  outward  marks, 

»  Clem.  AL  De  Divit.  Servando,  c.  42. 

>  TertuU.  De  Monog.  c.  12. 

5  This  explanation  agrees  on  the  whole 
with  that  pven  by  Dr.  Li^htfoot,  Commentaty 
•n  Philippians.  Baur  (Kirchengesch.  der  drei 
ersten  Jahrhunderte,  p.  266)  makes  the  word 
mean  (1)  lot  or  order;  (2)  rank  or  station— in 
1  Pet.  V.  3, "  not  domineering  over  the  different 
ranks";  (8)  the  rank  par  excellence,  t.e.  the 
clergy. 


CLERK 

and  gave  certain  privileges  to  the  former. 
[For  the  privileges,  decorum,  &c.,  see 
Clekk.] 

CZ.ERXCZ  VAGiLiO'TSS.  Ecclesi- 
astical law  has  required  from  the  earliest 
times  that  before  admission  to  holy  orders 
a  cleric  shall  possess  a  title — that  is,  a 
benefice  sufficient  for  his  subsistence,  or 
else  a  patrimony,  belonging  to  him  in  his 
own  right,  and  competent  to  support  him. 
But  this  requirement  was  often  waived 
in  particular  cases,  especially  when  a 
bishop  wished  to  send  priests  to  a  remote 
and  unsettled  part  of  his  diocese,  or  to 
preach  to  the  heathen  in  a  neighbouring 
country.  Such  priests  would,  in  the 
majorit}'  of  cases,  obtain  settled  cures  in 
the  districts  whither  they  went ;  but  those 
who  did  not  succeed  in  doing  so  had  no 
choice  but  to  return  home  and  put  them- 
selves at  the  disposal  of  their  bishop. 
Thus  a  class  of  "  rovmg  "  or  unattached 
priests  was  gradually  formed,  the  members 
of  which  as  a  general  rule  could  be  use- 
fully employed  in  suppleoienting  the 
regular  diocesan  work.  But  it  was  inevit- 
able that  abuses  should  arise  out  of  such 
a  state  of  things ;  and  to  put  an  end  to 
these,  the  Council  of  Trent  decreed  that 
"  no  one  should  in  future  be  ordained  who 
was  not  attached  to  that  church  or  pious 
institution  for  the  needs  or  convenience 
of  which  he  was  selected,  so  that  he  might 
discharge  his  lunctions  there,  and  not 
wander  about  having  no  fixed  abode."  ^ 
(Ferraris,  Clenciis,  Ordo,  Titulus.) 

CIiERX.  In  a  general  sense,  and 
when  we  are  considering  who  are  entitled 
to  enjoy  clerical  privileges,  the  name  of 
cleric  or  clerk  is  applicable  to  the  whole 
body  of  the  secular  clergy,  including  per- 
sons in  minor  orders  (Council  of  Trent, 
sess.  xxiii.  c.  6,  De  Ref.)  ;  also  to  monks 
and  nuDS,  to  lay  institutes  following  a 
religious  rule,  to  hermits  leading  their 
life  under  authority,  to  the  Knights  of 
Malta,  &c.  In  the  stricter  sense,  and 
when  penalties  are  under  consideration, 
the  name  is  only  applicable  to  the  inferior 
ranks  of  the  secular  clergy,  and  does  not 
include  bishops,  canons,  or  any  eccle- 
siastical dignitary. 

In  the  middle  ages  "  clerk  "  was  used 
loosely  for  "  man  of  learning,"  the  latter 
class  being  almost  wholly  comprised  within 
the  former.  Thus  Henry  I.  of  England 
was  called  Beauclerk,  and  Chaucer  verites — 

"  Frauncevs  Petrark,  the  laareat  poete, 
Highte  2"  this  c/erA;" 


1  Sess.  xxiii.  c  16,  De  Re&        *  Was  called. 


CLERK 

and  Wyclif,  or  some  other,^  says,  "Lin- 
colne  [Robert  Grossetete]  and  other  clei'- 
his  proven,"  where  all  that  is  meant  is 
"learned  men." 

Till  recent  times,  secular  rulers  and 
legislators  recognised  the  fundamental 
character  of  this  distinction,  as  investing 
the  Catholic  clergy  with  certain  immuni- 
ties, and  furnishing  a  sufficient  ground 
for  a  separate  system  of  ecclesiastical  law, 
to  which  clerical  things  and  persons  should 
be  subject.  [See  Privilege,  Immunity.] 
The  tribunals  in  which  this  law  was  ad- 
ministered were  the  foi-um  externum  of 
the  Church,  and  all  cleiics,  high  and  low, 
en^oje^  the  privilegium  fo7-i — that  is,  the 
right  of  trial  according  to  the  canon  law. 
The  various  national  codes  having,  through 
the  constant  pressure  of  Christianity  and 
the  action  of  the  canon  law,  become  in 
most  things  rational  and  humane,  modern 
statesmen  tend^  to  the  doctrine  that  all 
subjects  of  the'  State  should  be  treated 
alike — that  the  law  should  be  the  same 
for  all,  and  civil  burdens  be  borne  by  all 
indiscriminately.  Yet,  the  failure  to  re- 
cognise a  distinction  of  status  which  is 
real  and  fundamental,  and  rests  on  divine 
institution,  can  but  lead,  wherever  found, 
to  trouble,  confusion,  and  the  depravation 
of  morals.  If  in  every  Catholic  country 
having  the  conscription,  the  so-called 
Liberals  succeeded  in  destroying  the 
clerical  immunity  from  military  service, 
as  they  are  now  endeavouring  to  do  in 
France,  a  great  decrease  would  soon  thin 
the  ranks  of  the  clergy,  accompanied  by 
unspeakable  distress  and  damage  to  Chris- 
tian souls.  The  Church  in  Europe  has 
lost  the  tithe,  the  greater  portion  of  her 
property,  and  much  of  the  consideration 
which  she  formerly  received  from  society ; 
tlie  mixed  motives  which  once  tended  to 
till  the  ranks  of  the  clergy  no  longer 
operate  ;  the  labourers  are  few,  and  their 
fair  hire  is  withheld  from  them.  Under 
such  circumstances,  it  would  be  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Governments  to  smooth  the 
way  for  young  men  to  enter  the  clerical 
state,  and  to  lessen  the  hardships  which 
surround  them  in  that  state.  Yet  we  see 
modern  society,  in  too  many  once  Catholic 
States,  taking  the  opposite  course;  and 
"  Liberal  "  statesmen  legislating  against 
the  clergy  as  if  they  were  some  destructive 
anti-social  caste,  instead  of  the  necessary 
and  divinely-appointed  guides  by  whom 
human  beings  are  prepared  in  time  to  face 
eternity.     They  may  succeed  in  nipping 

1  Unprinted  English  Works,  Sfc,  Matthew, 
I8S0. 


CLINICAL  BAPTISM        191 

in  the  bud  many  vocations,  but  they  will 
not  succeed  in  making  men  happier  and 
better,  nor  in  strengthening  the  bases  of 
social  order,  which,  when  religion  lan- 
guishes, are  inevitably  imperilled. 

According  to  the  canon  law,  the  dre?s 
of  the  cleric  must  be  sober  in  form  and 
colour.  Trade  and  secular  business  are 
forbidden  to  him.  He  is  required  to  use 
great  caution  in  frequenting  the  company 
of  the  other  sex,  and  must  not  be  present 
at  public  balls  or  masquerades.  In  the 
Decretum  there  is  a  prohibition  against 
the  attendance  of  clerics  at  stage  plays  of 
every  description.  But  in  the  course  of 
ages  a  contrary  custom  has  arisen,  which 
causes  this  prohibition  no  longer  to  bind 
under  mortal  sin,  unless  enforced  by  some 
diocesan  orpro\dncial  law.  Gambling  and 
games  of  hazard  are  forbidden  to  clerics, 
though  some  modification  has  been  intro- 
duced in  later  times,  and  an  approved 
canonist  quoted  by  Ferraris^  says  that 
"  clerics  who  play  seldom  and  moderately, 
for  amusement's  sake,  are  altogether  ex- 
cused from  sin  if  the  diocesan  law  does  not 
prohibit  to  them  games  of  chance,  and 
local  custom  sanctions  it."  Clerics  must 
not  carry  arms  without  just  and  necessary 
cause ;  hence  shooting,  unless  for  the  sake 
of  procuring  food,  would  seem  not  to 
be  allowed  :  but  a  moderate  indul- 
gence in  hunting  and  fishing  is  not  for- 
bidden. 

Till  quite  lately,  the  server  at  Mass 
used  to  be  called  the  "clerk,"  even  though 
a  la}Tnan,  by  English  and  Irish  Catholics, 
because  he  did  clei'k's  work ;  just  as  the 
boys  at  Mass  are  called  "acolytes,"  though 
not  really  so,  because  they  do  acolytes' 
work.     (Ferraris,   Clcricus.) 

ciiixriCAii  BAPTISM.  A  name 
given  in  the  early  Church  to  baptism 
received  on  the  bed  of  sickness,  those  who 
received  it  being  called  clinici  or  kKivikoL 
The  first  notice  which  we  have  of  baptism 
so  conferred  is  contained  in  a  letter  of 
Pope  Cornelius  written  about  the  middle 
of  the  third  century  to  Fabius  of  Antioch'. 
The  subject  is  important  from  two  distinct 
points  of  view,  for  it  throws  light  both  on 
the  doctrine  and  the  discipline  of  the 
early  Church. 

With  regard  to  the  former,  the  custom 
of  conferring  clinical  baptism  proves 
that  baptism  given,  not  by  immersion,  but 
by  sprinkUng  the  recipient,  or  by  pouring 
water  over  him  (by  aspersion  or  perfusion), 
although  unusual,  was  still  considered 
valid.  This  validity  is  clearly  laid  down 
1  Layman. 


192 


CLOISTER 


by  Cj-piian,  in  Ep.  Ixix.,  when  he  answers 
the  question  whether  those  who  had  not 
been  "  washed  with  the  water  of  salvation, 
but  had  had  it  poured  over  them,"  were 
"  Christians  in  the  strict  sense  "  {legitimi 
Christiani).  He  replies  that  we  need 
not  be  concerned  because  the  baptised 
person  in  case  of  sickness  has  been  sprinkled 
or  had  water  poured  over  him  (instead 
of  being  immersed),  since  in  any  case  he 
receives  the  "  grace  of  the  Lord." 

However,  the  discipline  of  the  Church 
made  a  difference  between  clinici  and 
other  Christians,  and  did  not  allow  the 
former  to  be  ordained,  on  the  groimd  that 
they  probably  had  received  the  sacrament 
rather  from  fear  than  from  a  higher 
motive.  Li  the  letter  akeady  mentioned 
Cornelius  states  that  it  was  against  the 
law  for  one  who  had  received  clinic  bap- 
tism to  enter  the  ranks  of  the  clergy.^  The 
Council  of  Neocaesarea  (can.  12),  in  the 
early  part  of  the  fourth  century,  renews 
this  ancient  prohibition,  making,  however, 
an  exception  in  the  case  of  clinici  who  sig- 
nalised themselves  by  zeal,  and  for  times 
when  there  was  great  want  of  clergy. 
This  canon  was  received  into  the  "  Corpus 
Juris,"'  c.  1.  Dist.  57.^ 

CZiOlSTER.  An  enclosed  space, 
usually  square,  surrounded  by  covered 
passages,  which  have  continuous  walls  on 
the  outer  side,  and  rows  of  pillars  on  the 
inner  side  facing  the  square,  in  connection 
with  monastic,  cathedral,  or  collegiate 
buildings.  In  the  British  Isles  they  did 
not  appear  earlier  than  the  13th  cen- 
tury. They  doubtless  first  appeared  in 
monasteries,  furnishing  monks  with  the 
means  of  exercise  under  cover  in  wet 
weather.  The  interior  space  was  some- 
times used  for  a  cemetery,  as  at  Salis- 
bury. Schools  are  said  to  have  been  held 
in  them,  though  they  can  scai'cely,  at 
any  rate  in  northern  climates,  have  been 
Tery  suitable  for  the  purpose.  In  no 
country  in  Europe  have  so  many  fine 
specimens  of  Gothic  cloisters  been  pre- 
served as  in  England.  That  at  Gloucester 
is  of  remarkable  beauty ;  the  cathedrals 
of  Durham,  York,  and  Lincoln,  and  New 
College,  Oxford,  furnish  tine  examples. 

CXiTrN"?,  COM-GRSGATZOir  OF. 
This  branch  of  the  Benedictine  order  at- 
tained in  the  middle  ages  to  a  pitch  of 
greatness  and  influence  which  entitle  it  to 
a  separate  article.  It  was  founded  by  Berno, 
abbot  of  Gigny,  in  912,  with  the  assistance 
of  William  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  who  en- 

1  Euseb. //. /J.  vi.  43,  17. 
»  Hefele,  ConcU.  i.  p.  249. 


CLUNY 

dowed  the  new  monastery  with  his  whole 
domains,  forests,  meadows,  vineyards,  &c., 
at  Cluny,  fifteen  miles  from  Macon-sur- 
Saone.  A  succession  of  great  and  saintly 
abbots — Odo,  Aymard,  St.  Mayeul,  St. 
Odilo,  and  St.  Hugh — procured  for  the 
Abbey  of  Cluny  a  world-wide  reputation, 
great  wealth  and  political  influence,  and 
a  filiation  of  many  hundred  monasteries. 
The  bond  of  dependence  was  strictly 
maintained  in  all  the  houses  founded  from 
or  connected  with  Cluny  ;  in  nearly  every 
instance  they  were  governed  by  priors, 
not  abbots.  Urban  II.,  the  Pope  who 
preached  the  first  crusade,  had  been 
educated  at  Cluny  under  St.  Hugh.  The 
great  Earl  of  Warenne,  the  friend  and 
companion  in  arms  of  the  Conqueror, 
founded  the  first  Cluniac  house  in  Eng- 
land, at  Lewes,  in  1077,  dedicating  the 
church  in  honour  of  St.  Vancras.  Under 
Peter  the  "Venerable,  the  ninth  abbot,  the 
contemporary  and  friend  of  St.  Bernard, 
Cluny  reached  its  apogee.  Peter  drew 
up  a  reformed  rule ;  two  thousand  con- 
vents recognised  him  as  their  superior ; 
and  in  1131  the  Pope  himself,  Innocent 
II.,  came  to  Cluny  and  consecrated  the 
new  church,  the  master-piece  of  Gothic 
architecture  and  one  of  the  wonders  of 
the  world.  At  the  Revolution,  the  town 
of  Chmy  bought  the  church  from  .  the 
Republican  Government,  and  pulled  it 
down  ;  nothing  but  the  two  towers  and  a 
JVw  other  fragments  was  left  standing. 
Some  tune  afterwards  the  people  of  Cluny 
invited  Napoleon  to  visit  their  town ;  the 
emperor  replied,  "  No,  no,  you  are 
Vandals." 

There  were  thirty-five  Cluniac  houses 
in  England  at  the  time  of  the  suppression ; 
the  Est  is  given  below.  ^  Only  one  was 
jan   abbey — Bermondsey;  the  rest  were 

*  Nunneries  are  distinguished  by  an  asterisk ; 
cells  by  the  letter  C. 


Bablew  (Som.),  C 
Barnstaple 
Bermondsev 
Bretton  Monk  (York.) 
Bromholm  (Norf.) 
Careswell  (Dev.),  C 
(^astleacre  (Xorf.) 
Clifford  (Heref.) 
Daventry 
Derbv,  C 
Dudley,  C 
Ilitcham  (Norf.),  C 
Hohne  (Dors.),  C 
Horkslev  (Essex) 
Horton  (Kent),  C 
Kershall  (Lane),  C 
Lenton  (Notts.) 
Lewes 


Mai  pas  (Monm.),  C 
Melton  Mowbray,  C 
Montacute  (Soni.) 
Myndhani  (Suff.) 
Normansberch 
(Norf.),  C 
Northampton 
Northampton  * 
Pontefract 
Preone  (Salop\  C. 
Prittlewell  (Essex) 
Siewsham  (Ndrf.),  C. 
Stancsgate  (Essex) 
St.  Svriac  (Corn.),  C, 
Thetford 

Tvkeford  (Bucks.),  C 
Wangford  (Suflf.),  C 
Wenlock 


COADJUTOR 

priories  or  cells.    (Hefele's  art.  in  Wetzer 
and  Welte  ;  Tanner's  "  Notiti^.") 

COABTUTOR.     One    who   helps    a 

S relate,  or  a  priest  holding  a  benefice,  in 
ischarging  the  duties  of  his  bishopric  or 
benefice.  Coadjutorship  may  be  of  two 
kinds:  one  temporary  and  revocable, 
allowed  on  account  of  sickness  or  other 
incapacity,  and  implying  no  right ^of  suc- 
cession ;  the  other  perpetual  and  irrevoc- 
able, and  carrying  with  it  the  right  to 
succeed  the  person  coadjuted.  In  this 
latter  sense  it  is  expressly  forbidden  by 
the  Council  of  Trent ;  ^  nevertheless  the 
Pope,  for  special  causes,  sometimes  con- 
cedes it,  the  plenitude  of  his  apostolic 
power  enabling  him  legally  to  dispense 
•with  the  law.  If  a  coadjutor  is  required 
for  a  parish  priest,  it  is  for  the  bishop  of 
the  diocese  to  nommate  one ;  if  for  a 
bishop,  the  nomination  belongs  to  the 
Pope,  any  usage  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. In  the  case  of  a  priest,  if  the 
incapacity  is  temporary  or  curable,  he 
must  appoint  a  vicar  or  substitute,  not  a 
coadj  utor.  The  various  infirmities  which 
justify  coadjutorship — serious  and  in- 
curable illness,  leprosy,  loss  of  speech,  &c. 
— are  specified  in  the  canon  law.  In  the 
case  of  a  bishop,  the  terms  "  adminis- 
trator "  and  "  suffragan  "  mean  much  the 
same  as  coadjutor,  the  diflferences  being, 
that  the  administrator's  function  ceases 
when  the  bishop  resumes  charge  of  the 
diocese  or  dies,  and  a  suftragan  assists  the 
bishop  in  things  which  relate  to  his 
ministry,  but  has  no  jurisdiction ;  while  a 
coadjutor  has  jurisdiction,  and  his  rights 
may,  as  we  have  seen,  by  special  Papal 
permission,  subsist  after  the  death  of  the 
coadjuted.  Various  points  affecting  the 
precedence,  dignity,  and  ceremonial 
attaching  to  a  coadjutor  bishop  have  been 
settled  from  time  to  time  by  the  Congre- 
gation of  Rites.     (Ferraris,  Coadjutor.) 

COAT,  THE  KOIiTT  {tunica  incon- 
sutilis,  der  heiliye  Rock,  la  sainte  Robe). 
This  celebrated  relic  is  in  the  treasury  of 
the  cathedral  of  Treves,  and  a  very  an- 
cient tradition  asserts  it  to  be  identical 
with  the  seamless  coat  which  our  Saviour 
wore  at  the  time  of  his  Passion.  The 
empress  Helena,  having  come  into  pos- 
session of  it  in  the  Holy  Land,  is  said  to 
have  given  it  to  the  city  of  Treves,  where 
she  resided  for  a  considerable  time.  The 
earliest  wi'itten  testimony  to  this  effect  is 
found  in  the  Gesta  Tremrorum,  a  chroni- 
cle of  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century, 
where  Helena  is  said  to  have  presented 
1  Sess.  XXV.  c.  7,  De  Ref. 


COAT,  THE  HOLY 


193 


the  relic  to  the  church  during  the  epi- 
scopate of  Agritius  (314-334).  Several 
other  notices  of  the  Holy  Coat  are  found 
in  documents  mounting  up  to,  or  nearly 
to,  the  twelfth  century.  But  the  most 
remarkable  and  interesting  piece  of 
evidence,  in  support  of  the  authenticity 
of  the  relic,  is  an  ancient  ivory  belonging 
to  the  cathedral  (lost  for  some  time  but 
recovered  in  1844),  on  which  the  Empress 
is  figured,  seated  at  the  church  door,  and 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  a  procession 
closed  by  a  chariot  in  which  are  two 
ecclesiastics  guarding  a  chest.  Above  the 
chariot  is  the  face  of  Christ,  by  which 
some  relation  between  our  Lord  and 
the  contents  of  the  chest  seems  to  be 
indicated.  This  ivory  was  examined 
by  the  Archaeological  Society  of  Frank- 
fort in  1840,  with  the  result  of  fixing 
its  date  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  or  be- 
ginning of  the  fifth  century. 

We  read  of  the  translation  of  the 
relic  from  the  choir  to  the  high -altar  of 
the  cathedral  in  1196.  After  an  interval 
of  more  than  three  hundred  years,  it  was 
exposed  in  1512,  and  on  several  other 
occasions  in  the  sixteenth  century,  for  the 
veneration  of  the  faithful.  During  the 
wars  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries,  it  was  deposited  for  safety  in 
the  castle  of  Ehrenbreitstein,  or  at  Augs- 
burg. In  1810,  with  the  permission  of 
Napoleon,  the  bishop  of  Treves,  Mgr. 
Mannay,  brought  the  sacred  relic  back 
from  Augsburg  to  his  own  city ;  and,  in 
spite  of  the  confusion  of  the  times,  a 
multitude  of  pilgrims  numbering  over 
two  hundred  thousand  visited  Treves  to 
celebrate  this  joyful  restoration.  But  the 
most  striking  and  successful  exposition 
was  that  of  1844,  when  eleven  bishops 
and  more  than  a  million  of  the  laity 
flocked  to  Treves  from  all  sides  during  the 
period  (from  August  18  to  October  6)  for 
which  the  Holy  Coat  was  exhibited 
Several  miraculous  cures  were  reported, 
and  the  joy  and  piety  of  the  believing 
throng  must  have  been  a  very  moving 
sight.  Certain  unstable  Catholics,  with 
a  secret  leaning  to  rationalism,  took 
offence  at  the  proceedings,  and  wrote 
against  the  authenticity  of  the  Holy  Coat. 
Among  these  were  Czerski,  an  ecclesiastic 
from  Posen,  and  Ronge,  a  suspended 
priest  of  Breslau.  A  long  controversy 
arose,  in  the  course  of  which  these  men 
seceded  from  the  Church  and  founded  a 
s'ect  which  they  called  the  "German 
Catholic  Church."  The  movement  made 
a  great  noise  at  the  time,  but  is  now 


194 


CODEX  CANONUM 


Beldom  heard  of.  The  well-known 
Catholic  writer,  Gorres,  publislied  a 
pamphlet  on  the  question,  entitled  "  The 
Pilgrimage  of  Treves,"  in  1845. 

(This  notice  follows  the  article  in 
Wetzer  and  Welte  by  J.  Marx,  the  author 
of  several  works  bearing  on  the  history  of 
the  relic.) 

CODEX  CAXrOXTTTAX  ECCIi,  AF- 
ItXCASr JE.  This  collection  of  canons,  1 38 
In  number,  consists  substantially  of  the 
disciplinary  decisions  of  the  gi-eat  African 
council  which  sat  at  Carthage  between 
419  and  422.  Dionysius  Exiguus  (see 
Canon  Law)  admitted  the  greater  part  of 
them  into  his  first  collection.  The  synod 
in  Trullo  (691)  approved  and  adopted 
these  canons,  with  those  of  many  other 
councils,  as  suitable  for  use  in  the  East. 
They  were  first  published  at  Paris  by 
Justeau  in  1615  :  Mansi  included  them  in 
his  collection ;  they  have  been  discussed 
by  the  brothers  Balierini,  De  Marca,  and 
others. 

CODEX  cAxronnria  eccxi.  ttstx- 
VZ^SJE.  Under  this  title  the  two 
Justeau  (1610-1661)  published  the 
canons  of  which  the  Fathers  of  Chalcedon 
made  chief  use  (namely,  those  of  Nicsea, 
Ancyra,  Neo-Csesarea,  Gangra,  Antioch, 
Laodicea,  Constantinople  II.,  and  Epbesus) 
on  the  implied  assumption  that  thev  in- 
tended to,  and  did  in  fact,  erect  these 
canons,  along  with  their  own  twenty-nine 
into  a  code  receivable  and  binding 
throughout  the  Church.  For  such  an 
assumption  thsre  was  no  foundation.  The 
collection  contains  altogether  207  canons. 

COBsrOBZTE.  St.  Jerome  distin- 
guishes coenobites  from  anachorites  or 
hermits.  He  translates  the  former  word 
by  "  in  communi  viventes."  The  word  is 
derived  from  koivo^  ^ios,  common  life. 
The  place  in  which  they  lived  was  called 
ccenobium  or  koivo^iov,  and  the  superior, 
KoivofSinpxrjs.  Coenobites  were  also 
named  a-vvodlrai  which  answers  to  the 
Latin  conventuales.  The  word  coenobite 
is  thus  equivalent  to  our  word  "  monk." 
(Kraus,  "  Real-Encycl.") 

COGITATE;  COZ.I.ATERAZ1.  [See 
Consanguinity.] 

COZilLATZOXr  TO  A  BESrEFZCE. 

This  as  we  have  seen  [Bishop,  II.]  is  a 
right  ordinarily  belonging  to  bishops.  It 
may  be  either  free  and  voluntary  {coUntio 
libera),  or  restricted  to  the  institution  of  a 
clerk  presented  by  a  third  person  (collatio 
neccssaria,  non  libera).  Collation  by  lay 
persons  is  null,  except  in  a  few  cases 
^here,  by  a  special  privilege  granted  by 


COLLECT 

the  Holy  See,  a  king  or  an  abbess  confers 
a  particular  benefice  as  the  procurator  or 
vicar  of  the  Pope. 

The  right  of  conferring  the  higher 
ecclesiastical  dignities  is  now  in  the 
greater  part  of  Europe  regulated  by  Con- 
cordat between  the  Holy  See  and  the 
respective  Governments.  In  Austria  the 
Emperor  has  the  right  of  nominating  to 
most  canonries  ;  occasionally  this  right  is 
exercised  by  the  municipality.  In  France 
the  nomination  as  well  as  collation  to  all 
benefices  is  usually  in  the  hands  of  the 
archbishops  and  bishops ;  but  the  appoint- 
ments made  are  subject  in  the  case  of  the 
eu7-es  cantonaux  to  the  approbation  of  the 
Government;  which  on  the  other  hand 
nominates  to  the  almonerships  of  public 
establishments,  subject  to  episcopal  ap- 
proval. 

"  The  rulers  of  the  Church,"  says 
Soglia,  "  confer  benefices  by  a  triple  right, 
plenary,  ordinary,  or  delegated :  the  Pope 
by  his  plenary,  the  bishops  by  their 
ordinary,  cardinals  and  others  holding  a 
Papal  indult  by  their  delegated  right." 
(Card.  SogUa,  "Instit.  Juris  Canonici," 
iii.  2,  18.) 

coXiiLATZOiir.    [See  Fasting.] 

COZiXiECT  (coUecta)  occurs  in 
several   senses   in   ecclesiastical    writers. 

(1)  It  signifies  "collection."  Thus  St. 
Paul  mentions  the  "collectse  quae  fiunt 
apud  sanctos,"  where  the  Greek  has  \oyia. 

(2)  For  the  assembly  of  the  faithful. 
Thus  we  meet  with  "collectam  agere," 
"  adesse  ad  collectam,"  &c.  (3)  For  the 
prayer  said  in  the  Mass  after  the  Gloria 
and  before  the  Epistle.  The  name  so  used 
{coUectio  or  collecta)  is  found  in  the 
Mozarabic  Missal  and  in  the  old  Sacra- 
mentaries.  Many  of  the  collects  now  said 
in  the  Mass  were  composed  by  St.  Gela- 
sius  or  St.  Gregory,  though  of  course 
many  are  of  a  later  date.  The  prayer  or 
collect  "Deus,  cujus  dextera  beatum 
Petrum,"  is  attributed  to  Leo  II.,  who  is 
said  to  have  written  it  while  the  Nea/- 
politans  were  fighting  at  sea  with  the 
Saracens  for  the  defence  of  the  Church. 
The  same  Pontiff  wrote  the  prayer  "  Deus, 
qui  beato  Petro  collatis  clavibus,"  when, 
having  founded  the  Leonine  city,  he  put 
the  bars  on  the  gates.  Innocent  II.  is  the 
author  of  the  collect  "  A  cunctis." 

As  to  the  number  of  the  collects : 
originally  only  one  was  said.  Kitual 
writers,  such  as  Durandus,  Beleth  and 
Martene,  lay  it  down  that  the  number  of 
collects  must  not  exceed  seven.  Accord- 
ing to  the  rubrics  the  number  of  collecta 


COLLEGE 

uld  must  always  he  unequal,  the  odd 
number,  it  is  said,  denoting  unity.  In  the 
Roman  Church  the  collect  used  to  be 
followed  by  certain  other  prayers,  for  the 
Pope,  Emperor,  &c.,  which  prayers  were 
called  "  laudes." 

Almost  all  the  collects  are  addressed 
to  the  Father,  and  end  with  the  words 
"  throiicrh  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  &c. ; 
only  a  few  and  those  of  recent  date  are 
addressed  to  the  Son  ;  none  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.  '•  The  Mass,"  says  Cardinal  Bona, 
"  represents  the  oblation  by  which  Christ 
cfllered  Himself  to  the  Father,  and  there- 
fore the  prayers  of  the  liturgy  are  directed 
to  the  Father  Himself."  (Benedict  XIV. 
"  De  Missa,"  ii.  5.) 

COIiIiEG-E.  Collegia,  i.e.  corpora- 
tions or  guilds  of  persons  united  in  pur- 
suit of  a  common  object,  were  common  in 
the  Roman  empire  from  its  commencement. 
The  Government  took  cognisance  of,  and 
controlled  them.  When  Christianity  ap- 
peared everywhere,  the  churches, regarded 
by  jurists  as  collegia,  were  held  to  be 
unlawful  (collegia  illicita)  and  to  belong 
to  them  was  reckoned  a  misdemeanour. 
(Smith  and  Cheetham.) 

COZ.I.EGE,  THE  EXTGIiISB.     [See 

English  College.1 

coi.z.EaE,  THE  IRISH.  [See  Irish 
College.] 

COI.I.EGE,  THE    ROIVCAM-.     [See 

Roman  College.] 

COI.I.EGE,  THE  SCOTCH.      [See 

Scotch  College.] 

COI.I.EGIATE  CHURCH.  After 
the  practice  had  become  general  for  the 
clergy  of  cathedral  churches  to  live  in 
common,  under  the  rule  formulated  by 
the  Council  of  Aix-la-ChapeUe  (816),  and 
with  the  title  of  canons,  the  churches  of 
many  large  towns,  besides  those  which 
were  the  residences  of  bishops,  adopted 
a  similar  organisation,  and  were  called 
collegiate  churches.  [See  Canon.]  Thus 
Darlington,  to  which  some  of  the  canons 
whom  the  bishop  William  of  St.  Carilef 
(1080-1090)  replaced  by  monks  at  Dur- 
ham retired,  became,  with  Papal  sanction, 
a  collegiate  church  with  dean  and  pre- 
bendaries, and  flourished  as  such  till  the 
Reformation.  At  that  time  (1547),  a 
great  number  of  collegiate  churches  in 
England  were  suppressed,  and  their  re- 
venues confiscated,  with  the  exception 
of  a  small  portion  employed  in  founding 
schools,  of  which  King  Edward  VI. 's 
school  at  Birmingham  is  an  instance. 
Since  the  seventeenth  century  it  has  been 
invariably  ruled  that  a  collegiate  church 


COMMANDMENTS  OF  GOD  196 

can  only  be  erected  with  Papal  sanction. 
Among  the  conditions  for  obtaining  this 
sanction  are — that  the  locahty  should  be 
of  sufficient  importance  ;  that  there  be  a 
numerous  and  weU-disposed  population 
and  a  large  body  of  clergy  ;  that  the 
endowment  be  sufficient  ;  that  the  church 
be  of  suitable  size  and  dignity  ;  and  that 
aU  things  necessary  ibr  the  divine  worship 
be  provided  in  abundance.  (Ferraris,  Col' 
legium.) 

COMMAM-I>l«IEM-TS  OF  GOB  (in 
Hebrew  of  Exodus  xxxiv.  28,  Deut.  iv.  13, 
X.  4,  "  the  ten  words,"  of  which  "  the 
Decalogue,"  oi  biKa  \6yoL,Ta  8eKa  X6yia,Ta 
8eKa  prjixara,  is  a  verbal  translation)  were 
given  to  Moses  by  God  on  Mount  Sinai. 
They  were  written  by  the  finger  of  God 
on  two  tables  of  stone,  which  were  placed 
in  the  Ark.  Thus  the  commandments 
formed  the  centre  and  kernel  of  the 
Jewish  religion.  They  were  given  more 
directly  by  God  than  any  other  part  of 
the  Jewish  law,  and  they  were  placed  in 
the  most  holy  place,  which  none  but  the 
high-priest  could  enter,  and  he  only  once 
a  year.  The  Roman  Catechism  (iii.  I,  I), 
quoting  St.  Augustine,  points  out  that  aU 
the  rest  of  the  Mosaic  law  depends  on 
the  decalogue,  while  the  ten  command- 
ments, in  their  turn,  are  based  on  two 
precepts — the  love  of  God  with  the  whole 
heart,  and  the  love  of  our  neighbour  as 
ourselves. 

Two  questions  about  the  command- 
ments must  be  mentioned,  the  former  of 
which  concerns  the  binding  force,  the 
latter  the  division  and  arrangement,  of 
the  decalogue. 

As  to  the  former  question,  the  Council 
of  Trent  defines,  against  antinomian 
heretics  of  ancient  and  modern  times, 
that  the  ten  commandments  bind  the  con- 
sciences of  all  mankind.  Christians  included. 
"If  anyone  say  that  the  ten  commandments 
have  nothing  to  do  with  Christians,  let  him 
be  anathema."  "  If  anyone  say  that  a  man, 
though  justified  and  ever  so  perfect,  is  not 
bound  to  observe  the  commandments  of 
God  and  the  Church,  let  him  be  ana- 
thema."^ The  reason  on  which  this  obli- 
gation rests  is  manifest.  God  did  not  give 
a  now  law  to  Moses  ;  He  only  republished 
a  law  written  originally  on  the  conscience 
of  man,  and  obscured  by  his  sinfnl  igno- 
rance. The  ten  commandments,  then,  did 
not  begin  to  bind  when  proclaimed  to  the 
people  of  Israel,  and  they  have  not  ceased 


1  Ck)ncil.  Trident,  sess.  vL  De  Justif.  can 
19,  20. 


o2 


196     COMMANDMENTS  OF  GOD 

to  do  so  now  that  Olirist  has  done  away 
witli  the  Jewish  law.' 

The  second  question  turns  on  the  divi- 
sion of  the  commandments,  and  here  there 
are  three  principal  views.  It  is  well  to 
remind  the  reader,  first,  that  there  are 
several  differences  in  the  exact  words  of 
the  commandments  as  given  in  Exodus 
XX.  and  Deuteronomy  v.,  one  of  which  is 
of  special  moment.  In  Exodus,  the  last 
prohibitions  run,  "Thou  shalt  not  covet 
thy  neighbour's  house :  thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbour's  wife,  nor  his  ser- 
vant, nor  his  maid,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass, 
nor  anything  that  is  thy  neighbour's."  In 
Deuteronomy,  the  order  is  changed  thus : 
*'Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's 
wife  ;  and  thou  shalt  not  desire  "  [a  diff*er- 
entword  in  Hebrew  from  that  translated 
"  covet,"  thouofh  the  Vulgate  obliterates 
the  distinction]  "  his  field,  or  his  servant, 
or  his  maid,  his  ox,  or  his  ass,  or  anything 
that  is  thy  neighbour's."  We  may  now 
proceed  to  consider  the  different  modes  of 
division. 

(1)  Philo  and  Josephus,  followed  by 
Origen  and  other  early  Christians,  by  the 
Greek  Church,  and  all  Protestants  except 
Lutherans,  divide  the  commandments  into 
two  tables,  containing  each  five  precepts : 
viz.  1,  on  strange  gods;  2,  on  image 
worship;  3,  on  taking  God's  name  in 
vain ;  4,  on  the  Sabbath ;  5,  on  honouring 
parents :  6,  on  murder ;  7,  on  adultery ;  8, 
on  stealing ;  9,  on  false  witness ;  10,  on 
covetousness. 

(2)  The  Talmud,  the  Targum  of  Jona- 
than, and  many  rabbinical  commentators, 
make  the  preface,  "I  am  the  Lord  thy 
God,".  &c.,the  first  "  word ;"  they  regard 
the  prohibition  of  strange  gods  and  images 
as  one  single  "word,"  viz.  the  second; 
for  the  rest  they  agree  with  the  division 
of  Philo,  &c. 

(li)  Augustine  places  in  the  first  table 
three  commandments,  relating  to  God — 
viz.  1,  on  strange  gods  and  images  (so  that 
he  regards  the  prohibition  of  idols  as  a 
mere  application  of  the  principle,  "Thou 
shalt  not  have  strange  gods  before  me  ") ; 

1  Cat.  Rom.  iii.  1,  8.  An  exception  must 
be  made  of  that  clause  in  the  third  com- 
mandment which  fixes  the  seventh  day  for 
divine  worship.  As  to  the  apparent  prohibi- 
tion of  images,  see  Petav.  De  Incani.  xv.  6. 
Here  it  is  enough  to  say  that  if,  with  Josephus, 
we  hold  that  the  commandment  absolutely  pro- 
hibits sculpture  and  painting,  so  that  Salomon 
broke  it  when  he  made  the  twelve  oxen  under 
the  brazen  sea  or  the  lions  for  his  throne,  then 
we  must  also  hold  that  this  ceremonial  part  of 
the  commandment  no  longer  binds. 


COMMANDMENTS  OF  GOD 

2,  the  name  of  God ;  3,  the  Sabbath.  In 
the  second  table  he  places  seven  precepts, 
relating  to  our  neighbour — viz  command- 
ment 4,  on  parents ;  5,  on  muider ;  6,  on 
adultery ;  7,  on  stealing  ;  8,  on  false  wit- 
ness ;  0,  on  coveting  our  neighbour's  wife ; 
10,  on  coveting  our  neighbour's  goods. 
This  division  has  prevailed  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  has  been  retained  by  the 
Lutherans,  except  that  they,  following 
the  order  in  Exodus,  make  commandment 
9,  on  coveting  our  neighbour's  house  :  10, 
on  coveting  his  wife  or  goods  :  a  division 
to  which  Augustine  himself  in  some  places 
gives  support. 

What  has  been  already  said  shows 
that  ignorance  alone  can  charge  Catholics 
with  introducing  a  new  mode  of  division 
in  order  to  give  less  prominence  to  the 
prohibition  of  idol-worship.  The  division 
was  curi-ent  long  before  any  strife  on 
images  had  arisen  in  the  Church. 

Next,  the  Catholics,  in  this  division  of 
the  first  and  second  commandments,  have 
the  whole  weight  of  rabbinical  tradition 
on  their  side. 

Thirdly,  the  modern  Catholic  division 
is  the  only  one  consistent  with  the  Hebrew 
text,  as  usually  found  in  MSS.  and  printed 
editions.  The  text  is  divided  into  ten  sec- 
tions, which  correspond  precisely  Math  our 
Catholic  division.  These  sections  are 
admitted  to  be  very  ancient,  older  even 
than  the  Masoretic  text,  and  the  Protes- 
tant scholar  Kennicoit  found  them  so 
marked  in  460  out  of  094  MSS.  which 
he  collated.^ 

Lastly,  the  wording  of  the  text  both 
in  Exodus  and  Deuteronomy  strongly 
favours  the  Catholic  division.  The  pro- 
mises and  threats,  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy 
God,  mighty,  jealous,"  &c.,  are  much  more 
suitable  on  the  theory  that  the  prohibition 
of  strange  gods  and  idols  forms  one  com- 
mandment, while  in  Deuteronomy,  after 
the  prohibition  of  coveting  our  neigh- 
bour's wife,  the  change  of  the  verb  men- 
tioned above  seems  to  indicate  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  commandment ;  nor  is 

^  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  prohibition  of 
polytheism  and  of  image-worship  always  forms 
one  section.  In  some  MSS.,  however,  of  Exodus 
there  are  only  nine  sections  in  the  text  of  the 
decalogue,  our  ninth  <and  tenth  commandments 
forming  one  section.  Kennicott.  says  Keil,  found 
the  division  wanting  in  234  out  of  fiO-l  MSS. 
which  he  collated,  and  an  examination  of 
Kennicott's  Bible  confirms  Keil's  statement. 
Dillmann's  assertion  that  Kennicott  found  thft 
division  between  the  ninth  and  tenth  com- 
mandments wanting  in  most  of  his  MSS. ! 
to  be  wholly  inaccurate. 


COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH 

there  any  difficulty  in  distinguishing 
carnal  desire  from  coveting  another  man's 
goods.  (The  facts  as  here  given  will  he 
found  in  Kalisch,  Knobel,  and  Keil  in  their 
commentaries  on  Exodus.  The  tirst  is  a 
very  learned  Jew,  the  second  a  Rationalist, 
the  third  an  orthodox  Protestant.  All  are 
opposed  to  the  Catholic  mode  of  division. 
Dillmann's  Commentary  (1881)  has  also 
been  consulted.) 

cojaTaATJUiaiiTrTS  of  thb 
CHURCH.  Parents,  and  other  persons  in- 
vested with  lawful  authority,liave  power  to 
make  rules  for  those  placed  under  them, 
80  that  things  lawful  in  themselves  become 
unlawful  by  their  prohibition.  The 
Scripture  teaches  plainly  that  the  Church 
has  this  power.  We  are  to  hear  the 
Church  (Matt,  xviii.  17).  The  Holy 
Ghost  has  placed  bishops  to  "  rule  the 
Church"  (Acts  XX.  28).  St.  Paul  com- 
manded Christians  to  keep  the  "  precepts 
of  the  Apostles  and  the  ancients " 
(XV.  41). 

The  Roman  Catechism  makes  no  spe- 
cial enumeration  of  the  commandments 
of  the  Church  ;  but  such  an  enumeration 
is  generally  found  in  popular  Catechisms, 
which  have  followed  in  this  respect  the 
example  set  by  the  Catechism  of  Canisius. 
The  English  Catechism,  like  the  French 
ones  of  Fleury,  &c.,  counts  six  command- 
ments of  the  Church.  Many  other  Cate- 
chisms reduce  them  to  five.  In  our 
English  Catechism  they  are  given  as 
follows :  1,  to  keep  certain  davs  holy,  with 
the  obligation  of  resting  from  servile  work ; 
2,  to  hear  Mass  on  Sundays  and  holidays 
of  obligation ;  3,  to  keep  the  days  of 
fasting  and  abstinence ;  4,  to  confess  once 
a  year;  5,  to  communicate  at  Easter  or 
thereabouts  ;  6,  not  to  marry  within  for- 
bidden degrees,  or  at  forbidden  times. 
The  sixth  commandment  is  omitted  in 
many  Catechisms ;  that  of  Bellarmiue 
adds  another — viz.  to  pay  tithes. 

COMMEMORATZOlirS  OF  FEASTS 
<bc.  As  the  Church  celebrates  many 
feasts,  some  moveable,  some  fixeci,  it  may 
often  happen  that  two  of  them  fall  on  the 
same  day ;  or  again  the  Church  may  in- 
stitute the  feast  of  a  saint,  just  canonised, 
on  a  day  already  occupied  by  the  feast  of 
another  saint.  Further,  as  semi-doubles 
and  all  feasts  of  higher  rank  have  first 
and  second  vespers,  the  second  vespers  of 
one  feast  would  often  have  to  be  said  at 
the  same  time  as  the  first  vespers  of 
another.  As  it  would  be  difficult  to  say 
the  Mass  and  office  of  two  feasts  on  the 
same  day,  the  Church,  as  a  rule,  celebrates 


COMMEMORATIONS 


lar 


the  greater  feast  and  merely  commemo- 
rates the  inferior  one.^ 

We  must  begin  by  distinguishing 
special  from  common  commemorations, 
the  former  being  subdivided  into  partial 
and  complete  commemorations. 

Partial  commemorations  are  made 
when  the  first  vespers  of  one  feast  coin- 
cide with  the  second  vespers  of  another. 
In  that  case,  the  vespers  of  the  feast 
higher  in  rank  are  said,  while  the  other 
feast  is  commemorated  by  the  recital  of 
the  antiphon  before  the  Magnificat,  the 
versicles  and  the  prayer. 

Complete  commemorations  are  made 
when  two  feasts  fall  on  the  same  day.  In 
that  case,  the  collects  of  the  lesser  feast 
are  added  in  the  Mass  of  the  day,  and  on 
certain  occasions  {e.ff.  if  a  Sunday  or 
greater  feria  is  commemorated)  the  Gospel 
from  the  Mass  of  the  day  commemorated 
is  said  at  the  end  of  Mass  instead  of  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John.  Moreover,  the  anti- 
phons  for  the  Benedictus  and  Magnificat, 
with  the  versicles  in  the  office  omitted, 
are  added  in  the  lauds  and  vespers  of  the 
office  which  is  said.  Finally,  the  Gospel 
of  a  Sunday  or  greater  feria,  with  the 
homily  and  the  lections  of  a  simple  feast 
containing  the  life  of  the  saint  (provided 
such  lessons  are  "  proper  "  and  not  merely 
taken  from  the  common)  are  substituted 
for  the  ninth  lection  in  matins.  Supposing 
that  a  simple  feast  and  a  Sunday  or  greater 
Feria  have  both  to  be  commemorated,  the 
ninth  lection  is  taken  from  the  latter  in 
preference  to  the  former.  The  life  of  the 
saint  commemorated  is  also  omitted  if  the 
matins  of  the  office  said  does  not  end  with 
the  Te  Deum.^ 

The  common  commemorations  consist 
of  antiphons,  versicles  and  prayers  relating 
to  the  Blessed  Virgm,  St.  Joseph,  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul,  the  Patron  or  title  of  the 
church,  and  peace  ;  such  commemorations 
are  made  on  semi-doubles,  simples,  and 
ferias,  at  the  end  of  lauds  and  vespers, 
except  during  Octaves,  and  except  from 
the  first  Sunday  of  Advent  till  the  octave 
of  the  Epiphany,  and  from  Passion  Sunday 
till  Trinity  Sunday.  They  are  preceded  on 
ferias  by  a  commemoration  of  the  Cross ; 
while  m  Paschal  time  a  special  commemo- 
ration of  the  Cross  is  made,  although  the 
other  commemorations  are  omitted. 

Commemorations  are  made  in  the  fol- 
lowing order :  a  double  is  commemorated 

1  A  greater  feria  or  octave  may  also  have 
to  be  commemorated. 

2  Gavant.  sect.  iii.  11,  33,  "  De  Commemo- 
rationibus." 


198 


COMMEMORATION 


first,  then  a  Sunday,  then  a  semi-double, 
an  octave,  a  greater  feria,  a  simple ;  last 
of  all  come  the  common  commemorations. 

Many  of  the  rules  on  this  subject, 
some  of  which  are  very  elaborate,  have 
been  left  out  here  for  vrant  of  space. 
They  are  fully  discussed  by  Gavantus  and 
Meratus.  We  may,  however,  mention  the 
general  principle,  that  the  greater  the 
solemnity  of  a  day  or  season,  the  more  it 
absorbs  attention  and  therefore  tends  to 
exclude  commemorations.  (See  Gavantus, 
with  Meratus' note,p.  11,  sect,  iii.cap.  11.) 

COnCMEIVIORATZOTJ      OF     THE 

Xiivziira  ASTB  or  thb  bsab  ixr 

THE  iWiLSS.     [See  Diptychs.] 

COXVXIUlBSJDA.  It  is  a  Low  Latin 
word,  formed  from  the  verb  coynmendare, 
signifying  the  custody  of  a  church  or 
convent  in  the  absence  of  a  regular  in- 
cumbent. A  church,  &c.,so  treated,  was 
said  to  be  held  in  cotmnendam.  This 
commendation  had  nothing  abusive  in  its 
origin,  which  was  perfectly  natural :  thus 
when  a  bishop  of  Fundi  was  diiven  from 
his  see  by  the  barbarians.  Pope  Gregory 
the  Great  nominated  him  to  the  vacant 
see  of  Terracina,  at  the  same  time  com- 
mending Fundi  to  his  care.  A  Council 
of  ^lQr\^?i  commended  to  the  metropolitan 
the  churches  of  certain  bishops  w^ho  had 
been  ordered  to  retire  from  their  sees 
and  do  penance,  for  absenting  themselves 
from  a  provincial  council.  In  process  of 
time  the  Roman  See  claimed  the  right  of 
allowingabishop,  or  other  dignitary,  to  hold 
other  benefices  in  commendam  wdth  his 
own  preferment.  For  this  there  might 
often  be  reasonable  and  sufficient  cause ; 
but  the  practice  became  much  too  com- 
mon. Matthew  Paris  complains  {a.  1246) 
of  this  permission  to  a  weU-beneficed 
ecclesiastic  to  retain  his  benefices  in  com- 
mendam with  a  bishopric  to  which  he 
might  be  appointed,  as  an  abuse  of  recent 
origin.  The  Council  of  Constance,  in  its 
last  year  (1417),  strove  to  put  an  end  to 
reservations,  expectatives,  and  commen- 
dams,  but  only  succeeded  in  obtaining 
from  the  new  Pope  (Martin  V.)  a  promise 
that  all  these  favours  should  be  brought 
uuder  more  strict  control.  But  political 
reasons  {e.g.  tlie  auger  or  good  will  of  an 
emperor  or  king,  incurred  by  thwarting 
or  gratifying  his  wishes  respecting  the 
cumulation  of  benefices  on  some  favourite 
churchman)  made,  or  seemed  to  make, 
the  complete  abolition  of  the  practice 
impossible.  Even  the  Council  of  Trent, 
honestly  zealous  as  it  was  for  reform, 
ventui'ed  no  more  than  to  express  its  con- 


•    COMMENDATORY  LETTERS 

fidence  that  "  the  Roman  Pontifi^  in  his 
piety  and  prudence  would,  so  far  as  Iw  saw 
the  times  could  hear  it,  set  over  monasteries 
at  present  held  in  commeadam  [by  secu- 
lars] monastic  persons  belonging  to  the 
respective  orders,  capable  of  representing 
and  ruling  the  communities."^ 

Since  the  destruction  of  Church  pro- 
perty which  recent  times  have  witnessed, 
the  practice  of  commendation  has  greatly 
dwindled,  if  not  wholly  ceased,  through- 
out Europe. 

COnXAIEM-BATZOXr  OF  THE 
SOUIi  {Ordo  commendationis  animce). 
A  form  of  prayer  for  the  dying  contained 
in  the  Roman  Ritual.  The  practice  of 
bringing  the  priest  to  the  bed  of  dying 
persons  is  coeval  with  the  Church  itself, 
and  Amalarius  tells  us  that  several  of  the 
ancient  Antiphonaries  contained  prayers 
for  the  dying.  Parts  at  least  of  the  pre- 
sent form  are  very  ancient.  The  words 
*' Subvenite,"  kc,  "Come  to  his  help,  all 
ye  saints  of  God  ;  meet  him,  all  ye  angels  of 
God,"  &c.,  occur  in  the  Antiphonary  of  St. 
Gregory  the  Great ;  the  beautiful  address, 
"Go  forth,  0  Christian  soul,"  &c.,  is  found 
in  a  letter  of  St.  Peter  Damian,  written 
to  a  friend  of  his  who  was  near  death. 

COMMEXTBATORY  I.ETTERS 
{crva-TarLKai  iiTLaTokai,  2  Cor.  iii.  1).  The 
Christians  of  Ephesus,  when  Apollo  the 
newly  converted  Jew  wished  to  pass  into 
A®haia,  wrote  to  their  fellow-believers  at 
Corinth,  that  they  shoidd  receive  him 
(Acts  xviii.  17).  While  the  general 
society  of  the  empire  was  still  heathen, 
the  bond  between  believers  was  close,  and 
the  distinction  between  Christians  and 
non-Christians  had  to  be  firmly  and 
sharply  drawn.  Commendatory  letters, 
— "  letters  of  introduction  "  as  we  should 
now  say  —  were  required  for  everyone 
who  travelled  to  a  foreign  country,  if  he 
washed  to  receive  hospitality  there,  and 
to  be  admitted  to  communion.  They 
were  given  by  the  bishop.  For  a  long 
time  after  the  conversion  of  Constantine 
the  prevalence  of  Arianism  and  other 
heresies  made  it  necessary  still  to  adhere 
to  the  practice,  lest  those  should  be 
unawares  admitted  to  communion  whom 
St.  John  had  warned  Christians  not  so 
much  as  to  bid  God-speed  to  (2  John  i. 
10).  It  is  the  crowning  argument  of  St. 
Austin  against  the  Donatists,  that  "  their 
letters  would  not  be  received  in  any 
churches  but  their  own."  The  Councifs 
of  Elvira,  Chalcedon,  and  Aries  framed 
regulations  about  these  letters,  on  which 
1  Sess.  XXV.  c.  21,  De  Ref. 


COMMISSARY 

*«o  much  importance  came  to  "be  laid  that 
no  one,  whether  clerk  or  layman,  was 
received  in  any  city  who  came  unprovided 
with  them.  They  were  also  called 
canoniccs,  and  communicatorice.  The  eVi- 
(TToKai  elijrjviKoi  recommended  the  bearer 
specially  for  alms.  The  aTroXvriKai  {di- 
viissorice),  first  mentioned  in  the  Council 
in  Trullo  (G91),  referred  to  a  permanent 
settlement  of  the  bearer  m  the  country 
visited,  the  a-va-rariKai  to  a  temporary  so- 
journ. (Smith  and  Cheetham,  art.  by  Prof. 
Plumptre.) 

conxMlSSilRT.  An  ecclesiastic 
who,  by  delet^atiou  from  the  bishop, 
exercises  a  portion  of  the  episcopal  juris- 
diction in  a  particular  part  of  the  diocese, 
especially  with  reference  to  licences,  insti- 
tutions, the  examination  of  witnesses,  &c. 

comnxoir.  [See  Breviaky,  Missal.] 

COMZMrOST  IiZFE,  CIiERKS  ILUfD 
BROTHERS  OP  TKZ!.  A  holy  deacon  of 
Deventer  in  the  Netherlands,  Gerhard 
Groot  (11384),  was  the  founder  of  this 
remarkable  institute.  He  had  sat  at 
the  feet  of  Ruvsbroek,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  mystics  of  that  age,  and  had  been 
deeply  impressed  by  the  spectacle  of  love, 
peace,  and  joyful  co-operation  presented 
by  the  Augustinian  brotherhood  which  he 
directed.  Not  long  before,  Ruyebroek 
had  obtained  a  similar  influence  over  the 
celebrated  Tauler.  Gerhard  applied  his 
fortune  to  the  work  of  establishing  and 
endowing  a  building  to  receive  clerics, 
and  also  laymen,  who,  without  taking 
perpetual  vows,  were  desirous  of  leading 
an  austere  Christian  life  in  common. 
Great  preachers,  besides  Gerhard  himself,  j 
came  forth  from  this  institute;  among  | 
them  was  Thomas  a  Kempis,  or  of 
Kempen  (tl471),  supposed  by  many  to 
be  the  author  of  the  "  Imitatio  Christ!."  In 
the  schools  of  Deventer  was  also  trained 
Nicholas  of  Cusa,  afterwards  Cardinal,  the 
most  learned  theologian  at  the  Council  of 
Basle,  author  of  Concordant!  a  Co.tholica" 
and  many  other  works.  Gerhard's  chief 
convent  was  at  "VVindesheim  ;  whence 
some  of  the  canons  were  invited  into 
France  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  established  at  Chateau 
Laudou.  The  order  spread  far  and  wide 
in  the  Netherlands,  and  was  not  unknown 
in  Germany.  Houses  of  nuns  were 
aggregated  to  the  institute,  which  is 
represented  by  celebrated  monasteries  in 
Belgium  even  at  the  present  day.  (H6- 
lyot,  vol.  iv. ;  Mohler,  "Kirchengesch.") 

COMMTD-XrZCATZO  ZDZ01MEATI7M. 

(also  communio  idiomatum — and  in  the 


COMMUNION 


199 


Greek  Fathers  avridoa-is).  The  appro- 
priation of  divine  attributes  to  Christ  as 
man,  and  of  human  qualities  to  Christ  as 
God,  because  one  and  the  same  Person  is 
at  once  God  and  man.  Thus  we  may  say 
"  God  died,"  "Mary  is  the  Mother  of  God," 
though  it  was  as  man  that  Christ  died  and 
had  a  mother ;  or  again,  "  The  man  Christ 
Jesus  is  the  Creator  of  the  world."  This 
usage  is  consonant  with  Scripture,  which 
speaks  of  the  Lord  of  glory  as  being 
crucified ;  of  the  Son  of  God  as  being 
delivered  for  us,  &c. ;  and  with  the  defi- 
nition of  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  that 
Mary  is  the  Mother  of  God.  The  reason 
on  which  the  usage  rests  is  that  "the 
man  Christ "  implies,  not  only  human 
nature,  but  also  the  divine  Person  united 
with  it ;  "  God,"  when  we  think  of  God 
the  Son  incarnate,  implies,  not  only  the 
divine  Person,  but  also  the  human  nature, 
which  he  made  proper  (iStov,  hence  Idico^a) 
to  himself.  Observe,  however,  that  we 
cannot  say  "  the  Divinity  suffered,"  "  tjie 
Manhood  is  eternal,"  &c.  (See  Petavius, 
"  De  Incarn."  iv.  15.) 

COXVUVfUM-ZOir.  That  the  body,  soul 
and  divinity  of  Christ  are  given  in  the 
Communion,  and  that  Christ  is  received 
whole  and  entire  under  either  kind — i.e. 
under  the  form  of  bread  alone,  or  wine 
alone — is  an  article  of  the  Catholic  faith, 
explained  and  proved  under  the  article 
Eucharist.  In  this  place  we  shall  only 
treat  of  the  rite  according  to  which  Com- 
munion is  given.  At  every  Mass  the 
celebrant  is  bound  to  communicate, 
because  his  communion  is  necessary  for 
the  completion  of  the  sacrifice.  [See  Mass.] 
In  th^  Roman  rite,  the  priest,  after  the 
words  "Domine,  non  sum  dignus,"  bowing 
low,  but  still  standing,  receives  the  body 
of  Christ,  saying  "  Corpus  Domini  nostri," 
&c.,  "  May  the  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  preserve  my  soul  unto  everlasting 
life."  Then,  having  collected  any  particles 
of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  which  may 
remain  on  the  corporal  or  paten.  He  puts 
them  into  the  chalice  and  takes  the  pre- 
cious blood  with  the  words,  ''May  the 
blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  &c. 
Afterwards,  if  any  of  the  people  desire  to 
communicate,  the  clerk  says  the  Confiteor,^ 
the  priest  pronounces  a  form  of  absolution, 
holds  the  Blessed  Sacrament  before  the 
people,  saying,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God," 
&c.,  and  finally  gives  them  communion 

*  This  practice  came  in  during  the  thir- 
teenth century,  through  the  influence  of  th 
begging  friars.— Benedict  XIV.  i>«  Miss,  ill 
22,  2. 


200 


COMMUNION 


under  the  form  of  bread,  using  the  words 
"  May  the  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"' 
&c.  The  clerg-y,  servers,  &c.,  usually  com- 
municate on  the  altar-steps  ;  the  people  at 
the  altar-rails,  on  which  a  white  cloth 
is  placed  for  the  communicants  to  hold  up 
near  the  face  and  so  to  prevent  any  par- 
ticle from  falling  to  the  ground.  In  some 
churches  a  small  tray,  carried  by  the 
clerk  from  one  communicant  to  another, 
is  substituted  for  the  white  cloth — (this 
is  in  reality  a  return  to  the  more  ancient 
custom :  Benedict  XIV.  "De  Miss."  iii.  22, 
3).  Communion  is  given  to  all  who  are 
sufficiently  old  to  understand  the  nature 
of  the  Sacrament ;  and,  although  the  com- 
munion of  the  people  is  in  no  way  essen- 
tial, either  to  the  integrity  or  lawfulness 
of  the  sacrifice,  still  the  Council  of  Trent 
(Sess.  xxii.  cap.  6)  desires  that  the  faithful 
should  communicate  at  every  Mass.  Of 
course  this  desire  implies  as  a  condition 
that  the  faithful  should  be  fervent  enough 
to  communicate  often  with  advantage. 
Communion  may  be  given  on  all  days  of 
the  year,  except  Good  Friday — (the  ancient 
usage  permitted  the  faithful  to  commu- 
nicate even  on  Good  Friday:  Benedict 
XIV.  "  De  Fest."  i.  339)— when  it  cannot 
be  given  except  in  dangerous  sickness :  and 
at  any  hour  of  the  day :  not,  however,  at 
night.^  Communion  may  be  given  out  of 
Mass ;  when  the  priest  administers  it, 
wearing  a  surplice  and  white  stole  (a  red 
stole  is  used  in  the  Ambrosian  rite),  and 
with  almost  the  same  form  of  words 
which  is  used  in  giving  Communion  during 
Mass,  except  that  he  adds  the  antiphon 
"  O  sacred  banquet,  in  which  Christ  is 
taken,"  and  concludes  by  blessing  the  peo- 
ple. This  blessing  is  omitted  if  the  priest 
gives  Communion  before  Mass  in  black 
vestments. 

We  may  now  go  on  to  trace  the  history 
of  the  administration  of  Communion.  The 
essential  points  have  remained  unchanged 
from  the  time  of  the  Apostles ;  still  several 
striking  changes  have  undoubtedly  been 
made. 

(1 )  The  ordinary  minister  of  the  sacra- 
ment is  the  priest,  nor  can  a  mere  deacon,  ac- 
cording to  the  present  discipline,  give  com- 
munion vnthout  grave  necessity.^  In  early 

1  Manual,  Decret.  S.  Rit.  Congr.  n.  969- 
971,  where  the  Communion  of  the  faithful 
at  midnight  Mass  on  Christmas  Eve  is  pro- 
hibited. On  Holy  Saturday,  Communion  may 
be  ^ven  after,  but  not  during,  Mass. — lb. 
1088-90. 

'  S.  Liguor.  vi.  n.  237.  The  necessity 
Meed  not  be  extreme. 


COMMUNION 

times,  leave  to  administer  this  sacrament 
was  given  to  deacons  much  more  freely. 
Justin  ("  Apol."  i.  65)  speaks  of  them  a« 
distributing  the  consecrated  bread  and 
wine.  A  little  later,  Cyprian  ("  De  Laps." 
25)  and  the  Apostolic  Constitutions  (viii. 
12)  describe  the  celebrant  as  administer- 
ing the  body  of  Christ,  while  the  deacons 
gave  the  chaHce.  The  Council  of  Nicsea, 
canon  18,  forbids  deacons  to  give  Com- 
munion to  the  priests— who,  according  to 
the  wont  of  that  time,  joined  with  the 
bishop  in  celebrating  Mass — or  to  receive 
Communion  themselves  before  a  bishop 
who  might  be  assisting  at  the  sacrifice.^ 
In  times  of  persecution,  the  iiiitliful  took 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  away  with  them, 
so  that  even  women  gave  themselves 
Communion  at  home.^  Ordinarily,  the 
deacons  conveyed  the  Holy  Comraui-ion  to 
the  sick,  but  sometimes  even  laymen  did 
so.^  Pius  v.,  in  modern  times,  is  said  to 
have  allowed  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  to 
receive  Communion  from  her  own  hands 
in  prison.''  By  the  present  law  of  the 
Church,  the  parish  priest  is  bound  to  give 
his  parishioners  the  opportunity  of  com- 
municating, and  no  otiier  priest  can  law- 
fully give  Commmiion  without  his  consent, 
except  in  case  of  necessity.  In  countries 
where  there  are  no  parishes,  the  leave  of 
tho  priest  in  charge  of  the  mission  is 
required  in  order  to  give  Communion. 

(2)  All  baptised  persons,  who  are  in 
a  state  of  grace,  and  fasting,  and  who  are 
sufficiently  instructed,  may  receive  com- 
munion. In  ancient  times  aU  who  as- 
sisted at  Mass  were  obliged  to  communi- 
cate, and  it  was  only  the  highest  class  of 
penitents  who  did  not  come  imder  this 
rule.^  However,  in  Chrysostom's  time  the 
charity  of  Christians  had  already  grown 
cold,  and  many  heard  Mass  without  com- 
municating. Afterwards,  the  faithful  were 
only  required  to  communicate  three  times 
in  the  year ;  and  finally  the  Fourth  Lateran 
Council  introduced  the  present  rule  of 
communicating  once  at  least  in  the  year, 
and  that  about  Easter  time.  Further,  it 
is  to  this  day  the  custom  in  the  East  to 
communicate  infants  just  after  baptism, 
and  this  use,  Fleury  says,  continued  in 
the  West  till  the  opening  of  the  ninth* 

^  See  the  explanation  of  the  canon  in  Hefeie, 
Concil.  i.  p.  424  seg. 

2  Tertull.  Ad  Uxor.  ii.  5. 
5  Euseb.  H.  E.  vi.  44. 

*  Biliuart,  De  Euch.  diss.  vii.  a.  3. 

*  Can.  Apos.  9,  10.  Concil.  Ancyr.  (anno 
314),  can.  5. 

«  Fleury,  Ixxxiv.  9.  The  remains  of  the 
sacred  species  were  given  to  children  at  Con- 


COMMUNION 

century,  while  even  in  the  thirteentli  Com- 
munion was  o-iven  to  children  in  danger 
of  death.  The  CJouncil  of  Trent  (Sess. 
xxi.  cap.  4,  De  Commun.)  declares  that 
children  who  have  not  come  to  the  use  of 
reason  need  not  receive  Communion.  At 
present,  children  usually  make  their  first 
Communion  between  ten  and  twelve  j'ears 
of  age.  Very  often  this  first  Communion  is 
accompanied  with  the  renewal  of  bap- 
tismal vows:  the  children  hold  lighted 
candles  in  their  hands,  and  an  address  is 
made  to  them  by  their  pastor,  but  none 
of  these  observances  are  prescribed  by 
the  Church. 

(3)  The  church  was  the  place  of 
adminisfration,  although  in  sickness  and, 
ns  we  have  seen,  in  times  of  persecution 
Communion  was  given  in  private  houses. 
Usually,  the  priests  and  deacons  com- 
municated at  the  altar,  the  rest  of  the 
clergy  in  the  choir,  the  laity  outside  the 
choir.  But  in  the  East  the  Emperor  by 
ancient  privilege,  when  he  made  his  offer- 
ing, approached  and  remained  at  the  altar  ^ ; 
while  in  some  parts  of  Gaul  the  laity 
generally  did  the  same.^ 

(4)  The  time  for  Communion  was 
usually  early  in  the  morning,  and  it  was 
always,  in  virtue  of  an  Apostolic  tradition, 
received  fastimj.  The  one  and  only  ex- 
ception was  the  practice  in  the  African 
Church  of  celebrating  Mass  and  giving 
Communion  on  the  evening  of  Maundy 
Thursday  [see  Agape].  Natural  reverence 
forbade  Christians  to  receive  the  body  of 
Christ  after  common  food. 

(5)  Ttie  ceremonies  in  the  adminis- 
tration have  varied  considerably  and  still 
are  very  dillerent  in  different  rites.  At 
the  cry  "  Holy  tilings  to  the  holy,"  Chris- 
tians drew  near  with  bent  body  but  still 
standing,  and  received  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment in  the  hollow  of  the  right  hand, 
supporting  it  with  the  left."  ^  When  the 
administrant  said,  "  The  body,  the  blood 
of  Chrisit,"  the  communicant  answered 
"Amen."^  The  longer  form,  now  em- 
ployed, viz.  "  The  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  presei-ve  thy  soul  unto  everlasting 
life,"  came  into  use  in  the  time  of  Gregory 
the  Great,  though  even  after  this  date  the 
form  of  words  was  by  no  means  uniform 

stantinople  as  late  as  the  fourteenth  century. 
See  Flcurv,  xxxiii.  41. 

1  Trull.  Syiid.  can.  69. 

2  CouDcil  of  Tours  (anno  567),  an.  4. 

*  Dionys.  Al.  ap.  Euseb.  vii.  9.  Tertull. 
De  Idol.  7,  where  the  reception  in  the  hands 
and  the  standing  posture  are  mentioned. 

4  Tertull.  De  Spectac.  25.  Constit.  Apos. 
vii.  12. 


COMMUNION 


201 


throughout  the  West.  Under  Pope  Aga- 
petus  ( 1 536)  the  custom  began  of  placing 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  the  mouth ;  a 
council  of  Rouen,  assigned  by  Mansi  to 
the  middle  of  the  seventh  century,  forbids 
it  to  be  given  in  any  other  way.*  Benedict 
XIV.^  mentions  the  fact  that  the  Popes 
in  solemn  Mass  used  to  communicate 
sitting  on  their  throne  and  facing  the 
people.  At  present,  the  Pope,  on  these 
occasions,  communicates  standing  at  Ids 
throne  profoundly  inclined  ;  but  Benedict 
XIV.  does  not  say  when  this  change  in 
the  Papal  rite  was  made. 

(6)  We  now  come  to  the  most  im- 
portant of  all  changes  in  the  discipline  of 
the  Church  on  this  matter.  Down  to  the 
middle  ages,  the  faithful  throughout  the 
whole  Church  usually  received  the  Eu- 
charist under  both  kinds.  That  the  cele- 
brating priest  should  consecrate  and 
receive  under  both  kinds  is  of  divane 
institution  and  therefore  unalterable  [see 
Mass].  But  writers  of  the  eleventh  and 
following  centuries  notice  the  custom 
springing  up  in  the  Latin  Church,  of 
giving  the  Eucharist  to  all  communicants 
except  the  celebrant  under  the  form  of 
bread  alone,  partly  to  counteract  the 
heretical  error  that  Christ  is  not  received 
whole  and  entire  under  either  kind, 
partly  to  prevent  the  spilling  of  the  Pre- 
cious Blood.  St.  Thomas^  (fl 274)  says 
that  in  his  day  Communion  under  one 
kind  prevailed  "  in  some  churches."  The 
Council  of  Constance  to  meet  the  errors 
of  HusB  and  Jerome  of  Prague  made  this 
custom  of  universal  obligation  in  the 
West ;  this  decree  was  renewed  by  the 
Council  of  Basle  against  the  Taborites 
and  Calistines,  and  by  that  of  Trent 
ajzainst  the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists. 
Exceptions  have  been  made  by  special 
privilege.  Thus,  Clement  VI.  gave  the 
kings  of  France  leave  to  communicate 
under  both  kinds.  In  solemn  Mass  cele- 
brated by  the  Pope,  the  deacon  and  sub- 
deacon  receive  the  Precious  Blood,  and  so 
even  in  the  last  century  the  deacon  and 
subdeacon  used  to  on  Sundays  and  solemn 
feasts  in  the  church  of  St.  Denis  near 
Paris,  and   in   the  church  of  ( ■lugny.'' 

We  take  for  granted  here  that  Christ  is 
given  whole  and  entire  under  either  kind 
[see  Euchaeist]  ;  but  it  is  often  alleged 
that  in  any  case  the  Church  has  altered  the 

1  Hefele,  Concil.  ii.  p.  97. 

2  De  Miss.  ii.  21,  4. 
5  III.  Ixxx.  12. 

4  Benedict  XIV.  speaks  of  all  these  privi- 
leges as  continuing  in  his"  time. 


202 


C0IM3IUNI0N 


custom  of  communicating  under  both 
kinds  wliicli  was  imposed  by  our  Lord. 
To  this  we  reply  with  the  Council  of  Trent 
that  there  is  no  divine  precept  binding 
anj'one,  except  the  celebrant,  to  receive 
both  species.  Communion  under  one  or 
both  kinds  is  a  matter  of  discipline,  which 
the  Church  may  alter  as  she  sees  fit 
This  Catholic  truth  is  indicated  in  Scrip- 
tare  and  fully  certified  by  tradition.  It 
is  indicated  in  Scripture,  for  our  Lord 
says,  on  the  one  hand,  "  Unless  ye  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man  and  drink  his 
blood,  ye  will  not  have  life  in  you ; "  ''  He 
who  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my 
blood,  hath  eternal  life ; "  but  also,  on  the 
other  hand,  "  If  anyone  eat  of  this  bread 
he  shall  live  for  ever  ;  "  "  The  bread, 
which  I  shall  give,  is  my  flesh  for  the  life 
of  the  world,"  "He  who  eateth  this  bread, 
will  live  for  ever."  It  is  fully  certified 
by  tradition,  because  the  Church,  from  the 
beginning,  has  permitted  both  modes  of 
communicating.  Children  received  Com- 
munion under  the  form  of  wine  alone ; '  the 
sick,  and  the  faithful  generally  who  com- 
municated at  home,  under  the  form  of 
bread  alone.-  True,  Popes  Leo  and  Ge- 
lasius  emphatically  condemned  persons 
who  abstained  from  the  chalice,  but  this 
because  they  did  so  on  private  authority 
and  in  consequence  of  the  Manichean 
error,  which  made  them  look  on  wine 
as  evil.  Moreover,  the  present  use  of  the 
Greek  and  Oriental  Churches  makes  it  as 
clear  as  day  that  they  do  not  consider  it 
a  matter  of  necessity  to  give  Communion 
under  both  kinds,  though  it  is  their 
usual  practice  to  do  so.  Thus  the  Church 
has  ever  faithfully  maintained  the  same 
principles  on  this  matter;  her  discipline 
has,  indeed,  changed  from  time  to  time,  but 
never  in  any  essential  particular ;  while, 
on  the  contrary,  those  who  charge  her  with 
innovation  are  themselves  convicted  of 
introducing  a  new  principle,  directly 
opposed  to  the  unanimous  teaching  of 
antiquity.  (In  the  works  of  Bossuet, 
there  is  a  short  but  masterly  treatise  on 
Communion  under  one  kind.  On  the  whole 
subject  of  Communion  much  interesting 
matter  will  be  found  in  Benedict  XIV.  "I)e 
Missa";  Denzinger, "  Ritus  Orientalium  " ; 
Chardon,  "Histoiredes  Sacrements,"  &c.) 
COnTMtrirZOZr  (liturgrlcal  term). 
The  antiphon  which  the  priest  says  after  the 
ablutions,  at  the  Epistle  side  of  the  altar. 

1  Cyrian.  De  Laps.  25. 

2  Tertull.  De  Orat.  19  ;  Ad  Uxor.  ii.  6. 
Dionys.  Al.  apud  Euseb.  H.E.  vi.  44,  Cyprian, 
De  Laps.  25. 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS 

Formerly,  it  used  to  bo  sung,  while  the 
people  communicated:  hence  the  name. 
The  "  Communion  "  is  mentioned  in  the 
Roman  Ordines.  Cardinal  Thomasius 
quotes  an  example  of  a  "  Communion 
Psalm,"  which  was  sung  in  alternate 
verses,  till  the  Pontiff",  the  people  having 
communicated,  gave  the  choir  a  sign  to 
end  with  the  "  Gloria  Patri,"  after  which 
the  antiphon  was  repeated. 

COIVIZVXUITION-  OF  SUlLNTS  is 
mentioned  in  the  ninth  article  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  where  it  is  added,  accord- 
ing to  the  Roman  Catechism,  as  an  ex- 
planation of  the  foregoing  words,  "  I  be- 
lieve in  the  holy  Catholic  Church."  The 
communion  of  saints  consists  in  the  union 
which  binds  together  the  members  of  the 
Chiu-ch  on  earth,  and  connects  the  Church 
on  earth  with  '  the  Church  suftering  in 
Purgatory  and  triumphant  in  heaven. 

(1)  The  faithful  on  earth  have  com- 
munion with  each  other  because  they  par- 
take of  the  same  sacraments,  are  under 
one  head,  and  assist  each  other  by  their 
prayers  and  good  works.  Even  the  per- 
sonal merits  of  a  just  man  profit  his 
brethren,  because  the  greater  his  good- 
ness, the  greater  the  efficacy  of  his  prayer 
for  others,  the  more  fitting  it  is  that,  as 
he  does  God's  wiU,  so  God  should  deign 
to  do  his  by  increasing  the  graces  or 
converting  the  souls  of  those  for  whom 
he  prays. 

Catholic  commentators  understand  St. 
Paul  to  refer  to  this  communion  in 
good  works  when  he  encourages  the  Corin- 
thians to  help  their  needy  b»ethren  at 
Jerusalem.  "  Let  your  abundance,"  he 
says  (2  Cor.  viii.  14),  "  supply  their  want, 
that  their  abundance  also  may  be  the  fill- 
ing up  of  your  want  " — i.e.  that  you  may 
share  in  their  spiritual,  as  they  have 
shared  in  your  temporal,  riclies.'  Again, 
God  spares  his  people  for  the  sake  of  the 
saints  among  them,  just  as  He  was  ready 
to  spare  Sodom  had  ten  just  men  been 
found  in  it;  or  forgave  Job's  friends 
at  the  sacrifice  and  prayer  of  Job  him- 
self*; or  so  often  restrained  his  wrath 
against  his  people  for  his  servant 
David's  sake.  Of  course  also  many  graces 
are  given  primarily  for  the  edification  of 
the  Church. 

(2)  We  communicate  with  the  souls  in 
Purgatory  by  praying  for  them-  [See 
Pfeqatory.] 

1  See  Estius,  ad  he.  Meyer,  who  attadkt 
this  interpretation,  admits  that  it  is  the  tradi- 
tional one ;  and  it  has  been  adopted  by  eminent 
ProtestantB,  t.g.  by  Bengel. 


COMPLINE 

(3)  With  the  blessed  in  Heaven  by 
obtaining  their  prayers.  [See  Interces- 
sion OP  THE  Saints.] 

coiMi:FX.xirz:.    [See  Breviary.] 

corrcBPTiOM".  [See  Immaculate 
Conception.] 

COSrcXiAVE  (Lat.  conclave-^  pro- 
perly, a  chamber  that  can  be  closed  with 
one  key).  The  term  is  applied  both  to  the 
place  where  the  Cardinals  assemble  for  the 
election  of  a  new  Pope,  and  to  the  assem- 
bly itself.  Several  questions  relating  to 
the  election  of  Popes— ^./7.  whether  the 
Roman  PontiiF  can  legally  nominate  his 
successor ;  who  is  or  is  not  eligible  ;  what 
would  happen  in  the  event  of  ail  the 
Cardinals  dying  before  the  election ;  &c. — 
are  considered  under  Pope  ;  in  this  article 
we  shall  treat  exclusively  of  the  7node  of 
election,  as  finally  settled  by  Gregory  X. 
In  the  course  of  the  dark  ages  the  secular 
rulers  of  Rome  made  various  attempts  to 
interfere  with  the  freedom  of  Papal  elec- 
tions. A  statement  even  appears  in  the 
Decretum  of  Gratiau  (and  was  used  in 
argument  by  James  I.andBishopAndrewes, 
when  attempting  to  justify  the  subjection 
of  the  Anglican  Church  to  the  crown),  to 
the  effect  that  Pope  Hadrian  granted  to 
Charlemagne  the  right  of  electing  the 
Pope  and  regulating  the  Apostolic  See. 
But  this  canon  was  shown  by  Bellarmin 
to  be  spurious;  it  was  projpably  invented  by 
Sigismond  of  Gemblours,  a  strong  sup- 
porter of  imperial  pretensions,  and,  being 
found  in  his  chronicle,  imposed  upon  the 
unwary  Gratian.  Another  canon  also 
found  in  Gratian,  which  states  that  Leo 
VHI.  granted  a  similar  privilege  to  Otho 
I.,  soon  after  the  commencement  of  the 
revived  "  Holy  Roman  Empire,"  at  once 
falls  to  the  ground  when  it  is  '  re- 
membered that  Leo  VIIL,  for  the  un- 
answerable reasons  given  by  Baronius,  is 
not  to  be  accounted  a  true  Pope.  In 
1059  an  important  decree  was  made  by 
Nicholas  11.  in  a  council  at  Rome,  assigning 
the  election  of  future  Popes  to  the  Cardinal 
Bishops,  with  the  consent  of  the  other 
Cardinals  and  the  clergy  and  people  of 
Rome,  saving  also  the  honour  due  to 
Henry,  King  of  the  Romans,  and  to  any 
of  his  successors  on  the  imperial  throne  in 
whose  favour  the  Holy  See  should  make 
the  same  reservation.  This  partial  recog- 
nition of  a  right  to  interfere  in  the 
election  proved  to  be  fertile  in  antipopes 
and  vexations  of  every  kind ;  and  Alex- 
ander III.,  having  experienced  what 
trouble  an  arbitrary  empej-or  could  cause, 
in  his  long  struggle  with  Frederic  Bar- 


CONCLAVE 


203 


barossa,  resolved  with  a  wise  boldness 
to  take  away  from  the  imperial  line  the 
locus  standi  in  Papal  elections  which  the 
canon  of  1059  had  allowed,  and  to  vin- 
dicate her  ancient  freedom  for  the  Church. 
In  a  General  Council  held  at  the  Lateran 
in  1 1 79,  it  was  decreed  that  the  election 
should  thenceforth  rest  with  the  Cardinals 
alone,  and  that,  in  order  to  be  canonical, 
it  must  be  supported  by  the  votes  of  two 
thirds  of  their  number.  In  the  following 
century,  the  Lateran  decree  was  confirmed 
and  developed  at  the  Council  of  Lyons 
(1274)  presided  over  by  Gregory  X. ;  and 
in  all  its  substantial  features  the  discipline 
then  settled  is  still  observed. 

In  the  election  of  a  Pope,  it  is  obvious 
that  there  are  certain  conditions  the 
exact  fulfilment  of  which  is  of  the  utmost 
consequence.  These  are  such  as  the  fol- 
lowing : — that  all  those  quahfied  to  vote, 
and  only  those,  should  take  part  in  the 
election  ;  that  the  election  should  not  be 
unnecessarily  delayed ;  that  it  should  not 
\)Q  precipitated',  that  the  electors  should 
be  in  no  fear  for  their  personal  safety, 
which  would  prevent  the  election  from 
being  free ;  lastly,  that  they  should  be 
subjected  to  no  external  persuasion  tend- 
ing to  make  them  vote,  or  at  least  come 
under  the  suspicion  of  voting,  from  mo- 
tives lower  than  those  which  ought  to 
actuate  them.  All  these  conditions,  the 
regulations  for  the  conclave  fixed  in  1274 
endeavour,  so  far  as  human  forethought 
can  ensure  it,  to  cause  to  be  observed. 
After  the  death  of  a  Pope  the  Cardinals 
who  are  absent  are  immediately  to  be  sum- 
moned to  the  conclave  by  one  of  the  sec- 
retaries of  the  Sacred  College ;  the  election 
is  to  begin  on  the  tenth  day  after  the  death. 
In  whatever  city  the  Pope  dies,  there  the 
election  must  be  held.  Within  the  ten 
days  the  conclave  must  be  constructed  in 
the  Papal  palace,  or  in  some  other  suitable 
edifice.  The  large  halls  of  the  palace  are 
so  divided  by  wooden  partitions  as  to 
furnish  a  number  of  sets  of  small  apart- 
ments (two  for  an  ordinaiy  Cardinal, 
three  for  one  of  princely  rank),  aU  open- 
ing upon  a  corridor.  Here  the  Cardinals 
must  remain  until  they  have  elected  a 
Pope.  On  the  tenth  day  a  solemn  Mass 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  said  in  the  Vatican 
church,  and  after  it  the  Cardinals  form  a 
procession  and  proceed  to  the  conclave, 
taking  up  their  respective  apartments  as 
the  lot  has  distributed  them.  For  the 
rest  of  that  day  the  conclave  is  open  ; 
crowds  of  persons  flock  in  and  circulate 
among  the  apartments    and    corridors  j 


204 


CONCLAVE 


CONCORDAT 


and  the  ambassadors  and  delegates  of 
foreifin  States,  "besides  their  personal 
friends,  visit  the  Cardinals  for  the  last 
time.  In  the  evening  everyone  is  turned 
out  except  the  Cardinals  and  those  autho- 
rised to  remain  with  them,  and  the  con- 
clave is  closed.  This  is  done  under  the 
superintendence  of  two  guardians  of  the 
conclave — one  a  prelate  previously  appoin- 
ted by  the  Sacred  College,  who  is  called 
the  governor ;  the  other  a  lay  official, 
designated  the  marshal.  Each  Cardinal 
is  allowed  to  have  two  members  of  his 
household  in  personal  attendance  upon 
him ;  these  are  called  conclavists.  A 
nuinbfer  of  other  attendants  and  minor 
officials — a  carpenter,  a  mason,  a  sacrist, 
a  monk  or  friar  to  hear  confessions,  two 
barbers,  eight  or  ten  porters  and  mes- 
sengers, and  several  others — are  in  the 
common  service  of  the  whole  body  of 
Cardinals.  All  the  entrances  to  the 
building  but  one  are  closed :  that  one  is  in 
the  charge  of  officials  w^ho  are  partly 
prelates,  partly  officials  of  the  munici- 
pality, whose  business  it  is  to  see  that  no 
unauthorised  person  shall  enter,  and  to 
exercise  a  surveillance  over  the  food 
brought  for  the  Cardinals,  lest  any  written 
communication  should  be  conveyed  to 
them  by  this  channel.  After  three  days, 
the  supply  of  food  sent  in  is  restricted ; 
if  five  days  more  elapse  without  an  elec- 
tion being  made,  the  rule  used  to  be  that 
the  Cardinals  should  from  that  time  subsist 
on  nothing  but  bread,  wine,  and  water ; 
but  this  rigour  has  been  somewhat  modi- 
fied by  later  ordinances.  Morning  and 
evening,  the  Cardinals  meet  in  the  chapel, 
and  a  secret  scrutiny  by  means  of  voting 
papers  is  usually  instituted,  in  order  to 
ascertain  whether  any  candidate  has  the 
required  majority  of  two  thirds.  A  Car- 
dinal coming  from  a  distance  can  enter 
the  conclave  after  the  closure,  but  only 
if  he  claim  the  right  of  doing  so  within 
three  days  of  his  an-ival  in  the  city. 
Every  actual  Cardinal,  even  though  he 
may  lie  under  a  sentence  of  excommuni- 
cation, has  the  right  to  vote,  unless  he 
has  not  yet  been  admitted  to  deacon's 
orders.  Even  in  this  case,  the  right  of 
voting  has  sometimes  been  conferred  by 
special  Papal  indult.  There  are  three 
valid  modes  of  election — by  scrutiny,  by 
compromise,  and  by  what  is  called  quasi- 
inspiration  [see  Acclamation].  Com- 
promise is,  when  all  the  cardinals  agree 
to  entrust  the  election  to  a  small  com- 
mittee of  two  or  three  members  of  the 
body.     Scrutiny  is  the  ordinary  modej 


and  although,  since  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, elections  have  usually  been  made 
by  this  mode  with  reasonable  despatch, 
yet  in  times  of  disturbance,  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  a  two-thirds  majority  has 
been  known  to  protract  the  proceedings 
over  a  long  period,  as  in  the  celebrated 
instance  of  the  conclave  of  1799,  described 
in  Consalvi's  Memoirs,  which  lasted  six 
months,  resulting  in  the  election  of  Pius 
VII.  (Ferraris,  Papa ;  Zoepftel,  "  Die 
Papstwahlen,"   Gottingen,   1871.) 

coxcoMXTii.iircE.  [See  Eucha- 
rist]. 

CON'CORBiLT  (Lat.  concordata, 
things  agreed  upon).  A  treaty  between 
the  Holy  See  and  a  secular  State  touching 
the  conservation  and  promotion  of  the 
interests  of  religion  in  that  State. 

It  were  to  be  washed  that  Christendom 
did  not  require  concordats,  for  a  treaty 
between  two  powers  implies  some  felt 
divergency  of  sentiment  and  principle, 
which,  having  already  resulted  in  oppo- 
sition and  contention  more  or  less  serious, 
dictates  to  the  contracting  parties  the 
necessity  of  coming  to  an  understanding 
as  to  the  limits  beyond  which  neither  will 
give  way  to  the  other.  Such  divergency 
of  sentiment  only  arises,  speaking  gener- 
ally, when  the  secular  State  aims  at  ex- 
cluding the  Church  from  its  rightful  share 
of  control  over  human  affairs — an  aim 
which  familiar  experience  shows  to  be 
eminently  pernicious  and  disastrous. 
When  Ethelberts  or  St.  Louises  rule  in 
temporals,  we  do  not  hear  of  concordats 
with  the  Holy  See,  for  such  rulers  desire 
to  see  religion  more,  not  less,  in  the 
ascendant  among  their  subjects.  Never- 
theless, considering  the  actual  condition  of 
things  in  Europe  and  America,  it  is  gene- 
rally a  subject  of  congratulation  when 
the  Pope  concludes  a  fresh  concordat ;  we 
know  that,  at  any  rate  for  a  time,  religion 
and  its  ministers  will  be  treated  with  some 
justice  and  moderation  in  the  treaty- 
making  State ;  that  if  the  Church  has 
been  robbed  there  in  time  past,  some 
modicum  of  a  yearly  grant  will  now  be 
given  by  way  of  restitution ;  and  that 
the  churches  and  convents  wiU  be  made 
over  to  her — at  any  rate  till  the  next 
revolution. 

Among  the  more  celebrated  concordats 
of  former  times  are  the  following : — 

1.  That  of  Worms  in  1122,  between 
Calixtus  II.  and  the  Emperor  Henry  V., 
by  which  the  abusive  right  of  appointing 
bishops  and  abbo^  "  by  ring  and  crosier," 
long  usurped  by  the  emperors,  was  re- 


CONCORDAT 

signed,  and  only  tlie  investiture  by  tlie 
sceptre,  in  token  of  the  grant  of  their 
temporalities,  retained.  On  the  lines  of 
this  concordat  the  question  of  investiture 
was  settled  throughout  Europe  in  such  a 
way  as  to  leave  intact  in  theory  the  uni- 
versal pastorate  of  the  successors  of  Peter, 
however  seriously  it  may  have  been  here 
and  there  compromised  in  practice. 

2.  That  of  Frankfort  or  Vienna 
(1446-8),  called  the  Concordat  with  the 
German  Nation,  by  which  the  Popes 
Eugenius  IV.  and  Nicholas  V.,  employing 
Nicholas  of  Cusa  [Basle,  Council]  and 
^neas  Sylvius  as  negotiators,  agreed 
with  the  emperor  Frederic  III.  to  divide 
in  a  particular  manner  the  patronage  of 
ecclesiastical  dignities  in  Germany,  and 
as  to  the  payment  of  firstfruits  and  other 
mattei-s. 

3.  That  of  1515,  between  Leo  X.  and 
Francis  I.,  by  which  the  latter  agreed  to 
abolish  the  pragmatic  sanction  of  Charles 
VII.  (limiting  appeals  to  Rome,  and  pre- 
tending to  set  a  general  council  above  the 
Pope),  and  the  former  resigned  to  the 
crown  of  France  the  nomination  to  vacant 
bishoprics  and  abbeys,  with  the  proviso 
that  the  persons  named  should  be  accept- 
•able  to  the  Holy  See. 

In  later  times,  the  concordat  of  1801, 
between  Pius  VII.  and  the  first  Napoleon, 
restoring  to  the  French  nation  the  public 
practice  of  the  religion  of  their  fathers, 
which  the  detestable  wickedness  of  the 
revolutionists  had  proscribed  since  1790, 
is  a  treaty  of  primary  importance.  Under 
its  terms  the  Holy  See  agreed  to  a  new 
demarcation  of  the  boundaries  of  French 
dioceses,  reducing  their  number  from  over 
100  to  about  80,  and  declared  (art.  13) 
that  neither  the  reigning  Pope  nor  his 
successors  would  molest  the  purchasers 
or  grantees  in  the  peaceable  possession  of 
Church  lands  alienated  up  to  that  date. 
On  the  other  hand  the  French  Govern- 
ment agreed  to  the  free  and  public  exer- 
cise of  the  "  Catholic,  Apostolic,  and 
Roman"  religion  in  France;  consented 
(art.  4,  5)  to  the  canonical  institution  by 
the  Pope,  under  the  ancient  discipline,  of 
the  bishops  whom  the  Government  should 
nominate;  promised  (art.  14)  a  suitable 
annual  grant  for  the  support  of  the 
French  bishops  and  clergy  ;  and  undertook 
to  facilitate  (art.  15)  fresh  endowments 
on  the  part  of  any  French  Catholics 
desiring  to  make  them.  These  were  the 
principal  articles  of  the  concordat  signed 
by  the  Papal  envoys  on  behalf  of  the 
Holy  See.    The  Government  of  Napoleon 


CONCUPISCENCE 


205 


soon  afterwards  added  to  the  concordat  a 
number  of  clauses  called  "organic  arti- 
cles," the  tenor  of  which  was  of  course 
highly  Erastian,  and  by  which  it  has  been 
often  maintained  by  the  French  and  other 
publicists  that  the  French  clergy  are 
bound.  This,  however,  since  the  Holy 
See  never  ratified  the  "  organic  articles," 
is  not  the  case. 

In  an  interesting  supplementary  article 
in  vol.  xxvi.  of  Wetzer  and  Welte's 
Dictionary  on  Concordats,  the  text  of 
several  modern  conventions  of  this  kind 
(with  Russia,  1847;  with  the  republic  of 
Costa  Rica,  1852 ;  with  Austria,  1855)  is 
given  in  full. 

(Ferraris,  Concordata;  Soglia,  i.  4, 
De  jure  novisaimo ;  Mahler's  "  Kirchen- 
geschichte.") 

coircupzscExrcs.  Concupiscence 
according  to  St.  Thomas,  1,  2,  qu.  30  a.2, 
is  the  appetite  which  tends  to  the  gratifi- 
cation of  the  senses  ("  bonum  delectabile 
absens").  This  tendency  is  in  itself  neither 
good  nor  evil,  because  the*  object  may  be 
either  lawful  or  unlawful.  The  desire  of 
eating  and  drinking  in  moderation  is 
good  :  that  of  eating  and  drinking  to  excess 
is  evil ;  but  in  the  one  case  and  in  the 
other  we  have  an  instance  of  concupis- 
cence. However,  the  word  concupiscence 
is  constantly  used  for  that  appetite  which 
exists  in  fallen  man  and  is  an  incentive  to 
sin,  because  it  seeks  forbidden  objects,  or 
permissible  objects  in  a  forbidden  way. 
St.  Paul,  in  Rom.  vii.,  speaks  of  it  as  "  the 
flesh,"  and  again  as  the  "  law  of  sin,  that 
is  in  my  members."  Such  concupiscence, 
in  rebellion  against  reason  and  against  the 
commandments  of  God,  did  not  exist  in 
Adam,  till  he  had  fallen  from  original 
justice.  From  him  it  has  passed  to  all 
his  descendants ;  it  remains  even  in  those 
who  have  been  born  again  by  baptism,  so 
that  the  saints  themselves  have  had  to 
fight  against  this  tendency  in  the  sensual 
appetite  to  forbidden  pleasures,  without 
being  able  to  eradicate  it. 

We  now  come  to  the  difference  on  this 
matter  between  Catholic  doctrine  and  the 
tenets  of  the  Reformers.  The  latter 
taught  that  concupiscence,  even  if  the  will 
did  not  consent  to  harbour  or  encourage 
it,  had  the  nature  of  sin.  Catholic 
doctors  on  the  other  hand,  following  the 
principle  of  St.  Thomas,  that  no  action 
can  be  moral  or  immoral  except  so  far  as 
it  depends  on  the  free-will  of  the  agent, 
deny  that  concupiscence  which  remains, 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  made  by  the  will  to 
subdue  it,  is  to  be  considered  sin.    It  is 


206 


OONCURSUS 


CONFESSION,  SACRAMENTAI, 


plain  that  the  Catholic  doctrine  is  the 
only  one  consistent  with  belief  in  the 
-  moral  freedom  of  man.  It  is,  moreover, 
the  only  one  consistent  with  experience 
and  common  sense ;  for  who  can  believe 
that  a  man  engaged  in  heroic  struggle 
with  the  temptations  of  the  flesh,  is  all 
the  while  offending  God  ?  The  Council  of 
Trent  lays  down  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  with  great  clearness,  in  the  fol- 
lowing words: — "This  holy  synod  con- 
fesses that  concupiscence  or  the  fuel  of 
sin  (fames  peccati)  remains  in  the  bap- 
tised ;  but  since  it  is  left  that  they  may 
strive  against  it,  it  cannot  hurt  those  who 
give  no  consent,  but  resist  manfully  by  the 
grace  of  Jesus  Christ ;  nay,  more,  he  who 
strives  lawfully  will  be  crowned.  The 
holy  synod  declares  that  this  concupis- 
cence, which  the  Apostle  sometimes  calls 
sin  (Rom.  vi.  12,  vii.  8),  has  never  been 
imdei-stood  by  the  Catholic  Church  to  be 
80  called  because  it  is  truly  and  properly 
sin  in  the  regenerate,  but  because  it  is 
from  sin  and  inclines  to  sin.  But  if  any 
man  hold  a  contrary  opinion,  let  hira  be 
anathema."  ^  Propositions  of  Baius 
renewed  the  error  of  the  Reformers  with 
a  difference  of  terminology — e.ff.  Prop. 
Ixxv. :  "  The  evil  motions  of  concupiscence 
have  been  prohibited  for  the  state  of 
fallen  man  [in  the  words],  Thou  shalt  not 
covet.  Whence,  a  man  who  feels  them 
and  does  not  consent,  transgi-esses  the 
precept,  Thou  shalt  not  covet;  although 
the  transgression  is  not  reckoned  as  sin." 
COSTCURSUS.  An  examination 
into  the  qualifications  of  candidates  for 
ecclesiastical  benefices  with  cure  of  souls. 
The  Council  of  Trent  ordered^  that  a 
board  of  six  examiners  should  be  ap- 
pointed every  year  in  the  diocesan  synod ; 
and  that  when  any  parish  became  vacant, 
within  ten  days,  or  such  period  as  the 
bishop  might  appoint,  candidates  having 
been  duly  invited  to  attend,  an  examina- 
tion should  be  held  by  any  three  selected 
by  the  bishop  from  the  board  above  men- 
tioned. A  list  of  those  found  qualified 
having  then  been  made  by  the  examiners, 
it  was  competent  for  the  person  or  per- 
sons to  whom  the  patronage  appertained 
to  select  from  among  these  the  candidate 
of  their  choice,  and  present  him  to  the 
bishop  for  institution.  (Art.  by  Perma- 
neder  in  Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

coirr  ERExrcES  of  the  cIiERGT. 
In  the  ninth  century  when  dioceses  be- 
came much  larger  than  they  had  been  in 

i  Concil.  Trident,  sess.  v.  De  Peccat.  Origin. 
»  Sws.  x3dv.  c.  18,  De  Reform. 


early  times,  the  diocesan  synods  were  no 
longer  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of 
discipline,  ecclesiastical  spirit,  &c.,  among 
the  clergy.  Accordingly  in  many  parts  of 
Europe — e.ff.  in  France,  Germany,  Italy, 
and  England — the  clergy  of  each  district 
were  required  to  meet  under  the  arch- 
priest  or  dean,  and  these  meetings  were 
called  "  Calendars  "  (because  held  on  the 
first  of  every  month),  also  consistoriay 
»ynodi,  sessiones.  The  clergy  were  sum- 
moned originally  by  the  archpriest  or 
archdeacon.  They  consulted  on  difficult 
cases  of  conscience  and  the  like,  but 
besides  this  they  often  investigated  crimes 
which  had  occurred  since  last  meeting, 
and  announced  the  penalties  attached  to 
them  by  the  Church.  These  Calendars 
seem  to  have  fallen  out  of  use  about  the 
thirteenth  century.  The  last  mention  of 
them  is  said  to  be  found  in  the  Acts 
of  a  council  held  at  London  in  1237. 

St.  Charles  Borromeo  revived  these 
assemblies  of  the  clergy,  or  rather  intro- 
duced conferences  in  tne  modern  sense  for 
the  discussion  of  questions  in  morals,  ritual, 
&c.,  with  the  object  of  providing  that  the 
clergy  engaged  in  the  cure  of  souls  should 
have  the  knowledge  necessary  for  their 
duties.  The  example  of  St.  Charles  was 
followed  very  soon  by  councils  in  France, 
Italy,  the  Low  Countries,  &c.  Such  con- 
ferences again  fell  into  disuse  at  the  end 
of  the  last  century,  but  have  been  once 
more  revived  in  many  countries.  All  the 
dioceses  of  England  are  now  divided  into 
districts,  each  wnth  its  conference,  which 
meets  at  stated  intervals. 

COXTFESSZOM',  SACRAMEXTTAXi. 
To  accuse  ourselves  of  our  sins  to  a  priest 
who  has  received  authority  to  give  abso- 
lution. It  is  the  pious  custom  of  the 
faithful  to  accuse  themselves  of  all  post- 
baptismal  sins,  mortal  or  venial,  so  far  as 
they  can  remember  them,  and  the 
priest,  if  duly  commissioned,  has  powei 
to  absolve  from  all.  But  there  is  an  ab- 
solute obligation  imposed,  not  only  by  the 
law  of  the  Church,  but  also  by  divine 
institution,  upon  all  Christians,  of  con- 
fessing all  mortal  sins  committed  after 
baptism,  so  far  as  the  penitent  is  able  to 
recall  them  by  diligent  examination  of 
his  conscience.  So  the  Council  of  Tient 
has  defined  (sess.  xiv.  can.  7). 

The  proofs  of  this  obligation  from 
Scripture  and  tradition  will  be  found 
below  in  the  article  on  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance.  Here  it  suffices  to  say  that 
sacramental  confession  must  be 

(1)  Entire.  It  must  include  the  differ- 


CONFESSION 

ent  kinds  of  mortal  sin  committed  and 
th3  number  of  sins  under  each  class,  so 
far  as  it  can  be  ascertained.  One  mortal 
sin  wilfully  concealed  vitiates  the  whole 
confession.  If,  however,  mortal  sins  are 
omitted  unintentionally  and  without  fault, 
they  are  forgiven  when  absolution  is  pro- 
nounced ;  only,  if  they  occur  to  the 
penitent's  recollection  afterwards,  he  must 
mention  them  in  his  next  confession. 
Further,  various  causes  may  excuse  from 
this  completeness  of  enumeration.  Thus 
in  shipwreck,  before  a  battle,  when  the 
penitent  is  unable  to  speak,  or  can  only 
say  very  little  from  physical  weakness,  a 
very  general  confession  of  sin  may  be 
enough  for  absolution ;  but  the  confession 
must  be  completed  afterwards,  if  the 
opportunity  offers  itself. 

(2)  It  must  be  vocal,  though  for  a 

frave  reason  the  penitent  may  make  it 
y  presenting  a  written    paper,   or    by 
signs. 

(3)  It  liiust  be  accompanied  by 
supernatural  sorrow  and  firm  purpose  of 
amendment. 

(4)  It  should  also  be  humble  and 
sincere ;  as  short  as  is  consistent  with 
integrity  ;  in  language  which  is  plain  and 
direct,  but  at  the  same  time  pure  and 
modest. 

The  form  of  confession  is  as  follows. 
The  penitent,  kneeling  at  the  confessor's 
feet,  says,  "  Pray,  Father,  bless  me,  for 
I  have  sinned."  The  priest  gives  the 
blessing  prescribed  in  the  Roman  Ritual, 
"  The  Lord  be  in  thy  heart  and  on  thy 
lips,  that  thou  mayest  truly  and  humbly 
confess  thy  sins,  in  the  'Name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  The  penitent  then  recites  the 
first  part  of  the  Oonfiteor,  enumerates  the 
sins  of  which  he  has  been  guilty  since 
his  last  confession,  and  then  adds,  "  For 
these  and  all  my  other  sins  which  I 
cannot  now  remember  I  am  heartily  sorry ; 
I  purpose  amendment  for  the  future,  and 
most  humbly  ask  pardon  of  God,  and 
penance  and  absolution  of  you,  my  spirit- 
ual Father." 

CONFESSIONT  (THS  TORXB  OF 
A  m ART YR ) .  The  word  was  used  from 
early  times  as  equivalent  to  yLaprvpinv,  the 
actual  tomb  in  which  a  martyr  was  buried. 
If  an  altar  was  erected  over  the  grave, 
then  the  name  "  confession "  was  given 
to  the  tomb,  the  altar  and  the  cubiculum 
or  subterranean  chamber,  in  which  they 
stood.  In  later  times,  a  basilica  was  some- 
times erected  over  the  cubiculum  or 
chamber  beneath  ;     the  high-altar  was 


CONFESSIONAL 


207 


placed  over  the  altar  on  the  tomb  below, 
and  so  this  high-altar  also  was  ^called  a 
"  confession,"  though  it  was  not  till  the 
middle  ages  that  the  entire  building 
received  the  name  of  "confession."  Some- 
times, when  the  "  basilica  "  was  set  up  in 
a  different  place,  the  relics  of  the  martyr 
were  removed  to  it,  and  the  name  "  con- 
fessio "  was  transferred  to  the  spot  in 
which  the  remains  rested.  In  such  cases, 
the  relics  were  placed  in  a  crvpt  under 
the  high-altar,  or  else  they  were  deposited 
in  a  hollow  space  under  the  high-altar  in 
the  church  itself,  this  hollow  space  being 
enclosed  with  a  grating  or  with  perforated 
marble,  and  room  left  for  the  faithful  to 
approach  and  touch  the  shrine  with  cloths 
(Brandea).  Such  an  arrangement,  which 
was  possible  because  Mass  was  said  at 
the  further  side  of  the  altar,  is  still  found 
in  the  Roman  churches  of  St.  Clement 
and  St.  George  in  Velabro.  Lastly,  the 
name  "  confession "  was  given  to  that 
part  of  an  altar  in  which  the  relics  are 
placed.  Thus  the  Pontifical,  even  in  its 
present  form,  speaks  of '' the  confession, 
i.e.  the  sepulchre  of  the  altar." 

The  most  famous  "  confession  "  is  that 
of  St.  Peter  in  the  Vatican  basilica. 
Anacletus  is  said  to  have  constructed  "  the 
monument  of  the  blessed  Peter  "  ("  memo- 
riam  B.  Petri ")  ;  it  is  mentioned  by  Caius,^ 
a  writer  of  the  second  or  the  beginning 
of  the  third  century,  while  a  new  *'  con- 
fession "  was  set  up  by  Constantine  when 
he  built  the  Vatican  basilica.  On  this 
"confession"  the  reader  may  consult 
Card.  Borgia's  work  "  Vaticana  Confessio 
B.  Petri,  chronologicis  tam  veterum  quam 
recentiorum  scriptorum  testimoniis  illus- 
trata."  Romae,  177(3.  (Kraus  "  Real-En- 
cyclopadie.") 

COlTFSSSlosrAIi.  The  seat  which 
the  priest  uses  when  hearing  confessions. 
According  to  the  Roman  Ritual  it  ought 
to  be  placed  in  an  open  and  conspicuous 
part  of  the  church,  and  to  have  a  grating 
between  the  priest  and  the  penitent. 
"The  present  form  of  confessionals  is 
somewhat  recent  in  the  Church,  for  in 
more  ancient  times  people  confessed  in 
the  open  church  (a  decouverf),  kneeling 
before  the  priest  or  simply  seated  by  his 
side,  as  is  still  usual  among  the  Greeks. 
The  division  [of  the  confessional]  into 
compartments  does  not  appear  to  go  back 
further  than  the  sixteenth  century  and  the 
time  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  who  left 
ordinances  on  that  matter,  but  this  ar- 
rangement did  not  become  general  till 
1  Euseb.  H.E.  ii.  25,  7. 


208 


CONFESSOR 


'the  following-  century."  (Mgr.  de  Mon- 
tault,"Traite  Pratique  de  la  Construction, 
&c.,  des  Eglises,"  i.  p.  233.) 

CONFESSOR  (Species  of  Saint). 

A  name  used  from  the  earliest  times  for 
persons  who  confessed  the  Christian  faith  in 
times  of  persecution,  thus  exposing"  them- 
selves to  danger  and  suffering,  but  who  did 
not  undergo  martyrdom.  For  a  time  the 
martyrs  were  the  only  saints  who  received 
special  and  public  honour  after  death 
from  the  Church,  and  martyrs  only  (with 
the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Apostles)  are 
mentioned  in  the  canon  of  the  Roman 
Mass,  though  the  A.mbrosian  canon  also 
has  the  names  of  other  saints.^  But  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century, 
public  honours  were  also  given  to  persons 
of  heroic  sanctity  even  if  they  had  not 
been  martyred.  Thus  St.  Ajitony,  as  St. 
Jerome  tells  us,  directed  that  his  body 
after  death  should  be  concealed,  because 
he  did  not  wish  a  "  martyrium  "  erected 
in  his  honour.  Hilarion  kept  the  vigil 
and  feast  of  St.  Antony ;  he  himself  after 
death  received  the  same  honour.  Thus 
the  name  "  Confessor  "  got  the  technical 
meaning  which  it  now  has  in  the  Missal 
and  Breviary — i.  e.  it  was  applied  to  all 
male  saints  who  do  not  fall  under  some 
special  class,  such  as  Martyr,  Apostle, 
Evangelist.  The  names  of  confessors 
were  added  to  the  Martyrology  after  the 
time  of  Gregory  the  Great.'^  St.  Martin 
was  the  first,  or  at  least  among  the  first, 
of  the  Confessors  whom  the  Church 
honoured  with  an  ofiice  and  feast.^ 

In  the  office  of  Good  Friday  "  con- 
fessor" means  "singer,"  because  in  the 
Scriptures  "  confessing  to  God "  is  used 
for  singing  his  praises.  That  "  confessor  " 
had  this  meaning  is  certain  from  the  6th 
canon  of  a  council  of  Toledo  which  met 
in  the  year  400.* 

COITFESSOXl  (in  Sacrament  of 
Penance).  Ihe  priest  who  hears  con- 
fessions. He  must  have  received  juris- 
diction from  the  ordinary  of  the  place. 
Formerly  by  the  canon  law  the  faithful 
were  bound  to  confess  once  in  the  year  to 
their  parish-priest  ("  proprio  sacerdoti "). 
Afterwards,  various  religious  orders  re- 
ceived privileges  which  enabled  them  to 
hear  confessions  of  seculars  at  all  times ; 
and  by  the  present  law  seculars  may 
always  choose  any  approved  priest  for  their 

»  Benedict  XIV.  De  Mi»s.  ii.  13,  24. 
3  This,  at  least,  seems  to  be  the  meaning  of 
Gavantus,  ii.  p.  178. 

5  Thomassin,  Traite  des  Festes,  i.  8, 19. 
Hefele,  Concilien.  ii.  p.  78. 


COJNJblKMATlON 

confessor.  (St.  Liguori,'^Theol.  Moral." vi. 
664  ;  where,  however,  another  interpreta- 
tion of  the  words  "  proprio  sacerdoti  "  is 
given.) 

COXTFIRl^ATZOSr.  A  sacmment 
of  the  new  law  b}'-  which  grace  is  con- 
ferred on  baptised  persons  wh.ch 
strengthens  them  for  the  profession  of 
the  Christian  faith.  It  is  conferred  by 
the  bishop,  who  lays  his  hands  on  the 
recipients,  making  the  sign  of  the  cross 
with  chrism  on  their  foreheads,  while  he 
pronounces  the  words  "  I  sign  thee  with 
the  sign  of  the  cross  and  confirm  thee 
with  the  chrism  of  salvation,  in  the  Name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Besides  conferring  a  special 
grace  to  profess  the  faith,  it  also  sets  a 
seal  or  character  on  the  soul  [see  Cha- 
kacteb],  so  that  this  sacrament  cannot  be 
reiterated  without  sacrilege. 

Protestants  have  universally  denied 
that  confirmation  is  a  sacrament ;  either 
rejecting  it  altogether  or  retaining  a 
spurious  imitation  of  it,  in  which  young 
people  renew  and  confirm  the  promises 
made  for  them  in  baptism.  In  opposition 
to  this  error,  the  Council  of  Trent  (Sess. 
vii.)  defines  that  it  is  a  "  true  and  proper 
sacrament,"  and  we  shall  endeavour  to 
establish  this  point  from  Scripture  and 
tradition  before  entering  upon  questions 
of  detail. 

We  read  in  Acts  viii.  that  when 
Philip  the  Evangelist  had  baptised  the 
Samaritan  converts,  St,  Peter  and  St. 
John,  going  down  from  Jerusalem,  "  laid 
their  hands  upon  them,  and  they  received 
the  Holy  Ghost."  Thus  the  gifts  con- 
veyed to  the  Apostles  and  their  first 
converts  at  Pentecost  were  imparted  by 
the  ministry  of  the  Church  to  Al  Chris- 
tians willing  to  receive  them.  It  ii■^  true 
that  when  the  Apostles  imposed  their 
hands  miraculous  gifts  often  accompanied 
the  communication  of  the  Hcly  Ghost. 
But  this  was  an  accident,  and,  just  as  the 
miraculous  signs  promised  at  the  end  of 
St.  Mark's  gospel  to  those  "  who  believe  " 
afterwards  ceased  without  prejudice  to 
faith,  so  when  miraculous  signs  no  longer 
accompanied  the  imposition  of  hands, 
confirmation  still  bestowed  the  presence 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  increased  measure ; 
it  still  gave  that  power  and  courage  to 
make  confession  which  will  always  be 
essential  to  the  Christian  calling.  Hence 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  the  "  laying 
on  of  hands"  is  numbered  among  the 
elementary  articles  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion, and  placed  in  immediate  pioximily 


CONFIRMATI0i«^^ 


CONFIEJMATION 


209 


to  baptism,  in  order  to  distinguSsit  irmn    ia  owr  chief  guide  in  the  historical  por- 


the  "  laying  on  of  hands  "  in  Holy  Order. 
In  allusion  to  the  same  sacrament  of  con-  j 
firmation,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  ] 
the  same  context,  describes  Christians  as  | 
"  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; "  and,  with  | 
at  least  a  probable  reference  to  contirma-  I 
tion,  St.  Paul  tells  Christians,  that  they 
were   "  sealed   with  the   Holy   Spirit  of  i 
promise."  ^      Thus    the    miraculous   gifts 
were  only  intended  to  make  men  recognise 
and   believe  in  a  presence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  which  was  afterwards  to  be  recog- 
nised by  faith  alone. 

The  Scripture  is  thus  in  perfect  keeping 
with  the  Tridentine  doctrine  that  confir- 
mation is  a  "  true  and  proper  sacrament." 
We  have  the  outward  sign,  viz.  the 
laying  on  of  hands ;  the  inward  grace, 
viz.  the  communication  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  already  given  in  baptism,  with 
greater  fullness ;  divine  institution,  for  the 
Apostles  could  not  have  used  an  outward 
sign  as  a  certain  means  of  giving  grace, 
unless  they  had  received  authority  to  do 
so  from  Christ,  the  author  of  grace ; 
lastly,  the  sign  and  the  grace  which  ac- 
companied it  were  to  continue  perma- 
nently in  the  Church,  as  appears  from  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  The  earliest 
tradition  illustrates  the  teaching  of  Scrip- 
ture on  this  head.  Thus  Tertullian 
mentions  the  imposition  of  hands  on  the 
baptised  which  "called  and  invited  the 
Holy  Ghost."*  Elsewhere,*  in  a  remark- 
able passage,  he  places  "  the  sealing  of  the 
soldiera  on  the  forehead  "  between  bap- 
tism and  the  Holy  Eucharist,  plainly 
indicating  that  he  believed  confirmation 
to  be  a  true  sacrament.  Many  quotations 
mio^ht  be  added  from  Cyprian.  In  the 
earliest  councils  we  meet  with  formal 
legislation  on  confirmation,  but  here  one 
instance  will  suffice.  The  Council  of 
Elvira,  in  306,  in  canon  38,  decrees  that 
persons  baptised  in  case  of  necessity  by 
laymen  are  afterwards  to  be  brought  to 
the  bishops  and  *'  perfected  by  the  impo- 
sition of  hands."  Here  the  effect  of  the 
sacrament  (which  makes  us  perfect  Chris- 
tians), and  its  ordinary  minister  (viz.  the 
bishop),  are  plainly  expressed.  Further, 
the  fact  that  the  Church  never  allowed 
the  sacrament  to  be  reiterated  proves  the 
ancient  belief  in  the  indelible  character 
or  mark  with  which  confirmation  stamps 
the  soul. 

We  will  now  examine  certain  points 
with  regard  to  this  sacrament,  following 

»  Ephes.  i.  13.  2  pe  Baptism. 

3  Froescript.  40. 


tion  Chardon,  in  the  second  volume  of  his 
"  Histoire  des  Sacrements." 

(1)  The  ordinary  minister  of  the 
sacrament  is  a  bishop,  as  is  defined  by 
the  Council  of  Trent,  and  this  statement 
is  grounded  on  Scripture,  which  speaks 
of  the  Apostles,  but  never  of  simple 
priests,  as  imposing  their  hands  to  give 
the  Holy  Ghost.  In  the  West,  confirma- 
tion has  always  been  given  by  bishops. 
Permission,  however,  to  confirm  was 
given  to  some  abbots — e.g.  to  the  abbot  of 
Monte  Cassino — and  there  was  an  excep- 
tian  to  the  general  rule  of  the  West 
in  Sardinia,  where  Pope  Gregory  I. 
for  a  time  forbade,  but  later,  to  avoid 
greater  evils,  permitted,  simple  priests  to 
confirm.  In  Ohrysostom's  time  it  was 
customary  in  the  East  also  to  reserve  the 
administration  of  this  sacrament  to 
bishops.  But  a  writer  of  the  fourth  century 
— the  author  of  a  commentary  on  St.  Paul 
at  one  time  attributed  to  St.  Ambrose — 
remarks  that  "  in  Egypt  priests  confirm 
{consignant)  in  the  bishop's  absence." 
This  custom  must  have  been  well  estab- 
lished before  the  schism,  for  Photius 
reproached  Pope  Nicholas  with  causing 
the  Bulgarians  who  had  been  confirmed 
by  priests  to  be  reconfirmed.  At  Florence 
nothing  was  done  to  alter  the  Greek 
custom  of  allowing  priests  to  confirm 
(though  the  Latin  usage  had  been  imposed 
at  Constantinople  by  Innocent  III.  and 
in  Cyprus  by  Innocent  IV.),  and  at  pre- 
sent it  continues  not  only  among  the 
Greeks,  but  also  among  the  Oriental 
Christians  generally. 

Such  are  the  facts,  and  the  following 
are  the  principles  held  by  (Catholic  theolo- 
gians on  the  minister  of  confirmation. 
In  ordinary  cases,  a  bishop  only  can  con- 
firm, but  the  Pope  may  empower,  and  has 
repeatedly  empowered,  a  simple  priest  to 
do  so,  provided  at  least  the  chrism  which 
he  uses  has  been  consecrated  by  a  bishop. 
It  is  commonly  held  that  the  Pope  alone 
can  give  simple  priests  this  power,  so  that 
if  they  attempt  to  confirm  without  per- 
mission from  the  Pope,  or  in  any  case 
without  his  tacit  consent,  the  act  is  null.^ 
Confiimation  given  by  a  bishop  according 
to  the  rite  of  the  Church  is  always  valid, 
but  it  is  unlawful  unless  given  by  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  or  with  his  leave. 

(2)  There  has  been  much  dispute 
among  theologians  as  to  the  essential 
matter  of  conJii'ynafAon.  Some,  with  the 
learned  Jesuit  Sirmond,  make  it  consist 

1  Billuart,  I)e  Confirmat.  a.  7. 


210 


CONFIRMATION 


CONFITEOR 


in  the  mere  imposition  of  hands,  arguing 
rhat  tliis  alone  is  mentioned  in  Scripture, 
and  appealing  to  the  canon  of  Elvira, 
abeady  quoted,  as  well  as  to  the  Council 
of  Orange  (anno  441),  canon  2,  which 
seems  to  deny  in  express  terms  that 
anointing  with  chrism  is  necessary.^ 
Others,and  they  are  much  more  numerous, 
contend  that  anointing  with  chrism  is  a 
necessary  part  of  the  sacrament.  They 
urge  that  the  Greeks  have  no  special 
imposition  of  hands,  apart  from  the  unc- 
tion ;  that  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  in  his 
third  "  Catechesis  "  never  mentions  the  im- 
position of  hands,  though  this  "Catechesis" 
IS  entirely  occupiec^,  with  confirmation  ; 
that  the  Greeks  have  always  regarded  the 
chrismation  as  the  principal  matter ;  that 
Cyprian  makes  the  unction  a  matter  of 
necessity ;  while  it  is  prescribed  in  all 
Latin  Sacramentaries.  This  latter  opinion 
seems  far  the  more  probable.  Unction  is 
almost  certainly  needed  for  the  validity 
of  the  sacrament,  imposition  of  hands 
being  also  required,  but  only  such  impo- 
sition as  is  implied  in  the  act  of  putting 
the  chrism  on  the  forehead. 

{}\)  The  present  form  of  confirmation 
in  the  West  has  been  already  given ;  the 
Greek  form  is,  "  The  seal  of  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,"  and  this  they  have  em- 
ployed from  very  ancient  times.  The 
present  Latin  form,  on  the  contrary,  is  not 
older  than  the  twelfth  century.  In  an  Ordo 
Romanus  of  the  eighth  century  we  find  the 
form,  "  I  confirm  thee  in  the  Name  of  the 
Father,"  &c;  in  a  Pontifical  of  Egbert, 
Archbishop  of  York,  "  Receive  the  sign 
of  the  holy  cross  with  the  chrism  of 
salvation  in  "Christ  Jesus  unto  eternal 
life ; "  in  the  Sacramentary  of  Gelasius, 
"The  sign  {signum)  of  the  cross  with 
eternal  life."  All  of  these  forms  have 
been  permitted,  because  all  suiSciently 
indicate  the  grace  given,  and  were  there- 
lore  valid. 

(4)  All  baptised  persons  are  capable 
of  receiving  this  sacrament,  though  to 
receive  it  with  fruit  they  must  be  in  a 
state  of  grace.  The  Greeks  and  Orientals 
give  it  immediately  after  baptism,  and  in 
the  West  down  to  the  thirteenth  century  a 
child  was  confirmed  as  soon  after  baptism 
as  possible.  A  synod  of  Worcester  (1240) 
forbids  parents,  under  pain  of  exclusion 
from  church,  to  leave  their  children  with- 
out confirmation  more  than  a  year.  But 
the  Roman  Catechism  advises  that  con- 
firmation should  not  be  given  till  the  age 
of  reason,  when  Christians  have  to  begin 
1  See  Hefele,  ConcU.  ii.  p.  292. 


their  warfare  with  sin,  and  it  suggests  the 
twelfth  year  as  a  suitable  time  for  confir- 
mation. This  sacrament  is  not  necessary 
for  salvation,  though  so  great  a  means  of 
grace  cannot  be  neglected  without  sin. 

(6)  The  ceremonies  accompanying 
confirmation  are  these.  The  bishop,  who 
wears  an  amice,  stole  and  cope,  of  white 
colour,  spreads  his  hands  over  those  he 
is  to  confirm,  praying  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
may  descend  on  them ;  immediately  after 
confirming  them,  he  gives  them  a  slight 
blow  on  the  cheek,  in  token  that  they 
must  be  ready  to  sutler  for  Christ,  and 
finally  dismisses  them  with  his  blessing. 
Those  to  be  confirmed  are  brought  to  the 
sacrament  by  their  god-parents  (specially 
appointed  for  this  sacrament,  each  male 
having  a  god-father,  and  each  female 
a  god-mother),  and,  if  old  enough  to  do 
so,  place  their  foot  on  the  right  foot 
of  the  god-parent.  In  ancient  times,  a 
white  cloth  bound  round  the  forehead 
after  chrismation  was  kept  on  for  seven 
days  afterwards.  This  custom  is  mentioned 
in  Egbert's  Pontifical  and  in  many  other 
places.  The  ceremony  of  the  blow  on 
the  cheek  is  comparatively  modern.  It 
is  usual  to  take  another  Christian  name 
at  confirmation,  which  however,  is  not 
used  afterwards  in  signing  the  name ;  and 
the  Pontifical  says  the  "confirmandi" 
should  be  fasting. 

(6)  The  place  for  giving  confirmation 
is  the  church.  Formerly  it  was  some- 
times given  in  the  baptistery,  but  occa- 
sionally the  old  basilicas  had  a  special 
place  between  the  baptistery  and  the 
church  called  "  Consignatorium  "  —  i.e. 
place  for  giving  the  seal  of  confirmation. 
Such  a  '^Consignatorium"  may  still  be  seen 
at  Salona. 

CONFITEOR.  A  form  of  prayer 
("  I  confess  to  Almighty  God,  to  blessed 
Mary  ever  Virgin,"  &c.)  used  in  the  sa- 
crament of  penance  and  on  many  other 
occasions,  particularly  by  the  priest  in  the 
Roman  rite  at  the  beginnino-  of  Mass, 
before  he  ascends  the  steps  of  the  altar. 
This  practice  of  making  some  general  con- 
fession before  Mass  is  grounded  on  the 
Jewish  use  of  making  confession  before 
sacrifice,  and  is  very  ancient,  being  found 
in  the  liturgies  of  St.  James,  St. 
Mark,  St.  Chrysostora,  St.  Basil,  &c., 
although  (at  least  in  the  liturgies  of  St. 
James  and  St.  Chrysostom)  this  confes- 
sion was  made  by  the  priest  while  pre- 
paring for  Mass,  and  before  approaching 
the  altar.  The  present  form  of  the  Con- 
titeor  came  into  general  use  dui'ing  the 


CONFRATERNITY 

thirteeuth  century.  A  Council  of  Ravenna 
(anno  1314)  mentions  that  a  variety  of 
forms  was  current,  and  imposes  the  present 
one.  A  difficulty  has  been  raiscjd  by 
Protestants  against  confessing  to  the 
Blessed  Virtrin  and  the  saints.  But  it  is 
reasonable  to  do  so,  not  only  because  we 
need  their  prayers  for  pardon,  but  also 
because  the  saints,  as  St.  Paul  tells  us, 
will  judg,'e  the  world.  (From  Merati, 
"  Novae  Observat.  in  Gavant."  tom.  i.  p. 
174.) 

COSJFRA.TERZrZTV.  An  associa- 
tion, generally  of  laymen,  having  some 
work  of  devotion,  charity  or  instruction 
for  its  object,  undertaken  for  the  glory  of 
God.  The  Roman  jurisprudence,  instinct 
as  it  was  with  the  spirit  of  centralisation, 
looked  with  little  favour  on  independent 
corporations;  originally  a  Christian  church 
was  in  its  eyes  a  collegium  illicitum  ;  and 
in  the  face  of  this  strong  political  senti- 
ment it  was  a  great  thing  that  the  Church, 
the  diocese,  and  the  parish,  did  in  the 
course  of  the  first  four  centuries  succeed 
in  establishing  their  right  to  exist,  grow 
and  energise  by  their  own  laws,  and  not 
according  to  the  dictation  of  the  State. 
The  Roman  empire  was  broken  up;  its 
centralisation  gave  place  to  feudalism ; 
under  which  local  privileged  corporations, 
circumscribed  in  area,  but  all  the  more 
intensely  active  within  that  area,  tended 
to  multiply  themselves  over  the  face  of 
Europe.  There  now  arose,  by  the  side  of 
the  organisation  of  the  parish,  which 
on  the  whole  had  survived  the  storm  of 
barbarian  invasion,  minor  organisations, 
governed  by  by-laws  and  endowed  with 
privileges,  which  laboured  earnestly  to 
repair  the  ravages  and  reform  the  confu- 
sion of  the  times.  Hence  arose  confra- 
ternities ;  which,  under  the  names  Cril- 
donios  and  Confratrics,  appear  to  be  first 
mentioned  in  the  writings  of  Hincmar, 
Archbishop  of  Rbeims  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury. Hincmar  laid  down  rules  for  them, 
prescribing  to  the  members  frequent  obla- 
tions, alms,  prayers,  and  Masses.  They 
were  to  interest  themselves  in  every  reli- 
gious work  and  ministration — in  providing 
lights,  ordering  funerals,  in  the  collection 
and  distribution  of  alms,  &c.  If  they 
desired  to  meet  together,  it  was  to  be  in 
the  presence  of  the  parish-priest,  who 
was  to  exhort  them  to  concord,  give  them 
bread  to  eat,  and  after  one  drink  dismiss 
them  ("  semel  potos  dimittat ").  In  the 
three  succeeding  centuiies  little  is  on 
record  as  to  the  progress  of  confraternities. 
In  the  thirteenth  century  they  received  a 


CONGREGATIONS,  REIIGIOUS  211 

sudden  and  amazing  development.  Odo, 
bishop  of  Paris  (f  1208),  is  recorded  as 
having  fixed  the  annual  fete  for  a  Confra- 
ternity of  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  his  diocese. 
In  Italy  the  Confraternity  of  the  Standard 
{del  Gonfalone)  was  erected  at  Rome 
about  1260,  and  the  example  was  so 
extensively  followed  that  in  a  short  time 
there  was  no  city  or  town  in  Italy,  and 
hardly  even  a  parish,  that  was  without  its 
confraternity. 

Canon  law  contains  a  great  number  of 
decisions  given  for  the  regulation  of  con- 
fraternities. Thus  it  is  forbidden  to  erect' 
more  than  one  confraternity  of  the  same 
kind  in  the  same  place;  they  may  not 
have  processions  without  the  licence  of 
the  ordinary ;  nor  can  the  members  have 
confessors  whom  he  has  not  approved.  In 
many  other  ways  their  free  action  is  sub- 
jected to  the  assent  of  the  bishop. 

The  ends  which  confraternities  propose 
to  themselves  are  extremely  various :  they 
include  personal  sanctification,  by  means 
of  special  religious  practices  and  exercises, 
and  works  of  charity  of  many  kinds,  for 
the  relief  of  the  poor  and  sick.the  payment 
of  the  last  rites  to  the  dead,  the  support 
of  orphan  and  abandoned  children,  &c., 
&c. 

When  a  confraternity  reaches  the 
stage  at  which  filiations,  similar  to  itself, 
are  formed  in  other  places,  and  adopt  its 
rules,  it  takes  the  name  of  arch-confra- 
ternity, and  acquires  certain  particular  pri- 
vileges. 

The  most  impoi-tant  arch-confrater- 
nities at  present  existing  are — that  of  the 
Most  Holy'  and  Immaculate  Heart  of 
Mary  for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  founded 
in  1837  by  the  saintly  Abbe  Desgenettes, 
cure  of  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires,  Paris ; 
that  of  the  Scapular  [see  Scapular]  ; 
that  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  or  of  the 
JVIissions,  instituted  to  assist  in  the  work 
of  the  propagation  of  the  faith  ;  and 
that  of  Christian  Mothers  (1859),  insti- 
tuted by  the  Abb^  Theodor  Ratisbonne. 
Confraternities  of  the  Most  Holy  Rosary 
can  only  be  established  with  the  sanction 
of  the  authorities  of  the  Dominican  order. 
The  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  [see 
that  article]  is  really  an  arch-confrater- 
nity ;  and  the  "  Conferences "  of  which 
it  consists  are  confraternities.  (Ferraris, 
Confraternitas ;  Thomassin,  "  V.  et  N. 
Disciplina  EccL") 

COnrGRXSGiLTZO   I>E  AirXZlLIZS. 

[See  Grace.] 

conrcRSGATZoxa-s,R£Z.ZGZOirs. 

A  congregation  is  a  community  or  ordei 
2 


212    CONGREGATIONS,  ROMAN 

bound  together  "by  a  common  rule,  either 
■without  vows  (as  the  Oratorians,  the 
Oblates  of  St.  Charles,  &c.),  or  without 
solemn  vows,  (as  the  Passionists,  the 
Redemptorists,  &c.). 

In  France  this  term  is  extended  to  lay 
associations,  whether  of  men  or  women, 
which,  ha\-ing  a  religious  end  in  view, 
devote  themselves  to  some  work  of  in- 
struction or  charity.  So  understood,  it 
would  comprise  all  confraternities.  In 
England,  the  use  of  the  term  is  in  practice 
more  restricted,  and  perhaps  the  only  lay 
•association  to  which  it  is  here  applied  is 
that  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  founded  by 
the  Ven.  J.  B.  de  la  Salle,  which,  how- 
ever, since  the  brothers  take  the  three 
vows,  partakes  of  the  monastic  character. 
Among  the  more  noted  congregations  are 
the  following ; — 

1.  The  Oratorians  of  St.^  Philip  Neri, 
a  congregation  of  secular  priests  founded 
in  1564.     [See  Oratorians.] 

2.  The  French  Oratorians,  founded  by 
Cardinal  de  Berulle  in  1611. 

3.  The  Dames  Anglaises,  founded  by 
the  Countess  Luigia  Torelh  in  1530. 

4.  The  "Fathers  of  the  Mission," 
founded  by  St.  Vincent  of  Paul  in  1624  ; 
they  are  usually  called  Lazarists. 

5.  The  Oblates  of  St.  Charles,  founded 
by  St.  Charles  Borromeo.   [See  Oblates.] 

6.  The  Passionists,  founded  in  1720 
by  St.  Paul  of  the  Cross.  [See  Pas- 
sionists.] 

7.  The  Redemptorists,  founded  by 
St.  Alphonsus  Liguori.     [See  Redemp- 

TORISTS.] 

8.  The  Marists,  founded  by  some 
priests  of  Lyons  in  1836. 

9.  The  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools,  founded  in  1681  by  the  Ven.  J, 
B.  de  la  Salle.  [See  Christian  Brothers.] 

Another  kind  of  religious  congregation 
is  a  group  of  monasteries  belonging  to 
some  great  order,  which  agree  together  to 
practise  the  rule  more  strictly  in  their  re- 
spective houses,  and  to  luiite  themselves 
together  by  closer  ties  of  government  and 
discipline.  Such  are,  or  were,  the  con- 
gregation of  Cluny  [Oluny]  ,  that  of  St. 
Maur  [Benedictines],  and  the  various 
Cassinese  congregations  of  Benedictines. 

coKTCRSG.aTzoia'S,  aonxATr. 
From  the  earliest  times  the  chair  of  Peter 
has  been  resorted  to  by  Chri^tians  wlio, 
being  in  doubt  on  some  matter  of  religion, 
desired  an  authoritative  solution  of  that 
doubt.  In  later  times  the  number  of 
converted  nations  and  tribes  having  on  the 
whole,  in    spite    of  the    losses   of  the 


CONGREGATIONS,  ROMAN 

sixteenth  century,  been  much  increased, 
and  the  means  of  communication  ex- 
tended— the  amount  of  business  of  all 
kinds  which  the  divinely  appointed  cen- 
trality  of  the  Holy  See  brings  upon  it 
has  become  far  too  great  to  be  dealt 
with  except  by  means  of  an  organisation, 
planned  and  framed  with  consummate 
prudence  and  skill,  which  permits  the 
Pope  to  use  the  eyes,  ears,  and  judgments 
of  a  great  number  of  trained  and  com- 
petent assistants,  while  retaining  that 
initiative  and  that  complete  cognisance 
in  every  question,  of  which  he  cannot 
divest  himself.  This  organisation  con- 
sists in  the  main  of  the  congregations 
into  which  the  Cardinals  are  distributed. 
The  decisions  of  these  congregations,  when 
duly  authenticated,  are  final  in  any  case  for 
the  individ  ual,  and  must  be  taken  as  the  de- 
.cisions  of  the  Pope  himself.  If,  however, 
they  pass  beyond  interpretation,  and  grant 
or  forbid  anything  beyond  what  the  words 
of  the  law  warrant,  they  have  not  the 
force  of  a  general  law  unless  they  are 
issued  by  the  special  mandate  of  the  Pope. 
According  to  the  enumeration  of  Fer- 
raris, the  Roman  congregations  are  the 
following : — 

1.  The  Congregation  of  the  Consistory 
{consistorialis).  [See  Consistory.]  Its 
duty  is  to  prepare  the  business  (chiefly 
relating  to  the  erection,  removal,  and  dis- 
continuance of  churches,  and  to  the  pre- 
conisationor  translation  of  bishops)  which 
is  to  be  brought  before  the  Consistory. 

2.  The  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Office 
of  the  Inqiusition.     [See  Inquisition.] 

3.  That  of  the  Index  {hidicis  lihrurmn 
prohihitorum).  This  congregation,  estab- 
lished by  St.  Pius  v.,  cousists  of  a  com- 
petent number  of  Cardinals,  with  a  secre- 
tary belonging  to  the  Dominican  order, 
and  a  number  of  eminent  theologians  as 
Consultors.     [See  the  article  Index,  &c.] 

4.  The  Congregation  of  Rites(.sflC7wu7n 
Rituuin)  was  instituted  by  Sixtus  V.  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  xxv.)  ordered 
that  the  bishops  and  metropolitans  should 
watch  with  anxious  care  all  that  was 
done  respecting  the  invocation  of  saints, 
and  the  use  of  images  and  relics,  and 
sanction  no  novelty  without  consulting 
the  Roman  Pontifi*.  Moreover  it  defined, 
with  especial  reference  to  the  Mass,  that 
the  Church  has  instituted  certain  rites  and 
ceremonies,  "such  as  mystical  benedictions, 
lights,  incense,  vestments,  and  many  other 
things  of  the  like  nature,  in  accordance 
with  ApostoUcal  discipline  and  tradition, 


CONdREQATIONS,  ROMAN 

80  that  Loth  the  majesty  of  so  great  a 
sacrifice  might  be  recommended,  and  the 
minds  of  the  faithful  aroused  by  these 
visible  signs  of  religion  and  piety  to  the 
contemplation  of  those  deep  and  high 
things  which  are  hidden  in  this  sacrifice."^ 
The  object  of  the  congregation  is  to  pro- 
mote a  general  uniformity  (which  is  con- 
sistent, however,  with  the  permission  of 
innumerable  difierences  of  detail,  accord- 
ing to  the  customs  and  traditions  of  differ- 
ent nations)  in  the  externals  of  divine 
worship,  since  by  this  uniformity  the 
unity  of  faith  is  mirrored  and  more  easily 
retained.  With  regard  to  all  such  matters 
the  congregation  is  ordinary, and  is  assisted 
only  by  Consultors,  among  whom  are  the 
Papal  Sacrist  and  the  Master  of  the 
Sacred  Palace ;  with  regard  to  the  beatifi- 
cation and  canonisation  of  saints  it  is  ex- 
traordinary, and  is  assisted  by  a  promotor 
Jidei,  three  auditors  of  the  Rota,  theo- 
logians, medical  men,  professors,  &c.  [See 
Beatific  ATI  ON.] 

6.  The  Congregation  of  Immunities 
{immunitatis  Ecclesics  et  controvejsiai'wm 
jurisdictionalium),  instituted  by  Urban 
VIII.  All  matters  connected  with  the 
right  of  asylum  and  clerical  immunity 
come  under  this  congregation,  but  this 
branch  of  its  business  is  less  important 
than  formerly,  owing  to  the  tendency  of 
modern  civil  legislation  to  do  away  with 
all  these  immunities.  It  is  now  chiefly 
concerned  with  matters  relating  to  eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction,  where  it  comes  in 
contact  with  the  civil  power.  Before  the 
time  of  Sixtus  V.  there  was  a  special  con- 
gregation of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  but 
it  was  abolished  by  that  Pontiff.'* 

6.  The  Congregation  of  the  Fabric 
ireverendce  Fabi-icce  D.  Pett-i),  founded  by 
Clement  VIII.,  has  under  its  charge 
everything  that  relates  to  the  conservation 
of  the  Vatican  basilica. 

7.  That  of  the  Council  {interpret,um 
Concilii  Tndentini).  In  its  last  session 
the  Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Trent  ex- 
pressed their  confidence  that  the  Roman 
Pontiif  woMd  take  care,  if  doubts  and 
difficulties  should  arise  with  regard  to  the 
meaning  and  due  execution  of  anything 
contained  in  their  decrees,  that  these 
should  be  solved  and  smoothed  away  by 
whatever  means  might  seem  to  him  most 
suitable  for  the  purpose.  Pius  IV.  ac- 
cordingly, soon  after  the  dispersion  of  the 
Council,  instituted  the  above-named  con- 
gregation for  the  purpose  of  interpreting 

*  Sess.  xxii.  c.  5. 

3  Eanke,  Hut.  of  the  Popes,  bk.  iv. 


/ 
CONGREGATIONS  (OONCIL.)    213 

I  such  of  its  decrees  as  related  to  discipline ; 

I  of  those  concerning  faith  he  reserved  the 
interpretation  to  himself  and  his  suc- 
cessors. 

8.  The  Congregation  of  Bishops  and 
Regulars  {episcopoi'mn  et  reyularium'). 
This  also  was  instituted  by  Sixtus  V. ;  its 
chief  business  is  to  take  cognisance  of  the 
differences  that  arise  from  time  to  time 
between  bishops  and  the  regular  com- 
munities within  their  dioceses,  in  regard 
to  exemption,  visitation,  and  other  matters. 

9.  The  Congregation  of  Discipline 
(swper  disciplina  regulari),  established  by 
Innocent  XII.,  superintends  all  that  re- 
lates to  the  interior  discipline  of  monastic 
communities. 

10.  That  of  Propaganda  {propagandcE 
Jidei)  will  be  treated  in  a  separate  article. 

[See  Pkopaganda.] 

11.  The  Congregation  of  Indulgences 
(indidgentim'um  et  reliquiaruDi),  estab- 
lished by  Clement  IX.,  superintends  the 
examination  of  relics  and  the  certification 
of  their  authenticity,  as  well  as  the  grant 
of  indulgences,  any  abuses  connected 
with  which  it  is  required  to  check. 

Two  other  congregations  of  minor  im- 
portance are — that  of  the  heads  of  orders, 
presided  over  by  the  Pope,  which  selects 
the  subjects  which  are  to  be  brought 
before  the  consistory ;  and  that  of  prelates, 
attached  to  the  Congregation  of  the 
Council  by  Benedict  XIV.,  to  assist  them 
in  their  multifarious  labours. 

The  Roman  Pontiff  sometimes  con- 
stitutes a  special  congregation  ad  hoc, 
this  was  lately  done  by  His  Holiness 
Leo  XIII.,  who  selected  cardinals  from 
the  congregations  of  Bishops  and  Regulars, 
and  of  Propaganda,  and  formed  them  into 
a  special  congregation  to  examine  sundry 
points  of  controversy  between  the  bishops 
and  regular  missionaries  of  England  and 
Scotland.  See  the  Constitution  Pomanos 
Pontifices  of  May  8  in  the  current  year 
(1881)  recently  published.  (Ferraris, 
Congregatt  oiies. ) 

COXJGREGATZOirS  AT  GSITE- 
JLAIm  COirM-CXZ.S.  W^hen  a  Council 
meets,  congi-egations  of  bishops  must  be 
appointed,  by  or  with  the  approval  of  the 
Pope,  for  drawing  up  rules  for  the 
orderly  despatch  of  business,  determining 
when  and  where  the  sessions  shall  be 
held,  preparing  the  questions  to  be  de- 
bated, and  many  other  matters  of  the 
same  kind.  A  different  kind  of  congrega- 
tion came  prominently  into  view  at  the 
Council  of  Constance — that  of  the 
Nations.    The  Latin  Church  was  at  that 


214 


OONGRUISM 


CONSANGUINITY 


time  understood  to  be  divided  into  four 
nations — the  Italian,  French,  English  and 
Germans — and  the  vote  was  taken  in  the 
Council  hy  nations,  not  by  individuals. 
The  bishops  of  each  nation,  therefore, 
formed  themselves  into  a  congregation,  in 
order  to  prediscuss  all  questions  about  to 
come  before  the  Council,  in  the  light  of 
their  bearing  on  the  interests  of  their 
respective  countrymen. 

COM-GRirisivs.    [See  Grace.] 

CON'S A3»-GUZNITir  is  taken  herein 
its  widci^t  sense,  to  include  all  that  theo- 
logians mean  by  cognatio.  Natural  con- 
sanguinity {cognatio  carnalis)  is  the  bond 
between  persons  descended  from  the  same 
stock.  By  the  law  of  nature,  marriage 
is  prohibited — and,  indeed,  a  true  mar- 
riage is  impossible — between  parent  and 
child.  Many  theologians  consider  further 
that  the  law  of  natui-e  nullifies  marriage' 
between  all  persons  related  in  the  "direct 
line " — i.e.  between  grand-parent  and 
grand-child—  and  also,  in  the  "  collateral " 
Hne,  between  brothers  and  sisters.  They 
argue  from  the  horror  of  such  unions 
which  nature  itself  seems  to  inspire. 

The  Levitical  law  forbids  a  man  to 
'*  approach  "  one  who  is  a  blood  relation, 
and  specially  interdicts  marriage  with  the 
mother,  grand-daughter,  sister  or  half- 
sister  and  aunt.^  Probably  these  pro- 
hibitions are  no  more  than  instances, 
meant  to  be  extended  on  analogy,  for  the 
marriage  of  a  man  with  his  daughter  is 
omitted ;  and  we  can  scarcely  suppose 
that  this  is  an  enormity  which  did  not 
require  to  be  considered,  since  it  is  not 
more  unnatural  than  the  marriage  of  a 
man  with  his  mother,  and  yet  that  is 
specially  forbidden.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  Levitical  prohibitions  were  extended 
by  the  Talmudists.^ 

In  the  Roman  law  the  degrees  of  col- 
lateral relationship  are  calculated  by  sum- 
ming up  the  number  of  persons  in  each 
line,  omitting  the  person  from  whom  they 
descend.  Thus,  brothers  and  sisters  are 
akin  in  the  second,  cousins  in  the  fourth 
degree.  Several  changes  were  made  in 
the  Roman  prohibitions  of  marriage. 
That  between  cousins  was  not  allowed  in 


*  The  most  complete  list  is  given  Levit. 
xviii.  6  seq.  ;  but  see  also  Deut.  xxvii.  22 ; 
Levit.  XX.  17  seq. 

2  However,  only  to  a  very  slight  extent. 
Marriages  between  uncle  and  niece  were  en- 
couraged by  the  rabbins.  But  the  Karaites, 
the  great  opponents  among  the  Jews  of  rab- 
binical tradition,  objected  to  the  marriage  of 
cousins. 


early  times,  though  not  infrequent  after 
the  second  Punic  war. 

Such  a  union  was  prohibited  by  Theo- 
dosius,  though  his  son  Arcadius  repealed 
this  interdict  and  Justinian  adhered  to 
the  more  lenient  view.  Marriage  between 
uncle  and  niece  was  unlawful  among  the 
Romans.  Claudius,  to  contract  a  mar- 
riage of  this  kind,  exercised  strong  pres- 
sure on  the  senate,  and  so  got  the  law 
altered  on  this  point;  and  later  authorities 
restored  this  general  prohibition. 

In  the  Eastern  Church,  the  Council'  in 
Trullo  forbade  marriage  between  cousins. 
Under  the  Isaurian  emperors,  Leo  and 
Constantinus,  alliances  were  interdicted 
between  persons  standing  in  the  sixth 
degree  of  consanguinity  according  to 
Roman  computation — i.e.  between  the 
grandchildren  of  brothers  and  sisters. 
Not  long  aftei-wards  the  seventh  degree 
likewise  was  forbidden,  and  so  the  law 
stands  to  this  day  among  the  Greeks. 

In  the  West,  the  old  Teutonic  mode 
of  computing  collateral  consanguinity 
obtained,  according  to  which  brothers  and 
sisters  are  related  in  the  first  degree, 
cousins  in  the  second,  uncle  and  niece 
in  the  second,  &c.  The  canon  law 
prohibited  marriage  to  the  seventh  de- 
gree of  kindred,  a  prohibition .  which, 
though  in  words  the  same  as  the 
Greek  rule,  did  in  reality  extend  the 
prohibited  degrees  twice  as  far.  In 
the  year  1216,  Innocent  III.  in  the  Fourth 
Lateran  Council,  reduced  the  prohibition 
to  the  fourth  collateral  degree.  This 
ordinance  continues  in  force,  and  hence  at 
present  a  man  cannot  marry  any  woman 
from  whom  he  is  descended  or  who  is  de- 
scended from  him,  nor  again  anyone  who  is 
related  to  him  collaterally  (cousin,  second- 
cousin,  niece,  grand-niece,  &c.)  as  far  as 
the  fourth  degree  inclusive.  The  changes 
made  in  the  church  law  by  Protestant 
sects  and  Governments  are  very  numerous 
and  diverse.  (See  any  of  the  ordinary 
treatises  on  Moral  Theology ;  and  for  the 
historical  facts  the  very  learned  essay  of 
Kalisch  on  Matrimonial  Laws  in  his  "Com- 
mentary on  Leviticus,"  vol.  ii.  p.  354  seq.) 

Besides  real  consanguinity,  the  Church 
also  recognises  such  relationships  as  are 
spiritual  and  legal  {cognatio  spiritualis  et 
legalis).  Spiritual  consanguinity  is  an 
impediment  to  marriage  between  the  god- 
parent and  the  god-child,  and  between 
the  god-parent  and  the  natural  parents 
of  the  child,  and  again  between  the 
minister  and  receiver  of  the  sacraments 
of  baptism  and  confirmation.     Such    is 


CONSOIEXCE 

tlie  pres(3nt  law  of  the  Church.  Spiritual 
relationship  first  appears  as  an  impediment 
to  marriage  in  the  sixth  century,  and 
there  have  been  important  changes  in  the 
law  respecting-  it.  Among  the  Greeks 
the  impediment  from  this  kind  of  affinity 
extends  much  further  than  among  the 
Latins,  hut  among  the  former  it  can  only 
arise  from  baptism,  for  they  have  no  con- 
firmation sponsors.  Legal  affinity  im- 
pedes marriage  (1)  between  the  adopter 
and  the  adopted  and  his  children,  so  long 
as  these  children  are  under  their  parent's 
control;  (2)  between  the  adopted  and  the 
children  of  the  adopter,  so  long  as  they 
are  under  their  parent's  control ;  (3)  be- 
tween the  adopter  and  the  wife  of  the 
adopted,  as  well  as  between  the  adopted 
and  the  wife  of  the  adopter  [see  Adop- 
tion]. 

COM-SCZEIO'CZ:.  This  word  "con- 
scientia "  is  used  in  the  Vulgate  as  the 
translation  of  aweibrja-iSf  the  latter  word 
being  scarcely  found  in  classical  writers, 
though  it  frequently  occurs  in  the  New 
Testament.  St.  Thomas  and  other  theolo- 
gians define  conscience  as  "  the  judgment 
or  dictate  of  the  practical  intellect,  which 
[arguing]  from  the  general  principles  [of 
morals]  pronounces  that  something  in 
particular  here  and  now  is  to  be  avoided, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  evil,  or  to  be  done,  in- 
asmuch as  it  is  good." 

A  few  words  are  needed  to  explain 
this  definition  and  to  point  out  how  St. 
Thomas's  conception  of  conscience  differs 
from  others  common  among  modern  philo- 
sophers. The  reader,  then,  will  observe 
that  conscience  denotes  an  act,  and  so  is 
very  different  from  the  '*'  faculty  of  con- 
science," of  which  Bishop  Butler  ^  and 
others  speak.  Further,  it  is  concerned 
with,  a  judgment,  not  on  general  prin- 
ciples, but  on  an  act  to  be  done  or 
omitted.  Conscience,  for  example,  does 
not  tell  me  that  theft  is  sinful.  General 
principles  are  perceived,  according  to  St. 
Thomas,  by  the  intellect,  and  the  mind  re- 
cognises primary  moral  truths  without 
any  process  of  reasoning,  through  a  habit 
congenital  to  it,  which  the  scholastics 
call  synderesis(«.e.  o-vvr-qpricris).  Conscience 
is  the  conclusion  from  premisses  ulti- 
mately derived  from  this  synderesis. 
Thus,  knowing  that  evil  acts  are  to  be 
avoided,  and  that  theft  is  an  evil  act,  I 

1  The  writer  attributes  this  to  Bishop  Butler 
from  recollection,  without  pledging  himself  to 
its  accuracy.  But  anyhow,  the  opinion  that 
conscience  is  a  special  faculty  has  been  main- 
tain^ 


CONSCIENCE 


215 


form  the  practical  conclusion,  "1  am 
bound  to  avoid  this  particular  act  of 
theft."  Lastly,  conscience  is  an  act  of  the 
intellect,  not  of  the  will,  though  the  will 
influences,  in  more  ways  than  one,  the 
formation  of  conscience. 

From  the  definition  given  it  is  plain 
that  conscience  is  not  an  infallible  guide 
of  action.  As  in  speculative  questions, 
so  in  morals,  the  reason  may  start  from 
false  principles  or  may  argue  wrongly 
from  true  principles.  Hence  conscience 
is  said  to  be  true  or  false ;  and,  again, 
certain  and  doubtful,  so  far  as  the  con- 
clusion is  formed  with  or  without  doubt; 
also  scrupidous,  if  an  action  is  judged  or 
feared  to  be  evil  on  grounds  unworthy  of 
serious  consideration;  and  lax,  if  a  judg- 
ment is  formed  on  trifling  grounds  that 
an  evil  action  is  permissible  or  that  a 
great  sin  is  a  little  one.  Other  divisions 
of  conscience  are  of  less  importance  or  are 
really  included  in  those  already  given. 
Thus  a  "  doubtful  conscience  "  is  either 
absolutely  doubtful — i.e.  the  intellect,  be- 
cause it  can  see  no  reasons  for  enabling 
it  to  decide,  or  else  reasons  equally 
balanced  on  both  sides,  suspends  judgment 
— or  "probable,"  i.e.  the  intellect  forms  an 
opinion  on  grounds  good,  as  far  as  they 
go,  but  not  positively  convincing. 

Two  great  principles  concerning  con- 
science are  laid  down  by  Catholic  divines. 
First,  a  man  is  always  bound  to  follow 
his  conscience,  even  if  false  and  erroneous. 
Thus  St.  Paul,  speaking  of  eating  food 
which,  it  was  really  lawful  to  eat,  says, 
"  He  who  distinguisheth  [i.e.  this  food, 
as  unlawful,  from  other  food],  if  he  eateth 
is  condemned,  because  it  is  not  from  faith 
[i.e.  as  is  evident  from  the  context,  be- 
cause it  is  not  from  conscience] ;  but  all 
which  is  not  from  faith  is  sin."^  The 
reason  is  obvious.  We  apprehend  the 
law  of  God  in  the  particular  case  through 
the  dictate  of  conscience,  and  here  a  dis- 
obedience to  conscience  is  an  act  of  re- 
bellion against  God;  just  as  a  man  who 
believed  that  the  governor  of  a  province 
conveyed  the  command  of  the  sovereign 
would,  even  if  the  governor  had  altered 
the  command,  be  guilty  of  disobedience  to 
the  sovereign  if  he  set  the  order  intimated 
to  him  at  nought.  Accordingly,  a  Pro- 
testant who  is  seriously  convinced  that  it 

1  Rom.xiv.28.  So  the  Vulgate.  The  Greek 
really  means,  "  he  who  doubts  is  condemned,"  i.e 
by  God.  Cf.  for  the  sense  of  SiaKpCve<r6aiy  iv.  20, 
and  eii  iri'<TTea)s  =  fi-om  Christian  faith,  informing 
the  conscience.  But  this  does  not  aflfect  thf 
argument  we  have  drawn  from  the  text. 


216 


CONSECRATION 


CONSECRATION  OF  ALTARS 


IS  a  sin  to  hear  Mass  or  to  speak  to  a 
priest  would  undoubtedly  commit  sin  by 
80  doing.  Nor  can  any  injunction  of  any 
authority,  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  make  it 
lawful  for  a  man  to  do  that  which  his 
conscience  unhesitatingly  condemns  as 
certainly  wicked.  God  himself,  Billuart 
says,  cannot  make  it  lawful  for  a  man  to 
act  against  his  conscience,  because  to  do 
so  without  sin  is  a  contradiction  in  terms. 

Secondly,  a  man  is  bound  to  form  his 
conscience,  or,  in  other  words,  his  judg- 
ment on  the  moral  character  of  his 
actions,  wdth  great  care.  It  is  not  always 
a  sufficient  excuse  to  say  that  one  who 
does  wrong  is  following  his  conscience. 
If  a  person  has  grave  grounds  for  sus- 
pecting that  his  conscience  is  erroneous, 
he  is  under  a  strict  obligation  of  looking 
■well  into  the  matter.  He  is  bound  to 
take  all  reasonable  means — such,  in  other 
words,  as  good  and  honest  men  do  take 
when  there  is  danger  of  offending  God. 
He  ought  to  pray  and  also,  according  to 
his  opportunities,  to  consult  others,  par- 
ticularly those  set  over  him,  to  reconsider 
the  grounds  on  which  his  conscience  was 
formed,  kc.  If  after  the  due  use  of  means 
bis  ignorance  cannot  be  overcome,  it  is 
plain  that  he  is  not  responsible  for  the 
error  into  which  he  has  fallen.  The 
diligence  spent  on  the  inquiry  need  not 
be  the  greatest  possible.  The  amount 
required  depends  on  the  gravity  of  the 
matter,  the  strength  of  his  motives  for 
doubting  whether  he  is  right,  and  the 
circumstances  of  the  agent.  (From  St. 
Thomas,  I.  Ixxix.  12  ana  13 ;  Billuart, 
"  De  Actibus  humanis,"  diss,  v.) 

COXSECRATZOir.  The  form  of 
words  by  which  the  bread  and  wine  in 
the  Mass  are  changed  into  Christ's  body 
and  blood.  This  technical  use  of  the 
word  first  occurs  in  Tertullian,  "  De  An." 
17.^  The  form  for  the  consecration  of  the 
bread  in  the  Roman  Missal  is,  "  Hoc  est 
enim  corpus  meum ; '  that  of  the  wine, 
"  Hie  est  enim  calix  sanguinis  mei,  novi  et 
leterni  testamenti,  mysterium  fidei,qui  pro 
vobis  et  pro  multis  effundetur,  in  remissi- 
onem  peccatorum."  Some  reckon  the 
following  words,  "Hsec  quotiescunque  fe- 
ceritis  in  mei  memoriam  facietis,"  as  also 
pertaining  to  the  form.^  Probably  the 
mere  words  "  This  is  my  body,"  "  This  is 
my  blood,"  would  suffice  for  validity.  The 

1  St.  Ambrose  makes  St.  Lawrence  say  that 
Pope  Xystushad  entrusted  to  him,  though  only 
a  deacon,  "dominici  sanguinis  consecrationem," 
t.e.  probably  "  the  consecrated  blood  of  our 
Lord,"  viz.  for  distribution  to  the  people. 


opinion  of  Scotus,  that  the  words  imme- 
diately preceding  the  form,  viz.  "  who 
the  day  before  He  suffered,"  &c. ;  or  of 
Toutt^e  and  Le  Brun,  that  the  validity  of 
the  consecration  depends,  not  only  on  the 
words  of  Christ,  "  This  is  my  body,"  &c., 
but  also  on  the  prayers  of  the  Church, 
need  not  be  discussed  here.  But  it  is 
necessary  to  say  something  on  a  special 
difficidty  with  regard  to  the  words  of 
consecration.  It  arises  from  the  liturgies 
of  the  Greeks. 

In  these  liturgies,  as  well  as  in  those 
of  other  Orientals,  we  find  prayers,  after 
the  consecration,  imploring  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  descend  on  the  gifts,  making 
the  bread  the  body  of  Christ,  and  the 
wine  His  blood.  This  has  led  some  of 
the  schismatic  Greeks  to  make  the  con- 
secration depend  on  these  prayers.     But 

1.  No  mention  is  made  of  prayers 
after  the  words  of  consecration  by  any  one 
of  the  synoptic  evangelists  or  by  St.  Paul. 

2.  The  earliest  Fathers,  Justin,  Ire- 
nseus,  Tertullian,  Ambrose,  Chrysostom,^ 
evidently  make  the  consecration  depend 
on  the  words  of  consecration. 

3.  The  Greeks  themselves  at  the 
Council  of  Florence  unanimously  admitted 
that  the  change  was  effected  by  the  words 
of  consecration,  "  Hoc  est  corpus,''  &c. 
convinced,  as  they  said,  by  the  words  of 
their  great  doctor  Chrysostom.^ 

4.  The  Oriental  liturgies  admit  of  a 
satisfactory  interpretation.  The  prayers 
referred  to  are  really  a  petition  that  what 
has  been  bread  and  wine  may  manifest 
itself  by  the  effects  produced  on  the  souls 
of  the  communicants  as  the  true  body  and 
blood  of  Christ :  or,  again,  the  prayer  for 
the  change  of  the  gifts  may  be  regarded 
as  one  act  with  the  consecration.  These 
interpretations  will  not  appear  forced  to 
anyone  familiar  with  the  language  of  the 
Eastern  liturgies.  Thus  in  a  Ritual  of 
Severus  God  is  asked  after  the  actual 
baptism  to  sanctify  the  baptised  persons 
with  the  laver  of  regeneration.  Similar 
examples  are  collected  by  Meratus.  (A 
special  Catholic  treatise  on  this  subject 
has  just  appeared,  "  Die  Eucharistische 
Wandlung  und  die  Epiklese,"  by  Dr.  Jo- 
seph Franz.) 

coxrsscRATXOia-  of  ax.tars. 
Altars  and  altar-stones  are  consecrated 

1  Tertullian's  statement  is  explicit,  "He 
made  the  bread  his  body,  saying,  This  is  my 
hody:'— Adv.  Marc.  iv.  40.  The  difficulty  in 
the  words  which  follow  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  question  before  us. 

8  Hefele,  Concil.  vii.  p.  740. 


CONSECRATION  OF  BISHOPS 

"by  the  "bishop  with  ceremonies  prescribed 
in  the  Pontidcal.  The  most  essential 
part  of  the  rite  consists  in  the  anointing 
■with  chrism  (to  indicate,  according  to 
Gavantus,  the  richness  of  grace),  and  the 
placing  of  relics  in  the  sepulchre  or  re- 
pository made  in  the  altar-stone  and 
afterwards  sealed  up.  The  consecration 
endures  till  the  altar-stone  is  broken  or 
the  seal  of  relics  broken.  Cardinal  Bona 
contends  that  the  practice  of  consecrating 
altars  is  of  Apostolic  origin.  Putting 
aside  doubtful  decrees  of  early  Popes,  we 
find  such  consecration  first  mentioned  by 
the  Fathers  of  the  fourth  and  councils  of 
the  sixth  century.  [From  Gavantus,  and 
Kraus,  "  Real-Encyclopadie."  See  also 
Dedication  of  Churches.] 

COlffSSCRATIOia-   OF     BXSHOPS. 

[See  Order.] 

COHrSECRATIOHr  OF  CKITRCHES 

[See  Dedication  op  Churches.] 
coia-SECRiLTZoir  of  chaxice 

AXrs  PATEN  is  made  by  the  bishop 
with  chrism,  the  prayers  to  "be  used  being 
given  in  the  Pontifical.  This  rite  is  very 
ancient,  being  found  in  the  Gregorian 
Sacramentary,  the  most  ancient  Ordines, 
&c.,  where,  however,  no  mention  is  made 
of  the  chrism. 

COirSISTORY*  (Lat.  consistoriuni). 
A  meeting  of  official  persons  to  transact 
business,  and  also  the  place  where  they 
meet.  The  word  is  classical,  and  was 
used  of  the  privy  council  of  the  Roman 
emperors.^  Before  the  Reformation  every 
English  bishop  had  his  consistory,  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  leading  clergy  of  the 
diocese,  presided  over  by  his  chancellor. 
The  name  is  still  retained  in  the  Anglican 
Church,  but  the  consistory  is  with  them 
a  court  and  nothing  more.  In  the 
Catholic  Church  the  term  is  now  sel- 
dom used  except  with  reference  to  the 
Papal  consistory,  the  ecclesiastical  senate 
in  which  the  Pope,  presiding  over  the 
whole  body  of  Cardinals,  deliberates  upon 
grave  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  communi- 
cates to  his  venerable  brethren,  and 
through  them  to  Christendom,  the  solici- 
tudes and  intentions  of  the  vicar  of  Christ 
as  to  the  condition  of  some  Christian 
nation,  or  the  definition  of  some  Catholic 
doctrine.  The  ordinary  meetings  of  the 
consistory,  held  about  once  a  fortnight, 
are  secret ;  they  are  usually,  but  not  in- 
variably, presided    over    by  the  Pope. 

1  Ausonius  {Grat.  Act.  29),  addressing  the 
Emperor  Gratian,  speaks  of  "ilia  sedes,  ut  ex 
more  loquimur,  consistorii,  ut  ego  sentio,  sacrarii 
tui" 


CONSTANCE,  COUNCIL  OF  217 

Public  consistories  are  held  from  time  to 
time,  as  occasion  may  require  ;  they  are 
attended  by  other  prelates  besides  the 
Cardinals,  and  by  the  representatives  of 
foreign  Courts.  In  them  the  resolutions 
which  the  Pope  has  arrived  at  in  secret 
consistory  are  announced,  and  an  allocu- 
tion on  some  matter  of  pressing  import- 
ance is  commonly  delivered  by  the  PontiiF 
to  the  assembled  Cardinals. 

coNSTAxrcE,  couzrczi.  of. 
An  attempt  had  been  made  early  in  the 
fifteenth  century  to  closethe  schism  in  the 
Papacy  by  the  convocation  of  a  general 
council  at  Pisa  (1409).  Twenty-four 
Cardinals  assembled  there  had  cla*ned  to 
depose  both  Gregory  XII.  and  the  anti- 
pope,  Peter  de  Luna,  and  had  elected 
Cardinal  Philargi,  who  took  the  title  of 
Alexander  V.  On  the  death  of  Alexander 
in  a  few  months  at  Bologna,  the  Cardinals 
chose  Balthasar  Cossa,  then  governor  in 
that  portion  of  the  Papal  States,  to  suc- 
ceed him.  Balthasar  took  the  title  of 
John  XXIII.  Neither  Gregory  nor 
Peter  de  Luna  consented  to  make  a  re- 
nunciation in  favour  of  John ;  hence  there 
were  three  persons  each  claiming  to  be 
the  true  Pope,  and  the  action  of  the 
Council  of  Pisa  had  only  resulted,  for  the  ■ 
moment,  in  making  the  confusion  worse 
than  before.  The  emperor  of  Germany, 
Sigismund  of  Luxemburg,  formed  the 
praiseworthy  determination  to  use  every 
means  in  his  power  to  terminate  so  dis- 
astrous a  state  of  things.  In  concert  with 
John  XXIII.  he  summoned  a  general 
council,  with  the  threefold  object  of  ter- 
minating the  schism,  extirpating  heresy, 
and  reforming  the  Church  in  head  and 
members.  Constance,  an  imperial  city 
on  the  lake  so  named,  was  fixed  upon  as 
the  place  of  meeting.  John,  though  his 
blemished  character  made  him  shrink 
from  facing  the  council,  had  been  able  to 
find  no  excuse  against  the  emperor's  im- 
portunity ;  but  he  trusted  that  it  would 
meet  somewhere  in  Italy,  and  that  the 
great  preponderance  of  Italian  bishops, 
many  of  whom  were  bound  to  him  in 
various  ways,  would  suffice  to  screen  liim 
from  attack.  His  heart  sank  when  he 
heard  that  his  legates  had  consented  to 
the  selection  of  a  city  beyond  the  Alps, 
and  he  went  to  the  council  with  a  reluct- 
ance which  the  result  completely  justi- 
fied. 

All  through  the  autumn  of  1414, 
whatever  was  most  illustrious  in  Europe 
for  piety,  learning,  power  or  enterprise — 
the  princes  of  the  empire,  the  Emperor 


218     CONSTANCE,  COUNCIL  OF 

and  Pope,  Cardinals,  statesmen,  "bishops, 
theologians,  n'erchants,  artists,  repre- 
sentatives of  every  rank  and  every  calling 
in  the  then  civilised  world — was  streaming 
from  all  directions  along  the  roads  that 
led  to  Constance.  Among  the  English 
bishops  the  chief  was  Robert  Hall  am, 
Bishop  of  Salisbury.  France  was  re- 
presented by  Peter  d'AiUy,  the  Cardinal 
Archbishop  of  Cambray,  and  Gerson,  the 
famous  chancellor  of  the  University  of 
Paris.  Among  the  Italians,  none  was  of 
greater  weight  than  Zabarella,  the  Car- 
dinal Archbishop  of  Florence;  he,  with 
D'Ailly,  soon  came  to  the  front,  and  took 
the  lead  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
fathers. 

The  council  was  opened  by  John 
XXIII.  on  November  5 ;  the  first  public 
session  was  held  on  the  IGth  of  the  same 
month.  With  regard  to  the  form  in 
which  business  should  be  carried  on,  it 
was  prearranged  that  the  bishops  should 
be  divided  into  congregations  answering 
to  the  nationalities  to  which  they  be- 
longed (Italians,  French,  English,  Ger- 
mans— a  fifth  was  added  for  Spain  in 
1416),  and  that  the  voting  in  the  council 
should  be  by  nations,  not  by  individuals. 
The  object  of  this  was  to  neutralise  the 
overwhelming  numbers  of  the  Italian 
bishops,  who  would  otherwise  have  been 
able  to  outvote  all  the  rest.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  the  objects  for  which 
the  council  met  were  to  a  large  extent 
political  and  disciplinary;  there  was  as 
yet  no  real  schism  on  a  grand  scale  with 
regard  to  any  point  of  faith.  Hence 
a  mode  of  voting  which  would  have 
been  improper  at  Trent  might  offer  the 
best  solution  of  existing  difficulties  at 
Constance. 

John  Huss,  rector  of  the  University  of 
Prague,  who  had  adopted  many  of  the 
opinions  of  Wyclif,  and  was  to  justify 
himself  if  he  could  before  assembled 
Christendom,  arrived  at  Constance  just 
before  the  opening  of  the  Council/  fur- 
nished ^ith  a  safe-conduct  from  the 
Emperor.  Other  Bohemian  ecclesiastics 
also  came,  and  denounced  the  preaching 
of  Huss;  before  the. end  of  the  month 
the  council  ordered  that  he  should  be 
arrested  and  put  in  custody.  A  com- 
mission of  three  theologians  was  ap- 
pointed to  examine  his  teaching,  In  the 
following  March  he  endeavoured  to 
escape,  but  was  retaken. 

The  more  the   antecedents   of  John 

1  Nov.  3, 1414,  not,  as  Milman  states  (^Latin 
Girittianity,  xiii.  8),  Dec.  3. 


CONSTANCE,  COUNCIL  OF 

;  XXIII.  became  known,  the  more  evident 
j  appeared  his  unfitness  for  the  Pontifical 
]  office ;  and  the  majority  of  the  council 
came  before  long  to  the  conclusion  that 
he,  with  the  other  two  claimants,  must 
resign  his  pretensions,  so  that  the  Cardi- 
nals might  proceed  to  a  new  election. 
This  John  agreed  to  do  (1415,  March  2), 
provided  Gregory  and  Peter  de  Luna 
would  do  the  same.  Soon  after,  finding 
i  that  his  past  career  was  being  inquired 
into,  he  secretly  withdrew  (March  21) 
from  Constance,  and  went  to  Schaff- 
hausen,  to  be  within  reach  of  his  friend 
Frederic,  the  Archduke  of  Austria.  Long 
negotiations  ensued ;  at  length  (1415, 
May  29,  Sess.  xii),  John  having  failed 
to  make  the  cession  of  his  office  in  the 
form  prescribed — the  commission  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  into  the  charges 
brought  against  his  character  having 
also  reported  most  unfavourably,  and 
John  himself  ha^•ing  admitted  the  truth 
of  a  portion  of  those  charges — the  council 
declared  him  guilty,  and  deposed  him 
from  the  Pontifical  office,  of  which  he 
shortly  afterwards  made  the  formal  resig- 
nation that  he  had  promised. 

In  the  fourth  and  fifth  sessions  (March 
30,  April  6)  decrees  were  adopted  de- 
claring that  the  council,  representing  the 
Catholic  Church,  held  its  power  imme- 
diately from  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  every- 
one, even  the  Pope  himself,  was  bound  to 
obey  it  in  all  that  concerned  the  faith,  the 
extinction  of  the  schism,  and  the  reform 
of  the  Church  in  its  head  and  members. 
These  decrees  have  often  been  quoted  as 
if  they  involved  a  dogmatic  definition 
subordinating  the  Pope  to  a  general 
council.  Attentively  considered,  they 
appear  to  be  carefully  restricted  in  their 
range,  and  to  apply  in  their  fullness  only 
to  that  particular  group  of  circumstances 
which  they  were  intended  to  remedy. 
Even  so  interpreted,  they  must  be  re- 
garded as  untenable,  and  as  excluded  from 
the  guarded  and  limited  confirmations 
given  by  Martin  V.  and  Eugenius  IV. 
Still,  in  the  midst  of  the  uncertainty 
which  prevailed  as  to  who  was  the 
true  Pope — an  uncertainty  which  the 
best-disposed  Christians,  owing  to  the 
obscurity  of  the  facts,  often  could  not 
clear  up  for  themselves — it  may  be  ad- 
mitted that  there  is  much  to  be  said 
in  extenuation  of  the  violent  and  un- 
canonical  acts  and  speeches  which  appear 
on  the  conciliar  record  ;  since,  unless  the 
council  could  succeed  in  enforcing  obe- 
dience to  its  decisions,  there  seemed  to 


CONSTANCE,  COUNCIL  OF 

be  no  hope  of  restoring  unity   to   the 
Church.i 

The  commission  which  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  examine  the  opinions  of  Wjclif 
and  the  Lollards  was  aided  by  the  learning 
and  zeal  of  the  great  English  Carmelite, 
ThomasWalden,  author  of  the  "Doctrinale 
Fidei  "  and  the  "  Fasciculi  Zizaniorum." 
The  wild  and  monstrous  opinions  to  which 
Wyclif  had  set  his  hand  were  maturely 
examined,  and  the  report  of  the  com- 
mission was  made  about  this  time  to  the 
council.  In  the  eighth  session  (May  4) 
the  memory  of  Wyclif  was  solemnly 
condemned,  and  it  was  ordered  that  his 
remains  should  be  exhumed,  and,  as  those 
of  an  impenitent  heretic,  cast  forth  from 
the  place  of  Christian  burial  in  which 
they  lay. 

In  the  thirteenth  session  (1414,  June 
15)  the  lawfulness  and  expediency  of 
giving  communion  to  the  laity  under  one 
species  were  affirmed,  and  those  who 
obstinately  maintained  the  contrary  were 
to  be  treated  as  heretics. 

In  the  fourteenth  session  (July  4) 
Gregory  XII.  gave  in  his  resignation  of 
the  Papacy.  The  antipope,  Peter  de  Luna, 
in  spite  of  the  entreaties  of  the  king  of 
Aragon,  refused  to  renounce  his  preten- 
sions. He  was  consequently  disregarded, 
and,  abandoned  by  nearly  all  his  adhe- 
rents, he  was  left  to  fulminate  idle  cen- 
sures from  the  rock  of  Peniscola. 

In  the  fifteenth  session  (July  6)  the 
doctrine  of  Jean  Petit,  who  had  written  a 
book  to  justify  the  assassination  of  the 
Duke  of  Orleans  by  the  order  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  in  1407,  was  partially 
condemned.  A  condemnation  of  Huss, 
who  had  refused  to  recant  his  heretical 
opinions,  was  at  the  same  time  published, 
and  he  was  delivered  to  the  secular  arm. 
He  was  burnt  at  the  stake  on  the  same 
day.  An  outcry  being  raised  on  the 
ground  of  the  violation  of  the  safe-con- 
duct given  him,  the  council  (sess.  xviii. 
Aug.  17)  adopted  a  decree  by  which  the 
emperor  was  exonerated  from  all  blame. 
He  had  done,  it  was  said,  all  that  de- 
pended on  him  to  keep  his  word ;  and  if 
Huss  had  been  less  obstinate,  he  would 
have  gone  and  returned  in  safety.  But  the 
emperor  had  not  the  power,  nor  did  he 

1  The  learned  Cardinal  de  Turrecremata, 
who  was  present  at\he  council,  writes  : — "  Ma- 
nifeste,  decretum  illorum  Patrum  non  loquitur 
universaliter,  sed  de  ilia  [synodo]  singulariter, 
pro  cujus  tempore  non  erat  in  Ecclesia  unus 
pastor  totius  Ecclesije  indubitatus."  (Quoted 
U  Bail's  Summa  Conciliorum,  i,  485.) 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


219 


intend,  to  control  the  course  of  ecclesi- 
astical discipline,  which,  when  defied, 
executed  itself  by  the  means  regarded  in 
that  age  as  efficacious. 

About  the  same  time  the  case  of  the 
margraviate  of  Brandenburg,  vacant  by  the 
death  without  heirs  of  the  last  margrave 
of  the  house  of  Ballenberg,  was  brought 
before  the  council.  The  qualifications  of 
several  princes  having  been  discussed,  the 
choice  of  the  council  fell  on  the  young 
Conrad  of  Hohenzollern,  an  insignificant 
principality  in  South  Germany.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  extraordinary 
rise  of  that  now  celebrated  and  imperial 
house,  which  has  of  late  years  dealt  so 
hardly  with  the  Church  to  which  it  owes 
its  greatness. 

The  years  1416  and  1417  were  chiefly 
taken  up  with  negotiations  respecting  the 
election  of  a  Pope,  and  endeavours  to 
remedy  ecclesiastical  abuses.  The  English 
and  Germans  wished  to  postpone  the 
election  of  a  Pope  till  after  the  completion 
of  the  reforms ;  the  French  and  Italian 
nations  took  the  opposite  view.  The 
latter,  in  the  opinion  of  Moehler,  were 
clearly  in  the  right.  At  last  (1417,  Nov. 
11),  the  Cardinal  Otto  Colonna  was 
elected  Pope  by  twenty-three  cardinals 
and  a  representative  delegation  of  thirty 
prelates,  six  for  each  nation,  Spain  being 
now  included.  Cardinal  Colonna,  who 
took  the  name  of  Martin  V.,  was  a  man 
of  great  integrity  and  ability,  and  of  irre- 
proachable morals.  The  new  Pope  con- 
firmed the  council's  acts,  limiting  his 
confirmation  to  what  had  been  done  "con- 
ciliariter  in  materiis  fidei,  et  non  aliter  nee 
alio  modo." 

The  bishops  were  now  weary  of  their 
conciliar  labours,  and  anxious  to  return 
to  their  dioceses.  Concordats  between 
Rome  and  the  principal  nations,  regu- 
lating future  relations  and  cutting  off 
some  of  the  worst  abuses,  were  hastily 
framed,  and  the  council  was  dissolved  in 
its  fortv-fifth  session,  April  22,  1418. 
(Fleury;  "  Hist.  Eccl. ;  "  Bail,  "  Summa 
Conciliorum  ;  "  Moehler,  "  Kirchenge- 
schichte.'') 

CGirsTAin-Txia-opi.z:,  cou-ircxx.s 
OP.  (1)  General  Councils. — The  Second 
General  Coimcil  (1st  of  CP.)  A  council 
of  150  Eastern  bishops  which  met  in  381. 
It  was  presided  over  first  by  Meletius  of 
Antioch,  then  by  Gregory  of  Nazianzus, 
who  had  re-established  the  orthodox  faith 
in  the  city.  The  true  faith  was  main- 
tained against  Arianism  in  all  its  manifold 
varieties,  as  well  as  against  Apoliinarian- 


220 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


ism  and  Macedonianism.  The  last  heresy 
— named  from  Macedonius,  a  semi-Arian 
bishop  of  Constantinople,  deposed  by  the 
Catholics  in  360 — consisted  in  a  denial  of 
the  Holy  Ghost's  perfect  Godhead.  To 
meet  this  error  the  council  added  to  the 
Nicene  Creed  the  words  "  and  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord  and  life-giver, 
who  proceed eth  from  the  Father,  who 
with  the  Father  and  Son  is  together  wor- 
shipped and  glorified,  who  spake  by  the 
prophets."  This  council  had  in  itself  no 
claim  to  be  cecumenical,  but  it  was  gene- 
rally recognised  as  such  since  the  sixth 
century,  because  its  doctrinal  definitions 
(not  its  disciplinary  canons),  were  accepted 
throughout  the  Church. 

The  Fifth  General  Council  (2nd  of 
CP.)  met  in  553  with  165  bishops.  It 
condemned  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  the 
erroneous  portions  in  the  writings  of 
Theodoret,  and  the  letter  of  Ibas,  because 
of  their  Nestorian  tendency.  [See  Three 
Chapters.]  There  was  no  explicit  con- 
demnation of  Origen's  errors,  though  he 
was  named  and  anthematised  among  other 
heretics.  The  decrees  of  this  council  were 
received  by  Popes  Vigilius  and  Pelagius, 
but  it  was  long  before  its  cecumenical 
character  was  acknowledged  throughout 
the  West.     [See  Three  Chapters.] 

Sixth  General  Council  (3rd  of  CP.), 
convoked  in  680  by  Const antine  Pogonatus 
in  union  with  Pope  Agatho,  and  presided 
over  by  the  Papal  legates.  It  accepted 
Pope  Agatho's  definitions  of  "  two  physi- 
cal wills  [i.e.  in  Christ],  without  division, 
change,  partition,  confusion,  the  two  wills 
not  being  contrary  to  each  other,  but  the 
human  will  being  subject  to  the  divine. 
[See  MoNOTHELiTES.J  Sergius,  Cyrus, 
Honorius  [see  the  article],  Pyrrhus,  Paul, 
were  anathematised.  Pope  Leo  TI.  con- 
firmed the  decrees. 

Eighth  General  Council  (4th  of  CP.) 
met  in  869,  and  endeavoured  to  heal  the 
schism  which  threatened  to  separate  the 
East  from  Rome,  by  deposing  Photius  and 
restoring  Ignatius  lawful  patriarch  of  Con- 
Btantinople.  The  Greeks  finally  refused  to 
acknowledge  the  council,  substituting  for  it 
a  council  of  879,  in  which  the  conduct 
and  ordination  of  Photius  were  approved. 

(2)  Particular  Councils.  —  Special 
mention  is  due  to  the  Synod  in  Trullo, 
which  met  in  691.  It  passed  102  canons 
dealing  with  numerous  questions  of  dis- 
cipline and  some  of  the  worship  of  the 
Eastern  church.  The  decrees  betray  a 
strong  animus  against  Rome,  and  though 
regarded  as  oecumenical  by  the  Greeks,  it 


CONSTANTINOPLE 

was  never  received  in  the  West.  ITie 
name  "  in  Trullo "  indicates  the  domical 
building  in  which  it  was  held.  It  was 
also  called  nepOeicrTj  or  quiniseata,  because 
it  was  meant  by  its  disciplinary  decrees 
to  complete  the  labours  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth  councils. 

(3)  Of  schismatical  councils  we  may 
name  two,  held  in  1638  and  1642,  against 
the  Calvinistic  errors  of  Cyril  Lncar. 

COM-STAirTZl«rOPZ.E,  PATRIAR- 
CHATE or.  The  church  of  P»yzantium 
was  originally  a  simple  bishopric,  subject 
to  the  metropolitan  see  of  Heraclea.  A 
new  state  of  things  began  when  tlie  city 
became  the  seat  of  the  imperial  Court; 
the  metropolitan  of  Heraclea  could  no 
longer  exercise  his  authority  over  his 
suffragan  of  Constantinople,  and  in  381 
canon  3  of  the  Second  General  Council 
assigned  to  the  see  of  Constantinople  a 
primacy  of  honour  (npeo-^ela  ttjs  TLfirjs) 
after  that  of  Old  Rome.  The  Greek 
canonist  Zonaras  frankly  admits  that  this 
canon  acknowledges  the  superiority  of 
the  Roman  bishop.  But  did  it  give  real 
patriarchal  power  to  the  bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople? De  Marca  answers  in  the  ' 
negative  ;  so  does  Cardinal  Hergenrother ; 

!  but  Hefele  considers  it  more  likely  that 
this  canon  gave,  not  only  a  primacy  of 
honour,  but  also  real  jurisdiction  in  the 
district  of  Thrace  to  the  bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople. 

With  this  power  the  bishops  of  Con- 
stantinople were  not  content,  and  they 
found  it  easy  to  extend  their  jurisdiction. 
In  the  West,  Cyprian,  the  Council  of 
Sardica,  and  other  authorities,  accepted 
the  principle  expressed  by  St.  Augustin 
when  he  says,  '  The  Lord  laid  the  foim- 
dations  of  his  Church  in  the  Apostolic  sees," 
and  to  such  foundation  Constantinople 
could  make  no  plausible  claim.  But  in 
the  East  the  notion  prevailed  that  the 
ecclesiastical  should  correspond  with  the 

)  civil  dignity  of  a  city,  a  principle  clearly 
implied  in  the  9th  canon  of  the  Synod  in 
Encseniis,  which  met  at  Antioch  in  341. 
Moreover,  bishops  came  from  all  parts  of 
the  East,  to  lay  their  petitions  before  the 
emperor.  He  often  referred  them  to  the 
bishop  of  the  place,  i.e.  of  Constantinople, 
and  the  latter  settled  the  matter  in  a 
avvodos  ev8r}fxov(ra  composed  of  the  bishops 
who  happened  to  be  in  the  capital,  over 
which  synod  he  himseff  presided.  Thus 
very  often  the  affairs  even  of  other  patri- 
archates were  tried  by  agreement  of  the 
contending  parties,  and  soon  this  custom 
led  to  a  claim  as  of  right.    This  power 


CONSTANTINOPLE 

grew  under    St.    John    Chiysostom,  of 
whom    Theodoret    says    that    he    ruled 
Thrace,  Asia  and  Pontus,  in  all  twenty- 
eight     provinces.      Atticus,    the    second 
bishop  after  Chrysostom,  was  empowered 
by  an  imperial  edict  to  consecrate  metro- 
politans even   beyond    Thrace.     In   the 
earlier  part  of  the  fifth  century  we  find 
Proclus     of     Constantinople     ordaining 
bishops  for  Pontus  and  Asia.     About  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century  Anatolius  of 
Constantinople  actually  appointed  Maxi- 
mus  bishop  of  Antioch  and  thus  assumed 
authority  over  the  ancient  patriarchal  see. 
True,  opposition  was  made  to  these  pre- 
tensions, but  without  permanent  effect, 
and  at  the  Fourth  General  Council,  Ana- 
tolius tried  to  get  the  claims  of  his  see 
fully   and   formally  acknowledged.     The 
time  singularly  favoured  such  a  project. 
The  bishoprics  of  Alexandria  and  Ephesus 
were  vacant.    Maximus  of  Antioch  was 
a  creature  of  Anatolius,  while  Juvenal  of 
Jerusalem  was  specially  indebted  to  him. 
Accordingly,  in  canon  28  of  Chalcedon, 
the  decree  of  the  Second  Council  placing 
Constantinople  next  in  dignity  to  Rome 
was  confirmed,  and  further  it  was  deter- 
mined that  the  bishop  of  Constantinople 
should   consecrate  the   metropolitans  of 
Pontus,  Asia,  Proconsularis  and  Thrace, 
and  also  the  bishops  in  "  barbarous  coun- 
tries."    Pope   Leo  absolutely  refused   to 
confirm   this  canon,   as  his   predecessors 
had   ignored  canon  2  of  Constantinople, 
and   for  long  the  Greeks,  who  had  ac- 
knowledged that  it  needed  Papal  confir- 
mation,  omitted   it  in    their  collection. 
Still  the  see  of  Constantinople  did  in  fact 
exercise  the  power  assigned  to  it  at  Chal- 
cedon  and  contmued  to  do,   in   spite  of 
repeated  protests  on  the  part  of  the  Popes. 
Gregory  the  Great  had  to  protest  vigor- 
ously against  the  assumption  of  the  title 
"  (Ecumenical  Patriarch  "   by  John  the 
Faster  (about  687).     Justinian  confirmed 
the  rank   of  Constantinople ;  while   the 
Greek  synod  in  Trullo  repeated  canon  28 
of  Chalcedon.     lUyria  during  the  Icono- 
clastic controversy   was  torn    from   the 
Roman,  and  united  to  the  Constantiuo- 
politan,   Patriarchate,    under    which    it 
continued,  when  the  strife  on  images  was 
over,  and  finally,  after  the  schism  of  the 
East,   the   Patriarch    of    Constantinople 
became  independent  head  of  the   whole 
(schismatic)   Eastern  church,    with   the 
provinces   of  Pontus,   Asia,  Thrace  and 
Illyria  in  immediate  subjection  to  himself. 
Later,  he  also  obtained  a  primacy  over 
Russia,  in  accordance  with  the  canon  of 


CONSTITUTIONAL  CLERGY    221 

Chalcedon,  which  placed  the  territory  of 
barbarians  under  his  care. 

However,  in  modern  times,  political 
causes,  which  had  originally  established, 
grievously  diminished  the  power  of  Con- 
stantinople. In  the  sixteenth  century 
(1589),  a  Russian  patriarchate  was  insti- 
tuted at  Moscow,  and  although  it  exists 
no  longer,  the  Russian  church  ia 
governed  by  a  "  holy  synod  "  (1721)  inde- 
pendent of  Constantinople.  The  church 
of  the  kingdom  of  Greece  also  secured  its 
independence  in  consequence  of  the  revo- 
lution of  1821.  The  Greek  schismatical 
bishops  in  the  Austrian  territory  are  also 
independent  of  Constantinople.  So  now 
are  the  schismatics  of  Bulgaria  and  Mon- 
tenegro, and  the  patriarch's  jurisdiction 
is  limited  to  Turkey  in  Europe  and  all 
those  dioceses  in  Asiatic  Turkey  which  do 
not  belong  to  the  other  three  pjitriarchates. 
A  Latin  patriarchate  was  founded  at 
Constantinople  during  the  time  of  the 
Latin  rule  there  (1204-1261).  The  title 
is  still  borne  by  one  of  the  high  dignitaries 
of  the  Papal  Court.  There  is  also  a  Vicar 
Apostolic  for  the  Latins.  In  the  Fourth 
Lateran  Council  Innocent  III.  gave  the 
second  place  among  the  sees  of  Christen- 
dom to  the  Greek  Patriarchate,  and  this 
privilege  was  renewed  in  the  Second 
Council  of  Lyons  and  in  the  Council  of 
Florence.  (See  Le  Quien,  "Oriens 
Christianus ; "  Hefele,  "  Concil."  vol.  ii., 
and  for  the  present  state  of  things  an 
article  on  the  Greek  Church  by  Professor 
Lamy  in  the  "  Dublin  Review  "  for  July 
1880.  See  also  Cardinal  Hergenrother's 
"  Photius.") 

COXrSTZTITTZOXSrAXi  cz.z:rg7. 
This  was  the  name  given  to  that  portion 
of  the  French  clergy  which  gave  in  its 
adhesion  to  the  '*  civil  constitution  "  pro- 
vided for  them  by  a  law  of  the  National 
Assembly  passed  in  August  1790,  and 
took  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  it  in  the 
manner  prescribed  in  the  law  itself. 

The  committee  which  drew  up  this 
notable   scheme  were   not   atheists,   nor 
deists,  nor  Protestants;  they  were' what 
would   be  called    now    bad,   or  liberal, 
Catholics.     They  aimed    at  introducing 
what  they  considered  principles  of  liberty 
into  the  religious  life  of  the  nation,  by 
releasing  the  bishops  from  their  obedience 
I  to  the  Pope,  and  the  inferior  clergy  from 
I  their  dependence   on   the   bishops.     Yet 
they   did  not  desire,   like    the    English 
!  reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  abso- 
lutely to  reject  the  Pope  and  break  off 
communion   with   him.      For  the    19th 


222   CONSTITUTIONAL  CLERGY 

article  of  the  Civil  Constitution,  after 
forbidding  a  newlj-elected  bishop  to 
obtain  any  confirmation  from  Rome,  pro- 
ceeds : — "  But  he  shall  write  to  him  [the 
Pope],  as  to  the  chief  of  the  imiversal 
Chwch,  in  testimony  of  unity  of  faith  and 
of  the  communion  which  he  is  bound  to 
maintain  with  him."  Some  priests,  steeped 
in  Gallican  opinions,  such  as  the  Abbd 
Expilly  and  Dom  Gerle,  and  Janseuist 
advocates,  like  Chasset  and  Martineau, 
were  members  of  the  committee,  and  bore 
an  active  part  in  framing  the  new  law, 
while  all  the  time  professing  great  rever- 
ence for  the  Catholic  Church,  and  a  de- 
termination not  to  sever  France  from  her 
communion. 

The  French  clergy,  to  relieve  the 
distress  of  the  nation,  had  voluntarily 
renounced  their  tithes ;  of  their  landed 
property  they  bad,  on  the  motion  of  the 
notorious  Bishop  of  Autun,^  been  stripped 
by  a  decree  of  the  National  Assembly. 
The  Assembly  recognised  the  obligation 
under  which  it  lay,  having  expropriated 
the  landed  property  of  the  clergy,  to  sup- 
port them  by  a  competent  annual  sub- 
vention from  the  public  revenue.  Had 
the  bishops  and  the  Holy  See  been  allowed 
to  frame  the  new  arrangements  which 
the  change  in  the  mode  of  supporting  the 
clergy  rendered  necessary,  it  is  probable 
that  no  serious  difficulty  would  have 
arisen.  But  the  Gallican  party  thought 
they  saw  then*  opportunity  of  erecting  a 
church  almost  entirely  national  and  self- 
governed  ;  they  seized  it  eagerly,  and  the 
result  of  their  action  was  a  terrible  increase 
in  the  distractions  of  France,  and  a  potent 
stimulus  to  the  horrors  and  abominations 
of  the  Revolution. 

The  new  constitution  suppressed 
many  of  the  French  dioceses  (which  at 
that  time  were  about  130  in  number),  and 
pretended  to  assign  the  boundaries  of 
others,  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authority.  It  decreed  that 
the  bishops  should  be  elected  by  local 
conventions  of  the  clergy,  and  confirmed 
by  the  metropolitans,  without  having 
recourse  to  the  Holy  See  for  canonical 
institution.  It  prescribed  a  number  of 
minute  regulations  for  the  internal  govern- 
ment of  the  French  church,  of  which  it 
is  enough  to  say  that,  whether  good  or 
bad  in  themselves,  they  were  such  as  no 
secular  authority  had  any  right  to  impose 
without  the  consent  of  the  ecclesiastical 
authority.  Moreover,  all  beneficed  and 
employed  clergy,  whether  bishops,  priesta, 
1  Talleyrand. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  CLERGY 

or  others,  were  required  to  take  an  oath  to 
maintain  "the  constitution  decreed,"  on 
pain  of  deprivation  ipso  facto  if  the  oath 
were  refused. 

The  Pope  (Pius  VI.),  on  learning  the 
nature  of  the  law  that  was  passing  through 
the  Assembly,  Avrote  to  Louis  XVL,  and 
to  the  archbishops  of  Bordeaux  and 
Vienne,  urging  the  inevitable  fall  into 
schism  which  must  be  the  result  of  such 
legislation.  Thirty  bishops,  who  had  seats 
in  the  National  Assembly,  signed  a  paper 
called  "  Exposition  of  Principles  on  the 
Civil  Constitution  of  the  Clergy,"  which 
was  drawn  up  in  a  sense  antagonistic  to 
the  constitution  by  M.  de  Boisgelin.  arch- 
bishop of  Aix.  Nearly  all  the  French 
bishops,  and  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne, 
adhered  to  this  Exposition,  and  the  great 
majority  of  the  inferior  clergy  followed 
their  example.  This  fidelity  "is  in  re- 
markable contrast  with  the  conduct  of  the 
English  bishops  under  Henry  VIII.,  and 
with  that  of  the  majority  of  the  beneficed 
clergy  at  the  accession  of  Elizabeth. 

The  constitution  was  finally  decreed 
on  August  24,  1790,  and  the  penod  termi- 
nating on  January  4,  1791,  was  named  as 
that  within  which  the  oath  must  be  taken. 
The  day  came,  and  all  the  ecclesiastics  in 
the  Assembl}'-,  whether  bishops  or  priests, 
refused  the  oath,  and  lost  their  seats  in 
consequence.  In  the  provinces  also  the 
oath  was  very  generally  refused ;  the  only 
archbishop  who  took  it  was  Lom^nio  de 
Brienne,  archbishop  of  Toulouse,  whose 
weakness  was  imitated  by  three  bishops, 
those  of  Autun,  Orleans,  and  Vi^^ers. 
One  hundred  and  twenty-seven  prelates 
remained  firm  and  refused  the  oath. 
Among  the  inferior  clergy  a  similar  con- 
stancy was  manifested  ;  still' the  influence 
of  the  Government,  of  a  lay  society  much 
infected  by  unbelief,  and  oi  the  old  Galli- 
can prejudices,  was  strong  enough  to 
induce  a  large  number  of  priests  to  take 
the  oath.  These  were  the  "  jurants,"  the 
"  pretres  asserment^s,"  or  "  constitu- 
tionnels ;  "  while  the  other  side  were  called 
"  dissidents,"  "  pretres  non  a.s8enneut(5s," 
&c.  Between  the  two  parties  a  violent 
conflict  arose.' 

'  Carlyle  describes  with  evident  satisfaction 
the  blows  and  insults  which  the  "dissi:leut" 
priests  had  to  endure  at  the  hands  of  revolu- 
tinnarj  citoyetmes  in  Paris.  He  sums  up  the 
quarrel  as  uinouutinj^  to  this  :  that  one  ijarty 
held. that  a  bishop,  "his  creed  and  formularies 
being  left  quite  as  they  were,  can  swear  fidelity 
to  King,  Law,  and  Nation  ; "  the  other,  that 
"  he  cannot,  but  that  he  must  become  an  ac- 
cursed thing."    The  extreme  uufaimesa  of  thii 


CONSTITUTIONAL  CLERGY 

The  Pope  acted  witli  great  vigour ;  in 
briefs  dated  in  March  and  April,  1791, 
and  addressed  to  the  clergy  and  people  of 
France,  he  discussed  the  terms  of  the 
constitution,  showed  how  repugnant  they 
were  to  the  just  freedom  of  the  Church, 
and  how  inconsistent  with  the  rights 
of  that  divine  institution  which  Jesus 
Christ  established  upon  earth,  and  laid 
under  the  ban  of  religion  both  those 
among  the  actual  clergy  who  had  taken 
the  oath,  and  those  who  in  order  to 
obtain  clerical  emolument  and  position, 
might  in  future  take  it.  He  also  degraded 
Lom^nie  de  Brienne  from  the  cardinalate, 
as  one  who  had  soiled  the  Roman  purple 
by  swearing  in  a  sense  contrary  to  those 
sacred  and  venerable  oaths  by  which  he 
was  before  bound. 

Nevertheless,  the  schism  continued  to 
extend  itself  in  France;  new  pretended 
bishops  were  consecrated  by  Talleyrand 
and  his  accomplices,  according  to  the 
forms  prescribed  by  the  civil  constitution, 
and  the  Government  soon  lent  its  weight 
to  the  persecution  which  the  revolutionary 
sect  had  commenced  against  the  faithful 
priests.  The  Legislative  Assembly  decreed 
(Nov.  1791)  that  priests  refusing  the  oath 
should  be  reputed  under  suspicion  of  revolt 
against  the  law  and  disaffection  to  their 
country  ;  that  they  should  be  deprived  of 
all  salary,  and  imprisoned  in  such  places 
as  the  departmental  administrations  might 
appoint.  Further  decrees  in  the  course  of 
the  following  summer  condemned  all  eccle- 
siastics "  non-asserment6s  "  to  banishment. 
More  than  fifty  thousand  of  the  clergy 
came  under  this  proscription ;  they  left  or 
prepared  to  leave  the  country  in  great 
numlDers.  The  hatred  and  fear  of  the  revo- 
lutionists were  aroused,  and  a  massacre 
of  the  priests  began  simultaneously  in 
many  parts  of  France. 

The  schism  took  the  downward  course 
usual  with  such  movements ;  before  long 
several  of  the  constitutional  bishops  and 
priests  married ;  those  of  them  who  had 
seats  in  the  Convention  nearly  all  voted  for 
the  liing's  execution ;  and  in  November 
1793  the  Bishop  of  Paris  (Gobet)  and  his 
grand  vicars  publicly  abjured  Christianity 
in  the  hall  of  the  Convention.^    Yet  these 

way  of  putting  the  matter  is  apparent  even 
from  the  short  sketch  of  the  facts  that  we 
have  given.  (French  Revolution,  vol.  ii.  book 
iv.  1,  S.) 

^  "  Le  citoyen  Gobet  alia  done,  accompagn^ 
de  ses  grands  vicaires,  abjurer  au  sein  de  la 
Convention  toutes  les  heresies  que  les  pretres 
avoient  prechees  depuis  dix-huit  cents  ans  centre 
La  loi  et  eontre  la  religion  naturelle.     Son  dis- 


CONSUBSTANTIAX 


223 


unhappy  men  did  not  save  their  lives  by 
their  apostacy;  the  greater  number  of 
them  fell  victims  either  to  private  ven- 
geance or  to  the  sanguinary  patriotism  of 
the  Jacobin  Government.  Merged  in  the 
more  horrible  revolt  against  all  law  and 
"  aU  that  is  called  God,"'  into  wbich  the 
Satanic  energy  and  determination  of  the 
Jacobins  plunged  the  whole  French  nation, 
the  less  criminal  schism  of  the  consti- 
tutionals almost  disappears  from  sight. 
The  worship  of  Reason  and  Nature  was 
solemnly  inaugurated  in  the  church  of 
Notre  Dame;  wherever  the  Convention 
had  power  the  voice  of  religion  was 
silenced,  and  the  churches  closed.  When 
in  1801  the  First  Consul  concluded  a  con- 
cordat with  the  Holy  See  for  the  resto- 
ration of  Christian  worship,  twelve  con- 
stitutional bishops  were  allowed  to  have 
sees,  but  only  upon  making  the  following 
declaration :  "  I  declare  before  God  that 
I  profess  adhesion  and  submission  to  the 
judgments  of  the  Holy  See  on  the  ecclesi- 
astical affairs  of  France."  (Wetzer  and 
Welte,  article  Constitution  Civile  du 
Clerge.) 

COirSUBSTAirTIA^  (J>iioo{icnos). 
The  word  used  by  the  Fathers  of  Nicsea, 
to  establish  the  true  Godhead  of  the  Son, 
inserted  by  them  in  their  creed,  and  ever 
since  the  watchword  of  those  who  have 
true  faith  in  the  divinity  of  Christ.  A 
man  may  be  said  to  be  of  one  substance 
with  another  because  he  has  the  same 
specific  nature ;  but  the  Son  is  consub- 
stantial  with  the  Father  in  another  sense, 
for  his  nature  is  numerically  one  with 
that  of  the  Father ;  else,  there  would  be 
two  Gods.  Hence,  when  we  say  that  the 
Son  is  consubstantial  with  the  Father,  we 
confess  His  perfect  equality  and  co-eter- 
nity with  the  first  Person  of  the  Trinity 
and  at  the  same  time  exclude  all  imper- 
fection from  his  eternal  generation.  A 
human  son  receives  an  individual  nature 
and  is  separate  from  his  father ;  but  God 
the  Son  is  ever  in  the  Father  and  the 
Father  in  Him. 

The  word  had  long  been  used  in  the 
Church.  TertuUian  (Adv.  Prax.  13  and 
4)  says  the  Son  is  "  of  one  substance  "  and 
"  from  the  substance  of  the  Father,"  and 
closely  similar  phrases  occur  in  Clement 
of  Alexandria  and  Novatian.*     At   the 

cours  ^ectrisa  toutes  les  ames Tous  lea 

pretres  de  la  Convention  (et  il  y  en  avoit  beau- 
coup)  abjurfei-entleurs  erreurs,  eurent  I'lionneur, 
quoique  tardif,  de  se  depretriser,  de  se  ddpisco- 
piser." — Prudhomme,     Revolutions    de    Paris, 

vol.  XV. 

'  See  Cardinal  Newman's  note  on  Athanaa. 


224      OONSUBSTANTIATION 


CONTENT 


Mine  time  Paul  of  Samosata  had  used  tlie 
word  in  an  heretical  sense,  and,  so  under- 
stood, it  had  been  condemned  by  an  ortho- 
dox council  at  Antioch.  Probably,  as 
Hefele,  following  St.  Epiphanius,  thinks, 
Paul  made  the  Son  (apart  from  his 
humanity)  a  mere  attribute  of  God,  not  a 
distinct  Person  from  the  Father,  and 
expressed  his  view  by  the  word  consub- 
etantial.^ 

At  Nicaea,  the  word  was  chosen 
because  it  did,  which  other  and  Biblical 
terms  did  not,  exclude  the  Arian  error, 
beyond  possibility  of  evasion.  The  Arians 
■were  willing  to  allow  that  the  Son  was 
from  God,  his  power,  his  image,  even 
that  He  was  eternal,  because  their  so- 
phistical skill  enabled  them  to  rob  these 
words  of  their  natural  meaning,  and  to 
show  that  they  might  in  a  certain  sense 
be  applied  to  creatures.  Accordingly,  to 
put  their  meaning  and  faith  beyond  all 
doubt,  the  Fathers  of  Nicsea  chose  the 
word  consubstantial.^ 

cosrsirBSTiLiirTZATZOiir.  [See 
EucnAETST.] 

CONTEIWPI.ATIOIIB'.  A  word  used 
to  describe  the  life  of  those  (religious  and 
others)  who  devote  themselves  to  prayer 
and  Aieditation,  rather  than  to  active 
works  of  charity.  No  doubt  such  a  life,  in 
order  to  be  real,  implies  a  vocation  of  no  or- 
dinary kind.  But  when  Protestants  or  ill- 
instructed  Catholics  condemn  such  a  life 
as  useless,  &c.,  they  oppose  themselves  to 
the  tradition  of  the  Church,  since  the  earli- 
est religious — the  Fathers  of  the  desert, 
&c. — devoted  themselves  to  the  contempla- 
tive life  and  were  venerated  throughout 
the  Christian  world  for  doing  so.  More- 
over, reason  itself  may  teach  us  that  a 
contemplative  is  not  a  useless  life.  Man's 
merit  consists  in  loving  God  and  man  for 
God's  sake.  And  in  itself  the  life  which 
is  occupied  directly  in  the  love  of  God  is 
more  meritorious  than  that  which  is  occu- 
pied chiefly  in  the  love  of  our  neighbour 
for  God  s  sake.  Protestants  who  accuse 
contemplative  orders  of  idleness  really 
take  for  granted  that  the  love  of  God  is 
no  part  of  man's  duty,  whereas  it  is  the 
noblest  occupation  in  which  he  can  pos- 
sibly engage.  And  whereas  the  ministries 
of  the  active  life  cease  after  death,  the 
contemplative  life  is  perfected  and  con- 
tinued in  heaven.  It  is  that  "  best  part " 
which  Mary  chose  and  which  will  never  be 

in  defence  of  the  I^icene  Definition,  cap.  v. 
§64. 

1  Hefele,  Concil.  i.  p.  140. 

2  Ibid.  p.  806. 


taken  away.  It  may  of  course  happen 
that  a  person  merits  more  by  resigning 
the  sweetness  of  contemplation  for  a  time 
in  order  to  obey  the  call  of  God  to  the 
active  life.     (St.  Thom.  2,  2,  181,  2.) 

COSTTRXTZOXr,  in  its  widest  sense, 
is  defined  by  the  Council  of  Trent  as 
"grief  of  mind  and  detestation  of  sin 
committed,  with  a  purpose  of  sinning  no 
more."  Thus  understood,  it  includes  at- 
trition [see  the  article] ;  bur  in  its  nar- 
rower sense  contrition  is  used  for  that 
sorrow  for  sin  which  arises  from  consi- 
deration of  God's  goodness  ^  which  sin 
has  outraged,  and  which  includes  a  resolu- 
tion never  to  offend  God  (at  least  mortally) 
because  God  so  deserves  our  love.  The 
Council  of  Trent  declares  that  "  contrition 
perfected  by  charity,"  and  accompanied  by 
a  desire  to  confess  and  be  absolved,  may 
reconcile  the  sinner  with  God  even  before 
he  receives  the  sacrament  of  penance. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  the  grief  for  sin 
arising  from  the  love  of  God  should  be 
more  intense  ^  than  other  and  natural 
sorrow ;  it  is  enough  for  reconciliation 
with  God,  apart  from  the  sacrament  of 
penance,  if  the  sinner  would  rather  en- 
dure any  evil  or  sacrifice  any  good 
than  oflend  so  good  a  God.  Thus,  for 
example,  a  man  may  feel  more  intense 
sorrow  for  his  wife's  death  than  for  all 
his  mortal  sins,  but  this  is  not  inconsistent 
with  perfect  contrition,  unless  it  implies 
that  he  would  sin  mortally  against  an  all- 
holy  God  if  by  this  course  he  could  undo 
the  calamity  which  has  fallen  upon  him. 
(From  St.  'Liguori,  "  Theol.  Moral."  vi. 
tract.  4,  cap.  1.) 

C0irVERSZ02J  OF  N'ATXOia'S. 
[See  Missions.] 

COXrvzixrT.  The  hermitages  and 
"lauras"  [Latjra]  of  the  first  ages  gra- 
dually gave  place  to  the  coenobite  mode  of 
life ;  only  in  the  orders  of  Chartreuse  and 
Camaldoli  has  the  solitary  life  been 
partially  retained  to  this  day.  Monachism 
was  firmly  planted  in  Western  pAirope 
by  St.  Benedict,  in  the  ninth  century,  and 
from  that  time  the  name  ^*  conventus  " — 
applied  alike  to  communities  of  men  and 
women  living  under  a  rule  and  practising 
the  evangelical  counsels — came  into  com- 
mon use. 

Different  orders  preferred  different 
sites  for  their  convents.    The  Culdees  of 

_  ^  So  the  majority  of  theologians ;  but  others 
think  the  consideration  of  any  divine  attribute 
may  supply  a  sufficient  motive  for  contrition. 

'^  This  may  now  be  considered  an  admitted 
point,  though  it  was  once  keenly  debated. 


CONVOCATION 

lona  chose  islands  or  lonely  spots,  re- 
moved Irom  the  beaten  tracks  of  trade 
and  travel ;  this  pious  instinct  is  attested 
by  the  position  of  lona,  Lindisfarne, 
and  Old  Melrose.  The  Benedictines 
were  said  to  prefer  hillsides ;  the  Cister- 
cians chose  quiet  valleys ;  the  mendicant 
orders,  who  depended  on  alms,  and  made 
preaching  one  of  the  great  alms  of  their 
institution,  repaired  to  the  cities  and 
towns.  The  Society  of  Jesus,  as  a  rule, 
is  found  in  cities  : 

Beraardus  valles,  monies  Benedictus  amabat, 
Oppida  Franciscus,  magnas  Ignatius  urbes. 

In  illustration  of  these  •  preferences, 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  lists  of  old 
English  monasteries  which  he  will  find 
under  Cisterciajns,  Franciscans,  Domi- 
nicans. 

The  parts  of  a  convent  are:  1.  the 
church:  2.  the  choir,  viz.  that  portion 
of  the  church  in  which  the  members  say 
the  daily  office ;  3.  the  chapter  house,  a 
place  of  meeting  in  which  the  rule  is 
read,  elections  made,  and  community  busi- 
ness discussed  ;  4.  the  cells ;  6.  the  re- 
fectory (in  old  English,//-ai^oMr,  or frater)\ 
6.  the  dormitory  ;  7.  the  infirmary ;  8.  the 
parlour,  for  the  reception  of  visitors ;  9. 
the  library  ;  10.  the  treasury ;  11.  the 
cloister;  12.  the  crypt. 

The  legislation  on  convents  forms  a 
large  and  important  section  of  cancn  law. 
Among  the  chief  regulations  is  the  law 
of  enclosure,  which  "  separates  the  con- 
vent from  the  world  by  the  prohibition  or 
restriction  of  intercourse  from  without." 
(Wetzer  and  Welte,  art.  Couvent.) 

COHrvoCATZOIii'.  The  assembly  of 
the  clergy,  in  the  provinces  of  Canter- 
bury and  York,  chiefly  for  purposes  of 
taxation.  Blackstone  says  ^ :  —  "  The 
convocation,  or  ecclesiastical  synod, 
in  England,  differs  considerably  in  its 
constitution  from  the  synods  of  other 
Christian  kingdoms :  those  consisting 
wholly  of  bishops ;  whereas  with  us  the 
convocation  in  each  province  is  the  min- 
iature of  a  parliament,  wherein  the  arch- 
bishop presides  with  regal  state  :  the 
upper  house  of  bishops  represents  the 
house  of  lords  ;  and  the  lower  house, 
composed  of  representatives  of  the  several 
dioceses  at  large,  and  of  each  particular 
chapter  therein,  resembles  the  house  of 
commons  with  its  knights  of  the  shire  and 
burgesses.  This  constitution  is  said  to  be 
owing  to  the  policy  of  Edward  I,"  The 
origin  of  Convocation  is  treated  of  in 
»  Cmmentariet,  i.  7. 


OOPE 


226 


Burn's  ^Ecclesiastical  Justice"  and  Hody's 
"History  of  Convocation."  It  seems  to  have 
assumed  its  peculiar  form  owing  to  the 
endeavour  of  Edward  I.  to  organise  the 
clergy  as  a  third  estate  of  the  realm, 
which  should  meet,  deliberate,  and  grant 
the  king  taxes,  concurrently  with  the  two 
other  estates,  the  lords  and  the  commons. 
The  writ  of  summons  which  he  addressed 
to  the  archbishops  and  bishops,  requiring 
them  to  call  together  the  clergy  of  their 
respective  dioceses,  received,  from  the  first 
word  of  it,  the  name  of  the  jyTcemum- 
entes  writ.  He  experienced  great  resis- 
tance from  the  clergy,  who  were  indis- 
posed to  admit  any  right  in  the  civil 
power  to  summon  them  together ;  and  at 
last  it  was  settled  that  while  the  king 
issued  his  v/rit  of  summons  to  the  arch- 
bishops, they  should  issue  their  writs,  as 
of  their  own  authority,  to  the  bishops, 
deans,  archdeacons,  colleges,  and  diocesan 
clergy  of  the  province,  calling  them  to- 
gether in  Convocation.  The  mode  of 
obeying  this  summons  was  ultimately 
arranged  thus:  the  bishops,  deans,  and 
archdeacons  were  to  attend  in  person,  the 
chapters  and  colleges  to  be  represented 
by  one  proctor  each,  and  the  clergy  of 
each  diocese  to  be  represented  by  two 
proctors.  The  archbishops  and  bishops 
sat  separately  in  an  upper  house,  corre- 
sponding to  the  House  of  Lords.  The 
English  clergy  were  in  those  days  so  careful 
to  guard  the  rights  and  freedom  of  the 
Church  that  they  frequently,  without 
waiting  for  the  king's  writ,  met  in  Con- 
vocation under  the  archbishop's  writ 
alone,  and  transacted  business.  For  the 
national  Church  created  at  the  Reforma- 
tion this  was  rendered  impossible  by  the 
Act  of  Submission  (25  Hen.  VIII.  c.  19.), 
which,  starting  with  the  false  assertion 
that  Convocation  had  always  been  assem- 
bled only  by  the  king's  wiit,  purports  that 
the  clergy  will  never  presume  thereafter 
to  meet  in  Convocation  except  by  royal 
authority,  nor  ever  attempt  to  pass  any 
canons  or  ordinances  there  unless  with  the 
sovereign's  assent.  For  the  later  history 
of  Convocation,  in  Anglican  times,  see 
Hody. 

COPE  {cappUj  pluviale).  A  wide 
vestment,  of  silk,  &c.,  reaching  nearly  to 
the  feet,  open  in  front  and  fastened  by  a 
clasp,  and  with  a  hood  at  the  back.  It 
is  used  by  the  celebrant  in  processions, 
benedictions,  &c.,  but  never  in  the  cele- 
bration of  Mass,  for  the  Church  reserves 
the  chasuble  for  the  priest  actually  en- 
gaged in  ofiering  sacrifice,  and  thus  care- 


226  COPTS 

fully  distinguishes  between  Mass  and  all 
other  functions.  The  cope  is  used  in 
processions  by  those  who  assist  the  cele- 
brant, by  cantors  at  vespers,  &c.,  so  that 
it  is  by  no  means  a  distinctively  sacerdotal 
vestment.  Mention  is  made  of  the  cope 
in  the  ancient  Ordo  Romanus  for  the 
consecration  of  bishops.  No  special 
blessing  is  provided  for  the  cope.  (From 
Gavantus  and  Meratus.) 

COPTS.  The  Monophysite  Christians 
in  Egypt.  Dioscorus,  the  Patriarch  of 
Alexandria,  was  deposed  by  the  council 
of  Chalcedon  in  451,  because  he  main- 
tained that  there  was  only  one  nature  in 
Christ.  Orthodox  Patriarchs  and  other 
officials,  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  were  sent 
from  Constantinople  to  Egypt,  but  the 
mass  of  people  wei-e  fanatically  attached 
to  Monophysite  error.  Many  fled  to 
Upper  Egypt  or  took  refuge  among  the 
Arabs,  and  at  last,  when  the  occasion 
came,  the  Copts  betrayed  Egypt  to  the 
Saracens,  who  drpve  Greeks  and  Romans 
out  of  the  land  and  for  a  time  treated 
the  Copts  well.  But  it  was  only  for  a 
time,  and  under  successive  Mohammedan 
dynasties,  the  Copts  were  subjected  to 
cruel  oppression,  and  had  to  pay  an  ex- 
tortionate price  for  leave  to  practise  their 
religion. 

At  present  they  form  about  a  tenth  of 
the  population  in  the  country.  They 
represent  the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
Egypt,  and  celebrate  Mass  in  the  old 
Coptic  language.  In  doctrine  they  agree 
on  the  whole  with  Catholics,  except  on 
the  single  point  which  led  to  their  separ- 
ation from  the  Church,  viz.  the  two 
natures  of  Christ.  Their  supreme  head  is 
the  Monophysite  Patriarch  of  Alexandria, 
who  has  great  authority  and  who  is 
chosen  from  the  monks.  Then  come  the 
bishops,  priests,  deacons,  inferior  clergy, 
and  monks.  The  priests  are  allowed  to 
live  with  their  wives,  and,  as  they 
receive  scarcely  any  support  from  the 
church,  generally  pursue  an  ordinary 
trade.  They  are  obliged  to  acquire 
some  acquaintance  with  Coptic,  for  this, 
the  language  of  the  liturgy,  is  a  dead 
language,  Arabic  being  the  vulgar 
tongue.  They  have  four  fasting-seasons 
which  they  observe  with  remarkable  strict- 
ness. Their  Lent  begins  nine  days  earlier 
than  ours,  and  during  it  they  abstain  from 
eating,  drinking,  and  smoking,  till  the  ser- 
vice in  the  Church  is  over,  i.e.  till  about 
one  o'clock.  The  principal  peculiarity  in 
their  ritual  is  in  the  administration  of  the 
sacrament  of  extreme  unction,  which  they 


CORPORAL 

give  along  with  the  sacrament  of  penance, 
to  heal  the  diseases  of  the  soul  even  when 
there  is  no  bodily  illness.  They  have  also 
a  custom  of  blessing  large  tanks  of  water 
in  which  the  people  bathe.  They  have 
adopted  circumcision,  probably  to  satisfy 
Mohammedan  prejudice. 

The  Egyptian  Abbot  Andrew  went  to 
the  Council  of  Florence  to  seek  reunion 
for  the  Monophysites  with  the  Roman 
Church.  But  most  of  the  Copts  adhere 
to  their  heresy.  There  is,  however,  a 
Catholic  Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  Coptic  rite 
for  the  Copts  of  Egypt. 

CORDBZiZEIiS.  [SeeFEAJTCISCANS.] 

COKOM-ATIOBT.  The  Jewish  kings 
were  anointed  for  their  office,  and  the 
Church  has  instituted  the  same  ceremony 
for  Christian  sovereigns.  The  ceremony, 
as  given  in  the  Pontifical,  chiefly  consists 
(1)  in  the  admonition  which  the  bishop 
(usually  a  metropolitan)  gives  on  the  duties 
of  the  royal  dignity,  and  the  promise  on 
the  part  of  the  sovereign  elect  to  fulfil 
them  ;  (2)  the  Litany  of  the  Saints  is 
sung  while  the  sovereign  elect  lies  pro- 
strate before  the  altai';  (3)  the  bishop 
anoints  the  king  with  oil  of  catechumens 
on  the  right  arm  and  between  the 
shoulders  ;  (4)  the  bishop,  after  Mass 
has  begun,  presents  him  with  the  sword, 
places  the  crown  on  his  head  and  the 
sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  enthrones  him. 
Finally,  the  new  king  makes  the  bishop  an 
offering  of  gold  at  the  ofiertory,  and  after- 
wards receives  Communion,  the  bishop 
also  giving  him  wine  (not  the  precious 
blood)  from  the  chalice. 

Theodosius  was  the  first  Christian 
emperor  to  receive  the  blessing  of  the 
Church.  The  Gothic  Wamba  was 
anointed  with  the  holy  oil  at  Toledo  in 
672,  and  "this,"  says  Fleury,^  "is the  first 
example  that  I  find  of  the  unction  of 
kings." 

coaoiffiiTioiir  of  pops.  [See 
Pope.] 

CORPORAIi.  The  linen  cloth  on 
which  the  body  of  Christ  is  consecrated. 
It  used  to  cover  the  whole  surface  of  the 
altar,  as  may  be  gathered  from  an  Ordo 
Romanus  where  the  corporal  is  said  to  be 
spread  on  the  flltar  by  two  deacons.  The 
chalice  also  was  covered  by  the  corporal, 
a  custom  still  maintained  by  the  Carthu- 
sians. The  corporal  is  and  must  be  blessed 
by  the  bishop  or  by  a  priest  with  special 
faculties.  It  represents  the  winding- 
sheet  in  which  Christ's  body  was  wrapped 
by  Joseph  of  Arimathea. 
1  xxxix.  61. 


COEPUS  OHRISTI 

CORPUS  CKRZSTZ.  From  Apo- 
stolic times  the  Church  has  celebrated  the 
institution  of  the  Eucharist  on  Thursday 
in  Holy  Week.  But,  since  the  Church  at 
that  season  is  occupied  with  the  consi- 
deration of  Christ's  Passion,  it  was  de- 
sirable that  another  day  should  be  set 
apart  as  the  feast  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment. The  B,  Juliana,  a  holy  religious  of 
Liege,  believed  that  she  had  seen  a  vision 
encouraging  her  to  use  her  influence  with 
the  ecclesiastical  authorities  for  the  in- 
troduction of  this  feast.  In  1230,  when 
she  became  prioress  of  her  order,  she 
consulted  several  theologians  and  Church 
dignitaries  on  the  matter,  among  others 
the  Archdeacon  of  Liege,  who  afterwards 
became  Pope  with  the  title  of  Urban  IV. 
An  office  was  composed,  and  in  1246 
"Robert,  Bishop  of  Liege,  ordered  the  day 
to  be  kept  throughout  his  diocese. 

After  Juliana's  death,  Eve,  a  holy 
woman  who  had  been  in  her  confidence, 
induced  Henry,  the  next  bishop  of  Liege, 
to  petition  Urban  IV.  for  the  celebration 
of  the  feast  throughout  the  Church. 
Urban  IV.  assented,  moved  in  part  by  the 
miracle  of  Bolsena  [see  the  article],  partly 
by  his  former  knowledge  of  Juliana, 
partly  by  his  desire  to  stem  the  heresy  of 
Berengarius,  which  consisted  in  the 
denial  of  transubstantiation  ;  and  in  1264 
he  published  a  bull  commanding  the  cele- 
bration of  the  feast  on  the  Thursday  fol- 
lowing the  first  Sunday  after  Pentecost 
throughout  the  Church.  However,  Ur- 
ban IV.  died  shortly  afterwards,  and,  as 
Durandus  (who  lived  twenty-two  years 
after  Urban)  is  silent  on  the  feast  of  Corpus 
Christi,  probably  the  bull  was  never  exe- 
cuted, although  undoubtedly  Urban  him- 
self and  the  Roman  Court  celebrated  the 
feast.  Clement  V.  in  the  Council  of 
Vienne  confirmed  Urban's  Constitution. 
John  XXII.,  who  succeeded  Clement  in 
1316,  took  great  pains  to  secure  the  cele- 
bration of  the  feast ;  while  Martin  V.  and 
Eugenius  IV.  promoted  the  devotion  to 
Corpus  Christi  by  grants  of  indulgences. 
The' Council  of  Trent  speaks  of  Corpus 
Christi  as  a  triumph  over  heresy,  and  in 
Sess.  xiii.  can.  G,  anathematises  those  who 
censure  the  feast  or  procession  of  the 
Blessed  Sacrament.  This  custom  of  carry- 
ing the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  procession  on 
Corpus  Christi  has  been  almost  from  the  first 
a  recognised  part  of  the  ceremonial,  if  it 
was  not,  as, many  authors  think,  actually 
instituted  by  Urban  IV.  The  office  which 
is  still  used  was  composed  by  St.  Thomas 
of  Aquin  at  the  bidding  of  Urban  IV. 

Q 


COUNCIL 


227 


CORPUS    JURIS    CZVZX.ZS.     The 

body  of  the  Roman  law,  as  it  was  codified 
and  reduced  to  order  by  Justinian,  in  the 
sixth  century  after  Christ.  It  consists  of 
(1)  the  Digest,  a  classified  compilation  of 
the  decisions  of  the  best  Roman  juriscon- 
sults on  all  points  of  disputed  law :  this 
when  translated  into  Greek,  was  called 
"  Pandectse  ; "  (2)  the  Code,  a  general  col- 
lection of  the  laws  then  in  force  in  the 
empire ;  (3)  the  Institutes,  a  treatise, 
founded  on  the  Digest,  on  the  first  prin- 
ciples and  elements  of  law ;  (4)  the  Novels, 
a  collection  of  the  constitutions  and  edicts 
published  by  Justinian  himself,  whereby 
great  innovations  and  alterations  were 
made  in  the  ancient  law.  In  imitation  of 
the  Roman  lawyers,  the  canonists  have 
digested  the  great  body  of  decisions  and 
decrees  constituting  the  canon  law  [see 
that  article]  into  a  Coiyus  juris  canontci, 

COTTA.  Cotce  (the  form  Coti  is 
also  found)  are  mentioned,  as  an  ordinary 
garment  worn  by  laymen,  in  the  synod  of 
Metz,  anno  888.  But  in  the  thirteenth 
century  cotes  were  regarded  as  identical 
with  surplices,  and  the  14th  Roman  Ordo 
says  the  Pope's  chaplain  must  wear  a  cotta 
or  surplice  ("cottam  seusuperpelliceum  "). 
The  word  Cotta  is  commonly  used  now  in 
Italy  for  surplice,  and  the  former  name  is 
also  employed  by  some  English  Catholics. 
(Hefele,  "  Beitrage,"  vol.  ii.  p.  178.  See 
under  Surplice.) 

COUMTCXIL.  Concilium  and  a-vvoBos 
are  synonymous,  and  denote,  first,  meetings 
of  any  kind,  and  next,  in  a  more  restricted 
sense,  assemblies  of  the  rulers  of  the 
Church  legally  convoked,  for  the  discus- 
sion and  decision  of  ecclesiastical  aflairs. 
We  find  concilium  employed  in  this 
technical  sense  by  TertuUian  about  200 
after  Christ,  and  crvuodos  perhaps  a  cen- 
tury later  in  the  Apostolic  Canons.  Acts 
XV.  furnishes  the  first  example  of  such 
a  council,  and  we  may  conclude  that  the 
Apostles  held  it  in  consequence  of  a 
divine  commission ;  otherwise  they  would 
not  have  dared  to  say  "  It  hath  seemed 
good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us." 
Language  of  the  same  kind  is  frequently 
used  by  or  applied  to  later  councils.  Thus 
Constantino  professed  to  revere  the  de- 
cision of  the  Nicene  Fathers  as  "the 
sentence  of  the  Son  of  God."  Athanasius 
and  Augustine  express  themselves  in  the 
same  way,  while  Gregory  the  Great  com- 
pares the  authority  of  the  first  four  co  m- 
cils  with  that  of  the  four  Gospels.  After 
the  Apostolic  Council,  held  according  to 
the  most  probable  chronology  in  a.d.  SI, 


228 


COUNCIL 


COUNCIL 


we  next  hear  of  councils  which  met  in 
Asia  about  150  and  were  occasioned  by 
the  -Montanist  controversy. 

I.  Clftssificat.ion  of  Councils. 

(a)  (lu'untenical  councils  are  those  to 
which  the  bishops  and  others  entitled  to 
vote  [see  below]  are  convoked  from  the 
whole  world  {oiKovfxevq)  under  the  pre- 
sidency of  the  Pope  or  his  legates,  and 
the  decrees  of  which,  liaving  received 
Papal  confirmation,  bind  all  Christians. 
The  definition  assumes  the  possibility  that 
a  council  oecumenical  in  its  convocation 
may  not  succeed  in  getting  it?  decrees  ac- 
knowledged as  of  cecumenical  authority. 
Such  was  the  case  with  the  Robber-synod 
of  449,  and,  in  part,  with  the  councils  of 
Constance  and  Basle. 

(3)  Synods  of  the  East  or  of  the 
West.  The  first  Council  of  Constantin- 
ople was  originally  a  mere  Council  of 
the  East  and  ranks  as  oecumenical  only 
because  its  decrees  on  faith  were  ulti- 
mately received  in  the  West  also. 

{y)  Patriarchal,  national  and  prima- 
tial  councils,  representing  a  whole  patri- 
archate, a  whole  nation,  or,  lastly,  the 
several  provinces  subject  to  a  primate.^ 

(5)  Provincial  councils,  under  the 
metropolitan  of  a  province. 

(f)  Diocesan  synods,  consisting  of 
the  clergy  of  the  diocese  and  presided 
over  by  the  bishop  or  vicar-general. 
We  may  add  two  other  kinds  of  council, 
which    are   abnormal,   viz. 

(0  Councils  held  at  Constantinople  and 
consisting  of  bishops  from  any  part  of  the 
world  who  happened  to  be  at  the  time  in 
that  imperial  city.  They  were  called 
avvodoL  evdijfiovaaL. 

(rj)  Mixed  councils, which  met  to  settle 
both  spiritual  and  civil  matters.  They 
were  composed  of  secular  as  well  as 
ecclesiastical  dignitaries.  Sometimes, 
though  not  always,  the  clergy  and  laity 
voted  in  separate  chambers.  Such 
councils  were  held  during  the  early  middle 
age  in  Italy,  France,  England,  Germany, 
and  Spain. 

II.  Convocation  of  Councils.  —  The 
right  of  the  bishop  to  convoke  diocesan, 
the  metropolitan  to  convoke  provincial, 
the  patriarch  or  primate  to  convoke  national 
synods,  &c.,  has  always  been  clear  and  un- 
doubted. Logically  and  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  thing,  the  convocation 
of  general  councils  must  proceed  from  the 
head  of  the  universal  Church,  viz.  from 

1  Another  class  may  be  added,  viz.  those  re- 
presenting certain  neighbouring  provinces,  but 
not  all  the  proviuces  subject  to  the  primate. 


the  Pope.  This  principle  was  recognised 
in  ancient  times,  for  Socrates  tells  us  that 
Pope  Julius  I.  about  the  )^ear  .341,  stated 
the  acknowledged  law  of  Christendom 
to  be,  that  "  the  churches  must  not  pass 
laws  (Kavovi(€iv)  contrary  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Bishop  of  Home."  However, 
in  early  times,  the  emperors,  who  often 
defrayed  the  travelling  expenses  of  the 
bishops,  were  allowed  to  take  a  great  part 
in  convoking  general  councils,  "The 
first  eight  general  councils  were  convoked 
by  the  emperors.  All  the  later  ones,  on 
the  other  hand,  were  called  and  sum- 
moned by  the  Popes :  but  even  in  the 
earlier  councils  we  see  the  Popes  taking 
a  certain  part  in  their  convocation, 
and  this  share  which  the  Popes  took  in 
summoning  them  appears  more  or  less 
prominently  in  individual  instances."  All 
general  councils  from  the  ninth  onwards 
were  directly  convoked  by  the  Popes; 
although,  even  in  the  West,  lesser  councils 
were  convoked  by  emperors  and  kings. 
In  the  Fifth  Lateran  Council(  Sess.  xi.)  Leo. 
X.  put  great  stress  on  the  principle  that 
the  right  of  convoking,  removing  and 
dissolving  general  councils  belongs  tq  the 
Popes. 

HI.  Members  of  Councils. — The  dio- 
cesan synod  must  be  distinguished  from 
all  other  synods  or  councils.  It  consists 
(putting  aside  the  bishop  of  the  diocese), 
as  a  rule,  only  of  the  inferior  clergy.  The 
bishop  alone  decides,  the  other  members 
having  at  most  a  consultative  vote.  The 
bishop  is  bound  to  summon  the  deans, 
arch-priests,  vicars  foran,  the  vicar-general, 
the  clergy  with  cure  of  souls,  and,  accor- 
diug  to  the  later  canon  law,  the  canons 
of  the  cathedral  and  collegiate  churches, 
with  their  provosts,  and  the  obbaf.es 
scectdares.  Cathedral  prebendaries  who 
are  not  canons  need  not  be  summoned, 
but  are  bound  to  attend  if  called  upon 
to  do  so.  The  "simple  clerics" — i.e.  those 
withoutcure  of  souk  or  dignity — need  not 
attend,  unless  the  object  of  the  syn(.)d  is 
to  reform  the  clergy,  or  to  communicate 
the  decrees  of  a  provincial  council. 
Members  of  exempt  religious  orders,  if 
their  monasteries  are  connected  with 
others  and  placed  under  a  general  chap- 
ter, need  not  attend,  unless  they  have 
cure  of  souls.  In  other  cases,  religious 
must  be  present  at  the  synod. 

As  to  other  councils,  they  are  com- 


(a)  Of  bishops.  Chorepiscopi  appear 
at  early  synods.  Whether  titular  bishops 
are  entitled  to  vote  has  been  disputed. 


COUNCIL 


COUNCIL 


They  had, however,  equal  rirrhts  with  other 
bishops  at  the  Vatican  Council,  where 
117  such  hishops  were  present. 

(13)  Priests  and  deacons  had  a  decisive 
vote  if  they  represented  absent  bishops, 
as  appears  trom  innumerable  instances  in 
the  acts  ot  early  councils.  At  the  Council 
of  Trent  this  right  was  given  to  the 
procurators  of  absent  bishops  only  with 
great  limitations.  At  the  Vatican  Council 
such  procurators  were  not  even  admitted 
to  the  Council  Hall.  Other  clerics  have 
been  employed  from  early  times  as  no- 
taries. 

(y)  The  archimandrites,  even  if 
priests,  had  no  voice  at  the  early  councils. 
From  the  seventh  century  the  practice 
with  regard  to  admitting  the  votes  of 
abbots  began  to  vary ;  and  archdeacons 
sometimes  were  allovv^ed  to  vote,  even  if 
their  bishop  was  present.  At  the  end  of 
the  mediaeval  period  it  was  generally  held 
that  Cardinals,  even  if  not  bishops,  and 
abbots  were  entitled  to  vote,  and  this 
right  they  have  maintained;  while  a  like 
privilege  is  extended  to  the  generals  of 
regular  orders.  At  the  last  general 
council  Abbots  Nullius  (i.e.  of  quasi-epi- 
scopal jurisdiction),mitred  abbots  of  whole 
orders  or  congregations  of  monasteries, 
generals,  &c.,  of  clerks  regular,  mendicant 
and  monastic  orders,  were  allowed  to  vote. 

(5)  Theologians  (e.r/.  doctors  in  theo- 
logy and  canon  law)  were  also  called  to 
consult  at  synods.  But  it  was  only  in 
exceptional  circumstances — e.g.  in  times  of 
storm  and  confusion  such  as  prevailed 
during  the  synods  of  Constance  and 
Basle — that  they  voted. 

(e)  Although  the  earliest  councils 
were  composed  merely  of  bishops,  still  in 
the  third  century  laymen  began  to  attend 
in  Africa  and  Italy;  and  even  in  1598,  the 
Congregation  of  the  Council  expressly 
declared  that  distinguished  and  well- 
instructed  laymen  might  be  invited  to 
attend  provincial  councils.  Lay  people, 
however,  were  merely  present  to  give 
advice,  make  complaints,  assent  to  the 
decisions,  Szc.  They  had  no  claim  to  a 
decisive  vote,  and  usually  did  not  sign  the 
decrees.  We  even  find  the  Abbess  St. 
Hilda  present  at  the  Council  of  Whitby, 
in  664,  and  her  successor  JElfleda  at  a 
Northumbrian  council.  The  Roman 
emperors,  personally  or  by  their  repre- 
sentatives, attended  general  councils.  We 
also  find  kings  or  their  commissaries  pre- 
sent at  national  and  provincial  synods. 
However,  Rome  holds  fast  to  the  prin- 
ciple that  no  royal  commissary  may  be 


present  at  any  council,  except  a  general 
one  in  which  "  faith,  reformation,  and 
peace  "  are  in  question. 

IV.  The  Presidency  at  Councils. — The 
bishop  of  right  presides  at  diocesan,  the 
metropolitan  at  provincial,  the  Pope  or 
his  legates  at  general  councils.  True, 
ancient  authorities  do  undoubtedly  at- 
tribute a  presidency  at  general  coun- 
cils to  the  Emperor.  However,  this  is 
but  an  apparent  difficulty.  The  presi- 
dency of  the  emperor  was  a  mere  presi- 
dency of  honour.  It  was  his  place  to 
provide  for  peace  and  order,  to  assist  in 
giving  effect  to  the  conciliar  decrees  ;  but 
it  was  the  Papal  legates  who  presided 
over  the  council  when  occupied  in  its 
proper  business  of  deciding  questions  on 
faith  and  discipline.  Thus  the  Emperor 
Theodosius  II.  says,  in  his  edict  addressed 
to  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  that  he  had 
sent  Count  Candidian  to  represent  him, 
but  that  this  commissary  of  his  was  to 
take  no  part  in  dogmatic  disputes,  since 
"  it  is  unlawful  for  one  who  is  not  enrolled 
in  the  list  of  the  most  holy  bishops  to 
mingle  in  ecclesiastical  inquiries."  That 
the  Papal  legates  did  as  a  matter  of  fact 
preside  at  the  early  councils  is  proved  at 
length  by  Hefele.  The  Council  of  Chal- 
cedon  acknowledged  that  Pope  Leo,  by 
his  legates,  presided  over  it— "the  head 
over  the  members."  At  Nicsea,  Osius, 
Vitus,  and  Vincentius,  as  Papal  legates, 
signed  before  all  other  members  of  the 
council.  It  would  be  useless  to  multiply 
evidence  on  this  point  from  later 
councils. 

V.  The  Conjinnation  of  Conciliar 
Decrees. — The  decrees  of  general  councils 
have  no  binding  authority  till  confirmed 
by  the  Pope.  This  admits  of  easy  proof 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  because  a 
council  cannot  be  said  to  represent  the 
teaching  Church  till  the  visible  head  of 
the  Church  has  given  his  approval.  At 
the  same  time,  the  evidence  on  this  point 
with  regard  to  early  councils  is  not  always 
conclusive,  a  fact  which  need  not  surprise 
us  when  we  remember  that  the  Popes 
were  accustomed  to  send  legates  with  full 
instructions  and  that  usually  the  Pope 
had  already  made  his  own  mind  clear  on 
the  points  in  debate,  so  that  the  formal 
approbation  of  the  Pope  did  not  attract 
special  notice.  Still,  the  principles  of 
the  early  were  identical  with  those  of  the 
present  Church  on  this  point.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  Council  of  Chalcedon 
considered  the  Papal  confirmation  of  its 
decrees  a  matter  of  absolute  necessity}  and 


230 


COUNCIL 


COWL 


the  strong  language  in  which  this  decla- 
ration is  made  shows  that  the  Pope's 
right  of  confirmation  was  an  understood 
thing  in  the  Church.  Taking  this  for 
granted,  we  may  well  believe  that  the 
Roman  synod  of  485  has  preserved  the 
true  tradition  of  historical  fact  in  its 
statement  that  the  Fathers  of  Nicaea 
"  reserved  the  confirmation  and  authorisa- 
tion of  their  proceedings  to  the  holy 
Roman  Church  "  ("  confirmationem  rerum 
atque  auctoritatem  sanctseRom  anse  ecclesise 
detulerunt "),  strengthened  as  this  state- 
ment is  by  the  words  of  Julius  I.  quoted 
above. 

VI.  The  infallibility  of  general  councils 
80  confirmed  follows  from  that  of  the 
Church  [see  the  article].  "  What  God," 
says  St.  Athanasius,  "has  spoken  through 
the  Council  of  Nicaea  remains  for  ever." 
St.  Leo  considered  the  "  consent  "  of  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  to  be  irretractabilis 
— i.e.  to  exclude  all  further  question — and 
denies  that  anyone  who  rejected  its  de- 
crees could  be  counted  a  Catholic. 

VII.  Order  and  Method  of  Voting. — 
Usually  bishops  took  their  places  accord- 
ing to  the  rank  of  their  sees,  though  in 
Africa  they  sat  according  to  the  date  of 
their  ordination.  At  the  VaticanCouncilthe 
members  were  arranged  in  accordance  with 
their  hierarchical  rank.  First  came  the  five 
cardinal  legates  (unless,  of  course,the  Pope 
himself  was  there),  then  the  Cardinals, 
patriarchs,  primates,  archbishops,  bishops, 
(according  to  seniority),  abbots,  generals 
of  orders,  &c.  As  a  rule,  the  voting  at 
councils  has  always  been  by  single  voices. 
At  Constance,  however,  in  order  to  keep 
the  Italian  prelates  from  outweighing  the 
rest,  the  voting  was  by  nations  [see  the 
article  Constance.]  At  Basle  the 
members  were  divided  into  foui*  deputa- 
tions, which  met  separately.  Decrees 
passed  by  three  deputations  were  accepted 
as  concUiar.  At  Trent  the  matters  to  be 
discussed  were  first  debated  and  prepared 
for  the  council  in  special  commissions,  so 
that  no  disputations  appear  in  the  Tri- 
dentine  acts.  A  similar  method  was 
pursued  at  the  Vatican  Council. 

VIII.  Number  and  Namrs  of  (Ecume- 
nical Councils. — (1)  Nicsea,  325;  (2)  First 
of  Constantinople, 381;  (3)  Ephesus,  431; 
(4)  Chalcedon,  461 ;  (5)  Second  of  Con- 
stantinople, 553 ;  (6)  Third  of  Constantin- 
ople, 680;  (7)  Second  of  Nicsea,  787;  (8) 
Foui-th  of  Constantinople,  861);  (9)  First 
Lateran,!  1 23 ;  (10)  Second  Lateran,  1 139 ; 
(11)  Third  Lateran,  1179  ;  (12)  Fourth 
Lateran,  1215;  (13)  First  of  Lyons,  12-45,  I 


(14)  Second  of  Lyons,  1274;  (16)  Vienne, 
1311 ;  (16)  Const&nce,  1414-1418.  This 
council  was  only  oecumenical  in  its  last 
sessions  (42-45  inclvisive)  andAvith  respect 
to  certain  decrees  of  earlier  sessions,  ap- 
proved by  Martin  V.  (17)  Basle,  1431  and 
following  years :  only  oecumenical  till  the 
end  of  the  25th  session,  and  of  these 
decrees  Eugenius  IV.  approved  such  only 
as  dealt  with  the  extirpation  of  heresy, 
the  peace  of  Christendom  and  the  reform 
of  the  Church,  and  which  at  the  same  time 
did  not  derogate  from  the  rights  of  the 
Holy  See.  (18)  Ferrara-Florence,  1438^ 
1442:  reallv  a  continuation  of  Basle. 
(19)  Fifth  'Lateran,  1512-1517;  (20) 
Trent,  1545-1563;  (21)  Vatican,  Decem- 
ber 8, 1869  to  July  18, 1870 :  still  un- 
finished. 

IX.  Collections  of  Councils. — Early 
collections  by  Merlin'  (Paris,  1523,  in  one 
folio);  Crabbe  (Cologne,! 538,in  two  folios) 
Surius  (1567,  Cologne,  four  folios);  Binius 
(Cologne,  1606,  four  folios).  The  Roman 
edition  of  1608-1612  only  contains  general 
councils ;  in  it  the  Greek  text  of  very 
many  conciliar  acts  was  for  the  first  time 
printed.  This  Roman  edition  formed  the 
oasis  of  all  the  later  collections,  of  which 
the  chief  are  the  Collectio  Regia  (Paris, 
1644,  in  thirty-seven  folios);  the  collection 
of  the  Jesuit  Hardouin  (Paris,  1715,  in 
twelve  folios)  ;  and  that  of  Mansi,  who, 
building  on  the  foundations  of  Labb^, 
Cossart,  and  Colet,  published  at  Florence 
in  1 759  and  the  following  years  his  great 
collection  consisting  of  thirty-one  folios. 
This  is  the  most  perfect  of  all  the  collec- 
tions, but  it  only  reaches  to  the  fifteenth 
century.  Hardouin,  which  goes  down  to 
1714,  and  is  more  correct  in  the  printing 
than  Mansi,  is  still  much  used.  (From 
Hefele's  "EinleitungConcil."  vol,  i.) 

CCWZi  {cucuUus,  cuculla).  Cucullm 
is  classical ;  in  a  well-known  passage  in 
Juvenal's  sixth  satire  "  noctiirni  cuculli " 
mean  a  cap  or  hood  enveloping  the  head, 
and  at  the  wearer's  will  concealing  the 
features.  In  post-classical  and  mediseval 
writers  cuculla  is  the  more  usual  form. 
The  cowl  was  a  garment  with  a  hood, 
vestis  caputiata,  black  or  grey  or  brown, 
varying  in  length  in  different  ages  and 
according  to  the  usages  of  different  orders, 
but  having  these  two  permanent  charac- 
teristics, that  it  covered  the  head  and 
shoulders,  and  that  it  was  without  sleeves. 
Cassian,  speaking  of  the  solitaries  of 
Egypt  about  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century,  says  that  they  used  very  small 
cowls   (covering    the  head,  but    barely 


CREATION 

reacbing  the  shoulders),  which  they 
wore  both  day  and  night.  St.  Benedict 
of  Anian,  about  a.d.  800,  finding^  that 
his  monks  had  adopted  the  practice  of 
■wearing  the  cowl  very  long,  so  as  to  reach 
the  heels,  ordered  that  for  the  future  it 
should  not  exceed  two  cubits  in  length. 
In  the  fourteenth  century  the  cowl  was 
sometimes  confounded  with  the  frock ; 
whence  Clement  V.  at  the  Council  of 
Vienne  said,  '*  We  declare  that  we  under- 
stand by  the  name  of  coiol  (cuciiUa),  a 
habit  long  and  full,  but  without  sleeves  ; 
and  hj  frock,  a  long  habit  with  long  and 
wide  sleeves."     (Ducange,  Cucullus.) 

CREiLTIOxr.  Making  out  of  nothing. 
Thn.t  God  did  so  create  out  of  nothing  is 
the  great  doctrine  which  is  expressed  in 
the  first  verse  of  the  Bible,  and  which 
became  a  cardinal  doctrine  of  the  Jewish 
and  afterwards  of  the  Christian  faith. 
The  belief  in  creation  is,  indeed,  a  tenet 
peculiar  to  revealed  religion.  Heathen 
religions  attributed  the  origin  of  the  world 
to  emanation,  or  else  represented  it  as 
made  out  of  pre-existing  matter.  The 
doctrine  of  ancient  philosophers  is  summed 
up  in  the  familiar  axiom,  "Nothing  is 
made  out  of  nothing." 

It  is  true  that  neither  the  Hebrew 
word  5^11  nor  the  Latin  creare,  by 
which  it  is  rendered  in  the  Vulgate, 
means  of  itself  to  make  out  of  nothing. 
Creare  may  mean  to  "bear  a  child," 
as  in  Virgil's  line,  "  Silvicolae  Fauno 
Dryope  quam  nympha  crearat,"  and  ^?■^3, 
which  probably  meant  originally  to  "  hew 
out,"  ^  is  employed  to  express  all  that 
God  produces  in  the  kingdom  of  nature 
(Num.  xvi.  30),  or  of  grace  (Ex.  xxxiv.  10, 
Ps.  li.  12),  even  if  such  production  does 
not  answer  to  the  idea  of  creation  in  the 
strict  sense.  But  that  Genesis  means  to 
teach  that  the  world  was  made  out  of 
nothing  is  plain,  because  it  is  said  that 
"  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth," 
the  Hebrew  phrase  for  the  entire  uni- 
verse, and  also  because  the  mention  of 
chaos  ("  the  earth  was  without  form  and 
void  ")  is  placed  significantly  after  that  of 
God's  creative  act. 

The  Fourth  Lateran  Council  defines 
that  God  created  everything  out  of  nothing, 
and  that  the  world  is  not  eternal,  but  had 
a  beginning.  God  created  by  his  free 
act  and  without  any  change  in  his  own 
nature.    According  to  the  common  teach- 

1  If  at  least  we  may  judge  from  the  use  of 
the  Piel  in  Jos.  xvii.  15.  The  Piel  is  used  only 
of  the  slow  work  of  man  ;  the  Kal  only  of  the 
free  act  of  God.    See  Ewald,  Grammar,  §  126  a. 


CREDENCE 


231 


ing  of  theologians,  no  creature  can  receive 
power  to  create,  because  it  needs  an  in- 
finite might  to  bridge  over  the  infinite 
distance  between  nothing  and  being. 
Whether  we  can  suppose,  without  involv- 
ing ourselves  in  contradiction,  that  God 
could,  had  it  so  pleased  Him,  have  created 
from  all  eternity,  so  that,  e.g.,  angels 
would  have  been  eternal  by  participation, 
is  a  question  freely  disputed  iu  the  schools. 
We  are  only  required  to  believe  tliat  as  a 
matter  of  fact  God  did  not  so  create. 

The  scientific  difticulties  in  the  six 
days  of  creation  cannot  be  discussed  here. 
But  we  have  a  few  words  to  say  on  the 
latitude  of  interpretation  permitted  in  the 
Church.  (1)  St.  Augustine  interprets 
the  six  days  in  a  purely  figurative  and 
mystical  sense ;  and  St.  Thomas,  though  he 
does  not  actually  adopt  this  view,  treats  it 
vnth  marked  respect.  In  comparatively 
modern  times  Cajetan  gave  an  interpre- 
tation which  agrees  at  least  on  the  main 
point  with  that  of  St.  Augustine,  for  he 
taught,  according  to  Petavius,  that  "  all 
was  produced  in  a  moment ;  but  that  the 
history  of  creation  was  arranged  by  Moses 
in  six  days,  that  he  might  adopt  his  nar- 
ration to  six  grades  of  natural  perfection." 
(2)  Although  undoubtedly  the  scholastics 
as  a  rule  understood  the  "  days  "  as  natu- 
ral days  of  twenty-four  hours,  still  many 
Catholic  writers  in  modern  times  have 
interpreted  the  days  as  geological  periods, 
and  this  without  incurring  any  censure. 
"Since  the  divine  Scripture,"  says  St. 
Thomas,  "may  be  expounded  in  many 
ways,  it  is  not  right  to  attach  oneself  so 
strictly  to  any  one  opinion  as  still  to 
maintain  it  after  sure  reason  has  proved 
the  statement,  supposed  to  be  contained 
in  Scripture,  false  ;  lest  on  this  account 
Scripture  be  derided  by  infidels,  and  the 
way  to  faith  closed  against  them."  (See 
St.  Thomas,  Par.  I.  qu.  Ixxiv.,  and  Pe- 
tavius, "De  Opere  VI  Dierum."  The 
last  quotation  from  St.  Thomas  is  taken 
from  a  note  to  Petavius  in  the  edition  of 
1866.) 

CREBSZO'CS.  A  table  on  which 
the  cruets  with  wine  and  water,  the 
humeral  veil  for  the  subdeacon,  the  burse, 
chalice,  the  candlesticks  borne  by  the 
acolytes,  &c.  &c.,  are  placed  during  High 
Mass,  and  from  which  they  are  taken 
when  required  for  use  in  the  function. 
The  credence  should  be  on  the  epistle  side 
of  the  altar.  It  should  be  covered  with 
a  linen  cloth,  but  neither  cross  nor  images 
should  be  placed  upon  it.  In  ancient 
times  when  the  oblations  were  presented 


232 


CREED 


by  the  faithful  during  Mass,  there  was 
not  the  sarue  necessity  for  the  use  of  a 
credence.     (Gavant.  torn.  I.  p.  ii.  tit.  2.) 

CREED.  A  summary  of  the  chief 
articles  ol'  faith.  Various  names  are 
used,  to  sig-nify  what  we  now  mean 
by  the  word  Creed,  in  early  writers. 
Clement  of  Alexandria  speaks  of  the 
nia-Tis  or  "  faith "  which  served  as 
the  basis  of  catechetical  instruction.^ 
Origen,  in  the  Latin  translation  of  Ru- 
linus,  describes  the  Creed  as  a  "  com- 
pressed word  "  ("  verbum  breviatum  "),  in 
allusion  to  Romans  ix.  28.  Tertullian'* 
speaks  of  the  "  words  of  the  oath  "  ("  verba 
eacramenti ''),  perhaps  with  reference  to 
the  confession  of  faith  made  in"  baptism. 
Lastly,  in  Cyprian's  ^  time  we  meet  with 
the  word  "  syinbolum  "  or  token,  by  which 
a  man  miirht  be  known  and  recognised  as 
a  Christian  ;  and  this  term  has  been  ever 
since  familiar  in  the  Church.  Our  " Credo" 
or  Creed  of  course  simply  indicates  the 
word  with  which  most  «uch  professions  of 
faith  begin. 

Four  Creeds  are  at  present  used  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  viz.  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
the  Nicene,  the  Athanasian,  that  of 
Pius  IV. 

I.  The  Apostles'  Creed. — It  is  certain 
from  the  Acts  that  persons  desirous  of 
baptism  were  questioned  as  to  their  faith. 
When  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  wished  to 
be  baptised,  "Philip  said:  If  thou 
believest  with  thy  whole  heart  thou 
tnayest.  And  he  answering,  said  :  I 
believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of 
God."  Thus  even  in  Apostolic  times  a 
profession  of  faith  was  made  in  baptism, 
and  from  this  no  doubt  the  so-called 
"Apostles'  Creed"  arose.  But  neither 
Scripture  nor  any  single  writer  of  the 
first  three  centuries  gives  at  length 
the  profession  of  faith  made  at  baptism. 
However,  in  Irengeus  and  Tertullian  we 
meet  with  allusions  from  which  we  can 
construct  a  form  used  at  baptism  and 
and  approaching  very  nearly  to  the  "  Apos- 
tles' Creed  "  in  its  present  shape.  It  is 
impossible,  for  example,  to  believe  that  in 
the  following  passage  of  Irenaeus  the 
coincidence,  in  words  and  order  of  ideas, 
with  our  present  Creed  is  accidental.  He 
says  that  in  virtue  of  Apostolic  tradition 

1  Clem.  Al.  PcBdag.  i.  1,  §38.  Strom,  vii. 
10,  §  66.  So  Probst  interprets  these  passages  ; 
but  the  allusion  to  a  detinite  Creed  seems  far 
from  certain. 

2  Tertullian,  Ad  Martyr.  3.  Here  again 
Probst's  interpretation  is  precarious. 

8  Cyprian,  Epp.  ed.  Hartel.  Lxix.  §  7. 


CREED 

all  who  belong  to  the  Church  have  the 
same  faith,  since  "  all  teach  one  and  the 
same  God  the  Father,  and  believe  the 
same  economy  of  the  Incarnation  of  the 
Son  of  God,  and  know  the  same  gift  of  the 
Spirit,  and  meditate  on  the  same  precepts, 
and  maintain  the  same  form  of  consti- 
tution with  respect  to  the  Church,  and 
look  for  the  same  cominy  of  the  Lord,  and 
wait  for  the  same  salvation  of  the  whole 
man — that  is,  of  the  soul  and  body."  ^  The 
supposition  that  Irenaeus  had  a"  formula 
like  the  Apostles'  Creed  in  his  mind  when 
he  wrote  is  confirmed  by  a  statement 
which  he  makes  elsewhere,  that  the  cate- 
chumens received  the  unchangeable  rule 
of  the  faith  in  baptism ;  and  by  the  fact 
that  other  traces  of  the  formula  appear 
in  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  in  Tertul- 
lian. At  a  later  time,  Rufinus  (t  410), 
wrote  an  exposition  of  the  "■  symbol  "  of 
the  Apostles,  and  from  this  work  we 
receive  definite  information  on  the  form 
o f  words  m  use.  Rufinus  says  that  whereas 
in  other  churches  chnnges  were  made  in 
the  Apostles'  Creed  in  order  to  meet  new 
heresies,  the  Ron] an  (Jhurch,  on  the  con- 
trary, had  preserved  the  original  form, 
partly  because  no  heresy  had  ever  arisen 
in  that  city,  partly  because  there  the  cate- 
chumens had  to  recite  the  Creed  publicly 
before  receiving  baptism.  The  Roman 
form  according  to  Rufinus  ran  thus :  "  I 
believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  and 
in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  Son,  our  Lord, 
who  was  born  from  (de)  the  Holy  Ghost, 
of  (ex)  the  Viigin  JNlary,  crucified  under 
Pontius  Pilate  and  buried,  rose  the  third 
day  from  the  dead,  ascended  into  heaven, 
thence  he  will  come  to  judge  the  living 
and  the  dead.  And  in  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  holy  Church,  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
the  resurrection  of  the  flesh."  Thus  the 
articles  "descended  into  hell,"  "the 
communion  of  saints,"  ^'  eternal  life,"  and 
the  words  "  suffered,"  "  catholic,"  "amen," 
were  not  in  the  original  form  of  the  Creed. 
They  were  added  in  the  fifth  century. 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  answer 
the  question,  How  far  does  the  "  Apostles' 
Creed  "  deserve  its  name  ?  It  is  rightly 
so  called,  if  we  understand  the  title  to 
signify  that  it  is  a  summary  of  Apostolic 
teachmg ;  and  there  are  at  least  probable 
grounds  for  the  hypothesis  that  it  is  the 
extension  of  a  form  used  from  the 
Apostles'  time  in  baptism.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  legend  that  each  of  the 
Apostles  contributed  one  of  the  twelve 
articles  to  the  Creed  is  not  supported  by 
1  Iren.  i.  9,  4. 


CREED 

good  eyidence  and  is  hard  to  reconcile 
with  attested  fact.  It  probably  arose  from 
a  misinterpretation  of  the  word  "collatio," 
■which  Rutin  us  used  to  translate  "  symbo- 
lum."  He  explains  *•'  collatio  "  to  mean  that 
which  several  collect  together  ("  id  quod 
plures  in  unum  conferunt "),  so  that  the 
"symbol"  was  a  summary  of  the  faith 
common  to  all  the  Apostles.  But  the 
word  '•  collatio "  led  to  the  notion  that 
the  Apostles  actually  contributed  articles 
to  the  Creed ;  and  in  a  sermon  falsely  at- 
tributed to  Aug-ustine  we  actually  meet 
with  the  legend  that  St.  Peter  said,  "  I 
believe  in  God  the  Father,"  &c. ;  St. 
Andrew,  "  and  in  Jesus  Christ,"  &c.  ;  and 
St.  James,  "  who  was  conceived  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  &c.  Traces  of  the  story 
also  appear  in  letters  of  St.  Peter  to 
St.  James,  spurious  in  the  first  instance, 
and  then  interpolated  by  Pseudo-Isidore. 
(See  Probst,  •'  Lehre  und  Gebet  in  den 
ersten  3  Jahrhund.")  ^ 

II.  The  Nicene  Creed  (really  the 
creed  of  Nicaea  and  Constantinople). — 
The  following  Creed  was  put  forth  by  the 
Fathers  of  Nica3a  in  325.  "  We  believe 
in  one  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker 
of  all  things  visible  and  invisible,  and  in 
one  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God, 
only  begotten  from  the  Father,  i.e.  from 
the  substance  of  the  Father :  God  from 
God,  light  from  light,  true  God  from  true 
God,  begotten  not  made,  consubstantial 
with  the  Father,  through  whom  all  things 
came  into  bemg,  both  the  things  in 
heaven  and  the  things  in  earth  ;  who  for 
us  men  and  for  our  salvation  came  down 
and  was  made  flesh,  became  man,  suflered 
and.  rose  again  on  the  third  day  and 
ascended  into  heaven,  and  is  to  come  to 
judge  the  living  and  the  dead.  And  in 
the  Holy  Ghost."  ^  Osius  of  Cordova, 
according  to  St.  Athanasius — Athanasius 
himself,  according  to  St.  Hilary — had 
great  part  in  drawing  up  tliis  Creed. 

At  Constantinople  in  381  a  Creed  with 
one  notable  exception  almost  precisely 
identical  with  what  we  are  accustomed 
to  call  the  Nicene  Creed  was  received. 
We  say  received,  for  Tillemont  has 
proved  that  this  enlarged  form  of  the 
Nicene  Creed  was  in  use  sonje  years  before 
the  Council  of  Constantinople.  Two 
additions  to  the  old  Nicene  formula 
adopted  at  Constantinople  deserve  special 
notice.  The  clause  "  of  whose  kingdom 
there  shall  be  no  end  "  was  added  against 

*  The  text  is  taJven  frum  a  letter  by  E use- 
bins  of  Caesarea  to  his  flock.  See  Hefele,  Con- 
cU.  i.  p.  314. 


CREED 


233 


Marcellus  of  Ancyra,  who  denied  that 
Christ's  reign  would  continue  after  the 
day  of  judgment.^  Again,  after  "  and  in 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  the  words  "  the  Lord 
the  life-giver,  who  proceedeth  from  the 
Father,  who  with  the  Father  and  Son," 
&c.,  were  appended  against  the  Mace- 
donians who  denied  the  divinity  of  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

The  words  Filioque,  "  proceeding  from 
the  Father  and  the  aSW,"  occur  in  Spanish 
confessions  of  faith  the  earliest  of  which 
was  drawn  up  in  447.  Pope  Leo,  at- 
tacking the  anti-Trinitarian  errors  of  the 
Priscillianists  in  a  letter  to  Turibius,  a 
Spanish  bishop,  spoke  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
as  proceeding  "  from  each,"  i.e.  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  and  hence  the  for- 
mula **  proceeding  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son"  became  usual  among  Spanish 
Catholics,  and  was  added  by  them  to  the 
Nicene  Creed  in  the  Synod  of  Toledo 
(anno  653).  During  the  reign  of  Charle- 
magne the  Nicene  (^reed  was  sung  with 
the  addition  of  the  "  Filioque "  in  the 
Prankish  church,  and  the  Latin  monks 
settled  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  offended 
the  Greeks  by  singing  the  Creed  as  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  hear  it  in  the 
imperial  chapel.  As  late  at  least  as  the 
ninth  century  this  addition  was  not  made 
to  the  Creed  in  Rome  itself.  In  fact  Leo 
III.,  though  he  approved  the  doctrine  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  refused  to  add  the  words 
"  Filioque '"  to  the  Creed,  even  when  urged 
to  do  so.  For  the  doctrine  of  the  double 
procession  we  must  refer  to  the  article  on 
the  Trinity.  But  this  is  the  place  to 
mention  an  objection  made  by  the  Greeks 
to  the  addition,  apart  from  the  dogmatic 
controversy.  They  said  that  the  Council 
of  Ephesus  had  expressly  forbidden  any 
Creed  except  the  Nicene  to  be  used.  Pe- 
tayius  replies  that  the  council  meant 
simply  to  forbid  a  Creed  contrary  to  that 
of  Nicoea,  and  that  a  Creed  in  perfect 
agreement  with  that  of  Nicjfia  is  not 
"  another  Creed  "  {hepav  ttlo-tlu)  in  the 
sense  of  the  Fathers  of  Ephesus.  They 
were  referring  to  a  new  and  heterodox 
Creed  concocted  by  Nestorius.  We  may 
add  that  even  if  the  council  had  meant  to 
interdict  the  use  of  another  Creed,  this 
was  a  mere  disciplinary  rule,  and  that  it 
could  be  set  aside  at  any  time  by  com- 
petent authority.  At  Florence  it  was 
defined  that  this  addition  was  "  lawfully 
and  reasonably  "  made  to  the  creed. 

1  Petav.  De  Incarnat.  i.  3,  §11.  Hefele, 
Concil.  ii.  p.  9  seq.,  i.  pp.  623,  627,  628. 


2S4  CREED 

On  all  Sundays  and  on  the  feasts  of 
our  Lord,  his  blessed  Mother,  Apostles, 
doctors,  &c.,  the  Creed  is  sung  at  Mass 
immediately  after  the  Gospel,  that  the 
people  may  show  their  faith  in  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  which  the  Gospels  contain. 
It  is  fitting,  St.  Thomas  says,  that  it 
should  be  sung  on  the  feasts  of  our  Lord, 
the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Apostles,  "■  who 
founded  this  faith."  At  what  time  the 
Creed  began  to  be  recited  in  the  Roman 
Mass  is  very  doubtful.  Apparently  it 
was  said  as  early  at  least  as  the  ninth 
century,  though  it  was  not  sung  till  the 
beginning  of  the  eleventh.  In  the  East 
this  practice  was  introduced  much  earlier, 
viz,  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  century. 

III.  Athnnasion  Creed. — ^By  this  name 
is  commonly  called  the  confession  of  faith 
in  the  breviary  (known  as  'Quicunque 
vult,'  from  its  first  words),  which  is  said 
on  Sunday  at  prime.  Its  proper  designa- 
tion would  seem  to  be  "  Fides  Catholica," 
so  at  least  it  is  headed  in  the  Utrecht 
Psalter,  a  MS.  of  the  sixth  centurj^,  which 
contains  the  earliest  copy  known  to  exist. 
How  early  it  was  attributed  to  St. 
Athanasius,  among  whose  genuine  works 
it  does  not  appear,  it  is  difficult  to  say. 
A  canon  passed  by  a  Council  of  Autun, 
in  the  time  of  Bishop  Leodegar,  about 
640,  enjoins  the  use  of  what  can  be 
nothing  else  than  this  Creed  under  the 
name  of  "the  faith  of  the  holy  prelate 
Athanasius ; "  but  some  doubt  exists  as 
to  the  true  date  of  this  canon.  The 
Creed,  being  in  Latin,  was  unknown  in 
the  East  for  many  centuries  afteT  it  had 
received  wide  difi^usion  in  the  West.  The 
fact  of  its  being  written  in  Latin  was 
accounted  for  by  the  Papal  envoys  who 
visited  the  East  in  1233,  after  the  Latin 
c-onquest  of  Constantinople,  on  the  ground 
that  St.  Athanasius  composed  it  during 
the  period  of  his  exile  in  the  West.  It 
was  after  this  translated  into  Greek,  and 
its  doctrine  was  admitted  by  the  Eastern 
Church.  In  this  theory  of  its  composi- 
tion while  Athanasius  was  in  exile  there 
is  nothing  intrinsically  improbable  ;  only 
it  lacks  direct  confirmation.  Waterland, 
who  wrote  a  learned  dissertation  on  this 
Creed  near  the  beginning  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, was  inclined,  as  is  well  known,  to 
assign  its  authorship  to  St.  Hilary  of 
Aries  (about  430).  Others  have  given 
it  to  Venantius  Fortunatus,  bishop  of 
Poitiers  in  the  sixth  century.  A  third 
conjecture,  of  greater  plausibility  than 
either  of  the  former  two,  would  trace  it 
to    Virgiliufl    of  Thapsus,   an    African 


CREED 

bishop,  who  composed  a  treatise  on  the 
Trinity  in  the  fifth  centur3\  This  perhaps 
is  a  matter  which  never  can  be  certainly  de- 
termined. A  far  more  important  fact 
about  the  Quicunque  is,  that,  whether 
written  by  Athanasius  or  not,  its  teach- 
ing is  distinctly  Athanasian.  This  was 
proved  to  demonstration  bv  the  late  Mr. 
Brewer,  in  the  work  ^  in  which  he  replied 
to  the  volume  by  Mr.  Ffoulkes  presently 
to  be  noticed.  It  has  also  been  often 
obsei'ved  that  the  cast  of  doctrine  which 
this  Creed  presents  suits  the  second  half  of 
the  fourth  century  better  than  any  earlier 
or  later  time.  It  is  diflficult  to  believe  that 
if  it  had  been  written  after  the  Coimcil  of 
Ephesus  (431)  it  would  not  have  contained 
words  excluding  more  pointedly  the  error 
of  Nestorius ;  still  more  that,  if  later  than 
the  Council  of  Chalcedon  (451),  it  would 
not  have  used  some  expression  about  the 
"  two  natures,"  condemning  more  dis- 
tinctly the  heresy  of  Eutyches.  Again, 
it  is  absolutely  silent  on  the  questions 
agitated  in  the  great  Pelagian  contro- 
versy, and  by  the  Monothelites.  It 
seems  undeniable  that  it  might  have  been 
written  by  St.  Athanasius,  even  if  it  was 
not. 

An  elaborate  attempt '^  was  made  a 
few  years  ago  to  prove  the  Quicunque  to 
be  a  forgery  of  the  age  of  Charlemagne  I 
The  author  of  this  view,  after  reading 
Alcuin's  letter  to  Paulinus  the  patriarch 
of  Aquileia,  written  about  800  (in  which 
the  Englishman  thanks  Paulinus  for 
having  sent  him  a  "  libellus  "  containing 
a  description  \taxatio']  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  which  in  the  writer's  opinion  might 
with  great  advantage  be  circulated  among 
the  clergy  as  a  '*  symbolum  fidei,"  and 
committed  by  them  to  memory),  boldly 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  tract 
here  spoken  of — though  Alcuin  does  not 
cite  one  word  of  it —  was  and  could  be 
nothing  else  than  the  Quicunque  vult  I 
He  stopped  at  nothing  which  could  dis- 
credit the  natural  objections  to  such  a 
view,  charging  Alcuin,  Paulinus,  and 
Charlemagne  with  being  leagued  in  a 
conspiracy  to  palm  oiF  this  composition 
of  Paulinus  upon  the  whole  Church  as 
the  genuine  work  of  Athanasius,  taxing 
Alcuin  in  particular  with  having  lent 
himself,  out  of  mere  cowardly  subser- 
viency, to  the  propagation  of  the  forgery, 
and  crediting  the  emperor   alone  with 

1  AthanasianOrigin  of  the  Athanasian  Creed, 
1872. 

2  On  the  Athanasian   Creed,    Rev.  E.    Si. 
Ffoulkes,  n.  d. 


CREED 

what  are  called  "  the  damnatory  clauses." 
Mr.  Brewer,  in  the  work  already  cited, 
pointed  out  that  Mr.  Ffoulkes's  theory 
rested  simply  on  a  subjective  hypothesis, 
and  that  not  a  single  shred  of  positive 
evidence  could  be  produced  in  its  support. 
He  might  have  added  that  the  concluding 
portion  of  the  same  letter  of  Alcuin  on 
which  Mr.  Ffoulkes  relies  appears  to  be 
inconsistent  with  his  theory.  After  speak- 
ing of  the  "  symfcolum  fidei "  composed  by 
Paulinus,  as  above  mentioned,  Alcuin 
goes  on  to  speak  of  three  prevailing 
errors  :  one,  a  revived  Adoptionism 
springing  up  in  Spain  ;  the  second,  an  ir- 
regular mode  of  administering  baptism 
which  had  come  into  use  in  some  northern 
region;  the  third,  a  wrong  view  as  to 
the  condition  of  the  souls  of  saints  before 
the  day  of  judgment.  "But  it  is  thy 
part,"  he  proceeds,  "O  chosen  pastor, 
when  the  Philistines  .  ,  .  blaspheme  the 
army  of  the  living  God,  to  crush  them  all 
with  a  single  stroke  of  truth  "  ("  uno  veritatis 
ictu  totos  contcrere  ").  The  "  libellus  "  of 
Paulinus,  then,  contained  a  refutation  of 
these  three  errors ;  if  so,  it  could  not  be 
the  Athanasian  Creed,  which,  contains 
nothing  of  the  kind. 

But  the  theory  of  the  late  origin  of 
the  Creed  was  destined  to  be  still  more 
eftectually  demolished.  As  the  contro- 
versy raised  by  Mr.  Ffoulkes's  book  pro- 
ceeded, it  transpired  that  there  was  in 
Holland  an  ancient  copy  of  the  Creed, 
known  as  tbe  Utrecht  Psalter.  Photo- 
graphs of  this  MS.  were  obtained,  and 
Lord  Romilly,  then  Master  of  the  Rolls, 
instructed  the  late  Sir  Thomas  D.  Hardy, 
Deputy-Keeper  of  the  Records,  to  prepare 
a  report  on  the  subject  of  the  antiquity 
of  the  Psalter.  The  report — a  most  in- 
teresting and  valuable  document — was 
prepared  accordingly.  For  our  present 
purpose  it  is  enough  to  say  that  it  records 
the  unhesitating  opinion  of  all  skilled 
palseographists  who  had  seen  the  MS.  or 
the  photographs,  that  the  copy  of  the 
Qutcunque  vudt  w^hich  it  contains  is  in  a 
handwriting  not  later  at  any  rate  than 
the  seventh  century.  The  words  of  Sir 
Thomas  Hardy — and  no  one  could  speak 
with  more  authority  on  such  a  matter — 
are,  "  The  handwriting  is  certainly  of  the 
sixth  century." 

It  is  well  known  that  Cranmer  and 
the  other  Reformers,  far  from  rejecting 
the  Quieunque,  treated  it  with  great 
honour ;  and  to  this  day,  in  spite  of  many 
efforts  to  get  rid  of  it,  it  is  recited  on 
certain  specified  days  in  the  Anglican 


CROSS,  SIGN  OF  THE        235 

service.  The  disestablished  Irish  Church 
has  rendered  its  use  optional  instead  of 
compulsory.  In  the  Catholic  Church  it 
is  said,  as  above  mentioned,  on  Sundays 
at  prime,  except  on  those  Sundays 
(Easter  Day,  Pentecost,  and  others)  for 
which  there  is  a  special  office. 

IV.  The  Creed  of  Pius  Jr.— The 
Council  of  Trent  (Sess.  xxv.  De  Reform, 
cap.  2)  required  archbishops,  bishops,  &c., 
in  the  next  provincial  council  to  pro- 
mise true  obedience  to  the  Pope,  to  ana- 
thematise all  heresies,  especially  those  con- 
demned at  Trent,  All  the  clergy  bound  to 
attend  the  diocesan  synod  were  required 
to  make  the  same  protestation  at  the  first 
diocesan  synod  at  which  they  were  pre- 
sent ;  and  from  doctors,  masters,  &c.,  in 
universities  an  oath  to  teach  according  to 
the  decrees  and  definitions  of  Trent  was 
to  be  exacted  at  the  beginning  of  each 
year.  Accordingly,  Pius  IV.,  in  the  year 
1564,  published  a  "  Profession  of  the  Tri- 
dentine  Faith."  It  consists  of  the  Nicaeno- 
Constantinopolitan  Creed  with  a  summary 
of  the  Tridentine  definitions.  It  now  also 
contains  a  profession  of  belief  in  the  de- 
finitions of  the  Vatican  Council. 

CRIB.  The  actual  crib  in  which 
Christ  was  born  is  said  to  have  been 
brought  from  Bethlehem  in  the  seventh 
century,  and  to  be  now  preserved  in  the 
Liberian  basilica  at  Rome.  The  present 
custom  of  erecting  a  crib  in  the  churches 
at  Christmas  time  with  figures  represent- 
ing our  Lord,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  St. 
Joseph,  &c.,  began  during  the  thirteenth 
century  in  the  Franciscan  order.  (Bene- 
dict XIV.  «De  Festis,"  i.  n.  641,  n.  679.) 

CROSIER  or  PASTORAI.  STAFF 
(baculus  pustoralis,  pedum,  camhuta).  The 
stafi"  given  to  the  bishop  at  his  consecra- 
tion as  the  symbol  of  the  authority  with 
which  he  rules  his  flock.  It  is  said  that 
such  a  stafi"  is  first  mentioned  bv  Isidore 
of  Seville  (t  636) .  This  stafi'  is  curved  at 
the  top,  straight  in  the  middle,  and  pointed 
at  the  lower  end.  Hence  the  mediseval 
line  quoted  by  Gavantus,  "Curva  trahit, 
quos  dextra  regit;  pars  ultima  pungit." 
The  Pope  alone  of  aU  bishops  actually 
ruling  a  diocese  does  not  use  a  pastoral 
stafiT.  According  to  some,  this  is  because 
the  curvature  in  the  staff  is  a  token  of 
limited  jurisdiction  (  ?). 

CROSS  (Slew  OF;  ADORATXOIT 
OF;  PARTZCI,ES  OF  TRITZ:  CROSS; 
FEASTS  OF,  &.C.). 

1.  "  God  forbid,"  says  St.  Paul,  "that 
I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  i.e.  in  the  sufferings 


236       CROSS,  SIGN  OF  THE 

and  death  of  our  Saviour.  No  wonder, 
then,  that  the  mere  form  of  the  cross, 
which  could  remind  the  heathen  only  of 
a  horrible  and  ig-nominious  death,  should 
be  dear  from  the  first  to  the  Christian 
heart ;  no  wonder  that  Christians  began 
their  prayer  and  sanctified  each  action, 
with  that  sign  which  reminds  us  at  once 
of  that  Sacred  Passion,  which  is  the 
fount  of  all  grace  and  mercy.  "  At  every 
step  and  movement,"  Tertullian  writes, 
"  when  we  go  in  or  out,  when  we  dress  or 
put  on  our  shoes,  at  the  bath,  at  the  table, 
when  lights  are  brought,  when  we  go  to 
bed,  when  we  sit  down,  whatever  it  is 
which  occupies  us,  we  mark  the  forehead 
with  the  sign  of  the  cross."  ^  From  early 
times  the  image  of  the  cross  (the  ci-ux 
exemplata,  as  distinct  from  the  crux 
iLSualv?,  made  with  the  hand)  was  familiar 
to  Christians.  Constantine  placed  a  cross 
of  gold  with  precious  stones  in  the  chief 
hall  of  his  palace.^  Indeed,  so  great  was 
the  devotion  of  Christians  to  the  cross 
that  in  TertuUian's  time  they  were 
charged,  just  as  Catholics  are  charged 
now,  with  worshipping  the  cross.^ 

Two  points  with  regard  to  the  Church's 
use  of  the  cross  need  explanation.  The 
former  of  these  points  is  connected  with 
the  Mass.  It  is  natural  that  the  Church, 
accustomed  to  bless  everything  with  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  should  so  bless  the 
unconsecrated  bread  and  wine.  But  it  is 
surprising  at  first  sight  that  the  sign  of 
the  cross  should  be  frequently  made  over 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  Many  ex- 
planations have  been  given,  but  the  truth 
seems  to  be  that  no  single  explanation 
meets  all  the  difficulties,  and  that  the  sign 
of  the  cross  is  made  over  the  consecrated 
species  for  several  reasons.  Usually  the 
nte  is  meant  to  indicate  the  blessing 
which  flows  forth  from  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ.  At  the  words,  "Through 
whom,  O  Lord,  thou  dost  ever  create  aU 
these  good  thmgs,  sancti  +  fiest  them, 
givest  them  +  life,  bless  +  est  them  and 
bestowest  them  on  us,"  the  signs  of 
the  cross  were  originally  meant  to  be 
made  over  the  eulogia  or  blessed  bread 
placed  on  the  altar  and  then  given  to 
those  who  did  not  communicate.  Lastly 
the  signs  of  the  cross  made  with  the  Host 
at  the  words,  "  Through  Hi  +  m,  and  with 
Hi  +  m,  and  in  Hi  +  m,is  unto  thee,  God  the 
Father  +  Almighty  in  the  unity  of  the 

1  TertuU.  De  Coron.  8. 

2  Euseb.  Vita  Constant,  iii.  49. 

'  *  Qui  cruci3  nos  religiosos  putat.' — Tertull. 
Apol.  16. 


CROSS,  FEASTS  OF  THE 

Holy  +  Ghost,  all  honour  and  glory,"  pro- 
babl}''  arose  from  the  custom  of  making 
the  sign  of  the  cross  in  naming  the  Per- 
sons of  the  Trinity.  Such  at  least  is  the 
result  of  Bishop  Hefele's  careful  investi- 
gation of  the  subject.  The  mystical 
interpretations  of  Gavantus  and  Merati 
deserve  all  respect,  but  scarcely  explain 
the  actual  origin  of  the  practice. 

The  second  point  concerns  the  "  ado- 
ration "  of  the  cross  on  Good  Friday,  and 
the  well-known  statement  of  St.  Thomas, 
that  the  cross  is  to  be  adored  with  latria, 
i.e.  supreme  worship.  The  word  "  adore  " 
with  respect  to  the  cross  occurs  from  early 
times — e.g.  in  a  verse  of  Lactantius 
quoted  by  Benedict  XIV.*  The  language 
of  St.  Thomas  ^  need  create  no  difficulty 
if  properly  understood.  We  may,  he 
says,  regard  an  image  in  two  ways :  (1) 
in  itself,  as  a  piece  of  wood  or  the  like, 
and  so  "  no  reverence  is  given  to  the  image 
of  Christ ; "  or  (2)  as  representing  some- 
thing else,  and  in  this  way  we  may  give 
to  the  cross  relatively — i.e.  to  the  cross  as 
carrying  on  our  mind  to  Christ — the  same 
honour  which  we  give  to  Christ  absolutely, 
t.e.  in  himself.  We  need  not,  as  Bossuet 
points  out,  in  a  letter  on  this  subject, 
adopt  St.  Thomas's  mode  of  expression, 
but  there  is  nothing  in  it  to  scandalise  a 
person  of  sense  and  candour. 

II.  Particles  of  the  true  Cross. — From 
the  time  that  the  cross  on  which  Christ  died 
was  found  by  Helena,  mother  of  Constan- 
tine, Christians  esteemed  it  a  great  hap- 
piness to  possess  a  particle  of  its  sacred 
wood.  St.  Paulinus  speaks  of  such  a 
particle  as  a  "  protection  of  present  and 
pledge  of  eternal  salvation."  Many  such 
minute  particles  of  the  true  cross  are  still 
in  the  possession  of  religious  houses, 
churches,  or  even  private  persons.  Usually 
the  particle  is  placed  in  a  glass  like  a 
monstrance  which  is  closed  with  the  Pa- 
pal or  episcopal  seal.  The  faithful  usually 
shew  their  devotion  by  kissing  this  glass  ; 
the  particles  may  be  placed  on  the  altar, 
incensed  at  solemn  Mass,  used  to  bless 
the  people,  &c. 

HI.  Femts  of  the  Cross. 

(u)  The  "  t^inding  of  the  Cross,"  a 
feast  kept  on  May  3rd,  commemorates  an 
event  which  occurred  in  326.  The  heathen 
had  filled  up  our  Lords  tomb  with  rubbish, 
and  Hadrian  had  erected  a  temple  of  Venus 
on  the  spot.  Constantine  wi'ote  to  Ma- 
carius,  then  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  telling 
him  that  he  wished  to  erect  a  costly 

»  De  Fest.  i.%S29. 
»  III.  XXV.  a.  8  et  4. 


CROSS,  FEASTS  OF  THE 

church  over  the  sepulchre  and  in  826 
Helena,  mother  of  Constantine,  instituted 
a  search  for  this  holjr  tomb.  Not  only 
did  she  find  the  tomb  itself  but  also  three 
crosses  near  to  it,  with  nails  and  the 
inscription  on  our  Lord's  cross,  lying  apart. 
Macarius,  unable  to  discover  which  of 
the  three  was  the  cross  of  Christ,  brought 
a  lady  in  the  last  extremity  of  illness 
to  the  spot,  and  when  the  last  of  the 
three  crosses  touched  her,  she  was  sud- 
denly cured.  Helena  sent  the  nails,  the 
title*  and  a  considerable  part  of  the 
true  cross,  thus  miraculously  attested,  to 
Constantine.  The  rest  of  the  cross  was 
left  at  .Terusalem,  placed  in  a  silver  case, 
and  in  the  succeeding  age  it  was  sliown  once 
a  year,  on  Good  Friday,  in  order  that  it 
might  be  venerated  by  the  faithful.  This 
finding  of  the  cross  and  the  miracle  are 
attested  by  authors,  so  many,  of  such  high 
authority,  and  who  lived  so  near  the 
event  (viz.  Rufinus,  Socrates,  Sozomen, 
Theodoret),  that  we  cannot  reasonably 
refuse  to  believe  it.  (See  Fleury,  xi.  32, 
and  Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Fest."  where  the 
references  are  given.)  The  Bollandists 
conjecture  that  the  feast,  which  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Sacramentary  of  St.  Gre- 
gory, was  first  kept  in  the  church  of 
Santa  Croce  at  Rome  and  that  gradually 
the  commemoration  spread  through  the 
West.  Gregory  XI.  ordered  a  special 
office  to  be  composed  for  this  feast.  Cle- 
ment VIII.  raised  it  to  a  double  of  the 
second  class,  and  removed  certain  parts  of 
the  old  office  which  were  founded  on 
apocryphal  "Acts." 

(iS)  The  "Exaltation  of  the  Cross  * 
was  celebrated  from  ancient  times  in 
memory  of  the  miraculous  apparition 
which  Constantine  saw  in  the  year  317 
as  he  was  preparing  t^  fight  against 
Maxentius.  He  beheld  in  the  daylight  a 
luminous  cross,  with  the  inscription 
*  Conquer  by  this  "  (rovra  vlko).  Euse- 
bius  assures  us  that  he  had  heard  the  story 
related  on  oath  by  Constantine  himself.'^ 
Thomassin  supposes  that  Constantine 
himself  may  have  caused  the  feast  to  be 
instituted.^  The  day  was  afterwards  kept 
with  greater  solemnity  when,  after  his 
victory  over  the  Persians  in  627,  Heraclius 
recovered  the  true  cross,  which  Chosroes, 
the  Persian  Emperor,  had  carried  away 
when  he  became  master  of   Jerusalem, 

^  See,  however,  Fleury,  cxvii.  26.  It  is 
said  that  the  title  of  the  cross,  having  fallen  out 
of  sight,  was  found  in  a  vault  under  the  church 
of  Santa  Croce  at  Rome  in  1492. 

a  Euseb.  Vita  Constan.  i.  28. 

5  Thomassin,  Traite  des  Festes,  ii.  24. 


CRUCIFIX 


237 


t'nree  years  before.  Coins  were  struck  to 
commemorate  the  recovery  of  the  cross. 
Heraclius  first  of  all  replaced  the  cross  in 
Jerusalem,  and  then  for  the  sake  of  safety 
put  it  in  the  church  of  St.  Sophia  at 
Constantinople.  Clement  VIII.  made  the 
feast  of  the  Exaltation  (Sept.  14)  a  greater 
double. 

IV.  Q-088  and  Crosa-hearens  in  JPro' 
cessions. — The  cross  is  carried  between 
two  acolytes  bearing  lights.  The  cross- 
bearer  in  the  more  solemn  processions 
should  be  a  subdeacon,  distinct  from  the 
subdeacon  of  the  Mass,  and  wearing  the 
vestments  of  his  order.  Regulars  carry 
the  cross  with  a  veil  hanging  from  it,  "  to 
indicate,"  if  Gavantus  may  be  trusted, 
"  their  subjection  and  inferiority  to  the 
secular  clergy.  The  back  of  the  cross 
should  be  turned  to  the  cross-bearer,  as  a 
symbol  of  the  duty  laid  on  Christians  of 
following  their  Master  ;  but  the  Papal  or 
archiepiscopal  cross  is  turned  towards  the 
Pope  or  archbishop,  to  show  that  the 
thought  of  Christ  crucified  is  to  support 
them  in  their  toils."  The  use  of  the  cross 
in  processions  may  be  traced,  Baronius 
says,  further  back  than  the  vear  398. 
(Gavantus,  P.I.  tit.  19.) 

CRtTCZFZX.  The  cross,  as  we  have 
shown  in  an  earlier  article,  was  used  in 
Christian  worship  from  the  earliest  times ; 
the  crucifix,  or  representation  of  Christ 
crucified,  was  probably  introduced  much 
later.  No  crucifix  has  been  found  in  the 
Catacombs  ;  no  certain  allusion  to  a  cru- 
cifix is  made  by  any  Christian  writer  of 
the  first  four  centuries.  It  is  true  that 
in  excavations  made  on  the  Palatine  hill 
near  the  church  of  St.  Anastasia,  a  pic- 
ture was  found  on  the  wall  known  as 
the  "blasphemous  crucifix.'*  A  figure 
with  the  body  of  a  man  and  the  head 
of  an  ass  is  hanging  on  a  cross,  a  slave 
stands  by  adoring  the  figure,  and  the  in- 
scription in  Greek  uncial8,runs*AXe|a/xei'os 
(re^€Te(ai)  6e6v,  Alexamenus  worships  [his] 
God.  This  caricature  belongs  no  doubt 
to  the  ante-Nicene  age  ;  but  does  it  prove 
the  use  of  crucifixes  among  Christians  at 
that  time?  It  might  be  regarded  as  an 
additional  proof  were  other  and  more 
convincing  ones  forthcoming.  As  it  is, 
we  must  suppose  that  a  heathen,  having 
heard  that  the  Christians  worshipped  a 
crucified  God,  and  being  also  familiar  with 
the  common  calumny  that  the  Christians 
worshipped  the  head  of  an  ass,  combined 
the  two  ideas  in  his  rude  fresco. 

In  the  first  four  centuries,  then,  there 
is  no  conclusive  evidence  that  Christians 


CRUCIFIX 


CULTUS 


ever  placed  a  figure  on  the  cross.  In 
the  fifth  centuiy  it  became  usual  to 
put  the  fio-ure  of  a  lamb  or  even  a  bust 
of  Christ  on  the  cross,  sometimes  above, 
sometimes  below,  sometimes  in  the  middle, 
and  many  crucifixes  of  this  kind  still 
exist.  St.  Paulinus  of  Nola  (Ep.  32) 
describes  one  of  them  in  the  words 
*'  Sub  cruce  sanguinea  niveo  stat  Christus  in 
agno ; " 

80  that  the  cross  here  must  have  been  red, 
the  fiorure  on  it  white. 

From  the  sixth  century  onwards  cru- 
cifixes in  the  strict  sense  were  in  use.  St, 
Gregory  of  Tours  {''  De  Gloria  Martyrum," 
1,  2,  3),  towards  the  eud  of  the  sixth 
century,  mentions  a  picture  of  the  cruci- 
fixion in  the  church  of  St.  Genesius  at 
Narbonne.  A  small  cross  of  brass  with 
the  figure  of  Christ  on  it  was  found  in  the 
grave  of  the  Frankish  sovereign  Chil- 
peric.  A  SyriacMS.  of  the  Gospels, written 
in  586,  and  now  in  Florence,  contains  a 
picture  of  the  crucifixion.  In  692  the 
Synod  in  Trullo,  recognising  a  custom 
which  had  already  become  predominant, 
decreed  (can.  82)  that  for  the  future, 
instead  of  the  Lauib,  the  figure  of  Cbrist 
should  be  placed  on  the  cross. 

We  pass  on  to  speak  of  the  form 
given  to  the  crucifix.  In  the  Syriac  book  of 
the  Gospels,  Christ  is  completely  clothed, 
witb  hands  and  feet  nailed,  each  foot 
being  fastened  by  a  separate  nail.  In  the 
crucifix  at  Narbonne  described  by  St. 
Gregory,  Christ's  body  was  almost  naked. 
But  in  one  point  all  the  earliest  crucifixes 
agreed.  They  all  represented  Christ,  as 
nailed,  indeed,  to  the  cross,  but  with  open 
eyes,  in  dignified  repose,  and  without 
any  trace  of  pain  on  his  face.  Sometimes 
a  royal  crown  was  placed  on  his  head. 
When  the  Greeks,  though  not  before  the 
tenth  century,  painted  Christ  on  the  cross, 
with  anatomical  correctness,  as  dying  or 
already  dead,  the  innovation  gave  great 
scandal  to  the  Latins.  Cardinal  Humbert 
attacked  the  Greeks  for  this  practice  in 
very  violent  language,  while  a  synod*  under 
the  schismatical  patriarch  Michael  Cerul- 
arius  speaks  of  godless  men  from  the 
West  who  anathematised  the  orthodox 
church  because  it  "  did  not  change  unna- 
turally the  form  of  man"  which  Christ 
took.  Gradually,  however,  the  Greek 
custom  prevailed  even  in  the  West, 
partly  because  it  was  reasonable,  partly 
because  Greek  artists  often  settled  in 
Western  Europe;  and  D'Agincourt  gives 
copies  of  Italian  crucifixes  from  the 
1  Hefele,  ConcU.  iv.p.737 


"  Beitrage,' 


twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  which 
follow  the  Greek  fashion.  (From  Hefele, 
&c.) 
CRYPT  {a-i/pta,  from  Kpinrrto).  The 
word  originally  meant  an  underoround 
place,  natural  or  artificial,  suitable  for 
the  concealment  of  persons  or  things. 
Juvenal  give  the  name  of  "crypta"  to  a 
sewer  (Sat.  v.  106)  ;  Suetonius  uses  it  as 
equivalent  to  "  cryptoporticus,"'  a  shel- 
tered shady  arcade  or  gallery  (Calig.  68) ; 
Vitruvius  classes  "  ciyptse  "  with "  horrea  " 
and  "apothecae,"  with  the  general  notion 
of  cellar,  store-room,  or  granary.  Secret 
and  underground  places,  cryptce,  were 
often  used  for  Christian  worship  in  the 
ages  of  persecution.  After  tne  conversion 
of  Constantine,  churches  were  often  built 
over  the  ancient  crypts  ;  but  more  gener- 
ally crypts  were  excavated  beneath 
churches.  Besides  the  great  advantage 
of  securing  the  church  from  damp,  this 
arrangement  also  provided  a  space  which, 
when  furnished  with  altars,.could  subserve 
at  need  the  purposes  of  public  worship, 
or  might  be  used  as  a  place  of  interment 
for  the  ecclesiastics  serving  the  church. 
Good  instances  of  the  crypt  may  be 
observed  at  Gloucester  Cathedral,  at  one 
of  the  churches  of  Bordeaux  (where  some 
remarkable  property  of  the  air  in  the 
crypt  preserves  bodies  from  de;  ay),  and 
beneath  the  ancient  chapel  of  St.  Audiy 
belonging  to  the  bishops  of  Ely,  in  Ely 
Place,  lately  recovered  for  Catholic  wor- 
ship.    (Ducange;  Facciolati.) 

CVXiDSES.  A  Gaelic  name  {ceile  De, 
servant  of  God)  denoting  those  who  had 
strictly  devoted  themselves  to  the  divine 
service,  whether  as  monks  or  seculai*s. 
It  is  commonly  applied  to  the  monks 
whom  St,  Columba  planted  at  lona,  and 
to  the  numerous  communities  which  grew 
out  of  that  foundation ;  the  word,  how- 
ever, does  not  occur,  nor  is  it  in  any  way 
referred  to,  in  the  writings  of  Beda.  A 
kind  of  hereditary  transmission  of  office 
is  sometimes  traceable  among  them,  for 
in  the  distraction  and  confusion  of  the 
dark  ages  the  discipline  of  celibacy  was 
much  neglected  ;  see  the  account  by 
Symeon  of  Durham  of  the  custodians  of 
me  body  of  St.  Cuthbert  at  Lindisfarne. 
("  Hist.  Eccl.  Dunelm."  ii.  12,  iv.  3.) 

crntTUS.  Veneration  or  worship. 
Catholic  theologians  distinguish  three 
kinds  of  Cultus.  Latria  (Xarpeta)  or 
supreme  worship  is  due  to  God  alone,  and 
cannot  be  transferred  to  any  creature 
without  the  horrible  sin  of  idolatry.  The 
word  Xarpeia  is  used  in  this  sense  by  the 


CURATE 

Greek  Fathers  and  corresponds  to  the 
Hebrew  ninV;  Dulia  (SovXfta)  is  that 
secondary  veneration  which  Catholics  give 
to  saints  and  angels  as  the  servants  and 
special  friends  of  God.  The  same  idea  is 
expressed  by  Cyril  of  Alexandria  when  he 
speaks  of  the  "  relative  veneration  and 
cultus  of  honour "  (ovtc  TrpoaKwelv 
eWianeOa  Xarpex/riKcos  aXXa  (tx^tikms  Kal 
TifirjTiKas).^  Lastly,  hyperdulia,  which 
is  only  a  subdivision  of  dulia,'^  is  that 
higher  veneration  which  we  give  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  as  the  most  exalted  of  mere 
creatures,  though  of  course  infinitely  in- 
ferior to  God  and  incomparably  inferior  to 
Christ  in  his  human  nature. 

CTTRilTS  (curatus,  one  entrusted 
with  the  care  of  souls).  The  term  can 
hardly  be  said  to  be  in  use  among  Ameri- 
can Catholics,  though  common  in  Ireland. 
Irish  curates,  acting  under  the  parish 
priests,  appear  to  correspond  to  the  "ca- 
pellani,  vel  vice-curati  "  of  Ferraris,  who 
says  of  them  that  "  they  administer  the 
sacraments,  not  in  their  own  name,  but  in 
that  of  another — namely,  the  rector  (par- 
ish-priest)— and  therefore  they  ought 
to  bo  called  assistants  {cooperatores)^  not 
rectors,  although  they  have  cure  of  souls. 
When  it  is  said  that  there  ought  to 
be  only  one  rector  in  a  parish,  this  must 
be  understood  to  refer  to  ordinary  juris- 
diction, not  to  delegated  jurisdiction,  such 
as  is  that  pf  a  chaplain  or  vice-curate." 
(Ferraris,  Parochia.) 

CURE  OP  soirXiS.  [See  Parish 
and  Parish-Priest.]  As  now  understood, 
a  cure  of  souls  is  that  portion  of  respon- 
sibility for  the  provision  of  sacraments 
to,  and  the  adequate  instruction  of,  the 
Christian  faithful,  which  devolves  upon 
the  parish-priest  of  a  particular  district 
in  regard  to  the  souls  of  all  persons 
dwelling  within  the  limits  of  that  district. 
In  ancient  times  the  cure  of  souls  through- 
out his  diocese  (often  called  paroecia)  was 
held  to  fall  upon  the  bishop,  who  dis- 
charged his  responsibility  by  the  agency 
of  priests  sent  to  such  places  as  he  judged 
suitable,  supported  with  such  disburse- 
ments as  he  thought  sufficient,  and  remov- 
able at  his  pleasure.  The  division  of 
dioceses  into  parishes  with  fixed  incum- 
bents and  permanent  revenues  cannot  be 
traced  back  beyond  the  fourth  century.^ 

1  Petav.  De  Angel  ii.  9. 

2  St.  Thomas,  2  2nd8e,  103,  4.  This  is  an  im- 
portant point,  for  we  must  not  of  course  put 
the  Blessed  Virgin  between  creatures  and  God. 
She  is  herself  a  mere  creature. 

3  Soglia,  ii.  8,  84. 


CURIA  ROMANA 


239 


It  was  once  commonly  held  that  this 
change  was  introduced  by  Pope  Dionysius 
in  the  second  half  of  the  third  century, 
but  the  statement  to  that  effect  only  rests 
on  the  authority  of  the  Pseudo-Isidore. 

A  district  is  not  allowed  by  law  to 
have  a  parish  priest  appropriated  to  it,  if 
it  contain  fewer  than  ten  houses  or  fam- 
ilies. There  can  be  only  one  parish- 
priest  or  rector  in  a  parish,  having  cure 
of  souls  by  ordinary  right.  (Ferraris, 
Parochia.) 

CURIA  ROMAITA.  The  Curia,  m 
the  stricter  sense, designates  the  authorities 
which  administer  the  Papal  Primacy  ;  in 
a  wider  acceptation  it  embraces  all  the 
authorities  and  functionaries  forming  the 
immediate  entourage  or  Court  of  the  Pope. 
The  following  sketch  of  its  history  is 
abridged  from  the  article  by  Buss  in  the 
"  Dictiormaire  Catholique"  by  Wetzer  and 
Welte.  While  there  are  many  features 
in  the  Curia  which  resemble  an  ordinary 
episcopal  administration,  there  are  also 
certain  characteristics  which  from  the 
first  distinguished  it,  and  gave  to  it  a 
peculiar  elevation.  The  ancient  Prea- 
byterium  of  Rome  was  gradually,  as 
we  have  seen  [Cardin"Al],  transformed 
into  the  Cardinalate.  The  power  of  the 
archdeacon,  exercised  in  the  third  cen- 
tury by  the  martyr  St.  Laurence  (the 
glory  of  whose  virtues  shone  throughout 
Christendom),  passed  to  the  Cardinal 
Camerarius,  or  Oamerlengo,  who  was  the 
head  of  the  Camera,  or  financial  de- 
partment of  the  Apostolic  See,  and  as 
representing  the  ancient  archdeacons, 
wielded  also  an  extensive  jurisdiction. 
Other  great  officials  in  ancient  times  were 
the  archpriest,  and  the  Primicerius  of  the 
Notaries.  The  former  had  the  chief 
charge  of  what  related  to  worship,  and 
was  represented,  as  the  cardinalate  de- 
veloped itself,  by  the  Cardinal  Vicar. 
The  Primicerius,  being  at  the  head  of  the 
department  which  came  in  due  time  to 
be  called  the  Cancellei-iaf  or  Chancery, 
corresponds  to  the  Cardinal  Vice-Chan- 
cellor presiding  over  that  important 
ministry.  But  there  were  also  in  the 
body  of  functionaries  by  whom  the  Ro- 
man Pontiff  was  surrounded  points  of 
resemblance  to  the  Imperial  Court  at 
Rome  or  Constantinople ;  this  appears  in 
the  Familia,  or  household,  of  the  Pope 
(Famiglia  Pontijicid)  in  many  ways,  and 
is  also  observable  in  the  important  post  of 
Praifectus  Apostolici  Palatii. 

In  the  middle  ages  the  business  which 
flowed  in  upon  the  Papal  Curia  was  imc 


240 


CUKIA  ROMANA 


CURIA  ROMANA 


mense.  The  changed  conditions,  civil 
and  religious,  of  Europe  made  inevitable 
the  multiplication  of  appeals  from  metro- 
politan courts  to  the  Holy  See.  Dispen- 
sations also,  and  nominations  to  reserved 
benefices,  could  not  easily,  at  a  time 
when  communication  was  still  difficult 
and  intermittent,  be  obtained  without 
personal  visits  to  Rome.  To  dispose  of 
the  various  applications  and  petitions, 
and  try  the  various  suits,  a  large  staff  of 
officials,  both  administrative  and  judicial, 
had  to  be  employed.  The  Popes  could 
not  always  exercise  an  efficient  control 
over  this  mass  of  subordinates ;  hence 
abuses  arose,  and  extortion  was  loudly 
imputed  to  the  Roman  officials.  The 
high  rates  of  the  taxes,  or  fees  of  office, 
demanded  at  the  Chancery  for  the  ex- 
pediting of  any  bull  or  brief,  the  delays 
in  the  settlement  of  affairs,  and  the  mul- 
tiplication of  rules  and  formalities,  were 
the  object  of  frequent  coraplaii?ts.  Re- 
forms were  begun  by  Pius  IV.  and 
carried  on  energetically  by  St.  Pius  V.  and 
Sixtus  V.  Nevertheless,  if  any  supine- 
ness  ever  existed  on  the  part  of  the  reign- 
ing Pope,  abuses  reappeared.  Thus,  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  the  practice  of 
burdening  benefices,  the  appointments  to 
which  proceeded  from  the  Chancery, 
with  pensions  to  one  or  other  member 
of  the  Curia,  attained  to  a  very  pernicious 
height.  However,  Benedict  XIV.  ''de- 
creed a  radical  reform ;  his  system  was 
continued  by  Leo  XH.  and  Gregory  XVI., 
and  is  pursued  under  the  strict  and 
regular  administration  of  Pius  IX."  ^ 

The  different  branches  of  the  Curia 
have  now  to  be  described  in  detail ;  but 
it  may  assist  us  in  dealing  with  this 
vast  and  comphcated  subject,  if  we  first 
endeavour  to  obtain  a  rough  general 
view  of  it,  by  considering  what  are 
the  chief  ends  for  which  the  Papacy 
exists,  and  which  the  action  of  the  Curia 
is  directed  to  promote.  As  the  succes- 
sor of  St.  Peter  and  the  Vicar  of  Christ, 
the  Pope  has,  first  of  all,  to  govern 
and  feed  with  sound  doctrine  the  whole 
flock  of  Christ — i.e.  the  universal  Church — 
and  his  own  diocese  in  particular.  The 
agencies  in  the  Curia  by  which  he  fulfils 
these  pui-poses  are  the  Sacred  Congrega- 
tions of  Cardinals,  the  Secretaiiat  of  State, 
and  theVicariate  of  Rome ;  and  the  machin- 
ery employed  is  supplied  by  the  Chancery, 
the  Dataria,  and  the  Camera  Apostolica. 
As  the  "supremus  judex"  in  Christen- 
dom, the  Pope  acts,  partly  through 
'  Buss,  writing  before  1870. 


special  congregations  and  delegated  judges 
[DELEGATiON],partly  through  tlie  regular 
tribunals  of  the  Rota  and  the  Segnatura 
i^foruin  externuTn)  and  the  Penitenziaria 
{forum  internum).  Before  the  usurpa- 
tion of  the  temporal  power,  the  Camera 
also  was  a  court  of  justice.  Again,  the 
Vicar  of  Christ  must  be  dihgently  and 
uninterruptedly  occupied  with  the  wor- 
ship of  the  true  God ;  to  this  end  corre- 
sponds the  institution  of  the  Papal  Chapel 
(Capella  Po7itificid).  As  living  and  reign- 
ing, the  Pope,  like  any  other  sovereign  or 
any  other  bishop,  has  his  "family"  or 
household  {Famiglia  Ponti/icia),  one  im- 
portant branch  of  which  is  the  depart- 
ment having  charge  of  the  Papal  resi- 
dences {Prefettura  del  Sacro  Palazzo 
Aposf.olico).  To  carry  on  the  necessary 
external  relations  with  the  powers  of  the 
world,  the  Pope  has  Legates,  Nuncios, 
and  Apostolic  Delegates,  receives  ambas- 
sadors, appoints  and  admits  consuls. 
Lastly,  as  a  sovereign  ruling  over  that 
extent  of  dominion  which  came  in  the 
dispositions  of  Providence  to  the  Papacy, 
and  was  usurped  by  violence  a  few  years 
ago,  the  Pope  had  ministries,  judges 
civil  and  criminal,  boards,  commissions, 
and  all  the  usual  machinery  of  adminis- 
tration in  civilised  countries. 

In  the  order  indicated  by  this  brief 
sketch,  we  shall  now  describe  the  prin- 
cipal attributions  of  the  various  branches 
of  the  Curia.  The  mode  in  which  the 
action  of  the  Cardinals  is  applied  to  assist 
the  Pope  in  the  government  of  the  Church 
has  been  already  described  in  the  article 
on  Congregations  (Sacred)  ;  but  men- 
tion was  not  there  made  of  a  Congrega- 
tion the  action  of  which  is  important  in 
reference  to  the  present  subject — viz.  the 
Congj'egntio  Visitationis  Apostolicce,  of 
which  the  Cardinal  Vicar  is  president. 
This  Congregation,  organised  by  Cle- 
ment VIII.  and  Innocent  XII.,  repre- 
sents the  Pope  in  his  character  of  a 
bishop  visiting  his  diocese. 

The  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State  is 
the  exclusive  channel  through  whom  must 
pass  all  communications  carried  on  be- 
tween the  Holy  See  and  foreign  Powers. 
He  is  the  Pope's  Prime  Minister — not  of 
course  in  the  sense  which  the  word  bears 
in  countries  where  the  Minister  is  more 
powerful  than  the  Sovereign,  so  that  the 
former's  "advice"  overrides  the  latt^r's 
initiative— but  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
term :  a  faithful  agent  and  servant  exe- 
cuting the  intentions  of  his  master,  whom 
he  serves  to  the  best  of  his  ability.    He 


OXJRIA  ROMANA 

carries  on  the  negotiations,  in  which  the 
Pontiff  is  perpetually  engaged,  which  have 
for  their  object  to  secure  the  liberties,  ex- 
tend the  limits,  and  promote  the  welfare 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  Under  him  are 
placed  the  Nuncios  and  other  diplomatic 
agents  of  the  Holy  See,  and  to  him  they 
make  tlieir  reports.  The  officials  under  him 
consist  of  several  '^  Minutanti,"  a  writer  in 
cypher,  an  archivist,  a  sub-archivist,  &e. 
Being  in  close  and  permanent  relations  to 
the  Pope, ''  he  represents  the  principle  of 
the  Pontifical  Government;  his  influence 
is  consequently  felt  in  all  ways  in  acts 
emanating  directly  from  the  person  of 
the  Pope  ;  he  directs  all  important  po- 
litical measures,  puts  in  force  the  de- 
cisions relative  to  the  organic  institutions 
of  the  Church,  and  transmits  the  in- 
structions by  which  the  functionaries  of 
the  Curia  are  guided."  ' 

The  Vicariate  of  Rome  is  under  the 
Cardinal  Vicar,  assisted  by  a  Vicegerent, 
a  Promotor  Fiscal,  and  two  or  three 
other  officials,  of  whom  one  is  the  "  De- 
fensor Matrimonii "  [see  that  article]. 

The  celebrated  department  of  the 
Roman  Chancery  is  that  which  drafts 
and  expedites  the  bulls  and  briefs  by 
which  the  mind  of  the_  Poutitf  is  made 
known  to  Christendom,  or  to  particular 
suitors.  The  Cardinal  at  its  head  is  not 
called  "Chancellor,'  but  "  Vice-Chan- 
cellor,"  probably  because  the  title  of  Chan- 
cellor, having  sprung  out  of  a  function 
which  was  originally  purely  subordinate 
and  ministerial,  was  thought  to  be  be- 
neath the  dignity  of  the  Sacred  College. 

"  At  what  time,"  says  Ferraris,  "  the 
office  of  the  Chancellor  attained  to  that 
height  of  eminence  and  prerogative  which 
it  is  now  seen  to  possess  in  the  Roman 
Curia,  is  a  point  not  accurately  deter- 
mined. Inquirers  into  its  origin  tell  us 
that  it  was  planned  and  established  after 
the  time  of  Innocent  III.  In  his  time, 
it  is  known  that  the  duties  of  Chancellor 
were  discharged  by  private  persons,  but 
such  as  were  of  known  and  conspicuous 
probity  and  erudition,  In  course  of 
time,  under  Boniface  VIII.,  it  is  certain 
that  the  dignity  of  Chancellor  was  as- 
signed to  one  of  the  Cardinals."  He  ex- 
plains the  addition  of  "  vice  "  to  the  title, 
and  proceeds :  "  The  Vice-Chancellor  has 
a  fixed  cardinalitial  title — namely,  that  of 
the  collegiate  church  of  St.  Laurence  in 
Damaso.  The  more  pressing,  weighty, 
public,  and  solemn  affairs  of  the  Apostolic 
See,  such  as  are  those  debated  on  in  the 
1  Busfl 


OURIA  ROMANA 


241 


Consistory,  pass  through  the  hands  of  the 
Vice-Chaucellor,  so  that  he  must  be 
called,  by  analogy  with  pirailar  offices 
elsewhere,  the  Papal  Chancellor.  Among 
his  numerous  subordinates,  the  one  of 
highest  rank  is  he  who  is  called  the 
Regent  of  the  Chancery,  who  revises 
bulls  that  have  been  expedited  and  pro- 
mulgated, and,  if  any  error  has  crept  in, 
corrects  it.  The  other  officials  of  the 
Vice- Chancellor  to  whose  posts  prelatical 
rank  is  annexed,  are  the  Presidents  of 
the  greater  or  lesser  *'  Parens,"  so  called 
from  the  name  by  which  the  place  in  the 
Chancery  where  they  meet  is  popularly 
called.  The  prelates  of  the  greater  Parens 
of  the  Chancery  constitute  a  kind  of 
tribunal,  when  they  meet  and  decide 
doubts  which  may  arise  concerning  the 
form  of  documents,  or  the  clauses  and 
decrees  which  have  to  be  inserted  in 
them,  and  also  respecting  the  payment  of 
fees  and  charges.  The  prelates  of  the 
lesser  Parous  have  a  restricted  juris- 
diction, the  one  object  of  their  institution 
being  to  transmit  and  deliver  bulls  to  the 
prelates  of  the  greater  Parens.  The 
writers,  abbreviators  [see  that  art.],  and 
others  responsible  for  the  preparation  of 
documents  in  the  Roman  Chancery,  all 
share  in  those  rights  and  emoluments 
which  are  commonly  called  the  Taxes  of 
the  Apostolic  Chancery.  That  these 
rights  derive  their  origin  from  John  XXII. 
is  plain  from  the  section  in  his  Extra va- 
gantes  beginning  "  Quum  ad  Sacro- 
rancta."  ^ 

The  proceedings  of  the  Chancery  are 
governed  by  certain  fixed  rules,  which, 
as  already  mentioned  [Canon  Law]  lorm 
a  substantive  part  of  the  Jus  Novissimum. 
They  are  only  of  force,  however,  during 
the  lifetime  of  a  Pope ;  every  Pontiff,  on 
the  day  after  his  accession,  publishes 
them  anew,  with  such  omissions  or 
additions  as  he  may  think  fit  to  make. 

For  an  account  of  the  Dataria,  see 
that  article.  The  Camera  Apostolica  or 
department  of  finance  in  the  Papal  Go- 
vernment is  presided  over  by  the  Cardinal 
Camerlengo.  Previously  to  the  event  of 
September  1 870,  the  Camera  was  also  a 
court  of  justice,  which,  like  our  Court  of 
Exchequer  in  ancient  times,  took  cognis- 
ance of  offences  committed  against  the 
revenue  laws,  or  by  persons  in  its  em- 
ployment. The  staff  of  the  department 
is  still  kept  up  nearly  at  its  former' 
strength  ;  for  although  many  sources  of 
revenue  have  been  cut  off  since  the  us?u> 
^  Ferraris,  "  Cancellaria, "  §44. 


OmilA  ROMANA 


OURIA  ROMANA 


pation,  and  the  Pontiff'  does  not  and  can- 
not accept  the  annual  subvention  which 
the  usurping  Government  places  at  its 
disposal,  still  the  revenues  of  the  Papacy 
cannot  hut  he  large,  in"  view  of  the 
immense  interests  winch  it  administers, 
the  numbers  and  ditlusion  of  the  Catholic 
populations  whereof  it  is  the  centre,  and 
the  indignation  and  sympathy  which  the 
spoliation  to  which  it  has  been  subjected 
has  aroused  in  all  upright  minds.  The 
office  of  Treasurer,  the  highest  official  in 
the  department  after  the  Vice-Camerlengo, 
is  at  present  vacant,  and  many  of  the 
revenue  departments  of  which  he  had  the 
control  are  in  abeyance ;  but  the  "  prelate 
clerks"  of  the  Camera,  who  form  the 
council  of  the  Camerlengo,  still  perform 
their  functions. 

Coming  now  to  the  organs  by  which 
the  Papal  jurisdiction  is  exercised,  we 
have  first  to  name  the  Rota ;  for  an 
account  of  which  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  article  Rota  Romana.  The  Segna- 
tura  Papale  di  Giustizia  "takes  cognis- 
ance of  cases  which  may  or  may  not 
come  before  the  Rota  on  appeal,  suits  of 
competence,  causes  of  nullity  of  marriage, 
demands  for  restitution,  &c.  ...  It  is 
composed  of  a  Cardinal  President,  j>;'<g/ec- 
tus,  seven  prelates,  and  a  few  referen- 
daries, who  have  a  decisive,  not  merely  a 
consultative,  voice.  An  Auditor  appointed 
in  connection  with  the  Segnatura  deter- 
mines what  affairs  it  ia  competent  to  try, 
and  may  give  decisions  on  various  pre- 
liminary issues,  from  which,  however,  a 
suitor  may  appeal  to  the  Segnatura  itself. 
The  Dean  of  the  Rota,  the  Regent  of  the 
Chancery,  and  two  representatives  of  the 
Camera,  have  seats  at  the  Segnatura. 
The  sentences  are  signed  by  the  Pope 
with  the  word  '  Fiat '  in  his  own  hand, 
or,  in  his  presence  and  in  his  name,  by  a 
Cardinal,  who  says,  *  Concessum  in  prcs- 
sentia  Domini  nostri  Papa.^  "  ^ 

Connected  with  the  above  tribunal  is 
the  Segnatura  di  Grazia,  which  "  decides 
in  suits  where  an  appeal  is  made  to  the 
personal  favour  of  the  Po])e,  such  suits — 
as  being  matters  of  favour — allowing  of 
more  prompt  decision.  A  suit  on  which 
the  S.  of  Justice  has  given  judgment 
ma)'^,  with  the  authorisation  of  the  Pope, 
be  opened  again  before  the  S.  of  Grace. 
The  Pope  himself  presides  in  this  college, 
which  consists  of  Cardinals  named  by 
him ;  the  Cardinal  Penitentiary,  tlje 
Secretary  of  Briefs,  and  the  President  of 
the  Dataria,  belong  to  it  ex  officio.  Besides 
»  Busa. 


other  prelates,  the  Auditor  of  the  Camera, 
one  of  the  Auditors  of  the  Rota,  the 
Regent  of  the  Chancery,  &c.,  take  part  in 
the  deliberations.  Three  referendary  pre- 
lates draw  up  the  reports ;  the  members 
present  have  only  a  consultative  voice; 
the  Pope  alone  decides  and  signs."'  ^ 

The  Penitenziaria  Rcmana  has  a  Car- 
dinal at  its  head,  called  the  Penitentiarius 
Major,  who  is  assisted  by  a  Regent,  a 
Theologian,  and  other  officials.  The 
Grand  Penitentiary  is  nppointed  by  the 
Pope  :  he  must  be  of  the  order  of  Car- 
dinal Priests,  and  a  master  in  theology, 
or  a  doctor  in  canon  law.  His  faculties 
extend  to — absolving  from  sins  and 
censures,  dispensing  in  cases  of  irregu- 
larity [Ikeegularity],  commuting,  or 
releasing  from,  oaths  and  vows,  and  in 
various  other  ways  exercising  the  power 
of  binding  and  loosing  given  to  St.  Peter 
by  our  Lord.  He  sits  in  one  or  other  of 
the  three  great  basilicas  of  Rome  on  four 
days  in  Holy  Week  (in  St.  John  Lateran 
on  Palm  Sunday,  in  St.  Mary  Major  on 
Wednesday,  and  in  St.  Peter's  on  Holy 
Thursday  and  Good  Friday),  and  there 
hears  the  confessions  of  such  of  the  faith- 
ful as  resort  to  him,  and  touches  the 
heads  of  those  who  stoop  low  before  him 
— ^^ pie  sese  submittevtium'' — with  the 
rod  of  the  Penitentiary,  granting  to  them 
at  the  same  time  an  indulgence  of  a  hun- 
dred days.  He  is  entitled  to  sol«^mnise 
Mass  in  the  Capella  Pontificia  on  three 
days  in  the  year,  viz.  on  Ash  Wednesday, 
Good  Friday  (Mass  of  the  Presanctified), 
and  All  Souls'  Day,  and  to  bring  to  an 
expiring  Pope  the  last  rites  and  succours 
of  religion.  The  voluminous  Constitution 
of  Benedict  XIV.  beginning  "  Pastor  Bo- 
nus "  defines  with  exactness  the  duties, 
powers,  and  privileges  of  the  Penitenziaria, 
and  of  aU  the  officials  connected  with  it. 

On  the  Capella  Pontijicia  the  reader 
will  do  well  to  consult  the  learned  work 
of  Dr.  Baggs  entitled  "The  Pope's 
Chapel."  The  dignitaries,  prelates,  &c., 
who  have  a  recognised  place  in  the 
chapel  for  the  sacred  functions,  are  all 
arranged  according  to  their  respective 
order  and  precedence.  First,  the  College 
ot  Cardinals  ;  next,  the  College  of  Patri- 
archs, Archbishops  and  Bishops  assisting 
at  the  Pontifical  Throne.  Ten  patriarchs, 
more  than  ninety  archbishops,  and  about 
two  hundred  and  thirty  bishops,  enjoy 
this  dignity  at  the  present  time.  Then 
come,  in  the  order  named,  the  Vice- 
Oamerlengo,  the  Princes  a'jsisting  at  the 
1  Boss. 


CURIA  ROMANA 

Throne,  the  Auditor  and  Treasurer  of  the 
Camera,  the  Majordomo,  archbishops 
and  bishops  generally,  the  prelates  (some 
two  hundred  in  number)  of  the  College 
of  Apostolic  Protonotaries,  abbots,  heads 

orders,  chamberlains,  chaplains,  the 
officials  of  the  various  Papal  departments, 
clerks,  sacrists,  vergers,  &c.,  everyone 
having  his  proper  place  and  just  prece- 
dence assigned  to  him. 

The  Famiglia  Pontificia  consists  of 
certain  Cardinals  selected  by  the  Pope, 
the  Majordomo,  the  Master  of  the  Sacred 
Apostolic  Palace,  a  number  of  domestic 
prelates,  and  clerical  and  lay  chamberlains 
of  various  grades,  some  paid,  some  honorary 
— among  the  latter  being  reckoned  the 
honorary  chamberlains  "  di  spada  e  cappa," 
who  are  laymen  of  family  and  position 
selected  from  the  various  European 
countries.  The  Swiss  Guard,  the  Noble 
Guard,  the  Pope's  private  chaplains,  and 
many  other  officials  variously  designated, 
belong  also  to  the  Famiglia.  It  includes, 
moreover,  the  Prefecture  of  the  Sacred 
Palaces,  an  important  department  with  a 
Cardinal  at  its  head. 

As  sovereign  of  the  Roman  States,  the 
Pope  formerly  carried  on  the  government 
with  the  help  of  the  following  depart- 
ments, which  now — pending  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  the  temporal  power — remain 
in  abeyance  :  viz.  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior,  the  Ministries  of  Finance,  Com- 
merce, and  War,  a  Council  of  Ministers, 
a  Council  of  State,  several  boards  and 
commissions,  a  Consulta  (financial),  and 
courts  of  law  for  trying  civil  and  criminal 
cases. 

The  authorities  of  the  Curia,  below  the 
rank  of  Cardinal,  are  technically  divided 
into  two  classes — the  prelates  of  the 
mantelletta  (a  short  cloak),  and  those  of 
the  mantellone  (a  long  cloak,  reaching 
to  the  feet).  In  the  first  class  are  in- 
cluded Patriarchs,  Archbishops,  Bishops, 
Protonotaries  Apostolic,  Domestic  Pre- 
lates, the  Clerks  of  the  Camera,  the  Au- 
ditors of  the  Rota,  the  Referendarii  of 
the  Segnatura,  the  Abbreviators  of  the 
greater  Parens,  the  Majordomo,  and  the 
Maestro  di  Camera.  Four  among  these, 
designated  prelates  of  the  Jiocchetti,  take 
precedence  of  the  rest — the  Auditor  of  the 
Camera,  the  Treasurer,  the  Vice-Camer- 
lengo,  and  the  Majordomo.  Among  the 
prelates  of  the  mantellone  are  ecclesiastical 
chamberlains,  masters  of  ceremonies,  &c. 
(Ferraris,  Cancellaria;  "Annuario  Pon- 
tificio,"  1870 ;  "  Gerarchia  Cattolica," 
1881.) 


CUSTOM 


243 


CtTRZAXiZA.  The  duties  and  func- 
tions of  a  curialis,  one  attached  to  the 
cwia  or  court  of  a  prince.  Ducange  cites 
passages  from  mediaeval  winters  in  which 
curialis  plainly  signifies  a  mere  clerk  or 
secretary.  But  the  sense  of  "  courtier  '* 
was  much  more  common,  as  in  the  title  of 
two  well-known  works  by  John  of  Salis- 
bury and  Walter  Map,  "  De  Nugis  Curi- 
alium."  There  is  a  canon  in  the  Corpus 
Juris  bearing  the  name  of  Pope  Inno- 
cent I.  (a.b.  404)  which  excludes  those 
who  were  invested  with  curialia  from  the 
clerical  order,  the  due  performance  of 
both  functions  by  the  same  person  being 
considered  impracticable.  (Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

cirsTOXVE,  according  to  St.  Thomas 
and  canonists  generally,  has  three  legal 
effects : 

(1)  It  may,  either  through  the  con- 
sent, tacit  or  express,  of  lawful  authority 
or  by  prescription,  impose  a  new  law. 
This  is  clearly  laid  down  both  in  the 
canon  and  civil  law.  To  have  the  force 
of  law,  the  custom  must  be  good  and 
useful ;  it  must  have  been  formed  by 
public  acts,  proceeding  from  the  greater 
part  of  the  community ;  the  people  from 
whom  the  custom  proceeds  must  have  the 
intention  of  binding  themselves  (thus  the 
custom  of  taking  holy  water  in  entering 
c  uiiches  has  not  ihe  force  of  a  law).  If 
it  is  introduced  by  way  of  prescription, 
the  custom  must  continue  uninterrupted 
for  a  certain  space  of  time  before  it  binds 
the  conscience.^ 

(2)  On  much  the  same  conditions 
custom  may  abrogate  an  existing  law, 
or  modify  it,  unless  the  law  in  question 
be  natural  or  divine.  But  here,  if  the 
custom  operates  by  way  of  prescription, 
ten  years  according  to  the  common  opinion 
is  required  before  custom  abrogates  civil, 
forty  before  it  abrogates  ecelesiastical, 
laws. 

(3)  Custom  interprets  law,  and,  unless 
the  law  be  natural  or  divine,  may  intro- 
duce an  "  authentic  "  interpretation — i.e, 
it  may  give  an  authoritative  sense  to  a 
law,  although  that  sense  is  discordant 
with  the  original  intention  of  the  legis- 

1  St.  Liguori,  De  Leg.  107  seg,  says  gene- 
rally th  it  c-ustom  to  have  the  force  of  fa w  must 
be  continued  for  a  long  time  without  interrup- 
tion. Some  say  that  the  length  of  time  re- 
quired depends  on  circumstances  :  others  that 
ten  years  is  the  time  required.  Again,  some 
maintain  that  while  a  prescription  of  ten  years 
suffices  to  change  civil  law,  a  custom  must  last 
forty  years  to  abrogate  Church  law.  Probably 
ten  years  is  enough  in  either  case. 


b2 


244 


GUSTOS 


CYCLE 


lator.  (Billuart,  "  De  Legibus,"  "Diss.  v. 
a.  2.) 

CXrSTOS.  By  this  name  was  formerly 
designated  the  canon,  in  a  cathedral  or 
collegiate  church,  who  with  the  approval 
of  the  bishop  had  the  spiritual  charge  of 
the  cm-e  attached  to  the  church.  It  was 
also  applied  to  sacristans  or  treasurers 
who  had  charge  of  the  sacred  vessels, 
church  ornaments,  furniture,  &c.  This 
office  remains  in  Austria  and  in  Prussia. 
The  canon  having  charge  of  a  metropoli- 
tan cure  is  called  summus  custos.  In 
France  the  ecclesiastic  with  correspond- 
ing functions  is  called  arcUipretre.  It  is 
also  the  Latin  name  for  the  warden,  or 
guardian,  of  a  convent  of  Franciscan 
friars. 

CTCXiX:  (including  Golden  Number, 
Dominical  Letter,  Epact)  is  a  series  of 
numbers,  letters  standing  for  numbers, 
always  counted  over  again  in  the  same 
order  when  the  series  has  been  completed. 
Cycles  are  employed  in  ecclesiastical  as 
well  as  civil  chronology,  since  the  solar, 
lunar  and  paschal  cycles  enable  us  to 
reckon  the  time  at  which  the  feasts  of  the 
church  will  fall  in  each  year.  The  lunar 
cycle  [cyclus  luncB,  decemnovennalin,  euvea- 
d€KafTr]pts)  consist  of  nineteen  years, 
and  after  the  expiration  of  each  lunar 
cycle  the  new  and  full  moons  faU  once 
more  on  nearly  the  same  days  of  the 
mouth.  This  cycle  was  invented  by  the 
<Treek  astronomer  Meton.  Anatolius, 
bishop  of  Laodicea,  employed  it  towards 
the  close  of  the  third  centuiy  for  calcu- 
lating the  date  of  Easter.^  Soon  after- 
wards the  Nicene  Council  ordained  that 
Easter  shoidd  be  celebrated  on  the  Sunday 
whicli  followed  the  first  new  moon  after 
the  vernal  equinox  (March  21),  and  this 
led  to  a  more  exact  computation  of  the 
lunar  cycle.  The  bishops  of  Alexandria, 
the  seat  of  mathematical  science,  were 
entrusted  with  the  task  of  fixing  the  day 
on  which  Easter  fell.^  In  order  to  lighten 
their  task,  the  Alexandrian  church  con- 
structed Paschal  cycles,  which  contained 
a  number  of  lunar  cyclea,  and  fixed  the 
date  of  Easter  Sunday  for  a  long  course 
of  years.  Thus  Theophilus  of  Alexandria 
drew  up  a  Paschal  cycle  of  418  years 
— i.e.  of  twenty-two  lunar  cycles — begin- 
ning with  the  year  380.  This  cycle,  partly 
on  account  of  its  obscurity,  partly  on 
account  of  its  incorrectness,   found  small 

»  Euseb.  H.  E,  vii.  14. 

2  The  Alexandrian  bishop  was  to  fix  the 
date,  and  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  to  notify  the 
daj'  fixed  to  the  whole  Church. 


acceptance  in  the  West,  and  in  the  year 

444  Easter  Sunday,  according  to  Reman 
reckoning,  fell  on  March  26,  accord- 
ing to  Alexandrian,  on  April  23.  In 
consequence  of  a  letter  from  Pope  Leo, 
Cyril  corrected  the  Paschal  cycle  of  his 
predecessor  and  reduced  it  to  one  of 
ninety-five  yeai-s,  extending  from  437  to 
531,  and  embracing  five  lunar  cycles.  As 
this  cycle  was  drawing  to  its  end, 
Dionysius  Exiguus,  in  625,  constructed 
a  new  one  of  304  Julian  years  or  sixteen 
lunar  cycles.  The  defects  of  the  Diony- 
sian  computation  were  inseparable  from 
those  of  the  Julian  year,  which  consisted 
of  365  days,  6  hours,  instead  of  365  days, 
5  hours,  49  minutes,  so  that  the  calcula- 
tion of  the  vernal  equinox  became  more 
and  more  erroneous  as  time  went  on, 
forty-four  minutes  too  much  being  added 
to  each  leap-year.  The  remedy  was 
provided  by  the  Gregorian  reformation  of 
the  Calendar.^     [See  Calendar.] 

The  Golden  Number,  which  is  closely 
connected  with  the  lunar  cycle,  indicates 
the  place  any  given  year  holds  in  the 
lunar  cycle  (whether,  e.q.,  the  year  of 
Christ  1881  is  1,  2,  3,  &c.  in  the  lunar 
cycle  of  nineteen").  It  gets  its  name  from 
the  fact  that  it  was  set  in  golden  colours 
against  the  days  on  which  the  new  moon 
fell  in  the  Roman  and  Alexandrian 
calendars.  Christ,  according  to  the 
common  reckoning,  was  born  at  the  end 
of  the  first  year  in  the  lunar  cycle,  so  that 
the  Golden  Number  for  each  year  is  ob- 
tained by  adding  one  to  the  number  of 
the  year  {e.g.  to  1881)  and  dividing  the 
sum  by  nineteen.  The  remainder  gives 
the  Golden  Number;  if  there  is  no  re- 
mainder the  Golden  Number  is  nineteen. 
Thus  if  to  1881  we  add  one  and  divide 
by  nineteen,  we  get  one  as  remainder,  and 
this  is  the  Golden  Number  for  the  year  in 
question. 

The  solar  cycle  or  cycle  of  Dojuinical 
Letters  is  a  series  of  twenty-eight  years, 
after  which  Sundays  and  week-days  again 
fall  on  the  same  days  of  the  month.  The 
first  seven  letters  are  used  to  indicate  the 
days  of  the  week,  A  being  used  in  all  cases 
to  mark  the  first  of  Januai'v,  and  the  letter 
which  thus  comes  to  mark  the  first 
Sunday  being  the  Sunday  letter  or  littera 
dominicalis  of  the  year.  Thus  1881 
began  with  a  Saturday,  and  hence  the  Do- 
minical Letter  is  B.  The  same  Dominical 
Letter  would  recur  every  seven  years.  But 
as  a  day  is  intercalated  in  the  February 
of  each  leap-year,  viz.,  February  25,  which 
^  See  Hefele,  Concil.  i.  324  seq. 


CYCLE 

has  the  same  letter  assigned  to  it  as 
February  24,  hence  each  leap-year  has  two 
Dominical  Letters,  the  former  extending 
to  February  24  inclusive,  the  latter  em- 
bracing the  rest  of  the  year.  Now,  as 
this  intercalation  interrupts  the  sequence 
of  the  Dominical  Letters  seven  times  in 
twenty-eight  years,  the  same  order  of  Do- 
minical Letters  cannot  recur  oftener  than 
once  in  twenty-eight  years.  However,  a 
new  disturbance  in  the  order  of  Dominical 
Letters  arises  from  the  fact  that  in  the 
Gregorian  calendar  it  was  arranged  that 
although  each  secular  year — i.e.  the  tirst 
year  of  each  century — would  naturally  be 
a  leap-year,  only  the  first  of  each  of  four 
seculars  should  be  reckoned  as  such. 
Thus  1600,  the  secular  year  which  fol- 
lowed the  Gregorian  reformation  of  the 
calendar,  was  reckoned  as  a  leap-year — i.e. 
it  hadaday  intercalated  in  February — but 
this  was  not  the  case  with  the  years 
1700  and  1800,  nor  will  it  be  with  1900. 
In  showing  how  the  Dominical  Letter  for 
each  year  may  be  ascertained  (we  restrict 
our  calculations  to  the  present  century), 
first,  we  must  ascertain  the  number 
which  the  current  year,  e.g.  1881,  holds 
in  the  solar  cycle  of  twenty-eight  ^ears. 
The  first  year  of  the  Dionysian  era  is  the 
ninth  of  the  solar  cycle.  Hence  by  add- 
ing nine  to  1881,  and  dividing  the  sum 
by  twenty-eight,  we  get  three  as  re- 
mainder, so  that  we  now  know  that  the 
year  1881  is  third  in  the  solar  cycle  of 
twenty-eight.  The  following  table  gives 
the  order  of  Dominical  Letters  for  the  solar 
cycle  of  twenty-eight  years  and  will  serve 
for  calculating  the  Dominical  Letter  of  any 
year  in  this  century. 
lED  8C  15  A  22  F 

2C  9BA         16  G  23  E 

3B  10  G  17  FE         24  D 

4  A  11 F  18  D  25  CB 

6GF  12  E  19  C  26  A 

6  E  13  D  C         20  B  27  G 

7D  14  B  21  AG        28  F 

We  had  already  found  that  1881  is  the 
third  year  in  the  cycle;  now  we  know 
that  its  Dominical  Letter  isB,  or  in  other 
words  that  the  first  Sunday  falls  on 
.January  2.  When  we  have  got  so  far, 
it  is  easy  to  ascertain  the  days  of  the 
month  on  which  the  Sundays  of  the  year 
fall.  The  twelve  months  have  letters 
assigned  to  them,  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing memorial  verses : 

Astra  Dabit  Dominus  Gratisque  Beabit 
.  Egenos, 

Gratia  Christicolje  Feret  Aurea  Dona 
Fideli : 

t.0.  A  is  the  letter  for  January  1,  D  for 


CYCLE 


245 


February  1,  &c.  As  B  is  the  Dominical 
Letter  for  1881,  and  as  F  is  the  letter 
which  marks  the  first  of  December,  the  first 
of  that  month  will  be  a  Thursday,  and  the 
Sundays  will  fall  on  the  fourth,  eleventh, 
eighteenth,  and  twenty-hfth,  days. 

JSvacts  (eVa/crat  rjfiepaij  dies  adjectiy 
adscititii)  are  used  because  of  the  differ- 
ences in  duration  between  the  lunar 
and  solar  years.  Annual  epacts  determine 
the  age  of  the  moon  on  each  new  year's 
day.  The  lunar  falls  about  eleven  days 
short  of  the  solar  year.  In  the  Gregorian 
calendar  the  new  moon  of  the  lunar  cycle 
(see  above)  falls  on  January  1,  so  that 
the  epact  =  0,  an  asterisk  (*)  being  some- 
times used  to  mark  the  epact  in  this  case. 
In  the  second  year  the  epact  or  addition 
which  must  be  made  to  the  lunar  year  = 
XI;  in  the  third  XXII.  The  epact  of 
the  fourth  year  would  be  XXXIII,  but  on 
the  thirtieth  of  these  thirty-three  days  a 
new  moon  has  again  appeared,  so  that  the 
epact  corresponding  to  the  fourth  year  in 
the  lunar  cycle  (or  in  other  words  to  the 
Golden  Number  4)  is  III.  If  we  subtract 
one  from  the  Golden  Number,  multiply 
by  eleven  and  divide  by  thirty  we  get  the 
epact.  Thus  the  epact  for  1881  is  *,  for 
1882  it  will  be  XI. 

The  calculation  of  the  monthly  epact 
enables  us  to  determine  the  days  of  the 
civil  or  solar  month  on  which  the  new  and 
full  moons  occur.  The  lunar  month  con- 
sists of  twenty-nine  days,  eleven  hours, 
forty-four  minutes :  so  that  the  monthly 
epact  in  January,  which  has  thirty-one 
days,  is  one  day,  six  minutes ;  and  the 
epact,  of  course,  for  each  month  increases, 
till  in  December  it  reaches  eleven  days. 
To  shorten  the  process  of  calculation,  the 
lunar  months  are  reckoned  at  twenty-nine 
and  thirty  days.  If  we  subtract  the 
annual  epact  from  thirty-one,  we  get  the 
day  on  which  the  new  moon  of  January 
fails:  the  new  moon  of  February  falls 
thirty,  that  of  March  twenty-nine,  that 
of  April  thirty  days  later:  and  so  with 
the  rest  of  the  months. 

An  example  will  illustrate  the  way  in 
which  these  chronological  determinations 
are  connected  with  and  assist  each  other. 
Let  us  suppose  that  we  have  to  ascertain 
the  day  on  which  Easter  Sunday  fell  in 
1879.     First  we  must  find  the  Golden 

Number:  __ ?^  _t_  gives  the  remainder 
eighteen,  which  is  the  Golden  Number. 

— ~^^--i  gives  the  remamder  VII.,  i.e. 

oO 
the  epact.     Consequently  on  January  1, 


246 


DALMATIC 


DATARIA 


1879,  the  moon  was  seven  days  old.  By 
subtracting  seven  from  thirty-one,  we  find 
that  the  new  moon  talis  on  January  24, 
then  on  February  21,  then  March  24,  the 
full  moon  of  the  spring  equinox  falling 
fourteen  or  fifteen  days  later,  i.e.  on  April 

7  or 8;  so  that  the  Sunday  following^\pril 

8  is  Easter  Sunday.  We  have  now  to  find 
on  what  day  of  the  week  April  8  fell,  and 
for  this  we  need  to  know  the  Dominical 


Letter.     The    remainder    of 


1879  -f  9 

28 


twelve,  which  is  the  number  of  tlie  year 


1879  in  the  solar  cycle,  and  to  this  the 
Dominical  Letter  E  corresponds,  as  may  be 
seen  from  the  table  given  above.  April, 
according  to  the  memorial  verses,  betrius 
with  G ;  April  2  then  will  be  A,  April  3 
B ;  E,  the  Dominical  Letter,falls  on  x\pril6, 
which  was  therefore  a  Sunday.  April  8, 
then,was  a  Tuesday,  and  the  S  unday  follow- 
ing, viz.  April  13,  was  Easter  Sunday. 
(From  the  treatise  "De  Anno  et  ejus 
Partibus  "  prefixed  to  the  Roman  Missal ; 
from  Wetzer  and  Welte,  and  Hefele, 
'•Concil.") 


D 


BAXiMATZC.  A  vestment  open  on 
each  side,  with  wide  sleeves,  and  marked 
with  two  stripes.  It  is  worn  by  deacons 
at  High  Mass  as  well  as  at  processions  and 
benedictions,  and  by  bishops,  when  they 
celebrate  Mass  pontifically,  under  the 
chasuble.  Tbe  colour  should  conform  to 
that  of  the  chasuble  worn  by  the  celebrant. 

The  word  is  derived  from  Dalmatia, 
and  first  occurs  in  the  second  century. 
The  dalmatic  (Dalmatica  vestis)  was  a 
long  under-garment  of  white  Dalmatian 
wool  con-esponding  to  the  Roman  tunic, 
^lius  Lampridius  blames  the  emperoi*s 
Commodus  and  Heliogabalus  for  appear- 
ing publicly  in  the  dalmatic.  In  the 
Acts  of  St.  byprian  we  are  told  that  the 
martyr  drew  off  his  dalmatic  and,  giving 
it  to  liis  deacons,  stood  ready  for  death 
in  his  linen  garment.  In  these  instances 
the  dalmatic  was  clearly  a  garment  of 
everyday  life. 

According  to  Anastasius,  Pope  Sil- 
vester early  in  the  fourth  century  gave  the 
Roman  deacons  dalmatics  instead  of  the 
sleeveless  garments  (icoXd^ta)  which  they 
had  used  previously.  Gradually  the 
Popes  conceded  the  privilege  of  wearing 
the  dalmatic  as  an  ecclesiastical  vestment 
to  the  deacons  of  other  churches.^  Such 
a  concession  was  made  by  Pope  Sym- 
machus  towards  the  close  of  the  fifth 
century,  to  the  church  of  Aries.  In  the 
same  way,  the  use  of  the  dalmatic  as  an 
episcopal  vestment  was  first  proper  to  the 
Pope  and  then  permitted  by  him  to  other 
bishops.  Thus  Gregory  the  Great  allowed 
Aregius,  bishop  of  Gap  in  Gaul,  to  wear  a 
dalmatic,   and   Walafrid   Strabo  testifies 

'  '  Quando  sacerdoti  ministrant.' — Rnbr.  Gen. 
Miss.  tit.  xix. 


that  in  the  seventh  century  this  episcopal 
custom  was  by  no  means  universal.  But 
from  the  year  800  onwards  ecclesiastical 
writers  all  speak  of  the  dalmatic  as  one 
of  the  episcopal,  and  the  chief  of  the 
deacon's,  vestments.  The  dalmatic  was 
originally  always  white,  but  Durandus 
speaks  of  red  dalmatics,  symboli^ng 
martyrdom.  The  Greeks  have  a  vestment 
corresponding  to  our  dahaatic,  called 
(rTi)(dpiov  or  crroi^dpiov  from  the  (rTi^^ni 
(lines  or  stripes),  with  which  it  is 
adorned  :  its  colour  varies,  just  as  the 
dalmatic  of  our  deacons  does,  with  the 
colour  of  the  ^eXcovtov  or  chasuble,  w-orn 
by  the  celebrant.  The  Greek  priests  also 
w^ear  a  o-nxaptov  under  the  chasuble, 
but  the  former  is  always  white. 

"Various  mystical  meanings  have  been 
attached  to  the  dalmatic.  When  the  arms 
are  stretched  it  presents  the  figure  of  a 
cross  ;  the  width  of  the  sleeves  is  said  to 
typify  charity;  the  two  stripes  (which 
were  originally  purple,  and  are  probably 
a  relic  of  the  Roman  latus  t'lavu.<()  were 
supposed  to  symbolise  the  blood  of  Christ 
shed  for  Jews  and  Gentiles.  (From  Rock, 
"  Hieruvgia,"  and  Hefele,  "  Beitrage,"  ii. 
204  seq.) 

BATASZA.  The  office  in  the  Papal 
Court  whence  are  expedited  the  graces, 
accorded  by  the  Pope,  which  have  their 
efllect  and  are  cognisable  tnforo  extei-no. 
The  term  is-derived  from  a  Low  Latin  verb 
dntare,  to  date,  formed  doubtless  from 
the  "  Datum  "  or  "  Datse,"  with  following 
indications  of  place  and  time,  with  which 
the  Romans  commonly  ended  their 
letters.  The  Dataria,  originally  a  branch 
of  the  Apostolic  Cliancery,  attained  to  a 
separate  organisaticn  in   the    thirteenth 


DEACON     * 

century,  at  whicli  time,  owing  to  the 
great  number  of  benefices  in  all  countries 
reserved  to  the  Pope,  mistakes  were 
sometimes  made  iu  the  appointments,  and 
the  same  benefice  was  conferred  upon  or 
promised  to  two  or  more  persons,  whence 
complaints  and  unseemly  contentions 
arose.  The  evil  was  effectually  remedied 
by  the  appoiutment  of  an  official  whose 
special  business  it  should  be  to  register 
the  datps  of  the  appointments  to  benefices. 

The  Datary  (who  is  sometimes  a 
simple  prelate,  sometimes  a  Cardinal,  in 
which  latter  case  he  is  styled  pro-Datary) 
has  in  the  course  of  time  had  many  other 
duties  laid  upon  him  besides  those  con- 
nected with  the  grant  of  benefices.  He 
has  the  charge  of  dispensations,  the 
various  kinds  of  which,  and  also  licences 
for  the  alienation  of  church  property,  are 
issued  from  his  office.  A  considerable 
staff'  of  officials,  at  the  head  of  whom  is 
the  sub-Datary,  are  under  his  orders. 
His  functions  cease  ipso  facto  on  the 
death  of  a  Pope,  all  applications  reaching 
the  office  during  the  vacancy  being  sealed 
up  and  transmitted  to  the  College  of 
Cardinals  to  be  d'-alt  with  by  the  future 
Pope.     [See  OuEiA  Romana,] 

SSiiCOlO'.  The  word!  in  itself 
{biaKovoi)  means  no  more  than  "mini- 
ster "  or  servant,  and  so  it  is  used  in  the 
LXX  and  in  the  New  Testament  (see 
Esther  i.  10,  1  Cor.  iii.  5,  2  Cor.  vi.  4). 
However,  the  word  deacon  received  a 
more  definite  meaning  in  apostolic  times, 
for  the  mention  of  deacons  along  with 
bishops  in  Phil.  i.  1, 1  Tim.  iii,  2, 8,  besides 
the  qualifications  which  St.  Paul  requires 
of  a  deacon,  clearly  prove  that  the 
diaconate  was  a  church  office.  According 
to  the  Pontifical  it  is  the  part  of  a  deacon 
"  to  minister  at  the  altar,  to  baptise  and  to 
preach."  He  is  the  highest  of  all  whose 
office  it  is  to  serve  the  priest  in  the  admini- 
stration of  the  sacraments,  and  he  is  set 
apart  for  his  work,  not  merely  by  the 
institution  of  the  Church,  but  by  the 
sacrament  of  order  which  he  receives 
through  the  laying  on  of  the  bishop's 
hands.  Just  as  the  Levites  were  chosen 
by  God  Himself  for  the  ministry  of  the 
tabernacle,  so  the  diaconate  is  appointed 
by  Christ's  institution  and  strengthened 
by  a  sacrament  of  the  new  law  for  the 
service  of  the  Christian  altar.  The  con- 
stituents of  a  sacrament' — viz.  the  sensible 
sign,  grace  given,  divine  and  permanent 
institution — are  all  found  in  a  deacon's 
ordination.  The  laying  on  of  hands  is 
the  sensible  sign ;  grace  is  given,  for  the 


DEACON 


247 


bishop  says,  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost," 
and  the  Council  of  Trent  (Sess.  xxiii.  can. 
4)  anathematises  those  who  hold  "  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  not  given  by  sacred  ordin- 
ation, and  accordingly  that  bishops  aay 
in  vain  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost.' "  There 
is  divine  institution,  for  what  power  had 
the  Apostles  to  institute  a  sign  which 
should  infallibly  convey  grace  ?  And 
besides,  the  Council  of  Trent  {loc.  cit.  can. 
6)  defines  that  there  is  ''  in  the  Catholic 
Church  a  hierarchy  divinely  constituted 
consisting  of  bishops,  presbyters  and 
ministers,"  which  last  word  must  at  least 
include  deacons.  Lastly,  the  form  of 
ordination  was  established  permanently, 
as  appears  from  the  practice  of  the 
Church.i 

Up  to  this  point  we  have  been  arguing 
on  Catholic  principles,  but  it  will  be  well 
(1)  to  consider  more  closely  the  grounds  on 
which  the  Catholic  idea  of  the  diaconate 
rests,  passing  then  (2)  to  the  history  of 
the  office,  and  (3)  to  the  rite  of  ordi- 
nation. 

(1)  The  Catholic  Idea  of  the  Diaconate. 
— The  duties  of  a  deacon  will  be  con- 
sidered more  fully  afterwards.  Here  it 
is  enough  to  say  that  a  deacon  is  ordained 
chiefly  in  order  that  he  may  assist  the 
priest  in  the  celebration  of  solemn  Mass, 
and  then,  on  certain  conditions,  to  preach 
and  baptise.  In  other  words,  he  is  the 
chief  minister  at  the  altar.  Against  this, 
Protestants  have  often  alleged  that  the 
seven  deacons  whose  ordination  is  men- 
tioned in  Acts  vi.  were  chosen  in  order  to 
administer  the  alms  of  the  Church,  and 
that  the  New  Testament  gives  no  hint  of 
their  duties  at  the  altar. 

Now  certainly  the  "  seven  "  mentioned 
in  Acts  vi.  were  appointed  on  occasion  of 
disputes  which  arose  between  two  classes 
of  Jewish  converts  (viz.  these  of  ibreign 
and  those  of  Palestinian  origin)  on  the 
distribution  of  alms,  and  were  entrusted 
with  the  administration  of  charitable 
relief.  Further,  the  seven,  though  not 
called  "  deacons,"  have  almost  universally 
been  regarded  as  the  first  who  held  the 
office.^     Still,    the    sacred  text  indicates 

1  That  the  sacrament  of  order  is  received 
by  deacons  follows  so  plainly  from  the  defini- 
tions of  Trent,  and  is  so  universally  held,  that 
the  contrary  opinion  of  Durandus  and  Cajetan, 
though  not  heretical,  could  not  be  maintained 
without  temerity. 

2  Tliis,  however,  was  denied  by  the  Greek 
Council  in  Trullo,  can.  16  ;  and  also,  Petavius 
says,  by  "  certain  learned  and  Catholic  theolo- 
gians.''— Diss,  de  Cathol.  quibusdam  Dogm.  lib 
ii.  cap.  1. 


248 


DEACON 


that  they  were  to  be  chosen  for  some 
higher  work  than  the  administration  of 
charity.  They  were  to  be  "  full  of  the 
Holy  Gho3t  and  of  wisdom."  We  tind 
Stephen,  one  of  their  number,  preaching 
and  instructing  ;  Philip,  another  member 
of  their  body,  baptising  (Acts  viii.  .^S) 
St.  Paul  (1  Tim.  iii.  9^^  requires  deacons 
to  "  hold  the  mystery  of  the  faith  in  a 
pure  conscience,'  nor  does  he  allude  to 
this  work  of  "  serving  tables  " — i.e.  of  ad- 
ministering alms. 

We  can  only  guess  the  nature  of  the 
diaconate  from  Scripture,  but  the  early 
and  authentic  tradition  proves  that  the 
Catholic  doctriue  on  the  matter  corre- 
sponds to  the  original  teaching  of  the 
Apostles.  St.  Ignatius  ("Ad  Trail."  2), 
speaks  of  deacons  as  "  ministers  of  the 
mysteries  of  Jesus  Christ,"  "  for  they  are 
not  ministers  {puiKovoi)  of  meat  and 
drink,  but  servants  of  the  Church  of  God." 
Here  the  mention  of  the  "  mysteries  of 
Jesus  Christ "  in  contrast  with  ordinary 
meat  and  drink,  shows  that  St.  Ignatius 
alludes  to  the  service  of  the  altar.  Justin 
("  Apol."  i.  Go)  tells  us  that  the  deacons 
gave  Holy  Communion  to  those  present 
at  Mass,  and  carried  it  to  the  absent. 
Tertullian  ("  De  Baptism."  17),  says  that 
deacons  had  the  right  to  baptise,  not, 
however,  "  without  the  authority  of  the 
bishop."  This  chain  of  testimony  might 
easily  be  strengthened,  but  the  testimonies 
given  prove  that  the  complete  Catholic 
idea  of  the  diaconate  was  accepted  in  the 
early  Church. 

(2)  History  of  the  Duties,  <^'e.— With 
regard  to  the  ministry  of  the  altar, 
deacons,  as  we  have  seen,  used  to  give  the 
people  communion  under  both  kinds.  In 
Cyprian's  time,  and  in  the  following  ages, 
deacons  were  only  permitted  to  present 
the  chalice  to  the  people.^  At  present 
they  are  forbidden  to  give  communion  at 
all  except  in  case  of  necessity,  but  they 
retain  the  essential  part  of  their  office 
as  ministers  of  the  altar  by  singing  the 
Gospel  at  High  Mass,  and  assisting  the 
priest  throughout  the  celebration.  They 
can  also,  as  in  ancient  times,  preach  with 
the  leave  of  the  bishop,  and  baptise 
solemnly  with  that  of  the  parish  priest. 

Formerly,  the  deacons  had  other  and 
very  important  functions.  They  had  to 
acquaint  the  bishop  with  the  state  of  his 
flock,  collect  the  offertory  at  Mass,  to 
visit  the  confessors  in  prison,  write  the 
Acts  of  the  martyrs,  so  that  in  the  Apo- 

1  Cypriao.  De  Laps.  2.5  ;  Apnst.  Const. 
viii.  12, 


DEACON 

stolical  Constitutions  (ii.  44)  the  deacon  is 
said  to  be  the  "ear,  eye,  mouth,  heart 
and  soul  of  the  bishop."  Nay,  in  certain 
cases  even  congregations  in  the  country 
were  committed  to  their  care.^ 

In  many  churches,  of  which  Rome 
was  one,  the  number  of  deacons  was 
limited  to  seven,  in  memory  of  the  original 
institution.'^  It  was  not  till  the  eleventh 
century  that  the  number  of  Cardinal 
De.icoiis  in  the  Roman  Church  was  raised 
from  seven  to  fourteen. 

But  the  most  important  point  in  which 
the  position  of  deacons  has  altered  is  that, 
whereas  in  the  ancient  and  even  medieval 
Church  a  man  often  remained  a  simple 
deacon  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  the  diaconate 
is  now  regarded  as  a  step  towards  the 
priesthood.  Among  the  Cardinal  Deacons 
at  Rome  a  vestige  of  the  ancient  discipline 
is  still  preserved. 

(3)  The  Ordination  of  Deacons. — The 
following  is  the  form  given  in  the  Roman 
Pontifical.  The  bishop  questions  the 
archdeacon  on  the  fitness  of  the  candidates 
and  then  asks  the  clergy  and  the  people 
to  state  any  grounds  they  have  for  ob- 
jecting to  the  ordination  of  the  person 
about  to  be  promoted.  After  a  pause, 
the  bishop  lays  down  the  duties  and 
qualifications  of  a  deacon,  while  the 
candidates  kneel  at  his  feet.  The  candi- 
dates then  prostrate  themselves  on  their 
faces  while  the  Litany  of  the  Saints  and 
some  other  prayers  are  recited.  Next,  in 
a  kind  of  preface,  the  bishop  gives  thanks 
to  God  for  the  institution  of  the  sacred 
ministry,  and  the  most  important  part  of 
the  rite  begins.  The  bishop  places  his 
right  hand  on  each  of  the  candidates  with 
the  words  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  for 
strength  and  for  resisting  the  devil  and  all 
his  temptations  in  the  name  of  the  Loi'd." 
Then,  holding  the  right  hand  stretched 
out,  he  continues,  "  Send  forth  upon  them, 
O  Lord,  we  beseech  Thee,  the  Holy  Spirit, 
that  they  may  be  strengthened  faithfully 
to  perform  the  work  of  thy  ministry  by 
the  gift  of  thy  sevenfold  grace,"  &c.  The 
bishop  then  invests  the  new  deacons  with 
the  stole  on  the  left  shoulder,  and  dal- 
matic, and  finally  makes  them  touch  the 
book  of  the  Gospels,  while  he  says, 
"  Receive  the  power  of  reading  the  Gospel 
in  the  church  of  God,  both  for  the  livmg 
and  the  dead,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

The  essence  of  the  ordination,  ac- 
cording to  the  most    probable  opinion, 

'  CoTicil.  II lib  can.  77. 

2  Euseb.  H.  E.  vi.  43 ;  ConcU.  N( 

can  15 


DEACONESS 

consists  in  the  laying  on  of  hands  hy  a 
bishop  with  words  which  express  the 
nature  of  the  power  given.  This  impo- 
sition of  hands  is  mentioned  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  and  in  various  early 
authorities — e.g.  in  Canon  4  of  the  early 
collection  attributed  to  the  Fourth  Council 
of  Carthage.  The  present  form  of  words 
which  accompanies  this  imposition  of 
hands  is  not  older  than  the  twelfth 
century.  With  regard  to  the  other  cere- 
monies, the  questions  put  by  the  bishop 
to  the  people  on  the  fitness  of  the  candi- 
dates are  in  substance  of  Apostolic 
institution.^  The  recitation  of  the  Litany 
of  the  Saints  is  found  in  the  oldest  Pon- 
tificals; the  prayer  *'Exaudi,  Domine, 
preces  nostras,"  used  after  giving  the  book 
of  the  Gospels  occurs  in  a  MS.  more  than 
twelve  hundred  years  old ;  and  the  practice 
of  investing  the  new  deacon  with  the 
stole  was  in  use,  according  to  Assemani, 
long  before  the  time  of  Gregory  the 
Great.  In  the  Greek  rite,  as  given  by 
Goar,  the  bishop  makes  the  sign  of  the 
cross  on  tbe  head  of  the  person  to  be 
ordained,  and  places  his  hand  on  his  head, 
with  the  words,  "Divine  grace  which 
ever  heals  the  infirm  and  perfects  the 
imperfect,  promotes  the  venerable  sub- 
deacon  N.  to  be  deacon.  Therefore,  let 
us  pray  ibr  him  that  the  grace  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  may  come  upon  him."  The 
bishop  then  makes  on  the  head  of  the 
deacon  the  sign  of  the  cross  three  times, 
uses  two  forms  of  prayer  with  fresh 
imjositiou  of  hands,  puts  the  ovarium  or 
stole  on  his  left  shoulder,  saying,  "  He  is 
worthy,"  gives  him  the  kiss  of  peace,  and 
puts  the  fan  for  driving  away  flies  from 
the  holy  sacrifice  into  his  hand,  again 
saying,  "  He  is  worthy." 

DEACOIO'ESS.  Many  have  supposed 
that  St.  Paul  recognises  the  existence  of 
deaconesses  when  in  Rom.  xvi.  1  he 
speaks  of  Phoebe  as  the  hiaKovos  or  ser- 
vant of  the  church  at  Cenchrese,  and  it 
has  been  suggested  that  the  "  widows  "  in 
1  Tim.  V.  9,  were  deaconesses.  In  any 
case,  from  very  early  times  there  was  an 
order  of  women  in  the  Church  known  as 
dtaKovia-a-ai,  Trpeo-jSwrt'Se?,  xVP^h  diacoTi- 
issce,  p-eshyterce,  vidnce.  Pliny  mentions 
two  Christian  ministrce,  probably  mean- 
ing deaconesses. 

They  were  employed  in  assisting  at  the 
baptism  of  women,*^  which  at  that  time 
was  by  immersion,  and  after  the  deacon 
had  anointed  the  baptised  person  on  the 

»  See  Acts  vi.  3. 

*  Const.  Apoat.  viii.  27. 


DEAN 


249 


forehead,  the  other  unctions,  in  the  case  of 
a  woman's  baptism,  were  given  by  the 
deaconess.^  Deaconesses  also  gave  private 
instruction  to  women,  visited  them  in 
sickness  and  prison,,  kept  order  at  the 
women's  door  and  in  the  women's  part  of 
the  church,  assisted  the  bride  at  mar- 
riages, &c. 

Originally  widows  were  chosen  for  the 
office,  though  even  St.  Ignatius  speaks  of 
viigios  who  were  called  widows^ — i.e.  be- 
cause of  this  office — and  later,  married 
women,  if  living  in  continence,  might 
become  deaconesses.  For  a  long  time 
deaconesses  were  required  to  be  sixty 
years  of  age,  but  the  Councils  of  Chal- 
cedon  and  in  Trullo  ^  reduced  the  re- 
quired age  to  forty  years.  Women  who 
had  been  married  twice  were  never  ad- 
mitted to  tht  rank  of  deaconess.  Deacon- 
esses were  strictly  forbidden  to  marry.* 
They  were  ordained  by  laying  on  of  hands; 
sometimes,  indeed,  they  even  received  the 
stole  and  chalice.^  But  they  were  ser- 
vants of  the  church,  not  ministers  of  the 
altar  ;  indeed,  the  Fathers  regard  the  ex- 
clusion of  women  from  ecclesiastical  office 
as  a  distinctive  principle  of  the  Catholic 
Church.^ 

In  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  abuses 
led  to  the  abolition  of  the  office  in  Gaul,' 
and  in  the  tenth  century  the  office  was 
extinct  in  the  West,  though  the  words 
diaconissn  and  archidiaconissa  were  some- 
times used  for  abbess.  At  Constantinople 
the  office  survived  till  1190,  and  it  is  still 
preserved  among  the  Syrians.  (See 
Kraus  and  the  article  in  Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

BBAS,  nsASS  FOR.  [See  Mass  of 
Requiem.] 

DSAxr  (decnnus,  one  who  has 
authority  over  ten;  cf.  centurio).  Civil 
officials  so-called  were  known  to  the 
Roman  law,  and  are  mentioned  in  the 
Codes  of  Theodosius  and  Justinian.  They 
seem  to  have  been  in  some  way  concerned 
with  the  management  of  funerals.  The 
title  was  adopted  for  Christian  use,  and 

^    Constit.  Apost.  iii.  15. 

2  Ad  Smyrn.  13. 

3  Concil.  Chalced.  can.  15  ;  Concil.  in  Trull, 
can.  14. 

4  Concil.  Chalced.  he.  cit. 

5  See  Hcfele,  Concil.  i.  429  seq.^  and  the 
references  in  Kraus,  Real-Encyclopddie,  sub 
voc.  "  Diaconissa." 

6  TertiiU.  Prascr.  41. 

7  Or  at  least  put  an  end  to  the  blessing  of 
women  for  the  office.  See  Council  of  Orange 
(anno  441),  can.  26 ;  of  Epaon  (anno  6l7), 
can.  21. 


250  DEAN  OF  SACRED  COLLEGE 

first  among  the  monks.  For  every  ten 
monks  a  decanus  or  dean  was  nominated, 
who  had  the  charge  of  their  discipline. 
The  senior  dean,  in  the  absence  of  the 
abbot  and  provost,  governed  the  monas- 
tery. Since  monks  had  the  charge  of 
many  cathedral  churches,  the  office  of 
dean  thus  was  introduced  into  them ; 
custom  gradually  determined  that  there 
should  be  only  one  dean  in  a  cathedral ; 
with  the  increase  of  property  the  provost's 
time  was  largely  taken  up  with  temporal 
afiaire ;  hence  the  dean  gradually  assumed 
the  chief  charge  of  the  ecclesiastical  and 
ritual  concerns  of  the  cathedral,  especially 
in  regard  to  the  choir.  When  a  regular 
observance  was  introduced  among  secular 
canons  [Regular  Canons],  the  office  of 
dean,  borrowed  apparently  from  the 
monastic  chapters,  came  in  along  with  it. 
By  the  common  law  the  care  of  souls, 
but  no  jurisdiction  inforo  extei'no,  is  com- 
mitted to  deans  of  chapters;  but  by 
special  and  customary  law  they  often  en- 
joyed in  France  in  former  times,  and  still 
enjoy  in  Germany  in  certain  cases,  large 
powers  of  visitation,  administration,  and 
jurisdiction,  so  that  their  authority  is 
almost  equal  to  that  of  bishops.  By  the 
common  law  the  right  of  electing  the  dean 
belongs  to  the  bishop  and  archdeacon ; 
but  by  custom  and  prescription  it  is  usually 
vested  in  the  canons,  subject  to  the  con- 
firmation of  the  bishop.  In  chapter- 
meetings  the  dean  presides  ex  officio,  and 
has  a  casting  vote  when  there  is  an  equal 
division ;  otherwise  his  powers  do  not 
exceed  those  of  the  canons.  (Ferraris, 
Decanus.) 

3>EAZr  OF  THE  SACREB  COXi- 
££GE.  The  Cardinal  Dean  is  the  chief 
of  the  sacred  college;  he  is  usually  the 
oldest  of  the  Cardinal  Bishops,  and  suc- 
ceeds his  predecessor  as  bishop  of  Ostia. 
He  presides  in  the  onsistory  in  the 
absence  of  the  Pope.  In  all  ecclesiastical 
functions  which  he  performs  he  has  the 
privilege  of  wearing  the  pallium ;  and  it 
is  he  on  whom  the  duty  devolves  of  con- 
ferring on  the  newly-elected  Pope  those 
orders  which  he  may  not  have  already 
received,  and  also  of  presiding  at  his 
coronation.  Ambassadors,  on  arriving 
in  Rome,  pay  their  first  visits  to  the 
Cardinal  Dean,  and  newly-elected  Cardinals 
render  to  him  their  earliest  homage.  The 
oldest  in  the  order  of  bishops,  after  the 
Cardinal  Dean,  is  sub-dean  of  the  sacred 
college ;  he  is  usually  bishop  of  Porto. 

2>EAxrs,  RUKAXi.  [See  Ritbal 
Deans.] 


DECRETALS,  THE 

DECAXiOGVE.  [See  Command- 
ments.] 

DECXiARATXON-   OF  GAZ.X.ZCAir 

CXiERCT.     [See  Gallicanism.] 

X>ECRETA]LS,  THE.  By  this  name 
is  commonly  understood  the  collection  of 
laws  and  decisions  made  by  St.  Raymond 
of  Pennafort  at  the  command  of  Gregory 
IX.  After  the  appearance  of  the  De- 
cretum  of  Gratian  [Canon  Law]  in  1151, 
many  jurisconsults  applied  themselves  to 
the  task  of  collecting  and  commenting 
upon  ecclesiastical  laws.  These  collections 
being  incomplete,  it  sometimes  happened 
that  a  Decretal  deciding  a  given  case  in  a 
particular  way  would  be  found  in  one 
collection  and  not  in  another,  whence 
much  uncertainty  arose.  False  decretals 
also  were  not  unfrequently  manufactured 
aborut  this  time,  so  that  Innocent  III.  was 
obliged  to  employ  severe  measures  to 
suppress  the  practice.  In  order  that  all 
Church  tribunals  might  have  a  compre- 
hensive and  consistent  authority  to  guide 
them,  Pope  Gregory  IX.  directed  St. 
Raymond,  who  was  his  chaplain  and 
penitentiary,  to  make  a  new  and  authentic 
compilation  of  Papal  Constitutions'  and 
Decretals.  This  great  undertaking  was 
completed  in  1234.  The  work  opens  with 
a  letter  addressed  by  Gregory  IX.  to  the 
doctors  and  scholars  of  the  university  of 
Bologna,  in  which,  after  explaining  the 
motives  which  had  influenced  its  prepara- 
tion, he  states  it  to  be  his  wish  that  the 
work  should  be  used  both  m  the  courts  and 
in  the  schools,  and  forbids  the  publication 
of  any  similar  collection  without  special 
authority  from  the  Holy  See.  The  five 
books  of  the  Decretals,  the  principal  sub- 
jects of  which  are  indicated  by  the 
memorial  line 
"  Judicium, judex,  clerus,  connubia,  crimen," 

contain  185  Titles  or  Rubrics.  The 
first  title,  "■  De  Summa  Trinitate  et  Fide 
Catholica,"  founding  Church  law  on  re- 
vealed religion,  is  a  short  profession  of 
faith,  with  a  statement  of  the  divhie  con- 
stitution and  authority  of  t!ie  Church. 

St.  Raymond  used  abbreviation  to  the 
utmost,  in  order  to  compress  his  matter 
within  the  limits  of  one  volume.  Thus 
he  frequently  records  in  full  the  operative 
part  of  a  Decretal  containing  the  Pontifical 
decision,  but  suppresses  the  lecitals  con- 
taining the  case  or  cases  on  which  the  de- 
cision was  founded.  The  gloss-writers 
and  commentators,  from  not  referring  to 
the  earlier  collections  in  which  the  De- 
cretals were  given  in  fuU,  sometimes  mi»* 


DECRETIST 

anderstDod  these  decisions;  tlv)ir  glosses, 
however,  were  acted  upon  by  the  courts: 
hence  not  a  little  perplexity  arose.  A 
canonist  named  Contius  published  an 
edition  of  the  "  Corpus  Juris  Canonici  "  in 
1570,  in  which  Eaymond's  omissions  were 
supplied  ;  but  the  innovation  did  not  suc- 
ceed, the  original  text  having  been  used 
by  jurists  for  so  long  a  period ;  and  the 
Decretals  are  still  edited  and  cited  in  the 
form  in  which  Raymond  left  them. 
The  last  edition  appeared  at  Leipsic  in 
1840. 

Among  the  chief  commentators  on  the 
Decretals  are  Bernard  of  Parma,  a  canon 
of  Bologna,  and  Sinibaldo  Fieschi,  after- 
wards Pope  Innocent  IV. 

SECRETZST  {decvetisto).  A  gene- 
ral name  for  a  doctor  of  canon  law  ;  the 
word  seems  to  be  derived  from  the  "  De- 
cretum "  of  Gratian.  The  university  of 
Oxford  used  to  confer  the  degrees  of 
" Baccalaureus "  a,nd  "Doctor"  Decre- 
torum.  The  term  "  decretalist "  signified  a 
canonist  who  was  specially  versed  in  the 
Decretals  of  Gregory  IX. 

DSCRETUIVS:     CZ2ATZA1UZ.       [See 

CAifON  Law.] 

SSSXCilTXOST    OF     CHURCHES. 

These  words  mean,  properly  speaking,  the 
act  by  wJiich  a  church  is  solemnly  set 
apar":  for  the  worship  of  God  ;  and  after- 
wards this  event  is  commemorated  by  a 
feast  of  the  dedication.  We  have  to  treat 
of  both  subjects. 

I.  The  actual  Dedication  of  the  Church. 
— In  the  Jewish  Church  the  tabernacle  and 
Temple  were  dedicated  by  solemn  rites, 
and  Cardinal  Bona  supposes  that  the 
practice  of  dedicating  or  consecrating 
Christian  churches  dates  from  Apostolic 
times,  and  was  formally  imposed  by  a  law 
of  Pope  Evaristus.  However  this  may 
be,  we  find  the  consecration  of  churches 
mentioned  just  after  the  heathen  persecu- 
tion was  over  by  Euseb.  (x.  3).  It  was 
*one  of  the  charges  made  by  the  Arians 
against  Athanasius  that  he  had  said  Mass 
in  an  unconsecrated  church.  Many  early 
councils— e.,^.  that  of  Orange  in  441  (can. 
10) — take  the  practice  of  dedicating 
churches  for  granted,  and  legislate  con- 
cerning it.  The  present  law  of  the 
Church  forbids  the  use  of  a  church  for 
the  celebration  of  Mass  unless  it  has  been 
first  consecrated  or  at  least  blessed,  for 
which  blessing  a  less  solemn  rite  is  pro- 
vided in  the  Pontifical.  It  is  unlawful  to 
alienate  a  church  which  has  been  once 
consecrated,  according  to  the  maxim  quoted 
from  the  "  Regulse  Juris  "  appended  to  the 


DEDICATION  OF  CHURCHES    261 

sixth  book  of  the  Decretals — "  That  which 
has  once  been  dedicated  to  God  must  not 
be  transferred  to  common  use." 

The  person  who  consecrates  a  church 
must  be  a  bishop,  and  to  him  this  consecra- 
tion has  always  been  and  is  still  reserved, 
though  a  simple  priest  may  be  deputed  to 
bless  a  church.  Moreover,  the  consecrating 
bishop  must  be  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  or 
another  bishop  with  leave  from  him,  and 
this  applies  even  to  the  churches  of  such  re« 
ligious  as  are  exempt  from  episcopal  juris- 
diction, although  in  some  cases  special 
privileges  in  this  matter  have  been  granted 
— e.g.  to  the  Friars  Minor,  who  got  powers 
from  Honorius  III.  enabling  them  to  in- 
vite another  bishop  to  consecrate  their 
churches,  should  the  diocesan  be  un- 
willing to  do  so.  In  early  times  it  was 
common  for  many  bishops  to  assemble  for 
the  consecration  of  a  church,  and  in  those 
days  many  bishops  might  actually  take 
part  in  the  consecration,  though  the  prin- 
cipal part  was  assigned  to  one  only.  At 
present,  a  bishop  can  by  virtue  of  his  ordi- 
nary jurisdiction  consecrate  any  church  in 
his  diocese,  but  this  has  not  been  the  case 
always  and  everywhere.  Thus  it  appears 
from  a  Constitution  of  Gelasius,  and  from 
a  letter  of  Gregory  the  Great,  that  Italian 
bishops  could  not  consecrate  churches  even 
in  their  own  dioceses  without  the  Pope's 
leave ;  while  in  the  provuice  of  Toledo 
permission  had  to  be  obtained  from  the 
metropolitan.  These  restrictions  no  longer 
exist. 

The  ritual  of  consecration  has  of 
course  been  gradually  developed.  Origin- 
ally, to  judge  from  Eusebius  [loc.  cit.), 
churches  were  consecrated  by  preaching, 
prayer,  and  above  all  by  the  acceptable 
sacrifice  of  the  new  law.  St.  Ambrose 
mentions  the  custom  of  consecrating 
churches  by  relics  as  one  which  prevailed 
at  Rome  and  was  adopted  by  him ;  he 
also  speaks  of  the  vigil  kept  by  the  relics 
over-night  before  they  were  transferred  to 
the  new  churc'h.  In  the  Sacramentary  of 
St.  Gregory  and  the  Pontifical  of  Egbert 
we  meet  with  the  rite  of  consecration 
almost  in  its  present  form,  and  we  may 
trace  the  minor  changes  introduced  in  the 
"Ordines"  which  Martene  has  collected 
from  different  ages  and  dioceses.  The 
following  are  the  chief  points  in  the  rite 
prescribed  by  the  present  Roman  Ponti- 
fical. The  consecrating  bishop,  who  should 
be  fasting  on  the  day  before,  sets  apart  over- 
night the  relics  to  be  used  in  the  conse- 
cration. Lights  burn  before  them,  and 
matins  and  lauds  are  sung  in  honour  of 


252    DEDICATION  OF  CHURCHES 

tlie  saints  whose  relics   have   "been   pro- 
cured.    Twelve  crosses  are  also  marked 
on  the  walls  of  the  church  with  candles 
attached  to  them.    Next  day  these  candles 
are   lighted,  and   all  things   needful   are 
prepared  in  the  church,  which  is  left  in 
charge   of  a   deacon   duly   vested.      The 
tishop  goes  in  procession  round  the  out- 
side of  the  church,  three  times  sprinkling 
it  with  holy  water,  knocks  three  times 
at  the  church  door  with  his  pastoral  staiF, 
sayins:,  *'  Lift  up  your  heads,  ye  princes, 
and  be  ye  lifted  up,  ye  eternal  gates,  and 
the   king  of  glory   will   enter."      Three 
times  the  deacon  within  asks,  "  Who  is 
the  king  of  glory  ?  "     Twice  the  bishop 
answers,  "  The  Lord  strong  and  mighty, 
the  Lord  mighty  in  battle,"  and  the  third 
time,  "The  lord  of  armies,  he  is  the  king  ' 
of  glory."     Thereupon  the  bishop  enters 
with  the  clerics  and  others  whose  assist-  j 
ance  he  requires,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  ■ 
clergy    and    people    outside,-  and    again  i 
closing  the  door.     He  forms  a  cross  with 
the    letters    of    the    Greek    and    Latin 
alphabets,  which   he  inscribes  with   his 
statf  on  ashes  previously  sprinkled  upon  ! 
the  floor    of   the   church — a    rite  which  i 
symbolises  the  instruction  to  be  given  to 
catechumens    in    the    elements     of    the  > 
faith.     Afterwards,  he  proceeds  with  the  ' 
consecration  of  the   altars,  marking  five  | 
crosses  on  each  with  his  thumb,  which  he  I 
has   dipped  in   a   preparation   of  water,  | 
ashes,  salt  and  wine,  specially  blessed,  and 
sprinkling   them   seven   times   with   this  [ 
mixture.     He  also  goes  three  times  round 
the  inside  of  the  church  and  sprinkles  the 
walls,  as  well  as  the  floor  of  the  church. 
Later  on,  the  relics  are  borne   into   the  ! 
church,  the    bishop,   clergy,   and^people  ! 
taking  part  in  the  procession.     An  ad-  I 
dress  is  first  made  to  the  people  on  the  | 
event  of  the  day,  and  the  outside  of  the 
door    is    anointed    with     chrism.       The 
sepulchres  of  the  altars  are  also  anointed 
with    chrism,   and  the   relics  placed   in 
them.     The  table  of  the  altar  is  anointed 
in  the  same  manner  and  incensed,  and  five 
crosses  are  made  on  it  with  the   oil   of 
catechumens,   as  well    as   with    chrism. 
Chrism   is   used   later  on  to  anoint  the 
twelve  crosses  which  have  been  marked 
on  the  walls,  and  incense  is  burned  on  the 
five  crosses  which  have  been  previously 
made  on  the  altar  with  blessed  water,  oil 
and  chrism.    Finally,  the  bishop  makes  a 
cross  with  chrism  on  the  front  and  four 
corners  of  the  altar ;  the  cloths,  vessels,  orna- 
ments, &c.,  are  consecrated  or  blessed,  and 
the  dedication  of  the  church  is  complete. 


DEFENDER  OF  THE  FAITH 

The  meaning  and  use  of  this  consecra- 
tion are  clearly  stated  by  St.  Thomas 
{"  Summ."  III.  Ixxxiii.  .3).  The  rite,  says 
the  saint,  signifies  the  holiness  secured  to 
the  Church  by  Christ's  passion,  and  re- 
quired of  its  members.  Moreover,  in 
answer  to  the  Church's  prayers,  God 
makes  the  church  fit  for  his  worship — i.e. 
He  makes  it  a  means  of  exciting  special 
devotion  in  the  faithful  who  enter  it,  if 
they  do  so  with  virtuous  dispositions,  and 
He  drives  far  from  it  the  power  of  the 
enemy.  (From  the  Pontifical,  with  Cata- 
lani's  commentary.) 

II.  The  feast  of  the  dedication  ("  fest. 
dedicationis,"  "  encaenia ; "  in  St.  Leo's  ser- 
mon on  the  Machabees  "  natale  ecclesi?e  "') 
is  kept  in  consecrated  churches  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  consecration,  as  a  double 
of  the  first  class  with  an  octave.  The  bishop 
at  the  time  of  the  consecration  may  for 
grave  reasons  fix  a  day  other  than  the 
actual  anniversary  on  which  the  feast  of 
the  dedication  is  to  be  kept,  but  after 
the  consecration  no  change  in  the 
day  can  be  made  except  by  the  Pope's 
leave.  Here,  too,  the  Christian  has  fol- 
lowed the  use  of  the  Jewish  Church,  which 
celebrated  yearly  the  purging  of  the  Tem- 
ple and  the  rebuilding  of  the  altar  after 
Judas  Machabseus  had  driven  out  the 
Syrians  in  184  B.C.  The  observance  of 
the  anniversary  of  a  church's  dedication 
can  be  traced  back  at  least  to  Constantine's 
time.  Besides  the  observance  of  this 
anniversary  in  the  church  itself,  the  feast 
of  the  dedication  of  the  cathedral  is  kept 
throughout  the  diocese,  also  as  a  double  of 
the  first  class,  but  without  an  octave.^ 
Moreover,  the  dedication  of  certain  Roman 
basilicas  (S.  Marise  ad  Nives,  Basilicae 
Salvatoris,  Basilicse  SS.  Petri  et  Pauli)  is 
celebrated  throughout  the  whole  Church, 
the  feast  being  in  each  case  a  double  or 
greater  double.  (From  Gavantus,  P.  II. 
sect.  viii.  cap.  o.) 

DEFEITDSR  OF  THB  7AZTH 
{Defensor  Ji(hi) .  This  title  was  conferred 
on  Henry  VIII.  of  England  and  his  suc- 
cessors by  Pope  Leo  X.  in  1521.  In 
that  year  Henry  sent  to  the  Pope  his  book 
in  defence  of  the  seven  sacraments  against 
Luther.  The  Pope  received  the  book  in 
full  consistor}',  eulogised  it  in  the  strongest 
terms,  and  some  days  later  consulted  the 
Cardinals  on  the  best  means  of  showing 
how  he  felt  Henry's  services  to  the  Church. 
After  a  long  conference,  it  was  resolved 
to  bestow  the  title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith 

^  The  octave,  however,  is  celebrated  In  the 
churches  of  the  cathedral  city. 


DEFENSOR  ECCLESI^ 

on  the  English  kings.  Accordingly  a  bull 
was  sent  conferring  the  title  in  question, 
and  with  it  Leo  despatched  a  brief  thank- 
ing Henry  for  his  book.  (See  Pallavicini, 
"  Hist.  Ooncil.  Trid."Iib.  ii.  c.  I,  quoted  in 
the  continuation  of  Fleury.) 

BEFEITSOR  'ECCXiX:SZ.S:  (eK/cXr/o-c- 
fArStKoy).  A  functionary  of  whom  fre- 
quent mention  is  made  in  the  annals  of 
the  primitive  Church  ;  he  was  nominated 
by  the  emperor,  on  the  presentation  of  the 
bishop,  to  protect  the  temporal  interests 
of  a  particular  church.  In  the  East  he 
was  usually  an  ecclesiastic,  in  the  West  a 
layman. 

TrnTTarson  matrxmon-zz.  The 
law  affecting  official  "  defenders  of  the 
marriage  "  is  laid  down  in  the  Constitution 
Dei  yniseratAone  of  Benedict  XIV.  In  all 
matrimonial  suits  a  defensor  matrimonii 
miwit  take  part,  his  function  being  to  sus- 
tain the  marriage  of  which  it  is  sought  to 
prove  the  nullity,  by  adducing  every  argu- 
ment and  consideration  in  its  favour  which 
the  case  admits  of.  His  function  may  be 
compared  to  that  of  the  Queen's  Proctor 
in  the  English  Divorce  Court,  who  "  inter- 
venes" between  the  parties,  if  he  deems 
that  there  is  reason  to  suspect  collu- 
sion, or  that  the  party  applying  for  the 
divorce  is  disqualified  from  obtaining  it, 
the  effect  of  such  intervention  being  to 
stay  the  divorce  and  sustain  the  marriage. 
In  the  Roman  Curia  suits  of  nullity  of 
marriage  come  before  the  Congregation  of 
the  Council  [Cardiital]  or  the  Auditory 
of  the  Apostolic  Palace :  in  the  former 
case  the  defensor  is  appointed  by  the  Car- 
dinal Prefect,  in  the  latter,  by  the  Auditor 
Dean.  In  courts  of  the  second  instance — 
e.g.  that  of  a  metropolitan,  or  of  a  Papal 
nuncio — the  judge  is  entitled,  and  also 
bound,  to  appoint  a  defensor-,  except  where 
the  hearing  of  a  case  has  been  deputed  by 
the  Holy  See  to  a  special  commissary 
who  has  no  ordinary  jurisdiction,  for  under 
such  circumstances  the  bishop  of  the  dio- 
cese where  the  hearing  is  to  take  place 
nominates  the  defensor.  The  same  Con- 
stitution directs  that  a  defensor  shall  be 
appointed,  if  possible,  from  among  the 
clergy  of  every  diocese  by  the  bishop,  who 
shall  attend  all  matrimonial  suits.  A 
defensor  is  to  receive  reasonable  fees,  pay- 
able either  by  the  litigant  supporting  the 
validity  of  the  marriage,  or,  if  he  is  indi- 
gent, out  of  the  fines  of  court  or  the  epi- 
scopal treasury.  He  must  be  sworn  to 
discharge  his  office  faithfully ;  he  must 
be  cited  at,  and  kept  duly  informed  of, 
every  stage  of  the  case ;  and  it  is  his  duty 


DEGRADATION 


253 


always  to  appeal  from  the  first  sentence 
by  which  the  nullity  of  any  marriage  is 
declared.     (Ferraris,  Defensor.) 

I>z:GItA.DATZOIir,  Degradation  is 
of  two  kinds,  verbal  and  real.  By  the  first 
a  criminous  cleric  is  declared  to  be  perpetu- 
ally deposed  from  clerical  orders,  or  from 
the  execution  thereof,  so  as  to  be  deprived 
of  all  order  and  function — e.g.  the  sacer- 
dotal or  episcopal — and  of  any  benefice 
which  he  might  have  previously  enjoyed. 
But  the  person  degraded  does  not  lose  the 
pnvi/egium  fori — that  is,  he  is  not  remitted 
for  justice  to  the  secular  courts,  but  may 
still  use  the  ecclesiastical.  Nor  does  he 
lose  the  privilegium  canonis,  in  virtue  of 
whish  the  assailant  of  a  cleric  incurs  ex- 
communication ipso  facto.  Nor  does 
degradation  cause  a  priest  to  lose  the 
character  of  the  priesthood,  which  is 
indelible.  The  consecration  of  the  Eu- 
charist by  a  degraded  priest  is  therefore 
valid,  as  well  as  his  absolution  of  a 
penitent  given  in  articulo  mortis.  He  is 
still  bound  to  continence,  and  to  the 
recitation  of  his  office.  The  obligation  as 
to  the  latter  point  would  seem  to  be  a 
doubtful  matter  in  certain  cases,  according 
to  decisions  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Council  and  Clement  XI.  in  tha  case  of 
clerks  condemned  to  the  galleys. 

Real  or  actual  degradation  is  that 
which,  besides  deposing  a  cleric  from  the 
exercise  of  his  ministry,  actually  strips 
him  of  his  orders,  according  to  a  pre- 
scribed ceremonial,  and  delivers  him  to 
the  secular  arm  to  be  punished.  The 
person  thus  degraded  loses  the  privihgium 
fori  et  canonis ;  but  as  (if  a  priest),  he 
cannot  be  deprived  of  the  sacerdotal 
character,  his  consecration  of  the  Eu- 
charist and  absolutions  of  persons  in 
articulo  are  still  valid,  as  in  the  former 
case. 

The  canon  law  specifies  minutely  the 
crimes  on  account  of  which  the  punish- 
ment of  degradation  may  be  legally 
inflicted,  and  leaves  no  jurisdiction  with 
bishops  of  degrading  except  for  the 
causes  determined  by  the  law  and  by  the 
Roman  Pontiff's. 

For  the  ceremony  of  real  degradation 
a  form  was  laid  down  by  Boniface  VIII. 
The  delinquent  clerk  was  to  be  brought 
before  the  bishop,  habited  in  the  dress  of 
his  order,  and  with  a  book  or  vessel,  or 
some  other  instrument  or  ornament  in  his 
hands,  as  if  he  were  proceeding  to  the 
performance  of  his  clerical  functions.  The 
bishop  was  then  publicly  to  take  away 
from  him  the  things,  whether  vestment, 


254 


DEGREES 


DEGREES 


chalice,  book,  or  anything  else,  that  had 
been  delivered  to  hioi  at  the  time  of  his 
ordination,  beginning  with  that  vestment 
or  ornament  whi^h  he  had  received  last, 
and  ending  with  the  vestment  which  he 
put  on  when  he  was  lirst  tonsured. 
La.stly  his  head  was  to  he  shaved,  so  as 
to  obliterate  the  mark  of  the  tonsure. 
"When  the  last  of  the  clerical  insignia  was 
taken  awav,  the  bishop  was  to  address 
him  to  the  following  effect :  "  By  the 
authority  of  God  Almighty,  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  and  by  our  own,  we 
take  away  from  thee  the  clerical  habit, 
and  depose,  degrade,  and  deprive  thee  of 
all  order,  benefice,  and  clerical  privilege." 

The  above  ceremony  can  only  be 
performed  by  a  bishop  in  person  ;  but  a 
verbal  degradation  can  be  carried  out  by 
the  vicar-general,  acting  as  the  bishop's 
representative,  or  by  the  vicar-capitular, 
acting  for  the  chapter,  during  a  vacancy 
of  the  see. 

The  Church  delivers  to  the  lay  power 
with  extreme  reluctance  those  who  have 
once  been  her  ordained  ministers;  and, 
in  doing  so,  "  is  bound  to  intercede 
efficaciously  for  them,  that  moderate 
sentences,  not  involving  the  peril  of  death, 
may  be  passed  upon  them."  In  ancient 
times  the  bishops  endeavoured  from  this 
motive  to  shut  up  degraded  clerks  in 
monasteries  rather  than  hand  them  over 
to  the  secular  arm,  as  the  former  course 
seemed  more  liliely  to  lead  to  their 
repentance  and  reformation. 

Formerly  the  law  required  that  a 
number  of  bishops,  varying  according  to 
the  rank  of  the  delinquent,  should  concur 
to  the  degradation  of  a  cleric ;  but  since 
the  Council  of  Trent  ^  degradation  of 
either  kind  may  be  carried  out  by  a  single 
bishop,  assisted  by  as  many  abbots  or 
other  dignitaries  as  bishops  would  have 
heen  required  under  the  old  law. 

The  common  opinion  of  the  Fathers 
was  thftt  a  degraded  cleric  could  be 
reinstated,  upon  proof  of  sincere  repen- 
tance and  amendment  of  life.  The  judg- 
ment of  Gregory  the  Great  seems  to 
have  been  that  the  degradation,  once 
inflicted,  ought  to  be  irreversible.  In 
modern  times  this  question  can  seldom 
he  raised,  because  a  cleric  is  not  now 
degraded  excepting  for  a  crime  of  great 
enormity,  punished  with  the  heaviest 
penalties  by  the  civil  power.  (Ferraris, 
Degradatio.) 

DSCREES  (Xir  THEOIiOG-r, 
STC.)»  The  history  of  learned  degrees — 
*  Sess.  xiii.  c.  4,  De  Keform. 


i.e.  of  the  titles  doctor  or  master,  licentiate, 
bachelor — is  closely  connected  with  that 
of  universities.  We  tind  the  first  traces 
of  them  in  the  legal  school  of  Bologna. 
There  the  title  of  doctor  or  master  was 
given  first  of  all  to  any  teacher,  but 
about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century 
"  doctor  "  was  used  as  an  honorary  title, 
and  was  given  specially  to  the  four 
doctors,  viz.  Bulgarus,  Martinus,  Jacobus 
and  Hugo.  As  the  university,  which  had 
been  founded  about  1100,  began  to  be 
duly  constituted,  the  teachers  formed 
themselves  into  a  college,  they  acquired 
a  certain  jurisdiction  over  the  students, 
and  they  subjected  persons  who  wished  to 
lecture  to  a  previous  examination.  Those 
who  were  so  examined  and  approved 
received  the  dignity  of  the  doctorate.  At 
first  it  was  "  legists "  or  professors  of 
civil  law,  and  these  only,  who  obtained 
this  title  ;  but  towards  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  age  canonists  also  were  called 
doctors,  as  appears  from  a  Decretal  of 
Innocent  HI.  addressed  to  the  "doctores 
decretorum  Bononise,"  as  well  as  the 
"  doctores  legum  "  at  the  same  school. 
In  the  thirteenth  century  "  doctors  of 
medicine,"  of  grammar,  logic,  philosophy 
and  the  other  arts  were  recognised.  The 
jurists,  however,  claimed  the  title  of 
doctor  as  exclusively  their  own,  and 
would  only  grant  the  title  of  "  master"  to 
the  qualified  teachers  of  theology  and  the 
arts.  At  Bologna  a  candidate  for  the 
doctorate  had  to  swear  before  the  Rector 
that  he  had  gone  through  the  regular 
course  of  studies — i.e.  that  he  had  studied 
civil  law  for  eight,  or  the  canon  law  for 
six,  years.  Next,  the  candidate  was 
presented  by  a  doctor  to  the  archdeacon 
of  Bologna,  who  had  the  right,  grounded 
on  a  rescript  issued  by  Honorius  IH.  in 
1219,  of  granting  or  refusing  permission 
to  graduate.  This  permission  being  given, 
the  candidate  was  examined  privately  in 
civil  or  in  canon  law,  or  in  each  of  them 
if  he  wished  to  graduate  in  each,  by  the 
doctors  who  were  empowered  to  promote. 
The  doctors  voted  after  the  examination, 
and  if  their  votes  were  favourable  the 
candidate  became  a  licentiate.  As  a  rule, 
this  degree  of  licentiate  was  a  mere  step 
to  the  doctorate.  Occasionally  we  find 
cases  of  persons  remaining  licentiates  for 
years,  but  as  a  rule  the  licentiate  passed 
on  at  once  to  the  second  and  public 
examination  for  the  doctorate.  At  this 
the  licentiate  made  a  speech  on  his  pro- 
motion, gave  a  lecture  on  law,  and  held  a 
public  dispute  with  the  scholars,  all  of 


DEGREES 

which  exercises  took  place  in  the  cathe- 
dral. Thereupon  the  archdeacon  or  his 
delepfate  proclaimed  him  doctor,  while  the 
presiding  doctor  invested  him  with  the 
book,  with  the  doctor's  ring  and  cap,  and 
seated  him  in  the  doctor's  chair.  Both 
licentiate  and  doctor  received  a  diploma  ; 
the  earliest  known  is  dated  1314. 

The  new  doctor  acquired  very  im- 
portant rights.  He  had  authority  to 
teach  in  Bologna,  and  Papal  decrees 
secured  the  recognition  of  this  right 
throughout  Christendom.  He  was  called 
"  doctor  legens/' or  "non  legens,"  according 
as  he  did  or  did  not  exercise  the  privilege, 
and  it  was  when  the  doctors  who  did  not 
lecture  became  common  that  the  notion 
of  the  doctorate  as  an  independent  dignity 
became  perfected.  Next,  the  new  doctor 
was  qualified  to  be  chosen  member  of 
the  faculty  for  promoting  others  to  the 
same  degree.  Lastly,  the  doctors  had  juris- 
diction over  their  scholars,  who,  by  con- 
cession of  Frederic  in  1158,  might  choose 
to  stand  their  trial  "coram  domino  vel 
magistro  suo  velipsiuscivitatis  episcopo." 

The  degrees  of  doctor,  &c.,  were  of 
course  conferred  by  other  universities,  such 
as  Paris,  Oxford,  &c.,  wlien  they  came  to 
be  erected.  Gradually  also  the  degree  of 
bachelor  or  baccalaureus  became  an  inde- 
pendent degree.  Originally,  bachelor  was 
the  name  given  to  a  student  who,  having 
taken  his  oath  that  he  had  studied  law 
for  six  years,  was  permitted  by  the  Rector 
to  teach  an  entire  book  of  Roman  or 
civil  law.  The  origin  of  the  degree  of 
licentiate  has  been  explained  above.  The 
word  "  magister "  or  master  designated 
first  the  master  of  a  cathedral  school, 
then  'the  dignitary  appointed  to  give  free 
theological  instruction  in  the  cathedral 
churches.  In  universities  "  magister " 
was  used  at  first  vaguely  as  synonymous 
with  teacher  or  professor ;  then  it  became 
a  synonym  of  doctor  in  the  technical 
sense,  as  the  highest  of  the  university 
degrees.  If  there  was  any  distinctioil 
between  magister  and  doctor  it  depended 
simply  on  local  custom.  Thus,  in  Italy, 
France,  and  Spain,  those  who  had  ob- 
tained the  hijrhest  theological  degree 
were  usually  called  "  magistri  theologiae  " 
the  word  "doctor"  being  reserved  for 
graduates  in  the  other  faculties.  In 
Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  graduates 
in  philosophy  used  to  be  called  masters, 
those  in  the  other  faculties  doctors. 

By  the  law  of  the  Church  the  dignity 
of  doctor  in  theology  and  canon  law 
cannot  be  given  except  by  such  theological 


DELEGATION 


255 


faculties  as  have  been  confirmed  by  the 
Pope.  The  doctor  on  his  promotion  must 
make  the  profession  of  faith  drawn  up  by 
Pius  IV.  According  to  the  Council  of 
Trent  (xxiv.  12,  De  lief.)  it  is  desirable 
that  all  dignities  and  half  the  canonries  in 
each  chapter  should  be  conferred  on 
doctors  or  masters  in  theology  or  canon 
law,  unless  there  are  reasons  to  the  con- 
trary. Doctors  in  theology  and  canon 
law  are  also  usually  summoned  to  consult 
with  the  bishops  in  general  and  provincial 
councils.     (From  Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

DBZiSGATIOsr.  A  judge  or  ad- 
ministrator delegates  his  jurisdiction  and 
power  when  he  commits  their  exercise  to 
another.  A  judge-delegate  differs  from 
a  judge  in  ordinary  in  that  the  latter 
exercises  his  own  jurisdiction,  and  decides 
cases  in  his  own  rights  whereas  the  dele- 
gate relies  on  the  right  and  jurisdiction  of 
another.  The  delegate  is  bound  to  show 
j  his  commission  or  credentials  to  the 
parties  whose  cause  he  is  to  try,  to  give  , 
them  due  notice  of  the  time  when  they 
are  to  come  before  him,  and  to  fix  the 
place  of  hearing  at  a  distance  not  ex- 
ceeding twenty  miles  from  the  locality 
where  the  cause  of  action  arose. 

Not  only  supreme  authorities,  as 
Popes,  emperors,  and  republics,  but,  by 
the  canon  and  civil  law,  all  ordinary 
judges  can  delegate  their  jurisdiction  to 
another.  The  deJegator  is  in  such  case 
responsible  for  all  judgments  given  by  his 
delegate,  for  "  Qui  facit  per  aliuni  est 
perinde  ac  si  faciat  per  se  ipsum."  But 
the  delegating  judge  cannot  divest  him- 
self of  his  whole  jurisdiction  without  his 
sovereign's  consent,  and  this  for  obvious 
reasons,  especially  because  such  delegation 
would  be  tantamount  to  an  appointment, 
and  so  infringe  on  the  right  of  the 
superior  authority.  Moreover,  a  delegate 
may  commit  his  jurisdiction  to  a  sub- 
delegate,  but  only  if  he  be  commissioned 
by  a  prince  or  some  sovereign  authority. 
Hence  the  question  has  been  raised 
whether  the  delegate  of  a  Roman  congre- 
gation can  appoint  a  sub-delegate,  and  it 
has  been  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

All  persons  are  capable  of  being 
appointed  judge-delegates  who  are  not 
hindered  by  nature,  by  law,  or  by  custom. 
By  nature,  as  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  or  the 
insane,  "quia  tales  carent  judicio."  By 
law,  as  those  whom  a  judicial  sentence 
has  declared  infamous.  By  custom,  as 
slaves  and  women.  Delegates  of  the 
Holy  See,  or  of  a  Papal  legate,  ought  to 
be   dignitaries  or  canons  of  a  cathedral 


256 


DELEGATION 


clmrcli ;  laut  the  delegate  of  a  bishop  may 
be  any  clerk  whom  he  may  see  fit  to 
appoint.  The  reason  of  the  distinction  is 
that  the  bishop,  having  complete  personal 
Icnowledge  of  his  clergy,  may  have  good 
reason  for  placing  his  confidence  in  an 
undistinguished  cleric ;  but  the  Holy  See, 
being  without  that  personal  knowledge, 
appoints  delegates  who  may  be  presumed 
from  their  high  position  to  be  well 
qualified  for  the  duty.  Bishops  and  all 
ecclesiastical  judges  below  the  Pope  can- 
not delegate  their  power  in  spiritual 
causes  to  a  layman,  or  even  to  a  layman 
jointly  with  an  ecclesiastic.  This  rule 
applies  also  to  criminal  causes  in  which 
clerics  are  concerned ;  but  not  to  purely 
civil  causes,  as  about  debts  and  money 
matters  generally,  for  in  regard  to  these 
a  bishop  can  appoint  a  layman  as  his 
delegate.  This,  however,  has  been  con- 
tested. The  Supreme  Pontifi'can,  out  of 
his  full  and  certain  knowledge,  delegate 
to  a  layman — e.g.  to  an  emperor  or  king — 
the  trial  even  of  the  criminal  and 
spiritual  causes  of  clerics.  This  right 
emanates  from  the  plenary  power  of  the 
Pope,  in  virtue  of  which  he  dispenses, 
when  necessary,  with  the  established  law. 

The  Council  of  Trent  ^  ordered  that  in 
every  provincial  or  diocesan  synod  several 
persons  should  be  elected  who  were 
qualified  to  act  as  Papal  delegates,  and 
that  the  bishops  should  notify  such  ap- 
pointments to  the  Holy  See.  But  as 
these  notifications  were  seldom  made,  the 
decree  fell  into  desuetude,  and  the  Holy 
See  was  compelled  to  proceed  as  before 
in  appointing  delegates  to  try  causes  in 
distant  countries,  on  the  best  information 
that  could  be  obtained. 

Since  many  powers  are  by  Pontifical 
law  delegated  to  bishops,  it  is  sometimes 
difficult  to  distinguish  whether,  in  a 
given  case,  a  bishop  is  acting  as  ordinary 
or  as  delegate  of  the  Holy  See.  If  the 
former,  the  appeal  from  his  sentence  is  to 
the  metropolitan;  if  the  latter,  to  the 
Pope.  The  canonists  lay  down  many 
rules  and  testing  circumstances,  by  means 
of  which  the  necessary  discrimination 
may  be  made. 

Delegation  may  cease,  (1)  by  the 
death  of  the  delegate,  if  the  delegation 
was  personal,  not  official ;  "^  (2)  by  the 
death  of  the  delegator,  at  least  if  the 

1  Ses3.  XXV.  c.  10,  De  Ref. 

2  As  when,  for  instance,  Philip  IV.  and 
Edward  I.  committed  the  arhitration  of  their 
disputes  to  the  Pope,  not  as  Pope,  but  as  "  Bene- 
detto Gaetani." 


DENUNCIATION 

cause  was  not  yet  commenced ;  (3)  by  his 
deposition  from  office,  with  the  same 
proviso ;  (4)  by  revocation  of  powers ; 
(5)  by  expiration  of  time ;  (6)  by  the 
discharge  of  the  commission ;  and  in 
several  other  ways.  (Ferraris,  Delegare, 
Delegatus?) 

SENTTxrcxATZoxr.  An  edict  of 
the  Roman  Inquisition,  dated  in  1677, 
orders  all  persons,  in  virtue  of  holy  obedi- 
ence and  under  the  penalty  of  excommuni- 
cation latce  sententicB,  to  denounce  to  the 
Holy  Office,  within  the  term  of  one  month, 
all  persons  whom  they  may  know  to  be 
heretics,  or  suspected  of  heresy,  and 
the  abettors  of  such  ;  also  all  persons 
whom  they  may  know  to  be  addicted 
to  magic,  witchcraft,  and  diabolic 
arts,  or  to  keep  without  permission, 
or  promote  the  circulation  of,  books 
teaching  heresy  or  the  black  art,  or  to 
have  broken  their  religious  vows  or 
canonical  obligations  by  contracting  mar- 
riage, or  to  have  committed  bigamy,  or 
abused  the  sacrament  of  penance,  or 
uttered  heretical  blasphemies,  or  treated 
holy  images  with  disrespect  and  contempt, 
or  frequented  anti-religious  conventicles, 
or  perverted  Christians  to  Judaism  or  any 
sect  contrary  to  the  Catholic  faith,  or  been 
guilty  of  sacrilegious  invasion,  not  being 
priests,  of  the  priestly  office. 

It  is  inferred  from  this  that  anyone 
who  teaches  one  of  the  condemned  propo- 
sitions [PrOPOSITIONES  DAMNATiE]  OUght 

to  be  denounced  to  the  Holy  Oflice. 

At  the  same  time  '•  Catholics  are  not 
bound  to  denounce  heretics  in  those 
places  in  which  heretics  are  mixed  with 
Catholics,  the  inquisitors  and  bishops 
being  aware  of  the  fact,  since  no  one  is 
under  an  obligation  to  do  what  is 
useless."  ^ 

The  probable  risk  of  serious  injury  to 
person,  property,  and  reputation,  does  not 
release  from  the  obligation  of  denouncing 
a  formal  heretic,  though  it  does  release 
from  the  obligation  in  the  case  of  persons 
only  suspected  of  heresy.^ 

Formal  heretics,  on  account  of  the  pes- 
tilent and  contagious  nature  of  the  crime, 
ought  to  be  denounced  even  after  their 
death,  so  that  they  may  be  declared  ex- 
communicate, be  deprived  of  ecclesiastical 
sepulture,  be  disinterred,  and  their  bones 
burned,  if  they  can  be  distinguished  from 
those  of  Catholics ;  if  not,  they  should  be 
burnt  in  effigy.^  (Ferraris,  Denuntiatic.) 

1  Ferraris,  "  Den."  §  18. 

2  Ibid.  §§  24,  25. 
»  Ibid.  §  19. 


DEPOSING  POWER 

DEPOSZIO-G  POVTER.  Few  poli- 
tico-religious questions  have  been  more 
keenl}'  argued  than  that  which  treats  of  the 
relations  of  control  or  otlierwise  between 
the  Roman  Pontiff  and  secular  princes 
and  governments.  During  the  middle 
ages  it  was  held  everywhere  in  Christian 
countries  with  undoubting  conviction,  that 
princes  were  amenable  on  the  score  of 
heresy  to  the  ecclesiastical  power,  and 
that  the  Pope  as  the  vicegerent  of  Christ 
could  lawfully  excommunicate,  and  after 
excommunication  depose  or  procure  the 
deposition  of  a  sovereign  who  had  fallen 
into  heresy.  This  was  no  Ultramontane 
theory,  but  the  common  teaching  of  theo- 
logians everywhere.  Thus  we  hnd  Alex- 
ander Hales,  an  Englisli  Franciscan  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  saying,  "  The  spiritual 
power  has  to  instruct  the  earthly  power, 
and  to  judge  whether  it  is  good;  it  was 
itself  first  instituted  by  God,  and  when  it 
goes  astray,  it  can  be  judged  by  God  alone," 
And,  "  God  has  willed  that  some  should 
have  power  over  others,  more  in  number ; 
and  then  that  a  still  smaller  number  should 
have  power  over  the  first ;  and  so  on  by 
ascending  degrees  until  one  is  reached, 
namely  the  Pope,  who  is  immediately 
under  God."  The  third  canon  of  the 
Later  an  Council  (1215)  ordains  that  if  a 
secular  ruler  persists,  after  being  warned, 
in  letting  heresy  grow  up  undisturbed  in 
his  dominions,  he  is  to  be  excommunicated 
by  the  bishops  of  the  regions  subject  to 
him  ;  if  he  contemn  the  excommunication, 
the  Pope  is  to  be  informed,  "  so  that  he 
may  declare  the  vassals  of  that  ruler  ab- 
solved from  his  fealty,  and  invite  Catho- 
lics .to  occupy  the  country."  No  one, 
says  Bellarmiue,  in  those  ages  thought  of 
making  any  objection  to  this  canon  ;  for 
"  not  yet  in  truth  had  the  race  of  parasites 
to  temporal  princes  appeared,  who,  that 
they  may  appear  to  establish  their  earthl}' 
kingdoms,  take  away  the  eternal  kingdom 
from  those  whom  they  fawn  upon." 

On  the  other  hand  many  theologians, 
while  admitting  the  fact  of  the  general 
belief  in  the  middle  ages  that  the  power 
of  the  Pontiff  was  above  that  of  all  tem- 
poral sovereigns,  and  included,  in  extreme 
cases,  the  right  of  deposing  them,  account 
for  this  belief  in  various  ways,  but  do  not 
admit  that  it  has  any  root  in  the  depositum 
■fidei.  Some  say  that  the  influence  of  the 
feudal  idea  of  suzerainty  caused  the  Pope 
to  be  regarded  as  suzerain  over  all  sove- 
reigns within  the  limits  of  Christendom, 
but  that,  with  the  weakening  or  abolition 
of  feudalism,  this  theory  and  all  its  con- 


DEPOSING  POWER 


267 


sequences  must  be  abandoned.  Others 
ground  the  Papal  claims  in  this  respect  on 
the  received  public  law  of  those  ages,  that 
emperors  and  kings  had  to  profess  the 
true  faith,  and  be  in  communion  with  the 
Pope,  as  essential  conditions  of  their 
reigning  lawfully;  if  these  conditions 
were  broken,  of  which  the  Pope  was  the 
judge,  then,  at  the  demand  of  the  subjects, 
he  could  relieve  them  of  their  allegiance 
and  declare  their  ruler  unfit  to  reign. 
Here  again,  a  temporary  basis  only  is 
allowed  to  the  deposing  power,  as  depend- 
ing on  a  condition  of  opinion  which  in 
modern  times  has  ceased  to  exist.  Gerson, 
Duperron,  and  Fenelon,  go  much  further 
than  this,  but  stop  short  of  allowing  any 
coercive  jurisdiction  to  exist  in  tlie  Pope, 
in  right  of  his  primacy,  over  sovereigns. 
"  The  Church,"  says  Fenelon,  "  neither 
deprived  nor  appointed  lay  rulers,  but 
only  replied,  when  the  nations  consulted 
it,  explaining  what  concerned  the  con- 
science in  regard  to  the  political  contract 
or  the  oath  [of  allegiance].  This  is  not  a 
juridical  and  civil,  but  only  a  directive  and 
ordinative  power."  The  power,  he  adds, 
consists  only  in  this, "  that  the  Pope,  as  the 
chief  of  pastors — as  the  principal  director 
and  doctor  of  the  Church  in  the  greater 
causes  of  Christian  moral  discipline — ia 
bound  to  instruct  a  people  consulting  him 
on  what  concerns  their  keeping  the  oath 
of  fealty  which  they  have  sworn."  ^ 

The  ordinary  opinion  of  Roman  theo- 
logians may  be  seen  stated  in  full  in  the 
pages  of  Ferraris.  "  The  common  opinion 
teaches  that  the  Pope  holds  the  power  of 
both  swords,  the  spiritual  and  the  tem- 
poral, which  jurisdiction  and  power  Christ 
himself  committed  to  Peter  and  his  suc- 
cessors, saying  (Matt.  xvi.  19)  *I  will 
give  to  thee  the  keys,'  &c.  Where 
doctors  note  that  he  did  not  say  *key' 
but  'keys,'  thereby  comprehending  the 
temporal  along  with  the  spiritual  power." 
The  contrary  opinion  is  held  to  savour  of 
the  heretical  belief  condemned  by  Boniface 
VIII.  in  the  Constitution  ''Unam  Sanctam." 
"  Accordingly,  unbelieving  kings  and 
princes  can  be  deprived  by  the  sentence  of 
the  Pope,  in  certain  cases,  of  the  dominion 
which  they  have  over  believers  :  for  in- 
stance, if  they  have  forcibly  seized  upon 
Christian  countries,  or,  are  endeavouring 
to  turn  their  believing  subjects  from  the 
faith,  and  the  like.'"  Barbosa  and  other 
canonists  hold  that  ''  a  king  who  has  be- 
come a  heretic  can  be  removed  from  hie 
kingdom  by  the  Pope,  to  whom  the  right 
^  Soglia,  Z>e  Romano  Pontifice,  §  33. 


258 


DEFOSINQ  POWER 


of  electing  a  successor  passes,  if  bis  sons 
and  kindred  are  also  heretics."  "■  There  is 
nothing  strange  in  attributing  to  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  as  the  vicar  of  Him  whose 
is  the  earth  and  the  fidness  thereof,  the 
■world  and  all  that  dwell  therein,  the 
fullest  authority  and  power  to  lay  bare,  a 
just  cause  moving  him,  not  only  the 
spiritual  but  also  the  material  sword,  and 
so  to  transfer  sovereignties,  break  sceptres, 
and  remove  crowns."  The  canonists  pro- 
duce numerous  instances  where  this  has 
been  actually  done,  as  when  Gregory  II. 
deposed  the  Byzantine  emperor  Leo  III.  ; 
Gregory  VII.  deposed  the  emperor  Henry 
IV. ;  Innocent  IV.,  in  the  Council  of  Lyons, 
deposed  the  emperor  Frederick  II.  ;  &c. 

The  celebrated  Constitution  "Unam 
Sanctam,"!  (1303)  teaches  that  "both 
swords,  the  spiritual  and  the  material,  are 
in  the  power  of  the  Church,  but  the  latter 
is  to  be  wielded  for  the  Church,  the  former 
by  the  Church  ;  one  by  the  hand  of  the 
priest,  the  other  by  the  hand  of  kings  and 
magistrates,'^  but  at  the  pleasure  and  suf- 
ferance of  the  priest.  One  sword  must  be 
under  the  other ;  and  the  temporal  autho- 
rity must  be  subject  to  the  spiritual  power. 
.  .  .  The  spiritual  power  has  to  teach  the 
earthly  power,  and  to  judge  it,  if  it  is  not 
good.  .  .  .  Therefore,  if  the  earthly  power 
goes  astray,  it  shall  be  judged  by  the 
spiritual  power;"  whereas  the  spiritual 
power  is  responsible  to  God  alone. 

Bellarmine,  in  a  sentence  of  great 
clearness  and  force,  has  clothed  the  doc- 
trine of  the  deposing  power  in  a  philo- 
sophical form.  After  quoting  the  famous 
lines  of  the  sixth  ^neid,  "  Excudent  alii," 
&c.,  he  says  that,  as  the  art  of  the  sculp- 
tor is  not  included  in,  nor  derived  from, 
the  art  of  government,  and  yet  is  subject 
to  it,  *'so  the  ecclesiastical  art  of  govern- 
ing souls,  which  is  the  art  of  arts,  and  re- 
sides principally  in  the  Pope,  does  not 
necessarily  include  the  art  of  [secular] 
government,  nor  is  it  necessary  that  all 
governments  should  be  derived  from  the 
Church;  and  yet,  because  its  end  is 
eternal  life,  to  which  all  other  ends  are 
subordinated,  the  political  art  of  ruling 
peoples  is  subject  and  subordinate  to  this 
art,  and  the  Supreme  Pontift'can  and  ought 
to  command  kings,  that  they  do  not  abuse 
their  royal  powei*  to  the  subversion  of  the 
Church,  to  the  fostering  of  heresies  and 
schisms — in  short,  to  the  eternal  ruin  of 
themselves  and  the  peoples  subject  to 
them ;  and  if  they  do  not  obey  after  having 

1  Raynaldus,  iv.  328. 

2  Miiitum. 


DEPOSITION,  BULL  OF 

been  admonished  he  can  cast  them  out  of 
the  Church  by  the  censure  of  excommuni- 
cation, and  absolve  the  peoples  from  their 
oath  of  fealty ;  finally,  he  can  strip  them 
of  their  realms  and  deprive  them  of  the 
royal  power."  ^ 

The  state  of  Europe  is  so  much  altered 
since  the  time  of  Bellarmin,  that  there  is 
no  longer  any  question,  even  at  Rome,  of 
exercising  the  deposing  power.  When, 
through  the  growth  of  heresy  and  un- 
belief, and  the  spread  of  opinions  favour- 
able to  the  absolute  independence  and 
unlimited  authority  of  kings  or  States,  the 
popular  assent  to  the  use  of  the  deposing 
power  had  vanished,  the  power  itself  fell 
into  abeyance ;  for  without  such  assent 
it  could  not  be  effectively  exercised.  Ac- 
cordingly the  late  Pope,  in  a  sermon 
quoted  by  Cardinal  Soglia,  said,  "  No  one 
now  thinks  any  more  of  the  right  of  de- 
posing princes,  which  the  Holy  See  for- 
merly exercised ;  and  the  Supreme  Pontiff 
even  less  than  anyone."    (Ferraris,  Papa.) 

SEPOSlTzbir  in  the  strict  sense 
{j.lepositio  perpetua)  deprives  a  clerk  of 
aU  right  to  exercise  his  orders,  of  his  bene- 
fice and  of  jurisdiction.  It  is  distinct,  on 
the  one  hand,  from  mere  privation,  because 
depositiou  is  perpetual,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  from  degradation,  because  deposition 
is  inflicted  by  the  mere  sentence  of  com- 
petent authority  without  any  such  cere- 
monies as  accompany  degradation,  and 
because  a  deposed,  unlike  a  degraded,  per- 
son still  belongs  to  the  clerical  state,  and 
enjoys  the  privileges  of  the  canon  and 
forum.  The  distinction  between  degrada- 
tion and  deposition  dates  from  the  twelfth 
century.  Deposition,  being  an  act  of 
jurisdiction,  can  be  inflicted  by  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese,  by  the  vicar-general  acting 
in  the  bishop's  name,  and  by  the  prelates 
of  religious  orders.  Deposition  is  the 
punishment  assigned  in  the  canons  for 
certain  grave  crimes,  such  as  murder,  per- 
jury, robbery,  adultery,  &c. 

BEPOSZTzoiar,  iBTri.iL  of.  Often 
as  the  celebrated  bull  of  Pius  V.  is  re- 
feiTed  to,  its  exact  terms  are  but  little 
known  ;  we  therefore  subjoin  an  abstract 
of  its  contents.  _  The  bull  begins  "  Regnans 
in  excelsis."  After  the  opening  passage, 
it  proceeds : — "  But  the  party  of  the 
impious  has  become  so  powerful  that 
there  is  now  no  place  in  the  world  left 
which  they  have  not  endeavoured  to 
corrupt  with  their  abominable  doctrines, 
being  supported  by,  amongst  others,  that 

^  Bellarm.  De  Potestate  summi  PontiJici$y 
cap.  ii. 


DEPOSITION,  BULL  OF 

flagitious  -woman,  the  pretended  queen  of 
England,  Elizabeth ;  to  whom,  as  to  a 
safe  asylum,  all  the  most  dangerous  and 
mischievous  characters  have  fled  for 
shelter.  This  same  queen,  having  seized 
the  royal  power,  monstrously  arrogating 
to  herself  the  place  of  supreme  head  of 
the  Church  m  all  England,  and  the  chief 
authority  and  jurisdiction  over  it,  has 
plunged  again  into  a  gulf  of  misery  and 
ruin  a  kingdom  which  long  ago  was  con- 
verted to  the  Catholic  faith  and  to  sound 
and  moral  living  (bonam  frugeni).'" 
After  describing  the  forcible  suppression 
of  the  true  religion,  Pius  proceeds:  "She 
has  ordered  that  books  containing  manifest 
heresy  shall  be  used  throughout  the 
kingdom,  and  that  the  impious  rites  and 
institutes,  modelled  after  the  teaching  of 
Calvin,  which  she  herself  has  adopted 
and  observes,  shall  be  also  conformed  to 
by  her  subjects."  Driving  out  the  true 
bishops,  the  members  of  religious  orders, 
&c.,  and  forbidding  all  obedience  to  the 
Pope  and  any  reference  to  Rome,  "  she 
has  compelled  the  greater  number  [of  her 
subjects]  to  submit  to  her  nefarious  laws, 
to  abjure  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
Pontiff,  and  the  obedience  due  to  him, 
and  to  recognise  upon  oath  herself  as 
their  sole  superior  alike  in  things  temporal 
and  things  spiritual ;  .  .  .  .  she  has  cast 
into  prison  Catholic  bishops  and  parish- 
priests,  where  many,  wasted  away  by 
long  sickness  and  sorrow,  have  expired 
in  utter  misery."  These  things,  he  says, 
are  "  palpable  and  notorious  in  the  sight 
of  all  nations."  He  has  been  informed 
that  her  "  mir.d  is  so  stubbornly  fixed  and 
hardened,"  that  she  not  only  despises  the 
remonstrances  of  Catholic  princes,  "but 
will  not  even  permit  the  nuncios  of  this 
See  to  cross  into  England  to  speak  to  her 
on  this  subject."  The  Pope  therefore 
declares  that  "  the  aforesaid  Elizabeth, 
as  a  heretic  and  a  supporter  of  heretics, 
and  those  who  adhere  to  her  in  the  afore- 
said proceedings,  have  incurred  the  sen- 
tence of  anathema,  and  are  cut  off  from 
the  unity  of  the  body  of  Christ ;  more- 
over that  she  is  deprived  of  her  pretended 
right  over  the  aforesaid  kingdom,  and  of 
all  dominion,  dignity,  and  privilege  what- 
ever." He  releases  her  subjects  from 
any  oath  of  fealty  they  have  taken  to  her, 
and  from  all  obedience  and  submission  to 
her  whatsoever.  Those  who  obey  her  and 
her  laws  are  bound  and  implicated  in 
"the  like  sentence  of  anathema."  The 
date— April  27,  1670. 

On  this  bull  it  may  be  remarked  that 


DESECRATION  OF  CHURCHES  269 

the  attempts  of  the  Holy  See  to  depose 
Elizabeth  stand  by  themselves.  After 
her  death  nothing  similar  occurs;  and 
yet  the  condition  of  Catholics  in  England 
grew  worse  from  reign  to  reign,  and  it  is 
notorious  that  the  doctrine  on  which  the 
bull  rests  continued  to  be  held  at  Rome. 
This  seems  to  show  that  when  no  hope 
could  any  more  be  reasonably  entertained 
that  the  decision  of  tlie  Holy  See  would 
have  weight  with  the  English  people,  all 
thought  of  exerting  the  deposing  power 
was  laid  aside.  But  in  1570  things  had 
not  gone  so  far;  the  bull  speaks  of 
Elizabeth  as  a  tyrant  as  well  as  a  heretic  ; 
the  theory  of  it  was,  that  the  bulk  of  the 
nation,  and  the  best  part  of  it,  were  still 
attached  to  Catholicism,  but  were  beinp' 
dragooned  by  the  government  into  heresy 
against  their  vtdll.  Hence  the  Pope  mign^ 
believe  that  by  throwing  the  whole  weight 
of  Church  censures  on  the  side  of  the 
oppressed,  he  would  encourage  them  to 
rise  and  cast  ofi'  the  tyranny.  And  so 
perhaps  it  might  have  been  but  for  several 
special  circumstances :  for  instance,  the 
dread  enterUiined  by  Englishmen  generally 
of  civil  war,  after  the  long  and  terrible 
experience  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
exceptional  sagacity  and  energy  of 
Elizabeth's  ministers,  the  dislike  felt 
towards  Spain,  &c.  ("Concilia  Magna© 
Britanniae  et  Hibernise,"  vol.  iv.  1737.) 

HESCEXTT  OF  CHRIST  ZN-TO 
KEXiIi.     [See  LiMBO.] 

BESECBATZOSr  OF  CHURCHES, 
AZ.TARS,  CBAI.ZCES,  ETC.  By 
consecration  churches  and  altars  are 
solemnly  set  apart  to  God's  service ;  by 
desecration  they  lose  this  sacred  character, 
become  unfit  for  the  sacred  uses  which 
they  were  meant  to  serve,  and  need  to  be 
consecrated  anew. 

A  church  is  desecrated  if  the  greater 
part  of  it  is  demolished — e.g.  if  the  outer 
walls  are  destroyed,  or  if  the  greater  part 
of  them  is  demolished  at  one  and  the 
same  time.  A  church  does  not  lose  its 
consecration  if  the  roof  falls  in,  because  it 
is  the  walls,  not  the  roof,  which  were 
specially  consecrated  [see  Bedicatio]!^'  of 
Chukches]  ;  or,  again,  if  parts  of  the 
church  are  replaced  by  a  new  structure 
at  intervals,  even  if  in  the  end  the  whole 
building  is  new. 

An  altar  is  desecrated  {exe.cratur)f 
(1)  if  the  consecrated  table  is  remoTed 
from  the  low- er  structure  (this  only  applies 
to  a  fixed  altar)  ;  (2)  if  it  is  broken  to 
such  an  extent  that  not  enouo-h  of  it  is 
left  entire  to  support  the  chalice  and 
2 


260    DEUS,  IN  ADJUTORIUM,  ETC. 

paten  •,  (3)  if  the  seal  of  the  sepulchre  is 
broken,  or  if  the  sepulchre  with  the  relics 
is  removed. 

A  chalice  loses  its  consecration  if  so 
injured  that  it  can  no  longer  contain  the 
consecrated  wine ;  also,  according  to  St. 
Liguori  and  many  other  theologians,  if  it 
is  regilt.* 

The  English  word  desecration  may 
also  he  taken  as  equivalent  to  the  Latin 
word  pollntio.  A  church  or  cemetery  is 
desecrated  in  this  sense  {jpolluitur)  (1)  by 
culpable  homicide;  (2)  by  shedding  of 
"blood,  provided  the  act  be  grievously  sin- 
ful ;  (3)  by  certain  acts  of  an  immoral  or 
indecent  character ;  (4)  by  the  burial  of 
an  unbaptised  person  or  of  a  person  ex- 
communicated by  name.  If  any  of  the 
cases  cited  above  have  occurred,  and  the 
fact  is  notorious,  then  the  church  or 
cemetery  cannot  be  used  till  it  has  been 
purified  or  reconciled  by  the  bishop  ac- 
cording to  a  solemn  form  prescribed  in 
the  Pontifical. 

DEUS,  XIU  ADTtTTORZITBI  MEITM 
ZlO'TEia'DE  ("  0  God,  come  to  my  assis- 
tance '*).  The  opening  words  of  Ps.  Ixix., 
which  are  used  at  the  beginning  of  each 
hour  except  compline.  In  matins  they 
are  preceded  by  the  versicles  "  Lord, 
thou  wilt  open  my  lips,"  &c.  We  learn 
from  Cassian  (Coll.  x.  10)  that  the  words 
"Deus,  in  adjutorium,"  &c.,  were  a 
common  ejaculatory  prayer  with  the 
ancient  monks,  but  it  is  uncertain  whether 
they  were  used,  as  at  present,  in  the 
divine  office  before  St.  Benedict's  time. 

DEITTERO-CAirOirZCAZi  BOOKS. 

[See  Canon.] 

BEVZIi     A.T^'D     EVZXi     SPIRITS. 

Their  pergonal  existence  is  clearly  taught 
both  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the 
New.  In  the  Hebrew  Bible  an  "evil 
spirit"  is  said  to  have  come  on  Saul 
(1  Sam.  xvi.  14),  and  the  sacrifices  oflPered 
to  idols  are  represented  as  really  made  to 
'demons."*    In  Job  i.  6,  12,  ii.  7,  and 

I  This  opinion  i8  now  certain  from  a  decree 
of  SS.  Cong.  Kit.,  June  14, 1845. 

'  These  demons  are  called  Q**]^^  or  "lords" 

ulg.  deemonid)  in  Dent,  xxxii.  17,  Ps.  cvi. 
Vulg.  cv.)  37.  D''"1''V^  ^^  "hairy  beings," 
like  satyrs,  in  Levit.  xvii.  7  (Vulg.  again 
"demons").  These  "satyrs"  are  said  to  "dance" 
and  to  cry  out  to  each  other  in  waste  places, 
Is.  xiii.  21,  xxxiv.  14  (the  Vulg.  in  both  places 
♦*pilosi."  "pilosus").  The  student  interested 
in  such  matters  may  be  referred  to  Baudissin's 
masterly  treatise  in  the  first  volume  of  his  Stu- 
dien  zur  semitischen  Religionsgeschichte,  where 
Uia  apparent  identification   of   idolatry  with 


DEVIL  AND  EVIL  SPIRITS 

two  books  written  after  the  exile,  viz.  in 
Zach.  iii.  1,  1  Paralip.  xxi.  1,  mention  is 
made  of  *Hhe  adversary"  or  accusing 
spirit  par  excellence  (|0'^n>  always 
with  the  article,  except  in  the  passage 
quoted  from  Paral.^).  This  Satan  slandered 
Job  to  God,  incited  David  to  number  the 
people,  and  opposed  Josue  the  high  priest. 
Moreover,  we  know  from  the  Book  of 
Wisdom,  and  from  the  Apocalypse  in  the 
New  Testament,  that  it  was  he  who  took 
the  form  of  a  serpent  and  seduced  our 
first  parents,  so  that  he  is  rightly  called 
"devil"  (Sui/3oXo?)  or  "slanderer,"  be- 
cause he  not  only  slanders  men  befoi-e 
God,  but  also  brings  false  accusations 
against  God  Himself.  But  the  Hebrew 
Scriptm-es  are  far  indeed  from  acknow- 
ledging a  principle  of  evil  able  to  offer 
any  effectual  opposition  to  God.  The 
first  chapters  of  Job  represent  Satan  as 
impotent  for  evil  except  by  God's  per- 
mission, and  the  same  dependence  of  the 
devil  on  God  is  clearly  implied  in  Zacha- 
rias,  and  in  other  places  where  the  agency 
of  false  and  lying  spirits  is  described. 

We  gain  much  fuller  information  from 
the  New  Testament.  There  we  are  told 
that  the  devil  is  a  spirit  (Ephes.  ii.  2) ; 
that  he  is  a  prince  with  evil  angels  subject 
to  him  (Matt.  xii.  24-26,  xxv.  41)  ;  that 
the  demons  were  not  originally  evil,  but 
fell  through  sin  (2  Pet.  ii.  4,  Jude  6)  ; 
and  it  is  at  least  a  plausible  inference 
from  St.  Paul's  words,  1  Tim.  iii.  6,  "  not 
a  neophyte,  lest,  being  pulled  up  with  pride, 
he  fall  into  the  judgment  of  the  devil," 
that  Satan  fell  by  pride.  All  spiritual 
evil  and  error  (2  Cor.  xi.  14,  15),  all 
which  hinders  the  Gospel  (1  Thess.  ii.  18, 
Apoc.  ii.  10),  is  traced  ultimately  to  him. 
Moreover,  although  Chiist's  death  was 
intended  to  destroy  tJ!e  works  of  the  devil, 
and  has  in  fact  done  so  to  a  great  extent, 
still  Satan  has  a  terrible  power  over  the 
world  and  its  votaries,  so  much  so  that  he 
is  called  the  ruler  and  even  the  "  god  "  of 
this  world  (John  xii.  31,  2  Cor.  iv.  4); 
and  hence  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  v.  5)  regards 
exclusion  from  the  Church  as  tantamount 
to  a  deliverance  of  the  excommunicated 
person  into  the  power  of  Satan.  At  last 
this  power  will  be  destroyed.  Satan  and 
his  angels  will  he  cast  into  the  lake  of 

demon-worship  is  fnlly  discus.sed.  Levit.  xvii. 
7,  Deut.  xxxii.  17,*  Ps.  cvi.  37  (see  also 
2  Chron.  xxviii.  23),  are  the  stronfrest  passages, 
though  they  are  not  p2rhaps  conclusive.  But 
this  view  is  clearly  expressed  in  1  Cor.  x.  20. 

1  Some  would  add  Ps.  cix.  6.    See  Wright 
on  Zachariah,  p  543. 


DEVIL  AND  EVIL  SPIRITS 

fire  and  biimstoiie,  where  their  torments 
will  be  everlasting. 

Such  is  the  teaching"  which  lies  on 
the  surface  of  Scripture,  and  little  can  be 
added  to  it  from  tradition  or  by  theo- 
logical induction.  The  history  of  the 
doctrine  on  tlie  devil  and  his  angels  is 
stated  by  Petavius  in  the  third  book  of 
his  treatise  on  the  angels,  from  which  the 
following  account  is  tnken.  Even  after  it 
was  universally  held  that  the  angels  were 
pure  spirits,  some  still  clung  to  the  belief 
that  the  devils  after  their  fall  changed 
their  nature  and  became  "  partly  ma- 
terial." This  opinion  was  defended  by 
the  Greeks  at  Florence,  but  is  certainly 
false.  The  devil  was  the  chief  of  these 
fallen  spirits,  and  it  is  held  by  the  greater 
number  of  authors  that  he  was  originally 
the  chief  of  all  the  angels.  The  terrible 
description  of  the  fall  of  the  king  of 
Tyre  in.Ezechiel  xxviii.  has  been  inter- 
preted of  the  devil's  fall,  so  much  so, 
indeed,  that  the  name  Lucifer  commonly 
given  to  the  devil  is  derived  from  this 
passage.  But  the  reference  to  the  devil, 
as  Petavius  rightly  argues,  is  not  con- 
tained in  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
prophet's  words.  Although  condemned 
to  the  pains  of  hell  immediately  after 
their  fall,  still  from  time  to  time  the 
devil  and  his  angels  w^ander  in  the  air  and 
over  the  earth.  The  common  opinion 
among  theologians  is  that  wherever  they 
go  the  demons  are  tortured  by  the  fires 
of  hell,  though  they  are  by  no  means 
agreed  as  to  the  way  in  which  the  fires  of 
hell  exercise  this  strange  powder  over 
them.  On  the  other  hand  it  was  com- 
monly held  by  ancient  writers  that  the 
demons  will  not  be  tortured  by  the  fire  of 
hell  till  the  day  of  judgment,  and  Petavius 
says  one  who  maintains  "  that  the  devil 
and  his  angels  are  not  yet  tortured  by  that 
extreme  and  utmost  torture,  that  they  do 
not  yet  feel  the  efficacy  of  that  fire  in 
which  the  chief  part  of  their  damnation, 
60  far  as  feeling  and  sufiering  go,  consists, 
is  not  to  be  accused  of  error,  much  less  of 
heresy."  On  this  theory  the  rebel  angels 
will  begin  to  experience  the  eternal  tor- 
ments of  hell  fire  at  the  day  of  judgment. 
But  in  any  case  it  is  certain  from  the 
words  of  Christ,  "  Depart  ye  cursed  into 
everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels,"  from  the  general  teaching 
of  the  Fathers,  and  from  the  definition  of 
the  Fourth  Lateran  Council,^   that  the 

*  Caput  i.  Adv.  Albigenses,  where,  however, 
only  everlasting  pains'  of  the  devil  (not  of 
demons)  ar«  expressly  mentioned. 


DIACONICUM 


261 


devil  and  his  angels  are  condemned  with- 
out hope  of  pardon. 

BEVOIilTTZOXr.  Th^jus  devolution^ 
is  that  right  by  which,  according  to  the 
canon  law,  when  a  patron  has  improperly 
exercised,  or  neglected  to  exercise,  his 
canonical  right  of  presenting  to  a  benefice, 
he  loses  it  for  that  time,  and  the  right 
passes  to  the  ecclesiastical  dignitarj^  of 
next  higher  rank.  This  is  the  bishop, 
when  any  patron  under  his  jurisdictior, 
whether  an  individual  or  a  corporation, 
is  chargeable  with  the  neglect ;  the  arch- 
bishop, when  the  neglect  is  in  one  of  his 
suffragans  ;  the  Pope,  when  the  election 
of  an  archbishop,  bishop,  or  abbot,  has 
been  made  uncanonically,  or  not  niade  in 
time.  By  the  Concordat  of  Vienna  in 
1448,  the  right  of  devolution  was  granted 
to  the  Pope  both  in  these  cases  and  in 
the  event  of  the  election  being  rejected 
for  other  defects. 

The  State  law  of  different  countries  in 
modern  times  frequently  prevents  the 
exercise  of  this  canonical  right.  In 
France  it  is  excluded  altogether ;  the 
bishop  has  the  sole  right  of  collation  to 
the  Denefices  vacant  in  his  diocese.  In 
Prussia,  Wurtemberg,  and  Baden,  the 
right  exists,  but  in  a  very  restricted  form, 
(Permaneder,  in  Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

DEVOTION-,  FSASTS  OF;  A 
word  commonly  used  to  mark  feasts 
which  were  once  holidays  of  obligation, 
but  are  so  no  longer,  the  precept  of 
hearing  Mass  and  resting  from  servile 
works  having  been  annulled  by  the  Holy 
See  and  the  special  observance  of  the 
feasts  in  question  having  been  left  to  the 
devotion  of  the  faithful. 

BIACONICITBI  (Sin/foi/t/fdi').  A  build- 
ing attached  to  ancient  basilicas,  much 
the  same  as  secretarium  or  sacristy.  It 
was  divided  (1)  into  the  reception-room 
{salutatorium  or  receptorium,  oikos  da- 
naariKos)  in  which  the  bishop  was 
received  by  the  clergy  and  also  gave 
audiences.  It  was  in  such  a  reception- 
room  that  Theodosius  begged  absolution 
from  St.  Ambrose.  (2)  The  sacristy 
proper  {mutatorium,  vestiarium') ,  where 
the  deacons  kept  the  sacred  vessels  to  be 
used  at  Mass,  &c.,  and  the  priests  put 
their  vestments  on  and  off*,  before  and 
after  officiating.  (3)  A  chamber  {yaCo- 
<PvKdKiov)  in  which  books,  church-plate, 
vestments,  &c.,  not  required  for  imme- 
diate use,  were  kept.  Councils  were  often 
held  in  a  diaconicum ;  so  were  eccle- 
siastical courts.  The  bishop's  corpse  was 
also  laid  out  here  before  buriaL 


262 


DIES  IRJE 


DIOCESE 


BZES  IR2E.  [See  Hymns.] 
3>Z2^ISSO]KZAXS  {Uteres  dimissori(S, 
seu  reverendcs).  In  its  most  general 
sense,  leave  to  be  ordained,  with  testi- 
mony to  fitness  either  expressed  or  im- 
plied.    This  licence  may  be  given — 

1.  By  the  Roman  Pontiff,  who  can 
grant  letters  dimissory  to  ordinands  from 
any  part  of  the  world,  authorising  their  or- 
dinaiion  by  any  Catholic  bishop.  The  Pope 
can  also  confer  orders  on  anyone  whom  he 
iudges  lit  to  receive  them,  without  wait- 
ing for  letters  dimissory  from  any  bishop. 

2.  By  any  bishop  to  his  own  subjects 
{suis  suhditis).  There  are  four  ways  by 
which  a  clerk  may  be  the  subditus  of  a 
bishop,  .  technically  called  origo,  domi- 
cilium,  henoficiu7n,  tt'iennalis  commen- 
satio.  That  is — either  his  native  place,  or 
his  present  domicile,  or  the  benefice  which 
he  enjoys,  is  within  the  bishop's  diocese  ; 
or  else  he  has  lived  in  the  bishop's 
family,  and  been  support-ed  by  him,  for  at 
least  three  years.  The  last  two  gromids 
of  subjection  having  been  frequently 
abused  in  the  seventeenth  century,  so 
that  men  of  dubious  antecedents  were 
ordained  by  bishops  to  whose  dioceses 
they  did  not  properly  belong,  on  the 
ground  of  holding,  or  being  promised, 
benefices  in  them,  or  of  having  lived  in 
their  families.  Innocent  XL,  by  the  Con- 
stitution "  Speculatores  "  (1694),  forbade 
that  any  clerk,  alread}'^  tonsured  or  pro- 
moted to  minor  orders  by  his  own  bishop, 
should  be  promoted  to  higlier  orders  by 
any  other  bishop  on  the  title  of  a  benefice 
obtained  in  his  diocese,  unless  such  clerk 
should  first  have  obtained  and  exhibited 
to  the  ordaining  bishop  letters  dimissory 
from  the  bishop  of  origin,  or  of  domicile, 
or  from  both  if  necessary,  bearing  favour- 
able testimony  as  to  his  birth,  age,  charac- 
ter, and  conduct. 

3.  By  abbots,  or  other  superiors  of 
orders,  authorismg  and  recommending 
their  own  subjects  for  ordination.  Abbots 
may  not  give  dimissorials  to  seculars.*  The 
rule  is,  that  the  dimissorials  of  an  abbot 
should  be  directed  to  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  in  which  the  monastery  is  situated  ; 
if,  however,  he  be  absent,  or  not  about  to 
hold  an  ordination,  they  maybe  addressed 
to  any  other  bi^^hop.  A  decree  on  this 
subject  was  published  by  Clement  Vm. 
in  1505.  Certain  orders  have  particular 
privileges:  thus,  by  a  Constitution  of 
Gresrory  XIII,,  confirmed  by  Paul  V.,  the 
rectoi-s  of  Jesuit  houses  can  irrant  dimis- 
Borials  to  clerks  of  their  society  addressed 

i  Coucil.  Trid.  sess.  xxiii.  De  Itef.  c.  10. 


to  any  Catholic  bishop  whatsoever.  Fran- 
ciscans of  the  Observance  enjoy  the  same 
privilege  in  the  West  Indies  and  the  parta 
adjoining,  by  a  grant  of  Urban  VIII. 
Some  maintain  that,  in  consequence  of  a 
concession  made  by  Clemen  I,  VII.  to  the 
Portuguese  congregation  of  St.  John  the 
Evangelist,  all  regulars  enjoy  the  same 
privilege ;  but  this  appears  doubtful. 

4.  By  a  vicar-general,  but  only  in 
the  absence  of  the  bishop,  or,  if  he  be  not 
absent,  by  his  express  permission. 

6.  By  vicars-capitular,  sede  vacante, 
but  only  after  the  expiration  of  a  year 
from  the  date  of  the  vacancy  in  ordinary 
cases.  If,  however,  the  case  of  the  appli- 
cant be  one  of  urgency,  on  account  of  hia 
having  received,  or  being  about  to  receive, 
a  benefice,  the  vicar-capitular  may  grant 
him  dimissoi-ials  within  the  year.*  (Fer- 
raris, Ordo,  Ordinare,  art.  iii.*  §  36.) 

DIOCBSE  {8ioLKr)(ris,  administration). 
The  name  by  which  the  tract  of  country 
with  its  population  falling  under  the  pas- 
torate of  a  Christian  bishop  is  now  uni- 
versally designated  belonged  originally 
to  the  civil  hierarchy.  The  bishops,  taking 
up  from  the  Apostles  the  work  of  teaching 
and  converting  the- world,  exercised  their 
jurisdiction  for  the  most  part  over  the 
Christians  of  a  single  city  and  a  small 
district  surrounding  it.  This  was  their 
TTUfjoiKLa,  the  abode  of  the  Christian 
ncipoiKoi  (1  Pet.  ii.  11),  who,  few  in 
number  amidst  the  masses  of  the  heathen, 
lived  in  the  world  as  passing  strangers 
and  sojourners  rather  than  as  citizens. 
The  word  dioUtjais  occurs  several  times 
in  Cicero's  letters  to  designate  an  Eastern 
province  or  district ;  but  the  wide-spread 
official  use  of  the  name  seems  to  have 
been  due  to  the  organisation  of  the  em- 
pire begun  by  Diocletian  and  continued 
by  Constantine.  "  The  whole  empire  was 
divided  into  twelve  dioceses,  the  smallest 
of  which — Britain — consisted  of  four  pro- 
vinces, the  largest — Orieus — of  sixteen."  ^ 
Each  diocese  was  governed  by  a  Vicarius, 
with  the  rank  of  spectahilis.  The  word 
gradually  acquired  an  ecclesiastical  use, 
but  its  meaning  varied.  In  Afiica,  by 
the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  it  seems  to 
have  meant  nearly  what  we  mean  by  it 
now,  for  the  fifth  canon  of  tlie  Second 
Council  of  Carthage  (390)  provides  for  the 
appointment  of  new  bishops,  tlie  consent 
of  the  bishop  of  the  original  "diocese" 
being  first  obtained.  But  in  the  East,  as 
shown  by  the   canons  of  Chalcedon,  it 

'  Roman  Provincial  Administration^  W.  T 
Arnold,  1879. 


DIOCESE 

for  a  long  time  signified  a  patriarchate 
or  tract  of  country  coiitaining  several 
ijrapxiai,  provinces.  Hincmar,  Arch- 
bishop of  Rheims,  writing  to  Pope  Nicholas, 
uses  the  term  as  equivalent  to  the  modern 
province,  the  jurisdiction  of  a  metropoli- 
tan having  sutt'ragan  sees  under  him.  In 
England  it  was  not  till  the  thirteenth 
century  that  the  word  came  into  common 
use.  Bede  speaks  of  an  "  episcopatiis," 
or  a  "  provincia,"  or  an  "  ecclesia,"  but 
never  of  a  "  dioecesis ; "  nor  can  the  term 
be  found  in  the  much  later  chronicles  of 
Symeon  of  Durham  and  Henry  of  Hunt- 
tingdon  ;  it  begins  to  occur,  but  not  fre- 
quently, in  the  works  of  Matthew  Paris, 
and  then  m  the  precise  sense  which  we 
now  attach  to  it.  Ducange  considers  that 
this  was  an  abuse  of  the  term,  and  that 
the  proper  name  for  a  bishops  diocese  was 
Parochia.  A  much  more  strange  abuse 
crept  in  in  France  in  the  Oarolingian  era, 
■when,  as  we  see  from  the  canons  of  some 
French  councils,  and  the  capitularies  of 
Charlemagne,  "  dioecesis  "  was  used  in  the 
sense  of  "  parish."  After  the  thirteenth 
century  the  present  signification  of  the 
word  became  tirmly  established. 

The  "Mappa  Mundi"  of  Gervase  of 
Canterbury  gives  the  titles  of  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty  Catholic  dioceses  asexist- 
ingnear  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century ;  but 
the  list  is  imperfect  by  his  own  confession. 
In  England  and  Wales,  he  enumerates  two 
provinces  and  twenty  dioceses;  in  Scot- 
land, eleven  dioceses  ;  in  Ireland,  four  pro- 
vinces and  thirty-three  dioceses.  The  sees 
of  Gloucester,  Oxford,  and  Peterborough 
were  erected  by  Henry  VIII.  with  the 
authority  of  Parliament,  but  the  arrange- 
ment was  not  confirmed  by  the  Holy  See. 
The  sees  of  the  ancient  English  and 
Scottish  hierarchy,  having  become  Angli- 
can or  ceased  to  exist,  the  Pope  has  in 
our  own  day  (1850)  divided  England  and 
Wales  anew  into  fourteen  dioceses,^  form- 
ing one  province  under  the  Archbishop  of 
Westminster,  and  Scotland  (1878)  into 
six  dioceses,  whereof  one — Glasgow — is  an 
archdiocese  without  suffrogan  sees,  the 
other  five  form  one  province  under  the 
Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  and  Edin- 
burgh. Ireland,  having  in  spite  of  perse- 
cution adhered  to  Catholic  unity,  retains 
of  course  her  ancient  diocesan  organisa- 
tion unimpaired,  although  the  temporalities 
of  the  sees  are  lost,  and  some  of  them 
have  been  consolidated  with  others. 

*  One  of  these,  Middlesborongh,  was  se- 
parated from  Leeds  and  made  a  distinct  diocese 
U1I88O. 


DIONYSIUS  THE  AREOPAGITE  263 

The  total  number  of  Catholic  dioceses 
at  the  present  day,  including  twelve  Patri- 
archal sees,  amounts,  according  to  the 
computation  in  the  Gerarchia  Cattolica 
for  1880,  to  eight  hundred  and  ninety-five. 

Diocesan  statutes,  passed  by  a  bishop 
in  Synod,  are  a  part  of  the  jus  canonicum 
speciale,  which  is  defined  as  "  that  law 
which  has  been  enacted  only  for  a  par- 
ticular place,  province,  diocese,  or  commu- 
nity, and  is  not  binding  outside  the  limits 
of  tlie  same."  ^ 

SIOIO-YSZirS  THE  AREOPAGITE. 
The  great  theological  importance  of  the 
works  attributed  to  Dionysius  makes  it 
necessary  to  say  something  of  them  here, 
though  literary  and  biographical  articles 
do  not  enter  into  the  plan  of  this  Dic- 
tionary. We  know  from  Acts  xvii.  34, 
that  Dionysius  was  converted  by  St.  Paul 
during  his  visit  to  Athens.  He  is  called 
"  the  Areopagite  " — i.e.  he  was  an  assessor 
in  the  court  which  bore  that  name.  The 
New  Testament  tells  us  nothing  more 
about  him,  for  there  is  no  reason  given  to 
suppose  that  Damaris,  a  woman  converted 
at  the  same  time,  was  his  wife.  But 
another  Dionysius,  bishop  of  Corinth  and 
among  the  earliest  of  Christian  writers, 
informs  us  that  the  Areopagite  became 
bishop  of  Athens,  and  this  no  doubt  may 
be  safely  accepted  as  fact.^  Later  writers 
say  that  he  was  martyred.' 

It  was  long  the  general  belief  in  the 
West  that  St.  Dionysius  the  Areopagite 
became  afterwards  bishop  of  Paris  and 
shed  his  blood  there.  But  this  belief 
cannot  be  reconciled  with  ancient  evidence. 
There  is  no  trace  of  it  during  the  early 
centuries,  and  we  have  positive  proof  that 
St.  Dionysius  of  Paris  was  a  different 
person  from  the  Areopagite.  St.  Gregory 
of  Tours  speaks  of  the  former  as  coming 
to  France  after  250.  The  Martyrology 
of  Usuard  distinguishes  the  feast  of  St. 
Dionysius  on  October  3  from  that  of  his 
namesake,  Dionysius  of  Paris,  on  October  9. 
We  need  not  give  further  reasons,  easy  as 
it  would  be  to  do  so,  against  an  identifica- 
tion once  defended  with  great  tenacity  and 
great  learning,  but  long  since  rejected  by 
all  competent  critics. 

The  following  works  are  attributed  to 
Dionysius  the  Areopapite : — (1)  a  treatise 
"On  the  Heavenly  Hierarchy;"  (2)  a 
treatise  "On  the  Ecclesiastical  Hier- 
archy ; "  (3)  another  "On  Divine  Names ; " 

»  Ferraris,  "  Jus,"  §  22. 
2  Apud  Euseb.  iii.  4,  iv.  23. 
5  Niceph.  iii.  11,  quoted  by  Meyer  on  tlw 
Acts. 


264  DIONYSIUS  THE  AREOPAGITE 


DIPTYCHS 


(4)  another   "On  Mystical  Theology;" 

(5)  ten    letters  addressed   to   John   the 
Apostle,  Titus,  Polycarp,  &c.  &c. 

The  first  historical  notice  of  these 
works  occurs  in  the  contemporary  ac- 
count^ of  a  conference  held  in  533  at 
Constantinople,  between  the  Catholics  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  Severian  Mono- 
phjsites  on  the  other,  by  the  command  of 
the  Emperor  Justinian.  The  heretics 
produced  writings  of  the  Areopagite  in 
support  of  their  errors.  The  orthodox 
replied  that  these  writings  could  not  be 
genuine,  otherwise  they  would  have  been 
known  to  and  used  by  the  ancients,  espe- 
cially by  Cyril,  Athanasius,  and  the  Nicene 
Fathers.  However,  these  writings  soon 
obtained  general  recognition  in  the  East, 
and  Gregory  the  Great  had  at  least  heard 
of  them  about  the  year  690.  In  827  a 
copy  of  the  supposed  writings  of  Diony- 
sius  was  sent  by  JMichael  the  Stammerer 
to  Louis  le  Debonnaire  son  of  Charle- 
magne. They  were  translated  into  Latin 
by  Scotus  Erigena,  and  there  have  been 
many  subsequent  versions.  In  the  middle 
ages,  Dionysius  had  immense  authority 
with  Catholic  theologians ;  and  in  a  work 
written  a  few  years  ago  to  defend  the 
authenticity  of  the  works  attributed  to 
Dionysius,  Msgr.Darboy  alleges  that  there 
is  scarcely  a  passage  in  them  which  has 
not  been  quoted  by  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin. 

Still,  historical  scholars,  such  as  Le 
Noury,  Tillemont,  Dupin,  &c.,  have  de- 
monstrated the  spurious  character  of  the 
works  in  question.  The  objection  made 
at  Constantinople,  viz.  that  Cyril  and 
Athanasius  (we  may  add  Eusebius)  are 
silent  concerning  them,  admits  of  no  satis- 
factory reply.  Facts  and  institutions  are 
mentioned  by  the  pseudo-Bionysius  which 
happened  and  arose  long  after  the  age  of 
the  Areopagite.  When  the  forger,  who 
was  evidently  a  Christian  imbued  with 
the  philosophy  of  the  later  Platonists,  really 
lived,  it  is  much  harder  to  say.  Pearson 
places  the  composition  of  the  Dionysian 
writings  before  340  ;  the  learned  Domini- 
can Lequien,  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  century. 
Other  scholars,  such  as  Daille  and  Dr. 
Westcott,  put  them  later  still.  It  need 
scarcely  be  said  that  mediaeval  writers 
may  well  have  found  much  that  is  true 
in  these  writings,  mistaken  as  they  were 
about  their  origin.  (See  Lequien's  Dis- 
sertation in  his  edition  of  St.  John  Dama- 
scene ;  Pearson,  "  Vindic.  Ignat."  j  Tille- 
mont, &c.) 

1  Or  rather  in  a  Latin  version  of  the  account. 
Hefele,  ConciL  ii.  748. 


IDZPTYCHS.  The  word  diptych 
{diTrrvxos)  was  originally  applied  to  any- 
thing folded  double.  Thus  Homer  speaks 
of  a  mantle  "  folded  dcuble  "  (biirTvxov) 
round  the  shoulders.  But  the  adjective 
diptych  came  to  be  used  most  commonly 
as  an  epithet  of  tablets  (deXros  or  deXriov), 
so  that  diptych  signified  two  leaves  or 
tablets  bound  together  by  a  hinge.  Some- 
times several  leaves  were  so  fastened  to- 
gether and  called  rpinrvxa,  nevrdTrrvxa,  or 
noXvnTvxa.  They  were  used  for  sending 
short  letters,  as  memorandum  books,  &c. 
They  were  often  made  of  costly  material, 
worn  partly  as  ornaments  at  the  girdle, 
and  sent  as  presents  to  friends,  to  clients, 
or  to  persons  of  distinction,    f 

It  is  uncertain  at  what  time  the 
Christian  Church  began  to  make  use  of 
diptychs  in  the  liturgy,  but  we  know  that 
in  Chrysostom's  time  the  custom  was  fully 
established.  It  was  continued  among  the 
Latins  down  to  the  twelfth,  among  the 
Greeks  down  to  the  fifteenth,  century. 
They  were  called  ''  holy  tablets,"  "mysti- 
cal tablets,"  "  mystical  diptychs,"  "  eccle- 
siastical catalogues,"  &c.  The  "  diptychs 
of  the  living  "  contained  the  names  of  the 
Pope,  patriarchs,  the  bishop  and  clergy 
of  the  church,  often  also  of  neighbouring 
churches,  those  who  offered  the  Euchar- 
istic  gifts,  benefactors  of  the  chiu*ch,  the 
Empeior  a  d  Fmpie  s,  &c.  The  "dip- 
tychs of  the  dead"  contained  as  a  rule 
the  names  which  had  once  been  insciibed 
in  the  diptychs  of  the  living — e.(/.  those  of 
fo.'mer  bishops  of  the  particular  church, 
and  also  of  other  bishops,  &c.,  specially 
revered  there.  The  diptychs  also  con- 
tained the  names  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
martyrs,  and  other  saints.  The  insertion 
of  a  name  always  implied  that  the  person 
bearing  it  was  living  or  had  died  in 
Catholic  commimion,  for  heresy,  schi>m, 
and  other  crimes  which  were  punished 
by  excommunication,  oansed  a  name  to 
be  erased  from  the  diptvchs.  Thus,  ex- 
clusion from  the  diptvchs  was  often  equi- 
valent to  a  decision  that  the  person  so 
disgraced  was  to  be  rt^garded  as  a  heretic, 
whilf  the  reinsert' on  of  the  name  implied 
that  his  case  had  been  examined  and  his 
innocence  proved. 

The  way  in  which  the  diptychs  were 
used  at  Mass  varied  in  different  times  and 
places.  Originally,  the  deacon  read  out 
the  names  from  the  am  to;  later  the  deacon 
or  sub-deacon  read  them  in  a  low  voice  to 
the  priest  celebrating  at  the  altar ;  later 
still,  the  diptychs  were  merely  laid  on 
the  altar,  and  the  priest  in  his  prayer  re- 


DIRECTOBT 


OTLINE 


265 


membeied  the  names  inscribed  without 
actually  lecitin^  them.  Again,  the  time 
at  which  the  diptychs  were  used  at  Mass 
varied.  Often  the  diptychs  both  of  the 
livuig  and  dead  were  read  after  the  ser- 
mon or  (more  frequently)  after  the  offer- 
tory. Sometimes,  as  in  the  liturgies  of  St. 
Basil  and  St.  Chrysostom,  the  diptychs 
were  used  after  the  consecration.  In  the 
Eoman  liturgy  from  the  earliest  times, 
the  names  of  the  living  were  read  before, 
those  of  the  dead  after,  the  consecration. 

It  is  said  that  the  diptychs  led  to  the 
formation  of  Church  Oaleudars,  and  these 
in  turn  gave  rise  to  Martyrologies.  It  is 
still  more  important  to  observe  that  the 
diptychs  have  left  their  mark  in  the  pre- 
sent Roman  Missal.  In  the  prayer  of  the 
Canon,  "  Te  igitur,"  the  priest  mentions 
by  name  the  reigning  Pope  and  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese.  At  the  ''  Memento, 
Domine,"he  pauses  and  silently  commends 
to  God  benefactors,  friends,  &c.,  who  are 
Btill  living.  At  the  *'  Communicantes  " 
he  recites  the  names  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
the  saints,  &;c.  All  this  occurs  before  the 
consecration.  After  the  consecration,  in 
the  fifth  prayer  of  the  Canon,  the  priest 
makes  a  memento  of  the  dead.  Both 
mementos  in  some  MS.  Missals  retain  the 
title  "  oratio  super  "  or  "  supra  diptycha." 
(See  Kraus, "  Real-Encvclopadie ;  "  Bene- 
dict XIV.,  "  De  Missa,''  ii.  13  and  17.) 

BXRSCTORIVIMC.  A  list,  drawn  up 
by  authority  of  the  bishop,  containing 
directions  as  to  the  Mass  and  office  to  be 
said  on  each  day  of  the  year.  The  number 
of  feasts  in  the  present  calendar,  and  the 
frequent  necessity  of  transferring  some, 
commemorating  or  omitting  others,  makes 
the  Director ium  or,  as  it  is  usually  called, 
"  Ordo,''  necessary  for  the  clergy.  In 
ancient  times  the  bishop  published  orally 
the  list  of  the  feasts  to  be  observed.  The 
bishops  had  to  follow  the  directions  of 
their  metropolitan,  and  he  a^rain  con- 
formed to  the  ordinances  of  the  Roman 
bishop,  who  based  his  direction  on  the 
reckoning  or  "  computus  ecclesiasticus  " 
of  the  Alexandrian  (Jhurch.  Very  often 
in  the  ancient  Church  a  list  of  moveable 
feasts  was  hung  to  the  Paschal  candle.' 

1  The  Catholic  Directory,  familiar  to  Eiifjlish 
Catholics,  contains  besides  the  Ordo  a  list  of 
clergy,  churches,  etc.  The  first  number  of  the 
Laity^s  Directory  (we  take  these  facts  from  an 
interestini::  article  by  Mr.  Thurston  in  the  Month 
for  February  1882)  seems  to  have  appeared  in 
1759.  It  was  followed  a  few  years  later  by 
another  directory  published  with  ecclesiastical 
approbation,  and  this  latter  after  1788  was  the 
sole  directory.     In  1793  the  list  of  Catholic 


DiS^AXiCEB.  Going  without  shoes 
— bare-footed.  Certain  orders  of  friars 
practise  this  austerity,  which  was  first 
introduced  among  the  Friars  Minors  of 
the  Strict  Observance  by  the  Blessed 
John  of  Guadaloupe,  about  the  year 
1500.  The  Carmelite  reform  both  of 
men  and  women,  instituted  by  St.  Teresa, 
is  also  discalced.  The  discalced  August- 
inians  (Hermits)  were  founded  by  Father 
Thomas  of  Jesus,  a  Portuguese,  about  the 
same  time.     (Il^lyot,  Dechausses.) 

SXSCXPIiTXiriE:.  The  word  disciplina 
means,  first,  instruction  ;  then  that  which 
is  tau;:ht — e.g.  science  or  doctrinal  system; 
lastly,  order  or  regulations  maintained  in 
a  family,  army,  or  the  like.  Usually,  dis- 
cipline in  its  ecclesiastical  sense  signifies 
the  laws  which  bind  the  subjects  of  the 
Church  in  their  conduct,  as  distinct  from 
dogmas  or  articles  of  faith,  which  affect 
their  belief. 

Such  disciplinary  laws  may  be  of 
divine  institution,  attested  by  Scripture  or 
Apostolic  tradition,  and  in  that  (tase  they 
are  inalterable.  For  example,  the  supre- 
macy of  tlie  Pope  over  the  whole  Church, 
the  government  of  the  faithful  by  bishops, 
and  many  similar  points  of  discipline, 
were  settled  once  for  all  by  divine  autho- 
rity and  cannot  be  changed.  The  Church, 
however,  has  power  to  add  disciplinary 
laws  according  to  the  requirements  of 
different  times  and  circumstances,  and 
these  laws  all  Christians  whom  they  con- 
cern are  bound  to  obey.  The  Church  has 
this  pov,'er,  not  only  because  it  belono:s  to 
any  well-constituted  community,  but  also 
because  she  speaks  in  the  name  of  Him  to 
whom  all  power  has  been  given  in  heaven 
and  on  eaith  ;  and  the  Church,  having 
,  the  right  to  make  such  laws,  has  also  the 
power  to  alter  them.  If  they  have  been 
imposed  by  a  Pope  or  council,  or  have 
become  in  any  other  way  part  of  the 
general  law  of  the  (church,  supreme 
authority  may  relax  or  annul  them,  and 
on  the  same  principle  bishops  or  other 
local  superiors  may  change  laws  made  by 
themselves  or  their  predecessors. 

Thus  the  discipline  of  the  Church 
may  alter  and  has  altered  from  age  to 
age.  At  one  time  married  persons  were 
allowed  to  enter  holy  orders  ;  this  is  no 
longer  the  case  in  the  Latin  Church.  The 
ceremonies  of  Mass  have  been  gradually 
perfected.     New  feasts  have  been  intro- 

churches  in  London  was  given  for  the  first  time. 
An  annual  called  the  Catholic  Directory  occu- 
pies the  same  field  in  the  United  States  as  the 
English  directory  above  referred  to. 


266  DISOIPLINE  OF  THE  SECRET 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  SECRET 


duced ;  the  severity  of  fasts  has  been 
mitigated.  At  this  day,  the  discipline  of 
one  place  may  differ  in  important  parti- 
culars from  that  which  prevails  in  another. 
But  the  infallibility  of  the  Church  is  our 
security  that  she  will  never  sanction  dis- 
cipline contrary  to  sound  faith  or  morals, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  animates  her, 
will  provide  that  aU  things  be  ordered 
sweetly  and  wisely,  as  time  and  place 
require. 

BISCXPI.rNrE  OF  THE  SECRET 
{disciplinn  arcani).  The  term  is  not 
foufid  in  ancient  writers,  and  first  occurs 
in  a  German  author,  Meier,  who  made  use 
of  it  in  a  treatise  "  De  Recondita  Ecclesiae 
Theologia,"  published  at  Helmstadt  in 
1677.^  It  has  been  in  common  use  ever 
since,  as  a  convenient  name  for  the 
custom  which  prevailed  in  the  early 
Church  of  concealing  from  heathen  and 
catechumens  the  more  sacred  and  mys- 
terious doctrines  and  rites  of  the  Catholic 
religion,  either  by  not  mentioning  them 
at  all  or  b}--  mentioning  them  only  in 
enigmatical  language,  unintelligible  or 
even  misleading  except  to  those  who 
were  initiated  into  its  meaning.  The 
reader  will  see  on  a  moment's  consideration 
the  dogmatic  and  controversial  impor- 
tance of  the  matter.  Little  stress  can  be 
laid  on  the  infrequent  mention  of  the 
real  presence,  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity 
and  the  like  in  early  writers,  if  the  exist- 
ing discipline  restrained  them  from  speak- 
ing openly  on  such  subjects  in  books  which 
might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  general 
public  ;  and  the  same  discipline  may  help 
to  explain  the  fact  that  they  sometimes 
express  themselves  on  the  Christian 
mysteries  in  language  which  seems  strange 
and  inadequate  to  us. 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  as 
to  the  fact  that  this  discipline  of  the 
secret  did  exist  in  the  early  Church.  It 
arose  from  several  causes.  In  times  of 
persecution  the  Christians  were  afraid  to 
speak  openly  and  frankly  about  their 
worship  and  doctrine,  from  the  natural 
fear  that  such  disclosures  would  expose 
them  to  further  injury  and  interruption. 
Moreover,  they  regarded  the  truth  as  a 
sacred  deposit,  and  they  were  afraid  of 
communicating  it  to  those  who  would  mis- 
understand it  or  laugh  it  to  scorn.  They 
were  mindful  of  our  Lord's  admonition 
not  to  cast  pearls  before  swine  (Matt.  vii.  6) 
and  of  the  Apostle's  declaration  that  he 
fed  the  Corinthians  with  milk,  not  with 

*  Probst,  Kirchliche  Disciplin  in  den  drei 
ersten  christiichen  Jahrhunderten,  p.  306. 


strong  meat,  because  they  were  not  able 
to  bear  it.  A  few  instances  wnll  be 
enough  to  prove  the  point  and  at  the 
same  time  to  illustrate  the  nature  of  the 
discipline  in  question.  "  That  it  existed 
even  as  a  rule,"  says  Cardinal  Newman,^ 
"with  respect  to  the  Sacraments,  seems 
to  be  confessed  on  all  hands."  It  is  well 
loiown  that  the  heathens  and  catechumens 
were  not  allowed  to  be  present  at  the 
whole  of  the  Mass,  and  that  a  distinction 
was  made  between  the  Mass  of  the  faith- 
ful and  the  Mass  of  the  catechumens.'-* 
Again,  Minucius  Felix,  Athenagoras, 
Tatian,  Theophilus,  Arnobius,  in  their 
Apologies  for  the  Christian  religion  pre 
serve  an  absolute  silence  on  the  holy  Eu- 
charist. The  famous  inscription  discovered 
at  Autun  in  1839  exemplifies  another  mode 
in  which  this  discipline  was  observed. 
"  Take  the  food  sweet  as  honey  of  the 
saviour  of  the  holy  ones,  eat  and  drink 
holding  the  fish  in  thy  hands" — words 
perfectly  intelligible  to  Christians,  among 
whom  the  "fish"  meant  "  Jesus  Christ 
Son  of  God,  the  Saviour"  {'ixOvs  =  ''It](tovs 
Xpiaros  Seov  vlos  awTrjp),  received  first  in 
the  hands,  then  in  the  mouth  of  the 
communicant,  but  mere  jargon  to  those 
who  were  outside  the  Church.  So,  again, 
Origen^  speaks  of  the  soul  on  its  conversion 
to  the  Church  as  initiated  into  the  "  mys- 
teries of  the  faithful  "  {sacra77ientajidelium, 
an  expression  which  must  include  the 
sacraments),  "  which  those  know  who  are 
initiated ;  ^'  and,  again,  "  of  those  venerable 
and  sublime  mysteries  which  those  know 
who  may  be  permitted  to  do  so.**  Even 
when  persecution  was  over  the  secrecy 
with  regard  to  the  sacraments  was  still 
maintained.  Chrysostom  in  a  letter  to 
Pope  Innocent  I.  tells  him  how  "the 
blood  of  Christ  had  been  spilt  "  during  a 
tumult  in  a  church  of  Constantinople. 
In  such  a  letter  no  caution  in  language 
was  called  for.  But  his  biographer 
Palladius  in  a  published  book  says  "  they 
overturned  the  symbols."  ^  At  a  synod 
held  at  Antioch  in  340  the  Catholic 
bishops  indignantly  accuse  the  Arians  of 
letting  catechumens,  and  even  heathens, 
hear  the  "  mysteries  "  discussed.^ 

That  this  discipline  existed  "in  other 
respect-s  is  plain  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  and  from  the  writings  of  the  Apolo- 

^  Development,  p.  27. 

2  Constit.  Apost.  ii.  57. 

3  Horn.  \'iii.  u.  4,  ia  Exod. 

*  In  Jos.  Horn.  iv. :  "  quos  nosse  fas  est.** 
5  Dbllingcr,  LeJire  der  Eucharistief  p.  ?6. 
«  Ibid.  p.  18. 


DISPENSATION 

gists.  Minucius  Felix  and  Arnobius,  in 
controversy  with  pagans,  imply  a  denial 
that  they,  the  Christians,  used  altars; 
yet  Tertiillian  speaks  expressly  of  the 
Ara  Dei  in  the  church.  What  can  we 
say  but  that  the  Apologists  deny  altars 
in  the  sense  in  which  they  ridicule  them, 
or  that  they  deny  that  altars  such  as  the 
pagan  altars  were  tolerated  by  Christians  ? 
And  in  like  manner  Minucius  allows  that 
there  were  no  temples  among  Christians  ; 
yet  they  are  distinctly  recognised  in  the 
edicts  of  the  Dioclesian  era,  and  are 
known  to  have  existed  at  a  still  earlier 
date."  1 

It  has  been  already  shown  incidentally 
that  the  discipline  of  the  secret  is  based 
on  Scriptural  precept,  and  was  in  force 
at  least  from  the  close  of  the  second 
century.  Even  Ignatius  may  perhaps 
have  had  it  in  view  when  he  describes 
the  Christians  of  Ephesus  as  "  initiated 
along  with  St.  Paul."  ^  It  was  enforced 
with  different  degrees  of  strictness  accor- 
ding to  circumstances.  Sometimes,  to 
meet  the  calumnies  of  heathen  and  more 
particularly  of  heretics,  it  was  necessary 
to  speak  out,  so  that  it  does  not  follow, 
because  Justin  and  Irenseus  express  them- 
selves with  considerable  fullness  on  the 
Eucharist,  that  the  discipline  of  the  secret 
was  unknown  to  them.  After  the  sixth 
century  the  need  for  the  old  reserve 
passed  away.  (Schelstrate,  "  De  Disciplina 
Arcani,"  Romas,  1685 ;  Probst,  "  Kirch- 
liche  Disciplin,"  &c.,  part  iii.  c.  2.) 

BlSPESrSATloxr.  The  relaxation 
of  a  law  in  a  particular  case.  The  neces- 
sity of  dispensation  arises  from  the  fact 
that  a  law  which  is  made  for  the  general 
good  fnay  not  be  beneficial  in  this  or  that 
special  case,  and  therefore  may  be  rightly 
relaxed  with  respect  to  an  individual, 
while  it  continues  to  bind  the  community. 
Dispensation  must  be  carefully  dis- 
tinguished from  the  interpretation  of  a 
law,  though  the  two  are  often  confused 
with  one  another  in  common  speech. 
Thus,  a  person  so  ill  that  he  cannot  fast 
without  serious  injury  to  his  health  needs 
no  dispensation,  because  he  is  by  the 
nature  of  the  case  exempt  from  the  law. 
On  the  other  hand,  though  he  may  be 
able  to  fast,  his  health,  occupations,  &c., 
may  make  it  suitable  that  the  law  should 
be  relaxed  in  his  favour ;  for  this  purpose 
a  dispensation  is  required,  and  he  must 
apply  to  some  one  possessed  of  authority 
to  grant  it.     Anyone  may  interpret  the 

1  Newman,  Development^  p.  27. 
»  Ad  Ephes.  xii. 


DISPENSATION 


267 


law  who  has  sufficient  knowledge  and 
impartiality  to  do  so,  but  jurisdiction  is 
needed  in  order  to  dispense. 

The  general  principle  is  that  the  law- 
giver, from  whom  the  law  derives  its 
force,  has  power  to  relax  it.  So  again, 
a  superior  may  relax  the  laws  of  his  pre- 
decessors, because  his  power  is  equal  to 
theirs,  or  of  his  inferiors,  because  his 
power  is  greater.  But  an  inferior  cannot 
dispense  in  the  laws  of  his  superiors  unless 
by  power  delegated  to  him  for  that  end. 

God  Himself  cannot  give  a  dispen- 
sation, in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word, 
from  the  natural  law.  "  From  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  decalogue,"  says  St.  Thomas, 
"  no  dispensation  of  whatsoever  kind  can 
be  given,"  and  to  the  objection  that  God 
who  made  the  ten  commandments  can 
unmake  them,  he  replies,  *' God  would 
deny  Himself  if  he  did  away  with  the 
order  of  his  justice,  since  He  is  identical 
with  his  own  justice,  and  therefore  God 
cannot  give  a  dispensation  making  it 
lawful  for  a  man  to  neglect  the  due  order 
to  God,  or  exempting  him  from  sub- 
mission to  the  order  of  his  justice  even 
in  those  things  which  concern  the  re- 
lations of  men  to  each  other."  ^  God, 
however,  can  change  the  circumstances  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  case  no  longer 
falls  under  the  law.  He  could,  for  ex- 
ample, as  supreme  Lord  and  proprietor  of 
all,  make  over  the  goods  of  the  Egyptians 
to  the  Israelites,  so  that  the  latter  could 
take  them  without  committing  robbery. 
He  could,  as  the  Lord  of  all  that  lives, 
deprive  Isaac  of  life  and  make  Abraham 
the  executioner.  Further,  just  as  a  man 
may  remit  a  debt,  so  God  may  free  a 
man  from  the  obligation  incurred  to  Him 
by  oath  or  vow.  Lastly,  God  can  of 
course  dispense  from  the  positive  law 
which  he  has  imposed — e.g.  he  could  have 
dispensed  a  Jew  from  the  law  of  circum- 
cision, the  Sabbath,  &c.  "We  may  now 
Siss  on  to  consider  the  actual  law  of  the 
hurch  on  dispensations. 
The  Pope  can  dispense  from  obligations 
to  God  which  a  man  has  incurred  of  his 
own  free  will — i.e.  by  oath  or  vow.  This 
power  belongs  to  him  as  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter  to  whom  Christ  gave  the  power 
of  binding  and  loosing.  He  can  also 
dispense  in  all  matters  of  ecclesiastical 

1  St.  Thorn.  1  2ndse,  qu.  100,  a.  8.  The  opinion 
of  Occam,  D'Ailly,  and  Gerson  that  God  could 
dispense  from  the  precepts  of  the  decalogue  has 
long  been  abandoned.  The  Scotists  held  that 
God  could  dispense  from  the  precepts  of  th« 
second  table  except  that  against  lying. 


sag 


DIVORCE 


kw.  Bishops,  by  their  ordinary  power, 
can  dispense  from  the  statutes  of  the 
diocesan  synods,  &c.,  and  they  can  dis- 
pense individuals  from  the  o^eneral  laws 
of  the  Church,  or  from  obligations  under 
which  they  have  placed  themselves  to 
God,  in  such  cases  as  frequently  occur — 
e.g.  in  most  vows,  in  fasts,  abstinences, 
observance  of  feasts,  <fcc.  But  by  reason 
of  privilege,  la.wful  custom  or  necessity, 
the  dispensing  powder  of  the  bishop  is 
often  extended.  Custom  has  also  given 
parish  priests  power  to  dispense  individuals 
from  fasts,  abstinences,  abstinence  from 
servile  w^ork  on  feasts,  and  the  like.  As 
a  rule,  a  person  -who  has  received  power 
to  dispense  from  a  superior  by  delegation 
cannot  sub-delegate. 

A  reason  is  always  needed  before  a 
dispensation  can  be  lawfully  given.  If  a 
superior  dispenses  without  cause  in  his 
own  law  or  in  that  of  an  inferior,  the 
dispensation,  though  unlawful,  is  valid.  If, 
however,  aii  inferior  to  w^hom  dispensing 
power  has  been  delegated  uses  it  without 
reason,  the  dispensation  is  null  and  void. 
In  all  cases  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  a 
dispensation  is  only  given  on  the  tacit 
condition  that  the  statements  of  the 
person  who  petitions  for  it  are  true. 
Concealment  or  falsehood  in  an  essential 
matter  affecting  the  motive  which  induced 
the  superior  to  dispense,  renders  the  dis- 
pensation null. 

A  dispensation  ceases  if  recalled  ;  if  it 
is  renounced  and  the  renunciation  is 
accepted  by  the  superior ;  also,  in  certain 
cases,  if  the  cause  for  which  the  dis- 
pensation was  given  no  longer  exists. 
What  those  cases  are  it  ia  not  so  easy  to 
determine.  According  to  Suarez,  a  dis- 
pensation from  one  single  obligation — e.g. 
a  vow — continues  even  when  the  cause  for 
which  it  was  granted  is  there  no  longer, 
provided  the  dispensation  has  been  ac- 
cepted and  used  before  the  cause  ceased. 
On  the  contrary',  dispensations  which 
virtually  relax  a  series  of  obligations— ^.^^. 
from  fasting  each  day  in  Lent — expire 
with  the  cause  which  induced  the  superior 
to  grant  them. 

DIVORCE,  in  its  widest  sense,  sig- 
nifies a  separation  made  between  man  and 
wife  on  sufficient  grounds  and  by  lawful 
authority.  It  may  dissolve  the  marriage 
bond  altogether,  so  that  the  man  or  woman 
IS  free  to  contract  a  fresh  marriage  {se- 
paratio  quoad  vinculum) ;  or  it  may  simply 
relieve  one  of  the  parties  from  the  obliga- 
tion of  living  with  the  other  {separatio 
quoad  torum  et  mensam). 


DOGETM 

No  human  power  can  dissolve  the 
bond  of  marriage  when  ratified  and  con- 
summated between  baptised  persons.    But 

(1)  The  marriage  bond  may  be  dis- 
solved, even  between  baptised  persons,  by 
Papal  authority,  if  the  marriage  has  not 
been  consummated.  Such  at  least  U  the 
common  doctrine  of  canonists  and  theolo- 
gians; nor  does  Billuart,  who  holds  the 
opposite  opinion,  deny  that  such  divorces 
have  been  granted  by  Martin  V.,  Paul  III., 
Pius  IV.,  and  Gregory  XIII. 

(2)  It  may  be  dissolved  in  similar 
circumstances  by  the  solemn  religious 
profession  of  either  party.  This  point 
was  defined  at  Trent,  sess.  xxiv.,  can.  6; 
the  principle  had  been  already  laid  down 
by  Innocent  III.,  who  professed  to  follow 
the^  example  of  his  predecessors,  and  it 
is  justified  by  the  example  of  ancient 
saints,  who  left  their  brides  before  con- 
summation of  marriage  to  lead  a  life  of 
perpetual  continence.  The  engagement 
by  which  they  bound  themselves  to  con- 
tinence may  be  considered  equivalent 
to  a  solemn  religious  profession  in  later 
times. 

(3)  If  two  unbaptised  persons  have 
contracted  marriage,  this  marriage,  even 
if  consummated,  may  be  dissolved,  sup- 
posing^ one  of  the  parties  embraces  the 
Christian  religion  and  the  other  refuses  to 
live  peaceably  and  without  insult  to  the 
Christian  religion  in  the  married  state. 
This  principle  is  laid  down  by  Inno- 
cent III.,  and  is  founded  on  the  "dis- 
pensation of  the  Apostle,"  as  it  is  called, 
in  1  Cor.  vii.  12-15. 

In  all  other  cases  the  marriage  bond 
is  indissoluble,  and,  besides  this,  married 
persons  are  bound  to  live  together,  as 
man  and  wife.  They  may,  however, 
separate  by  mutual  consent;  and,  again,  if 
one  party  exposes  the  other  to  grave 
danger  of  body  or  soul,  or  commits  adul- 
tery, the  innocent  partner  may  obtain  a  ju- 
dicial separation,  or  even  refuse  to  cohabit 
without  waiting  foi  the  sentence  of  the 
judge,  provided  always  that  the  offence  is 
clearly  proved.  If  the  innocent  party  has 
condoned  the  adultery,  the  right  of  separa- 
tion on  that  gr6und  is  forfeited— unless,  of 
course  the  offence  is  repeated.  (From 
Billuart,  St.  Liguori,  Gury,  "  De  Matri- 
monio.") 

BOCETJE  (from  BokcIv,  "  to  seem," 
because  they  attributed  to  Christ  an 
apparent  but  not  a  real  humanity)  were 
not  a  special  sect.  The  name  descrihes 
a  feature  common  to  the  doctrine  of  many 
early  heresies — viz.  the  denial  that  Jesus 


DOCTOR  ANGELICUS 


DOGMA 


Christ  was  true  man.  The  name  occurs  in 
Theodoret,^  but  the  tendency  which  it  de- 
scribes dates  from  the  heresies  of  Apostolic 
times.  Thus  Oerinthus  distinguished  be- 
tween Christ  and  Jesus :  the  latter,  he 
said,  was  a  mere  man,  born  in  the 
natural  way ;  the  former,  an  aeon,  or 
spiritual  being,  who  descended  on  him  at 
his  baptism,  but  afterwards  took  flight 
and  left  Jesus  to  suffer  alone.  St  John, 
in  his  first  Epistle  (iv.  2),  alludes  to  a 
heresy  of  this  kind  in  the  words,  "  Every 
spirit  which  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  come  in  the  flesh  is  of  God  ;  and  every 
spirit  which  dissolveth  Jesus  is  not  of 
God."  It  is  because  the  Church  of  his 
time  was  in  conflict  with  this  form  of 
error  that  St.  Ignatius  insists  so  strenu- 
ously on  the  reality  of  the  Incarnation  in 
opposition  to  those  who  said  Christ's 
"  sutlerings  are  visionary,  being  themselves 
visionary.''  ^  This  Docetic  tendency  was 
further  developed  by  Marcion.  who  main- 
tained that  -Christ's  body  was  a  mere 
phantom.^  The  error  of  the  Docetee,  in  a 
modified  form,  was  revived  by  the  Apol- 
linarists,  who  denied  the  reality  of  Christ's 
human  soul,  and  by  the  Eutychians,  who 
represented  his  humanity  as  absorbed  in 
the  divine  nature. 

DOCTOR  AXirGz:z.icus.  The  name 
given  to  St  Thomas  of  Aquin.  Kuysbroch 
was  called  Ecstaticus  ;  St.  Bernard,  Melli- 
fluus  ;  Alexander  of  Hales,  Irrefragabilis  *, 
Durandus  (de  Sancto  Porciano),  Resolu- 
tissimus  ;  St.  Buenaventura,  Seraphicus  ; 
Occam,  Singularis ;  Henrv  of  Ghent,  So- 
lemnis ;  Duns  Scotus,  Subtilis. 

DOCTOR  OF  THS  CBVRCB. 
Three  things,  says  Benedict  XIV.  are 
required  to  make  a  Doctor  of  the  Church. 
First,  he  must  have  had  learning  so  emi- 
nent that  it  fitted  him  to  be  a  doctor  not 
only  in  the  Church  but  of  the  Church 
("  doctor  ipsius  ecclesiee  ")  so  that  through 
him  "  the  darkness  of  error  was  scattered, 
dark  things  were  made  clear,  doubts 
resolved,  the  difficulties  of  Scripture 
opened."  Next,  he  must  have  shown 
heroic  sanctity.  Thirdly — though,  as  we 
shall  see  presently,  this  last  condition  has 
not  always  been  insisted  on — the  title  of 
"  Doctor  of  the  Church "  must  be  con- 
ferred by  a  declaration  of  the  Pope  or  of 
a  General  Council.  Four  Doctors  of  the 
Church  are  named  in  the  canon  law :  viz. 
Ambrose,    Augustine,  Jerome,  Gregory. 

1  See  Petav.  De  Incarnat.  ad  init. 

TO    BoKeiv  ireTTOvOevai   avTOV,   avTol    oi'Tes    to 
aa*«,.    Ad  Trail.  10. 

»  TertuU.  De  Came  Christi,  cap.  i. 


Besides  these,  other  saints  enjoy  the  title 
and  cultus  due  to  a  Doctor  of  the  Church 
without  a  formal  declaration  of  Pope  or 
council.  Under  this  class  Benedict  XIV. 
puts  Chrysostom,  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
Anselm,  Isidore,  Peter  Chrysologus.  He 
adds  that  a  part  of  the  cultua  usually 
assigned  to  doctors  is  given  to  St.  Hilary,^ 
in  whose  office  the  gospel  and  prayer  but 
not  the  antiphon,  and  to  St.  Athanasius 
and  St.  Basil,  who  have  only  the  antiphon 
but  not  the  gospel  and  prayer,  proper  to 
doctors. 

Since  the  Reformation  the  title  of  Doc- 
tor of  the  Church  has  been  conferred  more 
freely.  Pius  V.  added  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin 
to  the  list ;  Sixtus  V.,  St.  Buonaventura. 
During  the  eighteenth  century  the  title 
was  conierred  on  St.  Anselm,  St.  Isidore, 
and  St.  Leo.  Pius  VIII.  gave  the  title  to 
St.  Bernard  ;  Pius  IX.  to  St.  Hilary, 
St.  Alphonsus  Liguori,  and  St.  Francis  of 
Sales.  (Chiefly  from  Benedict  XIV.,  *'  De 
Canoniz.,"  lib.  iv.  p.  2,  cap.  11,  12.) 

DOGMA,  in  its  theological  sense,  is  a 
truth  contained  in  the  Woi'd  of  God, 
written  or  unwritten— e.6.  in  Scripture  or 
tradition — and  proposed  by  the  Church 
for  the  belief  of  the  faithful.  Thus 
dogma  is  a  revealed  truth,  since  Scripture 
is  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  while 
tradition  signifies  the  truths  which  the 
Apostles  received  from  Christ  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  handed  down  to  the 
Church. 

The  word  itself  has  an  interesting  his- 
tory. In  classical  writers  it  has  three 
distinct  senses  connected  with  its  deriva- 
vation  from  8ok€2v,  "  to  seem."  It  means, 
accordingly,  that  which  seems  good  to 
the  individual — i.e.  an  opinion;  that 
which  seems  good  to  legitimate  autho- 
rity— i.e.  the  resolution  of  a  public  assem- 
bly, or,  in  other  words,  a  decree ;  lastly^ 
it  acquired  a  peculiar  sense  in  the  philo- 
sophic schools.  The  mere  word  of  some 
philosopher  {e.(/.  of  Pythagoras)  was  con- 
sidered authoritative  with  his  disciples; 
and  so  Cicero,  in  the  Academic  Questions, 
speaks  of ''  decrees,"  or  doctrines,  ''  which 
the  philosophers  call  dogmata,  none  of 
which  can  be  surrendered  without 
crime."  In  the  LXX  and  New  Testa- 
ment, the  word  retains  the  second  of  the 
two  of  the  senses  given  above.  Thus,  in 
Daniel  ii.  13,  iii.  10,  in  Luc.  ii.  1,  xvii.  7, 
it  is  used  of  decrees  proceeding  from  the 
State.     In  Ephes.  ii.  16,  Coloss.  ii.  14, 

'  Pius  IX.  gave  Hilary  the  title  of  Doctor, 
and  now,  of  course,  the  antiphon  "  0  Doctor  "  is 
recited  in  his  office 


270 


DOGMA 


it  signifies  the  Mosaic  ordinances,  and 
in  Acts  xvi.  4  (doyfxara  to.  KeKptfxeva) 
the  disciplinary  decrees  issued  by  the 
Apostolic  Council  at  Jerusalem.  No- 
where in  the  New  Testament  does  it 
bear  the  sense  in  which  theologians  em- 
ploy it?^ 

This  sense  sprang  from  the  third  of 
the  classical  meanings  given  above — viz, 
that  of  a  truth  accepted  on  the  authority 
of  a  philosopher.  The  Pythagoreans  ac- 
cepted tenetSj  which  if  true  admitted  of 
proof,  on  the  authority  of  their  master. 
Christians,  better  instructed,  accepted 
truths  beyond  the  reach  of  unaided  rea- 
son which  had  been  revealed  by  Christ  to 
his  Church.  These  truths  thej  called 
dogmas.  We  find  the  earliest  trace  of 
this  technical  sense,  still  imperfectly  de- 
Teloped,'  in  St.  Ignatius,  "  Magn."  13  : — 
"Use  all  zeal  to  be  established  in  the 
doctrines  (eV  tols  doyfxaa-iv)  of  the  Lord 
and  the  Apostles.""  In  later  Fathers  the 
word  occurs  in  its  precise,  theological 
meaning.  Thus,  St.  Basil  mentions  "■  the 
dogma  of  Christ's  Divinity  "  {to  rrjs  deo- 
Xoylus  86y^a)  ;  Chrysostom,  "  the  dog- 
mas (doyfxaTo)  of  the  Church ; "  Vincent 
of  Lerins,  "  the  ancient  dogmas  {dogmata) 
of  heavenly  philosophy."  ^  This  last  illus- 
trates the  origin  of  the  theological  term. 

From  the  definition  with  which  we 
began  it  follows  that  the  Church  has  no 
power  to  make  new  dogmas.  It  is  her 
office  to  contend  for  the  faith  once  de- 
livered, and  to  hand  down  the  sacred 
deposit  which  she  has  received  without 
adding  to  it  or  taking  from  it.  At  the 
same  time,  the  Church  may  enunciate 
fully  and  impose  dogmas  or  articles  of 
faith  contained  in  the  "Word  of  God,  or 
at  least  deduced  from  principles  so  con- 
tained, but  as  yet  not  fully  declared  and 
imposed.  Hence  with  regard  to  a  new 
definition — such,  e.g.^  as  that  of  Transub- 
stantiation.  Christians  have  a  twofold  duty. 
They  are  obliged  to  believe,  first,  that  the 
doctrine  so  defined  is  true,  and  next  that 
it  is  part  of  the  Christian  revelation 
received  by  the  Apostles.  Again,  no 
Christian  is  at  liberty  to  refuse  assent  to 
any  dogma  which  the  Church  proposes. 
To    do    so    involves   nothing   less  than 

1  The  list  of  New  Testament  passages  given 
in  the  text  is  exhaustive,  except  that  Lach- 
roann  reads  to  Soyfia  tov  /Sao-iAetas,  the  decree  of 
King  Pharao,  in  Heb.  xi.  23. 

2  See  also  Hamab.  Ep.  1 ,  rpia  otv  Soyfiard  i<niv 

KvpCov,  where  the  old  Latin  version  has  "  consti- 
tutiones." 

3  Basil.  Orat.  iv.  In  Hexaem.  Chrysost.,  In 
Co/a^cap.  l,apud  Kuhn,  Dogmatik,  vol.  i.p.  191. 


DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY 

shipwreck  of  the  faith,  and  no  Catholic 
can  accept  the  Protestant  distinction  be- 
tween '-fundamental  and  non-fundamental 
articles  of  faith."  It  is  a  matter  of  funda- 
mental importance  to  accept  the  whole  of 
the  Church's  teaching.  True,  a  Catholic 
is  not  bound  to  know  all  the  definitions  of 
the  Church — but,  if  he  knowingly  and 
wilfully  contradicts  or  doubts  the  truth 
of  any  one  among  them,  he  ceases  to  be  a 
Catholic. 

This  arbitrary  distinction  between 
essential  and  non-essential  articles,  has 
led  by  natural  consequence  to  the  opinion 
that  dogmatic  belief,  as  such,  matters 
little  provided  a  man's  life  is  virtuous  and 
his  feelings  are  devout.  A  religion  of  this 
kind  is  on  the  very  face  of  it  different 
from  the  religion  of  the  Apostles  and 
their  successors.  St.  Paul  anathematises 
false  teachers,  and  bids  his  disciples  shun 
heretics;  St.  John  denounces  the  denial 
of  the  Incarnation  as  a  mark  of  Antichrist. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  quote  the  utterances 
of  the  early  Fathers  on  this  matter, 
which  has  been  already  treated  in  the 
article  on  the  Church,  but  we  may 
refer  the  reader  to  the  striking  discussion 
of  the  subject  in  Cardinal  Newman's  book 
on  "Development,"  ch.  vii.  sect.  1,  §  5. 
We  will  only  remark  in  conclusion  that 
it  is  unreasonable  to  make  light  of  dog- 
matic truth,  unless  it  can  be  sho\\Ti  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  in  existence.  If 
God  has  made  a  revelation,  then  both 
duty  and  devotional  feeling  must  depend 
on  the  dogmas  of  that  revelation,  and  be 
regulated  by  them. 

DOGMilTZC  THEOXtOCir  is  the 
science  of  Christian  dogma.  It  treats  of 
doctrine  systematically,  regarding  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  as  a  whole,  and 
considering  each  article  of  faith  in  con- 
nection with  others  which  are  either  allied 
to  or  seem  to  contradict  it.  It  proves  the 
doctrines  of  the  Church  from  Scripture 
and  tradition,  illustrates  them  by  natural 
analogies  and  points  out  that  though  they 
cannot  be  demonstrated  from  reason,  they 
are  in  harmony  with  it.  It  answers 
objections  drawn  from  philosophy  and 
other  sciences,  and  above  all  deduces 
theological  consequences  from  the  truths 
of  faith.  It  is  hard  to  distinguish  clearly 
apologetic  or  conti-oversial  and  positive 
theology  on  the  one  hand  from  dogmatic 
theology  on  the  other.  Controversial  ' 
theologians  defend  the  faith  against 
infidels  and  heretics;  positive  theology 
investigates  the  proofs  of  Catholic  doctrine 
in  Scripture  and  tradition;  but  all  this 


DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY 

may  te  said  of  dogmatic  theology  also. 
The  distinction  between  them  seems  to 
lie  in  the  fact  that,  though  dogmatic 
theology  does  occupy  itself  with  these 
matters,  they  do  not  form  the  whole  or 
even  the  principal  part  of  its  subject 
matter.  The  systematic  presentation  of 
doctrine,  the  exhibition  of  the  relations 
between  faith  and  reason,  the  application 
of  philosophy  to  religion,  so  as  to  deduce 
conclusions  from  premisses  given  partly  by 
philosophy,  partly  by  revelation — this  is 
the  chief  business  of  the  dogmatic  theo- 
logian. The  rest,  though  of  capital 
importance  in  itself,  possesses  only  a 
secondary  interest  for  him. 

In  the  early  ages  of  the  Church  the 
chief  doctrines  of  the  faith  were  precisely 
stated  and  formally  defined;  but  little 
was  done  directly  for  dogmatic  theology. 
The  early  Fathers  had  to  contend  with 
persecution,  and  what  leisure  they  had 
was  mostly  spent  in  attempts  to  recom- 
mend the  faith  to  heathens.  When  the 
hand  of  the  persecutor  was  stayed,  the 
great  controversies  on  the  Trinity,  on  the 
Incarnation,  on  grace  and  predestination, 
began,  and  the  champions  of  the  faith  were 
as  a  rule  much  too  busy  in  stating  and 
defending  the  great  verities  of  revelation 
to  think  of  expounding  them  systemati- 
cally. Then  came  the  barbarian  incursions 
in  the  West,  the  Mohammedan  conquests 
in  the  East ;  and  the  Latin  Church  was 
occupied  in  the  work  of  converting  and 
civilising  the  new  masters  of  Western 
Europe.  It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
middle  ages,  when  the  faith,  already  de- 
fined and  fixed,  enjoyed  a  supremacy  such 
as  it  has  never  known  before  or  since, 
that  the  great  dogmatic  theologians  lived. 
After  the  fall  of  Constantinople  Greek 
learning  spread  in  the  West.  Christian 
antiquity  was  more  studied  and  better  un- 
derstood, and  by  all  this  of  course  theology 
gained  immensely.  But  to  a  great  extent 
dogmatic  theology  sufiiered  by  the  diversion 
of  interest  to  Scriptural  and  historical 
criticism  ;  and  a  century  later  the  great 
Protestant  revolt  gave  an  increasing  im- 
portance to  controversial  as  distinct  from 
dogmatic  theology. 

We  have  already  indicated  the  division 
which  we  shall  observe  in  this  article.  We 
shall  begin  by  tracing  the  first  essays  at 
dogmatic  theology  in  the  Patristic  period, 
passing  next  to  the  theologians  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  concluding  with  those 
of  modern  times. 

I.  Fatristic  Period. — As  has  been 
already   hinted,    there    is    no    dogmatic 


DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY       271 

theology,  properly  so  called,  during  this 
time,  so  that  it  need  not  detain  us  long. 
Many,  however,  among  the  Fathers  treat 
the  Christian  religion  in  a  philosophic 
spirit,  and  address  themselves  to  some  at 
least  among  the  various  problems  of 
dogmatic  theology.  Thus  the  Apologists 
of  the  second  and  third  centuries  try  to 
show — often,  it  is  true,  in  a  very  fanciful 
way — that  the  Christian  religion  is  in 
agreement  with  the  best  results  of  Greek 
philosophy,  and  in  particular  with  the 
teaching  of  Plato.  Justin,  e.ff.,  explains 
the  supposed  fact  that  Christian  doctrines 
are  found  in  Greek  heathen  writers  partly 
on  the  theory  that  all  men  participate  in 
the  illumination  of  the  Woi"d,'  partly  on 
the  assumption  that  the  Greeks  had 
borrowed  from  the  sacred  books  of  the 
Old  Testament.^  Clement  of  Alexandria 
reaches  a  higher  and  more  accurate  notion 
of  the  relations  between  dogma  and 
science.  The  most  important  of  his  works, 
the  "  Stromata,"  is  meant  to  show  that  a 
Christian  may  do  more  than  believe  the 
faith  and  keep  the  commandments.  Be- 
yond the  ordinary  faitli,  he  says,^  we 
may  reach  by  instruction  and  the  perfect 
observance  of  God's  law  a  knowledge 
which  is  the  "  perfection  of  man  as  man." 
To  a  certain  extent,  this  perfection  is  a 
moral  one,  and  so  far  does  not  concern  us 
here.  But  Clement  also  makes  it  consist 
in  knowing  truth  with  peculiar  accuracy,* 
in  the  ability  to  "  demonstrate  "  it  *  and 
to  fathom  the  hidden  meanings  of  Scrip- 
ture, in  the  power  of  using  all  science  and 
learning  as  a  means  of  refuting  error  and 
conveying  to  others  exact  notions  of  the 
truth.''  The  great  Origen,  in  his  book 
*'  De  Principiis,"  makes  a  further  advance, 
and  really  sketches  out  the  plan  of  a  dog- 
matic system.  Speaking  of  the  Church's 
dogmas  he  says,^  "  These  must  be  used  as 
elements  and  foundations  by  everyone 
who  desires  to  form*  a  certain  order  and 
system,  by  considering  them  all  together, 
so  that  he  may  form  evident  and  neces- 
sary propositions,  discover  the  truth  on 
each  point,  and,  as  we  have  said,  make 
one  system  out  of  the  examples  and 
propositions  which  he  finds  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  or  discovers  by  following  out 
things  to  their  logical  consequences."  It 
is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  Origen 

1  ApoL  ii.  8.  2  ApoL  i.  44. 

3  Strom,  vii.  10,  p.  864.      *  IL  vii.  16,p.891. 

5  If>.  vii.  10,  p.  865. 

6  76.  vi.  10,  pp.  780-781. 

7  De  Frincip.  Pr«f.  n.  10.  The  work, 
except  a  few  fra,£?ments,  only  exists  in  the 
translation  of  Ruiinus. 


272      DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY 

never  worked  out  the  plan  which  he  put 
before  himself;  and,  besides,  there  were 
inherent  defects  in  his  method,  which 
would  have  kept  him  from  doing  so 
successfully.  Nor  did  later  Fathers 
realise  the  ideal  which  Origen  had  before 
him.  Of  course,  the  great  Doctors  of  the 
Church  in  defending  Catholic  doctrine  on 
the  Trinity  and  Incarnation  incidentally 
supplied  abundance  of  matter  for  the 
furtherance  of  systematic  and  specula- 
tive theology.  Indeed,  St.  Augustine's 
writings  had  an  extraordinary  and  en- 
during influence  on  every  department  of 
theological  science,  and  the  study  of  them 
was  the  great  means  of  theological  edu- 
cation, aud  gave  the  strongest  impulse  to 
scientific  progress  during  the  middle 
ages.  But  as  a  rule  the  Fathers  supplied 
the  stones  which  the  scholastics  built 
together.^  Still,  one  exception  at  least 
must  be  noted.  In  his  treatise  "  De 
Trinitate,"  St.  Augustine  sets  himself  to 
resolve  the  historical  and  the  speculative 
difficulties  of  the  doctrine.  He  proves 
the  Nicene  doctrine  from  Scripture  and 
tradition  ;  tries  to  reconcile  the  belief  in  a 
Trinity  of  Persons  with  the  belief  in  the 
unity  of  God ;  and  confirms  the  truth  of 
the  Catholic  doctrine  by  natural  analogies. 
In  the  opinion  of  competent  judges  no 
writing  of  the  early  ages  deserves  to 
be  compared  with  it  for  fullness  and 
tiioroughness. 

II.  The  Scholastic  Period. — Dogmatic 
theology,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word, 
began  to  be  in  the  East,  long  before  it 
was  known  in  Western  Europe.  Zacha- 
rias  Scholasticus  and  John  Philoponus, 
in  the  sixth  century,  discussed  Christian 
doctrine  in  a  philosophic  spirit,  and  in 
the  first  half  of  the  following  century, 
John  of  Damascus  brought  dogmatic 
theology  to  the  highest  level  which  it  ever 
reached  among  the  Greeks.  He  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  logical  writings  of 
Aristotle,  and  so  acquired  the  philosophic 
training  necessary  for  a  theologian.  He 
was  well  read  in  the  Greek  Fathers  and 
familiar  with  the  speculations  of  Pseudo- 
Dionysius.  Thus  equipped,  he  summed 
up  all  the  theological  learning  of  his  day 
in  his  great  work  entitled  the  "  Fountain 
of  Wisdom  "  (nrj-yrj  ao(f}ias).  The  first 
part  contains  the  dialectic,  which  since 

1  Of  course  this  comparison  must  not  be 
pressed.  It  would  be  absurd  to  attribute  to  the 
Bcliolastics  a  general  superiority  over  such  a 
writer  as  St.  Augustine.  If  much  was  gained, 
much  also'  was  lost,  by  the  scholastic  love  of 
system. 


DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY 

the  Arian  controversies  had  been  the 
object  of  increasing  attention  in  the 
Church,  and  was  afterwards  zealously 
studied  by  the  Arabs.  The  second  part 
gives  a  history  of  heresies;  the  third, 
"  an  accurate  exposition  of  the  orthodox 
faith"  {eKdoo-LS  dKpi^rjs  rrjs  opOoho^ov 
TTLCTTeois).  This  third  part  treats  (a)  of 
God  in  his  essence,  attributes,  aud  Trinity 
of  Persons ;  (3)  of  the  creative  act  by 
which  in-visible  spirits  and  visible  things 
were  made,  of  the  Divine  fore-knowledge, 
and  of  free-will ;  (y)  of  the  Incarnation, 
and  the  economy  of  salvation  ;  (S)  of  the 
means  by  which  this  salvation  is  appro- 
priated, and  generally  of  such  matters  as 
concern  practical  piety — i.e.  of  faith  and 
baptism,  the  cultus  of  the  saints,  use  of 
images,  &c. ;  of  Scripture,  the  origin  of  sin 
in  the  abuse  of  free-will,  the  law  of  God, 
the  Sabbath,  circumcision,  virginity,  &c. ; 
and  lastly,  of  Antichrist  and  the  resurrec- 
tion. Here  we  have  something  like  a 
complete  system  of  theology,  but  with 
John  of  Damascus  the  theology  of  the 
Easterns  reached  its  highest  point.  Fur- 
ther advance  was  to  be  made,  not  in  the 
East,  but  in  the  West. 

There,  even  after  the  shock  of  the  bar- 
barian conquests  was  over,  a  long  period  of 
preparation  was  needed  before  dogmatic 
theology  could  arise,  and  for  this  very 
reason  when  it  did  arise  it  manifested  ex- 
traordinary strength,  possessed  a  singular 
vitality,  and  did  its  work  with  wonderful 
completeness.  These  preparations  con- 
sisted in  the  study  of  the.  Aristotelian 
logic,  much  furthered  by  Boethius  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  sixth  century.  Again, 
the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the  Fathers  was 
summarised  by  such  authors  as  Isidore  of 
Seville,  who  in  his  "Originumseu  Ety- 
mologiarum  Codex  "  furnished  an  encyclo- 
paedia of  sciences,  including  theology, 
while  his  "  Libri  Sententiarum "  is  a 
kind  of  anthology  from  the  Fathers, 
particularly  from  St.  Augustine.  Alcuin 
did  much  to  encourage  the  foundation 
of  monastic  schools  and  so  to  keep  the 
lamp  of  learning  alive.  Still,  although  the 
writings  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great  exer- 
cised a  wide  and  strong  influence,  al- 
though the  living  interest  in  dogmatic 
controversy  was  kept  up  by  the  disputes 
on  the  Adoption  of  the  Son  of  God,  on 
the  Eucharist,  on  Predestination,  and 
by  those  occasioned  through  the  rational- 
ism and  pantheistic  tendencies  of  Scotua 
Erigena,  the  period  which  elapsed  between 
the  sixth  and  eleventh  century  was  one  of 
learning  rather  than  of  speculation.    The 


DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY 

men  of  that  age  gathered  in  peace  the 
fruits  of  the  past ;  they  seldom  began  to 
till  new   ground.     Nor  had   they  as  yet 
the  instruments  to  hand  which  were  in- 
dispensable for  the  advance  of  theology. 
They  knew  the   positive   teaching  of  the 
Fathers ;  they  did  their  best  to  master  the 
natural  and  mathematical  sciences,  gram- 
mar, logic,   rhetoric,   &c.,   and  to  make 
themselves  at  home  in  the  wisdom  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans.     But  they  had  no 
philosophy,  and  philosophy  is  a  necessary 
basis  for  theological  speculation.    In  the 
eleventh  century  this  desideratum  was  sup- 
plied.    Then  the  monastic  schools,  which 
had  sunk  into  comparative  insignificance 
after  the  death  of  Charles  the  Bald,  be- 
came more  celebrated  than  ever  for  learn- 
ing (those  of  Tours  and  Bee  deserve  special 
mention),  and  in  Anselm  of  Canterbury 
produced  a  man,  not  only  of  learning,  but 
of  speculative  ability.     Some  time  later 
these  schools  were  cast  into  the  shade  by 
the  universities,  and  that  of  Paris  in  par- 
ticular was  the  fostering  mother  of  dia- 
lectical theology  throughout  the  rest  of 
the  middle  ages.     Better  translations  of 
Aristotle  came  into  use,  and  not  only  his 
logical,   but   also   his    metaphysical   and 
physical  treatises  were  studied  with  en- 
thusiastic appreciation.    True,  philosophy 
was  regarded  as  the  handmaid  of  faith. 
The  Catholic  religion  was  accepted  as  the 
absolute  truth,  and  although  the  philo- 
sopher proved  from  reason  the  truths  of 
natural  religion,  such  as  the  being  of  God, 
the  spirituality  of  the  soul,  and  the  like, 
still  even  on  his  own  ground  he  had  to 
bring  his  work  into  agreement  with  the 
teaching  of  the  Church.    Still,  philosophi- 
cal questions  in  themselves  awakened  the 
most  intense  interest,  and  theology  chietly 
consisted   in    drawing   conclusions    from 
principles  furnished  partly  by  the  faith, 
partly  by  philosophy ;  it  followed  naturally 
that  the  whole  of  a  man's  theology  was 
coloured   by   his   philosophical   opinions. 
The  great  philosophical  question  debated 
during  all  the  scholastic  period  was  about 
the  nature  of  universals.     There  were  the 
extreme  Realists,  likeScotus;  the  moderate 
Realists,  like  St.  Thomas ;  there  were  No- 
minalists, such  as  Occam,   All  these  names 
represent  different  schools  of  theology,  and 
it  is  often  easy  to  trace  the  direct  influence 
which  the  theoi-y  they  held  on  universals 
had  on  their  theology.     Of  course,  we  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  every  difference — e.g. 
between  Scotus  and  St.  Thomas— can  be 
traced    to    a    philosophical   source,    but 
many   among  these  differences  certainly 


DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY        273 

can  be  so  traced.  So  well  was  this  tmder- 
stood  that  so  long  as  Scotism  kept  its 
ground  in  the  Franciscan  schools,  the 
Scotist  philosophy,  and  that  alone,  was 
looked  upon  as  the  necessary  preparation 
for  theology.  The  mutual  interpenetration 
of  philosophy  and  theology  is  the  great 
distinguishing  marlc  of  the  scholastic 
period. 

We  can  only  mention  the  most  dis- 
tinguished names  among  the  scholastics, 
and  say  a  few  words  about  one  or  two 
among  them.  St.  Anselm  was  the  great 
light  of  the  eleventh  century,  towards 
the  end  of  which  he  lived.  In  the 
twelfth  century  the  great  names  are  those 
of  Roscelin,  Abelard,  and  Peter  Lombard ; 
in  the  thirteenth,  those  of  Alexander  of 
Hales,  Albertus  Magnus,  St.  Thomas, 
Bonaventura,  John  Duns  Scotus. 

Anselm  did  not  construct  a  complete 
corpus  or  sum  of  theology,  but  he  treated 
of  its  principal  parts — viz.  the  existence  and 
nature  of  God  and  the  Trinity  in  his  "  Mo- 
nologium,"  "  Proslogion,"  "  De  Fid.  Trin.," 
and  "  Process.  Spirit.  S.  contra  Grace. ; " 
the  freedom  of  the  will,  origin  of  evil, 
and  the  fall,  in  "  De  Lib.  Arbitr.,  de  Casu 
DiaboL,  de  Concept.  Virginal,  et  Original. 
Peccato  ;  "  of  the  Incarnation  and  redemp- 
tion, in  "  Cur  Deus  Homo."    Peter  Lom- 
bard's four  Books  of  Sentences  were  for 
centuries    the    basis    of    theological    in- 
struction.    St.  Thomas,  Scotus,  nay  even 
so  late   a  writer  as  the  famous  Estius, 
commented  on  them.   Peter  Lombard  sets 
out  with   the  principle — borrowed  from 
St.    Augustine — that    Christianity    is   a 
doctrine   concerning   realities    and  signs, 
the  principal  signs  being  the  sacraments. 
He  subdivides  the  realities  into  such  as  we 
are  to  enjoy  {frui) — i.e.  such  as  are  ends ; 
such  as  we  are  to  use  {uti)  as  means ;  and 
considers  lastly  the  subjects  or   rational 
creatm-es  intended  to  use  these  means.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  first  Book  of  the  Sentences 
treats  of  God  and  the  Trinity  (realities 
which     are    ends    in    themselves) ;    the 
second,  in  its  first  part,  of  the  world,  in  its 
second  of  rational  creatures,  in  its  third 
of  free-will  and  grace,  virtues  and  vices 
(of  things  to  be  used  as  means,  of  those 
who  use  them,  of  use   and  abuse) ;  the 
third,  of  the  redemption,  by  which  man  is 
again   enabled  to  see  things  aright;  the 
fourth,  of  the  resurrection  and  of  "  signs  " 
— i.e.    chiefly    of    the     sacraments.      A 
moment's  thought  wiU  enable  anyone  to 
see  some   at   least  of  the  patent  defects 
implied  in    such    an    arrangement.     St. 
Thomas  adopted  a  very  diflerent  one  in 


274      DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY 


DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY 


his  "Sum  of  all  Theology,"  which  for 
method,  scientific  precision  and  depth,  for 
purity  of  doctrine,  has  nothing  like  it  or 
near  it  in  the  productions  of  the  scholastic 
theologians.  The  "  Summa  "  is  divided 
into  three  parts.  The  first  treats  of  God 
in  Himself,  and  as  the  Creator.  The 
second  treats  of  God  as  the  end  of 
creatures,  and  of  the  actions  which  lead 
us  to  Him  or  separate  us  from  Him.  In 
the  former  subdivision  of  the  second  part 
these  actions  are  discussed  in  general  ; 
the  latter  subdivision  explains  them  in 
detail.  The  third  part  treats  of  the 
Incarnation,  the  sacraments,  and  the  last 
things.  It  must  be  added  that  the  sub- 
division of  Part  II.  was  made,  not  by 
St.  Thomas,  but  by  his  disciples,  and  that 
St.  Thomas  left  the  third  part  incomplete, 
the  conclusion  of  the  treatise  on  penance, 
those  on  extreme  unction,  holy  order, 
matrimony  and  the  last  things  having 
been  appended  from  his  commentary  on  the 
Sentences.  St.  Thomas  himself  points  out 
the  connection  of  parts  in  the  "  Summa." 
The  first  is  concerned  with  God ;  the 
second,  with  the  movement  of  rational 
creatm-es  to  Him ;  the  third,  with  the 
Incarnation,  redemption  and  sacraments, 
which  open  the  way  to  God,  and  .with 
eternal  life,  to  which  this  way  leads. 

III.  Modem  Period. — Scholastic  theo- 
logy is  best  represented  by  St.  Thomas 
and  Scotus.  After  their  time  there  was 
a  marked  decadence,  and  if  at  the  period 
of  the  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation 
scholastic  theology  was  unjustly  attacked 
and  contemned,  the  fault  must  be  partly 
laid  at  the  door  of  the  later  schoolmen  them- 
selves. Melchior  Canus,  a  Catholic  bishop 
and  theologian  of  undoubted  orthodoxy, 
describes  the  degeneracy  of  some  among 
the  later  schoolmen,  their  frivolous  and 
sophistical  spirit,  their  ignorance  of 
Scripture  and  tradition,  in  the  forcible 
language  of  a  man  who  evidently  speaks 
from  personal  experience.^  No  doubt 
other  causes  helped  to  bring  scholastic 
theology  into  disrepute.  The  new  learn- 
ing absorbed  attention  ;  controversialists, 
such  as  Bellarmin,  were  busy  defending 
the  decrees  of  Trent  against  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists,  so  that  the  interest  in 
scholastic  theology  abated.  Besides, 
there  was  on  the  part  of  Protestants  and 
even  of  Jansenists,  a  distinctly  heretical 
opposition  to  the  theology  of  the  schools. 
It  was  held  that  truths  of  revelation  were 

1  Canus,  Loc.  Theol.  viii.  1.  ix.  1.  The  elo- 
quent and  weighty  words  of  Canus  on  this 
matter  are  well  worth  reading. 


contrary  to  the  dictates  of  reason,  and 
that,  to  use  the  words  of  Melauchthon, 
"  Christian  doctrine  was  utterly  discordant 
with  philosophy  and  human  reason."  * 
This,  of  course,  was  to  cut  at  the  root  of 
scholastic  theology,  and  the  opinion  of 
Melanchthon  on  faith  and  reason  was  that 
of  the  Reformers  in  general.  Still,  schol- 
astic theology  was  pursued  with  ardour, 
and  valuable  additions  were  made  to  it. 
The  old  Thomist  and  Scotist  theologies 
were  still  maintained,  and  though  the 
latter  as  a  distinctive  system  was  passing 
away,  it  influenced  the  eclectic  theology 
of  many  Jesuit  writers,  and  so  has  left  a 
permanent  mark  on  the  theology  of  the 
Church.  Moreover,  a  fresh  impetus  was 
given  to  scholastic  disputes  by  the  con- 
troversies on  grace  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  and  a  new  division 
of  theologians  into  Thomists,  Congruists, 
Molinists  and  Augustiniaus  came  to  be  re- 
cognised. The  following  are  among  the 
principal  theologians  since  the  Reforma- 
tion. We  put  aside  great  controversialists, 
like  Bellarmin  and  Stapleton,and  positive 
theologians,  such  as  Petavius  and  Tho- 
massin.  Petavius,  indeed,  may  justly  be 
considered  a  dogmatic  theologian.  His 
unequalled  learning  included  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  schoolmen,  and  he  does 
discuss  the  most  important  questions 
raised  by  them.  But  the  chief  merit  of 
this  extraordinary  man,  great  in  his 
many-sided  and  accurate  learning,  great 
in  the  command  which  his  genius  gave 
him  over  the  stores  of  classical,  Scriptural, 
patristic,  scholastic  learning  which  he  had 
accumulated,*  lay  rather  in  his  contri- 
butions to  the  history  of  dogma  than  to 
dogmatic  theology  itself.  Confining  our- 
selves, then,  to  dogmatic  theologians  in 
the  strict  sense,  we  may  name,  from  the 
sixteenth  and  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century :  Bannes  ("  In  Prim.  Part. 
Angel.  Doctoris,"  2  torn. ;  "  In  Secund. 
Secund.  Angel.  Doctoris")  ;  Molina  ("In 
Prim.  Part.  D.  Thorn.;"  also  "  Liberi 
Arbitrii  cum  Gratiae  Donis  Concordia  ")  ; 
Medina  ("  In  Prim.  Secund.  Thoraae  Aq. 
in  Tert.  Part.") ;  Gregory  of  Valentia 
("  Comment,  in  Summ.  Thomge  Aq.") ; 
Suarez  ("  Commentation  es  et  Disputat. 
inThomse  Summam");  Cardinal  de  Lugo 
(separate  treatises  on  dogmatics nd  moral 
theology  :  e.g.  "  De  Sacramentis,"  "  De 
Eucharistia,"  "  De  Incamatione,"  &c.,  col- 
lected in  seven  folios)  ;  Vasquez  ("  Oom- 
mentarii  in  Thomam  ")  ;  Estius  ("  Com- 

1  Melanchthon,  Loci  Theol.  ed.  1,  p.  86  apod 
Kuhn,  Dogmatik,  voL  i.  472. 


DOGMATIC  THEOLOGY 

ment.  in  IV  Lib.  Sentent.") ;  Tanner 
("  Theolog.  Scbolast./' ''  Disputat.  Theol. 
in  omnes  Summ.  S.  Thorn.  Partes ") ; 
Becanus  ("Theolog.  Scholast.");  Viva  (on 
the  Condemned  Propositions  and  a  brief 
course  of  dogmatic  theology).  Promi- 
nent among  the  theologians  of  a  later  date 
are  the  Scotists,  Frassen  ("Scotus  Acade- 
micus,  sive  Universa  Doctoris  Subtilis 
Theologia,"  Paris,  1672),  and  L'Herminier 
("Summa  Theolog.  Scholastic.  Dogmat.," 
Paris,  1721);  and  the  Thomists  Gonet 
("Clypeus  Theolog.  Thomist,  contra 
Novas  ejus  Impugnat.,"  Burdigal.  1659), 
Contenson  ("Theologia  Mentis  et  Cor- 
dis," Colon.  1722),  Witasse  ("Tractat. 
Theolog."Pari8,1722),  and  Billuart("Cur- 
sus  Theolog.  juxta  Ment.  S.  Thom."1745). 
We  may  also  notice  Tournely  (  "  Prselect. 
Theol.,''  Venet.  1739) ;  Gotti  ("  Theolog. 
Scholast.  Dogm.,"  Venet.  1750)  ;  Berti 
("  De  Theolog.  Disciplin.,"  Venet.  1776) ; 
Hubert  ("Theolog.  Dogmat.  et  Moral," 
August.  Vindeb.  1751).^ 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  scholastic  theology  almost  died 
out,  or  if  the  study  of  it  was  maintained 
in  Italy  and  Spain,  at  all  events  few 
books  of  this  kind  were  written.  The 
dogmas  of  the  Church  were  of  course 
still  carefully  studied  by  clerics  in  their 
course  of  preparation  for  the  priesthood, 
but  scholastic  philosophy  was  neglected, 
no  other  philosophy  permanently  replaced 
it,  and  hence  theological  speculation  was 
impossible.  This  element  is  almost 
entirely  wanting  in  works  like  those  of 
Liebermann  and  Perrone,  valuable  as  they 
are  in  many  respects.  Some  thirty  or 
forty,  years  ago  the  interest  in  scholastic 
philosophy,  and,  as  a  natural  consequence, 
in  scholastic  theology,  revived.  Cardinal 
Franzelin's  treatises,  though  full  of  Scrip- 
tural and  patristic  learning,  do  not  by 
any"  means  omit  the  consideration  of  the 
speculative  questions  raised  by  the  school- 
men. The  short  treatises  of  Jungman, 
the  dogmatic  theology  of  the  Jesuit 
Hurrter,  and  that  of  Dr.  Murray  of  May^- 
nooth,  also  deserve  mention.  The  present 
Pope  has  done  much  to  encourage  the 
study  of  the  schoolmen,  and  this  study  is 
not  likely  to  fall  again  into  disrepute  or 
even  to  be  neglected.  Experience  has 
proved  that  no  scientific  knowledge  of 
the  Catholic  doctrine  can  be  gained  with- 
out the  study  of  dogmatic  theology,  so 
that  when  this  foundation  has  been  laid, 
then  and  not  till  then  other  branches  of 

^  The  editions  quoted  are  not  always  the 
first  which  appeared. 


DOMICILE 


275 


theological  inquiry  may  be  pursued  with 
safety  and  advantage.  (In  great  part 
from  the  introductory  volume  of  Kuhn's 
"  Dogmatik.") 

SOXiOITRS  OF  THE  BIiESSED 
VXRGZSr.  St.  John  mentions  that  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  with  other  holy  women  and 
with  St.  John,  stood  at  -the  foot  of  the  cross 
when  the  other  Apostles  had  fled.  At 
that  time  the  prophecy  of  Simeon,  "a 
sword  will  pierce  thine  own  soul,"  was 
most  perfectly  fulfilled;  and  very  naturally 
the  sorrows  of  Mary  have  been  a  favourite 
subject  of  contemplation  with  the  Saints, 
among  whom  St.  Ambrose  and  St.  Ber- 
nard deserve  particiUar  notice.  They 
dwell  specially  on  the  intensity  of  her 
mental  suffering,  and  on  the  supernatural 
constancy  with  which  she  endured  it. 
The  famous  hymn  "  Stabat  Mater  "  cele- 
brates Mary's  sorrows  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross  in  sublime  language.  The  seven 
founders  of  the  Servit«  order,  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  devoted  themselves  to  spe- 
cial meditation  on  the  Dolours  of  Mary,  and 
Irom  them  the  enumeration  of  the  Seven 
Sorrows  {i.e.  at  the  prophecy  of  Simeon,  in 
the  flight  to  Eg}'pt,  at  the  three  days' loss, 
at  the  carrying  of  the  cross,  at  the  cruci- 
fixion, at  the  descent  of  the  cross,  at  the 
entombment)  is  said  to  have  come.  The 
feast  of  the  Dolours,  was  instituted  at  a 
Provincial  Council  of  Cologne  in  1423,  at 
a  time  when  the  Hussites  were  destroying 
crucifixes  and  images  of  the  Mother  of 
Sorrows  with  fanatical  zeal.  Bene- 
dict XIII.,  in  1725,  caused  this  feast  to 
be  celebrated  in  the  States  of  the  Church 
on  the  Friday  after  Passion  Smiday.  This 
feast  is  now  observed  as  a  greater  double 
throughout  the  Church.  Pius  VII.,  in 
1814,  directed  that  a  second  feast  of  the 
Dolom-s  should  be  kept,  on  the  third  Sun- 
day of  September.  In  allusion  to  her 
seven  sorrows,  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  re- 
presented in  art  transfixed  by  seven 
swords.  (Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Festis  "  ; 
"  Manuale  Decret.") 

BOnxzcxiiE  is  the  place  i"n  which  a 
person  is  living,  or  to  which  he  has 
actually  come  with  tkp  purpose  of  re- 
maining there  for  good— «.e.  until  some 
fresh  reasons  call  him  away.  Thus,  as  Zal- 
linger  points  out,  two  things  go  to  consti- 
tute domicile:  (1)  the  external  fact  of 
habitation  in  a  place  ;  (2)  the  internal  in- 
tention of  fixhig  the  abode  there.  Quasi- 
domicile  is  acquired  by  a  person  who  has 
moved  to  a  place  with  the  intention  of 
•remaining  there  for  a  considerable  time — 
e.g.  for  several  months.   .  There  is  a  third 


t2 


276    DOMINE,  NON  SUM  DIGNUS 


DOMINICANS 


class  of  persons  known  as  va{ii — i.e.  who 
at  the  time  have  neither  domicile  nor  quasi- 
domicile.  It  is  possible  for  a  person  to 
have  two  domiciles — ^if,  that  is  to  say,  he 
has  two  abodes  in  different  places  and 
spends  about  equal  portions  of  the  year  in 
each. 

The  question  of  domicile  enters  into 
the  regulations  (1)  on  orders.  In  or- 
dinary cases  a  candidate  must  be  or- 
dained by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  in 
which  he  was  born  ('•  episcopus  originis  "). 
However,  if  he  has  fixed  his  domicile  in 
another  diocese  he  may  be  ordained  by 
his  new  bishop,  the  "  episcopus  domicilii," 
provided  that  he  has  lived  in  his  new 
abode  for  ten  years,  or  has  transferred  to 
it  the  greater  part  of  his  goods,  having 
lived  their  "  for  a  considerable  time,  and  is, 
moreover,  ready  to  swear  that  he  intends  to 
remain  there  for  good  ("perpetuo  *').  So 
Innocent  XII., Constit.  96.  (2)  Persons  are 
obliged  to  make  their  Easter  communion, 
to  have  their  banns  proclaimed,  to  be 
married,  to  have  their  children  baptised, 
to  receive  extreme  unction,  from  the 
parish-priest  of  their  domicile  or  his 
deputy.  If  persons  to  be  married  live  in 
different  parishes,  the  banns  must  be  pro- 
claimed in  the  parish  church  of  each  ;  the 
man-iage  may  be  celebrated  in  either 
parish  church.  Persons  with  a  double 
domicile  may  choose  the  parish-priest  of 
either  for  the  celebration  of  their  mar- 
riage, &c.  If  either  party  has  established 
a  quasi-domicile  he  may  be  married  by 
the  parish-priest  of  the  place.  If  one  of 
the  parties  has  no  domicile  or  quasi-domi- 
cile, then  any  parish-priest  may  marry 
them,  provided  that  he  has  found  on  in- 
quiry that  they  are  free  to  marry,  and  has 
obtained  leave  from  his  ordinary.  (Chiefly 
from  Gury.) 

Doivxiirx:,  xroio-  sum  digm-vs. 
"  Lord,  I  am  not  worthy  that  Thou 
shouldst  enter  under  my  roof,  but  only 
speak  with  a  word,  and  my  soul  will  be 
healed."  Words  used  by  the  priest  before 
communicating,  and  again  before  giving 
communion  to  the  people.  The  custom 
of  employing  this  prayer  before  com- 
munion is  alluded  to  by  Origen  and  Chry- 
Bostom.  It  is  adapted  from  the  prayer  of 
the  centurion  in  Matt.  viii.  8. 

BOIMtZXriCAXi       XiETTER.         [See 

Cycle.] 

DOMZirzCAirs.  The  founder  of 
this  celebrated  order,  St.  Dominic,  was 
bom  in  1170,  at  Calaruega,  a  small  town 
in  the  diocese  of  Osma,  in  Old  Castile. 
He  was  educated  at  the  university  of 


Palencia,  which  afterwards  was  removed 
to  Salamanca.  From  the  time  when  he 
first  came  to  the  use  of  reason,  he  appears 
to  have  had  a  heart  burning  with  the 
love  of  God,  and  a  consequent  horror  of 
sin,  coupled  with  an  unquenchable  zeal 
for  the  promotion  of  God's  honour  and 
service  among  his  rational  creatures. 
After  leaving  the  university,  he  preached 
with  great  power  in  many  places.  The 
Bishop  of  Osma  at  this  time,  whose  name 
was  Diego,  was  a  prelate  of  great  earnest- 
ness and  piety  ;  the  laxity  and  tepidity 
which  prevailed  among  a  portion  of  the 
Spanish  clergy  were  a  serious  grief  to 
him,  and  he  pondered  how  he  might 
introduce  the  type  and  germ  of  a  better 
state  of  things.  He  wished  to  introduce 
a  regular  and  quasi-conventual  life  among 
the  canons  of  his  cathedral,  and  the  young 
Dominic  appeared  a  fit  instrument  for  his 
purpose.  Appointed  a  canon,  and  strenu- 
ously aiding  in  the  introduction  in  the 
chapter  of  the  rule  of  St.  Austin,  Dominic 
more  than  answered  every  expectation 
that  had  been  formed  of  him,  and  ob- 
tained the  entire  confidence  and  affection 
of  the  bishop.  In  1204  and  1205  the 
Bishop  of  Osma  was  sent  into  France  on 
the  affair  of  a  contemplated  marriage 
between  King  Alfonso  IX.  and  a  princess 
of  the  house  of  La  Marcbe  ;  Dominic 
accompanied  him  as  his  chaplain.  The 
southern  provinces  of  France  were  then 
teeming  with  the  heresies  of  the  numerous 
sects  which  pass  under  the  general  name 
of  Albigenses  [Albigenses],  and  the 
peril  seemed  imminent  that  large  numbers 
of  persons  would  before  long,  if  no  re- 
straining influence  appeared,  throw  off 
the  bonds  of  religion,  social  order,  and 
morality.  The  bishop,  his  mission  having 
come  to  an  end  by  the  death  of  the 
French  princess,  earnestly  desired  to 
remain  and  combat  heresy  in  Languedoc. 
With  Dominic  he  went  to  Rome  (1206) 
to  obtain  the  necessary  permission  from 
the  Pope,  who  was  then  Innocent  III. 
The  Pope,  although  strongly  approving 
the  enterprise,  would  not  sanction  Diego's 
absence  from  his  diocese  being  prolonged 
beyond  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  was  to  return  to  Osma.  Return- 
ing to  Languedoc,  Diego  and  his  oom- 
panions  found  there  two  Papal  legates, 
Peter  of  Castelnau  and  Raoul,  contending 
with  the  heretics  with  but  small  effect. 
The  bishop  suggested  that  the  words  of 
exhortation  would  be  more  effectual  if  the 
legates  came  unattended  by  a  splendid 
retinue,  and  unprovided  with  equipages 


DOMINICANS 

and  a  sumptuous  appareil.  He  himself 
set  them  an  example,  going  bareibot, 
practising  great  abstinence,  and  sending 
back  liis  carriages  and  servants  into  Spain. 
The  legates  took  his  words  in  good  part, 
and  to  some  extent  acted  upon  them ; 
moreover,  the  abbot  of  Oiteaux  and 
several  other  Cistercian  abbots  came  to 
their  assistance,  to  take  part  in  the  re- 
ligious campaign,  which  now  began  to  be 
prosecuted  with  much  zeal  and  fruit. 
But  after  a  time  Peter  of  Castelnau  was 
assassinated  by  the  heretics,  and  tlie 
other  legate  took  his  departure ;  the 
abbots  returned  to  their  monasteries  ;  the 
bishop  was  obliged  to  return  to  Osma, 
where  he  soon  after  died;  and  Dominic 
was  left  alone.  Some  years  passed;  he 
was  joined  from  time  to  time  by  earnest 
men,  who  aided  him  in  that  work  of 
continual  preaching  which  he  felt  to  be 
the  great  work  of  his  life ;  but  many  of 
them,  after  the  novelty  of  the  work  had 
worn  off,  abandoned  him  without  scruple, 
and  he  felt  that  in  order  to  give  stability 
to  his  efforts  he  must  bind  his  followers 
to  himself  and  their  work  by  a  tie  stronger 
than  could  be  supplied  by  enthusiasm  and 
the  voluntary  system.  Such  a  tie  coidd 
only  be  supplied  by  the  establishment  of 
a  new  order,  and  to  this  consummation 
he  now  bent  his  energies.  In  1215  he 
had  gathered  round  him  sixteen  men, 
of  whom  eight  were  Frenchmen,  six 
Spaniards,  one  an  Enghshman,  and  one  a 
Portuguese — all  prepared  to  embrace  any 
way  of  life  that  he  might  prescribe  to 
them.  The  Pope  (Innocent  III.),  when 
his  sanction  was  sought,  hesitated.  The 
Council  of  the  Lateran,  then  concluding 
it!3  sittings,  had  declared  that  it  was  not 
desirable  to  add  any  new  orders  to  those 
already  existing.  The  Pope  refused  his 
assent  several  times,  but  at  length — in- 
fluenced, it  is  said,  by  a  vision  similar  to 
that  which  he  had  before  the  confir- 
mation of  the  Franciscan  order — he 
yielded.  It  was,  however,  upon  the 
understanding  that  the  founder  should 
choose  for  the  new  institute  some  rule 
already  sanctioned  by  the  Church,  and 
that  the  statutes  of  the  order  should  be 
submitted  to  the  Pope  for  his  approval. 
Dominic  selected  the  rule  of  St.  Austin 
[Aug.  Rule]  for  the  use  of  his  order ; 
many  of  the  statutes  were  borrowed  from 
those  of  Premontr^  [Noebektines]. 
"The  chief  articles  enjoined  perpetual 
silence,  there  being  no  time  when  conver- 
sation was  permitted  without  leave  from 
the  superior ;  fasts  almost  without  inter- 


DOMINIOANS 


277 


mission,  at  least  from  September  14  to 
Easter  Day;  complete  abstinence  from 
meat,  except  in  serious  illness ;  the  use  of 
woollen  garments  in  the  place  of  linen ; 
a  rigorous  poverty,  and  many  other 
austerities."  ^  The  dress  which  St. 
Dominic  gave  to  his  religious  was  that  of 
regular  canons,  such  as  he  had  himself 
worn  at  Osma — viz.  a  black  cassock  and 
rochet.  Some  years  afterwards  this  was 
exchanged  for  the  dress  which  has  been 
ever  since  retained  in  the  order— a  white 
habit  and  scapular,  with  a  long  black 
cappa  or  mantle.  When  everything  had 
been  settled,  and  the  first  monastery  was 
being  built  at  Toulouse,  Dominic  went  to 
Rome  to  obtain  the  final  confirmation  of 
the  Holy  See.  Arriving  in  the  autumn  of 
1216,  he  found  Honorius  III.  occupying  the 
Papal  chair,  and  obtained  from  him  in  the 
following  December  a  bull  fully  legalising 
and  contirming  his  institute,  under  the 
title  of  the  "  Preaching  Brothers,"  or 
friarS;  Fratres  Praedicantes.  He  made 
his  solemn  profession  before  Honorius, 
as  the  first  member  of  the  order,  and  then 
returned  to  Toulouse.  Houses  under  his 
direction  soon  arose  in  different  places — e.g. 
at  Paris,  Metz,  and  Venice,  and  in  1221 
a  general  chapter  was  held  at  Bologna,  at 
which — perhaps  iu  imitation  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans— a  constitution  was  adopted  re- 
nouncing all  rents  and  possessions.  The 
effect  of  this,  of  course,  was  to  make  the 
Dominicans  a  mendicant  order,  wholly 
dependent  for  their  subsistence  and 
advancement  on  the  charity  and  zeal  for 
religion  of  the  Christian  people.  At  this 
same  chapter-general  it  was  found  that 
the  order  already  numbered  sixty  convents : 
these  were  now  distributed  into  eight 
provinces  (England  being  one),  each  under 
a  provincial.  St.  Dominic,  therefore,  dying 
in  this  year,  had  the  happiness  of  leaving 
his  order  firmly  planted  in  Europe. 
Under  subsequent  master-generals  it  ex- 
tended itself  far  and  wide ;  the  white 
robe  of  St.  Dominic  became  a  familiar 
object  in  Poland,  Denmark,  Greece,  and 
the  Holy  Land ;  their  missioners  were 
found  in  the  Canaries  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  after  the  discovery  of 
America  preaching  friars  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  spreading  the  Gospel  among 
the  natives  of  Mexico,  New  Granada,  and 
Peru.  Las  Casas,  who  first  introduced 
the  African  negro  into  the  West  Indies, 
with  the  benevolent  intention  of  thus 
saving  from  destruction  under  their 
Spamsh  task-masters  the  feebler  Carib 
1  H^yot. 


278 


DOMINICANS 


DOMINICANS 


Indians,  was  a  Dominican  friar.  This 
order  has  contributed  three  Popes  to  the 
roll  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  and  can 
enmnerate  •  more  than  60  cardinals, 
about  150  archbishops,  and  upwards  of 
800  bishops.  The  Master  of  the  Sacred 
Palace  in  the  Pontifical  Court  has  always 
been  a  religious  of  this  order  since  St. 
Dominic  was  first  invested  with  the  office 
by  Pope  Honorius  in  1218. 

In  England,  at  the  time  of  the  disso- 
lution, there  were  fifty-eight  Dominican 
friaries.  From  an  examination  of  the 
names  of  these,  given  below,^  it  is  evident 
that  they  settled  by  preference  in  towns, 
where  their  primary  vocation  of  preaching 
could  most  easily  be  exercised.  The 
memory  of  their  great  friary  in  London  is 
preserved  in  the  name  of  Blackfriars 
Bridge  :  the  building  stood  between  Lud- 
gate  Hill  and  the  river;  Playhouse  Yard- 
marks  the  exact  site.  Of  their  great  and 
famous  house  at  Oxford,  though  the  site 
is  well  known,  no  traces  now  remain. 

Into  the  intellectual  movement  of  the 
age,  of  which  the  foundation  of  many 
universities,  and  the  rapid  development  of 
others  were  the  chief  outward  signs,  the 
Dominicans  eagerly  flung  themselves. 
They  opened  schools,  and  commissioned 
able  lecturers  at  most  of  the  universities, 
awakening    thereby    a   fierce    opposition 

^  List  of  Dominican  Houses,  taken  from 
Tanner's  '  NotitiaJ' 


Arundel 

Ham  borough 

Bangor 

Berwick 

Beverlev 

Bliburgh  (Suff.) 

Boston 

Brecknock 

Bristcl 
10.  Cambridge 

Canterbury 

Cardiff 

Carlisle 

Chehiisford 

Chester 

Cliichester 

Derby 

Don  caster 

Dunstable 
20.  Diin-wich 

Exeter 

Gloucester 

Guildford 

Haverfordwest 

Hereford 

Hull 

Ipswich 

Ivelchester  (Som.) 

Lancaster 


30.  Langley  (Herts.) 
(Surrey) 

Leicester 

Lincoln 

London 

Lvnn 

Newcastle  (Staff.) 

Newcastle-on-Tyne 

Newport  (Monm.) 

Northampton 
40.  Norwich 

Oxford 

Pontefract 

Rhuddlan 

Rutland 

Salisbury 

Scarborough 

Shrewsbury 

Stamford 

Sudbury 
50.  Thetford 

Traro 

Warwick 

Wilton 

Winchester 

Worcester 

Yarm 

Yarmouth 

York 


2  So  called  from  the  theatre  (of  which 
Shak>pere  was  co-proprietor)  patched  up  out 
of  some  of  the  ruinous  buildinfecs  of  the  friary. 


on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  wlio  per- 
haps dreaded  in  part  lest  crudities  and 
novelties  should  issue  from  the  lips  of 
these  enthusiastic  mendicants,  but  whose 
concern  for  their  own  vested  interest  in 
and  monopoly  of  teaching  was  much  more 
real.  The  saintly  Albertus  Magnus, 
entering  the  order  in  the  time  of  the 
second  general,  Jordanus  Saxo,  lectured  in 
the  university  of  Paris  on  the  philosophy 
of  Aristotle,  which,  according  to  Mohler, 
he  had  the  honour  of  first  making 
thoroughly  comprehensible  to  the  Euro- 
pean intellect.  His  fame  has  been  eclipsed 
by  that  of  the  still  larger  and  stronger 
mind  of  him  who  was  his  ardent  disciple, 
and  also  a  Dominican,  St,  Thomas  of 
Aquiuum.  The  "  Summa  Theologiae,"  at 
which  the  sciolists  of  the  last  century 
aflected  to  sneer,  has  been  lately  anew 
commended  to  the  respect  of  all  Christians, 
and  the  careful  study  of  the  clergy,  by 
His  Holiness  the  present  Pope.  The  system 
of  St.  Thomas  was  so  vast  as  to  atiord 
scope  for  the  labour  of  many  commen- 
tators and  explicators,  and  a  school  hence 
arose,  consisting  chiefiy  of  Dominicans, 
named  Thomists.  Franciscan  theologians, 
among  whom  the  chief  was  Duns  Scotus, 
raised  objections  to  portions  of  the  teach- 
ing of  St.  Thomas ;  the  problems  of  Realism 
and  Nominalism  were  imported  into  the 
controversy ;  and  the  contentions  of 
Scotists  and  Thomists,  taken  up  often  by 
men  of  inferior  mental  calibre,  tended  at 
last  to  make  men  weary  of  the  scholastic 
philosophy  altogether. 

Among  the  numerous  writers  and 
thinkers  produced  by  this  order  may  be 
mentioned  first  that  group  of  ethereal 
minded  men,  sometimes  called  the  "  Ger- 
man mvstics,"  among  whom  the  Master 
Eckhardt  (f  1329),  Johannes  Tauler 
(tl361),  and  the  Blessed  Heniy  Suso 
(t  13Go),  were  all  sons  of  St.  D'ominic. 
St.  Raymond  of  Pennafort,  the  third 
general  of  the  order,  will  be  celebrated  to 
all  time  as  the  codifier  of  the  canon  law. 
In  France  arose  Peter  of  Tarentaise,  and 
Vincent  of  lieauvais,  author  of  that  vast 
repertory  of  all  knowledge  then  accumu- 
lated, the  "  Speculum  Majus."  England 
produced  Richard  Claypoie,  Robert  Hol- 
cot,  and  Robert  Kilwardby,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  The  learned  Cardinal 
Oajetan  belongs  to  the  period  of  the 
Reformation.  Dominic  Soto  (flSGO), 
Francis  a  Victoria,  jmd  Dominic  Bannez 
(t  1004),  were  eminent  in  theology  and 
public  law.  Las  Casas,  already  men- 
tioned, and  Peter  of  Montesino  belonged 


ix)mi]nt;s  voBiscmi 

to  the  illustrious  hand  of  Spanish  Domi- 
nicans who  followed  at  the  heels  of 
the  conquerors  of  the  New  World,  and 
strove  to  shield  the  Indians  from  their 
rapacity,  and  to  open  the  minds  of  their 
new  fellow-suhjects  to  the  light  of  Christ. 

With  regard  to  the  present  condition 
of  the  order,  it  may  be  said  that  in  spite 
of  the  injustice  and  violence  of  the  revo- 
lution, which  in  all  the  principal  countries 
of  Europe  has  at  one  time  or  other  ex- 
propriated its  convents  and  silenced  its 
doctors,  it  is  not  altogether  unprosperous 
or  unpromising.  The  order  has  priories 
and  convents  in  Fraiuje,  in  England,  and 
in  Ireland.  There  are  10  houses  of  Sis- 
ters of  the  Third  Order  in  England,  and 
T  convents  of  Dominican  nuns  in  Ireland. 

The  Third  Order  of  St.  Dominic, 
called  also  the  Brothers  and  Sisters  of 
the  Penance  of  St.  Dominic,  grew  out 
of  the  institution  of  the  "  Soldiery  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  which  St.  Dominic  found- 
ed in  his  lifetime,  for  married  men  who 
should  desire  to  undertake  the  work  of 
protecting  the  Church,  reclaiming  her  an- 
cient rights,  recovering  property  of  which 
she  had  been  despoiled,  and  repress- 
ing heresy  ;  and  for  the  wives  of  these 
men.  To  this  Third  Order  belonged 
the  canonised  saints  Catherine  of  Sienna 
and  Rose  of  Lima,  and  the  beatified 
Colomba  of  Rieti,  Ingrida  of  Sweden, 
Sibylla  of  Paira,  Margaret  of  Hungary, 
and  many  others,  (llelyot;  Mohler's 
"  Kirchengeschichte.") 

The  Dominican  Order  was  introduced 
into  California  under  the  Spanish  do- 
minion, but  the  first  foundation  in  the 
United  States  was  made  in  1807  at 
Springfield,  Ky.,  by  Father  Fen  wick,  a 
Marylander,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Cin- 
cinnati, with  three  friars  from  a  con- 
vent of  the  English  province  near  Ant- 
werp. The  Sisters  of  the  Third  Order 
were  introduced  in  1823,  and  still  later 
a  foundation  was  made  of  the  Second 
Order.  Dominican  friars  are  now 
found  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Ohio, 
Illinois,  California,  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, Maryland,  New  Jersey,  New 
York,  and  Maine,  while  convents  and 
schools  of  the  Second  and  Third  Orders 
are  widespread.  In  1881  the  Sisters  of 
the  Third  Order  changed  the  black 
habit  they  had  hitherto  been  wearing 
for  the  ancient  white  habit,  similar  to 
that  worn  by  the  Second  Order. 

sonxzirvs  vobisctii«  ("  TTie 
Lord  he  with  you  ")  is,  with  the  "  Pax 
vobis*  (among  the  Greeks  dpr^vr]  Tract), 


DONATISTS 


279 


the  common  salutation  in  the  Mass  and 
office.  It  was  adopted  from  the  Jews, 
who  used  it  in  daily  life  (Ruth  ii.  4). 
The  Oriental  liturgies,  except  the  liturgy 
of  St.  Mark,  have  no  "  Dominus  vohiscum." 
In  the  West,  on  the  other  hand,  its  use  is 
very  ancient.  A  Council  of  Hippo  in 
393  ^  forbids  "  readers  "  (Jectoi'es)  to  use 
it,  and  at  this  day  no  minister  of  the 
Church  below  the  rank  of  deacon  can  do 
so.  A  bishop,  after  the  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis  " 
on  feast  days,  says  "  Pax  vobis  "  instead 
of  "  Dominus  vobiscum,"  a  custom  men- 
tioned in  a  letter  of  Leo  VII.,  anno  937. 
These  salutations  are  used  even  in  private 
Mass  or  office,  and  are  addressed  to  the 
Church,  in  whose  name  her  ministers 
speak,  and  with  whom  they  are  united  in 
spirit. 

BOM- AXIOM-  OF  COTSST JEHSTTN-Z. 

[See  States  op  the  Church.] 

3>OiaiLTZSTS.  Heretics  and  schis- 
matics who  held  (1)  that  the  validity 
of  the  sacraments  depended  on  the 
moral  character  of  the  minister ;  (2) 
that  sinners  could  not  be  members  of  the 
Church  and  could  not  be  tolerated  by  a 
true  Church,  unless  their  sins  were  secret. 
The  former  of  these  errors  was  an 
exaggeration  of  Cyprian's  erroneous  belief 
that  baptism  depended  for  its  validity 
on  the  faith  of  the  minister:  the  latter 
was  allied  to  Novatianism,  though  the 
Donatists  did  not  deny  the  Church's 
power  to  readmit  repentant  sinners. 

Mansurius,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  al- 
lowed the  heathen  during  Diocletian's 
persecution  to  destroy  heretical  books 
which  he  left  in  the  church  instead  of 
the  sacred  books  which  they  sought. 
Thereupon,  a  party  of  zealots,  with 
Donatus  of  Casanigra  at  their  head, 
charged  him  with  ''traditio" — i.e.  with 
the  crime  of  surrendering  the  sacred 
books,  and  so  practically  denying  the 
faith.  Mansurius  died  in  311  and  his 
archdeacon,  Csecilian,  was  chosen  and 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Carthage.  Seventy 
Numidian  bishops  protested,  asserting, 
among  other  things,  that  Csecilian  had 
been  consecrated  by  a  "  traditor "  or 
betrayer  of  the  sacred  books,  and  so  in- 
validly.  In  his  place  they  chose  Major- 
inus,  and  on  his  death,  in  313.  Donatus, 
from  whom,  and  from  the  other  Donatiis 
named  above,  the  sect  took  its  name. 
The  Bishop  of  Carthage  being  Primas  of 
North  Africa,  the  schism  affected  the 
whole  of  that  territory,  and  the  Donatists 
were  specially  popular  with  the  peasants. 
»  Hefele,  ConcU.  ii.  p.  56, 


280  DOUAY   BIBLE 

Oonstantine  fearing  for  the  unity  of  the 
empire,  declared  himself  against  the 
schismatics.  •  Their  case  was  examined 
by  Pope  Melchiades,  with  a  commission 
of  three  Gallican  bishops,  at  Rome,  in 
313 ;  in  the  following-  year,  at  the 
Council  of  Aries ;  and  by  the  emperor 
himself,  to  whom  the  Donatists  appealed ,  at 
Milan,  in  316.  All  these  decisions  were 
adverse  to  the  new  sect ;  still  it  spread, 
and  in  330  no  less  than  270  Donatist 
bishops  met  in  council,  although  out  of 
Africa  they  had  only  two  congregations — 
one  in  Rome,  another  in  Spain.  Their 
fanaticism  rose  to  such  a  pitch  that 
crowds  of  Donatists  carried  devastation 
through  Africa,  uniting  the  coarsest 
Tices  with  a  morbid  desire  of  martyrdom, 
"which  sometimes  led  to  suicide.  Down 
to  429,  the  date  of  the  Vandal  invasion, 
the  Christian  emperors  restrained  the 
Ponatist  fury  by  severe  enactments,  but 
without  complete  success.  Towards  the 
close  of  the  fourth  century  St.  Optatus  of 
Milevi  wrote  his  seven  books  *'  On  the 
Schism  of  the  Donatists,  against  Par- 
menius,"  the  successor  of  t)onatu8  ;  from 
400  onwards  the  new  Bishop  of  Hip- 
po, St.  Augustine,  was  active  in  oppo- 
sing them,  and  in  411  he  met  279  of  their 
bishops  ia  conference  at  Carthape.  The 
Donatists  split  up  mto  many  sects.  They 
sank  into  comparative  insignificance 
after  the  Vandal  invasion,  and  are  heard 
of  no  more  after  that  of  the  Saracens 
in  the  seventh  century.  (From  Kraus, 
"  Kircheugeschichte.  ") 

HOVILY  BZBZiE.  A  name  com- 
monly given  to  the  translation  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  current  among  English- 
speaking  (Catholics.  The  name  is  mis- 
leading, for,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
the  Bible  was  not  translated  into  English 
at  Douay,  and  only  a  part  of  it  was 
published  there,  whOe  the  version  now 
m  use  has  been  so  seriously  altered  that 
it  can  scarcely  be  considered  identical 
with  that  which  first  went  by  the  name 
of  the  Douay  Bible. 

1.  We  begin  with  a  history  and  criti- 
cism of  the  original  version.  The  College 
of  Douay  was  founded  in  1668  by  the 
exertions  of  Cardinal  Allen,  and,  owing 
to  political  troubles,  its  members  a  few 
years  after  its  foundation  took  refuge  at 
Rheims.  There  they  set  to  work  at  an 
English  version  of  the  Bible,  made  from 
the  Vulgate,  but  with  diligent  compari- 
son of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  texts.  The 
divines  chiefly  concerned  in  the  transla- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  were — Dr. 


DOUAY  BIBLE 

William  (afterwards  Cardinal)  Allen, 
Dr.  Gregory  Martin,  Dr.  Richard  Bristow, 
and  John  Reynolds,  all  of  them  bred  at 
the  University  of  Oxford.  Martin  trans- 
lated, the  rest  revised,  Bristow  and  Allen 
wrote  the  annotations.  Martin  also  trans- 
lated the  Old  Testament,  Dr.  Worthington 
furnishing  the  notes.  The  publication 
was  delayed  by  lack  of  means,  but  in 
1582  the  New  Testament  was  published 
at  Rheims,  the  Old  in  1609-10  at  Douay, 
both  in  quarto.  There  was  a  second 
edition  (quarto)  of  the  Old  Testament  in 
1635,  of  the  New  (quarto),  with  some 
few  changes,  in  1600;  a  third  edition  of 
the  New  (16mo)  in  1621,  a  fourth 
(quarto)  in  1633,  a  filth  (folio)  1738, 
with  the  spelling  modernised  and  a  few 
verbal  alterations;  a  sixth  (folio)  at 
Liverpool  in  1788.  In  1816-18  an  edi- 
tion of  the  whole  Bible  appeared  in 
Irrland,  in  which  the  Rhemish  text  and 
notes  were  mainly  adopted  for  the  New 
Testament.  An  eighth  edition  of  the 
Rhemish  New  Testament,  text  and 
notes,  was  published  by  Protestants  at 
New  York  (octavo)  in  1834.  Thus 
there  have  been  two  editions  of  the  Old 
Testament,  eight  of  the  New,  acrcording 
to  the  original  Douay  and  Rheims 
version.  This  version  comes  to  us  with 
the  recommendation  of  certain  divines  in 
the  College  and  cathedral  of  Rheims  and 
of  the  University  of  Dou-ay.  It  never 
had  any  episcopal  imprimatur,  much 
less  any  Papal  approbation. 

What  was  the  value  of  this  transla- 
tion of  the  Vulgate  ?  It  certainly  had 
great  faults,  for  it  is  disfigured  by  un- 
couth and  sometimes  scarcely  intelligible 
language,  but  it  had  also  great  merits, 
which  we  prefer  to  state  in  the  words  of 
the  celebrated  Protestant  scholar,  Dr. 
Westcott.  Martin,  he  says  (and  Martin 
had  the  chief  share  in  the  work),  was 
"  a  scholar  of  distinguished  attainments,, 
both  in  Greek  and  Hebrew."  "The 
scrupulous  or  even  servile  adherence  of 
the  Rhemists  to  the  text  of  the  Vulgate 
was  not  without  advantage.  They  fre- 
quently reproduced  with  force  the 
original  order  of  the  Greek,  which  is 
preserved  in  the  Latin,  and  even  while 
many  unpleasant  roughnesses  occur,  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  this  version 
gained  on  the  whole  by  the  faithfulness 
with  which  they  endeavoured  to  keep 
the  original  form  of  the  sacred  writings. 
.  .  .  .  The  same  spirit  of  anxious  fidelity 
to  the  letter  of  their  text  often  led  the 
Rhemists  to  keep  the    phrase    of   the 


DOUAY  BIBLE 

original  wlien  others  had  abandoned  it. 
....  When  the  Latin  was  capable  of 
guiding  them  the  Rhemists  seem  to  have 
followed  out  their  principles  honestly  : 
but  whenever  it  was  inadequate  or  am- 
biguous, they  had  the  niceties  of  Greek 
at  their  command.  The  Greek  article 
cannot,  as  a  rule,  be  expressed  in  Latin. 
Here,  then,  the  translators  were  free  to 
follow  the  Greek  text,  and  the  result  is 
that  this  critical  point  of  scholarship  is 
dealt  with  more  satisfactorily  by  tbem 
than  by  any  earlier  translators.  And  it 
must  be  said  that  in  this  respect  also  the 
revisers  of  King  James  [i.e.  the  Protes- 
tant authorised  version]  were  less  accu- 
rate than  the  Rhe mists,  though  they  had 
their  work  before  them."  Dr.  Westcott 
also  observes  that  the  Douay  Bible 
"  furnished  a  large  proportion  of  the 
Latin  words,  which  E^ng  James's  revisers 
adopted."  ^ 

In  the  eighteenth  century  two  indepen- 
dent translations  of  the  New  Testament 
appeared  as  substitutes  for  the  Rhemish, 
one  by  Dr.  Cornelius  Nary  (1718),  priest 
of  St.  Michan's,  Dublin  ;  the  other  (1730) 
by  Dr.  Witham,  president  of  Douay. 

A  new  epoch  was  made  by  Dr. 
Challoner,  who  revised  the  Rheims  and 
Douay  text,  making  alterations  so  many 
and  so  considerable  that  he  may  really 
be  considered  the  author  of  a  new 
translation.  His  chief  object  seems 
to  have  been  that  of  making  the  English 
Catholic  Bible  more  intelligible,  and  in 
this  he  has  succeeded, but,"  undoubtedly," 
says  Cardinal  Newman,  "  he  has  sacri- 
ficed force  and  vividness  in  some  of  his 
changes."  He  approximates,  according 
to  the  same  authority,  to  the  Protestant 
version.  Dr.  Challoner,  then  coadjutor 
to  the  Vicar  Apostolic  of  London,  pub- 
lished the  first  edition  of  his  New  Testa- 
ment in  1749,  of  the  whole  Bible  in  1750. 
In  1752  he  published  the  New  Testa- 
ment again;  in  1763-4  the  Bible;  in 
1772  and  1777  fresh  editions  of  the  ]S[ew 
Testament.  Early  in  1781  he  died,  being 
then  in  his  ninetieth  year.  In  these 
editions  many  variations  occur.  The 
notes  are  Dr.  Challoner's  own. 

Dr.  Challoner's  text  was  itself  revised, 
and  fresh  alterations  were  introduced  by 
Mr.  McMahon,  a  Dublin  priest,  who  pub- 
lished the  New  Testament  in  12mo  anno 
1783,  and  the  whole  Bible  (quarto)  in 
1791.  This  edition  of  the  whole  Bible 
was  undertaken  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Troy, 

1  These  extracts  are  from  Dr.  Westcott's 
History  of  the  English  Bible. 


DOVE 


281 


Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  by  his  name 
this  text  is  generally  known.  In  1803 
and  1810  the  New  Testament,  and  in 
1794  the  Bible,  were  reprinted  according 
to  the  revision  of  Challoner,  which  was 
also  adopted  in  the  Philadtlphian  edition 
of  the  Bible,  anno  1805. 

However,  Mr.  McMahon's  alterations 
are  mostly  confined  to  the  New  Testament : 
the  text  of  the  Old,  in  Cardinal  New- 
man's words,  "  remains  almost  verbatim" 
as  Challoner  left  it.  But  subsequent  edi- 
tions of  the  New  Testament  vary  very 
much,  because  the  editors  have  had  to 
choose  between  this  or  that  of  Challoner's 
three  texts  of  the  New  Testament  and 
Dr.  Troy's  text. 

We  need  not  follow  the  history  of 
our  English  Bible  further,  for  subsequent 
editions  are  mere  reprints  of  texts  already 
mentioned.  Challoner's  second  edition  of 
the  Bible  (1763)  was  reprinted  at  Phil- 
adelphia in  1790,  and  this  was  the  first 
Bible  printed  in  America  for  English- 
speaking  Catholics.  AVe  have,  however, 
still  to  mention  an  independent  revision 
of  the  Rhemish  and  Douay  texts  by 
Archbishop  Kenrick  (Gospels,  1849;  rest 
of  New  Testament,  1851 ;  Psalms, 
Wisdom,  Canticles,  1857 ;  Job  and  the 
Prophets,  1859). 

(Chieliy  from  Cardinal  Newman's 
Essay  on  the  Rheims  and  Douay  versions 
in  "  Tracts  Theological  and  Ecclesiastical." 
But  Dr.  Westcott  on  the  English  Bible, 
and  Shea's  Bibliographical  account  of 
Catholic  Bibles,  &c.,  printed  in  America, 
have  also  been  u-ed.) 

DOirBiiE.     [See  Feasts.] 

DOVE  is  frequently  used  as  a  symbol 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  appeared  at 
Christ's  baptism  under  that  form.  The 
custom  of  depicting  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
this  form  is  mentioned  by  St.  Paulinus  of 
Nola,  and  must  have  been  familiar  to 
Eastern  Christians  in  the  sixth  century ; 
for  the  clergy  of  Antioch  in  518,  among 
other  complaints  made  by  them  to  the 
see  of  Constantinople  against  the  intended 
bishop  Servius,  accuse  him  of  having 
removed  the  gold  and  silver  doves  which 
hung  over  the  altars  and  font  {Kokvfi- 
f:ir)dpa)  and  appropriated  them,  on  the 
ground  that  this  symbolism  was  un- 
fitting.^ The  dove  as  a  symbol  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  often  placed  in  the  pictures 
of  certain  saints — e.ff.  of  Fabian,'^  Hilary 
of  Aries,  Medard  of  Noyon,  &c.     It  is 

^  Hefele.  Concil.  ii.  p.  771. 

2  For  the  origin  of  this  see  Euseb.  H.  E, 

vi.  29. 


282 


DOXOLOGY 


DREAMS 


also  a  figure  of  innocence,  and  so,  e  g.,  the 
souls  of  SS.  Eulalia  and  Scholastica  are 
represented  as  flying  to  heaven  in  the 
form  of  a  dove.  Lastly,  the  dove  serves 
as  a  figure  of  peace  and  reconciliation 
(see  Gen.  viii.  11). 

A  vase  in  the  form  of  a  dove  (Trept- 
(TTTjpiov,  peristerium)  vras  in  the  East  and 
in  France  suspended  over  the  altar  and 
used  as  a  repository  for  the  Blessed 
Sacrament.  This  custom  is  mentioned  by 
the  author  of  an  ancient  Life  of  St.  Basil, 
by  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,gind  in  several 
ancient  French  documents.  Martene 
mentions  that  even  in  his  time  such  a 
tabernacle  veas  still  in  use  at  the  church 
of  St.  Maur  des  Fosses.  The  custom 
probably  came  to  France  from  the  East, 
for  it  never  seems  to  have  existed  in 
Italy.^ 

boxoiiOG'7.  I.  The  greater  dox- 
ology  or  "  ascription  of  glory  "  is  usually 
called,  from  its  initial  words,  the  "  Gloria 
in  exoelsis.'^  It  is  not  mentioned  by  the 
earliest  writers,  but  it  is  found  nearly, 
though  not  quite,  as  we  now  have  it,  in 
the  Apostolic  Constitutions  (vii.  47),  so 
that  it  can  scarcely  have  been  composed, 
as  is  asserted  in  the  "  Chron.  Turoiiense," 
by  St.  Hilary  of  Poictiers,  and  the  real 
author  is,  as  Cardinal  B<ina  says,  un- 
known. It  was  only  by  degrees  that  it 
assumed  its  present  place  in  the  Mass. 
In  Gaul,  according  to  St.  Gregory  of 
Tours,  it  was  recited  after  Mass  in 
thanksgiving.  St.  Benedict  introduced 
it  into  lauds  ;  while  it  was  also  recited  on 
occasions  of  public  joy — e.g.  in  the  Sixth 
General  Council.  It  was  sung  at  Mass 
according  to  the  use  of  the  Roman  Church 
first  of  all  on  Christmas  Day,  dui'ing  the 
first  Mass  in  Greek,  during  the  second  in 
Latin.  It  was  of  course  on  Christmas 
night  that  the  first  words  of  the  "  Gloria 
in  excelsis "  were  sung  by  the  angels. 
Afterwards  bishops  said  it  at  Mass  on 
Sundays  and  feasts,  priests  only  at  the 
Mass  of  Easter  Sunday,  as  appears  from 
the  Gregorian  Sacramentary.  This  rule 
lasted  till  the  eleventh  century.  At 
present  it  is  said  in  all  Masses,  except 
those  of  the  dead,  of  ferias  which  do  not 
occur  in  the  Paschal  season — (it  is  said, 
however,  on  Maundy  Thursday)—  Sundays 
from  Septuagesiraa  to  Palm  Sunday  in- 
clusive. It  is  not  said  in  votive  Masses, 
except  those  of  the  Angels,  and  the  B. 
Virgin  on  Saturday. 

II.  Lesser  doxology — i.e.  "  Glory  be  to 
the  Father,"  &c.,  recited  as  a  rule  after 
1  See  Chardon,  Hut.  dis  Sacr.  voL  ii.  p.  242. 


each  psalm  in  the  office  and  after  the 
"  Judica  "  psalm  in  the  Mass.  Forms  re- 
sembling it  occur  at  the  end  of  some  of 
the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs — e.(/.  those  of 
St.  Polycarp.  St.  Basil  ("be  Spiritu 
Sancto  ad  S.'  Amphilochium,"  which 
work,  however,  is  of  doubtful  authen- 
ticity) defends  the  formula  "  Glory  be 
to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  contends  that  its  an- 
tiquity is  attested  by  early  Fathers,' 
Clement  of  Rome,  Irengeus,  &c.,  and  that 
it  is  at  least  as  ancient  as  the  Arian  form, 
"  Glory  be  to  the  Father  in  "  or  "  through 
the  Son,"  &c.  Anyhow,  the  former  part 
of  the  Gloria  must  date  as  far  back  as 
the  third  or  fourth  century,  and  arose  no 
doubt  from  the  form  of  baptism.  The 
concluding  words,  "As  it  was  in  the 
beginning,"  are  of  later  origin.  The  Galil- 
ean Council  of  Vaison,  in  529,  ordered 
their  use,  adding  that  they  had  been 
already  introduced  in  Rome,  Italy,  Africa 
and  the  East  against  heretics  who  denied 
the  Son's  eternity.^  And  the  rule  of 
St.  Benedict  contains  directions  for  the 
recital  of  the  Gloria  after  each  psalm. 
(Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Missa,"  Kraus,  art. 
Doxologia.) 

BHEAMS  arise,  according  to  St. 
Thomas  (2  2nd8e,  qu.  95,  a.  6),  from  in- 
terior or  exterior  causes.  Among  the 
former  he  enumerates  the  thoughts  which 
occupied  the  mind  in  waking  hours,  and 
the  state  of  the  body.  Among  the  latter, 
the  efiect  produced  on  the  bodily  organs 
by  material  things — e.g.  cold  and  heat, 
sound  or  light,  &c. — and  also  the  influence 
of  good  or  evil  spirits.  It  is  reasonable 
to  believe  that  God  may  speak  to  the 
soul  through  dreams,  for  the  influence  of 
God  extends  to  sleeping  as  well  as  to 
waking  hours ;  and  that  God  has  used 
dreams  as  a  means  of  revealing  his  will 
is  fully  attested  by  the  Old  and  the  New 
Test.amei:t  (see  Gen.  xx.  3,  7,  xl.  5,  Num. 
xii.  6,  Matt.  ii.  12,  xxvii.  19).  Ac- 
cordingly, to  regard  dreams  proceeding 
from  merely  physical  causes  as  indi- 
cations of  a  future  with  which  they  have 
no  natural  connection,  is  superstitious 
and  therefore  sinful.  It  is  also,  of  com-se, 
unlawful  to  seek  or  accept  signs  of  future 
events  in  dreams  from  demons.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  there  are  grave  reasons 
for  doing  so,  we  may  lawfully  believe 
that  a  dream  has  been  sent  by  God  for 
our  instruction.  But  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  a  disposition  to  trust  in  dreams  is 
always  superstitious,  for  in  the  Christian 
»  Hefele,  Concil.  ii.  p.  742. 


DUEL 


EASTER,  FEAST  OF 


283 


dispensation  there  is  a  strong  presump- 
tion against  their  use  as  means  of  for- 
telling  the  future.  Even  in  the  Old 
Testament  the  greater  number  of  pre- 
dictive dreams  were  given  to  those  outside 
the  Jewish  covenant.  If  given  to  God's 
servants,  they  were  given  to  them,  as  a 
rule,  in  the  period  of  their  earliest  and 
most  imperfect  knowledge  of  Ilim.'  In 
the  New  Testament,  often  as  we  read  of 
ecstasies  and  visions,  dreams  are  never 
mentioned  as  a  vehicle  of  revelation, 
and  they  rarely  occur  in  the  lives  of  the 
Baints. 

HTJUIm.  a  fight  between  two  persons 
(or  several  pairs  of  persons),  the  place, 
time,  and  weapons  haAdngbeen  previously 
settled  by  mutual  agreement.  In  one 
case  such  an  agreement  is  lawful — viz. 
when  in  time  of  war  such  a  contest  is 
arranged  between  two  or  more  soldiers  of 
the  opposing  armies.  In  such  a  case 
the  duel  may  be  considered  part  of  the 
war,  and  such  duels,  when  the  issue  of 
the  war  has  been  made  to  depend  on 
them,  may  even  be  regarded  as  a  merciful 
way  of  settling  a  public  quarrel. 

In  all  other  cases  duels  are  strictly 
forbidden  by  the  Church.  It  was  the 
custom  among  the  German  nations  to 
permit  accuser  and  accused  to  settle 
their  dispute  by  duel,  and  this  mode  of 
decision  was  looked  upon  as  an  appeal 
to  the  judgment  of  God.  It  was  long 
before  the  Church  could   eradicate  this 

1  In  Joel  ii.  28,  it  has  been  thought  that 
dreams  mark  the  decays,  visions  the  flower  of 
strength. 


superstition,  and  for  a  time  provincial 
councils  seem  to  have  contented  them- 
selves with  moderating  it.*  However, 
the  Council  of  Valence  (865)  absolutely 
prohibited  duels,  imposing  penance  for 
homicide  on  the  man  who  killed  his 
antagonist,  and  depriving  a  man  slain  in 
duel  of  the  Church's  prayers.^  Among 
modern  nations  it  was  long  the  common 
practice  to  settle  affairs  of  honour  by 
duel,  and  against  this  custom  the  Church 
has  vigorously  protested.  Julius  pub- 
lished a  bull  strongly  condemning  it  in 
1510;^  while  the  Council  of  Trent  ex- 
communicated aU  who  engaged  in  duels, 
and  those  who  counselled  or  promoted 
them,  besides  denriving  persons  who  died 
in  a  duel  of  Christian  burial.  The  Holy 
See  has  condemned  the  excuses  which 
have  been  made  for  this  detestable 
practice.  Thus  Benedict  XIV.,  in  1762, 
censured  those  who  taught  that  a  man 
might  accept  a  duel  to  save  his  repu- 
tation for  courage,  or  to  keep  his  post  as 
an  ofl&cer  in  the  army.  Moreover,  theo- 
logians teach  that  such  excuses  do  not 
save  a  maa  from  sin  against  the  natural 
law,  or  from  incurring  ecclesiastical 
penalties,* 

BXTXiZA.     [See  Culttjs.] 

D-S-ZXrO,  PRAVERS  FOR.  [See 
Commendation  of  Sotjl.] 

1  See  the  decrees  of  Dingolfin^  and  Bench- 
ing in  the  eighth  centurv.  Hefele,  CmciL 
vol.  iii.  pp.  611,  614. 

2  Fleurj',  livr.  xlix.  23. 

3  Ibid,  contin.  livr.  cxxi.  81. 

4  Lignori,  Theol.  Moral,  lib.  iv.  809  teg. 


E 


EASTER,  FEAST  OF.  The  feast 
of  our  Lord's  resurrection.  The  word 
Easter  is  derived  from  that  of  the  Saxon 
goddess  Eastre,  the  same  deity  whom 
the  Germans  proper  called  Ostara,  and 
honoured  (accordmg  to  Grimm,  in  his 
"  German  Hythology")  as  the  divinity  of 
the  dawn.  Bede  tells  us  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  eaUed  the  spring  month  Eoster- 
monaht,  and  similarly  Eginhard  calls  our 
April  Ostarmanoth.  Naturally,  there- 
fore, the  German  nations  called  the  great 
Church-feast  which  fell  at  the  beginning 
of  spring  Easter,  and  the  name  continued 
among  us,  like  such  names  as  Thursday, 
long  after  the  heathen  goddess  had  been 
forgotten.^  All  Christians,  except  those 
1  Hefele,  Beitrdge,  iL  p.  286. 


of  the  German  family,  call  the  feast  of 
Christ's  resurrection  by  some  modification 
of  pnscha,  the  term  which  the  Church 
herself  uses  in  her  liturgy.  This  term  is 
of  Jewish  origin,  and  therefore  we  must 
begin  with  a  few  words  on  the  feast  of 
Pasch,  or  Passover,  from  which  the 
Christian  feast  is  in  a  certain  sense 
derived. 

Passover  is  a  literal  translation  of  the 
Hebrew  name  for  the  feast,  viz.  npD ; 
from  this  we  get  the  Chaldee  NriDg,  and 
from  the  last  the  nda-xa  ^  or  pasch  of  the 

1  Many  among  the  early  Christians,  being 
ignorant  of  Hebrew,  derived  it  from  iraax't", 
to  suffer.  This  derivation,  worthless  of  course 
in  itself,  deserves  notice,  for  it  influenced  theix 
language  and  ideas  of  the  feast. 


284        EASTER,  FEAST  OF 

New  Testament  and  of  Christian  writers. 
The  Passover,  then,  or  Pasch,  was  the 
feast  celehrated  on  tbe  14th  of  Nisan,  in- 
stituted in  commemoration  of  the  won- 
derful deliverance  which  God  wrought 
for  the  Jews  on  the  night  of  their  exit 
from  Egypt.  The  destroying  angel  smote 
the  first-born  of  Egypt  hut  passed  over 
(riDD)^  the  houses  of  tbe  Hebrews.  This 
deliverance  was  granted  on  a  certain  con- 
dition. Each  head  of  a  Hebrew  house 
was  to  slay  a  lamb  or  kid  without  blemish 
on  the  evening  of  Nisan  14.  He  was  to 
sprinkle  its  blood  on  the  lintel  and  side- 
posts  of  the  door.  Afterwards,  the  lamb 
was  to  be  roasted,  no  bone  being  broken, 
and  eaten  with  unleavened  bread  and 
bitter  herbs  by  all  the  family,  no  uncir- 
cumcised  person,  however,  being  allowed 
to  partake  of  it,  and  the  feast  was  to 
be  observed  year  by  year  as  a  perpetual 
ordinance  of  the  Jewish  people. 

It  is  certain  that  Christ  observed  the 
Passover  the  night  before  He  died,  that  He 
made  it  the  occasion  of  instituting  the 
Eucharist,  and  that  He,  in  his  Passion, 
was  the  true  paschal  lamb  prefigured  by 
the  lamb  of  the  old  Hebrew  feast.  Thus 
St.  John  calls  special  attention  to  the  fact 
that  not  a  bone  of  our  Jjord  was  broken 
on  the  cross  ;  and  St.  Paul,  writing  prob- 
ably just  before  the  Passover  of  A.D.58,in 
his  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  v.  7,  8, 
"  Purge  out  the  old  leaven  that  you  may 
be  a  new  lump,  as  you  are  unleavened ; 
for  also  our  Trao-^a  or  passover  Christ 
has  been  sacrificed  for  us,  therefore  let  us 
keep  the  feast  ...  in  the  unleavened 
bread  of  sincerity  and  truth."  Christ, 
St.  Paul  argues,  is  the  true  paschal  lamb, 
and  the  life  of  Christians  is  io  be  a  per- 
petual feast  of  thanksgiving  for  the  de- 
liverance they  have  obtained  by  Christ's 
blood.  As  the  Jews  removed  leaven  from 
their  houses  at  tbe  time  of  Passover,  so 
Christians  are  to  purge  away  once  for  all 
the  leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness. 

The  celebration  of  a  special  Paschal 
or  Easter  feast  among  Christians  goes 
back  to  the  remotest  antiquity,  though  it 
is  impossible  to  determine  the  date  of  its 
introduction.  AVhen  St.  Polycarp  came 
to  Rome,  about  160,  there  were  two 
modes    prevalent    among    Christians  of 

1  See  Exod.  xii.  13, 23, 27,  and  cf.  Is.  xxxi.  6. 
Philo  in  his  Life  of  Moses,  iii.  29,  trans- 
lates it  SiaPaTT^pta.  Of  course  the  account  of 
the  Jewish  is  merely  meant  as  an  introduction 
to  that  of  the  Christian  feast ;  else  much  would 
have  to  be  said  of  the  connection  between  the 
Passover  and  the  spring. 


EASTER,  FEAST  OF 

celebrating  the  Easter,  and  apostolic 
precedent  was  pleaded  on  each  side.  The 
Roman  Church  and  the  great  majority  of 
Christians  celebrated  the  Pasch  on  the 
Sunday  after  Nisan  14— i.e.  on  the  Sun- 
day following  the  first  full  moon  after 
the  vernal  equinox,  because  on  that  day 
Christ  rose  again,  finished  the  work  of 
redemption,  and  accomplished  our  de- 
liverance from  the  Egyptian  bondage  of 
death  and  hell.  But  besides  this  feast 
they  also  celebrated  on  the  previous  Fri- 
day tbe  memory  of  Christ's  death,  and 
for  a  long  time  this  latter  day  also  was 
called  Pasch.  Thus,  Tertullian,  about 
the  year  200,  distinguishes  between  the 
Pasch  on  which  there  was  a  strict  obli- 
gation of  fasting,  and  on  which  too  the 
usual  kiss  of  peace  was  omitted — i.e.  our 
Good  Friday — and  the  other  Pasch,  be- 
tween which  and  Pentecost  Christians 
stood  at  prayer  instead  of  kneeling — i.e. 
our  Easter  Sunday.^  Later  writers  dis- 
tinguish tbese  two  days  fi'om  each  other 
as  the  Pasch  of  the  crucifixion  and  resur- 
rection (7racr;(a  o-ravpmatfxov  Koi  avaard- 
(Tifiov). 

The  Roman  Church  claimed  to  follow 
the  practice  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  on 
this  matter.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Churches  of  Asia  Proconsularis,  appeal- 
ing to  the  authority  of  St.  John,  ended 
this  time  of  fasting  and  kept  the  feast  of 
Passover  or  Pasch  at  the  same  time  as  the 
Jews — viz.  14  Nisan — on  whatever  day  it 
might  fall.  On  this  day,  as  they  main- 
tained,'^ our  Lord  kept  tbe  Pasch  and 
instituted  the  Eucharist.  On  the  same 
day,  therefore,  they  celebrated  the  me- 
mory of  the  institution  and  of  our  joyful 
deliverance  by  Christ's  death.  As  they 
kept  the  Jowish  day,  though  not  the 
Jewish  feast,  they  were  called  "  Obser- 
vants "  (-n/poviTf $•)  and  as  this  day  fell 
on  Nifan  14,  they  were  also  called 
"Quartodecimani."'  Polycarp  and  Pope 
Anicetus  discussed  the  matter,  and  though 
no  agreement  was  reached,  each  party  was 
allowed  to  continue  its  own  custom  in 
peace.  The  matter,  however,  led  to  sharp 
discussion,  about  ICO.between  Pope  Victor 
and  Polyc)  ates  cf  Ephesus,  and  Victor  was 
near  excommunicating  the  Asiatics.  The 
intercession  of  Gallic  bishops,  especially 

1  Tertull.  De  0:nt.  18,  De  Coron.  3. 

2  The  point,  however,  is  very  doubtful. 
Prima  facie,  the  three  first  Gospels  appear  to 
imply  this.  St.  John  seems  to  say  that  Christ 
died  on  the  dav  of  the  Passover — i.e.  on  Nisan  14, 
the  Passover  beginning  on  the  evening  of  that 
day. 


EBIONITES 

Irenseus,  kept  matters  from  coming  to 
this  pass.^  The  Qiiartoiieciman  prac- 
tice was  finally  set  aside  by  the  Niceue 
Council.  The"^  same  council  settled  fur- 
ther the  way  in  which  Easter  Sunday 
was  to  he  reckoned,  as  has  been  shown  in 
the  article  Cycle.  (See  Ilefele,  '^Ooncil."  i. 
86  seq.,  820  seq.) 

Easter  is,  as  St.  Leo  calls  it,  the 
"  feast  of  feasts,"  the  greatest  of  Christian 
solemnities.  Down  to  the  twelfth  century 
each  day  in  Easter  week  was  a  holiday 
of  obligation.  At  present  this  is  the  case 
only  with  the  first  three  days,  and  now  in 
most  countries  even  Easter  Monday  and 
Tuesday  are  only  days  of  devotion.  All 
moveable  feasts  are  calculated  from  Easter. 
The  joyful  character  of  the  time  is  marked 
in  the  services  of  the  Church — e.g.  by  the 
chanting  of  the  "  Vidi  Aquam  "  instead  of 
the  "  Asperges"  before  Mass;  by  the  con- 
stant repetition  of  the  "Alleluia"  in  Mass 
and  office  all  through  the  Paschal  sea- 
son— i.e.  till  Trinity  Sunday.  On  Easter 
Sunday  the  office  is  very  short,  because 
in  old  times  the  services  were  prolonged 
far  into  the  night  of  Holy  Saturday,  so 
that  little  time  was  left  for  the  matins 
and  lauds  of  Easter  Sunday.  The  short 
office  is  continued  during  the  week,  pro- 
bably, as  Benedict  XIV.  and  Martene  say, 
because  the  first  day  determined  the  office 
for  the  days  that  followed,  and  because 
there  would  have  been  a  special  incon- 
venience in  changing  it  in  a  week  when 
so  many  neophytes  had  just  been  bap- 
tised and  were  taking  part  for  the  first 
time  in  the  full  service  of  the  Church. 
(See  Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Fest.") 

SBZOIiriTSS.  Judaising  Christians, 
and  the  direct  successors  of  the  Judaisers 
whom  St.  Paul  opposed  so  strenuously — 
e.g.  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  As  a 
distinct  sect  the  Ebionites  seem  to  have 
made  themselves  first  known  in  the  reign 
of  Trajan.  Although  they  were  con- 
nected by  origin  with  the  Church  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  had  their  head-quarters  near 
the  Dead  Sea,  they  were  not  confined  to 
Palestine,  but  were  found  in  Rome  and 
probably  also  in  the  other  great  cities  of 
the  empire.  They  held  that  the  Jewish 
law  was  still  binding  on  all  Christians; 
and,  consequently,  they  rejected  the 
authority  of  St.  Paul,  whom  they  treated 
as  an  apostate.  Christ,  they  said,  was  a 
mere  man,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary, 
distinguished  by  his  strict  observance  of 
the  law.    It  is  a  probable  conjecture  that 

1  Euseb.  H.  E.  v.  24. 


ECSTASY  2^5 

after  the  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
the  Judaising  Cliristiaus  received  large 
accessions  from  the  Essenes  ;  and,  in  any 
case,  it  is  certain  that  Ebionitism  became 
mixed  up  with  ascetic  and  mystical  ele- 
ments foreign  to  its  original  character. 
According  to  this  mystical  Ebionitism, 
still  existing  in  the  forged  homilies  and 
Recognitions  of  Clement,  the  law  of  Moses 
had  been  corrupted,  and  by  a  capricious 
process  they  continued  to  remove  from  it 
all  that  w^as  distasteful  to  them,  specially 
the  law  of  sacrifice.  They  held  that  the 
Word  of  God  had  been  incarnate  in 
several  Chris ts,  of  whom  Adam  was  the 
first,  Jesus  the  last.  Early  in  the  third 
century,  one  of  the  Ebionites  brought  to 
Rome  the  book  of  Elchasai,  or  '*  hidden 
wisdom,"  in  which  the  same  mystical 
Ebionitism  was  propounded.  In  the  fourth 
century  the  Ebionites  were  still  pretty 
numerous  in  eastern  Palestine,  but  in 
the  following  age  they  had  almost  dis- 
appeared. Carefully  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  Ebionites  are  the  Nazarenes 
whom  Jerome  mentions  as  living  in  his 
time  on  the  east  of  Jordan.  These  latter, 
probably  the  descendants  of  the  old  Jew- 
ish Christians  of  Jerusalem,  though  they 
observed  the  law,  did  not  lay  it  upon 
others,  admitted  St.  Paul's  authority,  and 
possibly  held  orthodox  doctrine  on  the 
divinity  of  Christ. 

The  name  Ebionite  means  "poor"  (Heb. 
D^yvnX),  and  most  likely  was  adopted  to 
indicate  the  Apostolic  or  Essene  poverty 
which  they  professed.  A  founder  called 
"Ebion"  is  an  uncritical  fiction  which 
appears  verv  early.  (Justin,  "  Dial.  c. 
Tryph/'  47  ]  Iren.  i.  26 ;  Euseb.  "  H.  E." 
iii.  27  ;  and,  among  modern  books, 
Lightfoot  on  Galatians,  p.  311  seq.) 

ECSTASY  {(KaTaais).  A  State  in 
which  a  man  passes  out  of  himself— e.e. 
out  of  that  state  of  cognition  which  is 
natural  to  him.  Ecstasy  is  usually  taken 
as  equivalent  to  rapture,  though  the  word 
rapture,  unlike  ecstasy,  implies  distinctly 
that  the  person  subject  to  it  is  carried 
out  of  his  own  control  and  placed  in  a 
state  which  he  does  not  reach  by  natural 
inclination.  Such  rapture  or  ecstasy, 
St.  ^  Thomas  says,  may  proceed  from 
bodily  causes  ;  as,  for  example,  if  a  per- 
son is  alienated  from  his  senses  by  disease ; 
or  it  may  be  wrought  by  the  agency  of 
devils ;  or,  lastly,  it  may  come  from  the 
Spirit  of  God.  In  this  last  state,  St. 
Thomas  continues,  a  man,  being  with- 
drawn from  the  senses,  is  raised  to  the 
contemplation    of    supernatural     things 


286 


ECTHESIS 


EDUCATION 


{gpii-itu   divino   eUvatus    ad    supernntur- 
alia  cum  abstractione  a  sensibus). 

Such  ecstasies  or  raptures  are,  of 
course,  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  and  have  occurred 
in  the  lives  of  many  saints.  In  ecstatic 
prayer,  according  to  a  mystical  writer 
(Antony  a  Spiritu  Sancto),  the  body 
seems  as  if  dead,  and  the  senses  are 
suspended;  but  the  will,  as  St.  Teresa 
points  out,  retaining  full  power  is  ab- 
sorbed in  God.  True  rapture  unites  the 
soul  to  God,  increases  humility,  &c.  If 
these  effects  are  not  present  or  are  not 
lasting,  a  director  may  generally  conclude 
that  the  rapture  is  not  supernatural.  Still 
more  may  he  do  so,  if  he  sees  in  the  person 
who  pretends  to  ecstasy  a  love  of  extraordi- 
nary gifts  rather  than  of  sohd  virtue. 
(St.  Thomas,  "  Summ."  1  2nd8e,  28,  3  ; 
2  2nd«,  175;  St.  Teresa,  "Autobiog." 
Eng.  Transl.  ch.  xx.;  in  which  last 
useful  extracts  from  the  mystics  are  given.) 

SCTKSISZS.       [See   MONOTHELITES.] 

EBI7CATION".  The  moral  and  in- 
tellectual discipline  by  which  the  human 
faculties  are  trained  and  unfolded,  in 
subordination  to  a  certain  end.  If  no 
end  or  object  is  proposed  to  himself  by 
the  educator  beyond  that  of  making  the 
most  of  his  pupil's  faculties,  he  does  not 
educate,  but  merely  informs.  For  the 
domain  of  knowledge  extends  in  every 
direction  to  infinity ;  and  the  pupil  who 
simply  learns  all  that  his  faculties  enable 
him  to  learn  necessarily  becomes,  unless 
of  a  very  marked  idiosyncrasy,  a  dilet- 
tante, a  sciolist — one  who  knows  a  little 
of  everything — but  is  not  truly  educated. 
Something  like  this  is  said  to  be  the  ob- 
served efi'ect  of  the  training  given  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  United  States,  in 
which  no  dominant  idea,  or  one  wholly 
inadequate — such  as  that  of  the  greatness 
of  the  Republic,  or  the  excellence  of 
democracy — supplies  teachers  and  pupils 
with  a  compass  to  steer  by. 

Education,  however,  may,  and  must, 
be  directed  to  several  ends  simultaneously ; 
for,  as  man  is  a  complex  being,  and  has 
himself  various  ends — e.g.,  as  a  subject 
of  God,  as  a  subject  of  Oaesar,  as  a 
member  of  a  family,  &c. — so  the  educa- 
tion of  man  must  propose  to  itself  several 
ends.  Of  these  some  one  must  be  chief 
and  paramount,  and  must  direct  the  form 
and  measure  in  which  the  other  ends  are 
to  be  pursued ;  otherwise  the  school 
would  be  the  battle-ground  of  inde- 
pendent forces,  each  struggling  for  the 
mastery;  and  the  result  would  be  con- 


fusion. Now,  since  the  object  of  educa- 
tion is  to  form  man,  the  prime  end,  in 
subordination  to  which  it  must  be  con- 
ducted, must  be  identical  with  the  prime 
end  of  man  himself.  What  this  is  we 
learn  from  the  Catechism  :  it  is  to  know 
and  serve  God  in  this  hfe,  and  to  enjoy 
Him  for  ever  in  the  next.  In  subordina- 
tion to  this  main  end  all  educational  pro- 
cesses are  to  be  carried  on.  Human 
beings  ought  to  be  so  educated  that  they 
may  know  God  here,  and  through  that 
knowledge  possess  Him  hereafter.  How, 
then,  are  they  to  obtain  this  necessary 
knowledge?  The  Catholic  answer  is, 
that  they  must  seek  and  receive  it  at 
the  hands  of  the  one  divinely-appointed 
and  infallible  witness  of  the  revelation  by 
which  He  has  made  Himself  known  to 
mankind — the  Catholic  and  Roman 
Church.  It  thus  appears  that,  in  the 
logical  order,  the  first  and  highest  autho- 
rity in  all  that  regards  education  is  the 
Church.  With  her  sanction  it  should  be 
commenced,  and  under  her  superintend- 
ence it  should  be  continued ;  for  w^ere 
her  intervention  to  be  excluded  at  any 
stage,  there  would  be  danger  lest  those 
under  education  came  to  mistake  one  of 
the  subordinate  ends  of  man  for  his  main 
end,  to  their  own  and  others'  detriment. 

At  the  same  time,  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  man  is  a  social  being. 
The  opinion  of  the  best  writers  (see,  for 
instance,  De  Maistre's  examination  of 
Rousseau's  "  Contrat  Social ")  is,  that 
man  was  originally  created  and  adapted 
for  society,  not  that  society  arose  out  of 
a  compromise  between  the  warring  cupi- 
dities of  originally  isolated  savages.  If 
human  society  be  aboriginal,  then  power 
in  that  society — i.e.  government — is  also 
aboriginal,  since  vdthout  it — man  l^eing 
what  he  is — we  cannot  conceive  it  pos- 
sible for  society  to  subsist.  This  power, 
St.  Paul  tells  us,i  is  "from  God."  Its 
main  object  is,  to  secure  the  permanence 
and  temporal  welfare,  so  far  as  the  cir- 
cumstances admit,  of  the  society  itself 
and  of  each  member  of  the  society.  For 
this  the  power  exists ;  and  it  is  therefore 
entitled  to  take  all  measures  required  to 
enable  it  to  fulfil  its  functions.  Now,  one  of 
the  conditions  without  which  these  func- 
tions could  not  be  effectively  discharged 
is  a  control  over  education.  The  organised 
power  in  society — in  other  words,  the 
State— may  reasonably  require  that  all 
its  citizens  should  early  receive  that 
mental  and  moral  training  which  maj 
*  Rom.  ?:iii.  1. 


EDUCATIO;sr 

dispose  them  to  restrain  anti-social  pas- 
sions, to  obey  the  laws,  and  by  industry 
to  promote  their  own  and  the  public 
welfare.  Whatever  control  over  the 
machinery  of  education  may  be  necessary 
to  secure  the  attainment  of  this  end,  that 
control  the  State  may  reasonably  pretend 
to.  Its  claims  only  become  unjust  and 
oppressive  when,  ignoring  the  still  more 
sacred  right  of  the  Church  to  secure  in 
education  the  attainment  of  man's  highest 
end,  it  compels  or  tempts  Catholics  to 
place  their  children  in  schools  which  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  has  not  sanctioned. 
The  end  pursued  by  the  Church  is 
primary ;  that  pursued  by  the  State  is 
secondary.  Each  may  justly  demand 
that  its  authority  be  recognised  ;  but  the 
injury  caused  by  disallowing  the  autho- 
rity of  the  Church  is  more  serious  than 
in  the  contrary  case,  by  how  much  that 
which  affects  man's  eternal  interest  is 
more  important  than  that  which  affects 
his  temporal  interest  only. 

A  third  authority  in  education  is  that 
of  the  family,  the  head  of  which  is  under 
a  moral  obligation  to  see  that  all  its 
members  receive  such  a  training  as  may 
fit  them  to  maintain  their  place  in  the 
social  hierarchy  of  their  country,  keep  up 
all  sound  family  traditions,  and — should 
that  be  necessary,  as  in  most  cases  it  is  — 
earn  their  own  living.  Catholic  parents 
are,  of  course,  bound  also  to  see  that  the 
teaching  in  the  schools  to  which  they 
send  their  children  has  ecclesiastical 
sanction,  and  to  resist  all  attempts  to 
make  them  patronise  schools  without 
that  sanction. 

It  thus  appears  that  education  has 
three  principal  ends— the  first  religious, 
the  second  political,  the  third  domestic  ; 
but  that  among  these  the  religious  end 
takes  the  lead  and  dominates  over  the 
other  two,  on  account  of  its  intrinsically 
greater  importance.  And  since,  as  ex- 
plained above,  we  cannot  walk  securely 
m  religion  one  step  except  in  union  with 
and  obedience  to  the  Church,  every 
well-instructed  Catholic  understands  that 
the  Church  must  preside  over  the  educa- 
tion of  Catholics  at  every  stage  and  in 
every  branch,  so  far  as  to  see  that  they 
are  sufficiently  instructed  in  their  reli- 
^on.  With  regard  to  non-Catholics, 
who  in  modern  times  are  often  mixed 
with  Catholics  in  the  same  school,  the 
Church  accepts  in  practice  what  is  called 
the  "Conscience  Clause."  [See  the  ar- 
ticles Schools  and  University,  in  wliich 
the  practical  means  of  reconciling   the 


ELEVATION  287 

concurrent  authorities  of  Church  and 
State  in  the  work  of  education  are  con- 
sidered.] 

EiiECTioxr.       [See     Predesxinjl- 

TION.] 

EI.EVATZ01ir.  The  Church  has 
adored  the  Blessed  Sacrament  Irom  the 
time  of  its  institution.  St.  Ambrose 
says,  "  We  adore  in  the  mysteries  the 
tlesh  of  Christ,  which  the  Apostles 
adored."  "  No  one  eats  that  flesh,"  says 
St.  Augustine, ''  without  first  adoring  it.'  ^ 
But  the  outward  signs  by  which  the 
Church  has  expressed  this  adoration  have 
not  always  been  the  same. 

In  the  Greek  liturgies  the  elevation  of 
the  Eucharist  takes  place  shortly  before 
the  communion.  Ancient  authors  tell  us 
how  at  the  elevation  the  curtains  which 
concealed  the  sanctuary  during  the  rest 
of  the  canon  were  drawn  aside  and  the 
sacred  mysteries  presented  by  the  priest 
for  the  adoration  of  the  faithful.  For- 
merly in  the  Latin  Mass  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  was  elevated  only  at  the 
words  "  oinnis  hono?'  et  f/lona  "  just  before 
the  "  Pater  Noster."  This  is  now  usually 
known  as  "  the  little  elevation."  The  ele- 
vation of  host  and  chalice  immediately 
after  consecration  was  introduced  in 
detestation  of  the  denial  of  transubstan- 
tiation  by  Berengarius.  It  seems  to 
have  begun  about  1100,  for  the  ancient 
Ordines  Romani  and  the  liturgical  writers 
Amalasius,  Walafrid,  and  the  author  of 
the  "  Micrologus"  are  silent  concerning  it. 
Even  after  1100  it  was  the  host  only  which 
was  elevated  in  some  churches,  and, 
indeed,  accordino:  to  Benedict  XIV.,  the 
Carthusians  still  adhere  to  this  old 
custom  of  elevating  the  host  only  after 
consecration.  The  further  custom  of 
ringing  a  small  bell  at  the  elevation 
began  in  France  during  the  twelfth 
century,  was  introduced  into  Germany  in 
1 208  by  Oardmal  Gui,  legate  of  the  Holy 
See,  and  is  enjoined  in  several  English 
councils.  About  the  same  time  the 
ringing  of  the  large  beU  at  the  con- 
ventual Mass  was  ordered  in  the  sta,tutes 
of  some  monastic  orders,  Ivo  of  Chartres, 
who  died  in  1115,  congratulates  Maud 
Queen  of  England  on  having  presented 
the  church  of  Our  Lady  at  Chartres 
with  bells  which  were  rung  at  the  conse- 
cration, (From  Le  Brun,  "Explication 
des  Ceremonies  de  la  Messe  ;  "  and  Bene- 
dict XIV.  "  De  Miss.") 

1  Anibros.  De  Spir.  San.  iii.  12.  August 
In  Fs.  xcviii.,  apud  Le  Brun. 


288 


EMBER  DAYS 


EXMCBSR  DATS  ^  {quattuor  tempora). 
The  Wednesday,  Friday,  and  Saturday 
which  follow  December  13,  the  First  Sun- 
day in  Lent,  Pentecost,  and  September  14 
(Exaltation  of  the  Cross),  are  days  of 
fasting,  and  are  called  in  English  Ember 
Days,  in  the  Bre^dary  and  Missal  "  Quat- 
tuor  Tempora, "because these  days  of  fast- 
ing recur  in  each  quarter  of  the  year.  The 
Ember  Days  were  observed  at  Rome  in 
St.  Augustine's  time — nay,  so  ancient 
was  the  practice  of  observing  them  in 
that  city  that  St.  Leo  ascribes  an  Apo- 
stolic origin  to  the  fast.  The  same  Pope 
says  the  object  of  the  fast  is  that  we  may 
pm'ify  our  souls  and  do  penance  as  we 
begin  each  quarter  of  the  year.  The 
fast  was  introduced  into  England  by  its 
Apostle,  St.  Augustine.  At  first  the 
weeks  in  which  the  Ember  Days  occur 
were  not  definitely  fixed,  and  even  in  the 
eleventh  century  a  German  council 
speaks  of  the  Ember  fast  as  jejunium 
incertum.  According  to  ancient  custom 
the  clergy  are  ordained  only  on  the 
Saturdays  of  the  Ember  weeks,  while 
the  whole  Church  fasts  and  prays.  (See 
Acts  xiii.  ad  init.) 

EMBOliZSMUS  (also  Umbolis  and 
JEmbolum).  Literally,  a  prayer  "  thrown 
in  "  or  "intercalated."  It  consists  in  an 
extension  of  the  last  clause  in  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  "  Libera  nos  a  malo,"  and  occurs 
in  all  the  liturgies,  Roman,  Mozarabic, 
Galilean,  Greek,  Coptic,  Armenian,  &c. 
In  the  Eastern  liturgies  it  occurs  im- 
mediately, be  fore  the  communion;  in  the 
Roman  Mass,  the  embolismus  ("Libera 
nos,  quEesumus,  Domine  ")  is  followed  by 
the  breaking  of  the  host,  the  Pax  with  the 
accompanying  prayer,  two  prayers  in 
preparation  for  communion,  and  then  by 
the  communion  itself. 

Embolismus  is  also  used  by  some 
mediaeval  writers  instead  of  Epact. 
(Kraus,  "  Real-Encycl.") 

EMZirEircE  (title  of  a  Cardinal). 
Before  1630  the  Cardinals  of  the  holy 
Roman  Church  were  addressed  by  the 
titles  of  "  Most  Illustrious  "  and  "  Your 
most  illustrious  Lordship "  (dominatio)  ; 
but  in  that  year  Urban  VIII.,  by  a 
consistorial  decree,  ratified  and  confirmed 

'  It  may  be  repjarded  as  nearly  certain  that 
the  English  word  is  not  derived  from  "  ember," 
in  the  sense  of  ashes.  It  may  come  from  the 
Anglo-Saxon  ymbren,  a  revolution  or  circuit. 
But  more  probably  it  is  a  corruption  of  the  Latin 
quattuor  tempora.  The  Dutch  quatertemper, 
German  quatember,  Danish  kvatemher,  exhibit 
the  corruption  in  its  process.  (From  Smith  and 
Cheetham.) 


EMPIRE,  THE  HOLY  ROMAN 

the  report  of  the  Congregation  of  Rites, 
recommending  that  the  titles  "Most 
Eminent "  and  "  Your  Eminence  "  should 
for  the  future  be  substituted  for  the 
above,  and  strictly  confined  (with  the 
sole  exception  of  the  Master  of  the  Hos- 
pital of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem)  to  the 
Cardinals,  so  that,  on  the  one  hand,  if 
anyone,  however  highly  placed  (those  of 
imperial  and  royal  rank  excepted),  should 
address  a  Cardinal  by  any  other  title,  no 
notice  should  be  taken  of  his  letter,  and, 
on  the  other,  any  prelate  of  whatever 
rank,  assuming  these  titles,  was  to  be 
under  the  displeasure  of  the  Roman 
Pontifi^,  and  liable  to  various  sever© 
penalties.  (Ferraris,  Cardindes,  art.  2.) 
EMPIRE,  TBS  SOXi-Sr  ROXOAIT. 
The  empire  founded  by  Charlemagne 
with  the  aid  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs  had 
come  to  nothing  through  the  degeneracy 
of  his  descendants.  In  962  it  was 
revived,  through  the  coronation  of 
Otho  I.  King  of  Germany,  by  Pope  John 
Xn.,  and  this  was  called  the  transfer  of 
the  empire  from  the  Franks  to  the 
Germans  {ti'anslatio  imperii  a  Francis  ad 
Germanos).  The  institution  so  founded 
lasted  for  eight  centuries  and  a  half,  and 
in  the  course  of  ages  German  publicists, 
meditating  upon  its  theory  and  its  powers, 
invented  for  it  the  above  designation.  It 
was  the  Roman  empire,  for  it  represented 
and  revived  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne, 
which  again,  according  to  the  ideas  of 
Latin  Christendom,  represented  and 
replaced  the  old  Byzantine  empire,  which 
had  fallen  into  heresy.  It  was  also  the 
Holy  Roman  empire,  and  this  not  merely 
because  it  was  erected  with  the  bene- 
diction of  the  Roman  Pontiff",  but  also 
because,  whereas  the  old  Roman  empire 
was  Pagan,  this  was  Christian,  and  was 
bound  to  use  that  universal  dominion 
which  it  had  inherited  in  theory  from 
Pagan  Rome  for  the  extension  of  the 
kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ — that  is,  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  As  the  Church  was 
one,  not  many,  and  knew  but  one  head 
on  earth,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  to 
whom  aU  nations  and  all  individuals  were 
dejui'e  subject  in  their  spiritual  concerns, 
so,  according  to  these  reasoners,  all  tem- 
poral dominion  was  of  right  summed  up 
in  the  one  empire,  governed  by  the  one 
emperor,  under  whom,  as  his  vicegerents, 
the  kings  of  the  nations  ruled  in  their 
respective  countries.  It  is  needless  to 
remark  that  this  brilliant  generalisation 
scarcely  emerged  out  of  the  region  of 
theory ;  that  it  was  never  countenanced 


ENCLOSURE 

by  the  Popes ;  and  that  the  kings  of  the 
Franks,  the  Normans,  and  the  Spanish 
Goths,  whose  ancestors  had  never  been 
subjugated  by  the  Romans,  were  not 
likely  to  surrender  an  atom  of  their 
independence  in  deference  to  this  figment 
of  Ghibelline  lawyers.  Yet  so  captivating 
was  the  idea  to  the  mediaeval  mind,  that 
special  protests  were  sometimes  deemed 
necessary,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Emperor 
Sigismund's  visit  to  England  in  1416, 
when  as  his  ship  lay  otf  the  shore  at 
Dover,  and  he  was  preparing  to  land,  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  by  Henry  V.'s 
order,  rode  into  the  water  with  his 
sword  drawn,  and  "  inquired  whether  the 
imperial  stranger  meant  to  exercise  or 
claim  any  authority  or  jurisdiction  in 
England."  ^  The  answer  being  in  the 
negative,  he  was  allowed  to  land. 

The  crown  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire 
was  elective,  this  being  deemed,  probably 
from  the  example  of  Papal  elections,  a 
more  august  mode  of  appointment  than 
hereditary  descent.  The  electors  for  a 
long  period  were  seven  in  number,  four 
secular  princes,  and  three  ecclesiastical ; 
afterwards  they  became  eight,  and  finally 
nine.  Nevertheless  the  imperial  crown 
tended  to  become  hereditary,  and  from 
the  accession  of  j^i^ibert  in  1437  to  the 
end  the  only  emperors  not  of  the  house  of 
Hapsburg  were  Charles  VII.  and 
Francis  I.  The  first  Napoleon,  aiming  at 
reviving  in  his  own  person  the  empire  of 
Charlemagne,  insisted  after  Austerlitz 
on  the  suppression  of  the  ancient  title ; 
this  was  done  in  I8C6,  the  reigning  em- 
peror taking  the  title  of  Emperor  of 
Austria. 

ElsrcXiOStr^lE  {clnusura).  Enclo- 
sure is  that  ride  of  the  Church  which 
separates  a  convent  from  the  world  by 
the  prohibition  or  restriction  of  inter- 
course with  persons  outside  its  walls. 
From  the  nature  of  the  case,  since  preach- 
ing and  other  active  ministerial  duties 
are  incompatible  with  enclosure,  only  a 
certain  proportion  of  the  orders  of  men 
observe  it;  and  in  the  case  of  these  it 
relates  principally  to  the  admission  of 
women  to  the  interior  of  the  monastery. 
Hence  the  term  is  commonly  used  of 
nunneries  rather  than  of  the  convents  of 
men.  The  Church  desires  that  the  en- 
trance of  any  person  into  religion  should 
be  his  or  her  free  and  voluntary  act, 
done  with  a  pure  intention ;  and  she  en- 
joins  that  a  postulant  of  tender  years 

I  Lingard,  vol.  iii.  p.  249. 


ENCLOSURE 


289 


be  closely  examined  on  these  points  by 
the  bishop.^  She  will  not  allow  a  pos- 
tulant of  either  sex  to  be  professed  be- 
fore the  completion  of  the  sixteenth  year, 
and  at  least  a  year  of  probation,  after 
taking  the  habit,  must  precede  the  pro- 
fession.^ Having  thus  provided,  so  far 
as  possible,  that  persons  of  weak  resolu- 
tion and  unstable  character,  shall  not 
be  professed,  she  surrounds  them,  when 
once  professed,  with  rigorous  safeguards, 
with  a  view  to  minimise  to  the  utmost 
that  peril  of  inconstancy  to  which  frail 
human  nature  is  ever  liable.  The  Council 
of  Trent  ordered  that  where  the  enclosure 
of  nuns  had/  been  broken,  it  should  be 
restored  by  the  bishops,  who  were  for 
the  future  to  maintain  it  most  strictly. 
"  Let  it  not  be  lawful  for  any  nun  after 
her  profession  to  go  out  of  her  convent, 
even  for  a  short  time,  on  any  pretext 
whatever,  except  for  some  legitimate 
cause  to  be  approved  by  the  bishop,  not- 
withstanding any  indults  and  privileges 
whatsoever.  And  let  no  persons,  what- 
ever be  their  rank,  condition,  sex,  or  age, 
be  allowed  to  enter  within  the  enclosed 
part  of  the  convent  unless  with  the  leave 
of  the  bishop  or  superior,  given  in  writing, 
under  pain  of  incurring  excommunication 
ipso  factoy^  The  "legitimate  cause" 
was  interpreted  t^  extend  only  to  three 
things — fire,  lepros\,  or  some  epidemic 
disease ;  but  according  to  Barbosa  other 
grounds  are  admissible:  for  instance,  the 
danger,  in  time  of  war,  of  a  convent  fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  an  undisciplined 
soldiery.  The  prohibition  against  any- 
one entering  tiie  convent  prevents  the 
chaplain  or  any  other  priest  from  entering 
the  pjlrt  of  the  church  where  the  njins 
sing,  and  requires  that  even  the  bishop, 
when  the  nuns  are  electing  an  abbess  or 
other  functionary,  shaU  take  their  votes 
at  the  grate  and  not  elsewhere.  But 
there  are  certain  cases  of  necessary  ex- 
ception :  as  when  a  nun  is  too  ill  to  go  to 
the  confessional  in  the  church,  in  which 
case  the  confessor  must  go  to  her  cell  and 
the  sacraments  must  be  taken  to  her; 
medical  men  and  surgeons  have  also  to  be 
admitted,  and  some  persons  of  the  trades- 
man class ;  but  these  must  always  be 
accompanied  by  two  of  the  older  nuns. 
A  bishop  has  power  to  order  that  no 
one  shall  go  to  a  nunnery,  even  for  the 
purpose  of  conversation  at  the  grille,  un- 

1  Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  xxv.  De  Eeg.  et  Mon. 
c.  17,  18. 

2  Ibid.  c.  15. 
s  Ibid.  c.  5 


290 


ENCRATIT^ 


ENDOWjMENT 


less  with  his  or  his  commissaiy's  per- 
mission.    (Ferraris,  Claumra.) 

It  is,  however,  important  to  note  that 
the  legislation  of  the  Church  on  enclo- 
sure applies,  in  its  full  strictness,  only  to 
the  monasteries  of  real  '^  moniales"  and 
not  to  the  numerous  modern  congrega- 
tions of  women  hound  hy  simple  vows, 
whose  convents  are  more  properly  called 
conservator  ia. 

ENTCR^TITjE  {iyKpareis,  iyKpari- 
Tot).  A  Gnostic  sect  founded  hy 
Tatian  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century.  Tatian  was  by  birth  an  Assyrian, 
taught  rhetoric  at  Rome  and  became  a 
Christian  under  the  influence  of  Justin 
Martyr.  After  Justin's  death  his  exag- 
gerated theories  on  the  evil  inherent  in 
matter  led  into  definite  heresy.  Accord- 
ing to  Irenseus  (i.  28),  he  adopted  a  fanciful 
eystem  of  "  aeons "  similar  to  that  of 
Valentinus  and  Clement  of  Alexandria 
("  Strom."  iii.  p.  548,  ed.  Potter)  ;  he  be- 
longed to  the  class  of  anti-Jewish 
Gnostics — i.e.  he  denied  the  divine  origin 
of  the  Mosaic  law.  He  denounced  mar- 
riage as  impurity,  and  made  his  followers 
abstain  from  animal  food.  Hence  the 
name  Encratites  or  "Continent."  This 
false  ascetisism,  which  had  its  origin  in 
the  East,  was  widely  diffused  in  early 
times,  so  that  we  need  not  be  surprised  to 
hear  of  "  Encratites  "  or  false  ascetics  who 
may  really  have  had  no  connection  with 
Tatian.  Such  were  the  Aquarii  or 
vhpoTTapaaTarai,  SO  called  because,  re- 
garding wine  as  evil,  they  would  use 
water  only  in  the  celebration  of  the 
Eucharist.  (Neander,"Kirchengeschichte," 
ii.  p.  157.) 

EZrCTClLZCAK  {litercs  encyclicce). 
A  circular  letter.  In  the  ecclesiastical 
sense,  an  encyclical  is  a  letter  addressed 
*by  the  Pope  to  aU  the  bishops  in  com- 
munion with  him,  in  which  he  condemns 
prevalent  errors,  or  informs  them  of  im- 
pediments which  persecution,  or  pei-verse 
legislation  or  administration,  opposes  in 
particular  countries  to  the  fulfilment  by 
the  Church  of  her  divine  mission,  or  ex- 
plains the  line  of  conduct  which  Christians 
ought  to  take  in  reference  to  urgent 
practical  questions,  such  as  education,  or 
the  relations  between  Church  and  State, 
or  the  liberty  of  the  Apostolic  See.  En- 
cyclicals are  "published  for  the  whole 
Church,  and  addressed  directly  to  the 
bishops,  under  circumstances  which  are 
aiflicting  to  the  entire  Catholic  bodv ; 
while  briefs  and  bulls  ai  e  determined  by 
circumstances  more  particular  ia    their 


nature,  and  have  a  more  special  destina- 
tion." 1 

In  early  times  the  use  of  the  term  was 
not  restricted  as  at  present;  thus  the 
well-known  letter  of  the  Church  of 
Smyrna,  describing  the  martyrdom  of 
Polycarp  is  headed  'Emo-roXr}  ey/cv/cXtKor, 
a  circular  letter;  and  the  same  designa- 
tion was  given  by  St.  Cyprian  to  his 
letters  on  the  Lapsi.  (Ferraris,  Epistdce, 
§15.) 

EWB  OP  itKAN*.     [See  Beatitude.] 

EXTB     OF     THB     UrORXiD.       [See 

Last  Things.] 

EM-DOlxmXEirT  (Fr.  dotation,  Ger. 
Begabung).  Any  property  permanently 
set  apart,  in  order  that  its  annual  profits 
may  contribute  to  the  support  of  some 
institution  of  public  utility  or  recreation, 
is  an  endowment  of  that  institution.  An 
ecclesiaaticnl  endowment  is  such  property 
set  apart  for  the  support  of  a  church,  or 
of  some  institution  the  management  of 
which  is  in  ecclesiastical  hands.  From 
the  fifth  century  the  Church  began  to  be 
richly  endowed,  chiefly  with  lands  ;  at  a 
later  period  lordships  and  jurisdictions 
were  showered  upon  her,  especially  in 
Germany,  where  the  three  Prince  Bishops 
of  Cologne,  Mainz,  and  Treves  were  Elec- 
tors of  the  German  empire.  Our  own 
forefathers,  alike  in  Saxon  and  Norman 
times,  were  full  of  a  generous  zeal  to 
secure  by  endowments  the  services  of  a 
permanent  priesthood,  and  to  provide  for 
the  competent  or  splendid  celebration  of 
the  divme  worship.  A  considerable  part 
of  the  provision  thus  made  was  confiscated 
and  squandered  during  the  Reformation ; 
what  remained  was,  by  tke  effect  of  the 
Acts  of  Uniformity  and  Supremacy, 
transferred  to  the  Anglican  body,  and  is 
still  enjoyed  by  them.  The  calamities 
and  oppressions  under  which  English 
Catholics  have  existed  duiing  the  last 
three  centuries,  have,  till  recent  times, 
thrown  great  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a 
renewed  flow  of  endowments.  Yet  such 
instances  are  not  quite  unknown ;  we 
could  mention  a  pious  couple  near  Kendal, 
who  bequeathed  a  good  estate  two  or  three 
generations  ago  to  found  a  permanent 
mission  in  order  to  "evangelise  the 
dales  ;  "  and  there  must  be  similar  cases 
in  other  counties.  In  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land, no  less  than  in  England,  the  old 
endowments  belonging  to  the  Catholic 
Church  have  been  either  lost  or  diverted 
from  their  original  destination.  In  Scot- 
land, through  the  extraordinary  influence 

^  Art.  by  Dux,  in  Wetzer  and  Wdte. 


ENERGUMEN 

of  Knox  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
greater  part  of  the  population  embraced 
the  heresy  of  Calvin,  and  the  Presby- 
terians of  the  "  Established  Kirk  "  still 
enjoy  what  is  left  of  the  ancient  endow- 
ment.^. In  Ireland,  the  Protestant  Church, 
to  which  the  power  of  England  trans- 
ferred the  tithes  and  Church  lands  at  the 
Peforination,  was  disestablished  and  no- 
minally disendowed  by  the  Act  of  1869; 
but  the  compensations  were  calculated  on 
so  liberal  a  scale  as  almost  to  amount  to 
re-endowment. 

SIO'EiZZ.CU'ZKCSXr  (ivepyovjxcvos  —  i.e. 
worked  upon,  as  by  a  demon).  A  word  of 
frequent  occurrence  in  early  Christian 
literature.  The  energumens  correspond 
to  the  persons  "  possessed  by  a  demon  " 
(Sat/ioi/i^ojMei/oi),  "  tormented  "  (euox^ov- 
fieuoi)f  "  overpowered  by  the  devil  "  {icara- 
8vva(rT€v6fji€uoi  vtto  to  dia^okov),  "  with 
an  unclean  spirit "  (n-i^ev/ia  uKaOaprov 
exovres),  who  are  mentioned  in  'Matt. 
iv.  24,  Luc.  vi.  18,  Acts  x.  38,  Acts 
viii.  7,  and  el.-e where  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. In  ecclesiastical  language  the 
energumens  are  also  called  "  demoniacs," 
*'  possessed  of  the  devil "  {baiixovioXrjTr- 
tol)  ;  and,  among  the  Latins,  "  arrepti " 
and  "  arreptitii,"  sc.  "  a  dsemone."  We 
also  find  {e.g.  in  "Constit.  Ap."  viii.  12) 
the  word  x^Lixn^dixevoi — i.e.  "the  storm- 
tossed."  TLe  Church  derived  her  belief  in 
demoniacal  possession  from  the  words  of 
Christ,  who  (e.g.  in  Matt.  xii.  22  seq.)  ex- 
pressly appeals  to  the  fact  of  his  driving 
out  the   devil  from  the  possessed  as  a 

{)roof  of  his  di\ine  mission.  The  Apo- 
ogists  generally  prove  the  divinity  of  the 
Christian  religion  by  the  power  which  the 
Church  had  to  heal  the  possessed;  and 
among  these  Apologists,  TertulKan,  "  Ad 
Scap."  2,  speaks  of  the  healing  power  as 
a  fact  generally  recognised  and  of  daily 
occurrence. 

The  number  of  possessed  persons,  or 
energumens,  in  the  early  Church  ori- 
nated  a  regular  discipline  with  regard  to 
them.  This  discipline  began  in  the  third 
century,  died  out  in  the  East  in  the 
course  of  the  follow mg,  while  in  Spain  it 
continued  in  force  till  the  seventh  cen- 
tury. The  energumens  were  divided  into 
baptised  and  catechumens,^  the  former 
bemg  examined  (to  ascertain  the  reality 
of  the  possession)  at  the  altar,  the  latter 
outside  of  the  church.  Their  names  were 
put  in  a  register,  they  were  maintained 
at  the  expense  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity, and  had  dwellings  assigned  them 
1  Araus.  i.  can.  14, 16. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS      291 

near  the  church.*  They  were  set  to  work 
— e.g.  in  sweeping  the  church  ^ — and  led  a 
penitential  life.  Sometimes  the  exorcist, 
with  the  bishop's  approval,  exorcised  them 
privately^;  sometimes  the  ceremony  was 
performed  by  the  bishop  himself  assisted 
by  his  clergy,  after  the  "  Mass  of  the 
Catechumens,"  with  prayer,  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  and  laying  on  of  hands.  Other 
means  of  exorcism — e.g.  apphcation  of 
blessed  water  and  salt,  of  spittle,  breathing 
upon  them  {exsufflatio,  insufflatio)^  in 
some  places  anointing,  were  also  used. 

The  older  practice  was  to  debar  ener- 
gumens, except  at  death,  from  all  the 
sacraments  till  they  were  cured,**  but  the 
Council  of  Orange,  in  441 ,  admitted  them 
to  the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the 
eucharist,  if  they  behaved  peaceably.* 
They  were  of  course  excluded  from  ordi- 
nation, or,  if  ordained,  from  exercising 
their  orders  till  their  recovery  was 
thoroughly  proved.  It  is  impossible  to 
say  for  certain  where  they  were  place<l 
in  church ;  probably  those  who  were 
violent  were  placed  outside  the  church, 
those  who  were  peaceable  in  the  narthex, 
both  classes  being  called  up  by  the  deacon 
nearer  to  the  altar  lor  the  exorcism.  When 
healed,  the  former  energumen  fasted  for 
a  period  varying  from  twenty  to  forty 
da}s.  He  was  dismissed  by  the  priest, 
after  prayer,  and  bis  name  was  entered  in 
the  list  of  the  cui'ed. 

The  Church,  in  the  Roman  Pontifical, 
still  recognises  the  possibility  of  demoni- 
acal possession ;  but  cases  of  possession 
are  infrequent  or  infrequently  recognised, 
and  the  energumens  no  longer  occupy  the 
position  and  attract  the  interest  which 
belonged  to  them  in  the  early  Church. 

EzrcXiZSH  CATHOZ.XCS.  A  brief 
sketch  of  the  principal  facts  bearing  on 
the  fortunes  of  Catholicism  in  this  country, 
from  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  in  1558, 
to  the  restoration  of  the  hierarchy,  in 
1850,  will  be  attempted  in  the  present 
article. 

In  a  previous  article  (Anglican 
Church)  the  passing  of  the  Acts  of  Uni- 
formity and  Supremacy  at  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  was  described.  The  con- 
sternation among  sincere  Cathohcs  was 
great ;  nevertheless  it  is  clear  that  there 
was  a  much  larger  number  who  were  ex- 
ceedingly unwilling  to  oppose  the  Govem- 

*  Concil.  Carthag.  iv.  can.  92. 
2  Ibid.  can.  91. 

5  Concil.  Laod.  can.  26. 

4  Concil.  Illib.  can.  29, 87. 

6  Can.  14. 


u2 


292      ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

ment,  and  wlio  flattered  themselves  that 
if  they  complied  for  a  while  and  attended 
the  Protestant  service,  the  storm  would 
blow  over,  and  the  Mass  he  restored  as 
before  under  Mary.  Ribadeneira  ^  states 
that  in  the  first  years  of  EHzabeth  the 
Catholics  iu  great  numbers  frequented  the 
parish  churches,  thinking  it  sufficient  if 
they  did  not  enter  or  leave  them  in  com- 
pany with  Protestants !  But  this  was 
stopped  as  soon  as  the  matter  was  re- 
ferred to  a  committee  of  theologians  (one 
of  whom  was  Laynez)  at  the  Council  of 
Trent,  whose  unanimous  decision  was 
that  such  attendance  at  Protestant  wor- 
ship was  sinful.  The  oath  of  supremacy 
not  being  generally  tendered  even  to  the 
clergy,  and  not  at  all  to  the  laity  unless 
they  wished  to  liold  office  under  the 
Crown,  did  not  at  first  cause  much  diffi 
culty.  But  the  lawfulness  of  the  oath 
was  warmly  discussed,  and  its  essential 
repugnance  to  Scripture  and  tradition 
demonstrated,  in  writings  which  soon 
began  t«  issue  in  swarms  from  the  presses 
of  Flanders,  where  Catholic  exiles  found 
a  secure  refuge.  The  Government  of 
Elizabeth  found  a  legislative,  if  not  a 
theological,  answer  ready  in  reply  to  the 
Catholic  pamphleteers.  In  1563  a  law 
was  passed  by  the  obsequious  Parliament 
making  the  second  refusal  of  the  oath  of 
supremacy  an  act  of  high  treason,  punish- 
able with  death.  The  Emperor  Ferdi- 
nand, in  whose  dominions  at  that  time 
Protestants  received  a  fuU  toleration, 
wrote  to  Elizabeth,  appealing  for  more 
indulgence  towards  the  English  Catholics, 
and  asking  that  they  might  have  one 
church  in  every  considerable  town  in 
which  to  celebrate  their  worship.  This, 
Elizabeth,  whose  imperious  humour  would 
not  brook  that  any  of  her  subjects  should 
have  a  different  religion  from  herself, 
flatly  refused. 

The  other  persecuting  Acts  of  this 
reign,  or  the  chief  of  them,  were  as 
follows : — 

1.  Statute  of  1571.  In  the  prsamble, 
offences  against  the  Act  of  1563,  and  the 
late  insurrection  in  the  north,  are  named 
as  circumstances  calling  for  fresh  legisla- 
tion. It  is  enacted  that  if  any  persons 
procure  or  use  bulls  for  reconciling  per- 
sons to  the  "  usurped  authority  "of  the 
see  of  Rome,  or  if  any  should  "  obtain  or 
get  from  the  said  Bishop  of  Rome  or  any 
of  his  successors  .  .  .  any  manner  of 
bull,  writing,  or  instrument,  written  or 

1  In  his  book  De  Schismate,  quoted  by  Mr. 
Hallam,  Const.  Hi»t.  L 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

printed,  containing  any  thing,  matter,  or 
cause  whatsoever  .  .  .  then  all  and  every 
such  act  .  .  .  shall  be  deemed  to  be  high 
treason  ;  and  the  offender  and  offenders 
therein,"  on  conviction,  "  shall  suffer  pains 
of  death,  and  also  lose  and  forfeit  all 
their  lands,  tenements,  hereditaments, 
goods,  and  chattels."  After  the  passing 
of  this  Act,  any  man  who  might  get  a 
dispensation  from  Rome  to  marry  his 
first  cousin,  did  so  at  the  risk  of  being 
reduced  to  beggary  and  hanged !  We 
have  given  the  very  words  of  the  statute, 
stripping  them  of  technicalities,  because 
even  now  it  is  a  common  belief  with  Pro- 
testants that  the  Catholic  martyrs  under 
Elizabeth  died  for  treason,  not  for  reli- 
gion. If  the  Government  coidd  justly 
make  into  a  treason  the  profession  of 
what  had  been  the  religion  of  the  country 
for  nine  hundred  years,  then  the  Catholics 
were  traitors,  but  not  otherwise.  Treason 
meant,  under  the  old  English  law,^  com- 
passing the  sovereign's  death,  or  levying 
war  within  the  realm,  or  joining  his 
foreign  enemies,^  and  must  be  proved  by 
some  overt  act.  What  resemblance  is 
there  between  any  of  these  offences  and 
such  acts  as  the  refusal  to  swear  that  the 
Queen  is  supreme  head  of  the  Church,  or 
persuading  a  person  to  become  a  Catholic, 
or  being  absolved  by  a  priest  and  recon- 
ciled to  the  Church  ?  These  acts  did  not 
change  their  nature  by  being  called 
''  treasons ; "  the  only  difference  was  that, 
after  the  passing  of  the  Elizabethan  sta- 
tutes, the  blood  of  the  Catholics  could  be 
shed  under  colour  of  law,  instead  of 
openly  and  avowedly  for  "  cause  of  re- 
ligion." 

2.  Statute  of  1581.  Any  act  of  per- 
suasion to  the  Romish  religion  was  de- 
clared by  this  statute  to  be  high  treason, 
and  punishable  as  such.  Anyone,  after  the 
end  of  the  session,  who  should  be  willingly 
absolved  by,  and  promise  obedience  to, 
"  the  said  pretended  authority,"  being 
taken,  tried,  and  convicted,  was  to  "  sufi'er 
and  forfeit  as  in  ca^jes  of  high  treason." 
By  another  clause,  any  person  saying 
Mass  was  to  forfeit  two  hundred  marks 
and  be  imprisoned  for  a  year;  anyone 
hearing  Mass  was  to  forfeit  one  hundred 
marks,  and  also  undergo  a  year's  im- 
prisonment. 

3.  Statute  of  15So.    This  Act  ordered 

1  Statute  of  Treasons.  18.51. 

2  B&sides  some  other  offences — counterfeiting 
the  jLjreat  seal,  murdering  the  king's  judges,  ^c, 
with  which  no  one  ever  thought  of  taxing  the 
Catholics. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

all  Jesuits,  seminary  priests,  and  other 
priests  to  quit  the  kingdom  within  forty 
days  after  the  end  of  the  session  ;  if  any 
such  should  he  found  after  that  date,  they 
were  to  he  adjudged  trait<jrs,  and  sutler 
as  in  case  of  high  treason.  Any  person 
sheltering  or  aiding  such  Jesuit,  &c.,  was 
to  be  ''adjudged  a  felon  without  benefit 
of  clergy,  and  suffer  death." 

4.  Statute  of  1587 :  for  the  speedier 
execution  of  the  Act  of  l^Sl.  It  made 
void  all  dealings  with  property,  subse- 
quent to  1658,  by  persons  who  had  not 
attended,  or  should  not  attend,  the  An- 
glican service,  and  declare!  such  property 
forfeit  to  the  Crown.  Everyone  who 
had  been  convicted  of  not  going  to  church 
was  to  pay  a  fine  calculated  at  the  rate 
of  20/.  per  month  since  the  date  of  such 
conviction. 

5.  Statute  of  1593:  against  "Popish 
recusants."  Such  were  ''  to  repair  to  their 
own  homes,  and  not  to  travel  five  miles 
therefrom ;  if  they  had  not  goods  to 
satisfy  the  monthly  fine  of  201.  for 
non-attendance  at  church,  they  were  to 
abjure  the  realm;  and  if  they  refused 
to  do  so,  they  were  to  suffer  as  felons."  ^ 

These  laws  were  not  intended  to  be  a 
h'utum  fulmen ;  they  v>"ere  skilfully  de- 
signed with  a  view  to  terrify  the  English 
people  into  embracing  the  royal  religion, 
and  to  kill  and  reduce  to  beggary  those 
who  preferred  the  religion  of  their  fathers. 
Being  vigorously  executed,  they  accom- 
plished to  a  great  extent  the  ends  pro- 
posed ;  and  if  a  Catholic  remnant  still  sur- 
vived at  the  end  of  the  reign,  and  the 
estates  of  many  CathoHcs  still  remained  to 
them,- this  was  not  because  the  laws  were 
deficient,  but  because  common  humanity 
and  English  good-nature  induced  many, 
who  had  conformed  themselves,  to  screen 
their  less  complying  friends,  so  far  as  they 
could,  from  a  persecution  which  they  felt 
to  be  iniquitous.  Under  these  laws  the 
following  persons  lost  their  lives  in  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth : — 

128  priests  and  members  of  religious 
orders 
68  laymen  ^ 
3  women 

189 

»  Annals  of  England.     1862. 

2  "  No  layman  was  brought  to  the  bar  or  to 
the  block  under  its  provisions  "  (those  of  the 
Act  of  1581)  ;  Green's  Short  History  of  the 
English  People.  Possibh'  not ;  but  Mr.  Green 
should  have  added  that  under  other  Acts  of  the 
same  class  fiftj'-eight  laymen  were  put  to 
death  for  religion. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS      293 

besides  thirty-two  Franciscans  said  by 
Mr.  Law  to  have  been  starved  to  death 
in  prison  in  1583.^  The  names  of  many 
others  are  recorded  as  having  "died  in 
prison,"  slowly  sinking  under  the  ettects 
of  the  noisomeness  and  filth  of  the 
horrible  bastilles  of  those  days.  In  the 
above  list  there  is  one  layman  who  died 
under  the  torture.  No  statesman  ever 
made  a  more  systematic  use  of  torture 
to  extort  the  confessions  which  he  wanted 
than  the  sanctimonious  Burleigh.  Under 
his  direction  Topcliffe,  the  pursuivant, 
put  the  noble  Kobert  Southwell  ten 
times  to  the  torture,  to  make  him  confess 
in  whose  houses  he  had  been  staying; 
but  not  a  syllable  could  be  extracted 
from  him.  "  The  rack,"  says  Mr.  Hallam, 
*'  seldom  stood  idle  in  the  Tower  for  all 
the  latter  part  of  Elizabeth's  reign."  ^ 

The  Holy  See  regarded  with  sorrow 
and  alarm  the  sufferings  of  the  English 
Catholics,  and  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
schism.  It  is  commonly  said  that  Paul  IV. 
spoke  roughly  to  Sir  E.  Carne  when  he 
announced  to  him  Elizabeth's  accession, 
but  at  last  declared  that  if  she  would 
place  herself  in  his  hands,  he  would  do 
what  he  could  to  serve  her.  This  story 
appears  to  rest  only  on  the  authority  of 
Sarpi,  the  historian  of  the  Council  of 
Trent.  It  is  certain  that,  in  May  1560, 
Pius  IV.  made  friendly  overtures  to  her ; 
f  r  we  have  the  text  of  a  letter  of  that 
date,^  announcing,  in  courteous  and  even 
afiectionate  terms,  that  the  Pope  was 
sending  to  her  Vincenzo  Parpalia,  whom 
she  knew  personally,  to  confer  with  her ; 
that  he  earnestly  desired  to  accord  to  her 
whatever  she  might  wish  for  the  con- 
firmatioHj  of  her  princely  dignity ;  and 
that  nothing  could  express  the  joy  of 
himself  and  of  the  fathers  about  to  attend 
the  Council  (of  Trent)  wei*e  they  to  hear 
of  her  returning  into  the  bosom  of  the 
Church.*  Parpalia  was  not  allowed  to 
come  into  England,  and  the  work  of 
anti-Catholic  legislation  went  on.  Re- 
monstrance and  admonition  having  proved 
useless,  the  Holy  See  resolved,  while  there 
was  yet  time,  before  a  generation  educated 
in  Protestant  schools  had  grown  up,  to 

1  Calendar  of  the  English  Martyrs,  T.  G. 
Law  (1876).  The  names  and  other  particulars 
are  given,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Franciscans. 

2  Const.  Hist.  ch.  iii. 

5  Dodd's  Church  History,  III.  cecxxi. 

4  The  story  told  by  Camden  that  Pius  IV. 
offered  to  settle  the  English  liturgy  by  his 
authority  and  to  allow  the  English  Catholics 
the  use  of  the  sacrament  in  both  kinds,  seeins 
to  rest  on  mere  rumour. 


294      ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

employ  against  Elizal^eth  the  censures  of 
the  Church.  Pope  Pius  V.  published  a 
bull  for  this  purpose  in  IfiZO  [Deposi- 
tion, Bull  of].  It  failed  of  its  effect; 
and  the  efforts  made  by  Sixtus  V.,  in 
1587  and  1588,  to  dethrone  her  by  means 
of  the  fleets  and  armies  of  Philip  11. , 
and  terminate  the  miseries  of  the 
Catholics,  similarly  miscarried.  Nothing 
remained  but  to  console  and  sustain  the 
Catholics  as  much  as  possible  under  the 
persecution",  and  hope  for  better  times 
under  a  new  sovereign.  In  July  1600, 
Clement  VIII.  wrote  to  the  Nuncio  in 
Flanders  that  he  was  very  anxious  on  the 
subject  of  the  English  succession,  and 
instructed  him,  as  soon  as  the  "  misera 
faemina"  was  dead,  to  write  to  the 
English  Catholics,  urging  them  to  post- 
pone every  other  consideration  to  the  one 
paramount  object  of  having  a  king  who 
would,  if  not  protect,  at  least  leave  free 
the  Catholic  religion. 

The  effect  of  such  laws,  executed  with 
cold,  ruthless,  stealthy  tenacity  by  very 
able  administrators,  who  were  zealously 
aided  by  the  AngUcan  clergy,  was  to 
reduce  the  profession  of  Catholicism,  in 
the  last  years  of  the  reign,  to  a  minimum. 
No  cruel  stratagem,  no  conscience-rending 
device,  was  spared  ;  husbands  were  made 
responsible  for  the  conformity  of  their 
wives  ;  wives  for  that  of  their  husbands  ; 
accumulated  fines  for  non-attendance  at 
church  held  up  before  fathers  the  pro- 
spect of  ruin  and  social  descent  for  their 
sons,  for  whom  yet  they  could  scarcely 
by  any  sacrifice  obtain  a  Catholic  edu- 
cation ;  the  ancient  universities  were 
perverted  ;  the  ancient  schools  were 
perverted;  the  town  populace,  long 
since  won  over  by  the  coarse  satires  of 
the  Lollards,  was  everywhere  against 
Catholics ;  the  circumstances  of  the 
time  made  it  easy  to  fix  on  them  the 
brand  of  disloyalty.  If  anyone  wishes  to 
understand  their  unhappy  condition  in 
detail,  let  him  read  the  report  of  Father 
Holtby,  in  1594,  to  Garnet  the  Provincial, 
published  in  the  third  volume  of  Dodd 
(ed.  Tierney).  It  is  commonly  estimated 
that,  at  the  end  of  the  reign,  about  half 
the  population  were  still  Catholics ;  but 
this  can  only  be  understood  of  secret  in- 
clinations, if,  even  so  limited,  it  be  true ; 
those  who  actually  practised  their  religion 
must  have  borne  a  much  smaller  propor- 
tion than  this  to  the  mass  of  the  popula- 
tion. 

The  time  came  when  she  who,  for  the 
security  of  her  crown,  had  shed  so  much 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

blood,  broken  so  many  hearts,  ruined  so 
many  lives,  had  to  depart  out  of  this 
world.  "  HeaA'en  was  just,"  says  the 
Catholic  historian,  "in  making  her  in- 
consolable who  had  been  the  author  of  so 
much  grief  to  others."  ^  She  fell  into  a 
settled  melancholy;  would  sit  silent  in 
her  chair  for  days  and  nights  together ; 
and  when  urged  by  the  Lord  Admiral  to 
go  to  her  bed,  told  him  that  if  he  had 
seen  what  she  saw  there,  he  would  not 
ask  her.  *^  She  became  tedious  to  her- 
self, and  troublesome  to  all  about  her."  ^ 
While  she  was  in  this  state  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  and  other  prelates 
caUed  to  see  her,  at  which  she  wa?  very 
angry,  "  bidding  them  be  packing,  saying 
she  was  no  atheist,  but  knew  full  well 
that  they  were  hedge  priests,  and  took  it 
for  an  indignity  that  they  should  speak 
to  her."  ^  Such — assuming  that  the 
words  are  correctly  reported — was  her 
final  estimate  of  those  "  Anglican  orders  " 
which  she  had  done  so  much  to  establish. 
In  this  state  of  mind  she  died. 

Catholics  under  James  I.  —  Aware 
that  James  had  carried  on  the  govern- 
ment of  Scotland  in  a  tolerant  spirit, 
and  not  foreseeing  what  an  insurmount- 
able attraction  the  theory  of  "head- 
ship of  the  Church  "  would  have  for  a 
learned  fool,  and  how  it  would  work  on 
a  despotic  temper,  the  English  Catholics 
hailed  with  joy  his  accession  to  the  throne. 
But  in  the  following  year  (1604)  was 
passed  an  Act  "  for  the  due  execution 
of  the  statutes  against  Jesuits,  semi- 
nary priests,  and  other  priests."  It 
was  enacted  that  two-thirds  of  a  Cath- 
olic landowner's  real  estate  miglit  be 
seized  to  meet  the  fine  of  20/.  per 
month  for  not  attending  church,  if  the 
money  was  not  paid.  Under  Elizabeth 
many  (Catholics,  -^dthout  much  molesta- 
tion, had  provided  for  the  education  of 
their  children  abroad.  That  scanty 
liberty  was  cut  off  by  this  statute,  which 
fined  anyone  sending  a  child  abroad  for 
education  "in  Popery,"  for  each  offence 
100/.,  and  made  the  person  so  sent 
incapable  of  inheriting  or  enjoying  any 
property,  real  or  personal,  unless  he 
conformed  to  the  Established  Church. 
Another  clause  prohibited  the  keeping  of 
a  school  by    or    in    the   house  of  any 


1  Dodd'e  Church  History,  iii.  70. 

2  Ibid, 

3  Dodd,  he.  cit.  His  account  is  taken 
from  the  narrative  of  Lady  Southwell,  one  of 
the  queen's  waiting  women,  who  was  present. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

recusant.^  The  alarmed  Catholics,  still 
unwilling  to  believe  that  the  hopes  which 
they  had  indulged  must  he  renounced, 
petitioned  the  king  for  the  ft-ee  exercise 
of  their  religion  in  private  houses,  re- 
minding him  how  much  they  had  sutlered 
**  for  your  good  mother's  sake."  ^  For 
answer,  James  issued  a  proclamation 
(September  1604)  banishing  all  the 
Catholic  missionary  priests  out  of  the 
kingdom.  This  climax  of  tyranny  drove 
some  of  the  Catholics  to  desperation; 
they  began  to  conspire,  and  the  Gun- 
powder Plot  (1605)  was  the  result. 
Kothing  can  be  fairer  than  what  Bellar- 
min  writes  on  this  subject :  "  I  excuse 
not  the  deed ;  I  hate  murders ;  I  detest 
conspiracies;  but  no  one  can  deny  that 
men  were  driven  to  despair.  For  the 
Catholics  hoped  ....  that  under  a  new 
prince,  who  had  always  been  noted  for 
clemency,  and  whose  accession  they  had 
cordially  welcomed,  they  would  draw 
breath  again  after  so  long  a  persecution, 
and  be  free  to  retain  that  faith  and 
religion  which  the  king's  own  mother 
and  all  his  ancestors  had  piously  prac- 
tised. But  when  they  saw  that  the  cruel 
edicts  of  Queen  Elizabeth  were  confirmed, 
that  crushing  fines  were  imposed  on  those 
refusing  to  frequent  heretical  places  of 
worship,  and  that  under  colour  of  accu- 
sations for  breaches  of  the  law  they  were 
being  gradually  despoiled  of  all  their 
property,  some  among  them,  who  could 
not  put  up  with  their  wronj^s,  driven  to 
despair,  framed  that  plot  which  we  and 
you  alike  deplore."  ^ 

Soon  after  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  James, 
with  the  assistance  of  Bancroft  and  Chris- 
topher Perkins,  a  renegade  Jesuit,  framed 
a  new  oath  of  allegiance  for  Catholics, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  divide  them — 
to  extract  as  much  disloyalty  to  the  Holy 
See  from  those  who  took  it  as  was  com- 
patible with  not  absolutely  withdrawing 
their  obedience — and  to  mitigate  the 
foreign  outcry  against  the  persecution  in 
England.  To  understand  what  followed, 
it  is  necessary  to  describe  the  measures 
which  had  already  been  taken  to  give 
English  Catholics  a  new  organisation. 
While  the  hope  was  not  yet  extinct  that 
the  nation  might  be  restored  to  Catholi- 

^  Kecusants  were  those  who  refused  the  oath 
of  supremacy  under  Elizabeth,  and  the  oath  of 
allegiance,  presently  to  be  described,  under 
James  I.  and  his  successors. 

2  Dodd,  iv.  App.  82. 

5  From  Bellarmin's  reply  to  the  Apology 
for  ihi  Oath  of  Allegiance ;  Opera^  iii.  646. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS      296 

cism,  and  some  of  the  old  bishops,  de- 
posed by  Elizabeth,  were  still  alive, 
questions  of  government  and  jurisdiction 
remained,  more  or  less,  in  suspense. 
When,  however,  after  the  foundation  of 
a  seminary  college  at  Douay^  by  Al- 
len, an  ex-canon  of  York,  in  1568,  fol- 
lowed by  a  similar  foundation  at  Rome 
in  1579,  English  priests  came  over 
into  England  in  considerable  numbers, 
and  Jesuits  and  Franciscans  hastened 
to  the  post  of  peril,  questions  of  juris- 
diction and  administration  could  not 
but  emerge.  In  1597  Father  Persons 
drew  up  a  petition  to  the  Holy  See, 
requesting  that  two  English  bishops 
might  be  appointed,  one  to  reside  in 
England,  the  other  in  Flanders;  this 
last  being  ready  to  take  the  place  of  his 
English  brother,  should  he  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  persecutors.  The  petition 
also  recommended  that  the  bishop  in 
England  should  be  assisted  by  seven  or 
eight  ecclesiastics  of  higher  rank — arch- 
priests  or  archdeacons.^  It  was  not 
thought  prudent  at  Rome  to  do  all  that 
the  petition  recommended  ;  but  to  provide 
a  head  for  the  struggling  mission.  Cardinal 
Cajetan  (1598),  the  protector  of  the 
English  nation,  appointed  George  Black- 
well  archpriest,  with  a  council  of  twelve 
consultors,  of  whom  six  were  nominated 
by  the  Cardinal,  six  were  to  be  selected 
by  Blackwell  himself. 

In  1606  the  king  caused  an  "  Act  for 
the  better  discovering  and  repressing  of 
popish  recusants"  to  be  passed,  which 
contained  the  new  oath  of  allegiance 
above  mentioned.  The  Catholic  was 
no  longer  required  to  swear  that  the 
king  was  the  supreme  spiritual  authority 
in  England.  "He  was  to  declare  that 
James  was  lawful  king,  and  that  the 
Pope  had  no  kind  of  authority  to  depose 
him,  or  to  authorise  others  to  depose 
him,  or  to  release  his  subjects  from  their 
allegiance.  The  person  thus  swearing 
was  moreover  to  declare  that  he  would 
support  the  king,  notwithstanding  any 
excommunication  or  deprivation.  .  .  . 
He  was  to  add:  'And  I  do  further 
swear  that  I  do  from  my  heart  abhor, 
detest,  and  abjure  as  impious  and  here- 
tical, this  damnable  doctrine  and  position, 
that  princes  which  be  excommunicated 
by  the  Pope  may  be  deposed  or  murdered 
by  their  subjects,  or  any  other  whatso- 

^  On  all  that  relates  to  Douay,  see  the 
preface  by  F.  Knox  of  the  Oratory  to  the 
Doiiay  Diaries,  pt  i.  (1877). 

a  Dodd,  iii.  App.  No.  21 


296      ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 


ever.'"^  The  tlieory  imderljing  this 
oath  evidently  was,  that  the  right  of  a 
king  to  his  throne  was  original  and_/u?-e 
divino,  and  that  no  power  on  earth, 
whether  emanating  from  his  own  subjects 
or  from  any  other  source,  could  lawfully 
depose  him.  In  times  when  a  high 
doctrine  of  royal  prerogative  was  gene- 
rally accepted,  such  an  oath,  it  was 
thought,  would  be  particularly  ensnaring 
to  Catholics  ;  and  so  it  proved.  The 
archpriestBlackwell  published  an  opinion 
favourable  to  it,  and  advised  that  it  be 
taken.  Cardinal  Bellarrain,  who  had 
been  a  fellow-student  with  him,  wrote  a 
letter,  gently  remonstrating  against  the 
course  he  was  taking,  and  reminding  him 
how  inconsistent  it  was  with  the  teach- 
ing which  they  had  received.  James, 
with  the  help  of  Bishop  Andrewes,  then 
published  an  "  Apology  for  the  Oath  of 
Allegiance,"  which  Bellarmin  met  with 
a  "  Responsio  "  (1610),  under  the  feigned 
name  of  Matthias  Tortus.  In  this 
masterly  treatise  the  Cardinal  shows  that 
for  a  Catholic  to  swear  that  he  would 
continue  to  obey  the  king  in  spite  of  any 
sentence  of  excommunication  by  the 
Pope,  was  as  much  as  to  say  that  the 
Pope  was  not  the  head  of  the  Church, 
had  no  power  of  binding  and  loosing 
given  him  by  Christ,  and  could  do 
nothing  against  a  heretic  king.  It  was 
equivalent  to  saying  that  the  duty  of  a 
man  to  his  king  was  antecedent  to,  and 
of  higher  obligation  than,  his  duty  to 
God  and  the  Pope  his  vicar.  But  this 
touched  faith,  and  was  not  a  matter  of 
civil  allegiance  merely,  as  the  king  and 
his  Anglican  advisers  laboured  to  prove.'^ 
The  Pope  (Paul  V.),  wrote  a  brief  to  the 
English  Catholics  in  1606,  and  another 
in  1607,  warning  them  against  taking 
the  oath  ;  and  after  some  time  the  general 
body  of  English  Catholics  carefully  re- 
frained from  doing  so.  But  not  only  did 
a  contumacious  minority  accept  or  at 
least  defend  it,  but  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  a  large  number  of  waverers,  thinking 
or  pretending  to  think  that  continued 
adhesion  to  their  religion  was  inconsistent 
with  their  civil  duty,  took  this  occasion 
of  conforming  to  the  establishment.  The 
steady  continuance  of  sanguinary  re- 
pression of  course  contributed  to  this 
result.  According  to  the  list  in  Dodd  ' 
twenty-four  Catholics  were  executed  for 

1  Canon  Flanagan's  History  of  tfie  Cliurch 
in  England,  ii.  292, 

2  Bellarra.,  Opera,  iii.  638. 
»  Dodd,  iv.  179  (Tiemey). 


religion  under  James  I.,  but  Mr.  Law  ' 

gives  the  names  of  twenty-seven,  of 
whom  eigl^t  were  laymen.  These  exe- 
cutions were  scattered  pretty  evenly  over 
the  years  of  James's  reign.  The  king  s 
resolution  to  seek  a  wife  for  the  Prince 
of  Wales  among  the  Catholic  royal 
families  of  Europe,  not  the  Protestant, 
inspired  new  hopes  at  Rome,  as  we  learn 
from  a  touctiing  letter  addressed  to  him 
by  Urban  VIII,  on  October  2,  1623.2 

Uncle?'  Charles  I. — The  hopes  created 
by  James's  matrimonial  projects  were  not 
entirely  defeated.  Though  the  Spanish 
match  fell  through,  a  marriage  was 
arranged  with  Henrietta  Maria,  daughter 
of  Henri  Quatre  and  sister  of  Louis  XIIL, 
the  Pope  granting  a  dispensation  in  con- 
sideration of  articles  in  the  marriage 
treaty  promising  a  free  exercise  of  their 
religion  for  Henrietta  and  her  attendants, 
and  some  relaxation  of  the  penal  laws 
for  the  English  Catholics,  This  relax- 
ation, if  we  regard  the  reign  as  a  whole, 
actually  took  place.  It  is  true  that 
Charles  did  not  carry  out  the  stipulation 
in  favour  of  the  Catholics  miiformly;  but 
it  must  be  remembered  that  he  had  to 
deal  with  a  Parliament  and  a  populace 
which  a  long  course  of  Protestant  teach- 
ing and  preaching  had  now  inflamed 
with  a  superstitious  hatred  of  Catholicism. 
Whenever  Parliament  met,  they  pe- 
titioned the  king  to  execute  the  penal 
laws  more  rigorously,  and  the  rejoicings 
of  the  mob  in  London  at  the  news  of  the 
failure  of  the  Spanish  marriage  had 
shown  how  strong  was  the  popular 
prejudice.  Charles  could  not  openly  defy 
this  mass  of  popular  sentiment ;  we  read 
accordingly  of  proclajnations  issued  by 
him  ordering  priests  to  quit  the  kingdom, 
parents  to  recall  their  children  from 
foreign  schools,  &c.,  and  in  two  cases 
(1628)  the  blood  of  Catholics  was  shed.' 
But  after  the  dissolution  of  1629  the 
penal  laws  gradually  almost  ceased  to 
be  executed ;  no  one  was  put  to  death 
for  many  years ;  the  celebration  of  Mass 
was  little  impeded ;  even  the  fines  for 
recusancy,  unless  the  king's  wants  were 
urgent,  were  languidly  exacted.*  Still, 
seventy  years  ofseverancefrom  Rome  had 
effectually  done  their  work :  the  nation 

1  Calendar,  &c. 

^  Dodd,  V.  A  pp.  No.  58  (Tierney). 

3  Father  Arrowsmith  and  Mr.  Richard 
Herst.  A  remarkable  storj'  is  told  about  the 
former  in  Milner's  End  of  Controversy. 

*  Hallam,  Const.  Hist.  ch.  viii. ;  Clarend<n, 
vol.  i.  app.  B. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

was  now  Protestant.  Panzani,  a  secret 
agent  sent  by  Urb.an  VHI.  to  England 
in  1635,  reported  that  the  Catholics  in 
the  kiugdom  were  about  150,000  in 
number.^  Among  these  doubtless  a  much 
larger  proportion  were  persons  of  property 
and  standing  than  was  the  case  in  the 
general  population.  Numerous  conver- 
sions added  to  their  strength  about  this 
time.  Panzani  declares,  in  the  Report 
just  quoted,  that  "while  he  was  in 
London,  almost  all  the  nobility  who 
died,  though  reputed  Protestants,  died 
Catholics."  Goodman,  the  Anglican 
bishop  of  Gloucester,  died  a  Koman 
Catholic.  Secretary  Cottington,  Secre- 
tary Windebank,  Crashaw  the  poet,  Sir 
George  Calvert  the  coloniser  of  Mary- 
land, Sir  Toby  Matthews  the  diplomatist, 
Abraham  Woodhead  one  of  the  Oxford 
proctors,  Cressy  a  canon  of  Windsor, 
with  many  others,  submitted  to  the 
Church  before  the  middle  of  the  century.^ 
It  was  to  these  conversions  that  Milton, 
whose  religious  sympathies  were  Puritan, 
referred  in  his  "  Lycidas"  (1638)  : 

**  Besides  what  the  grim  wolf,  with  privy  paw, 
Daily  devours  apace,  and  nothing  said." 

The  Catholics  began,  even  in  London, 
to  go  openhj  to  Mass;  schemes  of  re- 
union were  in  the  air  f  Laud's  ritual 
innovations,  and  the  measures  of  harsh 
repression  taken  in  the  High  Commission 
Court  against  the  Puritans,  all  seemed  tO' 
point  one  way. 

In  the  ci^dl  war  between  the  king 
and  the  Parliament,  which  soon  broke  out, 
the  English  Catholics,  to  a  man,  took 
the  king's  side.  This  has  been  spoken  of 
sometimes  in  their  honour,  sometimes  to 
their  dispraise  ;  but,  in  fact,  they  had  no 
alternative.  It  was  no  preference  for  an 
absolute  compared  with  a  constitutional 
monarchy  which  led  the  descendants  ot 
the  men  who  forced  reforms  from  John 
and  the  first  Edward,  now  to  rally  to  the 
royal  standard ;  but  a  simple  political 
necessity.  They  could  expect  some 
justice  from  the  king ;  they  could  expect 
]ione  from  the  Parliament.  The  popular 
party  under  Charles  I.,  and  the  country 
party  in  the  next  reign,  reserved  all  their 

1  Hallatn,  loc.  cit. ;  the  total  population  at 
this  time  was  probably  between  four  and  five 
millions. 

2  Flanagan,  ii.  327,  note. 

3  Montagu,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  made 
overtures  in  this  sense  to  Panzani ;  but  he 
seems  not  to  have  appreciated  the  difficulties  in 
the  way,  and  his  proposals  were  somewhat  coolly 
received.    Hallam,  loc.  cit. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS      297 

indignation  against  intolerance  for  Pro- 
testant persecution  of  Protestants ;  Protes- 
tant persecution  of  Catholics  was  in  their 
eyes  right  and  necessary.  This  is  the 
more  remarkable  because  at  this  very 
time  the  Protestants  across  the  Channel 
were  enjoying  full  toleration  under  the 
Edict  of  Nantes.  It  is,  however,  an  in- 
disputable fact ;  and  besides  being 
proved  in  many  other  ways,  it  is  estaV 
lished  by  a  mere  reference  to  the  returns 
of  the  executions  of  Catholics  during  the 
reign.  Between  1625  and  1640,  only  the 
two  persons  already  named  suffered  death ; 
but  in  the  period  between  the  meeting 
of  the  Long  Parliament  in  the  autumn  of 
1640  and  the  death  of  Cromwell  in  1658, 
the  penal  laws  claimed  twenty-four  vic- 
tims. A  few  of  these  were  executed  by 
royal  authority,  that  authority  being  put  in 
force  in  consequence  of  pressure  from  the 
Parliament ;  but  the  greater  number  were 
hanged  at  Tyburn,  after  the  king  had 
ceased  to  govern  in  London.  For  the 
death  of  the  aged  Father  South  worth, 
hanged  in  1654  solely  for  his  priesthood, 
Cromwell,  who  was  then  at  the  head  of 
the  government,  was  responsible.  There 
is  therefore  nothing  surprising  in  the  de- 
votion with  which  Catholics  fought  and 
suffered  in  the  cause  of  Charles  I.  Many 
of  them  feU  in  battle:  e.g.  Robert 
Dormer,  Earl  of  Carnarvon,  killed  at 
Newburj^  (1643),  and  Sir  Arthur  Aston, 
who  perished  in  the  massacre  after  the 
storm  of  Drogheda  (1649).  The  pages  of 
Dodd  record  the  names,  services,  and 
manner  of  death  of  many  others.  It  was 
estimated  (though  the  proportion  is  pro- 
bably too  high),  that  out  of  about  five 
hundred  gentlemen  who  lost  their  lives 
for  Charles  in  the  civil  war,  a  hundred 
and  ninety-four  were  Catholics.^  A  finer 
type  of  a  brave  and  loyal  gentleman, 
"  true  as  the  dial  to  the  sun,"  than  the 
Marquis  of  Worcester,^  lord  of  Raglan 
Castle,  it  would  not  be  easy  to  produce. 
When  the  Parliament  got  the  upper  hand, 
the  Cathohcs  were  treated  with  great 
severity ;  their  estates  were  often  confis- 
cated, when  their  Protestant  neighbours 
were  suffered  to  compound.  After  the 
king's  execution,  they  ceased  to  play  an 
active  part  in  public  life ;  nor  did  they 
seek  to  maintain  relations  with  the  exiled 

»  Dodd,  quoted  by  Hallam,  Const.  Hist. 
ch.  X. 

2  His  son,  Edward,  was  also  a  staunch 
Catholic  ;  his  grandson,  Henry,  first  Duke  of 
Beaufort,  conformed  to  the  Church  of  England. 
(Dodd.) 


298      ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 


royal  family.  Cromwell's  goTernment, 
on  the  whole,  treated  them  leniently. 
But,  in  truth,  after  the  battle  of  Wor- 
cester (1650)  all  parties  were  sick  of 
bloodshed,  and  this  feeling  protected  for 
some  years  the  Catholic  priests,  and  caused 
a  comparative  toleration  of  their  worship. 

Under  Charleii  II. — Reverting  to  the 
subject  of  ecclesiastical  organisation,  we 
find  that  the  archpriest  Black  well  (who, 
being  thrown  into  prison  after  the  Gun- 
powder Plot,  had  consented  to  take  the 
new  oath  of  allegiance)  was  on  this 
account  deprived  by  the  Holy  See  of  his 
office  and  of  all  faculties  (1608),  George 
Birkhead  being  appointed  to  succeed  him. 
Han-ison  succeeded  Birkhead  in  1614. 
Our  space  does  not  permit  us  to  do  more 
than  glance  at  the  dissensions  which 
troubled  the  Catholics,  arising  out  of  the 
contention  of  certain  priests  that  Black- 
weU's  jurisdiction  was  invalid,  and  out  of 
differences  between  seculars  and  regulars. 
The  necessity  for  the  presence  of  a  bishop 
in  England  became  more  and  more  mani- 
fest, and  at  length,  in  1623,  Dr.  William 
Bishop  was  appointed  by  Gregory  XV.  as 
the  first  vicar  apostolic.  He  erected  a 
chapter,  which  exercised  some  kind  of 
jurisdiction,  in  the  face  of  considerable 
doubt  and  opposition,  down  to  1095,  when 
a  decree  of  Propaganda  appeared,  declar- 
ing that  since  the  deputation  of  the  four 
vicars  apostolic  in  1688,  all  previously 
existing  jurisdictions  had  ceased.  Dr. 
Bishop  dying  in  1624,  Dr.  Richard  Smith 
succeeded  him  in  the  following  year,  but 
withdrew  into  France  lu  1629,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  proclamation  having  been 
made  for  his  arrest,  and  never  again  re- 
turned to  England.  He  died  in  1665. 
The  Holy  See  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to 
appoint  a  successor  for  many  years,  though 
strongly  urged  to  do  so  by  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby  and  others. 

Charles  II.,  who,  from  the  time  of  his 
enforced  residence  on  the  Continent, 
appears  to  have  been  intellectually  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  Catholicism,  but 
had  not  moral  courage  enough  to  avow  it, 
was  as  favourable  to  the  English  Cath- 
olics all  through  his  life  as  he  dared  to  be. 
The  Pendrells,  honest  Catholic  yeomen 
who  sheltered  him  while  he  was  in  hiding 
at  Boscobel  after  the  battle  of  Worcester, 
were  now  rewarded  with  a  pension, 
which  their  descendants  are  said  to  receive 
to  this  day.  Between  1660  and  1677  not 
a  single  Catholic  was  executed ;  two  Test 
Acts,  however,  were  passed,  requiring  that 
before  entering  upon  any  oflSce  under  the 


Crown,  or  taking  his  seat  in  Parliament, 
a  man  must  receive  the  sacrament  accord- 
ing to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England. 
The  effect  of  these  statutes,  joined  to  the 
other  penal  laws,  was  to  make  English 
Catholics  mere  sojourners  in  their  own 
land  till  the  passing  of  the  Emancipation 
Act  in  1829.  In  1678,  through  the 
machinations  of  Shaftesbury,  the  frantic 
popular  excitement  about  a  supposed 
"Popish  Plot"  arose,  and  between  that 
year  and  1685  the  blood  of  twenty-four 
victims,  all  absolutely  guiltless  ot'  any 
crime,  flowed  upon  the  scaffold.  The 
last  of  these  was  Oliver  Plunket,  the 
saintly  Archbishop  of  Armagh.  Chai'les 
II.  himself  was  reconciled  to  the  Church 
on  his  deathbed  by  Father  Huddleston. 

Under  James  II. — James  had  become 
a  Catholic,  while  Duke  of  York,  and 
his  change  of  religion  was  generally 
known  about  1673.  When  he  came  to  the 
throne  in  1685,  he  was  full  of  zeal  for 
Catholic  interests  ;  but  it  was  a  zeal  little 
"according  to  knowledge."  Moreover, 
the  scandalous  immorality  of  his  private 
life  justly  damaged  his  advocacy ;  pious 
Protestants  could  not  be  blamed  for  re- 
garding with  distrust  the  efforts  of  the 
married  lover  of  Catherine  Sedley  ^  to 
advance  the  interests  of  his  religion  by 
over-riding  the  existing  laws.  It  was  a 
time  when  special  caution  was  necessary, 
and  James  proceeded  with  singular  rash- 
ness. The  Catholics  had  by  this  time 
dwindled  fearfully  ;  ^  their  political 
weight  in  the  coimtry  was  gone  ;  Par- 
liament was  more  hkely  to  add  new 
penal  laws  against  them  than  to  repeal 
the  old  ones ;  their  one  hope  lay  in  the 
favour  of  the  executive.  Nor  need  this 
hope  have  been  fallacious;  for  the 
English,  when  not  alarmed  or  flurried, 
are  a  good-natured  and  indulgent  people ; 
the  penal  laws  were  intrinsically  unjust ; 
and  the  exemption  of  here  and  there  an 
individual  from  their  stringency  by  means 
of  the  dispensing  power,  assuming  that 
the  individuals  so  exempted  had  been  in- 
disputably fit  for  posts  of  public  trust, 
would  have  led  to  no  commotion.  That 
the  dispensing  power  was  really  a  part 
of  the  royal  prerogative,  as  till  then 
understood,  and  might  lawfully  be  exer- 

^  Lingard,  vol.  x.  ch.  2. 

2  According  to  a  return  quoted  by  Hallam, 
the  number  of  Catholics  above  sixteen  soon 
after  the  Revolution  was  only  13,856,  which 
would  give  under  30,000  for  the  whole  Catholic 
iwpulation.  Const.  Hist.  ch.  xv.  However, 
this  number,  as  he  adds,  "  appears  incredibljr 
smalL" 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

cised,  was  decided  by  eleven  out  of  twelve 
judges  at  Sir  Edward  Hales'  trial  in 
1686,  and  cannot  truthfully  be  questioned. 
But  James,  with  that  perverse  stupidity 
which  was  natural  to  him,  proceeded  to 
use  his  power  to  dispense  with,  as  if  it 
were  equivalent  to  a  power  to  repeal, 
the  law,  and  filled  the  public  service  with 
Catholics  to  an  extent  far  beyond  what 
either  their  numbers  or  their  qualifica- 
tions justified.  He  gave  commissions  in 
the  army  to  a  number  of  Catholic  officers, 
and  caused  Catholic  soldiers  to  be  freely 
enlisted  ;  he  ordered  four  Catholic  lords 
to  take  their  seals  in  the  Privy  CoueclI 
without  taking  the  test  required  by  law ; 
and  he  actually  made  Father  Petre,  one 
of  the  worst  qualified  men  in  England 
for  such  a  post,  a  privy  councillor,  al- 
though the  appointment,  owing  to  the 
strong  opposition  raised,  remained  in 
abeyance.^  He  worried  the  two  univer- 
sities, especially  Oxford,  where  he  forced 
his  candidate,  Parker  (who  bad  professed 
himself  a  Catholic),  upon  the  Fellows  of 
Magdalen  instead  of  the  President  of 
their  choice ;  made  Massy  (another 
Catholic)  dean  of  Christ  Church;  and 
induced  the  old  Master  of  University 
(Obadiah  Walker)  to  fit  up  a  chapel  for 
Catholic  worship  within  the  college  pre- 
cincts. But  the  most  utterly  foolish  and 
suicidal  act  of  all  was  when,  borrowing  a 
weapon  from  the  anti-Catholic  armoury 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  he  appointed  a  court 
of  Ecclesiastical  Commission  to  control 
the  Anglican  Church,  and  by  its  means 
suspended  the  Bishop  of  London,  because 
he  had  not  taken  severe  measures  against 
one  of  his  clergy  who  had  preached 
against  the  Court !  The  members  of  the 
commission,  it  is  true,  were  Protestants, 
with  the  exception  of  the  crafty  Sunder- 
land, a  nominal  convert,  who  boasted 
of  having  counselled  rash  courses  to  the 
king,  the  sooner  to  arouse  the  Protestant 
feeling  of  the  country.  But  they  were 
mere  courtiers,  and  the  odium  of  their 
acts  justly  fell  on  the  king,  who  appeared 
to  be  using  an  ecclesiastical  supremacy 
which  his  own  (Church  disowned  and  con- 
demned, in  order  to  vex  and  weaken  the 
body  for  whose  behoof  it  was  originally 
claimed.  None  can  wonder  that  the 
indignation  felt  was  general  and  deep. 

1  James  tried  hard  to  obtain  the  Cardinal's 
hat  for  F.  Petre,  but  this  the  Pope  (Innocent 
XI.)  courteously  but  firmly  declined.  Dryden, 
who  was  a  good  judge  of  men,  augured  ill  from 
the  political  elevation  of  the  favourite  QHind 
and  Panther,  book  ill.). 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS      299 

All  this  time  the  Whig  leaders  were 
secretly  negociating  with  William  of 
Orange;  an  army  of  fourteen  thousand 
veterans  was  equipped  with  all  the  expe- 
dition and  secrecy  possible;  an  invasion 
was  determined  on ;  and  the  landing  of 
the  troops  was  safely  efiected  in  Tor  Bay 
in  November  1688.  The  general. history 
of  the  period  shows  how  the  shameless 
treachery  of  Churchill  and  others,  and 
the  skilful  use  of  calumnies  against  the 
''  Papists,"  ^  paralysed  the  resistance  on 
the  king's  side.  Yet  nothing  can  be  more 
clear,  on  the  whole,  than  this — that  it 
was  the  solid  military  strength  of  the 
foreign  troops  who  had  been  landed 
which  enabled  the  Revolution  to  succeed. 
That  strength  would  not  have  sufficed 
without  those  calumnies,  and  without  the 
king's  unpopularity ;  but  these  last  causes 
could  not  have  overturned  the  throne 
without  the  presence  of  the  Dutch  troops. 
Macaulay  describes  with  exultation 
William's  entry  into  Exeter  on  the  9th  of 
November,  at  the  head,  not  only  of  his 
Dutch  regiments,  but  of  mercenary  bat- 
talions of  Swedes,  Brandenburghers,  Swiss, 
and  even  negroes,  followed  by  a  formi- 
dable train  of  artillery.  Against  these 
veterans  James's  inexperienced  troops, 
though  much  superior  in  numbers,  would 
probably  have  made  no  efiectual  stand; 
and  Churchill's  desertion  may  have  had 
more  motives  than  one.  As  Flamininus 
proclaimed  the  liberty  of  Greece  at  the 
Isthmian  Games,  so  William  displayed  a 
banner  inscribed  with  "  the  Liberties  of 
England ;  "  but  a  thoughtful  Englishman 
reading  the  narrative  might  weU  repeat 
the  verse  of  Wordsworth — 

"  Ah !  that  a  conqueror's  words  should  be  so 
dear!" 

The  Revolution  was  accomplished ;  for 
Catholics,  both  in  England  and  Ireland,  a 
long  period  of  humiliation  began.  Never- 
theless, from  one  point  of  view,  the  event 
justified  them  and  confounded  their  ad- 
versaries. There  was,  then,  a  "deposing 
power,"  after  all !  Catholics  had  been 
tortured  and  put  to  death,  not  for  main- 

1  "  Danby,"  says  Macaulay,  "  acted  with 
rare  dexterity."  At  a  general  meeting  of  the 
gentry  and  freeholders  of  the  three  Ridings 
which  had  been  summoned  to  York  to  address 
the  king  on  the  state  of  aft'airs,  '*  the  discus- 
sion had  begun,  when  a  cry  was  suddenly  raised 
that  the  Papists  were  up,  and  were  slaying  the 
Protestants."  They  were  more  likely,  as 
Macaula}'  says,  to  be  trembling  for  their  own 
safety  ;  but  the  thing  was  believed,  the  popu- 
lace were  gulled,  and  Yorkshire  went  for 
William.— Z^i«^  of  Engl.  ch.  ix. 


SOO      ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

taining  only,  but  simply  for  refusing  to 
deny,  that  a  king  who  grossly  abused  his 
trust  might  justly  be  deposed  by  the 
sentence  of  the  Pope,  as  the  common 
father  of  Christendom.  Protestantism 
had  maintained  that  this  was  a  wicked 
doctrine  :  that  no  power  could  depose  an 
anointed  king ;  the  duty  of  passive 
obedience  had  been  solemnly  enunciated 
by  the  University  of  Oxford  only  five 
years  before  the  Revolution.  Now,  on  a 
sudden,  the  king  was ,  deposed,  and  most 
Protestants  were  delighted.  It  appeared, 
therefore,  that  there  was  a  lawful  "de- 
posing power,"  but  that  it  resided,  not  in 
the  Pope,  but  in  any  strong  political  party 
assisted  by  a  foreign  army.  The  case 
resembled,  in  some  respects,  the  struggle 
of  the  League  with  Henri  Quatre  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  Catholic  League, 
helped  by  the  Pope,  prevented  the  un- 
reconciled Henry  from  reigning  peaceably ; 
the  Whig  party,  helped  by  a  Dutch 
army,  prevented  the  Catholic  James  from 
reigning  at  all.  Which  of  these  foreign 
interventions — the  helping  power  bejng 
moral  in  the  first  case,  material  in  the 
second — involved  the  greater  amount  of 
national  himiiliation,  it  may  be  left  to  the 
justice  of  the  future  to  decide. 

Since  the  Revolution. — From  1688  for 
nearly  a  hundred  years  English  Catholics 
were  debarred  from  any  share  in  the 
public  life  of  the  nation  and  subjected  to 
countless  disabilities  and  indignities.  A 
new  batch  of  penal  laws  came  in  with 
William  "the  Deliverer."  First  it  was 
enacted  (1689)  that  Papists  and  reputed 
Papists  should  remove  at  least  ten  miles 
from  Westminster,  Another  statute  of 
the  same  year  ordered  that  Papists  and 
reputed  Papists  should  be  disarmed,  and 
that  a  horse  worth  more  than  61.  be- 
longing to  any  Papist  should  be  seized. 
In  the  Toleration  Act  (1689)  a'  proviso 
was  inserted,  "that  neither  this  Act,  nor 
any  clause,  article,  or  thing  herein  con- 
tained, shall  extend,  or  be  construed  to 
extend,  to  give  any  ease,  benefit,  or  ad- 
Tantage  to  any  papist  or  popish  recusant 
whatsoever."  In  the  BiU  of  Rights  it  was 
'declared  that  no  Papist,  nor  anyone  that 
married  a  Papist,  should  inherit  the 
■crown.  In  a  later  statute  (1699)  "for 
further  preventing  the  growth  of  Popery," 
a  reward  of  100^.  was  ofi'ered  "for  in- 
formation leading  to  the  conviction  of 
a  Catholic  priest  for  saying  Mass  or 
keeping  school,  and  such  priest  was  to  be 
imprisoned  for  life.  It  contained  also 
provisions  of  which  the  object  was  to 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

disinherit  Catholic  landowners,  and  trans- 
fer their  estates  to  the  next  of  kin  being, 
or  becoming,  ProtesUint.  The  Act  of 
Settlement  (1701)  contirmed  the  decision 
of  the  former  Act,  by  which  the  son  of 
James  II.  had  been  included  in  the  sen- 
tence of  deprivation  passed  against  the 
father,  and  settled  the  crown  on  the 
Princess  Sophia  and  her  issue,  being 
Protestants.  In  the  Bill  of  Rights  before 
mentioned  a  new  oath  of  allegiance  was 
inserted,  by  which  aspirants  to  public 
employment  were  required  to  deny  that 
any  foreign  prelate — and  therefore,  by 
implication,  the  Pope — had  or  ought  to 
have  any  ecclesiastical  or  spiritual  juris- 
diction within  the  realm.  The  object 
being  now  to  exclude  English  Catholics — ■ 
not,  as  it  had  been  under  James  I.,  to 
entrap  them — this  was  the  simplest  way 
of  attaining  the  end  proposed,  since  no 
Catholic  could  take  the  oath  without 
abjuring  his  religion.  In  violation  of 
the  treaty  of  Limerick  (1691)  to  which 
William's  faith  was  pledged,  the  Irish 
Parliament  framed,  in  the  course  of  this 
and  the  next  reign,  their  notorious  penal 
code,  with  the  deliberate  object  of  destroy- 
ing the  nationality,  breaking  the  spirit, 
and  plundering  the  remaining  property, 
of  the  Catholic  people  of  Ireland. 

A  large  proportion — perhaps  the  ma- 
jority—of the  English  people  regarded 
William  as  a  usurper ;  many  of  the  very 
men  who  had  set  him  up,  in  particular 
Marlborough  and  Russell,  repented  of 
what  they  had  done,  and  opened  secret 
negotiations  with  the  exiled  Court ;  there 
were  the  war  in  Ireland,  the  plot  of  Sir 
J.  Fenwick,  James's  conciliatory  Declara- 
tion of  1693,  and  the  war  carried  on  by 
France  from  1691  to  1697.  Everything 
however  miscarried — partly  through  Wil- 
liam's sagacity  and  good  fortune,  but 
chiefly  owing  to  the  rooted  aversion  of  a 
community  long  inured  to  heresy  to  come 
to  any  terms  with  Catholicism.  As  Pope 
says-^ 

Hopes  after  hopes  of  pious  Papists  failed, 
While  miirhty   William's   thundering    arm 
prevailed. 

James  died  in  1701,  and  Anne  his 
daughter  succeeded  in  the  following  year. 
Her  brother,  James  HI.,  was  brought  up 
at  the  French  Court ;  the  chivalrous  gene- 
rosity of  Louis  XIV.  never  sufiered  him 
to  feel  that  he  was  a  dependent  and  a 
helpless  exile.  If  the  young  mjm  would 
have  consented  to  embrace  the  Anglican 
religion,  his  accession,  upon  Anne's  death, 
would    have    been    efi'ected    with    ease. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

Curious  eyidence  of  this  may  be  seen  in 
Lord  Middleton*s  correspondence  with 
Cardinal  Gualterio.^  For  instance,  writing 
in  1712  to  complain  of  a  certain  coldness 
and  want  of  sympathy  on  the  part  of  the 
Pope  (Clement  XI.)  towards  his  unfortu- 
nate master,  Middleton  says  this  is  all 
the  harder  to  bear  when  the  king  is 
surrounded  by  temptations,  and  "  the 
English  are  resorting  to  every  means,  in 
the  endeavour  to  gain  him  and  bring  him 
over  to  their  side ;  he  would  have  but  to 
comply,  in  order  to  be  recalled,  and  to 
reign  peaceably  in  his  three  kingdoms." 
But,  he  adds,  his  master's  religious  faith 
is  too  firm  and  pure  to  allow  him  to  listen 
to  such  overtures  for  a  moment. 

As  soon  as  Anne  was  dead,  James 
made  the  attempt  to  regain  the  throne 
of  his  fathers  for  which  he  had  been  long 
preparing;  and  the  rising  of  1715  was 
the  result.  But  for  the  incompetency  of 
the  leaders,  Mar  and  Forster,  opposed  as 
they  were  by  Whig  chiefs  of  great  vigour 
and  ability,  the  enterprise  might  have 
succeeded ;  for  the  rule  of  a  foreigner  who 
could  not  speak  a  word  of  English  was 
most  miacceptable  to  the  great  majority 
of  the  people.  Both  after  this  rising,  and 
the  much  more  serious  one  of  1745,  the 
scaffold  streamed  with  the  blood  of  Jaco- 
bite and  Catholic  traitors,  men  who  died 
bravely  for  hereditary  right,  and  were 
immolated  by  the  Whigs  on  the  altar  of 
revolution  and  parliamentary  sovereignty. 
The  elder  Chevalier  died  in  1758 ;  the 
younger,  as  time  wore  on,  was  said  to 
nave  fallen  into  vicious  courses.  Despair- 
ing of  ever  seeing  the  ancient  line  restored, 
the  Catholics  of  England  had  begun  to  cool 
in  their  loyalty  to  the  Stuart  family,  just 
about  the  time  when  the  disasters  of  the 
later  years  of  the  War  of  Independence 
had  warned  the  English  Government  of  the 
expediency  of  conciliating  the  proscribed 
classes  in  the  population  of  England  and 
Ireland.  Sir  George  Savile's  Act  of  1778 
repealed  the  worst  portions  of  the  statute 
of  1699 ;  a  new  oath  of  allegiance  was 
fram  d,  which  it  was  possible  for  a  Catho- 
lic to  take  without  denying  his  religion ; 
and  Catholic  noblemen  and  gentlemen 
flocked  up  to  Westminster  in  great  num- 
bers to  take  it.  It  would  ill  become  us, 
who  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  full  civil 
rights,  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  conduct 
of  men   so  severely  tried   as  were   the 

1  Gualterio  Papers,  Add.  MSS.  31,257, 
Brit.  Mus.  Middleton,  a  man  of  character  and 
capacity  (see  Macaulay ),  was  Secretary  of  State 
at  the  exiled  Court. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS      301 

English  Catholics  of  those  days.  Yet  it 
may  be  remarked  that  their  abandonment 
of  the  Stuart  cause,  whether  justifiable  or 
not,  was  far  from  bringing  them  the  ad- 
vantages which  they  expected  from  it. 
Parliamentary  life  and  public  employment 
were  still  barred  against  them  by  the 
Test  Acts.  Fifty  years  had  still  to  elapse 
before  those  barriers  were  removed  by  the 
Act  of  Emancipation.  During  all  that 
time  the  Catholics — at  least  an  educated 
and  influential  section  of  them — were 
incessantly  agitating;  they  were  ready 
to  go  to  lengths  which  seem  to  us  ridicu- 
lous ;  to  call  themselves  "  Protesting 
Catholic  Dissenters  " — give  Government 
a  veto  on  the  appointment  of  bishops — 
pledge  themselves  to  support  the  Angli- 
can Establishment — and  repudiate  the 
temporal  jurisdiction  of  the  Koman  Pon- 
tiffs in  every  conceivable  form,^  if  only 
they  might  be  admitted  within  the  pale 
of  the  constitution.  All  was  in  vain  ;  and 
it  was  not  till  the  imminent  danger  of 
civil  war  in  Ireland,  with  a  great  man 
like  O'Connell  leading  the  Catholics, 
frightened  the  English  Parliament  into 
new  courses,  that  the  Catholic  claims 
were  conceded  (1829).  It  is  also  in- 
dubitable that  the  sight  of  so  many 
Catholic  gentlemen  coming  up  to  London 
to  take  the  oaths  excited  the  slumbering 
bigotry  of  the  Protestants :  Wesley  wrote 
several  violent  anti-Catholic  tracts;  the 
Protestant  Association  was  formed;  and 
the  terrible  riots  of  1780  wrecked  in  a 
week — for  the  London  mission  at  least — 
the  slow  and  difficult  reparations  of  two 
hundred  years.^  Moreover — as  if  some 
secret  link  existed  in  the  minds  of  many 
Catholics  between  loyalty  to  their  princes 
and  fidelity  to  their  religion — the  aban- 
donment of  the  Stuarts  was  followed  by 
the  open  defection  from  the  faith  of  several 
Catholics  of  high  standing,  and  even  of 
some  priests.^  The  death,  in  1807,  of  the 
last  male  descendant  of  James  II.,  Henry, 
Cardinal  of  "York,  appeared  to  the  general 


*  See  Charles  Butler's  Historical  Memoirs 

(1819)  and  Milner's  Supplementary  Memoirs 

(1820)  for  the  history  of  the  famous  Catholic 
Committee  of  1787. 

2  The  number  of  Catholics  -was  now  con- 
siderably increased,  and  "  appears,  by  the  re- 
turns made  to  the  House  of  Lords  in  1780,  to 
have  been  [in  England  and  Wales]  69,376." 
Husenbeth's  Life  of  Bishop  Milner,  p.  91. 

^  Milner  gives  the  names  of  nine  peers,  four 
baronets,  and  five  priests,  with  an  "  &c."  after 
each  list.  See  Suppl.  Mem.  p.  44,  note.  He  is 
speaking  of  the  year  immediately  following 
1780. 


302      ENGLISH  CATHOLICS 

public  to  confer^  on  the  fortunate  House 
of  Hanover,  besides  its  existing  titles  of 
possession  and  Parliamentary  sanction,  the 
title  also  of  hereditary  right.  Daring  the 
long  Continental  war,  the  Catholic  body 
strenuously  supported,  with  whatever  so- 
cial and  political  influence  was  left  to  it, 
the  king  and  the  aristocracy,  in  their 
struggle  against  the  crowned  anarchy  in 
France.  Soon  after  Emancipation  (which, 
as  shown  above,  was  obtained  for  English 
Catholics  by  the  growing  political  power 
of  their  Irish  brethren),  what  is  known  as 
the  Tractarian  movement  developed  itself 
within  the  English  church  (1833).  The 
chief  leader  and  most  gifted  representa- 
tive of  the  movement,  John  Henry  New- 
man, followed  by  Dr.  Ward,  Mr.  Oakeley, 
and  several  hundreds  of  the  clergy  and 
laity  of  the  Establishment,  came  over  to 
the  Catholic  Church  in  or  about  the  year 
1845.  An  Irish  immigration  during  the 
last  forty  years  has  largely  increased,  in 
all  the  large  towns,  the  Catholic  element ; 
80  that  the  total  Catholic  population  in 
England  and  Wales  is  believed  at  the 
present  time  to  be  at  least  one  million. 
The  number  of  clergy  of  and  above  the 
sacerdotal  order,  secular  and  regular,  with- 
in the  same  limits,  is  close  upon  two 
thousand. 

Reverting  again  to  the  subject  of 
ecclesiastical  organisation,  we  find  that, 
after  the  long  interval  of  nearly  sixty 
years  (1629-1685)  during  which  there 
was  no  resident  bishop  in  England,  the 
Holy  See,  at  the  request  of  James  II., 
nominated  four  bishops  of  sees  in  pai-tihus 
to.  be  vicars  apostolic  in  as  many  districts 
into  which  England  was  now  divided— 
the  London,  the  Midland,  the  Northern, 
and  the  Western.  The  first  holders  of 
these  vicariates  were  Drs.  Leyburn,*^  Gif- 
ford,  Smith,  and  Ellis,  and  the  succession 
was  from  this  time  uninterrupted.  The 
saintly  bishop  Challoner  governed  the 
London  district,  at  first  as  coadjutor, 
from  1741  to  1781,  dying  at  the  age  of 
ninety.  The  rugged,  energetic,  noble- 
hearted  Milner,  Bishop  of  Castabala,  au- 
thor of  the  "End  of  Controversy"  and 
many  other  well-known  works,  was  vicar 
apostolic  in  the  Midland  district  from 

1  It  did  not  really  do  so  ;  for  the  lines  of 
Savoy  and  Savoy-Modena,  being  descended 
from  Charles  I.,  have  a  better  title  to  the  crown 
on  the  legitimist  principle  than  the  House  of 
Hanover,  which  traces  back  to  Elizabeth, 
Charles  I.'s  sister. 

3  Dr.  Levburn  had  been  consecrated  as  sole 
Ticar  apostolic  three  years  earlier. 


ENGLISH  COLLEGE,  ROME 

1803  to  his  death  in  1826.  The  "  Rules 
of  the  Mission,"  which  put  an  end  to 
many  disputes  of  old  standing,  were  set- 
tled by  a  bull  of  Benedict  XIV.  in 
1753. 

A  new  division  was  made  in  1840, 
when  the  number  of  vicariates  was  raised 
to  eight. 

In  1850,  by  an  apostolic  brief  of  the 
late  Pope  Pius  IX.,  the  privilege  of  being 
governed  by  bishops  in  ordinary,  after 
an  intermission  of  nearly  three  hundred 
years,  was  restored  to  the  English  Cath- 
olics, to  the  unspeakable  satisfaction  of  all 
concerned,  though  to  the  consternation 
of  many  who  were  not  concerned,  who 
raised  an  extraordinary  hubbub  about 
what  they  called  the  Pope's  "  insolent 
intrusion."  Parliament  hastily  passed  an 
Act  (which,  after  remaining  inoperative 
for  some  years,  was  repealed),  prohibit- 
ing the  new  bishops  from  taking  terri- 
torial titles.  By  the  Papal  brief,  the 
whole  kingdom,  with  Wales,  was  formed 
into  one  province  under  the  new  Arch- 
bishop of  Westminster,  Cardinal  Wiseman, 
with  twelve  suftragan  sees:  Beverley, 
Birmingham,  Clifton,  Hexham,  Liverpool, 
Newport  and  Menevia,  Northampton, 
Nottingham,  Plymouth,  Salford,  Shrews- 
bury, and  South wark.  Of  the  prelates 
who  were  the  first  to  fill  these  sees,  Dr. 
Ullathorne,  the  venerated  Bishop  of  Birm- 
ingham, alone  siu*vives.  In  1878,  the 
diocese  of  Beverley  was  divided  into  two 
new  dioceses,  Leeds  and  Middlesbrough ; 
and  in  188!^  the  new  diocese  of  Ports- 
mouth was  formed  out  of  Southwark. 

There  has  been  little  opportunity  for 
English  Catholics  since  the  Reformation 
to  serve  their  country  in  civil  or  military 
capacities,  because  they  have  been  usually 
imder  the  ban  of  the  laws.  In  literature, 
the  field  being  comparatively  open,  many 
among  them  have  attained  to  distinction. 
The  names  of  Pope  and  Dryden  will  occur 
to  everyone ;  besides  these  may  be  men- 
tioned Habington,  Crashaw,  Massinger, 
Alban  Butler,  Bishops  Challoner  and  Mil- 
ner, Cardinal  AViseman,  Waterton,&c.  &c. 
EXTGIiZSK  COXiIiEGi:  AT  ROME. 
A  school  and  hostel  for  the  use  of  English- 
men dwelling  at  or  visiting  Rome  is  said 
by  Matthew  of  Westminster  to  have  been 
founded  by  Ina,  King  of  Wessex,  in  7'27. 
Matthew  of  Westminster  is  a  somewhat 
late  authority ;  his  statement,  therefore, 
cannot  be  accepted  with  confidence. 
Malmesbury  ("  Gest.  Reg."  lib.  ii.)  asserts 
that  the  school  was  founded  by  Offa,  King 
of  Mercia.    On  the  other  hand,  Matthew 


ENGLISH  COLLEGE,  ROME 

Paris  ^  tells  us  that  this  same  Offa  only 
visited  tlie  school,  in  791 ,  and  found  it  fiour- 
isbiug;  also  that  he  endowed  it  for  all  time 
to  come  with  an  annual  penny  payable 
by  every  family  in  his  kingdom.  Ho\y- 
ever  this  may  be,  we  have  it  on  excellent 
authority  ^  that  the  school  of  the  English 
nation,  "  Angelcynnes  scolu,"  Avas  burnt 
down  in  816.  Tradition  said  that  it  was 
rebuilt  by  Egbert,  again  burnt  down  in 
853,  and  restored  by  Ethelwulf,  the  father 
of  Alfred.''  In  884,  Pope  Marinus  freed  it 
from  all  tribute,  at  the  request  of  Alfred.* 
Nearly  three  hundred  years  afterwards, 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  is  said  to  have 
resided  at  the  hostel  and  visited  the  church 
near  it,  in  the  Via  di  Monserrato,  formerly 
built  by  Oifa  in  honour  of  the  Holy 
Trinity.^  Close  to  this  church,  two  cen- 
turies later,  in  1380,  "certain  English- 
men, being  in  Rome,  procured  licence  of 
the  Pope  to  build  a  hospital."^  The 
old  school  and  hostel  seem  to  have  dis- 
appeared ;  the  church,  soon  after  the 
martyrdom,  had  received  the  name  of 
St.  Thomas ;  it  was  desecrated  by  the 
French  Jacobins.  Among  the  founders 
were  two  bishops  (Bray broke  of  Lon- 
don and  Brampton  of  Rochester)  and 
some  of  the  principal  citizens  of  London. 
The  hospital  was  for  the  use  of  English 
travellers  or  pilgrims;  a  gentleman  was 
to  be  lodged,  but  not  fed,  for  three  days; 
a  commoner  was  to  be,  lodged  and  fed 
for  eight  days ;  if  a  pregnant  woman  was 
confined  there,  she  was  to  be  kept  with- 
out charge  till  after  her  purification,  and 
then  to  depart  with  the  child  ;  but  if  she 
feared  to  taK'e  the  child  with  her,  it  was 
to  be  maintained  till  it  was  seven  years 
old.  A  considerable  endowment  must 
have  been  provided  in  order  to  enable  so 
munificent  a  charity  to  be  carried  out. 
In  1419,  the  hospital  was  rebuilt  on  an 
improved  plan ;  to  meet  the  expense  a 
collection  was  made  in  every  parish  in 
England;  but  the  plan  is  said  to  have 
answered  but  ill,  owing  to  the  great 
cost  of  transmitting  the  money.  Under 
Henry  VIII.  several  persons,  whom  fear  of 
the  tyrant  had  driven  from  England,  were 

1  Vita  Offee  II. 

2  Sax  Chron.  sub  anno. 
5  Malmes.  loc.  cit. 

*  Asser,  sub  anno. 

5  It  does  not  seem  impossible  that  St. 
Thomas  a  Becket  visited  Rome  in  the  course  of 
his  four  years'  residence  at  Sens  (1166-1170)  ; 
but  no  contemporary  writer  mentions  anything 
of  the  kind. 

6  Stov/'s  History  of  London,  quoted  by 
Dodd. 


ENGLISH  COLLEGE,  ROME    303 

relieved  in  this  Roman  hospital.  When 
the  Catholic  bishops  were  driven  from 
their  sees  at  the  accession  of  Ehzabeth, 
Thomas  Goldwell,  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph, 
came  to  Rome,  and  was  allowed  by  the 
Pope  to  have  the  use  of  the  hospital,  along 
with  several  Marian  priests  and  two  or 
three  laymen.  The  same  Goldwell  sooii 
afterwards  sat  as  one  of  the  fathers  of 
Trent. 

A  great  change  now  passed  over  the 
hospital ;  it  had  heretofore  served  to 
supply  the  material  wants  of  the  few 
English  who  visited  Rome ;  it  was  now  to 
be  remodelled,  and  serve  for  the  future 
the  spiritual  wants  of  the  whole  English 
nation ,  then  fast  lapsing  into  heresy.  The 
generous  soul  of  Gregory  XIIL,  moved 
with  a  deep  compassion  for  the  state  of 
England,  and  instigated  by  Dr.  Allen 
(afterwards  Cardinal)  and  Owen  Lewis, 
Archdeacon  of  Cambrai,  resolved  upon 
the  conversion  of  the  hospital  into  a  mis- 
sionary college.  For  this  purpose  (1578) 
he  added  plentifully  to  the  old  rents, 
assigning,  till  other  provision  shoidd  be 
made,  3,000  crowns  annually  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  college  from  the  Apostolic 
Datary,  and  making  Cardinal  Morone, 
the  legate  whose  able  diplomacy  had 
done  so  much  for  the  success  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  its  first  protector.  The 
bull  effecting  all  this  begins  Quantam 
boniias.  The  design  was  that  the  col- 
lege should  maintain  about  sixty  students, 
all  English,  and  that  these  should  swear 
to  -go  on  the  English  mission  on  the 
completion  of  their  education  as  might  be 
directed  by  their  superior.  Dr.  Maurice 
Clenock  was  nominated  the  first  reator, 
but  in  about  a  year^  the  college  was 
made  over  to  the  Company  of  Jesus,  who 
had  the  charge  of  it  down  to  the  sup- 
pression of  the  society  in  1773.  The 
supply  of  students  came  at  first  from  the 
Rheims  seminary,  afterwards  from  the 
Jesuit  school  of  ■'^t.  Omer.  Gregory  XIII. 
enriched  the  college  with  many  gifts  and 
privileges ;  Sixtus  V.  (Peretti),  though  he 
favoured  its  design,  found  himself  com- 
pelled by  financial  difficulties  to  make  a 
large  deduction  from  the  revenue  hitherto 
assigned  to   it  from   the   Datary ;    Gre- 

"  The  cause  of  Dr.  Clenock 's  removal  was 
an  unhappy  difference  which  arose  between  the 
Welsh  and  English  students.  The  latter  com- 
])lained  that  the  rector,  a  Welshman,  sliowed 
partiality  towards  his  countrymen,  and  became 
insubordinate.  Being  required  to  obey  or  leave 
Rome,  they,  to  the  number  of  twenty,  chose 
the  latter  alternative.  See  Flanagan's  Churek 
History,  vol.  ii.  ch.  12. 


804 


EPACT 


gory  XIV.  raised  the  grant  again,  though 
not  to  its  former  level.     By  1647,  the 
college  could  count    among    its  alumni 
forty  priests  who  had  suifered  martyrdom 
in  England.     Pictures  of  many  of  these 
hung    upon   the    interior   walls   of    the 
college  previous  to  the  havoc  and  rapine 
made  by  the  French  invaders  in  1798. 
So  near  to  certainty  was  their  chance  of 
winning  the  palm  considered,  that  when 
St.  Philip  Neri  the  founder  of  the  Oratory 
met  any  of  tlie  students,  he  used  to  salute 
them   with   the   words,    '' Salcete,  fores 
vtartyram  !  "    ("  Hail,  ye  floweis  of  the 
martyrs").  On  the  disputes  and  difficulties 
which  commenced  in  the  sixteenth  and 
continued  on  in  the  seventeenth  centur}', 
hecause  some  of  the  students,  either  for 
the  sake  of  a  more  secure  subsistence,  or 
in  the  belief  that  it  could  not  be  wrong 
to  embrace  a  more  perfect  way  of  life, 
neglected  the  missionary  oath  by  which 
they  were  bound  to  sen^e  as  seculars  on 
the  English  mission,  and  joined  religious 
orders,  some  particulars  may  be  seen  in 
Flanagan,  vol.  ii.  ch.  23.     All  such  pro- 
ceedings were  severely  condemned  by  a 
brief  of  Alexander  VII.  dated  in  1660. 
After  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuits,  and 
till  the  French  invasion,  the  college  ap- 
pears to  have  been  managed  by  seculars. 
The  advent   of  the  Jacobins  involved  it 
and  most  of  the  other  colleges  in  ruin  ; 
and  it  was  only  restored  in  1818,  during 
the   pontificate   of  Pius   VII.,   who  ap- 
pointed   Dr.    Robert    GradweU    rector. 
Nicholas  Wiseman,  afterwards  Cardinal, 
was  rector  under  Gregory  XVI.  (1831- 
1846),  and  celebrated  the  Pope's  visit  to 
the  college,  in  1836,  by  a  charming  Latin 
address,  which  may  be  seen  inscribed  on 
the  walls.     The  dress  of  the  students  is 
the  soutane,  the  mantellone,  or  long  cloak, 
of    black   cloth,  and    the   clerical    hat. 
Among  the  Cardinal-protectors  since  the 
restoration  of  the  college  have  been  Con- 
ealvi,  Zurla,  and  Weld      A  new  church 
(1882),  dedicated  to  St.  Thomas  a  Becket, 
is  fast  approaching  completion.     (Dodd's 
"  Church    History,"    part    iv. ;    Moroni, 
"Dizionario  Ecclesiastico.") 
EPACT.    [See  Cycle.] 

EPARCBir  {enapxia).  This  was 
the  Greek  word  for  proiincia.  On  the 
transfer  of  the  term  to  the  ecclesiastical 
organisntion,  it  meant  an  ecclesiastical 
province  governed  by  a  metropolitan 
{eirapxos)  and  containing  several  bishops' 
sees.  (For  this  use  Suicer,  in  his 
"  Thesaurus,"  quotes  Macarius  of  Ancyra.) 
The  Council  of  Antioch  (341)  limited  the 


EPHESUS.  COUNCIL  OF 

exercise  of  a  bishop's  power  to  his  own 
inapxia ;  by  which  some  have  under- 
stood "diocese;"  but  it  is  better  to 
understand  it  of  his  ecclesiastical  province. 

In  the  Russian  schismatical  church  at 
the  present  day  a  bishop  is  called  an 
"  eparch ; "  in  1839  there  were  in  Bussia 
forty-six  "  eparchies"  or  episcopal  sees. 

EPHESUS,  COUN-CZI.  OP.  The 
Third  General  Council  mt^t  at  Ephesus 
in  431,  defined  the  Catholic  dogma  that 
the  Blessed  Virgin  is  the  mother  of  God, 
and  condemned  the  contrary  error  of 
Nestorius. 

1.  The  Occasion  of  the  De/lnitian. — 
The  Church  had  taught  the  reality  of 
Christ's  human  nature  in  opposition  to  the 
Docet^,  expressly  defined  his  true  and 
perfect  Godhead  when  it  was  denied  by 
the  Arians ;  and  at  a  later  date  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  way  in  which  these  two 
natures  were  united  began  to  be  agitated. 
Early  Fathers  had  used  different  expres- 
sions to  indicate  this  union,  but  they  had 
not  investigated,  or  at  least  discussed,  the 
point  with  scientific  precision.  Ionatiu8 
sy^eaks  of  Christ  as  "bearing  flesh  (o-apKo- 
(})6pos)'y  Tertullian  describes  Him  as 
"clothed  with  flesh ;"  very  often  the  early 
Fathers  use  the  word  "mixture  "  {Kpacns, 
cominixtid)  of  the  union  between  the  two 
natures.'^  No  doubt  these  expressions  are 
meant  to  express  the  Catholic  doctrine 
that  the  two  natures  of  God  and  Man  are 
united  in  the  one  Person  of  the  Word, 
that  the  one  Christ  is  both  God  and  Man  j 
but  the  theological  controversies  which 
began  in  the  fourth  century  made  it  plain 
that  formal  definition  on  the  union  of  the 
two  natures  in  Chi-ist  was  imperatively 
demanded. 

The  doctrine  of  Apollinaris,  who 
taught  that  the  divinity  in  Christ  sup- 
plied the  place  of  intellect  which  is  proper 
to  man,  amounted  to  a  denial  that  Christ 
really  was  perfect  man  and  to  a  confusion 
of  the  divine  with  the  human  nature.  In 
opposition  to  this  false  doctrine,  great 
teachers  in  the  school  of  Antioch,  particu- 
larly Diodorus  of  Tarsus,  and  Theodore, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Mopsuestia,  fell  into 
error  at  the  opposite  extreme.  Theodore, 
who  developed  the  ideas  of  Diodorus  and 
is  the  great  representative  of  the  school, 
in  his  anxiety  to  maintain  the  perfect 
manhood  of  Christ,  conceiviKi  of  Him  as  a 
man  in  whom  God  the  Word  dwelt — i.e. 

^  Ad  Smyni.  5, 

2  See  Iren.  iii.  19,  1  ;  Redepenning's  note 
on  Oris.  J^e  Princip.  p.  196  ;  Cyprian,  JJe  Vdu- 
itai.  Idol.  ii. 


EPHESUS,  COUNCIL  OF 

he  confessed,  not  that  the  Word  hecame 
man  {ivavOpwirrjo-is),  but  merely  that 
the  Word,  who  dwells  in  all  good  Chris- 
tians, dwelt  in  a  special  way  and  with 
extraordinary  power  in  Christ  (evoUrjais) 
True,  he  distinguishes  the  indwelling 
of  the  Word  in  Christ  from  his  indwel- 
ling in  Christians,  pointing  to  Christ's 
eupernatural  birth,  his  sinlessness,  and  to 
the  fact  that,  ow- ing  to  the  union  between 
the  Word  and  Christ,  the  latter  partici- 
pated in  the  glory  of  the  former ;  still, 
far  as  he  may  have  been,  and  doubtless 
was,  from  intending  it,  the  logical  result 
of  his  premisses  was  to  reduce  Christ  to  a 
mere  man,  diflering  from  others  in  the 
degree  and  not  in  the  kind  of  his  union 
with  God.  Further,  Theodore,  as  he  did 
not  acknowledge  the  unity  of  Person  in 
Christ,  was  forced  to  reco^'uise  in  Him  two 
different  and  distinct  agents.  [See  Com- 
MFJsriOATio  Idtomatum.]  Catholics  say 
'' God  suiiered,"  *nhe  man  Christ  raised 
the  dead,"  because  the  one  Person  of  the 
Word  suilered  in  his  human,  raised  the 
dead  in  the  might  of  his  divine  nature, 
just  as  in  the  case  of  ordinary  men  it  is 
the  one  personal  being  who  reasons  with 
his  mind  and  moves  with  his  body,  flere 
Theodore  was  at  issue  with  the  language 
of  Scripture  and  the  Fathers  from  the 
earliest  times.  St.  Peter  says  (Acts  iii. 
15)  the  Jews  "  killed  the  prince  of  life," 
and  one  of  his  earliest  successors,  Clement 
of  Kome,  speaks  of  "the  sufferings  of 
God."  In  particular,  Theodore  refused  to 
call  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mother  of  God, 
although  the  title  had  been  approved  by 
Origen,  Alexander  of  Alexandria,  and 
Athanasius.^  Only  in  a  loose  sense,  he 
urged,  could  Mary  be  called  the  Mother 
of  God,  viz.  because  God  dwelt  in  Christ 
after  an  extraordinary  manner.  Properly 
speaking  she  bore  a  man,  in  whom  the 
union  with  the  Word  had  begun,  but  was 
80  far  from  being  perfect  that  he  was  not 
[till  his  baptism]  called  the  Son  of  God." 
In  another*p]ace  he  writes,  "  It  is  mad- 
ness to  say,  God  was  born  of  the  Virgin  ; 
not  God,  but  the  temple  in  which  God 
dwelt  was  born  of  Mary." 

Nestorius  was  a  younger  contemporary 
of  and  belonged  to  the  school  of  Theodore. 
Born  in  a  Syrian  town,  Germanicia,  he 
came  for  his  secular  education  to  Antioch, 
entered  a  monastery  there,  became  after- 
wards a  priest  of  the  cathedral,  and  made 
a  good  reputation  by  his  eloquence  and 

1  See  Cardinal  Newman's  note  in  Oxford 
translation  of  St.  Athauasius,  p.  420  (in  the  old 
edition). 


EPHESUS,  COUNCIL  OF     305 

strictness  of  life.  In  428  he  was  con- 
secrated Bishop  of  Constantinople.  Al- 
most immediately  afterwards  the  strife  on 
the  title  deoroKos  began:  indeed,  Nes- 
torius said  he  found  the  strife  already 
kindled  wlien  he  came  to  Constantinople. 
In  homilies,  fragments  of  which  are  pre- 
served, Nestorius  defended  the  doctrine 
which  had  been  propounded  by  Theodore, 
to  the  great  scandal,  not  only  of  priests, 
but  of  lay  people.  The  orthodox  cause 
was  defended  in  Constantinople  itself  by 
the  bishops  Eusebius  of  Dorylseum  and 
Proclus  of  Cyzicum,  Avliile  Cyril  of  Alex- 
andria stated  the  true  doctrine  in  a  ser- 
mon preached  at  Easter  429,  and  wrote 
twice  to  Nestorius,  conjuring  him  to  re- 
cant. Cyril's  letters  w^ere  in  \ain,  and 
both  he  and  Nestorius  referred  the  case  to 
the  Roman  bishop.  The  Pope,  Celestine 
I.,  called  on  Nestorius  to  recant  within 
ten  days,  and  commissioned  Cyril  to  depose 
him  in  case  of  reiusal.  At  a  rouccil  held 
in  Alexandria  Cyril  published  tw^elve 
anathemas  against  the  doctrine  of  Nes- 
torius. .Nestorius  answere-d  with  twelve 
anathemas  of  his  own.  John  of  Antioch, 
Theodoret  of  Cyrus,  and  others  sided 
with  Nestorius,  and  to  restore'  peace  the 
Emperor  Theodosius  II.  convoked  a  coun- 
cil at  Ephesus  in  431.  Pope  Celestine 
WTote  to  Theodosius  on  May  15  of  that 
year  promising  to  send  legates. 

2.  The  History  of  the  Council. — For 
some  time  the  bishops  who  had  assembled 
at  Ephesus  waited  for  the  arrival  of  John, 
Patriarch  of  Antioch ;  when,  however, 
there  seemed  to  be  no  hope  of  his  arrival, 
the  council  opened  on  June  22.  There 
were  160  bishops  present,  and  before  the 
end  of  the  first  session  this  number  had 
increased  to  198.  The  Fathers  met  in  the 
cathedral  dedicated  to  the  Mother  of  God, 
and  Cyril,  who,  as  the  Acts  expressly  say, 
represented  the  Pope,  presided.  Nes- 
torius refused  to  appear,  on  the  ground 
that  the  council  was  not  complete  so  long 
as  John  of  Antioch  and  his  bishops  were 
absent,  while  a  considerable  number  of 
bishops  from  Asia  Minor,  including  Theo- 
doret of  Cyrus,  refused  to  take  part  for 
the  same  reason.  During  the  session, 
which  lasted  late  into  the  night,  letters 
of  Cyril,  Nestorius,  Celestine,  as  well 
as  passages  of  the  Fathers  confirming  the 
Catholic  faith,  were  read  and  compared 
with  the  utterances  of  Nestorius,  who  w£ia 
at  last  solemnly  deposed  by  the  councU. 
All  the  bishops  subscribed  this  sentence. 
The  people  of  the  town  received  the  news 
of  the  result  with  great  joy.     The  city 


306    EPHESUS,  OOUNCIL  OF 

was  illuminated  in  many  parts,  and  tlie 
"bishops  were  escorted  home  with  torches. 
Candidian  (who  represented  the  em- 
peror at  the  council)  and  Nestorius  pro- 
tested against  the  proceedings  as  null  and 
void,  because  they  had  taken  place  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Antiochene  bishops. 
John  of  Antioch  came  at  last  on  the  26th 
or  27th  of  June,  and  in  a  council  of  forty- 
three  bishops  deposed  Cyril  with  Memnon, 
Bishop  of  Ephesus,  and  excommunicated 
all  who  agreed  with  them.  On  July  10th 
the  second  session  opened,  in  presence  of 
the  three  Papal  legates,  two  of  whom, 
Arcadius  and  Pi'ojectus,  were  bishops; 
the  third,  Philip,  a  priest.  The  legates 
were  directed  by  the  Pope  to  see  that  his 
sentence  against  Nestorius  was  carried 
out,  and,  in  case  of  approval,  to  confirm 
the  acts  of  the  synod.  Tlie  Pope's  letter 
was  received  with  acclamation  by  the  coun- 
cil, and  the  Fathers  declared  that  in  their 
condemnation  they  had  but  followed  the 
sentence  and  rule  (\|n)^oj'  koI  tvttov)  of 
Oelestine.  In  the  third  session,  the  legates 
approved  the  resolutions  passed  before  their 
arrival.  In  the  fifth,  John  of  Antioch 
and  his  bishops  were  excommunicated. 
The  Fathers  also  addressed  a  letter  to 
Oelestine,  giving  a  history  of  the  council 
and  stating  their  acceptance  of  the 
Western  decrees  against  the  Pelagians. 
In  the  sixth  session,  the  Nicene  Creed  was 
read  and  all  new  symbols  of  faith  pro- 
hibited; in  the  seventh  and  Jast,  Cj^rus 
was  declared  independent  of  the  Antio- 
chene Patriarchate ;  a  circular  letter  was 
addressed  to  the  wliole  Church,  and  six 
canons  were  published.  The  legates 
signed  the  deci-ees,  and  they  were 
confirmed  next  year  by  Pope  Sixtus  III. 
The  emperor  was  at  first  extremely 
averse  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Ephesine 
Council,  and  he  began  by  declaring 
it  his  will  that  both  Cyril  and  Nes- 
torius should  be  deposed.  At  last, 
however,  he  sent  deputies  to  meet  the 
bishops  at  Chalcedon  and  examine  the 
matter,  and  he  ended  by  accepting  Cyril's 
doctrine  and  allowing  him  the  quiet 
possession  of  his  see.  Nestorius  was  eon- 
lined  in  his  old  monastery  at  Antioch,  and 
afterwards  banished  to  Upper  Egypt, 
where  he  died  in  440.  It  was  only 
gradually  that  the  Syrian  bishops  made 
peace  with  the  Egyptian  and  Western 
bishops.  However,  this  opposition  of  the 
former  really  arose  itom.  personal  feeling 
and  misunderstanding  rather  than  from 
difference  of  faith;  and  less  than  two 
years  after  the  council,  early  in  433,  peace 


EPIGONATION 

was  restored  between  Antioch  and  Alex- 
andria. Some,  however,  of  the  Antiochene 
bishops,  particularly  Theodoret  of  Cyrus, 
continued  their  opposition  longer.  The 
priest  Ibas,  on  the  other  hand,  was  here- 
tical as  well  as  schismatic ;  he  was  de- 
voted to  the  doctrine  of  Nestorius,  and  his 
friends,  failing  to  obtain  toleration  with- 
in the  Roman  empire,  emigrated  to  Persia, 
where  one  of  them,  Barsumas,  founded  a 
Nestorian  church  at  Nisibis.  The  later 
history  of  the  Nestorians  will  be  found  in 
a  separate  article. 

Two  points  in  the  history  of  the  coun- 
cil seem  to  call  for  further  explanation. 

First,  it  may  be  well  to  state  more 
fuUy  the  definitions  of  faith  promulgated 
by  the  Fathers  at  Ephesus.  They  declare 
that  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  mother  of  God 
{OeoTOKOi'^'),  because  she  "after  the  flesh 
bore  the  Word  from  God,  who  had  be- 
come flesh ;  that  the  Word  is  united 
substantially  (/<a^'  viroa-raa-iv)  to  flesh  " — 
i.e.  as  substance  to  substance ;  whereas  the 
Nestorians  made  the  union  one  of  Person 
to  Person,  and  so  merely  accidental  ~ ;  that 
the  same  person  {rbv  avrov)  is  God  and 
man,  so  that  it  is  heresy  to  distinguish  the 
things  which  the  Scripture  says  of  Christ 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  say  that  some 
belong  to  the  man,  conceived  of  as  with  a 
proper  existence  over  and  above  the  Word 
of  God  (rrapa  rbv  ck  Beov  \6yov  IdiKws 
voovfX€V(o),  others  only  to  the  Word. 
Further  the  council  anathematises  those 
who  call  Christ  a  man  "  who  bore  God  " 
(Oeocfiopov) ;  who  say  that  the  Word  is 
the  God  or  Lord  of  Christ;  that  the 
risen  Christ  is  to  be  adored  with  the 
Word ;  &c.,  &c. 

Next  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
council  forbade  alterations  in,  or  additions 
to,  the  Nicene  Creed,  for  special  reason. 
The  Nestorian  party  at  the  time  were 
using  a  Creed  which  had  been  written  by 
Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  and  imposing  it 
on  Quartodecimans  who  wished  to  join 
the  Catholic  Church.  To  prevent  abuses  of 
this  liind  the  council  prohibited  the  use 
of  any  other  Creed  than  that  of  Nicrea, 
under  pain  of  excommunication.  But 
this  was  plainly  a  disciplinary  rule,  which 
a  competent  authority  had  imposed  and  a 
competent  authority  could  abrogate. 

EPiGOXTATZOxr.  [See  Vestments 
OP  Greek  Church.} 

1  "  Dei  p:enetrix  "  rather  than  "  Dei  mater" 
is  the  accurate  translation. 

2  The  old  Latin  version  renders  vn-oo-raai* 
here  by  "  substance :  "  see  Petav.  De  Incantat, 
vi.l7. 


EPIPHANY 

EPIPHAlfl-ir  (emcfxivfia).  A  feast 
kept  on  January  6  to  commemorate  the 
manifestation  of  Christ's  glory — (1)  wlien 
the  Magi  adored  Him  ;  (2)  in  his  baptism, 
when  the  voice  from  heaven  proclaimed 
Him  the  Son  of  God ;  (3)  in  the  miracle 
of  changing  water  into  wine,  when 
Christ  began  his  miracles  and  "  mani- 
fested "'his  glory.  In  the  fourth  century 
the  feast  of  the  Epiphany  ranked  among 
the  greatest  of  the  Church's  solemnities. 
Sometimes,  as  appears  from  St.  Gregory 
Nazianzen,  the  baptism  only  of  Christ 
was  commemorated  on  the  Epiphany, 
and  hence  probably  the  Greek  name  for 
the  feast,  "  the  holy  day  of  lights  "  (17  dyla 
Tcov  (fioiToiv  Tjfxepa),  which  alludes  to  the 
'^illumination"  of  baptism,  or  possibly 
to  a  very  ancient  tradition  that  at  Christ's 
baptism  lights  appeared  on  the  Jordan. 
However,  the  Breviary  hymn  for  the 
day,  composed  by  Prudentius  in  the 
fourth  century,  proves  that  the  threefold 
commemoration  on  the  Epiphany  is 
ancient  in  the  West. 

The  vigil  of  this  feast  is  not  a  fasting 
day,  because  the  whole  Christmas  season 
is  regarded  as  a  prolonged  feast.  There 
is  no  invitatory  in  the  matins  of  the  day, 
probably  because  the  psalm  "  Venite " 
occurs  in  Nocturn  IH.  Solemn  baptism 
was  given  in  the  East  on  the  vigil  of  the 
Epiphany  ;  and  at  the  present  day  among 
the  Oriental  sects  it  is  usual  for  the 
clergy  to  bless  the  river  of  the  place  at 
this  time,  and  the  devout  plunge,  despite 
the  cold,  into  the  hallowed  water.  (Tho- 
massin,  "  Traite  des  Festes.") 

SPISCOPACY.     [See  Bishop.] 

EPZSTZiS.  A  portion  of  Scripture 
read  atter  the  collects  and  before  the 
Gospel  in  the  Mass.  This  portion  of 
Scripture  is  generally,  but  not  always, 
taken  from  the  Epistles  of  the  Apostles, 
and  above  all  from  those  of  St.  Paul ; 
whence  in  old  MSS.  of  the  Missal  it  is  in- 
scribed "  I)e  Apostolo."  Sometimes, 
however,  it  is  taken  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  in  the  Ambrosian  and  Mozarabic 
Missals  there  are  two  lessons  read  before 
the  Gospel — one  from  the  Old,  the  other 
from  the  New  Testament.  In  early 
times  letters  of  bishops  and  Popes  were 
sometimes  read  at  Mass,  especially  letters 
of  peace  and  communion  testifying  to 
the  unity  which  bound  orthodox  bishops 
to  each  other,  and  to  the  see  of  Peter. 
Our  present  arrangement  of  the  Epistles 
and  Gospels  is  commonly  attributed  to 
St.  Jerome. 

The  priest    who    celebrates    always 


EPISTOL^   ECCLESIASTIOtE  307 

reads  the  Epistle,  but  in  high  Masses  it 
is  also  sung  by  the  subdeacon,  who 
receives  special  authority  to  do  so  at  his 
ordination.  However,  the  old  forms  of 
ordination  make  no  allusion  to  any  such 
function  of  subdeacons,  and  till  the 
eighth  century  it  was  the  lector,  not  the 
subdeacon,  who  used  to  exercise  it.  The 
Congregation  of  Rites  permits  a  clerk  in 
minor  orders  to  sing  the  Epistle  at  high 
Mass,  if  a  subdeacon  cannot  be  had,  but 
the  clerk  must  not  wear  the  maniple. 
(Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Miss."') 

epistoIia:  ecciiBSzastics. 
Of  these  there  are  many  kinds,  the  follow- 
ing being  the  most  important : 

1.  Apostolicce.  Letters  written  by  the 
Roman  Pontitf  in  virtue  of  his  apostolic 
authority,  whether  they  be  constitutions, 
or  briefs,  or  rescripts,  &c. 

2.  Commendatoi'i(B.  [See  Commen- 
DATORT  Letters,] 

3.  Coimnunicatorice.  Letters  granted 
to  all  who  were  in  the  communion  of  the 
Church,  and  cultivated  peace  with  her. 

4.  ConfessoricB.  Letters  by  which 
martyrs  and  confessors  for  the  faith  en- 
treated bishops  that  particular  Lapsi 
(persons  who  had  consented  to  sacrifice) 
might  be  restored  to  the  peace  of  the 
Church. 

6.  Becretales.    [See  Decretals.] 

6.  Dimissorice.     [See   Dimissorials.] 

7.  JEna/cUca.     [See  Encyclical.] 

8.  Enthronisticce.  Letters  addressed 
by  bishops  after  their  consecration  to 
other  bishops,  in  testimony  of  their  faith 
and  orthodoxy,  and  that  they  might 
receive  from  them  letters  of  peace  and 
communion  in  return. 

9.  Formatce.  Both  commendatory 
and  dimissorial  letters  were  anciently 
called  by  this  name,  after  the  Nisene 
Council  had  ordered  that  they  should  be 
composed  according  to  a  certain  form. 
Some  are  of  opinion  that  they  were  so 
called  from  the  form  of  the  seal  attached 
to  them.  The  object  in  either  case  was 
to  assure  the  receiver  of  the  genuineness 
of  the  letter.  In  later  times  it  came  to 
mean  a  letter  of  orders,  containing 
certain  signs,  usually  Greek  letters,  only 
understood  by  the  bishops,  certifying 
that  an  order  had  been  conferred  on  the 
bearer. 

10.  Paschales.  Letters  by  which 
metropolitans  announced  to  their  suffra- 
gans, and  these  to  their  clergy,  the  right 
time  of  keeping  Easter. 

11.  Pastorales.  Letters  of  instruction 
sent  to  particular  churches,  as  some  of 

x2 


308 


ERA 


those  of  St.  Paul  acd  of  St.  Ignatius. 
(Ferraris,  Epistolce;  Wetzer  and  Welte, 
Litercs  Forniatce.') 

ERA  (Lat.  <cra).  The  word  is  pro- 
bahly  derived  from  ara,  the  plural  of  ces, 
which  seems  to  have  been  used  in  classical 
times  in  the  sense  of  "  a  given  number." 
It  has  been  proposed  (art.  by  Mr.  Hensley 
in  the  "  Diet,  of  Christ.  Antiq./'  Smith 
and  Cheetham)  to  use  era  of  any  suc- 
cession of  years  commencing  at  a  certain 
date,  and  epocJi  of  the  date  from  which 
such  era  is  reckoned.  But  this  appears 
to  be  a  departure  from  the  ordinary  use 
of  the  word  for  wbich  sufficient  reason  is 
not  shown.  It  seems  better,  with  the 
writer  in  Ferraris,  to  distinguish  between 
era,  a  date  fixed  upon  by  the  consent  of 
some  nation  or  community,  and  epoch,  a 
date  fixed  by  chronologers. 

There  is  no  trace  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment of  the  .Tews  having  dated  events 
from  a  recognised  era  until  we  come  near 
to  the  time  of  Christ.  Attempts  seem 
to  have  been  made  to  establish  an  era, 
but  they  came  to  nothing.  We  read  of 
events  which  happened  '*in  the  second 
year  of  their  going  out  of  Egypt" 
(Num.  i.  1),  or  "in  the  twentieth  year" 
(2  Esdras  i.  1),  or  "  in  the  thirtieth  year  " 
(Ezech.  i.  1)  ;  but  in  none  of  these 
cases  did  the  event  temporarily  chosen 
as  an  era  come  to  be  generally  used  as 
such.  The  indications  of  time  in  the 
Old  Testament  are  usually,  therefore, 
either  vague  ("  in  the  days  of  Josias  the 
khig,''  "  in  the  days  of  Heli  the  priest," 
&c.),  or  else  they  are  taken  from  the 
regnal  years  of  some  king  ("  in  the  first 
year  of  Cyrus,"  1  Esdras  i.  1  ;  "  in  the 
third  year  of  the  reign  of  Joakim," 
Dan.  i.  1,  &c.).  Not  till  the  time  of  the 
Machabees  did  the  Jews  use  an  era,  and 
then  it  was  one  adopted  from  the  Greeks 
— that  of  the  Seleucidse.^ 

Setting  aside  the  systems  of  com- 
puting time  in  use  in  Hindostan  and 
China,  we  tind  no  earlier  adoption  of  an 
era  than  that  by  the  Greeks,  who  began 
in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  and 
perhaps  earlier,  to  date  events  by  the 
"  Olympiad,"  or  period  of  four  years,  in 
which  they  happened,  the  first  Olympiad 
being  that  the  first  year  of  which  was 
distinguisbed  by  the  victory  of  Coroebus, 
and  was  found  to  answer  to  the  year 
B.C.  776.  Thus  A.D.  1  is  the  first  year  of 
the  195th  Olympiad. 

1  "  After  Antiochus  had  ravaged  Egj-pt  in 
the  one  hundred  and  forty-third  year  ;  "  1  Mach. 
i.  21.    See  also  2  Mach.  i.  7, 10. 


ERA 

Era  of  Borne,  a.tj.c.  The  exact  date 
of  this  era  has  been  much  disputed,  but 
the  determination  made  by  Varro  is 
generally  received,  according"^  to  which  it 
fell  in  753  b.c. 

JE}'a  of  Nabonassar.  Ptolemy  and 
other  ancient  astronomers  employ  this 
era,  which  is  named  after  a  king  of 
Babylon  who  is  said  to  have  delivered  his 
countrymen  from  bondage  to  the  Assy- 
rians, and  corresponds  to  747  B.C. 

Era  of  the  Seleucid<e.  This  corre- 
sponds to  the  1st  October  312  B.C.,  at 
which  date  Seleucus  Nicator  recovered 
Babylon  from  Antigonus,  and  founded 
his  empire.  It  is  called  also  the  Greek 
era,  and  the  era  of  contracts.  The  Jews 
adopted  it,  as  we  have  seen,  and  used  it 
till  the  eleventh  century  after  Christ, 
when  they  substituted  for  it  the  supposed 
date  of  the  creation  of  the  world.  It  is 
stUl  used  by  the  Arabs. 

Spanish  Era.  This  corresponds  to 
38  B.C.,  and  ''is  supposed  to  mark  some 
important  epoch  in  the  organisation  of 
the  province  by  the  Romans.''^  It  was 
employed  in  the  Peninsula  long  after  the 
Christian  era  had  come  into  general  use 
in  Europe,  having  been  "  preserved  in 
Aragon  till  1358,  in  Castile  till  1383,  and 
in  Portugal  till  1415."  ^ 

Christian  Era.  Called  also  the 
Dionysian  era,  from  Dionysius  Exiguus, 
a  Scythian  abbot,  who,  writing  at  Rome 
early  in  the  sixtbcentmy,  computed  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  born  in  the  year  of 
Rome  754,  and  proposed  that  events 
should  be  dated  from  his  Incarnation. 
This  era  soon  came  into  use  at  Rome, 
and  gradually  spread  to  other  countries ; 
the  Venerable  Beda,  by  adopting  it  in 
his  "  Ecclesiastical  History,"  greatly 
assisted  in  its  wider  diffusion.  It  cannot 
be  exactly  correct,  for  Herod  the  Great, 
according  to  Josephus,  died  in  the  year 
of  Rome  750,  and  our  Saviour  must  have 
been  born  some  considerable  time  before 
his  death.  It  is  usual  to  make  a  correc- 
tion of  four  years  on  this  account,  and  to 
date  the  Crucifixion  A.D.  29  instead  of 
A.D.  33;  but  Hefele  and  others  would 
put  back  the  birth  of  Christ  as  much  as 
six  or  seven  years — to  A.tr.c.  747.^ 

Era  of  Diocletian.  This  era,  which 
is  still  used  by  the  Copts  in  Egypt, 
corresponds  to  a.d.  284.  It  was  in 
general  use  in  the  Western  Empire,  till 
displaced  by  the  Christian  era. 

*  Merivale's  History  of  the  Romans  under 
the  Empire,  vol.  iv.  p.  114.  ^  Ibid. 

5  See  Hefele's  art.  in  Wetzer  and  Welte. 


ESPOUSAL 

The  Indiction.  This  became  a  com- 
mon way  of  reckoning'  time  in  the 
Eastern  Empire,  the  indiction  being^  a 
period  of  fifteen  years,  and  the  first  in- 
diction deemed  to  commence  on  Sep- 
tember 24,  A.D.  313. 

The  Hegira.  This  era,  which  is  the 
date  of  Mohammed's  flight  from  Mecca, 
and  is  used  by  all  Mussulmans,  corre- 
sponds to  622  A.D. 

Era  of  Constantinojjle  :  called  also  the 
Byzantine  era.  This  was  long  in  use 
among  the  Greeks  and  Russians,  and  is 
still  employed  by  the  Albanians.  It 
reckons  from  the  Creation,  which  it  dates 
6608  B.C. 

Jewish  Era.  This  is  used  by  the 
modern  Jews,  and  is  also  referred  to  the 
creation  of  the  world,  which  it  dates  in 
3761  B.C. 

Chronologers  have  invented  the 
"  Julian  period,"  a  multiple  of  the  num- 
ber of  the  years  in  the  solar  cycle  (28),  of 
those  in  the  lunar  cycle  (19),  and  those 
in  the  Indiction ;  of  this  product,  7080 
years,  they  place  the  first  year  in  47  J  3 
B.C.,  because  in  that  year  all  three  cycles 
«tood  at  1  simultaneously,  and  will  not 
do  so  again  till  4..D.  8208.  Into  years  of 
this  Julian  period,  any  year  expressed  in 
terms  of  any  one  of  the  above-named 
epochs  may  be  converted.  But  in  fact 
no  era  could  be  devised,  or  can  be  con- 
ceived, which  is  more  convenient  for 
dating  events  either  before  or  after  it, 
than  the  Christian,  and  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that,  with  the  advance  of  the 
world  in  civilisation,  this  era  will  super- 
sede all  others.  The  Republicans  of  the 
first  French  Revolution,  conscious  how 
much  the  human  imagination  is  influenced 
by  these  things,  attempted  to  substitute 
the  commencement  of  their  own  blood- 
stained republic,  September  1792,  after 
first  inaugurating  it  by  the  massacre  of 
the  eleven  hundred  prisoners  in  the  jails 
of  Paris,  as  the  year  1  of  the  new  period 
of  universal  fraternity  ;  but  the  attempt 
did  not  survive  the  suppression  of  the 
anarchical  factions.  M.  Comte,  the 
founder  of  Positivism,  recommended  to 
bis  followers  the  adoption  of  this  revo- 
lutionary epoch,  or  of  a  similar  one 
framed  by  himself;  but  it  is  not  known 
that  the  Positivists  as  yet  make  much 
use  of  it.  (Ferraris,  ^r«  ;  Wetzer  and 
Welte,  art.  by  Hefele ;  Smith  and  Cheet- 
ham,  art.  by  Herisley.) 

ESPOirSAIt  (sponsalta)  is  defined 
by  Gury  as  ''  a  deliberate  promise  to 
marry  made  by  each  party,  expressed  by 


ESPOUSALS  OF  B.  V.  M.    309 

outward  signs,  each  being  capable  of 
entering  upon  such  an  engagement." 
This  definition  implies  that  the  engage- 
ment refers  to  the  future — i.e.  the  parties 
do  not  give  themselves  to  each  other  there 
and  then,  but  promise  to  do  so  on  a 
future  occasion.  The  promise  must  be 
made  and  accepted  on  each  side.  Each 
party  must  be  aware  of  the  obligation 
incurred  ;  hence  there  can  be  no  binding 
engagement  between  children  who  have 
not  come  to  the  use  of  reason,  &c.  Each 
party  must  act  freely.  Lastly,  there  must 
be  no  impediment  which  would  nullify 
the  marriage,  or  even  make  it  unlawful — 
e.g.  one  cousin  cannot  bind  himself  or 
herself  to  marry  the  other,  because,  till 
a  dispensation  is  obtained,  a  union 
between  the  two  would  be  no  marriage 
at  all.  If  a  valid  engagement  has  been 
made,  then  neither  can  lawfully  with- 
draw from  it,  unless  the  other  gives 
consent,  or  unless  changes  have  occurred 
or  circumstances  come  to  light  which 
alter  the  nature  of  the  case.  Thus  a 
man,  having  engaged  to  marry  a  girl 
whom  he  thought  virtuous,  would  not, 
of  course,  be  still  bound  if  she  turned  out 
to  be  of  bad  character.    . 

The  engagement  may  be  made,  and  is 
at  present  made,  in  most  parts  of  the 
Church,  without  ceremony  or  publicity 
of  any  sort.  Among  Romans  a  man 
sent  a  ripg  of  iron  to  his  future  wife; 
and  this  custom  was  adopted  by  Chris- 
tians. The  annulus  pronuhus  is  men- 
tioned by  Tertullian.  St.  Gregory  of 
Tours  speaks  of  the  man  as  presenting 
his  intended  wife  with  ring  {sponsalius 
annulus  [sec-])  and  shoes.  The  Franks 
used  to  betroth  their  wives  with  pieces 
of  money — a  relic,  according  to  Char- 
don,  of  the  old  custom  of  buying  girls 
from  their  parents.  Betrothal  among 
the  Greeks  takes  place  with  prayer  and 
much  solemnity  in  the  church,  and 
on  the  same  day  as  the  marriage.  (His- 
torical portion  from  Chardon,  *•  Hist,  des 
Sacrem.") 

ESPOirSAIiS  (SSSFOITSATIO) 
OF  THE  BZ.ESSEI>  VIRGXir.  A 
feast  kept  on  January  23.  An  office 
commemorating  this  event  was  written 
by  the  famous  Gerson.  In  the  sixteenth 
century  Paul  III.  allowed  the  friars 
and  nuns  of  the  Franciscan  Order  to 
recite  an  office  of  the  Espousals.  The 
office  was  simply  that  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin's  Nativity,  except  that  a  new- 
Gospel  was  chosen  and  the  word  "  nati- 
vitas"  was  changed  into  "  desponsatio.* 


810  ESTABLISHMENT,  CHURCH 

However,  a  special  office  of  the  Espousals 
was  written  by  the  Dominican  Peter 
Dore  and  approved  hj  the  same  Pope, 
Paul  lit  An  indult  of  Benedict  XIII., 
in  1725,  permitted  its  use  throughout  the 
States  of  the  Church.  The  feast  is  kept 
in  England  as  a  greater  double.  (Bene- 
dict XIV.  "DeFest.") 

ESTABIiZSHMESTT,  CHtTRCB. 
A  state  of  things  in  which  the  civil 
power,  for  political  alid  moral  ends, 
recognises  a  particular  religion  in  prefer- 
ence to  all  others,  and  regards  its  minis- 
ters, as  such,  as  bodies  corporate,  capable 
of  suing  and  being  sued,  of  holding  pro- 
perty, and  transmitting  it  to  their  succes- 
sors. 

The  questions  bearing  on  the  utility 
of  a  Chm-ch  establishment  have  long 
been  keenly  debated  in  England  be- 
tween the  Anglicans  and  the  non-estab- 
lished Protestant  sects ;  but  Catholics  are 
little  concerned  in  the  controversy.  A 
word  or  two  of  criticism  on  the  chief 
arguments  advanced  is  all  that  we  shall 
oiler.  What  the  Anglicans  say  as  to  the 
advantages  secured  to  a  nation  by  the 
public  recognition,  on  the  part  of  the 
civil  power,  of  Christianity  and  its 
ministers,  is  of  course  perfectly  true ;  and 
when  they  appeal  to  history,  and  show 
what  benefits  accrued  to  English  society 
from  Ethelbert's  supporting  the  Roman 
missioners,  or  Ethelwulfs  appropriation  of 
the  titlie  to  religious  uses,  or  from  many 
other  like  acts  on  the  part  of  our  civil 
rulers,  it  is  impossible  not  to  agree  with 
them.  So  long  as  Englishmen  continued  to 
be  of  one  religion,  and  to  be  in  communion 
with  the  Holy  See,  the  benefits  of  Church 
establishment,  on  the  whole,  were  unde- 
niable. Religion,  by  it,  was  brought  to 
every  man's  door ;  it  lent  a  form  and  a 
splendour  to  human  life  ;  and  an  English- 
man's fidelity  to  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
Church  was  made  easier  ibr  him  by  the 
fact  that  the  king  to  whom  he  owed 
loyalty  was,  no  less  than  himself,  an 
obedient  son  of  the  same  Church,  and 
also  its  zealous  protector.  The  chief 
drawback  accompanying  these  benefits  of 
establishment  was  that,  in  times  of  luke- 
warraness  and  relaxed  discipline,  kings, 
egged  on  by  worldly  counsellers,  availed 
themselves  of  the  connection  between 
Church  and  State  to  impede  free  commu- 
nication with  Rome  (laws  of  Provisors, 
Praemunire,  &c.),  and  to  bring  the  heads 
of  the  Church  in  Eln gland  more  under 
their  own  power.  This  evil  tendency, 
long  operating,  with  other  causes,  brought 


ESTABLISHMENT,  CHURCH 

the  Church  in  Great  Britain  to  the  ruin 
which  we  have  attempted  to  describe  in 
the  articles  ANGLiCiJsr  Chtjech  and 
English  Catholics.  But  to  return  to 
the  Anglican  argument.  Down  to  the 
Reformation,  as  has  been  said,  we  differ 
little  from  them  in  our  estimate  of  the 
benefits  of  establishment.  Since  that 
time,  as  they  maintain,^  the  same  Catholic 
Church  has  continued  to  be  established 
in  England  with  the  lilie  beneficial  re- 
sults ;  to  which  we  must  reply  that  the 
common  sense  of  mankind  and  the  re- 
ceived use  of  words  are  against  them. 
Everyone  but  an  Anglican  can  see 
that  it  does  not  follow — assuming  that 
Church  establishment  was  beneficial  before 
the  Reformation — that  it  is  equally  bene- 
ficial now,  because  the  body  established  is 
no  longer  the  same.  Whether,  and  how 
far,  the  present  Anglican  establishment 
is  beneficial,  is  a  question  on  which  we 
cannot  here  enter. 

On  the  other  side,  the  great  argument 
of  the  Nonconformists  against  Establish- 
ments is  that  tliere  is  no  guarantee  for 
their  being  applied  in  support  of  pure 
Christianity,  and  that  they  may  thus 
become  the  means  of  stereotyping  error. 
"Human  establishments  ....  have  been, 
and  are,  productive  of  the  greatest  evils  ; 
for  in  this  case  it  is  requisite  to  give  the 
preference  to  some  particular  system ;  and, 
as  the  magistrate  is  no  Ijetter  judge  of 
religion  than  others,  the  chances  are  as 
great  of  his  lending  his  sanction  to  the 
false  as  the  true."  ^  As  between  the 
Anglicans  and  the  Dissenters,  this  seems 
to  be  unanswerable.  "  The  magistrate" — 
i.e.  Elizabeth  and  her  Government^ — es- 
tablished Anglicanism  in  1659,  and  things 
have  so  continued  to  the  present  day; 
but  "  the  magistrate  "  was  not  infallible, 
nor  were  the  handful  of  divines  who 
assisted  him ;  he  may,  therefore,  have 
applied  the  forces  of  Establishment  to 
the  support  of  what  was  more  or  less 
false  ;  and,  of  course,  the  Dissenters  hold 
that  he  did  so  apply  them.  Against  a 
Catholic  theologian  the  argument  is 
powerless;  for,  although  it  is  quite  true 
that  the  magistrate,  as  such,  is  "no  better 
judge  of  religion  than  others,"  yet,  if  he 
allows  liimself  to  be  guided  by  the  Church 
and  the  Pope,  he  rests  upon  a  basis  of 
infallible  truth,  and  his  action  in  apply- 
ing the  forces   of  Establishment  to  the 

1  See  Hook's  Church  Dictionary,  art.  "Es- 
tablishment." 

2  Buck's  Theol  Dictionary,  ed.  by  Hendfll^ 
son,  art.  "  Establishment" 


EUCHARIST 

support  of  religion  cannot,  in  that  case, 
be  either  mistaken  or  mischievous. 

E1TCHARXST.  The  Catholic  doc- 
trine on  the  Eucharist  is  stated  with 
great  clearness  by  the  Council  of  Trent, 
Sess.  xiii.  xxi.  and  xxii.  The  Church 
regards  the  Eucharist  as  a  sacrament 
and  also  as  a  sacrifice,  so  that  our 
treatment  of  the  subject  falls  naturally 
into  two  great  divisions,  to  which  we 
will  add  supplementary  remarks  on  the 
adoration  and  reservation  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament.  Considered  as  a  sacrament, 
the  Eucharist  is  the  true  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  under  the  appearance  of  bread 
and  wine.  Like  all  the  sacraments,  it 
was  instituted  by  Christ,  and  like  them, 
it  consists  of  an  outward  part — viz.  bread 
and  wine,  or  the  appearance  of  bread  and 
wine ;  and  an  inward  or  invisible  part — 
viz.  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  with 
the  grace  which  they  impart  to  those 
who  communicate  worthily.  But  as  this 
definition  of  the  Eucharist  is  rejected  by 
most  Protestants,  and  as  there  are  many 
other  points  concerning  this  mvstery 
which  need  explanation,  we  are  obliged 
for  the  sake  of  clearness  to  make  many 
subdivisions  and  to  take  the  points  in 
debate  one  by  one. 

I.   The  Eucharist  as  a  Sacrament. 

(a)  Its  Institution,  including  the  Matter 
and  Form. — Christ  Himself  instituted  the 
Eucharist  on  the  night  before  his  Passion. 
The  three  first  Evangelists  and  St.  Paul  in 
his  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  give 
the  history  of  the  first  Eucharist.  Our 
Lord,  they  tell  us,  took  bread  into  his 
hands,  and  having  given  thanks  {evxa- 
pi.(rTf]aras,  Luc.  xxii.  19,  whence  the  name 
Eucharist),  He  broke  it  and  gave  it  to 
his  disciples,  saying,  "This  is  my  body 
which  is  given  for  you:  this  do  for  a 
commemoration  of  me."  In  the  same 
manner  He  took  the  chalice  and  said, 
*'  This  is  the  blood  of  the  New  Testament 
which  is  shed  for  you."  From  this  it 
appears  that  bread  and  wine  are  the 
matter  to  be  used  in  the  sacrament.  It 
is  certain,  further,  that  wheaten  bread 
ought  to  be  used,  for  the  Council  of 
Florence  declares  that  "wheaten  bread 
and  wine  "  are  the  matter  of  this  sacra- 
ment, and  nearly  all  theologians  hold 
that  no  other  kind  of  bread  can  be  used 
without  invalidating  the  sacrament,  be- 
cause, when  bread  without  further  quali- 
fication is  mentioned  wheaten  bread 
would    be    commonly  understood.^     The 

^  Cajetan  (apud  Billuart,  De  Euch.  diss.  iii. 
a.  1)  denied  that  the  use  of  wheaten  bread  was 


EUCHARIST 


811 


Council  of  Florence,  in  the  Decree  of 
Union,  defined  that  consecration  either  in 
leavened  or  unleavened  bread  is  valid. 
Latin  priests  are  bound  to  use  the  latter ; 
Orientals,  except  Maronites  and  Arme- 
nians, use  the  former.  It  is  certain  that 
the  Latin  Church  follows  the  use  of 
Christ  Himself,  for  leavened  bread  could 
not  have  been  employed  at  the  paschal 
supper,  so  that  the  violent  attacks  made 
on  the  Latin  Church  for  its  use  of  un- 
leavened bread  by  Michael  CaBrularius  in 
1043,  and  often  repeated  by  the  schismatic 
Greeks,  are  clearly  unwarranted.  It  is 
impossible  to  ascertain  with  certainty  the 
use  of  the  ancient  Church  on  this  head. 
Sirmond  contends  that  even  the  Latins 
used  leavened  bread  for  eight  hundred 
years  and  more.  Authorities  of  equal  re- 
putation— viz.  Mabillon  and  Christianus 
Lupus — hold  that  the  Latins  have  always 
used  unleavened  bread  since  Apostolic 
times.  Bona  thinks  that,  whereas  the 
Greeks  have  always  used  leavened  bread, 
the  Latins  in  the  early  ages  used  either 
leavened  or  unleavened  bread  according 
to  convenience,  and  that  the  use  of  the 
latter  was  not  obligatory  among  them 
till  the  tenth  century.^  The  wine  must 
of  course  be  the  fermented  juice  of  the 
grape.  Water  is  mixed  with  it  accord- 
ing to  a  custom  which  must  have  been 
followed  by  Christ  (for  the  paschal  wine, 
which  He  used  in  the  first  Eucharist,  was 
always  so  mixed),  and  which  is  proved  to 
be  Apostolic,  both  because  it  is  men- 
tioned by  Justin  Martyr'^  in  the  sub- 
Apostolic  age,  and  because  it  is  followed 
at  this  day,  not  only  throughout  the 
Catholic  Church  in  all  the  varying  rites 
according  to  which  Mass  is  said,  but  also 
by  all  heretical  sects  which  have  pre- 
served the  priesthood,  with  the  single  ex- 
ception of  the  Armenian  Mouophysites.^ 
But  the  mixture  of  water  with  the  wine 
does  not  belong  to  the  essence  of  the 
sacrament,  and  it  must  be  made  in  small 
quantity,  since  wine,  not  wine  and  water, 
is  a  constituent  part  of  the  matter  of  the 
sacrament.  Lastly,  the  bread  and  the 
wine  are  consecrated  by  the  words  "This 
is  my  body,"  **  This  is  my  blood,"  as  has 

absolutely  necessary.  "Apros  is  the  word  used  by 
the  Evangelists,  and  that  means  wheaten  bread, 
/xa^a  being  the  word  for  barley  bread. 

1  Benedict  XIV.  De  Fett.  P.  I.  clxiv. 

2  Apol.  i.  56. 

3  They  in  all  probability  altered  this  rite 
to  express  their  detestation  of  the  Catholic  doc- 
trine on  the  two  natures  of  Christ,  and  the 
Church  has  refused  to  tolerate  their  present  ciuh 
tom.    Benedict  XIV.  De  Miss.  xi.  10. 


312 


EUCHARIST 


EUCHARIST 


been  shown  in  the  article  on  Consecra- 

TIOW. 

(/3)  TU  Red  Presence.— The  Council 
of  Trent,  Sess.  xiii.  De  Euch.  can.  7, 
tea^^hes  that,  after  the  consecratioD,  the 
body  and  blood,  together  with  the  soul 
and  divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
are  contained  "truly,  really,  and  sub- 
stantially in  the  sacrament  of  the  most 
Holy  Eucharist,"  and  it  anathematises 
those  who  say  that  Christ's  body  and 
blood  are  there  in  sign  and  figure  only, 
or  virtually.  Christ  is  in  the  Eucharist 
truly — i.e.  the  words  "  This  is  my  body  " 
are  not,  as  the  Zwinglians  contend,  a  mere 
figure;  He  is  there  really — i.e,  objec- 
tively, so  that  his  presence  does  not  de- 
pend, as  Calvin  said  it  did,  on  the  faith 
of  the  recipient.  He  is  there  substan- 
tially, which  word  excludes  the  Calvmistic 
error  that  Christ's  body  is  in  heaven  aud 
nowhere  else,  though  it  exercises  its  virtue 
and  power  in  the  Euch'arist. 

The  real  presence  is  clearly  implied  in 
Scripture.  It  was  taught  first  of  all  by  our 
Lord  Himself  in  the  synagogue  at  Caphar- 
naum,  just  a  year  before  his  Passion.  On 
the  day  preceding  this  discourse  He  had 
fed  the  five  thousand  by  the  miraculous 
multiplication  of  bread,  and  the  crowd 
went  to  Capharnaum  next  day  in  quest  of 
Him.  Christ  rebuked  them,  because  they 
set  greater  value  on  earthly  bread  than 
on  the  food  of  the  soul;  and  they  asked 
Him  for  a  "  sign  "  in  confirmation  of  his 
authority.  The  miracle  of  the  yesterday 
was  not  enough.  He  had,  after  all,  only 
fed  the  crowd  with  common  bread. 
What  was  that  to  the  miracle  of  the 
desert  ?  *'  Our  fathers  eat  the  manna  in 
the  desert,  as  it  is  written.  He  gave  them 
bread  from  heaven  to  eat."  Christ  an- 
swered that  He-was  the  true  bread  come 
down  Irom  heaven  ;  the  food  of  the  soul 
to  those  who  believed  in  Him,  as  the 
ma.nna  had  been  the  food  of  the  body. 
So  far — i.e.  down  to  verse  60 — there  is 
nothing  in  the  discourse  to  prove  the  real 
presence.  But  Christ  goes  on  to  say, 
^'  The  bread  which  I  will  give  "  is  (not  my 
doctrine  but)  "  my  flesh."  "  He  who 
eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood, 
hath  eternal  life."  The  future  tense  (the 
bread  which  I  icill  give)  shows  that  the 
mysterious  gift  of  which  Christ  spoke  was 
not  yet  bestowed.  It  was  possible  to  be- 
lieve in  Him,  but  it  was  not  possible  as 
yet  to  eat  his  flesh  and  his  blood.  This 
feeding  on  Christ's  flesh  and  blood  can 
only  refer  to  the  Holy  Eucharist.  No 
doubt  Christ  might  most  fitly  have  spoken 


of  belief  in  Himself  as  a  feeding  on 
heavenly  bread ;  but  to  describe  faith  in 
Him  as  a  feeding  on  his  fl(»sh  and  blood 
would  be  a  violent  and  unnatural  use  of 
words  in  any  language,  and  as  addressed 
to  Jews  it  would  have  been  worse  than 
unnatural.  They  were  accustomed  to  use 
the  words  "  eating  a  man's  flesh  "  meta- 
phorically, but  the  metaphor  signified, 
not  to  accept  a  man's  doctrine,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  to  treat  him  with  brutal 
cruelty.  Thus  the  Psalmist  speaks  of  his 
enemies  coming  near  him  to  "  eat  his 
flesh;  "  aud  Job  uses  similar  lanfruage  of 
his  false  friends.^  Our  Lord,  therefore, 
speaks  of  a  literal,  not  of  a  metaphorical, 
eating  of  his  flesh  and  drinking  of  his 
blood.  Another  argument  for  the  Cath- 
olic interpretation  is  supplied  by  the  way 
in  which  Christ's  words  were  received. 
The  Jews  exclaimed,  "  How  can  this  man 
give  us  his  flesh  to  eat  ?  "  Whereupon 
our  Lord,  instead  of  explaining  that  He 
meant  only  to  say  that  they  must  believe 
in  his  doctrine,  repeated  his  former  asser- 
tion in  the  most  solemn  and  emphatic 
manner:  "Amen,  amen,  I  say  to  you, 
unless  you  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of 
Man  and  drink  his  blood,  you  have  not 
life  in  you.  .  .  .  My  fiesh  is  truly  food, 
and  my  blood  is  truly  drink."  Others 
who  heard  the  doctrine  from  his  disciples 
found  it  hard  and  intolerable.  To  remove 
the  scandal  they  had  taken,  Christ  ap- 
pealed to  that  divine  power  which  He 
was  to  manifest  in  his  Ascension,  and 
added,  "It  is  the  spirit  which  quickeneth, 
the  flesh  profiteth  nothing:  the  words 
which  I  have  spoken  to  you  are  spirit 
and  life :  but  there  are  some  of  you  who 
do  not  believe."  In  the  first  part  of  this 
verse  Christ  cannot  have  meant  to  say  that 
his  flesh  was  absolutely  unprofitable:  to 
do  so  would  have  been  to  contradict 
the  substance  of  his  previous  discourse, 
even  if  we  accept  the  ultra-Protestant 
interpretation  of  it.  Christ  was  to  give 
his  flesh  for  the  life  of  the  world,  so  that 
He  could  not  speak  of  this  flesh  as  utterly 
unprofitable.  His  meaning  is  that  flesh 
in  itself,  even  his  own  flesh  apart  from 
that  Spirit  which  God  had  given  Him 
without  measure  ~  and  which  was  united 
to  it,  could  not  be  of  any  avail.  Nor 
again,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  verse, 
*'The  words  I  have  spoken  to  you  are 
spirit  and  life,"  does  Christ  contrast  faith 

*  Ps.  xxvi.  (in  Heb.  xxvii.)  2.  Job.  xuc 
22.  The  Chaldee  Targum  preserves  the  same 
metaphor  in  both  passages. 

3  1  Jolm  iii.  34. 


EUCHARIST 

in  his  words  with  feeding  on  his  flesh,  for, 
apart  from  other  objections,  our  Lord 
does  not  speak  of  his  word  generally,  but 
of  those  particular  words  which  He  has 
just  uttered  and  which  some  of  his  hearers 
did  not  believe.  The  discourse  in  the 
synagogue  had  been  a  scandal  to  them, 
and  our  Lord  declares  that  his  words,  far 
from  giving  any  real  occasion  for  scandal, 
were  spirit  and  life  to  those  who  received 
them  ;  the  fault  lay  not  in  Him  or  in  his 
words,  but  in  their  unbelief. 

This  exposition  is  confirmed  by  the 
last  part  of  the  chapter.  Clearly,  the 
Evangelist  did  not  think  that  Christ  had 
softened  down  or  explained  his  mysterious 
promise,  for  he  goes  on  to  tell  us  that 
from  that  time  many  of  Christ's  disciples 
went  back  and  walked  no  more  with 
Him,  so  that  our  Lord  was  constrained 
to  ask  the  twelve  Apostles  if  they  also 
would  go  away. 

At  the  last  supper,  Christ  explained 
by  the  institution  of  the  Eucharist  that 
mysterious  eating  his  flesh  and  drinking 
bis  blood  which  he  had  announced  a  year 
before  in  the  synagogue  of  Capharnaum. 
He  celebrated  with  the  chosen  twelve 
the  paschal  rite.  This  rite  was  a  sacrifice 
commemorative  of  Israel's  redemption  ;  it 
was,  indeed,  the  one  commemorative  sacri- 
fice of  the  old  law.  Further,  it  was  a 
feast  upon  a  sacrifice,  and  the  eating  of 
the  paschal  lamb  bound  the  Israelites 
together  in  the  unity  of  the  Jewish 
Church.  Christ,  as  his  disciples  knew, 
was  the  true  paschal  lamb,  come  to  take 
the  sins  of  the  world  away.  As  He  sub- 
stituted his  atoning  death  for  the  sacrifice 
of  tbe  paschal  Jamb,  so  He  gave  his  body 
and  blood  in  place  of  the  lamb  on  which 
they  had  been  used  to  feast.  Just  when 
He  was  about  to  abolish  types  and 
shadows  by  his  death,  He  instituted  for 
all  time  the  new  paschal  rite  which  was 
more  than  a  type  or  shadow.  It  was  to  be 
at  one  and  the  same  time  a  sacritice  com- 
memorative of  the  redemption,  a  feast  on 
Himself,  the  Lamb  of  God,  the  great  means 
of  sanctifieation  for  his  people,  and  the 
bond  which  was  to  unite  the  "  Israel  of 
God  "  throughout  the  world.  He  said  of 
the  bread,  "  This  is  my  body,"  of  the 
wine,  "  This  is  my  blood,"  and  He  invited 
his  disciples  to  eat  and  drink  of  the 
banquet  prepared  for  them. 

St.  Paul,  in  1  Cor.  x.,  testifies  to  the 
same  doctrine.  He  warns  his  disciples 
against  participating  in  the  sacrifices 
offered  to  idols,  and  points  out  the  incon- 
sistency  of  eating  the  flesh  of  victims 


EUCHAEIST 


313 


offered  to  idols  and  also  eating  the 
flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  Christ. 
Christians  are  to  "  flee  from  idols "  be- 
cause they  receive  the  Eucharist.  St. 
Paul  contrasts  the  real  flesh  of  victims 
sacrificed  to  idols  with  the  real  flesh  pre- 
sent in  the  great  Christian  sacrament. 
"I  cannot  partake,"  he  says,  "of  the 
table  of  the  Lord  and  the  table  of 
(ievils" — i.e.  of  idols.  And  in  order  that 
there  may  be  no  possibility  of  mistaking 
the  sense  of  his  words,  he  asks,  "  The 
cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  a 
participation  in  {Kntvcovia)  the  blood  of 
Christ  ?  the  bread  which  we  break,  is  it 
not  a  participation  in  the  body  of  Christ  ?  " 
St  Paul  does  not  say  that  the  consecrated 
bread  and  wine  are  a  symbol  of  Christ's 
body  and  blood,  but  a  participation  in 
them.  He  uses  the  very  same  word 
{koivcovoI)  to  describe  the  "partaking" 
in  the  Jewish  altar.  Persons  "  partook" 
in  Jewish  and  heathen  sacritices  by  really 
eating  the  flesh  of  the  vi<-tim-,  just  in 
the  same  way  they  "  partook "  of  the 
Christian  Eucharist.  But  the  participa- 
tion in  each  case  was  ordered  to  ends 
widely  different  from  each  other,  so  that 
it  was  a  gross  inconsistency  to  unite  any 
two  of  the  three  different  participations 
with  each  other. 

We  can  only  select  a  few  from  the 
mass  of  patristic  testimonies  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  real  presence.  St.  Ignatius, 
St.  John's  disciple,  is  arguing  against  the 
Docetse,  who  denied  the  reality  of  our 
Lord's  body  altogether.  St.  Ignatius^ 
points  out  the  consequences  of  this  unbelief. 
Not  admitting  that  our  Lord  took  on  Him- 
self true  flesh,  those  men  "  abstained  from 
the  Eucharist  and  prayer,  because  they  do 
not  confess  that  the  Eucharist  is  the  flesh 
of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  Had  the 
Church  of  those  days  believed  that  the 
Eucharist  was  no  more  than  a  symbol, 
there  was  nothing  in  the  celebration  of 
the  sacrament  which  need  have  offended 
them.  They  granted  that  our  Lord  had 
an  apparent  body,  and  they  could  offer 
no  objection  to  the  commemoration  of  his 
death  under  a  symbolic  form.  But  they 
could  not  partake  in  a  sacrament  which 
professed  to  communicate  the  true  body 
of  Christ,  for  the  simple  reason  that  they 
denied  the  reality  of  Christ's  body  alto- 
gether. It  may  be  worth  while  to  men- 
tion in  passing  that  the  celebrated  Protes- 
tant commentator  Meyer*  admits  the 
force  of  this  passage.     In  an  historical 

^  Ad  Smi/rn.  7. 

2  Comm.  on  St.  Matthew,  ed.  6,  1864. 


314 


EUCHARIST 


EUCHARIST 


account  of  the  Eucharistic  doctrine,  ap- 
pended to  his  commentary  on  St.  Matthew, 
Vie  allows  that  St.  Ignatius,  in  opposition 
to  the  Docetae,  "  imdouhtedly  states  the 
doctrine  that  in  the  Eucharist  Christ's 
flesh  and  blood  are  given  in  a  real  way." 
In  the  earliest  account  which  we  possess 
of  the  Eucharistic  celebration  among  the 
primitive  Christians  we  find  the  same 
unhesitating  belief  in  the  real  presence. 
"  This  food,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  who 
died  in  the  year  166,  "  is  known  among 
us  as  the  Eucharist.  .  .  .  We  do  not  re- 
ceive these  things  as  common  bread  and 
common  drink ;  but  as  Jesus  Christ  our 
Saviour,  being  made  flesh  by  the  Word  of 
God,  had  both  flesh  and  blood  for  our 
salvation,  so  we  have  been  taught  that 
the  food  over  which  thanks  have  been 
given  (jvxapio-Trjdf^aav) ,  through  prayer 
in  his  words,  and  from  which  our  blood 
and  flesh  are  nourished  in  such  a  way  as 
to  be  changed,  are  the  flesh  and  blood  of 
that  Jesus  who  was  made  flesh."  ^  Some 
words  in  this  passage  are  very  difficult  to 
understand,  or  even  to  translate,  and  they 
have  proved  the  a'u.v  of  commentators, 
but  the  part  relating  to  the  real  presence 
is  clear  and  simple.  Justin  considers  the 
preseiYce  of  Christ's  flesh  and  blood  in  the 
Eucharist  as  certain  as  the  fact  that  He 
took  flesh  and  blood  in  his  Incarnation. 
And  here  again  we  may  remark  that 
Meyer  interprets  St.  Justin  just  as  we 
have  done.  At  the  close  of  the  second 
century,  St.  Irenaeus,  the  disciple  of  St. 
Polycarp,  who  was  the  disciple  of  St.  John, 
uses  the  very  argument  against  the  Gnos- 
tics which  St.  Ignatius  had  employed 
against  the  Docetae.  Against  the  Gnostic 
error  that  the  material  world  is  evil  and 
that  Christ  was  not  the  Son  of  that  inferior 
God  who  made  the  world,  St,  Irenaeus 
argues  thus:  "If  the  Lord  came  from 
another  father,  how  did  He  act  justly 
when,  taking  the  bread  of  the  creation 
which  lies  around  us.  He  confessed  that 
it  was  his  own  body,  and  affirmed  that 
the  mixture  of  the  chalice  [wine  mixed 
with  water]  was  his  own  blood  ?  "  ^  Again, 
repelhng  the  Gnostic  error  that  the  flesh 
is  incapable  of  salvation,  and  so  would 
not  rise  again,  St.  IrenaBus  argues  that  on 
the  Gnostic  theory  Christ  would  not  have 
redeemed  us  with  his  blood,  or  sanctified 
our  bodies  with  his  own  body  and  blood 
in  the  Eucharist.  "  If  this  flesh  of  ours 
is  not  saved,  then  clearly  the  Lord  did 
not  redeem  us  with  his  blood,  nor  is  the 
chalice  of  the  Eucharist  the  communica- 
Apol.  I  66.  '  Iren.  iv.  33,  2. 


tion  of  his  blood,  nor  the  bread  which  we 
break  the  communication  of  his  body. 
For  there  is  no  blood  except  that  which 
comes  from  veins  and  flesh  and  the  rest 
of  man's  substance,  which  human  sub- 
stance the  Word  of  God  truly  became. 
He  redeemed  us  with  his  blood ;  .  .  .  and 
since  we  are  his  members  and  are  nourished 
through  his  creatures,  and  since  He  himself 
bestows  his  creatures  on  us, . . .  Hecoufessed 
that  the  chalice  [taken]  from  the  creature 
was  his  proper  blood,  with  which  He 
bedews  our  blood,  and  the  bread  [taken] 
from  the  creature  He  affirmed  with  a 
strong  afiirmation  to  be  his  proper  bodj^, 
from  which  He  nourishes  our  bodies."  ^ 
Let  the  reader  observe  that  St.  Irenaeus 
puts  the  blood  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist 
m  the  same  category  with  that  shed  on 
the  cross,  the  former  being  real,  just  as 
the  latter  was  real;  next,  that  Irenaeus 
tells  us  what  he  means  by  blood — viz. 
literal  blood,  taken  from  the  veins ;  lastly, 
that  Irenaeus  intimates  that  he  is  speaking 
of  a  stupendous  mystery,  for  he  tells  us 
that  our  Saviour  solemnly  or  ^strongly 
aflSrmed  (Ste/3e/3ata)o-aro)  that  the  bread 
was  his  proper  body.  We  may  conclude 
our  patristic  citations  on  this  head  with 
a  few  words  from  Cyril  of  Jerusalem 
(died  386).  "  Since  then  He  has  declared 
and  said  of  the  bread,  '  This  is  my  body,' 
who  after  that  will  venture  to  doubt  ? 
And  seeing  that  He  has  affirmed  and 
said,  '  This  is  my  blood,'  who  will  raise 
a  question  and  say  it  is  not  his  blood  ?  "  '^ 
Even  if  the  witness  of  Scripture  to  the 
real  presence  were  doubtful,  the  fact  that 
a  doctrine  so  mysterious,  so  difficult  to 
reason,  found  such  speedy  and  universal 
acceptance  throughout  the  Church  that 
Ignatius  a  disciple  of  St.  John  could  take 
it  for  granted  in  his  controversy  with 
heretics,  should  be  enough  to  turn  the 
scale  in  favour  of  the  Catholic  interpre- 
tation. 

(y)  Tranmhstantintion. — It  is  not 
enough  to  confess  Christ's  real  presence 
in  the  Eucharist.  The  Council  of  Trent 
requires  us  further  to  confess  the  "change 
of  the  whole  substance  of  the  bread  into 
the  body,  of  the  whole  substance  of  the 
wine  into  the  blood  [of  Christ],  only  the 
appearances  of  bread  and  wine  remaining ; 
which  change  the  Catholic  Church  most 
fitly  calls  transubstantiation."  The  word 
"transubstantiation"  appears  to  have  come 
into  use  during  the  controversy  with 
Berengarius,  and  a  person  who  rejected  it 

>  Iren.  v.  2,  2. 

'  Cyril.  HierosoL  Cat.  xxii.  Myatag.  4. 


EUCHARIST 

as  "  foolisli  and  barbarous "  would  not 
tliereby  fall  into  heresy,  though  his  con- 
duct, Suarez  says,  would  be  scandalous 
and  rashj  and  would  expose  him  to  just 
suspicion  of  heresy.  But  the  word  im- 
plies a  truth  beyond  the  mere  fact  of 
Christ's  presence  in  the  sacrament;  and 
this  truth  is  of  faith.  It  is  necessary 
then  to  begin  by  explaining  the  word. 

The  Church  has  adopted  the  distinction 
made  by  the  Aristotelians  between  sub- 
stance and  accident.  The  essence  or 
8ul?8tance  is  that  which  constitutes  the 
thing,  which  makes  it  what  it  is,  and  it  is 
distinct  from  accidents  or  quaUties  which 
may  change  while  the  thing  itself  remains. 
Common  sense  teaches  us  this  distinction. 
If  water  undergoes  certain  accidental 
changes — e.g.  if  having  been  cold  it  be- 
comes heated  to  the  boiling  point — we  still 
call  it  water :  in  other  words,  we  recog- 
nise the  fact  that  though  the  water  has 
become  hot  instead  of  cold,  the  substance 
of  water  is  there  still,  and  that  the  change 
is  merely  accidental.  If,  however,  the 
water  were  changed  by  natural  process 
into  blood,  or  grape-juice,  or  again  by 
miracle  into  wine,  anyone  would  see  that 
not  merely  the  qualities,  but  the  thing 
was  changed.  The  substance  of  water 
would  have  ceased  to  be,  and  would  have 
been  replaced  by  that  of  grape-juice, 
blood,  or  wine.  Substance  is  the  inner 
reality  in  which  the  qualities  or  accidents 
inhere,  or  in  the  more  exact  language 
of  the  Schools,  substance  is  that  which 
naturally  stands  by  itself  without  any 
subject  or  substratum  in  which  it  inheres. 
An  accident  is  that  which  naturally  in- 
heres in  a  substance  as  its  subject  or 
substratum.  Now,  whereas  the  change 
which  the  elements  in  the  other  sacra- 
ments undergo  is  an  accidental  (whereas, 
e.g.,  the  water  in  baptism  remains  water, 
and  simply  receives  a  new  power  to  cleanse 
from  sin),  the  change  of  the  elements  in  the 
Eucharist  is  an  essential  or  substantial  one. 
The  substance  of  bread  and  wine  ceases  to 
be,  for  it  is  changed  into  Christ's  body  and 
blood.  In  one  respect,  however,  this  sub- 
stantial change  differs  from  all  other 
substantial  changes.  In  other  cases,  when 
one  substance  changes  into  another,  the 
accidents  also  change.  Here  the  accidents 
of  bread  and  wine  remain  unaltered ;  and 
so  long  as  they  remain,  the'body  and  blood 
of  Christ  also  remain  concealed  beneath 
them.  Hence  it  follows  that  in  the 
Eucharist  there  is  no  deception  of  the 
senses.  What  we  see,  feel,  or  taste  in 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  real,  for  the  ac- 


EUCHARIST 


315 


cidents  are  real  entities,  and  the  accidents 
are  all  that  the  senses  ever  do  perceive. 
From  the  existence  of  the  accidents 
reason  infers  that  of  the  substance  to 
which  they  naturally  correspond,  but  with 
regard  to  the  Eucharist  this  inference 
would  be  false,  since  faith  assures  us  that 
in  this  case  the  accidents  conceal  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ,  not  the  sub- 
stances of  bread  and  wine.  It  is,  moreover, 
because  the  accidents  remain  that  the 
Eucharist  is  a  sacrament.  They  consti- 
tute the  outward  part — they  are  the 
sensible  sign  of  that  refreshment  of  the 
soul  which  follows  from  a  worthy  recep- 
tion of  the  Blessed.  Sacrament. 

Taking  for  granted  tlie  real  presence, 
we  may  fairly  claim  to  prove  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation  from  the  words  of 
consecration  as  given  in  the  Gospels.  On 
the  Lutheran  theory  of  consubstantia- 
tion — according  to  which  the  substances  of 
bread  and  wine  are  still  present  after  con- 
secration, though  the  substance  of  Christ's 
body  is  there  also — Christ  could  not  have 
said  "  This  is  my  body,"  but  only  "  My 
body  is  here" — "My  body  is  present 
with  this  bread."  The  sensible  signs  or 
accidents  indicate  the  substance  which  un- 
derlies them;  so  long,  therefore,  as  the 
substance  of  bread  remains,  the  proposi- 
tion "  This  is  bread  "  must  be  true,  and 
any  other  proposition  —  e.g.  ''This  is 
Christ's  body  " — must  be  false.  It  is  of 
no  avail  to  urge  that  Christ's  body  is 
also  present.  The  question  is  not  whether 
it  is  present,  but  whether  it  is  directly 
indicated  by  the  accidents  of  bread.  If 
the  substance  of  bread  remains,  the 
natural  connection  between  accidents  and 
substance  remains  also ;  and  to  say  of 
bread  "  This  is  Christ's  body "  is  not 
less  absurd  than  it  would  be  to  say  of 
bread  in  which  a  gold  coin  was  concealed 
"  This  (pointing  to  the  bread)  is  gold." 
True,  we  may  point  to  a  cask  and  say 
"  This  is  wine,"  because  everybody  knows 
that  the  cask  is  meant  to  contain  liquid, 
and  by  a  permissible  licence  of  speech  we 
put  the  thing  which  contains  for  that 
which  is  contained  in  it.  But  the  acci- 
dents of  bread  are  not  intended,  on  the 
theory  of  consubstantiation,  either  by 
nature  or  use,  to  contain  the  body  o^f 
Christ ;  and  the  word  "  this  "  could  only 
signify  the  substance  of  bread  visible  by 
its  accidents.^ 

1  The  argument  given  from  the  words  of 
consecration  is  adopted  by  most  theologians, 
and  seems  to  be  favoured  by  the  language  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  xiii.  4.   However,  Scotua  and 


316 


EUCHARIST 


We  pass  to  patristic  testimonies,  and 
here  we  shall  have  an  opportunity  of 
adding  to  the  proofs  from  tradition 
already  given  for  the  real  presence ;  and 
we  shall  also  he  ahle  to  set  the  doctrine 
of  transuhstantiation  in  a  clearer  light, 
and  to  show  that,  although  the  term 
is  philosophical,  the  truth  which  it  im- 
plies is  very  simple.  The  Fathers,  then, 
imply  this  belief  in  transuhstantiation 
when  they  say  that  the  bread  is  changed 
into  or  becomes  the  body  of  Christ ; 
because,  on  any  theory  except  that  of 
transuhstantiation,  the  substance  of  bread 
remains,  and  is  not,  therefore,  changed 
into  another  substance.  The  following 
quotations  are  taken  from  Cardinal 
Franzelin's  treatise  on  the  Eucharist. 
TertuUian,  "  Adv.  Marc."  iv.  40,  says : 
"Taking  bread,  He  made  it  his  body." 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  "  Cat."  iv.  1,2: 
''Of  old  He  changed  water  into  wine, 
which  is  akin  to  blood,  in  Cana  of 
Galilee;  shall  we  think  Him  unworthy 
of  faith  now  that  He  has  changed  wine 
into  blood  ? "  The  change  of  water  into 
wine  was,  of  course,  an  instance  of  tran- 
suhstantiation ;  so,  also,  according  to 
Cyril,  is  the  change  effected  in  the 
Eiicharist.  "Before  consecration,"  says 
St.  Ambrose,  "Be  Myster."  ix.  54,  "it 
is  called  something  else  ;  after  consecra- 
tion it  is  named  blood  ;  and  thou  say  est 
'amen' — i.e.  it  is  true,"  St.  James  of 
Sarug  writes :  "  From  the  point  of  time 
when  He  took  bread  and  called  it  his 
body,  it  was  not  bread,  but  his  body." 
Theodoret,  on  Matthew  xxvi.  26 :  "  It 
[the  bread]  is  changed  by  a  wonderful 
operation,  though  to  us  it  appears  bread. 
....  Bread,  indeed,  it  appears  to  us, 
but  flesh  in  fact  (rw  ovtl)  it  is."  Against 
such  testimonies  (which  might  easily  be 
multiplied)  it  is  useless  to  quote  passages 
from  Script lu-e  or  the  Fathers  in  which 
the  appearances  which  remain  after  con- 
secration are  called  bread  and  wine. 
They  are  naturally  called  according  to 
the  "outward  appearance  which  they  pre- 
sent ;  and  it  would  be  easy  to  prove,  by 
the  same  argument,  that  Catholics  at  the 
present  day  do  not  believe  in  transuh- 
stantiation. 

(8)  The  Mode  of  Chi-ist's  Presence. — 
The  Council  of  Trent  defines  tliat  Christ 
is  contained  whole  and  entire  under 
either  species — i.e.  that  his  body,  blood, 
soul,  and  divinity  are  given  both  under 
the  form  of  bread  and  under  that  of  wine. 

Durandus  denied  that  the  words  in  themselves 
proved  trausubstantiation. 


EUCHARIST 

"V\Tiere  Christ's  body  is,  there  his  God- 
head must  be  also,  Toecause  by  the 
hypostatic  union  the  Godhead  became 
indissolubly  united  to  human  nature. 
Moreover,  as  Christ,  having  died  once, 
lives  for  evermore,  it  follows  that  the 
human  soul  must  needs  be  united  to  that 
risen  and  glorified  body  which  we  receive 
in  communion.  Hence  Christ  speaks  of 
eating  his  flesh  as  equivalent  to  eating 
Him.^  Fiu-ther,  the  same  kind  of  reason- 
ing certifles  that  Christ  is  given  whole 
and  entire  under  either  kind.  True,  the 
force  of  the  words  of  consecration  puts  the 
body  under  the  appearance  of  bread,  the 
blood  under  the  appearance  of  wine ;  but 
Christ  has  no  body  except  that  glorified 
one  united  to  his  blood— no  blood  except 
such  as  is  united  to  his  body.  Otherwise 
Christ  would  be  slain  over  again  every 
time  Mass.  is  said ;  for  on  each  occasion 
the  body  would  be  separated  from  the 
blood.  Again,  the  constant  practice  of 
the  Church  relieves  us  from  any  fear 
that  this  reasoning  may  be  precarious. 
Since  the  Council  of  Constance  it  has 
been  the  general  law  in  the  West  that 
all  except  the  celebrant  should  commu- 
nicate only  under  the  species  of  bread. 
And  the  Church,  though  it  has  changed 
its  discipline  in  this  matter,  has  by  no 
means  introduced  a  new^  principle.  In- 
fants among  the  early  Christians  received 
communion  under  the  form  of  wine,  and 
sick  persons,  solitaries,  &c.,  under  the 
one  form  of  bread.  The  principle  was 
fixed — viz.  that  Christ  was  given  whole 
and  entire  under  either  species ;  it  was 
merely  the  application  of  this  principle 
which  varied.     [See  Communion.] 

The  Council  of  Trent  goes  on  to  say 
that  whole  Christ  is  present  under  every 
separate  part  of  each  species  (sub  singulis 
cujusque  speciei  partihus,  separation  e  fact  a). 
What  has  been  said  in  defence  of  Christ's 
presence  under  either  species  admits  of 
obvious  application  here;  and  we  will 
only  add  that  Christ  said  of  the  divided 
host,  "  This  is  my  body." 

This  seems  the  titting  place  to  explain 
what  theologians  mean  by  the  spiritual 
presence  of  Christ's  body  in  the  i'^ucharist. 
It  is  not  meant  to  deny  that  (Christ's  body 
in  the  Eucharist  is  a  real  one  (such  a 
denial  would  be  heresy),  but  just  as  all 
bodies  after  the  resurrection  become 
spiritual  without  ceasing  to  be  bodies, 
because  they  have  certain  prt^perties  of 
spirit ;   so  it  is  with  Christ's  body  in  th© 

^  John,  vi.  57, 58,  "  He  that  eateth  uie;"  . . 
"  He  that  eateth  this  bread," 


EUCHARIST 

Euchaiist,  only  to  a  much  wider  extent 
and  in  a  more  wonderful  way.  At  one 
and  the  same  time  Christ's  body  is  in 
heaven  and  on  a  thousand  altars.  As 
the  spirit  is  present  entire  in  the  whole 
body  and  in  each  part  of  it,  so  the  body 
of  Christ,  with  all  its  substance  and 
qualities,  is  present  in  each  host  and  in 
each  part  of  the  host.  Consequently,  the 
Eucharistic  body  of  Christ  is  not  ex- 
tended in  space — i.e.  one  part  of  Christ's 
body  does  not  correspond  to  one  particular 
part  of  the  host.  All  this,  of  course, 
involves  a  series  of  stupendous  miracles. 
It  does  not,  however  imply  any  contra- 
diction ;  and  nothing,  we  know,  is  impos- 
aible  to  GoJ  Almighty. 

(f)  The  Ministration  of  the  Eucharist 
is  committed  to  priests.  They  alone  can 
consecrate  validly ;  for  it  was  his  Apostles, 
and  not  the  faithful  geuerallj^,  to  whom 
Christ  said,  "  Do  this  for  a  commemora- 
tion of  me."  Justin,  in  his  account  of 
the  Eucharist  already  referred  to,  speaks 
of  the  irpofo-TMs,  or  president,  as  the  cele- 
brant ;  and  TertuUian,  "  De  Coron.  Mil." 
3,  tells  us  that  the  Eucharist  '^  was  taken 
from  the  hands  of  nobody  else  except 
those  of  the  presidents."  The  "presi- 
dent "  is  evidently  another  word  for  the 
bishop,  who,  in  early  times,  celebrated 
the  Eucharist  while  the  priests  around 
him  joined  in  the  sacred  acts  as  consacri- 
ficantes.  The  First  General  Council  takes 
for  granted  that  priests  alone  can  conse- 
crate. It  condemns  the  abuse  of  deacons 
administering  the  Eucharist  to  priests, 
because  it  was  unseemly  that  those  who 
cannot  sacrifice  should  "give  the  body 
of  Christ "  to  those  who  could  oiler  it 
{rovs  i^ova-iav  htj  ej^oi/ra?  Trpoa(f)€p€iv  rols 
frpocr(pepov(rL  didovai  to  crcbpa  tov  XpiaTov). 

The  Eucharist  of  course  remains  the 
body  of  Christ  whoever  administers  it. 
But  priests  alone  do  so  lawfully  and  by 
virtue  of  their  office.^  Deacons  may 
administer  it  if  empowered  to  do  so,  and 
at  one  time  they  did  commonly  give  the 
chalice  to  communicants  [see  Deacon]. 

(C)  The  Effects  of  the  Eucharist.— To 
communicate  with  profit  we  must  do  so 
■without  the  stain  of  mortal  sin  on  the 
soul.  This  appears  from  St.  Paul's 
words,  1  Cor.  xi.  27,  "  Let  a  man  prove 
himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of  the  bread 
and  drink  of  the  chalice  ;  "  frum  the  con- 
Btant  practice  of  Christian  antiquity,  as 
testified  by  the  declaration  of  the  Fathers, 
the  exclusion  of  penitents  from  com- 
munion, the  words  "  sancta  Sanctis"  in 
»  Concil.  Trid.  xiiL  8. 


EUCHARIST 


317 


the  ancient  liturgies  ;  from  the  nature  of 
the  sacrament,  which  is  intended  as  the 
food  of  the  soul,  and  therefore  can  confer 
no  benefit  on  a  soul  dead  by  sin.^  In  a 
soul  duly  disposed  the  Eucharist  pro- 
duces efi'ects  similar  to  those  of  natural 
food  on  the  body.  It  unites  us  to  Christ, 
the  author  of  grace  and  virtue.  It 
sustains  and  increases  the  spiritual  life ; 
it  repairs  the  injuries  done  to  the  soul  by 
sin,  for  it  increases  the  love  of  God  and 
of  true  virtue,  and  fiUs  us  with  spiritual 
sweetness ;  on  the  same  grounds  it  pre- 
serves the  Christian  from  future  falls.  It 
is  also  both  to  soul  and  body  the  pledge  of 
future  glory,  since  Christ  is  bestowed  on 
us  for  this  special  end,  that  we  may  pre- 
serve and  obtain  that  happiness  which 
God  reserves  for  the  virtuous ;  while  the 
body  has  a  new  title  to  a  glorious  resur- 
rection. It  is  fitting  that  Christ  should 
regard  the  flesh  of  the  worthy  communi- 
cant with  a  special  interest,  and  con- 
form it  in  due  time  to  his  own  glorified 
body. 

II.  The  Eucharist  as  a  Sacrijice. 

A  sacrifice  is  defined  as  "  the  oblation 
of  a  sensible  thing  made  to  God  through  a 
lawful  minister  by  a  real  change  in  the 
thing  ofi'ered,  to  testify  God's  absolute 
authority  over  us  and  our  entire  depen- 
dence on  Him."  This  is  not  the  place  to 
discuss  the  history  and  meaning  of  the 
primitive  sacrifices.  Catholic  theologians 
have  generally  taught  that  in  sacrifice 
the  life  of  the  victim — or  the  existence  of 
the  thing,  if  the  oblation  be  of  a  thing 
without  life— is  substituted  for  the  life  of 
those  in  whose  name  it  is  offered.  The 
thing  offered  must  be  visible,  for  sacrifice 
pertains  to  external  worship,  and  it  is  only 
m  a  metaphorical  sense  that  the  prayer 
of  the  heart  and  the  like  are  called  sacri- 
fices. It  can  be  made  lawfully  to  God 
alone,  for  no  other  but  He  is  the  Lord  of 
life  and  death,  and  the  very  act  of 
sacrifice  must  effect  a  change  which 
destroys,  or  tends  to  destroy,  that  which 
is  offered,  for  without  this  destruction 
we  should  fail  to  confess  by  an  external 
act  God's  supreme  dominion,  and  so  to 
satisfy  the  end  of  all  sacrifice.  Such 
sacrifices  were  offered  from  the  earliest 

^  One  exception  must  be  here  made.  Many 
theolojcians  hold  that  a  person  who  without 
fault  of  his  own  approaches  communion  in  a 
state  of  mortal  sin,  for  which  he  has  super- 
natural sorrow,  but  not  that  sorrow  known  as 
perfect  contrition,  would  be  reconciled  to  God  ia 
the  act  of  reception.  Such  a  case  miffht  occur, 
e.  g.,  if  a  pers'  n  erroneously  supposed  that  he 
had  been  absolved. 


818 


EUCHARIST 


times  to  the  true  God  by  the  patriarchs, 
and  among  heathen  nations  to  their  false 
deities.  God  accepted  and  approved 
sacrificial  worship  from  the  first;  and 
when  the  law  was  given  to  the  people  of 
Israel  sacrifice  was  enjoined  and  its  mode 
carefully  regulated  on  divine  authority. 
Christ  offered  on  the  cross  a  sacrifice  for 
our  redemption,  and  from  that  moment 
the  Jewish  sacrifices  ceased  to  have  any 
efficacy.  They  were  instituted  to  typify 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  and  now  that  the 
reality  had  come  the  types  are  no  longer 
needed.  The  worship  of  sacrifice,  how- 
ever, was  not  to  cease  in  the  Church, 
and  the  Council  of  Trent  defines  that  in 
the  Eucharist  or  Mass  a  true  and  proper 
sacrifice  is  ofiered  to  God. 

The  Old  Testament  ^  foretells  this 
sacrifice  of  the  Mass  just  as  clearly  as  it 
predicts  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross.  No 
prophet  seems  to  speak  more  lightly  of 
the  Jewish  ritual  than  Jeremias.  He 
looks  forward  to  a  time  when  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  will  not  be  remade  or  even 
missed.  "They  will  not  say  any  more 
*  The  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,'  and 
it  will  not  be  thought  of;  they  will  not 
remember  it  or  miss  it,  and  it  will  not  be 
made  again  "  (iii.  16).  He  looks  forward 
instead  to  that  new  covenant  which  God 
will  write  on  the  heart.  But  is  there  to 
be  no  sacrifice  under  this  new  covenant  ? 
Let  the  following  passage  answer :  "  In 
those  days  Judah  will  be  saved,  and 
Jerusalem  will  dwell  confidently,  and 
this  is  the  name  which  they  will  call  it 
[Jerusalem],  the  Lord  our  justice.  For 
thus  saith  the  Lord,  a  man  shall  not  be 
cut  off  to  David  sitting  on  the  throne  of 
the  house  of  Israel ;  and  to  the  priests, 
the  Levites,  a  man  shall  not  be  cut  off 
from  before  my  face  presenting  the 
holocaust  and  offering  the  meat  [or  flour] 
offering  and  making  sacrifice  aU  the  days. 
And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to 
Jeremias  saying:  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
if  ye  wiU  break  my  covenant  [consisting 
in]  the  day  and  my  covenant  [consisting 
in]  the  night,  so  that  there  should  be  no 
more  daytime  and  night  in  their  season  ; 
then  also  shall  my  covenant  be  broken 
with  David  my  servant,  so  that  he  should 
not  have  a  son  reigning  on  his  throne, 
and  with  the  Levites,  the  priests  who 
minister  to  me.  As  the  host  of  the 
heavens  cannot  be  numbered,  and  the 
sand  of  the  sea  cannot  be  measured,  so  I 

1  The  passages  of  Scripture  here  and  else- 
where throughout  this  article  are  translated 
for  obvious  reasons  from  the  original  texts. 


EUCHARIST 

will  multiply  the  seed  of  David  my 
servant,  and  the  Levites  who  minister  to 
me"  (xxxiii.  16  seq.).  Evidently  this  is 
a  Messianic  prophecy.  The  son  of  David 
is,  as  orthodox  Protestants  gladly  admit, 
no  other  than  Christ  the  son  of  David, 
and  the  son  of  God.  Surely,  then,  there  is 
no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  in  the 
Messianic  kingdom — i.e.  in  the  Church — 
sacrifice  will  continue  to  be  offered,  and 
will  last  while  sun  and  moon  endure,  or,  in 
other  words,  till  the  end  of  the  world  and 
of  the  Christian  dispensation.  A  recent 
Protestant  writer  who  belongs  to  the 
sceptical  school,  and  has  scant  sympathy 
with  Catholic  doctrine,  admits  that 
'*  taken  literally,  the  eternity  of  Levitical 
sacrifices  as  expressed  in  xxxiii.  18, 
seems  quite  inconsistent  with  all  else  in 
Jeremiah's  prophecies,"  and,  "  taken  typi- 
cally, only  fits  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass 
to  which  Roman  Catholic  expositors 
refer  it ;  for  the  sacrifices  are  to  be 
offered  continually  in  all  time."  ^ 

Malachias,  in  a  familiar  passage,  ex- 
presses the  same  idea  still  more  strongly 
and  definitely.  He  speaks  of  God  as 
rejecting  the  Jewish  sacrifices.  "  I  have 
no  pleasure  in  you,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  and  a  meat  [or  flour]  offering  I 
will  not  accept  from  your  hands."  But  is 
sacrifice  to  cease  .^  On  the  contrary, 
"  from  the  rising  of  the  sim  even  to  its 
going  down  great  is  my  name  among  the 
Gentiles,  and  in  every  place  incense  is 
offered  to  my  name,  and  a  pure  flour 
offering,  since  great  is  my  name  among 
the  Gentiles,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  " 
(Malach.  i.  10, 11).  The  sacrifices  of  the 
old  law  were  offered  only  in  Palestine  ; 
the  new  sacrifice  of  Messianic  times  is  to 
be  offered  among  the  Gentiles.  Jewish 
sacrifices  could  be  offered  only  in  one 
place  ;  the  new  sacrifice  is  to  be  offered 
all  over  the  world.  The  sacrifice 
here  predicted  cannot  be  that  of  the 
cross,  which  was  made  once  for  aU  on 
Calvary.  The  rabbins  and  Protestant 
scholars,  whether  sceptical  or  orthodox, 
have  been  utterly  unable  to  explain  this 
passage    even    plausibly.     To  say  with 

1  Robertson  Smith,  The  Old  Testament  in 
the  Jewish  Church,  p.  402.  The  p'jssage  is  want- 
ing in  the  chief  MSS.  of  the  LXX.  The  LXX 
version  of  Jeremias  omits  some  2,700  words 
fotmd  in  our  Hebrew  text,  and  gives  many  of  the 
chapters  in  a  different  order,  so  that  this  omis- 
sion need  not  surprise  us.  Hitzig,  ad  he,  and 
Kuenen,  Het  onstaan  en  de  verzameling  van  de 
hoeken  des  ouden  verbonds,  ii.  p.  20.3,  treat  the 
passage  as  an  interpolation.  Ewald's  opinion 
{2'ropheten,  ii.  p.  269)  is  diametrically  opposite. 


EUOHAKIST 

Ebn  Ezra  and  Kimchi  ^  that  the  prophet 
means  that  the  heathens  would,  if  God 
commanded  them  to  do  so,  otfer  acceptable 
sacrifice,  is  doing  violence  to  the  plain 
meaniiig  of  the  words.  Again,  the  whole 
context,  which  speaks  of  sacrifice  in  the 
literal  sense,  excludes  the  supposition  that 
the  oft'ering  of  the  Gentiles  is  to  be  a 
mere  sacrifice  of  praise  and  prayer ;  nor 
would  a  prophet  of  the  Persian  period 
have  regarded  the  offering  of  such  a 
sacrifice  in  every  place  as  anything  ex- 
traordinary.- Still  more  desperate  is 
Hitzig's  interpretation,  which  attributes 
to  Malachias  the  modern  and  utterly  un- 
Hebrew  notion  that  "  Jahve,  Ormuzd, 
Zeus  (!),  and  perhaps  otliers,  were  only 
different  names  of  the  one  Supreme  God." 
The  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  that  only, 
satisfies  the  requirements  of  a  scientific 
exegesis. 

Christ  at  the  last  supper  fulfilled  these 
prophecies  and  instituted  the  transfigured 
Fassover  of  the  new  law,  in  which  He  him- 
self, the  true  paschal  lamb,  was  to  be  con- 
tinually sacrificed  and  eaten.  When  He 
blessed  the  bread  and  wine  his  eye  was  fixed 
on  the  morrow  when  he  was  to  suffer  and 
die  ;  but  his  priesthood,  begun  when  he 
assumed  our  human  nature,  was  not  to 
end  with  a  single  act  of  sacrifice.  He 
was  to  continue  it  throughout  time  by  the 
bauds  of  his  earthly  representatives,  who 
were  to  offer  Him  on  the  altars  of  the 
Church  under  the  forms  of  bread  and 
wine.  He  speaks  of  Himself  under  the 
forms  of  bread  and  wine  as  already  in  the 
state  of  a  victim  offered  as  sacrifice  for 
men.  He  speaks  of  his  body  in  the 
Eucharist  as  "  given  for  you"  (Luc.  xxii. 
19),  just  as  He  had  said  a  year  before  of 
"  the  bread  which  I  will  give  is  my  flesh, 
which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world" 
(John  vi.  52).  He  says  of  the  chalice — 
t.e.  of  the  blood  therein  contained — that  it 
is  "  shed  for  you  "  (Luc.  xxii.  20).  We  lay 
no  stress  on  the  fact  that  it  is  the  present 
and  not  the  future  tense  which  Christ 
employs ;  to  do  so  would  show  great 
ignorance  of  Scriptural  usage.     But  the 

^  Quoted  by  Steiner  ad  loc.  in  his  commen- 
tary published  in  1881. 

2  This  interpretation,  adopted  bv  many  Pro- 
testants (e.g.  by  Keil,  ad  loc),  is  given  in  the 
Targum.  In  the  Chaldee  the  verse  is  para- 
phrased thus  :  "  Since  from  the  rising  of  the 
gun  and  to  its  setting  great  is  my  name  among 
the  peoples,  and  in  every  time  when  you  do  my 
will,  1  will  receive  your  prayer  and  my  great 
name  will  be  sanctitied  by  means  of  you,  and 
your  praver  shall  be  as  a  pure  oblation  before 
me,  since  great  is  my  name  among  the  peoples, 
Baith  Jehovah  of  hosts." 


EUCHAEIST 


319 


fact  remains  that  Christ  speaks  of  the 
body  under  the  form  of  hrend,  of  the  blood 
in  the  chalice  as  presented  in  a  sacrificial 
state  for  the  life  of  men.  The  perpetual 
sacrifice  of  the  altar  was  to  be  one  with  the 
sacrifice  of  the  cross.  The  one  offering 
worthy  of  God  was  to  replace  the  typical 
sacrifices  prescribed  in  the  Pentateuch. 
The  sacrifice  of  the  altar  was  to  represent 
and  commemorate  that  of  the  cross  and 
also  to  supply  all  that  was  wanting  in  the 
latter.  The  Jews  were  commanded  to 
eat  of  their  peace  offerings  and  so  to  enter 
into  communion  with  God.  No  one  could 
eat  of  the  sacrifice  ofiiBred  on  Calvary,  but 
Christians  for  all  time  were  to  feed  on  the 
divine  victim  present  in  the  Eucharistic 
oblation.  The  sacrifice  of  the  cross  was 
offered  once  ;  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  altar 
the  Christian  Church  was  provided  with 
the  noblest  form  of  worship,  to  be  offered 
day  by  day.  The  sacrifice  of  the  cross 
was  "  dishonoured,  without  public  testi- 
mony to  its  dignity  and  power."  The 
sacrifice  of  the  altar  was  to  be  the  centre 
of  the  Church's  worship  and  solemnities, 
the  object  of  her  unceasing  veneration. 
It  was  to  unite  the  faithful  to  God  and 
to  each  other ;  it  was  to  teach  them  how 
to  offer  themseWes,  body  and  soul,  in 
sacrifice  to  God  in  union  with  the  perfect 
sacrifice  of  Christ ;  it  was  to  separate 
them  wholly  and  utterly  from  participa- 
tion in  Jewish  and  heathen  sacrifices. 
This  last  point  is  clearly  brought  out  by 
St.  Paul  in  a  way  which  shows  beyond 
possibility  of  mistake  his  belief  in  the 
Eucharistic  sacrifice.  In  urging  the 
Corinthians  not  to  partake  in  heathen 
sacrifices  he  reminds  them,  as  we  have 
seen  above,  that  the  Eucharistic  bread 
imparts  the  body  of  Christ,  the  chalice  of 
benediction  his  blood,  and  he  concludes, 
"Ye  cannot  partake  in  the  table  of  the 
Lord  and  the  table  of  devils."  The 
table  of  devils  was  of  course  the 
heathen  altar,  and  partaking  in  the  table 
of  devils  means  eatmg  of  the  sacrifices 
offered  to  false  gods,  whom  St.  Paul 
declares  to  be  really  demons.  The  Apostle 
therefore  sets  altar  against  altar,  sacrifice 
against  sacrifice,  communion  against  com- 
munion. 

This  belief  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  altar 
has  prevailed  at  all  times  and  all  places 
within  the  Church.  St.  Ignatius^  tells  the 
Philadelphians  they  must  partake  of  one 
Eucharist,  since  there  is  one  flesh  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  one  chalice  which 
unites  us  to  his  blood ;  one  Ova-iaarTrjpiov 
1  Ad  Philad.  4. 


320 


EUCHARIST 


EUCHARIST 


or  place  of  sacrifice.  "  The  chalice,"  says 
Ire-nseiis,^  "  which  comes  from  this  world 
of  ours,  He  [Christ]  confessed  to  he  his 
blood  and  taught  the  new  ohlation  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  oblation  the 
Church,  receiving  it  from  the  Apostles, 
oft'ers  in  the  whole  world  to  God." 
"  The  oblation  of  the  Church,"  he  con- 
tinues, referring  to  the  prophecy  of 
Malachy,  "which  our  Lord  taught  to  be 
offered  in  the  whole  world,  is  counted  a 
pure  sacrifice  before  God."  He  proves 
that  Catholics  alone  have  the  right  to 
celebrate  this  new  oblation,  heretics  being 
excluded  because  a  belief  in  the  real  pre- 
sence is  inconsistent  with  their  other 
theories  ;  Jews,  because  '*  their  hands  are 
full  of  blood,  for  they  have  not  received 
the  word  which  is  otlisred  to  God."  ^  This 
is  nothing  less  than  a  distinct  assertion  of 
the  Catholic  truth  that  the  divine  victim 
who  shed  his  blood  for  us  on  the  cross 
applies  to  us  the  merits  of  his  Passion,  by 
ofi"ering  Himself  continually  on  the  altar. 
"We  may  add  that  the  Fathers,  from  very 
earlv  times,  explained  the  words  in  Psalm 
cix.,  "  Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  after  the 
order  of  Melchisedech,"  as  referring  to 
the  Eucharistic  sacrifice.  They  knew 
from  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  that  Mel- 
chisedech, "the  king  of  justice  and  of 
peace,"  was  a  type  of  Christ.  They  re- 
membered the  words  in  Genesis  xiv.  18, 
*'  Melchisedech,  king  of  Salem,  brought 
forth  bread  and  wine,  and  he  was  the 
priest  of  God  most  high,"  and  the  pro- 
phecy in  Psalm  cix., "  Thou  art  a  priest  for 
ever  according  to  the  order  or  manner  of 
Melchisedech,"  and  accordingly  they 
found  the  reality  typified  by  Melchisedech 
in  the  Eucharist  when  Christ  ofilers  Him- 
self through  his  priests  under  the  appear- 
ances of  bread  and  wine.  "Who,"  asks 
Cyprian,  "is more  truly  a  priest  of  God 
most  high  than  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  offered  a  sacrifice  to  God  the  Father 
and  offered  the  same  sacrifice  which 
Melchisedech  offered  (that  is,  bread  and 
wine) — namely,  his  own  body  and  blood?'*  ^ 
*'Hi8  body,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "is 
offered  up  instead  of  all  those  sticrifices 
and  oblations,  and  it  is  given  to  the  com- 

1  Iren  iv.  17,5;  18,  1. 

2  Iren.  iv.  18, 4.  "  Verbum  qund  offertur  ;  " 
thi.s  is  the  reading  of  the  three  best  MSS. 
(Clarom.,  Vet.  et  Vos.s.),  except  that  the  two 
latter  omit  the  unimportant  word  "  Deo."  The 
reading  adopted  by  Harvey  and  Neander 
(Kirchengenchichte,  i.  p.  424)  rests  on  very 
Inferior  authorit}'. 

5  '•  Suum  sciUcet  corpus  et  sanguinem;"  Cy- 
prian, Ep.  03.    See  also  Clem.  Al.  Strom,  iv.  25. 


municants."  Ambrose,  Chrysostom,  and  a 
multitude  of  other  Fathers  hold  similar 
language.  The  ancient  liturgies,  written 
in  many  languages  and  used  in  many 
different  parts  of  the  Church,  testify  like- 
wise to  the  universality  of  this  belief. 
They  speak  of  the  "  tremendous,  divine, 
unbloody,  the  perpetual,  the  living  sacri- 
fice" of  the  Lamb  "  who,  being  sacrificed, 
never  dies ;"  they  declare  that  "  our  sacri- 
fice is  the  body  and  blood  of  the  priest 
himself,  Christ  our  Lord."^ 

Having  established  the  truth  of  the 
Church's  docti*ine  on  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass,  it  only  remains  to  state  and  explain 
that  doctrine  more  fully,  avoiding,  how- 
ever, as  far  as  possible,  merely  scholastic 
questions.  All  that  is  included  in  the 
idea  of  sacrifice  is  found  iu  the  Eucharist. 
There  is  the  oblation  of  a  sen>ible  thing-^ 
viz.  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  under 
the  appearances  of  bread  and  wine.  The 
oblation  is  made  by  a  lawful  minister — ■ 
viz.  by  Christ  Himself  acting  through 
earthly  priests,  who  are  his  representa- 
tives. There  is  a  mystical  destruction  of 
the  victim,  for  Christ  presents  Himself  on 
the  altar  "as  in  a  state  of  death,  because 
He  h  deprived  of  those  functions  of  natural 
lii'e  which  He  exercised  on  earth,  and  be- 
cause He  is  there  with  the  signs  of  death 
through  the  mystical  separation  between 
body  and  blood  "^  made  by  the  words  of 
consecration.  There  is  the  protestation 
of  God's  supreme  dominion,  for  the  Mass 
is  and  can  be  offered  to  God  alone.  More- 
over, it  fulfils  the  form  and  ends  of  sacrifice. 
Like  the  holocausts,  it  offers  homage  to 
God ;  like  the  sin-offerings,  it  propitiates 
Him  by  the  very  fact  that  it  is  an  oblation 
of  Christ,  the  victim  for  our  sins.  Like 
the  peace-offerings,  it  pleads  for  grace,  for 
we  ofler  here  the  victim  of  our  peace. 
In  this  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  we  offer 
God  the  most  excellent  gilt  He  has 
bestowed  on  us — namely,  the  Son  in 
whom  He  is  well  pleased.  Lastly,  the 
sacrifice  of  the  altar  is  one  with  that  of 
the  cross.  True,  no  blood  is  shed  on  the 
altar,  nor  does  Christ  die  any  more,  so 
that  it  is  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  not  of 
the  Mass,  that  we  were  redeemed  from 

'  See  the  quotations  in  Franzelin,  De  Euch, 
p.  3 19. fey. 

^  Le  Brun,  Explication  de  la  Messe,  i.  22 
The  words  of  consecration  wculd  of  them 
selves  put  the  body;  only  under  the  form  of 
bread,  the  blood  only  under  that  ot  win€v 
■were  it  not  for  the  fact  of  concomitance  ex- 
jdained  above.  But  theologians  hold  difF.rent 
theories  as  to  what  constitutes  the  essence  erf 
the  sacrifice. 


EUCHARIST 


EUCHOLOGY 


321 


ain  and  its  penalties.  But  on  the  cross 
and  altar  we  have  the  same  victim  and 
the  same  priest,  and  therefore,  in  the 
words  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass,  though  a  commemora- 
tion, is  "  not  a  mere  commemoration  of 
the  sacrifice  on  the  cross."  It  is  truly 
'*  propitiatory "  ^  and  may  be  offered  for 
the  living  and  dead,  for  sins  and  penalties, 
for  satisfaction  and  other  needs,  spiritual 
and  temporal.  ^'  Moved,"  says  the  same 
council,  "  by  offering  up  this  sacrifice,  the 
Lord,  granting  grace  and  the  gilt  of  re- 
pentance, forgives  crimes  and  sins,  even 
if  they  be  great ;"'  ^  and  in  another  place 
that  it  is  the  most  efficacious  means  of 
helping  the  souls  in  Purgatory.^  The 
Mass  is  offered  for  the  salvation  of  all  ihe 
living  and  of  all  the  dead  who  still  suffer 
in  the  state  of  purgation  ;  but  it  may  also 
be  applied  specially  for  the  needs  of  indi- 
viduals. It  is  necessary  that  the  priest 
should  communicate  in  every  Mass  which 
he  celebrates,  for  consumption  of  the 
species  forms  an  integral  part  of  the 
sacrifice,  but  it  is  not  necessary  that 
anyone  else  should  do  so.  The  Council 
of  Trent  does,  indeed,  express  a  desire  that 
in  each  Mass  the  faithful  who  assist,  as 
well  iiS  the  priest,  should  communicate ; 
but  it  '•  does  not  condemn,  as  private  and 
unlawful,  those  Masses  in  which  the  priest 
alone  communicates  sacramentally,  but 
approves  and  even  commends  them,  since 
such  Masses  should  be  considered  public 
{com7nunes)f  partly  because  the  people 
in  them  communicate  spiritually,  partly 
because  they  are  celebrated  by  a  public 
minister  of  the  Church,  not  for  himself 
onlv,  but  for  all  the  faithful  who  belong 
to  the  body  of  Christ."^ 

HI.    Adoration,   JReservation,   Src,   of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

Several  other  subjects  connected  with 
the  Eucharist  are  treated  of  under  sepa- 
rate articles  —  e.g.  Benediction,  Com- 
munion, Corpus  Ohristi,  Exposition, 
Procession,  Reservation  of  the 
Blessed  Sacrament.  But  it  will  be 
well  to  state  here  one  or  two  dogmatic 
principles  relating  to  these  matters. 
Christ  gives  Himself  in  this  sacra- 
ment to  be  the  food  of  the  soul ;  and 
every  host  is  consecrated  in  order  that 
ultimately  it  may  be  received  by  the 
communicant.  Thus  the  host  which  is 
used  for  Benediction  is,  after  a  few  days, 
received  by  the  priest  at  Mass,  and 
the    particles   reserved  in  the  tabernacle 

*  Sess.  xxii.  can.  3.       ^  gess.  xxv.  De  Purgat. 

•  Sess.  xxii.  cap.  2.       *  lb.  cap.  G. 


are  all  given  to  communicants  and  re- 
placed by  other  particles.  However,  as 
food  has  the  qualities  which  nourish 
before  it  is  eaten,  the  actual  reception 
being  only  the  condition  without  which 
it  will  not  actually  nourish,  so  the 
Eucharist,  so  long  as  the  appearances  of 
bread  and  wine  remain,  is  always  the 
true  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  This 
truth  appears  from  the  words  of  insti- 
tution. Our  Lord  said  of  the  bread, 
"  This  is  my  body ;  "  not  "  This  will  be 
my  body  the  moment  you  receive  it;" 
and  it  is  defined  by  the  Council  of  Trent, 
Sess.  xiii.,  can.  4.  In  consequence  of  this 
belief,  the  Church  has  from  the  earliest 
times  treated  the  Blessed  Siicrameut  with 
the  most  anxious  reverence.  "  We  are 
full  of  anxiety,"  says  Tertullian,^  "  lest 
anything  of  our  chalice  and  bread  should 
fall  to  the  ground."  Severe  penalties  were 
imposed,  both  in  East  and  West,  upon 
the  ministers  of  the  altar,  if  through  their 
negligence  any  accident  happened  to  the 
Blessed  Sacrament.  Again,  the  Church 
commands,  and  at  the  same  time  regu- 
lates by  stringent  laws,  the  reservation  of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  for  the  sick. 
Lastly,  Catholics  pay  to  the  Eucharist, 
present  on  the  altar,  reserved  in  the  taber- 
nacle, or  carried  in  procession — to  the 
Eucharist,  in  short,  wherever  'it  may- 
be present — that  supreme  worship  which 
is  due  to  God  alone,  "The  Eucharist," 
says  the  Council  of  Trent,^  "  is  not  the 
less  to  be  adored  because  Christ  instituted 
it  in  order  that  it  might  be  received  ;  for 
we  believe  that  that  same  God  is  present 
in  it  of  whom  the  eternal  Father,  bring- 
ing Him  into  the  world,,  said,  'Let  all 
the  angels  of  God  adore  Him ; '  that  God 
whom  the  Magi  adored  falling  down 
before  Him ;  who,  finally,  was  adored  by 
the  Apostles  in  Galilee,  as  the  Scripture 
bears  witness."  (A  masterly  summary  of 
the  New  Testament  doctrine  on  the 
Eucharist  will  be  found  in  Dollinger's 
'*  First  Age  of  the  Church."  Chardon, 
torn,  ii.,  is  the  best  authority  on  the 
history  of  the  rites.  The  great  work 
"  Perpetuite  de  la  Foi "  is  a  storehouse 
of  materials  for  the  defence  of  the  Catholic 
doctrine.) 

EU-CHOIiOGV  (Eux'oXdyiov).  The 
book  which  contains  the  ritual  of  the 
Greek  church,  for  the  celelrat'on  of  the 
Eucharist  and  other  sacraments,  and  all 
ecclesiastical  ceremonies.  It  corresponds 
to  the  Missal,  Pontifical,  and  Ritual  of 

1  De  Coron.  Mil.  3. 

2  Sess.  xiii.  cap 


322 


EUDISTS 


EULOGLE 


the  Latin  Church.  It  was  published  by 
Goar,  at  Paris,  in  1647,  under  the  title 
"  Euchologion,  sive  Rituale  Grsecoram, 
complectens  ritus  et  or  dines  divinse  litur- 
giae,  officiorum,  sacramentorum,  &c.,  juxta 
usum  Orient  alls  Ecclesise." 

EUBZSTS.  A  congregation  of  secu- 
lar priests  established  under  the  names  of 
Jesus  and  Mary  for  the  purpose  of  train- 
ing clergy  and  giving  missions,  and 
named,  after  their  founder,  the  Pere 
Eudes.  M.  Eudes  (a  native  of  the  diocese 
of  Seez,  in  Normandy)  was  born  in  1601. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  made  a  vow  of 
chastity,  and,  having  a  strong  predilec- 
tion for  the  ecclesiastical  state,  was  re- 
ceived into  the  French  Oi-atory,  lately 
founded  at  Paris  by  the  celebrated  Abb^, 
afterwards  Cardinal,  de  B(5riille.  After 
being  ordained  priest,  he  laboui-ed  for 
several  years  as  an  Oratorian,  chiefly  in 
Normandy,  preaching  with  great  power 
and  abundant  fruit.  Desiring  to  found  a 
special  congregation  for  the  ends  specified 
above,  he  left  the  Oratory,  and,  being 
joined  by  eight  zealous  priests,  established 
the  first  house  of  his  community  at  Caen 
in  1643.  In  the  course  of  his  long  life 
he  conducted  no  less  than  a  hundred  and 
ten  missions  in  all  the  principal  towns  of 
France.  He  wrote  several  works,  among 
which  "  Le  Bon  Confesseur "  and  "  Le 
Predicateur  Apostolique"  are  distin- 
guished. He  died  at  Caen  in  1680, 
leaving  his  community  in  a  flourishing 
condition.  The  Eudists  make  no  vows  ; 
yet  very  few,  after  being  once  incorporated 
in  the  congregation,  have  been  known  to 
leave  it.  They  wear  the  ordinary  dress 
of  secular  priests.  It  is  their  principle, 
while  residing  in  any  house  of  the  order, 
scrupuJously  to  obey  the  superior,  al- 
though they  are  not  bound  by  vow  to  do 
50.  Frequent  change  of  the  superiors  of 
the  different  houses,  with  the  approval 
of  the  bishop,  is  a  fundamental  rule  of 
their  institute.  They  are  said  never  to 
have  been  infected  by  Jansenism.  At  the 
Revolution  the  general  of  the  order  was 
M.  Piei-re  Dumont,  superior  of  the  house 
at  Ooutances.  His  coadjutor,  M.  Hubert, 
was  chosen  by  Louis  XVI.,  in  1791,  to 
replace  his  former  confessor,  who  had 
taken  the  oath  to  the  Civil  Constitution 
of  the  Clergy.  Soon  after  he  was  arrested, 
and  lost  his  life  in  the  butchery  of  the 
priests  at  the  Carmelite  convent  ordered 
by  the  Paris  Commune  in  September 
1792.  There  was  a  chapel  in  the  convent 
garden:  on  the  steps  of  the  altar,  before 
a  statue  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  M.  Hubert 


took  refuge.  The  assassins  broke  in ;  Gii3 
of  them  saw  him,  and,  brandishing  hia 
sword  over  him,  said,  "Take  the  oath." 
"  No,"  he  replied  ;  "  I  will  not  deny  the 
faith."  The  murderer  then  attacked  him, 
and  despatched  him  with  repeated  blows 
of  his  sword.  Eight  or  nine  other  Eudists 
were  butchered  in  the  same  massacre. 
Many  found  refuge  in  England.  In  1826 
the  order  was  reN-ived,  with  F.  Blauchard 
for  superior ;  thirty  years  afterwards  they 
were  more  than  eighty  in  number,  with 
four  flourishing  colleges,  the  chief  house 
being  at  Rennes,  in  Britanny.  Mgr. 
Poirier,  the  late  Archbishop  of  Trinidad, 
who  had  been  himself  a  Eudist,  suc- 
ceeded in  procuring  for  them  the  formal 
approbation  of  the  Holy  See ;  before  the 
Revolution,  owing  to  the  opposition  of 
the  Oratorians  and  other  causes,  they 
had  only  obtained  partial  approbation. 
(Helyot.) 

SUltOGrlJBB  (from  cvXoyelu,  to  bless. 
Malt,  xxvi,  26).  The  Blessed  Sacrament 
is  the  great  bond  of  union  among  the 
faithful.  "  We  being  many,"  says  the 
Apostle,  "  are  one  bread  "  (1  Cor.  x.  17). 
However,  when  many  of  the  faithful 
no  longer  communicated  as  a  matter  of 
course  at  every  Mass,^  the  need  was  felt 
of  showing  by  some  outward  sign  that 
they  were  in  full  communion  with  the 
Church.  Accordingly  the  celebrant  con- 
secrated so  much  only  of  the  bread 
placed  on  the  altar  as  was  needed  for  the 
communicants ;  the  rest  of  the  bread  was 
merely  blessed  and  distributed  to  those 
who  did  not  actually  communicate,  though 
they  had  the  right  to  do  so.  The  Eulogia, 
then,  was  a  substitute — though  of  course  a 
most  imperfect  one — for  Holy  Communion, 
whence  the  Greek  name,  avriboipovy 
"  that  which  is  given  instead." 

The  custom  can  scarcely  have  arisen 
before  the  third  century.  In  the  foiu^h 
it  was  well  known  throughout  the  East.'* 
In  the  West  we  find  it  mentioned  by 
Gregory  of  Tours  in  the  sixth  century, 
and  by  the  Council  of  Nantes  in  Q6S. 
The  bread  used  was  sometimes  the  same 
as  that  which  was  set  aside  for  consecra- 
tion ;  sometimes  ordinary  bread  was 
placed  on  the  altar  and  used  for  the  Eulo- 
giae.  Usually  the  latter  bread  was  blessed 
after  the  offertory,  but  sometimes,  as 
Honorius  of  Autun  tells  us,  at  the  end  of 
Mass.  The  Council  of  Nantes  gives  a  form 
of  benediction  which  the  Church  still 
employs  in  the  blessing  of  bread  at  Easter. 

1  See  Cyprian,  De  Orat.  Dom.  c  18. 
*  Concii.  Laod.  can.  li. 


EUNOMIANS 


EUSTATHIANS 


328 


The  Eulogise  were  not  given  to  the  catechu- 
mens, to  the  excommunicated  or  to  the 
possessed.  Eulogies  were  also  sent  by  one 
bishop  to  another  in  sign  of  intercommu- 
nion and  as  a  mark  of  peace  and  good 
will.  Here  too  the  Eulogia  was  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  Eucharist,  since  in  the 
earliest  times  the  Blessed  Sacrament  itself 
was  sent  from  Church  to  Church.  ^ 

Various  traces  of  the  Eulogise  may 
still  be  discovered  in  the  present  usages  of 
the  Church.  The  avridcopov  or  Eulogia 
is  still  distributed  among  the  Greeks,  and 
the  "  Pain  Beni  "  is  given  in  some  French 
churches  at  Mass.'*  Moreover,  words 
which  occur  in  the  canon  of  the  Roman 
Mass  after  the  consecration,  "  by  whom,  0 
Lord,  Thou  dost  ever  create  all  these  good 
things,  dost  sancti  +  fy  them,  quick  +  en 
them.ble  +  ss  them  and  bestow  them  on  us," 
in  all  likelihood  were  used  at  first  over  the 
Eulogia,  not  over  the  Blessed  Sacrament.^ 
(Chardon,  Hefele,Kraus,"  Real-Encycl.'") 

EXTio'OivsZAiars.  The  followers  of 
Eunomius,  a  disciple  of  Aetius  [see 
Aetians].  Eunomius,  boru  of  poor 
parents  in  Cappadocia,  probably  about 
320,  not  feeling  disposed  to  hold  the 
plough,  trusted  to  his  wits  for  a  living. 
After  various  adventures,  he  heard  that 
there  was  a  great  teacher  (Aetius)  re- 
siding at  Antioch.  He  went  there,  and, 
finding  that  Aetiua  had  departed,  followed 
him  to  Alexandria,  where  George,  his 
countryman  (a  violent  Arian),  had  at 
that  time  (356)  intruded  himself  into  the 
see  of  St,  Athanasius.  Eunomius  at- 
tached himself  to  Aetius,  and  learned 
from  him  theology — i.e.  Arianism.  In 
358,  ^adoxus,  an  Arian,  having  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  see  of  Antioch,  sent 
for  Aetius ;  he  went  there,  accompanied 
by  Eunomius.  But  a  serai-Arian  council 
held  the  same  year  deposed  Eudoxus,  and 
banished  him  and  his  friends  from  An- 
tioch. Eunomius  was  sent  to  Midsea  in 
Phrygia.  Two  years  afterwards  there 
occurred  an  extraordinary  revolution ;  a 
council  held  at  Constantinople  raised 
Eudoxus  to  the  patriarchal  throne  there, 
and  made  Eunomius  Bishop  of  Cyzicus. 
Here  he  soon  began,  in  spite  of  the  warn- 
ings of  his  friend  Eudoxus,  to  broach 
his  heretical  opinions.  Complaints  were 
carried  to  the  emperor  (Constantius)  ; 
and  Eudoxus,  being  pressed  on  all  sides, 
was  obliged  to  depose  him.  This  was  in 
361   or   362.     Eunomius,  retiring  to  his 

1  Iren.  apud  Euseb.  H.  E.  v.  24. 

2  Chardon,  Sacrem.  torn.  iii.  p.  534  seq, 
5  Hefele,  Beitrdge,  it.  p.  288. 


native  country,  lived  there  for  many 
years,  frequently  ordaining  bishops  and 
piiests,  though  he  had  been  deposed.  He 
made  known  his  opinions  freely ;  and  his 
numerous  admirers,  considering  that  he 
had  been  ill-used  by  Eudoxus,  attached 
themselves  ardently  to  him  in  his  mis- 
fortunes and  took  his  name.  St.  Gi'egory 
of  Nazianzum,  writing  to  Nectarius,  who 
had  succeeded  him  as  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople in  381,  calls  Eunomius  "our 
bosom  mischief,"  to  iyKoXmov  rj^xav 
KUKov.  Gregory,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  himself  a  Cappadocian.^  The  live 
orations  of  this  author  "  De  Theologia  " 
are  mostly  directed  against  the  Euno- 
mians,  who,  he  says,  "  confessed,  when 
pressed  in  argument,  that  the  Son  was 
God,  but  said  that  it  was  only  a  partici- 
pation of  name  and  designation  "  ^ — i.e, 
not  one  of  nature.  St.  Basil,  another 
great  Cappadocian  (t  379),  also  wrote 
a  treatise  against  Eunomius.  (Fleury, 
"  Hist.  Eccl."  xii.-xiv.) 

&USEBZAI3-S.  [See  Arian s.] 
EUSTATHZAirs.  I.  A  congrega- 
tion of  fanatical  monks,  said  to  have  "been 
founded  by  the  versatile  Eustathius, 
Bishop  of  Sebaste,  about  360,  in  Armenia. 
These  monks,  like  the  Cathari  of  later 
times,  condemned  marriage  as  impure, 
rejected  the  religious  services  of  priests 
who  had  been  married,  and,  while  they 
disregarded  the  Church  fasts,  fasted  on 
Sundays  and  feast  days,  like  those  sati- 
rised in  "  Hudibras" — 

"  That  with  more  care  keep  holiday 
The  wrong,  than  others  the  right  way." 

The  council  of  Gangra,  the  date  of  which 
is  uncertain,  condemned  and  suppressed 
these  monks. 

11.  The  party  among  the  Christians  of 
Antioch  who,  after  the  unjust  deposition 
of  their  bishop  (St.  Eustathius)  by  the 
machinations  of  the  Eusebians  (330  or 
331),  refused  to  recognise  any  of  the 
Arianising  successors  whom  that  faction 
thrust  into  the  see,  and  would  not  hold 
communion  with  those  who  did  so.  When 
Meletius  was  appointed  in  360  there  was 
a  prospect  of  peace ;  but  although  Mele- 
tius was  personally  orthodox,  the  Eusta- 
thian  party  would  not  accept  him,  be- 
cause he  had  communicated  with  Arians. 
In  a  short  time  the  Arian  party,  dis- 
gusted with  Meletius  for  the  open  profes- 
sions which  he  had  made  of  agreement 
with  the  faith  of  Nicsea,  obtained  his 
deposition  and  the  appointment  of  Euzoius 
1  Or.  xlvi.  2  Or.  xxxv. 


y2 


324 


EUTYCHIANS 


EVANGELICAL  COUNSELS 


in  his  place.  There  were  now  three 
bodies  of  Christians  at  Autioch  ;  two  or- 
thodox— the  Eustathians  and  the  Mele- 
tians  {i  e.  those  who  held  that  the  removal 
of  Meletius  was  unjust,  and  regarded  him 
as  still  bishop),  and  one  heretical  — 
namely,  those  in  communion  with  Euzoius. 
Many  holy  bish(ips  desired  the  termina- 
tion of  the  schism  between  the  orthodox 
parties ;  and  (since  Eustathius  had  died 
in  exile)  this  result  would  soon  have  been 
broupht  about  by  the  general  reception  of 
Meletius  but  for  the  officious  zeal  of 
Lucifer  of  Cagliari,  who,  going  to  Antioch 
in  362,  consecratt:'d  Paulinus  bishop.  The 
Eustathian  party  at  once  recognised  him  ; 
and  through  the  influence,  in  a  great 
measure,  of  Lucifer,  he  was  recognised 
at  Rome  and  in  other  parts  of  the  West. 
Nevertheless,  as  Ballerini  shows,^  the 
mediate  communion  of  St.  Meletius  with 
the  see  of  St.  Peter  was  not  broken,  for 
he  was  in  full  communion  with  St.  Basil 
and  others,  who  were  in  communion  with 
Kome.  This  state  of  things  lasted  many 
years.  St.  Meletius,  who  had  been 
allowed  to  return  to  Antioch,  died  in 
38L  His  followers  elected  Flavian  to 
succeed  him ;  but  the  Roman  see  still 
recognised  Paulinus  as  true  Bishop  of 
Antioch.  Paulinus  dpng  in  888,  Evag- 
rius  was  chosen  in  his  place ;  but  the 
Eustathian  party  had  by  this  time 
dwindled  to  insignificant  proportions,  and 
Evagrius  obtained  little  recognition  either 
in  East  or  West.  At  the  death  of  Evag- 
rius,  Flavian  succeeded  in  preventing  the 
election  of  a  successor,  and  was  himself 
admitted  to  commujiion  as  Bishop  of 
Antioch  by  Pope  Siricius  in  398.  But 
a  small  F^ustathian  party  lingered  on 
for  some  years,  until  the  vigorous  action 
of  Alexander,  the  second  successor  of 
Flavian,  about  414,  finally  extinguished 
them. 

EUTYCBIAM-S.  [See  MONOPHYS- 
ITES.] 

i:VAirGEI.ZARZV»I  or  EVAUCE- 
XiXSTARlum.  A  book  containing  the 
sections  of  the  Gospel  to  be  read  at  Mass. 
Such  a  book  is  called  by  the  Greeks  €vay- 
yiXiov ;  they  give  the  name  evayyeXiarapiov 
to  a  book  which  merely  marks  the  begin- 
ning and  end  of  each  Gospel,  but  which 
gives,be8ides,rule8  for  finding  the  Gospel  on 
each  Sunday,  a  calendar  with  canons 
for  fixing  the  date  of  Easter  Sunday 
(iracTxaXtov  diTjveKes),  the  tones  of  the 
chant,  and  the  matins  for  the  different 
Sundays. 

'  De  vi  et  ratione  PrimatuSy  p.  83L 


EVAZa-GEZiICAI.  COXnVSEDLS.   St 

Thomas  thus  explains  the  difference  be- 
tween comm andmeots  and  counsels.  Eter- 
nal happiness  is  the  end  at  which  every 
man  is  bound  to  aim,  and  this  end  ho 
cannot  possibly  reach  except  by  the  keep- 
ing of  the  commandments.  The  observ- 
ance of  the  commandments,  then,  is  a 
matter  of  absolute  necessity  for  all  who 
wish  to  be  saved.  He  who  makes  the 
things  of  this  world  his  end,  and  worldly 
prudence  his  ultimate  rule  of  action, 
must  needs  forfeit  eternal  life  and  is 
laying  up  for  himself  everlasting  misery  in 
the  -world  to  come.  However,  a  man 
may  wish  to  do  more  than  what  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  secure  heaven.  In- 
stead of  asking  simply,  "  What  must  I  do 
to  be  saved  ?  "  he  may  inquire  what  are 
the  readiest  and  surest  means  of  securing 
his  salvation.  He  knows  that  if  he 
makes  the  good  things  of  this  life  his  end, 
he  has  no  hope  of  life  in  the  world  to 
come,  and,  recognising  the  danger  there  is 
in  earthly  pleasures,  he  tries  to  see  how 
far  he  can  keep  from  them.  He  learned 
from  the  commandments  how  to  avoid 
being  bhnded  by  the  god  of  this  world, 
and  to  take  the  indispensable  means  of 
securing  his  salvation.  Now  the  counsels 
come  to  his  help.  They  teach  him  the 
shortest  way  to  heaven,  the  most  perfect 
manner  of  serving  God.  The  great  ob- 
jects which  men  pursue  are  riches,  plea- 
sure and  honour,  the  desire  of  the  eyes, 
the  desire  of  the  fiesh,  the  pride  of  life, 
spoken  of  by  St.  John.  The  three  evangeli- 
cal counsels  encourage  us,  so  far  as  we  can, 
to  renounce  all  these  desires — to  renounce 
riches  for  voluntary  poverty,  pleasure  for 
perfect  chastity,  our  own  self-will  and 
love  of  power  for  obedience  to  a  religious 
superior. 

The  distinction  between  precept  and 
counsel,  although  denied  by  the  Protes- 
tant Reformers,  is  recommended  by  the 
common  sense  of  mankind.  We  all  feel 
and  recognise  in  our  ordinary  language 
the  difference  between  a  man  who  simply 
does  his  duty  and  another  who  does  acts 
of  singular  generosity.  Moreover,  this 
distinction  is  clearly  marked  by  Christ. 
He  told  the  young  man  that "  if  he  would 
enter  into  life "  he  must  keep  the  com- 
mandments, but  tbat  if  he  wished  to  be 
perfect  he  was  to  sell  all  he  had  and  give 
it  to  the  poor.  St.  Paul  imposes  strict 
precepts  on  'the  Corinthians  (1  Cor.  vii.) 
of  abstaining  from  immorality,  remaining 
in  the  married  state  if  they  had  already 
entered  it,  &c.    But  he  gives  his  "  coun- 


EVANGELICAL  COUNSELS 

sel "  in  favour  of  perfect  chastity  on  the 
ground  amonp;'  others  that  it  is  easier  for 
the  unmarried  to  serve  God  with  an  un- 
divided heart.^  There  is  little  occasion 
to  dwell  on  the  tradition  of  the  early- 
Church.  In  fact,  the  very  quarrel  of  the 
Reformers  with  Christian  antiquity  arose 
in  great  measure  from  the  high  estima- 
tion in  which  the  Fathers  held  tlie  evan- 
gelical counsels.  So  strong  was  the 
feeling  of  the  early  Chiistians  in  favour 
of  these  counsels,  that  even  in  Apostolic 
times  the  danger  was  that  men  would 
refuse  to  see,  not  the  excellence  of  vir- 
ginity, but  the  lawfulness  of  marriage. 
(See  1  Tim.  iv.  3.) 

An  objection  is  made  to  the  whole 
idea  of  "  counsels  "  on  the  ground  that  we 
cannot  even  keep  the  commandments 
perfectly.  At  the  best  we  are  "  unprofit- 
able servants."  How,  then,  can  we  pre- 
tend to  do  more  than  the  law  of  Christ 
requires  ?  Now,  it  is  most  true  that  no 
one  can  perfectly  observe  either  the  pre- 
cepts or  the  counsels  of  Christ.  No  one 
can  observe  either  the  one  or  the  other  at 
all  without  God's  help,  so  that  a  man  who 
thought  he  did  his  duty  perfectly,  and 
could  therefore  go  on  to  do  more  than 
his  duty,  would  show  that  he  had  not 
learnt  the  rudiments  of  Christian  humi- 
lity. But  the  saints  who  practised  the 
evangelical  counsels  were  ot  all  men  fur- 
thest removed  from  such  Phorisaical 
pride.  They  attributed  all  that  they  did  to 
grace,  and  sincerely  acknowledged  the  im- 
perfection of  their  best  actions.  Moreover, 
it  is  an  obvious  fallacy  to  speak  as  if  by  fol- 
lowing the  counsels,  men  take  on  them- 
selves fresh  difficulties,  whereas  the  observ- 
ance of  the  commandmentsis  hard  enough. 
On  the  contrary,  a  man  who,  being  called 
to  it  by  God's  grace,  embraces  evangelical 
perfection,  removes  from  himself  number- 
less temptations  to  break  the  command- 
ments. Indeed,  all  Christians  find  the 
necessity  of  following  the  counsels  to  a 
certain  extent.  Such  is  the  weakness  of 
human  nature  that  a  man  who  never  gave 
away  money  he  could  keep  without,  posi- 
tive sin,  never  thought  of  foregoing  a 
lawful  pleasure  of  sense,  never  submitted 
to  another  except  under  the  constraint  of 
positive  duty,  would  infallibly  fall  into 
sin.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  special  cases  in 
which  a  man  finds  that  the  rehgious  life  is 
the  only  one  in  which  he  can  save  his  soul. 

^  The  celibate  state,  he  says,  is  Ka\6v — i.e.,  as 
Meyer  translates  it,  "something  morally  ex- 
cellent " — and,  again,  Kpelaaou,  of  higher  moral 
excellence. 


EVIL,  ORIGIN  OF 


326 


Again,  it  is  urged  that  if  the  whole 
world  tollowed  the  evangelical  counsels, 
society  would  be  disorganised  and  would 
rapidly  come  to  an  end.  The  answer  to 
this  is,  that  the  evangelical  counsels  are  not 
meant  for  most,  much  less  for  all.  The 
state  most  perfect  in  itself  would  increase 
temptation  and  endanger  the  souls  of 
those  who  lack  the  vocation,  and  there- 
fore the  strength,  to  follow  it.  Those 
who  have  the  strength  have  been  the  salt 
of  society,  the  men  who  cared  for  others 
because  they  forgot  themselves,  and  ex- 
hibited an  ideal  life  before  a  corrupt  and 
sordid  world.  (St.  Thorn.  "  Sum."  1  2nd8e, 
qu.  108.) 

EVAKTGSZiTSTS.  The  authors  of  the 
four  gospels,  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and 
John.  The  breviary  office  of  Evangelists, 
says  Gavantus,  is  the  same  as  that  of 
Apostles,  except  that  they  difier  from 
each  other  in  the  prayer  and  in  the  lessons 
of  the  three  nocturns ;  and  he  adds  that 
the  same  arrangement  is  to  be  found  in 
the  most  ancient  MSS.  of  the  Breviary.^ 

From  the  second  century  at  latest  the 
living  creatures  mentioned  in  Ezekiel 
and  the  Apocalypse,  were  believed  to 
typify  the  four  evangelists.  Commonly 
Matthew  is  supposed  to  be  signified  by 
the  man,  since  he  begins  with  the  human 
origin  ot  Christ ;  Mark  by  the  lion,  on  ac- 
count of  the  "  voice  of  one  crying  "  in  the 
desert,  at  the  opening  of  his  gospel ;  Luke 
by  the  ox,  the  beast  offered  in  sacrifice, 
since  he  sets  out  with  the  history  of  the 
priest  Zacharias ;  John  by  the  eagle,  be- 
cause he  wings  his  flight  at  once  beyond 
all  created  things  to  the  contemplation  of 
the  eternal  Word.  This  interprt-tation  is 
found  in  Jerome,^  and  has  been  generally 
adopted.  Irenseus,^  however,  assigns  the 
lion  to  John,  the  ox  to  Luke,  the  man  to 
Matthew,  the  eagle  to  Mark.  Augustine, 
followed  by  Bede,  makes  Matthe%  the 
lion,  Mark  the  man,  Luke  the  ox,  John 
the  eagle.  These  symbols  appear  for  the 
first  time  in  Christian  art  on  the  mosaic 
of  S.  Pudenziana,  assigned  by  De  Rossi  to 
the  time  of  Pope  Siricius,  884-398.'* 

HVUNlltG         PRAVBR .  [See 

Prayer.] 

EVZI.,  ORIGIN-  OP.  The  Church 
has  combated  and  condemned  two  ex- 
tremes of  error  on  this  point.  The  Gnos- 
tics and  the  Manichees,  in  early  times, 
denied  that  God  could  be  in  any  sense  the 

1  Gavant.  torn.  II.  §  viii.  cap.  1. 

2  Prnoem.  in  31att. 
5  iii.  11,8. 

*  Kraus,  EncycL-Reai. 


826 


EVIL,  ORIGIN  OF 


author  of  evil.  Hence,  observing  the 
patent  fact  that  evil  does  exist  in  the 
world,  they  attributed  the  creation  of 
material  things  to  an  inferior  God  ;  to  a 
principle  ignorant  and  defective,  or  even, 
as  some  of  them  assei*ted,  positively 
wicked  and  malicious.  Again,  the  Re- 
foruiers,  especially  Calvin,  went  to  the 
other  extreme.  Rightly  maintaining  that 
God  is  the  author  of  all  that  exists,  they 
made  Him  the  author  of  sin.  They  shrank, 
at  least  after  a  time,  from  asserting  this 
in  plain  words,  but  the  Calvinistic  doc- 
trine that  God  predestines  some  men  to 
eternal  ruin,  leaves  them  without  the 
gi-ace  which  is  essential  for  good  actions, 
even  instigates  them  to  wicked  actions 
("  Dei  impulsu  "),^  is  in  fact  tantamount  to 
a  declaration  that  God  is  the  author  of  sin. 
Before  stating  the  doctrine  of  the  Church, 
which  is  opposed  to  the  error  of  the  Mani- 
cheaus  on  the  one  hand,  of  Calvinists  and 
Lutherans  on  the  other,  it  will  be  well  to 
give  a  brief  sketch  of  St.  Thomas's  teach- 
ing on  the  nature  of  evil. 

Evil  according  to  the  Thomist  theology 
has  no  positive  existence.  _  It  is  the  priva- 
tion of  good — i.e.  not  the  mere  absence  of 
it,^  but  its  absence  in  a  person,  an  action, 
or  thing,  when  the  integrity  or  perfection 
of  the  person,  action,  or  thiug  demands  it. 
It  is  evil,  e.g.,  for  a  man  to  be  blind,  for 
sight  is  a  sense  necessary  to  man's  physical 
integrity:  evil  for  wood  to  be  subjected 
to  the  action  of  fire,  because  in  such  a 
case  the  wood  is  corrupted  and  soon 
ceases  to  be  wood  altogether:  evil  for  a 
man  to  get  drunk,  because  the  drunkard 
secures  a  certain  sensual  pleasure  at  the 
cost  of  taking  from  his  action  that  recti- 
tude which  would  belong  to  it  if  it  were 
moderated  by  reason  and  directed  to  God. 
The  reader  will  now  be  able  to  understand 
the  way  in  which  St.  Thomas  classes  the 
diffei*nt  kinds  of  evil.  Evil  may  arise  in 
the  natural  courae  of  things  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  need  not  have  any  connec- 
tion with  the  free  will  of  creatures. 
Substances  are  corrupted,  animals  die,  by 
the  mere  operation  of  natui-al  laws.    This 

*  "Homo  justo  Dei  impulsu  apit  quod  sibi 
non  liret."  Calvin,  Instit.  I.  iv.  18,  §  2.  Beza 
and  Zwingli  teach  the  same  doctrine  in  still 
more  offensive  terms.  So  did  Melanchthon  at 
first,  but  he  and  the  Lutherans  generally  altered 
their  doctrine  on  this  point  tor  the  better.  See 
the  accurate  and  interesting  account  in  Mohler, 
Symbolik,  i.  1,  §  4. 

-  Eugenius  IV.  in  the  decree  for  the  Jaco- 
bites teaches  that  "  evil  is  not  a  positive  entity 
(nullam  mali  esse  naturam),  because  every  natu- 
ral thing  as  such  is  good." 


EVIL,  ORIGIN  OF 

is  what  St.  Thomas  calls  "  malum  in  oor- 
ruptione  rerum."  Modern  writers  usually 
call  it  physical  evil.  Again,  evil  may  be 
a  privation  inflicted  just  because  it  is  con- 
trary to  the  free  will  of  him  who  has  to 
endure  it.  This  is  "  malum  pcense,"  evil 
inflicted  as  punishment.  Lastly,  evil  may 
consist  in  this,  that  the  agent  being  free 
to  conform  his  actions  to  God's  law,  refuses 
to  do  so.  This  is  "  malum  culpae,"  the  evil 
of  sin — evil  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the 
word. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  admitting  that 
God  causes  physical  and  retributive  evil. 
He  does  not,  indeed,  intend  even  this  kind 
of  evil  for  its  own  sake,  but  He  causes 
corruption  and  death  because  they  sub- 
serve the  order  and  perfection  of  the 
universe.  The  power  of  God  is  mani- 
fested, and  the  beauty  of  the  world 
enhanced,  by  the  constant  changes  which 
bring  life  out  of  death.  So,  again,  God 
inflicts  punishment  because  his  justice 
requires  that  sinners  should  suffer,  and 
that  fear  of  God's  judgments  should  lead 
men  to  take  refuge  in  his  infinite  love. 
But  God  cannot  be  the  author  of  sin ;  if 
so,  God  would  Himself  be  responsible  for 
it  and  would  cease  to  be  God,  for  holiness 
is  his  very  essence.  Sin  arises  only  from 
defect  in  the  free  will  of  creatures  who 
will  not  correspond  to  God's  grace  and 
order  their  actions  to  Him  their  last  end. 
God  does,  indeed,  for  wise  and  holy  ends, 
permit  moral  evil,  and  brings  good  even 
out  of  sin.  The  malice  of  persecutors 
occasioned  the  heroism  of  the  martyrs, 
and  enabled  them  to  win  their  crowns. 

It  only  remains  to  confirm  the  above 
by  the  testimonies  of  Scripture  and  the 
authority  of  the  Church.  Scripture,  then, 
constantly  declares  that  there  is  one  God, 
who  is  the  creator  of  all  things,  and  is 
therefore  the  cause  of  physical  evil  from 
the  veiT  fact  that  He  has  made  creatures 
subject  to  corruption.  "  The  Lord  killeth 
and  maketh  alive  "  (1  Reg.  ii.  6).  "  Shall 
there  be  evil  in  the  city,  and  the  Lord 
hath  not  done  it  ?  "  (Amos  iii.  6).  It  also 
in  numberless  places  speaks  of  God  as 
inflicting  punishment.  He  "renders  to 
every  man  according  to  his  works " 
(Rorn.  ii.  6).  Vengeance  is  his,  and  He 
"will  repay"  (Heb.  x.  30),  though  He 
has  "  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  who 
dieth  "  (Ezech.  xviii.  32).  These  truths 
have  been  enforced  by  implication  in  the 
Nicene  Creed  and  more  explicitly  by  the 
Fourth  Lateran  Council.  But  God  is  not 
and  cannot  be  the  author  of  sin.  His 
"  works  are  perfect,  and  all  his  ways  are 


EXALTATION  OF  CROSS 

judgments  "  (Deut.  xxxii.  4).  He  is  not 
a  God  that  "  wills  iniquity  "  (Ps.  v.  6). 
"  Is  there  injustice  with  God  ?  God  forbid  " 
(Rom.  ix.  14).  The  contrary  error  is  ana- 
thematised by  the  Council  of  Trent,  Sess,  yi. 
De  Justif.  cap.  16.  (See  St.  Thomas, 
«  Sum."  i.  qu.  48,  49.) 

EX  CAl-HESRA.   [See  Cathedra.] 
EXAXiTiiTioiar  OP  CROSS.    [See 
Cross.] 

EXAMZZrATIOir    OF    BISHOPS. 

A  bishop-elect  has  to  make  a  profession 
of  faith  according  to  the  formula  pre- 
scribed by  Pius  IV.  in  the  constitution 
In  Sacrosancta,  and  to  answer  eighteen 
questions,  which  may  be  read  in  the  Roman 
Pontifical.  These  questions  relate  "to 
the  obedience  due  to  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  to  the  moral  conditions  of  a  life 
truly  episcopal,  to  the  profession  of  re- 
vealed veiities,  and  to  the  rejection  of  the 
opposite  errors."  ^  To  the  lirst  question 
the  bishop-elect  replies,  ''  So  with  my 
whole  heart  it  is  my  will  to  consent  and 
obey  in  all  things  " ;  to  the  eight  following 
questions  he  answers  Volo,  "  I  will ; "  to 
the  rest,  Credo,  *'  I  believe."  At  the  end 
the  consecrator  says,  "  May  this  thy  faith, 
most  beloved  brother  in  Christ,  be  increased 
by  the  Lord  unto  true  and  everlasting 
beatitude."  There  is  also  a  liturgical  ex- 
amination, which  may  be  described  as  the 
formal  outcome  of  the  more  strict  inquiry 
into  the  canonical  qualifications  of  the 
bishop-elect,  already  made  in  the  process 
of  information  instituted  in  every  such 
case  by  order  of  the  Holy  See. 

sxAnuM-ATzozr  of  coirsci- 
EXrCE.  It  is  necessary  to  ascertain  the 
nature  of  the  disease  before  remedies  can 
be  applied ;  and  in  the  moral  and  spiritual 
life  persons  have  to  search  their  conscience 
in  order  to  ascertain  their  past  and  present 
sins,  that  they  may  confess  them  to  God, 
repent,  and  be  forgiven,  and  take  precau- 
tions against  future  falls.  Spiritual  writers 
recommend  that  this  examination  should 
be  made  at  least  every  evening,  in  order 
to  ascertain  and  to  repent  of  the  sins  com- 
mitted that  day.  Such  examination  is  a 
matter  of  absolute  necessity  before  ap- 
proaching the  sacrament  of  penance.  The 
penitent  must  try,  with  such  reasonable 
care  as  ha  would  use  in  any  other  matter 
of  grave  importance,  to  ascertain  at  least 
all  the  mortal  sins  he  has  committed  since 
his  last  confession;  otherwise  he  is  in- 
capable of  absolution.*  (Concil.  Trid.  Sess. 
xiv.  cap.  6.) 

1  Mast  in  Wetzer  and  Welte. 

•  Of  course    peculiar    circumstances   may 


EXCOMMUNICATION        327 

St.  Ignatius,  followed  by  many  other 
ascetical  writers,  also  recommends  a  par- 
ticular examen  to  be  made,  at  least  daily, 
not  on  sin  in  general,  but  on  that  particu- 
lar sin  into  which  the  individual  most 
frequently  falls. 

EXARCH  (e^apxos,  ruler).  A  bishop 
having  charge  of  a  province,  and  next  in 
rank  to  a  patriarch.  The  terms  "  Metro- 
politan," "  Archbishop,"  "  Exarch,"  and 
"  Patriarch,"  are  used  by  the  early  eccle- 
isastical  writers  with  little  discrimination ; 
thus,  in  the  First  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople, we  find  the  Bishops  of  Alexandria, 
Antioch,  and  Constantinople,  who  in 
later  times  were  only  known  as  patriarchs, 
denominated  "  exarchs."  In  the  "  Notitia 
Imperii "  (supposed  to  have  been  compiled 
about  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century) 
the  (civil)  diocese  of  Asia  has  ten  pro- 
vinces :  the  ecclesiastical  "exarchia"  of  the 
same,  eleven  ;  and  so  in  other  cases.  The 
Bishops  of  Epbesus,  Heraclea,and  Csesarea 
in  Cappadocia,  were  exarchs,  and  claimed 
to  exercise  jurisdiction  over  the  metro- 
politans of  their  respective  provinces. 
This  brought  them  into  conflict  with  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  ;  the  subject 
was  considered  at  the  Council  of  Chalce- 
don  ;  and  the  result  was  that  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  these  three  exarchs  was  abolished, 
though  they  retained  the  title  and  the 
rank,  and  were  allowed  to  sit  in  council 
next  after  the  five  patriarchs.  (Thomas- 
sin,  *'  Vetus  et  Nova  EccL  Disciplina.") 

EXCOMMVlfflCATZOU.  An  eccle- 
siastical censure  by  which  a  Christian  is 
separated  from  the  communion  of  the 
Church.  It  is  a  power  included  in  the 
power  of  the  keys,  or  of  binding  and 
loosing,  given  by  Christ  to  Peter  and  the 
Apostles,  and  may  be  deduced  from  our 
Saviour's  words  (Matt,  xviii.  17) — "  If  he 
will  not  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be  to 
thee  as  the  heathen  and  publican."  For 
to  treat  a  man  as  a  heathen  and  a  publican 
is  to  repel  him  from  the  Church  and  all 
things  sacred — that  is,  to  excommunicate 
him.  We  find  it  put  in  practice  by 
St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  v.  H),  when  he  said  of 
the  incestuous  Corinthian — "  I  .  .  .  have 
already  judged  ,  .  .  him  that  hath  so 
done,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  you  being  gathered  together  and 
my  spirit,  with  the  power  of  our  Lord 
Jesus,  to  deliver  such  a  one  to  Satan,"  &c. 
St.  Augustine  explains :  "  Because  outside 
the  Church  is  the  devil,  as  within  it  is 
Christ,  and  accordingly  be  who  is  sepa- 
excuse  the  penitent  from  the  fulfilment  of  thif 
obligation. 


328        EXCOMMUNICATION 


EXEMPTION 


rated  from  the  commumon  of  the  Church 
b  as  it  were  delivered  to  the  devil." 

Excommunication  is  of  two  kinds,  the 
major  and  the  minor.  The  minor  kind 
is  an  ecclesiastical  censure,  by  which  a 
Cliristian  is  deprived  of  the  right  to  par- 
ticipation in  sacraments,'  and  indirectly, 
as  a  conseQ[ueuce,  of  the  right  of  receiving 
a  benetice.  It  is  incurred  by  communi- 
cating with  a  person  under  major  excom- 
munication, in  any  case  where  such  com- 
munication is  not  excused. 

The  major  excommunication  deprives 
of  all  ecclesiastical  communion,  and  is 
equivalent  in  substance  to  anathema,  horn 
which  it  only  difrers  in  regard  to  the 
formalities  by  which  the  latter  is  sur- 
rounded. For  the  major  excommunica- 
tion can  be  inflicted  by  mere  force  of  law, 
or  by  the  written  sentence  of  a  judge, 
whereas  an  anathema  is  publicly  pro- 
nounced, and  "  cum  strepitu." 

Those  under  major  excommunication 
a^ain  fall  into  two  classes :  tolei'ati,  whom 
the  faithful  are  not  bound  to  avoid;  and 
non  tolerati  (i.e.  those  excommunicated  by 
name  and  publicly  denounced,  and  those 
notoriously  guilty,  by  themselves  or 
others,  of  violence  to  clerics),  with  whom 
the  faithful  are  foi^idden  to  hold  either 
religious  or  civil  communication.  Civil 
intercourse  is,  however,  permitted,  for 
th6  sake  of  the  faithful  themselves,  under 
various  circumstances  and  to  various 
classes  of  persons. 

Excommunications  are  also  divided — 
and  this  is  a  most  important  distinction — 
into  those  ferendm  sententice,  and  those 
lata:  sententice.  In  the  case  of  the  former 
it  is  enjoined  that  a  sentence  of  excom- 
munication be  pronounced  {e.g.  "  we  for- 
bid this  on  pain  of  excommunication ; 
whoever  does  it,  let  him  be  excommuni- 
cated," or  "  will  incur  excommunication," 
&c.),  but  the  delinquent  does  not  actually 
incur  the  sentence  till  it  has  been  inflicted 
by  a  competent  j  udge.  In  the  second  case, 
the  words  of  the  If.w  or  other  instrument 
are  so  chosen  that  upon  a  given  act  being 
done  the  doer  of  it  falls  at  once  under  the 
ban  of  the  Church,  as  when  it  is  said — 
**  let  him  incur  excommunication  ipso 
factor  Nor  are  such  sentences  unjust,  as 
some  have  argued,  on  the  ground  thnt  the 
delinquents  who  incur  them  have  not  been 
duly  warned,  as  the  Gospel  requires,  of 
the  nature  of  their  offence ;  for  the  law 
itself,  which  they  must  be  presumed  to 
know,  is  a  standing  and  perpetual  warning. 
At  the  same  time,  the  excommunication 
1  Ferraris. 


latcB  senfentice  is  operative  only  in  the  in- 
ternal forum  and  in  the  sight  of  God ;  to 
make  it  eliectual  in  the  external  forum 
also  it  is  necessary  that  the  guilt  be  proved 
before,  and  declared  by,  a  competent  judge. 

Excommunications  are  also  divided 
into  those  reserved  to  the  Pope,  and  those 
not  reserved.  Those  of  the  hrst  class  now 
in  force  are  enumerated  in  the  constitu- 
tion ''  ApostolicsB  Sedis,"  issued  by  Pius 
IX.,  in  1869,  in  which  are  also  specilied 
all  excommunications  latoi  sententice  and 
ipso  facto  incurred  henceforth  in  vigour. 

If  it  be  asked,  Who  can  excommuni- 
cate ?  it  may  be  answered,  those  who 
possess  ordinary  or  delegated  jurisdiction 
in  the  external  forum  in  regard  to  those 
subject  to  them;  but  not  parish  priests 
(who  have  as  such  only  jurisdiction  in  the 
forum  of  conscience),  and  never  laymen  or 
women.  To  the  question.  Who  can  be 
excommunicated?  the  answer  is,  ihat 
only  Christians,  alive  and  of  sound  mind, 
guilty  of  a  grave  offence  and  persisting 
in  it,  and  subject  to  the  judge  giving  sen- 
tence, can  be  excommunicated.  Not  Jews, 
therefore,  nor  Pagans,  nor  the  uubaptised 
heathen,  nor  the  dead  ;  but  the  sentence 
may  justly  be  inflicted  on  heretics  or 
schismatics. 

The  effects  of  excommunication  are 
thus  summed  up.  "  As  man  by  baptism 
is  made  a  member  of  the  Church,  in  which 
there  is  a  communication  of  all  spiritual 
goods,  so  by  excommunication  he  is  cast 
forth  from  the  Church  and  placed  in  the 
position  of  the  heathen  man  and  the 
publican,  and  is  deprived  accordingly  of 
sacraments,  sacrifices,  sacred  offices,  bene- 
fices, dignities,  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction 
and  power,  ecclesiastical  sepulture— in  a 
word,  of  all  the  rights  which  he  had  ac- 
quired by  baptism — until  he  make  amends, 
and  satisfy  the  Church."  ' 

EXz:cR.aTZOir.  [See  Desecra- 
tion.] 

EXSAKPTZOir.  A  privilege  by 
which  persons  or  places  are  withdrawn 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary  and 
immediately  subjected  to  the  Holy  See. 
It  may  be  compared  to  dispensation,  the 
object  of  both  being  the  same — viz.  to 
avoid  friction  in  government.  It  diflfers 
from  dispensation,  in  that  this  last  with- 
draws persons  from  the  operation  of  a 
law,  while  exemption  withdraws  them 
from  the  authority  of  a  ruler.  To  take 
familiar  instances — religious  are  exempt  in 
many  respects  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
bishop  in  whose  diocese  their  convent  is ; 
^  Soglia,  lib.  iv.  cap.  4. 


EXEQUATUR 

the  Spanish,  and  their  descendants  of 
Spanish-America,  are  dispensed,  by  a 
special  Papal  indult,  from  the  general  law 
of  abstinence  on  Fridays. 

The  exemption  of  regulars  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary  is,  however, 
carefully  limited  by  the  law  ;  were  it 
otherwise,  the  abuses  and  conflicts  that 
would  inevitably  arise  would  more  than 
counterbalance  the  benefits  of  the  free- 
dom of  action  which  exemption  confers 
on  those  possessing  it.  Speaking  gene- 
rally— in  what  relates  to  property  and  to 
delinquencies  (unless  attended  by  public 
scandal),  and  to  their  rule  and  conventual 
life,  regulars  are  exempt ;  in  what  relates 
to  preaching  and  the  administration  of 
the  sacraments  they  are  not  exempt. 
For  details  treatises  on  canon  law  must  be 
consulted.  An  important  contribution  to 
the  latest  law  on  this  subject  was  made  by 
the  Constitution  "Romanes  Pontifices," 
published  by  His  Holiness  Leo  XIH.,  on 
May  8,  1881,  in  which  the  relations 
between  the  bishops  and  the  regular 
clergy  in  this  country  were  more  ac- 
curately defined.  (Ferraris,  Regidares, 
art.  2.) 

EXEQUATUR.  The  right  claimed 
on  behalf  of  bishops  or  temporal  rulers  to 
examine  Papal  bulls  and  constitutions, 
and  judge  of  the  expediency  of  admitting 
them,  before  suffering  them  to  take  efiect 
and  pass  into  execution  in  their  dioceses 
or  territories. 

With  regard  to  this  claim,  so  far  as 
"bishops  are  concerned,  Benedict  XIV.^ 
laid  down  that  it  could  have  no  reference 
to  Papal  constitutions  treating  of  faith  or 
morals,  or  of  sacred  rites,  peremonies, 
sacrainents,  and  the  life  of  the  clergy, 
since  such  Constitutions  cannot  in  any 
way  be  subjected  to  the  judgment  of  in- 
feriors. In  regard  to  otlier  matters,  it  is 
held  that  if  a  bishop  is  of  opinion  that 
the  execution  of  a  particular  Constitution 
in  his  diocese  would,  'on  account  of  the 
existence  of  special  circumstances,  pro- 
duce serious  inconvenience  or  scandal,  he 
may  be  justified  in  delaying  its  execution 
for  a  while,  until  he  has  laid  these  circum- 
stances before  the  Pope,  if  at  the  same 
time  he  have  the  firm  intention  of  obeying 
the  final  direction  of  the  Holy  See  in 
the  matter,  whatever  it  may  be. 

The  exequatur,  as  claimed  on  behalf 
of  temporal  rulers,  differs  little  from  the 
placitum  ref/ium,  on  which  see  under 
Canon  Law.  In  England,  the  extreme 
doctrine  of  exequatw  was  carried  out  in 
1  See  Soglia,  Inst.  Can.  i.  1,  §  24. 


EXERCISES,  SPIRITUAL     329 

the  statute  of  Prcemunire  (1393),  which 
"  vindicated  the  right  of  the  State  of 
England  to  prohibit  the  admission  or  the 
execution  of  all  Papal  bidls  or  briefs 
within  the  realm."  ^  Martin  V.,  the  able 
Pope  elected  at  the  Council  of  Constance, 
protested  against  this  statute,  but  with- 
out effect ;  it  was,  howe*'er,  greatly  re- 
strained in  its  operation  by  the  exercise  of 
the  dispensing  power  of  the  Crown.  In 
later  times  the  sovereigns  of  Naples  and 
Piedmont  were  conspicuous  for  their 
vexatious  assertion  of  the  exequatur :  see 
a  letter  of  Clement  VIII.  (1596),  quoted 
by  Ferraris,  to  Olivarez,  the  Viceroy  of 
Naples.  The  Holy  See  has  never  ad- 
mitted as  a  matter  of  right  the  claim  of 
the  State  to  impede  tlie  execution  of 
Papal  rescripts ;  but  de  facto,  and  to  pre- 
vent greater  evils,  it  has  often  acquiesced, 
and  does  so  at  the  present  day,  in  the 
exercise  of  this  power.  Thus,  although 
the  Roman  Pontiff  does  not  recognise  the 
Italian  kingdom  as  constituted  by  the  re- 
volutionary movements  of  18G0-i£70,  yet 
he  allows  Italian  bishops  on  their  election, 
that  the  churches  may  not  be  widowed  of 
their  chief  pastors,  to  apply  for  the  e.r- 
equatur  to  the  sovereign  of  that  kingdom, 
as  the  de  facto  occupant  of  power. 

Among  the  writers  on  canon  law  who 
have  been  tavo arable  to  the  exequatur 
are  Oliva  (a  celebrated  Portuguese  doc- 
tor), Salgado,  and  Van  Espen.  On  the 
other  side  are  Bellarmiue,  Suarez,  Zall- 
wein,  Zaccaria  (author  of  "  Antifebronius 
Vindicatus  "),  Droste  zu  Vischering,  and 
John  de  Dominis  (writer  of  the  treatise 
"II  Regio  Exequatur^'  Naples,  1869). 
(Ferraris,  Placitum  Regium.) 

EXERCISES,  sipZRZTVAZ..  A 
name  given  by  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola  to  a 
series  of  meditations  on  the  truths  of 
religion,  accompanied  by  examination  of 
conscience  and  considerations  respecting 
present  or  future  duty  in  the  choice  of  a 
new  state  of  life,  &c.  &c.  St.  Ignatius 
wrote  them  at  Manresa,  near  Montserrat, 
in  Spain,  during  the  early  days  of  his 
spiritual  life.  The  saint  had  at  the  time 
little  acquaintance  with  human  letters, 
but  the  Spirit  of  God  supplied  to  the 
full  what  was  wanting  in  human  learning, 
and  the  book  abounds  in  maxims  of 
extraordinary  wisdom,  and  instruction  in 
the  highest  points  of  spirituality.  Medi- 
tation and  retirement  had  always  been 
practised  by  pious  persons,  but  th$  ad- 
mirable order   of    the   meditations,    the 

^  Milman's  Latin  Christianity,  bk,  xiiL 
ch.  6. 


830 


EXORCISM 


judicious  choice  of  maxims,  and  the  mar- 
vellous knowledge  of  the  human  heart 
shown  in  the  book  belonof  to  St.  liinatius 
himself.  There  is  no  ground  for  disputing 
its  authorship  or  for  supposing,  as  a 
Benedictine  writer  has  done,  that  the 
plan  of  the  hook  was  due  to  Garcias 
Cesniros,  abbot  of  Montserrat.  The  per- 
son who  makes  th-e  exercises  is  supposed 
to  receive  them  from  a  director,  and  the 
exercises  are  arranged  for  a  retreat  of 
four  weeks ;  they  can,  however,  be 
adapted  for  a  much  shorter  time.  The 
exercitant  begins  with  meditations  on  the 
end  of  man,  and  on  the  penalties  of  sin, 
"that  he  may  flee  with  hoiTor  from  it ;  passes 
next  to  those  on  Christ's  life  and  death, 
Christ  being  the  model  which  we  have  to 
copy ;  and  ends  by  contemplating^  the  re- 
surrection of  Christ,  happiness  of  heaven, 
&c,,  that  he  may  learn  to  unite  himself  to 
God.  The  Exercises  were  written  ori- 
ginally in  Spanish,  translated  into  Latin, 
revised  and  published  at  Rome  in  1548  ; 
"  all  and  everything  "  which  they  con- 
tain having  been  solemnly  approved  in 
a  bull  of  Paul  III.  It  is  the  glory  of 
the  Jesuits  to  be  "  men  of  the  Exercises," 
and  they  have  been  from  the  first  an  in- 
strument of  extraordinary  power  for  good 
in  the  hands  of  those  apostolic  men  and 
great  masters  of  the  spiritual  life. 

EZORCISia  and  EXORCIST.^ 
The  custom  of  attempting  to  drive  out 
the  devil  from  possessed  persons  was 
familiar  to  the  Jews,  as  appears  from 
Matt.  xii.  27,  Acts  xix.  13.  For  this 
end  they  employed  magical  forms  said  to 
be  derived  from  Solomon.  Our  Lord  gave 
his  disciples  the  real  power  of  driving 
out  demons,  and  in  the  earliest  times  this 
power  was  exercised  by  such  persons, 
whether  clerics  or  lay  people,  men  or 
women,  as  had  received  the  special  grace 
{charisma)  which  enabled  them  to  do  so. 
However,  in  the  middle  of  the  third 
century.  Pope  Cornelius  (apud  Euseb. 
"  H.E."  vi.  43)  speaks  of  the  Exorcists  as 
a  special  order  of  the  clergy ;  and  the 
Council  of  Laodicea,  can.  26,  forbids 
those  who  have  not  been  ordained  to 
exorcise  either  in  church  or  in  private 
houses.  The  so-called  Fourth  Council 
of  Carthage  (anno  396)  prescribes  a  form 
for  the  ordination  of  exorcists  the  same 

1  'Elopxi^oj  in  classical  Greek  means  to  pnt  a 
person  on  oath.  So  LXX,Gen.  xxiv.  3.  In  LXX, 
Jud.  xvii.  2,  it  means  to  take  an  oath.  Then 
in  ecclesiastical  Greek  it  has  the  sense  of  driv- 
ing out  by  adjuration,  and  e^opKKTTTjs  is  so  used 
in  the  Acts. 


EXPEOTATIVE 

in  substance  as  that  given  in  the  Roman 
Pontifical  and  used  at  this  day.  The 
bishop  gives  the  book  of  exorcisms  into 
the  hand  of  the  person  to  be  ordained, 
bidding  him  learn  them  by  heart  and 
receive  power  of  laying  his  hands  on  the 
possessed.  Innocent  I.  (Ep.  i.  ad  Decent.) 
prohibited  exorcists  from  exercising 
their  ministry  on  the  possessed  with- 
out express  permission  from  the  bishop, 
and  this  law  is  still  in  force.  The  order 
of  Exorcist  is  the  third  of  the  minor 
orders.  Power  is  still  given  to  drive  out 
the  devil,  but  the  exercise  of  this  power 
is  restrained,  and  the  order  of  Exorcist 
has  come  to  be  regarded  chiefly  as  a  step 
to  the  priesthood. 

2.  Catechumens,  even  if  not  possessed, 
still  belonged  in  a  sense  to  the  kingdom  of 
darkness,  and  exorcisms  were  from  early 
times  employed,  as  they  are  in  our  present 
Ritual,  to  snap  the  band  between  the 
soul  of  the  candidate  for  baptism  and  the 
devil.  As  even  baptism  does  not  com- 
pletely destroy  the  devil's  power  over  the 
soul,  these  exorcisms  are  supplied  after 
baptism,  when — e.g.  a  child  in  danger  of 
death  has  been  baptised  without  the  cere- 
monies and  afterwards  recovers.  Hence 
the  exorcists  of  the  ancient  Church  came 
to  exercise  a  general  superintendence 
over  the  catechumens  as  well  as  over  the 
possessed.  It  would  be  their  business, 
for  example,  to  remove  energumens  and 
catechumens  before  the  more  solemn 
part  of  the  Mass.  This  probably  serves 
to  explain  the  words  the  bishop  addresses 
at  this  day  to  those  who  are  to  be  or- 
dained exorcists  when  he  tells  them  it  is 
their  office  to  see  that  those  who  do  not 
communicate  "give  place." ^ 

3.  Exorcisms  are  ako  used  at  this 
day  by  priests  over  inanimate  objects — e.g. 
in  blessing  water  for  baptism,  &c.  This 
practice  is  also  very  ancient,  for  Cyprian 
(Ep.  70)  alludes  to  it.  It  springs,  not 
from  any  Manichean  idea  that  matter  is 
evil,  but  from  the  Christian  doctrine  that 
all  creation,  since  the  fall,  has  been 
marred  by  the  powers  of  evil. 

EZPECTATZVE.  The  right  of 
being  collated  to  a  benefice  not  at  present 
vacant.  If  the  right  be  determined  to  a 
particular  benefice,  it  is  a  survivorship ; 
if  not,  it  is  simply  a  provision.  The 
Popes  began  to  create  expectatives  about 
the  twelfth  century,  by  issuing  mandata 
de  providendo  to  bishops  and  chapters  in 
favour   of  clerks  not  ordained  to   par- 

1  See  Vales.  Not.  in  Euseb   Mart.  PaiuL 
c2. 


EXPOSITION 

ticular  benefices.  These  recommendations 
usually  bad  reference  to  prebends  and 
other  preferment  in  capitular  patronage. 
Kings  followed  the  example  of  the  Holy 
See,  and  began  to  claim  the  jus  pri- 
marum  precu7ii,  by  which  was  meant  the 
right  of  claiming  for  their  nominees  the 
collation  to  the  first  prebend  in  each 
chapter  which  might  fall  yacant  after 
their  accession.  Chapters  themselves  gave 
the  survivorships  to  some  of  their  pre- 
bends to  particular  individuals,  often  on 
the  groimd  merely  of  noble  birth  and  social 
influence.  The  Third  Council  of  the 
Lateran  (1179)  abolished  all  survivor- 
ships, but  did  not  touch  Papal  expecta- 
tives,  because  they  were  indeterminate. 
The  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  xxiv.  can.  19, 
]3e  Eef.)  abolished  these  last  also;  but 
their  decree  was  never  carried  into  com- 
plete execution.  (Wetzer  and  Welte, 
art.  by  Buss.) 

SXPOSITZOIS'  OF  THB  BIiES- 
SED  s ACRAWIEN'T.  The  Church  has 
adored  Christ  in  the  Eucharist  ever  since 
that  great  sacrament  was  instituted,  as 
has  been  shown  in  another  article  (see 
Eucharist),  but  it  is  only  in  times  com- 
paratively modern  that  the  most  Holy 
Sacrament  has  been  publicly  exposed  for 
the  veneration  of  the  faithful.  In  the 
learned  and  laborious  work  of  Thiers  on 
this  subject,  all  that  is  known  on  the  his- 
tory of  this  devotion  has  been  collected, 
and  we  take  the  following  details  from 
his  book. 

The  procession  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment on  Corpus  Christi  was  probably 
introduced  some  time  after  the  institution 
of  the  feast,  under  Pope  John  XXII., 
who  died  in  1333.  We  cannot  be  sure 
that  even  then  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
was  exposed,  for  the  earliest  vessels  in 
which  it  was  carried  seem  to  have  hidden 
it  completely  from  view.  However, 
Thiers  found  in  a  vellum  Missal'^  dated 
1373  a  miniature  picture  of  a  bishop 
carrying  the  Host  in  procession,  the 
monstrance  in  which  it  is  borne 
having  sides  partly  of  glass.  We  may 
thus  reasonably  conclude  that  in  the 
fourteenth  century  the  Host  was  exposed 
at  least  on  Corpus  Christi.  In  the  six- 
teenth century  it  became  common  to 
expose  the  Host  at  other  times — on  oc- 
casions, e.g.,  of  public  distress — and  gene- 
rally the  Blessed  Sacrament  was  exposed 
for  forty  continuous  hours.  This  devotion 
is  still  familiar  to  Catholics  throughout 

1  The  Missal  is  a  Koman  one,  and  the  MS. 
▼ritten  by  a  native  of  Bologna. 


EXTRA.VAGANTS 


331 


the  world  as  the  usual  form  for  the  more 
solemn  exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment. The  Host  after  high  Mass  (the 
Mass  of  Exposition)  is  placed  on  a  throne 
above  the  altar  in  the  monstrance.  Per- 
sons are  appointed  to  relieve  each  other 
night  and  day  in  watching  and  praying 
before  it.  On  the  second  day  a  Mass  "  for 
peace  "  is  sung,  and  the  third  the  Host  is 
again  placed  in  the  tabernacle  after  a 
high  Mass  (that  of  Deposition). 

The  first  introduction  of  this  devotion 
was  due,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  to 
Fr.  Joseph,  a  Capuchin  of  Milan  (died 
1556).  He  arranged  the  forty,  hours 
exposition  in  honour  of  the  time  that  our 
Lord  spent  in  the  tomb.  In  1560 
Pius  IV.  approved  the  custom  of  an 
association  called  the  Confraternity  of 
Prayer  or  of  Death.  They  exposed  the 
Host  for  the  forty  hours  eveiy  month. 
In  1592  Clement  VIII.  provided  that  the 
public  and  perpetual  adoration  of  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  exposed  on  the  altars 
of  the  difierent  churches  at  Rome.  The 
forty  hours  in  one  church  succeeded  to 
those  in  another,  so  that  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  was  always  exposed  in  some 
church  the  whole  year  round.  Earlier 
than  this,  in  1 556,  the  Jesuits  in  Macerata 
exposed  the  Blessed  Sacrament  for  forty 
hours  in  order  to  meet  the  danger  of 
disorders  prevalent  at  that  time,  and 
St.  Charles  adopted  this  devotion  for  Car- 
nival with  great  zeal.  At  present  the  forty 
hours'  prayer  is  observed  successively 
by  all  the  parishes,  once  at  least  in  the 
year,  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  "  Instruction  "  of  Clement  XI. 
and  the  decrees  of  the  Congreg.  Rit. 
there  are  numerous  rules  with  regard  to 
public  exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment. It  cannot  take  place  even  in  the 
churches  of  regulars  wdthout  leave  from 
the  bishop  or  Apostolic  indult.  Twelve 
lights  at  least  must  burn  before  the  Host. 
Relics  and  images  must  be  removed  from 
the  altar  of  exposition,  and  no  Mass 
celebrated  there,  so  long  as  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  exposed,  except  the  Mass  of 
Deposition,  and  the  bell  is  not  rung  at 
the  Masses  which  are  said  during  the 
exposition  at  the  other  altars.  (The 
great  authority  is  Thiers  in  the  work 
already  quoted.  The  "  Manuale  Decre- 
torum"  contains  numerous  rules  to  be 
observed  with  regard  to  exposition.) 

EXTRAVAGAITTS.  The  fifth  and 
sixth  portions  of  the  Canon  Law  are  so 
called  because  they  wander  over  various 
matters  not  touched  upon  in  the  Decretalfl, 


832       EXTREME  UNOTION 

and  because,  till  brought  into  the  code, 
they  had  no  recognised  place  in  ecclesias- 
tical iurisprudence.  They  consist  (1)  of 
the  Extravagants  of  John  XXII.  (1316- 
1334),  to  the  number  of  twenty  constitu- 
tions, divided  into  fourteen  titles  ;  (2)  of 
the  Extravagants  Common  (so  called 
because  they  issued  not  from  any  one 
Pope,  but  from  several),  divided  into  five 
books,  containing  a  number  of  titles  and 
chapters,  each  title  being  devoted  to  one 
or  more  "  extravagant "  Constitutions. 
[See  Canon  IjAW.]     (Ferraris,  Jus.) 

EXTREME  xmrCTZOXJ  may  be 
defined  as  a  sacrament  in  which  the  sick 
in  danger  of  death  are  anointed  by  a  priest 
for  the  health  of  soul  and  body,  the  anoint- 
ing being  accompanied  by  a  set  form  of 
■words. 

St.  James  (v.  14,  15)  describes  the 
nature  and  effects  of  this  sacrament.  "  Is 
any  man  sick  among  you  ?  Let  him 
call  to  himself  (Trpoa-AcaXfo-ao-^o))  the 
presbyters  of  the  Church,  and  let  them 
pray  over  him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  the  prayer 
of  faith  shall  save  the  sick  man,  and  the 
Lord  will  raise  him  up,  and  if^  he  has 
committed  sins,  it  shall  be  forgiven 
him."  Let  us  see  what  the  passage  im- 
plies. 

Oil  was  an  ordinary  means  of  healing 
familiar  to  the  Jews,  as  appears  from 
Luc.  x.  34  {of.  the  "  balm  "  in  Jerem.  viii. 
22,  xlvi.  11).  However,  it  is  plain  that 
St.  James  does  not  here  recommend  an 
ordinaiy  application  of  the  medical  art, 
for  if  so,  apart  from  the  objection  that 
unction  could  only  be  of  use  in  certain 
•  kinds  of  illness,  he  would  have  advised 
the  sick  man  to  summon  the  physician 
and  not  the  presbyters  of  the  Church. 
Nor,  again,  can  we  reasonably  suppose  that 
the  Apostle  is  referring  to  those  extra- 
ordinary gifts  of  healing  (the  xap'o"f  a^-a 
lafiuTcov,  I  Cor.  xii.  9)  common  in  the 
primitive  Church.  There  is  not  the 
faintest  reason  for  believing  that  pres- 
byters generally  possessed  any  such 
powers  ;  and  it  was  imposition  of  hands, 
not  unction  by  which,  as  a  rule,^  the  extra- 
ordinary grace  of  healing  was  conveyed.^ 

1  This  is  the  usual  and  natural  rendering 
of  the  Greek.  It  is  rifcht,  however,  to  remark 
that  Kaf  in  the  New  Testament  never  means 
"  and  if"  (»coc «««/),  but  only  "even  if." 

2  Mark  xvi.  18  ;  but  sometimes  supernatu- 
ral cures  of  the  body  were  effected  by  unction. 
See  Mark  vi  13. 

3  Probabl}'  it  is  not  the  sacrament  of  unc- 
tion which  is  mentioned  in  Mark  vi ;  but  we 


EXTREME  UNCTION 

Nor  does  St.  James  make  any  allusion  to 
the  x^p'^o'f^a  or  grace  of  healing  in  this 
place.     The  unctiun,  then,  of  which  St. 
James  speaks  was  intended  primarily  to 
heal   the  soul.     The  chief  eHect  of  the 
rite  is  definitely  stated  :  "  The  Lord  will 
raise  him  up;  and  if  he  has  committed 
sins,  it  shall  be  forgiven  him."    No  doubt 
bodily  cure  is  indicated  also  as  an  effect 
of  the  unction,  for  the  words  "  the  prayer 
of  faith  will  save  the  sick  man,"   "  the 
Lord  will  raise  him  up,"  include  bodily 
healing.     But  as  St.  James  saw  the  hrst 
generation  of  Christians  dying  out  before 
his  eyes,  he  cannot  have  supposed  that 
this  unction  of  the  sick  was  an  infallible 
remedy  for  disease.     In  short,  we  have 
all   the  constituents  of  a  sacrament  in 
these  two  verses  of  St.  James.     There  is 
the   outward  sign — viz.  unction   by  the 
priest  accompanied  with  prayer.   Tii'ere  is 
the  grace  given  on  condition  of  faith  and 
repentance — viz.  forgiveness  of  sin?,  the 
renewed  health  and  strength  of  the  soul 
and,  if  God  sees  fit,  of  the  body.     There 
is  institution   by  Christ,  for   St.  Jamea 
could  not  have  asserted  that  the  unction 
would   convey  grace    unless   Christ,  the 
author  of  grace,  had  promised  that  the 
grace  of  forgiveness  and  spiritual  healing 
should   accompany   the   use  of  the   oil. 
Lastly,  the  effective  sign  ot'  grace  was  to 
be  employed  permanently  in  the  Church, 
for   St.    James    recommends   its   use   to 
Christians   generally  without  distinction 
of  time  or  place,  and  we  find  clear  though 
scarcely  abundant  traces  of  its   use   in 
Christian     antiquity.       •' Origen,"     says 
Chardon  (tom.  iv.  p.  38'3),  "  rightly  con- 
sidering this  last  sacrament  as  a  comple- 
ment to  that  of  penance,  marks  it  out 
(Hom.  2  in   Levit.)   as  a  means  which 
God  has  put  into  our  hands  in  order  that 
we  may  cleanse  ourselves  fi  ora  our  sins. 
St.    John   Chrysostom    ('  Pe    Sacerdot.' 
i.  p.  384)  uses  the  passage  of  St,  James 
already  quoted,  to  show  that  priests  have 
received  irom  Jesus  Christ  the  power  to 
remit  sins.     Pope  Innocent  I.,  the  con- 
temporary of  this  last  Father,  speaks  of 
the  sacrament  still  more  clearly  in  his 
letter  to  Decentius.  .  .  .  He  puts  extreme 
unction   among  the   sacraments,   telling 
Decentius  it   should  not    be    given    to 
penitentjs  (still  unreconciled),  because  it 
is  a  kind  of  sacrament."     We  can  now 
pass  on  to  consider  one  by  one  different 

may  reasonably  believe  that  it  foreshadowed 
the  sacrament,  and  was  meant  to  prepare  the 
disciples  for  Christ's  further  teaching  on  thia 
point. 


EXTREME  UNCTION 

points  in  the  administration  and  doctrine 
of  the  sacrament. 

1.  The  matter  of  the  sacrament,  accor- 
ding to  the  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  xiv. 
cap.  1),  is  "oil  blessed  hy  the  bishop." 
Most  theologians  hold  that  this  blessing  is 
essential,  though  it  suffices  for  validity 
if  the  blessing  has  been  given  by  a  priest 
who  has  received  jurisdiction  to  do  so.-' 
Innocent  in  the  letter  already  referred  to 
sa^'^s  priests  are  permitted  to  administer 
the  sacrament  if  the  oil  has  been  blessed 
by  the  bishop.  The  Council  of  Florence, 
in  the  Decree  of  Union,  prescribes  that 
the  unction  is  to  be  given  with  olive  oil 
on  eyes,  ears,  nostrils,  mouth,  hands, 
feet,  and  reins,  and  such  is  the  present 
custom  of  the  Church,  except  that  the 
unctio  renum  is  omitted  in  the  case  of 
women.  Some  theologians  hold  that 
without  unction  of  the  five  senses  the 
sacrament  is  invalid.  On  the  other 
hand,  Chardon  proves  that  the  discipline 
of  the  Clmrcli  on  this  matter  has  varied 
at  different  places,  and  in  different  times, 
to  an  extraordinary  degree.  The  com- 
mon practice  was  to  anoint  the  five 
senses,  but  sometimes  the  unction  was 
given  only  on  one  place — e.(/.  on  the 
breast  or  on  the  seat  of  the  malady. 
According  to  the  Roman  ritual  the  oil  is 
applied  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  The  out- 
side of  a  priest's  hands  are  anointed, 
the  inside  of  a  lay  person's,  probably 
because  the  inside  of  the  priest's  hands 
have  already  been  anointed  in  ordina- 
tion. 

2.  The  fo7'm  of  words  used  in  the 
Roman  Ritual  is  (at  the  unction  of  the 
eyes),. ''By  this  holy  unction,  and  by 
his  most  tender  mercy,  may  the  Lord 
forgive  thee  whatsoever  sin  thou  hast 
committed  by  sight,"  the  same  words 
being  repeated  at  each  unction,  except 
that  for  "  by  sight,"  "  by  hearing,"  &:c., 
is  substituted.  The  Greek  unction  is 
also  accompanied  by  prayer.  Still, 
although  a  vast  number  of  mediaeval 
theologians  have  maintained  that  the 
words  must  be  precatory,  and  although 
both  Latins  and  Greeks  ^  do  in  fact 
employ  a  form  of  the  kind,  the  ancient 

^  The  Greek  priests  bless  the  oil  of  the  sick 
by  commission  from  the  bishop,  and  this  cus- 
tom of  theirs  was  approved  by  Clement  VIII. 
in  a  Conf3titution  dated  1598.  See  Billuart,  De 
Extrem.  Unci.  art.  2. 

2  The  Greek  form  is  narep  ayie,  larpe  rSiv 
i^X'^v  K.T'X. :  *'  Holy  Father,  physician  of  souls 
and  bodies,  heal  this  thy  servant  from  that 
infirmity  of  body  and  soul  -which  possesses 
him." 


EXTREME   UNCTION        333 

Rituals  contain  sometimes  precatory, 
sometimes  absolute  forms,  sometimes 
such  as  are  partly  precatory,  partly 
absolute ;  and  hence  the  best  critics 
(Menard,  Martene,  Chardon,  &c.)  deny 
that  a  precatory  form  belongs  to  the 
essence  of  the  sacrament.  It  seems  to  be 
enough  if  the  unction  is  given  "  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  "  and  the  words  indicate 
the  grace  conferred. 

3.  The  minister  of  the  sacrament  is  a 
priest.  "  Let  him  bring  in  the  presbyters 
of  the  Church."  It  is  certain  that  a 
priest  only  can  give  this  sacrament,  and 
the  present  discipline  of  the  Church 
forbids  anyone  but  the  parish  priest,^  or 
some  other  priest  with  his  leave  to  do  so. 
Some  difficulty  has  been  caused  by  the 
letter  of  Innocent,  in  which  he  lays  down 
the  principle  that  the  oil  of  the  sick  is  to 
be  blessed  by  the  bishop  and  then  used 
by  all  Christians  in  their  need:  "Quod" 
(sic  apud  Chardon)  "  ab  episcopo  con- 
fectum,  non  solum  sacerdotibus  sed  et 
omnibus  uti  Christianis  licet,  in  sua  aut 
in  suorum  necessitate  inungendum."  At 
first  sight,  no  doubt,  these  words  seem 
to  mean  that  Christians  generally  could 
apply  the  holy  oil,  and  Tillemont  thought 
it  impossible  to  take  them  otherwise. 
Chardon,  however,  and  many  other 
authors,  explain  the  words  to  mean  that 
with  the  oil  consecrated  by  the  bishop 
all  Christians  might  be  anointed  in  their 
need — viz.  by  the  priest.  In  ancient 
times  all  over  the  world  several  priests 
jointly  administered  the  sacrament, 
though  examples  are  not  wanting  of  the 
administration  by  a  single  priest,  so  that 
clearly  the  ancient  Church  did  not 
consider  the  presence  of  more  than  one 
priest  essential.  Among  the  Greeks  the 
sick  man  is  anointed  by  seven,  or  if  that 
is  impossible,  by  three  priests.  "  Some- 
times," says  Chardon,  speaking  of  ancient 
usage,  "  one  priest  applied  the  holy  oil 
while  the  other  pronounced  the  form  of 
prayer ;  sometimes  all  together  anointed 
the  different  parts  of  the  body,  each 
reciting  the  same  form.  Sometimes 
several  priests  anointed  one  part,  others 
other  parts,  the  prescribed  prayers  being 
recited  by  the  anointing  priests  in  each 
case." 

4.  The  pef'sons  who  may  receive  the 
sacrament,  (a)  They  must  be  sick,  as 
St.  James  declares,  and  the  Council  of 
Trent  understands  the  Apostle  to  speak 
of  dangerous  sickness.  Hence  the  sacra- 
ment is  not  intended  for  persons  ill  but 

*  In  England,  the  rector  of  the  mission. 


334        EXTREME  UNCTION 

not  dangerously  ill,  or,  again,  for  such  as 
are  in  danger  of  death  but  not  from 
eiclmess.  After  a  sick  man,  among  the 
Orientals,  has  been  anointed,  the  priests 
anoint  each  other  and  the  bystanders 
with  the  holy  oil,  but  Renaudot  points 
out  that  the  prayers  are  said  only  over 
the  sick  man,  so  that  evidently  there  is 
noiptention  of  administering  the  sacra- 
ment except  to  him.  (/3)  The  sacra- 
ment being  intended  to  remit  sin,  it 
cannot  be  received,  according  to  the 
common  opinion,  except  by  those  who 
have  committed  sin  after  baptism.  In- 
fants, therefore,  and  all  such  other 
persons  as  have  never  had  the  use  of 
reason,  are  incapable  of  the  sacrament. 
(y)  In  order  that  it  may  be  received 
with  profit,  the  recipient  must  be  in  a 
state  of  grace.  All  the  Oriental  Rituals, 
according  to  Renaudot,  prescribe  previous 
confession. 

4.  The  effects  of  the  sacrament  are 
thus  stated  by  the  Council  of  Trent  (sess. 
xiv.  cap.  2) :  "  The  inner  part  (res)  and 
effect  of  this  sacrament  is  set  forth  in  these 
words — 'And  the  prayer  of  faith  will  save 
the  sick,  and  the  Lord  will  raise  him  up, 
and  if  he  be  in  sins  they  will  be  forgiven 
him.'  For  this  inner  part  {res)  is  the 
grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whose  unction 
wipes  away  sins,  if  any  are  still  to  be 
atoned  for,  and  the  remains  of  sin,"  (i.e. 
the  proneness  to  evil,  torpor,  and  weakness 
left  by  past  and  forgiven  sins),  "  raises  and 
strengthens  the  soul  of  the  sick  man,  by 
awakening  a  great  confidence  in  tlie  divine 
mercy,  by  which  confidence  the  sick  man 
being  relieved  bears  more  patiently  the 
troubles  and  pains  of  his  sickness,  more 
easily  resists  the  temptations  of  the  devil, 
....  and  sometimes  obtains  health  of 
body  when  it  is  expedient  for  the  health 
of  the  soul." 

Of  course  the  sacrament  cannot  be 
contemned  without  great  sin,  and  very 


FABRIC 

often  a  person  may  be  under  a  grave  obli- 
gation of  receiving  it,  on  account  of  the 
care  he  is  bound  to  take  of  his  eternal 
salvation.  Still  the  sacrament  is  not  in 
itself  necessary  to  salvation,  and  this  may 
account  for  the  fact  that  we  hear  so  little 
of  it  in  the  first  ages  of  the  Church,  when 
the  heathen  persecution  made  its  adminis- 
tration a  matter  of  serious  difficulty. 
Some  authors  of  the  twelfth  century  held 
that  it  could  only  be  received  once  by  the 
same  person ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
some  ancient  Rituals  show  that  it  was 
once  customary  in  certain  parts  of  the 
Church  to  reiterate  the  unction  during 
seven  successive  days.  Chardon  refers  to 
several  ancient  Rituals  in  proof,  and  St. 
Rembert,  bishop  of  Hamburg,  was 
anointed,  as  we  learn  from  a  contemporary 
Life,  on  several  consecutive  days.  It  is 
now  certain,  from  the  words  of  the  Tri- 
dentine  Council,  that  the  sacrament  may 
be  received  again  and  again  by  the  same 
person  if  he  recovers  from  a  dangerous 
illness  and  afterwards  falls  into  another; 
but  once  only  by  the  same  person  while 
he  remains  under  the  same  danger  of 
death. 

5.  The  time  of  administration.  The 
present  custom  of  the  Church  is  to  give  it 
after  the  reception  of  Viaticum.  Formerly, 
it  was  usual  to  administer  it  before 
Viaticum,  and  Chardon  gives  numerous 
instances  from  the  churches  of  England, 
France,  and  Germany,  in  which  this  order 
was  observed.  St.  Thomas  evidently  was 
accustomed  to  see  extreme  unction  ad- 
ministered first,  for  he  says  ("Sum."iii.  65, 
a.  3),  "  By  extreme  unction  a  man  is  pre- 
pared worthily  to  receive  Christ's  body." 
Even  from  ancient  times,  however,  m- 
stances  of  the  present  order  may  be 
adduced,  so  that  the  matter  cannot  be  of 
any  great  moment.  (Chiefly  from  Char- 
don, "  Hist,  des  Sacrements.") 


FABBXC. 


A    church — that    is,    a 


building  set  apart  for  the  public  divine 
worship  of  the  faithful — can  only  be 
erected  with  the  approval  of  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese,  and  after  due  provision  has 
been  made,  by  endowment  or  otherwise, 
for  the  permanent  sustentation  of  the  cure. 
Once  built,  canon  law  adopts  many  pre- 
cautions with  a  view  to  its  fabric  being 
kept  in  good  repair.     The  Council  of 


Trent  ordered  that  bishops,  on  their 
annual  visitations,  should  see  that  churches 
which  required  repair  received  it,*  and 
a  later  decree  ^  specified  the  funds  on 
which,  and  the  persons  on  whom,  this 
obligation  rested.  A  parish  church  fallen 
out  of  repair  was  to  be  repaired,  first  of 
all,  out  of  the  fabric  endowment  fund,  il 

1  Sess.  vii.  c.  8,  De  Ref. 

3  Sess.  xxi.  c.  7,  De  Ret 


FACULTY 


Buch  existed.  If  there  were  no  such  fund, 
or  it  were  insufficient,  the  charge  was  to 
fall  on  the  patron  or  patrons,  and  other 
persons  deriving  any  benefit  from  the 
parochial  endowment.  If  these  resources 
were  insufficient,  the  bishop  was  to 
compel  the  parishioners  by  every  means 
in  his  power,  omni  appellatione  ?-emota,  to 
defray  the  cost  of  the  necessary  repairs. 
Finally,  if  the  poverty  of  all  concerned 
were  such  as  to  disable  them  from  meeting 
the  outlay  required,  the  bishop  was  to 
annex  the  parish  either  to  that  of  its 
mother  church  {mat?-icis  ecclesice)  or  to 
some  neighbouring  parish,  with  leave  to 
use  the  dilapidated  church  for  secular  pur- 
poses not  of  a  mean  or  degrading  charac- 
ter, after  having  erected  a  cross  there. 
The  erection  of  a  cross  is  not  now  required. 

The  actual  state  of  the  law  as  to  the  re- 
paration of  the  fabric  is  stated  by  Ferraris 
to  be  this.  Those  are  bound  to  it  in  the  first 
place  on  whom  either  custom  or  a  statute 
imposes  the  burden.  If  there  be  no  such 
custom  or  statute,  the  part  of  the  endow- 
ment, if  any,  reserved  to  the  fahric  must 
be  resorted  to.  If  there  be  no  such  part, 
the  legal  obligation  next  falls  on  the 
revenue  derived  by  the  parish  priest  from 
the  benefice,  after  deducting  what  is  suf- 
ficent  for  his  decent  maintenance.  Next, 
all  others  deriving  benefit  from  the  paro- 
chial revenues — e.g.  lay  impropriators  of 
tithe-r-are  bound  to  contribute.  Under 
this  head  many  disputed  questions  have 
arisen,  on  which  special  treatises  must  be 
consulted.  These  disputes  resemble,  in 
certain  points,  the  long  controversy  be- 
tween the  x^nglican  clergy  and  the  non- 
conformists respecting  church  rates — a 
controversy  settled  a  few  years  ago  by  an 
Act  (1874)  which  relieved  the  latter  from 
the  burden. 

In  the  case  of  a  cathedral  church,  the 
bishop  is  bound  to  put  and  keep  it  in 
repair,  reserving  to  himself  the  right  of 
taking  legal  steps  against  those  who  are 
bound  to  aid  him  in  doing  so  {e.g.  the 
chapter,  or,  in  the  last  resort,  the  inferior 
clergy),  or  against  those  on  whom  the 
obligation  is  imposed  by  custom. 

In  France  the  duty  of  keeping  churches 
in  repair  rests  on  the  conseil  de  fahrique, 
an  institution  organised  with  admirable 
skill  and  completeness  by  a  decree  and  an 
ordinance  dated  in  1809  and  1825,  and 
corresponding  to  the  vestry  of  au  Anglican 
parish.  The  official  persons  on  the  council 
are  called  marguilliers  (churchwardens). 

FACirXtTY.  I.  A  constituent  part  of 
a  university,  being  the  body  of  professors. 


FACULTY 


335 


lecturers,  teachers,  graduates,  and  stu- 
dents engaged  in  the  study  of  a  particular 
department  of  learning^  (e.^.  medicine,  law, 
theology,  &c.),  or  stamped  as  proficients 
in  the  same.  In  a  narrower  sense,  the 
term  "  faculty  "  is  restricted  to  the  pro- 
fessors labouring  in  this  department  of 
learning.  These,  in  a  normal  state  of 
things,  form  a  council  which  meets  peri- 
odically, under  a  dean  elected  by  them- 
selves, to  arrange  all  questions  respecting 
the  due  ordering  and  development  of  the 
studies  of  the  faculty.  If  a  university  be 
fully  organised,  it  has  five  faculties,  viz., 
theology,  arts  (or,  philosophy  and  letters), 
law,  medicine,  and  natural  science. 

IL  An  authorisation  properly  authen- 
ticated, addressed  to  any  person  or  persons 
by  the  Roman  Pontift'  or  some  Catholic 
prelate,  empowering  him  or  them  to  per- 
form some  act  or  occupy  some  position 
which  they  could  not  otherwise  legally 
perform  or  occupy,  is  called  ?i  faculty. 

FAITH.  An  act  of  divine  faith  is 
the  undoubting  assent  given  to  revealed 
truths,  not  because  of  the  evidence  which 
can  be  produced  for  them,  but  simply 
because  they  are  revealed  by  God.  Thus 
the  truths  which  faith  accepts  are  not 
evident  in  themselves,  or  if  evident,  as  is 
the  case  with  the  truths  of  natural  re- 
ligion, are  not  accepted  with  divine  faith, 
because  so  evident. 

Divine  faith  excludes  aU  doubt.  So 
much  is  implied  in  the  very  word,  for 
nobody  would  say  that  we  put  faith  in  a 
man's  statement  if  we  doubted  its  truth  ; 
and  the  faith  required  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament is  clearly  incompatible  with 
doubt.  "  I  know,"  St.  Paul  says,  "  in 
whom  I  have  believed,  and  I  am  certain  " 
(2  Timothy  i.  12). 

Yet  this  exclusion  of  doubt  is  not 
caused  by  the  mere  force  of  the  evidence. 
No  words  are  needed  to  show  that  th6 
truths  of  the  Christian  religion — such, 
e.g.,  as  tlie  divinity  of  Christ,  the  person- 
ality of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  atoning 
efficacy  of  Christ's  death — are  not  self- 
evident.  Moreover,  the  evidences  of 
Revelation,  which  is  in  the  first  place  an 
historical  fact,  are  not  of  such  a  nature 
as  absolutely,  like  metaphysical  or  mathe- 
matical reasoning,  to  constrain  assent. 
No  doubt,  from  the  fulfilment  of  pro- 
phecy ',  from  the  way  in  which  the 
Gospel  triumphed  ;  from  the  moral  cha- 
racter and  teaching  of  Christ ;  and  from 
other  grounds  of  a  like  kind,  we  get^  an 
accumulation  of  arguments,  rerttssima 
signa   et   omnium   intelligentice   accommO" 


8S6 


FAITH 


FAITH 


datttf  "  most  certain  proofs,  and  suited  to 
the  intelligence  of  all,"  as  the  Vatican 
Council  says,^  which,  taken  together, 
make  it  perfectly  certain  that  Christianity 
is  divine,  and  are  abundantly  sufficient  to 
convince  a  prudent  man  that  he  ought  to 
assent  undouhtingly  to  the  truths  which 
the  Church  of  Christ  propouDds.  Still, 
all  this  evidence -is  not  enough  it  itself 
to  account  for  the  certainty  of  divine 
faith,  the  very  highest  of  all  certainty. 

We  must,  then,  make  a  sharp  distinc- 
tion between  the  "  motives  of  credibility  " 
on  the  one  hand,  and  faith  on  the  other. 
On  account  of  these  motives  we  prudently 
judge  that  the  truths  faith  accepts  are 
deserving  of  belief.  If  some  knowledge 
of  the  arguments  in  favour  of  Christianity 
did  not  prepare  us  to  believe  it,  our  belief 
would  be  uureasonable  and  fanatical ;  nor 
could  anyone '  be  justly  condemned  for 
lacking  faith.  The  arguments  are  not, 
however,  of  such  a  nature  as  to  constrain 
assent,  and  men  will  form  very  different 
opinions  of  their  strength  according  to 
their  moral  dispositions.  That  Christ,  for 
example,  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
"spake  as  never  man  spake"  is  a  strong 
argument  for  the  divinity  of  our  religion, 
but  it  will  scarcely  come  home  to  a  man 
who  cares  little  for  moral  excellence.  In 
short,  the  "  motives  of  credibility "  are 
necessary:  a  man  incurs  great  moral  re- 
sponsibility by  the  way  in  which  he  deals 
with  them ;  but  they  cannot  produce  the 
absolute  and  perfect  certainty  of  faith. 

When  the  mind  is  convinced  that  the 
objects  of  faith  are  worthy  of  belief  and 
that  here  and  now  there  is  an  obligation 
of  accepting  them,  the  grace  of  God  fills 
the  soul  with  a  pious  inclination  to  believe 
("pia  affectio  ad  credendum"),  having 
for  its  motive  that  duty  and  obligation  of 
believing  which  has  been  brought  home  to 
it  by  the  motives  of  credibility,  and  then, 
putting  aside  all  doubt  and  looking  away 
from  all  human  arguments  and  motives,  it 
assents  simply  on  the  authority  of  God 
who  reveals  the  truths  in  question.  God 
cannot  deceive  and  cannot  be  deceived. 
He  is  the  eternal  essential  truth,  and  hence 
truths  received  on  his  word  are  more  cer- 
tain than  any  of  those  which  present  them- 
selves to  natural  reason. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  the 
Catholic  Church  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
definition  with  which  we  began.  The 
reason  is  that  faith  does  not  rest  on  the 
authority  of  creatures.  It  is  a  theological 
Yirtue — i.e.  one  wliich  relates  immediately 
*  De  Fide,  cap.  iu. . 


to  God,  and  therefore  it  is  founded  ulti- 
mately upon  His  word  and  on  that  alone. 
The  Church  is  the  ordinary  and  the  infalli- 
ble means  by  which  we  know  what  the 
truths  are  which  God  has  revealed.  The  tes- 
timony of  the  Church  is  the  rule  by  which 
we  can  distmguish  between  true  and  false 
doctrine.  In  other  words,  we  learn  from 
the  Church  that  God  has  spoken,  and  then 
because  of  His  word,  not  because  of  the 
Church's  authority,  we  believe  without 
doubt.  It  is  possible,  moreover,  for  a  man 
who  does  not  believe  in  the  infallibility  of 
the  Church  to  possess  true  and  divine  faith. 
He  may  have  assured  himself  on  good 
grounds — e.g.  by  the  reading  of  Scripture 
— that  God  has  revealed  certain  truths ;  he 
may  without  fault  of  his  own  be  ignorant 
of  the  Church's  authority,  and  be  perfectly 
willing  to  accept  the  whole  of  divine  re- 
velation so  far  as  he  knows  it.  If  such  a 
man,  moved  by  the  grace  of  God,  receives 
the  revealed  truths  with  which  he  is  ac- 
quainted on  the  divine  word,  then  he  has 
done  all  that  is  necessary  to  constitute  an 
act  of  faith. 

"  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to 
please  God."  Man  is  intended  for  a  super- 
natural end ;  he  must  know  this  end,  for 
otherwise  he  cannot  direct  his  actions  so  as 
to  reach  it,  and  this  knowledge  can  never 
be  attained  by  natural  reason.  Ignorance 
may  excuse  a  man  for  living  in  heresy  and 
schism  ;  nothing  can  excuse  the  lack  of 
faith,  and  God  gives  every  man  the  means 
of  attaining  ft.  No  man  can  be  saved  who 
does  not  at  least  believe  with  divine  faith 
that  God  exists  and  that  He  rewards  those 
who  seek  Him  (Heb.  xi.  6).  A  great  many 
theologians  say  that  under  the  present  dis- 
pensation it  is  absolutely  necessary  for 
salvation  to  know  and  believe  the  mysteries 
of  the  Trinity  and  the  Incarnation.  This 
is  a  doubtful  point,  but  it  is  certain  that 
all  who  have  tha  opportunity  are  bound  to 
acquaint  themselves  with  the  primary 
truths  of  religion  contained  in  the  Creed, 
and  to  know  the  commandments  of  God 
and  the  Church,  as  well  as  the  most  essen- 
tial truths  regarding  the  sacraments  and 
their  use.  Moreover,  all  are  bound  (and  can 
only  be  excused  from  doing  so  by  invincible 
ignorance)  to  believe  all  that  the  Church 
teaches.  Of  course  a  person  is  not  bound 
to  ascertain  all  the  definitionsof  the  Church, 
but  he  must  believe  that  the  Church  can- 
not err,  and  that  whatever  it  teaches  is 
infallibly  true.  Although  faith  is  neces- 
sary, it  is  not  sufficient  for  salvation  unleaa 
it  is  perfected  by  charity.  In  the  latter 
case  It  is  the  *'  faith  working  by  charity  " 


FAITHFUL 

of  whicli  St.  Paul  speaks  (Gal.  v.  6)  as 
opposed  to  that  '^  faith  without  works 
which  is  dead."  Still  faith  without 
charity  is  a  true'  faith,  for  a  man  immersed 
in  vice  may  accept  the  truths  of  revelation 
with  a  supernatural  belief.  The  virtue  of 
faith,  however,  is  destroyed  by  a  sinp-le 
act  of  disbelief '  in  revealed  truth  previously 
aceepted  on  the  authority  of  God. 

(Any  of  the  treatises  "  De  Fide  "  in 
dogmatic theoloprians  maybe  consulted,and 
also  Concil.  Trident.  Ue  Justific,  sess.  vi., 
Concil.  Vatic.  De  Fide,  cap.  iii.,  and  the 
corresponding  canons.  The  possibility  of  a 
habit  of  faith  in  infants  is  explained  in  the 
article  on  Baptism,  the  rule  of  faith  in 
those  on  the  Ohijrch  and  on  the  Pope.) 

TAXTH-TTJIm  (Jideles)  in  itself  means, 
persons  who  have  the  faith ;  but  even  in 
Acts  X.  45  (ol  fK  TTf/JiTo/xj;?  TTtcrrol)  we 
find  the  word  used  as  a  technical  expres- 
sion for  persons  incoi-porated  by  baptism 
and  Christian  profession  into  the  Church, 
and  this  use  of  the  word  has  been  con- 
tinued ever  since.  Thus  the  "Mass  of 
the  Faithful"  was  distinguished  from 
the  "  Mass  of  the  Catechumens/'  although 
catechumens  might  of  course  have  faith  ; 
and  in  the  same  sense  the  Church  con- 
stantly prays  in  the  Mass  and  office  for 
the  faithful  living  and  dead. 

TAJmHSTOOJm  {faldistoi'iurn).  A 
seat  which  can  easily  be  moved,  and 
which  is  used  by  bishops  and  other  pre- 
lates in  the  sanctuary  when  they  do  not 
occupy  the  throne.  The  faldstool  is  much 
more  simple  than  the  throne,  the  latter 
being  covered  with  a  baldacchino  and 
furnished  with  a  back  and  arms.  More- 
over, -the  faldstool,  unlike  the  throne, 
may  be  occupied  by  a  prelate  who  has 
no  ordinary  jurisdiction.  Thus  the  Con- 
gregation of  Rites  requires  auxiliary 
bishops  and  administrators  when  assisting 
pontifically  at  Mass  to  content  themselves 
with  the  faldstool.  However,  a  bishop  in 
his  own  diocese  sometimes  sits  in  or  kneels 
at  a  faldstool — e.g.  in  giving  Confirma- 
tion, in  making  his  thanksgiving  after 
Mass,  &c. 

FAXiSS  DECRETAIiS.  The  col- 
lection ostensibly  made  by  Isidorus  Mer- 
cator,  in  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century, 
passes  by  this  name.  [See  Cai^oit  Law.] 
The   exact  date  of  its   first  appearance 

i 
1  So  that,  e.g.,  if  a  Catholic  ceases  to  believe 
in  Transnbstantiation  but  continues  to  do  so  in 
the  Trinity,  his  belief  in  the  latter  is  merely  a 
natural  assent  and  does  not  proceed  from  divine 
faith.  This  is  the  general,  though  not  the  uni- 
versal, teaching  of  Catholic  theologians. 


FALSE  DECRETALS        837 

cannot  be  determined.  It  could  not  have 
been  before  829,  because  it  quotes  a  canon 
of  a  Council  of  Paris  held  in  that  year.^ 
Before  845,  according  to  Mohler,^  it  was 
well  known  and  often  quoted ;  he  therefore 
dates  its  composition  between  829  and 
845;  the  place  of  origin  he  believes  to 
have  been  Mayence.  Hinschius,  on  the 
other  hand,  thinks  that  the  place  of 
origin  was  Rheims,  and  that  the  work 
was  compiled  between  847  and  853.  It  is 
quite  uncertain  who  wrote  it.  It  has 
been  variously  ascribed  to  Banedictus 
Levita  of  Mayence,  to  Paschasius  Rad- 
bert,  to  Otgar,  archbishop  of  Mayence, 
and  to  Agobard,  archbishop  of  Lyons. 
All  that  is  known  on  the  subject  is  that 
the  writer  chose  to  call  himself  Isidorus 
Mercator  ("  Peccator "  in  some  MSS.), 
probably  after  the  great  St.  Isidore,  who 
had  made  a  similar  compilation  [CANOif 
Law,  p.  105]  ;  that  (if  his  preface  speaks 
the  truth)  he  had  been  strongly  urged  by 
many  ecclesiastics  of  rank  to  make  such 
a  collection,  and  that  the  frequent  mis- 
carriages of  justice  which  he  had  seen, 
owing  to  uncertainty  as  to  the  law  and 
the  jurisdiction,  had  powerfully  impelled 
him  to  undertake  the  work. 

The  collection,  as  soon  as  made,  passed 
into  immediate  acceptance  and  use;  it 
met  a  palpable  want,  and  no  one  thought 
of  questioning  the  genuineness  of  the 
Papal  letters  which  it  contained.  It 
opens  with  the  fifty  Apostolic  Canons 
[see  that  article]  received  and  published 
by  Dionysius  Exiguus ;  then  it  proceeds 
to  give  a  quantity  of  decretnl  letters 
written  by  early  Popes,  from  Clement  of 
Rome,  one  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  to 
Melchiades,  at  the  end  of  the  third  cen- 
tury. None  of  these  letters  is  genuine. 
A  quantity  of  conciliar  decrees,  beginning 
with  those  of  Nicsea,  and  ending  with  the 
second  Council  of  Seville  (619)  are  next 
inserted  ;  many  of  these  are  unauthentic. 
To  the  decrees  of  councils  a  fresh  series 
of  decretal  letters  of  Popes  succeeds, 
beginning  with  Sylvester  (who  succeeded 
Melchiades)  and  ending  with  Gregory 
the  Great.  In  this  series  the  first  that  is 
genuine  is  a  letter  of  Pope  Siricius  (384- 
399).  The  last  thing  in  the  compilation 
is  a  copy  of  the  canons  passed  by  Gre- 

1  This  is  Mohler's  view,  but  Hefele  (art.  in 
Wetzer  and  Welte)  thinks  it  as  likelv  that 
the  council  quoted  from  the  Pseudo-tsidore 
as  the  other  way.  This  is  a  sample  of  the  in- 
extricable difficulties  by  which  the  determina- 
tion of  date  and  authorship  is  surrounded. 

2  Kirchengesch.  ii.  174. 


338   FALSE  DECRETALS 


FALSE  DECRETALS 


gory  II.    (t731)  at  a  council  held   at 

Rome. 

According  to  a  Protestant  writer, 
this  famous  collection  comprehends  "  the 
whole  dogmatic  system  and  discipline  of 
the  Church,  the  whole  hierarchy,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest  degree,  their 
sanctity  and  immunities,  their  persecu- 
tions, their  disputes,  their  right  of  appeal 
to  Rome.  They  are  full  and  minute  on 
Chiu'ch  property,  on  its  usurpation  and 
spoliation ;  on  ordinations ;  on  the  sacra- 
ments, on  haptism,  confirmation,  mar- 
riage, the  Eucharist ;  on  fasts  and  festi- 
vals; the  discovery  of  the  cross;  the 
discovery  of  the  reliques  of  the  Apostles ; 
on  the  chrism,  holy  water,  consecration 
of  churches,  blessing  of  the  fruits  of  the 
field ;  on  the  sacred  vessels  and  habili- 
ments." ^ 

Of  the  unknown  author,  Mohler 
writes : — "  Pseudo-Isidore  seized  exactly 
that  in  his  own  age  which  corresponded 
to  the  wishes  of  all  the  higher  and 
better  order  of  men.  Thence  it  was 
that  this  legislation  was  so  joyfully 
received.  No  one  suspected  anything 
false,  because  it  contained  so  much  that 
was  weighty  and  true.  If  we  examine 
carefully  these  invented  decretals,  and  try 
to  charaxjterise  their  composer  in  accord- 
ance with  their  general  import  and  spirit, 
we  must  confess  that  he  was  a  very  Earned 
man,  perhaps  the  most  learned  man  of 
his  time,  and  at  the  same  time  an  ex- 
tremely intelligent  and  wise  man,  who 
knew  iiis  age  and  its  wants  as  few  did. 
Rightly  he  perceived  that  he  must  exalt 
the  power  of  the  centre — ^that  is,  of  the 
Pope — because  by  that  way  only  was  de- 
liverance possible.  Nay,  if  we  would 
pass  an  unconstrained  judgment,  we  may 
venture  even  to  caU  him  a  great  man." 

Nevertheless,  the  work  is  in  great 
part  what  we  now  call  a  forgery;  ana- 
chronisms and  blunders  have  been  dis- 
covered in  it,  which  force  this  conclusion 
on  the  mind  of  every  fair  critic.  But  at 
the  time  of  its  appearance,  and  for  many 
centuries  afterwards,  it  was  in  such 
thorough  harmony  with  the  prevalent 
temper  of  European  society,  and  with  the 
ecclesiastico-political  ideas  which  were 
held  to  indicate  the  true  path  of  human 
progress,  that  those  w^ho  appealed  to  it, 
and  even  those  whose  action  was  thwailed 
by  it,  never  troubled  themselves  to  ques- 
tion the  authenticity  of  the  documents 
which  it  contained.  Supposing  some  one 
in  the  twelfth  century  had  anticipated 

1  Milmau,  Lot.  ChrUtianity,  ill.  192. 


the  labour  of  the  moderns,  and  announced 
the  spuriousness  of  a  great  part  of  th« 
decretals ;  what  then  ?  The  feehng  would 
have  been :  what  Fabian,  Cornelius,  Syl- 
vester, &c.,  are  made  to  say  is  true  and 
useful ;  if  they  did  not  actually  write  it, 
they  might  have  written  it ;  if  these  are 
not  the  genuine  letters,  then  the  genidue 
letters  which  they  did  write,  and  which 
would  have  been  to  much  the  same  eifect 
as  these,  have  been  lost ;  finally,  if  the 
Popes  of  the  third  century  did  not  com- 
mand all  this,  the  Popes  of  the  twelfth 
century  are  ready  to  command  it,  because 
it  is  true,  wholesome,  and  highly  ne- 
cessary to  be  observed.  If  in  the  four- 
teenth century  some  one  had  demon- 
strated the  spuriousness  of  the  charters 
(see  the  "Chronicle  of  Ingulfus")  by 
which  Croyland  Abbey  held  its  lands; 
what  then  ?  The  lands  had  imqueation- 
ably  been  given  to  the  abbey ;  but  the 
title-deeds  had  l)eeu  lost  or  destroyed 
during  the  Danish  invasions ;  and  when  a 
litigious  race  like  the  Normans,  who 
would  not  be  satisfied  except  by  the  pro- 
duction of  actual  documents,  got  posses- 
sion of  England,  the  monks  had  to  manu- 
facture charters,  utterly  false  as  to  the 
form,  but  true  as  to  the  substance,  or  they 
would  have  been  oust<?d  from  their  pos- 
sessions. A  passage  in  the  preface  of  the 
Pseudo-Isidore  shows  plainly  enough  that 
some  similar  motive  was  present  to  him 
in  making  his  compilation.  "  Most  good 
Christians,"  he  says,  "  keep  silence  [when 
wrong  is  done]  for  this  reason,  and  put  up 
with  the  sins  of  others  which  they  know, 
because  they  are  often  unprovided  with 
documents  by  which  they  could  prove  to 
the  ecclesiastical  judges  things  which 
they  themselves  know  ;  since,  although 
certain  things  may  be  true,  those  things 
only  are  to  be  believed  by  judges  which 
are  demonstrated  by  certain  proofs, 
established  by  a  clear  sentence,  and  pub- 
lished in  judicial  form  and  order."  To 
supply  "documents"  so  desirable,  and 
also  to  provide  for  the  use  of  the  faithful 
generally  a  store  of  authoritative  state- 
ments on  matters  afi'ecting  Christian  life 
within  the  Church,  seem  to  have  been 
the  principal  objects  of  the  writer. 

The  first  note  of  doubt  respecting  the 
genuineness  of  the  work  came  from 
Nicholas  of  Cusa,  an  eminent  theologian 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Magdeburg 
Centuriators  [CHimcH  History]  took 
up  the  matter  eagerly,  and  many  Pro- 
testant writers  following  them  have 
shown  much  zeal  in  demonstrating  ths 


FAMILIAR 

unauthentic  character  of  most  of  the  de- 
cretals, imagining  that  they  were  in  some 
way  sapping  the  foundations  of  the  Papal 
power  by  doing  so.  The  fact  really  is, 
that  the  authority  of  the  Popes  derives  no 
confirmation  from  the  False  Decretals, 
but  that  the  False  Decretals  derived  the 
currency  and  influence  which  they  once 
had  from  their  agi-eement  with  the  idea  of 
the  Papal  power  pre-existing  in  the  minds 
of  men.  The  life,  in  fact,  of  St.  Wilfrid, 
the  story  of  the  foundation  of  the  An^lo- 
Saxon  and  German  churches,  the  letters 
of  St.  Leo  the  Great,  and  innumerable 
other  evidences,  show  that  there  is  abso- 
lutely nothing  new  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
Pseudo-Isidore  on  the  Papal  power. 

Moreover,  as  has  been  shown  by 
Phillips  and  Hefele,  it  is  certain  that  the 
greater  number  of  the  spurious  documents 
incorporated  by  the  Pseudo-Isidore  in  his 
collection  were  not  manufactured  by  him, 
but  had  been  in  existence,  some  Ibra  longer, 
others  for  a  shorter  period  of  time.  Such 
are  the  Apostolic  Canons,  the  Donation  of 
Oonstantine,  the  Letter  of  Pope  Sylvester, 
&c.  &c. 

The  names  of  the  principal  writers  on 
this  question  are : — the  brothers  Ballerini, 
Dumont,  Eichhorn,  Gfrorer,  Hefele,  Hin- 
schius,  Knust,  Mohler,  Noorden,  Phillips, 
Rosshirt,  Spittler,  Walter,  and  Wasser- 
sohleben. 

(Hefele,  in  Wetzer  and  Welte ;  Paulus 
Hinschius,  "  Decretales  Pseudo  -  Isido- 
rianee,"  Leipsic,  1863.) 

FiLASIXiIAR.  The  famUiaris  of  a 
Pope  or  bishop  is  a  person  belonging  to 
his  household,  v;ho  is  supported  by  him 
or  at  his  table,  and  renders  him  domestic, 
but  not  menial,  services.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary that  he  should  live  under  the  same 
roof  with  his  master,  but  the  law  will  not 
treat  him  as  his  familiar  if  he  lives  habitu- 
ally out  of  the  diocese,  or  in  a  distant 
city.  The  nephews  and  cousins  of  a  bishop 
living  in  his  palace,  in  order  to  be  con- 
sidered his  familiars,  must  render  him  real 
service. 

For  eight  centuries  previous  to  the 
French  Revolution,  the  clerical  profession 
• — owing  to  the  largeness  of  the  clerical 
immunities  and  the  wealth  and  power 
possessed  by  the  Church — was  the  object 
of  desire  to  many  whose  motives  were 
mixed,  or  altogether  worldly.  An  easy 
way  by  which  such  persons  could  obtain 
ordination,  was  by  entering  the  household 
or  family  of  a  bishop.  It  was  commonly 
and  reasonably  held  that  a  bishop  ordain- 
ing members  of  his  own  family,  knew 


FAN 


839 


what  he  was  about,  and  would  not  lay 
hands  on  unworthy  persons;  great  free- 
dom, therefore,  in  respect  to  these  ordina- 
tions was  for  a  long  time  allowed.  But 
abuses  arose ;  a  class  of  ecclesiastics  with- 
out benefices  appeared,  who  hung  about 
Rome  and  the  great  episcopal  cities, 
and  were  importunate  petitioners  to  the 
holders  of  preferment.  Hence  the  Council 
of  Trent  decreed  ^  that  no  bishop  should 
be  able  to  ordain  his  familiar,  who  was 
not  his  subditus,'^  unless  he  had  first  lived 
with  him  three  years,  and  unless  the 
bishop,  immediately  and  actually,  con- 
ferred a  benefice  upon  him. 

The  familiars  of  the  Pope  [Curia. 
Rom  AN  A — Famiglia  Pontijicid]  enjoy  many 
privileges.  Cardinal  priests  have  the  right 
of  conferiing  on  their  familiars,  if  they 
have  lived  three  years  with  them,  the  ton- 
sure and  the  other  minor  orders.  A  Con- 
stitution of  Innocent  XH.  ("Speculetores 
domus  Israel ")  adds  to  the  requirements 
of  the  Council  of  Trent  the  condition  that 
before  ordaining  his  familiar,  if  not  his 
suhditus,  the  bishop  must  make  him  pro- 
duce testimonial  letters  from  the  bishop  of 
origin  or  domicile.  [See  Dimissoeials.] 
(Ferraris,  Familians. ) 

FAST  {Jlabellum^  muscarium;  whence 
eamoucher,  7nouchoir ;  ptnls,  pmidiov) 
is  mentioned  as  a  liturgical  instru- 
ment in  the  Apostolic  Constitutions, 
viii.  12.  There  the  rule  directs  that  be- 
tween the  offertory  and  communion  two 
deacons  should  stand  by  the  altar  and 
use  fans  of  linen,  fine  skin,  or  peacocks' 
feathers  to  drive  away  insects  and  keep 
.them  from  touching  the  sacred  vessels. 
The  use  of  the  fan  during  the  consecra- 
tion is  also  mentioned  in  the  liturgies  of 
St.  Basil  and  St.  Chrysostom.  Indeed, 
ancient  writers  speak  of  the  "  holy  "  or 
"  mystical  fan "  {ayiov  pmribiov,  p-va-riK^ 
piTTis),  and  regard  it  as  one  of  the  in- 
signia of  the  deacon's  office.  Although 
the  fan  is  not  mentioned  in  the  ancient 
Roman  "  Ordines,"  its  liturgical  use  was 
undoubtedly  known  in  the  West,  for  we 
find  it  noticed  in  ancient  monastic  rules — 
e.f/.  in  that  drawn  up  by  St.  Benignus  of 
Dijon,  and  in  the  Dominican  ceremonial. 
The  Western  Church  does  not  seem  to  have 
reserved  its  use  to  deacons.  After  the 
fourteenth  century  it  fell  into  disuse 
throughout  the  West.  However,  magni- 
ficent fans  of  peacocks'  feathers  are  still 
carried  by  the  attendants  of  the  Pope  in 
solemn  processions,  and  in  several  Italian 

1  Sess.  xxiii.  c.  9,  De  Ref. 

2  Belonging  to  his  diocese. 
2 


340 


FAST 


FAST 


churches — according  to  the  writer  of  the 
article  on  this  subject  in  Kraus'  "  Archao- 
log  Encyclopadie  " — the  use  of  the  fan 
is  still  retained,  not  only  at  processions 
but  also  at  the  altar. 

FAST.  1.  The  Principle  of  Fasting. — 
TheoL>,o-iaiis  distinguish  the  natural  from 
the  ecclesiastical  fast.  The  former  consists 
in  toral  abstinence  from  food  and  drink, 
and  is  required  of  thos3  who  are  about  to 
communicate  ;  the  latter,  which  alone  con- 
cerns us  here,  imposes  limits  both  on  the 
kind  and  quality  of  our  food.  What  these 
limits  are  will  he  explained  in  the  course 
of  this  article,  but  the  definition  given  is 
sufficient  for  our  immediate  purpose — 
yiz.  to  justify  the  Catholic  practice 
from  reason  and  revelation.  Experience 
tells  us  that  tliere  is  a  perpetual  struggle 
between  the  spirit  and  the  body,  and  that 
mortification  of  the  flesh  is  a  great  means 
of  preventinp-  it  from  inciting  us  to  re- 
bellion against  God's  law.  Again,  by 
denying  ourselves  the  lawful  pleasures  of 
sense,  we  are  able  to  turn  with  greater 
freedom  and  earnestness  to  Ihe  thought  of 
God  and  virtue,  so  that  spiritual  writers 
speak  of  fasting  as  one  of  the  wings  of 
prayer.  Lastly,  our  conscience  tells  us 
(and  even  heathen  have  felt  and  acknow- 
ledged it)  that  we  ought  to  suffer  for  our 
sins  and  mortify  the  flesh  which  has 
offended  God. 

However,  we  are  not  left  to  the  mere 
exercise  of  reason  on  this  point.  Fasting 
as  a  means  of  grace  has  been  approved 
by  God  himself  A  day  of  fasting — viz., 
the  Day  of  Atonement  on  the  tenth  day 
of  the  seventh  month — was  imposed  by 
God  on  the  Israelites.  Moses  and  Elias, 
those  great  servants  of  God,  fasted  for 
forty  days :  so  did  Christ  Himself  before 
beginning  his  public  ministry.  He  takes 
for  granted  ("  when  ye  fast,"  Matt.  vi.  16) 
that  his  disciples  will  fast,  and  warns  them 
against  doing  so  ostentatiously.  The 
Apostles  fasted  (Acts  xiii.  2,  xiv.  22, 
2  Cor.  xi.  27),  and  St.  Paul  expressly 
speaks  of  fasting  as  a  means  by  which 
Christians  are  to  commend  themselves  as 
servants  of  God.*  It  may,  indeed,  be  ob- 
jected that,  after  all,  no  fasting-days  are 
imposed  under  precept  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  that  therefore  the  Catholic  is 
different  from  the  Apostolic  idea  of  fasting. 
To  this  it  may  be  answered  that  of  such 

*  2  Cor.  vi.  5 ;  vrjaTeiais  can  only  mean  volun- 
tary abstinence  from  food,  as  Meyer,  ad  he, 
proves.  In  xi.  27,  fastinir  (f"  »^a-Tetoi<r)  is  clearly 
distinguished  from  involuntary  want  of  food 

(eK  A.i/i<{>  tcaX  6f^€i). 


Protestants  as  make  this  objection  scarcely 
any  ever  fast  at  all,  and  most  of  them 
would  regard  the  practice  as  superstitious, 
a  plain  proof  of  the  Church's  wisdom  in 
providing  for  the  weakness  of  human 
nature  by  positive  legislation.  Besides, 
as  St.  Thomas  points  out,  secular  princes 
have  the  right  of  making  regulations  more 
strict  and  definite  than  the  pi'ecepts  of 
the  natural  law,  in  order  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  their  subjects.  The  natural 
law  requires  us  to  pay  just  debts,  the 
prince  may  order  them  to  be  paid  within 
a  certain  time  and  with  certain  formalities. 
The  Church  surely  may  take  similar  means 
of  securing  the  spiritual  well-being  of  its 
subjects.  The  law  of  nature  imposes  the 
duty  of  fasting:  our  spiritual  rulers  de- 
termine the  time  and  the  way  in  which 
this  duty  is  to  be  performed. 

2.  The  Pi'esent  Law  of  the  Church. — 
All  baptised  persons  who*  have  completed 
their  twenty-first  year  are  bound  under 
mortal  vsin  (see  Prop.  23  condemned  by 
Alexander  VII.)  to  observe  the  diys  of 
fasting.  On  these  days  they  are  required 
not  to  eat  more  than  one  full  meal,  which 
must  not  be  talien  before  midday.  They 
may,  however,  take  wine,  &c.,  at  discretion, 
for  drink,  according  to  the  maxim  received 
among  theologians,  does  not  break  the  fast, 
imless  the  drink  be  such  as  chocolate  and 
the  like,  which  are  really  intended  to 
nourish  rather  than  to  satisfy  thirst  or 
maintain  the  animal  .spirits.  Of  course 
a  person  may  by  drinking  wine  in  large 
quantities  act  against  the  spirit  of  the  law 
and  forfeit  the  advantages  which  fasting 
is  intended  to  secure.  Even  at  the  full 
meal  flesh  meat  is  prohibited.  Eggs,  milk, 
cheese,  &c.,  are  only  forbidden  during 
Lent.  Besides  this  single  meal,  the 
Church  permits  a  collation  of  about  eight 
ounces,  consisting  of  fruit,  vegetables, 
bread,  &c.,  or  even  of  fish,  provided  that 
the  fish  are  small,  or  that  not  more  than 
two  or  three  ounces  of  larger  fish  be  taken. 
Custom,  moreover,  in  this  country  al- 
lows about  two  ounces  of  bread  to  be 
taken  at  breakfast.  Persons  engaged  in 
hard  labour ;  the  poor  who  have  a  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  sufficient  food  at  any 
time ;  those  who  are  over  sixty  years  of 
age ;  persons  in  weak  health,  &c.,  are  ex- 
cused from  the  law  of  fasting. 

By  a  recent  indult  granted  to  the 
English  bishops  the  use  of  milk,  butter 
and  cheese  at  collation  on  fasting  days  is 
permitted. 

8.  History  of  Fasting. — From  the 
earliest    times  Catholics   have   observed 


FAST 

fasting  days  of  precept.  TertuUian,  con- 
trasting- the  numerous  fasts  of  the  Mon- 
tanists  with  the  les«  strict  observance  of 
Catholics,  says  of  the  latter,  "  They  think 
that  in  the  Gospel  those  days  are  marked 
out  for  fasting  during  which  the  bride- 
groom was  taken  away  " — i.e.  the  days  of 
Holy  Week,  alluding  to  Luc.  v.  35.  St. 
Jerome  (Ep.  54),  makhig  the  same  com- 
parison between  Montanists  and  (yatholics, 
says,  "  We  fast  one  Lent  according  to  the 
tradition  of  the  Apostles."  St.  Ambrose 
(Serm.  25)  asserts  that  it  is  ''  no  light 
sin "  to  break  the  fast  of  Lent.  The 
Greek  Fathers  hold  similar  language  ;  and 
one  of  them,  St.  Epiphanius  ("  naer."75), 
tells  us  that  ^rius  the  heresiarch  was 
condemned  because  he  maintained  that  all 
fasting  on  particular  days  was  a  matter  of 
devotion,  not  of  obligation. 

As  to  the  manner  of  fasting,  it  may  be 
said  generally  that  there  was  less  f  irmal 
precept  and  therefore  greater  variety  of 
custom  ;  but  that  still  fasting  in  the  early 
was  much  more  severe  than  in  the  modern 
ChuTch.  Throughout  East  and  West, 
Catholics  abstained  on  fasting  days  from 
wine  as  well  as  from  flesh  meat,  the 
former  as  well  as  the  latter  being  only 
permitted  in  cases  of  weak  health.  The 
Fathers  constantly  put  abstinence  from 
wine  and  animal  food  on  the  same  level. 
The  days  of  Holy  Week  were  known  as 
days  of  xeropliairv,  or  dry  food  (Epiphan. 
in  "  Exposit.Fiti''  n.  22  ;  "  Constit.  Ap." 
V.  17),  because  then  the  faithful  were  ac- 
customed to  feed  on  bread  and  salt,  to 
which  some  added  vegetables.  The  meal 
was  not  taken  before  sunset  (Greg.  Nyss. 
"  Orat.  in  Princip.  Jejun.") :  till  that 
time  an  absolute  fast  even  from  water  was 
observed.  Hence  the  ancient  custom  in  the 
Latin  Church  of  celebrating  Mass  durinor 
Lent  in  the  evening  and  encouraging  all 
the  faithful  to  communicate  at  it.  Dinner 
— i.e.  the  midday  meal — and  fasting  were 
regarded  in  ancient  times  as  incompatible ; 
so  much  so  that  in  order  to  comply  with 
the  law  of  the  Church  which  ^  forbade 
fasting  on  Sundays,  the  ancient  monks 
took  their  single  meal  on  that  day  at  noon. 
Usually  the  faithful  went  to  church  on 
week-days  in  Lent  at  3  p.m.  for  none, 
followed  by  Mass  and  vespers,  after  which 
they  were  at  liberty  to  eat.  We  find  the 
first  traces  of  relaxation  near  the  close  of 
the  eighth  century.  Theodulf,  bishop  of 
Orleans,  in  a  Capitulary  of  797,  blames 
people  who  began  to  eat  at  the  hour  of 
none  (3  p.m.)  without  waiting  for  ofilce 
or  Mass.     About  the  same  time  Charle- 


FAST 


341 


magne  introduced  the  custom  of  having 

none  sung  at  his  Court  an  .jour  before  ihe 
usual  time,  in  order  to  spare  the  courtiers, 
who  dined  after  him  at  several  tables 
in  succession  according  to  their  rank. 
Ratherius,  bishop  of  Verona,  in  the  middle 
of  the  tenth  century,  speaks  of  this  custom 
of  dining  at  none  as  already  establi>hed. 
St.  Thomas  (2  2nd£e,  qu.  147,  7)  fully  re- 
cognises the  lawfulness  of  this  usage.  He 
even  considers  it  enough  if  the  meal  was 
taken  about  the  hour  of  none,  and  makes 
allowance  for  persons  in  weak  health 
who  were  unable  to  fast  so  long  and 
needed  dispensation  to  eat  earlier  in  the 
day.  The  office  of  none.  Maps  and  vespers 
were  all  concluded  in  the  later  part  of  the 
middle  ages  before  three  o'clock,  and 
Paludanus  and  other  schoolmen  were  so 
little  aware  of  the  ancient  discipline  of 
the  Church  on  this  point  that  they  re- 
garded the  old  prohibition  to  eat  before 
evening  (^'  ante  vesperam  ")  as  meaning 
simply  that  the  fast  was  not  to  ba  broken 
before  the  vesper  office ;  thus  completely 
ignoring  the  fact  that  the  hour  of  vespers 
during  Lent  had  been  changed.  Lastly, 
the  rule  of  St.  Thomas  that  the  fast 
might  be  broken  about  none  was  inter- 
preted more  and  more  loosely  till,  in 
1500,  we  find  the  synodal  decrees  of 
Paris  approving  the  modern  custom  of 
taking  the  meal  at  midday.  The  Greeks, 
according  to  Goar,  have  adopted  the  same 
relaxation. 

The  word  "collation,"  in  its  present 
sense,  marl«  another  important  change  in 
the  manner  of  fasting.  St.  Benedict  in 
his  rule  requires  his  religious  to  assemble 
after  supper  and  before  compline  and  listen 
to  "collations" — i.e.  conferences  (of  Cas- 
sian),  the  Lives  of  the  Fathers,  or  other 
edifying  books  which  were  then  read  aloud 
by  one  of  their  number.  Now,  in  an 
ancient  monastic  rule  known  as  the  "  Re- 
gula  Magistri,"  we  find  the  religious  per- 
mitted on  the  special  fasts  of  the  order 
to  partake  together  of  wine  and  water  in 
very  moderate  quantity;  and  in  a  chapter- 
general  of  abbots  and  monks  held  at  Aix 
la  Chapelle,  in  817,  the  monks  were  per- 
mitted to  drink  before  compline,  even  on 
fasts  of  the  Church,  if  wearied  by  manual 
labour,  the  recitation  of  the  office  of  the 
dead  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  office,  or 
the  like.  This  refreshment  was  taken  just 
before  the  reading  of  the  "  collations ;  " 
and  in  ]  308,  in  a  statute  of  the  congrega- 
tion of  Clugny,  we  meet  with  the  word 
"  collation  "  used  for  this  refreshment.  It 
was  not  till  a  still  later  date  that  any 


342       FATHER  (TITLE  OF) 

Bolid  food  was  taken  oa  fasting  days  in 
the  Western  Church,  except  at  the  single 
meal.  The  Greeks,  indeed,  even  in  the 
eleventh  century,  ate  of  fruits  and  vege- 
tables in  moderate  quantity  over  and 
above  the  single  meal,  but  Cardinal  Hum- 
bert reproached  them  with  breaking  the 
fast  by  this  very  practice.  St.  Thomas 
only  permits  the  use  of  "  electuaria  "  out 
of  the  single  meal  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  taken  as  medicine,  not  as  food.  In 
Gerson's  time,  a  collation  of  vegetable 
food  was  approved  by  custom.  The  rule 
of  the  Theatines,  drawn  up  under  Clement 
VII,,  mentions  these  collations  and  the 
spiritual  reading  which  accompanied  them. 
The  quantity  permissible  at  collation  has 
been  gradually  enlarged.  St.  Charles,  in 
the  rules  which  he  made  for  his  servants, 
only  allows  them  a  glass  of  wine  with  an 
ounce  and  a  half  of  bread  to  be  taken 
as  a  collation  on  the  evening  of  fasting 
days. 

(The  present  rules  of  fasting  will  be 
found  in  any  modern  treatise  on  Moral 
Theology.  The  principle  of  fasting,  and  the 
practice  of  his  own  time,  are  explained  by 
St.  Thomas,  "  Summa,"  2  2ndse,  qu.  147. 
The  sketch  of  the  history  of  fasting  given 
above,  and  the  references,  are  taken  from 
the  "  Traits  sur  les  Jeunes,"  by  Thomassin.) 

FATHSR  (TITliE  OF)  was  given 
m  early  times  to  all  bishops.  The  title 
of  spiritual  father  was  also  used  to  desig- 
nate confessors,  and  thus  an  early  Bene- 
dictine rule  provides  that  none  of  the 
religious  should  become  a  spiritual  father 
without  leave  from  his  abbot.  Lastly, 
the  head  of  a  monastery  was  called 
*'  Father,"  this  name  being  of  course  a 
translation  of  the  Oriental  word  abbot. 

A  new  use  of  the  word  Father  came 
ioto  vogue,  owing  to  the  changes  which 
occurred  in  the  monastic  life.  In  almost 
all  the  Western  orders  of  men  it  became 
the  rule,  instead  of  the  exception,  for  the 
members  to  receive  the  priesthood,  and 
thus  the  title  of  Father  was  given  to  all 
priests  in  religious  orders.  It  marked 
their  superior  dignity,  and  served  to  dis- 
tinguisli  them  from  novices,  students,  lay 
brothers,  and  the  like.  Hence  in  all 
Catholic  countries  priests  who  are  reli- 
gious or  members  of  a  congregation  are 
called  "  Father."  Secular  priests  are,  in- 
deed, so  addressed  in  the  Mass  and  in  the 
confessional,  but  they  ought  not  to  re- 
ceive the  title  in  common  intercourse. 
This,  at  least,  is  still  the  custom  on  the 
Continent,  and  was  till  lately  universally 
followed  in  England,  nor  does  there  seem 


FATHERS   OF  THE  CHURCH 

to  be  any  reason  for  obliterating  a  con- 
venient and  venerable  mark  of  distinction. 
In  Ireland  and  in  the  U.  S.  secular  priests 
are  commonly  spoken  of  as  Father. 

Fda.THBRS     OF     THS     CHUXlCHi, 

The  appellation  of  Fathers  is  used  in  a 
more  general  and  a  more  restricted  sense. 
In  a  general  sense  it  denotes  all  those 
Christian  writers  of  the  first  twelve  cen- 
turies who  are  reckoned  by  general  con- 
sent among  the  most  eminent  witnesses 
and  teachers  of  the  orthodox  and  Catholic 
doctrine  of  the  Church.  Taken  in  this 
sense,  it  includes  some  names  on  which 
there  rests  more  or  less  the  reproach  of 
heterodox  doctrine.  Origen,  whose  works, 
as  we  have  them,  contain  grave  errors 
frequently  condemned  hy  the  highest 
authority  in  the  Church,  is  one  of  these. 
Nevertheless,  his  writings  are  of  the  high- 
est value  for  their  orthodox  contents. 
Eusebius  of  Csesarea  is  another.  Tertul- 
lian  became  an  open  apostate  from  the 
Catholic  Church ;  yet  his  writings  as  a 
Catholic  are  among  the  most  excellent 
and  precious  remains  of  antiquity.  There 
are  some  others  included  among  the 
Fathers  in  this  greater  latitude  of  desig- 
nation who  have  not  the  mark  of  eminent 
sanctity. 

In  its  stricter  sense  the  appellation  de- 
notes only  those  ancient  writers  whose 
orthodoxy  is  unimpeachable,  whose  works 
are  of  signal  excellence  or  value,  and 
whose  sanctity  is  eminent  and  generally 
recognised.  The  following  list  includes 
the  names  of  the  most  illustrious  Fathers, 
according  to  the  most  exclusive  sense  of 
this  honourable  title : — 

First  Century — St.  Clement  of  Rome. 
Second  Century — St.  Ignatius,  St.  Justin, 
St.  Irenseus.  Third  C!entury— St.  Cy- 
prian, St.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria. 
Fourth  Century — St.  Athanasius,  St.  Hi- 
lary of  Poitiers,  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem, 
St.  Basil,  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  St. 
Gregory  of  Nyssa,  St.  Ephrem,  St.  Am- 
brose, St.  Optatus,  St.  Epiphanius,  St. 
John  Chrysostom.  Fifth  Century — St, 
Jerome,  St,  Augustine,  St,  Cyril  of  Alex- 
andria, St.  Leo  the  Great,  St.  Prosper,  St, 
Vincent  of  Lerin^s,  St,  Peter  Chrysologus, 
Sixth  Century — St.  Cresarius  of  Aries,  St. 
Gregory  the  Great.  Seventh  Century — 
St,  Isidore  of  Seville,  Eighth  Century — 
Ven.  Bede,  St.  John  Damascene.  Eleventh 
Century — St.  Peter  Damian,  St,  Anselm. 
Twellth  Century — St.  Bernard.  A  com- 
plete collection  of*  the  works  of  the  Fathers 
contains  many  more  names  than  these. 
Moreover,  it  is  plain  that  the  Fathers  of 


FEAR  OF  GOD 

the  first  six  centuries,  "by  the  mere  fact  of 
their  priority  iu  time,  are  much  more 
valuable  witnesses  to  primitive  faith  and 
order,  and  that  their  writings  are  in  a 
stricter  sense  sources  of  theological  tradi- 
tion, than  the  works  of  those  who  came 
later,  however  illustrious  the  latter  may 
be.  There  is  also  a  gradation  of  rank 
among  the  Fathers,  some  having  a  much 
higher  authority  than  others.  As  private 
doctors,  no  one  of  them  has  a  final  and 
indisputable  authority  taken  singly,  ex- 
cept in  so  far  as  his  teaching  is  warranted 
by  some  extrinsic  and  higher  criterion,  or 
supported  by  its  intrinsic  reasons.  As 
witnesses,  each  one  singly,  or  several  con- 
curring together,  must  receive  that  cre- 
dence which  is  reasonably  due  in  view  of 
all  the  qualities  and  circumstances  of  the 
testimony  given.  Their  morally  unani- 
mous consent  concerning  matters  pertain- 
ing to  faith  has  a  decisive  and  irrefragable 
authority.  It  has  always  been  held  that 
God  raised  up  in  the  earlier  ages  of  the 
Church  these  highly  gifted,  learned,  and 
holy  men,  and  endowed  them  with  special 
and  extraordinary  graces,  that  they  might 
be  the  principal  teachers  of  tbe  mysteries 
and  doctrines  of  the  faith.  Their  writings 
are  the  great  source  of  light  and  truth  in 
theology,  after  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The 
authority  of  their  doctrine,  in  the  proper 
sense  of  that  word,  is  nevertheless  derived 
from  the  sanction  of  tbe  Ecclesia  Docens, 
the  only  supreme  and  infallible  tribunal. 

FSAR  OP  GOB  falls  into  two 
great  divisions.  Servile  fear  is  the  fear 
such  as  a  slave  might  have  for  his  master, 
and  it  looks  to  the  punishments  w^hich 
God  inflicts.  Filial  fear  is  the  fear  of 
sons  ;■  it  consists  in  dread  of  offending 
God  who  is  worthy  of  all  love,  and  of 
being  separated  from  Him  by  sin. 

If  servile  fear  be  so  utterly  servile  that 
it  is  united  with  the  will  to  sin  if  only  it 
were  possible  so  to  do  without  risk  of 
punishment,  it  is  of  course  evil.  Bat  the 
lear  of  God's  punishments  proceeds,  ac- 
cording to  the  Council  of  Trent,  from  tbe 
Holy  Ghost,  disposes  the  sinners  to  justi- 
fication, and  remains  even  in  the  saints 
while  on  earth  and  still  liable  to  fall.  "  Per- 
fect charity  "  does,  indeed,  "  cast  out  fear" 
(1  John  iv.  18),  but  it  does  this  only  so 
far  as  a  man  perfected  in  the  love  of  God 
has  a  growing  knowledge  that  his  con- 
science is  free  from  sins  which  will  incur 
the  judgment  of  God,  and  has  also  an  in- 
creasing confidence  in  God's  mercy.  The 
fear  of  God's  judgment  still  remains,  and 
the  saints  more  than  other  men  were 


FEASTS  OF  THE  CHURCH  343 

ready  to  make  the  Psalmist's  words  their 
own:  *' Pierce  my  flesh  with  thy  fear:  for 

1  am  afraid  because  of  thy  judgments  " 
(Ps.  cxviii.). 

Filial  fear  increases  with  the  increase 
of  charity,  since  the  more  a  soul  loves  God 
the  more  it  will  fear  offending  Him,  so  long 
as  there  is  any  danger  of  doing  so.  Even 
this  filial,  fear  of  offending  God  is  absent 
in  the  case  of  the  blessed,  because  they 
are  not  exposed  to  any  such  peril.  But 
they  are  still  said  to  fear  God  in  the  sense 
that  they  constantly  recognise  their  own 
nothingness,  and  revere  God's  infinite 
majesty.     (See   St.   Thomas,  "  Summa," 

2  2nd8e,  qu.  19  ;  Estius  on  1  .John  iv.) 

FSASTS  OF  THS  CHURCH. 
Days  on  which  the  Church  joyfully  com- 
memorates particular  mysteries  of  the 
Christian  religion  or  the  glory  of  her 
saints.  Such  days  have  not  been  imposed 
on  us,  as  on  the  Jews,  by  the  express 
enactment  of  God,  and  in  this  as  in  other 
respects  the  Christian  law  is  one  of 
liberty.  The  whole  life  of  a  perfect 
Christian  is,  as  Origen  says,  a  perpetual 
feast,  on  which  he  dies  to  sin,  rises  with 
Christ,  and  receives  the  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  But  the  Church  has  wisely  insti- 
tuted recurring  festivals,  which  impress 
the  great  truths  of  religion  on  our  minds, 
and  bid  us  remember  that  "  we  are  the 
children  of  the  saints."  ^ 

At  first  the  number  of  the  Church's 
feasts  was  small.  Easter,  the  Ascension, 
Pentecost  were  celebrated  in  St.  Augus- 
tine's time,  and,  as  he  believed,  by  Apostolic 
tradition.  He  was  familiar  with  the 
feasts  of  Christmas  and  Epiphany.  The 
feasts  of  martyrs  were  at  first  only  local, 
and  those  of  confessors  were  of  later  in- 
troduction even  as  local  feasts.  We  may 
form  some  idea  of  the  number  of  feasts 
during  the  first  five  centuries,  from  a 
Calendar  of  the  African  church  published 
by  Mabillon.  It  is,  according  to  that 
great  critic,  the  most  ancient  which  we 
possess,  and  it  agrees  in  a  remarkable 
degree  with  a  list  given  by  Possidius  of 
St.  Augustine's  sermons  on  the  festivals. 
This  Calendar  notes  feasts  of  African 
martyrs,  and  of  some  confessors.  It  men- 
tions also  the  feasts  of  certain  martyrs 
not  Africans — e.g.  St.  Stephen,  St.  Law- 

^  St.  Paul  reproaches  the  Galatians  (iv.  10) 
for  observing  "days"  (such  as  the  Sabbath), 
"  months  "  (such  as  the  Feast  of  tlie  New  Moon), 
"times"  (fc-aipou?,  annual  festivals,  such  ag 
the  Passover),  "  years  "  (such  as  the  Sabbatical 
Year  and  Year  of  Jubilee,  &c.).  The  reference 
is  clearly  to  Jewish  feasts.  The  Apostles  them- 
selves observed  "  days  " — viz.  Sundays, 


344  FEASTS  OF  THE  CHTJRCH 


FEBRONIANISM 


rence,  St.  Vincent,  SS.  Gervasius  and 
Protasius,  of  St.  James  the  Greater,  of 
"  the  Holy  Apostles,"  of  St.  John  Baptist, 
the  Holy  Innocents,  St.  Andrew,  St.  Luke, 
and  the  Machabees.  It  gives  no  feast  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  nor  is  there  a  word  in 
St.  AugListine's  genuine  works  which 
would  lead  us  to  believe  that  such  feasts 
were  knoAvn  to  him.  Thomassin  thinks 
the  multiplication  of  feasts  and  their 
more  solemn  observance  must  be  attribu- 
ted in  great  measure  to  the  monastic 
orders. 

(1)  Feasts  are  divided  into  holidays  of 
obligation  ("  festa  fori "),  on  which  the 
faithful  are  bound  to  hear  Mass  and  rest 
from  servile  work,  and  holidays  which  the 
Church  observes  in  the  Mass  and  office 
without  imposing  any  obligation  on  the 
faithful. 

(2)  Again  feasts  are  divided,  accord- 
ing to  their  rank,  into  doubles,  semi- 
doubles,  simples,  &c.  The  following 
seems  to  be  the  origin  of  these  names. 
Lan franc  speaks  of  double,  simple,  and 
semi-double  offices.  It  was  the  custom, 
till  late  in  the  middle  ages,  always  to  re- 
cite the  office  of  the  feria  [see  Feria],  in 
spite  of  any  feast  which  might  occur  on 
it.  Hence  on  greater  solemnities,  clerics 
were  obliged  to  recite  a  double  office — one 
of  the  feria,  another  of  the  (east.  These 
double  offices  were  few  in  number: 
even  the  office  for  the  feasts  of  the 
Apostles  was  not  double.  On  lesser  feasts 
the  office  was  simple — i.e.  the  feast  was 
merely  commemorated — and  on  a  third 
class  of  feasts  the  office  of  the  feria  and 
feast  were  welded  into  one,  much  after 
the  fashion  of  the  modern  breviary  offices 
for  certain  Sundays  in  the  Octave — e.</.  ol 
the  Ascension.  These  last  offices  were 
called  serai-double.  As  time  went  on 
the  ferial  gave  way  more  and  more  to 
the  festal  offices,  and  we  find  Durandus, 
who  died  in  1296,  using  the  words 
"double,"  "  semi-double,"  ''  simple,"  in  a 
new  sense.  He  applies  the  word  "  double," 
not  to  the  two  offices  recited  on  one  day, 
but  to  the  single  office  of  a  feast  on  which 
the  antiphons  were  doubled — i.e.  repeated 
fully  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  a  psalm. 
On  semi-doubles,  half  of  the  antiphon 
was  repeated  before,  the  whole  after  the 
psalm :  iu  other  words,  it  was  half  doubled. 
The  office  for  simple  feasts  differed  little 
from  that  of  the  feria.  The  practice  of 
taking  the  hymn  on  simples  from  the 
common  of  saints  and  reciting  the  Sun- 
day psalms  at  lauds  only  dates  from 
Pius  V. 


In  the  modern  office-books  the  doubles 
are  further  subdivided  into  doubles  of  the 
first  class,  doubles  of  the  second  class, 
greater  doubles,  and  ordinary  doubles. 
The  object  of  this  division  is  to  determine 
which  of  two  feasts  must  give  way  to  the 
other,  should  both  fall  on  the  same  day. 
Further,  certain  great  feasts  have  octaves — 
i.e.  are  celebrated  throughout  eight  days, 
and  on  the  eighth  with  special  solemnity. 
Lastly,  feasts  are  moveable  or  immoveable, 
according  as  the  time  of  their  celebration 
is  fixed  for  a  particular  day  of  the  civil 
year,  or  calculated  from  Easter. 

The  Pope  or  General  Councils  m  ay  make 
feasts  of  obligation  for  the  whole  Church ;  a 
bishop  may  do  so  for  his  own  diocese, 
after  consulting  the  clergy  and  faithfid. 
But  a  bishop  cannot,  on  his  OAvn  authority, 
institute  new  feasts,  alter  the  breviary  or 
missal,  nor  can  he  change  the  rank  of 
feasts — e.ff.  by  making  a  serai-double  a 
double — except  by  Apostolic  indult  or 
leave  from  the  Congr^ation  of  Rites. 

(See  Thomassin,  **  Traite  des  Festes ;" 
Gavantus  with  Merati's  notes ;  and  Probst, 
"  Brevier  und  Brevier-gebet."  There  was 
a  celebrated  controversy  between  Granco- 
las,  who  explained  the  origin  of  the  terms 
"double,"  "simple,"  &c.,  from  the  old  prac- 
tice of  reciting  two  offices,  and  Guyetus, 
who  argued  that  the  term  "rlouble"  re- 
ferred to  the  doubling  of  the  antiphon .  An 
account  of  the  arguments  of  both  is  given 
by  Merati  on  Gavantus,  P.  II.  sec.  iii.  cap. 
2.  The  view  of  Probst,  which  we  have  fol- 
lowed, does  justice  to  the  facts  adduced 
on  either  side.) 

FEBROsriAiTZSM.  A  name  given 
to  certain  views  on  the  constitution  of  the 
Church  and  the  relations  of  Church  and 
State,  which  may  be  roughly  described  as 
an  exaggeration  of  Gallicanism.  They 
were  propounded  in  the  middle  of  last 
century  by  an  author  who  assumed  the 
name  of  Febronius. 

His  real  name  was  .John  Nicolas  von 
Hontheim.  He  was  born  of  a  noble 
family  at  Treves  in  1701,  and  studied 
canon  law  with  great  diligence  at 
Louvain,  under  the  famous  Van  Espen. 
The  principles  which  Hontheim  learned 
from  his  professor  evidently  left  a  lasting 
impression  on  his  mind,  for  Van  Espen 
was  remarkable  for  his  spirit  of  opposition 
to  Rome  *  no  less  than  for  his  undoubted 
talents  and  learning.  Having  taken  hij 
Doctor's  degree  in  law,  Hontheim  returned 
to  his  native  city  and  lectured  on  the 
1  Hewould  not  accept  the  bull  "  Unigenitus,** 
and  had  to  tlee  from  Louvain. 


FEBBONIANISM 


FEBRONIANISM 


345 


'♦Digests"  in  the  University  of  Treves 
from  1732  to  1738.  Ten  years  later,  he 
was  consecrated  suffragan  or  auxiliary 
bishop  of  Treves  with  a  title  i7i  partihus, 
and  under  three  successive  Prince-Arch- 
bishops exercised  great  iufluence,  both  on 
the  spiritual  administration  of  the  arch- 
diocese and  on  the  temporal  government  of 
the  electorate.  He  was  justly  esteemed 
for  his  exemplary  life,  and,  in  spite  of  en- 
grossiDg  occupations,  he  found  time  to 
write  and  publish  two  learned  works  on 
the  history  of  Treves;  nor  was  it  till  he 
had  reached  old  age  that  he  did  anythiug 
to  tarnish  his  fair  name.  In  1763  a  book 
appeared  under  the  following  title: — "  De 
Statu  Ecclesise  et  de  legitima  Potestate 
Romani  Pontificis,  liber  singularis  ad 
reuniendos  dissidentes  in  religione  Ohris- 
tianos  compositus.  BuUioni."  The  real 
name  of  the  author  remained  for  a  con- 
siderable time  unknown,  and  at  this  day 
the  name  of  Febronius,  Avhich  occurred  to 
Hontheim  as  a  nom  de  ■plume  because  his 
niece  was  called  Febronia  in  religion,  is 
familiar  to  many  who  never  heard  of 
Hontheim  himself  The  book,  however, 
soon  became  notorious.  It  put  into  shape 
opinions  which  were  exceedingly  popular 
at  the  time — nowhere  more  so  than  among 
German  Catholics. 

Christ,  according  to  Febronius,  had 
conferred  the  power  of  the  keys  on  the 
whole  body  of  the  faithful,  although  it 
was  to  the  prelates  of  the  Church  that 
the  actual  administration  of  the  power 
was  committed.  Each  bishop,  as  a  suc- 
cessor of  the  Apostles,  received  his  power 
straight  from  God,  and  had  unlimited  au- 
thority to  dispense,  judge  heresy,  and  con- 
secrate other  bishops.  Peter,  indeed,  and 
his  successors,  were  endowed  by  Christ 
with  the  primacy,  but  through  this 
primacy,  which,  by  the  way,  was  not 
necessarily  attached  to  the  Roman  see, 
the  Pope  \vas  superior  to  his  brethren  in 
the  episcopate,  only  so  far  as  a  metropolitan 
is  superior  to  the  other  bishops  of  his  pro- 
vince. Moreover,  although  the  Pope  was 
superior  to  any  single  bishop,  the  body  of 
the  episcopate  was  superior  to  him.  He 
could  do  nothing  against  the  canons,  his 
power  beino-  confined  to  watching  over 
their  execution.  An  appeal  might  always 
be  made  from  the  Pope  to  a  general 
council,  since  the  Pope  was  not  a  supreme, 
and  much  less  an  infallible,  judge ;  nor 
could  it  be  ?aid  that  a  council  without  the 
Pope  was  like  a  body  without  its  head, 
since  the  Pope  had  to  exercise  his  primacy 
in  the  Church,  not  oyer  it.     Without  the 


consent  of  the  Church,  he  could  issue  no 
laws  of  universal  obligation,  and  it  was 
idle  to  try  and  enforce  such  laws  by 
threatening  the  disobedient  with  excom- 
munication. True,  partly  by  the  conces- 
sions of  the  bishops  theuiselves,  still  more 
by  Papal  extortion,  the  power  of  the 
Holy  See  had  grown  to  monstrous  dimen- 
sions; but  it  was  high  time  to  restore 
primitive  discipline.  To  effect  this,  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  bishops  to  refrain  from 
publishing  in  their  dioceses  such  Papal 
bulls  as  were  injurious  to  episcopal  au- 
thority, while  secular  princes  ought  to 
promote  the  same  end  by  convoking 
General  Councils,  and  by  availing  them- 
selves of  the  Placet  and  apjyel  comme  d'abus, 
and  by  open  refusal  to  submit. 

These  propositions  are  manifestly 
opposed  to  Catholic  doctrine,  and  they 
are  not  even  consistent  with  each  other. 
The  book,  moreover,  was  every  way  un- 
worthy of  its  author,  for  it  shows  no 
sign  of  the  learning  which  he  actually  pos- 
sessed. What  he  said,  had  been  said  before 
by  Richer  and  by  the  Spaniard  Tostatus, 
but  Febronius  does  not  seem  even  to  have 
had  recourse  to  them,  and  was  content  to 
draw  from  Du-pin.  Clement  XIII.  con- 
demned the  book  on  February  27,  1764, 
although  only  some  of  the  German  bishops 
—  among  whom,  however,  was  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Treves — prohibited  it  in  their 
dioceses.  Many  refutations  appeared,  of 
which  the  most  famous  are  the  "  Antife- 
bronio"  of  the  Jesuit  Zaccaria  (Pisaur. 
1767,  4  vols.  8vo.,  '^  Antifebronius  vindi- 
catus,  C{Bsen.  1768,  4  vols.  8vo),  the 
"Italus  ad  Febronium"  of  the  Capuchin 
Viator  a  Cocaleo  (Luc.  1768,  Trident. 
1 774),  and  the  "  De  Potestate  Ecclesiastica 
Summorum  Pontificum  et  Conciliorum 
generalium  liber, una  cum  vindiciis  auctori- 
tatis  pontiricia?  contra  opus  Just.  Febronii," 
by  Peter  Ballerini  (Yeron.  1768,  4to). 
Febronius  defended  himself  under  various 
ne^v  pseudonynas,  such  as  Justinianus 
Novus,  Joannes  Clericus,  Aulus  Jordanes, 
&c.  Furth-r,  he  was  energetic  in  at- 
tempting to  have  his  principles  realised, 
for. he  had  a  great  part  in  the  composition 
of  a  document  in  which  the  three  ecclesi- 
astical Electors  of  Germany  protested 
against  Papal  interference  in  their  dio- 
ceses. This  document  was  addressed  to 
the  Emperor  in  1769.  That  same  year 
Clement  XIII.  died,  and  the  troubles 
which  embarrassed  his  successor,  Clement 
XIV.,  prevented  him  from  taking  any 
fresh  step  in  the  matter. 

So    things    stood    till    1778,    when 


346 


FEBKONIANISM 


FERIA 


Pius  VT.,  feeling  the  need  of  more  strin- 
gent measures,  pointed  out  to  the  Arch- 
W8hop  of  Treves  that  Febroniua  must 
make  a  formal  recantation  or  else  fall  under 
the  censures  of  the  Church.  With  great 
difficulty  Febronius  was  pei-suaded  to  give 
a  general  explanation  of  his  meauing, 
which  explanation  was  sent  to  Rome  and 
returned  as  insufficient.  At  last,  the 
Pope  and  the  archbishop  persuaded  him 
to  make  a  specific  retractation  of  erroneous 
propositions  in  his  book,  which  by  this 
time  had  grown  to  six  volumes.  Pius  VI. 
announced  the  good  news  in  the  con- 
sistory, and  communicated  it  to  the 
Catholic  Courts.  They,  however,  and 
particularly  the  Courts  of  Vienna  and 
Madrid,  regarded  it  as  anything  rather 
than  good  news,  and  the  "  Gazetta  Uni- 
yersale "  of  Florence  charged  the  Pope 
and  the  Prince  Archbishop  with  tyranny, 
Febronius  himself  with  cowardice  and 
hypocrisy.  Thereupon,  the  archbishop 
pressed  his  auxiliary  to  explain  himself 
further,  and  accordingly  Febronius  did 
before  the  clergy  of  Treves  assert  the 
reality  of  his  conviction  that  he  had 
fallen,  although  unwittingly,  into  error. 
Unfortunately,  the  documents  printed  by 
"Wyttenbach  and  Miiller  in  the  third 
volume  of  their  "  Gesta  Trevirorum '' 
show  that  Febronius  did  not  really  and 
thoroughly  renounce  his  errors.  In  1781 
he  published  a  commentary  on  his  re- 
tractation ("Justini  Febronii  J  Cti  Com- 
mentarius  in  suam  Retractationem  Pio  VI. 
Pont.  Max.  Kal.  Nov.  Ann.  1778  sub- 
missara."  Francof.  1781,  4to)  which  con- 
tained many  propositions  which  must 
have  been  highly  offensive  to  the  Pope. 
Pius  VI.  handed  it  for  examination  to 
Cardinal  Gerdil,  who  replied  to  it  in  his 
treatise  headed,  "  In  Commeutarium  a 
Justino  Febronio  in  suam  Retractationem 
editum  Animadversiones,"  and  to  be  found 
in  volume  xiii.  of  his  collected  works. 
But  Febronianism  appealed  to  prejudices 
and  interests  against  which  learned 
treatises  could  avail  little.  The  notorious 
Church  reforms  of  Joseph  II.  may  be 
fairly  called  Febronian,  and  the  Ems 
Congress  in  1786  acted  on  similar  prin- 
ciples. The  Archbishops  of  Cologne, 
Treves,  Mayence — all  of  them 'secular 
princes  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  dignitaries 
—and  the  Archbishop  of  Salzburg  were 
offended  at  the  sending  of  a  Papal  nuncio 
to  Munich,  and  the  activity  of  the  nuncio 
Monsignor  Pacca  at  Cologne.  Accor- 
dingly, they  appointed  representatives 
who  met  at  Ems  and  drew  up  a  "  Punc- 


tation  "  in  23  articles,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  make  the  archbishops  practically 
independent  of  Rome.  The  Pope's  power 
was  to  be  reduced  to  that  which  Feb- 
roniaus  supposed  him  to  have  exercised  in 
the  first  three  centuries.  Exemptions  of 
religious  orders  were  to  be  annulled ;  no 
recourse  was  to  be  had  to  Rome  for 
dispensations ;  the  bishops  were  no  longer 
to  take  the  oath  of  obedience  to  the  Holy 
See ;  Papal  bulls  were  to  have  no  auth- 
ority till  approved  and  published  by  the 
bishops.  Owing  to  the  firmness  of  the 
Pope  and  his  representative,  Pacca,  as 
well  as  to  the  loyalty  of  the  inferior 
bishops  to  Rome,  and  their  dread  of 
archiepiscopal  autocracy,  the  threatened 
schism  came  to  nothing,  and  in  1789  the 
three  episcopal  Electors  acknowledged 
the  right  of  the  Holy  See  to  give  dispen- 
sations and  send  nuncios.  Febronius, 
who  was  already  a  very  old  man,  does 
not  appear  to  have  taken  any  active  part 
in  the  contest.  He  died  in  peace  with  the 
Church  on  September  2, 1790.  In  a  short 
time  the  French  Revolution  changed  the 
face  of  Europe,  and  Febronianism,  though 
remnants  of  it  lingered  on  to  our  own 
day,  has  never  since  been  the  occasion  of 
any  serious  danger  in  the  Church. 

FEBXA.  A  name  given  in  the  eccle- 
siastical calendar  to  all  days  of  the  week 
except  Sunday  ("  Dies  dominica ")  and 
Saturday  ("  Sabbatum  ").  It  seems  strange 
that  the  title  of  Feria  or  feast  should  be 
given  to  days  which  are  not  feasts,  or  at  least 
are  not  considered  as  such,  so  far  as  they  are 
called  Ferise.  Theexplanation  given  in  the 
breviary  (Feast  of  St.  Silvester,  lect.  vi.), 
that  clerics  are  to  be  free  from  worldly 
cares  and  keep  a  perpetual  feast  to  God, 
scarcely  suffices,  and  perhaps  is  not  in- 
tended, to  account  for  the  actual  origin  of 
the  name.  The  true  explanation  is  pro- 
bably this.  The  Jews  were  accustomed  to 
name  the  days  of  the  week  from  the  Sab- 
bath, and  thus  we  find  in  the  Gospels  such 
expressions  as  "  unam  sabbati,"  fxiav  ra>v 
a-a^^drcov,^  "  the  first  day  from  the  Sab- 
bath,"or,  in  other  words,  the  first  day  of  the 
week.  The  early  Christians  reckoned  the 
days  in  Easter  week  in  the  same  fashion : 
only  as  all  the  days  in  that  week  were 
holy  days,  they  called  Easter  Monday,  not 
the  first  day  after  Easter  Sunday,  but  the 
second  feria  or  feast-day ;  and  as  every 

1  In  Rabbinical  nsage,  the  word  "  Sabbath  '* 
became  equivalent  to  week,  and  hence  in  Rab- 
binical language  (adopted  in  the  Gospek) 
n^^2  nin^  ^^  o^'  Sunday. 


FEUDUM  ECCLESIASTTOUM 

Sunday  is  a  lesser  Easter,  the  practice  pre- 
vailed of  calling  each  Monday  "  feria  se- 
cunda,"  each  Tuesday,  "  feria  tertia,"  and 
so  On.  Feriae  are  divided  into  greater  and 
less.  The  latter  give  place  to  any  feast- 
day  within  an  octave  or  vigil,  without 
even  heing  commemorated.  The  "  greater 
ferise  "  are  tlie  week-days  of  Advent  and 
Lent,  the  Ember  Days  and  Monday  (not 
Tuesday)  in  Rogation  Week.  If  a  simple 
feast  falls  on  such  a  feria,  the  ferial  office 
and  Mass  are  said,  the  feast  heing  only 
commemorated,'  and  if  a  double,  semi- 
double,  or  day  within  an  octave  coincides 
with  the  feria,  the  festal  office  is,  indeed, 
said,  but  the  feria  is  commemorated.  The 
privilege  granted  by  Apostolic  indult  of  re- 
citing a  votive  office  on  certain  days  of 
the  week  or  month  cannot  be  made  use  of 
on  these  greater  ferise. 

Some,  moreover,  of  the  greater  feriae 
are  privileged,  and  this  is  the  case  with  the 
days  of  Holy,  Easter,  and  Whitsun  weeks, 
as  also  with  Ash  Wednesday.  They  ex- 
clude any  feast  of  however  high  a  rank, 
and  cause  it  to  be  transferred  to  another 
day.  This  must  be  understood  of  the  cele- 
bration in  choir,  for  the  obligation  of  rest- 
ing from  servile  work  and  hearing  Mass  on 
holidays  of  obligation  usually  ~  remains, 
even  if  that  holiday  falls  on  a  greater 
feria.  (Gavantus,  with  Merati's  Notes, 
P.  IL  ?ect.  iii.  cap.  5.) 

TEUUVTfL  BCCIiSSIASTXCVZVE. 
By  an  eeclesiastical  fief  was  meant,  strictly 
epeakiag,  a  domain  belonging  to  the 
Church,  which  the  bishop,  abbot,  or  other 
possessor,  granted  as  a  fief  to  a  prince, 
baron,  knight,  or  other  secular  person,  in 
return  for  protection,  escort,  and  other 
similar  services.  The  bishop,  &c.,  retained, 
the  suzerainty  in  the  name  of  the  Church, 
and  the  infeofi^ed  person  did  homage  to  him 
as  his  vassal.  Tithes  were  also  regarded  as 
a  feudum  ecclcsiasticum.  By  an  improper 
use  of  the  term  it  was  extended  to  the 
secular  estates  granted  in  fief  to  the 
Church.     (Ferraris,  Feudum.^ 

FETTiiiiLAirTS.  [See  Cistercians.] 
FiiiiOQUE.  [See  Creeds.] 
Fixa-Ai.  PERSEVEHAxrcE  is  de- 
fined by  Billuart  ("  De  Grat."  diss.  viii.  a.  5) 
as  that  great  and  special  gift  in  virtue  of 
which  a  man  remains  in  a  state  of  grace 
till  the  moment  of  death.    The  Council  of 

1  If  a  vigil  coincides  with  a  greater  feria, 
the  office  is  of  the  feria  alone ;  the  Mass  is  of 
the  vigil  with  a  commemoration  of  the  feria. 

2  Usually  ;  for  if  the  Annunciation  falls  on 
Good  Friday  or  Holy  Saturday,  all  obligation 
«rf  observance  is  transferred. 


FIRST-FRUITS 


347 


Trent  (Sess.  vi.  can.  16  and  cap.  1 3)  teaches 
that  no  one  without  special  revelation  can 
know  for  certain  that  he  will  persevere, 
and  also  that  we  are  utterly  unable  to 
secure  this  gift  by  merits  of  our  own.  It 
comes  from  the  grace  of  God,  "  who  is  able 
to  establish  him  who  stands  so  that  he  may 
continue  to  stand,  and  to  re-establish  him 
who  falls."  The  teaching  of  the  council  is 
confirmed  by  reason  and  Scripture.  To  merit 
a  gift  from  God,  it  is  necessary  that  God 
should  promise  to  bestow  the  gift  in  ques- 
tion, as  a  reward  for  good  works.  No  such 
promise  has  been  made.  On  the  contrary, 
Scripture  reminds  the  just  that  they  must 
work  out  their  salvation  "  with  fear  and 
trembling,"  and  warns  him  who  stands  "to 
take  heed  lest  he  fall." 

It  is  possible,  however,  to  obtain  this 
gift  by  prayer  and  good  works,  which 
appeal,  not  to  the  justice,  but  to  the  liberal- 
ity and  kindness  of  God ;  and  some  theo- 
logians speak  of  final  perseverance  as  ob- 
tained in  such  cases  by  merit  "de  congruo." 
In  this  sense  St.  Augustine  ("  De  Done 
Persever."  cap.  G'i  says  we  can  merit 
final  perseverance  by  prayer  ("  suppliciter 
emereri"). 

FIBTBING  OP  CHOSS.  [SeeCRGSS.] 
riRST-rs-UITS.  By  the  law  of  Moses 
the  first-fruits  of  man,  of  animals,  and  ot 
"whatsoever  thou  hast  sown  in  the  field,"  ^ 
were  owed  to  the  Lord.  A  command  was 
given  to  Aaron,  as  representing  the  priestly 
caste — "For  the  first-born  of  man  thou 
slialt  take  a  price,  and  every  beast  that  is 
unclean  thou  shalt  cause  to  be  redeemed."^ 
In  another  place ^  the  Levites  are  said  to 
be  taken  by  the  Lord  in  commutation  of 
this  price  (''  I  have  taken  them  instead  of 
the  first-born  that  open  every  womb  in 
Israel"),  but  it  was  still  required  that  a 
first-born  son  should  be  presented  to  the 
Lord  in  the  Temple,  and  redeemed  by  the 
payment  of  five  shekels.^  The  firstlings  of 
clean  beasts — cows,  sheep,  and  goats — were 
not  to  be  redeemed,  but  offered  in  sacrifice ; 
and  of  the  meat,  the  consecrated  breast 
and.  right  shoulder  were  assigned  to  the 
sons  of  Aaron.  Of  this  meat  only  the 
males  in  the  priestly  families  were  to  par- 
take ;  ^  but  the  first-fruits  of  the  produce  of 
the  land  were  given  "  to  thee,  and  to  thy 
sons,  and  fo  thy  daughters,  by  a  perpetual 
law."  The  Levites  themselves,  though, 
being  without  land,  they  could  not  offer 
"  first  fruits  of  the  barn-floor  and  the  wine- 
press," ^  yet  were  instructed  to  offer  the 


1  Ex.  xxiii.  16. 
5  Num.  viii.  16. 
*  Num.  xviii.  10. 


*  Num.  xviii.  15. 

*  Grotius,  ad  Luc.  iL  23. 
«  Num.  xviii  80. 


348  FLAGELLANTS 

first-fruits  of  the  tithes  paid  to  them  by 
the  children  of  Israel  to  the  Lord — that  is, 
"  the  tenth  part  of  the  tenth." 

A  Hebrew  tradition  mentioned  in  the 
body  of  the  canon  law  assigns  some  part  of 
the  crop  not  less  than  a  sixtieth,  and  not 
more  than  a  fortieth,  as  the  proportion 
•which  ought  to  be  given  as  first-fruits.  In 
substance,  the  obligation  to  offer  first- 
fruits,  which  is  equivalent  to  an  intention 
of  sustaining  the  Church  and  its  ministers 
•with  our  temporal  goods,  is  still  valid  under 
the  new  law ;  but  in  form  it  is  not  binding, 
except  in  cases  where  they  are  demanded 
under  an  ancient  custom.  (Ferraris, 
I^imitice.) 

FISTULA  (also  called  siphon,  cala- 
mus, jyugillaris) .  A  pipe  through  which  the 
faithful  used  to  receive  the  blood  of  Christ 
from  the  chalice.  This  manner  of  com- 
municating is  mentioned  in  the  most 
ancient  Roman  Ordines  (the  oldest  is 
attributed  by  Mabillon  to  the  time  of 
Gregory  the  Great),  and  a  curious  relic  of 
this  custom  remains  to  this  day.  At  Papal 
Masses,  the  deacon  brings  the  Precious 
Blood  to  the  Pope,  who  takes  it  through 
a  fistula. 

FX.AGEl.]:iAXrTS.  So  called  from 
the  scourges  {Jlagella)  which  they  carried 
in  their  processions,  and  with  which  they 
lashed  their  bare  arms  and  shoulders. 
They  first  appeared  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  an  age  when  Christian  architec- 
ture reached  a  height  of  glory  and 
perfection  never  since  equalled,  and  ex- 
traordinary sanctity  revealed  marvels  of 
grace  and  divine  power  before  unsus- 
pected, bait  in  which,  also,  the  reign  of 
law  being  but  imperfectly  established,  the 
■world  was  often  startled  from  its  pro- 
priety by  the  apparition  of  monsters  of 
cmelty  and  lust,  like  Eccelin  da  Romano 
and  his  brother,  whose  touch  was  con- 
tamination and  their  very  existence  a 
curse.  No  human  arm  seemed  able  to 
reach  far  enough,  or  strike  hard  enough, 
to  punish  a  twentieth  part  of  the  crimes 
that  were  committed.  God  appeared  to 
be  the  one  refuge  left.  Numbers  of  per- 
Bona — men,  women  and  children — collected 
together ;  they  veiled  their  faces  and  un- 
covered their  shoulders;  in  each  town 
that  they  entered,  forming  a  illelancholy 
procession,  they  sought  by  tears,  groans, 
and  voluntary  penance — singing  peniten- 
tial songs  the  while — to  appease  the 
divine  wrath ;  the  sound  of  the  lash  was 
continual,  and  blood  flowed  abundantly. 
The  first  association  of  Flagellants  ap- 
peared at  Perugia  in  1260.  The  sympathy 


FLORENCE,  COUNCIL  OF 
and  agitation  which  their  proceedings  at 
first  excited  would  almost  surpass  belief; 
everywhere  they  were  joined  by  crowds 
of  fervent  neophytes.  The  rule  of  the 
association  was  that  every  person  should 
remain  a  member  of  it  during  thirty-three 
days,  in  honour  of  the  thirty-three  years 
of  the  life  of  our  Lord.  A  contemporary  * 
writer  says  that,  whatever  might  be 
alleged  against  them,  *'  nevertheless  by 
this  means  many  who  were  at  enmity 
were  reconciled,  and  many  good  things 
were  done."  The  secular  governments, 
after  a  time,  observing  that  the  Holy  See 
and  the  bishops  in  general  did  not  en- 
courage the  movement,  began  to  prohibit 
the  Flagellant  processions.  After  the 
black  death  (]  348)  the  Flagellants  again 
appeared.  They  now  gave  way  to  many 
extravagances;  their  leader  spoke  of  a 
mysterious  letter  which  had  fallen  from 
heaven  and  been  found  at  Jerusalem,  in 
which  Jesus  Christ  promised  to  be 
gracious  to  all  penitents  in  the  processions 
of  Flagellants,  "  because  their  blood  was 
mingled  with  his  blood."  Clement  VI. 
repressed  them ;  but  they  appeared  again, 
and  for  the  last  time,  about  the  date  of 
the  Council  of  Constance,  among  the 
canons  of  which  is  one  condemning  their 
excesses. 

FXiECTAiirirs  GsiirvA  ('^Let  us 
bend  our  knees  ").  Words  used  by  the 
deacon  before  the  collects  in  the  office  of 
Good  Friday  and  in  certain  Masses.  The 
aubdeacon  immediately  afterwards  says 
'^Levate"  ("rise,"  literally  "raise  them 
up,")  and  the  ministers  at  the  altar  do  so, 
having  knelt  on  one  knee  for  a  second.  In 
ancient  times  each  summons  came  from 
the  deacon ;  the  people  knelt,  and  a  longer 
space  was  allowed  for  silent  prayer. 
(Benedict  XIV.  "  De.  Miss."  ii.  5.) 

FZiOREircs,  couircxii  of.^  Se- 
veral remarkable  attempts  to  heal  the 
schism  of  the  East  and  West  were  made 
during  the  fourteenth  century.  In  1330, 
Andronicus  III.  Palaeologus  sent  the 
Abbot  Barlaam  to  negotiate  with  one  of 
the  Avignon  Popes,  Benedict  XII. ;  but 
the  Pope  would  not  listen  to  Barlaam's 
proposal — viz.  that  the  churches  should  be 
united,  while  the  dogmatic  diflerences 
remained  as  they  '^^ere.  New  attempts 
at  reconciliation  were  made  by  John  V. 

1  Quoted  by  Milman,  Latin  Christianity, 
book  xl.  chap.  2. 

2  This  is  the  usual  name,  because  at  Florence 
the  chief  work  of  the  council  was  done ;  but  in 
reality  it  met  first  at  Ferrara  and  ended  at 
Home. 


FLORENCE.  COUNCIL  OF 


FLORENCE,  COUNCIL  OF  349 


Palseologus,  wlio  was  hard  pressed  by 
the  Turks.  The  emperor  himself  became 
a  Catholic  in  1369,  but  his  example  was 
not  followed  by  the  clergy  or  the  people. 
At  last  John  VI.  Palseologus  was  re- 
duced to  straits  which  made  him  see  the 
impossibility  of  saving  the  Byzantine  em- 
pire without  help  from  the  Western 
Christians.  The  Turks  had  taken  Adrian- 
ople,  and  his  throne  was  already  totter- 
ing beneath  him.  In  his  extremity  he 
was  willing  to  negotiate  for  peace  with 
the  Catliolic  Church.  Nicolas  of  Cusa 
went  to  Constantinople  and  smoothed  the 
way  for  reconciliation.  No  doubt,  there 
was  also  a  real  desire  for  unity  and 
doctrinal  agi-eement  among  many  of  the 
Greeks,  apart  from  the  political  motives 
which  induced  them  to  come  to  terms 
with  the  Latin  Church.  One  of  the 
Greek  ecclesiastics  expressly  said  at  a 
council  held  for  preliminary  consultation 
at  Constantinople  that  a  union  on  merely 
political  grounds  would  not  last.  At 
the  end  of  November  1437,  700  Greeks 
sailed  from  the  Bosporus.  The  emperor, 
the  Patriarch  Joseph  of  Constantinople, 
deputies  from  the  other  Patriarchs,  en- 
trusted by  them  with  complete  power 
to  act  as  their  representatives,  and 
Bessarion,  the  famous  archbishop  of 
Nicsea,  were  among  their  number.  On 
February  8,  1438,  they  landed  at  Venice. 
Early  in  March  they  reached  Ferrara,  to 
which  the  Council  of  Basle  had  been 
transferred,  and  were  received  with  great 
solemnity  by  the  Pope,  Eugenius  IV. 
On  April  9th  the  council  was  opened,  and 
the  discussion  on  the  addition  of  the 
word  "  Filioque  "  to  the  Creed  began.  It 
lasted  for  fifteen  sessions,  after  which, 
partly  because  the  plague  had  broken  out 
at  Ferrara,  partly  because  the  Florentines 
wished  to  have  the  council  in  their  city 
and  offered  to  supply  the  Pope  with 
money,  which  he  sorely  needed  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  Greeks,  the  council 
was  transferred  thither.  At  Florence  the 
council  continued  to  sit  from  1439  to  1442. 
First  of  all,  the  great  dogmatic  ques- 
tion on  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  decided.  The  Greeks  accepted  the 
Latin  terminology — viz.  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  when  its  real  meaning  was 
explained  to  them.  The  Latins  fully  ad- 
mitted and  the  council  defined  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son  as  from  one  principle  and  by  a 
single  spiration.  The  Latins,  moreover, 
fully  allowed  the  orthodoxy  of  the  Greek 


terminology — viz.  that  the  third  Person 
proceeds  from  the  Father  through  the 
Son ;  and  this  expression  also  was  approved, 
by  the  Council.  Other  points  of  difterence 
were  next  discussed.  It  was  defined  that 
the  body  of  Christ  is  truly  consecrated 
either  in  leavened  or  unleavened  bread, 
Latins  and  Greeks  being  required  to  fol- 
low in  this  matter  the  custom  of  their 
respective  churches;  further,  that  such 
souls  as  have  departed  in  God's  grace,  but 
without  having  done  penance  enough  for 
their  sins,  are  detained  in  Purgatory,  and, 
while  there,  are  assisted  by  the  sacrifices, 
prayers,  and  good  works  of  Christians  on 
earth ;  that,  on  the  other  hand,  souls  per- 
fectly purified  or,  like  infants  just  bap- 
tised, needing  no  purification,  go  straight, 
to  heaven  and  see  God  face  to  face, 
whereas  the  souls  of  those  who  die  in 
mortal  sin  descend  at  once  to  hell.  The 
discussions  on  the  primacy  of  the  Roman 
bishop  were  much  more  long  and  keen. 
John  of  Torquemada  (Turrecremata),  John 
of  Ragusio,  and  Ambrose  Traversari  were 
the  great  advocates  of  the  Papal  preroga- 
tives. At  last,  however,  the  council  de- 
fined that  "  the  Holy  ApostoHc  See  and 
Roman  Pontiff  hold  the  primacy  over  all 
the  world ;  that  the  Roman  Pontiff  is  the 
successor  of  Peter,  prince  of  the  Apostles ; 
that  he  is  the  true  vicar  of  Christ,  the 
head  of  the  whole  Church,  the  father  and 
teacher  of  all  Christians ;  and  that  to  him 
in  [the  person  of]  blessed  Peter  full  power 
has  been  committed  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  of  feeding,  ruling,  and  governing 
the  universal  Church ;  as  also  (quemad- 
modum  efiam,  Kaff  hv  Tp<iiTov)  ^  is  con- 
tained in  the  acts  of  oecumenical  councils 
and  in  the  holy  canons."  On  ^Tuly  6, 
1439,  all  the  members,  except  Mark  ot 
Ephesus  and  the  bishop  of  Stauropolis, 
signed  the  Decree  of  Union  containing  the 
above  definitions.  On  the  evening  of  the 
same  day  the  Greeks  again  appeared  be- 
fore the  Pope,  and  Bessarion  declared 
their  belief  that  the  transubstantiation  of 
the  bread  and  wine  in  the  Mass  is  effected 
by  the  words  of  consecration,  thus  aban- 
doning the  opinion  which  ascribed  the 
change  to  the  eTriKXrja-is  or  invocation  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Decree  of  Union 
was  solemnly  published  next  day  (Sunday) 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Florence,  being  read 

^  Recent  examination  of  the  original  docu- 
ment signed  with  the  autograph  of  the  Greek 
emperor,  and  preserved  at  Florence,  removes  all 
shadow  of  doubt  that  this  is  the  true  reading. 
Four  or  five  original  copies  bear  the  same 
witness. 


S50  FLOREN-OE,  COUNCIL  OF 

aloud  "by  Cardinal  Julian  in  Latin,  and  by 
Bessarion  in  Greek.  On  A  ugust  26, 1439, 
the  Greek  emperor  left  Florence. 

The  union  effected  was  of  short  dura- 
tion. Joseph,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
had  died  during  the  council;  his  suc- 
cessor, Metrophanes,  who  was  well  dis- 
posed to  the  union,  died  shortly  after  it, 
m  1443.  Mark  of  Ephesus  and  other 
enemies  of  unity  were  active  in  their 
intrigues,  and  it  was  not  till  1452  that 
Cardinal  Isidore,  the  fugitive  metropolitan 
of  Kiew  and  legate  of  Pope  Nicolas  V., 
succeeded  in  having  the  Florentine  decrees 
acknowledged  and  promulgated  in  the 
church  of  St.  Sophia.  But  on  May  29, 
1453,  the  Turks  took  Constantinople,  and 
the  Sultan  Mu hammed  II.  appointed  the 
anti-Roman  Gennadius  to  the  Patri- 
archate. In  1472  the  decrees  of  Florence 
were  formally  repudiated  by  a  schismatical 
council  at  Constantinople. 

Other  Orientals  besides  the  Greek 
schismatics  were  reunited  with  the 
Church  during  the  course  of  the  coimcil. 
In  1439  the  Armenians,  in  1440  a  part 
of  the  Jacobites  or  Monophysite  Chris- 
tians, were  received  into  Catholic  com- 
munion, and  Eugenius  IV.  issued  special 
instructions  for  them  which  are  still 
extant.  After  Eugenius  had  retiu'ned  to 
Rome,  in  1443,  the  council  was  still  con- 
tinued and  sessions  held  in  the  Lateran 
church.  At  the  second  session  of  the 
council  after  it  had  been  transferred  to 
Rome,  in  1445,  Timothy,  the  Chaldean  or 
Nestorian  Metropolitan  of  Tarsus  living  in 
(yyprus,  with  his  clergy  and  people,  made 
their  submission  to  the  Pope,  and  about 
the  same  time  the  Maronites  in  that 
island  became  Catholics. 

For  a  time  certain  Galilean  divines 
denied  the  claims  of  Florence  to  rank  as 
a  General  Council,  because  they  held  that 
the  Pope  exceeded  his  powers  in  trans- 
ferring the  council  from  Basle  to  Fer- 
rara.  Even  at  Trent  the  French  refused 
to  admit  the  Florentine  definition  on  the 
Papal  authority.  But  the  learned  Galilean 
Natalis  Alexander  points  out  that  the 
Pope  has  the  right  to  modify  and  dispense 
from  the  canons  of  councils,  if  public 
necessity  or  the  good  of  the  Church  re- 
quires him  to  do  so.  He  argues  further 
that  the  "  sounder  part  "  of  the  Fathers  of 
Basle  consented  to  the  removal  of  the 
assembly  from  Basle  to  Ferrara.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  such  doubts 
have  long  since  ceased  to  be  possible 
among  Catholics. 

The  Acts  of  the  Council  have  perished, 


FORUM  ECCLESIASTICmi 

but  we  possess  (1)  a  minute  history  in 
the  form  of  Acts,  written  in  Greek,  and 
evidently  by  a  Greek  member  of  the 
council.  Hefele,  Frommann,  and  other 
scholars  attribute  the  history  to  Doro- 
theus  of  Mitylene.  It  will  be  found  in  the 
collections  of  Mansi  or  Hardouin,  with  a 
Latin  translation  by  the  Cretan  Cary  optilus. 

(2)  A  history  agreeing  in  all  the  most 
important  points  with  the  one  just  men- 
tioned was  published,  in  1638,  by  Jus- 
tiniani,  Custos  of  the  Vatican  Library. 
This  history  is  drawn  up,  partly  from 
notes  made  by  the  Papal  advocate 
Andreas  de  Sta.  Cruce,who  was  present  at 
the  council,  partly  from  other  documents 
in  the  Vatican  archives  and  in  other  Ro- 
man libraries.  Hardouin  has  printed 
Justiniani's    history    in    his    collection. 

(3)  A  history  by  Syropulus,  a  Greek 
priest  and  dignitary  of  Constantinople. 
Syropulus  was  present  at  the  council 
and  signed  the  Decree  of  Union,  but  he 
was  from  the  first  a  secret,  and  sodu  be- 
came an  open  and  most  bitter,  enemy  of  the 
council.  A  very  inaccurate  Latin  trans- 
lation from  a  Paris  MS.  was  published  by 
the  Anglican  Robert  Creyghton,  at  the 
Plague,  in  1660.  The  best  modern  history 
of  the  Council  is  by  Hefele  (vol.  \u.), 

FORTY  HOURS.     [See  EXPOSITION 

OF  THE  Blessed  Sacrament.] 

FORUM  SCCIiESIASTZCUM. 

The  tribunals  of  the  Church  are  of  two 
kinds,  internal  and  external.  The  in- 
ternal forum  is  the  tribunal  established 
in  the  sacrament  of  penance,  where  the 
coercive  power  is  the  Holy  Ghost  acting 
on  the  conscience,  the  penitent  is  his  own 
accuser,  and  the  confessor,  guided  by 
Moral  Theology,  remits  or  retains  sin, 
exacts  satisfaction,  and  directs  restitu- 
tion, according  to  the  circumstances  of 
each  case.    [Penance.] 

Under  the  name  cf forum  externum  is 
included  every  exercise  of  ecclesia-tical 
jurisdiction  external  to  the  tribunal  of 
penance.  The  judicial  office  in  the  ex- 
ternal forum  belongs  to  bishops  in  their 
respective  dioceses,  metropolitans  in  the 
cases  assigned  to  them  by  the  canons, 
and  supremely  and  universally  to  the 
Holy  See.  But  a  previous  question 
arises — viz.  Is  the  exercise  of  an  exter- 
nal coercive  jurisdiction  a  right  inherent 
in  the  constitution  of  the  Church  ?  Is  it 
not  rather  an  encroachment  on  the  rights 
of  the  civil  power  ?  It  will  be  found  on 
a  close  examination  that  this  is  part  of 
a  larger  question — viz.  Whether  the 
Church  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ  really 


FORUM  EOCLESIASTICUM 


FORUM  EOCLESIASTICUM  361 


possesses  a  native  and  supreme  authority, 
parallel — not  subordinate — to  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  State  ?  If  the  Church  is 
and  ought  to  be  thus  independent,  then 
the  right  of  making  laws  for  the  govern- 
ment of  her  children  not  liable  to  the 
revision  of  the  civil  power  cannot  be 
denied  to  her ;  and  if  she  has  the  right  of 
legislation,  she  must  also  possess  that  of 
coercive  jurisdiction,  since  in  human  so- 
ciety it  is  useless  to  pass  laws  if  one  has 
not  the  power  of  enforcing  them.  But  if 
Christ  never  meant  his  Church  to  be  an 
independent  society,  these  rights  could  not 
be  claimed  for  her.  Among  Protestants 
it  is  generally  held  that  the  Church  pos- 
sesses no  power  originally  and  absolutely 
independent  of  that  of  the  State.  The  view 
of  Puffendorf,  or  some  modification  of  it, 
is  still  generally  accepted,  according  to 
which  the  Christian  (Church  is  a  Irind  of 
college  or  society  within  the  State — in 
which  all  the  members,  qua  Christians, 
are  equal,  and  can  meet  together  as  in 
other  colleges  to  elect  officers,  transact 
business,  adopt  rules  and  by-laws,  and  so 
on — but  which  has  no  power  of  passing 
laws,  administering  justice,  condemning, 
or  punishing. 

Catholic  teaching,  grounded  on  Scrip- 
ture and  tradition,  rejects  so  degrading  a 
view  of  the  Church  w  hich  God  Incarnate 
founded  upon  earth,  and  endowed  with 
supernatural  power  and  grace.  To  Peter 
and  the  other  Apostles  Christ  gave  the 
pov/er  of  binding  and  loosing.  He 
commanded  them  to  go  and  teach  all 
nations  ;  He  promised  to  be  with  them  all 
days  even  to  the  consummation  of  the 
world; -He  said  that  while  the  things  of 
Csesar  were  to  be  rendered  to  Ctesar,  the 
things  of  God  were  to  be  given  to  God ; 
finally  He  declared,  "  He  that  beareth  you 
heareth  me,  and  he  that  despiseth  you 
despiseth  me."^  He  promised  to  build 
his  Church  on  Peter,  and  that  against 
this  Church,  which  St.  Paul  calls  "  the 
pillar  and  the  ground  of  truth,"  ^  the 
gates  of  Hell  should  not  prevail.  There 
is  not  the  slightest  hint  anywhere  that 
Christ  intended  that  these  powers  should 
be  exercised  in  subjection  to  the  civil 
power.  We  find  abundant  evidence  that 
the  Apostles  and  the  early  Church  freely 
exercised  the  powers  thus  committed  to 
them,  not  in  preaching,  converting,  and 
working  miracles  only,  but  also  in  the 
three  specific  modes  with  which  we  are 
concerned — viz.  in  making  laws,  in 
judging,  and  in  punishing,  At  a  synod 
»  Luke  X.  16.  2  1  Tim.  iii.  16. 


publicly  held  in  Jerusalem  to  decide 
whether  the  Gentile  Christians  were  to 
be  obliged  to  receive  circumcision,  a  de- 
cision was  arrived  at  which  was  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  law — which  was 
promulgated  under  the  formula  "  It 
seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to 
us  "  ^ — and  which  St.  Paul  enjoined  his 
converts  to  obey,  as  being  "precepts 
of  the  apostles  and  ancients."  The  powers 
of  judging  and  punishing  were  exercised 
in  the  cases  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira, 
Elymas  the  sorcerer,  and  notably  in  that 
of  the  incestuous  Corinthian.'^  Following 
the  example  of  the  Apostles,  the  bishops 
in  the  first  and  every  succeeding  age  of 
the  Church  have  been  accustomed  to 
meet  in  synod  and  enact  canons — that  is, 
ecclesiastical  laws,  concerning  every  reli- 
gious interest  and  duty  of  man  ;  and  they 
never  considered  it  incumbent  on  them  to 
submit  these  laws  for  the  approval  of  the 
civil  power.  The  emperors  themselves 
often  endorsed  the  doctrine  of  eccle- 
siastical liberty.  Arcadius  and  Honorius, 
in  one  of  their  Constitutions,^  say, 
"  Whenever  the  cause  is  one  of  religion, 
it  belongs  to  the  bishops  to  judge  ;  "  and 
the  Theodosian  Code  contains  an  explicit 
direction  in  the  same  sense.*  In  the  early 
ages  of  the  Church  the  judicial  ofiice  was 
largely  exercised  by  episcopal  synods,  in 
w^hich  important  cases  of  heresy,  immor- 
ality, &c.,  were  tried  and  decided,  and 
the  punishments  of  excommunication, 
deposition,  suspension,  degradation,  or 
imprisonment  were  inflicted.  In  course 
of  time  ordinary  cases  came  to  be  heard 
in  the  individual  bishop's  court,  whilst 
causes  majores — i.p.  those  of  bishops — were 
reserved  to  the  Holy  See.  At  the  same 
time  a  settled  mode  of  procedure  with 
regular  officials  became  established  in  the 
episcopal  courts.  By  the  twelfth  century 
this  change  had  been  generally  effected, 
and  still  continues  substantially  in  force, 
though,  in  some  cases,  the  regular  officials 
and  procedure  are  necessarily  dispensed 
with  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  accord- 
ing to  the  position  of  the  Church  in  dif- 
ferent counti'ies. 

It  will  be  admitted  that  the  right 
of  legislation  draws  with  it  the  judicial 
power ;  if  the  Church  possesses  one,. she 
possesses  also  the  other.  But  it  has  been 
contended  that  the  sanctions  of  her 
judicial  decisions  ought  to  be  of  a  spiritual 
nature  only,  and  as  such  should  involve 
no  suffering  to  the  criminal  except  either 

1  Acts  XV.  28.  2  1  Cor.  v.  S. 

2  Soglia,  lib.  iv.  cap.  1.     ■*  Soglia,  ubi  sup. 


362  FORUM  EOCLESIASTIOUM 

within  the  self-accusing  conscience,  or  in 
another  world.  The  Church  may  have 
courts,  it  is  said,  hut  she  may  not  enforce 
the  decisions  of  these  courts  by  temporal 
penalties  ;  if  these  are  required,  she  must 
ask  the  civil  power  to  apply  them.  Mar- 
silius  Ficinus  maintained  that  "  the 
Pope,  or  the  whole  Church  taken  col- 
lectively, cannot  punish  any  man,  how- 
ever wicked  he  may  be,  with  a  coercive 
punishment,  unless  the  Emperor  give 
them  authority  to  do  so."^  But  this 
was  condemned  as  erroneous  by  John 
XXII.,  and  a  similar  opinion  promulgated 
by  the  too-famous  synod  of  Pistoja  was  cen- 
sured by  Pius VII.  in  the  bull  "  Auctorem 
fidei."  To  admit  such  a  doctrine  would 
be  tantamount  to  condemning  the  heroic 
bishops  of  the  early  Church,  who  feared 
not  to  depose  an  Arius  or  a  Dioscorus 
against  the  opposition  of  the  civil  power. 
For  certainly  deposition  is  a  "coercive 
punishment,"  and  in  numerous  instances, 
if  the  leave  of  the  State  had  been  waited 
for  before  inflicting  it,  it  would  never 
have  been  inflicted  at  all.  Even  while 
aU  along  asserting  her  independence,  we 
know  what  the  Church  has  had  to  suffer 
at  the  hands  of  heretical  and  despotic 
princes;  what,  then,  would  have  become 
of  Christianity  if  she  had  admitted  that 
she  had  no  right  of  punishing  except  by 
their  hands  ?  "\Miat  has  lately  happened 
in  the  Anglican  community  may  help  us 
to  answer  the  question.  The  Anglican 
bishop  of  Natal  in  South  Africa  published 
books  in  which  he  was  said  to  have 
denied  the  inspiration  of  Scripture.  A 
synod  of  his  brother  bish!)ps  met  at 
Capetown  and  deposed  him.  But  the 
Anglican  Church  is  grounded  on  an 
Erastian  principle :  its  supreme  head  on 
earth  is  the  temporal  sovereign  ;  hence 
the  deposed  bishop  found  it  an  easy 
matter  to  enlist  the  secular  courts  on  his 
side,  and  after  eighteen  or  twenty  years 
he  still  occupies  the  see  of  Natal ! 
Miserable  as  are  the  present  times,  such 
a  scandal  could  scarcely  now  happen 
within  the  Catholic  Church. 

The  punishments  inflicted  in  the  forum 
externum  are  of  various  kinds:  besides 
those  already  enumerated  (excommuni- 
cation, deposition,  &c.),  they  include,  or 
have  included,  stripes,  fines,  and  rele- 
gation to  a  monastery.  It  is  the  general 
opinion  of  canonists  that  they  should  be 
Buch  as  not  to  involve  the  shedding  of 
blood — citra  sanguinis  effudonem  ;  and 
this  because  the  Church  can  never,  like 
1  Soglia,  iv.  1,  6. 


FORUM  EOCLESIASTIOUM 

human  justice,  merge  the  consideration 
of  the  possible  reformation  of  the  offender 
in  that  of  what  is  required  for  the  safety 
of  society,  and  to  deter  others  from  doing 
the  like.  The  Holy  Office,  in  the  day  of 
its  most  unsparing  severities,  did  not 
itself  inflict  the  death- penalty  on  those 
whom  it  sentenced,  but  delivered  them 
over  to  the  secular  arm.  Practically  it 
amounted  to  much  the  same  thing  ;  but 
the  reason  of  this  was  that  secular  go- 
vernments in  those  days  sincerely  be- 
lieved that  the  heretic  not  only  sinned 
against  God,  but  was  also  a  dangerous 
offender  against  human  society.  It  may 
be  rejoined  that  the  ecclej«iastical  author- 
ities not  only  shared  in  this  opinion  of 
the  rulers,  but  by  their  writings  and 
exhortations  partly  caused  it.  Thi^s  can- 
not be  denied ;  but  it  may  probably  be 
held  that  they  did  so  in  their  civil 
capacity,  as  members  of  a  community, 
rather  than  in  their  ecclesiastical  capacity, 
as  churchmen.  With  regard  to  stripes, 
the  change  in  manners  scarcely  permits 
of  its  being  included  at  the  present  day 
among  ecclesiastical  punishments.  With 
regard  to  fines,  the  canonists  prescribe 
that  they  should  be  imposed  with  great 
caution,  and  so  that  no  suspicion  can 
arise  that  the  judges  or  officials  derive 
any  benefit  from  them. 

Lay  encroachment  and  usurpation 
have  laboured  to  destroy  the  network 
of  ecclesiavstical  jurisdiction  which  for- 
merly overspread  Europe.  In  the  day 
of  their  power  the  canonists,  speaking 
generally,  comprehended  well  the  limits 
of  the  two  jurisdictions,  and  never 
encroached  systematically  on  the  temporal 
domain ;  the  lawyers,  on  the  contrary, 
taking  advantage  of  the  decline  of  faith, 
and  the  confusion  caused  by  the  heresy  of 
northern  Europe,  have  everywhere  en- 
croached on  the  ecclesiastical  domain, 
and  laboured  to  substitute  their  various 
systems  of  local  law  for  the  jurisprudence 
founded  on  diviue  revelation,  the  tra- 
dition of  the  Chui'ch,  and  general  reason. 
They  say,  indeed,  that  their  jurisprudence 
is  guided  by  the  principles  of  universal 
morality,  and  ask  what  more  is  needed  F 
Even  if  this  were  true  to  the  fullest  • 
extent,  it  would  not  follow  that  the  civil 
courts  should  assume  jurisdiction  in 
spiritual  causes.  Morality — justice — 
must  be  the  norm  of  every  endurable 
jurisdiction  set  up  amongst  men  ;  but  it 
will  not  take  us  far  enough :  for  man  is 
not  only  capax  moi-um,  but  also  capax 
religionis.   Jurisprudence  requires  not  only 


FOUNDATION 

m  rule,  but  an  end.  This  end,  for  the 
Roman  jurists,  was  found  in  the  arbitrary 
pleasure  of  the  prince  {quod  principi 
placuit,  &c.) ;  for  modern  jurists,  it  is 
found  in  the  arbitrary  pleasure  of  a 
majority.  In  either  case  the  fjeneral 
good  of  the  community  is  the  real  end, 
which  is  supposed  at  one  period  to  be 
best  attained  through  despotism,  at  an- 
other through  universal  suffrage.  This, 
which  is  the  highest  end  of  man  conceived 
as  living  in  time,  is  treated  by  the  un- 
believing governments  of  the  day  as  if  it 
were  his  sole  end.  His  religious  destiny 
is  absolutely  ignored,  and  the  jurispru- 
dence which  rests  on  the  assumption  that 
he  has  such  a  destiny  is  trampled  upon 
and  suppressed.  To  lawyers  and  officials 
of  this  stamp  it  does  not  appear  unjust  to 
disperse  religious  congregations  and  con- 
fiscate thoir  property,  because  they  do 
not  consider  the  temporal  welfare  of 
society  to  be  promoted  by  their  existence, 
and  they  will  not  allow  the  reality  of 
any  higher  end.  In  the  middle  ages  the 
lawyers  admitted  that  the  jurisprudence 
of  the  Church  was  informed  by  a  loftier 
aim  than  their  own,  and  the  two  systems 
■were  administered  side  by  side  with — on 
the  whole — extraordinary  success  and 
advantage.  (Ferraris,  Fcyrum  Ecclesi- 
asticum^ 

FOiriTDATioir.  [See  Benefice, 
Endowment,  Establishment.] 

FRAia-CE,  CHTTRCH  OP.  In  the 
articles  Civil  Constitution  op  the 
Clergy  and  Concordat,  the  transition, 
during  the  French  Revolution,  from  the 
ancient  ecclesiastical  order  in  France  to 
the  present  state  of  things  was  briefly 
described.  Some  account  of  the  organi- 
sation and  working  of  the  modern  church 
of  France,  will  be  attempted  in  the  pre- 
sent article. 

Since  the  commencement  of  the  Second 
Empire  in  1852,  the  dioceses  of  Metz  and 
Strasbourg  have  been  lost  to  France ;  on 
the  other  hand,  the  Savoyard  dioceses  of 
Anne^y,  St.  Jean  de  Maurienne,  and 
Tarentaise,  with  the  archdiocese  of 
Chambery,  have  been  annexed  to  it,  and 
Algiers,  which  was  then  subject  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Aix,  has  been  erected  into 
an  archiepiscopal  see,  with  the  suffragan 
sees  of  Constantina  and  Oran.  There  are 
now  in  France  and  her  dependencies 
eighteen  archbishoprics,^  and  seventy- two 

1  Viz.  Aix,  Alby,  Alj^iers,  Auch,  Avignon, 
Besan^on,  Bordeaux,  Bourges,  Cambrai,  Cham- 
ber}', Lyons,  Paris,  Rheims,  Rennes,  Rouen, 
Sens,  Toulouse,  and  Tours; 


FRANCE,  CHURCH  OF      363 

bishoprics.  The  number  of  the  parochial 
clergy  amounts  co  upwards  of  forty  thou- 
sand. They  are  divided  into  Cur^s  and 
Desservants,  and  the  distinction  between 
the  two  classes  is  important.  The  Con- 
cordat between  Napoleon  and  Pius  VII., 
made  no  mention  of  Desservants ;  it  merely 
stipulated  that  the  priests  serving  the 
cures  should  receive  certain  emoluments. 
In  this,  nothing  but  bare  justice,  or  rather 
a  small  instalment  of  justice,  was  asked 
from  the  State  ;  for  the  "  traitement "  or 
annual  grant  was  to  replace  the  far  larger 
income  from  tithes  and  other  Church  pro- 
perty, which  had  been  confiscated  during 
the  Revolution.  But  if  every  parish  priest 
should  receive  a  decent  stipend,  the  govern- 
ment considered  that  it  would  not  have 
made  a  good  bargain.  It  was  accordingly 
resolved  to  recognise  as  priests  for  the 
purposes  of  the  above-mentioned  article, 
speaking  generally,  only  the  cu?-^s  of  the 
chief  places  in  the  several  cantons  ^  in 
France.  These  cur^s  cantonaux,  were 
about  3,500  in  number ;  they  were,  and 
still  are,  divided  into  two  classes,  the 
stipend  for  the  first  class  being  1,500,  that 
for  the  second  1,200  francs  per  annum. 
Under  each  cure  cantonal  are  usually 
several  vicaires.  The  priests  serving  all 
the  other  churches  within  the  canton, 
are  called  Desservants.  They  are  first 
mentioned  in  the  Organic  Articles  [Con- 
cordat], where  it  is  said  that  they  shaU 
be  under  the  surveillance  of  the  cur^s — 
i.e.  the  cures  cantonaux.  They  were  so 
for  a  time,  but  their  real  canonical 
position  gradually  prevailed,  and  a  des- 
servant  is  now  immediately  under  his 
bishop,  and  is  commonly  called,  and  is, 
'^  M.  le  Cur6 "  in  his  own  parish,  as 
much  as  the  dignitary  in  the  chef  lieu 
de  canton,  to  whom  alone  the  law  allows 
the  title.  Their  position,  however,  is  so 
far  different  that,  while  the  cur^  proper . 
can  only  be  appointed,  and  perhaps  re- 
moved, by  the  bishop,  with  the  approval 
of  the  government,  the  desservant  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  bishop  alone,  and  can  be 
removed  by  him,  on  his  own  sole  autho- 
rity. 

The  religious  orders  and  congregations 
which  adorn  the  modern  French  church 
are  very  numerous;  it  is  estimated  that 
their  members  amoiuit  to  140,000,  of 
whom  about  20,000  are  men  and  the  rest 
women. 

The  total  amount  of  the  annual  grant 

^  A  canton  is  a  division  of  an  arrondissc' 
ment,  containing  usually  from  ten  to  twenty 
communes. 


AA 


854 


FRANCISCANS 


from  public  funds  for  the  support  of 
the  French  clergy  somewhat  exceeds 
2,000,000/.  sterhng.  The  ecclesiastical 
buildings  are  in  the  hands  of  Conseils  de 
Fabrique  [Fabric].  The  annual  salary  of  a 
desservant  is  900  francs,  or  $180.  The 
commune  is  bound  to  provide  him  with  a 
residence  rent-free  ;  if  it  is  too  poor  to  do 
this,  the  State  will  sometimes  give  assist- 
ance ;  but  in  most  cases  private  subscrip- 
tions have  to  be  resorted  to.  Every 
diocese  has  a  great  or  upper  seminary  for 
the  educiUion  of  priests,  and  there  are 
also  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  little 
seminaries,  which  give  an  education  corre- 
sponding to  that  given  in  the  State  lycees, 
but  under  ecclesiastical  management,  to 
boys  destined  both  for  clerical  and  for  secu- 
lar life.  Of  the  orders  and  congregations, 
some — e.g.  the  Lazarists,  the  Sulpicians, 
the  Sisters  of  Charity,  &c. — are  recognised 
by  the  State,  and  may  possess  property 
and  also  acquire  it  by  bequest,  but  under 
close  and  constant  inquisition  on  the  part 
of  the  department  of  Public  Worship. 
The  unrecognised  congregations  also  have 
of  late  years  acquired  a  great  amount  of 
property ;  it  is  said  that,  taking  the  re- 
cognised and  unrecognised  congregations 
together,  the  value  of  their  property  ex- 
ceeds a  thousand  million  francs.  With 
regard  to  political  privileges,  the  French 
law  recognises  no  distinction  between 
cleric  and  layman ;  hence  bishops  and 
priests  are  capable  of  being  elected  to 
the  Chambers.  Chapters  of  canons  are 
attached  to  the  cathedrals,  but  the  canon- 
ries  are  regarded  chiefly  in  the  light  of 
a  dignifted  provision  for  aged  or  distin- 
guished clergymen ;  the  canons  have  no 
share  in  the  government  of  the  diocese. 
The  old  Church  tribunals,  abolished  at 
the  Revolution,  have  not  been  revived; 
the  bishops  act  ex  informata  conscimtia, 
and  there  is  no  appeal  for  the  inferior 
clergy  except  to  Rome.  Of  the  close, 
vexatious,  and  almost  ridiculous  character 
of  the  surveillance  which  the  lay  power 
exercises  over  the  Church,  some  idea  may 
be  formed  from  the  fact  that  the  depart- 
ment of  Worship  undertakes  the  furnish- 
ing of  a  bishop's  palace,  and  requires  a 
yearly  inventory,  that  it  may  know  what 
to  expend  in  repairs  and  new  purchases ! 
(Wetzer  and  Welte ;  "  Statesman's  Year 
Book  for  1881.") 

FRAXCZSCAirS.  Tliis  order  takes 
its  name  from  its  founder,  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi,  who  died  in  1226.  The  Life  of  St. 
Francis  has  been  so  frequently  written 
that  we  shall  confine  ourselves  to  the  men- 


FRANCISCANS 

tion  of  those  incidents  in  it  which  are  con- 
nected with  the  rise  and  growth  of  the 
order.  The  saint  had  entirely  broken  with 
the  world  in  1206,  when,  being  then  in  his 
twenty-fifth  year,  he  had  stripped  himself 
of  the  clothes  which  he  wore  belonging  to 
his  father,  and  embraced  a  life  of  strict 
poverty.  He  lived  for  several  years  in  a 
cottage  near  Assisi,  in  the  practice  of 
almost  continual  prayer  accompanied  by 
severe  bodily  discipline.  In  1200  Bernard 
of  Quintavalle,  a  rich  merchant  of  Assisi, 
and  Peter  of  Catana,  a  canon  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  the  same  city,  who  had  long  wit- 
nessed and  admired  the  heroic  virtue  of 
the  saint,  openly  joined  themselves  to  him; 
this  is  considered  the  date  of  the  founda- 
tion of  the  order.  A  third  disciple  soon 
appeared  in  Giles  of  Assisi,  who  was  after- 
wards beatified.  The  rule  which  the 
saint  at  first  prescribed  to  his  followers  is 
not  now  extant :  it  consisted,  says  Alban 
Butler  (October  4),  "  of  the  gospel  coun- 
sels of  perfection,  to  which  he  added  some 
things  necessary  for  uniformity  in  their 
manner  of  life.  He  exhorts  his  brethren 
to  manual  labour,  but  will  have  them  con- 
tent to  receive  for  it  things  necessary  for 
life,  not  money."  In  the  later  editions  of 
the  rule  this  prohibition  against  the  hand- 
ling or  use  of  money,  even  by  the  inter- 
vention of  a  thii-d  person,  was  maintained.* 
"  He  bids  them  not  to  be  ashamed  to  beg 
alms,  remembering  the  poverty  of  Christ ; 
and  he  forbids  them  to  preach  in  anyplace 
without  the  bishop's  licence."  In  a  larger 
(extant)  version  of  the  rule  he  laid  down 
twenty-seven  precepts,  all  of  which  several 
Pontiffs  have  declared  to  be  binding  on  the 
friars  of  the  order  under  pain  of  mortal 
sin.  They  prescribe  the  particular  means 
by  which  the  vow  of  poverty  is  to  be  car- 
ried out,  regulate  the  dress  to  be  worn, 
order  that  the  friars  shall  go  barefoot, 
specify  the  fasts  to  be  observed,  and  enjoin 
a  blind  unlimited  obedience  to  superiors 
for  the  love  of  God.  The  habit  which  he 
gave  them  was  a  grey  gown  of  coarse  cloth 
with  a  pointed  hood  or  capuche  attached 
to  it,  one  under-tunic  and  drawers,  and  a 
cord  round  the  waist.  This  costume 
clo?ely  resembled  that  worn  by  poor  shep- 
herds in  that  part  of  Italy.  After  several 
other  disciples  had  joined  him,  the  cottage 
at  Assisi  was  found  too  small  to  hold 
them,  and  St.  Francis  was  in  doubt 
whether  it  was  not  the  will  of  God — who 
had  already  announced  to  him  in  visions 

'  A  curious  discussion  on  the  subject  may  be 
read  in  Pecock's  Repressor  of  over-much  Wifting 
[blaming]  of  the  Clergy  (1456). 


FRANCISCANS 

that  the  destined  work  for  him  and  his 
company  was  to  preach  and  labour  for  the 
conversion  of  souls,  and  bring  sinners  to 
penance — that  he  should  establish  the 
order  elsewhere.  But  about  this  time  the 
Benedictines  of  the  neighbouring  monas- 
tery of  Soubazo  gave  him  a  small  plot  of 
ground  near  Assisi  called  Portiuucula,  on 
which  stood  an  abandoned  church  dedi- 
cated in  honour  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Angels. 
Francis  would  not  accept  the  land  as  an 
absolute  gift,  but  by  the  tenure  of  render- 
ing yearly  to  the  Benedictines  a  basket  ol 
little  fish,  called  laschi,  caught  in  the 
stream  that  flowed  hard  by.  From  this 
humble  site,  which  thus  became  the  cradle 
of  the  order,  thousands  of  monasteries 
were  to  be  planted,  missioners  were  to  go 
forth  to  all  parts  of  the  world  to  preach, 
toil,  and  in  many  cases  suffer  martyrdom  for 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  a  vast 
multitude  of  doctors  and  holy  prelates 
were  to  issue,  by  whom  the  purity  of  the 
faith  was  sustained,  and  its  principles 
methodised  and  applied.  In  1210  St. 
Francis  went  to  Rome  to  obtain  the  con- 
firmation of  his  rule.  The  Sovereign  Pon- 
tiff at  that  time  was  Innocent  III.  At 
the  first  interview  he  rejected  the  saint's 
petition.  Francis  humbly  withdrew  ;  but 
the  same  night  the  Pope  dreamt  that  he 
saw  a  palm  spring  up  from  the  ground  be- 
tween his  feet  and  wax  gradually  till  it 
became  a  great  tree;  at  the  same  time 
an  impression  was  borne  in  upon  his  mind 
that  by  this  palm  tree  was  designated  the 
poor  petitioner  whom  he  had  repelled  the 
day  before.  The  Pope  ordered  that  search 
should  be  made  for  him ;  Francis  was 
found,  and,  being  brought  before  the  Pope 
and  the  Cardinals,  expounded  in  simple 
but  glowing  language  the  plan  and  aims 
of  his  institute.  The  Pope  was  much 
moved,  but  some  of  the  Cardinals  thouglit 
that  the  poverty  required  surpassed  the 
strength  of  man.  Francis  betook  himself 
to  prayer,  and  at  the  next  interview  Inno- 
cent granted  him  a  verbal  approbation  of 
his  rule.  The  Pope  declared  that  he  had 
seen  in  a  dream  the  Lateran  basilica  tot- 
tering to  its  fall,  but  saved  by  a  poor  de- 
spised man,  who  set  his  back  against  the 
wall  and  propped  it  up.  "Truly,"  said 
he,  "  here  is  that  man  who,  by  his  work 
and  teaching  wiU  sustain  the  Church  of 
Christ."  The  above  particulars  are  taken 
from  the  Life  of  the  saint  by  St.  Bona- 
venture,  who  heard  them  from  the  Pope's 
nephew.  Some  years  later,  St.  Francis 
drew  up  the  rule  in  a  more  compendious 


FRANCISCANS 


355 


form,  and  in  this  shape  it  was  solemnly 
ratified  by  Honorius  III.  in  1223. 

It  is  difficult  to  realise  in  this  nine- 
teenth century  the  extraordinary  attraction 
which  the  example  and  preaching  of  St. 
Francis  exercised  on  his  contemporaries. 
Long  before  the  final  confirmation  by 
Honorius  HI.,  the  Friars  Minors  (such 
was  the  name  which  the  founder  in  his 
humility  chose  for  them)  had  made  their 
way  into  the  principal  countries  of  Europe, 
preaching  penance  and  founding  convents. 
St.  Francis  hiuiself  visited  Spain  in  1214, 
was  well  received  by  Alfonso  IX.,  the 
grandfather  of  St.  Louis  of  France,  and 
founded  houses  of  his  order  at  Burgos  and 
other  places.  In  1216  he  sent  Pacifico, 
who  had  been  a  trouvere  and  was  called 
the  "king  of  verse,"  to  France,  Bernard  of 
Quintavalle  to  Spain,  and  John  of  Penna 
to  Germany,  besides  many  others  whom 
he  despatched  to  various  parts  of  Italy. 
The  noble  instructions,  full  of  divine  light 
and  evangehcal  fire,  with  which  he  dis- 
missed them — instructions  on  the  whole 
so  faithfully  observed  by  his  followers — 
go  far  to  explain  the  wonderful  success 
which  has  attended  them  in  every  age  in 
doing  their  Master's  work.  Amongst 
other  things  he  said,  "  Let  your  behaviour 
in  the  world  be  such  that  everyone  who 
sees  or  hears  you  may  praise  the  Heavenly 
Father,  Preach  peace  to  all ;  but  have  it 
in  your  hearts  still  more  than  on  your  lips. 
Give  no  occasion  of  anger  or  scandal  to 
any,  but  by  yom'  gentleness  lead  all  men 
to  goodness,  peace,  and  union.  We  are 
called  to  heal  the  wounded,  and  recall  the 
erring.  For  there  are  many  who  appear 
to  you  limbs  of  the  devil,  who  will  be  one 
day  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ."  ^ 

The  missions  above  mentioned  all 
prospered  greatly,  except  that  to  Germany, 
which  failed  chiefly  because  the  fViars  did 
not  know  the  language.  England  wel- 
comed the  messengers,  Angela  of  Pisa  and 
eight  others,  whom  the  saint  sent  to  its 
shores  in  1219:  landing  at  Dover  in  1220, 
they  formed  their  first  convent  at  Canter- 
bury, and  another  soon  afterwards  at 
Northampton.  The  romantic  story  of  two 
friars  finding  their  way  to  Oxford,  and 
beginning  the  great  friary  there  (in  St. 
Ebbe's  parish)  may  be  read  in  the  Monasti- 
con.^  In  London,  at  Coventry,  and  other 
places,  there  were  famous  Franciscan  con- 
vents ;  the  list  will  be  given  further  on. 
So  rapidly  did  the  order  increase  that  at 

^  Fleuiy,  Hist,  du  Christianisme.  ch.  7. 
2  Dui>daie's  Mon.  Angl  vol.  viii.  p.  1624 
(ed.  of  1846). 


aa2 


356 


FRANCISCANS 


the  first  general  chapter,  that  called  of 
Mats,  held  at  the  Portiuncula  in  1219,  up- 
wards of  live  thousand  friars  were  present. 
St.  Francis,  after  receiving  the  sacred 
Stigmata,  died  in  1226.  The  next  Minister- 
General  of  the  entire  order  was  Elias  of 
Cortona,  an  ambitious,  restless  man,  of  a 
tyrannical  spirit.  He  relaxed  the  rule  of 
poverty,  admitting  rents  and  foundations; 
he  also  mitigated  the  fasts,  &c.,  and  op- 
pressed those  who  desired  to  keep  up  the 
original  strictness  of  the  rule.  A  long 
controversy  arose,  which  ended  in  the 
division  of  the  order  into  two  great 
branches.  Conventuals  and  Observantines 
— the  former  living  in  large  convents  and 
following  a  mitigated  rule ;  the  latter  living 
more  in  the  manner  of  hermits,  in  low, 
mean  dwellings,  and  according  to  the 
original  rigour  of  the  institute.  Of  the 
Friars  Minor  of  the  Strict  Observance — 
Observantines  or  Observants — there  are 
three  branches :  the  oldest  being  the  He- 
foi^med^  that  is,  the  original  reform  of  St. 
Bernardine  of  Siena  in  1419  ;  the  Recol- 
lects^ founded  in  1500  by  John  of  Guada- 
lupe ;  and  the  Alcantannes^  founded  in 
1555  by  St.  Peter  of  Alcantara.  But 
there  is  no  essential  difference  between 
these  three  families,  who  are  subject  to 
the  one  Minister- General  at  Rome,  and, 
properly,  are  all  barefooted.  The  Al- 
cantarines,  however,  wear  a  white  habit, 
while  the  others  now  wear  brown,  ex- 
cept in  England  and  in  Spanish  coun- 
tries, where  they  wear  grey.  In  France 
they  were  popularly  called  Cordeliers, 
on  account  of  their  girdle.  Pope  Leo 
X.  attempted  to  heal  the  schism  in  the 
Order,  but  failing,  gave  to  the  head  of 
the  Observantines  precedence  over  him 
of  the  Conventuals.  The  Conventuals 
wear  a  black  habit  and  cowl,  and  are 
shod.  As  for  the  Capuchins,  who  are  a 
distinct  order,  see  that  article.  The  Sec- 
ond Order  is  popularly  called  Poor  Clares 
[which  see].  Pope  Leo  X.  arranged  the 
rule  of  St.  Francis  for  those  Tertiaries — 
Brothers  and  Sisters — who  live  in  com- 
munity, and  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  in  1882, 
revised  the  rule  of  secular  Tertiaries. 
No  Order  in  the  Church  has  surpassed 
</  the  Franciscans  in  zeal  for  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel.  St.  Francis  himself 
visited  the  Holy  Land,  and  endeavored  to 
convert  the  Sultan  of  Egypt  (t220),  and 
sent  five  friars  to  Morocco,  who  were  all 
martyred.  Franciscans  preached  in  Tar- 
tary  about  the  middle  of  the  13tli  century, 
and  in  China  and  Armenia  before  the  end 
of  it.    By  a  buU  of  Clement  VI.  (1342) 


FRANCISCANS 

the  guardianship  of  the  Holy  Places  at 
Jerusalem  was  committed  to  the  order,  and 
they  still  retain  it.  Franciscan  missions 
were  established  in  Bosnia  in  1^40,  in  Bul- 
garia about  1366,  and  in  Georgia  in  1370. 
We  find  them  taking  a  large  share  in  the 
conversion  of  the  natives  of  the  Canary 
Isles  in  and  after  1423;  they  got  into 
Abyssinia  in  1480,  and  established  a 
mission  on  the  Congo,  which  for  a  long 
time  bore  great  fruit,  about  1490.  The 
order  was  instrumental  in  the' discovery 
of  America.  Fr.  John  Perez  de  Marchena, 
guardian  of  a  convent  near  Seville,  himself 
a  learned  cosmographer,  entered  warmly 
into  the  designs  of  Columbus,  and  used  his 
influence  with  Isabella  the  Catholic,  whose 
confessor  he  had  been,  to  persuade  her  to 
fit  out  the  memorable  expedition  of  1492. 
In  the  following  year  Fr.  John  himself 
went  to  America,  and  opened  the  first 
Christian  Church  in  the  New  World,  at  a 
small  settlement  in  the  island  of  Playti. 
Not  to  speak  of  the  Franciscan  missions 
in  India,  Brazil,  and  Peru — in  all  which 
countries  other  orders  efiected  yet  more — 
it  was  Observantine  friars  who  were  wel- 
comed to  Mexico  by  Cortes  in  1523,  and 
who,  under  their  holy  leader,  JMartin  de 
Valenza,  planted  Christianity  firmly  in  that 
empire,  whence  they  went  forth  to  preach 
the  gospel  in  New  Mexico  (1680),  in  Texas 
(1600),  and,  lastly,  in  California  (1769).i 

The  order  of  St.  Francis  has  given  five 
Popes,  more  than  fifty  cardinals,  and  an 
immense  number  of  patriarchs  and  bishops 
to  the  Church.  The  great  statesman 
Cardinal  Ximenes  was  a  Franciscan. 
Among  the  schoolmen,  St.  Bonaventure,  the 
Seraphic  Doctor;  Duns  Scotus,  the  Subtle 
Doctor ;  Alexander  of  Hales,  the  Irre- 
fragable Doctor ;  and  Wilhani  of  Ockham 
(the  last  three  being  natives  of  the  British 
Isles),  were  members  of  this  order.  Its 
history  is  recorded  in  the  elaborate 
"  Annals  "  of  Fr.  Luke  Wadding,  an  Irish 
Franciscan  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

At  the  dissolution  there  were  sixty-five 
Franciscan  houses  in  England ;  the  names 
are  given  below.^  The  English  province 
was  restored  by  Fr.  Jennings,  about  1617. 

*  Henrion,  Hist.   Gen.  des  Missions  Cathol. 

*  List  of  Franciscan  Houses   in  England, 
taken  from  Dicgdale  and  Tanner. 


Avlesburv 
BabAvell  (Siiff.) 
Becmachen  •(Man) 
Bedford 
Berwick 
Beverlty 
Bodmia 
Boston 


Bridgnorth 
10  Bridgewater 
Bristol 
Cacrmarthen 
Cambridge 
Cantcrbuiy 
Cardiflf 
Carlisle 


FRANKFORT,  COUNCIL  OF 

In  1844  the  present  Franciscan  custo- 
diu,  or  wardensliip,  of  Cincinnati  was 
established  by  Reformed  friars  from  the 
Tyrol,  that  of  Allegheny,  N.  Y.,  by  Re- 
formed friars  from  Rome,  and  later  war- 
denships  both  of  Reformed  and  Recol- 
lects were  established  at  various  points 
in  the  U.  S.  The  Conventuals  are  found 
in  New  Jersey  and  New  York.  Besides 
the  Poor  Clares,  members  of  the  Third 
Order — as  Tertiaries,  Sisters  of  the  Poor 
of  St.  Francis,  School  Sisters  of  St.  Fran- 
cis, &c.  —are  to  be  found  in  all  the  North- 
ern and  in  some  of  the  Southern  States. 

FRAXTKFORT,  COUHTCI^  OF.  At 
this,  the  first  national  council  of  Germany, 
convened  by  Charlemagne  in  794,  three 
hundred  bishops  and  abbots'^  were  present. 
Under  the  guidance  of  the  English  Alcuin, 
the  council  confirmed  the  condemnation 
of  the  Adoptionist  heresy  of  Elipandus 
and  Felix,  pronounced  at  Ratisbon  two 
j'ears  befora  [Adoptionists],  and  also  re- 
jected the  decrees  of  the  Second  General 
Council  of  Nicaea  which  the  Fathers  of 
Frankfort  knew  only  in  a  grossly  erroneous 
translation.     [See  Icojs^gclasts.] 

FRAirxs.    [See  Missions.] 


FRATICELLI 


857 


Chester 

Chichester 

Colchester 
20  Coventry 

Doncaster 

Dorchester 

Dunwich 

Exeter 

Gloucester 

Grantham 

Greenwich 

Grimsby 

Hartlepool 
30  Hereford 

Ipswich 

Lancaster 

Leicester 

Lewes 

Lichfield 

Lincoln 

Llanvais  (Anglsy.) 

London 

Lynn 
40  Maidstone 

Newark 

1  Xamely,  at — 
Drogheda 
Multyfarnham 
Athlone 
Dublin 
Wexford 
Thurles 
Cork 

and  Fertiaries,  at — 

Clara  |        Oran 

2  So  Baronius,  whom  other  writers  have  fol- 
lowed ;  but  this  number,  according  to  Hefele,  is 
not  to  be  found  in  the  original  accoimts. 


Newcastle 

Northampton 

Norwich 

Nottingham 

Oxford 

Plymouth 

Pontefract 

Preston 
60  Reading 

Eichmond  (Sur.) 

Richmond  (York.) 

Salisbury- 
Scarborough 

Shrewsbury 

Southampton 

Stafford 

Stamford 

Walsingham 
60  Ware 

Winchelsea 

Winchester 

Worcester 

Yarmouth 
66  York 


Ennis 

Killamey 

Limerick 

Water  ford 

Carrickbeg 

Clonmel 

Galway 


FRATERlTAXi         CORRSCTZOIT. 

An  admonition  which  in  certain  circuni- 
stances  we  are  bound  to  give  our  neigh- 
bour in  order  to  withdraw  him  from  sin. 
The  duty  of  so  admonishing  is  founded 
on  the  natural  law,  which  obliges  us  to 
help  our  neighbour  in  the  necessities  of 
his  sold,  and  also  on  the  command  of 
Christ  (Matt,  xviii.  16),  ''  If  thy  brother 
shall  offend  thee,  go  and  reprove  him 
between  thee  and  him  alone." 

In  order  to  be  under  such  an  obliga- 
tion, we  must  be  certain  that  the  sin  has 
been  committed  ;  we  must  have  reason  to 
think  that  it  has  not  been  repented  of, 
and  some  reasonable  hope  that  the  cor- 
rection will  do  good.  We  must  also  have 
grounds  for  supposing  that  no  one  else 
who  is  equally  tit  with  ourselves  to  give 
the  correction  is  likely  to  do  so.  The 
admonition  must  of  course  be  given  with 
great  prudence  and  charity.  Bishops, 
parish-priests,  parents,  &c.,  are  more 
strictly  bouud  than  others  to  the  duty  of 
fraternal  correction.  Many  causes,  such 
as  inconvenience  and  loss,  or  even  bash- 
fulness,  may  often  excuse  private  persons 
from  administering  it.  (St.  Liguori,  iii. 
3,2.) 

FRATZCSXiKZ  (lit.  "little  friars"). 
An  heretical  sect  which  issued  from  the 
Franciscan  order  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, attracted  many  adherents  and  caused 
great  confusion,  chiefly  in  Italy  and 
Sicily,  and  disappeared  towards  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Franciscans 
were  divided,  soon  after  the  death  of  their 
founder,  into  two  great  parties,  one  of 
which — represented  by  Elias,  the  second 
general — was  favourable  to  some  relaxa- 
tion of  the  rule  in  regard  to  poverty,  while 
the  other  vehemently  opposed  the  least 
abatement  of  the  original  rigour.  The 
contention  became  so  warm  that  the 
Popes  were  obliged  to  interfere,  and  re- 
served to  themselves  the  right  of  inter- 
preting the  Franciscan  rule.  Gregory 
IX.,  Innocent  IV.,  Alexander  IV.,  and 
Nicholas  III.  successively  undertook  this 
task,  and  settled  the  rule  in  such  a  modi- 
fied form  as  to  allow  the  convents  to 
possess  the  usufruct  of  landed  estates,  the 
property  in  which  was  vested  in  the  Holy 
See.  This  did  not  satisfy  the  rigorists, 
some  of  whom  were  so  carried  away  by 
a  false  zeal  as  to  forget  the  earnest  and 
repeated  precept  of  their  founder,  that  his 
friars  should  be  obedient  to  the  Holy  See, 
and  fanatically  to  declare  that  the  Pope  and 
the  Church  were  in  eiTor.  Among  their 
leaders  were  Peter  John  Oliva,  Raymond, 


868        FREEDOM  OF  WILL 

Peter  of  Macerata,  Henry  of  Cava,  &c.  | 
Apostate  Franciscans  formed  at  all  times  j 
the  chief  strength  of  the  sect,  hut  they  | 
were  glad  to  accept  the  co-operation  of  { 
laymen,   and  .even    of    women.       They  j 
wandered  about  Italy,  Sicily,  Greece,  and  | 
countries  further  east,  proclaiming  that  ; 
the  Popes  had  ceased  to  be  the  vicars  of  j 
Christ,  and  that  the  Church,  corrupted  by  | 
riches,   had   failed.     They  pretended  to  ! 
consecrate  popes  and  bishops  from  among  j 
themselves.     In  their  dress,  and  all  about 
them  that  met  the  eye,  they  affected  ex- 
treme poverty  and  simplicity  ;  but  a  con- 
temporary writer,  Pelagius  the  peniten- 
tiary of  Pope  John  XXIT.,  reports  that 
this  external  austerity  was  the  cloak  of 
abominable  vices.      The   bull    of    John 
XXII.  against  them  (1318)  attributes  to 
them  various  errors,  some  of  which  were 
revived  by  Wyclif  sixty  years  later,  and 
condemned  by    Gregory    XI.    and    the 
Council  of  Constance.     For  instance,  the 
bull  of  John  XXII.  gives  as  one  of  their 
tenets  that  "  those  who  are  regularly  or- 
dained lo.-=e  their  power  by  their  sins;" 
and  the  council  condemned  as  a  Wyclifite 
error  the  proposition  that  "  The  power  of 
a  temporal  lord,  of  a  prelate,   or   of  a 
bishop,  is  null  while  he  is  in  mortal  siu."^ 
Martin  V.   (1418)  published  a  bull  and 
took  other  active  measures   against   the 
sect,  employing  for  this  purpose  the  great^ 
preacher  St.  Jolm  Capistran,  whose  efforts 
appear  to  have  been  crowned  with  signal 
success. 

FRSEDOM  OF  "WZI^lb,  says  St. 
Thomas  ("  Sum."  i.  qu.  83,  a.  2),  consists 
essentially  in  the  power  of  choice.  We 
are  said  to  be  endowed  with  free  will  be- 
cause we  are  able  to  accept  one  object, 
rejecting  another  ;  which  acceptance  we 
call  "  choice."  A  few  words  will  explain 
the  doctrine  of  the  scholastic  philosophers 
on  this  point  and  serve  as  the  best  intro- 
duction to  the  decisions  of  tlie  Church. 

The  will  is  an  appetite  which  follows 
upon  intellectual  cognition,  which  tends, 
in  other  words,  to  the  good  apprehended 
and  proposed  by  the  mind.  It  is  there- 
fore proper  to  intellectual  beings,  and 
wholly  distinct  from  the  animal  appetites, 
which  tend  to  good  apprehended  by  the 
senses.  Now,  if  the  object  apprehended 
by  the  intellect  be  purely  and  simply 
good,  and  seen  only  as  such,  the  will  tends 
to  it  of  necessity,  and  there  can  in  such  a 
case  be  no  question  of  choice  or  freedom. 

1  Fifteenth  error,  "  XuUus  est  dominuscivi- 
lis,  nuUus  est  jjnelatus.  nullus  est  episcopus, 
dum  est  in  peccaio  mortalL" 


FREEMASONRY 

No  man  can  will  to  be  unhappy  or  can 
help  walling  the  objects  wdiich  he  only 
thinks  of  as  necessary  means  of  happiness. 
But  a  vast  number  of  objects  apprehended 
by  the  intellect  are  neither  perlectly  nor  • 
in  all  respects  bad  or  good.  A  virtuous 
act,  for  example,  may  involve  self-restraint 
and  suffering ;  the  mind,  influenced  by 
the  will,  may  fix  its  attention  chiefly  on 
this  element  of  evil,  and  the  will  in  its 
turn  may  reject  the  good  act  because  of 
the  physical  suffering  or  evil  which  accom- 
panies it.  So  again,  stealing  may  relieve 
a  man  from  great  discomibrt,  and  here, 
again,  the  lesser  good  may  be  chosen,  ac- 
companied though  it  is  by  a  moral  evil. 
To  the  metaph3'sical  arguments  other  very 
obvious  ones  may  be  added  from  psycholo- 
gical experience,  e.y.  the  sense  of  sin  if  we 
choose  wrongly,  and  the  general  feeling  of 
all  societies,  in  which  criminals  have  been 
punished  precisely  on  the  ground  that 
they  were  free  and  therefor^  responsible 
agents. 

The  Reformers  generally  denied  that 
man,  after  the  fall,  possessed  free  will; 
or,  if  they  admitted  it  in  words,  they  ex- 
plained the  freedom  of  the  will  to  mean, 
not  the  power  of  choice,  the  power  which 
the  will  has  to  determine  its  own  acts, 
but  a  mere  freedom  from  external  re- 
straint {libertas  a  coactione).  The  same 
error  was  revived,  though  more  cautiously 
asserted,  by  Baius  and  the  Jansenists. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  defined  under 
anathema  by  the  Tridentine  Council  (Sess. 
vi.  can.  5),  that  free  will  remains  really 
and  truly  in  man  after  the  fall ;  and  the 
true  sense  of  this  definition  was  frequently 
enforced  and  insisted  on  by  subsequent 
Popes. 

FRSSXVf  ASOia-RY*.  is  the  system  of 
the  Freemasons,  a  secret  order  and  pan- 
theistic sect,  which  professes,  by  means 
of  a  symbolical  language  and  certain 
ceremonies  of  initiation  and  promotion, 
to  lay  down  a  code  of  morality  founded 
on  the  brotherhood  of  humanity  only. 
Some  writers  apply  the  term  Freemasonry 
not  only  to  the  Freemasons  proper,  but 
also  to  all  secret  organisations  which  seek 
to  undermine  Christianity  and  the  political 
and  social  institutions  that  have  Christian- 
ity for  their  basis. 

The  origin  of  Freemasonry  is  disputed. 
The  Freemasons  themselves,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  their  rituals,  assume  the  sect  to 
have  begun  its  existence  at  the  building  of 
Solomon's  Temple,  but  serious  Masonic 
writers,  as  well  as  all  writers  of  repute, 
declare  this  to  be  merely  a  conventional 


;TJNnrF,ESiTY 

FREEMASONRY        '  ?^  Jp  0  U'S'V^ 


EEMASONRY 


359 


fiction.  Nor  is  any  more  value  to  l)e 
attached  to  the  attempts  that  are  occa- 
eionally  made  to  find  a  link  between  the 
pagan  mysteries  and  Freemasonry.  Some 
writers  trace  Freemasonry  to  the  heresies 
of  Eastern  origin  that  prevailed^  during 
the  early  and  middle  ages  in  certain  parts 
of  Europe,  such  as  those  of  the  Gnostics, 
Manicheans,  and  Albigenses,  some  of 
whose  mischievous  tenets  are,  no  doubt, 
apparent  in  the  sect.  The  suppressed 
order  of  the  Knights  Templars,  too,  has 
been  taken  to  have  been  the  source  of  the 
sect ;  and  this  theory  may  have  some 
countenance  in  the  facts  that  a  number  of 
the  Knights  in  Scotland  illicitly  main- 
tained their  organisation  after  the  sup- 
pression, and  that  it  was  from  Scotland 
that  Freemasonry  was  brought  into 
France  at  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century. 

But  it  seems  more  in  consonance  with 
many  known  historical  facts  to  trace  the 
sect  to  the  mediaeval  guild  of  stonemasons, 
who  were  popularly  called  by  the  very 
name  of  Free  Masons.  During  the  middle 
ages  the  various  trades  were  formed,  with 
the  approbation  of  the  Church,  into  guilds 
or  close  protective  societies.  In  general 
no  ov.e  was  permitted  to  follow  a  trade  for 
wages  or  proiit,  as  apprentice,  journey- 
man, or  master,  until  he  had  been  made 
free  of  the  guild  representing  that  trade. 
Each  guild  had  its  patron  saint,  and  seve- 
ral guilds,  it  is  certain,  had  each  its  pecu- 
liar ritual,  using  its  own  tools  and  tech- 
nical language  in  a  symbolical  way  in  the 
ceremonies  of  initiation  and  promotion — 
tliat  is  to  say,  in  entering  an  apprentice, 
and  a.t  the  end  of  his  time  declaring  him 
a  worthy  fellow-journeyman  or  craftsman, 
&c.  The  guild  of  Free  Masons  was  singular 
in  this:  that  it  was  a  migratory  one,  its 
members  travelling  under  their  masters  in 
organised  bodies  through  all  parts  of 
Europe,  wherever  their  services  were  re- 
quired in  building.  When  first  referred 
to  they  are  found  grouped  about  the 
monasteries,  especially  about  those  of  the 
Benedictines.  The  earliest  form  of  initia- 
tion used  by  the  guild  is  said  to  have  been 
suggested  by  the  ritual  for  the  reception  of 
a  Benedictine  novice. 

The  south  of  France,  where  a  large 
Jewish  and  Saracenic  element  remained, 
was  a  hotbed  of  heresies,  and  that  region 
was  also  a  favourite  one  with  the  guild 
of  Masons.  It  is  asserted,  too,  that  as  far 
back  as  the  twelfth  century  the  lodges  of 
the  guild  enjoyed  the  special  protection  of 
the  Knights  Templars.    It  is  e&sy  in  this 


waj-fo"  understand  how  the  symbolical 
allusions  to  Solomon  and  his  Temple  might 
have  passed  from  the  Knights  into  the 
Masonic  formulary.  In  this  way,  too, 
might  be  explained  how,  after  the  sup- 
pression of  the  order  of  the  Temple,  some 
of  the  recalcitrant  Knights,  maintaining 
their  influence  over  the  Free  Masons,  would 
be  able  to  pervert  what  hitherto  had  been 
a  harmless  ceremony  into  an  elaborate 
ritual  that  should  impart  some  of  the 
errors  of  the  Templars  to  the  initiated.  A 
document  was  long  ago  published  which 
purports  to  be  a  charter  granted  to  a  lodge 
of  Free  Masons  in  England  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VI 1.,  and  it  bears  the  marks  in 
its  religious  indifference  of  a  suspicious 
likeness  between  Freemasonry  then  and 
now.  In  Germany  the  guild  was  nume- 
rous, and  was  formally  recognised  by  a 
diploma  granted  in  1489  by  the  Empe- 
ror Maximilian.  But  this  sanction  was 
finally  revoked  by  the  Imperial  Diet  in 
1707. 

So  far,  however,  the  Free  Masons  were 
really  working  stonemasons;  but  the  so- 
called  Cologne  Charter — the  genuineness 
of  which  seems  certain —drawn  up  in 
1535  at  a  reunion  of  Free  Masons  gathered 
at  Cologne  to  celebrate  the  opening  of  the 
cathedral  edifice,  is  signed  by  Melanchthon, 
Ooligny,  and  other  similar  ill-omened 
names.  Nothing  certain  is  known  of  the 
Free  Masons — now  evidently  "become  a 
sect— during  the  seventeenth  century,  ex- 
cept that  in  1646  Elias  Ashraoie,  an 
Englishman,  founded  the  order  of  Koso 
Croix,  Rosicruciaus,  or  Hermetic  Free- 
masons— a  society  which  mingled  in  a 
fantastic  manner  the  jargon  of  alchemy 
and  other  occult  sciences  with  pantheism. 
This  order  soon  became  affiliated  to  some 
of  the  Masonic  lodges  in  Germany,  where 
from  the  time  of  the  Reformation  there 
w^as  a  constant  founding  of  societies, 
secret  or  open,  which  undertook  to  for- 
mulate a  philosophy  or  a  religion  of 
their  own. 

As  we  know  it  now,  however,  Free- 
masonry first  appeared  in  1725,  when 
Lord  Derwentwater,  a  supporter  of  the 
expelled  Stuart  dynasty,  introduced  the 
order  into  France,  professing  to  have  his 
authority  from  a  lodge  at  Kilwinning, 
Scotland.  This  formed  tlie  basis  of  that 
variety  of  Freemasonry  called  the  Scotch 
Rite.  Rival  organisations  eooc  sprang  up. 
Charters  were  obtained  from  a  lodge  at 
York,  which  was  said  to  have  been  of  very 
ancient  foundation.  In  1754  Martinez 
Pasquales,  a  Portuguese  Jew,  began  in 


360 


FREEMASONRY 


FREEMASONRY 


some  of  the  French  lodges  the  new  degree 
of  "  Cohens,"  or  priests,  which  was  after- 
awards  developed  into  a  system  by  the 
notorious  Saint-Martin,  and  is  usually  re- 
ferred to  as  French  Illuuiinism.  But  it 
remained  for  Adam  Weishaupt,  Professor 
of  Canon  Law  at  the  University  of  Ingol- 
stadt,  in  Bavaria,  to  give  a  definite  shape 
to  the  anti-Christian  tendencies  of  Free- 
masonry. In  1776,  two  years  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  the  univer- 
sity, he  brought  together  a  number  of  his 
pupils  and  friends,  and  organised  the  order 
of  the  lUurainati,  which  he  established  on 
the  already  existing  degrees  of  Free- 
masonry. The  avowed  object  of  the 
Illuminati  was  to  bring  back  mankind — 
beginning  with  the  Illuminated — to  their 
primitive  liberty  by  destroying  religion, 
for  which  this  newest  philosophical  inven- 
tion was  to  be  substituted,  and  by  re- 
shaping ideas  of  property,  society,  mar- 
riage, &c.  One  of  the  Illuminati,  a  Sicilian, 
Joseph  Balsamo,  otherwise  Cagliostro, 
organised  what  he  called  Cabalistic  Free- 
masonry, under  the  name  of  the  Rite  of 
Misraim.  He  it  was  who  in  1783  pre- 
dicted, as  the  approaching  work  of  the 
Freemasons,  the  overthrow  of  the  French 
monarchy.  Indeed,  Freemasonry  was 
very  active  in  the  French  Revolution,  and 
assisted  in  bringing  about  many  of  the 
calamities  which  accompanied  the  great 
upturning  of  society. 

Freemasonry  in  the  meantime  had 
split  up  into  numerous  sects,  or  "  rites,"  all 
working  to  the  common  eflbrt  of  destroying 
a  belief  in  the  divine  revelation  of  Christ- 
ianity. In  1781  a  great  assembly  of  all 
the  Masonic  rites  was  held  at  Wilhelms- 
bad,  in  Hanover,  under  the  presidency  of 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  which  refused  to 
recognise  Weishaupt's  system,  but  at  the 
same  time  permitted  the  most  mischievous 
tenets  of  Illuminism  to  be  engrafted  on 
the"  higher  degrees  of  Freemasonry,  espe- 
cially of  the  so-called  Scotch  Rite.  About 
this  time  the  Scotch  Rite  was  established 
at  Charleston,  S.  C,  by  some  officers  of 
the  French  auxiliary  army.  The  York 
Rite  had  been  introduced  into  the  United 
States  by  English  colonists. 

Freemasonry  in  continental  Europe 
has  been  the  hatching-ground  of  most  of 
the  revolutionary  societies,  many  of  which 
were  affiliated  to  the  higher  Masonic  de- 
grees. In  France  the  sect  was  officially 
recognised  by  the  government  of  Napoleon 
III.,  but  advanced  Freemasons  bore  this 
unwillingly,  as  it  involved  restraint.  An 
avowed  belief  in  God  waa  required  for 


initiation,  but  this  requirement,  through 
the  efforts  of  M.  Mac^,  of  the  University, 
was  finally  abolished  in  the  conventiop  of 
Freemasons  held  at  Paris,  September  14, 
1877. 

A  recent  French  writer  maintains  that 
Freemasonry  is — unknown  to  most  of  the 
craft — managed  by  five  or  six  Jews,  who 
bend  its  influence  in  every  possible  way  to 
the  furtherance  of  the  anti-Christian 
movement  that  passes  under  the  name  of 
Liberalism.  Throughout  continental  Eu- 
rope, in  the  Spanish-x\merican  States,  and 
in  Brazil,  Freemasonry  has  of  late  years 
again  become  very  active.  The  war 
against  the  Catholic  Church  in  Germany 
had  no  more  bitter  supporter  than  Free- 
masonry. If  the  Cultiirkampf  was  not 
directed  from  the  lodges,  at  least  nearly 
all  its  leaders  were  Freemasons.  During 
"  the  Commune "  of  Paris,  in  1871, 
Masonic  lodges  took  part  as  a  body  in  the 
insurrection,  marching  out  to  the  fight 
with  their  red  banners.  In  France  and 
Belgium  the  lodges  have  officially  com- 
manded their  members  to  assist  the  Ligue 
de  VEnseigne^nent — a  league  intended  to 
biing  about  the  complete  secularisation  of 
the  primar}'^  public  schools. 

In  the  English-speaking  countries, 
however,  Freemasonry  has  hitherto  pro- 
tested its  respect  for  government  and  esta- 
blished society,  and  it  has  not  bad  any  im- 
mediate action  on  politics,  its  members 
being  usually  found  as  numerous  in  one 
political  party  as  another.  But  it  has 
never  failed  indirectly  to  use  its  influence 
for  the  advancement  of  its  members  over 
others.  English-spealring  Freemasons 
have  usually  been  accustomed  to  regard 
the  pantheism  of  their  rituals  as  an 
amusing  mummery  rather  than  as  a 
reality.  These  Freemasons  usually  disown 
for  their  order  any  aims  but  those  of 
a  convivial  and  mutual-benefit  society, 
but  no  one  can  fail  to  see  that  indifter- 
entism  in  religion  at  least  is  one  of  the 
necessary  results  of  English-speaking  Free- 
masonry at  its  best.  But  the  constant 
influx  into  the  English-speaking  countries 
of  Jews  and  Continental  Freemasons  must 
necessarily  impregnate  the  order  with  all 
the  poison  of  the  Continental  sect. 

Freemasonry  is  essentially  opposed  to 
the  belief  in  the  personality  of  God,  whose 
name  in  the  Masonic  rituals  veils  the 
doctrine  of  blind  force  only  governing  the 
universe.  It  is  also  essentially  subversive 
of  legitimate  authority,  for  by  proJessing 
to  furnish  man  an  all-sulficient  guide  and 
help  to  conduct  it  makes  him  independent 


FRIAR 

of  the  Churchy  and  by  its  everywhere  ridi- 
culing rank  in  authority  it  tends,  in  spite 
of  its  occasional  protests  of  loyalty,  to 
bring-  all  governments  into  contempt. 

The  sect  has  been  repeatedly  condemned 
by  learned  and  respectable  men  of  all 
countries,  Protestant  and  Catholic.  Five 
bulls  have  been  directed  against  it  by 
name — viz.  ''  In  eminenti,"  Clement  XII., 
1738  ;  "  Providas,"  Benedict  XIV.,  1751  ; 
"  Ecclesiam  Jesu  Ohristi,"  Pius  VII.,  1821: 
"Qui  graviora,"  Leo  XII.,  1826;  '' Quanta 
cura,"  Pius  IX.,  1864. 

FRIAR.  The  word  is  a  corruption  of 
the  French /rere,  the  distinguishing  title 
of  the  members  of  the  mendicant  orders. 
The  Franciscans  and  Dominicans,  approved 
by  the  Holy  See  in  1210  and  1216  respect- 
ively, were  the  first  friars  •,  to  these  Inno- 
cent IV.  in  1245  added  the  Carmelites, 
Alexander  IV.  the  Augustinian  hermits 
(1256),  andSixtus  IV.  the  Minims  (1473). 
Hence  Chaucer  speaks  of  "  alle  the  ordres 
foure."^  The  Servites  received  in  the  fif- 
teenth century  the  same  privileges  as  the 
four  mendicant  orders  from  Martin  V.  and 
Innocent  VIH. 

TRONTAIm  {antipendium,  pallium). 
An  embroidered  cloth  which  often  covers 
the  front  side  of  the  altar.  The  colour, 
according  to  the  rubrics  of  the  missal, 
should  vary  with  the  feast  or  season.  In 
early  times  the  altar  was  open  in  front,  so 
that  there  was  no  need  of  such  a  covering, 
and  even  now  Gavantus  says  it  may  be 
dispensed  with  if  the  altar  is  of  costly  mate- 
rial or  fine  workmanship.  (Gavant.  P.  L, 
tit.  XX.) 

TJJTS'EB.iij,  {exequice).  The  follow- 
ing are  the  chief  points  in  the  funeral  rite 
as  prescribed  in  the  Roman  Ritual.  The 
corpse  is  borne  in  procession  with  lights 
to  the  church.  The  parish-priest  assists 
in  surphce  and  black  stole ;  the  clerks 
cajry  the  holy  water  and  cross  ;  the  coffin 
is  first  sprinkled  with  holy  water  and  the 
psalm  *^De  Profundis"  recited  ;  then  the 
corpse  is  carried  to  the  church  while  the 

1  Cant.  Tales,  Prol.  1.  210. 


GALILEO 


861 


"Miserere"  is  said.  The  coffin  is  then  placed 
in  the  middle  of  the  building,  with  the  feet 
to  the  altar  if  the  dead  person  was  a  lay- 
man, the  head  if  he  was  a  priest.  Caudles 
are  lighted  round  the  coifiu,and  the  office 
and  Mass  of  the  dead,  followed  by  the  ab- 
solution, accompanied  by  aspersion  and 
incensation  over  the  corpse,  are  said.  Then 
another  procession,  and  the  corpse  is  carried 
to  the  tomb.  At  the  grave  the  "Bene- 
dictus"  is  sung,  with  the  antiphon,  "I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  and  a 
prayer  for  the  soul  of  the  departed.  The 
body  is  sprinkled  for  the  last  time  with 
holy  water,  just  before  the  prayer.  The 
funeral  of  infants  is  very  ditferent.  The 
psalms  said  are  of  praise  and  thanksgiving, 
nor  is  there,  of  course,  any  prayer  for  the 
repose  of  the  soul.  The  vestments  used  by 
the  officiating  clergy  are  white,  a  crown  of 
flowers  is  placed  on  the  coffin,  and  the 
church  bells  are  not  rung,  or  else  rung  with 
a  joyful  tone.  The  Ritual  speaks  of  these 
rites  as  handed  down  by  "  most  ancient 
custom ; "  and  with  good  right.  The  custom 
of  bearing  the  dead  body  to  the  grave  with 
psalms,  and  the  Mass  i'or  the  soul  of  the 
departed,  can  be  traced  back  to  very  early 
times ;  indeed,  the  funeral  procession  is  the 
oldest  of  all,  being  mentioned  by  Fathers 
such  as  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Jerome  and 
Chrysostom,  who  wrote  in  the  age  imme- 
diately following  the  heathen  persecution 
of  the  Church.  The  last  of  these  Fathers 
(Horn.  iv.  in  Hebr. )  notes  the  custom  of 
carrying  lighted  torches  at  these  pro- 
cessions, and  as  early  at  least  as  the  sixth 
century  (see  Greg.  Turon.  "  Vit.  Patr."  c. 
14)  the  cross  was  carried.  The  practice, 
on  the  other  hand,  of  tolling  the  bell  at 
funerals  does  not  date  beyond  the  eighth 
or  ninth  age.  (See  Smith  and  Cheetham, 
Article,  Burials.) 

In  the  Greek  rite,  as  given  by  Goar,  the 
clergy  keep  vigil  and  sing  psalms  by  the 
corpse.  The  kiss  of  peace  is  given  to  the 
corpse  or  at  least  to  the  coffin,  and  at  the 
actual  interment  the  priest  sprinkles  the 
coffin  with  earth  and  then  with  oil  from 
the  lamp,  or  else  ashes  from  the  censer. 


G 


GAIilXiEO.  The  object  of  the  pre- 
sent article  is,  not  to  write  a  Life  of  Galileo, 
but  to  give  an  account,  as  clear  as  our 
limits  will  permit,  of  the  two  condemna- 
tions of  the  doctrine  of  the  immobility  of 
the  sun  and  the  rotation  of  the  earth,  pro- 


nounced by  the  Congregations  of  the  Holy 
Office  (Roman  Inquisition)  and  the  Index, 
with  special  reference  to  the  teaching  and 
writing  of  Galileo  in  1616  and  1633. 
After  the  most  material  facts  have  been 
narrated    without    comment,  it  will    b* 


362 


GALILEO 


GALILEO 


necessary  to  examine  three  separate  points : 
1.  What  was  the  precise  nature  of  the 
condemnation  pronounced  ?  2.  What  was 
the  character  of  the  considerations  which 
appeared  to  the  Pope  and  the  cardinals  to 
justify  them  in  pronouncing  it  ?  3.  Was 
Galileo,  as  some  writers  have  maintained, 
really  put  co  the  torture  ? 

In  1613  the  great  astronomer,  who  had 
long  inclined  to  the  heliocentric '  system  of 
Copernicus,  published  a  letter  addressed 
to  his  friend  the  Padre  Castelli,  in  which 
he  says  that  it  is  not  the  object  of  God  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures  to  teach  us  science 
and  philosophy,  and  that  the  received 
Ptolemaic  system  could  no  more  be  re- 
conciled to  the  text  of  Scripture  than  the 
Copernican.  Some  time  afterwards,  in 
1615,  he  wrote  a  much  longer  and  more 
important  letter  to  the  Grand  Duchess 
Christina  of  Tuscany,  in  which  he  is  said^ 
to  have  endeavoured  to  accommodate  to 
the  Copernican  theory  the  various  pas- 
sages in  Scripture  which  seem  to  be  in- 
consistent with  it.  This  letter  was  not 
published  till  1636,  but  its  tenor  appears 
to  have  become  known  to  many  persons. 
Galileo  visited  Rome  towards  the  end  of 
1615,  and  was  shortly  summoned  before 
the  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Office.  The 
original  minutes,  showing  exactly  what 
occurred,  have  been  published  by  M.  de 
I'Epinois.^  On  February  25, 1616,  Cardinal 
MiUin  reported  to  the  Congregation  that 
the  Pope  (Paul  V.)  had  ordered  that  Car- 
dinal Bellarmine  should  call  Galileo  before 
him,  and  should  "  warn  him  to  abandon  the 
said  opinion  [of  the  immobility  of  the  sun, 
&c.],  and  if  he  refused  to  obey,  the  Father 
Commissary  ....  was  to  lay  a  command 
upon  him  to  abstain  altogether  from 
teaching  or  defending  a  doctrine  and 
opinion  of  this  kind,  or  from  dealing  with 
it  [in  any  way]."  If  he  was  refractory, 
he  was  to  be  imprisoned — "  carceretur." 
The  minutes  of  the  following  day  show 
how  all  this  was  done,  and  an  injunction, 
as  above,  laid  upon  Galileo ;  "  in  which 
command  the  said  Galileo  acquiesced,  and 
promised  to  obey  it."    The  prohibition  of 

*  The  terms  "  lieliocentric "  ana  "geocent- 
ric," as  denoting  the  systems  which  assume  the 
aun  or  the  earth  respectively  to  be  the  fixed 
centre  round  which  the  planets  revolve,  are 
borrowed  from  two  articles  in  the  Dublin  Re- 
view (believed  to  be  by  Dr.  Ward),  of  which 
we  have  made  free  use  in  the  present  paper: 
one  is  headed  **  Co])ernicanism  and  Pope 
Paul  V."  (April  1871);  the  other,  «<  Galileo 
and  the  Pontifical  Congregations  "  (July  1871). 

'  Hallam,  Lit.  of  Europe,  iii.  413. 

5  Les  Pieces  du  Frocet  de  Galilee,  Rome, 
PariB.  1877. 


the  Pope  was  identical  in  intention  *  with 
that  contained  in  a  decree  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Index  dated  a  week  later, 
March  5,  1616.  This  decree  first  con- 
demns five  theiilogico-political  works,  and 
then  goes  on  to  say  that  it  has  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  Sacred  Congregation 
'Hhat  the  well-known  doctrme — of  Pytha- 
gorean origin  and  wholly  repugnant  to 
the  sacred  Scriptures — concerning  the 
mobility  of  the  earth  and  the  immobility 
of  the  sun,"  formerly  taught  by  Copernicus 
and  Diego  of  Astorga,  "  was  now  being 
spread  abroad  and  embraced  by  many ; 
....  therefore,  lest  such  an  opinion  should 
insinuate  itself  anymore,  to  the  destruction 
of  Catholic  truth,  it  gave  sentence  "  that 
the  books  of  Copernicus  and  Diego  "should 
be  suspended  [from  circulation]  till  they 
were  corrected,"  that  the  work  of  a  certain 
Foscarini  upholding  the  same  opinion 
should  be  altogether  prohibited  and  con- 
demned, "  and  that  all  other  books  teach- 
ing the  same  thing  were  to  be  similarly 
prohibited." 

That  this  decree  was  sanctioned  and 
confirmed  by  the  Pope  it  is  impossible  to 
doubt.  The  writer  of  the  article  Galileo 
in  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica "  main- 
tains that  its  responsibility  rests  with  a 
disciplinary  congregation  in  no  sense  re- 
presenting the  Church,  and  that  it  waa 
never  confirmed  by  the  Pope.  This  view  ia 
untenable  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in  any 
decree  of  one  of  the  Sacred  Congregations 
confirmed  and  ordered  to  be  published  by 
the  Pope,  it  is  the  Pope  himself  who 
speaks — not  the  cardinals  merely — if  not 
always  in  his  capacity  of  Universal  Doctor, 
yet  always  in  that  of  Supreme  Pastor  or 
ruler.  That  the  decree  was  not  confirmed 
by  Paul  V.  there  is  not,  so  far  as  we  know, 
the  smallest  shred  of  evidence  for  main- 
taining; and  the  onus  prohandi  rests  on 
those  who  make  an  assertion  so  improbable. 

Galileo  was  thus  estopped  by  a  decision 
in  which  he  had  acquiesced,  and  which  he 
had  promised  not  to  infringe,  from  pub- 
lishing anything  more  on  the  Copernican 
theory.  Some  years  passed ;  Urban  VIII. 
ascended  the  Papal  chair  in  1623 ;  he  was 
an  enlightened  man,  of  considerable  learn- 
ing, and,  as  Cardinal  Barberini,  had  had 
much  friendly  intercourse  with  Galileo. 
The  philosopher  visited  Rome  in  1624, 
and  was  received  with  great  warmth  and 

^  This  is  certain  ;  for  Bellarmine,  in  the 
certificate  which  he  gave  to  Galileo  in  1616 — 
of  which  we  shall  again  have  occasion  to  speak 
— says  that  "  the  declaration  made  by  the  Pope, 
and  published  by  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  the 
Index  [itahca  ours],  was  notified  to  him,"  &C. 


GALILEO 

kindness  "by  the  Pope.  Soon  after  this  he 
began  to  return  to  the  forbidden  subject ; 
in  an  essay  on  sun-spots  he  assumed 
the  fact  ol'  the  sun's  immobility.  In  his 
famous  Dialogo  on  the  "  System  of  the 
World,"  published  at  Florence  in  February 
1632,  he  spoke  out  still  more  plainly.  The 
dialogue  is  carried  on  between  three  per- 
sons, Salviati,  Sagredo,  and  Simplicio;  the 
last  being  a  well-nieaning  ignoramus,  who 
supports  the  Ptolemaic  side  by  arguments 
manifestly  futile.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
work  the  question  is  in  words  left  open ; 
but  the  whole  effect  of  the  treatise  is  said 
to  be  that  of  a  powerful  and  vehement  de- 
fence of  the  Copernican  theory.  The  book 
reached  Rome  at  the  end  of  February 
1632,  and  caused  great  excitement..  The 
Pope  was  very  angry;  he  said  that  Galileo 
had  been  ill  advised ;  that  great  mischief 
might  be  done  to  religion  in  this  way, 
greater  than  was  ever  done  before.^  Ric- 
cardi,  the  Master  of  the  Apostolic  Palace, 
whose  licence  Galileo  had  obtained  for  the 
printing  of  the  book  by  representations 
which  do  not  seem  to  have  been  quite 
straightforward,  complained  that  argu- 
ments which  Urban  himself  had  used  to 
Galileo  against  the  Copernican  theory 
w^ere  in  the  Dialogo  placed  in  the  mouth 
of  Simplicio,  a  ridiculous  personage.  The 
authority  of  Aristotle  was  in  that  age  in- 
conceivably great,  and  Aristotle  had  be- 
lieved the  earth  to  be  immovable.  The 
Peripatetics — so  his  followers  were  called, 
— flocked  round  tlie  Pope,  urged  against 
Gahleo  the  breach  of  his  promise,  and  the 
insulting  neglect  of  the  prohibition  of  1 616, 
and  pressed  for  the  condemnation  both  of 
the  book  and  its  author.  Urban,  still 
desirous  of  keeping  the  case  out  of  the 
Inquisition,  appointed  a  commission  of 
theologians  to  examine  and  report  on  the 
book.  Their  report  was  submitted  in 
September  1632 ;  it  was  highly  unfavour- 
able to  GalUeo.  The  Pope  then  wrote  to 
the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  in  whose  ser- 
vice Gahleo  was  at  the  time,  saying  that 
the  case  must  go  before  the  Inquisition, 
and  that  the  accused  must  come  to  Rome 
and  stand  his  trial.  After  a  considerable 
delay,  which  produced  a  stern  letter  from 
Urban  (December  30,  1632)  to  the  effect 
that  if  Galileo  could  travel  at  all  he  was 
to  be  sent  up  to  Rome  in  chains,  the 
philosopher  departed  from  Florence  and 
arrived  in  Rome  about  the  middle  of  Feb- 
ruary 1633,  taking  up  his  abode  at  the 
Tuscan  embassy.  The  trial  came  on  in 
April ;  for  ten  days  after  its  commence- 
*  L'Epinois,  La  Question  de  Galilee,  p.  114. 


GALILEO 


363 


ment  Galileo  was  committed  to  the  house 
of  the  fiscal  of  the» Holy  Office;  but  on  his 
complaining  that  from  his  feeble  state  of 
health  he  could  ill  bear  the  confinement, 
he  was  allowed  to  return  to  the  Tuscan 
embassy. 

The  minutes  of  the  Holy  Office  show 
that  Galileo  was  examined  on  April  12 
and  30,  May  10,  and  June  21.  The  report 
of  the  commissioners,  one  of  whom  was 
Melchior  Inchofer,  told  heavily  against  him. 
Melchior  said  that  the  author  of  the 
Dialogo  did  not  put  the  case  in  favour  of 
the  immobility  of  the  sun  "  hypothetice," 
but  "  theorematice,"  and  that  his  having 
written  in  Italian,  so  that  "  vulgares  etiam 
homines  "  might  read  it,  made  the  matter 
worse.  The  disobedience  to  the  command 
issued  by  the  Holy  Office  in  1616  was  also 
much  dwelt  upon ;  to  which  Galileo  could 
only  reply  by  putting  in  the  certificate 
which  he  had  obtained  at  the  time  from 
Bellarmine,^  and  pleading  that  as  the 
latter  had  not  in  this  expressly  referred  to 
the  injunction  not  to  write  any  more  on 
the  question,  he  had  forgotten  all  about  it. 
It  is  probable  that  this  was  not  believed, 
and  that  some  intention  other  than  one 
purely  scientific  was  ascribed  to  him,  as 
accounting  for  his  open  disregard  of  the 
prohibition  of  3.616.  We  read  in  the 
minutes  for  June  16,  1633,  that  the  Pope 
ordered  that  Galileo  should  be  questioned 
"  concerning  his  intention,  a  threat  even 
of  torture  being  used  to  him ;  and  that  if 
he  persisted  in  his  statement  {et  si  sustin- 
uerit),  his  abjuration  having  been  first 
taken,  he  was  to  be  condemned,"  &c. 

On  June  21  he  was  examined  according 
to  this  instruction.  Being  asked  whether 
he  had  not  held  the  opinion  [of  the  im- 
mobility of  the  sun]  since  the  decree  of 
1616,  he  said,  '*  I  d.o  not  hold  and  have 
not  held  this  opinion  of  Copernicus  since  it 
was  intimated  to  me  by  authority  (can 
precetto)  that  I  must  abandon  it ;  for  the 
rest,  I  am  here  in  your  hands :  you  must  do 
what  you  please."  He  was  then  warned  to 
speak  the  truth,  otherwise  the  torture 
would  be  applied.    He  answered,  "  I  am 

^  The  certificate  ends  thus — after  stating 
that  Galileo  had  made  no  abjuration,  nor  been 
put  to  penance — "  bub  only  the  declaration  made 
by  the  Pope  and  published  by  the  Sacred  Con- 
gregation of  the  Index  was  solemnly  notified  to 
him,  in  which  it  is  contained  that  the  doctrine 
attributed  to  Copernicus  that  the  earth  moves 
round  the  sun,  and  that  the  sun  remains  in  the 
centre  of  the  world  without  moving  fi*om  east 
to  west,  is  contrary  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
and  therefore  cannot  be  defended  or  held.  In 
testimony  whereof,"  &c 


864 


GALILEO 


GALILEO 


hero  to  make  .my  submission,  and  I  have 
not  held  this  opinion  since  the  decision  was 
given,  as  I  have  said."  He  was  then 
allowed  to  withdraw.  The  sentence  was 
pronounced  the  next  day  in  the  convent  of 
the  Minerva.  A  fall  narrative  of  what 
passed  may  be  read  in  a  letter  addressed 
Dy  the  Cardinal  di  S.  Onofrio  on  July  2, 
1633,  to  the  Inquisition  of  Venice.^  The 
sentence  opened  with  the  words,  "Whereas 
thou,  Galileo,"  &c.,  and  after  reciting  the 
proceedings  of  1616  and  1616,  stated  that 
the  Holy  Office  appointed  theologians  on 
that  occasion  as  qualificators,  who  reported 
to  this  effect : — 

1.  That  the  smi  is  the  centre  of  the 
world  and  immovable  is  a  proposition  ab- 
surd and  false  in  philosophy,  and  formally 
heretical,  as  being  expressly  contrary  to 
Holy  Scripture. 

2.  That  the  earth  is  not  the  centre  of 
the  world,  nor  immovable,  but  that  it 
moves  even  with  a  diurnal  motion,  is  in 
like  manner  a  proposition  absurd  and  false 
in  philosophy,  and,  considered  in  theology, 
at  least  erroneous  in  faith.  The  accused 
is  reminded  that,  after  Bellarniine  had 
advised  and  admonished  him,  the  then  com- 
missary of  the  Inquisition  told  him  that 
he  could  not  defend  nor  teach  that  doc- 
trine any  more,  either  orally  or  in  writing. 
In  publishing  the  Dialogo  he  had  mani- 
festly disobeyed  the  precept,  and  in  con- 
sequence of  the  publication,  the  tribunal 
understood,  the  said  opinion  was  spreading 
more  and  more.  He  had  acted  disingenu- 
ously in  saying  nothing  about  the  precept 
when  he  applied  for  the  licence  to  print. 
Mistrusting  him,  the  tribunal  had  thought 
it  right  to  proceed  to  the  rigorous  exaraen 
("  rigoroso  esame ")  in  which  he  had 
answered  as  a  Catholic  should  ("  rispon- 
desti  cattolicamente  ").  "  We  therefore," 
proceeds  the  tribunal,  "say,  pronounce, 
declare,  &c.,  that  you,  Galileo,  have  made 
yourself  vehemently  suspect  of  heresy  to 
this  Holy  Office — i.e.  of  having  believed 
and  held  a  doctrine  false  and  contrary  to 
the  sacred  and  divine  Scriptures."  He  had 
therefore  incurred  all  the  usual  penalties ; 
nevertheless  the  tribunal  would  absolve 
him  if  he  abjured  and  detested  the  said 
errors.  But  as  a  warning  to  others,  they 
ordered :  1,  that  his  Dialogo  should  be 
prohibited :  2,  that  he  should  be  "  for- 
mally "  imprisoned^  during  the  pleasure  of 
the  Holy  Office;    3,  that  he  should  say 

1  Printed  in  Venturi'p  Memorie  e  Lettere 
Inedite  (Modena,  1818). 

3  Under  restraint,  but  not  in  a  material 
prison. 


once  a  week  for  three  years  to  come,  the 
seven  penitential  psalms.  Galileo  then 
abjured  the  condemned  opinion,^  and  swore 
never  to  promote  it  in  future,  and  to  de- 
nounce to  the  Holy  Office  any  whom  he 
might  find  maintaining  it- 
Harsh  as  this  sentence  sounds,  the  fact 
is  that  Galileo  was  treated  with  little  that 
can  be  called  severity  for  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  He  resided  at  first  at  vSiena, 
afterwards  in  his  own  villa  at  Arcetri, 
near  Florence.  He  was  so  far  under  re- 
straint that  he  was  not  allowed  to  go  into 
the  city,  nor  to  remove  elsewhere  without 
permission  ;  but  within  his  own  house  and 
grounds  he  seems  to  have  been  left  entirely 
free.  Milton  visited  him  at  Arcetri  in 
1638  or  1639.  "There  [i.e.  in  Italy]  I 
found  and  visited  the  famous  Galileo, 
grown  old,  a  prisoner  to  the  Inquisition."* 
Perhaps  Milton  did  not  mean  to  mislead, 
but  the  common  inference  drawn  from  his 
words  has  been,  that  he  found  Galileo 
immured  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion,' instead  of  living  as  a  private  gentle- 
man in  his  own  country  house.  The 
philosopher  died  at  an  advanced  age  at 
Arcetri  in  1642. 

Such,  in  brief  outline,  were  the  facts 
of  this  celebrated  condemnation.  Before 
considering  the  motives  actuating  those 
who  pronounced  it,  let  us  examine  what 
the  sentence  itself  amounted  to.  Did  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  at  any  stage  of  these  pro- 
ceedings, pronounce  ex  cathedra  that  the 
theory  of  Copernicus  was  wrong,  and  that 
the  earth  was  the  fixed  centre  of  the  world  P 
The  writer  in  the  "  Dublin  Eeview  "  already 
referred  to  appears  to  us  to  make  it  quite 
plain  that  the  Roman  Pontiff  did  nothing 
of  the  kind.  Whether  the  decrees  of  Pon- 
tifical congregations  on  matters  of  doc- 
trine, in  which  there  is  a  clause  expressly 
asserting  the  Papal  sanction,  are  or  are  not 
to  be  regarded  as  ex  cathedra  and  infallible 
judgments,  is  a  point,  according  to  the 
reviewer,  on  which  theologians  are  not 
entirely  agreed;  but  no  one,  he  adds,  has 
ever  doubted  that  decrees  not  containing 
this  clause  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  de- 
cisions ex  cathedra.     Now,  the  decree  of 

*  The  clever  fiction  which  makes  him  sav 
at  this  point,  Eppur  si  munve  ("And  yet  it 
[the  earth]  does  move"),  fir-t  appeared,  ac- 
cording to  the  writer  in  the  Enc.  Brit.,  in  an 
Historical  Dictionary,  published  at  Caen  in 
1789. 

2  Areopagitica. 

3  Thus  Dr.  Johnson  says,  in  his  Life  of 
Milton,  "  He  had  perhaps  given  some  offence  b;jr 
visiting  Galileo,  then  a  prisoner  in  the  Inquisi- 
tion [italics  ours]  for  philosophical  heresv." 


GALILEO 

the  Congregation  of  the  Index  of  March  5, 
1616,  does  not  contain  the  clause  ;  it  can- 
not, therefore,  be  regarded  as  defining  ea: 
cathedra. 

What,  then,  does  the  decree  decide  or 
do  ?  It  decides  that  the  theory  of  Coper- 
nicus is  "  false  "  and  "  entirely  contrary  to 
Scripture,"  and  that  the  books  which  teach 
it  are  to  be  prohibited.  To  this  must  be 
added  the  language  used  by  the  Holy 
Office  in  the  preamble  of  their  sentence,  as 
given  in  a  previous  paragraph.  It  is 
abundantly  clear  that  both  Pontifical  con- 
gregations held  that  the  opinion  about  the 
earth's  motion  now  universally  received 
was  false  and  contrary  to  Scripture,  and 
that  no  Catholic  could  hold  it  without 
falling  into  heresy.  The  reviewer  main- 
tains that  it  was  natural  and  inevitable 
that  they  should  so  regard  it,  seeing  tliat 
the  obvious  sense  of  Scripture  is  unques- 
tionably opposed  to  the  Copernican  theory, 
and  only  "some  overwheiming  scientific 
probability"  (p.  159)  could  render  it  legiti- 
mate to  override  the  obvious  in  favour  of 
an  unobvious  sense.  Later  researches  have 
supplied  this  overwhelming  probability, 
and  consequently  all  CathoHcs  now  ''  admit 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  for  wise  purposes 
....  permitted  the  sacred  writers  to 
express  themselves  in  language  which  was 
literally  true  as  understood  by  thein,  but 
was  figurative  in  the  highest  degree  as 
intended  by  Him.''^  (lb.) 

The  reviewer  moreover  contends  that, 
although  all  Catholics  were  bound  to  as- 
sent to  the  decrees,  they  were  not  thereby 
obliged  to  hold  the  geocentric  theory  as  an 
article  of  divine  faith — i.e.  with  an  assent 
excluding  all  doubt.  To  maintain  the  con- 
tradictory of  this  proposition  would  be  ab- 
surd, since  the  heliocentric  theory  was  al- 
lowed to  be  proposed  hypothetically,  but  the 
Church  would  never  for  a  moment  allow 
even  the  hypothetical  maintenance  '  of  an 
opinion  contrary  to  an  article  of  faith.  For 
instance,  what  impossibility  is  greater  than 
that,  since  1854,  the  Church  should  allow 
any  Catholic  theologian  to  maintain,  as  a 
hypothesis,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Imma- 
culate Conception  is  untrue  ?  But  that 
the  heliocentric  theory  might  be  hypo- 
thetically  propounded  after  the  decree  of 
1616  is  indisputable.  For,  first,  Galileo 
deposed  before  the  Holy  Office  in  1633  ^ 
that  in  1616  Cardinal  Bellarmine  spoke 
approvingly,  both  as  to  him  and  Coper- 
nicus, of  their  holding  the  opinion  of  the 

^  Except  for  the  purpose  of  a  rednctio  ad  ab- 
turdum,  which  of  course  is  not  here  in  question. 
2  L'Epinois,  Les  Fieces,  &c.,  p.  60. 


GALILEO 


365 


movement  of  the  earth  "eo;  mj^wsitione 
and  not  absolutely."  Secondly,  the  same 
Bellarmine  declared  in  1620,' "that  if  a 
scientific  proof  of  Copernicanism  were  dis- 
covered, Scripture  should  then  be  Coper- 
nically  interpreted ;  "  ^  and  the  theologian 
Amort,  writing  in  1734,  expressed  himself 
to  the  same  eflect.^  Thirdly,  the  report 
of  Melchior  Inchofer  speaks  of  "the 
reasons  by  which  Galileo  assertively, 
absolutely,  and  not  hypothetically  .... 
maintains  the  motion  of  the  earth ; " 
whence  it  may  be  inferred  to  maintain  it 
hypothetically  would  not  have  been  cen- 
surable.^ 

11.  The  meaning  and  effect  of  the 
decrees  being  what  we  have  described,  the 
question  arises.  Was  there  any  urgent,  and 
at  the  same  time  justifiable,  motive  for 
issuing  them  at  all  ?  After  all,  it  may  be 
said,  the  opinion  condemned  by  the  decrees 
has  come  to  be  universally  believed  ;  was 
it  not  therefore  a  mistake,  to  say  the  least, 
to  attempt  thus  to  suppress  it?  Has  not 
the  logic  of  events  proved  that  course  to 
be  wrong  ?  Such  questions  as  these  will 
be  differently  answered  according  to  the 
varying  estimates  which  people  may  form 
of  the  value  of  a  stable  religious  convic- 
tion. The  Pope  and  the  cardinals  believed 
in  1616  that  if  everyone  might  freely 
teach,  at  universities  or'  by  printed  books, 
that  the  earth  revolved  round  the  sim,  a 
great  weakening  of  religious  faith  would 
ensue,  owing  to  the  apparent  inconsistency 
of  such  teaching  with  a  number  of  well- 
known  passages  in  the  Bible.  They  might 
remember  that  Giordano  Bruno,  an  ardent 
Copernican,  had  also  taught  pantheism 
with  equal  ardour.  The  standing  danger 
on  the  side  of  Protestantism  was,  they 
might  think,  sufficiently  formidable,  with- 
out the  addition  to  it— while  it  could  still 
be  staved  oil-— of  a  danger  on  the  side  of 
physical  science.  At  the  present  day  the 
youth  of  Italy  listen  to  infidel  lectures 
and  read  bad  books  without  restriction; 
one  single  book  of  this  kind,  Kenan's  Vie 
de  Jesus,  is  said  to  have  caused  loss  of 
faith  to  innumerable  readers  in  Spain  and 
Italy.  With  loss  of  faith  tliere  comes 
too  often,  as  we  all  know,  a  shipwreck  in 
morals.  Are  the  young  Italians  of  to-day, 
whom  no  one  thinks  of  shielding  from  the 
knowledge  of  attacks  on  Christianity, 
morally  purer  and  intellectually  stronger 
than  their  partially-protected  predecessors 
of  the  seventeenth  century  ?  We  are  not 
in  a  position  to  answer  the  question ;  but 

1  Dub.  Rev.,  vol.  Ixix.,  p.  164. 

»  lb.,  p.  162.  3  L'Epinois,  p.  76. 


866  GALILEO 

those  who  believe  that  the  case  is  not  so, 
hut  much  otherwise,  may  well  approve  the 
solicitude  of  the  rulers  of  the  Church  at  the 
former  period  — when  the  repression  of  bad 
books  was  still  possible — to  protect  the 
Christian  faith  of  the  rising  generation  of 
Italians.  Few  Catholics  would  hesitate 
to  say,  even  now,  that  it  would  have  been 
to  the  unspeakable  advantage  of  European 
society  and  individual  souls,  if  the  bad 
book  by  Ren  an  just  adverted  to  had  been 
summarily  suppressed  at  its  birth,  and  the 
writer  imprisoned,  at  least  "  formally." 
Far  be  it  from  us  so  to  disparage  the 
honoured  name  of  Galileo  as  to  suggest  for 
a  moment  that  the  two  cases  are  parallel. 
Galileo  was  a  Christian  all  along,  and 
could  no  more  have  written  the  sentimental 
impieties  of  the  Vie  de  Jesus  than  could 
Urban  VIII.  himself.  Still  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  Pope  and  cardinals — 
besides  thinking  his  personal  behaviour 
censurable,  because  he  had  broken  a  dis- 
tinct promise  and  disregarded  a  solemn 
warning — believed  that  the  interests  of 
religion  required  thatOopernicanism  shoidd 
be  no  otherwise  taught  than  as  a  scientific 
hypothesis.  The  decrees,  it  is  true,  say 
nothing  as  to  a  hypothetical  propounding; 
to  them  the  Copernican  theory  is  simply 
false.  But  this  is  the  usual  style  cf  all 
disciplinary  tribunals.  The  worda  of 
Bellarmine before  quoted  leave  no  doubt  as 
to  the  Church's  mind,  and  an  important  step 
towards  their  realisation  was  taken  when  in 
1757 — the  Newtonian  philosophy  which 
involves  the  centrality  of  the  sun  having 
been  favourably  received  at  Rome — Bene- 
dict XIV.  suspended  the  decree  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Index  above  described.^ 

in.  One  more  question  remains — 
whether  Galileo  was  or  was  not  tortured 
in  the  course  of  his  examination.  It  is 
extremely  painful  to  read  of  torture  being 
even  threatened  to  a  man  so  warmly  loved 
by  a  host  of  friends,  and  to  whom  science 
was  under  such  profound  obligations. 
However,  one  may  feel  reasonably  con- 
fident that  it  was  no  more  than  a  threat. 
M.  I'Epinois  {La  Question  de  Galilee,  p. 
104)  enters  fully  into  the  question,  and 
shows  ( 1 )  that  no  one  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 

^  There  need  be  no  question  as  to  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  Pope  and  cardinals  in  repudiatine^ 
Copernicanism.  So  far  as  was  then  known,  the 
appearances  of  nature  might  be  equally  well  ex- 
plained on  either  theory,  and  Scriptiire  in  its 
obvious  meaning  agreed  with  one  and  not  M'ith 
the  other.  Neither  Bacon,  nor  Tycho  Brahe, 
nor  Descartes,  accepted  the  Copernican  theory-. 
Milton,  in  the  Paradise  Lost,  wavers  between 
the  two  systems.  I 


GALLICANISM 

tury  ever  said  or  thought,  so  far  as  appears, 
that  Galileo  had  been  actually  tortured; 
(ii)that  a  special  "interlocutory  sentence" 
of  the  judge  must  have  been  given  before 
the  application  of  the  tortm-e,  and  that  of 
such  sentence  there  is  no  trace  ;  (3)  that 
even  if  such  sentence  had  been  given, 
Galileo  might  have  legally  appealed  against 
it  on  the  ground  of  age  and  ill-health,  and 
that  his  appeal  must  have  been  allowed. 
For  these  and  several  other  reasons  which 
we  have  not  space  to  analyse,  L'Epinois 
considers  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to 
doubt  that  the  torture,  though  threatened, 
was  not  actually  administered. 

GAIiIilCAM-  IiITUSCrlES.  [See 
Liturgies.] 

GAZ.X.ICAM-ZS»X.  _  The  tendency  to 
enlarge  the  prerogatives  of  a  national 
church— in  the  particular  case,  of  the 
church  of  France— and  to  restrict  pro- 
portionately the  authority  of  the  Holy 
See.  It  was  this  tendency  which  was 
exemplified  alike  in  the  Harlays  and  Le 
Telliers  in  France,  and  the  Gardiners, 
Heaths,  and  Bonners  among  Anglicans. 
The  habit  of  thinking  of  Rome  as  a  power 
to  be  kept  in  check  rather  than  loved  and 
obeyed,  produces  a  desire  to  restrict  its 
authority  in  all  directions,  in  regard  to 
doctrine  no  less  than  discipline.  Hence  a 
secondary  phase  of  Gallicanism  was — the 
tendency  to  exalt  the  authority  cf  a  gene- 
ral council,  and  to  depress  correspondingly 
that  of  the  Pope. 

Gallicanism  in  the  first  sense  is  the 
natural  growth  of  a  state  of  things  in 
which  despotic  kings  and  corrupt  metro- 
politans play  into  each  other's  hands,  in 
order  to  dispose  of  Church  property,  patron- 
age and  influence  as  they  please.  For 
three  hundred  years  after  the  death  of 
Charlemagne,  such  kings  and  such  metro- 
politans were  but  too  common,  both  in 
France  and  Germany.  The  wealth  of 
the  metropolitan  sees  being  very  great, 
princes  used  oft«n  to  contrive  that  their 
brothers  or  their  illegitimate  sons  should 
be  appointed  to  them ;  often,  too,  they 
would  sell  the  nomination  for  a  large  sum  j 
and  in  that  turbulent  age  the  simoniacal 
intruder  was  generally  able  for  many 
years,  perhaps  for  a  lifetime,  to  set  the 
canons  at  nought  and  retain  the  benefice. 
The  bishops,  less  exposed  to  corrupting 
influences  than  the  metropolitans,  main- 
tained discipline  as  well  as  they  could; 
but  episcopal  decisions  were  often  referred 
by  appeal  to  metropolitans,  and  were  re- 
viewed— when  these  had  been  appointed 
in  the  manner  above  described — in    no 


GALLTCANISM 

equitable  or  conscientious  spirit.  A  metro- 
politan decided  a  cause,  perhaps  for  money, 
against  a  bishop  ;  what  was  the  bishop  to 
do  ?  Appeal  to  Rome,  of  course,  whence 
he  might  hope  to  obtain  a  final  and  over- 
riding sentience,  quashing  the  unjust  judg- 
ment of  the  metropolitan.  Against  such 
appeals  the  latter,  and  his  prince  also, 
would  naturally  protest.  Why  should  not 
the  bishop  be  content  with  a  decision  given 
in  the  highest  ecclesiastical  court  in  the 
country,  and  approved  by  the  civil  power? 
Why  should  he  go  to  Rome  ?  Here  we 
have  Gallicanism  at  its  fountain  head. 
The  opposite  view — that  which  makes 
Rome  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all 
churches,  and  persists  in  regarding  her  as 
qualified  to  review  all  causes  and  redress 
all  wrongs  in  matters  ecclesiastical — 
though  sometimes  called  Ultramontane, 
has  been  adopted  by  all  the  saints,  and  all 
clear-sighted  Catholics,  in  every  age  of 
the  Church.  It  comes  out  forcibly  [False 
Deceetals]  in  the  pseudo-Isidorian  com- 
pilation, a  work  of  the  ninth  century,  and 
it  dictated  the  celebrated  Concordat  of 
Worms  (1122),  where  the  right  of  the 
Pope  to  intervene  in  the  appointment  of 
all  bishops  was  distinctly  recognised. 

For  many  generations  those  ecclesias- 
tics in  France  who  desired  to  uphold  the 
royal  power,  and  strengthen  the  preroga- 
tives of  the  national  church,  were  content 
to  appeal  to  the  old  canonical  practice  {usiis 
canonum,ohservantia  juris  antiqui)  against 
what  they  regarded  as  Roman  encroach- 
ments. Gradually — as  a  consequence,  partly 
of  the  contest  between  Boniface  VIII.  and 
Philip  le  Bel,  partly  of  the  declarations 
made  in  the  Councils  of  Constance  and 
Basle — two  principles  began  to  be  enun- 
ciated by  the  national  party :  one,  that  the 
King  of  France  was  absolutely  independent 
of  the  Pope  in  all  temporal  matters  ;  the 
other,  that  the  Papal  power  was  not  abso- 
lute, must  be  exercised  within  the  limits 
of  the  canons,  and  was  inferior  to  that  of 
a  general  council.  By  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction  of  1438,  passed  at  Bourges,  the 
GaUican  church,  in  union  with  the  king, 
adopted  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of 
Basle  abolishing  Papal  reservations  and 
expectatives,  and  restricting  appeals  to 
Rome  to  the  causes  majores.  Many  Popes 
protested  against  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  ; 
but  it  was  maintained  till  the  date  of  the 
concordat  (1516)  between  Leo  X.  and 
Francis  I.,  and  although  it  was  then 
abolished,  several  of  its  provisions  continued 
to  be  in  force.  On  the  whole,  there  was  in 
the  sixteenth  century  a  large  body  of  cus- 


GALLICANISM 


367 


toms  and  privileges,  more  or  less  ancient, 
which  the  courtly  portion  of  the  clergy  de- 
lighted to  speak  of  as  the  ''Galilean  liberties.'* 
A  crisis  came  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Through  the  "arbitrary  extension  by  Louis 
XIV.  of  the  royal  right  called  Regalia  [see 
that  article],  a  collision  occurred  between 
the  Crown  and  two  bishops,  those  of  Aleth 
and  Pamiers.  The  bishops  excommuni- 
cated the  Crown  nominees ;  the  metropoli- 
tans of  Toulouse  and  Narbonne,  on  being 
appealed  to,  cancelled  the  sentences  of  the 
bishops ;  these  last  then  appealed  to  Rome, 
and  Innocent  XI.  annulled  the  decisions 
of  the  metropolitans.  In  these  circum- 
stances an  assembly  of  the  French  clergy 
was  convened.  Bossuet,  just  elected  to 
the  See  of  Meaux,  was  requested  to  preach 
the  opening  sermon:  he  delivered  the 
celebrated  discourse  "On  the  Unity  of  the 
Church;"  concerning  which  there  is  nothing 
more  remarkable  than  that  the  man  who 
defended  so  eloquendy  the  rights  of  the 
chair  of  Peter  should  a  few  days  after- 
wards sign  the  GaUican  Articles. 

These  Articles,  four  in  number,  were 
drawn  up  in  March  1682,  and  are  to  the 
following  effect : — 

The  first  denied  that  Peter  and  his 
successors  had  received  any  power  from 
God  extending  to  civil  and  temporal  aflairs, 
declared  that  kings  were  subject  to  no 
ecclesiastical  power  in  temporals,  and 
denied  the  deposing  power  of  the  Pope. 
[DEiPOsiifG  Power.] 

The  second  ratifies  the  third  and  fourth 
sessions  of  the  Council  of  Constance  [see 
that  article]  concerning  the  authority  of 
the  council  relatively  to  that  of  the  Pope, 
and  denies  that  these  sessions  refer  only  to 
the  time  of  the  schism. 

The  third  asserts  the  force  and  validity 
of  the  laws,  customs,  and  constitutions 
of  the  realm  and  of  the  GaUican  church. 

The  fourth  is  as  follows :  "  The  Pope 
has  the  principal  share  in  questions  of 
faith  ;  his  decrees  regard  all  the  churches 
and  each  church  in  particular ;  neverthe- 
less hisjudgment  is  not  irreformable,  unless 
the  consent  of  the  Church  be  added."  ^ 

The  question  of  the  Regalia  fell  into 
the  background,  after  the  publication  of 
the  Articles  of  1682  ;  besides,  the  bishops 
would  not  oppose  the  Court,  and  the  Pope 
could  not  successfully  vindicate  the  rights 
of  the  French  church  without  some  help 

*  It  is  scarcely  necessarj'  to  remark,  that  to 
adhere  to  this  last  proposition  of  the  fourth 
article,  since  the  promulgation  of  the  constitu- 
tion Bomanum  Pontificem  at  the  Vatican  Coun- 
cil, would  amount  to  formal  heresy. 


868 


GALLICANISM 


from  its  leaders.  It  will  be  observed  that 
the  two  tendencies  of  Gallicanisui — that 
which  would  limit  the  action  of  Rome  in 
discipline,  and  that  which  would  place  its 
authority  below  that  of  a  general  council 
in  doctrine — were  both  broadly  affirmed  in 
these  articles.  The  Spanish,  Flemish,  and 
Italian  clerjry  repudiated  them ;  Alexander 
VIII.  (1690)  pronounced  them  null  and 
void ;  Clement  IX.  (1716),  and  afterwards 
Pius  VI.  renewed  the  condemnation. 
Louis  XIV.  withdrew  in  1692  the  edict 
by  which  he  had  approved  the  four 
articles ;  but  he  did  so,  not  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  condemned  by  the  Holy 
See,  and  unsafe  for  Christians  to  hold,  but 
because  the  particular  conjunction  of 
affairs  which  gave  rise  to  them  had  passed 
away. 

far  from  ushering  in  a  period  of 
greater  freedom  for  the  French  church, 
the  declaration  of  1682  was  merely  another 
link  in  the  chain  vhich  politicians  and 
lawyers  had  long  been  forging,  for  the 
enslavement  of  the  Church  to  the  laity. 
Fenelon  wrote :  "  In  practice  the  King  of 
France  is  more  the  head  of  the  Church 
than  the  Pope.  Liberty  towards  the  Pope : 
servitude  towards  the  king.  The  king's 
power  over  the  Church  has  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  civil  tribunals.  Laymen 
lord  it  over  the  bishops.  Secular  judges 
go  so  far  as  to  examine  even  those  Papal 
bulls  which  relate  only  to  matters  of  faith." 
Jansenism,  in  so  far  as  it  fostered  in- 
subordination towards  the  Holy  See, 
co-operated  with  GaUicanism.  When  the 
Revolution  came,  and  the  doctrinaires  of 
the  Convention  produced  the  Civil  Con- 
stitution of  the  Clergy  (see  that  article), 
they  were  only  pushing  the  worst  side  of 
Gallicanism  to  its  logical  outcome.  But 
the  great  majority  of  the  French  clergy 
saw  and  recoiled  from  the  snare,  and  from 
the  day  that  they  did  so  Gallicanism  was 
doomed.  In  our  own  day,  there  has,  in- 
deed, been  a  party  among  the  French  clergy 
which  has  been  less  Ultramontane  than 
the  rest;  hence  the  "inopportunist*'  oppo- 
sition at  the  Vatican  Council.  But  the 
definition  of  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope 
has  made  the  doctrinal  basis  of  Gallican- 
ism ibrmal  heresy ;  and  the  breach  made 
by  the  revolution  in  the  ecclesiastical  tra- 
ditions of  France,  the  suppression  of  the 
old  tribunals,  and  the  generally  deepened 
apprehension  in  Catholic  society  of  the 
rights  and  divinely  founded  authority  of 
the  Papacy,  combine  to  render  it  unlikely 
that  even  the  Galilean  temper,  in  relation 
to  the  supreme  ecclesiastical  authority  on 


GENERAL 

the  one  hard  and  the  civil  power  on  the 
other,  will  ever  reappear  on  any  lai^e 
scale  in  the  Church. 

GAITGRA,     COVXrCIXi     OF.       We 

possess  the  twenty-one  canons  of  this 
council,  which  was  held  at  Gangra,  the 
capital  of  Paphlagonia,  but  its  precise  date 
is  unknown.  The  chief  intention  of  the 
canons  is  that  of  condemning  the  false 
asceticism  of  Eustathius  of  Sebaste,  or 
rather  of  his  followers  [pee  Eustathiaks] 
Eustathius  no  longer  held  the  See  of 
Sebaste  in  380,  and  some  have  thought 
that  he  was  deposed  by  this  Council  of 
Gangra ;  if  that  were  so,  its  date  would 
probably  be  379  or  380 — not  earlier,  be- 
cause St.  Basil,  who  died  in  379,  makes  no 
mention  of  it.  It  anathematises  those 
who  out  of  spiritual  pride  and  a  false  con- 
ception of  purity  blamed  marriage,  and 
despised  those  who  were  married ;  at  the 
same  time  it  guards  itself  from  being  sup- 
posed not  to  honour  and  admire  virginity 
and  continence,  when  embraced  with 
humility  and  charity.  (Fleury,  "  Hist,  du 
Christ."  Book  xvii. ;  Smith  and  Wace, 
"Christian  Biography,"  art.  Eustathius.) 
GEHEN-STA.  [See  Hell.] 
GEXTERillb  (of  an  Order).  From  the 
foundation  of  the  orders  of  friars  it 
became  usual  for  religious  orders  and 
congregations  of  men  to  be  under  the 
rule  of  a  general  superior,  usually  elected 
in  general  chapter  for  three  years,  or  some 
other  fixed  term.  In  the  Society  of  Jesus 
the  general  is  elected  for  life.  The  Bene- 
dictine order,  as  such,  is  not  governed  by 
a  general ;  but  a  precedency  of  rank  is 
accorded  to  the  abbot  of  Monte  Cassino, 
who  is  styled  "  Abbas  abbatum."  Most, 
if  not  all,  of  the  congregations  that  have 
sprung  from  the  Benedictine  order,  or 
grown  up  within  it  {e.g.  the  orders  of 
Oluny  and  Citeaux,  and  the  congregation 
of  St.  Maur),  have  established  generalates. 
In  such  cases,  the  general  has  been 
usually  the  abbot  of  the  mother  house, 
as  at  Cluuy ;  hence  the  title  "  Abbas 
generalis." 

The  prelates  of  regular  orders  enjoy 
special  powers  and  privileges.  A  gen- 
eral has  ordinary  spiritual  jurisdiction 
over  his  subjects  in  utroque  foro.  Gener- 
als and  provincials  have  the  same  power 
of  absolution  in  reserved  cases,  in  rela- 
tion to  their  subjects,  which  bishops  have 
in  relation  to  their  diocesans.  Generals 
can  reserve  to  themselves  eleven  cases 
(specified  in  the  decree  of  Clement  VIII., 
1593),  but  not  more,  without  the  consent 
of  the  chapter  general.   Although  neither 


GENERAL  CONFESSION 

abbots  nor  superiors  of  orders  were  sum- 
moned to  the  first  six  general  councils, 
yet  from  the  date  of  the  seventh  onwards, 
exemptions  from  episcopal  control  having 
been  freely  granted  to  religious  orders  by 
the  Holy  See,  the  custom  was  gradually 
established  that,  not  only  abbots  with 
quasi-episcopal  jurisdiction,  but  also  the 
generals  of  orders,  "should  be  present  at 
a  general  synod  as  judges,  and  subscribe 
its  decrees,  having  a  decisive  vote,  and 
the  right  of  defining.''^  Seven  generals 
of  religious  orders  subscribed  the  decrees 
of  Trent. 

■  These  powers  and  privileges  of  regu- 
lar prelates  are  shared  in  part  by  the 
Superiors  General  of  regular  and  secular 
clerks,  such  as  the  Theatines,  Barnabites, 
Redemptorists,  Passionists,  &c.  Several 
modern  congregations  of  women  have 
also  general  superiors,  but  their  canonical 
position  is  of  course  quite  different. 

Generals  are  forbidden  by  the  law  to 
enter  without  necessity  the  convents  of 
nuns  subject  to  them ;  their  visitations 
of  such  convents  are,  as  a  rule,  to  be 
made  not  oftener  than  once  a  year.  Nor 
can  they  hear  the  confessions  of  sudh 
nuns  without  the  approbation  of  the 
"bishop.  Nor  can  they,  on  pain  of  excom- 
munication, grant  any  office  or  dignity, 
or  remit  any  punishment,  to  one  of  their 
subjects  at  the  instance  of  any  person 
outside  the  order,  whatever  the  rank  of 
that  person  may  be. 

(Ferraris,  Regularis  Prcclatus,  Relig. 
Jiegidai-es  ;  Tamburinus,  "  De  Jure  Abba- 
tum,"  Rome,  1G29.) 

GENERAI.  COXTFSISSZOir.  A 
confession  of  sins  committed  by  the  peni- 
tent since  baptism,  so  far  as  they  can  be 
remembered.  Such  a  confession  is  of 
course  necessary  in  the  case  of  those  who 
have  made  no  previous  confession,  or  whose 
previous  confessions  have  been  invalid — e.f/. 
because  they  wilfully  concealed  a  mortal 
sin  or  were  wantiug  in  true  and  supernatu- 
ral sorrow.  It  is  advisable  if  the  validity 
of  the  past  confessions  is  very  doubtful. 
But  sometimes  persons  repeat  in  a  general 
confession  sins  for  which  they  have  al- 
ready received  absolution,  although  there  is 
no  reason  to  consider  this  absolution  inva- 
lid. Moral  theologians  and  ascetical  writers 
admit  the  utility  of  this  practice  in  certain 
cases.  Thus  a  person  may  reasonably  desire 
to  make  such  a  confession  in  order  to  obtain 
direction  when  he  proposes  to  enter  on  a 
new  state  of  life;  or,  again,  to  acquire  deeper 
humility  and  a  better  knowledge  of  him- 
1  Tamburinus,  i.  SG8. 


GHOST  369 

self.  Hence  it  is  common  to  make  a  gene- 
ral confession  before  first  communion,  or- 
dination, religious  profession,  &c.  But 
the  practice  of  frequently  making  general 
confessions  leads  to  great  loss  of  time,  oc- 
casions scruples,  and  is  strongly  discouraged 
by  spiritual  authors  and  prudent  confessors. 

GENUFZ.SXIOIO'  (the  bending  of  the 
knee)  is  a  natural  sign  of  adoration  or  re- 
verence. It  is  frequently  used  in  the 
ritual  of  the  Church.  Thus  the  faithful 
genuflect  in  passing  before  the  tabernacle 
where  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  reserved ; 
the  priest  repeatedly  genuflects  at  Mass  in 
adoration  of  the  Eucharist,  also  at  the 
mention  of  the  Incarnation  in  the  Creed, 
&c.  Genuflexion  is  also  made  as  a  sign  of 
profound  respect  before  a  bishop  on  cer- 
tain occasions.  A  double  genuflexion — i.e. 
one  on  both  knees — is  made  on  entering  or 
leaving  a  church,  where  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment is  exposed. 

The  early  Christians  prayed  standing 
on  Sundays,  and  from  Easter  till  Pente- 
cost, and  only  bent  the  knee  in  sign  of 
penance  ;  hence  a  class  of  penitents  were 
known  as  Genuflectentes.  A  relic  of  this 
penitential  use  of  genuflection  survives, 
according  to  Gavautus  (P.  I.  tit.  16;,  in  the 
practice  enjoined  by  the  rubric  of  genu- 
flecting at  the  verse  "  Adjuva  nos,"  in  the 
Tract  of  Masses  during  Lent. 

GHOST.  Among  the  ancient  Greeks, 
Romans,  and  Germans,  the  bel>:ef  in  appa- 
ritions of  departed  spirits  was  widely 
spread.  In  the  Old  Testament  there  are 
many  allusions  to  necromancers,  who 
professed  to  summon  up  the  spirits  of  the 
dead ;  and  possibly  in  1  Reg.  xxviii.  7,  we 
have  the  account  of  a  real  apparition. 
Some  of  the  Fathers  {e.ff.  Justin  and  Origen) 
suppose  that  Samuel's  ghost  really  did 
appear  to  Saul  when  he  consulted  the  witch 
of  Endor ;  others  {e.g.  TertuUian  and 
Jerome)  regard  tbe  supposed  appearance  of 
Samuel's  spirit  as  a  diabolical  imposture. 
Many  apparitions  of  saints  after  death  are 
recorded  in  the  history  of  the  Church. 

The  theological  principles  on  the 
matter  are  stated  by  St.  Thomas,  "  Summ." 
Supp.  qu.  69,  a.  3.  According  to  the 
natural  course  of  things,  no  soul  can  leave 
heaven  or  hell,  even  for  a  time,  or  quit 
purgatory  till  its  purification  is  completed. 
But  God  may  permit  departed  souls  to 
appear  on  earth  for  many  wise  reasons — 
e.g.  that  the  saints  may  help  men ;  that 
the  sight  of  lost  souls  may  warn  them; 
that  the  spirits  in  purgatory  may  obtain 
prayers.  St.  Thomas  even  thinks  that 
God  has  communicated  to  the  saints  a 


870 


GHOST,  HOLY 


permanent  power  of  appearing  on  earth 
wlien  they  please. 

GHOST,  HOXiY.  [See  Tbinity  and 
Macedonism.] 

GZX.DS,  GVITmUS  (A.-S.  gildan,  to 
pay).  The  history  of  the  word  is  obscure  ; 
in  the  Anglo-Saxon  poems  inscribed  to 
Oaedmon — Genesis  and  Daniel — gild  or 
gyld  is  used  in  the  sense  of  "  sacrifice/' 
and  also  of  "  idol."  Among  the  Teutons 
of  the  north  its  original  meaning  is  said 
to  have  been  "  sacrificial  feast."  ^  Yet  so 
early  as  the  time  of  Ina  it  is  used  in  one 
of  the  three  allied  senses  attached  to  it  by 
Christian  civilisation — namely,  that  of  a 
society  of  contributing  members  associated 
for  mutual  help  and  assurance.  By  the 
laws  of  Ina,  no  were,  or  compensation  for 
blood,  was  due  to  the  guildsmen  {geggld- 
an)  of  a  stranger,  whom  some  one 
might  have  slain  in  the  honest  belief  that 
he  was  a  robber.'^  At  a  later  period  we 
meet  with  these  Frith-gilds  under  the 
names  of  FHth-borg  and  Frank-pledge, 
when  their  relation  to  the  existing  system 
of  public  justice,  and  responsibility  for 
the  good  conduct  of  their  members,  is  the 
single  point  in  their  association  considered. 
The  passages  in  the  Laws  of  Ina  which 
mention  gegyldan,  if  carefully  weighed, 
seem  to  point  to  a  general  system  of  as- 
sociation, for  the  exacting  and  payment 
of  were-gilds  due  from,  or  in  respect  of 
any  of  the  members,  which  was  probably 
common  to  all  Teutonic  communities,  and 
dated  back  to  the  times  of  paganism.  The 
conjuratores  of  the  Salic  and  Ripuarian 
laws  may  be  regarded  as  the  Frankish 
equivalent  to  the  gegyldan  of  Ina.^  On 
this  ancient  foundation  were  grafted  the 
religious  rites  and  kindly  customs,  gradu- 
ally developed  in  a  hundred  beautiful 
ways,  of  the  mediaeval  Gilds,  which  in  no 
country  of  Europe  flourished  so  much  as 
in  England. 

The  geldonice  or  confratrice  of  the 
Carolingian  times  [Conpraterstity]  were 
gilds  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  but  the 
imperial  legislation  discountenanced  them, 
and  their  precise  rules  and  constitution 
are  little  known.  The  first  extant  char- 
ter of  a  gild  is  that  by  which  in  the 
reign  of  Canute,  Orcy  gives  the  guild-hall 
{gegyld-healle)  at  Abbotsbury  in  Dorset, 
"  for  God's  love  and  St.  Peter's,"  to  the 
gyklscipe  of  the  place.'*  Every  guildsman 
Xgegylda)     was  to   pay   annually,   three 

1  Brentano ;  see  end  of  art. 

2  Leges  InsB,  21. 

5  Guizot,  Civilisation  en  France,  lect.  ix.  x. 
*  Kemble,  Cod.  Dipl.  942. 


GILDS,  GUILDS 

days  before  St.  Peter's  Mass,  one  pemij, 
or  a  pennyworth  of  wax.  On  the  eve  of 
the  feast  every  two  guildsmen  were  to 
bring  one  large  loaf,  well  sifted  and  raised, 
for  the  common  almsgiving.  Five  weeks 
before  the  same  festival  each  member  had 
to  bring  a  measure  of  clean  wheat,  and 
within  three  days  afterwards,  a  load  of 
wood.  On  the  death  of  any  member, 
each  of  his  fellows  was  to  pay  "one 
penny  at  the  corpse  for  the  soul.''  These 
were  the  "Mass-pence,"  of  which  we  hear 
so  much  in  later  times.  Other  rules  pro- 
vided for  an  annual  feast,,  for  almsgiving, 
the  nursing  of  sick  members,  the  decent 
burial  of  the  dead,  &c.  The  ends  of  the 
gild  appear  here  to  be  purely  religious 
and  social ;  yet  in  the  somewhat  later 
charter  of  a  Cambridge  gild,  the  old  prin- 
ciple of  mutual  assurance  against  crime 
and  its  penalties  receives  marked  illustra- 
tion. Gradually  this  feature  disappears, 
and  the  gild  assumes  the  aspect  of  "a 
voluntary  association  of  those  living 
near  together,  who  joined  for  a  common 
purpose,  paying  contributions,  worship- 
ping together,  feasting  together  periodi- 
cally, helping  one  another  in  sickness  and 
poverty,  and  frequently  united  for  the 
pursuit  of  a  special  object,"  ^  usually  ^ 
religious  one.  These  objects  the  gilds 
continued  to  promote  down  to  the  Re- 
formation, when  they  were  destroyed 
and  plundered.^ 

The  Frith  Gilds,  as  we  have  seen, 
came  first  ;  out  of  them  grew  what  some 
have  called  the  Rehgious,  some  the  Social 
Gilds.  In  Norfolk  alone  there  were  909 
gilds  of  this  class.  Out  of  these  pro- 
ceeded in  the  13th  and  14th  centuries,  the 
Trade  Gilds,  divided  into  Gild-mer- 
chants and  Craft-gilds. 

Every  gild  had  its  distinct  livery ; 
hence  the  name  of  the  "Livery  Com- 
panies "  of  London.  Five  of  the  Canter- 
bury pilgrims,  the  Haberdasher,  Carpen- 
ter, Weaver,  &c.,  are  described  as — 

clothed  in  oo  [one]  lyver^ 
Of  a  solempne  and  gret  fraternite, 

or  religious  gild.  The  Craft  Gilds  of  a 
city  would  often  combme  together,  and 
each  undertake  to  represent  one  scene  in 
a  great  religious  drama  or  miracle-play. 

1  Ency.  Brit.  art.  "  Gilds." 

2  Mr.  Toulmin  Smith,  who  looks  with  in- 
dulgence on  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries, 
is  indignant  at  the  spoliation  of  these  lay  in- 
stitutions ;  "  A  case  of  pure  wholesale  robbery 
and  plunder ; "  ...  "  no  page  so  black  in 
English  history,"  &c.  Scc—Eng.  Gilds,  p.  xlii. 


GIRDLE 

Hence  came  the  "  Chester  Plays,"  written 
by  Dan  Randal  of  Chester  Abbey,  and 
exhibited  by  twenty-four  trades  or  craft- 
gilds  of  the  city.^  (See  the  interesting 
volume  "English  Gilds,"  containing  the 
original  ordinances  of  more  than  a  hun- 
dred of  them,  and  edited  by  Mr.  Toulmin 
Smith  for  the  Early  EngUsh  Text  Society 
[1870],  with  a  preface  by  Dr.  Luis  Bren- 
tano.) 

GIRBZ^E  {cingulum,  halteum,  (aivq), 
A  cord  with  which  the  priest  or  other 
cleric  binds  his  alb.  It  is  the  symbol  of 
continence  and  self-restraint,  as  is  said 
by  Innocent  III.,  and  implied  in  the 
prayer  which  the  priest  about  to  celebrate 
Mass  is  directed  to  use  while  he  ties  the 
girdle  round  his  waist.  The  Congregation 
of  Rites  (January  22,  1701)  lays  it  down 
that  the  girdle  should  be  of  linen  rather 
than  of  silk,  though  it  may  also  be 
(S.R.C.,^  December  23,  1862)  of  wool. 
Usually  it  is  white,  but  the  use  of  coloured 
girdles,  varying  with  the  colour  of  the 
vestments,  is  permitted  (S.R.O.,  January 
8,1709). 

As  to  the  orgin  of  the  girdle,  its  use 
was  common  among  Greeks  and  Romans 
in  their  daily  life,  and  thence  took  its 
place,  as  a  matter  of  course,  among  the 
liturgical  vestments ;  but  it  is  not  till 
the  beginning  of  the  middle  ages  that  we 
meet  with  liturgical  girdles  richly  adorned. 
Anastasius,  in  the  ninth  century,  mentions 
murcenulce — i.e.  jewelled  girdles  in  the 
shape  of  lampreys  or  eels.  We  also  read 
of  girdles  variegated  with  gold,  and  of 
others  {zoncp  literatai)  with  letters  or 
words  woven  in.  The  Greek  girdle  is 
shorter- and  broader  than  ours,  and  often 
richly  adorned.  (See  Benedict  XIV. ''  De 
Miss. ; "  Le  Brun ;  Hefele,  "  Beitrage.") 

GZiSBE  {glebd).  Land  permanently 
devoted  to  the  sustentation  of  the  incum- 
bent of  a  particular  parish.  The  word 
(fleha  is  used  for  a  farm  or  estate  in  the 
Theodosian  code.  In  the  body  of  the 
canon  law  it  means  the  land  which,  along 
with  a  house,  constituted  the  ecclesiastical 
mansus  of  right  appertaining  to  a  benefice. 
Mediaeval  charters  present  many  instances 
of  this  use  of  the  word ;  thus  Simon 
Islip,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  a 
charter  dated  about  1360,  says,  "Item 
habebit  vicarius  duas  acras  terrse  arabilis 
de  dote  sibi  de  gleba  ipsius  ecclesiae  juxta 
ipsam  ecclesiam  jacentes  "  (the  vicar  shall 
have  as  his  endowment  two  acres  of 
arable   land   adjoining  the   church,   out 

^  Wright's  Chester  Plays,  edited  for  the 
Shakspere  Society,  1843. 


GLOSSA 


371 


of  the  glebe  of  the  church  itself).*  The 
fee-simple  of  a  glebe  was  in  abeyance; 
the  freehold  was  in  the  incumbent.  A 
glebe  could  not  be  alienated  without  the 
bishop's  permission.  The  canon  law  recog- 
nises only  four  justifying  causes  for  such 
alienation — (1)  necessity,  as  when  the 
church  is  overburdened  with  debt;  (2) 
an  opening  for  an  advantageous  exchange ; 
(3)  to  redeem  captives  or  feed  the  poor 
in  time  of  famine ;  (4)  incommodity — 
e.g.  when  the  land  is  so  far  off  that  its 
produce  cannot  be  gathered  without  great 
expense.     (Ferraris,  Alienatio.) 

GI.ORXA  IIO-  £XCEX.SZ8.  [See 
DOXOLOGT.] 

CZiORiA  PATRI.  [See  Doxologt.] 
GZiOSSil  ORDZIM-ARZA  and  IXT- 
TERIilzo'EARXS.  Originally  the  word 
gloss  (yXaJcra-a)  was  used — e.g.  by  Aristotle 
— to  signify  a  hard  word  in  the  text  of 
an  author,  the  explanation  being  called 
glossema  (yKoio-crrjfxa).  However,  as  early 
at  least  as  Quintilian,  we  find  the  difficult 
word  called  "glossema,"  and  the  inter- 
pretation of  it  "  gloss,'"  and  the  latter  use 
continued  during  the  middle  ages,  and  has 
passed  into  the  languages  of  modern 
Europe.  A  Glossarium  was  distinguished 
from  an  ordinary  lexicon  by  the  fact  that 
it  contained  only  the  difficult  words  of  the 
language.  Hesychius,  an  Alexandi-ian 
grammarian  of  the  fourth  century,  pub- 
lished such  a  Glossarium,  though  he  calls 
it  a  lexicon  in  the  preface.  The  glosses 
which  illustrate  the  language  of  Scripture 
were  collected  by  Ernesti  from  the  works 
of  Hesychius,  Suidas  (an  author  otherwise 
unknown,of  the  tenth  century), Phavorinus 
(an  Italian  Benedictine,  died  1537,  a  pupil 
of  the  Greek  Lascaris),  as  well  as  from 
the  "  Etymologicum  Magnum,"  by  an  un- 
known author  of  the  eleventh  century, 
and  published  at  Leipsic  in  1785-6  under 
the  title  "  Glossae  Sacrse  Hesychii,"  &c. 

There  are  two  celebrated  Glosses  on 
the  Vulgate.  The  former  is  the  "  Glossa 
Ordinaria,"  by  Walafrid  Strabo,  a  German, 
born  in  807.  He  had  some  knowledge  of 
Greek  and  made  use  of  many  Patristic 
authors,  especially  of  Origen,  Augustine, 
Jerome,  Ambrose,  Gregory  the  Great,  Isi- 
dore of  Seville,  Bede,  Alcuin,  Rabanus 
Maurus,  &c.  His  obj  ect  is  to  give  the  literal 
meaning,  though  he  adds  sometimes  the 
mystical,  and  here  and  there  the  moral, 
sense.  This  Gloss  is  quoted  as  a  high  au- 
thority by  St.  Thomas  and  other  school- 
men, and  it  was  known  as  "  the  Tongue  of 
Holy  Scripture."     Indeed,  from  the  niutk 

^  Twysden,  Decern  Script,  p.  2090. 
2 


372 


GLOSSATOR 


GNOSTICISM 


to  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  the  fa- 
vourite commentary  on  the  Bible.  The 
"  Postilla"  of  Nicolas  of  Lyra  (died  1340) 
and  the  "  Additiones  "  of  Paulus  Burgensis 
were  merely  appended  to  it. 

The  second  Gloss,  the  '*  Interlinearis," 
"by  Anselm,  Scholasticus  and  dean  of 
Laon  (died  1117),  derived  its  name  from 
being  written  over  the  words  in  the  Vul- 
gate text.  Anselm  had  some  acquaintance 
with  Hebrew,  as  well  as  with  Greek,  and 
his  Gloss  also  had  a  great  reputation.  Very 
often  the  "  Glossa  ordinaria ''  was  inserted 
in  the  margin,  at  the  top  and  at  the  sides, 
the  Gloss  of  Anselm  wasplaced  between  the 
lines  of  the  Vulgate,  while  from  the  four- 
teenth century  onwards  the  "  Postilla  "  of 
Nicolas  of  Lyra  and  the  ''Additiones"  of 
Paulus  Burgensis  were  placed  at  the  foot 
of  each  page.  A  fine  edition  of  the  Vul- 
gate, "  cum  glossis,  interlineari  et  ordi- 
naria, Nic.  Lyrani  postillis  et  morali- 
tatibus,  Burgensis  additionibus  et  Thuringi 
replicis,"  was  printed  at  Venice  in  1588. 
The  Douay  theologians  published  an  im- 
proved edition  in  1617.  The  last  and 
best  is  that  edited  by  the  Benedictine 
Leander  a  Sto.  Martino,  Antwerp,  1634. 
Each  ot  these  three  editions  is  in  six  folio 
volumes. 

GJtOSSATOa  (a  barbarous  word 
formed  from  the  Greek  ykSxraa,  tongue). 
The  writer  of  a  "  Gloss "  or  explicative 
commentary  on  the  text  of  some  authori- 
tative document,  legal  or  theological. 
The  early  gloss-writers  only  pretended  to 
clear  up  difficulties  connected  with  the 
words  used,  not  those  of  the  subject- 
matter. 

On  the  writers  of  glosses  on  the  Vul- 
gate see  Glossa  Ordinaria.  In  the 
twelfth  century  a  school  of  interpreters 
of  the  Roman  or  civil  law  [Civil  Law] 
arose  at  Bologna.  The  first  of  these, 
Irnerius,  was  a  native  of  that  city ;  besides 
lecturing  on  jurisprudence,  about  1120, 
he  enriched  the  law  books  which  he  used 
with  a  gloss,  or  short  running  iaterpreta- 
tion.  Many  other  jurists  took  up  the 
same  business  of  glossing  the  Roman  law, 
an  occupation  thoroughly  practical  and 
useful  in  an  age  when  politics  and  trade 
and  every  sort  of  civic  activity  flourished 
among  the  free  Italian  commonwealths. 
In  the  next  century  the  celebrated  Accur- 
sius,  or  Accorso,  who,  though  a  native 
of  Florence,  taught  in  the  university  of 
Bologna,  selecting  from  among  the  glossers 
tho-e  whose  works  he  thought  most  suit- 
able for  his  purpose,  compiled  his  great 
"  Corpus  Juris  Glossatum,"  in  which,  with 


gi*eat  acuteness  and  extraordinary  ac- 
quaintance with  the  whole  body  of 
Justinianian  law,  he  labours  to  solve 
difficulties  and  reconcile  apparent  incon- 
sistencies. Accursius  died  in  1260.  "His 
great  compilation,"  says  Hallam,  ''  made 
an  epoch  in  the  annals  of  jurisprudence. 
It  put  an  end  in  great  measure  to  the 
oral  explanations  of  lecturers,  which  had 
prevailed  before.  It  restrained  at  the 
same  time  the  ingenuity  of  interpretation. 
The  glossers  became  the  sole  authorities, 
so  that  it  grew  into  a  maxim — No  one 
can  go  wrong  who  follows  a  gloss ;  and 
some  said,  a  gloss  was  worth  a  hundred 
texts."  Yet  the  writings  of  Accursius 
and  his  forerunners  are  full  of  ridiculous 
philological  and  historical  blunders  (such 
as  deriving  "  Tiber  "  from  '"  Til^erius ;" 
supposing  that  Justinian  lived  before 
Christ,  &c.),  which,  though  they  have 
little  to  do  with  their  value  as  jurists, 
appear  to  have  been  the  cause  why,  after 
the  revival  of  learning,  they  were  so  much 
discredited.  In  the  fourteenth  century, 
Bartolus  and  Paul  of  Castro  rose  to  emi- 
nence as  leaders  among  the  "  scholastic 
jurists ;  "  they  were  thinkers  of  great 
power,  who  invented  innumerable  dis- 
tinctions, and  imagined  and  solved  every 
sort  of  case  which  the  law-text  suggested. 
After  the  publication  of  the  "  Decretum " 
of  Gratian,  gloss-writers  began  to  deal 
with  the  canon  law  as  they  had  with  the 
civil,  the  great  object  always  being  to 
make  it  consistent  with  itself,  and  work- 
able in  the  courts.  The  glosser  Pauco- 
palea  gave  his  name  to  the  well-known 
gloss  or  commentary,  called  Palea.  The 
Decretals  were  glossed,  among  others,  by 
Sinibaldi  Fieschi,  afterwards  Innocent 
IV.  Andrea  did  the  same  service  for  the 
Sext,  and  Zabarella  for  the  Clementines. 
Of  all  these  early  jurists  and  their  writ- 
ings, a  connected  account  was  given  by 
Pancirolo  (f  1599)  in  his  "  De  Claris  Juris 
Interpretibus."  (HaUam,"  Lit.  of  Europe," 
Part  I.,  ch.  i. ;  Rosshu't,  in  Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

GMTOSTZCXSnx  {yvuxris)  is  a  name 
given  to  the  doctrine  held  by  a  large  num- 
ber of  sects  which  flourished  towards  the 
close  of  the  first  and  during  the  whole  of 
the  second  century  after  Christ.  These 
bodies  differed  from  each  other  in  many 
important  respects,  but  the  words  Gnostic 
and  Gnosticism  indicate  the  common  cha- 
racteristic which  united  them  in  a  certain 
sense  to  each  other,  and  mark  the  common 
principle  of  their  opposition  to  the  Catho- 
lic Church.    In  itself,  of  coui'se,  yvoiais,  or 


GNOSTICISM 

Gnosticism,  means  no  more  than  "  know- 
ledge," but  even  in  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul 
(1  Cor.  xii.  8,  xiv.  6)  it  begins  to  acquire 
a  technical  significance,  and  implies  a 
peculiar  iusight  into  the  depths  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine.  St.  Clement  of  Rome 
(1  Ep.  36  and  40),  the  author  of  the 
Epistle  ascribed  to  St.  Barnabas  (c.  2), 
and  St.  Justin  Martyr  ("  Dial.  c.  Try  ph." 
c.  112),  use  yvQiais  to  describe  the  gift  of 
understanding  the  Old  Testament  typo- 
logy; and  of  these  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas 
expressly  distinguishes  between  faith  and 
"  knowledge."  It  is  the  object  of  the 
letter  to  assist  Christians  in  adding  to 
"  faith  perfect  knowledge  {yvcjatv)."  Cle- 
ment of  Alexandria  gives  tlie  word 
yvaxTLs,  or  knowledge,  and  its  derivative 
yvaxTTiKos,  or  Gnostic,  a  still  more  special 
and  technical  meaning.  The  greatest  of 
his  extant  works  is  meant  to  show  that  a 
Christian  may  do  more  than  believe  and 
keep  the  commandments.  Beyond  the 
"  ordinary  faith,"  he  says,  we  may  reach 
by  instruction  and  the  perfect  observance 
of  God's  law  a  knowledge  ^  which  is 
"  the  perfection  of  man  as  man."  ^  The 
"  Gnostic  "  is  his  ideal  Christian.  He  is 
free  from  the  disturbance  of  passion,' 
contemplates  divine  things,"*  knows  truth 
with  a  peculiar  accuracy,^  and  can 
**■  demonstrate "  the  things  received  by 
faith.®  He  can  penetrate  the  hidden 
meanings  of  Scripture,'  and  use  all 
sciences  as  a  means  of  raising  bis  mind  to 
God.  He  uses  learning  as  a  means  of 
confuting  error,  and  conveying  to  others 
exact  notions  of  the  truth.^  He  is  the 
champion  of  "  true  and  orthodox  know- 
ledge,"^ to  which  faith  is  as  needful  as 
air  to  natural  life,^^  and  which  is  never 
separate  from  the  practice  of  Christian 
virtue.^  ^ 

So  far,  it  is  plain,  the  esteem  for  supe- 
rior knowledge  is  consistent  with  a  loyal 
adherence  to  Christianity ;  it  was  the 
fruit  of  reason  exercising  itself  on  the 
things  of  faith,  and  it  grew,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  with  the  growth  and  progress 
of  the  Church.     But  this  holds  good  only 

I   Strom.  V.  1,  p.  644. 
3  Ibid.  vii.  10,  p.  864. 

3  Ibid.  iv.  6,  p.  581 ;  vi.  9,  p.  775. 

4  Ibid.  vii.  11,  p.  867. 

5  Ibid.  vii.  16,  p.  891. 

6  Ibid.  vii.  10,  p.  865. 

7  Ibid.  v.  9,  p.  680. 

8  Ibid.  vi.  10,  pp.  780-1. 

»  Ibid.  vi.   16,  p.  816.     tvv  oAjj^i^  <ai  hcK\rf- 

10  Ibid.  ii.  6,  p.  445. 
"  Ibid,  ii.  10,  p.  446. 


GNOSTICISM 


378 


of  the  knowledge  which  starts  with  an 
acceptance  of  revealed  truth.  The  spirit 
of  speculative  inquiry  may  strike  into 
another  path.  Reason  may  set  itself 
above  faith  ;  it  may  criticise  and  alter  the 
contents  of  revelation,  till  it  comes  to 
look  on  faith  as  a  gift  for  the  simple, 
with  which  a  man  of  cultivated  mind 
may  dispense.  This  was  the  line 
which  heathen  philosophers  had  taken 
with  the  popular  mythology  :  they  were 
far  from  denying  that  it  contained  some 
measure  of  truth  ;  nay,  they  thought  it 
necessary  for  the  multitude,  who  were  un- 
able to  receive  truth  in  its  pure  and 
philosophic  form.  Now,  the  allegorical 
method  of  interpretation  which  was  asso- 
ciated to  some  extent  with  this  superior 
knowledge  among  Christians  was  very 
apt  to  be  perverted  till  it  led  to  a  false 
and  heretical  assumption  of  knowledge. 
It  was  by  this  very  method  that  the 
philosophers  had  refined  the  gross  notions 
of  popidar  heathenism.  Philo,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  era,  had  chosen 
the  same  expedient  for  adapting  Judaism 
to  Greek  philosophy.  Even  in  the 
"Epistle  of  Barnabas"  we  may  dis- 
cover the  germs  of  this  dangerous  ten- 
dency, for  the  author,  not  content  with 
giving  a  typical  sense  to  the  ceremonial 
precepts  of  the  old  law,  denies  that  they 
ever  bound  in  their  literal  meaning  at  all.^ 
Only  one  step  was  wanting  to  turn 
this  "  higher  knowledge  "  into  the  formal 
principle  of  heresy.  Let  the  allegorical 
interpretation  be  applied  to  the  New 
Testament,  and  let  its  literal  sense  be  put 
aside  as  false  or  worthless,  and  then, 
under  the  plea  of  higher  knowledge, 
Christianity  might  be  changed  at  will. 
A  man  had  but  to  suppose  himself  pos- 
sessed of  this  higher  gift,,  and  then,  on  the 
plea  of  allegorising,  he  might  explain  away 
every  fact  and  doctrine  in  the  traditional 
belief.  Nor  need  lie  even  trouble  himself 
about  explaining  it  away.  He  might,  in 
the  confidence  of  his  insight  into  higher 
truth,  distinguish  between  elements  of 
truth  and  falsehood  in  the  received  doc- 
trine ;  he  might  mutilate  the  text  of  the 
Gospels  ;  he  might  mix  tenets  borrowed 
from  the  heathen  philosophy  or  reli<rions 
with  Christianity ;  he  might  end  by 
treating  the  moral  law  as  he  had  treated 
Christian  doctrine,  and  invent  a  new  code 
of  ethics.  All  this  he  might  do,  and  all 
this  the  Gnostics  actually  did.  In  fact, 
when  the  way  was  once  opened,  the 
motives  for  pressing  into  it  were  strong 
1  Vid.  e.g.  cc  4,  9, 10. 


374 


GNOSTICISM 


GNOSTICISM 


enough.  The  age  of  the  Gnostics  was 
eager  for  novelties  in  religion,  and  addicted 
to  fantastic  superstitions.  It  was  the 
fashion  of  the  time  to  mingle  philosophy, 
mytholog}',  and  magic.  There  was  the 
more  inducement  to  amend  Christianity 
by  the  introduction  of  foreign  elements, 
because,  while  it  showed  a  life  and  power 
to  which  neither  philosophy  nor  heathen- 
ism Could  pretend,  its  teaching  on  creation 
out  of  nothing,  on  the  resurrection  of  the 
body,  on  salvation  through  the  sufferings 
and  death  of  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  ran 
counter  to  ever}^  prejudice  of  the  heathen 
world.  There  was  not  a  sect  among  all 
the  countle-ss  sects  of  Gnosticism  which 
did  not  deny  each  one  of  these  doctrines. 
Above  all,  the  central  idea  of  Gnosticism 
made  it  welcome  to  many  who  were  half- 
converted  from  heathenism.  It  was  a 
knowledge  superior  to  and  independent 
of  faith.  Faith  was  for  the  multitude, 
knowledge  for  the  few.  The  aristocratic 
instinct  which  was  the  very  soul  of  Greek 
and  Roman  culture  revolted  at  the 
authority  of  a  Church  which  imposed  the 
same  belief  on  all,  and  exacted  the  same 
submission  from  the  philosopher  and  the 
barbarian  slave.  In  a  system  of  com- 
promise, like  Gnosticism,  it  escaped  from 
this  ignominy. 

Such,  then,  was  the  nature  of  Gnosti- 
cism. It  was  a  false  knowledge  which 
threw  off  the  trammels  of  faith  and  eccle- 
siastical authority.  It  subjected  every- 
thing, as  St.  Irenseus  ^  declares,  to  the 
caprice  of  the  individual,  and  made  any 
fixed  rule  of  faith  impossible.  It  "  aban- 
doned the  faith  which  the  Church  pro- 
claimed, and  cavilled  at  the  simplicity  of 
the  holy  presbyters."'^  It  destroyed,  as 
Clement  puts  it,  the  efficacy  of  baptism  ^ — 
that  is,  it  set  at  naught  faith,  the  gift 
conferred  in  that  sacrament.  The  Gnostic 
professed  to  impart  a  knowledge  "  greater 
and  deeper  "  *  than  the  ordinary  doctrine 
of  Christians,  a  knowledge  which  forgot 
the  limits  of  reason  and  scorned  to  believe 
what  it  could  not  understand.^  This 
knowledge,  to  those  who  were  capable  of 
it,  was  tlie  means  of  redemption  ;  indeed, 
in  most  of  the  Gnostic  systems  it  was  the 
one  and  sufficient  passport  to  perfect  bliss.* 

»  Adv.  Hser.  ii.  27,  1. 

s  Iren.  v.  20.  2. 

3  Strom,  ii  3,  pp.  443-4. 

*  Iren.  i.  31,  3.  5  jbid.  ii.  28,  2. 

8  We  have  explicit  evidence  on  this  point 
with  regard  to  most  of  the  Gnostic  systems. 
Thus  see,  for  the  Naasscni,  PJdlosophumena  (ed. 
Duncker  and  Schneidewin,  v.  8,  p.  162)  ;  for  the 
Perata,  v.  17,  p.  196 ;  for  the  Sethians,  v.  21, 


It  is,  however,  important  to  observe  that 
Gnosticism  was  not  a  philosophy.  True, 
it  was  as  unfettered  and  unstable  as  any 
philosophy  could  be,  and  it  addressed  itself 
to  the  same  kind  of  questions.  But  it 
kept  the  semblance  of  Christianity,  for  in 
nearly  all  the  Gnostic  systems  Christ 
occupied  a  central  place,  and,  as  a  rule. 
Gnosticism  answered  the  speculative  ques- 
tions which  it  raised,  not  m  the  abstract 
language  of  metaphysics,  but  by  the  in- 
vention of  an  elaborate  mythology. 
Without  its  Christian  elements  it  could 
not  have  entered  into  such  close  conflict 
with  the  Church  ;  without  its  mythological 
garb,  it  would  have  missed  the  popularity 
which  made  it  dangerous. 

It  was  in  the  East  that  Gnosticism 
began,  and  in  its  rudimentary  form  it 
appears  very  early  in  the  history  of  the 
Church.  The  Fathers  in  the  latter  half 
of  the  second  century  speak  of  Simon 
Magus  as  the  first  Gnostic.  Both  Simon 
and  his  successor,  Menander,  were  Sa- 
maritans ^ ;  while  Saturninus,  the  disciple 
of  the  latter,  taught  at  Antioch  in  the 
time  of  Hadrian  (117-138).2  All  three 
taught  that  the  world  was  made  by 
inferior  powers  more  or  less  in  antagonism 
with  the  supreme  God.  Either  the 
highest  God,  or  else  some  seen  (a  name 
the  Gnostics  gave  the  spiritual  beings 
who  play  so  large  a  part  in  their 
systems),  appeared  on  the  earth  in  the 
person  of  Christ  and  redeemed  man  by 
the  "  knowledge "  He  gave  from  the 
dominion  of  matter  and  of  the  angels  who 
ruled  the  world.  Menander,  however, 
made  important  contributions  to  the 
development  of  Gnosticism.  He  was  at 
least  more  emphatic  than  his  predecessors 
in  denying  that  Christ  took  a  real  body 
or  degraded  Himself  by  contact  with  the 
impurity  of  matter.  Further,  he  main- 
tained that  the  angels  had  made  two  kinds 
of  men,  our  Saviour  having  come  that 
He  might  overcome  the  evil  men  and  the 
demons  who  helped  them,  and  might 
save  the  good.^ 

There  were  two  other  forms  which 
Gnosticism  assumed  while  still  on  Asiatic 
soil.  Whereas  Simon  Magus  attributed 
the  Hebrew  prophecies  to  the  inspiration 

p.  212  ;  for  the  Gnostic  Justinus,  v.  24,  p.  216  ; 
for  the  Marcosians,  vi.  52,  p.  336  ;  for  the  Ba- 
silidians,  vii.  27,  pp  374-6 ;  for  the  Valen- 
tinians,  Iren.  i.  6, 1. 

^  Justin,  1  Apol.  26.  On  the  connection  of 
the  three  heresiarchs,  see  Iren.  i.  23,  5  seq. 

3  Euseb.  U.  E.  iv.  7.  Theodoret,  Haer, 
Fab.  1,  2. 

3  Iren.  i.  24,  2. 


GNOSTICISM 

of  the  same  lower  powers  which  had 
made  the  world,  and  ttaturninus  held  that 
the  Saviour  descended  to  destroy  the  god 
of  the  Jews  ;  yet  Cerinthus,  a  contempo- 
rary of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  and  the 
Gnostics  who  are  denounced  in  the 
Ignatian  epistles,  united  a  leaning  to 
Judaism  with  their  Gnostic  speculations. 
With  strange  inconsistency  they  advo- 
cated Jewish  rites  and  denied  the  funda- 
mental doctrine  of  Judaism — viz.  the 
unity  of  God.^  Besides  those  Judaising 
Gnostics,  we  find  a  cluster  of  Oriental  sects, 
known  as  Ophites,  or  worshippers  of  the 
serpent.  They  betray  their  Eastern  origin 
by  the  use  they  make  of  Chaldee  names, 
and  it  is  generally  supposed  that  they 
represent  one  of  the  oldest  varieties  of 
Gnosticism.  To  them  belonged  the 
Naasseni  (from  the  Hebrew  word  for 
serpent),  the  first  of  those  "  who  dared 
to  celebrate  with  hymns  the  serpent 
which  was  the  cause  of  transgression," 
and  boasted  that  they  "  knew  the  depth  " 
of  truth :  ^  the  Peratae,  who  professed  to 
impart  the  secret  by  which  the  initiated 
could  "pass  through  the  corruption"  of 
matter.^  If  we  inquire  what  was  meant 
by  this  mysterious  knowledge,  we  find 
Judaism,  Christianity,  and  heathenism 
mixed  together  in  the  wildest  confusion. 
They  held  that  an  seon  descended  on 
Jesus  and  made  him  the  prophet  of  the 
truth.  But  they  also  appealed  to  Moses, 
Hercules,  Homer,  Orpheus,  Linus,  to 
astrology,  and  to  heathen  mysteries.* 
Probably  Baur  is  right  in  regarding  the 
Ophitic  doctrine  as  a  mere  phase  of 
Oriental  heathenism,  which  ranks  as  a 
heresy  only  because  it  adopted  some 
Christian  terms.^ 

In  Origen's  time  scarcely  thirty  of 
Simon's  sect  were  left,®  and  we  hear  little 
from  early  writers  about  Menander, 
Cerinthus,  or  Saturninus.  But  in  Alex- 
andria, the  Gnostic  tendencies  gathered  life 
and  strength.  There  Gnosticism  learned  to 
clothe  the  ideas  of  Greek  philosophy  in  a 
religious  garb ;  there  it  formed  its  elaborate 
seon  systems — ^partly  Christian,  partly 
Platonic,  partly  mythological.      Basilides 

^  Iren.  he.  cit.  The  Essenes  (see  Joseph. 
Antiq.  xviii.  1,  5)  and  the  Judaising  Christians 
represented  in  the  Clem.  Horn,  (see  ii.  38,  50,  51, 
52  ;  iii.  46,  49  ;  xviii.  20)  made  selections  from 
Judaism  in  the  same  arbitrary  way. 

2  Fhilosophum.  v.  6  seq. 

5  lb.  V.  16. 

4  lb.  V.  26,  V.  7,  V.  8,  v.  13,  v.  26,  v.  8.  Some 
of  them  canonised  all  who  were  held  up  to 
special  reprobation  in  the  Old  Testament. 

5  Kirchengeschichie,  p.  196. 
•  C.  Celt.  i.  67. 


GNOSTICISM 


876 


was  the  first  of  the  great  Alexandrian 
Gnostics.  He  had  been  a  companion  of 
Saturninus  in  Syria,^  but  it  was  in  Alex- 
andria that  he  began  his  public  life,  and 
the  Basilidians  were  large  y  indebted  to 
the  schools  of  Greek  philosophy  in  that 
city.  By  comparing  the  original  teaching 
of  Basilides,  as  given  by  Irenseus,  with 
the  later  development  of  his  doctrine  as 
reported  in  the  "  Philosophumena,"  we  can 
note  the  increasing  influence  which  the 
physical  theories  of  the  Stoics  exercised 
on  the  Basilidians.'^  The  Alexandrian 
Valentinus  made  a  fusion  of  Christianity 
with  Platonism,  much  as  the  Neo-Plato- 
nists  united  the  latter  with  heathenism. 
Valentinus  went  to  Rome  about  141  and 
stayed  there  till  157.  He  had  numerous 
disciples,  who  formed  two  great  divisions 
of  Valentinianism,  known  as  the  Eastern 
and  Western.  Many  of  his  followers 
could  boast  of  fame  and  influence  :  one  of 
them,  indeed,  Heracleon,  will  be  remem- 
bered while  history  lasts,  for  he  wrote  the 
flrst  commentary  on  St.  John's  Gospel. 
Evidently  St.  Irenseus  considered  Valen- 
tinianism the  most  formidable  heresy  of 
the  day. 

The  Valentinians  set  out  from  the 
Platonic  principle  that  the  ideal  or 
heavenly  world,  the  "  Pleroma,"  as  they, 
called  it,  alone  possesses  realit3^  God 
dwelt  for  countless  ages  alone  with  his 
thought  (Ennoea),  then  after  long  silence 
produced  two  aeons,  who  became  the 
parents  of  others.  Just  as  Plato  pic- 
tures the  supreme  God  as  dwelling  in 
eternity  with  the  ideas  or  archetypes  of 
things  ever  present  to  Him,  so  the  Valen- 
tinians peopled  their  celestial  world  with 
a  long  series  of  aeons,  which  are  the 
Platonic  "  ideas "  translated  into  the 
language  of  mythology.  The  aeons  are 
arranged  on  the  Pythagorean  and  Platonic 
principles  that  certain  numbers  have  a 
mystic  efficacy.  Some  of  the  names  given 
to  them  were  suggested  by  the  Catholic 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  or  by  the  divine 
attributes ;  others,  such  as  "  man,"  "  the 
church,"  &c.,  point  to  the  theory,  also 
Platonic,  that  things  below  are  shadows 
cast  from  a  higher  world. 

So  much  for  the  nature  of  God  and 
the  aeon,  world.  But  how  did  the  material 
world  with  its  attendant  evils  come  to  be  P 
It  could  not,  of  course,  on  Valentinian 

^  Epiphan.  Hxr.  xxiii.  7,  xxiv.  1. 

2  Hilg^nfeld  and  Lipsius  rightly  maintain 
against  Baur  and  others  that  the  oldest  form 
of  Basilidian  teaching  is  found  in  Irenseus* 
See  Hilgenfeld,  Jildisch.  Apocalyptih,  p.  287 
seq 


376 


GNOSTICISM 


principles,  be  attributed  to  the  supreme 
God.  They  supposed  that  the  asons  were 
less  perfect  the  further  they  were  removed 
in  the  long  line  of  generation  from  the 
Father  of  all.  The  lowest  of  them  was 
overcome  by  desire  to  comprehend  God, 
and  by  this  fruitless  desire  gave  birth  to 
another  seon,  Achamoth  (n'lDDn — i.e. 
wisdom),  who  wandered  outside  the  seon 
world  in  helpless  misery.  Higher  seous 
freed  her  from  her  sufferings,  and  these 
sufferings  thickened  into  matter,  and  out 
of  this  pre-existent  matter  men  and  things 
were  moulded  by  the  demiurge,  the  "God 
of  this  world."  This  demiurge  (here, 
again,  we  have  both  a  notion  and  a 
name  borrowed  from  Plato)  was  the  God 
of  the  Jewish  religion,  a  being  imperfect, 
ignorant,  and,  indeed,  incapable  of  spiritual 
ideas.  Of  men  some  were  earthly 
(xoi/fot),  made  from  the  worse  kind  of 
matter  and  necessitated  to  evil.  Others 
were  "animal"  {y\rvxi-Ko\),  capable  of 
receiving  the  ordinary  Jewish  or  Christian 
religion.  They  were  endowed  with  free 
will  and  would  obtain  a  partial  happiness 
hereafter,  if  they  led  virtuous  lives.  But 
there  was  a  third  class,  of  "spiritual" 
men,  in  whom  there  were  certain  germs 
which  hrtd  fiillen  from  the  seon  world. 
They  were  destined,  whatever  their  actions 
might  be,  to  enter  the  higher  world,  but 
meantime  they  were  enslaved  by  the 
demiurge  and  by  matter.  An  aeon,  called 
Christ,  clothed  himself  in  a  body  which 
looked  like  ours,  and  communicated  to 
these  aeons  the  "  knowledge "  of  their 
higher  destiny,  teaching  them  to  slight  the 
god  of  this  world  and  his  law.  The 
Valentiniana  held  that  it  was  not  deeds,but 
the  possession  of  a  spiritual  nature  which 
led  to  the  higher  world,  and  they  made 
little  account  of  Christ's  death.  Some  of 
them  held  that  only  the  body  which  he 
had  formed  for  himself  could  suffer ; 
others  that  Christ  had  descended  op  a 
man,  Jesus,  and  abandoned  him  at  the 
crucifixion.^ 

Another  Gnostic,  as  great  as  Valen- 
tinus,  came  to  Rome  a  little  later  and 
made  great  changes  in  Gnosticism.  He 
surrendered  the  fantastic  aeon-systems,^ 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  represented  the 
demiurge  god  of  this  world  as  actually 

*  See  the  account  of  Ptolemy  the  Valen- 
tinian.  Iren.  i.  8,  ad  fin.  Cf.  Jiassiiet,  JDhs. 
i.  n.  83.  The  differences  among  4he  Valen- 
tinians  Avere  not  very  serious. 

'^  Mas-;uet  denies  this  (Z)m.  i.  n.  138)  ;  but 
his  only  real  authority — Gre.i?.  Naz.,  Orat.  23 
and  24-^is  a  very  poor  one  in  such  a  matter. 


GNOSTICISM 

cruel  and  wicked.*  He  showed  the 
bitterest  hostility  to  the  Old  Testament 
and  in  the  New  admitted  only  ten  Epistles 
of  Paul  and  the  single  Gospol  of  Luke, 
mutilating  even  these  books  and  inter- 
polating passages  according  to  the  re- 
quirements of  his  theory.^  Marcion  gave 
greater  prominence  than  the  Valentinians 
to  moral  ideas  and  to  the  death  of  Christ,^ 
and  apparently  did  not  make  salvation 
depend  on  an  original  difference  in  the 
natures  of  men. 

In  the  preceding  sketch  an  attempt 
has  been  made  to  note  the  principal 
features  of  Gnosticism,  and  though  the 
division  adopted — viz.  into  the  Oriental 
Gnostics,  the  philosophical  Gnostics  of 
Alexandria  and  the  Mareionite  Gnostics 
with  their  more  practical  and  Christian 
religion,  which  presents  many  points  of 
contact  with  modern  Protestantism,^  is  not 
altogether  satisfactory,  it  is  perhaps  as 
simple  as  any  other  which  has  been  pro- 
posed. Some  of  the  Gnostics  were  led  by 
their  belief  in  the  impurity  of  matter  to 
asceticism,  others  to  unbridled  licence; 
but  we  cannot  classify  the  Gnostics  on 
this  principle,  for  we  find  the  two  opposite 
tendencies  appearing  in  the  same  sect.  At 
least  we  know  that  while  Basilides  re- 
spected the  moral  law,  the  Basilidians  set 
it  at  nought.* 

After  Marcion  the  development  of 
Gnosticism  came  to  an  end,  though  the 
heresy  held  its  ground  more  or  less  for 
centuries,  and  like  tendencies  reappear  in 
the  Manichees  and  in  the  Manichean 
heretics  of  the  middle  ages.  But  Gnosti- 
cism has  left  an  enduring  mark  on  the 
history  of  the  Church.  It  was  in  opposi- 
tion to  this  heresy  that  Irenaeus  wrote  the 
earliest  treatise  which  we  possess  on 
CathoHc  dogma.  It  was  the  conflict  with 
this  heresy  from  which  the  need  arose  of 
formulating  with  greater  precision  and 
stating  with  greater  fullness  the  Catholic 
doctrines  on  the  Incarnation,  on  the  sacra- 
ments, and  above  all  on  the  authority  of 
the  teaching  Church.  The  Arian  heresy 
itself  did  not  produce  a  greater  crisis  in 
the  Church's  history,  or  contribute  more 
to  the  development  of  Catholic  doctrine. 

1  Philnsophinn.  vn.  30  ;    Iren.  i.  27,  2. 

2  Epiphan.  Heer.  xlii.  9. 

3  lb.  xlii.  8  ;  and  the  Armenian  bishop 
Esnig,  apud  Baur,  Christliche  Gnosis,  p.  272. 

*  js'eanrier  (Kirchengeschichte,  ii.  p.  162),  sees 
in  Marcion  "the  spirit  of  a  genuine  Piotestant- 
ism."  He  represents,  says  Lipsius  {Gnostic 
cismvs.  p.  lf:6),  "  the  Protestantism  of  eccleai* 
astical  antiquitv." 

»  Clem.  Al.  Strom,  iii.  1,  p.  609  »eq. 


GOD 

This  account  of  Gnosticism  has  been 
made  with  some  care  from  the  sources,  of 
which  Irenaeus  and  the  "  Philosophumena" 
are  the  chief.  But  great  use  has  also  been 
made  of  Mfis-uet's  dissertations  "  DeGnos- 
ticorum  Rebus ; ''  Neander  in  the  last 
edition  of  his  "  Church  History ;"  Mohler's 
essays  collected  by  DoUinger,  1839 ;  Baur, 
*'  Christliche  Gnosis,"  1835,  and  "  Kirchen- 
geschichte  der  drei  ersten  Jahrhunderte,'' 
3rd  ed,,  1863 ;  Lipsius,  "  Gnosticism  us," 
1860. 

GOB.  In  the  Apostles'  and  in  the 
Nicene  Creed,  we  begin  by  professing  our 
belief  in  one  God,  creator  of  heaven  and 
earth,  and  the  Fourth  Laterau  Council 
explains  more  fully  what  we  know  by 
reason  and  revelation  of  his  nature  and 
attributes.  The  Vatican  Council,  al- 
though to  a  great  extent  it  merely 
reiterates  the  Lat^ran  definition,  adds  at 
least  two  important  truths  concerning 
God's  relation  to  us  and  ours  to  Him. 
For,  after  stating  that  there  is  one  true 
and  living  God,  creator  and  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth,  almighty,  eternal,  im- 
mense, incomprehensible,  infinite  in  in- 
tellect and  will  and  in  every  perfection  ; 
concerning  whom,  seeing  that  He  is  one, 
singular,  altoi^ether  simple  arid  unchange- 
able spiritual  substance,  we  must  assert 
that  He  is  in  reality  and  essence  distinct 
from  the  world,  most  blessed  in  Himself 
and  from  Himself,  and  infinitely  exalted 
above  all  that  is  or  can  be  thought  of  be- 
sides Himself,  the  council  adds  that  God 
"  by  his  most  free  counsel,"  constrained 
by  no  necessity  of  any  kind,  created  the 
world,  and  then,  in  the  next  chapter,  that 
we  can,  by  the  natural  light  of  reason, 
and  from  the  consideration  of  created 
things,  attain  a  "  sure  "  knowledge  of  God, 
who  is  the  beginning  and  end  of  all.  It 
is  the  object  of  this  article  to  explain  the 
Vatican  definition,  and  to  show  its  perfect 
consistency  with  reason  and  with  the 
previous  teaching  of  theologians.  It  is 
obvious  that  we  cannot  attempt,  in  the 
space  at  our  command,  anything  like  a 
full  and  philosophical  treatujent  of  the 
^subject,  or  even  try  to  explain  many  of 
e   difficulties   which  are   often   urged. 

rhe  utmost  which  we  hope  to  do  consists 
in   indicating    the    general    line    which 

Catholic    philosophers    and     theologian* 
have   taken  in  proving  the  existence  of 

God,  and  treating  of  his  attributes. 

We  begin  with  a  definition  sufficient 
to  explain  the  sense  we  give  to  the  word 

God,  and  which  would  be  accepted  pro- 
bably both  by  theists  and   atheists,  at 


GOD 


377 


least  in  civilised  countries.  By  God  we  un- 
derstand the  one  absolutely  and  infinitely 
perfect  spirit  who  is  the  creator  of  all ;  and, 
taking  this  definition  for  granted,  we  pro- 
ceed to  state  the  following  propositions. 

I.  It  is  certain  from  mere  reason, 
apart  from  revelation, that  God  exists;  and 
this  may  be  proved,  according  to  tne  coun- 
cil, from  a  consideration  of  created  things. 
"  His  invisible  things,"  St.  Paul  says 
(Rom.  i.  20),  "  from  the  creation  of  the 
world,  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood 
by  the  things  that  are  made.  His  eternal 
power  also  and  divinity:  so  that  they" 
{i.e.  the  heathen,  who  did  not  believe  in 
the  true  God)  "  are  inexcusable."  Every- 
one knows  the  popular  form  in  which  the 
argument  is  put,  and  has  been  put  from 
the  time  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church. 
There  are,  it  is  said,  plain  marks  in  the 
mechanism  of  created  things  which  show 
that  they  are  the  work  of  an  intelligent 
being.  The  laws,  for  example,  which 
govern  the  physical  world  must  come 
from  an  intelligence  of  some  kind,  for 
they  display  a  high  degree  of  wisdom 
united  to  immense  power.  Plainly  this 
intelligence  does  not  reside  in  the  things 
themselves.  The  world,  therefore,  was 
created  and  is  supported  and  governed 
by  an  intelligent  being  whom  we  call 
God.  Nor  does  there  seem  to  be  any 
valid  answer  to  this  argument.  True, 
there  are  many  things  in  the  world  which 
are  not,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  arranged  to 
wise  ends,  and  others  which  even  seem  to 
contradict  the  supposition  that  they  come 
from  a  wise  and  benevolent  Creator.  AU 
this  may  be  admitted,  but  it  cannot  do 
away  with  the  fact  that  we  do  on  every  side 
discern  unmistakable  traces  of  intelligent 
design.  When  these  traces  abound,  it  is 
not  only  humility,  but  common  sense 
which  prompts  us  to  acknowledge  a  wise 
Creator,  and  to  believe  that  all  is  created 
for  a  good  end,  though  in  many  cases  our 
ignorance  prevents  us  from  discerning  it. 
A  man  who  does  not  understand  the 
mechanism  of  an  engine  is  still  within 
his  rights  when  he  concludes  that  it  is 
due  to  an  intelligence  possessed  of  under- 
standing which  he  himself  lacks,  and 
would  most  certainly  transgress  the 
plainest  rules  of  common  sense,  if  he 
attributed  all  the  parts  of  the  machinery 
which  he  could  not  understand  to  mere 
chance,  or,  again,  to  a  want  of  Icnowledge 
or  power  on  the  part  of  the  constructor. 
Accordingly,  we  may  fairly  conclude  that 
the  argument  from  design  will  always 
keep  its  place  among  the  proofe  of  God's 


378 


GOD 


GOD 


existence.  It  has  the  great  advanta^re  of 
being  easily  grasped,  and  no  valid  objec- 
tion can  be  urged  against  it. 

A\Tii]e,  bowevei';  St.  Thomas  giresthis 
argumeiir,  he  places  it  last  among  the  five 
which  he  adduces  at  the  beginning  of  the 
'^Summa/'and  though  it  is  the  most  popu- 
lar, it  does  not  seem  the  most  cogent.  His 
other  arguments  are  more  metaphysical  and 
subtle,  but  they  have  the  advantage  of 
leading  the  mind  more  directly  and.  more 
conclusively  to  the  belief  in  an  absolutely 
perfect  being.  His  first  argument  is  from 
motion,  and  it  assumes  no  more  than  the 
patent  fact  that  movement  exists. 
Whence  does  it  come  ?  Not  simply 
from  the  things  themselves,  for  nothing 
can  in  the  same  respect  be  at  once  the 
cause  and  the  subject  of  motion.  Motion 
implies  passivity:  in  other  words  the 
thing  moved  must  be  under  the  influence 
of  something  distinct  from  itself  which 
causes  the  movement  or  change.  Life 
oifers  no  instance  to  the  contrary,  for 
though,  no  doubt,  we  say,  and  rightly, 
that  living  things  have  the  cause  of 
motion  in  themselves,  this  only  means 
that  one  part  in  living  organisms  com- 
municates movement  to  other  parts.  The 
heart  sends  the  blood  through  the  frame, 
but  the  heart  itself  receives  the  first  im- 
pulse from  the  parent  to  whom  life  is  due. 
Nor  are  even  intellectual  beings  the  inde- 
pendent cause  of  their  own  movements. 
The  will  is  influenced  by  the  thoughts, 
the  mind  cannot  think  unless  objects  are 
proposed  or  have  been  originally  proposed 
to  it  from  without.  Hence,  even  if  we 
assume  an  infinite  series  of  created  things, 
still,  so  long  as  they  all  are  subject  to 
motion  and  change,  this  motion  and 
change  calls  for  explanation,  and  we  are 
forced  to  the  belief  (a  sublime  one  truly) 
of  a  first  mover,  Himself  immoveable,  of 
a  Being  who  is  at  once  the  perfection  of 
activity  and  life  and  the  perfection  of 
rest,  the  cause  of  movement  and  change, 
while  He  Himself  changes  not. 

The  second  proof  is  taken  from  the 
activity,  as  the  former  from  the  passivity, 
of  things.  Certain  causes  in  the  world 
produce  certain  effects,  and  we  find  these 
causes  existing  in  a  regular  series  or  order. 
Causes  are  themselves  the  effects  of  other 
causes ;  the  parent  is  the  cause  of  his 
child's  being,  and  he  himself  owes  his 
being  to  his  own  parents.  Here  again, 
if  we  prolong  the  series  to  infinity,  we 
cannot  escape  from  the  conclusion  that 
there  is  a  God.  Even  in  such  a  series, 
there  is  no  cause  which  ia  not  itself  the 


effect  of  another  cause — which  does;  not 
require  a  cause  outside  of  itself  as  the 
origin  of  its  being.  No  explanation  can 
be  devised  except  that  of  a  first  cause, 
who  is  Himself  uncaused. 

The  third  argument  is  drawn  from  the 
contingency  of  things.  Existence  does 
not  belong  to  the  essence  of  things  ;  they 
are  not  in  their  own  nature  determined  to 
be,  for  most  of  them  fade  and  die :  of  all 
of  them  it  may  be  said,  once  they  did  not 
exist.  Besides,  then,  the  series  of  contin- 
gent entities  (and  here  again  we  may, 
without  prejudice  to  the  argument,  multi- 
ply the  series  to  infinity)  there  is  a  neces- 
sary and  absolute  being. 

We  cannot  do  justice  in  the  space  at 
our  command  to  the  fourth  argument  of 
St.  Thomas,  taken  "  ex  gradibus  bonita- 
tis  " — i.e.  from  the  degrees  of  perfection 
in  things.  It  is  perhaps  the  most  subtle 
and  difficult  of  all,  and  the  commentators 
are  not  agreed  about  its  meaning.  The 
following  account,  however,  may  be  given 
as  the  substance  of  the  reasoning.  We 
find  by  observation  that  creatures  are 
more  or  less  wise,  noble,  good,  and  the 
like.  These  qualities  do  not  belong  to 
their  essence,  for  if  so,  there  could  be  no 
question  of  more  or  less.  Socrates  and 
Plato  were  both  men :  humanity  consti- 
tuted their  nature,  and  iu  the  strict  sense 
neither  could  be  more  truly  and  perfectly 
a  man  than  the  other,  since  the  definition 
of  man  may  be  predicated  of  each.  The 
very  fact,  then,  that  one  man  or  angel  is 
more  wise,  noble,  powerful  than  another 
proves  that  wisdom,  nobility,  power, 
do  not  belong  to  the  human  or  angelic 
natures  as  such  or  in  themselves.  As 
they  are  not  wise,  &c.,  in  themselves,  or  in 
virtue  of  their  mere  existence,  their  per- 
fection must  come  to  them  from  without, 
and  we  end  with  the  idea  of  a  Being 
absolutely  and  perfectly  wise,  holy, 
strong,  &c.,  because  wisdom,  holiness 
and  strength  are  in  Him  more  than  mere 
attributes— are,  in  short,  identical  with 
his  nature.  '  Thus  St.  John  says,  not 
merely  that  God  is  charitable  or  loving, 
but  that  He  is  charity.  Such  a  statement 
is  untrue  of  any  being  except  God. 

St,  Thomas's  fifth  argument,  viz.  from 
design,  has  been  already  stated. 

The  reader  will  find  another  from  con- 
science— ie.  from  the  fact  attested  by  ex- 
perience, that  man  has  by  nature  a  sense  of 
right  and  wrong  altogether  distinct  from 
the  knowledge  that  certain  actions  are 
hurtful  to  others,  hurtful  to  or  unworthy 
of   himself,    drawn    out   with    surpass- 


GOD 

ing  genius  by  Cardinal  Newman,  in  his 
"Grammar  of  Assent."  This  argument  lias 
the  advantage  of  leading  us  more  directly 
than  any  of  those  given  from  St.  Thomas 
to  a  true  conception  of  God's  character, 
as  a  just,  holy,  and  merciful  God. 

Such  are  the  chief  arguments  by 
which  Catholic  theologians  prove  God's 
existence.  But  are  any  arguments  ne- 
cessary ?  Have  we  not  an  intuitive  per- 
ception of  God's  existence  ?  Or  again,  can 
we  not  be  sure  of  his  existence,  the 
moment  we  understand  the  meaning 
which  the  word  God  is  intended  to  con- 
vey ?  The  great  majority  of  theologians 
answer  this  question  in  the  negative.  St. 
Thomas  holds  that  the  mode  of  cognition 
corresponds  to  the  nature  of  him  who 
knows.  Our  soul,  he  says,  informs  a 
material  body.  By  nature,  therefore,  it 
can  only  know  directly  things  which  are 
themselves  partly,  at  least,  material.  It 
recognises  the  existence  of  purely  spiritual 
beings  only  by  a  process  of  inference.  But 
instead  of  explaining  and  developing  this 
Thomist  (or  rather  Aristotelian  principle), 
we  will  take  the  simpler  course  of  pointing 
out  the  flaw  in  the  reasoning  of  those  who 
have  advocated  the  theory  that  the  know- 
ledge of  God's  existence  is  self-evident. 
St.  Anselra,  who  has  been  followed  in 
modern  times  by  Descartes,  began  with 
the  assumption  that  all  men,  theists  and 
atheists  alike,  understand  the  name  of 
God  to  denote  the  most  perfect  being 
that  can  be  conceived,  and  so  far  we  may 
allow  that  he  was  right.  When,  however, 
he  goes  on  to  argue  that  the  idea  of  the  ut- 
most perfection  implies  existence,  he  con- 
fuses, as  St.  Thomas  justly  objects,  between 
the  real  and  the  imaginary.  The  mere  fact 
that  we  can  form  a  notion  of  a  being  the 
most  perfect  that  can  be  conceived,  cannot 
prove  that  such  a  being  has  existence  ex- 
cept in  our  imagination.  Nor  have  the 
attempts  of  ontologists  in  our  own  day  to 
show  that  the  belief  in  God  is  intuitive 
been  more  successful.  We  begin,  they 
say,  with  the  notion  of  being,  and  this 
notion  of  existence,  without  which  we  can 
understand  nothing,  is  nothing  else  than 
the  divinity.  The  obvious  answer  is  that 
although  we  do  begin  with  the  vague  and 
abstract  notion  of  existence,  the  existence 
which  we  predicate  of  the  things  around 
is  wholly  distinct  from  the  self-existent 
and  all-perfect  spirit  whom  we  call  God. 
In  1861  the  Roman  Inquisition  decided 
that  ontologism  as  it  has  just  been  ex- 
pounded could  not  be  "  safely  taught " 
(*Huto  tradi  ^'). 


GOD 


879 


II.  The  Nature  of  God. — All  human 
conceptions  of  God's  nature  are  of  course 
imperfect  ;  still,  since  reason  enables  us 
to  ascertain  God's  existence,  it  also  enables 
us  to  knew  something  of  his  nature.^  We 
learn  what  God  is,  partly  by  removing 
from  the  idea  we  form  of  Him  all  imper* 
fections  which  belong  to  creatures,  partly 
by  attributing  to  Him,  in  a  more  excellent 
form,  aU  the  perfection  we  find  in  them. 
The  schoolmen  set  out  with  the  notion  of 
God  as  ''  pure  actuality,"  which  notion  is 
immediately  derived  from  the  proof  given 
for  the  divine  existence.  Creatures  have 
potentiality,  or  the  power  of  becoming 
what  they  are  not,  in  different  modes  and 
degrees.  There  was  a  time  when  they 
were  not,  and  merely  had  the  capacity  of 
existence :  once  existing,  they  are  capable 
of  further  perfections,  which  determine 
their  nature  ;  and  again  they  are  subject 
to  the  possibility  of  falling  away  from  the 
perfection  of  their  nature,  or  of  ceasing 
to  exist  altogether.  All  these  capacities 
are  expressed  by  the  Aristotelian  word 
"  potentia,"  which  is  opposed  to  "actus,"  or 
actuality.  Now,  because  capacity  can  be 
reduced  to  act  only  by  something  which 
is  already  in  act,  God  as  the  first  cause, 
as  the  mover  of  all.  Himself  immoveable 
and  changeless,  as  the  necessary  and  self- 
exLstent  being,  must  be  pure  actuality. 
He  is  infinite  in  all  perfection,  for  other- 
wise He  would  be  subject  to  the  capacity 
of  change  and  improvement.  His  essence, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  is  one  with  his 
existence.  His  attributes  also,  such  as 
goodness,  justice,  and  the  like,  are  iden- 
tical with  his  nature.  Goodness,  justice, 
&c.,  perfect  an  intellectual  or  rational  crea- 
ture, but  nothing  can  perfect  the  infinite 
and  perfect  nature  of  God.  His  justice  is 
really  one  with  his  mercy  and  love,  and 
although  we  rightly  distinguish  the  one 
from  the  other,  this  is  only  because  He, 
notwithstanding  the  absolute  simplicity 
of  his  nature,  produces  in  his  govern- 
ment of  the  world  a  variety  of  effects 
equivalent  to  those  which  would  be  pro- 
duced by  distinct  attributes  in  creatures. 
All  the  pure  perfections  of  creatures  are 
found  in  Him,  and  though  certain  quali- 
ties of  creatures,  such  as  bodily  form,  are 
wanting  in  God,  who  is  a  pure  spirit,  this 
is  because  these  qualities  involve  imper- 
fection, because,  e.g.,  a  corporeal  being 
cannot,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  be 

1  Here  is  the  radical  difference  betweeu 
the  view  of  Catliolic  theologians  and  that  pro- 
pounded with  great  ability  by  the  late  Dean 
Mansel  in  his  famous  Barapton  Lecttires. 


880 


GOLDEN  NUMBER 


infinite  or  perfectly  simple.  Lastly,  all 
these  perfections  belong  to  the  one,  true 
God.  If  there  w&re  more  gods  than  one, 
there  must  be  something  to  constitute  the 
individuality,  to  distinguish  the  one  deity 
from  the  other.  Either,  then,  the  distin- 
guishing attribute  must  be  a  defect,  or 
else  9  perfection  proper  to  the  one  deity 
and  absent  in  the  other.  Each  alternative 
is  inconsistent  with  infinite  perfection. 

III.  An  important  conclusion  results 
from  the  principle  that  God  by  natural 
reason  can  be  known  as  the  author  of  the 
•world.  Men  may  be  excused  on  the  plea 
of  invincible  ignorance,  if  they  in  good  faith 
reject  certain  truths  of  faith.  But  all 
men  who  have  come  to  the  use  of  reason 
are  bound  to  know,  love,  and  obey  God. 

(An  admirable  exposition  of  St, 
Thomas's  arguments  for  the  existence  of 
God  wnll  be  found  in  the  last  part  of 
Kleutgen's  "  Theologie  der  Vorzeit.") 

GOiiDExr  iffiriviBER.  [See  Cycle.] 

CrOXiIlSia'  ROSS.  An  ornament 
blessed  by  the  Pope  every  year  on  Lsetare 
Sunday  (fourth  Sunday  in  Lent),  and 
sent  occasionally  to  Catholic  sovereigns, 
male  or  female,  to  noted  churches  and 
sanctuaries,  to  great  generals,  and  to  illus- 
trious Catholic  cities  or  republics.  Origi- 
nally, it  was  a  single  flower  of  wrought 
gold,  coloured  red  ;  afterwards  the  golden 
petals  were  decked  with  rubies  and  other 
gems  •,  finally,  the  form  adopted  was  that 
of  a  thorny  branch,  with  several  flowers 
and  leaves,  and  one  principal  flower  at 
the  top,  all  of  pure  gold.  The  practice 
appears  to  have  arisen  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  but  by  what  Pope  it  was  institu- 
ted in  its  present  form  is  uncertain.  That 
Popes  used  to  send  presents  in  very  early 
times  to  princes  who  had  deserved  well  of 
the  Church,  is  well  known :  Gregory  the 
Great  was  accustomed  to  send  with  this 
intention  golden  keys  containing  filings 
of  St.  Peter's  chains,  and  Boniface  V. 
sent  to  Edwin,  king  of  Northumbria,  in 
626,  a  camisia  or  shirt  with  a  gold  orna- 
ment, and  to  Ethelberga  his  queen,  a 
gilded  ivory  comb  and  a  silver  mirror.^ 
Urban  V.  sent  a  golden  rose  in  1366  to 
Joanna  of  Naples.  Among  the  recipients 
of  the  rose  have  been  Gonsalvo  di  Cor- 
dova, Napoleon  III.,  and  Isabella  II.  of 
Spain.  Morone  records  a  large  number  of 
instances  in  which  this  favour  has  been 
conferred :  a  few  of  the  most  noteworthy 
are  the  following.  Henry  VIII.  received 
the  rose  from  three  Popes,  the  last  time 
from  Clement  "VII.  in  1624.  It  was  sent 
»  Bed.  Hist.  Eccl.  ii.  10,  11. 


GOSPEL  (LITURGICAL  USE  OF) 

to  his  daughter,  Queen  Mary,  by  Julius 
III.,  in  ^15o5.  The  republic  of  Lucca  wa« 
thus  honoured  by  Pius  IV.,  in  1564; 
the  Lateran  Basilica  by  Pius  V.  three 
years  later;  and  the  sanctuary  of  Loretto, 
hj  Gregory  XIII.,  in  1584,  the  Queen  of 
France,  Maria  Theresa,  received  it  from 
Clement  IX.,  in  1668;  and  the  Queen  of 
Poland,  Mary  Casimir,  from  Innocent  XL, 
in  1684,  in  recognition  of  t'le  recent 
deliverance  of  Vienna  by  her  valiant  hus- 
band, John  Sobieski.  Benedict  XIII. 
(1726)  granted  the  Golden  Kose  to  the 
cathedral  of  Capua;  and  in  18o.3,  it  was 
sent  by  Gregory  XVI.  to  the  Basilica  of 
St.  Mark's,  Venice.  (Morone,  * '  Diziouario 
Ecclesiastico.') 

GO  OB  FRXDAT.  [See  HoLY  WeEK.] 

GOOB  -WORKS.     [See  Merit.] 

GOSPSI.       (I.XTURGZCAI.       ITSE 

or).  The  practice  of  reading  the  gospels 
in  the  Christian  assemblies  is  mentioned 
by  Justin  Martyr,  and  prescribed  in  all 
the  liturgies.  The  First  Council  of  Orange, 
in  441,  and  that  of  Valentia  in  Spain, 
order  the  Gospel  to  be  read  alter  the 
Epistle  and  before  the  offertory,  in  order 
that  the  catechumens  might  listen  to  the 
words  of  Christ  and  hear  them  explained 
by  the  bishop.  We  give  here  first  of  all 
the  ceremonies  with  which  the  Gospel  is 
sung  at  High  Mass  according  to  the  Latin 
rite,  adding  illustrations  from  history  and 
the  other  liturgies.  We  conclude  with 
an  account  of  the  way  the  Gospel  is  read 
at  Low  Mass. 

I.  The  Gospel  at  High  Mass. — The 
deacon  places  the  book  of  the  Gospels  on 
the  altar,  kneels  and  prays  that  God  may 
purify  his  lips,  as  He  puritied  those  of 
Isaias,  takes  the  book  of  the  Gospels,  asks 
the  priest's  blessing,  and  then  goes  to  a 
place  in  the  sanctuary  on  the  light  hand^ 
of  the  altar,  where  the  Gospel  is  to  be 
sung.  The  deacon  is  accompanied  by 
acolytes  bearing  lights ;  he  announces 
the  title  of  the  Gospel,  the  choir  singing 
"  Glory  to  Thee,  O  Lord  ; "  he  makes 
the  sign  of  the  cross  on  the  book,  tlien 
on  his  forehead,  lips,  and  breast ;  he  in- 
censes the  book,  the  incense  having  been 
previously  blessed,  and  sings  the  Gospel, 
which  the  priest  has  previously  read  in  a 
low  voice  on  the  right  side  of  the  altar. 
Finally,  he  incenses  the  priest,  to  whom 
the  book  is  presented  open,  and  who  kisses 
it  saying,  "  By  the  words  of  the  Gospel 
may  our  sins  be  blotted  out." 

The  singing  of  the  Gospel  was  not 
1  I.e.  the  riirht  hand  of  the  crucifix  or  of  ooe 
who  stands  with  his  back  to  the  altar. 


GOSPEL  (LITURGICAL  USE  OF) 

always  reserved  to  the  deacon,  as  has  been 
shown   in  the  article  under  that  word, 
and,   according   to   Benedict  XIV.,   the 
lector  still  recites  the  Gospel  in  the  Greek 
Mass.     In  ancient  times  the  hook  of  the 
Gospels  was  carried  in  procession  to  the 
altar  at  the  begmning  of  Mass,  a  custom 
noted  in  the  liturgies  of  St.  Basil  and 
St.  Chrj^sostom,  and  observed  for  a  long 
time   in  the  West.     This  procession  fell 
into   disuse  when  missals  containing  all 
that  is  said  or  sung  at  Mass  replaced  the 
old   Gospel-book,  sacramentaries,  lection- 
aries,  and  antiphonaries,  which  contained 
different   parts   of  the  Mass,  each  in  a 
separate  form.     All  the  ancient  liturgies 
recognise  the  use  of  incense  at  the  Gospel. 
It  signifies  the  "good  odour  of  Christ." 
The  lights  at  the  Gospel  were  familiar  to 
St.   Jerome,   and   St.  Isidore,  who   says 
they  were  carried  in  sign  of  joy,  and  to 
signity  that  Christ  is  the  light  of  souls. 
In  the  old  churches,  which  were  usually 
turned  to   the  east,  the  south  side  was 
occupied  by  the  men,  and  down  to  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century  the  deacon 
turned  towards   them  when   he  reached 
the  "  ambo  "  or  place  where  the  Gospel 
was   sung.      On   the  other  hand,   Ilemi 
of  Auxerre,  who  wrote  about  882,  assumes 
that  the  Gospel  is  read  towards  the  north, 
the  region  of  darkness,  in  order  to  signify 
the  power  Christ's  words  have  to  annul 
evil  influences.     Le  Brun  thinks  that  this 
mystical  reason  was  commonly  adopted ; 
that  then  a  similar  evil  signification  was 
attributed  to  the  left  side  of  the  priest 
(i.e.  his  left  when  he  faces   the   altar), 
and  that  hence  it  became  usual  to  move 
the  missal  which  the  priest  uses  to  his 
left,  before  he  reads  the  Gospel.     In  the 
older  Ordines,  the  missal  is  not  changed 
to  the  left  tiU  the  offertory,'  when  con- 
venience obviously  requires  the  moving  of 
the  book.     The  people  stand  at  the  sing- 
ing or  reading  of  the  Gospel,  to  indicate 
their  alacrity  in  obeying  Christ's  words ; 
and  for  a  like  reason  members  of  military 
orders  stand  with  drawn  swords.     In  the 
earliest  of  the   Roman  Ordines,  all  the 
clergy  kiss  the  book  of  the  Gospels,  and 
Jonas,  bishop  of  Orleans  in  the   ninth 
century,  spoaks  of  this  rite  as  an  ancient 
one   even  in  his  day.     It  appears  from 
Bemi  of  Auxerre  that  the  people  made 
the  sign  of  the  cross  at  the  end  as  well  as 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel. 

II.  At  Low  Masses  the  book  is  moved 
to  the  G  ospel  side  at  the  end  of  the  Grad  ual, 

1  So  even  an  Ordo  of  Monte  Cabsino  written 
about  1100. 


GRACE 


381 


the  priest  says  the  prayer  "  Munda,"  &c.,  in 
the  middle  of  the  altar,  and  begs  a  blessing 
from  God,  saying  "  Jube,  Domine,  bene- 
dicere,"  "  Pray,  Lord,  a  blessing,"  whereas 
the  deacon  uses  the  form, "  Jube,  domne," 
&c.,  "Pray,  Sir,  a  blessing.'  He  then 
signs  the  book,  &e.,  as  has  been  described 
above,  the  server  saying,  "  Gloria  tibi, 
Domine."  At  the  end  the  server  says, 
"  Praise  be  to  thee,  O  Christ,"  and  the 
priest  kisses  the  book,  with  the  prayer 
"  By  the  words  of  the  Gospel,"  &c.  The 
old  custom  was  to  say  *'  Amen  "  at  the  end 
of  the  Gospel,  as  is  still  done  in  the  Moz- 
arabic  Mass.  Alexander  of  Hales  tells  us 
that  some  in  his  time  said  *'Amen," 
others  "  Deo  gratias,"  but  his  words  imply 
that  "Laus  tibi,  Christe,"  had  already 
become  the  prevalent  form.  (See  Le 
Brun,  and  Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Miss.") 

GOTHIC  I.ITURGISS.  [SeeLlITTB- 
GlES.] 

GOTHS.    [See  Missions.] 

GOTTZISCAIiCXrS,  or  GOTTS- 
CHAZiK.     [See  Predestina^'ion.] 

GRACE.  I.  Definition  and  Divisions 
of  Grace. — All  tliat  we  receive  from 
God — our  existence,  our  natural  powers, 
the  good  things  of  this  life — are  God's  free 
gift,  and  may  therefore  be  rightly  called 
graces  or  favours  received  from  Him. 
But  God  has  been  pleased  to  call  man  to 
a  supernatural  end — i.e.  to  a  destiny  out 
of  all  proportion  to  the  exigencies  of  his 
nature,  and  which  cannot  be  attained  by 
the  use  of  his  natural  powers.  Man  has 
been  created  that  he  may  see  God  face  to 
face  in  his  glory,  and  God,  who  calls 
him  to  eternal  life,  also  furnishes  the 
means  by  which  it  may  be  secured. 
Hence  the  Scriptural  writers  and  the 
theologians  of  the  Church  distinguish 
grace  from  nature ;  and  grace  in  this 
stricter  and  narrower  sense  may  be  de- 
fined as  a  supernatural  gift  freely  be- 
stowed by  God  on  rational  or  intellectual 
creatures  in  order  that  they  may  attain 
eternal  life.  We  say  that  it  is  freely 
given,  apart,  at  least  in  the  first  instance, 
from  all  merit  or  claim  of  ours,  otherwise, 
as  the  Apostle  argues,  it  would  not  de- 
serve the  name  of  grace.  We  call  it 
supernatural  in  order  to  distinguish  it 
from  gifts  which  come  to  us  in  the  natu- 
ral order,  although  the  definition  is  not 
meant  to  exclude  those  special  provi- 
dences which  dispose  even  natural  events 
for  the  furtherance  of  our  salvation.  We 
speak  of  it  as  bestowed  on  intellectual 
and  rational  creatures,  for  angels  and 
men  are  the  only  creatures  capable  of 


382 


GRACE 


GEAOE 


knowing  and  loving  God,  and  conse- 
quently the  only  recipients  of  grace.  All 
grace  since  the  fall  has  been  given  to  man 
on  account  of  Christ's  merits.  "Whether 
the  grace  of  the  angels  or  of  Adam  in  his 
innocence  was  due  to  the  same  cause,  is  a 
question  freely  discussed  in  the  theological 
schools. 

Grace  thus  understood  is  divided  (1) 
into  external  and  internal  grace.  The 
former  term  includes  such  external  gifts 
as  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  ex- 
amples of  Christ  and  the  Saints,  occasions 
of  good  actions,  the  removal  of  exterior 
temptations — in  a  word,  all  the  effects  of 
supernatural  providence  by  which  the 
cause  of  our  salvation  is  promoted.  In- 
ternal grace  directly  aifects  the  under- 
standing and  the  will,  either  inhering  in 
the  soul  as  a  permanent  quality,  or  merely 
moving  and  aiding  the  soul  at  the  time 
to  acts  of  supernatural  virtue.  Internal 
graces  may  be  conferred  for  two  great 
ends.  They  may  be  given  in  order  that 
the  recipient  may  promote  the  spiritual 
good  of  others  among  whom  he  labours, 
and  in  this  case  the  schoolmen  speak  of 
graces  as  "  gratis  datae,"  and  infer  from 
1  Cor.  xii.  8,  that  they  are  nine  in  number 
— viz.  the  word  of  wisdom,  the  grace  of 
healing,  &c.  Or,  on  the  other  hand, 
graces  may  be  given  with  the  direct  object 
of  bringing  the  subject  of  the  grace  nearer 
to  God,  and  such  graces  are  called  "  gra- 
tum  facientes  " — graces,  which  make  man 
pleasing  to  his  Creator.  We  have  already 
explained  that  internal  graces  may  be 
actual  {i.e.  passing  movements  of  the  soul 
by  God),  or  habitual  {i.e.  permanent 
qualities  residing  in  the  soul  or  its  facul- 
ties). Habitual  grace  may  inhere  in  the 
substance  of  the  soul,  which  it  sancti- 
fies and  renews  by  the  very  fact  of  its 
presence  there.  It  is  then  called  sancti- 
fying grace,  and  is,  says  the  Council  of 
Trent  (Sess.  vi.  can.  11),  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  given 
to  us.  This  sanctifying  grace  makes  us 
the  friends  of  God  and  partakers  of  the 
divine  nature  (2  Pet.  i.  4),  it  creates 
within  us  new  hearts  and  spirits  (Ezech. 
xxxvi.  26),  and  its  existence  in  the  soul 
is  incompatible  with  mortal  sin  (1  John 
iii.  9).  The  infused  virtues  are  another 
form  of  habitual  grace.  They  inhere  in 
the  faculties  of  the  soul;  they  do  not 
directly  sanctify,  but  they  complete  and 
perfect  sanctification  and  make  the  soul 
capable  of  supernatural  acts.  Actual 
grace  also  is  subdivided  into  grace  of 
operation  {gratia  qperans),  and  of   co- 


operation— the  former  exciting  the  mind 
to  action,  the  latter  working  with  it  and 
assisting  it  in  operation  already  begun — 
into  prevenient  and  subsequent,  into  suf- 
ficient and  efficacious  grace,  &c.  This 
last  subdivision  will  be  explained  in  the 
account  which  we  have  to  give  of  the 
doctrinal  syi^tems  of  grace  maintained  in 
the  Church. 

II.  Catholic  Doctrine  on  Grace. — The 
Church  teaches,  in  opposition  to  the  Pela- 
gians, not  only  that  the  grace  of  Christ 
is  absolutely  necessary  for  justification 
before  God,  but  also  that  without  the 
prevenient  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  his  assistance  a  man  "  can  neither 
believe,  hope,  love,  or  repent,  as  it  is 
necessary  he  should  do,  in  order  that  the 
grace  of  justification  mav  be  conferred 
upon  him"  (Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  Be 
Justif.  can.  3).  In  no  case  can  a  man 
merit  the  first  grace  by  natural  good 
works.  "No  man,"  says  our  Blessed 
Saviour,  ^*  can  come  to  me  except  the 
Father  who  hath  sent  me  draw  him " 
(John  vi.  44) ;  and  the  Apostle,  *-  It  is 
God  who  worketh  in  us  to  will  and  to 
do  "  (Philipp.  ii.  13).  The  very  wish  to 
believe  or  to  rise  from  sin  comes,  accord- 
ing to  the  definition  of  the  Council  of 
Orange  (can.  3,  4,  6),  from  the  grace  of 
God.  Moreover,  although  we  can  by  our 
own  strength  do  good  actions  in  the 
natural  order,  and  although  our  nature  is 
not  wholly  depraved  and  corrupt,  even 
after  the  fall  and  before  it  is  healed  by 
the  grace  of  Christ,  still  so  great  is  the 
weakness  left  by  original  sin,  and  by  the 
disorder  consequent  on  the  very  fact  that 
a  man  destitute  of  grace  is  necessarily 
turned  away  from  his  last  end — viz.  God 
apprehended  by  supernatural  means — that 
we  need  grace  in  order  to  resist  grievous 
temptations  against  natural  virtue,  nor 
can  we  fulfil  the  whole  natural  law  of 
God  without  its  help.  Hence  Scripture 
constantly  attributes  triumph  over  temp- 
tation to  the  grace  of  God,  who  with 
temptation  makes  a  way  of  escape  that 
we  may  be  able  to  bear  it  (1  Cor.  x.  13).^ 
Finally,  even  a  person  who  is  in  a  state 
of  grace  and  friendship  of  God  needs  a 
new  impulse  of  actual  grace  before  he 
can  think  a  good  thought  or  perform  a 
good  deed  :  -  while  a  special  grace,  which 
cannot  be  merited,  is  required  in  order 

1  On  this  part  of  the  subject,  see  the  Second 
Council  of  Orange,  anno  529,  confirmed  by  Pope 
Boniface  II. 

3  I.e.,  of  course,  a  thought  or  deed  profitable 
to  eternal  salvation. 


GRACE 

that  he  may  persevere  to  the  end.  '*  In 
the  case  of  those  who  are  regenerate  and 
holy  there  is  always  need  to  implore  God's 
help  that  they  may  come  to  a  good  end  or 
persist  in  a  good  work "  (Ooucil.  Araus. 
ii.  can.  10).  In  short,  the  world  of  grace 
is  lilve  the  world  of  nature,  which  is  not 
only  created  hut  also  sustained  at  each 
instant  hy  the  hand  of  God. 

As  the  Pelagians  and  Semipelagians 
erred  in  the  estimate  they  formed  of 
man's  natural  powers,  so  the  Calvinists 
fell  into  another  and  much  more  per- 
nicious error  hy  denying  the  freedom  of 
the  will  altogether  and  making  grace 
irresistible  ;  and  the  Jansenist  doctrine  on 
these  points  is  substantially  identical  with 
that  of  the  Calvinists.  The  Council  of 
Trent  (Sess.  vi.  De  Justif.)  condemns  under 
anathema  those  who  maintain  that  the  will 
of  man  is  merely  passive  under  the  action 
of  grace,  and  has  not  the  power  of  resisting 
it.  It  also  defines  that  a  state  of  grace  is 
not,  as  the  Calvinists  supposed,  the  mere 
external  favour  of  God,  but  that  it  is  a  gift 
inherent  in  the  soul,  in  virtue  of  which 
the  sinner  is  not  only  accounted  just,  but 
really  becomes  so,  and  that  the  gift  of  sanc- 
tifying grace  is  forfeited  by  any  single 
mortal  sin.  We  discuss  these  points 
more  fully  under  the  articles  Calvinism, 
Final  Perseverance,  Justification, 
Me  KIT.  only  remarking  here  that  the  very 
essence,  not  only  of  Christianity,  but  of 
natural  religion,  is  at  issue  in  the  dispute 
between  Catholics  and  Calvinists,  That 
God  will  accept  no  man  as  just  except 
he  really  be  so ;  that  nothing  else,  neither 
ritual  nor  sacrifice,  nor  imputed  merit 
can  be  taken  as  a  substitute  for  personal 
holiness — that  is  the  central  truth  of  all 
religion ;  it  is  the  very  truth  which  the 
prophets  of  God  maintained  against  the 
priests  of  Baal  or  Moloch.  We  are  of 
course  well  aware  that  there  are  many 
excellent  Christians  who  profess  Cal- 
vinism, and  do  not  dream  of  holding  the 
consequences  which  may  fairly  be  de- 
duced I'rom  their  tenets.  But  this  should 
not  blind  us  to  the  fact  that  the  Calvi- 
nistic  theories  on  imputation,  irresistible 
grace,  the  impossibility  of  falling  from  a 
state  of  grace,  are  in  themselves  not  only 
irreligious  but  immoral. 

III.  Theological  Systems  on  Grace.— 
AH  Catholics,  as  we  have  seen,  believe  in 
the  necessity  of  grace  for  all  supernatural 
acts,  and  therefore  also,  since  God  desires 
the  salvation  of  all,  they  hold  that  He 
offers  to  ail  grace,  really  and  abundantly 
sufficient  for  their  salvation.     They  fur- 


GRACE 


383 


ther  maintain  that  the  will  always  re- 
mains free  to  reject  grace  or  to  corre- 
spond with  it.  But  when  we  inquire  into 
the  nature  of  the  distinction  between 
efficacious  and  sufficient  grace,  Catholic 
theologians  giv*  different  answers.  We 
begin  with  a  general  definition  which 
may  suffice  for  the  understanding  of  the 
question  in  dispute.  A  sufficient  grace 
is  one  which  merely  enables  the  soul  to 
perform  a  supernatural  act ;  an  efficacious 
grace  is  one  which  does  really  eft'ect  the 
purposes  for  which  it  is  given.  Thus 
Judas  received  sufficient,  Peter  efficacious, 
grace  for  conversion :  in  other  words,  grace 
was  given  capable  of  converting  Judas, 
but  to  Peter  grace  which  actually  did 
convert  him.  The  question  is,  whence 
does  the  efficacity  of  grace  proceed  ? 

The  Dominican  theologians  defend 
what  is  usually  called  the  Thomist  system 
of  grace,  because  those  who  hold  it  allege 
that  it  is  in  substance  to  be  found  in  the 
writings  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas.^  This 
theory  may  be  stated  in  the  following 
propositions : — 

(1)  Second  causes  act  only  so  far  as 
they  are  determined  to  act  by  the  first 
cause — i.e.  God.  Hence  it  is  not  enough 
to  say  that  the  power  to  work  out  our 
salvation  comes  from  God.  He  also 
moves  to  the  good  action  itself,  and  the 
existence  of  two  kinds  of  grace  must  be 
admitted — viz.  sufficient,  which  merely 
enables  the  recipient  to  act ;  and  efficient, 
which  is  always  followed  hy,  and,  indeed, 
produces  the  action  ("  dat  non  solum 
posse  sed  agere"). 

(2)  God  sincerely  wishes  all  men  to  be 
saved,  and  offers  to  all  the  means  of  sal- 
vation. But  He  wishes  some  to  be  saved 
absolutely,  and  considering  all  the  cir- 
cumstances ;  others,  only  on  certain  con- 
ditions which  are  not  realised.  To  the 
latter  He  gives  sufficient,  to  the  former 
efficacious,  grace. 

(3)  In  either  case  grace  is  given  with- 
out any  claim  or  merit  on  man's  part. 

(4)  There  is  an  intrinsic  difference 
between  sufficient  and  efficacious  grace — 
i.e.  between  the  graces  in  themselves — so 
that  it  is  always  true  to  say  that  a  man 
consented  to  grace  given  because  it  was 
efficacious :  never  true  that  the  grace  was 
efficacious  because  the  man  consented. 

(5)  Man  always  remains  free  and 
capable  of  merit  under  efficacious  grace : 
free  and  responsible  for  his  demerit  with 
merely  sufficient  grace.     For  God  as  the 

1  An  allegation,  however,  by  no  means  ad- 
mitted by  their  antagonists. 


884 


GilACE 


aRAOE 


first  cause  in  no  way  interferes  with  i.he 
agency  of  second  causes,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, moves  each  second  cause  according 
to  its  nature,  so  that  beings  with  free- 
will do  not  cease  to  be  free  because 
efficaciously  moved  by  God.  Sufficient 
grace  gives  full  power  to  act,  so  that  a 
man  is  perfectly  responsible  if  he  does 
not  exert  the  power ;  while  efficacious 
grace  leaves  pei-lect  power  of  resistance. 
The  reader  will  perceive  the  extreme 
difficulty,  or,  as  the  adversaries  of 
Thoniism  would  say,  the  impossibility 
of  reconciling  this  last  with  the  fore- 
going propositions ;  but  the  fact  that 
the  Thomists  do  honestly  hold  this  last 
proposition  places  a  wide  gulf  between 
Thomism  on  the  one  hand,  Calvinism 
and  Jansenism  on  the  other. 

The  three  first  of  the  Thomist  pro- 
positions are  admitted  ^  by  that  large 
number  of  Jesuit  theologians  known  as 
Congruists,  but  they  make  the  efficacity 
of  grace  depend,  not  on  anything  in  the 
grace  itself,  but  on  the  fact  that  it  is 
given  under  circumstances  which,  as  God 
foresees,  are  suitable  to  the  dispositions 
of  the  recipient.  He  foreknows  what  all 
creatures  would  do  in  all  possible  cir- 
cumstances— in  what  combination  of 
circumstances  they  would  accept  or 
reject  grace.  If  He  decrees  their  pre- 
destination absolutely  he  gives  them 
grace  in  circumstances  under  which  they 
will  certainly  correspond  to  it ;  otherwise 
He  confers  grace  which  is  in  itself  per- 
fectly sufficient,  but  which  they  will  cer- 
tainly reject.  Congruism  has  the  advan- 
tage of  admitting  the  full  force  of 
scriptural  texts  which  attribute  the  whole 
diflerence'  between  sinner  and  saint  to  the 
grace  of  God,  while  at  the  same  time 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  reconciling  it 
with  belief  in  the  freedom  of  the  will. 

The  Moliuists  (so  called  from  Louis 
Molina,  a  celebrated  Jesuit)  hold  that  the 
efficacy  of  grace  depends  simply  on  the 
will  which  freely  accepts  it.  The  dif- 
ference is  not  in  the  graces  in  themselves, 
nor  even  in  the  circumstances  under 
which  thfy  are  given.  A  powerful  grsce 
given  at  the  most  favourable  juncture  may 
be  rejected,  and  so  remain  merely  sufficient ; 
a  much  less  powerful  grace  may  be  given 
with  much  less  favourable  circumstances, 
and  the  consent  of  the  will  may  make  it 
efficacious.    God  predestines  those  who,  as 

1  So  at  least  Billuart  puts  the  case  in  his 
treatise  De  Gratia,  but  probably  the  Jesuit 
theologians  would  demur  to  the  form  at  least  of 
the  tirst  proposition. 


He  foresees,  will  correspond  to  that  grace 
which  He  offers  to  all. 

The  Augustinians  advocate  a  third 
system.  Like  the  Thomists,  they  admit 
an  intrinsic  difference  between  efficacious 
and  sufficient  grace,  but  they  maintain 
this  position  on  purely  theological,  not  on 
philosophical  grounds:  on  the  weakness 
of  man's  will  since  the  fall,  not  on  the 
general  principle  that  all  second  causes 
must  be  moved  to  action  by  the  first 
cause.  Hence  they  propound  a  Molinist 
theory  for  the  period  before,  a  Thomist 
theory  for  that  after,  the  fall. 

A  singular  theory,  adopted,  however, 
by  St.  Liguori  in  his  treatise  on  prayer, 
was  devised  by  Tournely,  a  doctor  of  the 
Sorbonne  and  author  of  a  "  Dogmatic 
Theology "  justly  held  in  high  esteem. 
Tournely  supposed  that  God  gave  men 
first  of  all  sufficient  grace,  in  the  Molinist 
sense,  for  certain  initial  works,  especially 
prayer,  which  grace,  if  rightly  used,  was 
followed  by  grace  efficacious  in  the 
Thomist  sense.  The  obvious  objection  is 
that  prayer,  if  it  fulfils  the  conditions 
necessary  for  obtaining  the  requests  made, 
is  one  of  the  most  excellent  and  difficult 
of  all  good  works,  so  that  either  there  is 
no  need  at  all  of  grace  efficacious  in  its 
own  nature,  or  else  such  grace  would  be 
imperatively  demanded  foi-  prayer. 

The  controversy  on  grace  and  pre- 
destination between  the  Dominicans  and 
Jesuits  began   in  Spain  about  the   year 

1580.  Bannez,  a  Dominican  professor 
at  Salamanca,  maintained  the  intrinsic 
efficacity  of  grace  as  explained  above. 
Setting  out  from  the  notion  of  God  as  the 
first  cause  and  the  first  mover,  he  repre- 
sented efficacious  grace  as  determining  the 
free  consent  of  the  will  by  "  physical  pre- 
motion,"  and  this  premotiou  which  was 
infallibly  followed  by  the  consent  of  the 
will  came,  as  he  alleged,  from  God's  abso- 
lute decree  that  the  person  so  moved  by 
grace  should  correspond  to  it.  The  Jesuit 
college  at  the  same  university  met  thia 
doctrine  of  intrinsic  efficacity  of  grace  and 
physical  premotion  on  the  part  of  God, 
with  vigorous  opposition.      As  early  as 

1581,  a  Jesuit,  Prudentius  de  Monte- 
Mayor  defended  in  public  disputation  a 
doctrine  which  had  already  been  pro- 
pounded by  another  member  of  his  order, 
Fonseca,  in  1566 — viz.  that  God  knew, 
apart  from  any  decree  except  the  general 
one  of  concurring  with  free  agents  in  this 
determination,  where  and  when  the  will 
would  correspond  to  or  reject  grace,  that 
efficacious  grace  was    imply  that  which, 


GRACE 

as  God  foresaw,  would  be  accepted.  This 
doctrine  was  eagerly  defended  in  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  Suarez  maintained  it  at 
Coimbra,  Vasquez  at  Alcala,  Gregory  of 
Valentia  at  In^olstadt,  Lessius  in  the 
Netherlands,  Toletus  at  Rome.  But  it 
was  Molina,  professor  at  Evora,  in  Portu- 
gal, and  a  disciple  of  Fonseca,  who  carried 
out  the  principles  of  his  master  to  their 
utmost  consequences.  His  famous  book, 
"  Liberi  Arbitrii  cum  gratise  donis,  divina 
praescientia,  providentia,  prsedestinatione 
et  reprobatione  concordia,"  was  published 
at  Lisbon  in  1588.  It  made  an  epoch  in 
theology  and  roused  the  keenest  contro- 
versy amongst  Catholics  for  more  than  a 
century.  The  controversy  turned  on  pre- 
destination as  well  as  grace,  for  Moliuists^ 
held  (1)  that  sufficient  grace  became  effi- 
cacious simply  by  the  free  consent  of  the 
will  which  corresponded  to  it;  (2)  that 
God  predestined  those  who  He  foresaw 
would  consent  to  grace,  so  that  predesti- 
nation was  an  effect  of  God's  prevision 
that  his  creatures  would  coneent,  not 
vice  versa.^ 

In  1694  Clement  VIII.  intimated  that 
he  reserved  the  decision  of  the  controversy 
to  himself,  and  in  November  1597  the 
famous  Congregations  de  Auxiliis — i.e. 
concerning  the  helps  or  assistance  of  g^^'ace 
— were  instituted  for  the  examination  of 
the  question.  The  congregation  consisted 
of  eight  consultors  (of  these  eight  two 
were  absent,  and  were  replaced  by  three 
new  members)  of  whom  all  except  two 
condemned  Molina's  book  after  consider- 
ing it  for  little  more  than  two  months. 
They  repeated  this  adverse  sentence  after 
a  second  consultation.  Molina  begged  to 
be  heard  in  his  own  defence,  and  accord- 
ingly the  Pope  ordered  that  colloquies 
should  be  held,  in  which  the  generals  of 
both  orders  and  the  great  Cardinal  Bel- 
larmiu  took  part.  The  limits  of  the 
question  were  seriously  narrowed  in  these 
colloquies,  for  the  Jesuits  refused  to  com- 
mit themselves  to  the  opinions  of  Molina 
and  Lessius  on  predestination,  and  the 

1  We  say  Molinists  in  deference  to  usage, 
though  the  name  is  really  inaccurate.  Lessius 
held  proposition  (2).  Molina,  on  the  contrary, 
"doctiinain  gratiee  congrute  una  cum  prjedesti- 
natione  ante  praevisa  merita  et  bonorum  operum 
praedetinitionem  adumhravit."  Schneemann, 
ConU'overtdarum  de  dlvinse  gratiae  liberique  arbi- 
trii concordia  iiiitia  et  progressus,  p.  237. 

2  On  the  Congruist  and  Thomist  theories, 
God,  apart  from  all  prevision  of  merit  or  de- 
merir,  determines  who  are  to  be  saved,  and  then 
gives  to  the  elect  efficacious  grace  by  which  they 
freely  merit  their  salvation. 


GRACE 


386 


dispute  was  confined  to  the  efficacity  of 
grace.  In  1600  Cardinal  Madrucci,  v^ho 
presided  at  the  conferences,  died,  and 
the  conferences  themselves  ended  with- 
out definite  result.  Once  more  Mo- 
lina's book  was  submitted  to  a  Congre- 
gation ^  on  which  two  Jesuits  and  two 
Dominicans  sat,  and  twenty  propositions 
contained  in  it  were  censured  by  a 
majority  of  the  members.  From  1602 
to  1606  Congregations  were  held  in 
the  Vatican  before  Clement  VIII.  and 
Paul  V.  The  Dominicans  were  repre- 
sented by  Didacus  Alvarez  and  Thomas 
of  Lemos,  the  Jesuits  during  the  first 
nine  sessions  by  the  learned  and  pious 
Gregory  of  Valentia,  and  later  by  Arrubal, 
Bastida,  and  De  Salas.  The  Spanish 
Court  pressed  for  the  condemnation  of  the 
Jesuits;  who  had  ofiended  Spanish  pre- 
judices and  selfishness  by  espousing  the 
cause  of  Henri  IV.  in  France.  It  has 
been  alleged  that  Clement  VIIL,  shortly 
before  his  death  in  1605,  had  prepared  a 
bull  condemning  Molina,  but  this  supposed 
fact  has  never  been  proved.  In  any  case 
the  bull  was  not  promulgated  and  the 
Congregations,  which  met-  sixty-eight 
times  under  Clement,  held  twelve  more 
sessions  under  Paul  V.  On  August  28, 
1607,  the  latter  Pope  convoked  the  College 
of  Cardinals  (excluding,  however,  those 
who  had  been  consultors  or  secretaries  of 
the  Congregation),  and  handed  an  ency- 
clical to  the  generals  of  the  Dominicans 
and  Jesuits,  which  they  in  turn  were  to 
communicate  to  the  provincials.  The 
theologians  of  each  party  were  allowed  to 
hold  and  teach  their  respective  opinions, 
provided  they  did  not  stigmatise  their 
opponents  with  theological  censures. 
Urban  VIIL  and  Clement  XII.  declared 
themselves  in  the  same  sense. 

In  1613  Aquaviva,  general  of  the 
Jesuits,  required  the  members  of  his  order 
to  teach  the  doctrine  on  grace  known  as 
Cougruism,  and  defended  by  Bellarmin, 
Suarez,  and  others  as  distinct  from  the 
doctrine  of  Molina,  Lessius,  Becanus,  &c., 
known  as  Molinism  (but  see  Schneemann, 
p.  302  seq.).  Jz  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
add  that  the  Molinist  and  Congruist 
theories  are  held  by  many  theologians  who 
are  not  Jesuits,  just  as  the  so-called 
Thomist  doctrine  is  accepted  by  many 
besides  the  Dominicans. 

All  the  large  courses  of  dogmatic 
theology  published  during  tha  seventeenth 
and  earlier  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
enter  fully  into  the  controversies  on  grace. 
Santamour  and  other  v^riters  inclined  to 


CO 


886        GRACE  AT  MEALS 


GRADUAL  PSALMS 


Jansenism  published  Acts  of  the  Congre- 
gations de  Auxiliis,  attributing  them  to 
Pegna,  Coronell,  and  De  Lemos,  along 
with  a  constitution  said  to  have  been 
drawn  up,  but  never  promulgated,  by 
Paul  v.,  in  condemnation  of  Molinism. 
The  Pope  is  said  to  have  abstained  from 
promulgating  this  constitution  because 
the  Jesuits  at  the  time  were  sufFerii]g  for 
their  obedience  to  the  interdict  issued  by 
Paul  V.  against  Venice.  But  in  1654, 
Innocent  X.  declared  that  no  faith  was  to 
be  given  to  these  documents.  In  spite  of 
this,  the  Dominican  Hyacinth  Serry,  com- 
piled a  history  of  the  controversy  drawn 
m  great  measure  from  the  spurious  Acts 
and  full  of  bitter  attacks  on  the  Jesuits. 
It  was  published  at  Lou  vain  early  in  the 
last  century.  In  reply,  the  Jesuit  Livi- 
nus  Meyer  under  the  pseudonym  of  Theo- 
dore Eleutherius  wrote  his  "  Historia  Con- 
troversiarum  de  div.  gratis  auxilio  sub 
S.  P.  Sixto  v.,  Cleraente  VIII.,  et  Paulo 
V."  (Antwerp,  1705).  A  Bavarian  Car- 
melite, Alexander  a  Sto.  Johanne,  in  his 
continuation  of  Fleury,  repeated  the 
charges  of  Serry,  and  was  answered  in 
the  Latin  treatise  of  the  ex- Jesuit  Man- 
gold, "  Reflexions  on  Fr.  Alexander's 
Continuation  of  Fleury."  See  also  Mann- 
hart.  "  De  ing.^nua  indole  gratiee  efficacis," 
in  Zaccaria's  "Thesaurus,"  torn.  v.  and 
Schneemann's  treatise  quoted  above. 

GRACi:  AT  MEAl^S.  In  this  ex- 
pression "  grace  "  represents  the  Latin 
graiice,  thanks  (see  Matt.  xv.  36 ;  Mark 
viii.  6  ;  John  vi.  11)  ;  but  it  also  covers 
the  notion  of  henedictio,  blessing  (Matt, 
xiv.  19 ;  Mark  vi.  41 ;  Luke  ix.  16) ; 
hence  the  Italian  equivalent  to  "  saying 
grace,"  is  "benedire  la  tavola."  In  the 
passages  above  cited,  and  also  in  other 
places,  our  Lord  sets  us  the  example  of 
praying  for  the  blessing  of  God  on  the 
daily  bread  which  He  gives  us,  and  giving 
Him  thnnka  for  what  He  thus  provides, 
both  before  and  after  partaking  of  it. 
Christians  have  from  the  first  complied 
with  this  teaching.  "Whether  you  eat 
or  drink,"  says  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  x.  81). "  or 
whatsoever  else  you  do,  do  all  to  the  glory 
of  God ; "  and  this  precept  is  further 
developed  in  Col.  iii.  17  :  "  Whatsoever 
you  do  in  word  or  in  work,  all  things  do 
ye  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
gimng  thanks  to  God  and  the  Father  by 
him."  Compare  also  1  Thess.  v.  18,  and 
1  Tim.  iv.  3.  Many  of  the  Fathers— e./;. 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  St. 
Cyprian,  St.  John  Chrysostom,  and  St, 
Basil — enjoin  the  punctual  performance  of 


this  duty.  St.  Basil  says,'  "  Let  prayera 
be  said  before  taking  food,  in  meet  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  gifts  of  God,  both 
of  those  which  He  is  now  giving,  and  of 
those  which  He  has  put  in  store  for  the 
future.  Let  prayers  be  said  after  food, 
containing  a  return  of  thanks  for  the 
things  given,  and  request  for  those  pro- 
mised." A  variety  of  specimens  of  early 
graces  are  given  in  the  Gelasian  Sacra- 
men  tary,  '\yhich  dates  from  the  end  of 
the  fifth  century.  In  the  Apostolical 
Constitutions  as  given  in  Bunsen's  ^'  Hip- 
polytus"  (§  21),  meals  in  the  church  are 
spoken  of,  of  which  the  bishop  is  always 
to  be  ready  to  partake  along  with  the 
faithful,  and  at  which  he  is  to  dis- 
tribute a  portion  of  the  brea4  among 
those  present,  "  for  a  blessing,"  before 
they  begin  to  eat.  This  custom  still  pre- 
vails in  the  East,  and  a  relic  of  it  sur- 
vives in  the  eulogies  or  pain  benit*  of  cer- 
tain French  churches.  The  Constitutions 
also  say,  "  Everything  which  they  shall 
eat  they  shall  give  thanks  to  God  for."  ^ 
(Smith  and  Cheetham,  art.byScudamore.) 

GRABUA^  An  antiphon  sung  after 
the  Epistle,  and  so  called  either  because  it 
used  to  be  sung  on  the  altar  steps,  or 
because  it  was  sung  while  the  deacon 
ascended  the  steps  of  the  ambo  to  sing 
the  Gospel.  It  is  also  called  "  responsory," 
because  it  answers  to  the  Epistle,  or  be- 
cause sung  antiphonally.  The  ''  Liber 
Pontificalis,"  in  the  Life  of  Celestine  I., 
attributes  its  origin  to  that  Pope :  others 
refer  it^s  introduction  to  Gregory  the 
Great.  It  is  omitted  in  Lent.  (From 
Benedict  XIV.  ''  De  Missa.") 

GRABVA&  PSAZiSIS.  A  title 
given  to  Psalms  cxx.-cxxxiv.,  in  the 
Hebrew — cxix.-cxxxiii.,  in  the  Vulgate  . 
numeration.^  AU  these  Psalms  have 
much  in  common.  All  except  Ps.  cxxxii. 
are  short ;  the  same  tone  of  joyful  trust 
in  God's  protection  runs  through  them  all; 
and  although  some  of  them  (viz.  Ps.cxxii., 
cxxiv.,  cxxxi.,  cxxxiii.)  are  ascribed  to 
David,  cxxvii.  to  Solomon,  it  is  pretty 
plain  that  they  all  belong  to  the  early 
period  of  the  return  from  the  exile. 

The  Latin  "canticum  gradnum,"  is  a 
translation  of  the  Hebrew  Dl^y^H  ")>t^ 
(in  cxxi.  Dvy©?),  which  occurs  in  the 
inscriptions.     The  LXX  have  coSi)  dva(3a8- 

1  Ep.  ii.  ad  Greg.  Naz.  (quoted  in  Mr.  Scu- 
damore's  art,,  Diet,  of  Christ.  Antiq.) 

^  Apost.  Constit.,  from  the  Coptic,  Tattam, 
1848 ;  p.  74. 

3  The  Hebrew  numeration  is  followed  in  the 
rest  of  this  article. 


GRADUAL  PSALMS 

fimv.  But  it  is  impossible  to  say  for  certain 
what  this  title  means.  The  following  are 
the  chief  attempts  at  solvinfr  the  problem. 
(1)  The  oldest  explanation  given  by 
Jewish  and  Christian  scholars,  and  implied 
perhaps  in  the  LXX  translation,  is  that 
the  psalms  were  so  called  because  sung- 
on  the  fifteen  steps  which  led  from  the 
court  of  the  men  to  that  of  the  women. 
According  to  the  Talmud,  two  priests 
were  stationed  on  the  evening  of  the  first 
day  of  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  at  the  top 
of  the  steps  with  trumpets,  while  the 
Levites  sang  the  psalms  on  the  steps  (ac- 
cording to  a  later  tradition  one  psalm  on 
each  step).  We  have  no  historical  evi- 
dence apart  from  the  Talmud  for  such  a 
custom  ;  the  steps  most  likely  did  not  exist 
till  Herod's  time;  and  there  is  strong 
reason  to  suspect  that  the  custom  was 
imagined  to  account  for  the  title  of  the 


{2)  Others  have  suggested  that  the 
psalms  were  sung  by  the  exiles,  iu  re- 
turning or  "  going  up  "  from  Babylon,  so 
that  the  word  translated  "  graduum " 
would  answer  to  the  Greek  dvd^aa-is. 
This  explanation  was  adopted,  partially 
at  least,  by  the  Syriac  translator,  and 
seems  to  have  been  in  the  mind  of  Aquila, 
Symmaehus,  and  Theodotion,  when  they 
used  dva^d(T€is  to  render  Jvhv.'O-  This 
view  was  advocated  by  Chrysostom  and 
Theodoret  among  the  Fathers,  as  well  as 
by  modern  scholars  of  name.  No  doubt 
the  words  7230  n?yD  do  occur  in  Es- 
dras  vii.  9,  in  the  sense  of  return,  or 
dvd^aais,  from  Babel.  But  the  plural 
number' in  ni^l^Q  retained  in  the  Vul- 
gate "  graduum  "  is  against  this  interpre- 
tation ;  and,  besides,  Ps.  cxxii.  implies  that 
the  exile  was  over  some  considerable  time, 
and  the  Temple  and  city  rebuilt. 

(3)  Closely  allied  with  the  foregoing 
is  anotlier  explanation  adopted  by  many 
great  scholars — e.ff.  by  Eichhorn,  Maurer, 
llengstenberg,  Keil,  Hupfeld,  Kuenen,  &c. 
— and  which  has  very  much  to  recommend 
it.  They  suppose  that  these  psalms  were 
sung  during  the  "goings  up  "  or  pilgrim- 
ages to  Jerusalem  for  the  great  annual 
feasts.  This  account  satisfies  the  laws  of 
grammatical  usage  (e.g.  it  accounts  for 
the  use  of  the  plural),  and  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  tlie  contents  of  the  psalms 
in  question.  We  may  reasonably  con- 
jecture that  some  of  the  psalms  were 
actually  written  for  the  pilgrims,  while 
others  were  placed  in  this  collection  be- 


GRADUAL  PSALMS        387 

cause  they  dealt  with  subjects  or  expressed 
feelings  which  had  a  powerfid  attraction 
for  the  pious  Israelite  in  general,  and  so 
for  the  pilgrim  in  particular.  "  Thus  Ps. 
cxx.-cxxii.,  Ps.  cxxxiii.,  cxxxiv.  (i.e.  the 
first  and  the  last  songs  in  the  collection) 
point  directly  to  the  pilgrimages;  Ps. 
cxxiv.,  cxxvi.,  cxxviii.,  cxxix.,  cxxxii., 
treat  of  subjects  more  or  less  connected 
therewith;  lastly,  Ps.  cxxiii.,  cxxv., 
cxxvii.,  cxxx.,  cxxxi.,  are  more  general, 
but  at  the  same  time  contain  nothing 
which  makes  their  incorporation  in  a 
'  petit  psautier  des  pelerins  du  second 
temple '  inexplicable  or  even  strange." 

We  add  for  the  sake  of  completeness, 
two  other  explanations.  Gesenius,  fol- 
lowed by  De  Wette,  Winer,  Delitzsch, 
&c.,  suggested  that  the  name  described 
the  ascending  rhythm  of  the  psalms,  for 
the  sense  goes  on  progressively,  and  the 
first  or  last  words  of  a  preceding  are 
often  repeated  at  the  beginning  of  a  sub- 
sequent sentence.  It  is  scarcely  fair  to 
urge  against  this  view,  that  the  same 
rhythm  is  found  in  the  song  of  Deborah, 
and  in  Isa.  xxvi.  5,  6.  It  is,  however,  a 
strong  objection  that  this  ascending 
rhythm  is  not  found  at  all  in  Ps.  cxxvii.- 
cxxxiv. ;  and  is,  to  say  the  least,  not 
strongly  marked  in  Ps.  cxxv.  Besides, 
this  explanation  will  not  suit  the  inscrip- 
tion of  Ps.  cxxi. — viz.  a  song  "  for  ascents  " 
not  "of  ascents  :"  "gradibus,"  not  "gra- 
duum" (ni^I^?:)^). 

Fiirst's  theory,  given  in  his  Concor- 
dance and  in  his  Lexicon  (sub  voc.  n^yjj  V 
may  be  dismissed  in  a  single  sentence. 
He  translates  the  titles  "  songs  of  excel- 
lence," a  meaning  which  is  not  justified 
by  usage,  which  is  unlikely  on  the  face  of 
it,  and  which  leaves  the  plural  number 
unexplained.  (Chiefly  from  the  essay  in 
Hupfeld's  "  Commentary  on  the  Psalms," 
vol.  iv.  p.  274:  .seq.,  and  from  Kuenen, 
"  Historisch-kritisch  Onderzoek-naar  het 
Onstaan  en  de  Verzameling  van  de  Boeken 
des  Ouden  Verbonds,"vol.  iii.,p.  218  seq.  : 
the  words  in  inverted  commas  are  from 
the  latter  author.) 

We  may  now  pass  on  to  the  use  of 
the  Gradual  Psalms  in  the  Christian 
Church.  The  Fathers,  as  well  as  later 
Catholic  writers,  found  various  mystical 
meanings  in  the  number  fifteen,  and  re- 
garded these  Psalms  as  marking  the  steps 
by  which  the  soul  ascends  to  God.  The 
Breviary  divides  the  Gradual  Psalms  into 
three  sets  of  five  each,  the  first  five  end- 
ing with   the   common  conelu.-ion  "R©- 


oo2 


888  GRATIS  EXPECTATIV^ 

quiem  aeternam  dona  eis,  Domine,"  and 
with  a  prayer  for  the  dead,  while  each 
of  the  remaining  psahus  ends  with  the 
**  Gloria  Patri,"'  and  each  of  the  remain- 
ing sets  with  a  collect.  This  arrange- 
ment and  the  practice  of  reciting  these 
psalms  before  matins  are  mentioned  by 
Kadulphns,  a  contemporary  of  Innocent 
III.  At  one  time  the  Gradual  Psalms 
were  said  before  matins  every  day  in 
Lent,  but  Pius  V.  limited  the  recitation 
to  all  Wednesdays  in  that  season,  except- 
ing Wednesday  in  Holy  Week,  and  days 
on  which  an  office  of  nine  lessons  occurs. 
Moreover,  Pius  V.  made  the  private  reci- 
tation a  matter  of  devotion,  not  of  pre- 
cept. He  attached  an  indulgence  of  tifty 
days  to  the  devout  repetition.  When, 
however,  oifice  is  said  in  choir,  the  obliga- 
tion of  reciting  the  Gradual  Psalms  still 
continues,  as  appears  from  the  Constitu- 
tion of  Pius  V.  on  the  Breviary  as  inter- 
preted by  various  decisions  of  the  Congre- 
gation of  Rites.  (From  Gavantus,  sect.  9, 
cap.  2.) 

GRATIJE  EXPECTATIVJE.      [See 
ExrECIATIVES.] 

GREATER  TITHES.  [SeeTlTHES.] 
GREEK  [SCHXSIMCATIC]  CHURCH. 
Under  this  title  we  include  all  those  Chris- 
tians who,  being  separated  from  the  com- 
munion of  the  Pope,  acknowledge  the  pri- 
macy of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople. 
The  Russian  church,  however,  which  is 
really  Greek  in  the  sense  of  the  above  de- 
finition, we  put  aside  for  the  present,  re- 
serving our  account  of  it  for  another  article. 
At  one  time, as  everybody  knows,  the  Greek 
churches  w^ere  in  fuU  communion  with  the 
Holy  See.  We  begin,  therefore,  with  the 
history  of  the  schism  and  of  the  origin  of 
the  Greek  church  as  an  independent  body. 
Ignatius,  a  member  of  the  imperial 
family  and  a  monk,  was  made  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople  in  846  or  847,  during 
the  reign  of  Theodora.  When  Theodora's 
Bon  Michael  HI.,  known  as  Michael  the 
Drimken,  began  to  reign,  he  fell  entirely 
under  the  influence  of  his  uncle  Bardus,  a 
profligate  of  the  most  abandoned  cha- 
racter, who  lived  in  sin  with  bis  own 
stepdaughter.  On  the  feast  of  the  Epi- 
phany 857  Ignatius  refused  to  give  Bardus 
communion,  and  further  offended  him  by 
declining  to  clothe  Theodora  and  her 
daughters  against  their  will  with  the 
religious  habit.  Accordingly,  Ignatius 
was  banished,  and  in  858  Photius  was 
consecrated  Patriarch  in  his  place.  Pho- 
tius was  the  most  learned  man  of  his 
time,  among  the  most  learned  of  any 


GREEK  CHURCH 

time — as  his  Bibliotheca  (or  fivpio^ifiXiovy 
as  he  entitled  it,  consisting  of  extracts 
from  280  books  which  he  had  read)  still 
remains  to  testify.  But  he  w^as  am- 
bitious and  unscrupulous.  His  consecra- 
tion was  utterly  uncanonical.  For,  first, 
Ignatius,  a  pious  and  virtuous  man,  was 
the  lawful  patriarch ;  next,  Photius,  who 
was  a  layman  at  the  time  of  his  election, 
was  promoted  to  the  episcopate  within 
six  days  ;  and,  lastly,  he  was  consecrated 
by  a  bishop  who  was  himself  under  sen- 
tence of  deposition. 

This  violent  change  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church  caused  discontent 
among  the  clergy  and  people,  and  in 
order  to  quiet  them,  the  Emperor  Michael 
sent  ambassadors  with  costly  presents  to 
Pope  Nicholas  I.,  in  order  to  secure  his 
approbation.  In  spite  of  false  statements 
made  by  the  ambassadors,  the  Pope  re- 
fused to  decide  till  he  had  investigated 
the  matter,  and  for  this  purpose  de- 
spatched two  legates  to  Constantinople. 
Those  legates,  yielding  to  bribery  or  to 
threats,  confirmed  the  deposition  of  Igna- 
tius on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  elected 
through  the  undue  intiuence  of  Theodora, 
and  acknowledged  the  jurisdiction  of 
Photius.  This  took  place  in  a  s'STiod  at 
Constantinople,  held  in  863,  but  the  Pope 
remained  inflexible.  He  sent  word  to 
the  Eastern  bishops  that  he  condemned 
both  the  deposition  of  Ignatius  and  the 
usurpation  of  Photius,  and  in  the  same 
year,  863,  he  deposed  the  latter  from  the 
office  into  which  he  had  intruded. 

Three  years  later  Bardus  was  murdered 
by  the  army,  but  the  schism  which  he 
had  originated  stiU  continued  ;  nay,  fresh 
causes  of  quarrel  arose.  The  Bulgarians, 
a  Slav  people,  had  been  converted  in  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century  by  the  Greek 
teachers,  St.  Cyril  and  St.  Methodius. 
Some  time  later,  when  Cyril  and  Metho- 
dius had  gone  to  the  Moravians  and  Bo- 
hemians, the  Bulgarian  king,  Michael, 
sent  envoys  to  Pope  Nicolas  desiring  in- 
formation on  various  points.  Nicolas  sent 
Latin  missionaries  to  the  country,  and  the 
Roman  missionary  bishops  re-confirmed 
all  those  who  had  received  confirmation 
from  Greek  priests,  denying  that  Photius, 
who  was  himself  without  real  jurisdiction, 
could  empower  his  priests  to  confirm. 
In  867  Photius,  now  more  embittered 
than  ever,  convoked  a  council  in  the  im- 
perial city,  and  delivered  sentence  of  de- 
position and  excommunication  against  the 
Pope.  Further,  he  accused  the  Latin 
church  of  heresy  for  adding  the  words 


GREEK  CHURCH 

**  Filioque  "  to  the  Nicene  Creed,  and  at- 
tacked tlie  discipline  and  usages  of  the 
Latins,  particidarly  their  practice  of  fast- 
ing on  Saturda}^,  their  use  of  milk  and 
cheese  on  fasting  days,  and  the  enforced 
celibacy  of  their  clergy. 

Scarcely  had  Pho'tius  issued  his  pre- 
tended deposition  of  the  Pope,  when  he 
himself  was  removed  from  office  by  the 
new  Emperor,  Basil,  who  had  murdered 
Michael;  and  Ignatius  was  reinstated. 
The  new  Pope,  Hadrian  II.,  worked 
zealously  for  the  restoration  of  peace  ; 
the  Eighth  General  Council  met  at  Con- 
Btantinople  in  860,  and  then  the  excom- 
munication of  Photius  was  recognised, 
though  his  followers  were  admitted  to 
the  coiummiion  of  the  Church  if  they  con- 
sented to  express  their  sorrow  for  the 
past.  Thus  Greeks  and  Latins  were 
again  united,  but  Bulgaria  was  still  the 
cause  of  strife,  and  in  872  Pope  John 
Vill.  threatened  Ignatius  with  excom- 
munication if  he  insisted  on  regarding  it 
as  subject  to  his  see.  Peace  was  not 
actually  broken  till  878,  when  after  the 
death  of  Ignatius,  Photius  again  ascended 
the  patriarchal  throne  of  Constantinople. 
John  VIII.  would  not  acknowledge  him, 
except  on  condition  that  he  begged  pardon 
for  his  offences,  and  renounced  his  claim  to 
jurisdiction  in  Bulgaria.  Once  more  Pho- 
tius circumvented  legates  sent  from  Rome. 
At  a  Council  of  Constantinople  in  879  he 
contrived  to  evade  the  Pope's  demand  for 
apology,  and  those  who  made  any  addi- 
tion to  the  Nicene  Creed  were  anathe- 
matised. The  Pope,  however,  was  not  to 
be  deceived.  He  despatched  the  Roman 
deacon.  Marinus  (afterwards  Pope)  to 
Constantinople,  and  he  annulled  the  acts 
of  the  late  synod.  The  excommunication 
of  Photius  was  reiterated  by  Marinus, 
John's  successor,  as  well  as  by  Pope 
Hadrian  HI.  Things  took  a  new  turn 
under  Pope  Stephen  V.  (885-891).  The 
emperor  Bisil  died  in  886,  and  his  suc- 
cessor, Leo  VI.,  "  the  Philofjopher," 
banished  Photius,  who  died  in  891.  The 
schism  was  healed  after  a  fashion,  but 
the  ashes  of  the  old  dissension  were  still 
smouldering,  and  it  only  needed  a  new 
Photius  to  kindle  them  into  flame. 

This  new  Photius  was  found  in 
Michael  Cerularius,  also  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, who,  in  1053,  under  Pope 
Leo  IX.,  wrote  to  the  bishop  of  Trani,  in 
Apulia,  reproaching  the  Latins  with  their 
use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  Mass,  their 
habit  of  eating  flesh  with  the  blood 
(jrytKTop]    see   Acts   xv.  20),  their  cus- 


GREEK  CHURCH 


389 


torn  of  omitting  the  Alleluia  during  Lent, 
&c.  The  Pope  wrote  a  reply  which  made 
a  good  impression  on  the  Emperor  Con- 
stantine  Monomachus,  and  in  1054  the 
Papal  legates  went  to  Constantinople.  The 
Patriarch,  however,  would  not  hear  of 
peace,  and  the  legates  left  the  document 
containing  his  excommunication  on  the 
altar  of  St.  Sophia.  Michael  succeeded 
in  withdrawing  the  Oriental  bishops  from 
communion  with  the  West,  a  task  which  he 
did  not  find  difficult,  for  the  Greeks  gene- 
rally were  averse  to  the  a^^dition  of  the 
"  Filioque,"  and  to  the  use  of  unleavened 
bread  in  the  Eucharist.  Since  then  the 
Greeks  have  as  a  body  been  severed  from 
Catholic  communion,  although  the  separa- 
tion of  the  Russo-Greek  church  from 
Rome  was  not  efiected  till  the  twelfth 
century. 

Many  attempts  were  made  to  repair 
the  breach,  but  without  lasting  residts. 
In  1098,  Urban  II.  convoked  a  synod  at 
Bari,  in  which  St.  Anselm  of  Canterbury 
defended  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost's 
procession  from  the  Son.  Negotiations 
were  carried  on  between  Alexander  III. 
and  the  Emperor  Manuel  Comnenus,  and 
the  latter  assembled  a  council  at  Constan- 
tinople, in  1168,  to  promote  the  reunion 
of  the  Greeks,  but  the  resistance  of  the 
Greek  Patriarch  defeated  the  Emperor's 
intentions.  The  presence  of  the  Crusaders 
in  the  East  only  served  to  aggravate  the 
schism.  Latin  patriarchates  were  esta- 
blished in  Antioch  and  Jerusalem.  On 
the  capture  of  Constantinople  by  the 
Latins,  a  Latin  empire  and  patriarchate 
were  set  up  there  (in  1204)  ;  the  Greek 
Patriarch  of  Alexandria  returned  to 
Catholic  communion ;  and  learned  Greeks, 
such  as  Nicholas,  archbishop  of  Thessa- 
lonica,  the  monk  Nicephorus  Blemmidas, 
and  John  Beccus,  archivist  of  the  church 
at  Constantinople,  were  courageous  advo- 
cates of  the  union,  but  the  cause  which 
they  had  at  heart  was  ruined  by  the 
selfishness  of  the  Emperor,  the  fanaticism 
of  the  Greek  monks,  the  cruelty  and 
avarice  of  the  Crusaders.  The  Greek 
Patriarchs  of  Constantinople  settled  at 
Nicaea,  where  Theodore  Lascaris  had 
founded  a  kingdom  on  the  ruins  of  the 
Byzantine  empire.  In  1262,  ths  Latin 
empire  fell,  the  Greeks  recovered  possession 
of  Constantinople,  and  the  schism  con- 
tinued in  full  force.  The  union  eifected 
at  Lyons  (1274),  when  the  Greeks  ac- 
knowledged the  primacy  of  the  Pope  and 
the  procession  of  the  Holj'  Ghost  from  the 
Son,  did  not  last  six  years,  and  the  Decree 


390 


GREEK  CHURCH 


of  Union  at  Florence  (1439)  was  repu- 
diated in  1443  by  the  Patriarchs  of 
Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Jerusalem.  In 
Constantinople  it  was  only  the  Patriarch 
and  the  prelates  of  the  Court  who  ad- 
hered to  the  union ;  and  when  (in  1453) 
this  city  fell  before  the  Turks,  its  Patriarch 
fled  to  Italy,  and  Gregory  Scholarius,  a 
schismatic,  was  chosen  in  his  place  by 
command  of  the  Sultan  Mahomet  II. 
Peace  was  at  an  end  between  Rome  and 
Constantinople.  In  the  Russian  empire 
proper,  the  decree  of  Florence  had  never 
been  accepted.  The  Greek  exarchs,  how- 
ever, subject  to  the  Metropolitan  of  Kiew 
amonp:  the  Lithuanians  and  Poles,  and  the 
Greek  churches  in  Italy,  Illyria,  Hungary, 
Slavonia,  &c.,  were  faithful  to  the  union 
effected  at  Florence.  They  are  known 
as  "  United  Greeks,"  or  Catholics  of  the 
Greek  rite. 

II.  The  Present  State  of  the  Greek 
Schismatic  Church. — The  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  is  superior  in  rank  to  the 
three  other  Patriarchs — viz.  of  Alexan- 
dria, Antioch.  and  Jerusalem.  His  direct 
spiritual  jurisdiction  extends  over  all  the 
Greeks  ot'  Turkey  in  Europe,  and  over  all 
the  Greeks  of  Turkey  in  Asia  who  are 
not  subject  to  the  other  Patriarchs.  His 
power  has  been  greatly  lessened  within 
the  last  three  centuries.  The  Russian 
church  was  emancipated  in  a  consider- 
able degree  by  the  erection  of  a  patri- 
archate at  Moscow  in  1589,  and  completely 
by  the  institution  of  the  Holy  Governing 
Synod  in  1721.  The  bishops  in  the  king- 
dom of  Greece  asserted  their  independence 
in  1833,  and  it  was  acknowledged  in 
1868  by  the  Patriarchs  themselves.  Quite 
recently,  the  Bulgarian  church  has  placed 
itself  under  an  exarch  or  primate  who  is 
independent  of  Constantinople.  Still  the 
Patriarch  retains  under  his  rule  a  large 
population,  for  the  schismatic  Greeks  in 
Turkey  number  between  eleven  and 
twelve  millions.^  He  inflicts  spiritual 
penalties,  including  excommunication,  on 
any  of  the  clergy  or  people  in  his 
patriarchate.  He  nominates  and  de- 
poses archbiahops  and  bishops.  He  has 
also  ample  civil  jurisdiction,  for  he  can 
summon  criminals  before  his  court  and 
inflict  punishment ;  he  has  his  own  police, 
and  his  pri.on,  and  he  is  the  supreme 
arbiter  in  all  civil  disputes  between  Greeks 
and  Greeks.  The  council  of  the  Patri- 
arch is  the  Holy  Synod — a  body  which 

^  This  calculation,  however,  includes  Bul- 
garians. 


GREEK  CHURCH 

consists  of  twelve  metropolitans,  though 
the  Patriarch  may  reduce  the  number  to 
ten.  The  metropolitans  of  Heraclea,  Cy- 
zicus,  Nicomedia,  and  Ohalcedon  are  ex 
officio  members;  the  rest  are  nominated 
by  the  Patriarch,  but  all  bishops  who 
happen  to  be  in  Constantinople  at  the 
time  are  entitled  to  take  part  in  the  de- 
liberations and  decisions  of  the  synod,  if 
matters  of  great  import  are  at  issue.  The 
Patriarch  needs  the  synod's  consent  for 
matters  which  concern  the  general  good 
of  the  church,  whether  these  aflairs 
are  spiritual  or  temporal,  and  for  the 
nomination  of  bishops.  When  the  patri- 
archate is  vacant,  the  synod  chooses  three 
candidates,  who,  according  to  the  present 
rule,  must  all  be  metropolitans.  The 
names  are  announced  to  the  "com- 
munity," composed  of  dignitaries,  lay  and 
cleric,  belonging  to  the  patriarchal  palace, 
of  notables  from  the  merchants,  and 
of  heads  of  corporations.  The  "  com- 
munity "  then  elect  one  of  them  by 
acclamation,  and  the  Porte  grants  the 
Berat,  or  diploma  of  investiture.  The 
day  after,  the  Grand  Vizier  presents  the 
ne^y  Patriarch  with  a  pastoral  staff",  a 
white  horse  and  rich  ornaments.  The 
Patriarch  may  be  tried  by  the  synod,  and 
if  he  is  found  guilty  the  Porto  is  requested 
to  depose  him.  The  Patriarch  is  assisted 
by  the  officials  of  his  household.  Of  these 
the  principal  are — the  (Econome  {iiiyas 
olKovofios),  who  manages  the  revenues 
and  presents  candidates  for  ordination; 
"Visitors"  (o-aKeXXdpioi),  who  inspect 
the  monasteries  and  convents;  the  Charto- 
phylax,  who  superintends  ecclesiastical 
causes  ;  the  Protonotary,  who  has  charge 
of  wills,  contracts,  and  the  patriarchal 
correspondence;  the  Great  Logothete 
{neyas  Xoyodenjs) ,  a  layman  who  repre- 
sents the  Patriarch  at  the  Porte ;  the  Prot- 
ecdicos  (Trpwre/cSi/cos),  who,  with  twelve 
assistant  judges,  forms  a  court  of  minor 
instance. 

The  other  patriarchates  are  mere 
shadows  of  former  greatness.  That  of 
Alexandria  comprises  Egypt,  Lybia, 
Nubia  and  Arabia,  but  contains  only 
about  5,000  members  of  the  Greek 
church.  Next  comes  the  Patriarch  of 
Antioch,  ruling  over  about  28,000 
Greeks  in  Syria,  Cilicia,  Mesopotamia, 
Isauria,  »S:c.  There  -are  some  15,000 
Greeks  in  the  Holy  Places  subject  to  the 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  who  lives  at  Con- 
stantinople. These  patriarchs  have  their 
synods,  officials,  &c.  The  Berat  of  their 
investiture  is  obtained  from  the  Porte  by 


GREEK  CHURCH 

the  mediation  of  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
Btantinople. 

There  are  few  ecclesiastical  provinces 
in  Turkey,  and  the  title  of  archbishop  is 
merely  honorary.  As  bishops  are  neces- 
sarily celibate,  they  are  selected  by  the 
Patriarch  and  Holy  Synod  from  the 
monks,  a  Berat  being  required  to  confirm 
the  appointment.  The  bishops  appoint 
the  parish  priests,  and  no  monastery  can 
be  erected  in  their  dioceses  without  their 
leave.  Collections  are  made  for  them  in 
the  parishes  ;  they  receive  dues  from  their 
priests,  besides  honoraria  for  dispensations, 
marriages,  burials,  Masses,  &c.,  so  that 
their  revenues  are  sometimes  large.  They 
also  wield  considerable  political  influence. 
They,  like  the  Patriarchs,  have  their 
officials,  such  as  the  Protosyncellus,  an- 
swering to  the  Latin  Vicar-General ;  the 
Proto-Presbyter,  who  visits  the  churches^ 
installs  the  new  parish-priests,  and  exe- 
cutes episcopal  sentences;  the  Charto- 
phylax  or  chancellor.  Tiiere  is,  moreover, 
m  every  diocese  a  commission  consisting 
of  three  members  :  one  of  them  examines 
candidates  for  orders ;  another  watches 
over  the  administration  of  the  sacraments 
and  the  publication  of  books,  to  which  he 
gives  his  imprimatur  in  case  of  approval ; 
a  third  superintends  the  schools. 

In  large  parishes  there  is  a  Proestos, 
who  baptises,  marries,  and  buries ;  a 
Pneumaticos,  who  is  approved  by  the 
bishop  to  hear  confessions ;  and  an  JEphe- 
merios,  who  says  Mass  and  recites  the 
canonical  hours ;  but  poor  parishes  have 
only  one  priest,  with  a  deacon  or  lector  to 
assist  him.  The  clergy  are  usually  ill- 
paid.     As  a  rule,  they  are  married. 

The  religious  men  and  women  gener- 
ally follow  the  rule  of  St.  Basil,  for 
houses  of  St.  Antony's  order  are  only 
found  on  Sinai  and  Lebanon,  and  by  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea.  Most  of  the 
monks  are  laymen;  if  priests,  they  are 
called  Upop.6vaxoi.  The  monks  never 
taste  flesh,  and  are  bound  to  the  recita- 
tion of  the  hours.  The  superior  of  a 
monastery  is  called  Hegoum'enos,  or  in 
the  case  of  the  great  monasteries,  Archi- 
mandrite. The  name  for  the  superioress 
of  nuns  is  Hegoumenissa.  The  monks 
wear  a  long  robe  of  coarse  cloth,  a  belt, 
cloak,  scapular,  and  a  hood  with  five 
crosses.  Some  of  the  religious  houses  are 
subject  to  th*  bishop,  others  are  placed 
immediately  under  the  Patriarchs.  On 
Mount  Athos  there  are  still  anchorites,  or 
solitaries,  and  the  Greeks  have  preserved 
the  old  custom,  according  to  which  pious 


GREEK  CHURCH 


391 


virgins  and  widows  lead  an  ascetic  and 
quasi-religious  life  in  the  bosom  of  their 
families. 

The  Greeks  reject  the  words  "  Filio- 
que  "  in  the  Creed,  and  they  do  not  use  the 
word  Purgatory,  but  they  teach  that 
there  are  two  hells,  from  one  of  which 
there  is  no  redemption ;  and  they  pray  for 
the  dead.  "  In  all  other  points  of  doc- 
trine,'' says  Hefele, "  they  are  in  full  agree- 
ment with  the  Latin  church,"  though  we 
ought  to  add  that  they  consider  the 
marriage  tie  to  be  dissolved  by  adultery. 
In  157fi  the  Patriarch  Jeremias  of  Con- 
stantinople sent  a  document  to  the  Pro- 
testant theologians  of  Tiibingen,  in  which 
he  asserted  the  belief  of  his  church  in  the 
saving  efficacy  of  good  works,  the  seven 
sacraments,  the  change  of  the  bread  and 
wine  into  Christ's  body  and  blood,  the 
necessity  of  detailed  confession  to  a 
priest,  the  veneration  due  to  the  saints, 
the  utility  of  prayers  for  the  dead,  and 
the  sanctity  of  the  monastic  life.  The 
Greeks  ofifered  a  stubborn  resistance  to 
Cyril  Lucar,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  and 
afterwards  of  Constantinople,  who  en- 
deavoured to  introduce  among  his  own 
people  the  doctrines  which  he  had 
learned  in  Geneva.  He  was  driven  re- 
peatedly from  his  see,  and  finally  mur- 
dered by  the  Janissaries  in  1638.  During 
the  controversy  of  Arnauld  and  Nicole 
vnth  the  Calvinist  Claude  on  trausubstan- 
tiation,  the  most  distinguished  Greek 
theologians  were  asked  for  their  opinion, 
and  gave  it  in  the  most  decided  way  for 
the  Catholic  doctrine. 

There  are,  however,  great  differences 
on  points  of  ritual  and  disciphne  between 
Latins  and  Greeks,  whether  united  or 
schismatic.  The  Greek  church  retains 
its  ancient  and  beautiful  rites.  Mass  is 
celebrated  throughout  Turkey  in  Greek, 
except  where  the  "  orthodox  "  community 
is  Slav  or  Roumanian.  The  liturgy  of 
St.  Chrysostom  is  used  all  the  year  round, 
that  of  St.  Basil  only  on  certain  fixed 
days.  Leavened  bread  is  consecrated  at 
Mass.  During  Lent,  except  on  Saturdays 
and  Sundays,  there  is  no  Mass  in  the 
proper  sense,  but  only  a  "  Mass  of  the  Pre- 
sanctified,"  corresponding  to  our  office  on 
Good  Friday.  The  liturgies  for  Mass, 
and  the  forms  for  the  administration  of 
the  sacraments  are  contained  in  the 
"  Euchologion,"  of  which  an  excellent  edi- 
tion by  the  Dominican  Goar  was  pub- 
lished at  Paris  in  1647.  The  canonical 
hours  are  given  in  the  "  Horologion,"  the 
office  for  Lent  in  the  *^Triodion,"  that 


892 


GREMIALE 


from  Easter  Sunday  to  the  octave  of 
Pentecost  in  the  "  Pentecnstarion.  The 
"  Heortologion  "  is  a  calendar  of  the  feasts, 
fasts,  and  ferias;  the  "  Typicon,"  an  Ordo 
which  marks  the  order  of  prayers  in 
the  office,  while  the  '*  Menaea ''  contains 
lives  of  the  saints  honoured  in  the 
East.  The  greater  feasts  of  our  Lord 
and  the  Blessed  Virgin  are  nearl}'  the 
same  as  with  us,  except  that  their  Epi- 
phany or  Theophany  on  January  6  merely 
commemorates  the  baptism  of  Christ, 
and  that  the  greater  solemnities  are  pre- 
ceded by  a  Proertia  or  Ante-feast. 
Sunday  is  sanctified  by  hearing  Mass  and 
resting  from  servile  work,  and  holidays 
of  obligation  are  observed  in  the  s^me 
manner,  the  number  of  these  holidays 
being  different  in  different  nations. 

Every  Wednesday  and  Friday,  and 
the  vigils  of  the  great  feasts  are  fasting- 
da  vs.  In  addition  to  Lent,  the  Greeks 
keep  the  fast  of  "  the  Mother  of  God/' 
from  August  1  to  August  15 ;  the  fast  of 
Christmas,  from  November  15  to  De- 
cember 24  ;  the  fast  of  the  Apostles  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul,  from  the  first  Sun- 
day after  Pentecost  to  June  28.  On 
Wednesdays  and  Fridays  and  during 
Lent  the  use,  not  only  of  meat,  but  offish, 
eggs,  milk,  cheese,  wine,  beer  and  oil  is 
strictly  forbidden. 

The  Greek  canon  law  is  based  on  the 
Apostolic  canons  and  constitutions,  the 
canons  of  the  Councils  of  Nicaea,  Con- 
stantinople, Ephesus,  Chalcedon,  in  Trul- 
lo;  on  the  canons  of  the  particular 
councils  held  at  Gangra,  Laodicea,  and 
Antioch ;  on  the  canonical  letters  of  the 
bishops ;  on  the  council  of  Photius,  and 
the  synodal  decrees  of  the  schismatic 
Patriarchs.  Mgr.  Pap-Szilagyi  has  made 
a  methodical  compendium  of  these  docu- 
ments in  his  "  Enchiridion  Juris  Eccle- 
siae  Orientalis." 

(The  substance  of  this  article  is  chiefly 
taken  from  an  elaborate  essay  on  the 
Greek  church  by  Hefele  in  his  "  Beitrajre." 
But  in  the  description  of  the  present 
Greek  church  great  use  has  also  been 
made  of  an  article  by  Professor  Lamy  in 
the  "Dublin  lleview  "  for  July  1880. 
Professor  Lamy  refers  to  Selbernagel, 
'•  Verfassung  und  gegenwartiger  13estand 
siiramtlicher  Kirchen  des  Orients,"  Lands- 
hut,  18G5.) 

GRSCORIAN-  MUSIC.  [See  PlAIN 

Chant.] 

GRECORIASr     SACRAMEir- 

TART.    [See  Liturgies.] 


GYROVAGI 

CRElvzZAZiE.  A  piece  of  cloth  often 
adorned  with  gold  or  silver  lace,  which 
is  placed  on  tiie  bishop's  lap  when  he 
sits  in  celebrating  Mass  or  conferring 
orders.  Probably  its  original  purpose 
was  to  keep  his  vestments  from  being 
soiled.  It  must  be  distinguished  from  a 
similar  vestment,  the  "  subcinctorium," 
which  is  only  used  by  the  Pope.  (Merati 
on  Gavantus,  Tom.  1.  p.  ii.  tit.  I.) 

GRE?  FRIARS.  [See  FRANCIS- 
CANS.] 

GUARDIAir.  I.  A  person  responsible 
in  the  eye  of  the  law  for  the  proper  bring- 
ing up  of  children  whose  father  is  dead 
or  incapable.  Under  the  ancient  disci- 
pline, a  cleric  might  not  act  as  guardian, 
lest  he  should  be  too  much  entangled  in 
worldly  business ;  and  e  converso,  a  Coun- 
cil of  Carthage  decreed  that  a  guardian 
should  not  be  ordained  to  any  ecclesiasti- 
cal function,  till  the  period  of  his  responsi- 
bility had  come  to  an  end.  (Smith  and 
Cheetham.) 

II.  The  superior  of  a  Franciscan  con- 
vent. He  is  elected  for  three  years,  and 
cannot  hold  the  guardianship  of  the 
same  convent  twice,  though  he  may  be 
chosen  head  of  another  convent.  [Abbot, 
Franciscans.] 

GYROVAGI  (lit.  "  circuit-wan- 
derers ").  There  was  a  class  of  spurious 
monks  in  the  early  Christian  centuries — 
nor  were  they  unknown  even  to  the 
middle  ages — who  were  without  real  piety, 
and,  like  the  tramps  of  modern  times, 
preferred  a  lazy  rambling  life  to  one  of 
steady  regular  activity.  St.  Benedict 
mentions  them  by  this  name  in  his  Rule, 
and  describes  them  as  the  fourth,  last, 
and  worst  kind  of  monks — men  who 
''  spend  their  life  in  travelling  up  and 
down  the  different  provinces,  lodging  in 
each  cell  [=^  monastery],  some  three  or 
four  days ;  always  wandering,  never 
stable ;  enslaved  to  their  own  pleasures 
and  to  gluttony  ;  and  worse  in  all  respects 
than  the  Sarabaitae "  (the  third  class  of 
monks).  More  than  a  hundred  years 
later,  the  Synod  in  Trullo  (691),  when 
regulating  monastic  discipline,  orders  that 
a  man  who  wishes  to  be  recognised  as  a 
true  monk  shall  pass  three  years  at  least 
in  the  same  monastery,  and  that  "  the 
vagabonds  calling  tiiemselves  hermits, 
clad  in  black,  and  with  long  hair,"  be 
driven  away  from  the  cities  into  the 
desert.  This  is  evidently  the  same  class 
of  persons  as  those  whom  St.  Benedict 
calls  "  Gyrovagi." 


H 


HAXiO.    [See  Attreolk] 

KSART  OF  JESXrS  (SACRED 
HEART).  The  special,  and  formal  devo- 
tion to  the  Heart  of  Jesus,  which  is  now 
80  popular  in  the  Church,  owes  its  origin 
to  a  French  Visitation  nun,  the  J^Jessed 
Margaret  Mary  Alacoque,  who  lived  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Her  biographers  relate  that  our  Lord  Him- 
self appeared  to  her  and  declared  that  this 
worship  was  most  acceptable  to  Him  ;  and 
her  director,  the  famous  Jesuit,  Father 
de  la  ('olombiere,  preached  the  devotion  at 
the  Court  of  St.  James's,  and  zealously 
propagated  it  elsewhere.  The  most  popu- 
lar book  in  defence  of  the  new  devotion 
was  that  of  Father  Gallifet,  S.  J.,  "  De 
Cultu  SS.  Cordis  Jesu  in  variis  Christian! 
orbis  partibus  jam  propagato."  It  was 
published  with  a  dedication  to  Benedict 
XIII.  and  with  the  approval  of  Lamber- 
tiui  (afterwards  Benedict  XIV.) ;  the 
French  translation  appeared  in  1745,  at 
Lvons.  On  February  6,  1705,^  Clement 
XIII.  permitted  several  churches  to  cele- 
brate the  feast  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  which 
was  extended  in  1856  to  the  whole 
Church.  It  is  generally  kept  on  the  Fri- 
day (in  the  U.  S.  as  other  countries)  after 
the  Octave  of  Corpus  (^hristi.  In  Eng- 
land, Italy,  France,  Netherlands,  Ger- 
many, Spain  and  Portugal,  indeed  through- 
out the  Catholic  world,  the  devotion  and 
the  feast  found  a  letdy  and  enthusiastic 
acceptance.  However,  the  worship  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  encountered  keen  oppo- 
eitiou,  particularly  from  the  Jansenists. 
They  who  practised  it  were  nicknarmed 
"  Cardiolatra3  "  or  "  Cordicolse, "  and 
charged  with  Nestorianism,  as  if  they 
worshipped  a  divided  Christ,  and  gave  to 
the  created  humanity  of  Christ  worship 
which  belono-ed  to  God  alone.  The 
Tansenist  objections  were  censured  as 
''■  arious  to  the  Apostolic  See — which 
aad  approved  the  devotion,  and  bestowed 
numerous  indulgences  in  its  favour — by 
Pius  VI.  in  his  condemnation  of  the  Jau- 
senist  synod  of  Pistoia.  This  condemna- 
tion was  issued  in  the  bull  "  Auctorem 
fidei,"  bearing  date  August  28,  1794. 
A  further  approval  of  the  devotion  was 

1  The  Congregation  of  Rites  had  refused  to 
sanction  the  feast  in  1697  aud  1729. 


implied  in  the  beatification  of  Margaret 
Mary  Alacoque  in  1864. 

The  bull  "  Auctorem  fidei  "  contains 
the  following  explanation  of  the  prin- 
ciple on  which  the  devotion  rests,  an  ex- 
planation which  is  at  once  authoritative 
and  clear.  The  faithful  worship  With 
supreme  adoration  the  physical  Heart  of 
Christ,  considered  "not  as  mere  fiesh,  but 
as  united  to  the  Divinity."  They  adore 
it  as  "  the  Heart  of  the  Person  of  the 
Word  to  which  it  is  inseparably  united." 
It  is  of  course  absurd  to  speak  of  this 
principle  as  novel;  it  is  as  old  as  the 
belief  in  the  hypostatic  union,  and  it  was 
solemnly  defined  in  431  at  the  Council  of 
Ephesus.  All  the  members  of  Christ 
united  to  the  rest  of  his  sacred  humanity 
and  to  the  eternal  Word  are  the  object  of 
divine  worship.  If  it  be  asked  further, 
why  the  heart  is  selected  as  the  object  of 
special  adoration,  the  answer  is,  that  the 
real  and  physical  heart  is  a  natural  sym- 
bol of  Christ's  exceeding  charity,  and  of 
his  interior  life.  Just  as  the  Church  in 
the  middle  ages  turned  wdth  singular  de- 
votion to  the  Five  VV'ounds  as  the  symbol 
of  Christ's  Passion,  so  in  these  later  days 
she  bids  us  have  recourse  to  liis  Sacred 
Heart,  mindful  of  the  love  wherewith  he 
loved  us  "  even  to  the  end."  Nothing 
could  be  made  of  the  fact,  if  it  were  a 
fact,  that  the  devotion  actually  began 
with  Blessed  Margaret  Mary,  for  though 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church  cannot  change, 
she  may,  and  does  from  time  to  time,  in- 
troduce new  forms  of  devotion.  But  the 
special  devotion  to  the  Heart  of  our 
Saviour  is  as  old  at  least  as  the  twelfth 
century,  while  early  in  the  sixteenth  the 
Carthusian  Lansperg  recommended  pious 
Christians  to  assist  their  devotion  by 
using  a  figure  of  the  Sacred  Heart.' 

(An  account  of  the  theology  of  the 
devotion  will  be  found  in  Card.  Franzelin, 
"  De  Incarnatione,"  and  of  the  propagation 
of  the  devotion  in  the  admirable  Life  of 
Blessed  Margaret  Mary,  by  I\  Tickell, 
S.  J.     Both  the  doctrine  and  the  history 

'  See  F.  Ryder's  quotations  ( Catholic  Con- 
troversy, p.  148-9)  from  the  Vitis  Mysticay  a 
series  of  meditations  printed  among  the  works 
of  St.  Bernard,  c.  iii.  8,  and  fnmi  Lanspergius, 
Divini  Amoris  Pharetra,  ed.  1672,  p.  78. 


394 


HEART  OF  MARY 


are  exhaustively  treated  by  Nilles,  "  De 
Rationibiis  Festorum  Sacratissimi  Cordis 
Jesu  et  Purissimi  Cordis  MariaB,"  1873.) 

HEART  OF  XMCARir  (ZMXVXiiCTr- 
XiATE).  The  principles  on  which  the 
devotion  rests  are  the  same  (mutatis  mu- 
tandis) as  those  which  are  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Catholic  devotion  to  the 
Sacred  Heart.  Just  as  Catholics  worship 
the  Sacred  Heart  because  it  is  united  to 
the  Person  of  the  Word,  so  they  venerate 
(with  hyperdulia)  the  heart  of  Mary  be- 
cause united  to  the  person  of  the  Blessed 
V'irgin.  In  each  case  the  physical  heart 
is  taken  as  a  natural  symbol  of  charity 
and  of  the  inner  life,  though  of  course 
the  charity  and  virtues  of  Mary  are  in- 
finitely inferior  to  those  of  her  Divine 
Son. 

The  devotion  to  the  Immaculate  Heart 
was  first  propagated  by  John  Eudes, 
founder  of  a  congregation  of  priests  called 
after  him  Eudistes.  Eudes  died  in  1680. 
The  Congregation  of  Rites  in  1669,  and 
again  in  1726,  declined  to  sanction  the 
devotion.  However,  a  local  celebration 
of  the  feast  was  permitted  (but  without 
proper  Mass  and  office)  by  Pius  VI.  in 
1 799 ;  and  in  1856  Pius  IX.  extended  the 
feast — which  is  kept  with  a  special  Mass 
and  office,  either  on  the  Sunday  after 
the  Octave  of  the  Assumption  or  on  the 
third  Sunday  after  Pentecost — to  the 
whole  Church.  The  Arch-confraternity 
of  the  Immaculate  Heart  established 
some  twenty  years  earlier  at  the  church 
of  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires,  in  Paris, 
did  much  to  spread  the  devotion  and  make 
it  popular. 

(Nilles,  "  De  Rationibus  Festorum  SS. 
Cordis  Jesu  et  Purissimi  Cordis  Marise.") 

HEAVSxr.  A  full  account  of  the 
joy  which  constitutes  the  essential  hap- 
piness of  heaven  has  been  given  in  the 
articles  on  the  Beatttic  Vision  and  on 
Beatitude.  In  these  articles,  particularly 
in  the  former,  it  has  been  shown  that  all 
the  blessed  see  God  face  to  face,  some, 
however,  more  perfectly  than  others,  ac- 
cording to  the  degree  of  their  merit,  and 
that  the  soul's  entrance  into  perfect  bliss 
is  not  deferred  till  sentence  has  been 
passed  at  the  day  of  judgment.  Here, 
however,  it  is  as  well  to  point  out  that 
heaven  is,  not  only  a  state,  but  a  place  of 
beatitude.  It  is  the  place  where  God 
manifests  his  glory  to  the  blessed,  and 
clearly  shows  Himself  to  them.  This 
appears  from  the  fact  that  Christ  has 
ascended  to  heaven  in  that  body  which  He 
took  from  Mary,  and  that  the  body  of 


HEAVEN 

Mary  herself  is  according  to  the  belief 
of  the  Church  already  reunited  to  her 
soul,  so  that  she  is,  body  and  soul,  with 
her  Divine  Son.  Since  then  the  sacred 
humanity  is  not  omnipresent,  heaven  is  a 
definite  place  in  which  Christ  and  the 
Blessed  Virgin  exist,  and  in  which  the 
angels  and  blessed  souls  are  gathered  to- 
gether.  After  the  general  resurrection, 
heaven  -will  also  be  the  home  in  which 
the  bodies  of  the  just  will  live  for  ever. 
Where  the  place  is,  we  do  not  know,  but 
Scripture  clearly  indicates  that  it  is  beyond 
this  earth.  (See  Jungmann,  "  De  Novis- 
sirais,"  a.  viii.) 

We  may  here  add  a  few  words  "  on  the 
third  heaven  "  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks, 
2  Cor.  xii.  2-4.  Catholic  commentators 
are  not  agreed  about  the  meaning  of  the 
words  "  caught  up,"  and  it  is  of  course  law- 
ful to  hold,  as  St.  Thomas  appears  to  do 
(''Surnma,"i.  68,4),thatSt.Paul  was.simply 
raised  to  the  highest  kind  of  supernatural 
vision.  But  in  any  case  the  metaphor 
implies  belief  in  a  coiTesponding  reality, 
and  hence  St.  Thomas  maintains  (loc. 
dt.)  that  there  are  three  heavens,  viz. 
the  sidereal,  the  crystalline,  and  the  em- 
pyrean, the  last  of  which  is  heaven  in  the 
proper  sense.  Further,  it  is  generally 
taken  for  granted  that  St.  Paul  identifies 
this  third  heaven  with  paradise.  There 
is. a  difficulty,  however,  in  supposing  that 
the  Apostle  alludes  to  this  triple  division, 
for  the  statement  of  Grotius,  that  the 
Rabbins  recognised  three  heavens,  is  un- 
supported by  good  evidence.  There  is 
some  Rabbinical  authority  for  the  belief 
in  two  heavens,  but  the  Jewish  doctors 
almost  unanimously  taught  that  there 
were  seven,  and  we  find  this  belief  re- 
cognised in  a  Christian  document  of  the 
second  century — viz.  the  "  Testament  of 
the  Twelve  Patriai-chs,"  iii.  §  3.  The  pro- 
bability, therefore,  is  that  St.  Paul  alludes 
to  this  belief  without  necessarily  assert- 
ing its  truth.  We  may,  then,  reasonably 
distinguish  "the  third  heaven"  from 
paradise.  The  former  was  a  resting-point 
on  the  journey  upwards,  whether  that 
journey  was  local  or  merely  spiritual: 
the  latter  marks  the  end  of  the  journey, 
the  ''  Paradise  of  God,"  or  heaven  in  the 
usual  acceptation  of  the  word.  This  dis- 
tinction between  "  the  third  heaven  "  and 
paradise  is  in  keeping  with  St.  Paul's 
own  language.  "  I  know  a  man  .... 
caught  up  ...  .  even  to  the  third  heaven 
.  .  .  .  and  I  know  of  such  a  man  .... 
that  he  was  caught  up  into  paradise." 
This  distinction  is  made  by  several  Fathers 


HELL 

as  well  as  by  Estius  and  others  among 
modern  commentators. 

H&liXi  may  be  defined  as  the  place 
and  state  in  which  the  devils  and  such 
human  beings  as  die  in  enmity  with  God 
sufier  eternal  torments.  In  this  article 
we  have  to  consider  the  proofs  for  the 
existence  of  hell,  the  nature  of  the  punish- 
ment there  inflicted,  and  the  eternity  of 
these  torments.  This  triple  division  of 
the  subject  arranges  the  difficulties  at- 
tached to  it  in  an  ascending  scale.  No 
one  who  accepts  the  Christian  revelation 
at  all,  no  one  perhaps  who  believes  in  a 
God  at  all,  is  likely  to  find  much  difficulty 
in  believing  that  obstinate  and  unrepented 
sin  will  be  punished  in  the  next  world. 
It  is  much  harder  to  ascertain  the  nature 
of  the  torments  which  God  reserves  for 
those  who  die  in  rebellion  against  Him  ; 
while  the  dogma  of  eternal  punishment 
is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  awful 
and  mysterious  truths  taught  by  Scripture 
and  the  Church. 

1.  The  Existence  of  TZeZ/.— The  Hebrew 
Bible  contains  few  direct  and  clear  an- 
nouncements of  a  life  beyond  the  grave, 
so  that  it  is  not  the  place  to  which  we 
should  naturally  turn  for  the  proofs  that 
hell  exists.  Three  passages  are  most 
commonly  quoted  as  decisive  on  the  point 
— viz.  Is,  xxxiii.  14 ;  Is.  Ixvi.  24  ;  Dan. 
xii.  2.  The  first  of  these  must,  we  think, 
be  put  aside,  for  it  has  no  real  connection 
with  the  matter  before  us.  Isaias,  writing 
probably  at  the  close  of  his  life,  foretells 
the  judgments  of  God  which  are  to  fall 
both  on  the  Assyrians  and  on  the  immoral 
and  irreligious  part  of  the  Jewish  nation. 
This  judgment,  by  a  metaphor  familiar 
in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  he  describes  as 
fire  which  is,  like  God  Himself,  eternal. 
"  Sinners  shudder  in  Sion :  trembling 
seizes  unholy  men.  0  who  will  dwell  in 
devouring  fire  ?  O  who  will  dwell  in 
eternal  burnings  ?  A  man  who  walketh 
in  justice,  and  speaketh  upright  things, 
who  rejecteth  the  gain  of  oppression,  who 
skaketh  his  hands,  so  that  they  lay  not 
hold  of  a  bribe,  who  stoppeth  his  ears 
so  that  they  hear  no  deeds  of  blood,  and 
closeth  his  eyes  so  as  not  to  look  on  evil 
— ^he  shall  dwell  on  heights  ;  fastnesses  of 
rocks  are  his  fortress  \  his  bread  has  been 
given  to  him,  his  waters  are  sure.  The 
king  in  his  beauty  shall  thine  eyes  behold ; 
they  shall  see  a  land  that  stretches  far." 
In  other  words,  the  fire  which  consumes 
the  wicked  wUl  leave  the  just  man  un- 
harmed :  he  wiU  be  secure  from  the  sword 
and  the  famiae.    Then  when  the  Assyrian 


HELL  m 

is  destroyed,  he  will  see  the  King  of 
Judah  in  the  fullness  of  his  royal  splen- 
dour, the  city  no  longer  beleaguered,  the 
land  no  longer  held  by  the  foe,  but  peace- 
fully inhabited  by  its  rightful  owners  and 
stretching  to  its  ancient  limits.. 

The  second  passage  (Is.  Ixvi.  24) 
comes  near  the  p*oint,  if  it  does  not  actu- 
ally touch  it.  It  clearly  refers  to  the 
Messianic  age.  "  All  flesh  "  is  to  come 
and  worship  at  Jerusalem,  "from  new 
moon  to  new  moon,  from  sabbath  to  sab- 
bath." "  And  they  shall  go  out  and  look 
on  the  corpses  of  the  men  who  rebelled 
against  me,  for  their  worm  shall  not  die, 
and  their  fire  shall  not  be  quenched,  and 
they  shall  be  an  abomination  to  all  flesh.'' 
Immediately,  of  course,  the  prophet  only 
mentions  the  dead  bodies  of  the  wicked, 
but  we  may  reasonably  suppose  that  the 
prophet  is  depicting  punishment  in  the 
future  world  in  imagery  borrowed  from 
that  in  which  he  lived.  For  it  is  impos- 
sible to  take  his  words  literally.  "All 
flesh"  could  not  gather  in  Jerusalem: 
worms  cannot  live  in  fire,  or  dead 
bodies  continue  to  bum  for  ever.  The 
heavenly  Jerusalem  and  the  eternal  suf- 
ferings of  the  lost  are  the  real  object  of 
his  prophecy.  Such  is  the  interpretation 
found  in  the  Targum,  and  so,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  the  words  of  Isaias  are 
applied  in  the  deutero-canonical  books, 
and  by  our  Lord  himself.  We  say  ap- 
plied, for  neither  the  deucero-canonical 
books  nor  our  Lord  give  an  authorita- 
tive explanation  of  the  prophet's  actual 
meaning. 

The  words  of  Daniel  xii.  1,  2,  are 
more  definite.  A  time  of  trouble  such  as 
has  never  been  known  is  to  come.  Mich- 
ael, however,  is  to  stand  up  for  the 
people  of  God,  and  everyone  whose 
name  is  written  in  the  book  is  to  be 
delivered.  "  And  many  of  them  that 
sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  "  (literally, 
"earth  of  the  dust,"  i.e.  grave)  shall 
awake,  some  to  eternal  life,  and  some  to 
shame  and  to  everlasting  contempt." 
Here  we  have  an  explicit  statement  that 
some  will  meet  with  eternal  punishment. 
We  must  beware,  however,  of  pressing 
the  words  further.  Even  if  the  word 
D''21  which  in  all  other  places  means 
"many,"  could  be  regarded -here  (cf. 
Romans  v.  15,  ol  ttoXXoI  airiOavov  with 
Romans  v.  12,  els  Trdvras  avSponTvovs  6 
ddparos  difjXdev)  as  equivalent  to  "all,"  this 
sense  is  absolutely  excluded  in  the  passage 
before  us  by  the  construction  (i.e,  by  the 


HELL 


HELL 


partitive  |p  whicli  follows).  To  say  that 
"  manv  from  or  out  of  those  who  sleep  in 
the  dust "  means  "  all  who  sleep,"  »S:c.,  is 
not  to  interpret  language,  hut  to  abuse  it. 
There  are  two  passages  in  the  deutero- 
canonical  hooks,  in  which  the  language  of 
Is.  Ixvi.  24,  is  evidently  borrowed,  but 
at  the  same  time  applied  more  definitely 
to  the  future  sufferings  of  the  wicked. 
'*  Humble  thy  soul  exceedingly,"  says  the 
hook  of  Ecclesiasticus  vii.  17  ; ''  remember 
that  wrath  will  not  tarry,  and  that  fire 
and  worm  take  vengeance  on  the  im- 
pious." And  in  Judith  xvi.  17,  we  read 
"Woe  to  the  nations  that  rise  up  against 
my  people :  the  Almighty  Lord  will  take 
vengeance  on  them  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, appointing  tire  and  worms  for  their 
flesh,  and  feeling  it  they  will  weep  for 
ever."  The  last  passage  is  very  import- 
ant from  an  historical  point  of  view.  It 
is  well  known  that  the  Talmudical  doc- 
tors disputed  whether  immortality  and 
resuirection  were  common  to  the  bad  and 
the  good,  or  reserved  for  the  latter ;  and, 
again,  whether  any  but  Israelites  partook 
in  the  future  life.  The  book  of  Judith 
speaks  clearly  on  this  question. 

No  one  doubts  that  the  New  Testa- 
ment teaches  the  existence  of  hell ;  and 
here  it  is  enough  to  refer  to  such  passages 
as  Matt,  xviii.  8,  xxv.  41  seq. ;  Mark  ix. 
48,  &c.  The  New  Testament  has  a 
special  name  for  hell,  viz.  Gehenna  {yUwa, 
which  occurs  repeatedly  in  St.  Matthew 
(v.  22,  29,  30,  x.  28,  xviii.  9,  xxiii.  15, 
83)  ;  three  times  in  St.  Mark  (ix.  43,  45, 
47);  once  in  St.  Luke  (xii.  5)  ;  and  once 
in  St.  James  (iii.  6).  The  name,  which 
is  taken  from  the  Hebrew  Bible  (DJIH  '';i 
Jos.  XV.  8,  or  more  fully ''n '';3n"n"}n^A), 
simply  means  "  the  valley  of  [a  man 
called  ]  Hinnom."  It  was  a  deep  and 
narrow  glen  to  the  south  of  Jerusalem,  in 
which  from  the  time  of  Achaz  Jews 
offered  their  children  to  Moloch,  Josias 
in  consequence  of  these  abominations  pol- 
luted the  valley  (4  Reg.  xxiii.  10),  and 
into  it  the  dead  bodies  of  criminals  and 
every  kind  of  filth  were  cast,  and,  if  we 
follow  late  and  somewhat  questionable 
authorities,  were  burned.  Thus  it  became 
the  image  of,  and  gave  a  name  to  the 
place  of  punishment  for  the  wicked  after 
death — a  usage  which  is  common  to  the 
Targums  and  to  Rabbinical  literature 
generally.^  It  would  be  useless  in  this 
place  to  produce  evidence  from  Christian 

»  It  becomes  one  word  ^\^\  ;  see  Buxtorf, 
nib  vot. 


traditions  and  from  the  definitions  of  the 
Church,  since  we  shall  have  to  discuss 
them  in  considering  the  eternity  of  pun- 
ishment. 

2.  The  Nature  of  the  Punishment. — 
Theologians  divide 'the -punishments  of 
the  damned  into  that  of  loss  and  that  of 
sense.  The  former  of  these(''poena  damni") 
is  indicated  in  our  Lord's  words,  "  Depart 
f7-om  m".,  ye  cursed,"  and  consists  in  the 
deprivation  of  the  vision  of  God,  which 
each  human  soul  was  intended  to  enjoy. 
It  is  from  the  knowledge  of  the  bliss 
which  they  have  forfeited  that  the  chief 
sutfering  of  the  lost  arises.  It  is  the  loss 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  St.  Chryso- 
stom  explains  at  length  ("  Ad  Theodor. 
laps,"  i.  n.  10, 12),  which  is  the  most  bitter 
torment  of  all.  "  So  great  a  punishment," 
says  St.  Augustine  ("  Encherid."  c,  112), 
"  that  no  torments  known  to  us  can  be 
compared  to  it," 

The  "punishment  of  the  sense"  ("poena 
seusus'')  comprehends  all  the  suffering  and 
torment  inflicted  in  hell,  except  that 
which  springs  from  the  loss  of  the  sove- 
reign good.  The  origin  of  this  term  is 
uncertain.  Suarez  ("De  Angel."  lib.  viii. 
c.  12,  quoted  by  Jungmann)  supposes  that 
this  class  of  torture  is  so  called  because 
it  arises  chiefly  from  a  sensible  substance, 
viz.  tire.  This  explanation  is  not  accepted 
by  all,  but  of  course  the  term  cannot 
mean  punishment  inflicted  on  the  senses, 
for  separated  souls  who  have  no  senses 
are  still  undoubtedly  subjected  to  the 
"  poena  sensus." 

However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain 
that  the  de\'ils  and  disembodied  spirits  of 
the  damned  suft'er  from  material  fire. 
True,  Origen  ("  De  Princip."  ii.  4  spq.) 
distinctly  teaches  that  the  fire  of  hell  is 
merely  figurative,  while  St.  Ambrose  (in 
Luc.  xiv.),  and  Theophylact  (in  Marc,  ix.) 
express  the  same  opinion.  Petavins,  how- 
ever ("  De  Angel."  HI.  5),  has  shown  that 
the  preponderating  weight  of  tradition  is 
on  the  other  side,  and  sums  up  this  part 
of  the  question  in  the  following  words : 
"  At  present,  all  theologians — nay,  all 
Christians — are  agreed  that  the  fire  of  hell 
is  corporeal  and  material,  though,  as  Vas- 
quez  rightly  observes,  the  matter  has  not 
been  settled  as  yet  by  any  decree  of 
the  Church."  To  those  who  ask  how  ma- 
terial fire  can  affect  spirits  no  certain  an- 
swer can  be  given.  St.  Thomas  ("  Suppl." 
qu.  70,  a.  3)  thinks  that  God  gives  to  the 
fire  as  the  instrument  of  his  justice  a 
preternatural  power  of  constraining  the 
spirit  and  impeding  its  action,  so  as  to 


HELL 

cause  intense  suffering.  Other  theories 
have  been  propounded — e.g.  by  Suarez, 
who  argues  that  just  as  God  elevates  and 
ennobles  the  soul  by  grace,  so  He  may  use 
the  lire  of  hell  to  deform  and  disfigure  it. 
But  it  is  really  impossible  to  understand 
much  about  a  question  which  is  above  our 
reason  and  on  which  revelation  is  silent. 

Though  the  fire  of  hell  is  the  chief,  it 
is  by  no  means  the  only,  cause  of  the  posi- 
tive punishment.  The  lost  are  afflicted 
by  "  the  worm  which  never  dies  " — i.e.  by 
the  anguish  of  remorse.  They  are  doomed 
to  endure  tlie  society  of  others,  reprobate 
like  themselves,  and  they  know  that  all 
hope  is  over.  Their  will  is  entirely  de- 
praved because  entirely  averted  from  God, 
the  end  to  which  each  thought  and  action 
should  be  directed.  After  the  resurrec- 
tion the  body  also  is  subjected  to  torment. 

Further  it  is  certain  from  Scripture 
and  tradition  that  the  torments  of  hell 
are  indicted  in  a  definite  place.  But  it  is 
uncertain  where  the  place  is.  According 
to  the  common  opinion  of  Fathers  and 
theologians,  it  is  in  the  centre  of  the 
earth,  but  many  other  theories  have  been 
propounded, and  St.  Thomaa("  Suppl."  qu. 
97,  a.  7),  quoting  St.  Augustine  ("  DeCiv. 
Dei,"  XV.  cap.  1 6)  and  St.  Gregory  the 
Great  ("  Dial."  iv.  cap.  42),  admits  that  no 
one  can  know  where  hell  is,  unless  he  has 
had  a  special  revelation  on  the  point.  St, 
Thomas  himself  thinks  it  "  more  probable  " 
that  hell  is  under  the  earth. 

3.  The  Lternity  of  Punishment  in  Hell. 
— Here,  as  we  have  already  said,  we  reach 
the  most  awful  and  mysterious  part  of 
the  subject,  and  one  which,  at  a  time 
when  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  eternal 
punishment  is  rejected  and  attacked  by 
so  many  and  with  such  vehemence,  it  is 
necessary  to  treat  carefully  and  in  detail. 
"We  beyin  with  the  teaching  of  Scripture. 

(a)  Our  Lord's  words  are  plain  enous-h 
to  make  reasonable  doubt  impossible.  He 
speaks  of  "the  eternal  fire,"  Matt,  xviii. 
8 ;  of  "  hell,  where  their  worm  dieth  not 
and  their  fire  is  not  quenched,"  Marc,  ix, 
48.  He  tells  us  that  He  will  say  to  the 
wicked  at  the  last  day,  "  Depart  from  me, 
ye  cursed,  into  the  eternal,  fire,  prepared 
for  the  devil  and  his  angels.-'  Daniel, 
long  before  Christ,  had  held  similar  lan- 
guage (see  xii.  2,  quoted  above),  and  so 
do  the  Apostles  after  Christ  (2  Thess.  i.  9  : 
Jude  13;  Apoc.  xiv.  11). 

Now,  it  may  be  admitted  that  the 
word  translated  "  eternal "  {alavio^)  is 
not  in  itself  decisive.  Thus  in  Titus  i.  2, 
St.  Paul  mentions  the  hope  which  God,  | 


HELL 


397 


who  cannot  lie,  promised  "  before  eternal 
times  "  where  the  Greek  irpo  xpovcov  aloov- 
Lcov  is  very  happily  rendered  by  the 
Vulgate  "  ante  tempera  ssecularia."  The 
promise  of  salvation  had  not,  of  course, 
been  made  from  all  eternity ;  it  had  been 
made  long  ages  before  by  the  prophets 
who  are  said  in  Luc.  i.  70,  to  have  been  dir' 
alcavos  (Vul.  "  a  sasculo  ") — i.e.  from  of  old 
or  since  the  age  of  the  prophets  first  began. 
Again,  the  word  alcovios  m  the  LXX  and 
the  Hebrew  noun  to  which  it  corresponds 
(DpiV)  ^re  still  more  loosely  used :  e.g.  (to 
quote  the  strongest  instance  which  occurs 
to  us),  Is.  Iviii.  12,  predicts  that  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  "  will  build  up  the  eternal 
ruins "  (D?1I7  mi"in,  f"  eprjixoc  al6}uioi\ 
though  the  ruins  present  to  his  mind  had 
only  been  ruins  for  some  fifty  years.  So 
much  may  be  freely  granted.  But  the 
fact  that  Christ  sets  eternal  tire  in  sharp 
antithesis  to  eternal  life,  assures  us  that 
He  did  mean  to  warn  men  that  there  was 
no  hope  in  hell  and  no  escape  from  it. 
Moreover,  Pie  speaks  of  fire  which  will 
never  be  quenched ;  of  an  undying  worm  ; 
He  declares  it  would  have  been  better  for 
Judas  not  to  have  been  born ;  and  He  does 
not  breathe  a  syllable  which  can  be  urged 
on  the  other  side  or  applied  to  qualify  his 
language  about  eternal  fire.  The  cele- 
brated Protestant  commentator  Meyer 
fully  admits  that  the  words  "  eternal  fire" 
must  be  taken  in  their  strict  and  absolute 
sense.  Nobody  will  accuse  Meyer  of  igno- 
rance on  the  one  hand  or  on  the  other  of 
prejudice  in  favour  of  the  dogma.  Nobody, 
we  may  be  sure,  would  doubt  Christ's 
meaning  who  considered  it  with  a  really 
unbiassed  mind.  The  fact  is,  men  persuade 
themselves  that  the  doctrine  is  untrue 
and  inhuman,  and  therefore  that  Christ, 
being  the  eternal  truth,  could  not  have 
taught  it.  Their  exegesis  will  scarcely  find 
acceptance  either  with  Christians  prepared 
to  accept  the  doctrine  or  with  non-Chris- 
tians who  come  with  purely  historical  in- 
terest to  the  study  of  the  Gospels. 

Here  we  turn  for  a  moment  to  two 
passages  alleged  against  the  doctrine  which 
we  are  maintaining  from  the  dicta  of  the 
Apostles.  One  is  from  1  Cor,  xv.  24  seq. 
"Then  is  the  end  when  he  [Christ]  shall 
give  up  the  kingdom  to  the  God  and  Father, 
when  he  shall  bring  to  nought  every 
princedom  and  authority  and  power ;  for 
he  must  needs  reign,  until  he  has  put  all  hia. 
enemies  under  his  feet.  The  last  enemy 
that  shall  be  brought  to  nought  is  death 
.  .  .  .  and  when  all  things  have  been  sub- 


HELL 


HELL 


jected  1o  him,  then  even  the  Son  himself 
will  be  subjected  to  him  [God]  who  sub- 
jected all  things  to  him  fChrist],  that  God 
mvij  be  all  in  all."  There  are  dogmatic 
and  exegetical  difficulties  in  this  text  which 
do  not  concern  us  here,  but  the  last  clause, 
"  that  God  may  be  all  in  all,"  presents  no 
difficulty  to  believers  in  eternal  punish- 
ment. All  are  to  be  subject  to  Christ. 
Christ  as  man  is  and  will  be  recognised  as 
subject  to  God,  and  "  God  will  be  all  in 
all " — i.e.  will  be  seen  to  be  the  one  source 
of  every  blessing  in  all  the  subjects  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  The  context  clearly 
limits  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  all." 
God  is  not  to  be  "all  in  all"  to  Christ's 
enemies.  On  the  contrary,  Christ  is  to  put 
them  under  his  feet. 

The  second  passage  is  Acts  iii.  20,  21 , 
when  St.  Peter  tells  the  Jews  that  the 
heavens  must  receive  Christ  ''until  the 
times  of  restoration  of  all  things."  The 
Apostle  peems  to  mean  that  Christ  will  re- 
main in  heaven  till  the  people  of  God  are 
converted  and  renewed  and  their  due  and 
original  relation  to  God  restored ;  and  this 
is  the  motive  for  penance  which  St.  Peter 
urges.  Our  Lord's  words.  Matt.  xvii.  11, 
"  Eli  as  indeed  cometh  and  will  restore  all 
things,"  and  the  prophecv  of  Malachy  iv.  6 
(Heb.iii.  23),  "  Behold  I  send  to  you  E]ias 
the  prophet  before  the  day  of  the  Lord 
comes,  the  great  and  terrible  [day].  And 
he  will  turn  the  heart  of  fathers  to  sons, 
and  the  heart  of  sons  to  their  fathers,  lest 
I  come  and  smite  the  earth  with  a  curse," 
probably  supply  the  key  to  the  sense. 
Anyhow,  St.  Peter  has  in  mind  a  renewal 
and  restoration  which  is  to  take^  place  on 
eai'th  and  not  in  hell :  before  the  judgment, 
not  after  it. 

(jS)  Tradition.— The  historical  objec- 
tions to  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment 
may  really  be  reduced  to  one  head — viz.  the 
views  of  Origen.  In  his  "  De  Principiis," 
i.  6,  this  great  man  gives  it  as  his  opmion 
that  even  the  devils  will  undergo  a  long 
course  of  purification  and  be  saved  at  last ; 
and  in  his  commentary  on  Josue  (Horn, 
yiii.)  he  asserts  the  same  thing  of  men  who 
have  been  condemned  at  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. In  "  Princip."  iii.  6,  he  puts  forward 
the  interpretation  of  St.  Paul's  words, 
"  God  will  be  aU  in  all,"  which  we  com- 
bated a  little  further  back.  Origen's  piety, 
genius,  and  learning,  and  his  reputation  as 
a  commentator  on  the  Bible  gained  for  him 
a  wide  and  an  enduring  intluence  in  the 
Church,  so  that  we  cannot  be  surprised  to 
find  that  other  Fathers  followed  him  in 
his   hopes    of    a    universal    restoration. 


Petavius  ("  De  Angelis,"  iii.  7)  shows  that 
St.  Gregory  Nyssen  did  so,  that  St. 
Gregory  Nazianzen  entertained  the  hope 
that  the  punishment  of  sinners  in  the  next 
world  would  not  last  for  ever — a  hope 
which  St.  Jerome  limits  to  such  sinners 
as  had  died  in  the  Catholic  faith.  St. 
Ambrose,  as  quoted  by  Petavius,  says  that 
men  may,  though  angels  will  not,  be  puri- 
fied and  restored,  even  after  an  adverse 
sentence  has  been  passed  upon  them  at  the 
judgment.  Carefully  to  be  distinguished 
from  this  error  is  the  opinion  of  Augustine 
and  other  Fathers,  viz.  that  the  sufferings 
of  lost  souls  may  be  mitigated  by  the 
prayers  and  good  works  of  the  faithful. 
*'  Concerning  this  amelioration  of  the  con- 
dition of  lost  men  at  least "  (so  Petavius 
writes  in  words  which  Cardinal  Newman 
has  made  familiar  to  all)  "the  Church  as 
yet  has  laid  down  nothing  as  certain,  so 
that  for  this  reason  this  opinion  held  by 
Fathers  of  high  sanctity  is  not  to  be 
dismissed  offhand  as  absurd,  though  it 
differs  from  the  common  feeling  of  modern 
Catholics."  1 

We  have  tried  to  give  as  fairly  as  pos- 
sible the  patristic  evidence  for  the  v4ew 
that  the  torments  of  hell  will  come  to  an 
end.  But  the  whole  stream  of  tradition 
rims  in  the  contrary  direction.  There  is 
no  real  trace  of  such  a  view  within  the 
Church  before  Origen's  time.  Theophilus 
of  Antioch  ("  Apol."  1,  ad  fin.)  contrasts 
the  eternal  joys  of  heaven  with  the  eternal 
woes  of  hell.  "  St.  Irenaeus  (iv.  28,  2)  and 
St.  Cyprian  ("  Ad  Demetrium,"  cc.  24, 25) 
express  themselves  in  a  way  which  puts 
their  meaning  beyond  all  possibility  of  mis- 
apprehension. "  Those,"  says  the  former, 
"to  whom  Christ  addresses  the  words 
'  Depart  into  everlasting  fire '  {perpetuum^ 
not  (Btemum)  will  be  always  condemned, 
and  those  to  whom  he  says,  'Come  ye 
blessed,' &c.,  always  obtain  the  kingdom." 
"Hell  ever  burning,"  says  St.  Cyprian* 
"  will  consume  those  who  are  given  over 
to  it,  nor  will  there  be  any  means  by 
which  their  torments  can   ever  rest   or 


Petavius  has  collected  a  catena  of  pas- 
sages from  later  Fathers,  some  of  them 

*  Zaccaria  in  his  notes  on  Petavius  haa  shoTni 
that  both  in  the  East  aud  West  prayers  were 
said  at  Mass  for  the  damned.  He  cites,  e.pr.,  an 
ancient  Latin  Missal  which  contains  a  touching 
prayer  for  a  person  taken  away  without  time 
for  penance,  beseeching  God,  if  the  dead  man's 
crimes  make  it  impossible  for  him  to  "  rise  to 
glory,"  at  least  to  make  his  torments  endur- 
able. 


HELL 

expressly  reprobating  the  error  of  Origen. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  or  not  his  error 
was  condemned  at  the  Fifth  General  Coun- 
cil.    Certainly  his  name   stands   in   the 
present  text  of  the  eleventh  anathema, 
which  is  levelled  at  "Arius,  Eunomius, 
ApoUinarius  [sicl, Nestorius,  Eutyches  and 
Origen,  together  with  their  impious  writ- 
ings," and  Ilefele  ("  Concil."  ii.  898)  de- 
fends the  authenticity  of  the  text  as  we  have 
it  against  Garnier  and  many  other  critics. 
But  no  particular  doctrine  of  Origen  is 
mentioned    in   the   anathema.      Cardinal 
Noris  and  the  Ballerini  in  their  edition  of 
his  works  tried  to  show  that  part  of  the 
Acts  of  the  council  have  perished,  and  that 
a  special  investigatian  and  specific  con- 
demnation of  Origen's  errors  took  place. 
There    are    plausible    grounds    for    this 
opinion,  which  is,  however,  rejected    by 
Hefele  (Joe.  cit.  p.  858)  after  an  elaborate 
discussion.     He  thinks  that  the  Church 
historian  Evagrius,  one  of  the  chief  wit- 
nesses cited  by  Cardinal  Noris,  confused 
the  general  council  of  553  with  another 
held  ten  years  earlier  at  the  same  place. 
But  whether  or  no  Origen  was  expressly 
condemned  b}"  a  general  council,  it  is  a 
plain  matter  of  fact  that  a  council  has  de- 
fined that  the  punishment  of  hell  lasts  for 
ever.      The   Fourth  Council   of  Lateran 
(anno  1215)  speaks  of  the  "everlasting 
punishment"  {poenain  peyyetuam)  which 
awaits  the  reprobate,  and  the  force  of  the 
word  "perpetuam"  cannot  be  evaded  even 
by  those  who   explain   away    the   word 
"  eternal."     And,  apart  even  from  this  de- 
finition, the  question  is  closed  by  the  con- 
stant teaching  of  the  Church  through  her 
pastors.  • 

(y)  If  we  turn  from  the  history  of  the 
doctrine  to  the  doctrine  itself,  and  ask 
"  Is  it  reasonable  or  credible  ?  "  the  diffi- 
culties are  unquestionably  great  and  ter- 
rible enough,  and  never  have  they  been  felt 
more  keenly  than  in  the  present  age.  We 
must  of  course  put  aside  erroneous  or  even 
unwarranted  presentation  of  the  Church's 
belief.  God  condemns  no  single  soul  un- 
less He  has  first  bestowed  upon  it  full 
opportunity  of  securing  a  life  of  eternal 
happiness  with  Himself.  Moreover,  He 
desires  the  salvation  of  all,  whether 
Catholics  or  Protestants,  Christians  or 
heathen,  and  will  judge  all  according  to 
the  advantages  or  disadvantages  they  have 
had.  "  Thou  sparest  all,  because  they  are 
thine,  0  Lord,  thou  lover  of  souls."  Again, 
He  remembers  the  frailty  of  our  nature 
and  condemns  to  eternal  banishment  from 
his  presence,  those  only  who  die  separated 


HELL  9&& 

utterly  from  Him  by  mortal — i.e.  by  de- 
liberate and  grievous — sin.  Nor  can  we  say 
who  these  persons  are,  or  guess  with  any 
degree  of  probability  what  proportion  they 
bear  to  the  whole  race   of  man.      Sins 
which  seem  grievous  to  us  may  be  excused 
by  ignorance  or  want  of  deliberation,  and 
even  men  who  appear  to  end  evil  lives 
with  evil  deaths  may  nevertheless  be  en- 
lightened by  God's  mercy  at  the  last. — per- 
haps just  as  their  souls  are  passing  out  of 
their  bodies — and  so  die  in  peace  with  Him. 
Even  after  these  and   other   abatements 
have  been  made,  the  awful  and  mysterious 
character  of  the  doctrine  remains.     Why 
does  not  God,  who  holds  all'hearts  in  his 
hand,  turn  the  hearts  of  sinners  to  Him- 
self?    It  is  no  answer  to  say  that   He 
chooses  to  confer  the  gift  of  free  will  oil 
men  with  its   attendant  responsibilities, 
for  it  is  the  common  doctrine  of  theo- 
logians that  God  could  soften  the  heart  of 
each  and  every  sinner,  and  yet  leave  the 
freedom  of  the  will  in  its  integrity ;  and 
one  who  seriously  reflects  on  the  meaning 
of  omnipotence  as  a  divine  attribute  will 
scarcely  venture  to    contradict   the   pro- 
position.    The  only  safe  reply  is  that  God 
so  acts  for  reasons  inscrutable  to  us,  and 
that  if  reason  cannot  penetrate  God's  de- 
signs, it  is  at  the  same  time  unable  to  show 
that  the    conduct    which  the   Scripture 
attributes    to    God   is  unjust.      ^•Retri- 
butive justice,"  Cardinal  Newman  writes 
("  Grammar  of  Assent,"  p.  415),  *'  is  the 
very     attribute    under     which    God     is 
primarily  brought  before  us  in  the  teach- 
ings   of   our    natural    conscience."      If, 
then,  God  will   by  no   means   clear  the 
guilty,  it  is  not  at  any  rate  inconceivable 
that  Pie  should  punish  a  man  who  ends 
the  period  of  trial  in  utter  rebellion  against 
Him  who  is  at  once  his  sovereign  and  his 
loving  benefactor,  by  the   most  extreme 
punishment    which    can    be     conceived. 
"  The  great  mystery,"   to   continue  our 
quotation  from  Cardinal  Newman — "  the 
great  mystery  is,  not  that  evil  should 
have    no    end,    but    that  it    had    a  be- 
ginning."   From  this  latter  mystery  there 
is  no  escape  to  those  who  believe  in  a  God 
at  all. 

Some  other  arguments  have  been  ad- 
duced for  the  Catholic  doctrine,  but  we 
have  preferred  to  rest  our  belief  on 
the  words  of  merciful  warning  spoken  by 
Christ  Himself.  For  it  is  not  surely  with- 
out significance  that  it  is  from  Christ 
Himself  rather  than  from  the  Apostles 
that  we  have  the  plainest  statements  of 
the  doctrine. 


400 


HENOTICON 


HERESY 


Christ  on  Himself,  considerate  Master,  took 
The  uttertmce  of  that  doctrine's  fearful  sound  ; 
The  fount  of  love  his  servants  sends  to  teU 
Love's  deeds ;  Himself  proclaims  the  sinner's 
hell. 

KEXrOTICOHr  {evmriKov).  A  docu- 
ment issued  by  the  Emperor  Zeno  in  482, 
and  addressed  to  the  Christians,  lay  and 
clerical,  of  Alexandria,  Egypt,  Libya, 
and  Pentapolis.  It  was  composed  by 
Acacius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
and  Peter  Mongus,  the  Monophysite  Pa- 
triarch of  Alexandria.  The  object  of  the 
Henoticon  was  to  reconcile  Catholics  and 
Monophysites.  It  condemned  both  Nes- 
torius  and  Eutyches,  bat  rejected  aU 
Creeds  except  that  of  Nicaea,  vrith  the 
additions  made  at  Constantinople,  and 
carefully  avoided  the  formula  of  "  owo 
natures,"  which  had  been  accepted  at 
Ohalcedo'n.  The  Henoticon  was  accepted 
by  the  more  moderate  Monophysites,  such 
as  Peter  the  Fuller,  Monophysite  Patriarch 
of  Antioch  ;  but,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
strict  Monophysites  would  have  none  of 
it,  and,  on  the  other,  it  was  condemned  by 
Pope  Felix  II.  For  thirty-five  years  (484  - 
619)  the  Henoticon  caused  a  schism  be- 
tween l*]ast  and  West,  At  last  peace  was 
restored  by  the  Emperor  Justin  I.  (518- 
627),  who  acknowledged  the  authority  of 
Chalcedon. 

HBRESY  {aipeo-iSf  from  alpciaBai,  to 
choose)  is  used  in  a  later  Greek  (e.g. 
by  Sextus  Empiricus)  to  denote  a  philo- 
sophical sect  or  party.  In  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  {e.g.  v.  17,  xv.  5)  it  is  ap- 
plied to  the  parties  of  Sadducees  and 
Pharisees,  who  were  divided  from  each 
other  in  religious  and  political  views. 
But  in  the  New  Testament  we  also  find 
the  word  employed  in  a  distinctly  bad 
sense.  In  1  Cor.  xi.  18,  it  indicates  an 
aggravated  form  of  division  (Si;^oaTao-ia) 
among  Christians — i.e.  of  division  grown 
into  distinct  and  organised  party.  We 
find  St.  Paul  (Gal.  v.  19),  placing 
"  heresies  "  on  the  same  level  with  the 
most  heinous  sins,  and  St.  Peter  (2  Ep. 
ii.  1)  speaks  of  false  teachers  among 
Christians,  who  will  bring  in  "  heresies 
[or  sects]  of  perdition."  St.  Ignatius  in 
his  epistles  also  uses  the  word  as  a  term 
of  bitter  reproach,  and  Tertullian  (''  Prae- 
script."  5  and  (3)  accurately  draws  out  the 
meaning  of  the  term.  The  name,  he 
says,  is  given  to  those  who  of  their  own 
will  choose  false  doctrine,  either  institut- 
ing sects  themselves,  or  receiving  the 
false  doctrine  of  sects  already  founded. 
He  adds  that  a  heretic  is  condemned  by 


the  very  fact  of  his  choosing  for  himself, 
since  a  Christian  has  no  such  liberty  of 
choice,  but  is  bound  to  receive  the  doc- 
trine which  the  Apostles  received  from 
Christ. 

The  nature  of  heresy  is  further  ex- 
plained by  St.  Thomas  in  the  "  Summa," 
(2  2nd8e,  qu.  11 ).  Heresy,  accordmg  to  St. 
Thomas,  implies  a  profession  of  Christian 
belief,  so  that  persons  who  have  never 
been  Christians,  or  who  have  utterly 
renounced  Christianity,  are  infidels  and 
apostates,  but  not  heretics.  The  heretic, 
he  says,  is  right  in  the  end  which  he  pro- 
poses or  professes  to  propose  to  himself — 
viz.  the  profession  of  Christian  truth — 
but  he  errs  in  his  choice  of  the  means  he 
taktfS  to  secure  this  end,  for  he  refuses  to 
believe  one  or  more  of  the  articles  of 
faith  "determined  by  the  authority  of 
the  universal  Church."  St.  Thomas  adds 
that  this  rejection  of  Catholic  dogma 
must  be  deliberate  and  pertinacious,  so 
that  his  teaching,  which  is  that  of  all 
theologians,  may  be  summed  up  in  the 
following  definition.  Heresy  is  error 
pertinaciously  held  and  manifestly  re- 
pugnant to  the  faith,  on  the  part  of  one 
who  professes  the  faith  of  Christ.  It  is 
clear  from  this  that  such  Protestants  as 
are  in  good  faith  and  smcerely  desirous  of 
knowing  the  truth  are  not  heretics  in  the 
formal  sense,  inasmuch  as  they  do  not 
pertinaciously  reject  the  Church's  teach- 
ing. Their  heresy  is  material  only — i.e. 
their  tenets  are  in  themselves  heretical, 
but  they  are  not  formal  heretics :  i.e.  they 
do  not  incur  the  guilt  of  heresy,  and  may 
belong  to  the  soul  of  the  Church. 

Formal  heresy  is  a  most  grievous  sin, 
for  it  involves  rebellion  against  God,  who 
requires  us  to  submit  our  understandings 
to  the  doctrine  of  his  Church.  This  guilt, 
if  externally  manifested,  is  visited  by  the 
Church  with  the  greater  excommunica- 
tion, absolution  from  which,  except  in  the 
article  of  death,  can  only  be  given  by  the 
Pope,  although  the  power  of  imparting  it 
is  communicated  to  bishops,  under  certain 
restrictions, in  their  quinquennial  faculties, 
and  to  priests  in  missionary  countries  such 
as  England.  Ecclesiastics  who  fall  into 
heresy  are  liable  to  irregularity,  perpetual 
deprivation  of  their  offices  and  benefices, 
and  to  deposition  and  degradation.  The 
sons  of  an  heretical  mother,  the  sons  and 
grandsons  of  an  heretical  father,  are  in- 
capable of  entering  the  clerical  state.^ 

1  Provided  the  heresy  was  notorious,  and 
that  the  parents  died  in  it.  St.  Lig.  TheoL 
Moral,  lib.  vii.  §  863. 


HERMESIANISM 

HERM^ESiAXfZSivx.  The  name  is 
given  to  principles  on  the  relation  of 
reason  to  faith  which  were  propounded 
by  George  Hermes,  a  German  priest  and 
professor.  These  principles  were  accepted 
with  enthusiasm  by  many  German  Catho- 
lics, were  vehemently  attacked  by  others, 
and  were  finally  condemned  by  the  Holy 
See. 

Hermes  was  born  at  Dreyerwalde,  in 
Westphalia,  in  1775.  He  was  ordained 
priest  in  1792,  studied  and  to  a  great  extent 
adopted  the  philosophy  of  Kant,  published 
a  little  treatise  on  "  The  Inner  Truth  of 
Christianity  "  in  1805,  and  in  1807  was  ap- 
pointed to  a  chair  of  theology  at  Miinster. 
In  1819  he  became  theological  professor  at 
Bonn,  and  was  nominated  to  a  canonry  by 
his  diocesan,  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne, 
in  1825.  In  1831  he  died,  revered  for 
the  purity  of  his  life,  and  beloved  by  his 
pupils.  Altliough  his  writings  and  lec- 
tures excited  great  opposition,  particularly 
during  the  last  six  years  of  his  life,  no 
authoritative  condemnation  of  them  ap- 
peared till  1835,  when  Gregory  XYI. 
censured  his  "  Introduction  to  Theology," 
parts  1  and  2  (Munster,  1819  and  1829), 
and  the  first  part  of  his  Dogmatic  Theology 
(published  after  the  death  of  Hermes; 
Miinster,  1834).  The  same  Pope,  by  a 
decree  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Index, 
declared  that  the  second  and  third  parts 
of  the  Dogmatic  Theology  were  included 
in  the  previous  condemnation.  The  chief 
error  of  Hermes  lay  in  his  theory  that 
Christians  ought  to  begin  by  doubting 
everything  which  was  not  self-evident, 
and  hold  themselves  loose  in  theory  from 
the  faith  they  had  been  taught,  till  it  had 
been  demonstrated  to  their  satisfaction  by 
reason.  Some  of  his  disciples  held  obsti- 
nately to  their  master's  doctrine,  and  the 
former  condemnations  were  repeated  by 
Pius  IX.  in  1847.  Hermesianism  is  now 
extinct. 

HERMITS.  Eremita  (from  the  Gr. 
ipr^jLos,  desert),  a  dweller  in  the  desert. 
Anchorite  {dvaxo>pr]Tr)s,  one  who  has  re- 
tired from  the  world)  has  the  same  mean- 
ing. On  the  life  of  St.  Paul  the  first 
hermit,  Avho  was  born  in  the  Thebaid 
about  230,  and  died  in  342,  after  ninety 
years  spent  in  solitude,  see  Alban  Butler 
for  Jan.  15,  and  the  "  Acta  Sanctorum." 
Though  the  lives  of  the  hermits  are  not 
proposed  by  the  Church  for  the  imitation 
of  ordinary  Christians,  she  holds  them 
up  for  our  admiration,  as  men  who,  com- 
mitting themselves  to  the  might  of 
divine    love,  buoyed    up    by    continual  | 

D 


HESYCHASTS 


401 


prayer,  and  chastened  by  life-long  pen- 
ance, have  vanquished  the  weakness  and 
the  yearning  of  nature,  and  found  it  pos- 
sible to ^ live  for  God  alone.  "They  ap- 
pear to  'some,"  says  St.  Augustine,^  "  to 
have  abandoned  human  things  more  than 
is  right,  but  such  do  not  understand  how 
greatly  their  souls  profit  us  in  the  way  of 
prayer,  and  their  lives  in  the  way  of  ex- 
ample, though  we  are  not  allowed  to  see 
their  faces  in  the  flesh."  St.  Paul  fled  to 
the  desert  during  the  persecution  of 
Decius,  when  he  was  twenty-two  years 
old,  and  never  afterwards  left  it.  He 
was  visited  in  his  cell  by  St.  Anthony 
shortly  before  he  died  (see  his  Life  by  St. 
Jerome).  Experience  soon  proved  that  it 
was  seldom  safe  for  a  man  to  essay  the 
life  of  a  solitary  at  the  beginning  of  his 
religious  career.  The  prudent  plan  was 
found  to  be,  to  spend  some  years  in  a 
monastery,  in  rigorous  conformity  to  all 
the  ascetical  rules  of  the  coenobitic  life, 
and  then,  the  spiritual  strength  lieing 
tested  and  the  passions  subdued,  to  pass 
on  to  the  hermit's  cell.  Thus  we  read  in 
Surius  ("  Vita  Euthymii  abbatis  ")  of  an 
abbot  (jl^erasimus,  who  presided  over  a 
great  monastery  near  the  Jordan,  round 
which  there  was  a  Laura  consisting  of 
seventy  separate  cells.  Gerasimus  kept 
everyone  who  came  to  him  for  some 
years  in  the  monastery;  then,  if  he 
thought  him  fit  for  solitary  life,  and  the 
disciple  himself  aspired  to  it,  he  allowed 
him  to  occupy  one  of  the  cells,  where  he 
lived  during  five  days  in  the  week  on 
bread  and  water,  in  perfect  solitude,  but 
on  Saturday  and  Sunday  rejoined  his 
brethren  in  the  monastery  and  fared  as 
they  did. 

On  the  Hermits  of  St.  Austin,  and 
those  instituted  by  St.  Romuald,  see 
AuGusTiisriAN  Hermits  and  Camaldoli. 
Among  the  more  famous  English  hermits 
were  Bartholomew  of  Fame,  St.  Godric 
of  Finchale,  and  St.  Wulfric  of  Hasle- 
bury  ;  all  these  flourished  in  the  twelfth 
century.  St.  Cuthbert  lived  an  eremitical 
life  on  Fame  Island  for  nine  years,  from 
676  to  685.  Helyot  in  his  history  of  the 
monastic  orders,  mentions  a  Spanish  order 
of  Hermits  of  St.  John  of  Penance,  and 
two  Italian  orders,  one  called  Coloriti, 
the  other,  of  Monte  Senario. 

HES-srCKASTS  (Gr.  rja-vxos,  quiet). 
So-called  because  they  held  the  opinion, 
shared  by  the  Quietists  of  later  times 
[Quietism],  that  the  absolute  repose  of  all 

»  De  Mor.  Eccl  Cath.  i.  31,  quoted  by 
Thomassin. 


4012 


HIERARCHY 


the  faculties  both  of  mind  and  body,  was 
the  best  preparation  by  which  the  soul 
was  made  (it  to  receive  divine  communi- 
cations. The  monks  of  Athos  in  the 
fourteenth  century  endeavoured  to  reduce 
this  quietism  to  a  system,  adopting  ihe 
principles  of  a  certain  abbot  Simeon ;  who 
in  a  work  written  about  three  centuries 
before  had  taught  that  if  the  body  was 
kept  motionless  day  and  night,  the  mind 
raised  above  transitory  things,  the  eyes 
steadily  fixed  on  the  contemplative's  own 
navel,  and  the  thought  searching  for  the 
place  of  the  heart  within  the  frame,  the 
result  would  be,  if  the  monk  persevered 
long  enough,  that  he  would  find  himself 
enveloped  in  a  wonderful  light  and  full  of 
discernment.  Barlaam,  a  Calabrian  abbot, 
returning  from  Italy  about  1340,  where 
he  had  been  negotiating  for  the  termina- 
tion of  the  Greek  schism,  met  some  of 
these  monks  at  Thessalonica,  and  fell 
into  controversy  with  them.  He  called 
them  "  omphalopsychi  "  on  account  of  the 
singular  tenet  above  mentioned.  They 
maintained  that  the  light  which  Simeon 
spoke  of  was  none  other  than  the  un- 
created light  which  the  disciples  saw  on 
Mount  Tabor,  during  the  Transfiguration 
of  Christ.  Barlaam  took  up  the  ex- 
pression "uncreated  light,"  and  charged 
them  with  believing  in  two  Gods,  one 
visible,  the  other  invisible.  A  synod  held 
at  Constantinople  in  1340  condemned 
Barlaam,  who  was  supported,  however,  in 
his  dispute  with  the  Hesychasts  by  the 
monk  Gregory  Akindynos,  and  Nicephorus 
Gregoras,theByzantine historian.  (Fleury, 
xcv.  9 ;  Mobler,  "  Kirchengeschichte.") 

KZEBiLB.CKV  {Updpxrjs,  a  president 
of  sacred  rites,  a  hierarch :  whence  iep- 
apx'-'^i  the  power  or  office  of  a  hierarch). 
The  word  first  occurs  in  the  work  of  the 
pseudo-Dionysius  (a  Greek  writer  of  the 
fifth  century)  on  the  Celestial  and  Eccle- 
siastical Plierarchies.  This  author  appears 
to  mean  by  it  "  administration  of  sacred 
things,"  nearly  in  accordance  with  its 
etymology.  The  signification  was  gra- 
dually modified  until  it  came  to  be  what 
it  is  at  present :  a  hierarchy  now  signifies 
a  body  of  officials  disposed-  organically  in 
ranks  and  orders,  each  subordinate  to  the 
one  above  it.  Thus  we  speak  of  the 
"judicial  hierarchy  "  and  the  "adminis- 
trative hierarchy."  However,  when  the 
hierarchy  is  spoken  of,  what  is  meant  is 
the  organisation  of  ranks  and  oi-ders  in  the 
Christian  Church.  In  a  wide  and  loose 
sense,  when  the  whole  Catholic  Church  is 
considered  as  existing  in   the  midst  of 


HIERARCHY 

heretics,  schismatics,  and  the  heathen, 
even  the  laity  may  be  considered  as  form- 
ing a  portion  of  the  hierarchy.  With  this 
agrees  the  expression  of  St.  Peter,  calling 
the  general  body  of  Christians  in  the 
countries  to  which  he  is  sending  his  epistle 
"  a  kingly  priesthood "  and  "  a  holy 
nation "  (1  Pet.  ii.  9).  St.  Ignatius, 
writing  to  the  Smyrnaeans,^  salutes  "  the 
bishop  worthy  of  God,  and  the  most  reli- 
gious presbytery,  my  fellow-servants  the 
deacons,  and  all  of  you  individually  and 
in  common."  So  at  the  Mass,  the  priest, 
turning  to  the  people,  bids  them  pray  that 
"  his  and  their  sacrifice  "  may  be  acceptable 
to  God ;  and  at  the  incensing  before  the 
Sanctus,  the  acolyte,  after  the  rite  has 
been  performed  to  all  the  orders  of  the 
clergy  witliin  the  sanctuary,  turns  towards 
and  bows  to  the  laity,  and  incenses  them 
also.  But  according  to  its  ordinary  sig- 
nification, the  word  "  hierarchy  "  only 
applies  to  the  clergy — with  varieties  of 
meaning  which  must  be  clearly  distin- 
guished. I.  There  is  a  hierarchy  of  divine 
right,  consisting,  under  the  primacy  of  St. 
Peter  and  his  successors,  of  bishops,  priests, 
and  deacons,  or,  in  the  language  of  the 
Tridentine  canon,  "ministers."  "If  any 
one  shall  say,"  defines  the  council,'^  "  that 
there  is  not  in  the  Catholic  Church  a 
hierarchy  establislied  by  the  divine  ordina- 
tion, consisting  of  bishops,  presbyters,  and 
ministers,  let  him  be  anathema."  The 
term  "ministers"  comprehends  those 
minor  orders  of  ecclesiastical  institution 
which,  as  occasion  arose,  were,  so  to  speak, 
carved  out  of  the  diaconate.  II.  There  is 
also  a  hierarchy  by  ecclesiastical  right,  or, 
a  hierarchy  of  order.  This  consists — be- 
sides the  Roman  Pontifi'  and  the  three 
original  orders  of  bishops,  priests,  and 
deacons — of  the  five  minor  orders  (two  in 
the  East)  of  subdeacons,  acolytes,  exor- 
cists, lectors,  and  porters  {ostiani),  which, 
as  was  said  above,  were  in  the  course  of 
time  severed  from  the  diaconate.  Ill, 
There  is  also  the  hierarchy  of  jurisdiction. 
This  is  of  ecclesiastical  institution,  and 
consists  of  the  administrative  and  judicial 
authorities,  ordinary  and  delegated,  which, 
under  the  supreme  pastorate  of  the  Holy 
See,  are  charged  with  the  maintenance  of 
the  purity  of  the  faith  and  of  imion  among 
Christians,  with  the  conservation  of  dis- 
cipline, &c.  These  authorities  exercise 
powers  conferred  on  them  by  delegation, 
expressed  or  implied,  from  the  order  above 
them:     thus    the    powers    of  cardinals, 

^  Ad  Smyrn.  xii. 
2  Sess.  xxiii.  caa.  6. 


HOLINESS 

patriarchs,  exarchs,  metropolitans,  and 
archbishops,  proceed  from  the  Pope,  either 
expressly  or  by  implication  ;  again,  the 
powers  of  archpriests,  archdeacons,  rural 
deans,  vicars-general,  foran,  &c.,  are  derived 
to  them  from  bishops.  (Thoniassin,^ 
I.  iii.  23  ;  art.  by  Phillips  in  Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

HOlilia'BSS,  as  a  title  of  tlie  Pope. 
[See  Pope  ] 

HOXiY'  "WATER  {aqua  benedicta). 
Washing  with  water  is  a  natural  symbol 
of  spiritual  purification.  "I  will  pour  out 
upon  you,"  says  God  by  the  prophet 
Ezechiel,  xxvi.  25,  "clean  water,  and  you 
shall  be  clean."  In  the  tabernacle  a  laver 
was  placed  in  the  court  between  the  altar 
and  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  for  the 
priests  to  wash  their  hands  and  feet  before 
offering  sacrifice ;  and  the  later  Jews,  as 
may  be  inferred  from  Mark  vii.  3,  deve- 
loped the  frequent  washing  of  the  hands 
into  a  matter  of  ritual  obser^^ance.  If  we 
look  into  a  modern  Jewish  prayer-book, 
we  find  the  same  importance  attached  to 
ritual  ablutions,  and  in  particular  washing 
of  the  hands  is  prescribed  before  prayer. 
The  use  of  the  "aqua  lustralis"  with  which 
the  Romans  spiinkled  tliemselves  or  were 
sprinkled  by  the  priest  shows  that  the  same 
symbolism  existed  among  the  heathen. 

A  like  custom,  beautiful  and  natural 
in  itself,  though  of  course  it  may  degene- 
rate and  often  has  degenerated  into  super- 
stition, has  been  adopted  by  the  Church. 
Water  and  salt  are  exorcised  by  the  priest 
and  so  withdrawn  from  the  power  of  Satan, 
who,  since  the  fall,  has  corrupted  and' 
abused  even  inanimate  things ;  prayers 
are  said  that  the  water  and  salt  may 
^  promote  the  spiritual  and  temporal  health 
of  those  to  whom  they  are  applied  and 
may  drive  away  the  devil  with  nis  rebel 
angels  ;  and  finally  the  water  and  salt  are 
mingled  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity.  The 
water  thus  blessed  becomes  a  means  of 
grace.  Even  common  water,  if  devoutly 
used  as  a  memento  of  the  purity  of  heart 
which  G<  d  requires,  might  well  prove 
useful  for  the  health  of  the  soul.  But  as 
the  Church  has  blessed  holy  water  with 
solemn  prayers,  we  may  be  sure  that  God, 
who  answers  the  petitions  of  his  Church, 
will  not  fail  to  increase  the  charity,  con- 
trition. &c.,  of  those  who  use  it,  and  to 
assist  them  in  their  contests  with  the 
powers  of  evil.  The  reader  will  observe 
that  we  do  not  attribute  to  holy  water 

1  ThomaSHin's  Vetus  et  Nova  Eccl.  Disc;pi:na 
is  quoted  by  the  part,  book,  chapter,  and  para- 
graph. 


HOLY  WEEK 


403 


any  virtue  of  its  own.  It  is  efficacious 
simply  because  the  Church's  prayers  take 
effect  at  the  time  it  is  used. 

Holy  water  is  placed  at  the  door  of 
the  church  in  order  that  the  faithful  may 
sprinkle  themselves  with  it  as  they  enter, 
accompanying  the  outward  rite  with  in- 
ternal acts  of  sorrow  and  love.  Before 
the  High  Mass  on  Sundays  the  celebrant 
sprinkles  the  people  with  holy  water  ;  and 
holy  water  is  employed  in  nearly  every 
blessing  which  the  Church  gives.  And  at 
all  times,  on  rising  an^  going  to  bed,leaviug 
the  house  or  returning  home,  in  tempta- 
tion and  in  sickness,  pious  Catholics  use 
holy  water. 

The  use  of  holy  water  among  Christians 
must  be  very  ancient,  for  the  Apostolical 
Constitutions  (viii.  28,  ed.  Lagarde)  con- 
tain a  formula  for  blessing  water  that  it 
may  have  power  "to  give  health,  drive 
away  diseases,  put  the  demons  to  Hight," 
&c.  But  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any 
evidence  that  it  was  customary  for  the 
priest  to  sprinkle  the  people  with  holy 
water  before  the  ninth  century. 

HOZiir  "WSEK.  The  week  in  which 
the  Church  commemorates  Christ's  death 
and  burial,  and  which  is  spoken  of  by 
ancient  writers  as  the  Great,  the  Holy 
Week,  the  Week  of  the  Holy  Passion 
{rSiv  ayLOiv  iraOoiv,  tov  aaiTr)piov  nddovs, 
Trdaxn  (rrav^wa-f/xo i/),  the  Penal  Week,  the 
Week  of  Forgiveness  (Jiehdomas  indul- 
(jentice).  The  observance  of  Holy  Week 
is  mentioned  by  Irenseus  (apud  Euseb. 
"H.  E."  V.  24),  towards  the  end  of  the 
second  century ;  while  Eusebius  (ii.  17)  evi- 
dently believed  that  the  custom  of  keeping 
Holy  Week  dated  from  Apostolic  times. 
In  the  East  Holy  Week  was  distinguished 
from  the  rest  of  Lent  by  the  extreme 
strictness  of  the  fast.  Thus  Dionysius  of 
Alexandria,  in  his  Epistle  to  Basilides,  tells 
us  that  some  Christians  kept  an  absolute 
fast  the  whole  week,  others  did  so  for 
one,  two,  three  or  four  days.'  Epiphanius, 
in  his  exposition  of  the  orthodox  faith, 
says  much  the  same.  In  the  Latin  Church 
(according  to  Thomassin,  "  Traits  des 
Jeunes,"  p.  50),  it  is  difficult  to  discern 
any  proof  that  the  fast  of  Holy  Week 
exceeded  the  strictness  of  the  ordinary 
Lenten  fast. 

We  have  said  that  in  Holy  Week  the 
Church  commemorates  Christ's  Passion, 
and  it  may  be  objected  that  the  definition 

^  '  This  strictest  form  of  fastin.s^,  which  im- 
plied  a   total  abstinence  from   food    till  the 
dawn  of  the  next  day,  was  called  vTrepBean  or 
superpositio. 
d2 


404 


HOLY  WEEK 


is  incomplete,  since  on  Falm  Sunday,  the 
first  day  of  Holy  Week,  it  is  Christ's 
triumphant  entry  into  Jerusalem  which  is 
chijHy  coutemplated.  But,  in  fact.  Holy 
Week  begins  with  the  Monday,  not  with 
the  Sunday.  At  least  this  is  the  reckon- 
ing of  St,  Cyril,  Theophilus  and  St. 
Epiphanius  quoted  by  Routh  in  his 
"  Reliquiae  Sacrse  "  (torn.  ii.  p.  52).  We 
therefore  reserve  our  account  of  Palm 
Sunday  for  a  special  article,  and  confine 
ourselves  here  to  the  ceremonies  of  Holy 
Week. 

The  Tenebra. — This  is  the  name  given 
to  tbe  matins  and  lauds  of  the  following 
day,  which  are  usually  sung  on  the  after- 
noon or  evening  of  Wednesday,  Thursday, 
and  Friday  in  Holy  Week.  The  ''  Gloria 
Patri  "  at  the  end  of  the  Psalms  and  in 
the  responsories,  the  hymns,  antiphons 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  Sec,  are  omitted  in 
sign  of  sorrow.  The  lessons  of  tbe  lirst 
nocturn  are  taken  from  the  Lamentations 
of  Jeremias,  the  Hebrew  letter  which 
begins  each  verse  in  these  acrostic  ^  poems 
bemg  retained  in  Latin.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  office  thirteen  lighted  candles 
are  placed  on  a  triangular  candelabrum, 
and  at  the  end  of  each  psalm  one  is  put 
out,  till  only  a  single  candle  is  left  lighted 
at  the  top  of  the  triangle.  During  the 
singhig  of  the  Benedictus  the  candles  on 
the  high  altar  are  extinguished,  while  at 
the  antiphon  after  the  Benedictus  the 
single  candle  left  alight  is  hidden  at  the 
Epistle  corner  of  the  altar,  to  be  brought 
out  again  at  the  end  of  the  office.  This 
extinction  of  lights  (whence  probably  the 
name  tenehrce  or  darkness)  is  best  ex- 
plained by  Amalarius  Fortunatus,  who 
wrote  in  820.  It  figures,  he  says,  the 
growing  darkness  of  the  time  when  Christ 
the  light  of  the  world  was  taken.  The 
last  candle,  according  to  Benedict  XIV., 
is  hidden,  not  extinguished,  to  signify  that 
death  could  not  really  obtain  dominion 
over  Christ,  though  it  appeared  to  do. 
The  clapping  made  at  the  end  of  the 
office  is  said  to  symbolise  the  confusion 
consequent  on  Christ's  death. 

Holy  Thursday. — On  this  day  one 
Mass  only  can  be  said  in  the  same  church, 
and  that  Mass  must  be  a  public  one. 
The  Mass  is  celebrated  in  white  vestments, 
because  the  institution  of  the  Eucharist  is 
joyfully  commemorated,  but  at  the  same 
time  there  are  certain  signs  of  the  mourn- 
ing proper  to   Holy    Week.     The  bells, 

1  I.e.  acrostic  in  the  original  Hebrew.  No 
attempt  is  made  to  preserve  the  acrostic  in  the 
Vulgate. 


HOLY   WEEK 

which  ring  at  the  Gloria,  do  not  sound 
again  till  the  Gloria  in  the  Mass  of  Holy 
Saturday,  and  the  Church  returns  to  her 
ancient  use  of  summoning  the  faithful  or 
arousing  their  attention  by  a  wooden 
clapper.  Nor  is  the  embrace  of  peace 
given.  The  celebrant  consecrates  an 
additional  Host,  which  is  placed  in  a 
chalice  and  borne  in  procession  after  the 
Mass  to  a  place  prepared  for  it.  In 
ancient  times  this  procession  occurred 
daily,  for  there  was  no  tabernacle  over  the 
altar  for  reserving  the  particles  which  re- 
mained over  after  the  communion  of  the 
faithful.  MediEeval  writers  connect  the 
procession  with  the  Blessed  Sacrament  on 
Holy  Thursday  with  our  Lord's  journey  to 
the  Mount  of  Olives  after  the  Last  Supper, 
The  "Pange  lingua"  is  sung  during 
the  procession,  and  the  place  to  which  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  is  removed — often 
called  the  Sepulchre,  but  properly  the 
altar  of  repose — is  decked  with  flowers 
and  lights.  Afterwards  the  altars  are 
stripped.  This  used  to  be  done,  accord- 
ing to  Vert  in  his  explanation  of  the  cere- 
monies of  the  Mass,  every  day  after  the 
celebration  of  the  sacrifice,  and  is  re- 
tained on  Holy  Thursday  to  remind  \hQ 
Christians  of  the  way  in  which  their 
Master  was  stripped  of  his  garments. 
In  St.  Peter's  the  chief  altar  is  washed 
with  wine,  and  a  similar  custom  prevails 
among  the  Dominicans  and  Carmelites, 
and  in  some  churches  of  France  and  Ger- 
many.^ 

The  stripping  of  the  altars  is  followed 
by  the  washing  of  the  feet,  called  "  Manda- 
tum  "  from  the  words  of  the  first  antiphon 
sung  during  the  ceremony — "  Mandatum 
novum,"  &c.,  "  A  new  commandment  I 
give  unto  you,  that  you  love  one  another ; " 
whence  our  English  word  Maundy- 
Thursday.  The  principal  priest  or  prelate 
of  the  church  assisted  by  deacon  and 
subdeacon  washes  the  feet  of  twelve  poor 
men.  The  Pope  washes  the  feet  of  thir- 
teen poor  persons,  all  of  whom  are  priests ; 
and  some  churches  follow  the  Papal 
custom.  The  observance  of  the  Mandatum 
is  mentioned  as  a  recognised  custom,  and 
is  enforced  under  penalties,  by  the  twenty- 
second  Council  of  Toledo  in  694. 

Since  the  seventh  century  the  holy 
oils,  formerly  consecrated  at  any  time, 
have  been  blessed  by  the  bishop  in  the 
Mass  of  this  day.  Twelve  priests  and 
seven  deacons  assist  as  witnesses  of  the 
ceremony.  The  bishop  and  priests  breathe 
1  So  says  Benedict  XIV.,  speaking  oi  his 
own  time.  ' 


HOLY  WEEK 

three  times  upon  the  oil  of  the  cate- 
chumens and  the  chrism,  meaning  hy 
this  action  that  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  about  to  descend  on  the  oils  ;  and 
after  the  consecration  is  complete  they 
salute  the  oils  with  the  words,  "Hail, 
holy  oil;  hail,  holy  chrism,"  Another 
rite  proper  to  Holy  Thursday,  now  passed 
into  disuse,  was  the  reconciliation  of 
penitents.  This  reconciliation  on  Holy 
Thuisday  is  mentioned  by  Pope  Innocent  I. 
and  St."  Jerome.  The  Mass  now  cele- 
brated is  one  out  of  three  which  used  to 
be  said,  the  other  two  being  for  the  con- 
secration of  the  chrism  and  the  recon- 
ciliation of  penitents. 

Good  Friday  (Trao-^a  aravpaya-tnov^ 
pa7'a8ceve,  or  irapacrKevr] — i.e.  the  day  of 
preparation  for  the  Jewish  Sabbath — ccena 
pur  a,  dies  absolutionis,  dies  salutaris). 
On  this  day  the  Church  commemorates 
the  Passion  of  Christ,  so  that  it  is  the 
most  sad  and  solemn  of  all  the  days  in 
Holy  Week.  The  officiating  clergy  appear 
in  black  vestments,  and  prostrate  them- 
selves before  the  altar,  Avhich  still  remains 
stripped.  Nor  are  the  candles  lighted. 
After  a  short  pause,  the  altar  is  covered 
with  white  cloths,  and  passages  of  the 
Old  Testament,  followed  by  the  history  of 
the  Passion  from  St.  John  are  read. 
Next  the  Church  prays  solemnly  for  all 
conditions  of  men,  for  all  the  members 
of  the  hierarchy,  for  the  prosperity 
of  Christian  people,  for  catechumens, 
heretics,  Jews"  and  Pagans.  Before  each 
prayer  the  sacred  ministers  genuflect, 
except  before  that  for  the  Jews,  when 
the  genuflection  is  omitted  in  detestation 
of  the  feigned  obeisance  with  which  the 
Jews  mocked  Christ.  When  the  prayers 
are  ended,  the  cross,  which  has  been  up 
to  this  time  covered  with  black,  is  exposed 
to  view,  "adored"  [see  the  article  Cross] 
and  kissed  by  clergy  and  people.  During 
the  adoration  the  "  Iraproperia  "  are  sung, 
each  improperium  being  followed  by  the 
Trisagion  in  Greek  and  Latin.  Impro- 
perium  is  a  barbarous  wcird  used  by  Latin 
writers  of  a  late  age  meaning  "  reproach," 
and  these  "reproaches"  are  addressed  in 
dramatic  form  by  Christ  to  the  Jewish 
people.  They  begin  with  the  touching 
words,  "  My  people,  what  have  I  done  to 
thee,  wherein  have  I  vexed  thee  ?  Answer 
me."  The  Trisagion  is  so  called  because 
the  word  "  holy  "  occurs  three  times  in  it : 
"  Holy  God,  holy  [and]  strong,  holy  [and] 
immortal,  have  pity  on  us."  It  was  first 
introduced  at  Constantinople,  and  it  is 
Ipi*obably  because  of  its  Greek  origin  that 


HOLY  WEEK 


405 


it  is  recited  in  the  Good  Friday  office  in 
Greek  as  well  as  in  Latin. 

We  have  now  to  speak  of  the  most 
striking  and  singular  feature  in  the  Good 
Friday  ritual.  From  very  ancient  times, 
as  appears  from  the  Council  of  Laodicea, 
canon  49,  and  the  Synod  in  Trullo, 
canon  52,  the  Greek  Church  abstained 
from  the  celebration  of  Mass  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  word  during  Lent,  except  on 
Saturdays  and  Sundays,  and  substituted 
for  it  the  Mass  of  the  Presanctifled,  in 
which  the  priest  received  as  communion 
a  Host  previously  consecrated.  The 
Greeks  still  observe  this  ancient  use,  but 
the  Latin  Church  contents  herself  with 
abstaining  from  the  celebration  of  Mass  on 
Good  Friday,  the  day  on  which  Christ 
was  offered  as  a  bleeding  victim  for  our 
sins.  This  Mass  of  the  Presanctitied  on 
Good  Friday  is  mentioned  by  Pope  Inno- 
cent I.  in  his  letter  to  Decent ius.  The 
Blessed  Sacrament  is  borne  in  procession 
from  the  chapel  where  it  was  placed  the 
day  before,  while  the  choir  sing  the  hymn 
"  Vexilla  Regis."  The  priest  places  the 
Host  on  the  altar,  the  candles  of  which 
are  now  lighted.  The  Blessed  Sacrament 
is  elevated  and  adored  while  the  wooden 
clapper  is  sounded ;  it  is  divided  into 
three  parts,  one  of  which  is  put  into  a 
chalice  containing  wine  and  water. 
Finally  the  priest  receives  the  portions  of 
the  Host  which  remain  on  the  paten,  and 
then  takes  the  wine  with  the  third  portion 
of  the  Host.  According  to  a  Roman  Ordo 
written  about  the  year  800  and  quoted  by 
Thomassin  ("Traits  des  Festes'"),  the  cere- 
mony ended  with  the  silent  communion 
of  the  faithful ;  but  the  present  discipline 
of  the  Church  forbids  communion  to  be 
given  on  Good  Friday  except  in  the  case 
of  sickness. 

Holy  Saturday. — Before  entering  on 
the  history  of  the  ceremonies  for  this  the 
last  day  of  Holy  Week  it  is  necessary  to 
say  something  about  the  time  at  which 
they  are  performed.  We  learn  from  the 
Epistle  of  Pope  Innocent  already  quoted 
that  in  his  time  no  Mass  was  said  during 
the  day  hours  of  Holy  Saturday.  The 
office  began  at  the  ninth  hour,  i.e. 
at  three  o'clock  p.m.  ;  the  faithful  kept 
vigil  in  the  church,  and  the  Mass  cele- 
brated at  midnight  belonged  rather  to  the 
morning  of  Easter  Sunday  than  to  Holy 
Saturday.  This  state  of  thinp-s  lasted  till 
late  in  the  middle  ages.  Hugo  of  St. 
Victor  (died  1140)  mentions  the  custom 
then  creeping  in  of  anticipating  the  vigil 
office ;  but  the  old  mode  of  observance  is 


406 


HOLY  WEEK 


HOMICIDE 


Bpoken  of  as  still  subsisting  in  some 
churches  by  Durandus  (lived  about  1280) 
and  Thomas  AValdensis  (after  1400). 
Though  the  time  is  changed,  the  words  of 
the  oifice  remain  as  they  were.  This 
explains  the  joyous  character  of  the  Mass, 
the  fact  that  the  history  of  the  resur- 
rection is  sung  in  the  Gospel,  and  the 
allusion  to  the  night  time  in  the  Preface, 
the  "  Communicantes,"  and  the  majestic 
language  of  the  Collect,  "O  God,  who 
didst  illumine  this  most  holy  night  -svdth 
the  glory  of  the  Lord's  resurrection." 

At  present  the  ceremonies  begin  early 
in  the  morning  with  the  blessing  of  the 
new  fire  struck  from  the  flint.  This 
blessing  was  unknown  at  Rome  in  the 
time  of  Pope  Zacharias  (anno  751), 
though  it  is  recognised  about  a  century 
later  by  Leo  IV.  Apparently  it  was  the 
custojn  in  some  churches  daily  to  bless 
the  hre  struck  for  the  kindling  of  the 
lamps,  and  about  the  year  1100  this  bene- 
diction was  reserved  exclusively  for  Holy 
Saturda}',  when  the  fire  is  an  appropriate 
image  of  the  Light  of  light  rismg  again 
like  "  the  sun  in  his  strength."  From  this 
fire  a  candle  with  three  stems,  and  placed 
on  a  reed,  is  lighted  and  carried  up  the 
church  by  a  deacon,  who  three  times 
chants  the  words  "  Lumen  Christi." 
The  same  symbolism  reappears  in  the 
paschal  candle,  which  is  blessed  by  the 
deacon,  who  fixes  in  it  five  grains  of 
blessed  incense  in  memory  of  the  wounds 
of  Christ  and  the  precious  spices  with 
which  he  was  anointed  in  the  tomb,  and 
afterwards  lights  it  from  the  candle  on 
the  reed.  The  use  of  the  paschal  candle 
goes  back  very  far — as  far  at  least  as  the 
time  of  Zosimus,  who  was  made  Pope  in 
417 — and  the  sublime  words  of  the 
*'  Exultet,"  a  triumphant  hymn  of  praise 
which  the  deacon  sings  in  the  act  of 
blessing  the  candle  can  scarcely  be  less 
ancient.  The  great  ciitic  Martene  attri- 
butes it  to  St.  Augustine. 

The  blessing  of  the  candle  is  followed 
by  the  twelve  prophecies,  and  after  they 
have  been  read,  the  priest  goes  in  pro- 
cession to  bless  the  font.  This  last  blessing 
carries  us  back  to  the  days  of  the  ancient 
Church  in  which  the  catechumens  were 
presented  to  the  bishop  for  baptism  on  Holy 
Saturdaj'^  and  the  vigil  of  Pentecost.  The 
water  in  the  font  is  scattered  towards  the 
four  quarters  of  the  world,  to  indicate  the 
catholicity  of  the  Church  and  the  world- 
wide efficacy  of  her  sacraments;  the  priest 
breathes  on  the  water  in  the  form  of  a  cross 
and  plunges  the  paschal  candle  three  times 


into  the  water,  for  the  Spirit  of  God  is  to 
hallow  it,  and  the  power  of  Christ  is  to 
descend  upon  it ;  and  lastly  a  few  drops  of 
the  oil  of  catechumens  and  of  the  chrism 
are  poured,  in  order,  says  Gavantus,  to 
signify  the  union  of  Christ  our  anointed 
king  with  his  people.  On  the  way  back 
from  the  font  the  Litanies  of  the  Saints 
are  begun,  they  are  continued  while  the 
sacred  ministers  lie  prostrate  before  the 
altar,  and,  as  they  end,  the  altar  is  decked 
with  flowers  and  the  Mass  is  begun  in 
white  vestments.  At  the  Gloria  the  organ 
sounds  and  bells  are  rung,  and  the  joyful 
strains  of  the  Alleluia  peal  forth  after  the 
Epistle.  The  vespers  of  the  day  are  in- 
serted in  the  Mass  after  the  Communion. 

The  reason  lor  the  jubilant  chai-acter 
of  the  Mass  has  been  given  above,  but 
there  are  some  other  peculiarities  which 
need  explanation.  The  kiss  of  peace  is 
omitted,  because  in  the  ancient  rite  the 
faithful  kissed  each  other  in  the  church 
as  day  was  breaking,  with  the  words, 
"  The  Lord  is  risen ; "  there  was  therefore 
a  natural  objection  to  anticipating  the 
ceremony  in  the  Mass  at  midnight.  The 
Agnus  Dei,  which  was  introduced  by  Pope 
Sergius  towards  the  end  of  the  seventh 
century,  was  never  added  to  this  Mass. 
The  Communion  and  Postcomm union  are 
simply  replaced  by  vespers.  But  why  is 
thei'e  no  Offertory  ?  Liturgical  writers 
give  many  different  answers,  none  of 
which  are  satisfactory.  Gavantus  alleges 
that  the  celebrant  alone  communicated, 
and  that  hence  there  was  no  oblation 
of  bread  and  wine  on  the  part  of  the 
faithful.  But,  though  now  custom  and  a 
decree  of  the  Congregation  of  llites  forbid 
communion,  it  is  certain,  as  Meratus  points 
out,  from  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary,  that 
the  faithful  in  former  times  did  communi- 
cate and  did  make  the  usual  oblations  on 
this  day.  Meratus  himself  has  no  better 
explanation  to  give  than  the  desire  to 
shorten  the  Mass  as  much  as  possible  on 
account  of  the  long  offices  which  preceded 
it.  (Chiefly  from  Gavantus,  Meratus, 
Thomassin,  "  Sur  le^  Festes,"  and  Benedict 
XIV.  "  De  Festis.") 

HOMZCIBB.  The  violent  slaying  of 
one  human  being  by  another.  The  modes 
are  various — e.g.  shooting,  stabbing, strang- 
ling, causing  abortion,  drowning,  throwing 
from  a  height,  the  denial  of  food,  &c. 
Homicide  may  be  either  intentional  or 
accidental.  If  intentional,  it  may  be  so 
either  directly  or  indirectly :  directly,  as 
when  one  man  kills  another  with  the  foil 
intention  of  killing  him  j   indirectly,  as 


HOMICIDE 

when  a  man,  without  actual  intention  to 
kill,  does  that  which  he  knows  is  dang:er- 
ous  to  life — e.g.  kicks  a  fallen  man  violently 
about  the  head.  Intentional  homicide  may 
be  either  just  or  unjust.  The  cases  when 
it  may  be  justly  done  are  these  four :  the 
command  of  God  ;  the  execution  of  public 
justice  ;  a  just  war  ;  and  necessary  defence 
either  of  oneself  or  others.  For  the  first 
case  the  canonists  cite  the  command  of 
God  to  Abraham  to  slay  his  son,  and  the 
putting  to  death  by  the  Israelites  of  the 
women  and  children  whom  they  found  in 
Jericho.  The  second  case  is  that  of  judges, 
civil  or  military,  who  justly  condemn  men 
to  death/  and  of  executioners  or  soldiers 
putting  their  mandates  m  force.  For  the 
third  case,  see  the  article  on  War.  The 
case  of  life  justly  taken  in  necessary  de- 
fence is  one  that  requires  a  careful  exam- 
ination of  the  surrounding  circumstances. 
Homicide  is  only  lawfnl  in  this  case  if  it  be 
done  "cum  moderamine  inculpatse  tutelae," 
*^  under  the  limitation  of  an  unblamable 
defensiveness."  A  defence  of  oneself  which 
exceeds  the  measure  of  the  assault  made 
upon  one  (as,  if  a  man  were  to  kill  an  im- 
armed  footpad,  or  an  assailant  whom  it 
was  in  his  power  to  disarm  or  get  rid  of  in 
some  other  way)  does  not  comply  with  the 
condition  just  mentioned.  Nor  is  that 
defence  of  oneself  "unblamable,"  and 
therefore  justifiable,  which  would  make  a 
criminal  who  was  being  led  to  execution 
rise  up  against  the  "officers  of  the  law  and 
kill  them  in  order  to  effect  his  own  escape; 
for  in  sucb  a  case  there  would  be  no  justa 
causa  for  defending  his  life,  and  so  it  would 
be  blamable.  Nor,  thirdly,  is  that  a  law- 
ful self-defending  homicide  which  takes 
away  the  life  of  the  aggressor,  not  at  the 
moment  of  the  assault,  but  after  some  time 
has  elapsed,  and  by  way  of  revenge.  But 
if  the  condition  "  cum  moderamine  incul- 
patse tutelae  "  be  duly  observed,  a  man  may 
lawfully  kill  an  unjust  aggressor,  not  only 
in  defence  of  his  own  life,  but  in  defence 
of  the  life  of  a  parent  or  a  wife  or  any  of 
his  kindred,  or  even  of  an  innocent 
stranger.  It  is  lawful  also  to  kill  an  un- 
just aggressor  in  defence  of  temporal  pos- 
sessions, if  they  are  of  great  value  to  their 
possessor,  and  cannot  otherwise  be  pro- 
tected or  recovered.  But  it  is  not  lawful 
even  in  defence  of  honour  and  reputation, 
to  kill  a  man  in  a  combat  offered  or  ac- 
cepted on  private  authority.  [See  Duel.] 
Several  other  forms  of  unlawful  homicide 
are  enumerated  among  the  Condemned 
Propositions. 

1  Bom.  xiii.  4. 


HOMILY 


407 


In  unjust  intentional  homicide  a  man 
may  be  either  a  principal,  an  accomplice, 
or  lan  accessory.  If  a  principal,  it  is 
by  one  of  the  various  ways  of  killing 
specified  at  the  beginning  of  the  article. 
If  an  accomplice,  he  is  so  either  by 
counsel  (inflaming  the  wrath  of  another, 
exaggerating  his  wrongs,  &c.),  or  by  co- 
operation (supplying  the  principal  with 
weapons,  hindering  the  person  assailed 
from  defending  himself,  &c.).  If  an  acces- 
sory, it  is  in  one  of  three  ways — by  pre- 
cept, by  protection,  by  permission.  An 
unjust  judge  knowingly  condemning  inno- 
cent persons  to  death  is  an  accessorial 
homicide  by  precept ;  the  executioner  in 
such  a  case  would  incur  no  blame.  A 
master  ordering  his  servants  to  kill  his 
private  enemy  falls  under  the  same  cate- 
gory;  the  servants  are  also  guilty,  because 
they  should  not  have  obeyed  an  unlawful 
command :  Bothwell's  ordering  some  of 
his  retainers  to  murder  the  Lord  Darnley 
is  a  case  in  point.  Persons  who  shelter, 
maintain,  and  favour  homicides  are  acces- 
sory to  homicide  by  protection.  Lastly, 
magistrates  who  neglect  to  enforce  the 
law  against  murderers  and  highwaymen, 
and  so  allow  them  to  practise  upon  other 
men's  lives  with  impunity,  are  accessory 
to  homicide  by  permission.  (Ferraris, 
Homicida,  Homicidium.) 

HOMIl^Y  (from  o/jLiXia,  intercourse) 
is  used  by  ecclesiastical  writers  to  signify 
a  familiar  discourse  on  Holy  Scriptui-e. 
The  homily  differs  from  the  Xdyos-,  or  dis- 
course, because  the  homily  does  not,  like 
the  oration  or  discourse,  set  forth  and 
illustrate  a  single  theme.  It  sacrifices 
artistic  unity  and  simply  follows  the  order 
of  subjects  in  the  passage  of  Scripture  to 
be  explained.  On  the  other  hand,  a  homily 
is  distinct  from  mere  exegesis  or  exposi- 
tion, because  the  latter  is  addressed  to  the 
understanding,  while  the  homily  is  meant 
to  affect  the  heart  also  and  to  persuade 
those  who  hear  to  apply  the  lessons  of 
Scripture  for  the  reformation  of  their  lives. 
The  word  homily  in  the  sense  of  discourse 
first  occurs  in  the  Epistle  of  St.  Ignatius 
to  Polycarp,  c.  5.  The  earliest  homilies 
on  Scripture  which  we  possess  are  those 
of  Origen,  though  for  the  most  part  they 
only  survive  in  a  Latin  version.  Jerome 
calls  the  homilies  of  Origen  "tractatus" 
so  that  this  word  may  be  fairly  regarded 
as  the  equivalent  of  the  Greek  ofiiXia. 
Homilies  were  written  in  abundance  1^ 
later  Fathers,  and  early  in  the  middle 
ages  Homiliaria  or  collections  of  homilies 
were  compiled.  The  famous  HomUiarium 


408 


IIOMOOUSION 


of  Paul  Warnefried  was  made  at  the 
command  of  Charlemag'iie  and  contains 
homilies  for  the  Sundays  and  festival!  of 
the  year.  Wherever  the  lesson  in  the 
matin  office  of  the  Breviary  is  taken  from 
the  Gospels,  a  homily  by  one  of  the  Fathers 
is  appended  to  explain  and  apply  the 
words  of  the  sacred  text.  (See  Prohst, 
"  Lehre  and  Gebet  in  den  ersten  drei  Jahr- 
hunderten,"  p.  203.) 

HOmoouszour  (of  one  essence  or,  as 
it  is  usually  translated,  of  one  substance),  a 
word  used  by  the  Fathers  of  Nicsea,  to 
express  the  truth  that  the  Son  is  one  God 
with  the  Father.  The  heretical  party, 
starting-  with  the  notion  common  to  their 
heresy  in  all  its  varying  shapes  that  the 
Father  and  Son  were  of  distinct  essence, 
confessed  at  most  that  the  Son  was  of  like 
essence  with  (the  ofioiovaLov)  or  even  only 
"like  "  (ofiotoj)  the  Father.  "Here,  then," 
says  Cardinal  Newman,  "  the  word  *  one 
in  substance '  did  just  enable  the  Catholics 
to  join  issue  with  them,  as  exactly  ex- 
pressing what  the  Catholics  wished  to 
expres-*,  viz.  that  there  was  no  such  dis- 
tinction between  them  as  made  the  term 
'like  '  necessary,  but  that  their  relation  to 
each  other  was  analogous  to  that  of  a 
material  offspring  to  a  material  parent,  or 
that  as  material  parent  and  ofispring  are 
individuals  under  one  common  species,  so 
the  Father  and  Son  are  persons  under  one 
common  individual  substance.''^  ^  The  his- 
tory of  the  words  "  homoousion "  and 
"homoeousion  "  will  be  found  in  the  article 
Arians. 

BON-ORAR-S-  CAXrois-S.  Besides 
the  residentiary  Canons  there  are,  in  con- 
nection with  all  the  cathedral  chapters  of 
France,  Austria,  and  Prussia,  a  certain 
number  of  honorary  canons,  who  are  not 
bound  to  residence.  These  are  nominated 
by  the  bishops,  and  selected  from  among 
the  higher  clergy — deans,  cur Ss  cant onaua:, 
and  priests  who  have  rendered  eminent 
services  to  the  Church — and  many  of 
then-  become  in  time  titular  canons,  with 
all  tlie  privileges  attaching  to  that  posi- 
tion ;  but  they  cannot  claim  this  succession 
as  a  matter  of  right.  They  usually  re- 
ceive a  small  emolument.  (Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

HONORXTTS.  The  condemnation  of 
Pope  Ilonorius  by  the  Sixth  General 
Council  is  a  fact  so  remarkable  in  itself, 
and  possesses  so  much  additional  interest 
from  tiie  discussion  which  it  has  occa- 
sioned  in  modern  times,  that   it   seems 

*  Newman,  Treatises  of  St.  Athanasius. 
Edition  of  1842,  p.  144. 


HONOmUS 

best  to  give  some  account  of  the  facts 
and  the  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  them 
in  a  separate  article.  There  is  a  vast 
literature  on  the  question,  for  it  was  for 
a  long  time  a  matter  of  contention  be- 
tween Gallicans  and  Ultramontanes,  while 
the  definition  of  Papal  infallibility  in  our 
own  day  has  served  to  bring  Honoriua 
once  more  before  the  bar  of  history,  and 
to  reopen  the  controversy  on  the  sense  of 
his  fnmous  letters,  and  the  precise  mean- 
ing of  the  anathema  which  the  council 
hurled  at  his  head.  We  cannot,  there- 
fore, pretend  to  state,  and  much  less  to 
examine  all  the  views  which  have  been 
advanced,  or  to  give  anything  like  a 
detailed  history  of  the  controversy.  We 
shall  content  ourselves  with  mentioning 
the  most  prominent  facts,  and  adding 
what  we  believe  to  be  a  fair  and  impartial 
esthuate  of  their  bearing  on  the  Papal 
claims. 

We  will  first  of  all  remind  the  reader 
of  the  points  at  issue  in  the  Monothelite 
controversy  to  which  the  letters  of  Hono- 
rius  relate.  The  Monothelites,  who  were 
really  Eutychians  or  Monophysites  in  dis- 
guise, held  that  there  was  in  Christ  only 
one  will  (viz.  the  Divine  Will)  and  one 
operation.  The  Catholic  doctrine  on  the 
other  hand,  is  that,  as  Christ  had  two 
natures,  there  were  in  Him  two  operations, 
or  modes  of  acting,  viz.  the  Divine  and 
human,  for  each  nature,  from  the  very 
fact  that  it  is  a  living  nature,  must  needs 
act,  must  needs  have  an  energy  proper  to 
itself;  and  again,  since  Christ  is  man.  He 
must  have  a  human  will,  for  human 
nature  without  a  human  will  is  not  human 
nature  at  all. 

Honorius  became  Pope  in  625,  and  in 
633  or  634  Sergius  wrote  asking  his  help 
in  the  following  difficulty.  Cyrus,  Patri- 
arch of  Alexandria,  had  succeeded  in 
bringing  certain  Monophysites  (viz.  the 
Theodosians)  to  the  Church  by  admitting 
that,  as  in  Christ  there  was  but  one  per- 
son, so  there  was  but  one  operation  proper 
to  the  God-man  Christ  (/im  OfavbpiKrj  eV 
epyeia).  Sophroniiis,  monk  in  Palestine, 
and  about  634  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, justly  objected  to  this  term  of 
union  as  a  betrayal  of  the  faith  defined  at 
Chalcedon.  The  doctrine  of  St.  Leo  and 
the  Church  is,  two  natures,  therefore  two 
operations.  The  doctrine  of  Cyrus  was 
one  person  of  the  Word,  therefore,  one 
operation  ;  so  that  in  reality  he  was  join- 
ing the  Monophysites,  not  the  Monophys- 
ites the  Church.  The  compromise,  how- 
ever, was  warmly  espoused  by  Sergius, 


HONORIUS 

and  be  was  naturally  anxious  to  prevent 
the  Pope  from  interfering  on  the  side  of 
Soplironius,  and  so  undoing  the  work  of 
reunion  already  effected.  But  let  the 
reader  observe  that  Sergius  did  not  put 
his  doctrine  honestly  and  fairly  before  the 
Pope.^  He  did  not  ask  him  to  accept  the 
doctrine  of  a  single  operation,  bat  he  ex- 
pressed liis  desire  that  peace  should  be 
secured  and  scandal  saved  by  avoiding 
either  expression,  one  operation  or  tvi^o 
operations.  The  former,  he  said,  though 
found  in  the  Fathers,  might  cause  surprise 
to  the  simple ;  the  latter  had  no  support 
in  tradition,  and  might  lead  to  the  false 
doctrine  that  in  Christ  there  veere  two 
contrary  wills  (Svo  deXrjfjLara  ivavrio^s 
npos  (iWrj'Xa  e'xovTa).  Accordingly  Hono- 
rius  addressed  two  letters  to  Sergius;  the 
earlier  of  the  two  exists  entire  in  a  Greek 
translation,  but  this  versi(m  may  be  ac- 
cepted as  an  accurate  one,  for  it  was  com- 
pared with  the  Latin  original  in  the 
archives  of  Constantinople  by  John  de 
Prato,  Papal  deputy  at  the  Sixth  Council. 
Of  the  second  letter  we  have  fragments 
only,  which  are  preserved  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Sixth  C'ouncil,  Session  xiii. 

In  his  former  letter  the  Pope  praises 
Sergius  for  his  moderation  and  prudence. 
He  teaches  that  Christ  wrought  both  as 
man  and  God,  which  is  equivalent  to  a 
confession  of  the  two  operations,  but  he 
expre^^sos  his  strong  wish  that  neither 
formula,  ''one  operation"  or  "two  opera- 
tions," should  be  used,  and  adds  contemp- 
tuously that  such  formulae  should  be  left 
to  the  vain  disputes  of  cavilling  gram- 
marians. Moreover,  after  speaking  about 
the  union  of  the  natures  in  a  single  per- 
son, he  proceeds  to  say,  "  Whence  also  we 
confess  one  will  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  " 
{oOev  Kill  ev  Bekrjixa  SfioXoyovixev rov  Kvpiov 
'irjaov  Xpia-Tov), "  since  plainly  our  nature 
was  taken  by  the  Godhead,  and  that  na- 
ture sinless,  as  it  was  before  the  fall.'' 

In  his  second  letter,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge  from  the  fragments  of  it  Avhich 
remain,  Honorius  does  not  reasser.t  his 
belief  that  Christ  had  but  one  will,  and 
on  tbe  other  hand  he  puts  forward  still 
"ore  strongly  the  doctrine  of  two  opera- 
:ons.  For  he  confesses  two  natures  in 
Christ, " unmixed,  undivided,  unchanged," 
operating  what  is  characteristic  [of  each] 
(euepyovaas  to.  idea),  though  he  again  re- 
pudiates as  inexpedient,  the  formula  "  two 
operations." 

It  is   certain    that    Honorius    found 

*  He  had,  however,  already  modified  his 
language  before  he  wrote  to  Honorius. 


HONORIUS 


409 


orthodox  advocates,  who  maintained  that 
he  had  written  with  good  intentions,  and 
that  his  words  had  been  misconstrued. 
Thus  Pope  John  IV.  in  a  letter  to  the 
Emperor  Constantine,  dated  641,  defended 
Honorius  on  the  ground  that  when  he 
said  "  we  confess  one  will  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,"  he  meant  one  human  will, 
and  the  Roman  abbot,  John  Symponus, 
whose  services  Honorius  had  used  in 
writing  to  Sergius,  takes  the  same  line 
of  defence.  But  in  the  Sixth  Council 
Honorius  met  with  harder  measure.  In 
Session  xiii.,  held  March  28,  681,  the 
fathers  declare  that  atter  reading  the 
letter  of  Honorius  to  Sergius,  they  found 
that  it  was  "  altogether  alien  from  the 
Apostolic  dogmas,  and  followed  the  false 
doctrine  of  the  heretics."  They  anathe- 
matised the  Monothelite  leaders,  and  with 
them  Honorius,  who  "  in  all  things  fol- 
lowed his  mind  [i.e.  the  mind  of  Sergius] 
and  confirmed  his  impious  doctrines  "  {Kara 
TTUvra  TO.  TTJ  €K€Lvov  yvd>fMi]  e^aKoXovdrja-avra 
Koi  TO.  avTov  dcr((Brj  Kvpoaa-avra  boyp-ara). 

In  the  acclamations  of  Session  xvi., 
the  bishops  shouted  "Anathema  to  Hono- 
rius the  heretic !  "  and  in  the  decree  of 
faith.  Session  xviii.,  Honorius  is  spoken 
of  as  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  devil. 
This  decree  was  signed  by  the  whole 
council,  including  the  Papal  legates,  and 
by  the  Emperor.  In  a  letter  to  the 
Emperor  confirming  the  conciliar  defini- 
tion, Pope  Leo  II.,  after  anathematising 
Cyrus,  Sergius,  &c.,  "  the  discoverers  of 
new  error,"  continues  thus:  "Also  Hono- 
rius, who  did  not  endeavour  to  sanctify 
this  Apostolic  church  by  teaching  of 
Apostohc  tradition,  but  permitted  the 
spotless  one  to  be  defiled'  by  unholy  be- 
trayal." '  The  anathema  of  the  Sixth  was 
repeated  in  the  Eighth  General  Council, 
its  justice  was  recognised  by  Pope  Ha- 
drian II.,  and  for  a  time  each  Pope  at  his 
election  swore  that  he  acknowledged  the 
Sixth  Council,  which  pronounced  eternal 
anathema  against  Sergius,  Pyrrhus,  &c., 
and  also  against  Honorius,  "  because  he 
fostered  the  perverse  statements  of  the 
heretics  "  ("  quia  pravis  hereticorum  as- 
sertionibus  fomentum  impendit"). 

The  reader  is  now  in  possession  of  the 
chief  facts,  and  the  following  questions 
naturally  rise  out  of  them— viz.  (1)  What 
is  the  independent  judgment  which  would 
be  fairly  passed  on  the  letters  of  Hono- 

*  And  so  in  Leo's  letter  to  the  Spanish 
bishops,  "  flammara  haeretici  dogmatis,  non,  ut 
decuit  apostolicam  auctoritatem,  incipientem 
extinxit,  sed  negligendo  confovit." 


410 


HONORIUS 


rius,  apart  altoo'ether  from  the  fact  of 
their  condemnation  by  Pope  and  council  ? 
(2)  What  is  the  judgment  of  the  Church 
on  the  matter  ?  (3)  Were  the  letters  of 
Honorius  ex  cathedra?  Catholic  writers 
of  great  name  have  given  very  different 
answers  to  each  of  these  questions. 
Pighius,  Baronius,  and  in  modern  times 
Damberger,  have  maintained  that  the 
documents  and  particularly  the  Acts  of 
the  Sixth  Council  have  been  falsified. 
This  view  is  not  likely  to  find  a  respect- 
able defender  in  the  future,  and  may  be 
here  summarily  dismissed.  But  admit/- 
ting  that  the  documents  alleged  are 
genuine,  some  writers,  like  Dupin  and 
Bossuet  in  his  defence  of  the  Gallican 
declaration,  have  asserted  that  the  letters 
of  Honorius  were  heretical,  and  as  such 
condemned.  Others— e.^',  Garuier,  Baller- 
ini,  and  a  multitude  besides — strenuously 
maintain  the  orthodoxy  of  Honorius. 
Finally,  though  most  Ultramontane 
authors  deny  that  his  letters  were  ex 
cathedra,  some  (and  notably  a  recent 
Italian  author,  Pennachi)  admit  it.  In 
developing  our  own  view,  we  shall  briefly 
note  how  far  we  are  supported  by  the 
judgment  of  Catholic  critics. 

(1)  7'ke  Orthodoxy  or  Heresy  of 
Honorius. — At  first  sight,  no  doubt  it 
seems  diiSc-ilt  to  excuse  from  heresy 
letters  which  repudiate  the  Catholic  for- 
mula, "  two  operations,"  and  infer  the 
imity  of  Christ's  will  from  the  unity  of 
his  person.  But,  we  think,  only  at  first 
sight.  We  have  seen  that  the  Pope  dis- 
tinctly admits  that  each  nature  in  Christ 
was  operative,  yt^hich  implies  two  opera- 
tions. Further,  the  Pope  evidently  did 
not  understand  the  precise  sense  in  which 
Sergius  used  the  word  "  operation,"  for 
he  (the  Pope)  asserts  that  Christ's  opera- 
tion was  manifold  (TroXvrpoTra)?  ivepyeV)} 
As  for  the  '•  unity  of  will,"  we  must  re- 
member that  Sergius  drew  the  false  con- 
sequence, "  if  two  wills  in  Christ,  then 
there  are  two  contrary  wills,"  so  that  the 
words  of  Honorius  on  the  unity  of  the 
will  admit  of  an  interpretation  which 
makes  them  perfectly  orthodox.  He 
argues  thus.  Because  Christ's  humanity 
was  united  to,  and  perfectly  controlled  by, 
the  Woid,  and  because  He  assumed  a  sin- 
less humanity,  therefore  "  we  confess 
one  will" — i.e.  his  will,  though  not  physi- 
cally, is  still  morally  one ;  there  can  be 
no  opposition  of  human  and  divine  will  in 

1  I.e.  the  Pope  takes  "  energy  "  for  a  single 
act,  not  for  the  whole  class  of  operations  proper 
to  one  nature. 


HONORIUS 

Him.  But  while  Honorius  was  free  from 
heretical  error,  and  did  not  teach  heresy, 
he  neglected  the  only  means  by  which  the 
new  heresy  could  be"^met.  He  prohibited 
and  contemptuously  dismissed  the  for- 
mula "two  operations,"  which  exactly 
summed  up  the  orthodox  faith, ^  and 
though  he  meant  only  to  assert  a  moral 
unity  in  the  two  wills  of  Christ,  he  did  so 
in  language  which  lent  itself  easily  to 
abuse  on  the  part  of  the  Monothelites, 
and  h3  abstained  from  stating  the  exist- 
ence of  two  wills  in  Christ,  just  when  the 
ocdasion  imperatively  demanded  this  state- 
ment. Thus  he  fomented  the  heresy 
which  it  was  his  duty  to  check,  and  his 
exalted  position  made  his  conduct  doubly 
mischievous,  and  therefore  doubly  repre- 
hensible. For  all  that,  his  position  is 
separated  by  a  very  wide  gulf  from  that 
of  the  heresiarchs  Sergius  and  Cyrus. 
This  first  part  of  our  thesis  may  claim 
the  support  of  many  Catholic  critics,  and 
among  them  of  the  learned  Jesuits,  Gar- 
nier  and  (in  recent  times)  Schneemann, 
of  Balleriui,  and  of  Hefele. 

(2)  The  Judgment  of  the  Church. — 
Ballerini,  in  his  famous  treatise  "  Do 
Primatu,"  and  many  others,  hold  that  it 
was  only  in  the  sense  given  above  that 
the  council  condemned  Honorius.  It  was, 
they  say,  for  negligence,  not  for  heresy, 
that  the  Pope  was  anathematised.  We 
confess  that  we  cannot  see  how  the  words 
of  the  council,  taken  by  themselves,  are 
capable  of  this  sense ;-  and  here  again  we 
have  great  authorities  on  our  side,  and 
these  far  from  Gallican.  Pennachi  allows 
that  Honorius  was  condemned  as  a  formal 
heretic,  and  Hefele's  view  in  his  second 
edition  is  substantially  the  same.  But 
how,  it  may  be  asked,  can  we  defend  the 
orthodoxy  of  letters  which  the  Church 
has  branded  as  heretical  ?  We  answer 
that  it  was  the  council,  not  the  Church, 
which  did  so,  for  the  (jhurch  consists  of 
head  as  well  as  members.  The  decisions 
of  the  council,  on  Catholic  principles,  are 
binding  only  so  far  as  confirmed  by  the 
Pope,  and  Leo  II.  approved  the  Pope's 
anathema  on  Honorius  so  far  as  it  im- 
plied  the   assistance  which   his  neglect 

^  Observe,  however,  that,  as  has  been  al- 
ready said,  Honorius  did  not  clearh'^  apprehend 
the  'meaning  of  the  word  "energy"  as  the 
heretics  employed  it. 

2  No  doubt  the  council  made  an  emphatic 
distinction  between  Honorius  and  the  heresi- 
archs Cyrus,  Sergius,  &c.,  but  only,  if  we  under- 
stand it  rightly,  because  it  looked  on  Cyrus, 
Sergius,  <fec.,  as  the  inventors  of  the  heresy,  on 
Honorius  as  their  dupe. 


HONORIUS 

had  given  to  heresy,  not  80  far  as  it  im- 
plied the  formal  heresy  of  Honorius  him- 
self. Whether  we  say  with  Schneemann 
that  the  Pope  confirmed  the  decrees  of 
the  council  under  this  reserve,  or, 
with  Hefele,  that  he  determined  the 
precise  sense  which  the  words  of  the 
council  were  to  bear  ("Sie  [i.e.  die 
Briefe  Leo's]  pracisiren  nur  die  Schuld 
des  Honorius  genauer  und  expliciren 
dadurch  den  Sinn  in  welchem  die  Con- 
ciliensentenz  zu  fassen  sei ")  does  not 
appear  to  make  any  essential  difference. 

(8)  Were  the  Letters  of  Honoj'ius  ex 
Cathedra? — Hefele,  even  in  his  second 
edition,  answers  this  question  in  the 
affirmative,  and  we  follow  him  in  believ- 
ing that  Honorius  exercised  his  apostolic 
authority,  and  did  implicitly  address  the 
whole  Church.  He  addresses  Sergius,  but 
he  lays  down  rules  to  be  observed  every- 
where. Nor  is  there,  so  far  as  we  can 
see,  any  reasonable  doubt  that  Honorius 
issued  a  doctrinal  pronouncement.  True, 
he  will  not  define  that  the  words  "  one 
operation  "  or  "  two  operations  "  express 
the  truth,  and  it  is  plausibly  argued  that 
his  refusal  to  define  was  the  very  head 
and  front  of  his  offending.  But  though 
he  does  not  define  the  Monothelite  doc- 
trine, he  most  distinctly  teaches  that  it  is 
vain  and  foolish  to  talk  of  "  one  opera- 
tion "  or  of  "  two  operations,"  and  that 
such  subtleties  of  language  should  be  left 
to  the  grammarians.  If  Honorius  had 
imposed  his  own  belief  with  regard  to 
this  point  on  the  Church,  and  threatened 
to  sever  from  his  communion  all  who  did 
not  believe  that  the  phrase  "  two  opera- 
tions "  was  frivolous,  we  do  not  see  how 
such  a  fact  could  be  easily  reconciled 
with  the  Vatican  definition.  Such  a  pro- 
position would  be  80  closely  connected 
with  faith  as  to  amount  to  nothing  less 
than  ari  error  in  dogmatic  fact.  But  this 
imposition  of  his  own  belief  on  others  is 
just  what  Honorius  abstained  from.  He 
wished  to  impose  the  disciplinary*^  law, 
that  the  form  "  two  operations  "  was  to  be 
avoided,  but  he  stops  short  of  requiring 
anyone  to  believe  that  the  expression  is 
idle  and  unmeaning.  For  this  reason,  as 
we  think,  Honorius  did  not  teach  ex 
cathedra,  and  there  is  nothing  in  his 
letters  or  in  his  condemnation,  fairly  con- 
sidered, which  can  be  justly  urged  against 
the  doctrine  of  Papal  infallibility  as  de- 
fined in  1870. 

The  different  opinions  on  this  question 
are  given  with  tolerable  fulness  by  Schnee- 
mann, "Studien  iiberdie  Honoriusfrage," 


HOSPITAL 


411 


1869,  and  by  Hefele,  "  Concil.,"  vol.  iii., 
1877.  Pennachi's  treatise  "  He  Honorii  1. 
Romani  Pontificis  causa"  appeared  at 
Rome  in  1870,  and  was  sent  to  all  the 
bishops  of  the  Vatican  Council.  The 
learned  author  is  (or  was)  Professor  Sub- 
stitutus  at  the  Roman  University  in  place 
of  Archbishop  Tizzani,  who  had  become 
blind. 

BOSPlTA]L.  The  term  is  at  present 
restricted  to  institutions  for  the  treatment 
of  the  sick,  and  in  this  sense  only  we  shall 
use  it  in  the  present  article.  For  a 
general  account  of  early  hospitals  (Noso- 
comia,  from  voa-oKOfxdov ;  the  term  first 
occtirs  in  the  fourth  century)  see  the  article 
on  Charity,  Works  of.  Hospital  atten- 
dants are  called  in  the  language  of  the 
canon  law  parabolani.  The  infirmary 
{injirmaria)  with  which  every  large 
monastery  was  provided  (see  the  Rule 
of  St.  Benedict,  c.  35,  36),  appears  to 
have  furnished  the  model  for  the  hospitals 
of  later  times.  The  synod  of  Aix  in  816 
ordered  that  every  ecclesiastical  founda- 
tion, whether  of  canons  or  monks,  should 
provide  accommodation  for  the  poor,  the 
sick,  widows,  and  strangers.  As  a  rule, 
hospitals  were  in  early  times  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  bishop.  Even  at  the 
Council  of  Trent  ^  large  powers  of  visitation 
and  supervision  of  the  accounts  of  hospi- 
tals were  assigned  to  the  bishops  ;  but  in 
practice  these  powers  were  gre<^tly  limited 
from  the  first  by  the  existence  of  contrary 
customs  and  privileges,  and  at  present 
they  are  hardly  exercised  at  all.  The 
special  endowments  which  in  course  of 
time  were  founded  for  the  support  of  hos- 
pitals came  to  be  much  diverted  from 
their  original  destination  ;  in  consequence 
of  which  the  Council  of  Vienne  (1312) 
forbade  that  the  charge  of  a  hospital,  un- 
less it  was  expressly  so  ordered  in  the 
oiiginal  foundation,  should  be  conferred 
titulo  henejicii  on  any  secular  clerk,  but 
ordered  that  their  government  should  be 
committed  to  prudent  and  capable  men  of 
good  character,  who  should  make  periodi- 
cal reports  to  the  ordinaries  or  their  dele- 
gates.'-^ From  this  decree  the  lay  ad- 
ministration of  hospitals  may  be  said  to 
date. 

The  earliest  distinct  record  of  the 
establishment  of  a  hospital  in  England 
connects  it  with  the  name  of  Archbishop 
Lanfranc,  who  built  wooden  tenements 
outside  the  west  gate  of  Canterbury 
(about  1080)  for  the  reception  of  persons 

^  Sess.  xxii.  De  Ref.  8,  9. 
2  Fleury,  xci.  60. 


412 


HOSPITAL 


afflicted  "with  the  king's  evil.^  The  priory 
and  hospital  of  St.  Bartholomew's,  Smith- 
field,  were  founded  by  one  Rahere,  a 
minstrel,  in  1102.  The  hospital  of  St. 
Thomas,  in  the  Borough,  was  founded  by 
the  prior  of  Bermondsey  in  1213 ;  it  was 
removed  to  its  present  site  in  Lambeth 
in  1871.  The  priory  and  hospital  of 
Bedlam  (a  corruption  of  "  Bethlebem  ") 
were  founded  in  1247.  These  three  in- 
Btitutious.  were  given  up  or  sold  to  the 
citizens  of  London  by  Henry  VIII.  after 
the  dissokition  of  monasteries,  and  have 
continued  to  be  flourishing  hospitals  down 
to  the  present  time.  A  great  movement 
in  the  building  of  hospitals  took  place  in 
the  eighteenth  century  ;  the  writer  in  the 
"Enc.  Brit."  gives  a  list  of  forty-nine 
erected  in  England  and  Ireland  between 
1719  and  1797.  Of  late  years  the  Catho- 
lics of  Ireland  have  shown  a  most  laud- 
able and  fruitful  energy  in  this  direction, 
especially  in  the  dioceses  of  Dublin  and 
Cork.  The  Mater  Misericordiae  hospital 
in  the  first-named  city  is  a  splendid 
monument  of  their  zeal  and  humanity. 

It  has  been  often  urged,  and  not  with- 
out plausibility,  that  the  treatment  of  the 
sick  in  hospitals  is  less  conducive  to  their 
recovery  than  their  treatment  at  home. 
The  returns  of  the  mortality  at  these  in- 
stitutions are  said  to  prove  that  it  varies 
in  the  ratio  of  the  size  of  the  hospital,  and 
the  consequent  aggregation  of  patients; 
the  larger  the  hospital,  the  higher  is  the 
rate  of  mortality.  The  statistics  of  surgi- 
cal cases  and  lying-in  cases  have  been 
carefully  examined ;  and  it  has  been 
established  that  out  of  a  thousand  ampu- 
tation cases  in  the  London  hospitals,  four 
hundred,  on  the  average,  are  followed  by 
death,  whereas  in  only  a  hundred  and 
eight  cases  out  of  a  thousand,  in  country 
practice,  is  this  the  case.  Similarly,  in 
the  lying-in  hospitals,  thirty-five  women 
out  of  a  thousand  die,  whereas  the  general 
average  of  deaths  in  country  practice  is 
only  4|  per  1,000.  The  diseases  which 
are  speciall}^  fatal  in  hospitals,  and  which 
it  is  most  difficult  to  keep  out  of  them, 
are  hospital  gangrene,  erysipelas,  surgical 
fever,  and  puerperal  fever.  On  the  other 
hand  it  is  urged  that,  for  the  poor  at  any 
rate,  the  treatment  of  their  diseases  in 
hospitals  enables  them  to  obtain  an 
amount  of  care,  and  of  suitable  food  and 
medicine,  which  they  could  not  possibly 
command  at  home ;  that  medical  practice 
would  sufier  severely  if  deprived  of  that 
clinical  instruction  for  which  hospitals 
1  Malmesbury,  Gest  Font.  i.  44. 


HOSPITALLERS 

afford  facilities  ;  and  that  rigorous  pre- 
cautions as  to  ventilation  and  drainage, 
and  against  overcrowding,  have  been 
always  found  efi'ectual  in  reducing  the 
rate  of  hospital  mortality.  (Ferraris, 
Hosjntale ;  *'  Encycl.  Britan.*'  art.  Hos- 
pital, by  Prof,  de  Ohaumont ;  Smith  and 
Cheetham.) 

HOSPZTil3:.Z.&RS.  1.  Hospitales; 
Knights  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem;  Knights  of  Rhodes;  Knights 
of  Malta.  This  celebrated  order,  which 
in  its  palmy  days  had  vast  possessions  in 
every  country  in  Europe,  and  enjoyed 
immunities  which  almost  rendered  them 
independent  of  the  lex  loci,  grew  up  out 
of  humble  beginnings.  Some  merchants 
of  Amalfi  founded  at  Jerusalem  about  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century  a  convent, 
church,  and  hospital,  for  the  benefit  of 
poor  pilgrims  visiting  the  Holy  Places. 
At  the  date  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by 
the  Crusaders  (1099),  the  hospital  was  in 
charge  of  Abbot  Gerard,  a  Provencal. 
The  intrepid  devotion  with  which  Gerard, 
before  and  after  the  city  fell,  sought  to 
relieve  human  suffering  without  distinc- 
tion of  creed  or  class,  drew  forth  the 
admiration  of  Duke  Godfrey,  who  author- 
ised the  separation  of  the  hospital  from 
the  co^ivent,  and  gave  to  it  one  of  his 
own  manors.  Others  among  the  princely 
and  noble  crusaders  followed  this  example, 
and  the  "  Brothers  of  the  Hospital  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist "  soon  became  a  wealthy 
fraternity,  and  founded  dependent  hospi- 
tals in  various  places.  Gerard  died  in 
1118;  his  successor,  Raymond  du  Puy, 
took  the  title  of  Master,  and  drew  up  a 
rule  for  the  order,  which  Calixtus  II.  con- 
firmed in  1120.  The  rule  was  exceed- 
ingly austere ;  all  the  brothers,  laymen 
as  well  as  clerks,  were  required  to  take 
the  three  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and 
obedience;  abstinence  was  to  be  kept  on 
all  Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  and  from 
Septuagesima  to  Easter;  all  faults  were 
sternly  punished;  gross  sins  visited  by 
expulsion.  Knights  began  to  join  the 
brotherhood;  Raymond  himself  was  one; 
and  the  members  were  divided  into  three 
classes — knights,  who  were  all  of  noble 
birth;  priests  or  chaplains;  and  brothers 
servants,  who  were  not  noble.  The  reve- 
nues of  the  order  being  by  this  time  very 
considerable,  and  Jerusalem  being  in  a 
settled  condition,  new  views  presented 
themselves  to  the  more  aspiiing  among 
the  members.  Of  the  religious  fervour 
of  the  first  knights  who  joined  the  order 
it  is  impossible  to  doubt,  when  one  con- 


HOSPITALLERS 

aders  the  rigour  of  tlie  life  wliich  they 
Toluntarily  embraced  ;  still  they  did  not 
cease  to  be  knights ;  and  the  critical  con- 
dition of  the  little  Christian  kingdom, 
planted  as  an  outpost  in  the  midst  of 
a  swarming  population  of  misbelievers, 
might  naturally  suggest  to  them  ^  that 
they  would  bear  the  sword  in  vain  if 
they  did  not  wield  it  as  occasion  arose  in 
support  of  the  Christian  cause.  They 
therefore  first  joined,  then  initiated  expe- 
ditions against  the  Moslems;  returning 
from  which,  they  laid  aside  their  arms  and 
resumed  the  care  of  the  sick  in  the  hos- 
pital. By  degrees  their  military  duties 
asstmied  the  first  place  in  their  own  minds, 
and  in  the  thoughts  of  other  men ;  and 
they  became,  with  the  Templars,  one  of 
the  chief  bulwarks  of  the  Christian  power 
in  the  East.  Dissensions  arose,  and  were 
of  long  continuance,  between  them  and 
the  Templars;  on  one  occasion  (1259), 
the  forces  of  the  two  orders  fought  a 
pitched  battle  on  the  soil  of  Palestine. 
When,  in  1187,  Jerusalem  fell  before  the 
arms  of  Paladin,  the  tenth  Master  of  the 
order  transferred  the  convent  and  hospital 
to  Markab,  in  Phoenicia,  whence,  on  the 
retaking  of  Acre  by  the  Christians  in 
1193,  they  were  removed  to  that  city. 
Acre,  the  last  stronghold  of  Christian 
power,  fell  before  the  Mussulmans  in 
1291,  and  the  Plospitallers  withdrew  to 
Cyprus,  whence  they  carried  on  a  naval 
war  for  some  years  against  the  Saracenic 
nations  of  the  Levant.  After  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Templars  (1310),  their 
lands  were  made  over  to  the  Hospitallers  ; 
but  the  latter  "  had  to  purchase  the  sur- 
render from  the  King  [of  France]  and 
other  princes  at  such  vast  cost  of  money, 
raised  at  such  exorbitant  interest,  that 
the  Order  of  St.  John  was  poorer  rather 
than  richer  from  what  seemed  so  splendid 
a  grant."  ^  The  sojourn  in  Cyprus  is  said 
to  have  witnessed  a  great  moral  declension 
among  the  Knights,  and  a  departure  from 
the  spirit  and  letter  of  their  rule.  In 
1310  they  seized  the  island  of  Rhodes, 
and  maintained  themselves  there  for  more 
than  two  centuries,  in  spite  of  all  the 
eff"ort8  of  the  Turks.  But  in  1522,  the 
Grand  Master  (this  title  had  been  used 
since  1268)  being  then  Villiers  de  I'lsle 
Adam,  Solyman  the  Magnificent  sent  an 
immense  fleet  and  army  against  Rhodes, 
and  though  the  defence  was  valiant,  and 
great  numbers  of  the  besiegers  were 
killed,  yet  being  assisted  by  treachery 

^  Villani,  quoted  bv  Milman,  Lat.  Christ. 
xii.  2. 


HOSPITALLERS 


413 


within  the  walls,  the  Sultan  at  length 
compelled  ITsle  Adam  to  capitulate. 
Some  years  later,  in  1530,  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.  granted  to  the  dispossessed 
order  the  island  of  Malta.  Here,  after 
repelling  a  vigorous  attack  made  by  Soly- 
man in  1565,  they  remained  undisturbed 
till,  in  1798,  under  the  Grand  Master  Fer- 
dinand d'Hompesch,  a  Geraian,  some  of 
the  French  knights  having  previously 
been  won  over  by  the  bribes  and  promises 
of  the  French  Government,  the  island 
was  tamely  surrendered  to  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  then  on  his  way  to  Egypt. 
It  was  soon  after  blockaded  by  an  Eng- 
lish fleet,  and  the  garrison  was  compelled 
by  hunger  to  capitulate  in  1800,  since 
which  time  Malta  has  been  held  by  Eng- 
land. The  Grand-Master  Hompesch,  in 
1799,  resigned  his  office  in  favour  of  the 
Czar  of  Russia,  Paul  I.  In  that  and 
following  years  the  order  was  suppressed 
in  several  European  States  where  it  still 
had  possessions.  Paul  was  assassinated 
in  1801;  Hompesch  died  in  1803;  the 
head-quarters  of  the  order  were  then, 
with  Papal  sanction,  fixed  at  Catana,  and 
afterwards  at  Ferrara.  An  order  of  knight- 
hood, designed  apparently  for  the  purpose 
of  decorating  members  of  the  nobility  with 
crosses  and  ribands,  was  founded  in  Prussia 
in  1812,  under  the  same  name — Johanniter- 
Orden — by  which  the  Hospitallers  had 
alwavs  been  known  in  Germany. 

After  the  order  had  attained  its  full 
development,  it  was  divided  into  eight 
"  languages,"  Provence,  Auvergne,  France, 
Aragon,  Castile,  England,  Germany,  and 
Italy.  The  Grand  Commander  was  always 
a  Proven9al,  because  that  was  the  nation- 
ality of  Raymond  du  Puy ;  the  chief  of 
the  language  of  Auvergne  was  Grand 
Marshal;  that  of  France,  Grand  Hospi- 
taller ;  of  Italy,  High  Admiral ;  of  Ara- 
gon, Grand  Guardian ;  of  Germany,  High 
Bailiff^;  of  Castile,  Grand  Chancellor; 
and  of  England  (before  that  "  language  " 
was  suppressed  on  account  of  the  national 
adoption  of  Protestantism),  General  of 
Infantry.  Each  language  was  divided 
into  grand  priories  and  bailiwicks,  which 
again  were  subdivided  into  commanderies. 
The  ordinary  knights,  "chevaliers  de 
justice,"  were  required  to  prove  noble 
birth ;  but  a  certain  number  of  knights 
by  favour,  "  chevaliers  de  grace,"  were  also 
admitted,  though  not  noble,  in  considera- 
tion of  distinguished  valour  or  other 
merit.  The  dress  of  a  Knight  in  time  of 
peace  was  a  long  black  mantle,  with  a 
white  cross  of  eight  points  (the  "  Maltese  " 


414 


HOST 


HOST 


cross)  upon  it ;  in  the  field  he  wore  a  red 
coat  with  similar  crosses  in  front  and  on 
the  back.-  The  banner  displayed  a  similar 
cross  on  a  field  gules.  (H^ljot,  "  Ordre 
de  Malte  ; "  "  Conversations  Lexicon," 
Johnnniter-Orden.) 

HOST  (from  hostia,  a  victim).  It  is 
used  in  the  Vulgate  both  of  Christ  the 
victim  of  expiation  for  our  sins.  Eph.  v. 
2,  and  also  of  spiritual  sacrifices,  such  as 
almsgiving,  Phil.  iv.  18.  In  the  liturgies 
and  ecclesiastical  writers,  the  word  is 
used  (1)  of  Christ  present  on  the  altar 
under  the  appearances  both  of  bread  and 
wine :  thus,  the  Mozarabic  Missal  men- 
tions the  "  host  of  bread  and  wine ;  "  (2) 
of  Clirist  present  under  the  form  of  bread : 
this  use  is  recognised  by  the  three  earliest 
Roman  Ordines,  which  were  drawn  up 
between  the  seventh  and  ninth  centuries : 
(3)  of  the  bread  before  its  consecration ; 
80  the  word  is  employed  in  the  ordinary 
language  of  Catholics  at  the  present  day, 
and  the  word  in  this  sense  occurs  in  the 
Offertory  of  the  Roman  Missal,  when  the 
priest  prays  "  Receive,  0  Holy  Father, 
this  unspotted  Host,"  &c.,  taking  the 
bread,  not  for  what  it  is,  but  for  what 
it  is  to  become  after  consecration.  Le 
Brun  ("Explic.  de  la  Messe,"  p.  iii.  a.  6) 
says  that  this  prayer  was  borrowed  from 
the  Spanish  liturgy,  and  inserted  in  the 
Roman  Missal  towards  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century.  The  writer  of  the 
article  Host  in  Smith  and  Cheetham, 
maintains  that  in  the  Spanish  liturgy  the 
words  were  used  of  the  consecrated  Host, 
the  unconsecrated  elements  being  known 
in  early  times  as  "  oblata." 

The  form  and  material  of  the  altar- 
breads,  the  ofl'ertory,  the  consecration  and 
elevation  of  the  Host,  are  explained  in 
separate  articles,  but  this  is  perhaps  the 
most  convenient  place  to  speak  of  the 
breaking  of  the  Host. 

All  liturgies,  following  the  example  of 
OUT  Lord  at  the  last  supper,  require  the 
Host  to  be  broken.  The  Greeks  break 
the  Host  into  four  parts,  of  which  one  is 
received  by  the  celebrating  priest,  another 
by  the  other  communicants,  while  a  third 
is  reserved  for  the  sick,  and  a  fourth  put 
into  the  chalice.  In  the  Mozarabic  rite 
the  Host  is  divided  into  nine  parts.  In 
the  Roman  Mass  the  Host  used  to  be 
divided  into  three  parts,  one  for  the  cele- 
brant, another  for  the  communicants  pre- 
sent and  for  the  sick,  while  a  third  was 
placed  in  the  chalice.  Traces  of  this 
ancient  usage  stiU  remain  in  the  Papal 
Mass,  when  the  deacon  and  subdeacon 


communicate  from  the  same  Host  as  the 
Pope,  and  in  the  Mass  of  episcopal  conse- 
cration, in  which  the  consecrator  and  the 
new  bishop  receive  portions  of  the  Host 
consecrated  jointly  by  both.  Moreover,  in 
the  ancient  Roman  Mass  the  celebrating 
bishop  put  into  the  chalice  the  consecrated 
Host  sent  from  another  church  in  sign  of 
peace  and  unity,  saying  as  he  placed  this 
Host  in  the  Precious  Blood,  *'  The  peace  of 
the  Lord  be  always  with  you,"  The  Pope, 
according  to  the  two  oldest  Ordines,  per- 
formed the  same  rite  of  mixture  \\ath  the 
Host  which  had  been  reserved  from  a 
previous  Mass,  and  which  was  placed  on 
the  altar  and  adored  by  him  before  his 
own  Mass  began.  At  present  it  is  only 
from  the  Host  consecrated  at  the  Mass 
that  a  part  is  taken  and  dropped  into  the 
chalice.  Just  before  tlie  celebrant  puts 
this  portion  in  the  chalice,  he  says,  "Pax 
Domini,"  &c.,  words  originally  intended 
for  the  portion  consecrated  at  another 
Mass  and  reserved  to  symbolise  the  unity 
of  the  Church  and  of  the  sacrifice.  The 
words  "Haeccommixtio,"  "May  this  mix- 
ture of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  keep  my  soul  unto  everlast- 
ing life,"  are  said  after  the  portion  of  the 
Host  is  placed  in  the  chalice,  and  have 
kept  their  original  reference. 

This  custom  of  mixing  the  Host  and 
the  Precious  Blood  is  very  ancient.  It 
occurs  in  the  Liturgy  of  St.  James,  and  is 
mentioned  by  a  Council  of  Orange  in  441. 
And  liturgical  writers  tell  us  that  it 
figures  the  reunion  of  Christ's  body  and 
blood  after  his  resurrection.  But  if  we 
ask  what  was  the  historical  origin  of  the 
rite,  the  question  is  not  easily  answered. 

Le  Brun  suggests  that  the  Host  sent 
from  another  church  would  become  hard 
and  dry  (for  altar  breads  were  thicker  in 
those  days),  and  that  this  led  to  the  prac- 
tice of  moistening  them  with  the  conse- 
crated wine.  He  supports  this  explana- 
tion by  analogies  from  the  discipline  of 
the  early  Church,  and  it  seems  at  least 
very  probable.  As  to  the  portion  of  the 
Host  consecrated  in  the  same  Mass  and 
dipped  in  the  chalice,  Pouget  and  Vert 
suppose  it  sprang  from  an  old  custom 
connected  with  communion.  If  the  con- 
secrated wine  did  not  suffice  for  the  num- 
ber of  communicants,  ordinaiy  wine  was 
poured  into  a  chalice,  and  the  liquid  was 
sanctified  by  contact  with  a  portion  of 
the  Host.  Benedict  XIV.  justly  rejects 
this  theoiy  as  destitute  of  any  solid  foun- 
dation. There  is  no  proof  that  the  cus- 
tom alleged  is  older  than  the  practice 


.  HOUSEL 

which  still  continues  of  placing  part  of 
the  Host  in  the  chalice ;  and  the  theory  is 
open  to  other  objections.  We  are  not 
aware,  however,  that  an}'  better  explana- 
tion has  been  devised.  (Le  Brun  and 
Benedict  XIV.  on  the  Mass.) 

BOUSZi]L.  For  many  centuries  this 
was  the  English  name  for  the  Blessed 
Sacrament ;  it  had  not  become  obsolete 
even  in  the  time  of  Shakespeare,  who 
makes  the  Ghost  in  Hamlet  lament  that 
he  had  been  hurried  "  unhouselled  "  out 
of  the  world.  The  Anglo-Saxon  form 
was  husd',  compare  the  Gothic  hunsl, 
which  in  the  version  of  Ulfilas  is  the  trans- 
lation of  7rpo(r4>opd,  "  offering,"  in  Eph. 
V,  2,  and  is  seen  in  the  rendering  hunsljada 
of  (nrevdofiai,  "  I  am  being  offered  up,"  in 
2  Tim.  iv.  0.  Greiu  ^  connects  the  word 
with  the  Gr.  Kaluco  and  Sanskr.  Jchon,  "  to 
kill."  Husel  to  the  ancient  English  meant 
the  highest  good  and  absolute  enjoyment; 
thus  Oynewulf  (about  700  a.d.),  writing 
of  the  happiness  of  the  blessed  in  heaven, 
says, "  him  biS  lenge  husel,"  "  housel  shall 
be  their  portion."  Ex^bert  of  Gloucester 
(1270)  says  that  the  Normans  made  their 
slirift  before  the  battle  of  Hastings,  "and 
amorwe  honi  let  hoseli,"  in  the  morning 
caused  themselves  to  be  houselled.^  The 
word  does  not  occur  in  either  of  the 
Wycliffite  versions  of  the  Bible. 

HOZANTM'A  (axrai/m).  A  Hebrew 
word  taken  from  Ps.  cxviii.  (Vulg.  cxvii.) 
25.  "  0  Lord,  we  beseech  thee,  save  now : 
O  Lord,  we  beseech  thee,  send  now 
prosperity."  The  words  of  the  Psalm, 
653  r\V''^\r\,  "  save,  we  pray,"  were  shouted 
by  the  Jews  at  the  most  joyful  of  their 
feasts,  that  of  tabernacles,  while  they 
waved  their  branches  of  palm  and  willow. 
So  closely  was  the  feast  associated  with 
this  shout  of  joyful  prayer  that  it  came 
to  be  called  the  "  Hosanna  "  (j^iyK^in  or 
njy^'in),  the  last  or  great  day  of  the  feast 
being  known  as  "  the  great  Hosanna '' 
(nST  \\^W\T\)?  It  was  with  this  joyful 
shout  that  the  crowds  met  our  Lord  as 
He  entered  Jerusalem  on  Palm  Sunday. 
"Hosanna  in  the  highest"  probably 
means  "  Send  help  from  thy  place  in  the 
highest  heavens  to  the  Messias." 

The  word  is  retained  in  the  Sanctus 
at  Mass,  and  in  the  hymn  in  the  Mass  of 
Palm  Sunday. 

1  Glossar  der  Angehachsischen  DichtePf 
1864. 

2  Quoted  in  Morris  and  Skeat's  Specimens^ 
Part  2. 

3  Euxtorf,  Lex.  Chald.  et  Rabbin,  sub  vod. 


HUSSITES 


415 


BUM  ER  All  VEZXi.  An  oblong 
scarf  of  the  same  material  as  the  vest- 
ments, worn  by  the  subdeacon  at  High 
Mass,  when  he  holds  the  paten,  between 
the  Offertory  and  Paternoster ;  by  the 
priest  when  he  raises  the  monstrance  to 
give  benediction  with  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment ;  and  by  priests  and  deacons  when 
they  remove  the  Blessed  Sacrament  from 
one  place  to  another,  or  carry  it  in  proces- 
sion. It  is  worn  round  the  shoulders, 
and  the  paten,  pyx,  or  monstrance  is 
wrapped  in  it.  According  to  Le  Brun 
("Explication  de  la  Messe,"  i.  p.  319), 
this  veil  was  introduced  because  m  many 
churches  it  was  the  ancient  custom  for 
an  acolyte  to  hold  the  paten  at  High 
Mass,  and  he,  not  being  in  holy  orders, 
could  not  lawfully  touch  the  sacred  vessels 
with  bare  hands.  The  Levites,  as  may 
be  seen  in  Numbers  iv.,  w6re  only  allowed 
to  bear  the  sacred  vessels  after  they  had 
been  wrapped  up  in  coverinofs.  This 
reason  obviously  does  not  supply  any  ex- 
planation of  the  use  of  the  veil  by  the 
priest  at  Benediction,  &c.  But  though 
the  priest  is  permitted  to  touch  vessels 
containing  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  he  ab- 
stains from  doing  so  at  certain  solemn 
moments  out  of  reverence.  We  ought  to 
add  that  the  use  of  the  humeral  veil  at 
Benediction  is  strictly  prescribed  in 
several  decrees  of  the  Congregation  of 
Rites. 

HUSSITES.  The  followers  of  the 
Bohemian  John  Huss,  rector  of  the  uni- 
versity of  Prague,  who  was  burnt  for 
heresy  at  the  Council  of  Constance.  His 
countrymen,  or  a  large  proportion  of 
them,  rose  in  arms  in  1418  against  the 
imperial  government,  and  during  a  war 
which  lasted  thirteen  years  infficted  many 
defeats  on  the  German  armies,  and  laid 
many  churches  in  ashes  and  many  cities 
waste.  Their  principal  leader  was  John 
Ziska,  who  died  in  1424,  and  the  blind 
Procopius,  an  ex-priest.  Terrible  ex- 
cesses were  committed  on  both  sides,  the 
war  being  to  a  great  extent  one  between 
two  hostile  nationalities,  the  Slavonian 
and  the  German.  Bohemia  was  at  that 
time  celebrated  for  the  grandeur  and 
beauty  of  the  churches  and  other  religious 
edifices  which  met  the  eye  in  every  part ; 
but  the  Hussites  destroyed  most  of  these  ; 
in  Prague  alone  may  still  be  seen  evidence 
of  the  ancient  architectural  glory  of  the 
land.  Several  crusades  were  preached 
against  them,  but  with  little  result.  Aiter 
the  victory  of  Taass  (1431),  which  dissi- 
pated the  forces  of  the  Fifth  Crusade,  the 


416 


HYM 


HYMN 


war  ceased  ;  and  the  bishops  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Basle,  which  met  in  that  year, 
laboured  earnestly  to  bring-  about  a  peace- 
ful arrangement.  The  council  conceded 
to  that  section  of  the  Hussites  called 
Utraquists  the  communion  under  both 
species,  besides  certain  reforms  on  points 
of  discipline :  the  sect  was  thus  divided  ; 
and  when  war  broke  out  again  in  1434, 
the  insurgents  sustained  a  crushing  defeat 
at  Lepan  from  the  imperial  forces.  The 
legate,  Philibert,  bishop  of  Coutances, 
succeeded  at  last  in  negotiating  a  peace ; 
and  by  the  treaty  of  Iglau  (July  1436) 
the  Bohemian  and  Moravian  nations  re- 
turned to  the  unity  of  the  Church.  Never- 
theless, heretical  opinions  continued  to  be 
rife,  until  the  preaching  of  St.  John 
Capistran,  the  glory  of  the  Church  in  the 
fifteenth  century — between  1451  and  1453 
— wrought  a  great  and  sudden  change. 
Eleven  thousand  Hussites  are  said  to  have 
renounced  iheir  errors  before  him. 

KVXVIia'.  I.  In  the  loider  and  ancient 
sense,  including  Psnlms  and  Canticles: 
vfivos  meant  originally  a  song  of  praise 
in  honour  of  gods  or  heroes.  It  had  a 
religions  character,  and  was  distinct  for 
this  reason  from  the  iyKa^iov  (sc.  eVoy), 
or  laudatory  ode  in  honour  of  a  mere  man. 
In  the  LXX  the  word  is  adopted  as  a 
translation  of  several  Hebrew  terms,^  and 
bere  the  word  hymn  keeps  its  old  classical 
meaning,  except,  of  course,  that  it  is  used 
of  songs  in  honour  of  the  true  God.  The 
use  of  the  New  Testament  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  LXX.  Thus  we  read  in  Matt, 
xxvi.  30,  Mark  xiv.  26,  that  Christ  and 
his  disciples  sang  a  hymn  (vnvrjaavTes) 
at  the  close  of  the  last  supper.  This 
hymn,  no  doubt,  was  the  latter  part  of 
the  Hallel  (7?ri),  or  ascription  of  praise, 
consisting  of  Ps.  cxiii.-cxviii.,  which  was 
sung  on  the  feast  of  tlie  new  moon,  the 
dedication,  and  the  three  great  solemnities 
of  Passover,  Pentecost,  and  Tabernacles. 
The  former  part  of  the  Hallel  (Ps.  cxiii. 
cxiv.)  was  sung  before  beginning  the  Pas- 
chal meal  ;  the  latter  (Ps.  cxv.,  cxvi., 
cxvii.,  cxviii.),  after  the  assembled  com- 
pany had  drunk  of  the  fourth  and  last 
cup,^  over   which  the   "blessing   of  the 

1  Often  the  Hebrew  word  does  not  answer 
at  all  closely  to  the  Greek  v/xcos — e.g.  in  Ps. 
Ixxi.  20,  the'  LXX  have  vM''ot  for  "  prayers  " 
/  rii  j5nn  \ ;  and  the  Vulgate  translates  vfuvoi.  into 

*'laudes.'' 

2  AH  present  must  taste  the  four  cups,  and 
after  the  fourth  no  more  wine  could  be  drunk 
that  nii;ht,  to  both  of  which  points  our  Lord 
seems  to  allude  (Matt.  xxvi.  27,  29).     The 


song  "  was  said,  beginning  with  the  words, 
"Let  all  thy  works  praise  thee,  O  Lord," 
and  including  the  beautiful  and  solemn 
ascription,  "  Blessed  is  he  who  createth 
the  fruit  of  the  vine."  In  the  gospels,  then, 
the  word  hymn  is  not  distinct  from  psalm. 
St.  Paul,  however,  does  make  a  distinc- 
tion. He  tells  the  Ephesians  (v.  19,  cf. 
Coloss.  iii.  16)  that  they  are  not  to  imitate 
the  drunken  revelry  of  the  heathen,  but  to 
express  their  joy  in  a  different  way.  They 
are  to  "  speak  to  each  other  in  psalms  and 
hymns  and  spiritual  odes."  Probably  by 
psalms  the  Apostle  means  poems  in  the 
style  of  the  Hebrew  psalter ;  by  hymns, 
songs  in  pi'aise  of  God  and  Christ  (see 
V.  19)  ;  while  spiritual  odes  (wSai  wvev^a- 
TiKui)  is  perhaps  a  generic  term  includ- 
ing both  psalms  and  hymns.  In  the  first 
part,  then,  of  this  article  we  shall  continue 
to  use  the  word  in  the  wide  sense  with 
which  we  set  out,  including  under  it  any 
composition  in  praise  of  God  which  is 
adapted  to  be  chanted  or  sung. 

We  do  not  believe  (though  the  autho- 
rity of  Probst,  "  Lehre  und  Gebet  in  den 
drei  ersten  christlichen  Jahrhunderten," 
p.  256  spg.,  may  be  quoted  against  us)  that 
St.  Paul  in  the  passage  just  quoted  refers 
to  the  use  of  psalms  and  hymns  in  public 
worship.  The  context  appears  to  show 
that  he  has  in  view  the  private  intercourse 
and  social  meetings  of  Christians,  and 
desires  to  point  out  the  kind  of  joy  and 
mirth  which  should  accompany  them. 
But  it  is  certain  that  from  the  earliest 
times  psalms  and  hymns  were  sung  in 
Christian  assemblies.  Pliny,  in  his  famous 
letter  to  Trajan,  written  about  104,  men- 
tions the  Christian  custom  of  singing  a 
hymn  (carmen)  to  Christ  as  God  in  their 
assemblies.  Christian  hymns  are  spoken 
of  by  Justin  Martyr  ("Apol."  i.  13),  and  it 
would  be  useless  to  multiply  citations  on 
the  use  of  the  psalais  in  Ihe  primitive 
Church.  In  them  the  Church  of  the  first 
three  centuries  found  the  most  natural 
expression  of  her  own  sorrow  and  hope 
when  persecution  weighed  hard  upon  her ; 
of  her  joy  in  the  midst  of  tribulation. 
There,  too,  she  found  the  most  natural 
expression  of  her  faith,  for  "  nearly  all  the 
psalms,"  Tertallian  says  ("Adv.  Prax,"  11), 
"  are  spoken  in  the  person  of  Christ  " 
("Christi  personam  sustinent").^ 
student  interested  in  such  matters  may  be 
referred  to  the  fascinating  article  in  Buxtorfs 
Chaldee  and  Rabbinical  Lexicon,  sub  voc.  "J^n. 

1  There  is,  however,  some  doubt  about  the 
reading.  Oehler  reads  *' omnes psalmi  qui  Christi 
personam  sustinent." 


HYMN 

The  psalms  still  form  the 
Breviary  office,  and  portions  of  them  con 
Btautly  occur  in  the  Mass.  They  are  sung 
antiphonally — i.e.  alternate  verses  of  the 
psalms  are  chanted  by  each  side  of  the 
choir.  A  legend  given  by  Socrates  attri- 
butes the  introduction  of  this  antiphonal 
chant  to  St.  Ignatius.  Theodoret,  with 
better  reason,  says  that  it  was  begun  at 
Antioch  by  the  two  monks  Flavian  and 
Diodorus,  in  Constantine's  reign.  This 
mode  of  singing  came  to  the  West  some 
time  later.  Justina,  the  Arian  empress, 
sought  to  imprison  St.  Ambrose.  His 
people  gathered  round  him  in  his  church, 
and  passed  their  time  in  the  singing 
psalms  and  hymns  antiphonally.  This 
was  the  earliest  instance  of  the  custom  in 
the  Latin  Church. 

Besides  the  hundred  and  fifty  psalms, 
the  Roman  Breviary  contains  seven  can- 
ticles taken  Crom  the  Old  and  three  from 
the  New  Testament.  Their  use  in  the 
offices  is  at  least  as  ancient  as  Amalarius, 
who  wrote  in  820.^  The  following  is  a 
list  of  the  canticles  in  question  : — 

''Benedicite,"  from  the  book  of  Daniel 
(the  deaterocanonieal  portion),  with  ab- 
breviations and  ascription  of  praise  to  the 
Trinity  inserted  at  the  end.  This  addi- 
tion, though  not  quite  in  the  present  form, 
is  mentioned  by  Amalarius.  This  canticle 
is  fitly  said  on  Sunday,  the  first  day  of 
the  creation,  at  lauds. 

"  Confitebor,"  from  Isa.  xii.  Monday 
at  lauds. 

The  Song  of  Ezechias,  from  Isa. 
xxxviii.     Tuesday  at  lauds. 

The  Song  of  Anna,  1  Reg.  ii.  Wed- 
nesday- at  lauds. 

The  Song  of  Moses,  Exod.  xv.  Thurs- 
day at  lauds. 

The  Song  of  Habac.  cap.  iii.  Friday 
at  lauds. 

The  Song  of  Moses,  in  Deut.  xxxii. 
Saturday  at  lauds. 

The  three  New  Testament  canticles  are, 
the^'Benedictus"  or  Song  of  Zacharias; 
*'  Magnificat,"  called  by  Amalarius  the 
"  Hymn  "  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  ;  and  the 
"  Nunc  Dimittis  "  or  Song  of  Simeon.  At 
the  chanting  of  these  last  all  stand,  out 
of  reverence  for  the  Incarnation,  to  which 
they  directly  refer,^nd  particular  honour 
is  shown  to  the  "  Magnificat,"  because  of 
its  special  connection  with  that  mystery. 
While  it  is  sung  at  solemn  vespers  the 
altar  is  incensed  by  the  officiating  priest, 

^  His  remarks  on  the  canticles  as  used  in 
the  office  are  quoted  by  Gavantus,  torn.  ii.  §  5, 
cap.  9. 


HYMN 


417 


^^ the  Roman  Church  uses  other 

canticles,  which  are  not  to  be  found  in 
Scripture — viz.  the  "  Te  Deum,"  and  the 
"Trisagion,"  of  which  an  account  is  given 
in  separate  articles,  and  the  "  Gloria  in 
excelsis  "  and  "  Gloria  Patri,"  of  which  we 
have  spoken  in  the  article  Doxologt.  The 
Greek  church  is  rich  in  canticles.  A  beauti- 
ful evening  hymn  or  canticle  still  used  by 
them,  and  as  old  probably  as  the  beginning 
of  the  third  century,  is  given  by  Routh  in 
the  "Reliquiae  Sacrse,"  vol.  iii.  p.  615. 
It  belongs  to  the  first  division  of  our 
subject,  for  it  is  not  metrical,  and  may 
be  rendered  thus : — "  0  jovful  light  of  the 
immortal  Father,  who  is  heavenly,  holy, 
blessed,  O  Jesus  Christ,  having  come  to 
the  setting  of  the  sun,  and  having  seen 
the  evening  light,  we  hymn  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
Worthy  art  thou  at  aU  times  to  be  hymned 
with  holy  voices,  0  Son  of  God,  who 
givest  life :  wherefore  the  world  glorifieth 
thee." 

II.  Hymns  in  the  modern  and  more 
restricted  sense. — Hymn  is  now  generally 
used  for  a  religious  poem  adapted  to  be 
sung,  and  written  in  metre.  The  earliest 
hymn  of  this  kind  which  we  possess  is 
by  Clement  of  Alexandria.  It  occurs  at 
the  end  of  his  "P8edagogus,"and  is  entitled 
vjxvos  Tov  (ToiTripos  ILpiaTov.  We  have 
hymns  by  other  Greek  Fathers — e.g.  by 
Gregory  Nazianzen  and  Syuesius — but  the 
hymns  actually  used  in  the  Greek  offices 
are  by  later  authors,  St.  John  Damascene, 
Joseph  of  Constantinople,  Cosmas  and 
Theophanes.  Hilary  of  Poictiers  is  the 
first  Latin  hymn-writer  whose  hymns  sur- 
vive ;  he  was  followed  by  Ambrose,  Pru- 
dentius,  Fortunatus,  Paul  the  Deacon, 
Sedulius,  Gregory  the  Great,  Venerable 
Bede,  St.  Bernard,  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin, 
&c.  &c.  The  Council  of  Agde,  can.  30 
(anno  50G) ;  that  of  Tours,  canon  23  (anno 
667)  ;  that  of  Toledo,  can.  13  (anno  633), 
approve  the  use  of  hymns  in  the  office ; 
though  it  is  plain  from  the  words  of  the 
canon  cited  last  that  many  felt  an  objec- 
tion to  using  even  the  hymns  of  Hilary 
and  Ambrose,  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  Biblical.  It  was,  however,  very 
late  (not,  according  to  Grancolas,  till  the 
thirteenth  century)  that  the  Roman 
Church  admitted  hymns  to  a  place  in  her 
Breviary  olHces. 

Hefele,  "  Beitrage,"  ii.  p.  302,  thus 
traces  the  origin  of  the  hymns  which 
occur  in  the  Breviary  and  Missal.  The 
list  is  in  alphabeticar  order. 

E 


418 


HYMNS 


Bkevia-KT  Hymns. 


1.  "  A  solis  ortus  cardine."  Used  at 
Christmas.  The  first  part  of  the  hymn  is 
called  Abecedarius,  because  the  first  verse 
beofins  with  A,  the  second  v?ith  B.  By 
Casliiis  Sedulius,  a  poet  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury. Most  likely  (Siodhal)  an  Irishman. 

2.  "  Ad  regias  agni  dapes."  Used  on 
Low  Sunday.  By  a  very  ancient  imitator 
of  St.  Ambrose. 

3.  "  Ad  sacros  virgo  thalamos."  For 
the  Feast  of  St.  Gertrude.  Author  un- 
known ;  of  the  mediaeval  period. 

4.  "  Adoro  te  devote."  In  the  thanks- 
giving after  Mass.  By  St.  Thomas  of 
Aquin  (tl274). 

5.  "JEterna  Christi  munera."  For 
feasts  of  Apostles.  Ascribed  by  the  Bene- 
dictines to  St.  Ambrose.  Mone  doubts 
whether  it  is  St.  Ambrose's,  but  ascribes 
it  to  the  fifth  century. 

6.  "  Sterna  coeli  gloria."  Friday  at 
lauds.  By  an  ancient  imitator  of  St. 
Ambrose. 

7.  "■  Sterne  rector  siderum."  For  the 
feast  of  Angel  Guardians.  By  Cardinal 
Bellarmine  (d,  1621). 

8.  "Sterne  rerum  conditor."  Sun- 
day at  lauds.     St.  Ambrose. 

9.  "Sterne  rex  altissime."  For  the 
Ascension.     St.  Ambrose,  but  altered. 

10.  "  Ales  diei  nuntius."  Tuesday  at 
lauds.  By  Prudentius  (born  in  Spain, 
348). 

11.  "  Alma  Eedemptoris  Mater."  An- 
tiphon  from  Advent  to  the  Purification. 
Bv  Hermannus  Contractus,  monk  at 
Reichenau  {d.  1054). 

12.  "  Alto  exOlympivertice."  Dedi- 
cation of  churches.  A  continuation  of 
"  Ccelestis  urbs."    See  below. 

13.  "  Antra  deserti."  For  feast  of  St. 
John  Baptist.  By  Paulus  Diaconus, 
eighth  century. 

14.  "Aspics  infami."  Feast  of  the 
Passion.  Unknown  author,  sixteenth  to 
eighteenth  century. 

15.  "  Aspice  ut  verbum  Patris."  Feast 
of  Our  Lord's  Prayer.  Author  unknown, 
sixteenth  to  eighteenth  century. 

16.  "  Athleta  Christi  nobilis."  Feast 
of  Venantius.  A  continu&,tion  of  "  Martyr 
Dei  Venantius." 

17.  "Auctor  beate  sseculi."  Sacred 
Heart.  Author  unknown,  sixteenth  to 
eighteenth  century. 

18.  "Audi,  benigne  conditor."  For 
Lent.     By  Gregory  the  Great  (<?.  604). 

19.  "  Audit  tyrannus  anxius."  Holy 
Innocents.    By  Prudentius.    See  No.  10. 


HYMNS 

20.  "Aurora  caelum  purpurat."  Sun- 
days after  Lent.  Old  imitator  of  St. 
Ambrose. 

21.  "Aurora  jam  spargit  polum." 
Saturday,  lauds.     Same  as  preceding. 

22.  "  Ave,  maris  stella."  Ascribed 
by  Cardinal  Thomasi  to  Fortunatus, 
bishop  of  Poictiers  {d.  600),  but  certainly 
much  later.  Daniel  places  the  date  of  its 
origin  between  the  sixth  and  ninth  cen- 
turies. Mone  considers  even  this  date 
much  too  early. 

23.  "Ave,  Regina  ccelorum."  Anti- 
phon  at  compline  and  lauds.  Author 
unknown  ;  tenth  to  fifteenth  century. 

24.  "Beata  nobis  gaudia."  For  Pente- 
cost. According  to  Daniel,  by  Hilary  of 
Poitiers  {d.  379)  ;  but  this  is  very  doubt- 
ful. 

25.  "Beate  pastor  Petre."  Feast  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  &c.  By  Elpis, 
the  first  wife  of  Boethius,  the  famous 
minister  of  Theodoric.  Boethius  was 
executed  at  Pavia  in  624. 

26.  "  Christe,  sanctorum  decus  ange- 
lorum."  On  the  feasts  of  Gabriel, 
Michael,  and  Raphael.  By  Rabanus 
Maurus,  archbishop  of  Mayence  {d.  856). 

27.  "  Christo  profusum  sanguinem." 
Common  of  Martyrs.  Except  that  the 
initial  words  are  altered,  this  hymn  is 
taken  from  the  "  Sterna  Christi  munera." 
See  No.  5. 

28.  "Civis  beatse  patriae."  Feast  of 
Holy  Relics.     A  modern  hymn. 

29.  "  Ccelestis  agni  nuptias."  Feast  of 
St.  Juliana  Falconieri.  By  her  biographer, 
Lorenzini  (anno  1719). 

30.  "  Ccelestis  urbs  Jeinisalem."  Dedi- 
cation of  churches.  Author  unknown. 
Date  from  tenth  to  fifteenth  century. 

31.  "  Cceli  Deus  sanctissime."  Wed- 
nesday at  "Vespers.  By  an  old  imitator 
of  St.  Ambrose. 

32.  "Coelitum  Joseph  decus."  Feast 
of  St.  Joseph,  sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century. 

33.  "Coelo  redemptor  prsetulit." 
Maternity  of  Blessed  Virgin.  As  pre- 
ceding. 

34.  "  Consors  patemi  luminis."  Tues- 
days at  matins.     St.  Ambrose. 

35.  "Cor  area  legem  con  tinena."  Sacred 
Heart.     Sixteenth  to^ighteenth  century. 

,36.  "  Corpus  domans  jejuniis."  A 
continuation  of  "Gentis  Polonse  gloria  f 
Sec  No.  64. 

37.  "  Creator  alme  siderum "  (in  the 
original  text  "  Conditor  alme  siderum.") 
Imitated  from  St.  Ambrose,  but  at  least 
200  years  later. 


HYMNS 

38.  "Cmdelis  Herodes."  Altered 
from  Sedulius.    See  No.  1. 

39.  '*  Crux  fidelis."  Passion  Sunday. 
A  part  of  the  "  Pange,  lingua,  gloriosi 
lauream  certaminis."  By  Venantius  For- 
tunatus.     See  No.  22. 

40.  "Custodes  hominum  psallimus 
angelos."  Guardian  Angels.  By  Bellar- 
mine  (d.  1621). 

41.  "  Decora  lux."  St.  Peter  and  St. 
J'aul.  By  Elpis  (see  No.  26),  but  much 
altered. 

42.  ,"  Deus,  tuorum  militum.''  Com- 
mon of  a  Martyr.  By  an  old  imitator  of 
St.  Ambrose. 

43.  "  Domare  cordis  impetus."  Feast 
of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Portugal,  Bv  Urban 
VIII.  {d.  1644). 

44.  "Bum  nocte  pulsa  lucifer."  A 
CDutinuation  of  "Martyr  Dei  Venantius." 
See  No.  89. 

46.  "  Ecce jam  noctis  tenuatur  umbra." 
Saturday  at  lauds.  By  St.  Gregory  the 
Great  {d.  604). 

46.  "Egregie  doctor  Paule."  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  Conversion  of  St. 
Paul.    By  Elpis  (see  No.  25). 

47.  "  En  clara  vox  redarguit."  For 
Advent.  By  an  old  imitator  of  St. 
Ambrose.    Altered  from  the  original  text. 

48.  "Enutsuperbacriminum."  Sacred 
Heart.     Sixteenth  to  eighteenth  century. 

49.  "  Ex  more  docti  mystico."  Sun- 
day matins  in  Lent.  Attributed  by  Mone 
to  St.  Gregory  the  Great.  Daniel  puts 
it  in  seventh  to  ninth  century. 

50.  "Exite,  Sion  lilise."  Crown  of 
Thorns.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 

61;  "Exultet  orbis  gaudiis."  Feasts 
of  Apostles.     Tenth  to  fifteenth  century. 

62.  "  Festivis  resonent."  Precious 
Blood.     Sixteenth  to  eighteenth  century. 

63.  "  Fortem  virili  pectore."  Com- 
mune non  Virginum.  Cardinal  Silvius 
Antonianus  {d.  1603). 

54.  "  Gentis  Polonse  decus."  Feast 
of  St.  John  Cantius.  By  an  author  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

65.  "Gertrudis  arcanuminis."  Feast 
of  St.  Gertrude.     Mediaeval  author. 

56.  "  Gloriam  sacrae  celebreraus  omnes 
Sindonis."  Feast  of  Our  Lord's  Winding- 
sheet.     Sixteenth  to  eighteenth  century. 

67.  "  Haec  est  dies  qua  Candida." 
Feast  of  St.  Theresa.     By  Urban  VIII. 

68.  "  Hominis  superne  conditor."  Fri- 
day vespers.     Ambrosian. 

59.  ''Hujus  oratu,  Deus  alme,  nobis." 
Commune  non  Virginum.  A  part  of  ^'  Vir- 
ginis  proles."    See  171. 


HYMNS 


419 


60.  "  Jam  Christus  astra  ascenderat." 
Pentecost.  Ambrosian,  and,  according  io 
Mone,  actually  by  St.  Ambrose. 

61.  "  Jam  faces  lictor  ferat."  Feast  of 
St.  John  Nepomuc.     Eighteenth  century. 

62.  ''Jam  lucis  orto  sidere."  At 
prime.  By  an  old  imitator  of  St.  Am- 
brose. 

63.  "Jam  noctis  umbras  lucifer." 
Feast  of  St.  Catharine  of  Ricci.  Eigh- 
teenth century. 

64.  "  Jam  sol  recedit  igneas."  Trinity 
Sunday,  and  Saturday  at  Vespers.  Imi- 
tated from  Ambrose,  hymn  11.  Thomasi 
gives  a  similar  hvmn  by  Ennodius,  bishop 
of  Pavia  {d.  621). 

65.  "  Jam  toto  subitus."  Seven 
Dolours.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 

66.  "  Jesu,  corona  celsior."  Commune 
Conf.  non  Pont.  By  an  imitator  of  St. 
Ambrose. 

67.  "Jesu,  corona  virginum."  Com- 
mon of  Virgins.     As  preceding. 

68.  "  Jesu,  decus  augelicum."  Feast  of 
the  Holy  Name.  A  part  of  "  Jesu,  dulcis 
memoria."     See  No.  70. 

69.  "  Jesu,  dulcis  amor  meus."  Feast 
of  the  Winding-sheet.  Sixteenth  to 
eighteenth  century. 

70.  "  Jesu,  dulcis  memoria."  Feast  of 
the  Holy  Name.  By  St.  Bernard  (d. 
1153). 

71.  "Jesu,  red  emptor  omnium."  Com- 
mon of  Conf.  Pont.  Tenth  to  fifteenth 
century. 

72.  Jesu,  redemptor  omnium,  quem." 
Christmas.  By  an  old  imitator  of  St. 
Ambrose. 

73.  "  Jesu,  rex  admirabilis."  Feast  of 
Holy  Name.  A  part  of  St.  Bernard's 
hymn,  '*  Jesu,  dulcis  memoria." 

74.  "  Immense  cceli  conditor."  Mon- 
day at  vespers.  Imitated  from  St.  Am- 
brose. Regarded  by  Mone  as  probably 
the  work  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great. 

75.  "In  profunda  noctis  umbra." 
Feast  of  St.  John  Nepomuc.  Eighteenth 
century. 

76.  "  Invicte  martyr."  Common  of 
Martyrs.     Tenth  to  fifteenth  century. 

77.  "Invictus  heros."  Feast  of  St. 
John  Nepomuc.     Eighteenth  century. 

78.  "  Ira  justa  conditoris."  Precious 
Blood.     Eighteenth  century. 

79.  "  Iste  confessor."  Common  of 
Confessors.  Mediaeval,  but  in  the  manner 
of  St.  Ambrose. 

80.  "  Iste  quem  Iseti  colimus.  Feast 
of  St.  Joseph.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century. 


420 


HYMNS 


81.  "Legis  figuris  pingitur."  Crown 
of  Thorns.     As  preceding. 

82.  "  Lucis  creator  optima."  Sunday 
at  vespers.  Ambrosian,  and  older  tiian 
St.  Gregory. 

83.  "Lustra  sex  qui  jam  peregit." 
Passion  Sunday,  &c.  A  part  of  the 
^^Pange,  lingua,  gloriosi  lauream  certa- 
minis."    See  No.  108. 

84.  "  Lux  alma,  Jesu,  mentium."  Feast 
of  Transfiguration.     Urban  YIII. 

85.  "  Lux  ecce  surgitaurea."  Thurs- 
day at  lauds.  Slightly  altered  from 
Prudentius.     See  No.  10. 

86.  "  Magnse  Deus  potentiae."  Thurs- 
day at  vespers.  By  an  old  imitator  of 
St.  Ambrose. 

87.  "Maria  castis  oculis."  Feast  of 
St.  Mary  Magdalen.  According  to  some, 
by  Gregory  the  Great ;  according  to  others, 
by  Odo  of  Clugny  {d.  942). 

8«.  "  Martinae  celebri."  For.  Jan.  30. 
By  Urban  VIII. 

89.  "  Martyr  Dei  Venantius."  Feast 
of  St.  Venantius.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century.    • 

90.  "  Memento,  rerum  conditor."  In 
the  Little  Office  B.  V.  M.  From  "Jesu, 
redemptor  omnium."     See  No.  72. 

91.  "Mirismodisrepente  liber."  Feast 
of  St.  Peter's  Chains.  Ascribed  to  Pau^ 
linus  of  Nola  (but  ?). 

92.  "Moerentes  oculi."  Feast  of  the 
Passion.     Eighteenth  century. 

93.  "  Mysterium  mirabile."  Feast  of 
the  Winding-sheet.  Sixteenth  to  eigh- 
teenth century. 

94.  "  Nocte  surgentes."  Sunday  ma- 
tins.    St.  Gregory  the  Great. 

95.  "  Nox  atra  rerum  contigit.'' 
Thursday  matins.  According  to  Thomasi, 
by  Ambrose ;  to  Daniel,  merely  Ambro- 
sian ;  to  INIone,  by  Gregory  the  Great. 

96.  "Nox  et  tenebrse  et  nubila." 
Wednesday  at  lauds.  By  Prudentius 
Clemens  (see  No.  10),  but  altered. 

97.  "Nullis  te  genitor  blanditiis." 
Feast  of  St.  Hermeaegild.  From  "  Re- 
gali  solio."    See  No.  122._ 

98.  "  Nunc  sancte  nobis  Spiritus."  At 
tierce.  Ascribed  by  Hincmar  to  St. 
Ambrose  ;  probably  only  Ambrosian. 

99.  "  O  gloriosa  virginum."  Feasts  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  From  "  Quem  terra, 
pontus,  sidera."    See  No.  117. 

100.  "O  nimis  felix."  Feast  of  St. 
John  Baptist.  From  *'  Ut  queant  laxis." 
See  No.  164. 

101.  "O  quot  undis  lacrimarum." 
Seven  Dolours.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century. 


HYMNS 

102.  "  O  sol  salutis."  Lent  at  lauds. 
Tenth  to  fifteenth  century, 

103.  "O  sola  magnarum  urbium." 
Epiphany.  By  Prudentius  Clemens.  See 
No.  10. 

104.  "0  Stella  Jacob."  Purity  of 
Blessed  Virgin.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century. 

105.  "  0  virgo  cui  pra3cordia."  Feast 
of  St.  Catherine  of  liicci.  Eighteenth 
century. 

106.  "  Opes  docusque."  Feast  of  St. 
Elizabeth  of  Portugal.     By  Urban  VIII. 

107.  "  Pange,  lingua,  gloriosi  corporis." 
Corpus  Christi.  By  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin 
{d.  1274). 

108.  "  Pange,  lingua,  gloriosi  lauream 
(prashum)  certaminis."'  Passion  and  Palm 
Sunday,  &c.     By  Venantius.     See  No.  22. 

109.  "  Pange,  lingua,  gloriosae  Lauceae 
praeconium."  Feast  of  Lance  and  Nails. 
A  mediaeval  imitation  of  the  preceding. 

110.  '*  Pfischale  mundo  gaudium." 
On  Feasts  of  the  Apostles.  From  the 
"  Aurora  coelum."     See  No.  20. 

111.  "  Paschali  jubilo."  Feast  of  the 
Lance,  &c.  Author  unknown,  but  the 
hymn  found  in  MS.  of  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. 

112.  "  Pater  superni  luminis."  As- 
cribed to  Odo  of  Clugny,  but  perhaps  by 
Bellarmine,  who  inserted  it  in  the  Bre- 
viary. 

113.  "  Placare,  Christe,  servulis."  For 
All  Saints.  Written  late  in  the  middle 
ages. 

114.  "Praeclare  custos  virginum." 
Purity  of  Blessed  Virgin.  Sixteenth  to 
eighteenth  century. 

115.  "  Primo  die  quo  Trinitas."  Al- 
tered from  St.  Gregory  the  Great. 

116.  "Quaenam  lingua  tibi."  Feast 
of  the  Lance,  &c.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century. 

117.  "Quem  terra,  pontus,  sidera." 
Feasts  of  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  Altered 
from  Venantius  Fortunatus.  See  No. 
22. 

118.  "  Quicunque  certum  quaeritis." 
Sacred  Heart.  Of  late  and  uncertain 
origin. 

119.  "Quicunque  Christum  quaBritis." 
Transfiguration.  By  Prudentius  Clemens. 
See  No.  10. 

120.  "  Quodcunque  in  orbe."  St.  Peter's 
Chair.  From  the  "Miris  modis."  See 
No.  91. 

121.  ."Rector  potens."  At  sext. 
Ambrosian. 

122.  "Regali  solio."  Feast  of  St 
Hermenegild.    Urban  VIH. 


Reriiin  Deus  tenax  vigor."    At 


HYMNS 

123.  "Regina  coeli,  Isetare."  Easter 
Antipbon  at  lauds  and  compline.  Tenth 
to  fifteenth  cent  my. 

124.  "Regis  superni  nuntia."  Feast 
of  St.  Teresa.     By  Urban  VIII. 

125.  "  Rerum  creator  optime."  Ma- 
tins of  Wednesday.  Ambrosian,  and  per- 
haps by  Gregory  the  Great. 

126.  " 
none.     Ambrosian. 

127.  "  Rex  gioriose  martyriim."  Com- 
mon of  Martyrs.  Written  early  in  the 
middle  ages. 

128.  "Rexsempiterneccelitum."  Sun- 
day matins.     Ambrosian. 

129.  "  Sacras  reliquiao."'  Feast  of 
Relics.     See  No.  28. 

130.  "  Sacris  solemniis."  Corpus 
Christi.     St.  Thomas  of  Aquin. 

131.  "  Saepe  dum  Christi."  Feast  of 
Blessed  Virgin  Help  of  Christians.  Nine- 
teenth century. 

132.  "  Sacro  dolorum  turbine."  Feast 
of  the  Passion.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century. 

133.  "  Salutis  humanse  dator.  All 
Saints.     Late  in  middle  ages. 

134.  "  Salutis  aeternae  sator."  Ascen- 
Mon.     Ambrosian. 

135.  "  Salve,  Regina."  Antiphon  at 
lauds  and  compline.  By  Hermannus 
Contractus,  or  by  Peter  of  Monsoro, 
hishop  of  Composlella. 

136.  "  Salveie,  Christi  vulnera."  Pre- 
cious Blood.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century. 

137.  "  Salvete,  clavi  et  lancea."  Lance 
and  Nails.     As  preceding. 

138.  "  Salvete,  tioresmartyrum."  Holy 
Innocents.     Prudentius. 

139.  Sancta  mater,  istud  agas."  See 
«  Stabat  Mater." 

140.  "  Sanctorum  meritis."  Com- 
mon of  Martyrs.  Sixth  to  ninth  cen- 
tury. 

141.  "  Solemne  laudis  canticum." 
Feast  of  St.  Catharine  of  Ricci.  Eigh- 
teenth century. 

142.  "  Somno  refectis  artubus."  Mon- 
day matins.     St.  Ambrose. 

143.  "  Splendor  paternse  glorise." 
Monday  lauds.     As  preceding. 

144.  "  Stabat  Mater."  Seven  Dolours. 
According  to  Wadding,  by  Giacopone  da 
Todi,  a  disciple  of  St.  Francis  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  It  is  inserted  in  the 
works  of  St.  Bernard  as  given  in  a  MS. 
at  Utrecht. 

145.  "  Summse  Deus  clementise." 
Seven  Dolours.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
ceutmy. 


HYMNS 


421 


146.  "Summse  parens  clementiee." 
Saturday  matins.     Ambrosian. 

147.  "  Summse  parens  clementise." 
Trinity  Sunday.  Compiled  from  the  pre- 
ceding and  other  ferial  hymns. 

148.  "  Summi  parentis  tilio."  Sacred 
Heart.     As  No.  118. 

149.  "  Summi  parentis  unice."  St. 
Mary  Magdalen's  day.  By  Odo  of  Clugny 
{d.  942). 

150.  "Te  deprecante  corporum." 
End  of  "  Gentis  Polonse."     See  No.  64. 

151.  "  Te  Deum  laiidamus."  Sunday 
matins.  Attributed  to  St.  Ambrose,  but 
certainly  older. 

152.  "Te  Joseph  celebrant."  St. 
Joseph.    Sixteenth  to  eighteenth  centuiy. 

153.  "  Te  lucis  ante  terminum."  Com- 
pline.    Ambrosian. 

154.  "  Te,  mater  alma."  Feast  of 
the  Maternity.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century. 

155.  "  Te  redemptoris."  Blessed  Vir- 
gin Help  of  Christians.     Modern. 

166.  "  Te  splendor  et  virtus  Patris." 
St.  Michael  and  All  Angels.  By  Rabanua 
Maurus,  archbishop  of  Mayence  {d.  856). 

157.  "  Telluris  alme  conditor."  Tues- 
day vespers.  Ambrosian,  and,  as  Mone 
thinks,  by  Gregory  the  Great. 

158.  "Tibi,  Christe,  splendor  Patris." 
St.  Raphael.  By  Rabanus  Maurus.  An 
adaptation  of  the  "  Te  splendor."  See 
No.  166. 

159.  "  Tinctam  ergo  Christi  sanguine.'' 
Lance  and  Nails.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth 
century. 

160.  "  Tristes  erant  Apostoli."  Feasts 
of  Apostles.  The  second  half  of  "Aurora 
coelum."     See  No.  20. 

161.  "Tu  natale  solum."  Feast  of 
St.  Martina.     Urban  VIII. 

162.  "  Tu  Trinitatis  uritas,"  with  the 
second  strophe  "'  Nam  lc^;tulo."  Friday 
matins.     Gregory  the  Great. 

163.  "Tu  Trinitatis  unitas,"  with  the 
second  strophe  "Ortus  refulget."  Imi- 
tated and  partly  borrowed  Irom  preced- 
ing. 

164.  "Ut  queant  laxis."  St.  John 
Baptist,  By  Paulus  Diaconus,  properly 
Paul  Warnefrid,  a  scholar  at^  Charle- 
magne's Court,  and  author  of  the  "  His- 
tory of  the  Lombards." 

165.  "  Veni,  creator."  Pentecost. 
Commonly  attributed  to  Charlemagne, 
but  found  in  MSS.  written  before  his  day. 
Probably  by  St.  Gregory  the  Great. 

166.  "  Venit  e  coelo."  Agony  in  the 
Garden.  Sixteenth  to  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 


422 


HYMNS 


167.  "  VerLum  superniitn  prodiens  e 
Patris  seterni  sinu."  Advent.  Am- 
brosiau,  and  not  later  than  second  half  of 
fifth  century. 

163.  "  Verbum  supernum  prodiens, 
nee  Patris  linquens  dexteram."  Corpus 
Ohristi.     St.  Thomas  of  Aquin. 

169.  "  Verbuui  supernum  prodiens, 
salvare  quod  perierat."  Feast  of  Lance, 
&c.  A  text  of  this  hymn  is  given  by 
Mone  from  a  MS.  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. 

170.  "Vexilla  regis."  Passion  Sun- 
day, Finding  and  Exaltation  of  the 
Cross.  Venantius  Fortunatus.  See  No.  22. 

171.  "  Virginis  proles."  Common  of 
Virgins.  A  mediaeval  imitation  of  St. 
Amlarose. 

172.  "  Virgo  virginum  prseclara." 
From  "  Stabat  Mater."    See  No.  144. 

173.  "  Vix  in  sepulcro."  Feast  of  St. 
John  Nepomuc.     Eighteenth  century. 

Hymns  and  Sequences  in  the  Missal. 

1.  "  Dies  irse."  By  Thomas  of  Celano, 
disciple  of  St.  Francis,  about  1250. 

2.  "  Exultet  jam  angelica."  Holy 
Saturday  at  blessing  of  the  Paschal 
caudle.  "  Ascribed  to  St.  Augustine. 

3.  "  Gloria  in  excelsis."     [See   Dox- 

OLOGT.] 

4.  "  Gloria,  laus  et  honor."  Palm 
Sunday  at  the  procession.  By  Theodulf, 
bishop  of  Orleans  {d.  821). 


ICONOCLASTS 

5.  ''Lauda,  Sion."  Corpus  Christi. 
St.  Thomas  of  Aquin. 

6.  "  Salve,  sancta  parens."  Introit  in 
Mass  of  Blessed  Virgin.  Sedulius,  in  fifth 
centuiy. 

7.  "Stabat  Mater."  See  above,  No. 
144. 

8.  "  Veni,  Sancte  Spiritus."  By  the 
French  King  Robert,  son  of  Hugh  Capet 
{d.  1031). 

9.  "  Victimae  paschali."  Easter.  At- 
tributed by  an  Einsiedeln  MS.  of  the 
eleventh  century  to  Wipo,  chaplain  to 
Conrad  II.  (eleventh  century).. 

(Cardinal  Thomasi,  ^'  0pp.  torn,  ii., 
continens  psalterium,"  Romaft,  1747 ; 
Daniel,  "  Thesaurus  Hymnolog."  Halle, 
1841 ;  and  Mone,  "  Lat.  Hymnen  des 
Mittelalters,"  Freiburg,  1853,  are  the 
chief  authorities  on  the  subject.  MouU, 
"  Lat.  Hymnen  des  Mittelalters,"  Einsie- 
deln, 1866;  Schlosser,  "Die  Kirche  in 
ihren  Liedern,"  Freiburg,  1863 ;  Neale, 
"  Hymns  of  the  Eastern  Church,"  London, 
1863  ;  "  Mediaeval  Hymns  and  Sequences," 
1863;  Biraghi,  "  Inni  sinceri  e  carmi  di 
S.  Ambrogio,"  Milan,  1862;  Huemer, 
"  Untersuchung  tiber  die  altesten  lat. 
Christ.  Rhythmen,"  Wien,  1879,  may 
also  be  consulted.) 

KITPOSTATIC  XJJSXOir.  The 
union  of  Christ's  human  nature  to  the 
hypostasis  or  person  of  God  the  Word. 
[See  Chbist.] 


ZCOXTOCXiASTS  ("  Breakers  of  ima- 
ges ').  A  name  given  to  the  powerful 
party  which  set  itself  against  the  religious 
use  of  images,  and  disturbed  the  peace  of 
the  Church  during  the  eighth  and  the 
former  half  of  the  ninth  century. 

1.  First  Stage  of  the  Controversy  (726- 
775). — Leo  HI.,  known  in  history  as  "  the 
Isaurian  "  (717-741),  published  an  edict 
against  images.  Both  the  exact  date 
(Hefele  places  it  in  720)  and  the  purport 
of  this  edict  are  uncertain.  The  Emperor 
\s  said  to  have  acted  by  the  advice  of 
Constantiue,  Bishop  of  Nacolia,  and  it  is 
certain  that  shortly  before  the  Khalif 
Jezid  II.  had  set  the  example — natural, 
of  course,  in  a  Mohammedan — of  destroy- 
ing images.  Possibly  Leo  may  have  be- 
lieved that  he  was  removing  a  cause  of 


scandal  to  Jews  and  Saracens,  and  taking 
away  an  occasion  of  superstition  from 
ignorant  Christians.  Leo,  however,  met 
with  immediate  and  strenuous  opposition. 
The  destruction  of  a  famous  image  of 
Christ  over  the  brazen  door  of  the  palace 
led  to  an  uproar  among  the  people.  Leo 
was  resisted  by  Germanus,  the  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  and  condemned  by  Pope 
Gregory  II.  St  John  of  Damascus,  who 
was  living  under  the  rule  of  the  Khalifs, 
published  three  discourses  in  defence  of 
images,  entitled  \6yoi  dnoXoyTjriKoi  The 
Emperor  threatened  to  destroy  St.  Peter's 
image  at  Rome  and  to  take  the  Pope 
captive;  and  his  rage  was  further  in- 
flamed by  the  rebellion  of  Cosmas.  The 
suppression  of  the  rebellion  was  followed 
by  a  new  edict  against  images,  in  730,  and 


ICONOCLASTS 

by  fresh  acts  of  violence.  A  fleet  was  sent 
to  Rome,  in  order  to  revenge  Gregory's 
anathema  published  in  a  Koman  synod  of 
the  year  732 ;  and,  although  this  attack 
failed,  Illyria  was  torn  from  the  Holy  See, 
and  its  possessions  in  Lower  Italy  seized. 
Leo's  successor,  Constantine  V.  (Coprony- 
mus),  continued  his  father's  work.  Again 
the  Emperor's  zeal  against  images  caused 
a  rebellion,  but  this,  too,  was  quelled,  and 
in  754  Constantine  convoked  a  council  of 
838  bishops — with  which,  however,  neither 
the  Pope,  nor  the  Patriarchs  of  Alexan- 
dria, Antioch,  and  Jerusalem,  would  have 
anything  to  do.  This  Council  of  Con- 
stantinople, which  pretended  to  be  cecu- 
menical,  anathematised  those  who  vene- 
rated images :  and  this  anathema  was  the 
excuse  for  additional  severity.  Monasteries 
were  destroyed,  and  many  monks — among 
them  John  of  Monagria  and  tlie  abbot 
Stephen — died  as  martyrs  for  the  faith 
and  traditional  usage  of  the  Church. 

2.  Second  Stage  of  the  Controversy 
(775-842). — The  persecution  abated, 
though  it  did  not  cease,  under  Leo  IV. 
(775-780).  His  wife,  Irene,  who  held 
the  regency  after  her  husband's  death, 
set  herself  to  restore  the  veneration  of 
images,  and  was  supported  by  Tarasius, 
the  new  Patriarch.  Irene  and  Tarasius 
convoked  a  general  council,  to  which  Pope 
Hadrian  I.  was  invited,  and  to  which  he 
promised  to  send  legates.  The  soldiers 
made  it  impossible  to  hold  the  assembly 
in  the  imperial  city,  but  the  Fathers  met 
in  787  at  Nicsea.  The  Papal  legates — viz. 
the  archpriest  Peter  and  the  abbot  Peter — 
presided,  their  names  being  always  men- 
tioned in  the  Acts  before  those  of  the 
other  members,  but  the  business  was 
mainly  conducted  by  Tarasius.  The  de- 
crees were  signed  by  at  least  308  bishops, 
or  proxies  for  bishops,  but  it  appears  from 
the  Acts  that  besides  the  bishops  a  large 
number  of  monks  and  clerics,  not  entitled 
to  vote,  were  present  at  the  deliberations. 
It  was  on  October  13,  and  in  the  seventh 
session,  that  the  opos  or  definition  of  faith 
was  issued.  In  it  the  council  teaches  that 
the  figure  of  the  cross,  and  "  holy  images, 
whether  made  in  colours,  or  of  stone,  or 
of  any  other  material,"  are  to  be  retained. 
They  are  not  to  become  objects  of  ''  ado- 
ration in  the  proper  sense  {rr^v  aXrjdtvrjv 
Xarpeiav),  which  is  to  be  given  to  God 
alone,"  but  they  are  useful  because  they 
raise  the  mind  of  the  spectator  to  the  ob- 
jects which  they  represent.  It  is  right 
to  salute,  honour,  and  venerate  them 
{dairaa-fibv    koi    rifajriK^v    7rpo(rKvvr]<riv)f 


ICONOCLASTS 


423 


to  burn  lights  and  incense  before  them, 
not  only  because  this  is  in  accordance 
with  the  tradition  of  the  Church,  but  also 
on  the  ground  that  such  honour  is  really 
given  to  God  and  his  saints,  of  whom  the 
images  are  intended  to  remind  us.  The 
council  uses  the  word  "  worship  "  (Trpoo-- 
Kvvel)  of  the  veneration  due  to  images, 
but,  as  we  have  seen,  carefully  explains 
the  sense  in  which  the  word  is  employed. 
This  decision  was  approved  by  Pope  Ha- 
drian, as  he  himself  declares  in  a  letter 
to  Charlemagne. 

The  Iconoclast  spirit  revived  in  Leo  V., 
"  the  Armenian  "  (813-820),  Theodore,  ab- 
bot of  the  monastery  of  Studion,  at  Con- 
stantinople, being  the  champion  of  the 
orthodox  cause.  Michael  II.,  "  the  Stam- 
merer "  (820-829),  tried  to  reconcile  the 
friends  and  enemies  of  images,  but  his 
son  Tlieophilus  (829-842)  persecuted  the 
monies  who  adhered  to  the  Nicene  defi- 
nition. On  February  19,  842,  his  widow 
Theodora,  brought  the  images  back  in 
triumph  to  the  chief  church  at  Constan- 
tinople, and  this  day,  which  marks  the 
close  of  a  long  and  dreary  strife,  is  still 
kept  by  the  Greeks  as  the  "  Feast  of  Or- 
thodoxy." 

3.  The  Controversy  in  the  West. — Pope 
Hadrian  sent  a  very  unfortunate  transla- 
tion of  the  Acts  of  the  Nicene  Council  to 
Charlemagne.  The  latter  stated  his  ob- 
jections in  a  document  sent  to  the  Pope, 
and  known  as  the  "•  Libri  Carolini."  ^  He 
rejects  both  synods — the  Iconoclast  one 
at  Constantinople  in  754,  and  Second 
Council  of  Nicaea — and  asserts  that  God 
alone  is  to  be  adored  {adorandus)  and 
worshipped  (colendus),  while  the  saints 
are  only  to  be  venerated  (venermidi).  A 
certain  "  adoration  "  {adoratio)  may,  in- 
deed, be  given  to  men — e.g.  by  bowing 
reverently  before  them,  or  by  kissing, 
but  even  this  is  to  be  withheld  from 
images,  because  they  are  lifeless,  and  it  is 
foolish  to  burn  incense  or  lights  before 
them.  Moreover,  although  images  may 
lawfully  be  used  in  churches,  their  use  is 
by  no  means  necessary.  The  great  Coun- 
cil of  Frankfort,  in  794,  also  rejected 
the   Nicene  decree,    evidently  misled,  as 

1  Petavius  (  De  Incamat.  xv.  12,  3, 8)  thinks 
that  ouly  extracts  from  the  "Libri  Carolini" 
were  sent  to  Pope  Hadrian  ;  and  ?o  Hefele,  Concil. 
iii  p.  713,  2nd  ed.  Tlie  authenticity  of  the  "Libri 
Carolini  "  was  denied  by  Bellarmin,  for  reasons 
abundantly  refuted  by  later  Catholic  scholars— 
e.g.  Sismond  and  Natalis  Alexander.  An  un- 
successful attempt  to  attack  the  authenticity 
was  made  once  more  by  Dr.  Floss,  De  Suspecta 
Librorum  Carolinorum  «  .  •  Fidg,  Bonn,  1860. 


424 


ICONOSTASIS 


Charlemagne  had  been,  hy  the  faulty 
translation,  which  made  no  distinction 
between  supreme  worship  (Xarpem)  and 
secondary  veneration.  Indeed,  this  synod 
attributes  to  and  condemns  in  the  Nicene 
council  a  doctrine  which  it  had  expressly, 
and  in  set  terms,  rejected. 

(The  principal  ancient  authority  on  the 
Iconoclasts  is  Theophanes  {d.  818).  His 
"  Chronographia  "  is  published  among  the 
Byzantine  historians  (Bonn,  1839).  Later 
authors — e.t/.  Cedrenus  (sec.  xi.),  Zonaras 
(sec.  xii.),Constautine  Manassea  (sec.  xii.), 
Glycas  (sec.  xv.),  draw  from  him.  In 
modern  times,  the  whole  or  part  of  the 
history  has  been  investigated  b}"^  the  Pro- 
testants, Goldust,  "  Imperialia  Deere ta 
de  Cultu  Imaginum,"  1608;  Dallaeus, 
"  De  Cultu  Imaginum,"  1612  ;  Spanheim, 
"  Restituta  Historia  Imaginum,''  1686  ; 
and  by  the  Catholics,  Maimbourg,  "  His- 
toire  de  I'Heresie  des  Iconoclastes "  (not 
always  trustworthy),  Paris,  1683;  Marx, 
"  Bifderstreit  der  Bvzantinischen  Kaiser," 
Trier,  1 835) ;  and  by  Hefele, "  Concil."  iii.— 
whi.'h  last  has  been  cliietty  followed  here.) 

ICOXrOSTASIS  {dKovoa-Tacris).  A 
wooden  whII  which  in  Byzantine  churches 
separates  the  choir  from  the  nave.  It  is 
so  called  because  icons  or  images  of  Christ, 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  &c.,  are  placed  upon 
it.  The  iconostasis  is  found'  in  Greek 
and  Russian  churches,  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  it  was  known  before  the  middle 


ZBOliATRT.      [See     Images     and 

Saints.] 

XGza-ORAXrcz:.  St.  Thomas  (1  Sndse, 
Ixxvi.  2)  distinguishes  ignorance  from 
mere  nescience.  The  latter  he  explains 
to  mean  the  simple  absence  of  knowledge ; 
the  former  implies  absence  of  knowledge 
in  one  who  is  capable  of  acquiring  it. 
He  proceeds  to  show  that  ignorance  may 
easily  involve  sin,  since  a  person  is  bound 
to  use  all  reasonable  means  in  order  that 
he  may  have  the  knowledge  necessary  for 
the  performance  of  his  duties.  Thus  all 
men  are  bound  to  learn,  so  far  as  they 
can,  the  general  principles  of  religion  and 
morals ;  and  a  man  sins  grievously  who 
remains  from  his  own  negligence  in  the 
belief  that  a  false  religion  is  true,  or  that 
an  unlawful  course  of  action  which  he  is 
pursuing  is  really  lawful.  The  degree  of 
his  sin  will  differ  according  as  the  obli- 
ligations  which  he  does  not  fulfil  through 
ignorance  are  more  or  less  serious,  and 
according  to  the  amount  of  negligence  or 
malice  which  his  ignorance  implies.  Thus, 
while  a  man  is  never  excused  from  sin  of 


IGNORANCE 

omission  or  commission  on  the  plea  of 
ignorance  which  he  can  be  fairly  expected 
to  overcome,  this  vincible  ignorance,  as  it 
is  called,  admits  of  subdivisions,  repre- 
senting different  grades  of  guilt.  A  man 
may  use  some  but  not  enough  industry 
in  removing  his  ignorance,  which  in  that 
case  is  said  to  be  "  simply  vincible  ; "  he 
may  take  scarcely  any  pains  to  remove  it : 
then  his  ignorance  is  "ci^ss;"  he  may 
positively  wish  to  be  ignorant,  in  order 
that  he  may  sin  more  freely :  then  his 
ignorance  is  known  as  "  affected."  The 
reader  must  understand  that  up  to  this 
point  we  have  been  speaking  of  the  sin 
which  lies  in  the  ignorance  itself,  not  in 
the  evil  act  to  which  the  ignorance  leads; 
and  the  conclusion  which  we  have  reached 
is  that  aU  vincible  ignorance  of  the 
things  a  man's  duty  requires  him  to  know 
is  in  itself  sinful.  A  physician  who 
practises  hi.s  profession  without  the  know- 
ledge which  he  can  and  ought  to  have 
sins,  even  if  as  a  matter  of  fact  he 
happens  to  prescribe  what  is  really  best 
for  his  patients. 

With  regard  to  the  guilt  of  sins 
ignorantly  committed,  invincible  igno- 
rance altogether  excuses  from  sin,  because 
no  man  can  incur  moral  guilt  without  any 
intention  direct  or  remote  to  transgress 
God's  law.  A  Protestant  who  thinks  the 
Catholic  religion  idolatrous,  and  cannot 
reasonably  be  expected,  considering  his 
education,  circumstances,  &c.,  to  think 
otherwise,  is  guiltless  so  far  in  tha  sight 
of  God.  So,  again,  if  a  person  is  aware 
that  he  sins  but  is  invincibly  ignorant  of 
circumstances  which  aggravate  or  change 
the  nature  of  his  crime,  he  is  responsible 
only  so  far  as  he  knows  or  may  know 
what  he  is  about.  A  man,  for  example, 
who,  meaning  to  kill  his  enemy,  kills  his 
father  unawares,  is  of  course  a  murderer, 
but  he  is  not  a  parricide.  We  pause 
here  to  observe  that  although  every  man 
may  know  the  first  principles  of  the 
moral  law  and  the  most  obvious  deduc- 
tions from  them,  he  may  be  invincibly 
ignorant  of  cert^iin  precepts  which  belong 
to  the  natural  law  of  right  and  wrong. 
This  point  is  profusely  argued  and  illus- 
trated by  St.  Liguori,  "  Theol.  Moral." 
lib.  i.  §  170. 

Supposing  that  a  man  is  responsible 
for  his  ignorance,  it  may  still  diminish 
the  guilt  of  the  sins  which  he  i^'uorantly 
perpetrates.  Such  is  the  case  with  ignor- 
ance "  simply  vincible,"  and  even,  though 
in  a  less  degree,  with  "  crass"  ignorance. 
When,  however,  a  man  remains  ignorant 


IMAGE  OF  GOD 

to  sin  more  freely  (if/nor antia  afectata)  j 
St.  Thomas  (loc.  cii.  a.  4)  holds  that 
"  such  ignorance  seems  to  increase  the 
voluntary  character  of  his  act  and  its 
sin "  ("  videtur  augere  voluntarium  et 
peccatum  "). 

Censures  are  not  incurred  by  those 
who  are  invincibly  ignorant  of  their 
existence,  though  they  may  be  aware  that 
the  action  forbidden  under  censure  is 
wrong.  If  the  censure  is  imposed  only 
on  those  who  sin  knowingly,  it  is  held  by 
some  theologians  that  even  a  person 
whose  ignorance  is  "  affected "  escapes 
the  censure.  The  other  opinion  is  better 
supported;  but  " crass  "  ignorance  un- 
doubtedly would  serve  to  save  a  person 
from  a  censure  promulgated  in  these  or 
similar  terms. 

We  may  mention  in  conclusion  that 
St.   Thomas  (4  2nd8e,  qu.   vi.  a.  8)  and 
other  theologians  also   divide  ignorance 
into    that  which  is    ^'antecedent" — i.e.  j 
which  precedes   all   action  of  the   will ;  I 
"  consequent  "    or   voluntary   ignorance  ;  | 
"  concomitant,"    when    a    man    acts    in  i 
ignorance^  but  is  so  minded  that  he  would  j 
act  in  just  the  same  manner  if  he  under-  ' 
stood  the  nature  of  his  deed.     We  need 
not,   however,  dwell  on  this   distinction, 
8in<-e      "  antecedent "     coincides      with 
vincible,    "  consequent "  with   invincible 
ignorance,  whi:e  "  concomitant "  ignorance 
has  no  influence  on  moral  action. 

IIJIAGE  OF  COB.  We  read  in 
Genesis  i.  26  that  God  said,  "  Let  us  make 
man  to  our  image  and  likeness,  and  let  | 
him  rule  over  the  fishes  of  the  sea  and  i 
the  birds  of  the  air,"  &c.  Petavius,  "  De 
Opificio  Sex  Dierum,"  lib.  ii.  cap.  2-4, 
elaborately  discusses  the  meaning  of  these 
words  and  the  history  of  their  interpre- 
tation. We  select  the  most  important 
points  from  his  account,  adding  a  few 
remarks  drawn  from  other  sources. 

1.  Although  the  text  quoted  speaks 
of  Adam  only  as  created  in  God's  image, 
it  is  plain  that  neither  this  likeness  itself 
(see  Genesis  v.  1-3)  nor  the  dominion 
over  the  beasts  which  flows  from  it  (see 
Genesis  ix.  3,  and  cf.  Ps.  viii.  6)  has 
been  wholly  forfeited  by  the  fall.  At 
the  same  time  it  has  been  partially  lost, 
and  thus  St.  Paid,  Coloss.  iii,  10,  speaks 
of  the  likeness  to  God  as  restored  in 
Christ. 

2.  We  may  at  once  dismiss  the  anthro- 
pomorphite  error  mentioned  by  Epi- 
phanius  that  the  likeness  to  God  consists 
primal  ily  in  the  boddy  shape.  Such  an  in- 
terpretation is  contrary  to  the  principles  of 


IMAGE  OF  GOD 


425 


the  Mosaic  as  well  as  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. God  has  no  body,  and  no  bodily 
form  as  such  can  be  like  Him  (see  Exod. 
XX.  4,  Deut.  iv.  12,  15  seq.,  Is.  xxxi.  3). 
Here  we  may  observe  that  though  many 
parallels  to  the  expression  with  which 
we  are  concerned  may  be  quoted  from 
heathen  writers  {e.g.,  Knobel  and  Dill- 
mann,  ad  loc,  quote  dKa>v  6eov  from 
Lucian,  "De  Imag."  28,  "Ad  effigiem 
moderantum  cuncta  deorum,"  from  Ovid, 
"  Met."  i.83,  and  also  refer  to  Juvenal  xv. 
142),  the  force  of  the  passages  is  blunted 
by  the  fact  that  the  heathen  had  much 
less  perfect  notions  than  the  Jews  of 
God's  spiritual  nature. 

3.  We  may  also  set  aside  the  beauti- 
ful explanation  of  Tertullian,  who  makes 
the  likeness  refer  to  the  Incarnate  Word, 
who  made  man  in  the  likeness  of  that 
bodily  form  which  He  was  to  take.  "  So 
runs,", he  says  ("  Resurr.  Carnis/'  6),  "  the 
speech  of  the  Father  to  the  Son,  *  Let 
us  make  man,'  &c.  .  .  .  He  made  him  to 
the  image  of  God,  i.e.,  Christ.  Thus  that 
slime,  even  then  taking  the  image  of 
Christ  who  was  to  come  in  the  flesh,  was 
not  only  a  work  of  God,  but  also  a 
pledge."  Even  if  the  plural  number 
indicates  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity, 
there  is  no  hint  in  the  text  that  man  was 
made  in  the  image  of  one  Divine  Person 
rather  than  in  tbat  of  another. 

4.  Petavius  distinguishes  that  which 
was  made  like  to  God  and  that  in  which 
the  likeness  resides.  The  whole  man,  he 
says,  with  his  double  nature  (bodily  and 
spiritual),  Avas  made  in  the  likeness  of 
God.  But  he  maintains,  following  the 
general  teaching  of  the  Fathers,  that  the 
reason  or  foundation  of  this  likeness 
resides  chiefly  in  the  soul.  The  essential 
point  of  the  resemblance  lies  in  man's 
possession  of  intellect  and  will,  which 
separates  him  specifically  from  the  beasts 
and  makes  him  like  God.  This  essential 
likeness  is  perfected  by  accidental  qualities 
— viz.  by  the  natural  and  supernatural 
virtues— and  in  consequence  of  these 
accidental  perfections  one  man  may  be 
more  like  God  than  another.  In  man, 
who  is  the  head  of  the  woman,  this 
accidental  likeness  is  more  perfect  than 
in  woman  (1  Cor.  xi.  7). 

5.  He  goes  on  to  say  that  this  likeness 
overflows  {redundat)  from  the  soul  to  the 
body,  and  no  doubt  his  erect  carriage, 
the  perfection  of  his  form,  the  way  in 
which  his  intelligence  manifests  itself  in 
his  features,  mark  man  out  as  like  God 
and  fit  to  rule  over  the  lower  creation. 


436 


BIAGES 


This  seems  to  be  the  view  adopted  in  the 
recent  edition  of  our  English  Catechism, 
where  man's  likeness  to  God  is  said  to 
reside  "  chiefly  "  in  his  soul. 

6.  From  the  time  of  St.  Ambrose 
(Petavius  quotes  "De  Dignitate  Oon- 
ditionis  Humanae,"  cap.  xi.),  it  has  been 
common  to  see  the  image  of  the  Trinity 
in  the  three  powers  of  the  one  soul — 
viz.  memory,  understanding  and  will. 
Different  writers,  however,  have  fixed 
upon  different  powers  of  the  soul  as 
representing  the  Persons  of  the  Trinity. 

7.  Still  older  is  a  distinction  made 
between  "  image "  and  "likeness."  Irenaeus 
(v.  6,  1),  whose  view  has  been  largely 
accepted  in  the  Church,  supposes  that 
man  was  made*  in  the  image  of  God  by 
nature,  and  became  like  God  by  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  A  similar  distinction 
has  been  defended  by  so  good  a  scholar 
as  Delitzsch,  but  Petavius  is  surely  right 
in  rejecting  it.  The  Hebrew  (literally 
"  in  our  image,  according  to  our  likeness  ") 
shows  more  clearly  than  the  Greek  or 
Latin,  which  insert  the  copula  "and," 
that  the  two  words  are  practically 
synonymous. 

zlM[il.GZ:s.  The  idolatrous  worship 
of  images  is  vehemently  condemned  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  in  the  Old  Testament  two 
forms  of  idolatry  are  specially  reprobated. 
First,  we  find  denunciations  of  worship 
paid  to  images  of  false  gods,  such  as 
Moloch,  Astarte,  &c.  Here  the  whole 
meaning  and  intention  of  the  religious 
act  was  bad.  No  respect  was  due  to 
such  a  divinity  as  Baal ;  to  worship  him 
was  an  act  of  treason  against  the  living 
God,  so  that  there  could  be  no  possible 
excuse  for  venerating  his  image.  But 
besides  this,  the  law  and  the  prophets 
condemn  worship  given  to  images  of  the 
true  God.  It  seems  clear  that  the  calf 
worship  begun  at  Mount  Sinai,  and  con- 
tinued in  the  northern  kingdom  at  Bethel, 
&c.,  was  meant  as  the  worship  of  the  true 
God  set  before  Israel  in  this  symbolical 
form.^  But  this  worship  also  is  de- 
nounced—e.^.  by  Amos  and  Osee — and 
was  really  idolatrous,  because  it  conveyed 
false  notions  of  (jod,  who  is  a  pure 
spirit,  80  that  although,  e.g.,  Jeroboam 
professed  to  worship  Jehovah,  he  was 
really  serving  a  god  of  his  own  imagi- 
nation.     To    prevent    such    idolatrous 

1  See  Exod.  xxxii.  5,  where  Aaron  calls  the 
idolatrous  feast  a  feast  to  Jehovah  ;  and  3  Kings 
xxii.  6,  from  which  it  appears  that  prophets 
who  sanctioned  the  calf-worship  were  still  con- 
sidered prophets  of  Jehovah. 


IMAGES 

errors,  to  which  the  Jews  were  constantly- 
tempted  by  the  example  of  the  surround- 
ing heathen,  the  Hebrew  worship  was 
regulated  in  each  detail  by  God.  Images 
they  had  in  the  tabernacle  and  the 
Temple,  for  the  cherubim  were  placed  in 
the  holy  of  holies,  and  the  walls  and 
pillars  were  adorned  with  figures  of 
palms,'  pomegranates,  &g.  But  these 
figures  were  placed  in  the  tabernacle  from 
which  the  pattern  of  the  temple  was 
taken  by  the  express  ordiuance  of  God, 
and  the  Jews  were  by  no  means  left  to 
their  own  discretion  in  the  use  of  sacred 
images  and  symbols. 

The  prohibition  of  idolatry  conveyed 
in  the  first  commandment  continues,  it  is 
needless  to  say,  in  full  force.  Idolatry  is 
evil  in  its  own  nature,  and  necessarily  a 
sin  of  the  deepest  dye,  whoever  it  may 
be  that  commits  it.  Moreover  it  is  pos- 
sible to  commit  this  sin  without  fall- 
ing into  the  gross  and  brutal  error  of 
identifying  a  lifeless  image  with  the 
Divinity.  Therefore  the  Council  of 
Trent  (Sess.  xxv.  De  Invocatione,  &c.) 
not  only  reprobates  the  delusion  that 
the  godhead  can  be  really  portrayed  by 
material  figures;  it  also  states  that  in 
images  there  is  no  divinity  or  "  virtue, 
on  account  of  ichich  they  are  to  he  wo7'- 
shipped,  that  no  petitions  can  be  ad- 
dressed to  them,  and  that  no  trust  is  to 
be  placed  in  them." 

At  the  same  time  the  Tridentine 
Fathers,  following  the  Second  Council  of 
Nica3a,  advocate  the  true  use  of  images. 
The  danger  of  idolatry  has  at  least  to  a 
very  ^reat  extent  passed  away  from 
Christian  nations.  Further,  God  Himself 
has  taken  a  human  form  which  admits  of 
being  represented  in  art.  So  that  the 
reasoning  of  Moses  in  Deut.  iv.  15  no 
longer  holds,^  and  on  the  whole  matter 
the  liberty  of  Christians  is  very  different 
from  the  bondage  of  Jews.  Images, 
according  to  the  Tridentine  definition,  are 
to  be  retained  and  honoured,  but  abuses 
and  all  occasion  of  scandal  to  the  rude 
and  ignorant  are  to  be  removed.  The 
object  of  images  is  to  set  Christ,  his 
Blessed  Mother,  the  saints  and  angels 
before  our  eyes,  while  the  council  adds 
that  "  the  honour  which  is  given  to  them 
is  referred  to  the  objects  (prototypa) 
which  they  represent,  so  that  through 
the  images  which  we  kiss,  and  before 

1  "  Ye  did  not  see  any  likeness  on  the  day 
that  the  Lord  spake  to  you  on  Horeb  from  the 
midst  of  the  fire,  lest  ye  should  act  wickedly 
and  make  for  yourselves  a  graven  image,"  && 


IMAGES 

wliicli  we  uncover  our  heads  and  kneel, 
we  adore  Christ  and  venerate  the  saints, 
whose  likenesses  thej  are."  "The 
council,"  says  Petavius,  "De  Incarnat." 
XV.  17,  "  could  not  have  declared  more 
expressly  that  the  cultus  of  images  is 
simply  relative  {o-xeriKov) :  that  they  are 
not  in  themselves  and  strictly  speaking 
(per  se  et  proprie)  adored  or  honoured, 
but  that  all  adoration  and  veneration  is 
referred  to  the  prototypes,  inasmuch  as 
images  have  no  dignity  or  excellence  to 
which  such  honour  properly  appertains." 
We  cannot  imagine  any  better  exposition 
than  that  of  this  great  theologian,  who, 
among  many  other  merits,  is  always 
distinguished  for  his  sobriety  and  his 
avoidance  of  useless  subtleties.  His 
words  explain  the  doctrine  of  the  Church 
and  remove  all  possibility  of  scandal, 
when  we  find  the  Church  in  the  Good 
Friday  Office  inviting  the  faithful  to 
adore  the  cross.  It  is,  the  suffering 
Saviour,  not  the  dead  wood  which 
Catholics  adore  [See  Cross]. 

The  use  of  images  in  the  Church  dates 
from  the  very  earliest  times.  The  Church 
no  doubt  was  cautious  in  her  use  of 
images,  both  because  the  use  of  them  in 
the  midst  of  a  heathen  population  might 
easily  be  misunderstood,  and  also  because 
the  images  might  be  seen  and  profaned 
by  the  heathen  persecutors.  It  is,  as 
Hefele  and  De  Rossi  maintain,  for  this 
latter  reason  that  the  Council  of  Elvira,  in 
the  year  306,  forbade  the  placing  of 
"  pictures  in  the  churches,  lest  what  is 
worshipped  and  adored  should  be  painted 
on  the  walls."  Certainly  the  Church  of 
that  time  did  not  reject  the  use  of 
Christian  art — witness  the  numerous 
sacred  pictures  recently  brought  to  light 
in  the  JR-oman  catacombs.  Many  ancient 
works  of  art  which  have  come  down  to 
us  from  the  old  Spanish  church — e.g.  the 
beautiful  sarcophagi  of  Saragossa — prove 
that  there  was  no  difference  of  feeling  or 
opinion  on  this  matter  between  Spanish 
and  Roman  Christians.  But  whereas 
the  Roman  churches  were  under,  the 
Spanish  were  above,  ground.  Hence  the 
anxiety  of  the  council  to  avoid  the 
mockery  and  actual  danger  which  the 
eight  of  images  might  have  created. 

We  can  trace  the  veneration  of  images 
and  the  Tridentine  doctrine  concerning 
it  through  the  whole  history  of  the 
Church,  but  here  a  few  instances  must 
suffice.  The  early  Christian  poet  Pruden- 
tius  speaks  of  himself  ("  Peristeph."  ix.  9 
wj.)  as  praying  before  an  image  of  the 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION   427 

martyr  Cassian.  We  read  that  at  a 
conference  held  between  St.  Maximus  and 
the  bishop  Theodosius  the  Fathers  present 
bent  the  knee  to  the  images  of  Christ  and 
the  Blessed  Virgin.^  The  principles  of 
Gregory  the  Great  on  the  respect  due  to 
images  are  well  known.  When  Serenus, 
Bishop  of  Marseilles,  removed  images 
from  the  church  on  the  ground  that  they 
had  proved  an  occasion  of  idolatry, 
Gregory  tells  him  (Ep.  ix.  105)  that  he 
ought  not  to  have  broken  images  placed 
in  the  church  as  means  of  instruction, 
not  objects  of  adoration.  In  sending 
Secundinus  images  of  Christ,  the  Blessed 
Virgin  and  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
Gregory  writes  (Ep.  ix.  52)  :  "  I  know 
you  do  not  ask  for  the  image  of  our 
Saviour  to  worship  it  as  God,  but  that, 
being  reminded  of  the  Son  of  God,  you 
may  be  inflamed  anew  with  love  of  Him 
whose  image  you  long  to  see.  And  we 
on  our  part  do  not  prostrate  ourselves 
before  it  as  a  divinity,  but  we  adore  Him 
whom  by  means  of  the  image  we  bring 
to  mind  in  his  birth,  in  his  passion,  or  as 
He  sits  on  his  throne." 

Two  qualifications  must  be  made  to 
the  doctrine  stated  in  a  previous  part  of 
this  article.  We  have  said  that  no 
images  can  really  resemble  the  divine 
nature  which  is  immaterial.  But  there 
is  no  harm  in  symbolical  representations 
of  the  Holy  Trinity,  or  of  the  divine 
Persons  singly.  The  contrary  proposition 
was  condemned  by  Pius  VI.  (Synod  of 
Pistoia,  prop.  69),  in  the  bull  "  Auctorem 
fidei."  Again,  though  images  have  no 
virtue  in  themselves,  God  may  be  pleased 
to  give  special  graces  at  particular 
shrines.  This  is  taught  in  the  same  bull, 
and  the  words  of  St.  Augustine  (Ep.  78) 
are  aptly  quoted:  "God,  who  divides 
special  gifts  to  each  according  as  He 
wills,  was  not  pleased  that  these  [marvels] 
should  take  place  in  all  the  shrines  of  the 
saints." 

XMMACUXiATB  COXTCEPTZOXr 
OF  TKB  BIiESSED  VIRGIN.  1.  The 
Meaning  of  the  Doctrine. — Benedict  XIV. 
("  De  Fest."  clxxxvii.  seq.),  quoting  Eras- 
sen,  a  Scotist  theologian,  distinguishes  be- 
tween active  and  passive  conception.  Tha 
former  consists  in  the  act  of  the  parents- 
which  causes  the  body  of  the  child  to  be 
formed  and  organised,  and  so  prepared 
for  the  reception  of  the  rational  soul 
which  is  infused  by  God.    The    latter 

1  See  Kraus,  Encyclopad.,  art.  "Bilder- 
verehrung." 


428    IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 

takes  place  at  the  moment  when  the 
rational  soul  is  actually  infused  into  the 
body  by  God.  It  is  the  pa-ssive,  not  the 
active,  conception  which  Catholics  have 
in  view  when  they  speak  of  the  Im- 
maculate Conception.  For  there  was 
nothing  miraculous  in  Mary's  generation. 
She  was  begotten  like  other  children. 
The  body,  while  still  inanimate,  could 
not  be  sanctified  or  preserved  from 
original  sin,  for  it  is  the  soul,  not  the 
body,  which  is  capable  of  receiving 
either  the  gifts  of  grace  or  the  stain  of 
sin.  Moreover,  from  the  fact  that  Mary 
sprang  in  the  common  way  from  Adam 
our  first  father,  it  follows  that  she  was 
the  daughter  of  a  fallen  race  and  incurred 
the  "  debt  "  or  liability  to  contract  original 
ftin.  Adam  was  the  representative  of 
the  human  race  :  he  was  put  on  his  trial, 
and  when  he  fell  all  his  descendants  fell 
with  him,  and  must,  unless  some  special 
mercy  of  God  interposed,  receive  souls 
destitute  of  that  grace  in  which  Adam 
himself  was  created.  In  Mary's  case, 
however,  God's  mercy  did  interpose. 
For  the  sake  of  Him  who  was  to  be  born 
of  her  and  for  ^^his  merits  foreseen," 
grace  was  poured  into  her  soul  at  the 
first  instant  of  its  being.  Christian 
children  are  sanctified  at  the  font :  St. 
John  the  Baptist  was  sanctified  while 
still  unborn.  Mary  was  sanctified 
earlier  still — viz.  in  the  first  moment  of 
her  conception.  She  received  a  gift  like 
that  of  Eve,  who  was  made  from  the 
first  without  sin,  only  the  immaculate 
conception  is  rightly  called  a  privilege, 
and  a  privilege  altogether  singular,  be- 
cause in  the  ordinary  course  of  things 
the  Blessed  Virgin  would  have  been  con- 
ceived and  bom  in  original  sin.  We  beg 
the  reader  to  remember  that  what  we 
have  written  up  to  this  point  is  the 
universal  teaching  of  theologians,  and  we 
have  carefully  abstained  from  entering 
on  scholastic  disputes  {e.g.  as  to  the 
remote  and  proximate  debt  of  sin), 
"because  we  believe  that  the  mere  state- 
ment of  the  doctrine  is  enough  to  remove 
many  prejudices  from  the  minds  of  candid 
Protestants.  So  far  from  derogating 
from,  the  Catholic  doctrine  exalts,  the 
merits  of  Christ.  He  who  redeemed  us 
redeemed  her.  He  who  sanctified  us  in 
baptism  sanctified  her  in  her  conception. 
Nor  could  any  Catholic  dream  of  com- 
paring Mary's  exemption  from  sin,  we  do 
not  8a.y  with  the  sinlessness  of  the  Divine 
nature,  for  such  a  comparison  would  be 
insane  as  well  as  blasphemous,  but  with 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 

the  sinlessness  of  Christ  as  man.  Sin 
was  a  physical  impossibility  in  the  human 
soul  of  Christ,  because  it  was  hypo- 
statically  united  to  the  Divinity.  Mary, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  sinless  by  the 
grace  of  God.  "  Thou  art  innocent,'^ 
says  Bossuet,  addressing  Christ,  "  by 
nature,  Mary  only  by  grace;  Thou  by 
excellence,  she  only  by  privilege ;  Thou 
as  Redeemer,  she  as  the  first  of  those 
whom  thy  precious  blood  has  purified " 
("  Sermon  pour  la  fete  de  la  Conception 
de  la  Sainte  Vierge").  No  better 
summary  could  be  given  of  the  Church's 
doctrine. 

2.  History  of  the  Controversvy  on  the 
Doctrine. — The  controversy,  so  far  as  we 
know,  began  in  the  twelfth  century. 
The  church  of  Lyons  had  adopted  the 
custom,  which  already  prevailed  else- 
where (see  the  article  on  the  feast),  of 
celebrating  the  feast  of  Mary's  con- 
ception. St.'Bernard  {d.  1158)  remon- 
strated sharply  with  them,  in  great 
measure  because  the  feast  had  not  been- 
approved  at  Rome.  The  authenticity  of 
this  letter  has  been  disputed,  but  on 
grounds,  as  Benedict  XIV.  implies,  abso- 
lutely insufficient.  Besides,  little  would 
be  gained  even  if  the  letter  were  spurious, 
for  Petavius  ("  De  Incarnat."  xiv.  2)  has 
proved,  fi*om  other  passages  in  his  works, 
Bernard's  opinion  to  have  been  that  the 
Blessed  Virgin  was  not  conceived  im- 
maculate, but  was  sanctified  in  the  womb 
like  Jeremias  and  St.  John  the  Baptist. 
Benedict  XIV.,  following  Mabillon, 
declines  to  accept  the  theory  that  St. 
Bernard  had  the  active,  not  the  passive, 
conception  in  his  mind.  At  the  same 
time  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
saint  refers  the  whole  matter  of  his 
dispute  with  the  canons  of  Lyons  to  the 
judgment  of  the  Roman  Church.  The 
quotations  in  Petavius  from  St.  Peter 
Damian,  St.  Anselra,  Peter  Lombard,  and 
others,  abundantly  prove  that  St.  Ber- 
nard's opinion  was  the  prevalent  one 
before  and  during  his  own  age.  In  the 
following  century  St.  Thomas  (iii.  27,  2) 
held  that  Mary  was  only  saiictitied  in 
the  womb  after  her  body  was  already 
informed  by  the  soul  (post  ejus  ani- 
mationem),  and  he  argues  that  if  the 
Virgin  "had  not  incurred  the  stain  of 
original  guilt,"  she  would  have  stood  in 
no  need  of  being  saved  and  redeemed  by 
Christ,  whereas  Christ,  as  the  Apostle 
declares,  is  the  saviour  of  all  men.^     But 

1  Cardinal  Lambiuschini  in  a  polemical  dis- 
sertation ontbe  Immaculate  Conception  (Kouue, 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION    429 


the  strongest  evidence  to  the  prevalence 
of  the  belief  that  the  Virgin  was  not 
conceived  without  sin  is  supplied  by  Scotus 
"In  Lib.  III.  Sentent."  d.  iii.  qu.  1,  n.  4). 
He  gives  his  own  opinion  in  favour  of 
the  immaculate  conception  with  a 
timidity  which  clearly  betrays  his  con- 
sciousness that  the  general  opinion  was 
on  the  other  side.  After  maintaining 
that  God  might,  had  He  so  chosen,  have 
exempted  the  Blessed  Virgin  from  original 
sin,  and  might  on  the  other  hand  have 
allowed  her  to  remain  under  it  for  a 
time  and  then  purified  her,  he  adds  that 
^'  God  knows  "  which  of  these  possible 
ways  was  actually  taken ;  '*  but,  if  it  is 
not  contrary  to  the  authority  of  the 
Church  or  of  the  saints,  it  seems  com- 
mendable {probabilc)  to  attribute  that 
which  is  more  excellent  to  Mary." 

Scotus,  however,  farther  on  in  the 
same  Work  (d.  18.  qu.  1.  n.  4),  expresses 
a  more  decided  view,  and  he  inaugurated 
anew  state  of  opinion,  though  the  change 
did  not  come  at  once,  and  the  story  told 
by  Cavellus,  an  author  of  the  fourteenth 
century  whom  Benedict  XLV.  quotes,  is 
probably  a  mere  legend.  According  to 
this  story,  Scotus  defended  the  doctrine  of 
the  immaculate  conception  at  Cologne 
and  Paris,  and  a  disputation  which  he 
held  in  the  latter  place  induced  the  Paris 
University  to  adopt  the  doctrine,  and  won 
for  Scotus  himself  the  title  of  the  '*  Subtle 
•  Doctor."  Scotus  died  in  1308,  and  events 
which  happened  in  1387  show  how 
rapidly  the  Scotist  opinion  had  spread 
and  how  deeply  it  had  struck  root  at 
least  in  France.  A  Dominican  doctor, 
John  Montesono,  had  publicly  denied  the 
immaculate  conception,  whereupon  he 
was  condemned  by  the  University  and 
by  the  Bishop  of  Paris,  and  though 
he  appealed  to  the  Pope  (or  anti-Pope) 
Clement  VIL,  he  did  not  dare  to  appear, 
and  was  condemned  for  contumacy.  The 
Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Basle  begged 
Cardinal  Torquemada  (Turreoremata)  to 
prepare  a  treatise  on  the  question,  and  so 
he  did  ;  but  circumstances  prevented  him 
from  laying  it  before  the  council,  and  his 
treatise,  which  was  adverse  to  the  doc- 
trine, was  practically  unknown  till  it  was 
published  by  the  Master  of  the  Sacred 
Palace  with  the  consent  of  Paul  III.,  then 
Pope.  The  decree  of  Basle,  which  de- 
fined that  the  doctrine  asserting  Mary's 

1842),  declared  that  here,  as  in  other  places, 
the  MSS.  of  St.  Thomas  had  been  corrupted. 
But  this  position  does  not  admit  of  serious 
defence 


immunity  from  original  sin  was  "to  be 
approved,  held,  and  embraced  by  all 
Catholics,  as  being  pious  and  consonant 
to  the  worship  of  the  Church,  to  Catholic 
faith,  right  reason,  and  Holy  Scripture," 
was  passed  in  1439,  when  the  council 
had  become  schismatical,  so  that  it  in  no 
way  bound  the  consciences  of  Catholics. 
It  serves,  however,  to  mark  the  general 
feeling  of  the  time ;  and  other  signs  of  the 
hold  the  doctrine  had  obtained  are  not 
wanting.  It  was  asserted  at  a  provincial 
synod  in  Avignon  in  1457.  Forty  years 
later  the  University  of  Paris  required  an 
oath  to  defend  the  -doctrine  from  all  who 
proceeded  to  the  doctor's  degree,  and  the 
tenet  was  embraced  with  ardour  by  the 
(Carmelites,  the  dilierent  branches  of  the 
Franciscan  order,  and  by  men  of  the 
highest  distinction  among  the  secular 
clergy. 

The  matter  gave  rise  to  keen  discus- 
sion at  Trent,  and  although  most  of  the 
bishops  held  the  doctrine,  the  council 
contented  itself  with  a  declaration  that 
in  defining  the  truth  that  the  whole 
human  race  fell  under  original  sin  it  did 
not  intend  to  include  in  the  decree  "the 
blessed  and  immaculate  Virgin  Mary," 
but  desired  that  the  Constitutions  of 
Sixtus  IV.  should  be  observed.  These 
Constitutions  had  been  issued  in  1476  and 
in  1483.  In  the  former  the  Pope  granted 
indulgences  to  those  who  said  the  Mass 
and  office  which  he  had  approved  for  the 
feast  of  the  Conception.  In  the  latter  he 
condemned  those  who  accused  persons 
who  celebrated  the  feast  of  mortal  sin,  or 
those  who  maintained  that  the  doctrine 
itself  was  heretical.  Pius  V.,  in  1570, 
forbade  all  discussion  of  the  doctrine  in 
sermons,  permitting,  however,  the  ques- 
tion to  be  handled  in  assemblies  of  the 
learned.  Paul  V.,  in  1617,  prohibited 
attacks  on  the  doctrine  in  public  as- 
semblies of  any  kind,  while  Gregory  XV., 
in  1622,  strictly  forbade  anyone  to  main- 
tain, even  in  private  discussions,  that  the 
Blessed  Virgin  was  conceived  in  original 
sin.  He  made  an  exception,  however,  in 
favour  of  the  Dominicans,  to  whom  he 
granted  leave  to  maintain  their  own 
opinion  in  discussions  held  within  their 
own  order,  and  he  was  careful  to  add 
that  he  in  no  way  meant  to  decide  the 
theological  question,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
forbade  anyone  to  accuse  those  who 
denied  the  immaculate  conception  of 
heresy  or  mortal  sin.  Benedict  XIV., 
writing  about  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, sums  up  the  whole  state  of  the 


430    IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 

question  in  his  day  thus :  "  The  Church 
inclines  to  the  opinion  of  the  immaculate 
conception;  but  the  Apostolic  See  has 
not  yet  defined  it  as  an  article  of  faith." 

So  matters  stood,  when  on  February 
1,  1849,  Pius  IX.,  wrote  from  Gaeta  to 
the  bishops  of  the  Catholic  world.  He 
asked  them  for  an  account  of  their  own 
opinion  and  of  the  feeling  entertained  in  the 
churches  subject  to  them  on  the  expe- 
diency of  defining  the  doctrine  that  the 
Blessed  Virgin  was  immaculate  in  her 
conception.  The  Italian,  Spanish,  and 
Portuguese  bishops,  about  490  in  number, 
were  nearly  unanimous  in  their  wish  for 
the  definition.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
were  bishops  of  great  eminence  in  France, 
Germany,  and  Switzerland  who  were  of 
a  different  mind.  Some  of  these  last 
thought  that  the  doctrine  was  not  promi- 
nent enough  in  Scripture  or  tradition  to 
be  made  an  article  of  faith  ;  others  depre- 
cated a  definition  which  would  put  fresh 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  Protestants  or 
timid  Cathohcs ;  others,  again,  were 
afraid  to  pronounce  at  all  on  so  hard  a 
matter.  Nearly  six  years  later  the  ques- 
tion was  closed.  On  December  8,  1854, 
Pius  IX.,  in  the  presence  of  more  than 
200  bishops,  issued  his  solemn  definition 
that  the  immaculate  conception  of  Mary 
was  a  truth  contained  in  the  original 
teaching  of  the  Apostles  and  an  article  of 
divine  faith.  The  definition  was  accepted 
by  Galileans  as  well  as  by  Ultramontanes, 
for  it  was  notorious  that  the  entire  epi- 
scopate gave  full  assent  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  Papal  bull.  Indeed,  the  opposi- 
tion made  within  the  Church  to  the  new 
definition  was  of  the  most  insignificant 
kind. 

3.  The  Doctrine  in  its  Relations  to 
Scripture  and  Tradition. — A  Catholic  is 
bound  to  hold  that  the  doctrine  recently 
defined  was  contained  in  the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints  by  the  Apostles. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  is  under  no  obliga- 
tion of  believing  it  possible  to  produce 
cogent  historical  proof  (over  and  above 
the  Church's  decision)  that  the  doctrine 
was  so  contained.  It  is  enough  to  show 
that  no  decisive  argument  can  be  brought 
against  the  apostolic  origin  of  the  Church's 
present  belief,and  there  are  at  least  probable 
traces  of  its  existence  in  the  Church  from 
the  earhest  times.  Petavius — justly,  as  we 
think — dismisses  many  passages  from  the 
Fathers,  which  have  been  cited  iu  support 
of  the  doctrine.  He  points  out  that  if 
the  Fathers  speak  of  Mary  as  "  stainless," 
**  incorrupt,"  "  immaculate  "(ap^pain-os,  a<^&- 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 

aprosy  d^iavros),  it  by  no  means  follows 
that  they  believed  her  to  have  been  con- 
ceived immaculate.  Still  tradition  does 
supply  solid  arguments  for  the  belief 
in  question. 

First,  from  the  earliest  times  and  in 
every  part  of  the  Church  Mary  in  her  office 
at  the  Incarnation  was  compared  and 
contrasted  with  Eve  before  the  fall.  We 
find  the  parallel  between  the  two  drawn 
by  Justin  Martyr  ("Trypho,"  100),  by 
Irenseus  (iii.  22,  34,  v.  19),  by  TertuUian 
("  De  Carne  Christi,"  17),  not  to  speak  of 
later  Fathers ;  indeed,  the  doctrine  that 
Mary  is  in  some  sense  the  second  Eve  is 
a  commonplace  of  primitive  theology. 
This  comparison  enters  into  the  very 
substance  of  the  theology  of  St.  Irenseus. 
He  urges  the  parallel  between  Mary  and 
Eve,  just  as  he  insists  on  the  resemblance 
between  Adam  and  Christ,  the  second 
Adam.  As  Eve  was  married  and  yet  a 
virgin,  so  Mary,  "having  an  appointed 
husband,  was  yet  a  virgin."  Eve  listened 
to  the  words  of  an  angel :  so  also  Mary. 
Eve's  disobedience  was  the  cause  of  our 
death :  Mary,  "  being  obedient,  became 
both  to  herself  and  all  mankind  the  cause 
of  salvation."  "  The  knot  of  Eve's  dis- 
obedience was  loosed  by  Mary's  obedience." 
The  Virgin  Mary  became  "  the  advocate 
of  the  virgin  Eve."  It  is  true  that 
whereas  Eve  of  course  was  made  im- 
maculate, yet  this  is  just  the  point  where 
Irenseus  fails  to  draw  the  parallel  between 
Eve  and  Mary.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  in  Irenaeus,  as  in  the  Ante- 
Nicene  Fathers  generally,  there  is  no 
explicit  statement  of  the  doctrine  of 
original  sin,  so  that  we  cannot  expect  an 
explicit  statement  that  Mary  was  exempt 
from  it.  There  is  further  a  presumption 
that  if  Irenseus  could  have  had  the 
question,  "  Was  Mary  conceived  in  sin  ?  " 
proposed  to  him  he  would  have  answered 
in  the  negative.  His  whole  theory  of  the 
Incarnation  turns  on  the  proposition, 
"  Man  could  not  break  the  bonds  of  sin, 
because  he  was  already  bound  fast  by 
them."  He  in  Adam  had  been  already 
worsted  by  the  devil.  When,  therefore, 
he  teUs  us  that  Mary  untied  the  knot  of 
Eve's  disobedience,  we  may  infer  that 
she  never  had  been  bound  by  it  in  her 
own  person. 

The  tradition  that  Mary  was  the 
second  Eve  was  familiar  to  great  Fathers 
of  the  later  Church.  But  one  of  these, 
St.  Ephrem  (a.d.  379),  gives  much  more 
explicit  evidence — the  most  explicit  evi- 
dence, so  far  as  we  know,  to  be  found  in 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 

patristic  writings — of  belief  in  the  im- 
maculate conception.  Not  many  years 
ago  the  famous  Syriac  scholar  Bickell 
edited,  with  a  Latin  version  of  the  Syriac, 
the  "Carmina  Nisibena "  of  the  saint. 
There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  authenticity 
of  these  poems.  In  hymn  27,  strophe  8, 
St.  Ephrem  speaks  thus:  "Truly  it  is 
Thou  and  thy  Mother  only,  who  are  fair 
altogether.  For  in  Thee  there  is  no 
stain,  and  in  thy  Mother  no  spot.  But 
my  sons  [i.e.  the  members  of  the  Church 
of  Edessa]  are  far  from  resembling  this 
twofold  fairness."      Elsewhere    Ephrem 

S laces  first  among  fallen  men  infants  who 
ie  in  baptismal  innocence ;  so  that  it 
must  be  freedom  from  original  not  actual 
sill  which  he  ascribes  to  Mary.  So 
(ii,  327  a.),  "Two  were  made  simple, 
innocent,  perfectly  like  each  other,  Mary 
and  Eve,  but  afterwards  one  became  the 
cause  of  our  death,  the  other  of  our  life." 
It  is  most  important  to  appreciate  this 
testimony  at  its  real  value.  It  is  not 
only  or  chiefly  that  it  proves  the  existence 
of  the  belief  which  we  are  discussing,  in 
the  fourth  century.  This  no  doubt  it 
does,  and  it  enables  us  summarily  to 
dismiss  the  confident  assumption  of  many 
Protestant  scholars  that  the  belief  arose 
for  the  first  time  in  the  middle  ages.  But 
"besides  and  above  this,  St.  Ephrem  supplies 
an  authentic  commentary  on  the  meaning 
of  the  tradition  that  Mary  was  the  second 
Eve.  We  may  well  believe,  considering 
how  early  and  in  what  various  quarters  it 
appears,  that  this  tradition  was  Apostolic. 
And  just  at  the  time  when  the  doctrine 
of  original  sin  becomes  prominent  in 
Christian  theology,  St.  Ephrem  assumes 
without  doubt  or  question  that  this  tra- 
dition implies  Mary's  entire  exemption 
from  the  cause,  and  supplies  us  with 
reasonable  grounds  for  believing  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  immaculate  conception  is 
coeval  with  the  foundation  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church. 

A  word  or  two  must  be  said  about 
St.  Augustine.  Undoubtedly  his  theory 
on  the  transmission  of  original  sin  by  the 
act  of  generation  drove  him  to  believe 
that  Mary,  being  conceived  in  the  ordinary 
way,  must  have  been  conceived  in  sin. 
So  Petavius  understands  him,  and  the 
Saint's  own  language  seems  to  be  clear 
and  decisive  on  this  point.  Thus  ("  De 
Nuptiis  et  Concep."  i.  12),  he  teaches 
that  all  flesh  born  "de  concubitu"  is 
*'  flesh  of  sin,"  and  ("  In  Genesim  ad  lit." 
X.  118)  he  expressly  affirms  that  on  this 
ground  Mary's  flesh  was,  while  Christ's 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION    431 

was  not,  ''caro  peccati."  Again,  in 
"  Contr.  Julian."  v.  16,  his  language  is  still 
more  definite,  for  he  say's  that  original 
sin  passes  to  the  child  from  the  "  con- 
cupiscentia"  of  the  parents,  and  that 
therefore  original  sin  could  not  infect 
the  flesh  of  Christ,  since  his  Virgin 
Mother  conceived  Him  without  con- 
cupiscence. It  may,  we  think,  be  affirmed 
without  irreverence  to  so  great  a  doctor, 
that  this  language  about  sin  passing  to 
the  flesh  involves  confusion  of  thought, 
and  probably  very  few  nowadays  would 
maintain  that  "  concupiscentia  "  in  itself 
natural  and  innocent,  though  caused  as  a 
matter  of  fact  by  the  fall,  can  possibly  be 
the  cause  of  original  sin.  The  fact  that 
St.  Augustine  is  driven  to  the  position  he 
takes  with  regard  to  Mary  by  the  exig- 
encies of  a  theological  theory,  probably- 
mistaken,  and  certainly  never  approved 
by  the  Church,  diminishes,  if  it  does  not 
altogether  destroy,  the  force  of  his  testi- 
mony. On  the  other  hand,  great  weight 
belongs  to  the  testimony  which  St. 
Augustine  bears  to  the  immaculate  con- 
ception, because  in  giving  it  he  speaks, 
not  as  a  theologian,  but  as  a  Christian. 
He  is  impelled  in  this  latter  case  by 
Catholic  instinct  and  tradition,  not  by 
any  theory  of  his  own.  His  testimony  is 
as  follows.  He  is  arguing  ("  De  Natura 
et  Gratia,"  cap.  36)  against  the  Pelagian 
theory  that  some  of  the  saints  had  been 
wholly  exempt  from  actual  sin.  He 
denies  the  truth  of  the  statement  alto- 
gether. All  have  sinned,  "  excepting  the 
holy  Virgin  Mary,  concerning  whom  for 
the  honour  of  the  Lord  I  would  have  no 
question  raised  in  treating  of  sin.  For 
how  do  we  know  what  excess  of  grace  to 
conquer  sin  on  every  side  was  bestowed 
on  her  whose  lot  it  was  (qucs  met-uit) 
to  conceive  and  bring  forth  Him  who 
certainly  had  no  sin."  We  fully  admit 
that  it  is  actual,  not  original,  sin  which 
St.  Augustine  is  thinking  of  directly. 
But  on  his  own  principles  he  was  bound 
to  hold  that  exemption  from  actual 
implied  freedom  from  original  sin.  Thus 
he  asserts  categorically  ("  Contr.  Julian." 
V.  15)  that  if  Christ  had  been  conceived 
in  sin.  He  must  needs  have  committed 
actual  sin  ("  peccatum  major  fecisset,  si 
parvulus  habuisset").  Let  the  reader 
observe  that  this  theory,  unlike  that 
referred  to  above  on  the  transmission  of 
sin,  is  supported  by  the  tradition  and 
subsequent  decision  of  the  Church.  It  is 
of  course  conceivable  that  Mary  might 
have  been  conceived    in    sin  and  then 


432    IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 

enabled  by  a  special  and  extraordinary 
grace  to  avoid  all  actual  trespass.  In 
any  case  we  may  safely  say  that  St. 
Augustine  might  easily  have  accepted 
the  Church's  present  doctrine.  It  would 
have  satisfied  most  fully  this  inclination 
to  believe  that  Mary  "  for  the  honour  of 
the  Lord  "  was  enabled  to  "  overcome  sin 
on  every  side.''  The  freedom  from  actual 
would  have  followed  suitably  upon  her 
preservation  from  original  sin,  and  the 
progress  of  her  life  would  have  been 
consonant  with  its  beginning. 

Finally,  the  rapid  acceptance  of  the 
doctrine  within  the  Church,  when  once 
it  came  under  discussion,  might  of  itself 
dispose  individual  Christians  to  believe  it 
and  prepare  the  way  for  definition.  The 
one  positive  objection  was  that  if  Mary 
was  conceived  immaculate  Christ  could 
not  have  been  her  saviour  and  redeemer. 
When  once  the  truth  was  apprehended 
that  Mary's  exemption  from  original  sin 
was  due  to  the  merits  of  her  Divine  Son, 
and  magnified  instead  of  detracting  from 
them,  the  belief  in  this  exemption  grew 
and  spread  throughout  the  Catholic 
world.  We  cannot  expect  Protestants 
to  appreciate  this  argument.  But  to  a 
Catholic,  who  believes  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  directs  the  minds  of  the  faithful, 
and  specially  those  of  the  saints,  the  very 
fact  of  the  doctrine's  acceptance  affords  a 
strong  presumption  of  its  truth.  He 
would  naturally  be  loath  to  believe  that 
God  allowed'  the  Christian  people  to 
cling  so  zealously  to  a  doctrine  which  had 
no  solid  foundation,  and  which,  if  untrue, 
would  be  an  error  of  a  very  serious  kind. 
He  would  recognise  in  the  belief  of  so 
many  saints  a  judgment  superior  to  his 
own,  and  a  greater  quickness  to  discover 
the  "  analogy  of  the  faith."  The  solemn 
definition  of  the  Church  would  but 
enable  him  to  hold  with  greater  security 
what  he  already  held  as  a  certain  and 
pious  opinion. 

(The  evidence  for  and  against  the 
doctrine  is  given  by  Petavius,  "  De  In- 
carnat."  xiv.  2.  Perrone  published  his 
treatise  "  De  Immaculato  B.  V.  M.  Con- 
ceptu :  an  dogmatico  decreto  definiri 
possit,"  at  Rome  in  1863.  Still  better 
Known  is  the  work  of  Passaglia,  also  at 
that  time  a  Jesuit,  "  De  Immaculato  B.  V. 
Conceptu,"  Romee,  1854.  A  collection  of 
ancient  documents  relating  to  the  doctrine 
was  made  bv  a  third  Jesuit,  Ballerini.) 

I1IIMACUZ.ATE  COiarCEPTZOir, 
FSAST  or.  The  Greek  emperor 
Manuel    Comnenus    (died    1180),    in    a 


IMMUNITY 

Novella  quoted  by  Balsamon,  mentions 
the  feast  of  the  Blessed  Virgin's  Conception 
as  one  to  be  observed  by  the  people  on 
December  9.  In  the  West  it  is  kept  on 
December  8.  England,  it  is  said,  was  the 
first  among  the  countries  of  Western 
Europe  to  keep  this  feast,  and  a  Council 
of  London  held  in  1328  attributes  its 
introduction  to  St.  Anselm ;  but  an 
Epistle  of  the  Saint  which  begins  with  a 
formal  notice  on  the  subject  is  probably 
spurious. 

From  England  the  celebration  seems 
to  have  passed  to  Normandy,  and  then 
south  to  Lyons.  St.  Bernard  reproved 
the  canons  of  that  city  for  introducing  a 
custom  which  had  not  the  sanction  of 
the  Roman  Church.  St.  Buonaventura 
(died  1274)  (« In  Lib.  III.  Sentent."  d.  iii. 
qu.  1)  mentions  the  custom  of  keeping 
the  feast,  and  says  he  does  not  dare 
either  to  approve  or  disapprove  it.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  the  feast  had  es- 
tablished itself  in  the  calendar  of  the 
Roman  Church  before  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  Sixtus  IV.,  towards 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  sanc- 
tioned an  office  and  Mass  proper  to  the 
day  ;  for  which,  however,  a  new  office  was 
.substituted  by  Pius  V.  Clement  VIII. 
made  the  feast  a  greater  double.  Clement 
IX..  added  an  octave ;  Clement  XI.  made 
it  a  holiday  of  obligation.  Under  Pius  IX. 
the  office  was  again  changed,  and  the 
feast  was  entitled  that  of  the  "  Im- 
maculate Conception  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary."  The  present  Pope  raised  it 
to  a  double  of  the  first  class.  (Benedict 
XIV.  "  De  Festis.") 

IIIIMORTAI.ITV  OF  SOUIi.  [See 
SOFL.] 

X3ViMOVEABZiZ:.  [See  Feasts.][ 
ZMMTTM-ZTY.  Ecclesiastical  im- 
munity is  defined  to  be  ''the  right  by 
which  churches  and  other  sacred  places, 
as  well  as  ecclesiastical  persons  and  their 
property,  are  free  and  discharged  from 
secular  functions  and  burdens,  and  from 
acts  repugnant  to  the  sanctity  and  reve- 
rence which  are  due  to  them."  ^  It  is  of 
three  kinds — local,  real,  and  personal.  On 
local  immunity,  which  is  of  ecclesiastical 
institution,  see  Sanctuart.  Real  im- 
munity is  the  right  whereby  it  is  claimed 
that  the  property  of  the  Church  and  the 
clergy  are  exempted  from  secular  juris- 
diction and  from  all  fiscal  and  other 
burdens  imposed  by  secular  authority. 
Personal  immunity  is  the  right  of  the 

*  Ferraris,  "  Immun.  Eccles."  i.  4. 


IMMUNITY 

clergy  to  be  exempted  from  all  lay  juris- 
diction [see  Jtirisdiction]. 

Tlie  real  and  personal  immunity  of  the 
clergy  are  generally  held  by  canonists  to 
be  of  divine  r-ght.  Several  passages  are 
adduced  from  the  Old  Testament,  among 
which  the  most  striking  is  1  Esdr.  vii.  24, 
•where  the  emperor  A rtaxerxes,  addressing 
through  Esdras  the  "  keepers  of  the  public 
chest"  beyond  the  river,  gives  them  to 
understand  that  "  concerning  all  the 
priests,  and  the  Levites,  and  the  singers, 
and  the  porters,  and  the  Nathinites,  and 
ministers  of  the  house  of  this  God,"  they, 
the  keepers,  '^  have  no  authority  to  im- 
pose toll  or  tribute  or  custom  upon  them." 
The  words  of  Christ  (Matt.  xvii.  24,  25) 
form  an  important  text  bearing  on  the  sub- 
ject. Earthly  kings  exempt  from  tribute 
their  own  children  and  their  servants ; 
Christ,  therefore,  as  the  Son  of  God,  is 
rightfully  exempt  from  the  payment  of 
the  didrachma,  which  was  destined  for 
the  support  of  the  divine  worship  iu  the 
Temple.  Moreover,  the  words  "  that  we 
may  not  scandalise  them "  show  that 
Peter  and  the  other  Apostles,  as  Christ's 
servants,  are  included  under  the  same 
exemption.  In  Peter  it  is  held  that  the 
clergy  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  every 
age  is  included  by  representation.  Christ 
and  his  servants  the  clergy  are  therefore 
by  right  exempt  from  tax  or  tribute ; 
nevertheless,  sooner  than  cause  scandal  by 
availing  Himself  of  this  exemption,  Christ 
bade  Peter  pay  the  sum  demacded  ibr 
them  both  ;  and  the  pastors  of  the  Church 
have  generally  acted  similarly  in  later 
times. 

Political  reasoning  on  general  grounds 
m:ght  be  employed  in  support  of  the  claim 
of  the  clergy  to  an  exemption  from  taxa- 
tion. As  kings  do  not  tax  their  own 
children,  so  Governments,  in  a  natural 
state  of  things,  do  not  tax  their  own 
servants  or  officials.  The  officials  of  a 
Go  vern  ment  constitute  the  agency  by  which 
it  fulfils  its  duty  of  protecting  and  re- 
gulating society  ;  and  taxes  are  raised  in 
order  that  it  may  have  the  means  of  sup- 
porting these  officials  while  so  engaged. 
To  make  the  officials  themselves  pay  taxes 
is,  theoretically,  an  absurdity ;  it  is  giviiig 
them  money  with  one  hand  and  taking  it 
away  with  the  other ;  though  of  course 
there  may  be  sound  reasons  of  practical 
convenience  why  this  should  be  done.  So 
it  is  with  the  Catholic  clergy  ;  regarding 
them  as  the  moral  police  of  society,  a  wise 
State  would  recognise  them  as  its  children 
and  its  servants,  and  assume  that,  as  a 


IMMUNITY 


43a 


general  rule,  they  would  spend  their  own 
money  in  such  a  way  as  to  promote  peace, 
order  and  well-being  more  effectually 
than  would  be  the  result  if  the  State  were 
to  tax  them  to  the  same  amount,  and 
spend  the  money  for  them. 

The  early  history  of  clerical  immunity 
is  given  in  great  detail  by  Thomassin.^ 
Coustantine  exempted  from  all  tribute  his 
private  property  and  "ecclesias  Cath- 
olicas ;  "  he  also  ordered  that  no  public 
functions  of  a  lay  character  should  be  im- 
posed on  the  bishops.'^  Constantius  at 
the  beginning  of  his  reign  passed  edicts 
highly  favourable  to  this  immunity,  but 
revoked  them  after  the  Council  of  Arim- 
inum  (359),  except  in  the  case  of  clerics 
who  were  very  poor,  and  whose  temporal 
business  was  of  trifling  value.  By  a  law- 
passed  shortly  before  his  death  he  replaced 
things  nearly  on  their  old  footing.  These 
vacillations  in  the  policy  of  the  emperors 
were  of  continual  occurrence ;  thus  while 
Julian  the  Apostate  abolished  all  clerical 
immunities,  Valentinian  restored  them. 
The  great  bishops  of  the  fourth  century 
took  patiently  the  imperial  demands  on 
their  temporalities,  and  complied  with 
them  ;  but  on  the  spiritual  side  they  were 
inflexible.  Writing  of  his  refusal  to  grant 
one  of  the  Milan  churches  to  the  Arians, 
at  the  request  of  Valentinian  II.,  St. 
Ambrose  said,  "  If  he  asks  for  tribute,  we 

do  not  refuse  it We  pay  to  Csesar 

the  things  which  are  Ciesar's,  and  to  God 
the  things  which  are  God's.  A  church 
belongs  to  God,  and  ought  not  certainly  to 
be  assigned  to  Caesar."  Thomassin  argues 
that  St.  Ambrose  was  quite  aw^are  that 
immunity  was  the  Church's  right,  but  that 
he  preferred  to  pay  taxes  rather  than  cause 
offence.  ^*  Ambrose  knew  that  from 
Christ — the  Church — the  Clergy — tri- 
bute was  not  due,  but  yet  was  paid;  and 
paid  all  the  more  nobly  because  it  was 
not  owed." 

In  the  feudal  ages,  when  fiefs  and 
manors  were  granted  to  the  Church  to  be 
held  on  feudal  terms,  the  question  of  eccle- 
siastical immunities  became  much  com- 
plicated. As  a  bishop  who  held  a  fief 
under  some  secular  prince  had  to  do 
homage  to  him  for  it,  kneeling  before  him, 
placing  his  hands  between  the  lord's 
hands,  and  swearing  to  become  his  '^  man  " 
—  a  spectacle  which  moved  grief  and  in- 
dignation in  the  breast  of  many  a  zealous 
pontilf  and  saint — so,  as  to  all  other  ser- 
vices (rent,  corvees,  troops,  &c.)  which. 
»  III.  i.  33^5. 
3  Euseb.  //.  B.  X.  5. 


¥F 


434  IMPEDIMENTS  OF  MARRIAGE      IMPEDIMENTS  OF  MARRIAGE 


the  vassal  was  "bound  to  render  to  his  lord 
by  the  condition  of  his  tenure,  he  could 
not,  if  a  churchman,  plead  the  ecclesias- 
tical immunity,  though  it  still  subsisted 
in  full  force  as  to  lands  held  in  frank 
almoigne. 

The  Council  of  Trent  ^  entreated  all 
Catholic  princes  not  to  allow  their  ser- 
Tants  and  officials  to  violate,  through 
cupidity  or  carelessness,  "the  immunity 
of  the  Church  and  of  ecclesiastical  persons 
which  had  been  established  by  the  ordi- 
nance of  God  and  canonical  sanctions."  At 
the  present  day,  through  the  continual  en- 
croachments of  the  lay  power,  immunity  as 
regards  taxation  exists  nowhere  in  Europe ; 
and  even  that  shred  of  privilege  by  which 
the  burden  of  military  service  was  taken 
off  the  necks  of  aspirants  for  the  priest- 
hood has  been  swept  away  by  the  so-called 
Liberals  in  France  and  Italy.  (Ferraris, 
Immunitas  Ecclesiastica ;  Thomassin, 
"  Vetus  et  Nova  Eccl.  Disciplina.'') 

ZMPSBiniEN'TS  OF  »ZARRI- 
AGE.  The  contract  of  marriage  be- 
tween certain  persons  and  in  certain 
cases  is  null  and  void  by  the  law  of  God, 
natural  and  revealed.  So  far  Protes- 
tants are  at  one  with  us,  for  they  would 
not  dream  of  holding  that  marriage  be- 
tween father  and  daughter  or  brother 
and  sister  was  valid.  But  Cathohcs 
further  maintain  with  the  Council  of 
Trent  (Sess.  xxiv.  De  Matrimon.  can.  4) 
that  the  Church  may  institute  im- 
pediments which  nullify  the  contract 
of  marriage.  The  principle  on  which 
this  tenet  rests  is  a  very  simple  one. 
Marriage  between  baptised  persons, 
according  to  the  Catholic  doctrine,  is  a 
sacrament,  and  therefore  this  contract 
faUs  under  ecclesiastical  authority.  Just 
as  the  State  may  pronounce  certain 
natural  contracts  which  are  lawful  in 
themselves  null  and  void — just  as,  for 
example,  it  may  for  the  general  good 
nullify  certain  engagements  made  by 
minors  or  at  play,  so  the  Church  may 
interfere  with  the  freedom  of  the  marriage 
contract.  The  State,  on  the  contrary, 
has  no  power  to  nullify  marriage,  because 
the  sacrament  of  marriage  does  not  fall 
under  civil  jurisdiction,  although  as  ihe 
formalities  of  marriage  affect  the  public 
order,  the  State  may  regulate  them — e.g. 
provide  that  persons  about  to  be  married 
should  have  their  names  registered,  &c. 

Impediments  are  of  two  kinds.  They 
may  render  marriage  unlawful  merely,  in 
which  case  they  are  called  "  mere  impedi- 
1  Sess.  XXV.  De  Reform,  c.  20. 


entia  ; "  or  they  may  nullify  it,  in  which 
case  they  are  known  as  "  dirimentia." 
We  shall  treat  of  these  impediments  aa 
settled  by  the  existing  law,  adding  his- 
torical notices. 

1.  Impedimenta  mei'e  Impedientia: — 
(a)  Time.  The  solemnities  of  Mar- 
riage must  not  take  place  between  Advent 
Sunday  and  Epiphany,  or  between  Ash 
Wednesday  and  Low  Sunday.  So  the 
Council  of  Trent,  Sess.  xxiv.  De  Re- 
form. Matr.  cap.  10.  Marriage,  solemnly 
celebrated,  is  forbidden  in  these  times 
because  they  should  be  devoted  to  pen- 
ance or  else  to  a  joy  purely  spiritual. 
Marriages  in  Lent  were  generally  pro- 
hibited in  ancient  times :  marriages  in 
Advent  and  Christmas  time  only  in 
certain  places,  though  Gratian  inserts 
this  latter  prohibition  in  his  "  Decretum." 
Some  provincial  councils  forbade  mar- 
riage on  Sundays,  from  three  days  before 
the  Ascension  to  the  first  Sunday  after 
Pentecost,  &c.^ 

(/3)  Ecclesiastical  Prohibition. — This 
includes  the  marriage  of  a  Catholic  with 
a  baptised  person  not  a  Catholic,  which 
marriage  is  valid,  but,  unless  a  dispen- 
sation has  been  obtained,  unlawful.  Such 
marriages  are  forbidden  by  the  Councils 
of  Elvira  (anno  306),  can.  16,  and  of 
Laodicea,  can.  10  and  31.  The  Council 
of  Chalcedon,  can.  14,  forbids  "  readers 
and  singers  "  (avayvaxTTol  koli  ■^aXraC)  to 
marry  an  heretical  girl.  The  reason  of 
this  prohibition  has  always  been  the 
same,  viz.  the  danger  that  the  children 
will  not  be  brought  up  Catholics.  Hence 
in  some  of  the  rules  just  quoted  exception 
is  made  in  favour  of  marriage  with 
heretics  who  promise  to  become  Catholic. 
Marriages  without  previous  proclauiation 
of  banns  are  also  forbidden  by  the  Church. 

(y)  Simple  vow  of  chastity,  such  as 
is  made  privately  or  in  congregations  like 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  &c.,  which  are  not 
religious  orders  in  the  canonical  sense. 

(5)  Previous  engagement  to  another 
person,  unless  the  engagement  has  been 
lawfully  annulled— e..(/.  by  mutual  consent. 
This  impediment,  like  (y),  depends  on 
the  natural  law. 

2.  Diriment  Impediments  : — 

(a)  Error  and  conditio  affecting  the 
substance  of  the  contract.  Thus  a  man 
who  goes  through  the  form  of  marriage 
with  one  woman,  mistaking  her  for  an- 
other, really  marries  neither.  This  im- 
pediment comes  from  the   natural  law. 

1  See  Chardon,  Hist,  des  Sacr.  torn.  VL, 
"  Mariage,"  c.  3. 


IMPEDIMENTS  OF  MARRIAGE         IMPEDIMENTS  OF  MARRIAGE  435 


If  a  person  marries  a  slave  unawares,  the 
marriage  is  null.  For  the  Roman  and 
early  Cliurch  law  on  this  subject  see 
Dollinger,  "  Hippolytus  and  Callistus," 
Engl.  Transl.  p.  147. 

O)  Vows  of  chastity,  if  solemn,  and 
holy  orders.  The  reader  will  find  under 
the  article  Celibacy  an  account  of  the 
gradual  process  by  which  holy  order 
came  to  be  a  diriment  impediment.  The 
ancient  Church  did  not  expressly  distin- 
guish between  simple  and  solemn  vows,  but 
Chardon  quotes  a  letter  of  Pope  Innocent 
I.  to  Victricius  of  Rouen  in  which  a  very 
similar  distinction  is  recognised.  The 
Pope  divides  nuns  who  have  made  the 
vow  of  continence  into  two  classes — viz. 
those  who  have  and  those  who  have  not 
received  the  veil  publicly  from  the  Church. 
The  former,  if  they  marry,  he  treats  as 
unfaithful  to  Christ  their  spouse,  and 
excludes  from  communion  till  the  person 
they  marry  is  dead.  On  the  latter  he 
merely  imposes  penance  for  a  time. 
Moreover,  the  Synod  of  Elvira,  can.  13, 
forbids  virgins  consecrated  to  God,  in 
case  they  break  their  vow,  to  communi- 
cate, even  on  their  deathbeds,  unless  they 
have  done  penance  and  ceased  to  cohabit 
("  abstineant  a  coitu  ").^  So  again  the 
First  Council  of  Toledo  (anno  400),  canon 
16,  only  admits  a  mm  ("  devota  '*),  to  pen- 
ance if  separated  from  the  man  she  has  un- 
lawfully married  ("  caste  vivere  coeperit, 
recesserit  et  pcenituerit").  So  the  Second 
Synod  of  Orleans,  canon  17,  with  respect 
to  deaconesses ;  and  many  other  ancient 
authorities.  The  Trullan  Synod,  canon 
44,  treats  the  marriage  of  a  monk  as  an 
act  of  uhchastity. 

(y)  Consanguinity  and  afflnity.  [See 
the  articles  so  entitled.] 

(8)  Public  c?cco/-Mm("publica  honestas") . 
If  A  is  or  has  been  betrothed  to  B,  A 
cannot  validly  marry  a  third  person  re- 
lated in  the  first  degree  of  kindred  to  B. 
He  cannot,  e.g.  marry  B's  mother,  daugh- 
ter, or  sister.  A  similar  rule,  of  course, 
binds  B.  So  the  Council  of  Trent,  for  in  the 
older  canon  law  the  impediment  from 
betrothal  extended  to  the  fourth  degree. 
Again,  if  A  has  been  married  to  B,  but  has 
not  consummated  the  marriage,  he  cannot 
marry  afterwards  anyone  related  to  B  in 
the  first,  second,  third,  or  fourth  degree. 
This  impeditnent  was  adopted  from  the 
Roman  law,  and  is  not  referred  to  by  the 
Fathers. 

'  Even  then  only  in  case  this  fall  has  been 
a  single  act  of  weakness  atoned  for  by  a  life- 
long penance. 

FF 


(e)  Crime,  (1)  Adultery  between 
two  persons  accompanied  by  a  promise  of 
marriage  when  they  are  free  to  contract 
it,  (2)  Successful  conspiracy  to  murder 
a  husband  or  wife  in  order  that  the  con- 
spirators may  marry.  (3)  Adultery  and 
murder  with  the  intention  of  marriage 
combined,  even  if  there  be  no  conspiracy 
or  previous  promise  of  marriage,  are 
diriment  impediments.  Also  from  the 
Roman  law. 

{C)  Difference  of  religion  {"  disparitas 
cultus")  makes  the  marriage  of  a  baptised 
and  unbaptised  person  null.  In  the  early 
Church,  such  unions,  though  often  pro- 
hibited, were  not  regarded  as  invalid,  and 
nearly  all  theologians,  according  to  Char- 
don, are  agreed  that  custom  only  has 
made  the  impediment  a  diriment  one. 

ir))  Grave  fear,  if  unj  ustly  caused  with 
a  view  of  bringing  marriage  about.  Pro- 
bably this  cause  nullifies  marriage  by  the 
natural  law. 

{&)  Another  ma?Tiage  tie  still  existing 
("ligamen  ").  If  one  of  the  parties  hasbeen 
previously  married,  there  must  be  a  moral 
certainty  that  his  or  her  previous  partner 
is  dead.  In  any  case  in  which  the  priest 
or  the  parties  themselves  doubt,  recourse 
must  be  had  to  the  bishop,  who  will  judge 
whether  the  moral  certainty  exists. 

(i)  Defect  of  age.  Boys  cannot 
marry  before  completing  their  fourteenth, 
girls  before  completing  their  twelfth, 
year,  "  nisi  malitia  suppleat  aetatem." 

(k)  Clandestinity.  No  one  doubts 
that  from  the  earliest  times  marriages, 
wherever  it  was  possible,  were  contracted 
in  the  lace  of  the  Church ;  indeed  Tertul- 
lian  ("  De  Pudic."  c.  4)  tells  us  that  mar- 
riages contracted  otherwise  were  thought 
extremely  disreputable.  Chardon  quotes 
a  declaration  of  Charlemagne,  Capitularies 
of  French  kings,  and  decrees  of  Eastern 
emperors,  which  prove  that  marriage 
without  the  ecclesiastical  ceremonies  was 
treated  as  absolutely  null,  and  such  was 
the  discipline  both  in  East  and  West  till 
the  twelfth  century,  for  Ivo  of  Chartres 
quotes  the  False  Decretals  to  this  effect. 
But,  soon  after,  the  discipline  changed  in 
the  West,  The  validity  of  clandestine 
marriages  was  fully  recognised  by  the 
Church,  and  the  common  opinion  of 
the  mediaeval  doctors  made  the  essence 
of  marriage  consist  in  the  free  consent 
of  the  contracting  persons.  The  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  introdi  ced  a  new  condition  for 
the  validity  of  the  contract,  and  therefore 
of  the  sacrament.  It  declared  all  mar- 
riages null  unless  contracted  before  the 


43G  IMPEDIMENTS  OF  MARRIAGE 


IMPOSITION  OF  HANDS 


parish-priest,  or  anotlier  priest  approved 
by  him  for  tlie  purpose,  and  two  or  three 
witnesses.  Hence,  e.g.,  two  persons 
marrying  in  France  merely  before  the 
magistrate  are  really  not  married  at  all. 
But  in  order  to  avoid  the  difficulties 
which  would  otherwise  have  arisen,  the 
decree  of  Trent  was  not  promulgated  in 
Great  Britain,  several  German  States — 
Indeed,  in  Protestant  countries  generally, 
nor  in  the  United  States;  so  that  the 
marriages  of  Protestants  or  Catholics  made 
before  the  Protestant  clergyman  or  magis- 
trate or  without  any  functionary  in  these 
countries  are  valid.  In  1741  Benedict 
XIV.  declared  clandestine  marriages  in 
the  Low  Countries  valid  unless  each  of 
the  parties  was  Catholic.  Pius  VI.  in  1785 
made  a  similar  declaration  with  regard  to 
Ireland.^ 

(X)  Impotentda  {antecedens  et  per- 
petua). 

(/x)  Rnptus.  If  a  man  carries  off  a 
woman  from  one  place  to  another  with  the 
view  of  marrying  her,  the  Church  nullities 
any  marriage  between  them  so  long  as  the 
woman  is  in  the  man's  power.  The  im- 
pediment still  exists  even  if  the  woman 
consents  to  the  marriage.  The  Church 
will  accept  no  proof  of  freedom  on  the 
woman's  part  short  of  her  removal  from 
her  suitor's  power.  Severe  laws  were 
made  against  the  crime  of  raptus  by  the 
Roman  emperors,  beginning  with  Con- 
stantine.  Justinian  absolutely  prohibited 
marriage  between  the  raptor  and  the 
woman  he  had  carried  off.  So  did  Charle- 
magne in  his  Capitularies  ;  and  the  Greek 
Church  maintained  a  similar  discipline. 
"  It  is,"  says  Chardon,  speaking  of  the 
"Western  Church — "  it  is  specially  in  the 
ancient  councils  of  France  that  raptus  has 
been  expressly  declared  a  diriment  im- 
pediment." The  councils  he  quotes  range 
from  the  sixth  to  the  eighth  century,  and 
they  certainly  prohibit  subsequent  mar- 
riage between  the  raptor  and  his  victim, 
though  it  may  be  doubted  whether  they 
meant  to  pronounce  it  null.  However, 
in  the  anarchy  towards  the  end  of  the 
ninth  and  during  the  tenth  centuries  these 
canons  fell  into  disuse.  Pope  Lucius  III. 
decided  that  when  a  girl  was  carried  off, 
her  marriage  with  the  man  who  had 
seized  her  was  valid,  provided  she  con- 

1  As  to  the  question  whether  clandestine 
marriages  of  Protestants  are  valid  where  the 
Council  of  Trent  has  been  proclaimed  and  not 
restricted  by  any  Papal  declaration  such  as 
those  just  quoted,  see  Ballerini  on  Gury 
De  Matrim, 


sented  to  it  freely.  Innocent  III.  fol- 
lowed the  same  principles.  Thji  Council 
of  Trent  introduced  the  present  rule  at  the 
request  of  the  French  king.  The  reader 
will  observe  that  it  is  less  strict  than  the 
prohibitions  of  the  old  French  canons. 
The  Council  of  Trent  permits  marriage 
between  the  raptor  and  the  raptee,  pro- 
vided the  latter  is  out  of  the  former's 
power  when  she  gives  her  consent. 

3.  Dispensations  from  Ivipediments. — 
If  the  impediments  arise  from  the  natural 
or  divine  law,  no  human  power  can  dis- 
pense from  them.  The  Pope  may  dispense 
from  such  as  are  of  ecclesiastical  origin ; 
while  bishops  in  virtue  of  their  ordinary 
power  can  only  set  aside  the  "impedi- 
menta mere  impedientia.""  Bishops,  how- 
ever, may  often  dispense  from  certain 
diriment  impediments  as  apostolic  dele- 
gates. The  facility  with  which  dispen- 
sations are  given  has  increased  enor- 
mously since  the  thirteenth  century. 
Gregory  the  Great  granted  marriage 
dispensations  in  favour  of  the  English 
who  were  just  converted  to  the  faith. 
So  Gregory  II.  in  favour  of  the  Ger- 
mans. But  in  numerous  instances  dis- 
pensations, such  as  would  easily  be 
granted  nowadays  to  ordinary  Catholics, 
were  refused  even  to  crowned  heads.  It 
was  in  vain  that  the  Council  of  Trent 
tried  to  restore  the  ancient  rigour.  (See 
Chardon,  ''  Hist,  des  Sacr.,"  and  Gibert, 
'^  Histoire  ou  Tradition  de  I'Eglise  sur  le 
Sacrement  du  Mariage." 

izaPoszTzoxr  op  baxtss  even 
in  the  old  dispensation  (Gen.  xlviii.  14, 
Deut.  xxxiv.  9)  symbolised  the  convey- 
ance of  grace  and  power.  The  rite  has 
been  retained  under  the  new  law,  and  in 
two  instances  (the  imposition  of  hands  in 
ordination  and  confirmation)  it  has  re- 
ceived a  sacramental  efficacy.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  most  noteworthy  instances  in 
which  the  Church  employs  or  once  em- 
ployed the  rite. 

(1)  As  Christ  blessed  the  children, 
laying  his  hands  on  them  (Matt.  xix.  13), 
so  the  bishop  laid  his  hands  on  the  cate- 
chumens as  they  made  the  first  step  to- 
wards reception  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Thus  Eusebius  ("  Vit.  Constant."  iv.  61, 
where  see  the  note  of  Valesius)  tells  us 
that  Constantine,  when  preparing  shortly 
before  his  death  for  baptism,  first  received 
the  imposition  of  hands  accompanied  with 
prayer  (roiv  dia  xeipoO^a-ias  €V)(oi>v  jy^iovro). 
This  ceremony  was  repeated  during  the 
catechumen's  course  of  preparation,  at  the 
renunciation  of  the  devil  (Tertull.  -'  De 


IMPOSITION  OF  HANDS 

Coron,"  3)  and  at  the  exorcisms  (Orig.  "In 
Jos."  Horn.  xxiv.  1)'.  Probably  it  is  this 
imposition  of  hards  which  is  intended  in 
can.  39  of  the  Council  of  Elvira  andean.  6 
of  the  Council  of  Aries  (see  Hefele,  "Con- 
cil."  i.  p.  172  seq,),  and  it  is  still  retained 
in  our  baptismal  rite. 

(2)  As  Christ  laid  his  hands  on  the 
sick,  so  did  the  Church's  ministers  ("  Con- 
Btit.  Ap."  ii.  41,  Cyprian,  "  De  Laps."  16) 
on  those  who  were  spiritually  sick — viz.  on 
penitents.  It  is  no  longer  the  custom  to 
lay  on  hands  in  the  sacrament  of  penance, 
but  it  seems  to  have  lasted  till  some  time 
after  the  Reformation,  and  is  still  practised, 
if  we  have  been  rightly  informed,  by 
priests  of  the  unreformed  Carmelite  order. 

Hands  were  also  laid  on  heretics  when 
reconciled  to  the  Church.  '*  Let  no  change 
be  made,"  such  are  the  words  of  Pope 
Stephen  {ripud  Cyprian,  Ep.  174)  "beyond 
the  traditional  usage  of  laying  hands  on 
them  unto  penance." 

Imposition  of  hands  was  also  used  in 
blessing  marriages  (Clem.  Al.  "Peed."  iii. 
11 ,  p.  291 ,  ed.  Potter),  in  miraculous  healing 
of  the  sick  (Irenteus,  apud  Euseb.  "  H.  E." 
V.  7),  in  consecrating  virgins  and  ordain- 
ing deaconesses.  Tbese  last  customs  do 
not  exist  in  tlie  modern  Church,  except 
that  in  the  ceremonies  which  precede 
extreme  unction  the  priest  holds  his  hand 
over  the  sick  man. 

The  imposition  of  hands  in  confirma- 
tion and  order  is  treated  of  in  the  articles 
on  these  sacraments,  but  it  may  be  con- 
venient to  notice  here  a  rite  which  occurs 
in  the  Roman  Mass,  just  before  the  con- 
secration, though  it  does  not,  strictly 
speaking,  form  part  of  our  present  subject, 
since  it  is  an  extension  and  not  an  im- 
position of  hands.  It  is,  however,  con- 
nected with  an  imposition  of  hands  in  the 
old  law.  Then  he  who  offered  sacrifice 
put  his  hand  on  the  head  of  the  victim 
(see  Levit.  i.  4,  iii.  2,  8,  13,  iv.  5,  15), 
whether  the  sacrifice  was  a  holocaust, 
eucharistic,  or  expiatory.  This  rite  indi- 
cated the  "  personal  and  intimate  relation 
between  the  worshipper  and  the  victim  " 
(Kalisch  on  Levit.  i.  p.  176).  It  is  with 
the  same  intention  that  the  priest  holds 
his  hands  extended  at  the  prayer  "  Hanc 
igitur"  over  the  gifts  of  bread  and  wine 
"  which  are  soon  to  be  changed  into  the 
victim  of  our  peace."  The  rite  does  not 
appear  to  be  ancient,  for  the  OrdoRomanus 
down  to  the  fifteenth  century  simply  pre- 
scribed the  extension  of  the  hands  at  this 
prayer,  and  Le  Brun  ("  Explic.  de  la  Messe," 
part  iv.  a.  5)  does  not  seem  to  have  found 


INCENSE 


4,*i7 


our  present  rubric  in  any  missal  older 
than  1481. 

ziarCARirii.Tioir.  The  Catholic 
doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  has  been 
already  explained  under  the  word 
Christ.  Here  we  confine  ourselves  to 
an  account  of  the  word  and  its  synonyms. 

The  history  of  the  word  and  its  syn- 
onyms is  given  with  great  fulness  by  Peta- 
vius,  "  De  Incarnat."  ii.  1.  In  St.  John's 
gospel  we  are  told  that  the  Word  "  was 
made  flesh,"  where,  as  Maldonatus  re- 
marks, "  flesh  "  (like  the  Hebrew  "ib'i  :  e.ff. 
in  Gen.  vi.  12,  "  all  flesb  had  corrupted  its 
way")  is  only  another  word  for  "  man," 
though  the  word  is  fitly  chosen  to  mark 
the  extreme  condescension  of  God  the 
Word.  St.  Justin,  "  Apol."'  i.  61,  com- 
bines the  two  words  "  became  flesh  "  into 
the  single  verb  "  flesh-made  "  {crapKOTroir}- 
Seis  ^)  ;  while  in  the  Latin  version  of 
Irenoeus,  v.  1,  3,  we  meet  with  the  tech- 
nical term  which  has  been  so  familiar  ever 
since,  viz.  Incarnation  (incarnatio).  The 
Greek  Fathers  use  a  word  nearly  equi- 
volent,  viz.  o-dpKoxns.  They  also  employ 
€vavdpoiTTi](ris,  "being  made  man/'  for 
which  St.  Ambrose  has  the  word 
humanatio,  in  order  to  express  the  truth 
that  the  Word  took  perfect  human  nature, 
that  He  had  a  human  intelligence  as  well 
as  a  human  body  and  animal  soul,  and  so 
to  exclude  the  heresy  of  ApoUmaris.  The 
Fathers  also  use  other  words  which  are 
less  plain  and  explicit.  Most  commonly 
they  call  the  Incarnation  the  "  economy  " 
{olKovojxia),  meaning  that  Christ  took 
flesh  in  order  to  provide  for  our  salvation. 
They  often  substitute  for  the  bare  word 
"  economy  " fuller  expressions,  such  as  "the 
economy  according  to  the  flesh/'  "  accord- 
ing to  man,"  and  the  like.  They  also  speak 
of  the  Incarnation  as  the  "condescension" 
(avyKaTci^aa-ii),  the  "  taking/'  "  assum- 
ing," "  clothing  Himself  in  flesh/'  as  the 
"  mingling  "  (viz.  of  the  two  natures),  in- 
corporation {incorporatio)  ;  &c.  &c. 

zsrcBirss.  It  is  certain  from  Ter- 
tuUian,  "  Apol."  42,  and  from  many  other 
early  writers  down  to  St.  Augustine,  that 
the  religious  use  of  incense  was  unknown 
in  the  primitive  Church.  Le  Brun  quotes 
St.  Ambrose  to  prove  that  incense  was 
used  in  the  churches  of  his  day,  but  the 
quotation  can  scarcely  be  said  to  prove 
the  point.  On  the  other  hand,  Dionysius 
the  Areopagite — whose  works  were  first 
quoted  in  532,  but  may  have  been  written 
a  good  deal  earlier — distinctly  mentions 

^  Cf.  (Topjcwflej-Ta  in  the  Njceae  Creed. 


438         INCLUSI,  INCLUS^ 

("Hierarcb.  Eccles."  iii.  §  2)  the  censing  of 
the  altar  by  the  cbief  priest.  The  use  of 
incense  is  also  mentioned  in  the  first  Ordo 
Komanus,  which  may  belong  to  the  seventh 
century,  and  in  the  liturgies  which  go  by 
the  names  of  St.  James,  ISt.  Basil,  and  St. 
Chrysostom.  Possibly  also  the  fourth 
(al.  thhd)  canon  of  the  Apostles,  which 
forbids  anything  to  be  placed  on  the  altar 
at  the  oblation  except  "  oil  for  the  lamp 
and  inceose,"  may  refer  to  the  incense  as 
liturgicaUy  used.  If  so,  we  should  be 
justified  with  Le  Brun  in  supposing  that 
incense  was  introduced  into  the  Church 
services  when  the  persecution  of  the 
heathen  ceased  and  the  splendour  of 
churches  and  ritual  began. 

Some  authors  believe  that  incense  was 
at  first  introduced  to  sweeten  the  air,  and 
certainly  a  "Benediction  of  Incense"  used 
in  the  time  of  Charlemagne  and  given  by 
Martene  poiuts  in  this  direction.  But  the 
mystical  .siguitications  of  incense  are  ob- 
vious. It  symbolises  the  zeal  with  which 
the  faithful  should  be  consumed ;  the  good 
odour  of  Christian  virtue ;  the  ascent  of 
prayer  to  God.  It  is  used  before  the  in- 
troit,  at  the  gospel,  ofiertory  and  elevation 
in  High  Mass;  at  the  Magnificat  in 
vespers ;  at  funerals  ;  &c. 

ZNCZ.irsi,  znrcxiusic.  Kecluses, 
men  and  women.  A  monk  or  nun  might, 
with  the  permission  of  the  superior,  be 
shut  up  permanently  in  a  cell,  either  near 
to  or  within  the  precincts  of  the  monas- 
tery, whence  he  orshe  could  not  come  forth 
but  by  licence  of  the  bishop.  Cassian  de- 
scribes the  inclusi  of  his  day ;  as  a  class, 
they  were  not  then  held  in  great  esteem. 
The  manner  of  life  of  a  female  recluse  in 
the  twelfth  century  may  be  clearly  seen 
from  the  treatise  "De  Institutione  Inclus- 
arum,"'  ^  ascribed  to  St.  Ailred  of  Rievaulx. 
The  writer  addresses  his  counsels  to  his 
own  sister,  who  had  retired  into  a  cell ; 
he  earnestly  warns  her  to  shun  idleness 
and  fri  volous  conversation ;  from  the 
general  tone  of  his  remarks  it  is  plain  that 
the  life  of  a  female  recluse  was  beset  by 
great  and  pecuHar  dangers  and  tempta- 
tions.    (Ducange,  Inclusi.) 

Xia-BSX         OF  PBOHZBZTEB 

BOOKS.  Since  the  dawn  of  civilisation, 
the  perception  of  the  influence  for  good  or 
evil  exerted  by  books  has  induced  the 
authorities  of  every  strongly  constituted 
State  to  control  their  circulation.  Not  to 
search  for  other  instances,  the  speech 
which  Livy  ^  puts  in  the  mouth  of  the 

*  Printed  in  Migne's  Patrologia,  vol.  xxxii. 

*  Book  xxxix.  c.  16. 


INDEX 

consul  Postumius  (b.c.  186)  shows  the 
sternness  of  Roman  feeling  on  the  subject. 
Addressing  the  assembled  people  in  the 
forum,  and  about  to  denounce  the  foul 
Bacchic  rites  of  which  he  had  discovered 
the  trace,  "  How  often,"  he  says,  "  in 
the  time  of  our  fathers  and  grandfathers, 
was  the  duty  imposed  on  the  magistrates 
of  forbidding  the  practice  of  foreign  rites ; 
of  driving  away  [foreign]  priests  and  pro- 
phets irom  every  corner  of  the  city ;  of 
searching  for  and- burning  books  of  magic-; 
of  putting  a  stop  to  every  system  of 
sacrificing  that  was  not  according  to  the 
custom  of  Rome  !  "  In  Christian  times 
the  danger  of  bad  books  was  recognised 
from  the  first.  The  converts  at  Ephesus 
(Acts  xix.  19)  voluntarily  brought  their 
magical  books  to  St,  Paul  and  cast  them 
into  the  flames.  One  of  the  Apostolic 
Canons  (Ix.)  orders  the  deposition  of  any 
one  in  the  ranks  of  the  clergy  who  should 
publish  in  the  Church  as  holy  "  the  falsely 
inscribed  books  of  the  impious."  The 
practice  of  the  primitive  Church  in  con- 
demning and  suppressing  heretical  or  dan- 
gerous books  was  uniform.  The  erroneous 
writings  of  Origen  were  brought  to  the 
Roman  Pontifl",  Pootianus,  to  be  con- 
demned by  him ;  Leo  the  Great  by  letter 
suppressed  and  prohibited  the  books  of 
the  Priscillianists.^  Descending  to  the 
middle  ages,  we  find  Leo  IX.  in  a  synod 
at  Vercelli  (1050)  condemning  and  order- 
ing to  be  burnt  the  writings  of  Erigena 
and  Berengarius  on  the  Eucharist.^  The 
Council  of  Constance  (1415)  ordered  all 
the  books  of  John  Huss  to  be  publicly 
burnt  at  the  council,  and  that  all  bishops 
should  make  diligent  search  for  copies  and 
burn  them  wherever  iound.  Leo  X.  in 
the  bull  Exsui-ge,  Domine  (1520),  con- 
demned the  earlier  heretical  writings  of 
Luther.  The  invention  of  printing,^  and 
the  extension  of  facilities  of  communica- 
tion between  State  and  State,  made  it 
evident  to  the  hierarchy  that  if  the  in- 
fluence of  books  was  to  be  kept  under 
control,  new  methods  must  be  adopted. 
When  copies  of  books  were  slowly  multi- 
plied by  the  labour  of  scribes,  it  was  suffi- 
cient to  await  their  publication  before 
examining  them,  and  trust  to  being  able, 
if  they  were  to  be  suppressed,  to  call  in, 
get  hold  of,  and  cancel  the  few  copies  in 
circulation.  But  when  the  printing-press 
could  turn  out  a  thousand  copies  of  a 
work  in  a  few  days,  everything  waa 
changed.     It  then  became  necessary  that 

1  Fleurv,  xxvii.  10. 

2  Ibid.  iix.  09. 


INDEX 

the  books  should  be  examined  before  they 
were  printed ;  censors  were  appointed, 
and  a  system  of  licensing  came  into  force. 
"  The  first  known  instance  of  the  regular 
appointment  of  a  censor  on  books  is  in  the 
mandate  of  Bei-thold,  archbishop  of  Mentz, 
in  1486 ; "  and  a  few  years  later,  in  1501, 
"a  bull  of  Alexander  VI.,  reciting  that 
many  pernicious  books  had  been  printed 
in  various  parts  of  the  world,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  provinces  of  Mentz,  Cologne, 
Treves,  and  Magdeburg,  forbade  all 
printers  in  these  provinces  to  publish  any 
book  without  the  licence  of  the  arch- 
bishops or  their  officials."  ^ 

In  the  movement  of  what  is  called  the 
Reformation,  a  deluge  of  books  containing 
doctrine  more  or  less  erroneous  was 
poured  over  Europe,  and  it  became  evident 
that  if  booksellers  were  to  know  with 
certainty  what  they  might  sell,  and  the 
Christian  faithful  what  they  might  read, 
it  would  not  do  to  trust  to  an  "  im- 
primatur "  on  the  title-page,  which  might 
be  forged,  or  come  from  Protestant  censors ; 
but  that  a  list  or  catalogue  of  books  con- 
demned by  the  Church  must  be  drawn  up 
and  published.  The  matter  was  taken  up 
by  the  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  xviii.),  which 
appointed  a  commission  of  some  of  its 
members  to  collect  and  examine  the  cen- 
sures already  issued,  and  consider  and 
report  on  the  steps  which  it  was  advisable 
to  take  about  books  generally.  This 
commission  compiled  an  Index  of  Pro- 
hibited Books  accordingly,  but  the  council 
in  its  last  session  (1663),  finding  that  from 
the  multiplicity  of  details  it  was  not  de- 
sirable to  frame  any  conciliar  decision,  re- 
mitted the  whole  matter  to  the  Pope.  In 
conformity  with  this  reference,  St.  Pius  V., 
a  few  years  later,  erected  the  Sacred  Con- 
gregation of  the  Index,  with  a  Dominican 
friar  for  its  secretary.  Sixtus  V.  con- 
firmed and  enlarged  theb  powers. 

"The  Congregation  of  the  Index  of 
Prohibited  Books  consists  of  a  competent 
number  of  Cardinals,  according  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  the  Pope,  and  has  a  secretary 
taken  from  the  Order  of  Preachers,  and  a 
great  nimiber  of  theological  and  other 
professors  who  are  called  Consultors,  the 
chief  of  whom  is  the  Master  of  the  Apo- 
stohc  Palace  [Curia.  Romaka],  the  primary 
and  official  Oonsultor  of  this  Congrega- 
tion." ^ 

A  Constitution  of  Benedict  XIV. 
(1753)  gives  minute  instructions  as  to  the 
principles  and  methods  to  be  observed  by 

1  Hallam,  Lit.  of  Europe^  i.  254. 

2  Ferraris,  "Congregatioues.'" 


INDEX 


439 


the  Congregation  in  its  work  of  examining 
and  judging  books.  Some  idea  of  these 
principles  may  be  gained  from  the  follow- 
ing paragraph.  "  Let  them  know  that  they 
must  judge  of  the  various  opinions  and 
sentiments  in  any  book  that  comes  before 
them,  with  minds  absolutely  free  from 
prejudice.  Let  them,  therefore,  dismiss 
patriotic  leanings,  family  affections,  the 
predilections  of  school,  the  esprit  de  corps 
of  an  institute ;  let  them  put  away  the 
zeal  of  party ;  let  them  simply  keep  be- 
fore their  eyes  the  decisions  of  Holy 
Church,  and  the  common  doctrine  of 
Catholics,  which  is  contained  in  the  de- 
crees of  General  Councils,  the  Constitutions 
of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  and  the  consent  of 
orthodox  Fathers  and  Doctors ;  bearing  this 
in  mind,  moreover,  that  there  are  not  a 
few  opinions  which  appear  to  one  school, 
institute,  or  nation^  to  be  unquestionably 
certain,  yet  nevertheless  are  rejected  and 
impugned,  and  their  contradictories  main- 
tained, by  other  Catholics,  without  harm 
to  faith  and  religion — all  this  being  with 
the  knowledge  and  permission  of  the 
Apostolic  See,  which  leaves  every  parti- 
cular opinion  of  this  kind  in  its  own  de- 
gree of  probability." 

Numerous  editions  of  the  Index  have 
appeared  from  time  to  time.  That  issued 
imder  Benedict  XIV.  (Rome,  1744)  con- 
tains between  nine  and  ten  thousand 
entries  of  books  and  authors,  alphabetically 
arranged ;  of  these  about  one-third  are 
cross-references.  Prefixed  to  it  are  the 
ten  rules  sanctioned  by  the  Council  of 
Trent,  of  which  the  tenor  is  as  follows. 
The  first  rule  orders  that  aU  books  con- 
demned by  Popes  or  General  Councils  be- 
fore 1615,  which  were  not  contained  in 
that  Index,  should  be  reputed  to  be  con- 
demned in  such  sort  as  they  were  formerly 
condemned.  The  second  rule  prohibits  aU. 
the  works  of  heresiarchs,  such  as  Luther 
and  Calvin,  and  those  works  by  heretical 
authors  which  treat  of  religion ;  their 
other  works  to  be  allowed  after  examina- 
tion. The  third  and  fourth  rules  relate  to 
versions  of  the  Scripture,  and  define  the 
classes  of  persons  to  whom  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  in  the  vulgar  tongue  may  be 
permitted.  The  fifth  allows  the  circula- 
tion, after  expurgation,  of  lexicons  and 
other  works  of  reference  compiled  by 
heretics.  "The  sixth  relates  to  books  of 
controversy.  The  seventh  orders  that  all 
obscene  books  be  absolutely  prohibited, 
except* ancient  books  written  by  heathens, 
which  were  tolerated  "propter  sermonis 
elegantiam  et  proprietatem,"  but  were  not 


440 


INDIOTION 


to  be  used  in  teaching  boys.  The  eighth 
rule  is  upon  methods  of  expurgation. 
The  ninth  prohibits  books  of  magic  and 
judicial  astrology  j  but  ''  theories  and 
natural  observations  published  for  the  sake 
of  furthering  navigation,  agriculture,  or 
the  medical  art  are  permitted."  The  tenth 
relates  to  printing,  introduciog,  having, 
and  circulating  books.  Persons  reading 
prohibited  books  incur  excommunication 
forthwith  (statim). 

Luther,  Oalvin,  Melanch  thou,  Cranmer, 
Jewel,  &c.,  are  named  as  in  the  first  class 
— i.e.  as  heresiarchs.  Among  books  of  more 
or  less  note  are  named  the  Dialogo  of 
Galileo,  the  Satire  MenipjjSe,  the  Anti- 
Coton,  and  the  Augusiinus  of  Jansenius. 
Among  the  English  authors  whose  works 
are  prohibited  occur  the  names  of  James 
I.,  Barclay,  Usher;  bishops  Sanderson, 
Bull,  and  Pearson;  Gave  and  Hobbes;  but 
not  Hooker,  nor  Milton,  nor  Chillingworth, 
nor  Banyan,  nor  Swift. 

urDiCTZOlir.  A  fiscal  term,  mean- 
ing the  proclamation  of  a  tax,  "quicquid 
in  prsestationem  indicitur."  After  the 
reorganisation  of  the  empire  under  Dio- 
cletian and  Constantine,  it  was  customary 
to  proclaim  the  taxes  yearly,  and  the 
name  of  the  notice  thus  given,  indictio, 
was  transferred  to  the  year  itself.  Every 
fifteen  years  there  was  a  re-valuation  of 
property,  which  would  lead  to  material 
alterations  in  the  terms  of  the  tax-notices. 
To  one  of  these  quindecennial  periods  the 
name  of  "  circle  of  indictions,"  and  then 
briefly  "  indiction "  was  given.  This 
came  to  be  used  as  a  means  of  denoting 
the  date  of  a  transaction  ;  a  thing  was 
said  to  happen  "  indictione  V."  or  "  X." — 
that  is,  in  the  fifth  or  tenth  year  of  the 
circle  of  indictions  then  current.  Of 
course  the  denotation  of  time  was  in- 
complete, for  it  included  no  statement  of 
the  number  of  such  circles  which  had 
elapsed  since  the  epoch  from  which  the 
computation  started.  This  mode  of 
reckoning  the  years,  which  makes  its 
appearance  about  the  middle  of  the 
fourth  century,  continued  to  be  used  even 
into  the  middle  ages,  after  all  notions 
connecting  it  with  taxation  had  dis- 
appeared. The  first  indiction  is  sup- 
posed to  have  commenced  on  September 
24,  312,  on  which  day  Constantine  gained 
a  great  victory  over  Maxentius.  The 
rule  for  finding  the  indiction  of  any  year 
is  as  follows:  to  the  given  year  a.d., 
reckoning  it  to  commence  on  January  1, 
add  3;  divide  the  amount  by  15;  the 
remainder  is  the  number  of  the  indiction ; 


INDULGENCE 

if  there  is  no  remainder,  the  indiction  is 
15.  The  number  3  must  be  added,  in 
order  to  make  the  portion  of  the  date 
A.D.  which  is  anterior  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  indictions  (312  years), 
divisible  by  15  equally  wath  the  portion 
subsequent  to  that  date.  Suppose  we 
wish  to  know  the  indiction  of  a.d.  595, 
the  year  in  which  Pope  Gregory  de- 
spatched   St.    Augustine     to     Britain; 

5?5±5.39,    ^vith    rem.    13;    the    in- 
15 

diction  number  for  this  year  is  therefore 

13.     "  Indict.  XV."'  applies  only  to  the 

portion  of  the  year  from  January  1  to 

September  24 ;  from  the  latter   date   to 

the  end  of  the  year  it  is  Indict.  I. 

ZITDITZiG-SKrcz:.  Indulyentia  is  a 
technical  term  in  the  Roman  law,  mean- 
ing amnesty  or  pardon ;  and  in  much  the 
same  sense  it  occurs  in  the  Latin  of  the 
Vulgate,  where  it  is  synonymous  with 
remissio.^  as  may  be  seen  by  comparing 
Isai.  1x1.  1,  with  Luc.  iv.  18.  In  the 
language  of  the  Church  it  has  acquired  a 
much  more  dehnite  and  restricted  mean- 
ing, and  an  indulgence  in  the  theological 
sense  of  the  word  is  defined  by  Amort  in 
his  classical  work  on  the  subject,  as  "a 
remission  of  the  punishment  which  is  still 
due  to  sin  after  sacramental  absolution, 
this  remission  being  valid  in  the  court  of 
conscience  and  before  God,  and  being 
made  by  an  application  of  the  treasure  of 
the  Church  on  the  part  of  a  lawful 
superior." 

1.  77ie  Catholic  Doctrine  on  Indid- 
gences,  as  given  in  the  preceding  definition, 
implies  several  points  of  Catholic  belief 
which  need  elucidation. 

(u)  An  indulgence  does  not  remit 
either  the  guilt  or  the  eternal  punishment 
of  sin,  much  less  are  the  authorities  of 
the  Church  wicked  and  blasphemous 
enough  to  give  permission  to  commit  sin 
for  the  future.  The  guilt  of  sin  is  for- 
given chiefly  by  the  sacraments  of  bap- 
tism and  penance,  and  even  these  are  of 
no  avail  unless  the  sinner  turns  to  God 
with  sincere  and  supernatural  sorrow  and 
with  firm  purpose  of  amendment.  An 
indulgence  cannot  be  obtained  for  unfor- 
given  sin.  Before  anyone  can  obtain  for 
himself  the  benefit  of  an  indulgence  the 
guilt  must  have  been  washed  away  and 
the  eternal  punishment,  if  his  sin  has 
been  mortal,  must  have  been  forgiven. 
Thus,  instead  of  being  an  encouragement 
to  sin,  the  desire  to  obtain  an  indulgence 
is  a  powerful  motive  to  repentance.  If 
the  phrase  "  remission  of  sin  "  occurs  in 


INDULGENCE 

the  grant  of  an  indulgence,  the  Church, 
after  the  example  of  Scripture  {e.g.  1  Pet. 
ii.  24),  uses  the  word  to  denote  the  re- 
mission of  punishment.  Benedict  XIV. 
('•'  De  Syn.  Dioec."'  xiii.  18,  7)  holds  that 
indulgences  granted  "from  punishment 
and  guilt "  ("  a  poena  et  culpa")  are  spurious. 
Others  (see  Ferraris, "  Prompt.  Bibliothec." 
art.  Indulgentia)  understand  the  form 
as  conveying  to  the  confessor  power  to 
absolve  sacramentally  from  reserved  cases. 
(/3)  Even  when  the  guilt  of  sin  and 
the  eternal  punishment  sometimes  due  to 
it  have  been  removed  by  repentance  and 
absolution,  a  temporal  punishment  may 
still  remain.  Even  after  Nathan  told 
David  his  sin  was  forgiven,  it  was  never- 
theless punished  by  the  death  of  his 
child.  Baptism,  it  is  true,  annuls  both 
the  guilt  and  all  the  penalty  due  to  sin. 
The  absolution  accorded  in  the  sacrament 
of  penance  is  less  efficacious  (Concil  Trid. 
sess.  xiv.  De  Poen.  can.  15).  St.  Paul 
made  the  incestuous  Corinthian  suffer 
in  this  world  that  his  soul  might  be 
saved.  The  Church  of  all  ages  in  giving 
sacramental  absolution  has  imposed 
penances  on  the  sinner.  Usually  speak- 
ing, the  sacramental  penance,  at  least  in 
the  present  mild  discipline  of  the  Church, 
leaves  a  debt  of  temporal  punishment, 
and  this  debt  is  cleared  by  grant  of  an 
indulgence.  The  grant  of  this  indulgence 
is  an  act  of  jurisdiction,  not  of  order,  and 
it  is  quite  distinct  from  sacramental 
absolution.  Of  course,  this  indulgence 
cannot  free  the  repentant  sinner  from 
temporal  punishments  involved  in  the 
very  fact  of  repentance — e.g.  from  restor- 
ing stolen  goods,  retracting  calumnies, 
taking  the  necessary  means,  however 
painful,  to  avoid  future  falls;  or,  again, 
from  the  natural  consequences  of  sin,  such 
as  shame,  siclniess,  and  the  like.  Nor, 
again,  does*  the  Church  ever  excuse  a 
sinner  from  all  sacramental  penance  ;  nay, 
more,  a  person  most  enlightened  on  the 
real  value  of  indulgences,  and  most  eager 
to  gain  them,  is  of  all  others  the  most 
likely  to  afflict  himself  with  voluntary 
mortifications,  recognising  in  them 
powerful  helps  to  overcome  himself,  to 
obtain  that  perfect  aversion  even  from  the 
slightest  sin  which  is  required  before  a 
plenary  indulgence  can  be  gained,  and  to 
avoid  future  falls.  Heaven  helps  those 
who  help  themselves.  We  have  seen  that 
indulgences  are  a  powerful  incentive  to 
repentance;  now  we  see  that  they  en- 
courage strictness  of  life  and,  indeed,  all 
Christian  virtue. 


INDULGENCE 


441 


(y)  Indulgences  are  not  merely  a 
remission  of  canonical  penances  (this 
error  is  condemned  by  the  Church,  Thes. 
liUtheri,  prop.  19 ;  Synod.  Pistoi.  prop. 
40),  but  they  also  avail  before  the  justice 
of  God.  Otherwise,  as  St.  Thomas  argues 
("  Suppl."  qu,  XXV.  a.  1),  the  indulgence 
would  be  a  loss  and  not  a  gain,  and 
the  Church  would  excuse  her  children 
from  canonical  penances,  and  abandon 
them  to  more  grievous  sufferings  in  Pur- 
gatory. The  error  of  Luther  and  the 
Jansenist  Synod  of  Pistoia  on  this  part  of 
the  subject  really  springs  from  miscon- 
ceiving the  nature  of  canonical  penance. 
This  will  appear  more  fully  when  we 
discuss  the  history  of  indulgences.  Here 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  just  as  in 
imposing  canonical  penance  the  Church 
acts  in  the  name  of  God  and  exer- 
cises a  power  of  binding  given  by  Him 
for  the  profit  of  souls,  so  in  remitting 
it  she  exercises  a  power  of  loosing  by 
the  same  divine  authority.  The  power 
of  the  keys  (Matt.  xvi.  19,  xviii.  18;  of. 
John  XX.  22,  23)  enables  her  not  only  to 
forjrive  sins,  but  to  open  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  Thus  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  v.  4)  Im- 
posed penance  "  with  the  power  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  "  and  relaxed  it  (2  Cor.  ii.  1 0) 
"  in  the  person  of  Christ."  Penalty  so 
relaxed  was  no  lonjrer  due,  either  here  or 
hereafter,  so  that  the  doctrine  of  indul-  y 
gences  exhibits  at  once  the  justice  of  God 
and  his  infinite  mercy. 

(S)  An  indulgence  does  not  only 
remit,  but  also  satisfies  the  justice  of  God 
for,  the  temporal  punishment  of  sin.  The 
Church  has  recourse  to  the  infinite  merits 
of  Christ,  wiiich  suffice  to  satisfy  for  all 
guilt  and  all  penalty,  and  to  the  merits  of  • 
saints  who  have  done  penance  more  than 
sufficient  to  pay  the  temporal  punishment 
due  to  their  own  sins.  They  obtained  an 
abundant  reward  for  their  own  good 
deeds,  but  many  of  their  actions  had  a 
penitential  character  which  availed  for 
others  if  not  needed  for  themselves. 
Theologians  express  this  characteristic 
of  an  indulgence  when  they  say  it  is  solutio 
as  well  as  absohitio,  both  payment  and 
remission  ;  or,  again,  that  it  is  "  a  juridi- 
cal absolution,"  including  a  payment  of 
the  debt  from  the  treasure  of  the  merits 
of  Christ  and  the  saints. 

We  may  end  this  explanation  by 
quoting  the  words  of  the  council,  which 
anathematises  those  who  "  assert  that 
they  [indulgences]  are  useless,  or  deny 
that  the  power  to  grant  them  exists  in 
the  Church." 


442 


INDULGENCE 


II.  The  History  of  Indulgences  coiArms, 
the  teacliing  of  the  present  Church,  be- 
cause it  shows  that  the  difference  between 
ancient  and  modern  practice  is  to  be 
explained  by  change  of  circumstances, 
not  of  principle. 

(a)  In  primitive  times  many  years  of 
heavy  penance  were  exacted  for  great 
sins,  but  these  penances  were  curtailed  if 
the  penitent  had  displayed  great  con- 
trition (Cyprian,  Epp.  15-17,  and  33),  and 
this  indulgence  was  usually  granted  when 
persecution  was  impending  or  begun 
(Cyprian,  Ep.  57,  7).  We  read  of  one 
case  (Euseb.  "  H.  E."  v.  32)  in  which  the 
canonical  penance,  which  had,  as  a  rule, 
to  be  performed  before  absolution,  was 
wholly  remitted.  The  way  in  which 
this  indulgence  was  most  commonly 
granted  deserves  particular  notice.  A 
confessor  in  prison  and  expecting  death 
for  Christ,  sent  a  letter  of  peace  ("  libellus 
pacis  ")  to  the  bishop  in  favour  of  some 
brother  who  was  under  penance — e.g.  for 
apostasy — and  the  bishop,  if  satisfied  of 
his  contrition,  restored  him  to  the  peace 
of  the  Church  (see  Cyprian,  Epp.  15-17, 
and  33).  Here  we  have  the  modem 
doctrine  of  indulgence  in  full  operation 
among  the  Christians  of  the  third  cen- 
tury. We  find  the  belief  in  the  "  treasure 
of  merits,"  for  TertuUian  (''  De  Pud."  22), 
when  he  had  become  a  Montanist,  re- 
proaches the  Catholic  Church  on  this 
very  ground.  "  You  give,"  he  says, 
**even  your  martyrs  this  power.  Who 
permits  man  to  grant  the  things  which 
must  be  reserved  for  God  ?  AVho  pays 
for  another's  death  "  {i.e.  the  death  due 
to  sin)  "  save  only  the  Son  of  God  ?  " 
The  indulgence  was  given  by  ecclesi- 
astical authority,  as  has  been  already 
ahown.  Lastly,  it  availed  before  God, 
and  was  no  mere  remission  of  canonical 
penance.  For  Cyprian  (Ep.  18)  speaks 
of  those  "  who  have  received  letters  from 
the  martyrs,  and  can  be  assisted  by  this 
prerogative  before  God."  "He  [the 
Lord]  can  mercifully  pardon  him  who 
repents,  labours,  prays ;  He  can  set  down 
to  his  account  whatever  the  martyrs  have 
asked,  and  the  bishops  (sacerdotes)  have 
done  for  such  persons"  ("De  Laps."  36). 
No  modem  theologian  could  put  the 
Church's  doctrine  better. 

O)  From  the  Seventh  Century  to  the 
Crusades.— Ab  public  was  gradually  re- 
placed by  private  penance  (though  canoni- 
cal penance  was  still  very  severe),  in- 
dulgences were  often  granted  in  the  form 
of  commutation — i.e.  a  lesser  work  was 


INDULGENCE 

supplemented  from  the  "  treasure  of 
merits  "  and  made  equivalent  to  a  greater 
one.  Alms  to  churches,  monasteries,  or 
the  poor,  the  pilgrimages — greatly  in 
vogue  from  the  tenth  century  onwards — 
to  Jerusalem,  Rome,  and  ComposteUa, 
were  substituted  for  so  many  days,  years, 
&c.,  of  canonical  penance.  This  commu- 
tation is  said  to  have  begun  in  England 
and  then  to  have  spread  south ;  and  we 
may  notice  here  the  origin  of  the  termin- 
ology still  in  use,  when  indulgences  are 
granted  for  forty  days,  seven  years,  &c. 
After  the  eleventh  century  plenary  in- 
dulgences, though  rare,  are  met  with. 
Thus  Urban  II,,  in  the  famous  assembly 
at  Clermont  to  promote  the  Crusades, 
gave  a  plenary  indulgence  to  the  Cru- 
saders ("  iter  illud  pro  omni  poenitentia 
reputetur  ")  by  the  authority  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul.  At  the  First  General 
Council  of  Lyons,  Innocent  IV.  gave  a 
plenary  indulgence  to  those  who  went  on 
the  Crusade  at  their  own  cost,  provided 
they  were  contrite  for  their  sins  ;  and  an 
indulgence  proportioned  to  their  zeal  to 
those  who  helped  the  Crusaders  by  money 
or  advice. 

(y)  Later  History  of  Indulgences. — 
The  period  of  the  Crusades  marks  a 
turning-point  in  the  history  of  indul- 
gences, lor  they  were  given  more  and 
more  freely  from  that  time  onwards.  In 
the  first  place  it  is  to  be  noted  that  in- 
dulgences were  given  for  wars  analogous 
to  the  Crusades.  For  example,  at  the 
Council  of  Siena,  in  1425,  a  plenary  in- 
dulgence was  offered  to  those  who  took 
arms  against  the  Hussites;  while  wars 
against  the  Waldenses,  Albigenses, 
Moors  and  Turks  were  stimulated  by 
the  same  means.  From  the  eleventh 
century  indulgences  were  given  at  the 
dedication  of  churches  and  on  the  anni- 
versaries of  such  dedications.  •  Innocent  IH. 
in  1215,  at  the  Fourth  Lateran  Council, 
limited  these  spiritual  favours  to  the 
grant  of  a  year's  indulgence  at  the  dedi- 
cation and  one  of  forty  days  at  the  anni- 
versary. The  great  indulgence  of  the 
jubilee  was  given  first  in  1300.  Urban  IV., 
Martin  V.,  Eugenius  IV.,  granted  in- 
dulgences to  those  who  assisted  at  the 
divine  ofl&ce  on  Corpus  Christi.  The 
canonisation  of  saints  was  accompanied 
by  grants  of  indulgence,  the  first  known 
instance  being  an  indulgence  given  by 
Honorius  III.  at  the  canonisation  of 
Lawrence,  Archbishop  of  Dublin.  Since 
the  Dominicans  made  the  use  of  the 
rosary,  and  the  Franciscans  that  of  the 


INDULGENCE 

crucifix,  popular  in  the  Church,  it  became 
eustomary  to  attach  indulgences  to_  such 
objects  of  devotion,  and  at  last  indul- 
gences were  so  freely  given  that  there  is 
now  scarcely  a  devotion  or  good  work  of 
any  kind  for  which  they  may  not  be 
obtained.  This  common  use  of  indul- 
gences led  theologians  to  draw  out  more 
fully  the  theory  on  which  the  doctrine  of 
indulgences  rests,  and  thus,  just  at  the 
beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  the 
phrase  "  treasure  of  merits  "  occurs.  The 
attacks  of  Wiclif,  Huss,  Luther,  and  the 
Jansenists  served  to  develop  the  teaching 
of  the  Church  on  this  head  still  more 
perfectly.  The  Council  of  Trent,,  how- 
ever, energetically  prohibited  the  "  dis- 
reputable gains"  made  from  those  who 
desired  to  obtain  indulgences  ("pravos 
qusestus  pro  his  consequendis  "),  "  from 
which  a  m.ost  plentiful  cause  of  abuses 
had  flowed  into  Christian  nations  (Sess. 
XXV.  Decret.  de  Indulg.). 

III.  Application  of  Indulgences  to  the 
Dead. — In  the  ninth  century  Pascal  I.  and 
John  VIII.  bestowed  such  indulgences  on 
the  souls  of  those  who  had  fallen  lighting 
for  the  Church,  and  it  is  evident  from  the 
language  of  St.  Thomas  (''  Suppl."  qu.  Ixxi. 
a.  10)  that  such  indulgences  were  common 
in  his  day.  No  doctrinal  difficulty  will 
be  felt  on  the  matter  if  the  real  intention 
of  the  Church  be  apprehended.  Sixtus 
IV.,  in  his  Constitution  of  Nov.  27,  1477, 
lays  down  the  principle  that  indulgences 
of  this  kind  are  only  given  "  by  way  of 
suffrage."  His  meaning  is  that  the 
Church  has  no  direct  power  over  the 
souls  of  the  departed.  She  can  but 
liumbly  entreat  God  to  accept  the  merits 
of  Christ,  and,  having  respect  to  them, 
mercifully  to  remit  the  whole  or  a  portion 
of  the  pains  due  to  the  souls  suffering  in 
Purgatory.  The  Church  has  reprobated 
the  error  of  those  who  maintained  that 
indulgences  could  not  profit  the  dead 
(Prop.  Lutheri,  Prop.  22  j  Synod.  Pistoi. 
Prop.  42). 

IV.  Indulgences  may  he  given  by  the 
Pope  throughout  the  Church;  by  primates, 
metropolitans,  and  bishops  within  the 
limits  of  their  jurisdiction.  By  bishop 
must  be  understood  a  bishop  actually 
ruling  a  diocese ;  bishops  in  partibus, 
and  even  coadjutors  with  the  right  of 
succession,  have  no  such  power;  nor 
again  have  vicars  general  or  capitular, 
abbots,  generals  of  orders,  &c.,  &c.  The 
power,  however,  may  be  delegated  to  any 
cleric.  Moreover,  the  Fourth  Lateran 
Council,  can.  62,  confined  the  bishop's 


INDULGENCE 


443 


power  in  the  matter  to  an  indulgence  of 
a  year  at  the  dedication  of  a  church,  and 
of  forty  days  on  other  occasions.  Nor 
can  a  bishop  add  another  forty  days  for 
an  indulgence  already  given  for  the  same 
good  work  by  his  predecessor  (see  the 
decree  of  Clement  IX.,  Novem.  20,  1668). 
Archbishops  may  give  the  same  indul- 
gences as  bishops,  not  only  in  their  own 
dioceses,  but  also  in  those  of  their  suf- 
fragans, and  this  even  if  they  are  not  en- 
gaged in  visitation  (cap. "  Nostro ;  De  Pcen. 
et  Rem.,"  v.  38).  Cardinals,  even  if  not 
bishops,  may  give  an  indulgence  of  100 
days  in  their  titular  churches ;  the  Great 
Penitentiary  exercises  the  same  power; 
while  legates  and  nuntios  may  give  an 
indulgence  of  100  days  and  more  (not, 
however,  of  a  year)  within  the  terri- 
tories committed  to  their  care,  and  may 
also  grant  an  indulgence  of  seven  years 
and  seven  periods  of  forty  days  to  those 
who  visit  a  particular  church  or  chapel, 
provided  they  worthily  confess  and  com- 
municate and  pray  according  to  the 
intention  of  the  Pope.  All  persons  who 
grant  indulgences  are  bound  to  do  so  only 
for  reasonable  causes,  and  to  take  care 
that  there  is  some  proportion  between 
the  work  done  or  at  least  between  the 
object  in  view  and  the  grace  accorded. 
Thus  the  Council  of  Constance  orders 
persons  suspected  of  heresy  to  be  asked 
**'if  they  believe  the  Roman  bishops  can 
grant  indulgences  for  reasonable  causes." 

V.  The  conditions  on  which  indul- 
gences may  be  obtained  are  that  the  per- 
son desirous  of  gaining  them  be  a  member 
of  the  Church ;  that  he  should  perform 
the  good  work  exactly  as  prescribed ;  and 
that  he  should  be,  at  least  before  con- 
cluding the  work  prescribed,  in  a  state  of 
grace.  Whether  this  last  condition  is 
necessary  to  obtain  indulgences  for  the 
dead  is  uncertain  ;  it  can  hardly  be  so  in 
the  case  of  indulgences  applicable  only  to 
the  dead — e  g.  in  the  case  of  a  Requiem  Mass 
at  a  privileged  altar.  In  order  to  gain 
the  whole  of  a  plenary  indulgence  it  is 
further  necessary  to  detest  and  have  the 
purpose  of  avoiding  so  far  as  possible 
even  the  least  venial  sin.  If  an  indul- 
gence is  granted  for  a  particular  day,  the 
day  is  reckoned  from  midnight  to  mid- 
night, unless  the  day  be  a  feast  with 
a  vigil,  for  then  the  time  for  gaining  the 
indulgence  extends  from  first  to  second 
vespers.  For  plenary  indulgences,  it  is 
usual  to  prescribe  confession,  communion, 
and  prayer  for  the  Pope's  intention. 
Those  who  are  accustomed   to  confess 


444 


INDULGENCE 


INDULGENCE 


every  eight  days  may,  without  further 
confession,  gain  all  indulgences  which  are 
offered  during  the  week.  Communion 
may  be  made  the  day  before  the  feast  on 
which  the  indulgence  is  given.  Five 
Patei-s  and  Aves  for  the  Pope's  intention 
are  considered  sufiicient.  No  indulgence 
can  be  gained  for  a  work  already  com- 
manded. 

VI.  Divisions  of  Indulgences. — Plenary 
remit  all,  partial  a  portion,  of  the  tem- 
poral punishment  due  to  sin — e.g.  an 
indulgence  of  forty  days,  as  much  as 
would  have  been  atoned  for  by  forty 
days  of  canonical  penance.  "  Indulgentiae 
pleniores "'  convey  to  the  confessor  faculties 
to  absolve  from  reserved  cases  ;  "  plenissi- 
mae"  further  faculties  to  commute  vows. 
Indulgences  may  be  temporal — i.e.  granted 
only  for  a  time ;  or  again  perpetual  or 
indefinite,  which  last  till  revoked.  Even 
indulgences  granted  by  delegated  power 
continue  in  force  after  the  death  of  the 
cleric  who  bestows  them.  If  a  feast  on 
which  an  indulgence  is  given  is  trans- 
ferred, the  indulgence  remains  attached 
to  the  original  day,  unless  the  celebration 
inforo — i.e.  the  abstinence  from  servile 
work,  &c. — is  transferred  also.  Personal 
indulgences  are  those  granted  to  par- 
ticular persons — e.g.  to  an  order,  confra- 
ternity. Local  indulgences  may  be  gained 
only  in  a  particular  place.  Supposing  a 
church  is  pulled  down  to  be  re-erected 
under  the  same  title,  or  if  it  is  replaced 
under  competent  authority  by  a  church 
with  the  same  title  in  another  place,  the 
indulgences  ihay  be  gained  in  the  new 
building.  But  a  church  which  pos- 
sessed indulgences  as  the  church  of  a 
religious  order,  forfeits  them  if  it  passes 
into  the  hands  of  seculars ;  however, 
French  churches  which  belonged  to 
Franciscans  before  1789  and  are  now 
Franciscan  no  longer,  still  have  the  in- 
dulgence of  Portiuncula.  Real  indul- 
gences are  those  attached  to  crucifixes, 
medals,  &c.  It  is  only  the  original  owner 
of  these  objects  {i.e.  the  first  owner  after 
the  indulgence  was  attached)  who  can 
gain  the  indulgences,  and  the  indulgence 
is  lost  if  the  object  is  sold  or  given  away. 
A  person,  however,  may  get  objects  in- 
dulgenced  with  a  view  of  distributing 
them  to  others.  In  that  case  the  indul- 
genc^es  remain  good,  even  if  they  pass 
through  the  hands  of  any  number  of 
persons,  provided  that  they  have  not  been 
appropriated  to  use  by  the  intermediate 
persons.  The  owner  must  have  the  object 
with  him,  though  not  necessarily  in  his 


hands,  unless  this  condition  is  expressed  in 
the  grant.  A  rosary  may  be  restrung  and 
some  of  the  beads  (not,  however,  the 
greater  numl^er)  may  be  replaced  by 
others  without  forfeit  of  the  indulgences. 

Among  the  most  famous  of  plenary 
indulgences  are  that  of  the  jubilee 
already  mentioned ;  the  indulgence  given 
by  priests  (who  receive  power  from  the 
Pope  to  confer  it)  to  the  dying ;  the  in- 
dulgence given  with  the  Papal  blessing 
[see  the  article  Blessing].  ^  The  most 
celebrated  local  indulgences  are  gained  by 
visiting  the  seven  chief  churches  and  privi- 
leged altars  at  Rome ;  by  pilgrimages  to 
the  holy  places  in  Palestine ;  or  visiting 
the  stations  mentioned  in  the  Missal.  The 
Popes  (especially  Clement  XII.,  in  1731) 
gave  all  the  indulgences  to  be  gained  at 
the  holy  places  to  those  who  make 
devoutly  the  Way  of  the  Cross  at  the 
"  Stations  "'  erected  by  Franciscans. 
Faculties  similar  to  those  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans are  now  granted  to  others.  An 
account  of  other  indulgences,  such  as  that 
of  the  Portiuncula  and  the  Sabbatine 
indulgence,  will  be  found  under  special 
articles.  Indulgences  without  number 
have  been  given  to  confraternities,  per- 
sons who  wear  scapulars,  medals,  &c. 
Pius  IX.  (April  14,  1854)  bestowed  on 
those  who  wear  the  blue  scapular  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  and  say  six 
Paters,  Aves,  and  Glorias  in  honour  of 
the  Trinity  and  the  Immaculate  Virgin, 
and  for  the  exaltation  of  the  Chun;h,  ex- 
tirpation of  heresy,  &c.,  all  the  indul- 
gences which  could  be  obtained  by 
visiting  the  seven  Roman  basilicas,  the 
holy  places  of  Jerusalem,  the  Church 
of  Portiuncula  at  Assisi,  and  that  of 
Compostella.  Even  confession  and  com- 
munion are  not  required  for  these  indul- 
gences. Large  and  often  plenary  indul- 
gences are  attached  to  the  recitation  of 
short  prayers  (though  usually  confession 
and  communion  are  required,  if  the  indul- 
gence is  ple^pary),  and  to  the  use  of 
blessed  crosses,  medals,  &c.  Sixtus  V.,  at 
the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  intro- 
duced the  custom  of  blessing  objects,  and 
so  attaching  indulgences  to  tliem.  A 
priest  with  the  necessary  faculties  has 
only  to  make  a  sign  of  the  cross  over  the 
rosary,  medal,  &c.  Other  acts  of  piety — 
e.g.  examination  of  conscience,  hearing 
sermons,  visiting  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
— are  also  largely  indulgenced. 

VII.  Indulgences  which  have  been  Ah^ 
rogated  or  declared  Apocryphal. — (n)  Ac- 
cording to  a  supposed  decree  of  September 


INDULGENCE 

18,  ]669,  and  Benedict  XIV.  ("  De  Syn." 
xiii.,  18,8),  no  partial  indulgence  of  1,000 
years  or  upwards  is  authentic.  But  tlie 
decree  cannot  be  found  in  the  Archives 
of  the  Congregation  of  Indulgences,  and 
its  existence  is  disputed.  O)  The  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  (Sess.  xx.  cap.  9)  lays  down 
the  principle  that  indulgences  must  be 
given  everywhere  gratis,  and  the  bull 
''  Etsi  dominici "  of  Pius  V.,  issued  in  1567, 
annuls  the  indulgences  of  the  quaestor* 
and  collectors  of  alms,  (y)  Clement  VIII. 
and  other  Popes  have  abrogated  indul- 
gences said  to  be  given  in  the  form  of  a 
jubilee,  as  also  (S)  the  indulgences  given 
to  rosaries,  images,  &:c.,  before  the  rescript 
of  Clement  VIII.  "De  forma  indulgentise  " 
(anno  1597).  (e)  All  indulgences  given 
before  the  Constitution  of  Clement  VIII. 
"  Qusecunque"  (March  7,1604),  "Roma- 
nus  Pontifex  "  (May  13, 1606),  and  before 
the  Constitution  of  Paul  V.  (November  23, 
1610),  to  orders,  confraternities,  colleges 
or  chapters,  are  revoked  unless  these 
indulgences  have  been  renewed.  (^)  The 
indulgences  said  to  have  been  given  by 
Alexander  VI.  to  the  Bridget  rosary  are 
apocryphal ;  so  are  those  which  Urban 
VIII.  is  said  to  have  given  to  the  crosses 
of  St.  Turibius,  and  Pius  V.  to  the  crosses 
of  Caravaca  in  Spain.  A  long  list  of 
apocryphal  indulgences  is  given  in  the 
decree  of  Innocent  XI.  "  Delatse  seepius  " 
(March  7,  1678). 

(The  chief  authorities  on  the  subject 
are  Bellarmine,  "  De  indulg.  et  jubilaeo 
libri  duo;"  Amort,  "De  orig.,  progressu, 
valore  ac  fructu  indulg.,''  Aug.  Vind. 
1735;  Theodorus  a  Spir.  S.  "Tract, 
dogmatico-moralis  de  indulg.,"  Komce, 
174.3;  Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Syn.  dicec."' 
lib.  xiii.  cap.  18 ;  Ferraris,  "  Prompt. 
Biblioth."  We  have  been  chiefly  in- 
debted to  Amort  and  to  the  excellent 
article  "Ablass"  in  the  new  edition  of 
Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

IXBUZiT  {indultum,  something 
granted  by  favour).  A  licence  or  per- 
mission granted  by  the  Pope,  whether  to 
a  corporation  or  to  an  individual,  author- 
ising something  to  be  done  which  the 
common  law  of  the  Church  does  not 
Banction.  A  familiar  instance  is  that  of 
the  Lenten  indults,  by  which  the  Pope 
authorises  the  bishops,  according  to  the 
circumstances  of  different  countries,  to 
dispense  more  or  less  with  the  rigour  of 
the  canons  as  to  the  quadragesimal  fast. 
In  former  times  indults  chiefly  related  to 
the  patronage  of  church  dignities  and 
benefices. 


INNOCENTS,  HOLY 


446 


rN-Fiix«x^xBZikZTir.  [See  Church 
OF  Christ  and  PorE.] 

IMTIBEIi.  One  who  is  not  among 
the  Jldeles,  the  faithful  of  Christ.  Popu- 
larly, the  term  is  applied  to  all  who 
reject  Christianity  as  a  divine  revelation. 
In  order  to  reject  it,  they  must  have 
heard  of  it ;  those,  therefore,  who  have 
never  heard  of  Christianity  are  not 
in  popular  language  called  infidels,  but 
heathens,  though  they  are  included  under 
the  theological  term  "infideles."  Nor 
are  heretics,  even  Unitarians,  to  be  called 
infidels,  for  they  do  accept  the  religion  of 
Christ  as  divinely  revealed,  however 
erroneous  or  fantastic  their  notions  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  revelation  may  be. 

JIO-N'OCEirTS,  HOI.Y,  FEAST  OF, 
is  celebrated  in  the  Latin  Church  on 
December  28,  in  the  Greek  on  Decembei' 
29th.  Among  the  Greeks  the  feast  is 
known  as  that  of  the  "  14,000  holy  chil- 
dren "  (tmv  ayicov  tS*  ;(iXiaSa)i'  vrjnioiv). 

From  the  earliest  times  the  Church 
has  regarded  the  children  whom  Herod 
slew  in  his  desire  to  make  sure  of  killing 
Christ,  as  Martyrs.  Irenaeus  (iii.  16,  4) 
asserts  this  clearly,  and  so  does  St.  Augus- 
tine (lib.  iii,  "  De  Symbolo  ad  Catech."). 
But  it  is  uncertain  when  this  feast  began 
to  be  kept.  A  homily  attributed  to 
Origen  in  which  this  feast  is  mentioned 
is  certainly  spurious,  and  although  in  an 
ancient  catalogue  of  St.  Augustine's 
discourses  we  find  two  "  tractatus  "  "  De 
Octavis  Infantium,"  Thomassin  ("  Traits 
des  Festes,"  p.  275)  explains  this  as  refer- 
ring to  Low  Sunday,  the  octave  of  Easter 
Sunday,  on  the  vigil  of  which  children 
were  in  those  times  commonly  baptised. 
However,  a  separate  festival  of  the  Holy 
Innocents  is  mentioned  in  the  "  Calendar 
of  Carthage,"  the  date  of  which  may  be 
approximately  fixed  from  the  fact  that 
the  latest  martyrs  whose  names  it  gives 
died  in  484.  In  the  rule  of  Chrodegang 
(d.  766)  the  feast  is  placed  among  the 
"  chief  solemnities."  The  Mass  is  said  in 
purple  vestments,  probably  because  the 
Innocents  did  not  enter  heaven  imme- 
diately after  their  martyrdom.  They  had 
to  wait  till  Christ  at  his  Ascension  opened 
it  to  "  those  who  believe."  On  the  octave, 
Mass  is  celebrated  in  red,  the  usual 
colour  of  martyrs, 

St.  Thomas  (2  2ndaB,  qu.  cxxiv.  a.  1) 
mentions  the  opinion  of  some  who  thought 
that  the  use  of  reason  was  accelerated  in 
the  case  of  the  Innocents,  so  that  they 
were  able  consciously  to  embrace  death 
for  Christ.    But  he  himself  dismisses  the 


446 


iNQUisrnoN 


opinion  as  without  warrant  in  Scripture. 
"  The  shedding  of  blood,"  he  says,  "  for 
Christ  takes  the  place  of  baptism. 
'V\Tience,  as  in  children  the  merit  of 
Christ  operates  through  the  grace  of 
baptism,  and  obtains  glory  for  them,  so 
in  those  slain  for  Christ  the  martyrdom 
of  Christ  operates  and  obtains  for  them 
the  palm  of  martyrdom." 

In  the  middle  ages  it  was  usual  for 
children  to  keep  a  time  of  festivity  in 
honour  of  the  Holy  Innocents,  which 
lasted,  according  to  Durandus,  from  St. 
Stephen's  Day  to  the  Octave  of  the 
Epiphany.  Boys  used  to  sit  in  the 
canons'  stalls ;  one  of  them,  who  was 
Tested  in  episcopal  robes,  gave  his  blessing 
pontifically.  The  Council  of  Basle  (Sess. 
xxii.)  condemned  the  extravagances  of 
this  celebration,  which  was  accompanied 
by  the  celebration  of  the  Feast  of  Fools. 
But  the  feast  of  children  is  still  inno- 
cently observed  in  some  monasteries  and 
convents,  and  Thorn assin  surely  errs  by 
excess  of  rigour  when  he  speaks  of  it  as 
impious. 

ixrQXTiszTZOzr.  In  no  age  of 
Christianity  has  the  Church  had  any 
doubt  that  in  her  hands,  and  only  in  hers, 
was  the  deposit  of  the  true  faith  and 
religion  placed  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  that, 
as  it  is  her  duty  to  teach  this  to  all 
nations,  so  she  is  bound  by  all  practicable 
and  lawful  means  to  restrain  the  malice 
or  madness  of  those  who  would  corrupt 
the  message  or  resist  the  teacher.  Some 
have  maintained  that  no  means  of  co- 
ercion are  lawful  for  her  to  use  but 
those  which  are  used  in  the  internal 
forum  [Forum  Internum]  and  derive 
their  sanction  from  anticipated  suffering 
in  the  next  world.  The  power  of  the 
Church,  according  to  Fleury,^  is  "  purely 
spiritual,"  and  he  held  with  Marsilius 
that  the  Pope  could  employ  no  coactive 
punishment  of  any  kind  unless  the  em- 
peror— i.e.  the  civil  power — gave  him 
leave.  From  such  a  view  it  logically 
follows  that  St.  Paul  ought  to  have 
asked  the  permission  of  Sergius  Paulus 
before  strikmg  Elyraas  the  sorcerer  with 
blindness!  The  overwhelming  majority 
of  the  canonists  take  the  opposite  view — 
namely,  that  the  Church  can  and  ought 
to  visit  with  fitting  punishment  the 
heretic  and  the  revolter;  and  since  the 
publication  of  the  numerous  encyclical 
letters  and  allocutions  of  the  late  Pope 
treating  of  the  relations  between  Church 

*  Fleuiy,  Dernier  Discours,  ch.  14. 


INQUISITION 

and  State,  and  the  inherent  rights  of  the 
former,  the  view  of  Fleury  can  no  longer 
be  held  by  any  Catholic. 

For  many  ages  after  the  conversion 
of  Constantine  it  was  easier  for  the  Church 
to  repress  heresy  by  invoking  the  secular 
arm  than  by  organising  tribunals  of  her 
own  for  the  purpose.  Reference  to  ec- 
clesiastical history  and  the  codes  of 
Justinian  and  Theodosius  shows  that 
the  emperors  generally  held  as  decided 
views  on  the  pestilent  nature  of  heresy, 
and  the  necessity  of  extirpating  it  in  the 
germ  before  it  reached  its  hideous  ma- 
turity, as  the  Popes  themselves.  They 
were  willing  to  repress  it ;  they  took 
from  the  Church  the  definition  of  what  it 
was ;  and  they  had  old-established  tri- 
bunals armed  with  all  the  terrors  of  the 
law.  The  bishops,  as  a  rule,  had  but  to 
notify  the  appearance  of  heretics  to  the 
lay  power,  and  the  latter  hastened  to 
make  inquiry,  and,  if  necessary,  to  repress 
and  punish.  But  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury a  new  race  of  temporal  rulers  rose  to 
power.  The  emperor  Frederic  II.  perhaps 
had  no  Christian  faith  at  all;  John  of 
England  meditated,  sooner  than  yield  to 
the  Pope,  openly  to  apostatise  to  Islam ; 
and  Philip  Augustus  was  refractory  to- 
wards the  Church  in  various  ways.  The 
Church  was  as  clear  as  ever  upon  the 
necessity  of  repressing  heretics,  but  the 
weapon — secular  sovereignty — which  she 
had  hitherto  employed  for  the  purpose 
seemed  to  be  brealdng  in  her  hands.  The 
time  was  come  when  she  was  to  forge  a 
weapon  of  her  own ;  to  establish  a  tribunal 
the  incorruptness  and  fidelity  of  which 
she  could  trust ;  which  in  the  task  of 
detecting  and  punishing  those  who  misled 
their  brethren  should  employ  all  the 
minor  forms  of  penal  repression,  while 
still  remitting  to  the  secular  arm  the 
case  of  obstinate  and  incorrigible  offenders. 
Tlius  arose  the  Inquisition.  St.  Dominic 
is  said  by  some  to  have  fii*st  proposed  tlie 
erection  of  such  a  tribunal  to  Innocent  III., 
and  to  have  been  appointed  by  him  the 
first  inquisitor.^  Other  writers  trace  the 
origin  of  the  tribunal  to  a  synod  held  at 
Toulouse  by  Gregory  IX.  in  1229,  after 
the  Albigensian  crusade,  which  ordered 
that  in  every  parish  a  priest  and  several 
respectable  laymen  should  be  appointed 
to  search  out  heretics  and  bring  them 
before  the  bishops.'*  The  task  of  dealing 
with  the  culprits  was  difficult  and  in- 
vidious, and  the  bishops  ere  long  made 

1  Ferraris,  "  Inquisitionis  S.  Officium." 

2  Mdhler,  Kirchengeschichte,  ii.  651, 


INQUISITION 

over  their  responsibility  in  the  matter  to 
the  Dominican  order.  Gregory  IX,  ap- 
pointed none  but  Dominican  inquisitors ; 
Innocent  IV.  nominated  Franciscans  also, 
and  Clement  VII.  sent  as  inquisitor  into 
Portugal  a  friar  of  the  order  of  Minims. 
But  the  majority  of  the  inquisitors  em- 
ployed have  always  been  Dominicans, 
and  the  commissary  of  the  Holy  Office  at 
Rome  belongs  ex  officio  to  this  order. 

The  Congregation  of  Cardinals  of  the 
Holy  Inquisition  was  first  erected  by 
Paul  III.  (1542),  and  remodelled  by 
Sixtus  V.  about  forty  years  later.  "  It  is 
composed  of  twelve  cardinals  ;  of  a  com- 
missary ....  who  discharges  the  func- 
tions of  a  judge  ordinary ;  of  a  counsellor 
or  assessor,  who  is  one  of  the  presidents 
of  the  Curia ;  of  consultors,  selected  by 
the  Pope  himself  from  among  the  most 
learned  theologians  and  canonists  ;  quali- 
ficators,  who  give  their  opinions  on 
questions  submitted  to  them ;  an  advo- 
cate charged  with  the  defence  of  persons 
accused,  and  other  subordinate  officials. 
The  principal  sittings  of  the  congregation 
are  held  under  the  immediate  presidency 
of  the  Pope."  ^  This  supreme  court  of  in- 
quisition proceeds  against  any  who  are 
delated  to  it,  and  in  former  times  used  to 
hear  appeals  from  the  sentences  of  similar 
courts  elsewhere,  and  to  depute  inquisitors 
to  proceed  to  any  place  where  they  might 
appear  to  be  needed.  The  duties  and 
powers  of  inquisitors  are  minutely  laid 
down  in  the  canon  law,  it  being  always 
assumed  that  the  civil  power  will  favour, 
or-  can  be  compelled  to  favour,  their 
proceedings.  Thus  it  is  laid  down  that 
they  "  have  power  to  ccJnstrain  all  magis- 
trates, even  secular  magistrates,  to  cause 
the  statutes  against  heretics  to  be  ob- 
served," and  to  require  them  to  swear  to 
do  so  ;  also  that  they  can  "  compel  all 
magistrates  and  judges  to  execute  their 
sentences,  and  these  must  obey  on  pain  of 
excommunication  ;  "  also  that  inquisitors 
in  causes  of  heresy  "  can  use  the  secular 
arm,"  and  that  "  all  temporal  rulers  are 
bound  to  obey  inquisitors  in  causes  of 
faith."  ^  No  such  state  of  things  as  that 
here  assumed  now  exists  in  any  part  of 
Europe;  nowhere  does  the  State  assist 
the  Church  in  putting  down  heresy ;  it  is 
therefore  superfluous  to  describe  regula- 
tions controlling  a  jurisdiction  which  has 
lost  the  medium  in  which  it  could  work 
and  live. 

The  canon  law  also  assumes  that  aU 

*  De  Mov,  in  Wetzer  and  Welte. 

2  Ferraris,  he.  cit.  §§  33-37. 


INQUISITION,  SPANISH     447- 

bishops,  being  themselves  inquisitors  ex 
vi  termini  into  the  purity  of  the  faith  in 
their  respective  dioceses,  will  co-operate 
with  the  official  inquisitors.  Each  may 
inquire  separately,  but  the  sentence  ought 
to  proceed  from  both  ;  if  they  disagree, 
reference  must  be  made  to  Rome.  The 
proceedings  taken  against  the  Lollard 
followers  of  Wyclif  by  Archbishops 
Arundel  and  Chicheley  between  1382 
and  1428,^  illustrate  both  the  points 
noticed  above:  1.  that  the  civil  power  in 
pre-reformation  times  was  wont  to  give 
vigorous  aid  to  the  bishops  in  extirpating 
heresy  ;  2.  that  the  bishops  themselves 
could  and  did  exercise  stringent  inquisi- 
torial powers  apart  from  the  appointment 
of  special  inquisitors. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Papal  inquisi- 
tors were  ever  commissioned,  eo  nomine, 
in  England.  In  France  the  Inquisition 
was  established  in  pursuance  of  the 
decrees  of  the  synod  of  Toulouse  (1229) 
already  referred  to.  Its  tribunals  were 
converted  into  State  courts  by  Philip  the 
Fair,  wbo  made  use  of  them  to  condemn 
and  ruin  the  Templars.  In  this  condition 
they  remained  till  the  Reformation.  In 
1538  the  Grand  Inquisitor,!  Louis  de 
Rochette.  was  convicted  of  Calvinism  and 
burnt ;  soon  afterwards  the  powers  of 
these  courts  were  transferred  to  the 
parliaments,  and  finally  to  the  bishops 
(1560).  In  Germany, "^  Conrad  of  Mar- 
burg, a  man  of  a  harsh  and  inflexible 
temper,  the  confessor  of  St.  Elizabeth, 
attempted  to  estabiish  an  inquisition  in 
the  thirteenth  century ;  he  was  assassi- 
nated, and  the  tribunal  never  gained  a 
footing  in  the  country.  [On  the  Spanish 
Inquisition,  see  the  next  article.] 

INQUZSZTZOir,  SPAXrZSH,  THS. 
It  was  founded  by  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella at  Seville  in  1481,  the  first  judges 
of  the  tribunal  being  tw^o  Dominicans. 
The  clergy  and  many  of  the  laity  of  the 
CastUian  kingdom  had  for  some  time 
pressed  the  adoption  of  some  such  measure 
in  order  to  check  the  profanations  and 
frauds  which  the  sham  conversion  to 
Christianity  of  a  large  number  of  Jews 
and  Moors  had  occasioned.  Even  the 
episcopal  thrones  of  Spain  are  said  to 
have  been  not  always  preserved  from  the 
intrusion  of  these  audacious  hypocrites. 
Torquemada,  another  Dominican,  ap- 
pointed in  1483,  was  Grand  Inquisitor  for 
fifteen  years.  Under  him  three  new  tri- 
bunals of  the  Holy  Office  were  erected,  at 
Cordova,  Jaen,  and  Villa  Real ;  afterwards 
^  Lewis'  Life  of  Wyclif,  p.  126. 


448      INQUISITION,  SPANISH 

a  fifth  was  added  at  Toledo,  These  tri- 
bunals were  always  popular  with  the 
lower  orders  and  the  clergy  in  Spain, 
but  terrible  in  the  eyes  of  the  nobles  and 
the  rich  middle  class,  who  believed  that 
they  were  often  used  by  the  government 
as  engines  of  political  repression  in  order 
to  diminish  their  influence.  Ranke  calls 
the  Spanish  Inquisition  "a royal  tribunal, 
furnished  with  spiritual  weapons."  In 
1492  an  edict  was  issued  for  the  banish- 
ment of  all  Jews  refusing  to  embrace 
Christianity  from  Spain,  chiefly  on  ac- 
count of  their  alleged  incorrigible  obsti- 
nacy in  persisting  in  the  attempt  to  con- 
vert Christians  to  their  own  faith  and 
instruct  them  in  their  rites. ^  About  a 
hundred  thousand  went  into  banishment, 
and  an  equal  or  greater  number  are  sup- 
posed to  have  remained  in  Spain,  where 
their  merely  nominal  Christianity  and 
secret  addiction  to  their  ancestral  doc- 
trines and  usages  gave  employment  to  the 
Inquisition  for  centuries. 

The  history  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition 
was  written  by  Llorente,  who  was  secre- 
tary to  the  tribunal  of  Madrid  from  1790 
to  1792.  Hence  he  has  been  supposed  to 
have  possessed  great  opportunities  for  ob- 
taining exact  information ;  and  his  state- 
ment, that  during  its  existence  of  330  years 
the  Spanish  Inquisition  condemned  30,000 
persons  to  death,  has  been  quoted  with 
credulous  horror  in  every  corner  of  the 
civilised  world.  Dr.  Hefele,  now  bishop 
of  Rottenburg,  has  examined  with  great 
care  and  ability  ^  the  worth  of  the  above 
statement,  and  the  question  of  the  cre^lit 
due  to  Llorente.  First,  there  is  the 
general  fact  of  the  greater  relative  se- 
verity of  penal  justice  in  all  countries 
alike,  till  within  quite  recent  times.  The 
Carolina,  or  penal  code  in  force  under 
Charles  V.,  condemned  coiners  to  the 
flames,  and  burglars  to  the  gaUows. 
Burying  alive  and  other  barbarous  pun- 
ishments were  sanctioned  by  it,  none  of 
which  were  allowed  by  the  Inquisition. 
In  England,  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
persons  refusing  to  plead  could  be,  and 
were,  pressed  to  death.  The  last  witch 
burned  in  Europe  was  sentenced  in  the 
canton  Glarus  by  a  Protestant  tribunal  as 
late  as  1785.  Secondly,  Llorente  omits 
to  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
Spanish  kings  obliged  the  liiquisition  to 
try  and  sentence  persons  charged  with 

1  Prescott's  Reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabel  fa, 
IL122. 

*  In  his  Life  of  Cardinal  Ximenes,  translated 
Canon  Dalton,  1860. 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE 

many  other  crimes  besides  heresy — e.g.^ 
with  polygamy,  seduction,  unnatural 
crime,  smuggling,  witchcraft,  sorcery, 
imposture,  personation,  &c.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  criminals  of  this  kind  would, 
down  to  the  present  century,  have  been 
sentenced  to  death  on  conviction  in  any 
secular  tribunal  in  Europe.  Thirdly, 
Llorente  does  not  pretend  to  base  the 
above  statement  as  to  the  number  executed 
by  the  Inquisition  on  written  documents, 
but  on  calculations  of  his  own  making,  in 
some  of  which  he  can  be  proved  to  be 
inexpert  and  inexact.  Fourthly,  Hefele 
gives  a  list  of  palpable  misstatements  and 
exaggerations  which  he  has  detected  in 
Llorente's  volumes.  Fifthly,  the  man's 
career,  when  closely  examined,  does  not 
invite  confidence.  At  the  end  of  the  last 
century  he  was  a  liberal  ecclesiastic,  im- 
bued with  French  ideas,  and  on  intimate 
terms  with  Freemasons.  In  1806,  at  the 
instigation  of  Godoy,  he  wrote  a  book 
against  the  fuei'os,  or  ancient  privileges, 
of  the  Basque  provinces.  He  accepted 
employment  from  the  usurping  govern- 
ment of  Joseph  Bonaparte.  Banished 
from  Spain  on  the  fall  of  Joseph,  he 
escaped  to  Paris,  and  published  his 
"History  of  the  Inquisition"  in  1814, 
He  next  translated  the  abominable  novel, 
"  Faublas,"  into  Spanish ;  and,  being  exiled 
from  France  in  1822,  died  at  Madrid  the 
next  year. 

"The  celebrated  Autos-da-Fe  (i.e. 
Acts  of  the  confession  of  the  faith)," 
says  Mohler,^  "  were  as  a  rule  bloodless. 
But  few  inquisitorial  processes  terminated 
with  the  death  of  the  accused."  The 
auto,  speaking  generally,  was  a  form  of 
reconciling  culprits  to  the  Church.  Never- 
theless, the  severities  practised  by  the  tri- 
bunals were  such  that  Rome  frequently 
interfered.  The  Spanish  Inquisition  was 
abolished  in  1813. 

mrsPiRATzonr  of  scrzpturs. 
The  word  inspiration,  like  many  other 
theological  terms,  comes  to  us  from  the 
Latin  version  of  the  Bible.  Thus  St. 
Paul's  words,  2  Tim.  iii.  16,  naaa  ypacf)^ 
SeoTTVfvaTos,  "Every  Scripture  breathed 
by  God,"  is  rendered  "omnis  Scriptura 
divinitus  inspirata,"  and  again  when 
St.  Peter,  2  Ep.  i.  21,  speaks  of  the 
prophets  as  vno  irvevixaTos  ayiov  cpepofxevoi, 
"  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  the  Latin 
has  "spiritu  sancto  inspirati."  Just  as 
God  is  said  in  Genesis  ii.  7,  Wisdom 
XV.  11,  to  have  breathed  man's  soul  into 
his  body;  just  as  in  Job  xxxii.  8,  the 
1  Kirchengeschichte,  ii.  655. 


r*K 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE 

"  inspiration  of  the  Almiglity  "  (inspiratio 
omnipotentis),  is  said  to  "give  under- 
standing," so  the  sacred  writers  are  de- 
scribed as  inspired  because  God  breathed 
into  them  or,  to  drop  t\ie  metaphor, 
suggested  the  thoughts  which  they  wrote 
down.  Inspiration,  therefore,  may  be 
defined  as  a  supernatural  impulse  by 
which  God  directed  the  authors  of  the 
canonical  books  to  write  down  certain 
matter  predetermined  by  Him.  Inspi- 
ration is  a  p;race  gratis  data — i.e.  it  was 
bestowed  upon  the  writers  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  others,  and  like  all  graces  it  is 
specially  attributed  to  God  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

To  a  certain  extent  the  Old  Testament 
claims  to  be  inspired.  Thus  the  prophets 
constantly  represent  their  own  words  as 
being  in  reality  the  oracles  of  God.  Our 
Lord  and  his  Apostles  confirm  this  claim. 
Christ,  for  example,  in  Matt,  xxii,  43, 
declares  that  David  spoke  "  in  the  Spirit," 
while  St.  Peter,  Acts  i.  16,  and  St.  Paul, 
Acts  xxviii.  25,  use  similar  language. 
Ecclesiastical  writers,  from  the  time  when 
the  New  Testament  canon  was  first 
recognised  in  the  Church,  speak  in  just 
the  same  way  of  the  books  which  went 
to  make  it  up.  St.  Irenseus  regards 
("  Adv.  lifer."  iii.  14,  2)  the  influence  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  as  extending  to  the 
least  word  in  the  gospels,  for  he  main- 
tains that  the  divine  Spirit  dbected  St. 
Matthew  in  i.  18  to  write  the  "gene- 
ration of  Christ "  instead  of  the  "  gene- 
ration of  Jesus.''  "  The  divine  Scriptures," 
"  the  divine  oracles,"  "  the  Scriptures  of 
God,". "  the  Scriptures  of  the  Lord,"  are 
the  usual  phrases  by  whicli  the  Fathers 
express  their  belief  in  inspiration.  The 
actual  term  apparently  is  of  rare  occur- 
rence in  the  early  ages.  However,  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Martyr  Speratus  (Holland.  17 
Jul.  p.  214)  we  are  told  that  when 
the  proconsul  asked  him  what  the  books 
were  which  Christiana  "  read  with  ado- 
ration "  (quos  adoratis  legeutes),  the 
saint  replied  that  they  were  the  four 
gospels,  St.  Paul's  epistles,  "and  all 
the  divinely  inspired  teaching"  (omnem 
divinitus  inspiratiim  doctrinam).  In  the 
*'  Symbol  of  Faith  "  which  was  approved 
"by  Leo  IX.,  and  which  is  still  used  in 
the  consecration  of  bishops  as  a  test  of 
orthodox  belief,  God  is  affirmed  to  be 
the  *'  one  author  "  of  the  Old  and  New 
Xestaraents.  The  same  words  {unus 
auQtor)  are  repeated  in  the  definitions  of 
Florence  (Bull  "Cantate  Domino'"),  and  of 
Trent   (Sess.   iv.  Decret.   de  Can.  Scr.). 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE  440 

On  the  other  hand  the  Vatican  Council 
(cap.  2),  comes  nearer  to  the  actual  word 
"  inspiration,"  for  it  defines  that  the 
Bible  was  written  "  Spiritu  sancto  in- 
spirante." 

Moreover,  the  same  council  to  which 
we  referred  last  made  the  idea  of  in- 
spiration more  precise  and  settled  a 
question  once  debated  among  Catholics. 
The  great  Jesuit  theologian  Lessius,^  a 
man  who  has  many  titles  to  respect,  was 
charged  with  maintaining  that  a  book 
might  justly  claim  to  be  inspired,  although 
it  had  been  written  by  mere  human 
industry,  provided  the  Holy  Ghost  had 
afterwards  declared  by  the  mouth  of  the 
Church  that  the  book  in  question  was 
free  from  error.  His  enemies  said  he 
looked  upon  the  second  book  of  Macha- 
bjBus  as  a  possible  instance  of  such  a  book, 
and  Bonfrere  in  his  "  Praeloquia  "  main- 
tained that  such  a  case  was  at  least 
possible.  The  view  was  condemned  by 
the  chief  theological  faculties  of  the  day, 
and  surely  with  good  reason,  for  how  can 
we  call  a  book  inspired  if  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  no  special  connection  with  its 
origin  and  merely  approved  it  when 
already  written  ?  This  theory  is  now 
distinctly  proscribed.  The  Church,  accord- 
ing to  the  Vatican  Council  (loo.  cit.),  does 
not  count  books  canonical  because  they 
were  written  naturally  and  afterwards 
approved  by  her,  or  because  they  contain 
revelation  without  error,  but  because 
they  were  inspired  in  the  first  instance 
and  as  such  were  committed  to  the 
Church. 

The  common  teaching  of  theologiana 
helps  us  to  understand  the  definitions 
which  have  just  been  given.  They  dis- 
tinguish first  of  all  between  inspiration 
and  the  mere  "  assistentia  "  or  assistance 

1  In  a  treatise  by  F.  Kleutp:en,  appended  to 
Schneeniann's  work  on  tlie  Conj^regations  de 
Auxiliis,  it  is  clearly  shown  trom  the  original 
documents  in  the  archives  of  the  Roman 
eTesuits  that  the  doctrine  of  Lessius  was  mis- 
represented by  his  enemies  at  Louvain.  He 
held  that  a  book  might  be  written  by  the 
impulse,  but  without  the  special  assistance  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  then,  if  God  testified  that 
it  was  free  from  error,  might  have  the  au- 
thority of  Holy  Scripture.  He  did  not  suppose 
tliat  the  case  had  actually  occurred.  F. 
Kleutgen  considers  that  there  is  still  no  defini- 
tion of  the  Church  which  expressly  excludes 
this  view ;  at  the  same  time  he  considers  it 
erroneous,  on  the  ground  that  God  cannot 
reasonably  be  called  the  author  of  books, 
if  He  merely  impelled  the  writers  to  com- 
pose them,  and  did  not  actually  assist  and  direct 
them  in  doing  so. 


aa 


460  INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE 

of  the  Holy  G-host,  the  latter  conveying  a 
merely  negative,  the  latter  a  positive  idea. 
General  councils  have  the  "  assistentia  " 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  because  He  protects 
them  from  error  in  their  decrees,  although 
the  Pope  in  convoking  the  council  and 
proposing  to  it  the  subjects,  may  have 
been  guided  only  by  the  ordinary  motives 
of  faith  and  reason.  Inspiration  implies 
over  and  above  this  protection  a  special 
impulse  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  write,  and 
to  write  on  particular  subjects.  Next,  a 
clear  line  must  be  drawn  between  reve- 
lation and  inspiration,  God  reveals  to 
the  soul  truths  which  it  did  not  know 
before,  without  necessarily  prompting  the 
recipient  to  commit  the  revelation  to 
writing ;  an  inspired  author  has  received 
the  impulse  to  write,  and  is  directed  from 
above  in  his  work,  but  it  is  not  necessary 
that  any  new  truths  should  be  communi- 
cated to  him.  There  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  the  author  of  the  book  e.g. 
of  Esther  received  any  revelation. 

In  an  inspired  book  there  are  evidently 
two  factors — the  natural  powers  of  the 
writer  on  this  side,  and  the  impulse  and 
direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  that. 
The  Church  has  not  decided  where  the 
one  factor  ceases  and  the  other  begins  to 
operate.  Holden,  in  his  "  Analysis  Fidei " 
(1685),  defended  the  extreme  opinion 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  secured  the  writer 
from  error  only  in  matters  of  faith  and 
morals.  Others  (and  this  opinion,  which 
eeems  to  find  some  support  in  the  Fathers, 
found  wide  acceptance  among  the  older 
Protestant  theologiaps)  have  believed  in 
what  is  known  as  '^  verbal  inspiration ;  " 
they  have  argued  as  if  the  authors  of  the 
Biblical  books  were  no  more  than  scribes 
who  wrote  down  the  words  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  had  dictated.  If  Holden's 
theory  sins  against  the  received  teaching 
and  tradition,  most  certainly  that  of 
verbal  inspiration'  as  it  has  just  been 
explained  sins  against  the  most  patent 
facts.    Evidently,  the  style  and  method 

*  The  Jesuit  Kleutgen,  in  the  treatise  al- 
ready referred  to,  cites  some  of  the  greatest 
theologians  of  the  Cliurch  against  the  theorv 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  dictated  the  material 
■words  to  the  sacred  author.  Thus  he  quotes 
Suarez,  De  Fide,  disp.  5,  §  3,  n.  3,  5,  who 
maintains  it  is  enough  to  believe  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  "  specially  assisted  him  (the  author 
of  the  inspired  book,  while  writing)  and  kept 
him  from  all  error  and  falsehood,  and  from  all 
words  Avhich  were  not  expedient."  To  the 
same  effect  Bellarmin's  De  Verhf\  Dei,  lib.  v. 
15 ;  Melchior  Canus,  De  Loc.  Theohg.  lib.  ii. 
cc  17  et  18. 


INSTALLATION 

of  the  sacred  writers  is  coloured  ;hrougli- 
out  by  their  ovm  individuality,  and  the 
differences  in  thought  and  language 
between  Isaias  and  Ezechiel  are  utterly 
inexplicable  if  we  regard  them  as  passive 
agents  under  a  mechanical  inspiration. 
St.  Augustine  in  well-known  words 
formulises  the  prevailing  belief  of  the 
Church,  without  falling  into  the  exaggera- 
tions of  the  theory  that  inspiration  is 
mechanical.  " To  those  books,'  he  says, 
"which  are  already  styled  canonical,  I 
have  learned  to  pay  such  reverence  and 
honour  as  most  firmly  to  believe  that 
none  of  their  authors  has  committed  any 
error  in  writing.  If  in  that  literature  I 
meet  with  anything  which  seems  contrary 
to  truth,  I  will  have  no  doubt  that  it  is 
only  the  manuscript  which  is  faulty,  or 
the  translator  who  has  not  hit  the  sense, 
or  my  own  failure  to  understand." 
(Almost  entirely  from  Kaulen,  "  Einleit- 
ung  in  die  heilige  Schrift."  Part  I.  pp.  12 
seq.). 

zia-STAi.i.iLTioi«r  (Low  Lat.  stat- 
lum,  a  stall).  The  actual  visible  estab- 
lishment {institutio  corporalis)  in  the 
possession  of  an  ecclesiastical  dignity  or 
benefice.  In  early  times  money  often 
passed  on  such  occasions;  in  one  of  the 
Novels  Justinian  forbids  that  any  payment 
should  be  made  on  installation  to  the 
clergy  of  any  church  excepting  only  the 
great  church  at  Constantinople.  In 
another  place  he  says  that  the  custom, 
though  intrinsically  a  bad  one,  is  too 
firmly  rooted  to  be  destroyed ;  he  there- 
fore decrees  that  twenty  pounds  of  gold 
may  be  paid  on  installation  by  the  patri- 
arch of  any  one  of  the  five  sees,  Rome, 
Constantinople,  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and 
Jerusalem,  if  the  custom  is  to  that  effect, 
but  no  more.  The  sum  to  be  paid  by  a 
metropolitan'  or  a  bishop  he  limits  to 
100  shillings  for  enthronisation,  and  300 
shillings  given  to  notaries  and  other 
officials.  In  spite  of  his  apparent  zeal 
for  purity  of  election,  Justinian  was  the 
first  emperor  who  exacted  payment  for 
confirming  the  election  of  the  Roman 
pontiffs ;  this  abuse  was  not  removed  till 
the  time  of  Constantine  Pogonatus. 

It  was  afterwards  settled  by  the 
canon  law  that  the  fees  paid  on  instal- 
lation, in  any  grade  of  orders,  should 
never  exceed  one  year's  profits  of  the 
benefice  conferred. 

Installation,  in  the  case  of  a  bishop,  is 
called  enthronisation;  it  is  the  solemn 
entry  into  possession  of  his  cathedral  and 
episcopal  residence  on  the  part  of  the 


INSTITUTE  B.  V.  M. 

newly  consecrated  bishop,  who  wears  all 
his  pontifical  insignia  on  the  occasion. 
When  a  bishop  is  consecrated  in  his  own 
church,  the  enthronisation  becomes  iden- 
tified with  the  consecration ;  but  when 
the  latter  rite  has  been  performed  in 
another  diocese,  then,  "  according  to  the 
ancient  tradition,  the  bishop,  dressed  in 
the  garb  of  a  pilgrim,  with  his  crosier  in 
his  hand,  gjid  the  pastoral  hat  on  his 
head,  is  received  on  arriving  at  the 
boundary  of  his  diocese,  by  the  chapter 
and  clergy  of  the  cathedral  city  and 
district ;  by  them  he  is  escorted  t»  some 
neighbouring  church,  where,  after  a 
short  prayer,  he  is  presented  with  the 
episcopal  ornaments  and  insignia,  and  then 
conducted  in  solemn  procession  to  the 
sound  of  bells  into  his  cathedral,  where 
he  is  welcomed  with  the  anthem  Ecce 
sacerdos  magnus  and  the  Te  Deuin,  while 
he  takes  his  seat  on  his  throne,  from  the 
raised  dds  of  which  he  imparts  to  the 
assembled  throng  his  episcopal  bene- 
diction. After  this  he  is  escorted  to  his 
palace,  the  cross  being  borne  before 
him."  ^ 

The  installation  of  a  canon  is  his 
solemn  reception  into  a  cathedral  or 
collegiate  chapter.  In  presence  of  the 
dignitaries  and  canons  seated  in  the 
chapter-house  the  new  titular,  after  being 
chorally  vested,  makes  his  profession  of 
faith  and  takes  the  capitular  oath.  He 
is  then  admitted  to  his  seat  in  chapter, 
and  afterwards  conducted  into  the  church, 
and  installed  in  his  proper  stall  in  the 
choir. 

In  the  case  of  a  simple  parish  priest 
the  installation  is  usually  effected  by  a 
delegate  from  the  bishop,  who  admits 
the  new  incumbent  both  to  the  spiritual 
and  temporal  rights  of  his  benefice.  In 
some  covmtries  a  commissary  attends  on 
the  part  of  the  civil  government,  and 
admits  him  with  certain  formalities  into 
the  possession  of  his  temporals.  Thom- 
assin,  "  Vetus  et  Nova,"  &c.,  iii.  1,  56. 
*  Iia-STZTUTE  OF  THE  BXtESSES 
VIRGIN  TltLAJELH.  (Dames  Anglaises, 
"  English  Ladies,"  or  "  English  Virgins.") 
As  this  appears  to.  be  the  only  religious 
order  of  purely  English  origin  founded 
since  the  Reformation,  we  propose  to 
trace  its  history  in  some  degree  of  detail, 
aided  by  a  series  of  papers  which  ap- 
peared in  the  Catholic  periodical  the 
''Month."  These  papers  are  entitled 
**  Passages  from  the  Life  of  a  Yorkshire 

1  Wetzer  and  Welte,  art.  "  Piovision  Can- 
onique." 

G  0 


INSTITUTE  B.  V.  M. 


451 


Lady,"  and  notify,  while  they  partly 
anticipate,  the  publication  of  a  forth- 
coming work  on  the  saintly  foundress  of 
the  ''  English  Ladies."  ^  *Mary  Ward,  the 
eldest  daughter  of  Marmaduke  Wai-d,  of 
Givendale,  near  Ripon,  a  gentleman  of 
good  estate  and  ancient  lineage,  was  born 
in  1585.  Her  parents  were  steadfast 
Catholics,  and  dedicated  the  child  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  from  her  cradle.  Those 
were  days  in  which  the  professors  of  the 
ancient  faith  were  continually  harassed, 
and  in  danger  of  death,  under  the  opera- 
tion of  the  penal  laws  •,  and  it  is  not  sui*- 
prising  to  find  the  fervent  child,  who, 
there  is  reason  to  believe,  never  stained 
the  grace  of  her  baptism  by  mortal  sin, 
growing  up  in  the  thought  and  with  the 
burning  desire  of  martyrdom.  When  she 
was  about  15  or  16  years  old,  she  began 
to  long  for  the  religious  life.  She  was 
very  beautiful,  and  projects  were 
formed  with  a  view  to  her  marriage; 
many  suitors  sought  her  favour ;  but  she 
resisted  all  solicitations,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  Father  Holtby,  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  left  England  and  her  father's 
house  in  1606,  and  passed  over  to  St. 
Omer.  We  are  told  that  "  the  description 
of  the  devotion  of  those  of  her  sex  abroad 
had  drawn  her  to  a  foreign  land."  At 
first  she  entered  the  convent  of  Colettines 
at  St,  Omer,  as  a  lay  sister,  and  many  duties 
of  a  kind  for  which  she  was  little  fitted 
were  imposed  upon  her.  In  May  or  June 
1607,  with  the  advice  of  the  novice- 
mistress,  and  after  having  experienced, 
while  in  prayer  on  St.  Gregory's  day,  a 
strong  inward  impulse,  prompting  her  to 
found  a  convent  of  the  order  for  English 
women  exclusively,  Mary  quitted  the 
Oolettine  convent.  With  the  help  of  her 
confessor.  Father  Roger  Lee,  and  the  good 
bishop  Blaise,  of  St.  Omer,  she  obtained 
access  to  the  Archduke  Albert  and  his 
wife  Isabella,  and  obtained  from  them 
the  grant  of  a  vacant  piece  of  ground  at 
Gravelines,  and  permission  to  build  a 
house  of  English  Poor  Clares  upon  it. 
Many  English  ladies  (for  the  persecution 
at  home  at  that  time  caused  numbers  of 
Englishwomen  to  seek  freedom  and 
security  in  Catholic  countries)  joined  her, 
and  the  new  community  was  begun  at 
Christmas  1607,  in  a  large  hired  house  at 
St.  Omer,  pending  the  erection  of  a  con- 
vent at  Gravelines.  Mary  procured  from 
the  Duchess  of  Feria,  a  member  of  the 

1  Vol.  I.  of  the  Life  of  Mary    Ward,    by 
Mary  C.  E.  Chambers,  ed.  by  Father  Coleridge, 
has  just  appeared  (Oct.  1882). 
2 


45S 


INSTITUTE  B.  V.  M. 


English  family  of  Dormer,  a  copy  of  the 
oriirinal  rule  of  St.  Clare.  Against  the 
wish  of  the  bishop,  who  desired  that 
Mary,  having  passed  what  was  equivalent 
to  a  noviciate  as  a  lay-sister  among  the 
Colettines,  should  be  professed  at  once, 
the  Superior  of  the  new  institute  insisted 
on  her  commencing  as  a  novice  in  the 
usual  way.  Mary  readily  complied,  and 
conformed  with  joy  to  the  strictest  obser- 
vances of  the  rule  during  the  term  of 
noviceship.  However,  on  May  2,  1608, 
she  received,  while  sitting  at  work, 
making  ''girdles  of  St.  Francis,"  a  sudden 
commmiication,  as  she  believed  it  to  be, 
the  purport  of  which  was  that  she  "  was 
not  called  to  the  order  of  St.  Clare,  but 
to  another  vocation  and  employment." 
Her  confessor,  when  she  made  known  to 
him  what  bad  happened  within  her,  re- 
proved her  with  some  severity.  Being, 
however,  more  and  more  convinced  that 
she  was  called  to  another  way,  she  left 
the  Poor  Clares  in  the  spring  of  1609, 
having  first  made  a  vow  of  perpetual 
chastity  before  her  confessor,  and  also  one 
of  obedience  to  his  directions.  Her  con- 
duct drew  upon  her  censure  from  many 
quartet's,  and  she  was  for  a  long  time  in 
great  pei-plexity,  but  her  coniidence  in 
God  never  wavered.  Gradually  the  con- 
ception of  a  teaching  order,  recruited  from 
the  ranks  of  her  Catholic  countrywomen, 
not  cloistered,  nor  under  obedience  to  any 
other  order,  but  living  under  the  rule  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  bound  by  termin- 
able, not  perpetual,  vows,  took  form  within 
her  mind.  She  returned  to  England,  and 
"being  joined  by  many  postulants  whom 
the  force  and  purity  of  her  character 
attracted  to  her,  she  founded  the  first 
community  of  the  "  English  Virgins  "  at 
Spitaltields  in  1611.  A  year  or  two  later 
she  returned  to  St.  Omer,  and  there  also 
succeeded  in  establishing  a  community. 
Before  his  death  in  1616  Father  Lee  had 
come  round  to  her  views,  and  laboured 
effectually  to  procure  the  confirmation  of 
her  institute  from  Rome.  A  letter 
addressed  to  her  by  order  of  the  Arch- 
duke in  May  1613  sets  forth  the  precise 
nature  of  her  work.  He  says  he  has 
heard  with  pleasure  that  she  and  her 
companions  are  established  at  St.  Omer, 
"  where  you  receive  and  teach  a  number 
of  young  girls  of  your  nation,  in  order 
that,  after  they  have  been  well  instructed 
in  all  that  belongs  to  our  holy  faith, 
Catholic,  Apostolic,  and  Roman,  and 
carefully  trained  to  virtue,  they  may  be 
Bent  back  to  their  parents,  to  be  married 


INSTITUTE  B.  V.  M. 

and  bring  up  their  children  in  the  fear  of 
God,  unless  they  prefer  to  stay  in  our 
countries  and  become  religious."  In  1616 
a  letter  came  from  Rome  signed  by 
Cardinal  Lancellotti,  the  president  oi  the  ' 
Sacred  Congregation  of  the  Council, recom- 
mending the  new  community  to  the  care 
of  Bishop  Blaise,  and  speaking  of  the 
probability  of  a  formal  confirmation  at  a 
future  day.  In  the  years  between  1613 
and  1627  Mary  paid  several  visits  to 
England,  during  one  of  which  she  was 
arrested  and  imprisoned  by  order  of  Arch- 
bishop Abbott,  who  said  that  ''she  did 
more  harm  than  six  Jesuits."  Details  are 
wanting  ;  we  are  only  told  that  "  sentence 
of  death  was  passed  upon  her  for  religion, 
but  that  there  was  no  execution,  for  fear  of 
odium."  Probably  the  Spanish  Ambas- 
sador, Gondemar,  who  saved  the  lives  of 
many  English  Catholics  in  this  reign  by 
menacing  the  despicable  king  wnth  the 
anger  of  his  master,  interfered  on  her 
behalf ;  something  is  said  also  of  a  large 
bribe  paid  by  her  relations.  In  1617  she 
opened  a  second  house  at  Liege ;  and  about 
the  same  time  the  Bishop  of  St,  Omer 
wrote  to  Mary  a  "  public  letter  of  ap- 
proval of  the  Institute,  by  which  he  con- 
stituted its  members  as  religi<uis."  At 
Liege  she  was  protected  by  Ferdinand, 
the  Prince  Bishop,  who  loved  to  hear  the 
music  in  the  church  of  the  English  Ladies, 
and  sometimes  said  Mass  for  them.  Pope 
Gregory  XV.  (1621-3)  gave  her  permis- 
sion to  found  houses  of  her  Institute  at 
Rome  and  in  other  Italian  towns.  In 
1627  she  established  a  house  at  Munich. 
Charges  being  brought  against  the  purity 
of  her  faith,  Urban  VIII.  ordered,  in  1630, 
that  she  should  be  examined,  and  that  her 
houses  should  be  (provisionally)  closed. 
Through  the  intercession  of  the  good 
Maximilian,  Elector  of  Bavaria,  the  nims 
were  still  allowed  to  continue  the  common 
life,  under  certain  restrictions  The  result 
of  the  examination  was  favor.rable  to  her, 
and  Mary  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  decision 
from  Rome  that  the  bull  of  1630  closing 
her  houses  should  be  regarded  as  tacitly 
abolished  ;  but  it  was  only  in  1703,  many 
years  after  her  death  (whach  happened  in 
1645),  that  the  Institute  was  again  for- 
mally confirmed  by  Clement  XI.  Since 
that  time  the  succession  in  her  community- 
has  never  failed  ;  and  at  this  day,  accord- 
ing to  the  "  Month,"  her  order  is  "  a  very- 
flourishing  religious  institute,  largely  in- 
strumental in  the  education  of  girls  of 
all  classes,  in  Bavaria,  Hungary,  Ron,- 
mania,  Italy,  and  other  part&  of  the  Cobp 


INTERDICT 

tinent,"  and  is  "  commonly  known  as  the 
'    institute  of  the  '  English  Virgins.' " 

.  The  noble  and  valiant  foundress  im- 
printed the  seal  of  perpetuity  even  on  the 
community  which  she  abandoned.  The 
English  Poor  Clares,  after  she  left  them, 
prospered  greatly  at  Gravelines,  and  sent 
forth  several  filiations.  In  the  French 
Revolution  the  nuns  "  had  their  full  share 
of  suffering,  though  they  escaped  the 
guillotine."  Banished  from  France,  they 
took  refuge  in  England,  and  finally  estab- 
lished themselves  at  Clare  Abbey,  near 
Darlington,  "■  which  now  represents  the 
Gravelines  foundation  and  those  of  its 
three  daughter-houses." 

ZSTTSRCAIiARV  VEAR.  [See 
CALENDA.R.] 

ZZJTERSICT.  1.  The  inter  dictum  of 
a  Roman  praetor  was  a  decree  pronounced 
between  two  litigants,  ordering,  or  (more 
commonly),  forbidding  something  to  be 
done.  A  banished  man  was  also  said  to 
be  interdicted  from  the  use  of  fire  and 
water  in  Italy  {aqua  et  igne  ei  inter- 
dictum  est).  Something  of  each  of  these 
notions — e.g.  the  proliibition  of  saying 
Mass,  and  the  interdiction  of  the  guilty, 
and  often  of  the  innocent  also,  from 
approach  to  the  sacraments — appears  in 
the  ecclesiastical  interdict,  which  is  de- 
fined to  be  "  an  ecclesiastical  censure,  by 
which  persons  are  debarred  from  the  use 
of  certain  sacraments,  from  all  the  divine 
offices,  and  from  Christian  burial."  * 

Interdicts  are  divided  into  local, 
personal,  and  mixed.  In  the  first  kind  a 
place  is  interdicted,  so  that  no  divine 
office  ipay  be  celebrated  or  heard  in  it, 
either  by  the  inhabitants  or  by  strangers. 
By  the  second  kind  persons  are  inter- 
dicted, so  as  to  be  debarred  from  using 
the  sacraments  or  exercising  the  functions 
prohibited,  in  whatever  place  they  may 
be.  By  the  mixed  kind  both  place  and 
persons  are  directly  interdicted — e.g.  a 
city  and  its  inhabitants.  Again,  each  of 
the  first  two  kinds  may  be  either  general 
or  particular.  A  particular  local  interdict 
strikes  a  single  locality — e.g.  a  church  ; 
a  general  one  comprehends  many  localities, 
being  pronounced  against  a  kingdom,  a 
province,  or  a  city.  A  particidar  personal 
interdict  strikes  a  single  person ;  a  general 
one  of  the  same  class  is  extended  to  a 
number  of  persons — e.g.  to  all  the  people 
in  a  province,  all  the  members  of  a  uni- 
versity, all  the  monks  in  a  convent. 

A  general  interdict  of  the  clergy  in  a 
country  does  not  touch  the  religious 
>  Ferraris,  "  Interdictum.  * 


INTERDICT 


453 


orders  in  that  country  unless  it  be  so 
expressed,  or  unless  the  intention  to 
include  them  can  be  clearly  inferred  from 
the  circumstances,  and  the  same  holds 
good  vice  versa.  Nor  does  a  general 
interdict  of  the  clergy  include  bisj^iops 
unless  it  be  so  expressed. 

When  a  city  is  laid  under  an  interdict 
its  suburbs  are  understood  to  be  included, 
even  though  they  belong  to  a  different 
diocese ;  otherwise  the  interdict  might  be 
rendered  nugatory  through  the  citizens 
being  able  to  hear  Mass,  &c.  in  the 
suburban  churches.  In  the  same  case 
the  cathedral  church  no  less  than  others 
is  interdicted,  and  also  the  churches  of 
regulars. 

Interdicts  are  either  imposed  jyer 
modum  pcencB,  as  a  punishment  for  a  par- 
ticular offence,  in  which  case  they  last 
for  a  prescribed  period,  and  then  cease — 
or  per  7)iodum  censuree,  as  a  weapon  to 
beat  down  contumacious  resistance  to 
the  laws  and  discipline  of  the  Church. 
In  this  last  case  they  ordinarily  last  till 
the  resistance  ceases,  and  the  offender 
makes  amends,  and  are  then  relaxed. 

Interdicts  proceed  either  a  jui-e,  or 
nb  homine,  that  is,  either  by  operation  of 
law  or  by  the  act  of  some  one  competent 
to  impose  them.  Everyone  who  can  ex- 
communicate or  suspend  can  also  inter- 
dict, except  the  superiors  of  monasteries, 
both  because  their  jurisdiction  is  not 
local  but  personal,  and  also  because,  if 
they  had  the  power  of  interdicting,  the 
effects  of  their  action  would  extend  to 
and  damnify  lay  persons  who  are  not  in 
any  sense  their  subjects  {siihditi). 

The  law  declares  persons  or  places 
interdicted  in  a  great  variety  of  cases. 
As  instances  may  be  given — hindrance  of 
a  Papal  legate  or  nuncio  from  discharging 
his  duty,  in  which  case  all  the  dominions 
of  the  prince  or  State  so  hindering  are 
interdicted ;  the  burial  of  a  heretic, 
knowingly,  in  a  church,  in  which  case 
the  church  is  interdicted ;  appeal  from 
the  Pope  by  any  university  chapter  or 
college  to  a  future  general  council,  the 
result  being  the  interdict  of  the  offend- 
ing corporation;  and  the  illegal  alien- 
ation of  Church  property  by  bishops  or 
abbots. 

In  order  that  innocent  persons  might 
suffer  as  little  as  possible  from  the  effects 
of  an  interdict  the  canon  law  gTadually 
introduced  mitigations.  Baptism  and  con- 
firmation might  be  administered  to 
persons  in  danger  of  death  ;  the  sacra- 
ment of  penance  was  opened  to  all  but 


464 


INTERDICT 


those  guilty  of  having  caused  the  interdict 
( who  could  not  approach  it  before  having 
made  satisfaction) ;  marriage  might  be 
celebrated,  but  without  solemnities  ;  ordi- 
nations might  be  made  if  there  was  a 
deficiency  of  priests ;  ecclesiastics  who 
had  observed  the  interdict  might  be 
buried  in  the  churchyard,  but  in  silence  ; 
one  low  Mass  might  be  said  every  week, 
and  High  Mass  might  be  sung  on  the  five 
great  festivals  of  Christmas,  Easter, 
Whitsunday,  Corpus  Christi,  and  the 
Assumption,  the  persons  guilty  of  the 
interdict  being  carefidly  excluded. 

General  interdicts  are  rarely  mentioned 
in  ecclesiastical  history  before  the  eleventh 
century,  and  for  this  three  causes  are 
assigned :  1.  the  comparatively  stronger 
sense  of  religion  in  the  Christian  society 
of  the  earlier  times,  restraining  a  whole 
people  from  themselves  falling  into,  or 
conniving  at  in  their  rulers,  any  notorious 
transgression ;  2.  the  salutary  dread  of 
excommunication  everywhere  prevailing, 
80  that  that  form  of  censure  was  sufficient 
of  itself  to  restrain  offenders;  3.  the 
general  readiness  of  temporal  princes  in 
those  times  to  aid  the  Church  in  main- 
taining her  discipline. 

Non-catholic  writers  are  prone  to 
judge  a  Papal  interdict  accoi-ding  to  the 
measure  of  what  they  deem  its  success. 
If  the  contumacy  of  the  prince  whom  it 
strikes  is  overcome,  the  firmness  and 
policy  of  the  Pope  are  usually  commended ; 
but  if,  as  has  sometimes  happened,  it  be 
not  overcome,  the  inference  drawn  by 
such  writers  is  that  the  increasing  intelli- 
gence and  civilisation  of  the  age  have 
deprived  the  "  Papal  thunders  "  of  their 
terrors,  and  that  the  time  has  come  for 
disowning  and  abandoning  the  use  of 
them  for  evermore.  Such  language  shows 
an  ignorance  ot  the  deep  foundations  on 
which  the  interdict,  with  other  Church 
censures,  rests.  Our  Lord  gave  the 
power  of  binding,  as  of  loosing,  to  his 
Apostles,  and  He  has  never  withdrawn  it. 
But  Jesus  Christ  did  not  tell  them  that 
whatever •  they  should  "bind  on  earth" 
should  also  be  punished  on  earth,  but 
that  it  should  be  "  bound  also  in  heaven." 
Through  the  dwindling  of  faith  and  the 
decay  of  virtue  a  people  may  sink  so  low 
as  to  countenance  its  rulers  in  resisting 
the  Church ;  the  rulers  themselves  may 
be  atheists  and  disregard  ecclesiastical 
censures;  and  all  this  may  pass  with 
apparent  impunity.  What  then?  If 
the  interdict  or  other  censure _  be  just, 
there  is  no  real  impunity;  the  sin  of  the 


INTERSTICES 

offender  is  "  retained  "  in  heaven  as  the 
priest  has  retained  it  on  earth,  and  if  he 
make  not  amends  in  this  life  he  will 
have  to  make  all  the  more  amends  in  the 
next.  Nevertheless  the  Church  has  with 
good  reason  suspended  for  a  long  time 
past  the  proclamation  of  these  general 
censures  ;  lest,  if  the  contumacious  were 
to  contemn  them  w^th  impunity,  and  so 
gain  an  apparent  triumph,  the  faith  of 
the  common  people,  already  weak  and 
assailed  from  many  (quarters,  might  be 
still  more  shaken  and  impaired. 

2.  In  canon  law  the  term  interdict  is 
also  used  of  a  judicial  order,  in  the  sense 
familiar  to  the  civil  law,  from  which  the 
threefold  distinction  into  interdicts  for 
restoring,  obtaining,  and  retaining,  and 
numerous  other  provisions  are  also  bor- 
rowed. (Ferraris,  Interdicta,  Inter- 
dictum.) 

IIO-TERSTZCBS  {inter stitia).  The 
intervals  which  canon-law  requires  be- 
tween the  reception  of  the  various  de- 
grees of  orders.  The  Council  of  Trent 
recommends  that  even  minor  orders  be 
conferred  at  intervals,  so  that  the  candi- 
date should  have  time  to  perfect  himself 
in  the  theory  and  practice  of  each,  before 
proceeding  to  the  next;  this,  however, 
it  leaves  to  the  discretion  of  the  bishops. 
After  taking  the  last  grade  of  minor 
orders,  the  Council  requires  the  interval 
of  a  year  before  the  candidate  proceeds 
to  the  sub-diaconate,  "unless  necessity  or 
the  good  of  the  Church  should  in  the  i 
bishop's  judgment  dictate  a  different 
course."  With  the  like  salvo,  it  is  pro- 
vided that  a  full  year  must  elapse  between 
the  sub-diaconate  and  the  diaconate,  and 
the  same  period  between  the  diaconate 
and  the  priesthood.  This  full  year  need 
not  be  the  solar  year  of  365  days,  but 
may  be  the  ecclesiastical  year,  as  from 
one  Lent  to  another,  or  from  one  Pente- 
cost to  another.  A  bishop  cannot  dis- 
pense with  the  interstices  in  ordaining 
candidates  coming  to  him  from  another 
diocese,  unless  in  their  dimissorial  letters 
[DiMissoRiALs]  this  privilege  is  allow^ed 
them.  The  members  of  religious  orders 
can  be  ordained  in  many  cases  by  virtue 
of  special  concessions  obtained  from  the 
Holy  See,  without  observing  the  inter- 
stices ;  this  is  notably  the  case  with 
regard  to  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The 
non-observance  of  the  interstices,  on 
the  part  both  of  the  oi-dinans  and  the 
ordinand,  is  a  sin;  but  no  penalty  iff 
affixed  to  it  in  the  law.  (Ferraris,  Inter^^ 
stitia.) 


INTROIT 

ZITTROIT.  Words  said  in  tlie  Mass 
when  the  priest  has  finished  the  Confiteor 
and  has  ascended  the  altar.  Le  Brun  and 
Benedict  XIV.  attribute  the  introduction 
of  iutroits  to  Gregory  the  Great.  The 
name  refers  either  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
said  at  the  beginning  or  "entrance"  _  of 
the  Mass,  or  else  to  the  practice  of  having 
the  introit  sung  by  the  choir  as  the  priest 
"entered  to"  the  altar. 

The  introit  consists  of  an  antiphon, 
Gloria  Patri,  and  usually  of  a  psalm,  which 
it  was  once  the  custom  to  sing  entire. 
But  some  introits,  called  by  Durandus 
irregular,  ai-e  taken  from  other  parts  of 
Scripture.  Such  are  the  Puer  natus,  on 
Christmas  day,  Spiritus  Domini,  on 
Pentecost,  Viri  Galilsei,  on  the  Ascension. 
Some  few  in  our  present  Missal  give  verses 
from  uninspired  writers.  Such  are  the 
Salve  Sancta  Parens,  Gaudeamus  omnes 
in  Domino,  Benedicta  sit  Sancta  Trinitas. 
On  Whit  Sunday  the  verse  of  the  introit 
is  taken  from  the  fourth  (apocryphal) 
book  of  Esdras.  The  version  of  Scripture 
used  in  the  introits  is  usually  the  Old 
Latin,  not  the  Vulgate. 

The  word  for  introit  in  the  Ambrosian 
Mass  is  Ingressa,  in  the  Mozarabic,  Car- 
thusian, Dominican,  Carmelite  Missals  it  is 
called  Officium. 

mrvXTATORIUlVI.  {Invitatory 

Psalm.)  The  invitatory  psalm,  i.e.  Ps.  94, 
**Come  let  us  rejoice  before  the  Lord," 
IS  said  at  the  beginning  of  Matins  on  all 
days  except  the  Epiphany  and  the  last 
three  days  of  Holy  Week.  The  invita- 
torium  has  an  antiphon,the  whole  of  which 
is  repeated  six  times,  and  the  half  three 
times,  in  the  recitation  of  the  psalm.  The 
recital  of  the  invitatory  psalm  at  the 
beginning  of  the  divine  office  is  prescribed 
in  the  rule  of  St.  Benedict.  Amalarius 
(anno  822)  tells  us  that  in  his  time  the 
invitatory  was  used  by  the  Romans  in 
the  dominical  but  not  in  the  ferial  office, 
80  that  the  present  practice  on  the  three 
last  days  of  Holy  Week  is  a  relic  of  the 
ancient  use.  The  invitatory  psalm,  with 
its  antiphon,  is  omitted  on  the  Feast  of  the 
Epiphany  simply  because  Ps.  94  occurs  in 
the  third  nocturn.  Mystical  reasons,  e.g. 
detestation  of  Herod's  calling  together  the 
scribes,  and  again  because  the  Magi  came 
to  adore  Christ  without  invitation,  are 
suggested  by  mediiBval  writers. 

IRISH  CHURGB.  In  the  fifth  cen- 
tury Ireland  was  divided,  as  it  was  for 
centuries  afterwards,  into  several  small 
kingdoms.  Some  unknown  preachers  m  ust 
have  found  their  way  into  the  country 


IRISH  CHURCH 


455 


even  before  the  mission  of  Palladius,  and 
converted  some  of  the  natives  to  the 
faith  of  Christ,  for  St.  Prosper  in  his 
chronicle  (published  about  434),  writes 
that  Palladius  was  sent  by  Pope  Celes- 
tine  in  431  "  ad  Scotos  in  Christum  cre- 
dentes,"  to  the  Scots  believing  in  Christ. 
The  terms  Scotia  and  Scots  originally  be- 
longed to  Ireland  and  the  Irish.  This  mis- 
sion of  Palladius,  who  was  deacon  of  the 
Roman  Church,  did  not  last  long,  and 
bore  little  fruit.  So  much  we  learn  from 
the  Book  of  Armagh  (written  before  700), 
with  the  additional  fact  that  Palladius 
died  in  Britain  on  his  return  from  Ireland, 

The  general  conversion  of  the  Irish 
nation  was  reserved  for  St.  Patrick,  who 
was  probably  born  at  the  place  now  called 
Kilpatrick  on  the  Clyde,^  whence  he  was 
carried  as  a  slave  into  the  north  of  Ireland 
while  still  a  youth.  The  degradation  and 
darkness  of  the  inhabitants  profoundly 
impressed  his  pure  and  generous  heart, 
and  from  the  time  when  he  regained  his 
liberty,  at  the  age  of  twenty- one,  he  de- 
voted himself  to  the  divine  service,  and 
the  task  of  spreading  the  doctnnes  of  sal- 
vation. After  going  through  a  course  of 
study  at  Marmoutier  and  Lerins,  he 
repaired  to  Rome.  We  next  hear  of  him 
as  accompanying  St.  Germanus  and  St, 
Lupus  on  their  anti-Pelagian  mission  to 
Britain.  Being  selected  by  St.  Germanus 
to  preacb  the  faith  in  Ireland,  he  went 
first — if  we  may  accept  the  testimony  of 
Probus' — to  Rome  to  obtain  the  apo- 
stolic blessing.  Celestine  dying  soon  after, 
Patrick  left  Rome  and  journeyed  towards 
Ireland.  Hearing  on  his  way  of  the  death 
of  Palladius,  he  went  to  St.  Amatorex, 
who  ordained  him  bishop.  Landing  in 
Ireland  in  432,  he  attended  the  assembly 
of  the  Irish  kings  and  chieftains  held  on 
the  hill  of  Tara  in  that  year.  His  recep- 
tion was  not  very  encouraging ;  however, 
he  converted  several,  and  among  others 
the  father  of  St.  Benignus,  his  immediate 
successor  in  the  see  of  Armagh. 

St.  Patrick  fixed  his  principal  resi- 
dence at  Armagh,  which  became  the  pri- 
matial  see  of  the  island.  In  the  course 
of  his  long  career,  extending  beyond  sixty 
years,  he  visited  and  converted  the  greater 
part  of  Ireland,  and  established  bishoprics 
in  all  the  provinces.     Among  his  chief 

*  Dr.  Moran,  Bishop  of  Ossory,  who  for- 
merly leant  to  the  opinion  that  the  place  was 
near  Boulogne  iu  France,  has  lately  written 
convincingly  in  favour  of  the  Scottish  site. 

*  Probus  wrote  a  Life  of  St.  Patrick  in 
the  tenth  century  ;  see  O'Curry'a  Materials  of 
Ancient  Irish  History. 


456 


ipjsn  cnuROH 


IRISH  CHURCH 


companions  and  assistants  were  Auxilins, 
Isserninus,  and  Secundinus.  The  Irish 
people  received  the  orospel  with  extraordi- 
nary readiness.  St.  Patrick  left  few 
writings  behind  him;  his  "  Confession,"  a 
kind  of  autobiography,  is  his  chief  work. 
We  have  also  his  circular  letter  against 
Coroticus,  and  the  canons  of  a  synod 
which  he  held  with  Auxilius  and  Isser- 
ninns,  about  453,  to  regulate  Church  dis- 
cipline, lu  his  "  Confession  "  he  does  not 
mention  the  Pope  or  the  Holy  See,  and 
Beda,  in  his  "  Ecclesiastical  History,"  is 
silent  about  St,  Patrick's  mission.  Hence 
Protestant  writers  have  inferred  that  he 
liad  no  mission  from  Rome,  and  preached 
a  Christianity  of  his  own,  distinct  from 
that  of  the  Popes ;  in  short,  that  he  was  a 
kind  of  Protestant.  This  hypothesis  has 
been  exploded  by  Dr.  Lanigan,  Bishop 
Moran,  and  others,  who  show  that  al- 
though St.  Patrick,  having  a  special 
object  in  view  when  he  wrote  the  "  Con- 
fession," says  nothing  in  it  about  Rome, 
yet  the  history  of  the  early  Irish  Church 
is  unintelligible  unless  we  assume  a  close 
and  filial  relation  to  the  Holy  See  to  have 
existed  from  the  first.  Within  a  cen- 
tury after  St.  Patrick,  St.  Columbanus, 
the  great  Irish  missionary  of  the  sixth 
century,  said  to  the  Pope,  "  The  Catholic 
faith  is  held  unshaken  by  us,  as  it  was 
delivered  to  us  by  you,  the  successors  of 
the  holy  Apostles."  ^  Another  theory  was 
put  forward  by  the  learned  Usher,  the 
Protestant  Archbishop  of  Armagh;  it 
was  that  Ireland  did  not  owe  her  Chris- 
tianity to  Rome,  nor  even  to  St.  Patrick, 
since  she  already  possessed  a  hierarchy  at 
the  time  when  the  saint  arrived.  But 
when  che  names  of  the  bishops  supposed 
to  have  belonged  to  this  hierarchy — Ailbe, 
Declan,  Ibar,  Kieran,&c. — came  to  be  ex- 
amined, Dr.  Lanigan  was  able  to  prove 
that  they  were  all  posterior  in  date  to  St. 
Patrick."^ 

With  respect  to  Beda,  although  it  is 
true  that  he  does  not  mention  St.  Patrick 
in  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  circum- 
stance— singular  as  it  must  be  admitted 
to  be — may  perhaps  be  explained  on  the 
ground  that  he  chose  to  confine  himself 
strictly  to  the  religious  concerns  of  the 
Angles  and  Saxons.  It  is  impossible  to 
infer  from  it  that  Beda  passed  over  the 
conversion  of  Ireland  in  silence,  because 
he,  a  zealous  adherent  of  Rome,  disap- 
proved of  a  work  effected  independently 

»  Moran,  Essays  on  the  Early  Irish  Church, 
p.  4. 

«  Ibid,  p.  40. 


of  Rome.  Had  he  so  felt,  he  would  have 
studiously  avoided  speaking  of  St.  Pat- 
rick in  his  other  writings,  as  well  ai»  in  his 
history.  But  the  fact  is  that  in  both  his 
"  Martyrologies,"  Beda  does  give  the 
name  of  St.  Patrick.  In  the  prose  one, 
under  March  17,  he  says,  "  In  Scotia,  the 
birthday  of  the  holy  Patricius,  bishop 
and  confessor,  who  first  in  that  coimtry 
preached  the  gospel  of  Christ."  In  his 
metrical  martyrology,  under  the  same 
day,  he  says,  "  Patricius,  the  servant 
of  the  Lord,  mounted  to  the  heavenly 
court." 

The  death  of  the  apostle  of  Ireland 
occurred  in  493.  The  present  sketch  of 
the  history  of  the  Church  in  Ireland  from 
that  time  to  our  own  day  will  be  divided 
into  three  periods:  1,  that  of  sanctity, 
learning,  and  missionary  energy  (493- 
800)  ;  2,  that  of  invasions  and  usurpation, 
(.SOO-1530)  ;  3,  that  of  persecution  (1530- 
1829).  The  period  commencing  at  the 
last-named  date  will  be  regarded  by  our 
descendants,  if  present  appearances  may 
be  trusted,  as  an  era  of  restoration. 

I.  The  Irish  saints  are  divided  by  the 
national  hagiographers  into  three  classes. 
In  the  first,  which  consists  of  those  of  the 
earliest  Christian  age  down  to  about  530, 
the  principal  figures  are  those  of  St.  Pat- 
rick himself,  St.  Brigid  of  Kildare,  St. 
Ibar,  St.  Declan,  and  St.  Kieran.  The 
second  class,  from  530  to  600,  contains 
St.  Coemgen  or  Kevin,  the  two  Brendans, 
Jarlath  of  Tuam,  and  the  great  St.  Co- 
lumba  or  Columbkill.  The  third  class, 
whose  period  is  from  600  to  about  660, 
contains  St.  Maidoc,  the  first  Bishop  of 
Ferns  ;  St.  Colraan  of  Lindisfarne,  Ultan, 
Fursey,  &c.  The  first  class,  in  the  words 
of  the  aycient  authority  quoted  by  Dr. 
Lanigan,*  "blazes  like  the  sun,  the 
second  like  the  moon,  the  third  like  the 
stars  .  .  .  the  first  most  holy,  the  second 
very  holy,  the  third  holy." 

That  learning,  in  all  the  branches 
then  Imown,  was  eagerly  followed  by 
Irish  students  from  the  time  of  the  con- 
version, is  a  fact  of  which  there  is  abun- 
dant evidence.  A  copious  literature 
sprang  up,  consisting  of  monastic  rules, 
tracts  on  ritual  and  discipline,  homilies, 
prayers,  hymns,  genealogies,  martyrolo- 
gies in  prose  andver.se,  and  lives  of  saints. 
This  literature,  as  was  to  be  expected, 
was  partly  compospd  in  the  vernacular 
and  partly  in  Latin  ;  but  the  bulk  of  it 
was  m  the  Gaelic.  The  extant  remains 
are  still  considerable ;  that  they  are  not 

1  History  of  the  Church  of  Ireland,  ii.  880. 


IRISH  OHURCII 

yet  more  copious  is  explained  by  Professor 
O'Currv  in  a  remarkable  passage,  which 
will  1)6  cited  in  a  dilierent  connection 
farther  on. 

The  English  Beda  bears  ungrudging 
testimony  to  the  high  character  of  the 
Irish  missionaries  who  had  laboured^  in 
Northumbria,  and  to  the  general  belief  in 
the  excellence  of  the  Irish  schools.  "  The 
whole  solicitude  of  those  teachers,"  he 
says,  'Svas  to  serve  God,  not  the  world; 
their  one  thought  was  how  to  train  the 
heart,  not  how  to  satisfy  the  appetite."^ 
The  special  excellence  of  the  Irish  schools 
was  the  interpretation  of  Scripture  ;  thus, 
'about  GoO,  Agilbert,  a  French  bishop, 
resided  a  long  time  in  Ireland  "  for  the 
eake  of  reading  the  Scriptures."*  Some 
years  later  (6'i4)  it  became  a  common 
practice  with  the  Northumbrian  thanes 
to  visit  Ireland,  eitlier  with  a  view  to 
greater  advance  in  the  spiritual  life,  or 
for  the  sake  of  biblical  knowledge, "  d  ivinse 
lectionis."  These  last  would  go  i'rom 
place  to  place,  attending  the  cells  of  the 
different  masters ;  and  so  generous  were 
the  natives,  that  they  provided  for 
them  all  "their  daily  food  free  of  cost, 
books  also  to  read,  and  gratuitous  teach- 
ing." ^ 

The  missionary  energy  of  the  Irish 
Church,  commencing  with  a  little  island 
off  the  coast  of  Mull,  which  it  made  a 
basis  for  further  operations,  ended  by 
embracing  France,  Switzerland,  and  Italy 
■within  the  scope  of  its  charity.  St.  Co- 
lumba,  of  whom  Montalembert  in  his 
"  Monks  of  the  West "  has  given  to  the 
world  a  graphic  portraiture,  founded  the 
monastery  of  Hy  or  lona  in  663,  chiefly 
with  a  view  to  the  conversion  of  the  Picts 
dwelling  in  the  north  of  Scotland.  For 
more  than  230  years  lona  continued  to 
flourish,  and  was  a  centre  of  pure  religion, 
education,  art,  and  literature  to  all  the 
surrounding  countries.  Here,  as  in  a 
"  sacred  storehouse,"  *  rest  the  bones  of 
not  a  few  Irish,  Scottish,  and  Norwegian 
kings.  It  was  devastated  by  the  Danes  in 
795,  and  the  monks  were  dispersed  a  few 
years  later.  From  lona  the  monk  Aidan, 
at  the  invitation  of  king  Oswald,  came  into 
Northumbria,  the  Angles  of  which  were 
still  mostly  Pagans,  and  founded  in  633 
a  monastery  on  the  isle  of  Lindisfarne,  of 
which  he  became  the  first  bishop.  To 
him  and  his  successors  the  conversion  of 

>  Hist.  Eccl  iii,  26. 

2  Ibid.  iii.  7. 

3  Ibid.  iii.  27. 

*  Shaksp.  Macbeth,  Act  II.  sc.  4. 


IRISH  CHURCH 


457 


the  northern  English  was  chiefly  due. 
Lindisfarne  in  its  turn  became  a  great 
school  of  sacred  learning  and  art,  and  its 
bishopric  ultimately  grew  into  the  palatine 
see  of  Durham.  In  East  Anglia  the  Irish 
St.  Fursey  assisted  Felix  the  Burgundian 
in  the  conversion  of  the  natives ;  in  Wessex 
the  Irish  Maidulf  founded  the  great  con- 
vent of  Maliuesbury.  In  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries  Irish  missionaries  were 
active  in  France :  Fridolin  restored  re- 
ligion at  Poictiers,  and  recovered  the  relica 
of  St.  Hilary  ;  St.  Fursey  founded  a  mon- 
astery at  Lagny;  St.  Fiacre  settled  at 
Paris;  and  Oolumbanus  founded  in  Bur- 
gundy the  historic  monastery  of  Luxeuil. 
In  Switzerland  the  name  of  the  town  and 
canton  of  St.  Gall  perpetuntes  the  memory 
of  an  Irish  anchorite,  who  in  613  planted 
a  cross  near  a  spring  in  the  heart  of  a  dense 
foreot.  south  of  the  lake  of  Constance,  and 
by  despi.-ing  the  world  drew  the  world  to 
him.  Bobbio,  in  Italy,  was  the  last  founda- 
tion and  resting-place  of  St.  Columbanus. 
In  Germany,  the  Irish  Fridolin,  the  hero 
of  many  a  tender  Volkslied  and  wild 
legend,  was  probably  the  first  apostle  of 
the  Alemanni  in  Baden  and  Snabia.^ 

The  well-known  controversy  respecting 
the  right  observation  of  Easter,  which 
raged  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries 
between  those  who  had  received  a  Roman 
and  an  Irish  training  respectively,  turi:ed 
on  the  fact  that  the  Irish  Church,  from  its 
isolation  in  the  far  west,  and  the  diffi- 
culties of  comnumication  with  the  centre 
of  unity,  had  fallen  somewhat  behindhand 
in  ecclesiastical  science,  and  not  adopted 
the  improved  methods  of  calculation  which 
had  come  into  force  in  Latin  Christendom 
generally.'^  After  there  had  been  time  for 
a  full  discussion  and  comparison  of  views, 
the  Irish  gradually  came  round  to  the 
better  practice.  At  a  synod  held  at  Old 
Leighlin,  in  630,  a  letter  having  come 
from  Honorius  L,  the  Roman  cycle  and 
rules  tor  computing  Easter  were  adopted 
in  all  the  south  of  Ireland.^  At  lona  and 
in    the   north   of  Ireland    the   necessary 

'  Art.  "Fridolin,"  by  Hefele,  in  Wetzer 
and  Welte. 

2  The  erroneous  practice  was  not  that  of 
the  Quartodecinians  [Eastek,  Cycle],  for  the 
Irish  always  waited  for  Sunday  betore  cele- 
brating the  feast  ;  it  consisted  in  keeping 
Raster  from  the  fourteenth  to  the  twentietti 
day  of  the  tirst  month,  instead  of  from  the 
frfteenth  to  the  twenty- first  ;  the  consequence 
being  that  when  Sunday  fell  on  the  fourteenth, 
Easter  be,<;an  to  be  kept  on  the  evening  of  the 
thirteentli  day,  that  is  before  the  o%curreno^  of 
the  Paschal  full  moon. 

^  Lanigan,  ii.  389. 


458 


IRISH  CHURCH 


IRISH  CHURCH 


change  was  deferred  for  many  years. 
Adamnan,  Abbot  of  Hy,  laboured  hard 
between  701  and  704  to  introduce  the 
Roman  Easter,  and  met  with  considerable 
success.  But  the  decisive  adoption  of  it 
at  Hy  is  said  to  have  been  due  to  the  per- 
suasions of  St.  Egbert,  about  716.^ 

II.  Period  of  Invasions. — The  Danes 
(called  "Ostmen  "  by  the  Irish),  appeared 
on  the  Irish  coasts  about  the  end  of  the 
eighth  century.  Wherever  they  came, 
they  desecrated  churches,  burnt  monas- 
teries, destroyed  books,  pictures,  and  sculp- 
tures ;  murdered  priests,  monks,  and  poets. 
To  the  ferocity  of  the  wdld  beast  they 
joined  the  persevering  energy  of  the 
Teuton  ;  their  arms  were  better  than  those 
of  the  Irish,  and  perhaps  they  had  more 
skill  in  handling  them.  Confusion  and 
lamentation  were  soon  in  every  part  of 
the  island.  Men,  after  a  while,  seeing  the 
continued  success  of  these  odious  Pagans, 
began  to  doubt  of  Providence,  and  to 
grow  slack  in  faith.  Sauve  qui  peut  be- 
came the  general  feeling,  and  the  gene- 
rosity towards  the  Church  of  the  converts 
of  the  age  of  St.  Patrick  underwent  a 
selfish  but  not  unnatural  reaction  in  their 
descendants.  "  When  foreign  invasion 
and  war  had  cooled  down  the  fervid  de- 
votion of  the  native  chiefs,  and  had  dis- 
tracted and  broken  up  the  long-established 
reciprocity  of  good  offices  between  the 
Church  and  the  State,  as  well  as  the 
central  executive  controlling  power  of  the 
nation,  the  chief  and  the  noble  began  to 
feel  that  the  lands  which  he  himself  or 
his  ancestors  had  offered  to  the  Church, 
might  now,  with  little  impropriety,  be 
taken  back  by  him,  to  be  applied  to  his 
own  purposes,  quieting  his  conscience  by 
the  necessity  of  the  case."  "^  The  beautiful 
Glendalough,  founded  by  St.  Kevin  about 
649,  being  near  the  sea,  was  peculiarly  ex- 
posed to  Danish  assault ;  but  not  one  of 
the  principal  monasteries — Armagh,  Kil- 
dare,  Clonmacnoise,  Slane,  &c. — escaped 
destruction  at  one  time  or  other.  D  ublin — 
of  which  the  Irish  name  is  "  Ath-cliath  "— 
became  a  Danish  city.  From  time  to  time 
the  invaders  were  heavily  defeated — as  in 
the  battle  of  Clontarf  (1014)  when  the 
victorious  Brian  Boru  fell  in  the  hour 
of  victory.  Gradually  they  adopted 
Christianity,  lost  their  national  language, 
and  were  blended  with  the  natives,  never 
having,  as  in  England,  succeeded  in  sub- 
jecting the  whole  island  to  their  rule. 

In  the  course  of  the  twelfth  century, 
1  Bed.  Hist.  Eccl.  v.  22. 
»  O'Curry,  MateriaU^  &c  p.  343. 


the  power  of  the  O'Neils  of  Ulster,  who 
had  for  a  long  period  been  over-lords  of 
the  whole  of  Ireland,  declined,  and  the 
O'Connors  of  Connaught  attempted  to 
take  their  place.  But  it  was  a  weak  and 
Avavering  sovereignty,  and  the  kings  of 
the  five  petty  kingdoms  were  continually 
plotting,  combining,  and  making  war  one 
against  another.  A  state  of  general  in- 
security and  lawlessness  was  the  natural 
result ;  and  though  the  faith  of  the  people 
remained  intact,  moral  disorder  in  every 
form  was  rampant,  and  the  discipline  of 
the  Church  was  often  set  at  nought.  The 
clergy,  probably  for  the  sake  of  greater 
stability  and  safety,  tended  to  cluster 
together  under  some  monastic  rule;  and 
the  laity,  abandoned  to  themselves,  fell 
a  prey  to  gross  superstitions  and  excesses. 
The  Popes,  by  sending  legates,  and  writing 
admonitory  letters  from  time  to  time, 
attempted  to  reform  the  state  of  society. 
In  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century  a 
powerful  influence  for  good  was  exerted 
by  the  admirable  sanctity  of  St.  Malachy, 
who  died  at  Clairvaux  under  the  eyes  of 
St.  Bernard,  in  1148,  and  whose  life  was 
written  by  his  great  friend.  The  state  of 
things  at  Armagh,  when  Malachy  was 
elected  to  the  primacy  in  1125,  is  a  good 
illustration  of  the  disorder  which  pervaded 
the  Irish  Church.  A  certain  powerful 
family  had  for  more  than  two  hundred 
years  claimed  the  primatial  chair  as  a 
hereditary  possession  ;  for  fifteen  genera- 
tions they  had  made  good  their  claim; 
and  of  these  fifteen  occupants  of  the  see 
only  six  were  in  holy  orders,  the  rest 
being  married  laymen,  who,  though  they 
did  not  presume  to  exercise  the  episcopal 
functions,  enjoyed  the  title  and  emolu- 
ments of  the  bishopric.^  Celsus,  the  last 
of  the  series,  being  a  good  man,  procured 
the  election  of  St.  Malachy  as  his  succes- 
sor ;  but  the  family  resented  this  intrusion 
on  their  "rights,"  and  presented  to  the 
see  one  of  themselves,  Murchadhby  name, 
upon  the  death  of  Celsus.  For  the  sake 
of  peace,  St.  Malachy  waited  five  years 
before  entering  Armagh ;  on  the  death  of 
Murchadh,  in  1133,  he  was  peaceably  in- 
stalled. In  1138  the  saint  visited  Rome, 
where  the  Pope,  Innocent  II.,  received 
him  with  the  highest  honour,  and  ap- 
pointed' him  his  legate  in  Ireland.  Ills 
zeal,  but  still  more  his  saintly  example, 
effected  a  salutary  change  in  the  northern 
parts  of  Ireland, 'where,  having  obtained 
leave  to  resign  the  primacy,  he  spent  the 

1  Lingard,  ffist.  of  Eng.,  ii.  89. 


IRISH  CHURCH 

last  ten  years  of  his  life  as  bishop  of  the 
small  see  of  Down. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  Henry  II. 
had  obtained  the  approbation  of  Pope 
Adrian  IV.,  an  Englishman,  for  his  pro- 
ject of  entering  Ireland,  ostensibly  with  a 
view  to  extirpating  vice  and  ignorance 
among  the  natives,  and  attaching  the 
island  more  closely  to  the  see  of  St.  Peter. 
Of  this  bull  Henry  made  no  use  for  many 
years,  and  the  actual  invasion  of  Ireland 
by  Strongbow  and  other  Norman  knights 
was  in  a  manner  accidental.  For  several 
generations  things  went  on  much  as  before ; 
the  English  power  was  confined  to  the 
*'  Pale,"  or  strip  of  country  on  the  eastern 
coast ;  in  the  rest  of  Ireland  the  native 
princes,  though  they  often  recognised  an 
iU-de  fined  over-lordship  in  the  English 
kings,  reigned  practically  after  their  own 
fashion.  Outside  the  Pale,  Brehon,  not 
feudal  law  prevailed.  One  benefit,  at 
least,  resulted:  the  Normans  were  great 
bmlders ;  and  noble  churches  of  stone  soon 
covered  the  land.  It  is  true  that  in  this 
reform  they  were  preceded  by  St.  Malachy, 
who  had  built  a  church  of  stone  at  Bangor, 
near  Oarrickfergus,  to  the  great  amaze- 
ment of  the  natives,  who  had,  till  then, 
seen  only  their  own  ingeniously  constructed 
edifices  of  timber  and  wicker  work. 

Three  great  Irish  synods  were  held  in 
the  twelfth  century.  At  the  first,  that  of 
Kells  (1162),  at  which  a  Roman  cardinal 
presided,  the  metropolitan  dignity  of  the 
three  sees  of  Cashel,^  Dublin,  and  Tuam 
was  solemnly  recognised ;  but  the  primacy 
over  the  whole  island  was  still  reserved 
to  Armagh.  At  the  second,  that  of  Cashel 
(1172),  held  immediately  after  the  inva- 
sion, Church  property  was  declared  to  be 
exempt  from  the  exactions  of  the  chief- 
tains, the  regular  payment  of  tithes  was 
enjoined,  and  it  was  ordered  that  all 
matters  of  ritual  should  be  arranged  in 
future  "  aarreeably  to  the  observance  of  the 
Chui-ch  of  England  " — in  other  words,  ac- 
cording to  Roman  usage.  The  third  synod, 
that  of  Dublin  (1186),  passed  several 
canons  of  ritual  5  it  is  chiefly  noted  for  a 
sermon,  pre<iched  before  it  by  Gerald  de 
Barri,  or  Cambrensis,  in  which,  while 
praising  the  orthodoxy  and  the  continency 
of  the  Irish  clergy,  he  lamented  that  too 
many  of  them  were  addicted  to  intem- 
perance. 

Many  of  the  English  and  Normans 
who  settled  in  Ireland  after  the  invasion 

1  Cashel  was  already  regarded  as  a  metro- 
politan see  as  early  as  1111,  and  its  bishops 
exerted  corresponding  powers  to  some  extent ; 


IRISH  CHURCH 


458 


adopted  by  degrees  the  dress,  customs, 
and  laws  of  the  natives,  and  became  no 
less  intractable  than  they  in  their  attitude 
towards  the  English  government.  An 
etfort  was  made  to  stop  this  process  by 
the  Statute  of  Kilkenny  (1367),  which 
made  it  treasonable  for  those  of  English 
descent  to  marry,  or  enter  into  the  rela- 
tion of  fosterage,  or  contract  spiritual 
affinity  with  the  natives ;  and  forbade  to 
the  same  class,  on  pain  of  forfeiture  of 
property,  the  adoption  of  an  Irish  name, 
or  the  use  of  the  Irish  language,  dress, 
or  customs.  But  this  statute  was  to  a 
great  extent  inoperative,  and  from  the 
date  of  its  enactment  to  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII.  there  were  two  parties  in 
continual  opposition  to  the  government, 
the  "  English  rebels,"  and  the  '*  Irish 
enemies."  The  demarcation  between 
English  and  Irish  which  the  civil  go- 
vernment thus  did  its  utmost  to  maintain, 
was  partially  introduced,  and  with  the 
most  unhappy  results,  into  the  adminis- 
tration of  Church  affairs.  In  the  coun- 
ties of  the  Pale  it  was  scarcely  possible 
for  an  ecclesiastic  of  Irish  race  to  obtain 
preferment.  The  invasion  by  the  Scots 
under  Edward  Bruce  in  1315,  though 
ultimately  defeated,  caused  great  con- 
fusion, and  called  forth  during  its  con- 
tinuance many  tokens  of  sympathy  from 
the  Irish  clergy.  This,  says  Mr.  Malone, 
was  made  a  pretext  for  "throwing  off 
the  mask,"  ^  and  under  colour  of  disloyalty 
Irishmen  were  excluded  from  all  the 
higher  dignities  and  benefices.  Yet  it 
would  appear  that  this  exclusion  could 
not  have  extended  much  beyond  the  Pale ; 
for  if  we  examine  the  lists  of  bishops  occu- 
pying the  Irish  sees  in  1360,  we  find  that 
out  of  thirtjy^-three  names,  eighteen  are 
certainly  Irish,  thirteen  English,  while 
two  may  be  doubtful.  All  through  this 
time  of  confusion  and  disunion  a  strong 
religious  feeling  was  abroad,  animating 
the  men  of  both  races  alike,  and  direct- 
ing them  to  common  objects.  In  the 
thirteenth  century  we  hear  of  170  mon- 
asteries being  founded ;  about  56  in  the 
fourteenth ;  and  about  60  in  the  fif- 
teenth. Two  unsuccessful  attempts  were 
made  to  found  universities :  one  at  Dublin 
(1320)  by  Archbishop  Bicknor ;  the 
other  at  Drogheda,  by  the  Parliament 
which  sat  there  in  1465. 

III.    Period  of  Persecution.     By  the 

in  1140  it  was  formally  recognized  as  such  by 
Innocent'  II.  at  the  request  of  St.  Malachy 
(Lanigan,  iv.  20). 

^  Church  History  of  Ireland,  ch.  ix. 


460 


IRISH  CHURCH 


IRISH  CHURCH 


aid  of  Brown,  the  Archbishop  of  Dah- 
liii,  an  Englishman,  who  had  embraced 
the  Lutheran  opinions,  Henry  VIII. 
had  some  success  in  imposing  his  doc- 
trine of  the  royal  supremacy  on  the 
Irish  clergy.  Under  Mary  all  progress 
in  this  direction  was  reversed.  Soon 
after  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  in  1560, 
a  packed  Parliament  was  convened  at 
Dublin  which  passed  an  Act  of  Uniform- 
ity, declaring  the  royal  supremacy  over 
the  Church,  and  imposing  the  Protestant 
Prayer-book.  By  many  Protestant  writ- 
ers ^  it  has  been  maintained  that  the 
bishops,  with  the  exception  of  two,  either 
approved  of,  or  acquiesced  in  the  new 
order  of  things,  and  that  the  people  for 
many  years  frequented  the  churches 
where  the  English  service  was  performed. 
The  falsehood  of  all  such  statements  has 
been  exposed  by  the  Bishop  of  Ossory,^ 
The  real  state  of  the  case  appears  to 
have  been  this.  The  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
Curwin,  conformed  to  Protestantism,  and 
O'Fibel,  Bishop  of  Leighlin,  did  the  same. 
The  conduct  of  four  bishops  (Ossory, 
Ferns,  Cork,  and  Clonfert)  is  more  or 
less  suspicious.  The  remainder  of  the 
Irish  hierarchy,  viz.  the  Archbisliops  of 
Cashel  and  Tuam  (the  see  of  Armagh 
was  vacant),  two  bishops  holding  sees 
in  the  Pale  (who  were  deprived  b}'  the 
government),  and  sixteen  other  bisliops 
of  suflragan  sees,  remained  faithful  to 
th«ir  canonical  obligations.  As  these 
bishops  died,  or  as,  in  the  course  of  the 
Elizabethan  wars,  the  government  was 
able  to  consolidate  its  power  in  the  re- 
moter parts  of  Ireland,  the  cathedrals, 
Church  lands,  and  other  Church  property 
were  made  over  to  Protestant  bishops 
and  ministers  appointed  under  the  Act 
of  Uniformity.  The  Catholic  Bishop  of 
Kilmore,  Richard  Brady,  was  expelled 
from  the  see  so  late  as  1 585.  The  Holy 
See  did  all  that  it  could  to  support  the 
oppressed  Church  of  Ireland,  and  animate 
the  clergy  to  meet  their  sufferings  with 
an  unbending  i'ortitude.  A  nuncio  was 
sent  to  reside  at  Limerick,  money  and 
arms  were  liberally  provided,  the  inter- 
vention of  Spain  solicited,  and  Irish 
ecclesiastics  visiting  Rome  welcomed  and 
assisted.  Except  in  the  case  of  Dublin, 
the  seat  of  the  Anglo-Irish  government, 
where  the  see  was  left  vacant  for  many 
years  from  the  absolute  impossibility  of 

1  Bishop  Mant,  Dean  Murray,  &c. 

"  Episcopal  Succession  in  Ireland.  See  also 
an  article  in  tiie  Contemporary  Review,  for  May 
1880,  on  'Dr.  Littledale,"  &c. 


any  prelate  residing  there  in  safety,  the 
successions  of  bishops  in  all  the  Irish 
sees  appear  to  have  been  regularly  main- 
tained through  all  the  period  of  perse- 
cution. 

The  cause  of  learning,  to  which  the 
Irish  Church  had  been  ever  devoted, 
could  not  but  suffer  in  this  prolonged 
conflict.  Before  the  change  of  religion 
in  England  there  had  been  some  eucburag- 
ing  signs  of  progress  in  the  reconciliation 
of  the  races  through  the  influence  of  a 
common  interest  in  intellectual  pursuits. 
Among  the  distinguished  Oxford  students 
of  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  a  considerable  proportion  were 
Irishmen,^  and  it  is  impossible  to  doubt 
that  had  peace  arid  religious  unity  been 
preserved,  this  resort  to  the  English  uni- 
versities would  have  gone  on  increasing 
until  it  bore  its  natural  fruit  in  the 
establishment  of  a  great  university  on 
Irish  soil.  The  change  of  religion  in 
England  cut  off  the  supply  of  Irish 
students;  Catholicism  became  a  perse- 
cuted creed  ;  and  the  effect  on  learning — 
its  professors,  seats,  implements,  and 
productions — may  be  understood  from 
the  following  vigorous  passage.  **  From 
about  the  year  1530,  in  the  reign  of  the 
English  king  Henry  VIII.,  to  the  year 
1793,  the  priests  of  Ireland  were  ever 
subject  to  persecution,  suppression,  dis- 
persion, and  expatriation,  according  to 
the  English  law;  their  churches,  mo- 
nasteries, convents,  and  private  habita- 
tions were  pillaged  and  wrested  from 
them;  and  a  Vandal  warfare  was  kept 
up  against  all  that  was  venerable  and 
sacred  of  the  remains  of  ancient  lite- 
rature and  art  which  they  possessed. 
When,  therefore;  we  make  search  for  the 
once  extensive  monuments  of  learning 
which  the  ecclesiastical  librai-ies  contained 
of  old,  we  must  remember  that  tliis  shock- 
ing system  continued  for  near  300  years  ; 
and  that  during  all  that  long  peiiod  the 
clergy — the  natural  repositories  of  all  tha 
documents  which  belonged  to  the  history 
of  the  Church — were  kept  in  a  continual 
state  of  insecurity  and  transition,  often 
compelled  to  resort  to  the  continent  for 
education,  often  forced  to  quit  their  homes 
and  churches  at  a  moment's  notice,  and 
fly  for  their  lives,  in  the  flrf^t  instance  to  the 
thorny  depths  of  the  nearest  forest  or  the 
damp  shelter  of  some  dreary  cavern,  until 
such  time,  if  ever  it  should  come,  as  they 
could  steal  away  to  the  hospitable  shores 

1  See  the  list  in  Wood's  Athena:  Oxon. 
Wood  does  not  go  farther  back  than  150(1. 


IRISH  CHURCH 

of  some  Christian  land  on  the  continent 
of  Europe,"  ^ 

Under  James  I.  and  Charles  I.,  the 
Catholic  clei^y  having  been  now  stripped 
of  all  their  property,  and  the  laity  of  a 
considerable  portion  of  theirs,  some 
toleration  was  extended  by  the  govern- 
ment to  Catholic  worship.  The  terrible 
rising  of  1641  was  the  commencement  of 
a  war  of  eleven  years,  ending  with  the 
surrender  of  Galway  in  1652.  Innocent 
X.  sent  the  Archbishop  of  Fermo  (Rin- 
uccini)  as  his  nuncio  to  Ireland  in  the 
autumn  of  1645,  with  considerable  sup- 
plies of  arms  and  money.  Unfortunately 
dissension  arose  in  the  national  ranks ;  a 
moderate  section  of  tl^  clergy,  with  most 
of  the  Catholic  gentry  and  laity,  were  for 
aiding  the  King  against  the  Parliament, 
and  not  exacting  from  him  very  stringent 
conditions ;  but  the  bulk  of  the  population, 
supported  by  the  nuncio  and  the  inferior 
clergy,  were  for  turning  the  war  into  a 
struggle  for  complete  religious  freedom 
and  national  independence.  Cromwell 
transported  his  victorious  army  to  Ireland 
in  1645),  and  by  several  successful  sieges, 
followed  by  bloody  military  executions, 
broke  the  strength  of  the  resistance. 
The  conquest  of  the  island  was  completed 
by  his  lieutenants.  The  sufferings  of  the 
Irish  clergy  during,  and  still  more  after, 
the  war  were  indescribable.  Bishop 
O'Brien  of  Emly  was  executed  by  Ireton's 
order  (1651)  after  the  fall  of  Ijimerick. 
Bishop  Egan  of  Ross  was  murdered  by 
Ludlow's  soldiers  in  1650.  In  the  same 
year  Bishop  McMahon  of  Clogher,  being 
in  commarui  of  a  body  of  Irish  troops, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Puritans,  and, 
though  quarter  had  been  promised,  was 
hanged.  A  letter  of  Dr.  Burgatt,  after- 
wards Archbishop  of  Cashel,  w^ritten  in 
1667,  says  that  in  the  persecution  begun 
by  Cromwell  '^more  than  300  [clergy] 
werf^  put  to  death  by  the  sword  or  on  the 
scaffold  .  .  .  ;  more  than  1000  were 
sent  into  exile,  and  among  these  all  the 
surviving  bishops,"  except  the  Bishop  of 
Kilmore,  who  was  too  old  to  move.^  The 
Puritan  soldiers  put  every  priest  to  death 
whom  they  fell  in  with  ;  and  yet  so  close 
a  tie  of  affection  bound  the  clergy  to  their 
native  land  and  their  people,  that  even  in 
1658,  about  the  worst  time  of  all,  there 
were  upwards  of  150  priests  in  each  pro- 
vince.^ The  regular  clergy  were  no  better 

^  O'Curry's  Materials,  §-c.  p.  355. 

2  Moran,   Hist.  Sketch  of  the  Persecutions 
to'der  Cromwell  (1862),  p.  82. 

3  lb.  p.  98. 


IRISH  CHURCH 


461 


off;  the  Acts  of  the  General  Chapter  of 
the  Dominican  Order  held  at  Rome  in 
1656,  mention  that  out  of  600  friars  who 
were  in  the  island  in  1646  not  a  fourth 
part  were  left,  and  of  forty- three  con- 
vents of  the  order,  not  one  remained 
standing.^  All  these  horrors  the  Puritans 
pretended  to  justify,  as  done  in  retalia- 
tion for  the  massacre  of  Protestants  in 
1641.  That  a  great  number  of  persona 
were  cruelly  put  to  death  at  the  time  of 
that  rising  is  undeniable;  but,  as  Lingard 
points  out,  ^  the  main  object  pursued  was 
not  the  murder  of  Protestants,  but  the 
recovery  of  the  confiscated  lands.  He  sig- 
nificantly adds,  "  That  they  [the  Irish] 
suffered  as  much  as  they  inflicted  cannot 
be  doubted." 

The  exiles,  both  priests  and  laity,  were 
cast  on  the  French  coast  in  a  state  of  such 
utter  destitution,  that,  but  for  prompt  and 
ample  relief,  many  must  have  perished. 
Happily,  a  saint  was  at  hand  to  help  them. 
St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  filled  with  compas- 
sion for  these  victims  of  war  and  fanati- 
cism, collected  money  and  clothing  for 
them,  and  provided  them  all  with  homes 
and  shelter;  he  even  sent  considerable 
supplies  to  Ireland.^  The  Bishop  of  Ossory 
also  gives  detailed  proof  of  the  unwearied 
solicitude  of  the  Holy  See,  for  many  years 
after  the  Cromwelliau  invasion,  in  pro- 
curing succours  of  every  kind  for  the  Irish 
Catholics,  and  itself  aiding  them  with 
money  to  the  utmost  of  its  power.^ 

The  Act  of  Settlement  (1660)  legalised 
the  Cromwellian  spoliations ;  but  the 
Catholic  worship  was  tolerated  all  through 
the  reign  of  Charles  II.  At  the  Revolu- 
tion, the  Irish  espoused  the  cause  of  their 
king,  who,  whatever  quarrel  the  English 
might  have  with  him,  had  done  Irela^id 
no  wrong.  Neither  the  letter  nor  the 
spirit  of  the  constitution  enjoined  that 
the  Irish  Parliament  and  people  should 
change  their  king  whenever  it  might  suit 
the  English  people  to  change  theirs.  But, 
in  the  absence  of  effectual  aid  from  abroad, 
the  superior  resources  of  the  stronger 
nation  crushed  the  resistance  of  the  weaker ; 
and  a  period  commenced  for  the   Irish 

^  Moran,  op.  cit.  p.  74. 

'  Hist,  of  Engl.  vii.  app.  note  7inn. 

5  Moran,  op.  cit.  p.  52. 

*  About  1688,  72,000  francs  a  year  were 
supplied  by  Rome  for  the  support  of  the  Irish 
secular  clerfjA'  and  laity.  In  1699  the  Pope 
sent  to  James  II.,  at  'St.  Germain's,  58,000 
francs  for  the  Irish  eccleJastics  exiled  that 
year.  From  about  1750  to  1800  the  Popes 
sent  the  Irish  bishops  a  hundred  Romaa 
crowns  a  year  in  aid  of  Catholic  poor  schools. 


IRISH  CHURCH 


IRISH  COLLEGE 


Church  and  people  sadder  than  any  that 
had  preceded  it.  The  writings  of  Burke,  and 
— among  recent  publications — Mr.  Lecky's 
"History  of  the  Eighteenth  Ceutury/' 
paint  in  detail  the  picture  of  Ireland 
ruined  and  outraged  by  the  penal  laws. 
Whatever  iniquitous  law  and  crafty  ad- 
ministretion  could  derise  to  destroy  the 
faith  of  the  people  was  tried  during  the 
gloomy  century  which  began  at  the  Revo- 
lution, but  all  to  no  effect.  The  ill-success 
of  the  American  war  compelled  the  English 
government  to  propose  the  first  relaxation 
of  the  penal  laws  in  1778.  From  that 
time  the  Irish  Church  has  been  step  by 
step  regaining  portions  and  fragments  of 
the  rights  of  which  she  was  deprived  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  Protestant 
Chiu-ch  was  disestablished  in  1869.  The 
last  twenty  years  liave  seen  the  island 
covered  with  beautiful  religious  edifices — 
cathedrals,  parish  churches,  convents,  col- 
leges, &c.  Of  such  a  people  it  may  be 
justly  said,  "  In  much  experience  of  tribu- 
lation they  have  had  abundance  of  joy, 
and  their  very  deep  poverty  hath  aboimded 
unto  the  riches  of  their  simplicity."  ^ 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Irish 
sees,  of  which  four  are  metropolitan  and 
twenty-four  suffragan : — 

Province  of  Armagh. 
Armagh  Meath 

Derry  Clobber 

Droraore  Raphoe 

Down  and  Connor  Ardagh 

Kilmore 

Province  of  Dublin. 
Dublin  Ossory 

Kildare  and  Leighlin      Ferns 

Province  of  Cashel. 

Cashel  and  Emly  Waterford  and  Lismore 

Cork  Cloyne 

Killaloe  Ross 

Limerick  Kerry 

Province  of  Ttiam. 

Tuam  Elphin 

Achonry  Galway 

Kiliiiacduagh  and  Kil-  Clonfert 
fenora  Killala 

Mitred  Abbot:   The  Most  Rev.  the   Abbot  of 
Mount  Melleray,  Cappoqixin. 

(Lanigan,  "Ecclesiastical  History  of 
Ireland,"  1829 ;  Plowden,  "Historical  Re- 
view of  the  State  of  Ireland,"  1803 ;  Malone, 
"  Church  History  of  Ireland/'  3rd  edition, 
1880 ;  Moran  [^Bishop  of  Ossory],  "  Spici- 
legium  Ossoriense:  '  "Essays  on  the 
Origin,  Doctrine,  and  Discipline  of  the 
early  Irish  Church,"  1864;  "Historical 
Sketch  of  the  Persecutions  suffered  by  the 
»  2  Cor.  viii.  2. 


Catholics  of  Ireland  under  Cromwell  and 
the  Puritans  "  [1862].) 

IRISH  COXiXiEGS.  The  munificent 
Pontiff"  to  whom  the  English  College  owed 
its  foundation — Gregory  XIII. — contem- 
plated a  similar  institution  for  Ireland ; 
but  on  mature  consideration  he  judged 
that  whatever  portion  of  the  Papal  reve- 
nues could  be  spared  to  aid  that  injured 
people  would  be  better  spent  in  sending 
them  money  and  arms,  at  a  time  when 
they  were  engaged  in  a  deadly  struggle 
with  their  English  oppressors,  than  in 
any  other  way.  His  original  desire  was, 
however,  carried  out  by  his  nephew  the 
Cardinal  Ludovico  Ludovisio,  who  in 
1628  founded  a  college  near  the  Piazza 
Barberini  for  the  instruction  of  Irish 
theological  students,  who  were  afterwards 
to  return  to  their  own  land,  and  do  their 
best  to  keep  alive  the  flame  of  religion 
among  their  persecuted  countrymen.  The 
celebrated  Irish  Franciscan  Fr.  Luke 
Wadding,  the  historian  of  his  order,  was 
the  first  rector  of  the  college,  which 
opened  with  six  students,  and  a  dotation 
of  fifty  scudi  per  month.  Cardinal  Ludo- 
visio by  his  will  bequeathed  to  it  a 
large  vineyard  at  Castel  Gandolfo,  and  a 
thousand  scudi  of  annual  rent ;  he  further 
directed  that  its  management  should  be 
transferred  to  the  hands  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus.  A  permanent  site  for  the 
college  was  found  near  the  convent  of  the 
Dominican  nuns  of  the  Annwnziata. 
The  students  attended  lectures  at  the 
Collegio  Romano  [Roman  College]. 

The  college  remained  under  Jesuit 
management  till  1773,  when  the  order 
was  suppressed ;  from  that  time  to  the 
date  of  the  French  invasion — when  it 
shared  in  the  general  ruin  which  fell  on 
all  the  Roman  colleges — it  was  governed 
by  an  Irish  rector  assisted  by  three  or 
four  secular  priests  of  that  nation.  In 
1826  it  was  restored  by  Leo  XII.  who 
placed  it  in  a  suitable  building  near  the 
church  of  S.  Lucia  de'  Ginnasi,  viith 
Mgr.  Blake  for  its  first  rector.  Soon 
afterwards  it  was  arranged  that  the 
Cardinal  Prefect  of  Propaganda  pi'o  tern. 
should  always  be  the  protector  of  the 
college.  Card.  Cappellari,  afterwards 
Gregory  XVI.,  who  thus  became  their 
protector,  conceived  a  singular  affec- 
tion for  this  Irish  conun  unity  and  loaded 
it  with  favours.  In  1836  he  paid  a 
formal  visit  to  the  college,  while  Paul 
C alien,  afterwards  Cardinal  Archbishop 
of  Dublin,  was  rector ;  and  in  the  same 
year  he  made  over  to  it  the  monastery 


ITE  MISSA  EST 

and  cliurch  of  S.  Agata  alia  Suburra.  As 
another  proof  of  his  regard,  he  granted 
to  the  students  the  privilege  of  carry- 
ing in  the  annual  procession  of  Corpus 
Christi  the  staves  of  the  baldacchino 
under  which  the  Pope  carries  the  Bleased 
Sacrament,  from  the  end  of  the  colonnade 
in  the  piazza  of  St.  Peter's  to  the  great 
gate  of  the  Accoramboni  palace. 

ITB  MISS  A  EST.  The  meaning 
of  the  woi-d  Missa  is  discussed  under 
Mass.  Here  it  may  suffice  to  say,  that 
after  the  Gospel  the  catechumens  were 
dismissed  by  the  deacon  with  the  words, 
Ite  Missa  est;  Go,  you  are  dismissed,  liter- 
ally "a  dismissal  is  made;"  and  that  the 
eame  formula  was  repeated  at  the  end  of 
the  whole  Mass.  In  the  liturgies  of  St. 
James,  St.  Basil,  and  St.  Ohrysostom,  we 
find  the  form  "Let  us  go  in  the  peace  of 
Christ,"  the  people  answering  "In  the 
name    of    the    Lord."       ^^  BenedicamiLS 


JACOBITE  CHRISTIANS 


463 


Domino"  is  substituted  in  Masses  of 
ferias  and  Sundays  in  the  penitential 
seasons,  "  Requiescant  in  pace  "  in  Masses 
of  the  dead,  because  these  Masses  were 
followed  by  penitential  prayers,  and  by 
the  absolution  at  the  tomb,  for  which  the 
people  waited.  (Benedict  XIV.,  "De 
Miss."    Hefele,  "Beitrage.") 

ITXlO'SItiLRY  {itinerarium).  A 
form  of  prayer  consisting  of  the  canticle 
Benedictus,  with  an  antiphon,  "preces," 
and  two  collects,  intended  for  the  use  of 
clerics  when  setting  out  on  a  journey,  and 
placed  for  their  convenience  at  the  end  of 
the  Breviary.  The  collects  are  found  in 
the  Gregorian  Sacramentarv.  The  itiner- 
ary is  not  inserted  in  the  older  Breviaries. 
But  Gavantus  refers  to  an  ancient  Ponti- 
fical which  contains  an  itinerary  for 
prelates  rather  longer  than  ours  but  very 
similar.  (Gavant,  torn.  11,  §  69,  cap.  6). 


JACOBnrs.  The  Dominicans  had 
before  the  Revolution  three  convents  in 
Paris,  of  which  the  chief  was  that  of 
St.  James  (Lat.  Jacohus),  in  the  Rue  St. 
Jacques.  This  was  considered  the  princi- 
pal house  of  their  order  in  France,  and 
from  it  French  preaching  friars  were 
called  Jacobins.  The  second  of  their 
houses  at  Paris  was  in  the  Rue  St.  Honor^, 
between  the  church  of  St.  Roch  and  the 
Place  Vendome ;  before  the  Revolution  it 
had  a  noviciate  and  a  library  of  thirty-two 
thousand  volumes.  The  Club  Breton,  con- 
taining the  ablest  and  most  dangerous  men 
in  the  National  Assembly,  began  to  hold 
its  sittings  in  the  library  of  the  convent 
in  the  Rue  St.  Honors  in  1789;  hence 
their  name  was  soon  changed  to  Club 
Jacobin.  Later  on,  the  church  was  used 
as  a  place  of  meeting,  and  many  of  the 
worst  infamies  and  atrocities  of  the  Re- 
volution were  there  debated  and  decided 
on. 

JACOBITE  CBRZSTZAirS.  A 
name  given  to  the  Monophysites  in  Meso- 
potamia, Syria,  Kurdistan,  and  East  India, 
who  are  subject  to  the  heretical  Patriarch 
of  Antioch.  In  1850  they  were  said  to 
number  about  80,000. 

They  call  themselves  Surigani,  or 
Syrian  Christians  ;  the  name  Jacobite,  by 
which  they  are  commonly  Imown,  is  de- 
rived from  Jacob  or  James,  a  monk  of 
Phasilta  near   Nisibis,  and  a  disciple  of 


the  Monophysite  Severus  of  Antioch. 
This  monk,  who  was  zealous  in  resisting 
the  authority  of  the  Fourth  General  Coun- 
cil held  at  Chalcedon,  and  in  denying 
the  two  natures  in  Christ,  was  ordained 
Metropolitan  of  Edessa  by  heretical 
bishops,  and  with  the  consent  of  Severus. 
When  Severus  died,  in  539,  James  conse- 
crated his  successor,  and  so  the  line  of 
Monophysite  Patriarchs  of  Antioch  has 
been  continued  to  this  day.  In  736  the 
Jacobites  entered  into  communion  with  the 
Armenians,  who  also  deny  that  there  are 
two  natures  in  Christ,  but  the  peace 
between  the  two  sects  did  not  last  long. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Jacobites,  al- 
though a  distinct  and  independent  body, 
are  in  communion  with  the  Monophysite 
Copts  of  Egypt. 

The  Jacobite  clergy  are  divided  into 
singers,  readers,  sub-deacons,  deacons, 
archdeacons,  priests,  chorepiscopi,  perio- 
deulai,  bishojps,  metropolitans,  and  patri- 
arch ;  but  of  these  the  archdeacon,  cho- 
repiscopus,  and  periodeutes  are  merely 
nominated  by  the  bishop  without  special 
ordination. 

The  Patriarch  is  chosen  in  the  follow- 
ing manner.  Three  names  are  selected  by 
the  assembled  bishops  and  placed  in  an 
urn  beneath  the  altar.  After  Mass  has 
been  said,  he  whose  name  is  first  drawn 
is  chosen  Patriarch.  He  holds  office  for 
fife,  but  may  be  deposed  by  the  bishops  if 


464      JACOBITE  CHRISTIA  NS 


JANSENIMS 


he  falls  away  from  the  tenets  of  the 
Jacobite  Church.  He  is  enthroned  with 
the  title  "  Patriarch  of  the  City  of  Auti- 
och,  and  of  the  whole  dominion  of  the 
Apostolic  chair."  He  has  the  right  to 
name  and  consecrate  the  other  bishops 
and  metropolitans,  and  the  blessing  of 
the  chrism  is  reserved  to  him  ;  but  before 
he  can  exercise  jurisdiction,  liis  appoint- 
ment must  be  confirmed  by  a  firman  of 
the  Sultan.  The  ancient  rule,  observed 
down  to  1222,  forbade  anyone  already  a 
bishzip  to  be  chosen  Patriarch.  Now, 
generally  speaking,  it  is  a  bishop  who  is 
chosen,  so  that  no  further  consecration  is 
needed.  Since  878  it  has  been  the  cus- 
tom for  the  Patriarch  to  take  a  new 
name  on  election,  and  since  1293  that  of 
Ignatius,  the  martyred  Bishop  of  Antioch, 
has  always  been  adopted.  At  first  the 
Patriarch  had  no  fixed  residence ;  in  1166 
Aniida,  the  modern  Diarbekir,  became  the 
patriarchal  residence,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century  it  was  transferred  to 
the  monastery  of  Zapharan  or  St.  Ananias, 
near  Mardin.  The  Patriarch  is  supported 
partly  by  the  monastery,  partly  by  a  con- 
tribution of  grain  from  aU  the  Jacobite 
congregations. 

Next  comes  the  Maphrian,  a  dignity 
which  arose  in  the  seventh  century,  when 
the  Jacobites  gave  the  title  of  Katholikos 
or  Primate  of  the  East,  held  since  Jus- 
tinian's time  by  the  Metropohtan  of  Se- 
leucia  and  Ctesiphon,  to  one  of  their  own 
bishops.  The  first  Maphrian,  Maruthos, 
appointed  in  629,  had  twelve  bishops  in 
Arabia  and  Persia  subject  to  him,  and 
over     them    he     had    quasi-patriarchal 

Eower,  though  he  hin)self  was  nominated 
y  the  Patriarch.    At  present  the  dignity 
is  merely  titular. 

The  metropolitans  are  distinct  in 
name  only  from  the  other  bishops.  The 
bishops,  who  are  usually  taken  from  the 
monks,  are  very  ignorant,  rarely  preach, 
and  though  they  read,  scarcely  under- 
stand the  Syriac  of  their  ritual.  The 
archdeacon,  as  syncellos,  is  the  chief  re- 
presentative of  the  bishop  in  settling  dis- 
putes between  the  clergy,  &c.  Formerly 
there  were  twenty  metropolitans  and  103 
bishops.  The  number  has  fallen  since  to 
eight  Metropolitans  and  three  bishops, 
the  Metropolitan  of  Jerusalem  being 
Maphrian. 

The  secular  priests  have  to  recite  the 
prayers  of  their  Beth-gaza  or  Breviary 
daily,  and  to  administer  the  sacraments, 
but  they  support  themselves  in  part  by 
agriculture,   trade,   &c.      They   may   be 


married  men,  but  cannot  contract  a 
second  marriage.  The  Jacobite  monas- 
teries, once  exceedingly  numerous,  are 
now  comparatively  few.  The  rabban  or 
abbot  is  chosen  by  the  monks  of  his  house, 
but  the  election  must  be  confirmed  by  the 
bishop.  The  religious  observe  perpetual 
abstinence  from  meat,  and  except  in  sick- 
ness from  wine.  They  keep  four  fasts 
besides  Lent :  viz.  fifty  days  in  honour  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  fourteen  days  in 
honour  of  the  Blessed  Virgin's  Assump- 
tion, twenty-five  in  honour  of  Christ's 
birth,  and  the  Niniviticum,  or  fast  of 
three  days,  at  the  beginning  of  the  third 
week  before  Lent.  In  other  respects  their 
mode  of  life  is  most  severe. 

In  a  quarter  of  their  own  at  Mardin, 
a  curious  community  of  about  100  fami- 
lies are  loosely  attached  to  the  Jacobite 
church.  They  are  descendants  of  the 
Shemsiel,  or  worshippers  of  the  sun,  and 
in  1762  the  pasha  inquired  about  their 
religion,  and  told  them  no  toleration  was 
granted  except  to  those  who  possessed 
divine  books— e.e.,  to  Mohammedans, 
Jews,  or  Christians.  Thereupon  some 
embraced  the  faith  of  Islam,  the  rest 
were  about  to  be  executed,  when  the 
Jacobite  bishop  interceded  for  them,  and 
afterwards  induced  them  to  join  his 
church.  They  are  baptised  Christians 
and  conform  to  the  Jacobite  rites,  but 
they  only  intermarry  among  themselves, 
and  have  customs  and  ceremonies  of  their 
own.  (Assemani,  "  Bibliotheca  Orient.," 
tom.  ii. ;  "  Diss,  de  Monophys,"  No.  I.  III. 
VI.. ;  Le  Quien,  "  Oriens  Christianus," 
tom.  ii.  p.  1343  seq. ;  Silbernagl,  ''  Kir- 
chen  des  Orients,"  Landshut,  1865,  pp. 
253  seq.) 

JAN-SEXTZSM;.  It  is  very  difficult  to 
define  Jansenism,  or  even  to  describe  it  in 
general  terms,  and  therefore  still  more 
difficult  to  give  a  compendious  history  of 
the  movement.'  'Properly  speaking,  it  was 
a  heresy  which  consisted  in  denying  the 
freedom  of  the  will  and  the  possibility 
of  resisting  divine  grace.  But  from  the 
very  beginning,  Jansenius  and  his  followers 
had  many  objects  in  view,  quite  distinct 
from  their  opinions  on  the  efficacy  of  grace. 
Perhaps  the  best  description  of  Jansenism 
is  that  it  was  a  professed  attempt  to  restore 
the  ancient  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
Church.  The  Reformers  professed  to  re- 
store apostolic  doctrine  and  discipline  by 
making  new  churches;  the  Jansenists 
wished  to  remain  in  the  Catholic  Roman 
Church,  and  to  reform  it  from  within. 
The  Reformers  appealed  to  Scripture  and 


JANSENISM 

"Diade  lJ<i-lit  of  tradition.  To  the  Jansenists 
llie  Fathers  were  all  in  all,  though,  practi- 
cally, St.  Aup:u8tine,  and  Western  Fathers 
under  his  intlaence,  were  taken  as  the  sole 
representatives  of  the  Church's  doctrinal 
tradition,  and  Jansenist  contempt  was  re- 
served for  the  mediseval  Schoolmen.  This 
position  of  the  Jansenists  within  the  Church 
occasions  fresh  di  fficulty  in  treating  of  their 
history.  Th^y  called  themselves  Catholics, 
and  treated  the  existence  of  a  Jansenist 
sect  as  a  mere  phantom,  invented  to  trouble 
consciences  and  calumniate  pious  Catholics. 
Nobody  admitted  he  was  a  Jansenist,  and 
the  Jansenist  tendency  displayed  itself  in 
80  many  ways,  in  attempts  to  correct 
doctrines,  devotions,  discipline,  more  or 
less  established,  that  it  is  often  no  easy 
matter  to  decide  where  the  reproach  of 
Jansenism  was  deserved.  Undoubtedly, 
some  Catholics  were  far  too  ready  to 
narrow  the  limits  of  orthodoxy,  and  to 
charge  their  opponents  with  Jansenism. 
Thus,  the  "  Bibliotheque  Janseniste,"  which 
appeared  in  1722  and  1735,  was  placed  on 
the  Index  in  1744,  and,  ten  years  later, 
the  new  edition,  entitled,  "  Dictionnaire 
des  livres  jansenistes,"  met  with  the  same 
fate.  This  book,  ascribed  to  the  Jesuit 
Colonua,  stigmatises  even  the  great  Ai  gus- 
tinian  theologians,  Noris  and  Berti,  and 
others,  as  Jansenists.  In  this  article  we 
propose  to  trace  the  different  manifesta- 
tions cf  Jansenism  in  chronological  order ; 
paying  special  attention  to  the  authorita- 
tive condemnations  of  the  Church. 

1.  Jansenius  and  his  Book. — Cornelius 
Jansen  was  born  in  1585,  at  Accoy,  in  the 
Dutch  province  of  Leerdam,  studied  at 
Utrecht,  Louvain,  'and  Paris,  became  con- 
nected with  several  disciples  of  Baius  (c-ff., 
James  Baius  and  James  Jansen),  and, 
from  1604,  was  the  intimate  friend  of 
John  du  Verger  de  Hauranne,  born  in 
1581,  and  better  known  as  the  Abbe  de 
vSt.  Cyran.  Jansenius,  who  taught  for 
some  time  at  Bayonne,  till,  in  1017,  he 
became  professor  at  Louvain,  devoted  him- 
self to  the  study  of  St.  Augustine,  while 
his  friend  Hauranne,  now  Abbe  of  St. 
Cyran,  near  Poitiers,  took  on  himself  the 
task  of  depicting  the  ancient  constitution 
of  the  Church.  Jansen  made  several 
journeys  to  the  Spanish  Court,  as  repre- 
sentative of  the  Louvain  University,  was 
promoted  to  the  see  of  Ypres  in  16-35, 
and  died  May  6,  1638.  Two  years  after 
his  death,  Frommond  published  Jansen's 
posthumous  work,  "  Augustinus  S.:  Doc- 
trina  S.  Aug.  de  Hum.  Naturae  Sanitate, 
iE^ritudine,  Medicina,  adversus  Pelagia- 


JANSENISM 


465 


nos  et  Massilienses,"  Lovanii,  1640,  tom.  4, 
Jansen  had  studied  St.  Augustine  for 
twenty  years.  He  submitted  the  book  to 
the  Pope's  judgment,  though  he  could  not 
believe  that  it  contained  doctrinal  error, 
but  this  declaration  was  suppressed  by  the 
editor.  The  work  falls  into  three  great 
divisions,  treating  (1)  of  the  history  of  the 
Pelagian  heresy  ;  (2)  of  reason  and  au- 
thority in  theological  matters,  the  grace 
of  Adam  and  the  angels,  of  fallen  nature, 
of  mere  nature  {nntura  pura)  ;  (3)  of  re- 
deeming grace,  and  the  errors  of  the 
Semipelagians  and  some  moderns.  The 
following  is  a  sketch  of  the  doctrinal  sys- 
tem maintained  in  the  book. 

Since  the  fall,  man's  will  is  entirely 
dominated  by  a  double  attraction,  viz. 
the  heavenly  attraction,  or  pleasure  {delec- 
tatio),  which  leads  to  good,  the  earthly 
attraction  which  induces  to  evil,  and  the 
will  necessarily  fdlows  the  attraction 
which  is  stronger  at  the  moment.  Jan- 
senius did  not  deny  the  freedom  of  the 
will  in  express  terms,  but  he  utterly  re- 
jected the  Catholic  notion  of  freedom,  viz. 
the  power  to  choose  at  the  time  good  or 
evil  {libertas  c-mtradictionis),  and  asserted 
merely  the  existence  of  freedom  from  ex- 
ternal constraint  {libertas  a  coactione). 
He  also  destroyed  all  belief  in  grace 
merely  sufficient,  as  Catholic  theologians 
understand  it:  i.e.,  there  was,  according 
to  him,  no  grace  which  enabled  a  man  to 
perform  a  good  action,  and  which  failed, 
or  could  fail,  to  produce  its  eflect  from 
defect  in  correspondence  on  the  part  of 
the  agent.  The  grace  which  a  man  did 
not  follow  might  have  been  sufficient  in 
other  circumstances,  viz.  if  the  impulse  to 
evil  had  not  been  so  strong;  but  it  was 
insufficient  relatively  to  the  force  on  the 
other  side.  If  grace,  or  the  impulse  to 
good,  be  represented  by  6,  the  temptation 
or  impulse  to  evil,  by  b^,  the  agent  must 
needs  sin ;  if  the  proportions  were  re- 
versed, he  necessarily  did  the  good  pro- 
posed to  him.  Hence  even  the  just  are 
not  always  able  to  fulfil  God's  command- 
ments (see  Prop,  i.,  below) ;  interior  grace 
is  irresistible  (Prop,  ii.) ;  there  is  no  free- 
dom from  interior  necessity,  but  only  from 
exterior  compulsion  (Prop.  iii.).  Further, 
he  held  that  the  error  of  the  Semipela- 
gians lay  in  making  grace  resistible  (Prop, 
iv.),  and  maintaining  that  Christ  died  for 
all. 

2.  The  History  of  Jansenism  doion  io 
the  Constitution  of  Innocent  X.  in  1653. — 
The  book  excited  great  attention  in  the 
Low  Countries  and  in  France  when  a 


H  H 


466 


JANSENISM 


JANSENISM 


second  edition  was  issued  in  1641.  In 
the  same  year  it  was  condemned  by  the 
Roman  Inquisition,  and,  in  the  year  fol- 
lowing, "by  Urban  VIII.,  In  general  terms, 
as  renewing  the  errors  of  Baius.  The 
authenticity  of  Urban's  bull  was  disputed  : 
Flemish  bishops,  headed  by  Boonen,  arch- 
bishop of  Malines,  and  the  University  of 
Louvain,  resisted  its  publication  for  a  con- 
siderable time  ;  and,  although  the  French 
king  and  the  Sorbonne  ranged  themselves 
on  the  side  of  authority,  "  the  disciples  of 
St.  Augustine  " — as  the  Jansenists  styled 
themselves — were  numerous  and  powerful. 
The  learned  Antoine  Arnauld,  born  in 
1612,  and  after  Richelieu's  death  Doctor 
of  the  Sorbonne,  was  especially  active. 
He  signalised  himself  in  the  early  stage 
of  the  controversy  by  attacking  Isaac 
Habert,  a  Sorbonniste,  and  champion  of 
the  Catholic  doctrine  on  grace. 

In  1649  Nicolas  Cornet  submittM  Five 
Propositions  from  the  "  Augustinus  "  to 
the  Sorbonne,  and  a  commission  was 
nominated  to  examine  them.  Friends  of 
the  Jansenist  doctrine,  among  whom  Dr. 
Louis  de  St.  Amour  was  most  prominent, 
appealed  to  the  Parliament,  of  which  body 
also  many  favoured  Jansenism.  The  Par- 
liament prohibited  the  Sorbonne  from 
taking  any  further  step,  and  committed 
the  inquiry  to  the  assembly  of  the  clergy. 
On  April  12,  1651,  eighty-five  bishops 
wrote  to  Innocent  X.,  begging  him  to 
pronounce  judgment  on  the  Five  Propo- 
sitions, although  eleven  bishops  protested 
against  this  immediate  appeal  to  Rome,  as 
subversive  of  the  Gallican  liberties.  The 
Pope  appointed  five  cardinals  and  thirteen 
theologians  to  decide  the  question,  and 
after  two  years  had  been  occupied  in  this 
task,  during  which  the  Jansenists  were 
heard  at  length  in  their  own  defence,  a 
bull  ajipeared  (May  19,  1653),  in  which 
a  definitive  sentence  was  given.  Propo- 
sition I. — "  Some  commandments  of  God 
are  impossible  to  just  men,  wishing  and 
striving  (to  observe  them)  according  to 
the  strength  which  they  have  at  the  time  : 
moreover  they  lack  grace,  which  would 
make  them  (the  commandments)  possible." 
Proposition  II. — "No  resistance  in  the 
state  of  fallen  nature  is  ever  made  to  in- 
terior grace."  Proposition  III. — "For 
merit  and  demerit  m  the  state  of  fallen 
nature,  man  does  not  need  freedom  from 
necessity,  but  only  freedom  from  compul- 
sion." Proposition  IV. — "  The  Semipela- 
gians  admitted  the  need  of  interior  pre- 
venient  grace  for  each  act,  even  for  the 
beginning  of  faith :  and  they  were  hereti-  j 


cal  on  this  account,  viz.  because  they 
held  that  grace  to  be  such  that  the  human 
will  could  resist  or  correspond  to  it" — 
were  condemned  as  heretical.  Proposi- 
tion V. — "  It  is  Semipelagian  to  say  that 
Christ  died,  or  shed  his  blood  for  all  men 
together,"  as  false,  rash,  &c.,and,  if  meant 
in  the  sense  that  Christ  died  only  for  the 
elect,  as  heretical.  Shortly  after  it  was 
issued,  an  edict  of  the  French  king  com- 
manded the  reception  of  this  bull ;  the 
French  bishops,  assembled  atParis,  thanked 
the  Pope  for  it,  and  it  was  registered  by 
the  Sorbonne  and  the  Louvain  University. 
The  famous  Franciscan  Wadding,  for- 
merly an  advocate  of  the  Five  Proposi- 
tions, submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Church. 

Meanwhile  the  Jansenist  spirit  had 
been  active  in  other  directions.  St.  Cyran 
("  Lettres  Chr^tiennes  et  Spirituelles," 
Paris,  1645),  recurring,  as  he  said,  to  the 
primitive  practice,  held  it  inadvisable  to 
confess  venial  sins,  or  the  number  and 
circumstances  altering  the  species,  of 
mortal  sins,  while  he  required  the  utmost 
perfection  and  purity  of  conscience  for 
communion,  or  even  for  assisting  at  Mass. 
Under  his  direction,  some  of  the  nuns 
belonging  to  the  Convent  of  Port  Royal, 
near  Paris,  actually  died  without  the 
sacraments.  St.  Cyran  also  published  a 
"Brief  Explanation  of  the  Mysteries  of 
Faith,"  and  an  edition  of  "St.  Augustine 
on  Virginity,"  with  notes  inimical  to  vows. 
He  was  imprisoned  on  suspicion  of  false 
teaching  by  Richelieu,  was  liberated  on 
that  statesman's  death,  and  died,  revered 
as  a  martyr  by  his  followers,  in  1643. 
A  large  number  had  come  under  his 
influence — Sioglin,  his  successor  in  the 
direction  of  Port  Royal,  Antoine  Arnauld, 
his  no  less  gifted  sister,  Angelique,  &c. 
Of  these,  Antoine  Arnauld  published  his 
famous  book,  "  De  la  fr^quente  Commu- 
nion" (Paris,  1643),  in  the  year  that 
St.  Cyran  died.  The  object  of  the  book 
was  to  mend  the  relaxed  discipline  of  the 
Church.  It  urged  the  duty  of  imposing 
public  penance  for  mortal  sins,  even  if 
secret, 'and  of  preparing  sinners  for  abso- 
lution and  communion  by  a  long  course 
of  rigorous  discipline.  It  was  approved 
by  sixteen  bishops  and  twenty  doctors  of 
the  Sorbonne,  who,  however,  had  not  read 
the  preface  with  which  it  appeared,  and 
which  gave  special  offence.  Some  eccle- 
siastics, e.g.  Du  Ham  el,  in  the  diocese  of 
Sens,  ventured  to  reduce  the  Jansenist 
theology  to  practice,  and  restored  public 
penance. 


JANSENISM 

3.  Jansenism  from  the  Bull  of  Inno- 
cent X.  in  1653  to  the  Death  of  Arnavldin 
1694. — The  condemnation  of  the  Five 
Propositions  by  the  Pope  necessitated  a 
change  in  Jansenist  tactics,  for  the 
Jansenists  resolved  to  remain  in  external 
communion  with  the  Church.  Some 
appealed  to  a  general  council,  but  Arnauld 
was  now  the  real  leader  of  the  party,  and 
he  hit  upon  a  device  which  became  the 
main  point  of  contention  for  many  years. 
He  was  willing  to  reject  the  Five  Pro- 
positions, but  he  denied  that  they  were 
to  be  found  in  Jansenius  or,  if  so  found, 
that  they  bore  the  sense  imputed  to  them 
in  the  Papal  Constitution.  Bishops  and 
theologians  disproved  Arnauld's  assertion, 
and  the  Pope  reprobated  it  September  29, 
1654.  This  only  led  Arnauld  to  develop 
his  views  more  thoroughly.  The  Duke  of 
Liancourt  was  refused  absolution  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Sulpice,  because  of  his  con- 
nection with  the  Jansenists,  and  Arnauld 
addressed  two  letters  to  the  peer.  In  bis 
second  letter  ("  Seconde  Lettre  de  M. 
Arnauld,  docteur  de  Sorbonne,  a  un  Due 
et  Pair  de  France,  pour  servir  de  r^ponse 
a  plusieurs  Merits  qui  out  6>i6  publics 
contre  la  premiere  leltre  sur  ce  qui  est 
arrive  a  uu  seigneur  de  la  cour  dans  une 
paroisse  de  Paris."  A  Paris,  1655),  he 
distinguished  between  the  "  question  of 
law  "  (question  de  droit),  and  that  of  fact 
(question  de  fait) ;  in  other  words  between 
the  questionwhether  the  Five  Propositions 
as  condemned  by  the  Church  were  errone- 
ous, and  the  question  wliether  the  book 
of  Jansenius  contained  them  in  the  sense 
condemned.  On  the  former  question  he 
admitted  the  Church's  infallibility  and 
the  duty  of  entire  submission ;  the  latter, 
he  said,  was  a  question  of  historical  fact 
on  whif^h  the  Church  might  err,  and  it 
was  enough  if  the  faithful  received  her 
decision  upon  it  with  "  respectful  silence." 
"VVe  may  remark  in  passing  that  nobody 
claims  iufallibility  for  the  Church  in 
facts  merely  historical,  but  here  was  a 
question  intimately,  nay  indissolubly, 
connected  with  doctrine.  Of  what  avail 
would  the  Church's  infallibility  be  if  she 
was  liable  to  error  in  interpreting  the 
natural  sense  of  books  and  propositions 
submitted  to  her,  and  so  of  mistaking 
truth  for  error,  error  for  truth  ?  We 
eay  the  natural  sense,  for  again  it  must 
not  be  supposed  that  the  Church  professes 
to  read  the  heart  of  an  author.  He  may 
have  used  words  in  an  unnatural  sense, 
he  may  have  suifered  from  some  mental 
confusion  or  aberration,  and  on  all  that 


JANSENISM 


467 


the  judgment  belongs  to  God  alone,  to 
God  who  searches  the  heart.  But  the 
Church  can  judge  of  the  natural  and 
obvious  sense  which  words  bear  in  a 
book,  nor  could  she  execute  her  divine 
commission  to  feed  the  flock  of  Christ  if 
she  had  no  power  to  distinguish  between 
wholesome  and  poisonous  pasture. 

Generally  speaking,  the  Jansenists 
accepted  the  means  of  escape  which 
Arnauld  had  suggested.  The  nuns  of 
Port  Royal,  however,  did  so  with  diffi- 
culty, and  only  when  overpersuaded  by  the 
Abbess  Ang^lique  Arnauld.  Among  the 
distinguished  men  of  the  party  who  took 
up  their  abode  in  the  Convent  of  Port 
Rojal  des  Champs  after  the  nuns  had 
moved  to  Port  Royal  de  Paris,  Pascal 
utterly  refused  to  accept  the  compromise. 
This  did  not  hinder  him,  however,  from 
accomplishing  a  mighty  work  in  the 
Jansenist  interest.  In  his  "  Provincial 
Letters  "  (Paris,  1656),  published  under 
the  pseudonym  Louis  Moutalt.  he  attacked 
the  Jesuits  for  relaxed  morals  and  de- 
fended the  Jansenist  doctrine  of  grace 
with  a  refinement  of  style  and  delicacy  of 
wit  which  have  never  been  surpassed  in 
any  literature.  There  were  many  members 
of  the  party  more  learned  than  Pascal, 
but  he  had  no  equal  in  genius.  Nothing 
can  be  more  amazing  than  the  interest 
with  which  he  invests  the  dry  controversies 
on  grace,  and  although  no  doubt  he  was 
often  unfair  to  the  casuists  whom  he  held 
up  to  scorn  and  detestation,  and  although 
many  of  his  charges  were  rebutted—  e.(/, 
by  the  Jesuit  Father  Daniel — the  charm 
of  his  book  led  his  readers  captive,  and 
the  answers  were  read  by  few.  No  one 
who  has  read  the  "  Provincial  Letters  "  is 
likely  to  lose  the  impression  which  they 
make  ;  it  may  be  said  without  exagger- 
ation that  they  touch  every  chord  of  the 
human  heart,  and  the  sudden  transitions 
from  logic  and  wit  to  sublime  and 
pathetic  eloquence  produce  an  effect 
which  can  neither  be  resisted  or  effaced. 
Pascal's  ''  Pensees,  fragments,  et  lettres  " 
are  a  lasting  monument  of  deep  and 
subtle  thought,  and  have  done  good  work 
for  religion',  though  even  these  are  marred 
here  and  there  by  Jansenist  tendencies, 
Pascal  died  young,  in  1662.  His  friend 
Nicole,  also  one  of  the  solitaries  of  Port 
Royal,  wrote  chiefly  on  moral  subjects  in 
French  which  is  still  esteemed  as  a 
model  of  correct  writing.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  the  work  of  the  Jan- 
senist writers  was  very  far  from  being 
wholly  e\il.     Arnauld  and    his  friends 


hh2 


468 


JANSENISM 


defended  many  Catholic  doctrines  against 
the  Calvinists,  and  the  elaborate  work, 
"  Perpetuite  de  la  Foi,"  by  Arnauld  and 
Nicole,  is  perhaps  the  very  best,  as  it 
certaip\y  is  the  most  learned  and  ex- 
haustive, defence  of  the  Catholic  doctrine 
on  the  Eucharist.  Everyone  knows  what 
important  contributions  the  Port  Royal 
Jansenists  made  to  the  sciences  of  logic, 
grammar,  and  philosophy,  nor  is  it  the 
least  among  their  many  titles  to  enduring 
fame  that  the  great  historian  Tillemont 
was  their  pupil. 

The  Jansenists  were  not  left  long  in 
peace.  Arnauld's  thesis  on*  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  "  question  de  droit " 
and  the  "  question  de  fait "  was  con- 
demned by  the  Sorbonne,  and  he  with 
sixty  other  doctors  was  expelled  from  that 
society.  "  To-day,"  he  writes  to  his 
beloved,  sister  AngeHque,  ''they  are 
erasing  my  name  from  the  list  of  doctors, 
but  I  hope  our  Lord  will  not  erase  it 
from  the  number  of  his  servants."  In  a 
Constitution  of  October  16,  1656,  Alex- 
ander VII.  declared  that  the  Five  Pro- 
positions were  condemned  *  in  the  sense 
of  the  author,"  and  in  1665  imposed  on 
all  ecclesiastical  persons  the  subscription 
of  a  "  formulary  "  consisting  of  a  solemn 
profession  so  to  accept  the  Papal  condem- 
nation. Four  bishops — those  of  Alet, 
Angers,  Beauvais,  and  Pamiers,  refused 
to  sign  except  with  the  evasive  distinction 
between  "  droit "  and  "  fait."  After 
nearly  two  years  of  strife  and  much 
intrigue,  Clement  IX.,  early  in  1669,  re- 
stored the  bishops  to  his  favour,  and 
this  step  known  as  "  the  peace  of 
Clement "  was  hailed  by  the  Jansenists  as 
a  triumph  for  themselves  and  a  revocation 
of  past  censures.  In  reality  the  Pope 
was  led  to  believe  that  the  bishops  had 
made  an  unqualified  submission.  The 
Jansenists  were  jubilant  again  when 
Innocent  XI.  in  1679  censured  a  large 
number  of  propositions  extracted  from 
the  lax  casuists.  Nobody  certainly  who 
reads  them  will  wonder  at  the  scandal 
and  the  reaction  which  lax  theology 
created.  What,  e.g.,  is  to  be  said  of  a 
writer  professedly  Christian  who  held 
that "  frequent  confession  and  communion, 
even  in  those  who  live  like  heathen,  is  a 
mark  of  predestination  "  (Prop.  66)  ? 

But  the  peace  of  which  the  Jansenists 
dreamed  did  not  last.  The  Flemish  bishops 
in  their  zeal  against  error  had  required  the 
"  formulary  "  to  be  signed  with  additions  of 
their  own.  These  additions,  as  well  as 
Tague  accusations  of  Jansenism,  the  Pope 


JANSENISM 

forbade  in  a  brief  of  1694,  but  at  the 
same  time  he  did  strictly  require  subscrip- 
tion to  the  original  "  formulary,"  and  the 
condemnation  of  the  Five  Propositions  "  in 
the  obvious  sense  which  they  bear. "  A 
few  months  later  "  the  great  Arnauld,"  as 
his  disciples  loved  to  call  him,  died  in  the 
Low  Countries,  and  his  friend  Nicole  fol- 
lowed him  the  year  after.  Arnauld's 
sister  Angelique  was  gone  more  than 
thirty  years  before  ;  the  Society  of  Port 
Royal  des  Champs  had  been  scattered, 
while  the  nuns  had  been  forbidden  to  take 
novices  and  ordered  to  dismiss  their 
pupils.  It  was  during  our  next  period,  in 
1709,  that  the  nuns  were  all  expelled'; 
the  convent  itself  was  uttei-1  v  destroyed  in 
1710. 

4.  Jansenism  unde7'  Quesnel,  down  to 
the  puhlication  of  the  Bidl  Unigenitus  in 
1713. — Pasquier  Quesnel  was  born  at  Paris 
in  1634,  and  ordained  priest  in  1659.  At 
an  early  age  he  had  entered  the  Oratory 
founded  by  Cardinal  B6rulle,  in  which 
Jansenist  principles  had  become  dominant, 
and  devoted  himself  to  learned  pursuits. 
In  1671  he  published  "Moral  Reflexions 
on  the  Gospels,"  and  in  1675  a  learned 
edition  of  St.  Leo,  which  was  censured 
by  Clement  X.  On  account  of  his  refusal 
to  sign  the  formulary  he  was  first  ban- 
ished to  Orleans,  then  in  1684  expelledfrora 
the  Oratory,  and  finally  fled  to  Brussels, 
whither  Arnauld  had  gone  in  1679.  Here 
he  extended  his  Moral  Reflexions  on  the 
Gospels  to  Reflexions  on  the  whole  of  the 
New  Testament.  This  enlarged  work 
appeared  in  two  editions  more  and  more 
Jansenist  than  those  of  1687  and  1692. 
It  was  in  Quesnel's  arms  that  Arnauld 
died,  and  to  him  he  entrusted  the  care  of 
the  party.  Gerberon,  a  Benedictine  of 
the  Congregation  of  St,  Maur,  was  Ques- 
nel's companion  in  prison  and  exile,  and 
laboured  long  and  zealously  in  the  same 

Clement  XL  (Pope  from  1700  to  1721) 
issued  two  bulls  against  Jansenism,  each 
of  which  marks  an  epoch  in  the  contro- 
versy. The  former  of  these,  the  "  Vineam 
Domini,"  was  occasioned  by  the  "  Cas  de 
Conscience."  In  1701  a  Jansenist  con- 
sulted the  Sorbonne  on  the  lawfulness  of 
absolving  a  dying  ecclesiastic  who  was 
not  convinced  that  the  Five  Propositions 
as  condemned  by  the  Church  were  to  be 
found  in  the  book  of  Jansenius.  Forty 
doctors,  among  whom  were  Dupin  and 
Natalis  Alexander,  signed  a  document 
affirming  that  absolution  should  be  given. 
Bossuet's  influence  led  nearly  ail  thdW 


JANSENISM 

doctors  (not,  however,  Dupin")  to  retract  | 
their   opinion,   and  Noailles,   archbishop  I 
of    Paris,    ranged    himself,    after  _  some  | 
"wavering,  on  Bossuet's  side.     Dupin  was  : 
banished  ;  Quesnel,  who  had  addressed  a  j 
violent  letter  to  Noailles,  was  imprisoned  | 
by  the  Archbishop  of  Malioes,  but  escaped  '• 
to  Amsterdam.      In  1705  the  Pope,  at  j 
the  instance  of  the  French  Court,  gave  a  | 
fresh   decision   on    the   matter.     In    the  i 
"  Vineam  Domini "  he  renewed  the  Consti-  j 
tutions    of  Innocent  X.  and    Alexander  | 
VII.  and  the  Briefs  of  Clement  IX.  and  , 
Innocent   XII.,   and  again  insisted  that  ! 
Catholics  were  bound  to  give  full  and  un- 
doubting  assent  to  the  Church's  decision  on 
the  matter  of  fact,  a  "  respectful  silence  " 
being  by  no  means  sutticient.     In  1711, 
after    difficulties  and    delays  occasioned 
chiefly  by  Colbert,  archbishop  of  Rouen, 
the    Pope  was  satisfied  that  the  French 
episcopate  had  accepted  the  decree. 

Worse  troubles  were  in  store.  Ques- 
nel's  "Moral  Reflexions"  had  been  pro- 
scribed hy  the  Pope  in  1708,  but  the 
Parliament  of  Paris  objected  to  any  pro- 
hibition of  French  books  except  by  their 
own  authority,  and  Noailles,  the  weak- 
minded  archbishop  of  Paris,  was  swayed 
by  the  Jansenist  Renaudot  (now  remem- 
bered chiefly  for  his  admirable  translation 
and  edition  of  the  Oriental  Liturgies,  still 
the  classical  work  on  the  subject),  De  la 
Tour,  general  of  the  Oratory,  Le  Noir, 
Boileau,  and  Duguet.  The  king,  how- 
ever, and  many  French  bishops  were 
waiting  anxiously  for  the  Pope  to  speak 
out  more  fully.  Fenelon  informed  him  of 
the  way  Jansenism  spread  in  France  and 
in  neighbouring  States.  In  1713  the  ex- 
pected answer  came  from  Rome.  The 
bull  "  Unigenitus  "  condenmed  101  pro- 
positions from  the  later  editions  of  Ques- 
iiel's  book,  and  furnished  a  more  complete 
exhibition  of  the  Church's  mind  on  the 
controversy  than  any  which  had  hitherto 
appeared.  Forty-three  of  the  condemned 
propositions  concern  grace  and  predesti- 
nation ;  twenty-eight  treat  of  the  theologi- 
cal virtues  ;  thirty  deal  with  the  Church, 
with  discipline,  and  with  the  sacraments. 
The  errors  of  the  first  class  need  not  detain 
us  here.  As  regards  those  of  the  second, 
Quesnel  was  condemned  for  holding  that 
all  love  except  the  supernatural  love  of 
God  was  evil,  that  without  this  love  there 
could  be  no  true  hope,  observance  of  the 
law  or  religion,  that  every  prayer  made 
by  a  sinner  was  sinful.  The  errors  of  the 
third  class  consisted  in  Quesnel's  assertion 
that  the  Church  was  made  up  of  the  elect 


JANSENISM  469 

alone,  and  that  the  chief  pastors  must  not 
excommunicate  except  with  the  consent  of 
the  whole  body ;  that  all  without  excep- 
tion should  read  the  Bible ;  that  the 
faithful  at  Mass  should  join  their  voice  tu 
that  of  the  priest;^  that  sinners  should 
not  hear  Mass  at  all;  that  absolution 
should  be  deferred  till  penance  had  been 
done.  No  note  was  affixed  to  the  par- 
ticular propositions,  some  of  which  plainly 
are  not  positively  heretical,  while  others, 
apart  from  their  context  and  the  spirit  by 
which  they  are  animated,  are  capable  of 
a  good  sense.  But  they  are  condemned 
in  mass  (m  yloho),  as  respectively  false, 
captious,  ill-sounding,  scandalous,  impious, 
&c.,  and  even  as  heretical. 

6.  The  last  Struggles  of  the  Jansenists. 
— Quesnel  was  a  very  old  man  when  the 
''  Unigenitus "  appeared,  and  he  died  but 
a  iew  years  later,  in  1719.  With  him  the 
significance  of  Jansenism  as  a  great  theo- 
logical and  literary  movement  came  to  an 
end,  for  no  intellectual  leader  arose  to  re- 
place the  great  men  who  had  passed  away. 
Partly,  no  doubt,  Jansenism  lost  its  youth- 
ful vigour  by  the  same  law  of  decay  which 
seems  to  afiect  all  religious  and  political 
pKrties.  Enthusiasm  dies  out,  and  with 
it,  to  a  certain  extent,  self-sacrifice  :  men 
of  genius  leave  no  successors.  But  be- 
sides, it  had  become  very  hard  for  a  man 
of  sense  to  join  the  Jansenist  ranks.  It 
had  grown  clearer  and  clearer  that  the 
whole  teaching  autliority  of  the  Church 
had  uttered  itself  against  the  Jansenist 
doctrine.  Tho&e  who  had  already  com- 
mitted themselves  might  be  content  with 
the  evasions  to  which  the  later  Jansenists 
had  recourse ;  they  might  agree  that 
Papal  decisions  were  worthless  because  a 
few  i)ishops  had  not  assented  to  them,  or 
because  the  vast  majority  of  the  episco- 
pate which  had  assented  were  deficient 
in  learning,  were  corrupted  by  their  belief 
in  Papal  infallibility,  had  forgotten  to 
consult  the  clergy  of  the  second  order,  &c., 
&c.  They  might  require  an  absolute 
unanimity  on  the  part  of  the  episcopate, 
or  make  the  Church's  infallibility  depend 
on  an  assent  of  the  laity  which  could  not 
possibly  be  ascertained.  Scarcely  any- 
one, we  say,  could  accept  these  evasions 
except  under  stress  of  circumstances,  and 
more  logical  minds  were  sure  to  reason 
more  boldly  and  consistently,  and  to  re- 
ject the  Church's  authority  altogether. 
Jansenism  in  its  sincere  form  ended  in 
fanatical  superstition.  Miracles  were  sup- 
posed to  be  worked  at  the  tomb  of  a 
^  This  seems  to  be  the  sense  of  Prop.  86. 


470 


JANSENISM 


JANSENISTS  OF  HOLLAND 


Jansenist  deacon,  Fran9ois  de  Paris,  who 
died  in  1727,  and  was  buried  in  the  ceme- 
tery of  St.  Medard.  Accounts  of  his  life 
and  miracles  were  printed  at  Utrecht, 
Brussels,  Paris,  and  Cologne.  Crowds 
made  pilgrimages  to  his  grave,  and  many 
fell  into  ridiculous  ecstasies  and  horrible 
convulsions  which  gained  for  the  Jan- 
senists  the  name  of  "  Convulsionnaires." 
Louis  XV.  closed  the  cemetery  in  1732. 
A  melancholy  end  surely  for  the  party  of 
Pascal  and  Arnauld. 

But  we  have  been  anticipating.  Louis 
XIV.,  always  a  determined  foe  of  Jan- 
senism, died  in  1715  ;  his  great-grandson, 
Louis  XV.,  was  a  child  of  live,  and  under 
the  Regency  freer  rein  was  given  to  the 
opponents  of  the  Roman  decisions.  In 
1717  the  Bishops  of  Mirepoix,  Mont- 
pellier,  Boulogne,  and  Seez  notified  to 
the  Sorbonne  their  appeal  against  the 
"  Unigenitus  "  to  a  future  council.  The 
*'  Appellants,"  as  they  were  called,  were 
supported  by  the  Universities  of  Rheims 
and  Nantes,  by  the  Sorbonne,  although  it 
had  previously  accepted  the  Papal  bull, 
by  the  Bishops  of  Verdun  and  Pamiers, 
by  Noailles,  archbishop  of  Paris,  and 
practically  by  the  Regent.  In  1721  the 
Bishops  of  Senez,  Boulogne,  Montpelher, 
Pamiers,  Macon,  Auxerre,  Tournay,  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  the  new  Pope,  Inno- 
cent XIII.,  which  he  condemned  in  the 
following  year  as  schismatical  and  full  of 
the  heretical  spirit.  In  1723  the  as- 
^mbly  of  the  French  clergy  besought 
the  king  to  declare  the  two  bulls,  "  Vi- 
neam  Domini  "and"  Unigenitus,"  binding 
laws  of  Church  and  State;  and  in  1727, 
Soanen,  bishop  of  Seez,  was  suspended 
with  the  Pope's  sanction  by  the  provincial 
council  of  Embrun  and  banished.  But 
confusion  and  strife  still  prevailed  in  the 
French  Church.  Twelve  bishops,  headed 
by  Noailles,  protested  against  the  sen- 
tence of  Embrun.  However,  the  l)egin- 
ning  of  the  end  was  now  near,  so  far  as 
episcopal  opposition  to  the  bull  went. 
Noailles  recanted  in  1728,  shortly  before 
his  death,  and  the  next  year  the  Sorbonne 
again  accepted  the  *'  Unigenitus."  These 
steps  were  followed  in  1730  by  a  vigorous 
declaration  on  the  part  of  the  king  against 
the  Jansenists. 

Here  we  may  close  the  history  of 
Jansenism  as  a  theological  system,  for  an 
account  is  given  in  separate  articles  of  the 
Jansenist  (Jhurch  in  Holland,  and  of  the 
council  of  Pistoia.  Unhappily,  the  spirit 
of  opposition  to  the  Church  which  Jan- 
senism had  aroused  was  powerful  for  evil 


long  after  Jansenism  itself  had  ceased  to 
be  dangerous.  From  1731  down  to  about 
1757,  the  Parliaments  inflicted  a  long 
series  of  persecutions  on  the  clergy  who, 
faithful  to  their  duty,  refused  the  sacra- 
ments to  the  Appellants.  De  Beaumont, 
archbishop  of  Paris,  was  banished  from 
his  see  because  he  would  not  abandon 
Catholic  principles  on  this  point.  And 
even  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution 
which  swept  the  ancient  Church  and 
Monarchy  of  France  away,  the  Jansenist 
Camus  undertook  the  thankless  task  of 
justifying  the  notorious  "  Civil  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Clergy"  on  theological  prin- 
ciples. 

(The  facts  in  this  article  are  taken 
from  Cardinal  Hergenrother's  •'  Church 
History,"  vol.  ii.  Vol.  iii.  contains  a  very 
full  account  of  the  enormous  literature 
on  the  Jansenist  controversies.) 

JAMTSSirXST  CKTTRCK  OF 

UOIm1*ANJ>.  The  revolt  of  the  Dutch 
Provinces  from  Spanish  rule  led  to  some 
measures  of  repression  against  the  Dutch 
Catholics.  The  Church  property  was 
confiscated  and  the  hierarchy  overthrown. 
The  first  and  last  Archbishop  of  Utrecht 
died  in  1580,  just  before  even  the  public 
worship  of  the  Catholic  religion  was  for 
bidden  by  William  of  Orange ;  two 
successors  nominated  by  Spain  could  not 
reach  their  see,  and  except  at  Utrecht 
and  Haarlem,  the  members  of  the  ancient 
chapters  were  nearly  all  dead.  Accord- 
ingly, in  1583,  Gregory  XIII.  appointed  a 
Vicar  Apostolic  for  the  Dutch  mission, 
and  in  !597  this  dignitarj',  who  of  course 
possessed  only  a  delegated  authority,  which 
could  be  withdrawn  at  the  mere  will  of 
the  Pope,  was  subjected  to  the  supervision 
of  the  nuncio  at  Brussels.  A  step  which 
afterwards  led  to  important  results  was 
taken  by  Philip  Rovsn  van  Ardensal, 
Vicar  Apostolic  of  Holland  and  Arch- 
bishop of  Philippi  in  partibus.  In  1G31 
he  formed  the  remaining  canons  of  Utrecht, 
along  with  certain  parish  priests  and 
other  ecclesiastics,  into  a  collegiate  body. 
We  shall  speak  of  this  body  for  the  sake 
of  bre%dt3^  as  the  Utrecht  Chapter,  but  it 
must  be  remembered  it  had  no  just  claim 
to  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  cathedral 
chapter.  Later  on  in  the  same  century, 
French  Jansenists  fled  to  Holland,  and 
imbued  many  of  the  Dutch  Catholics 
with  their  principles.  Even  a  Vicar  Apos- 
tolic, Peter  Kodde,  consecrated  at  Brussels 
in  1689,  supported  the  Jansenist  cause, 
and  was  suspended  by  Clement  XI.  in 
1702.       Jansenist   intrigues   led   to  the 


JANSENISTS  OF  HOLLAND 

banishmeut  of  Van  Kock,  whom  the 
Pope  had  named  Pro- Vicar,  from  Hol- 
land. 

Kodde  organised  a  schism,  and,  when 
Rome  deposed  him  altogether,  declared 
that  he  had  been  elected  Archbishop  of 
Utrecht  by  the  chapter  of  that  see.  He 
refused  to  sign  the  formulary  of  Alex- 
ander VII.,  and  died  without  recantation 
in  1710.  Fifty-two  missions  and  eighty 
priests  fell  from  Catholic  communion, 
while  Quesnel,  Gerberon,  Petitpied,  and 
other  French  Jansenists  were  allowed  to 
labour  in  the  interests  of  their  party  by 
the  Protestant  government.  The  Chap- 
ter of  Utrecbt  refused  obedience  to  suc- 
cessive Vicars  Apostolic,  and  joined  the 
French  Appellants  in  their  resistance  to 
the  "  Unigenitus."  They  were  able  to  keep 
^p  a  supply  of  schismatical  priests  by 
sending  their  candidates  with  dimissoiials 
to  French  Appellant  bishops. 

In  1723  the  Chapter  of  Utrecht  chose 
Stenhoven,  formerly  Vicar  General,  Arch- 
lil^iop  of  Utrecht,  and  he  was  consecrated 
by  Varlet,  suspended  Bishop  of  Babylon 
in  partibus.  Two  years  later  the  Pope 
excommunicated  all  who  took  part  in  this 
act,  and  the  great  canonist  Van  E-spen, 
who  defended  its  legality,  had  to  leave 
Louvain  in  consequence.  Altogether, 
Varlet  consecrated  no  less  than  four  Arch- 
bishops of  Utrecht,  all  of  them  excom- 
municated by  Rome,  and  when  he  himself 
died,  Meindarts,  the  last  archbishop  whom 
he  consecrated,  established  the  schisma- 
tical bishopric  of  Haarlem  in  1742,  and 
of  Deventer  1752-8.  In  1763  Meindarts 
held  a  Bynod  at  Utrecht  and  sent  the  acts 
to  Rome,  where  of  course  they  were 
rejected.  Meindart's  successor  was  con- 
secrated by  the  schismatical  Bishop  of 
Haarlem,  and  so  the  succession  of  bishops 
and  priests  has  been  maintained  down  to 
our  own  day.  But  they  have  been  con- 
stantly diminishing,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Deventer  is  obliged  to  officiate  as  a  parish 
priest,  not  having  any  Jansenists  in  his 
diocese.  The  Dutch  Jansenists  now  num- 
ber less  than  5,000  souls.  They  protested 
against  the  definition  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  in  1854,  and  the  Papal  Infal- 
libility in  1 870,  and  they  attracted  some 
notice  when  Loos,  so-called  Archbishop  of 
Utrecht,  consecrated  Dr.  Reinkens  bishop 
for  the  German  "  Old  Catholics."  They 
are  completely  overshadowed  by  the  great 
and  flourishing  Catholic  Church  of  Hol- 
land. Since  1851,  when  Pius  IX.  restored 
the  Dutch  hierarchy,  there  has  been  a 
real  Archbishop  of  Utrecht,  with  Bishops 


JANUARIUS,  ST.  471 

of  Haarlem,  Herzogenbusch,  Breda,  and 
Roermond- 

The  Dutch  Jansenists  are  in  many  ways 
an  interesting  body.  Unlike  most  other 
sects,  they  remain  just  where  they  were 
on  their  separation  from  Rome.  They 
have  retained  valid  orders,  the  celibacy 
of  the  clergy,  the  Mass  and  other  services 
in  Latin.  They  are  known  in  Holland  as 
old-Roman  (oud-Roomsch),  for  they  pro- 
fess to  be  not  only  Catholics  but  Roman 
Catholics,  and  they  acknowledge  the 
Pope  as  the  visible  head  of  the  Church, 
out  of  which  there  is  no  salvation,  and 
one  of  their  synods  condemned  the  doc- 
trine that  the  schismatic  Greeks  are  part 
of  the  Church  of  Christ.  The  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  reserved  in  their  churches. 
The  writer  of  this  article  has  carefully 
read  recent  editions  of  their  prayer-book 
corresponding  to  our  "  Garden  of  the  Soul," 
their  popular  catechism  and  their  hymn- 
book,  procured  for  him  by  the  kindness  of 
a  friend,  and  has  found  them  to  be  exactly, 
or  almost  exactly,  like  English  Catholic 
books  of  the  same  sort,  or  to  speak  more 
accurately,  like  what  our  English  Catholic 
books  were  some  fifty  years  ago,before  many 
modern  devotions  were  introduced.  Thus 
in  a  short  summary  of  belief  appended 
to  a  sort  of  layman's  Missal,  published  at 
Utrecht  in  1879,  the  unity  of  the  Church 
under  the  Pope,  the  seven  Sacraments, 
the  duty  of  prayer  for  the  souls  in  Pur- 
gatory, the  Invocation  of  Saints,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  Mother  of  God 
and  of  all  Christians,  are  taught  just  in  the 
language  familiar  to  us.  The ''  Hail  Mary  " 
occurs  in  the  morning  and  evening  devo- 
tion, and  two  hymns  are  addressed  to 
the  Blessed  Virgin  in  the  hymn-book. 
The  ordinary  of  the  Mass  is  given  in 
Dutch,  though  of  course  the  priest  recites 
it  in  Latin.  We  have  been  unable  to 
discover  any  trace  of  heresy  in  these 
books.  The  Jansenists  we  believe,  as  a 
rule,  practise  their  religion  by  hearing 
Mass,  going  to  confession,  &c.,  and  are 
under  strict  discipline,  absolution  being 
sometimes  deferred  for  a  very  long  time. 
The  friend  already  referred  to  was  told 
by  the  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Utrecht, 
that  conversions  of  Jansenists  to  Catholic- 
ism are  very  rare.  He  himself  had  only 
known  of  one  instance  at  Utrecht  during 
a  ministry  of  nearly  fifty  years  in  that 
city. 

JAxrvARxirs,  st.,mzraci.x:  of. 
Januarius,  Bishop  of  Benevento,  was  be- 
headed for  the  faith  near  Puteoli  in  the 
persecution  of  Diocletian,  and  his  relics 


472 


JERONYMITES 


after  a  time  were  removed  to  Naples.  In  ' 
the  fipreat  church  there  are  preserved  his  >, 
head  and  some  of  his  blood,  which,  as  his  ' 
Acts  relate,  waf  gathered  up  from  the 
j^ound  hy  a  poor  woman  at  the  time  oi 
the  martyrdom,  and  enclosed  in  two  small 
glass  phials  (ampulla)  of  peculiar  con- 
struction. On  several  occasions  it  is  re- 
corded that  his  relics  were  carried  in 
procession  during  eruptions  of  Vesuvius, 
and  that  danger  was  averted  from  the 
city.  The  celebrated  standing  miracle  of 
the  liquefaction  of  the  blood  of  8t.  Janu- 
arius  consists  in  this :  that  when  the 
dried  up,  congealed  blood  in  the  phials, 
wh  ch  is  ordinarily  hard  and  solid  and  in 
f»«veral  pieces,  is  brought  near  to  the 
head  (the  phials,  or  one  of  them,  being 
placed  on  the  altar,  and  prayer  being 
miifle  to  God),  the  blood,  after  a  longer  or 
shorter  interval,  is  usually  seen  to  become 
liquid  and  flow,  and  bubbles  to  arise  on 
its  surfrtce.  Among  many  other  eye- 
witneijses,  the  learned  and  gifted  Picus  of 
Mirandola  fays  :  "  I  saw  that  blood  with 
ray  own  eyes  .  .  .  when  the  head  was 
J)rou|zht  near  to  it,  grow  red,  melt,  and 
bubble  up  as  if  it  had  been  newly  shed 
froiri  t!:e  veins."  (See  the  "Commen- 
tarius  Prievius  "  in  the  Acta  SS.,  vol.  vi. 
of  HMpt^-mber,  where  \he  whole  question 
in  fully  diKCUHsed.) 

7SSOxrYMZTBS.  The  example  of 
St.  Jernme,  who  spent  four  years  in  the 
Syrian  (hihevt,  wrestling  with  the  powers 
ot'  evil  and  his  own  irregular  thoughts, 
was  followed  by  great  numbers  of  holy 
men  in  the  middle  ages,  who  passed  under 
the  general  name  of  Hermits  of  St. 
Jerf)me  or  Jeronymites.  Hdlyot,  the 
historian  of  the  Monastic  Orders,  dis- 
tinguishes four  Oonffregations  of  Jerony- 
mites, of  which  the  first  was  incomparably 
more  important  than  the  others.  These 
are — 

1.  The  Hermits  of  Spain.  Disciples 
of  the  Blessed  Thomas  of  Sienna,  a 
brother  of  the  third  order  of  St.  Francis, 
passing  into  Spain  about  the  middle  of 
the  fourUienth  century,  lived  at  first  like 
hermits,  but  afterwards  deciding  for  the 
coenobitic  life,  were  approved  in  1874  by 
Gregory  XL,  who  gave  them  the  rule  of 
St.  Austin.  Ferdinand  de  Guadalajara 
was  their  first  prior;  his  convent,  at 
St.  Bartholomew  de  Lupiana  in  Castile, 
was  always  regarded  as  the  prin<;i)ial 
house  of  til e  order.  Another  division  of 
these  hermits  from  Italy  s<,ttlerl  in  Va- 
lencia, adopted  tlKi  li'e  in  common  about 
the  sametimo  as  Uuh-  hn-lliifn  in  Ciistilo, 


.TERONYMITES 

and  in  the  course  of  time  founded  several 
convents,  the  fame  of  which  spread 
through  Europe.  These  were,  1.  Our 
Lady  of  Goadaloupe  in  Estremadura  (of 
which  we  shall  speak  presently)  ;  2.  that 
commonly  called  St.  Just,  but  more 
accurately  the  convent  of  St.  Jerome  at 
Yuste  near  Placencia,  to  which  Charles  V. 
retired  after  his  abdication ;  3.  St.  Law- 
rence of  the  Escurial  near  Madrid,  built 
and  adorned  on  a  majestic  plan  by 
Philip  II. ;  and  4.  Belem  near  Lisbon, 
the  burial-place  of  the  royal  family  of 
Portugal.  Of  the  magnificent  convent  of 
Our  Lady  of  Guadaloupe,  famous  for  its 
wonder-working  image,  H^lyot,  writing 
early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  says: — 
"  The  house  is  so  large  and  spacious  that 
when  Philip  II.  parsed  by  it  in  1660  on 
his  way  to  the  war  of  Granada  with  the 
Archduke  Rodolph,  afterwards  Emperor 
....  these  princes  resided  there  for 
twenty  days  with  all  their  court,  without 
causing  the  least  inconvenience  to  the 
monks,  who  are  a  hundred  and  twenty 
in  number.  .  .  .  The  alms  received  are 
very  considerable,  and  serve  for  some 
poilion  of  the  maintenance  of  the  large 
number  of  religious,  of  a  seminary  of 
forty  clerical  students,  who  are  here 
taught  the  humanities  and  the  exercises 
of  a  clerical  life,  of  two  hospitals  for  men 
and  women  adjoining  the  monastery, 
and  of  a  great  number  of  servants  and 
workmen  in  all  kinds  of  trades.  The 
hospital  for  men  is  ser/ed  by  more  than 
forty  attendants,  and  that  for  women  by 
an  equal  number  of  Oblates  ;  and  without 
counting  the  pilgrims,  of  whom  as  many 
as  two  thousand  sometimes  arrive  in  a 
day,  and  who  are  entertained  during 
three  days  in  the  convent,  the  establish- 
ment feeds  more  than  seven  hundred 
persons  daily." 

In  1416,  when  the  first  chapter  general 
was  held,  there  were  twenty-five  houses 
of  Jeronymites  in  Spain  and  Portugal. 

2.  The  Hermits  of  the  Observance,  or 
of  Lombardy.  This  branch  of  the  Jerony- 
mites was  founded  by  the  prior  Lope  de 
Olmedo,  who,  not  being  able  to  persuade 
his  monks  at  Guadalajara  to  give  up 
certain  relaxations,  wen'ttoliomo  (1424), 
and  being  cordially  received  by  Martin  V., 
ultimately  established  in  Lombardy  and 
other  parts  of  Italy  a  flourishing  congre- 
gation of  Jeronymites,  whose  chief  house 
was  at  Ospitsletto  near  Lodi.  In  Hjilyot's 
time  this  Congregation  had  sevtinteen 
houses  in  Italy. 

a.  The  Hermits  of  the  Blessed  Peter 


JERUSALEM 

of  Pisa.  Pietro  Gambacorti,  born  in 
1855  of  a  noble  Pisan  family,  quitted  the 
world  about  1377,  and  lived  as  a  hermit 
at  Montebello  in  Umbria.  Many  joined 
him ;  he  made  his  followers  practise  a 
very  austere  rule,  and  formed  them  into  a 
congregation  under  the  patronage  of  St. 
Jerome,  When  H^lyot  wrote,  there 
were  forty  houses  of  this  order  in  Italy, 
besides  a  few  in  Tyrol  and  Bavaria. 

4.  Tlie  Hermits  of  Fiesole.  The 
ftnmder  of  this  branch,  Carlo  di  Monte- 
graneli,  was  born  about  1340.  They 
were  suppressed  by  Clement  IX.  in  16(38, 
along  with  the  Jesuats.  So  far  as  we 
can  discover,  no  Jeronymite  convents 
exist  at  the  present  day.  (Il^lvot, "  Hist. 
des  Ordres  Monastiques.") 

JERTTSAZiSM,  PATRZARCHATS 
OP.  The  tirst  bishop  of  Jerusalem  was 
James  the  Less,  who  was  appoint*?d  by 
the  Apostles  (Euseb.  "II.  E."  ii.  23). 
After  his  death  the  Apostles  and  disciples 
of  Christ  chose  Simeon  son  of  Clopas,  a 
relation  of  our  Lord,  to  fill  the  vacant 
spe  (Euseb.  "  IL  E."  iii.  11).  It  is  a 
natural  inference  from  the  words  of 
Ilegesippus  (Euseb.  "  H.  E."  iii.  S'2),  that 
Jerusalem  at  that  time  had  a  prominence 
over  all  the  churches  in  Palestine,  which 
were,  like  the  church  of  Jerusalem  itself, 
mostly  composed  of  Jewish  Christians. 
Things  were  entirely  altered  when 
Hadrian  punished  the  Jewish  revolt  by 
t'.ie  destruction  of  the  holy  city,  and 
replaced  it  (A.B.  130)  by^Elia  Capitolina, 
The  old  Judtieo-Christian  community  was 
scattered  ;  Hadrian  made  it  an  oll'ence  for 
a  Jew  to  enter  the  new  city  built  on  the 
site,  or  rather  part  of  the  site,  of  Jeru- 
saleui,  so  that  there  was  no  hope  of  fresh 
converts  from  Judaism,  and  a  series  of 
gentile  bishops  began  of  whom  Mark  was 
the  iirst  (Euseb.  "  II.  E."  v.  12).  ^  The 
church  of  ^lia  Capitolina  was  subjected 
to  that  of  Cfesarea,  partly  because  of  the 
civil  prominence  which  belonged  to  the 
latter,  partly  because  it  could  claim  a 
connection  with  the  Apostles  (there  St. 
Peter  had  baptised  Cornelius)  and  an 
antiquity  to  which  the  new  church  of 
^lia  Capitolina  could  not  pretend.  The 
very  name  of  Jerusalem  fell  out  of  use 
till  after  the  Nicene  Council. 

Still  it  was  impossible  to  ignore  en- 
tirely the  associations  connected  with 
Jerusalem.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
second  century  Eusebius  ("  IT.  E."  v.  23) 
tells  us  that  the  bishop  of  -^lia  presided 
along  with  (and  no  doubt  as  second  in 
rank  to)  the  bishop  of  Oassarea  at  Pales- 


JERUSALEM 


473 


tinian  synods,  and  we  can  see  how  near 
the  two  sees  stood  in  rank  from  the  ftict 
that  Eusebius  in  giving  a  list  of  bishops 
mentions  the  bishop  of  ^lia  once  before 
("  H.  E.  "  V.  2o),  and  once  after  {ib.  22), 
the  bishop  of  Caesarea.  The  letter  of 
the  SNnod  of  Antioch  in  269  is  sub- 
scribed first  by  Helenus  of  Tarsu.s  next 
by  Hjmenaeus  of  Jerusalem,  while  the 
name  of  Theotecnus  of  Cfesarea  holds 
only  the  fourth  place.  (Euseb.  '•  H.  E." 
vii.  30 ;  cf.  22.) 

The  interpretation  of  the  seventh 
I^icene  canon,  which  treats  of  the  eccle- 
siastical rank  of  Jerusalem,  has  given  rise 
to  much  discussion,  and  it  is  impossible 
to  be  certain  about  its  meaning.  These 
are  its  words:  "Since  a  custom  has  pre- 
vailed and  an  ancient  tradition  that  the 
bishop  in  ^Elia  should  be  honoured,  let 
him  have  the  next  place  of  honour  {rffv 
dKo\nv6iav  ttjs  TtfXTJs),  its  proper  dignity 
being  secured  to  the  metropolitan  church 
(rfi  /Li^rpoTTo'Xft)." 

There  can,  we  think,  be  no  reasonable 
doubt,  though  a  question  has  been  raised 
on  the  point,  that  the  metropolitan  church 
is  that  of  Ctesarea.  BuJ  what  are  we  to 
understand  by  the  word>.  ex<rci)  ttjv 
(iKoXovdiav  Trjs  rifxrjs  ?  The  "next  place," 
De  Marca  replies,  after  the  three  great 
sees  of  Rome,  Alexandria  and  Antioch, 
mentioned  in  the  previous  canon,  the 
precedence,  however,  being  one  of  honour 
merely,  and  the  bishop  of  ^lia  remaiu- 
ing  subj»^ct  in  actual  jurisdiction  to  the 
metropolitan  of  Ciesarea.  Beveridge,  on 
the  other  hand,  will  not  hear  of  an 
honorary  patriarch  subject  to  a  metro- 
politan, and  sa))poses  the  meaning  to  be 
that  the  bishop  of  ^Elia  is  to  rank  next 
the  metropolitan  of  Caesarea,  He  is  to 
be  the  first  of  his  sulfragau  bishops,  just 
as  in  the  Anglican  Church  the  bishop 
of  Loudon  holds  the  first  rank  as  dean  of 
the  province  after  his  metropolitan  of 
Canterbury. 

Beveridge  is  probably  right,  and  his 
theory  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  for 
some  time  afterwards  the  two  bishops 
struggled  for  pre-eminence  with  alternate 
success.  Soon  after  the  Nicene  Council 
Maximus  of  Jerusalem  held  a  Palestinian 
synod  in  favour  of  Athanasius,  without 
reference  to  the  authority  of  Caesarea, 
though  he  was  blamed  for  this  assumption 
of  power  (Socrat.  ii.  24).  At  the  Second 
General  Council  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  signs 
before  Thalas^ius  of  Ceesarea.  On  the  other 
hand,  Eulogius  of  Caasarea  presided  in 
416  at  the  Synod  of  Diospolis,  although 


474 


Ji:SUATS 


JESUITS 


Jolin  of  Jerusalem  was  present.  More- 
over, although  Juvenal  of  Jerusalem  took 
a  veiy  prominent  part  at  Ephesus  in  431, 
and  signed  immediately  after  the  bishop 
of  Alexandria  (the  bishop  of  Csesarea 
was  absent),  still  Cyril  resisted  Juvenal's 
attempt  to  obtain  conciliar  recognition  of 
his  authority  over  Palestine,  and  begged 
the  Pope  to  interfere  (Leo,  Ep.  62).  At 
the  seventh  session  of  Chalcedon  (October 
26,  451)  Maximus  of  Antioch  declared 
that  after  long  strife  with  Juvenal  he  had 
at  last  consented  to  cede  the  three  Pales- 
tinian provinces  to  Jerusalem — an  ar- 
rangement which  was  approved  by  the 
council  and  the  Papal  legates. 

The  patriarchate  of  Jerusalem  was 
severed  like  the  other  Eastern  patriar- 
chates from  the  unity  of  the  Church  by 
the  Greek  schism.  The  city  was  rescued 
from  the  Mohammedans  by  the  crusaders 
in  1099  :  a  Latin  ecclesiastic — Dagobert, 
archbishop  of  Pisa — was  appointed  patri- 
arch, and  the  hierarchy  was  reorganised. 
After  the  Christian  defeat  at  Gaza  in 
1244,  and  the  consequent  capture  of 
Jerusalem  by  the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  the 
Latin  patriarchate  became  little  more 
than  a  nominal  dignity,  and  Nicolas  de 
Anapis,  a  Dominican  and  Roman  peni- 
tentiary, appointed  by  Pope  Nicolas  IV. 
in  1288,  was  the  last  Latin  patriarch 
down  to  our  day  who  resided  in 
Palestine  (Fleury,  Hvr.  Ixxxviii.  c.  49). 
In  the  Decree  of  Union  (Florence,  1439), 
the  Greek  patriarchate  of  Jerusalem  was 
again  united  to  the  Church  and  recognised 
as  holding  the  fifth  place  after  Rome,  but 
the  union  only  lasted  a  few  years.  Pius  IX. 
gave  Jerusalem  a  resident  Latin  patriarch, 
Joseph  Valerga  (1847-1872).  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Vincent  Bracco  (Hergenrother, 
"  K.  Geschichte,"  ii.  p.  1008).  There  is  no 
Greek  Catholic  patriarch  of  Jerusalem. 
The  United  Greeks  or  Melchite  Catholics 
of  this  patriarchate  are  subject  to  the 
patriarch  of  Antioch.  He  is  represented 
by  a  vicar  who  is  a  hi&hovi  in partibus  and 
resides  at  Jaffa.'  (Le  Quien,  "Oriens 
Christianus,"  torn.  3.  Hefele,  "  Concil." 
vol.  i.,  on  the  7th  canon  of  Nicsea,  and 
vol.  ii.,  on  Chalcedon.) 

JESVATS.  A  congregation  founded 
by  St.  John  Colombini,  and  confirmed  by 
Urban  V.  in  1367.  Colombini  was  a 
native  of  Sienna,  and  had  held  the  highest 
offices  in  that  republic;  but  being  con- 
verted entirely  to  God  by  accidentally 
reading  the  Life  of  St.  Mary  of  Egypt,  he, 
with  his  wife's  consent,  embraced  a  life  of 
1  ^ilbemagl,  Kirchen  des  Orients. 


continence,  turned  his  house  into  a  hospi- 
tal, preached  frequently,  and  delighted  to 
humble  himself  to  the  condition  of  the 
poorest  and  most  miserable.  He  soon  had 
a  ring  of  fervent  disciples  around  him. 
Proceeding  to  meet  Urban  V.,  who  w^as 
coming  from  Avignon  to  Rome,  in  1367, 
the  new  society  is  said  to  have  been  called 
the  "  Gesuati "  by  children,  who  noticed 
how,  as  they  walked,  they  continually 
repeated  "Viva  Gesu!"  Alexander  VI. 
obliged  them  to  add  to  the  name  Jesuats, 
"  of  St.  Jerome."  Urban  V.  confirmed 
them,  in  1367,  and  gave  them  a  white 
habit  and  hood,  with  a  large  brown  mantle, 
and  wooden  shoes.  For  more  than  two 
centuries,  it  was  a  strictly  lay  order,  but 
Paul  V.  (1606)  permitted  them  to  receive 
holy  orders.  In  many  of  their  houses  they 
practised  pharmacy  and  distillation,  and 
sold  the  alcoholic  liquor  which  they  manu- 
factured ;  hence  they  came  to  be  known 
as  the  "Aquavita  Fathers,"  For  this 
and  other  reasons  Clement  IX.,  in  1668, 
deemed  it  advisable  to  suppress  the  order. 
(H^lyot.) 

JESUXTESSES.  Isabel  Rosella,  a 
pious  lady  of  Barcelona,  assisted  St.  Igna- 
tius greatly  with  her  alms  when  he  was 
studying  at  that  city  in  preparation  for  a 
university  career.  She,  with  two  com- 
panions, came  to  Rome,  where  the  saint 
then  was,  in  1545,  and  entreated  him  to 
take  the  direction  of  them,  and  allow  them 
to  live  by  the  Jesuit  rule.  St.  Ignatius 
thought  himself  bound,  in  gratitude  for 
her  former  kindness,  not  to  refuse  her 
request ;  but  he  soon  found  that  the  direc- 
tion of  these  three  women  took  up  an  un- 
duly large  proportion  of  his  time,  and  he 
obtained  from  Paul  JIL,  in  1547,  an  order 
that  the  Company  should  not  undertake 
the  direction  of  nuns.  **  When  certain 
women  in  Flanders  and  Piedmont  after- 
wards assembled  in  houses  under  vows  ^  and 
this  rule,  and  called  themselves  Jesuitesses, 
their  institute  was  abolished  by  Urban  VIII., 
in  1633,  the  end  and  exercises  of  this 
society  not  suiting  that  sex."  (Alban 
Butler,  July  31.) 

JESUITS.  The  annals  of  this  great 
order,  and  the  Life  of  its  founder,  have  been 
so  frequently  written,  that  the  general 
outlines  of  both  are  familiar  to  most  per- 
sons. St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  born  in  1491, 
of  a  noble  family  in  Biscay,  and  trained 
to  the  military  profession,  received  a  severe 
wound  in  the  leg  while  defending  Pampe- 
luna  against  the  French  in  1521.  During 
his  slow  recovery  he  called  for  books  to 

1  Vows  self-imposed,  according  to  H^yot, 


JESUITS 

*muse  him ;  romances  were  brouglit,  and 
also  a  volume  of  "  Lives  of  the  Saints." 
Reading  this  last,  at  first  carelessly,  but 
afterwards  with  ever-increasing  interest, 
Ignatius  recognised  the  heroism  of  the 
true  servants  of  God,  and  saw  how  much 
their  glory,  being  founded  on  the  abase- 
ment of  the  Cross,  transcended  what  till 
then  he  had  been  accustomed  to  call  so. 
When  he  had  sufficiently  recovered,  he 
broke  with  his  former  life,  embraced 
poverty  and  mendicancy,  confessed  him- 
self to  a  Benedictine  of  Montserrat,  and 
passed  a  noviciate  of  sublime  but  terrible 
trial  in  the  cave  of  Manresa.  Gradually 
the  thought  of  founding  an  order,  which 
should  support  the  Chair  of  Peter,  menaced 
by  the  German  heretics,  sustain  by  ex- 
ample, preaching,  and  education,  the  cause 
of  the  Gospel  and  Catholic  truth,  and  carry 
the  light  of  Christ  to  the  heathen,  rose 
into  clearness  in  his  mind.  But  to  carry 
out  all  this,  he  must  become  a  priest ;  the 
soldier  must  turn  himself  into  a  clerk. 
With  unfailing  patience  he  laboured  to 
obtain  the  necessary  knowledge.  After 
being  driven  from  two  Spanish  universities, 
because  his  efforts  to  influence  the  students 
caused  him  to  be  esteemed  a  mischievous 
fanatic,  he  went  to  the  University  of 
Paris,  and  there  completed  his  studies. 
Here  it  was  that  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  a  number  of  remarkable  men,  chiefly 
Spaniards,  with  whom  being  made  one  in 
heart  and  spirit,  he  understood  that  it  was 
now  possible  to  carry  out  the  project  which 
he  had  long  cherished.  He  conducted 
them  first  through  the  "  Spiritual  Exer- 
cises," which  he  had  composed  at  Manresa. 
On  the  feast  of  the  Assumption,  in  1534, 
Ignatius  and  his  companions,^  after  they 
had  all  received  communion  from  Peter 
Faber,  who  was  then  the  only  priest 
among  them,  pronounced  the  vow  which 
constituted  the  order.  Its  tenor  was,  "  to 
renounce  the  world,  to  go  to  preach  the 
gospel  in  Palestine,  or,  if  they  could  not 
go  thither  within  a  year  after  they  had 
finished  their  studies,  to  offer  themselves 
to  his  Holiness  to  be  employed  in  the 
service  of  God  in  what  manner  he  should 
judge  best."^  Ignatius  then  passed  into 
Spain,  partly  on  medical  advice,  to  recruit 
his  wasted  health  by  breathing  the  air  of 
his  native  hills,  partly  to  transact  some 
necessary  business  for  those  of  his  com- 

1  Their  names  were :  Francis  Xavier,  James 
Laynez,  Alphonsus  Salmeron,  Nicholas  Boba- 
dil la— Spaniards  ;  Simon  Rodriguez,  a  Portu- 
^.lese  ;  and  Peter  Faber,  a  Savoyard. 

'  Alban  Butler,  July  31. 


JESUITS 


475 


panions  who  were  Spaniards.  It  was 
agreed  that  they  should  all  meet  at  Venice, 
in  January  1537.  Before  that  time  three 
others  had  joined  the  society — Claude  le 
Jay  of  Savoy,  Codure  of  Dauphin^,  and 
Pasquier  Brouet  of  Picardy.  His  followers 
travelled  on  foot  from  Paris,  in  the  winter 
of  1536,  and  through  much  danger  and 
hardship  made  their  way  to  Venice  at  the 
appointed  time ;  Ignatius  had  come  from 
Barcelona  by  sea.  While  at  Venice,  they 
occupied  themselves  in  preaching  and 
serving  in  the  hospitals.  In  the  summer, 
after  sending  the  others  to  preach  and 
labour  in  various  towns  of  North  Italy, 
Ignatius,  taking  with  him  Faber  and 
Laynez,  set  out  for  Rome.  At  La  Storta, 
not  far  from  the  Eternal  City,  while 
praying  in  a  wayside  chapel,  he  fell  into 
an  ecstacy ;  be  seemed  to  see  the  Almighty 
Father,  who  commended  him  to  his  Son ; 
Christ  at  the  same  time  said  to  him,  *'  I 
will  be  favourable  to  you  at  Rome."  ^  Be- 
fore the  parting,  he  had  told  his  followers 
that  if  asked  to  what  congregation  they 
belonged,  they  should  say  that  they  were 
of  the  Company  of  Jesus.  The  Pope 
(Paul  HI.)  gave  Ignatius  a  cordial  recep- 
tion, and  commissioned  Faber  and  Laynez 
to  lecture  on  divinity  at  the  Sapienza,  the 
Roman  University.  The  Holy  Father 
doubtless  felt  the  full  significance  of  the 
adhesion  of  such  a  band  at  such  a  crisis. 
The  huge  fabric  of  the  German  empire 
was  in  wild  confusion  ;  the  king  of  Eng- 
land, saluted  by  his  predecessor,  not  twenty 
years  before,  as  "  defensor  tidei,"  had  just 
destroyed  six  hundred  monasteries,  and 
stopped  all  intercourse  between  his  king- 
dom and  Rome;  France  was  unquiet; 
Sweden  lost.  At  this  moment  a  company 
of  devout  combatants,  disciplined  alike  in 
mind  and  will,  serving  under  a  leader 
every  lineament  of  whose  face  bespoke 
^rce  and  majesty,  but  all  under  the 
strictest  control,  offered  themselves  to  the 
Pope,  to  do  service  of  whatever  kind  and 
against  whatever  adversary  he  might  ap- 
point. The  encouragement  which  he  re- 
ceived led  Ignatius  to  set  earnestly  to  work 
at  framing  the  constitutions  of  the  new 
order.  As  might  be  expected  from  the 
man  and  the  times,  a  military  and  mon- 
archical spu'it  pervaded  them.  He  resolved 
to  establish  in  his  order  "  a  general  whom 
all,  by  their  vow,  should  be  bound  to  obey, 
who  should  be  perpetual,  and  his  authority 
absolute,  subject  entirely  to  the  Pope,  but 
not  liable  to  be  restrained  by  chapters."  * 

*  "  Ego  vobis  Romae  propitius  ero.'' 
»  Alban  Butler,  July  31. 


A76 


JESUITS 


Hfl  also  determined  to  prescribe  a  fourth 
TOW — that  of  going,  without  question  or 
delay,  wherever  the  Pope  might  think  fit 
to  send  them  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 
As  to  property,  he  resolved  that  the  pro- 
fessed fathers  of  the  society  should  possess 
no  real  estates  or  revenues,  either  indivi- 
dually or  in  common,  but  that  colleges 
might  enjoy  revenues  and  rents,  for  the 
maintenance  of  students  of  the  order  and 
the  advancement  of  learning.  He  sum- 
moned all  his  followers  to  Rome,  and  at 
last,  in  1540,  was  able  to  lay  the  pro- 
gramme and  constitutions  of  the  new  order 
before  the  Pope,  who,  after  the  opposition 
raised  by  some  of  the  cardinals  had  been 
overcome,  solemnly  contirmed  them  by 
the  bull  (dated  Sept.  27, 1640)  "  Regimini 
militantis  ecclesiae ."  The  bull  recites  and 
approves  the  "  form  of  life  "  which  had 
been  devised  by  the  founder  for  those 
who  should  join  his  institute.  Preaching, 
spiritual  exercises,  works  of  charity,  teach- 
ing the  catechism,  and  hearing  confessions, 
were  to  be  their  employments.  The  gene- 
ral or  prelate  to  be  chosen  was  to  decide 
on  the  work  to  be  done  by  each  individual 
member,  and  to  frame  any  new  constitu- 
tions that  might  be  needed,  with  the  con- 
sent of  his  associates.  Before  admission, 
all  were  to  undergo  a  long  probation. 

The  Society  being  thus  confirmed,  the 
members  met  for  the  election  of  a  gen- 
eral, and  Ignatius  was  unanimously  nom- 
inated. He  refused  at  first,  but  afterwards 
yielded,  and  entered  upon  the  office  in 
April  1541.  The  Constitutions,  which 
were  wholly  composed  by  the  saint,  and 
in  his  native  tongue,  were  translated  into 
Latin  by  Polanco,  his  secretary,  and  first 
published  in  1658.  In  them  his  aims 
and  ideas,  and  the  chief  methods  by 
which  he  hoped  to  realise  them,  are 
clearly  set  forth.  He  desired  to  "  stand 
on  the  ancient  ways,"  to  teach  men  th^t 
they  could  not  safely  do  otherwise,  and 
thus  prevent  new  defections.  Novelty, 
curiosity,  ambition,  and  self-indulgence, 
were  all  on  the  side  of  Protestantism ;  if 
they  were  to  be  resisted  effectually,  it 
could  only  be  by  using  the  same  weapons 
of  which  the  temper  had  been  tried 
f^ainst  the  Csesarism  of  the  Romans, 
and  the  idolatry  of  the  barbarians.  This 
weapon  was  the  personal  sanctification  of 
the  defenders  of  Catholic  truth.  The 
holiness  of  St.  Antony  and  the  hermits 
won  the  battle  for  Christ  in  the  third 
century.  When  St.  Aidan  began  to  con- 
vert the  Angles  of  North umbria,  he  estab- 
lished himself  and  his  monks  in  a  remote 


JESUITS 

island,  so  that  monastic  piety  might  not  be 
interrupted  in  its  daily  duties  and  sancti- 
fying discipline  never  relax  its  hold  on 
those  who  were  preaching  Christ  to  the 
heathen.  Similarly  St.  Ignatius,  instead 
of  writing  a  great  book,  settles  a  round 
of  spiritual  exercises  which  he  and  his 
followers  are  to  go  through  before  attempt- 
ing anything  serious.  His  aim  is  to 
sanctify  the  soldiers,  that  by  them  he  may 
sanctify  the  world.  The  rules  which  he 
prescribes  are  partly  drawn  from  the 
contemplative  life  (e.ff.  mental  prayer, 
examination  of  conscience,  pious  reading, 
frequentation  of  the  sacraments,  retreats), 
partly  suited  to  form  men  of  action. 
He  gives  no  particular  habit  to  his  fol- 
lowers, because  he  designs  them  to  live 
in  the  world  and  to  be  continually  mix- 
ing with  it,  that  they  may  OTercome  its 
evil,  while  remaining  interiorly  separate 
from  it.  Noue  are  to  be  received  who 
have  worn  the  habit  of  another  order. 
The  postulant  must  renounce  his  own 
will,  his  family,  and  all  that  men  hold 
most  dear  on  earth.  The  vows  could 
not  be  taken  before  the  age  of  thirty- 
three.  A  Jesuit  must  canvass  for  no 
office,  and  take  no  ecclesiastical  dignity 
unless  constrained  by  the  Pope  on  pain 
of  mortal  sin.  Six  grades  of  member- 
ship are  described:  (1)  novices,  (2) 
formed  temporal  coadjutors,  (3)  approved 
scholastics,  (4)  formed  spiritual  coadj  utors, 
(5)  the  professed  of  the  three  vows,  (6) 
the  professed  of  the  four  vows.  These 
distinctions  are  observed  to  this  day,  but 
the  professed  of  the  three  vows  form 
only  a  small  class;  the  professed  of  both 
grades  and  the  spiritual  coadjutors  form 
not  quite  one  half  of  those  whom  the 
world  calls  "  Jesuits." 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  name 
by  which  they  are  commonly  known  was 
given  to  them  by  their  enemies,  or  by 
the  people,  not  assumed  by  themselves. 
Till  1600  they  never  called  themselves 
anything  else  but  the  "Company  of 
Jesus." 

Among  tlie  generals  there  have  been 
Spaniards,  Italians,  Germans,  Poles,  and 
Belgians,  but  never  a  Frenchman. 

Already  in  1663  the  usefulness  of  the 
new  society  must  have  been  signally 
manifest,  for  the  Council  of  Trent  in 
that  year,  while  laying  down  general 
rules  about  novices,  declares  that  it 
intends  not  to  make  any  change  which 
should  prevent  "the  religion  of  the  clerks 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus  from  being  able 
to  serve  the  Lord  and  his  Church  accord- 


JESUITS 

ing  to  their  pious  institute  approved  by 
the  holy  Apostolic  See."  ^ 

St.  Ignatius,  after  having  founded  the 
German  College  at  Rome,  and  assisted  in 
founding  the  great  "Collegio  Romano," 
having  lived  to  see  the  fruit  of  his  la- 
bours— his  order  being  solidly  established 
in  many  countries  of  Europe,  and  engaged 
in  successful  missions  among  the  heathen 
in  Asia,  Africa,  and  America — passed  to 
his  reward  in  1556.  The  following  brief 
sketch  of  the  subsequent  history  of  the 
Society  arranges  events  under  the  names 
of  the  generals  down  to  the  death  of 
Aquaviva;  and,  from  that  point  to  the 
suppression  of  the  Society,  under  the 
principal  countries  and  missions  in  which 
its  influence  was  exerted.  Some  of  the 
more  prominent  successes  and  reverses 
which  it  has  experienced  since  1814  are 
all  that  our  limits  will  allow  us  to 
give  of  its  history  subsequent  to  the  re- 
establishment. 

I.  Father  James  Laynez,  who  had  as- 
sisted as  a  theologian  at  the  deliberations 
of  the  Tridentine  Council,  succeeded  St. 
Ignatius  in  1558.  The  chief  event  of  his 
rule  was  his  visit  to  Paris  in  1561,  on 
which  occasion  he  confronted  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Huguenots  at  the 
Conference  of  Poissy,  and  did  much  to 
overcome  the  opposition  which  the  Paris 
parliament  had  hitherto  made  to  the 
admission  of  the  Society.  The  parlia- 
ment did  in  fact  ratify  in  1562  the  royal 
edicts  of  Henry  II.  and  Francis  II., 
granting  permission  to  the  Company  to 
erect  a  college  in  Paris.  During  this  and 
the  two  following  generalates,  the  pro- 
gress of  heresy  in  Germany  was  stopped, 
and  much  lost  ground  recovered,  by  the 
labours  of  the  Jesaits,  among  whom  the 
Blessed  Peter  Canisius  was  pre-eminent. 
This  great  man  won  the  affection  of  the 
powerful  archbishop  of  Augsburg,  Otto 
Truchsess,  who  made  over  to  the  Society 
the  University  of  Dillingen.  They  had 
already,  in  1 556,  obtained  a  firm  footing 
in  the  Bavarian  university  of  Ingolstadt, 
whence  they  extended  their  efforts  to 
other  parts  of  Germany.  The  favourite 
calumny  of  the  German  Protestants,  that 
the  Catholic  Church  was  hostile  to  learn- 
ing, received  an  effectual  practical  refuta- 
tion through  the  Jesuit  colleges,  in  which 
all  subjects — humanities,  philosophy,  the 
Bciences,  &c. — were  taught  according  to 
the  newest  methods,  and  more  skilfully 
and  energetically  than  elsewhere. 

Meantime  missions  to  the  heathen 
1  Sess.  XXV.  c.  16,  De  Reg.  et  Mon. 


JESUITS 


477 


were  carried  on  with  much  success.  The 
first  Jesuit  mission  in  India  had  been 
founded  by  St.  Francis  Xavier,  who 
landed  at  Goa  in  1542,  and  by  his  preach- 
ing and  miracles  converted  great  num- 
bers of  the  inhabitants  of  Travancore, 
the  Fishery  Coast,  and  Madura.  After- 
wards he  carried  the  Gospel  to  Celebes 
and  the  Spice  Islands,  and  (1549)  estab- 
lished a  flourishing  church  in  Japan.  The 
saint  died  on  the  island  of  Sancian  near 
Macao  in  1552,  while  endeavouring  to 
penetrate  into  China.  The  field  of  the 
missions  was  tilled  by  many  different 
orders,  among  which  the  Company  cert- 
ainly was  not  the  least  zealous.  Father 
de  Nobrega  had  been  sent  to  Brazil  by 
St.  Ignatius  himself,  and  had  made  a 
good  commencement ;  we  shall  presently 
see  by  what  a  strong  and  holy  hand  the 
work  was  continued.  By  1560  the 
Society  had  extended  its  activity  in  every 
direction ;  Melanchthon,  as  he  lay  on  his 
deathbed  in  that  year,  is  reported  to  have 
said,  "  Alas  !  What  is  this  ?  I  see  the 
whole  world  being  filled  with  Jesuits." 
Laynez  died  in  1565. 

Under  the  rule  of  St.  Francis  Borgia, 
the  third  general,  a  relation  of  the  em- 
peror Charles  V.  (1665-1573),  the  ad- 
vance of  the  Society  was  uninterrupted. 
St.  Pius  V.  was  dissatisfied  with  the 
exemption  from  the  obligation  of  saying 
the  otfice  in  choir  which  the  order  pos- 
sessed under  the  Constitutions,  and  was 
inclined  to  insist  on  a  change.  But  the 
fathers  presented  a  memorial  in  which  it 
was  shown  that  the  existing  regulation 
was  the  result  of  profound  meditation  on 
the  end  and  means  of  his  institute  on  the 
part  on  the  founder  ;  St.  Francis  himself 
with  a  respectful  firmness  supported  thjs 
view ;  and  the  Pope  gave  way.  Affairs 
prospered  in  Germany;  Austria  and  Ba- 
varia, where  heresy  had  nearly  got  the 
upper  hand,  remained  on  the  whole  true 
to  the  ancient  faith.  Canisius  founded 
colleges  at  Wiirzburg,  Olmiitz,  and 
Wilna.  The  Duke  of  Bavaria  in  the 
decree  founding  a  Jesuit  college  at  Lands- 
hut  declared  that  "certainly  it  was  to 
this  Society  that  Bavaria  owed  the  re-es- 
tablishment of  the  faith  of  her  ancestors, 
that  had  been  shaken  by  the  calamities  of 
the  times."  The  present  church  of  the 
Gesii  at  Rome  was  begun  in  1567.  St. 
Charles  Borromeo  warmly  befriended  the 
Society  in  his  archdiocese  of  Milan, 
founding  (1572)  a  novitiate  for  them  at 
Arona  at  his  own  expense.  How  danger- 
ous the  order  was  felt  to  be  to  the  pro- 


478 


JESUITS 


JESUITS 


gress  of  Protestantism  was  shown  by  a 
terrible  event  in  1570.  A  Portuguese 
gbip  bound  for  Brazil,  in  which  were  F. 
Azevedo,  of  the  Society,  and  thirty-nine 
compainons,  mostly  novices,  was  attacked 
by  a  French  privateer  commanded  by  the 
Calvinist  Jacques  Sourie, of  Dieppe.  After 
a  brave  resistance  the  Portuguese  vessel 
was  overpowered,  the  sailors  who  were 
left  alive  were  spared ;  but  the  Calvinists 
put  all  but  one  of  the  Jesuits  to  death. 
A  somewhat  similar  incident  happened 
the  next  year,  and  resulted  in  the  murder 
of  twelve  Jesuits,  of  whom  the  chief  was 
F.  Francis  de  Castro,  by  the  Huguenot 
captain,  Capdeville,  and  his  crew. 

Under  the  fourth  general,  F.  Mer- 
curian,  a  Belgian  (1573-1580),  the  genius 
of  the  great  Bellarmin  began  to  show 
itself;  he  was  engaged  for  several  years 
before  1577  in  combating  the  errors  of 
Baius,  a  doctor  of  Louvain.  The  members 
of  the  society,  who  in  1565  had  numbered 
3,500,  distributed  among  130  houses,  in 
eighteen  provinces,  amounted  in  1580  to 
upwards  of  5,000,  divided  among  twenty- 
one  provinces. 

Under  the  prudent  but  energetic  rule 
of  Aquaviva  (1581-1615)  the  prosperity 
and  reputation  of  the  Society  were  at 
their  height.  Enterprises  formerly  begun 
developed  themselves  now  with  great 
rapidity  and  brilliancy,  and  new  under- 
takings, the  fame  of  which  still  resounds 
through  the  world,  were  commenced. 
The  Roman  College,  which  in  1555  had 
but  200  students,  in  1584  had  grown  into 
a  flourishing  university,  with  more  than 
2,000  students,  in  which  all  the  faculties 
"but  those  of  law  and  medicine  were 
worthily  represented.  The  ideas  of  St. 
'Ignatius  on  the  methods  of  instruction 
were  worked  out  by  Aquaviva  into  a 
systematic  ratio  studiorum,  of  which  the 
chief  feaiare  was  the  thorough  mastery 
which  it  aimed  at  giving  to  aU  their 
scholars  over  the  Latin  language.  In  the 
mission  field,  we  find  that  extraordinary 
progress  was  made  in  Japan,  where  the 
Christians,  who  numbered  but  200,000  in 
1688,  were  750,000  in  1612,  most  of  these 
being  Jesuit  converts.  In  Brazil  the  work 
of  F.  de  Nobrega  was  carried  on  for  forty- 
four  years  by  the  Ven.  Joseph  Anchieta 
of  the  Society,  who  instituted  native 
settlements  much  resembling  the  later  and 
more  celebrated  Paraguayan  "reductions," 
and  has  been  called  the  Apostle  of  Brazil. 
The  Jesuit  missions  in  India,  which  had 
languished  or  been  retarded  for  a  time, 
passed  into  a  new  phase  on  the  arrival  of 


F.  Robert,  de'  Nobili,  in  1605.  Nobili 
thought  [Missions]  that  ideas  of  caste, 
being  grounded  in  the  very  structure  of 
Hindoo  society,  should  be  temporarily 
complied  with,  so  far  as  was  lawful,  by  the 
ambassadors  of  Christ.  Accordingly  he 
assumed  the  dress  and  manners  of  a 
Brahmin,  and  kept  aloof  from  the  inferior 
castes,  making  after  a  time  many  conver- 
sions. He  died  many  years  later  (1656), 
and  his  tomb,  near  Madura,  is  still  an  ob- 
ject of  popular  veneration.  A  breach  was 
made  about  this  time  in  the  heathenism 
of  China  by  the  success  of  F.  Ricci  and 
his  followers.  Ricci  was  a  sound  mathe- 
matician, and  skilled  in  mechanics ;  and 
when,  after  twenty  years'  residence  in 
China,  he  succeeded  (1601)  in  making 
himself  known  to  the  emperor  at  Pekin, 
he  soon  obtained  his  confidence,  and  made 
the  favour  extended  to  him  on  account  of 
his  scientific  acquirements  contribute  more 
or  less  to  the  spread  and  protection  of 
Christianit}-.  Ricci  died  in  1610,  but 
was  succeeded  by  missioners  not  less  able 
and  zealous — Schall,  Verbiest,  Gerbillon, 
and  Bouvet.  Of  the  differences  which 
arose  between  the  Jesuit  and  Dominican 
missionaries  in  China,  something  will  be 
said  in  the  next  section.  F.  Valdivia 
carried  the  gospel  to  the  Indians  of  Chili 
in  1593  ;  a  harbour,  a  city,  and  a  peak  of 
the  Andes  immortalise  the  name  of  the 
intrepid  missionary.  The  first  Paraguay  an 
"reduction"  was  made  in  1610,  but  of 
this  great  civilising  enterprise  a  connected 
view  must  be  reserved  for  the  article  on 
Missions. 

In  Europe  generally  the  progress  of 
the  order  was  maintained  in  peace ;  but 
complications  arose  at  three  principal 
points.  The  Venetian  oligarchy,  enraged 
against  the  fathers  because  they  observed 
the  interdict  laid  by  Pope  Paul  V.  upon 
the  republic  in  1606,  banished  them  from 
Venice ;  and,  although  the  rupture  with 
the  Holy  See  was  repaired  soon  after- 
wards, would  not  readmit  the  order  for 
fifty  years.  In  France,  where  the  Par- 
liament of  Paris  was  always  hostile  to  the 
Society,  the  members  of  the  latter,  being 
charged  with  complicity  in  the  attempt 
of  Chatel  to  assassinate  the  king,  Henry 
IV.,  were  expelled  from  Paris  in  1595. 
Henry,  however,  recalled  them  in  1601, 
and  on  that  occasion  administered  a  telling 
reproof  to  the  ofiicials  of  the  Parliament, 
who  had,  under  the  influence  of  the 
jealousy  which  has  too  commonly  actu- 
ated French  lawyers  in  regard  to  eccle- 
siastics, laid  before  him  a  paper  full  of 


JESUITS. 

ridiculous  calumnies  against  the  Com- 
pany. In  England,  where  Jesuits  first 
arrived  in  1580,  their  pastoral  work  was 
attended  by  greater  danger  than  even  in 
Japan.  The  Protestant  government  put 
to  death,  under  Elizabeth,  Fathers  Cam- 
pion, Briant,  Southwell,  Walpole,  &c. ; 
and,  under  James,  Father  Oldcorne,  the 
two  Garnets,  and  F.  Page.  These 
martyrdoms,  though  unable  to  produce 
their  full  natural  effect  on  account  of  the 
terrorism  practised  by  the  Government, 
undoubtedly  led  to  numerous  conver- 
sions, sustained  the  wavering  faith  of 
many,  and  powerfully  contributed  to 
keep  alive  the  flame  of  Catholicism  in 
the  breasts  of  a  down-trodden  but  un- 
conquerable minority. 

The  Company  numbered  in  its  ranks 
at  this  time  some  of  the  finest  and 
strongest  minds  in  Europe;  such  were 
Cardinal  Bellarmin,  Emanuel  Sa,  Mal- 
donatus,  Suarez,  Clavius,  and  Canisius. 
The  saintly  life  of  St.  Aloysius  Gon- 
zaga,  who  died  in  1597  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  reflects  a  yet  purer  lustre 
on  their  annals.  The  series  of  "  Lettres 
Edifiantes  et  Curieuses,"  sent  by  the 
Jesuit  missioners  to  Europe,  commences 
from  this  period. 

11.  1615-1773.  In  this  section —after 
a  brief  survey  of  the  Jesuit  missions— the 
history  of  the  order  in  Europe,  the  cir- 
cumstances which  led  to  its  expulsion 
from  various  kingdoms  and  its  suppres- 
sion by  Clement  XIV.  will  be  related. 

In  India,  De'  Nobili,  whose  method  of 
extending  the  gospel  was  approved  by  a 
bull  of  Gregory  XV.  in  1623,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Fathers  Fernandez,  De  An- 
drada.  Blessed  John  de  Britto,  Beschi, 
Bouchet,  &c.  De  Britto  was  beheaded  by 
the  king  of  Marava  in  1693.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  Malabar  Rites,  which  arose 
about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  caused  an  agitation  unfavourable 
to  the  progress  of  the  missions.  Still,  if 
Southern  India  and  Ceylon  are  to  a 
great  extent  Christian  countries,  it  is  to 
these  unwearied  labours  of  the  Society 
that  the  result  is  chiefly  due.  The  last 
provincial.  Father  Anthony  Douarte, 
after  the  suppression  of  the  order,  did 
not  desert  his  converts,  but,  dying  at  a 
great  age  in  1788,  bequeathed  to  them  a 
box  of  papers  relating  to  the  mission, 
which  he  charged  them  to  give  to  the 
future  Provincial  of  the  Jesuits  in  India. 

In  China,  the  establishment  of  the 
Tartar  dynasty  at  Pekin  in  1644  threat- 
ened to  injure  the  missions,  but  the  new 


JESUITS. 


479 


rulers  were  at  first  not  unfriendly.  The 
Dominicans  had  come  to  China  in  1633  ; 
they  found  that  the  Jesuits  tolerated  in 
their  converts  the  continued  adherence  to 
certain  customs  and  ceremonies  which 
appeared  to  savour  of  idolatry ;  a  pro- 
tracted controversy  arose  which  spread 
from  China  to  Europe.  [For  an  account 
of  these  ceremonies  see  Chinese  Rites, 
in  the  appendix.]  Clement  XI.  sent  out 
De  Tournon,  the  patriarch  of  Antioch,  in 
1703,  to  India  and  China  as  his  legate. 
Soon  after  his  landing  at  Goa,  De  Tour- 
non issued  a  pastoral,  in  which  he  un- 
conditionally condemned  the  Malabar 
rites.  The  Jesuits,  fearing  the  effect  of 
the  prohibition  on  the  native  mind,  re- 
solved on  appealing  to  the  Holy  See,  and 
De  Tournon  gave  his  verbal  consent  to 
their  doing  so.  From  India  the  legate 
passed  to  China,  and  in  1706  condemned 
the  ceremonies  as  unfit  for  Christians  to 
use.  The  emperor  Kang  Hi,  who  had 
always  maintained  that  they  had  only  a 
civil  meaning,  was  extremely  angry,  and 
gave  up  De  Tournon  into  the  hands  of 
the  Portuguese  at  Macao,  by  whom  he 
was  imprisoned  and  ill-treated,  dying  in 
consequence  in  1710.  A  brief  of  Cle- 
ment XL  in  1710,  followed  by  the  bull 
"Ex  ilia  die"  in  1715,  confirmed  the 
legate's  condemnation,  first  of  some,  then 
of  all  the  obnoxious  ceremonies.  The 
indignation  of  Kang  Hi  was  extreme,  and 
the  new  legate.  Cardinal  Mezza  Barba, 
perceiving  the  great  difficulty  of  the  case, 
authorised  the  Jesuit  fathers  to  make 
a  fresh  application  to  Rome,  and  in  the 
meantime  to  suspend  their  obedience  to 
the  briefs.  The  application  was  vain ; 
Clement  XII.  confirmed  the  bull  "Ex 
ilia  die,"  and  Benedict  XIV.  by  his  bull 
in^  1742  (before  which  the  Jesuits  are 
said  to  have  submitted  unreservedly) 
confirmed  the  decisions  of  his  predeces- 
sors, and  finally  settled  the  question. 

Kang  Hi,  after  a  reign  of  sixty  years, 
died  in  1722,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Yung  Tchin,  who  immediately  ordered 
a  persecution  of  the  Christians.  His  son, 
Khian-loung,  was  a  man  of  singular 
character ;  political  and  personal  motives 
prevented  him  from  embracing  Chris- 
tianity, but  he  respected  and  loved  the 
Jesuit  fathers,  whom  he  drew  to  his 
Court  at  Pekin,  and  was  especially  grati- 
fied by  the  skill  with  which  they  minis- 
tered to  his  scientific  and  artistic  tastes. 
Father  Benoist  constructed  a  fountain  to 
please  him  ;  other  Jesuits  made  wonder- 
ful clocks  and  automata,   or  prepared 


480 


JESUITS 


charts,  or  painted  the  halls  of  his  palace. 
Yet  he  was  afraid  of  allowing  Chris- 
tianity to  become  powerful  in  the  eaipire, 
lest  it  should  open  the  door  to  an  ascen- 
dancy on  the  part  of  some  European 
nation,  similar  to  what  was  taking  place 
before  his  eyes  in  India.  While,  there- 
fore, the  Jesuits  at  Pekin  were  safe  and 
honoured,  the  Christian  communities  in 
many  provinces  were  cruelly  persecuted. 
Eight  Jesuits  were  strangled  at  Nankin 
in  1748.  The  decree  of  suspension  be- 
came known  at  Pekin  in  1774.  The 
iathers  Amiot,  Cibot,  Dollieres,  and 
others,  though  wounded  to  the  heart  by 
the  ruin  of  their  beloved  society,  remained 
at  their  posts,  and  there  died,  Amiot  not 
tiU  1794.  The  benevolent  dispositions  of 
the  emperor  towards  them  were  never 
chanjred. 

In  Japan,  where  the  prospects  of 
Christianity  had  been  so  bright,  all  was 
suddenly  overclouded.  Taicosama,  who 
seized  the  supreme  power  in  1583,  com- 
menced a  persecution  of  the  Christians, 
but  with  no  great  malignity  or  fixity  of 
purpose.  Hence  at  his  death  in  1598  the 
native  church  was  more  flourishing  than 
ever.  Daifusama,  who  succeeded  him  as 
regent,  reigned  till  1615.  In  1612  an 
English  merchant  captain,  named  Adams, 
is  said  to  have  made  the  regent  believe 
that  the  real  designs  of  the  Jesuits  were 
political,  and  that  his  only  safety  lay  in 
exterminating  them.  A  terrible  persecu- 
tion was  then  begun,  which  Xogun,  the 
son  of  Daifusama,  carried  on  with  demon- 
iacal cruelty  and  persistency.  Before 
1640,  after  scores  of  thousands  of  Japanese 
Christians  had  suffered  martyrdom,  and 
great  numbers  had  apostatised,  all  public 
profession  of  Christianity  was  stopped, 
and  the  Jesuit  mission — the  missioners 
having  been  killed  or  banished — came  to 
an  end.  From  that  time  Europeans  could 
only  land  their  goods  at  one  port  in  Japan, 
and  then  after  trampling  on  the  cross. 

The  missions  of  the  society  in  North 
America  have  been  described  by  an  Ame- 
rican Protestant,^  in  a  tone  generally  fair 
and  almost  sympathetic.  Samuel  de 
Champlain,  a  French  naval  officer,  founded 
Quebec  in  1608  ;  in  1625  Jesuit  mission- 
aries arrived  there,  and  after  providing  for 
the  spiritual  wants  of  the  colonists,  began 
to  preach  to  the  Red  Indians.  The  Huron 
nation  proved  to  be  the  most  tractable: 
most  of  them  became  Christians,  and 
showed  considerable  aptitude  for  agricul- 

1  The  Jesuits  in  North  America,  Samuel 
Parkman. 


JESUITS 

ture  and  other  civilising  employment 
under  the  guidance  of  the  fathers.  Tho 
Iroquois  from  the  south,  instigated  by  the 
settlers  in  the  British  colonies,  made  war 
on  the  Hurons  and  nearly  annihilated 
them.  Fathers  Lallemnnd,  Daniel,  and 
Brebeuf  were  put  to  death  with  every 
species  of  torture  in  1649.  The  Abenakis, 
a  tribe  living  on  the  Kennebec  river  be- 
tween Canada  and  New  England,  asked 
for  and  received  baptism  in  a  body.  The 
remnant  of  the  Hurons  was  gathered  round 
Montreal  and  Quebec.  The  treaty  which", 
in  1760  transferred  the  French  possessions 
in  North  America  to  Great  Britain  pro- 
vided for  the  maintenance  of  the  Catholic 
religion  in  the  ceded  provinces ;  hence  it 
is  that  the  Indian  and  half-caste  population 
of  British  America,  among  whose  ancestors 
the  Jesuits  laboured  and  suffered,  are  to 
this  day  mainly  Catholic.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  Abe- 
nakis were  in  the  care  of  Father  Rasles ; 
a  body  of  armed  colonists  from  New  Eng- 
land (1724)  attacked  their  settlements  on 
the  Kennebec,  dispersed  the  Indians,  and 
butchered  the  unresisting  missionary.^ 
In  1673  the  Jesuit  Father  Marquette, 
making  his  way  to  the  south-west  from 
Lake  Mchigan,  discovered  the  Mississippi, 
which  Frenchmen  soon  descended,  and 
founded  the  colony  of  Louisiana  at  its 
mouth.  The  French  nation,  which  first 
opened  the  valleys  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  Mississippi,  long  ago  wrested  from 
tbem  by  their  rivals,  realised  to  the  full — 
history  can  show  no  more  striking  in- 
stance— the  bitter  truth  of  the  adage, 
Sic  vos  non  vohis. 

Jesuits  assisted  Sir  George  Calvert  in 
founding  the  Catholic  colony  of  Maryland 
in  1633. 

St.  Peter  Claver  (f  1654),  a  Spanish 
Jesuit,  called  the  Apostle  of  the  Negroes, 
spent  more  than  forty  years  in  New 
Granada,  assisting  corporally  and  spirit- 
ually the  poor  Africans  whom  the  Spaniards 
were  bringing  over  in  great  numbers  at 
that  time  to  work  on  the  plantations. 

Of  the  Jesuit  mission  in  Paraguay — 
the  most  remarkable  example  of  a  whole 
people  transformed  and  exalted  through 
Christianity  that  has  been  known  since 
the  middle  ages — an  account  will  be 
found  under  Missions.  The  first  "Re- 
duction," or  colony,  was  founded  in  1610; 
in  1717  the  Christian  Indians  in  all  th« 
Reductions  numbered  120,000.  A  trans- 
action between  Spain  and  Portugal  in 
1  Henrion,  Hist.  Gen  des  Missions,  livr.  iii. 
ch.  36. 


JESUITS 

1758  caused  the  transfer  of  the  territory 
on  which  the  Reductions  stood  to  the 
latter  power;  Pombal  dispersed  the  Jesuit 
teachers;  the  white  settlers,  with  their 
selfish  greed  and  indifference  to  native 
rights,  had  everything  their  own  way,  and 
the  fair  experiment  was  ruined. 

Returning  now  to  Europe,  we  find 
that  the  history  of  the  Society  in  Italy  and 
Spain  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  was  marked  by  few  striking 
events.  In  Germany  the  fathers  devoted 
themselves  with  great  ardour  to  the  miti- 

fition  of  the  miseries  caused  by  the  Thirty 
ears' War.  The  emperor  Ferdinand  III., 
and  also  his  general,  Count  Tilly,  had  re- 
ceived their  education  in  Jesuit  colleges  ; 
both  of  them  loved  and  valued  the  society. 
In  Poland  a  Jesuit  ascended  the  throne  in 
1648  in  the  person  of  John  Oasimir.  In 
Belgium  arose  in  the  seventeenth  century 
the  great  modern  school  of  hagiographers 
[BoLTANDisTs],  Bollandus  publishing  the 
first  volume  of  the  "  Acta  Sanctorum  "  at 
Antwerp  in  1643.  He  and  all  his  coad- 
jutors, Henschen,  Papebroch,  Stilting,  &c., 
were  Jesuits,  and  the  resumed  work  is 
stiU  in  the  hands  of  the  Society. 

In  England  the  penal  laws  forbade  any 
freedom  of  action  to  Jesuits  even  more 
than  to  seculars;  yet  in  1634  two  hundred 
and  fifty  members  of  the  Company  are  said 
to  have  been  in  the  kingdom.  Father 
Arrowsmith  suftered  in  Lancashire  in 
1628  ;  under  Charles  II.  five  Jesuits  were 
executed  during  the  panic  at  the  time  of 
the  Popish  Plot.  The  favour  of  James  II. 
inspired  them  with  false  hope,  and  led  to 
an  extension  of  operations ;  colleges  began 
to  rise,  but  these  buds  were  nipped  by  the 
"killing  frost"  of  the  Revolution.  Yet, 
the  laws  being  now  more  mildly  executed, 
the  fathers  in  England  in  1700  numbered 
131 ;  and  this  dumber  probably  did  not 
vary  much  down  to  the  suppression. 

In  Ireland,  the  barbarous  tyranny  of 
the  government  under  Elizabeth  and 
James  I.  was  replaced  in  the  next  reign 
by  a  somewhat  easier  state  of  things. 
The  Jesuits  on  the  mission,  who  had 
before  1620  been  attached  to  the  houses 
of  the  Catholic  nobility,  after  that  date 
were  able  to  live  in  a  more  regular  way, 
and  in  a  short  time  they  had  eight  colleges 
and  residences.  But,  as  the  Vandal 
heretics  extinguished  civilisation  in  Roman 
Africa,  so  the  renascent  well-being  and 
culture  of  Ireland  were  uprooted  by  the 
Puritan  invaders  under  Cromwell.  Amidst 
an  infinite  number  of  other  calamities 
which  then  fell  on  the  country,  the  Jesuit 


JESUITS 


481 


colleges  were  destroyed,  and  the  mission 
broken  up.  In  1713  there  were  but 
eleven  Jesuits  in  aU  Ireland,  with  Father 
Knowles  as  their  superior ;  and  these 
could  only  exercise  their  ministry  in 
secret.  A  few  continued  to  labour  there 
tiU  1773.  ^      ^ 

The  fortunes  of  the  order  in  France, 
Spain,  and  Portugal  have  still  to  be 
noticed.  In  France  the  success  of  the 
fathers  in  education  was  remarkable. 
The  College  d.e  Clermont,  founded  in 
1562,  changed  its  name  to  "  College  de 
Louis  le  Grand,"  and  towards  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  century  numbered  2,500 
scholars.  In  the  confessional,  the  fathers 
were  charged  with  letting  off  too  easily 
such  of  their  penitents  as  desired  to  con- 
ciliate the  claims  of  the  world  and  the 
flesh  with  those  of  the  Gospel.  They 
were  said  to  be  lax  casuists ;  and  on  this 
ground  Pascal  attacked  them  (1656).  in 
his  celebrated  "  Lettres  Pro vinci ales."  On 
the  struggle  between  them  and  the  Jan- 
senists,  see  the  article  Jansenism,  and, 
on  the  Quesnel  controversy,  the  -article 
Unigenitus,  Bull  of.  With  the 
declaration  of  the  French  clergy  in  1682 
[Gallicanism]  the  French  Jesuits  had 
nothing  to  do  ;  but  they  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  Innocent  XI.  by  refusing  or 
neglectmg  to  publish  the  bull  against 
Louis  XIV.  on  the  question  of  the  Regalia, 
and  the  Pope  forbade  them  to  receive 
novices.  The  great  preacher  Bourdaloue 
(t  1704),  and  F.  de  la  Colombiere,  the 
director  of  St.  Margaret  Mary  Alacoque, 
flourished  at  this  time.  In  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  a  league  of  many 
parties  and  persons  was  formed  for  the 
destruction  of  the  order.  The  Marquise 
de  Pompadour  hated  them  because  they 
would  not  countenance  in  any  shape  the 
immoral  relation  subsisting  between  her 
and  the  king,  Louis  XV.  Voltaire,  him- 
self one  of  their  pupils,  and  not  averse  to 
doing  them  justice  on  occasion,  as  many 
passages  in  his  works  prove,  desired  their 
extinction  as  the  defenders  of  revealed 
religion  and  the  upholders  of  the  purity  of 
private  morals.  The  whole  party  of  the 
Encyclopaedists  and  freethinkers  were 
naturally  their  enemies ;  the  remains  of 
the  Jansenist  party  longed  to  be  revenged 
on  them ;  the  Parliament  and  university 
were  hostile  to  them,  as  they  had  ever 
been.  Lastly,  the  Minister,  the  Due  de 
Choiseul — who  by  his  blundering  had  just 
lost  Canada  for  France — being  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  freethinkers,  was  disposed 
to  yield  to  the  clamour  which  the  many 


1 1 


482  JESUITS 

ill-wishers  of  the  Company  raised,  and  to 
induce  the  king'  also  to  yield.  In  April 
and  August  1762  edicts  of  the  Parliament 
of  Paris  closed  the  Jesuit  colleges  and 
declared  their  order  to  be  inadmissible  in 
any  civilised  State.  The  archbishop  of 
Paris,  Christopher  de  Beaumont,  put 
himself  courageously  on  their  side,  and 
the  secular  clergy  generally  took  the 
game  line.  Nevertheless,  Louis  XV.  con- 
firmed (November  1764)  the  edict  of 
the  Parliament,  and  about  four  thousand 
Jesuits,  their  colleges  having  been  closed 
and  their  property  plundered,  were  com- 
pelled to  depart  from  France. 

The  fall  of  the  order  in  Spain  was  a 
mysterious  event.  It  was  the  work  of 
the  irresponsible  despotism  which  ruled 
the  country,  and  which,  as  it  had  been 
swift  and  stern  for  ages  in  repressing 
whatever  was  against  the  Church,  so 
now,  being  itself  perverted,  dealt  sudden 
blows  that  none  could  parry  on  the  great 
Company — the  creation  of  Spanish  genius 
— which  existed  only  for  the  Church's 
defence  and  glory.  D'Aranda,  the 
Minister  of  Charles  III.,  is  said  to  have 
induced  him  to  believe  that  the  Jesuit 
general,  Ricci,  had  boasted  of  possessing 
documents  showing  that  the  king  was  an 
illegitimate  child.  The  wrathful  Charles 
immediately  caused  a  despatch  to  be 
written  to  all  the  government  authorities 
in  Spain  and  the  colonies,  requiring  that 
all  the  Jesuit  fathers  should  be  forthwith 
conducted  to  the  nearest  port,  and  com- 
pelled to  take  ship  for  some  foreign 
country.  Six  thousand  Spanish  Jesuits 
were  ruined  and  exiled  at  a  blow,  by 
what  can  only  be  regarded  as  the  act  of 
a  lunatic. 

Previously  to  this,  the  order  had  been 
despoiled  and  banished  from  Portugal  by 
the  famous  Carvalho,  Count  de  Pombal. 
Pombal  was  a  man  of  iron  determination, 
and  unscrupulous  in  the  choice  of  means. 
In  1750  he  had  been  made  Secretary  of 
State  to  Joseph  I.,  and  set  himself 
actively  and  ably  to  work  to  revive  the 
languishing  trade  and  industry  of  Portu- 
gal. He  had  been  Portuguese  minister  in 
England  for  several  years  from  1739.  A 
mind  so  observant  must  have  been  struck 
by  the  docility  of  the  Anglican  clergy, 
and  the  ease  with  which,  being  isolated 
from  the  rest  of  Christendom,  they  were 
managed  by  the  Government  of  the  day, 
and  it  was  probably  this  experience  which 
led  him  to  form  plans  for  a  similar 
national  church  in  Portugal,  separated 
from  the  Holy  See  and  the  hierarchy. 


JESUITS 

The  Jesuits,  the  sworn  defenders  of  Papal 
rights,  stood  in  his  way ;  they  must 
therefore  be  suppressed,  'into  the  intri- 
cate history  of  the  plot  to  assassinate  the 
king,  and  the  manner  in  which  Pombal 
used  it  against  the  Jesuits,  besides  attack- 
ing them  in  other  ways,  it  is  impossible 
here  to  enter.  In  the  end,  their  property 
was  sequestrated,  the  University  of  Coim- 
bra  taken  out  of  their  hands,  and  the 
fathers  themselves  (1759)  to  the  number 
of  two  hundred  and  lifty-fivo,  banished 
from  Portugal.  Clement  XIII.  vainly 
pleaded  that  they  might  be  treated  with 
ordinary  justice.  On  the  death  of 
Joseph  I.  in  1777  Pombal  was  disgraced,, 
declared  a  criminal,  and  forbidden  to 
live  within  twenty  leagues  of  Lisbon. 
A  new  inquiry  being  ordered  into  the 
alleged  conspiracy  of  1758,  those  who  by 
Pombal's  management  had  been  con- 
demned to  death  or  impi-isonment  were 
exonerated  from  all  crimhiality.  From 
some  of  these  had  been  extorted  by 
torture  the  statement  that  the  Jesuits 
were  concerned  in  the  plot ;  this  state- 
ment, of  course,  if  the  revising  tribunal 
may  be  trusted,  falls  to  the  ground. 

The  order  had  been  expelled  from 
France,  Spain,  Portugal  and  Naples,  but 
it  was  still  protected  in  Austria  by  Maria 
Theresa.  Her  son,  afterwards  Joseph  IL,. 
used  all  his  influence  against  them  ;  he 
was  said  to  covet  their  estates.  Diplo- 
matic pressure  was  used  by  all  the  Courts 
which  had  expelled  the  order  to  induce 
Clement  XIII.  to  decree  their  suppression, 
but  the  aged  Pope  stood  firm.  On  his 
death  in  1769,  the  Bourbon  sovereigns 
used  every  effort  to  secure  the  election  of 
a  Pontiff  who  would  comply  with  their 
views.  Cardinal  Ganganelli  was  elected 
and  took  the  name  of  Clement  XIV.  He 
hesitated  long  before  taking  the  decisive 
step  to  which  he  was  urged.  At  length 
(1773)  he  signed  the  Constitution  "  Domi- 
nus  ac  Redemptor  noster,"  by  which,  on 
the  ground  of  the  numerous  complaints  and 
accusations  of  which  the  Society  was  the 
object,  without  declaring  them  to  be 
either  guilty  or  innocent,  he  suppressed 
the  order  in  every  part  of  the  world,  and 
directed  that  those  of  its  members  who 
were  priests  should  fall  into  the  ranks  of 
the  secular  clergy. 

In  1626  the  Society  had  possessed 
15,000  members.  At  the  time  of  the 
suppression  the  total  number  was  about 
20,000. 

Lalande,  the  astronomer,  said  of  the 
suppression,     "Carvalho    and    Ohoiseul 


JESUITS 

have  irretrievably  destroyed  the  finest 
work  of  man,  unrivalled  by  any  human 
institution.  .  .  .  The  human  race  has 
lost  that  wonderful  and  invaluable  as- 
sembly of  20,000  men,  disinterestedly 
and  unceasingly  occupied  with  functions 
most  important  and  most  useful  to  man." 

III.  Frederic  the  Great,  King  of 
Prussia,  refused  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  the  suppression ;  he  retained  the 
Jesuits  in  his  dominions,  and  desired 
them  to  exercise  their  teaching  and  other 
functions,  so  far  as  was  possible,  as  if 
nothing  had  happened.  Catherine  II., 
Empress  of  Russia,  supported  them  with 
so  much  zeal  that  the  Pope  ultimately 
exempted  Russia  from  the  operation  of 
the  bull  of  suppression;  novices. were 
received  in  that  country  without  inter- 
ruption during  the  interregnum.  Other 
attempts  were  made  to  keep  the  order 
alive  (see  Baccanarists).  In  1814  Pius 
VIL,  by  the  constitution  "  Solicitude  om- 
nium Ecclesiarum,"  derogated  from  the 
brief  of  suppression,  and  appointed  Francis 
Karen, ,  who  was  then  provincial  in 
Russia,  general  of  the  whole  oi-der.  Since 
the  restoration  the  fortunes  of  the  Society 
have  va,ried  with  the  varying  strength  of 
the  iniidel  and  revolutionary  forces  which 
from  time  to  time  have  been  opposed  to 
it.  In  France,  where  their  colleges  had 
been  brilliantly  successful,  an  envious 
agitation  was  set  on  foot  against  them  by 
the  University,  to  which  the  government 
of  Charles  X.  weakly  yielded  and  closed 
their  colleges  (1828).  Under  the  Second 
Empire  they  enjoyed  freedom;  the  Re- 
publican Government  has  again  (1880) 
closed  their  colleges,  and  denied  them  the 
right  of  corporate  and  regular  existence. 
In  Switzerland  they  had  a  noble  uni- 
versity at  Fribom^g,  and  their  influence 
was  great  in  the  Forest  Cantons  and  the 
Valais.  The  anarchic  and  infidel  ele- 
ments in  Swiss  society,  combining  with 
the  Protestants  and  encouraged  by  Lord 
Palmerston,  raised  in  1846  the  war  of 
the  Sonderbund ;  the  Catholic  cantons 
were  crushed  by  superior  numbers,  and  the 
Jesuits  banished  from  the  Confederacy. 

At  the  present  day  the  total  number 
of  members  of  the  Society  is  believed  to 
be  about  ten  thousand. 

(Cretineau  Joly,  "  Histoire  de  la  Com- 
pagnie  de  Jesus,"  1846;  ''The  Jesuits, 
their  Foundation  and  History,"  by  B.  N. 
(a  useful  compilation)  ;  Ferraris,  Jesu 
Sodetas  ;  Helyot ;  Henrion,  "  Histoire 
Generale  des  Missions ; "  Bouchot,  "  His- 
toire du  Portugal.") 

II 


JEWS,  CHURCH  LAWS      483 

JSSXrS  ('It/otoOs-,  y-lEJ^.I).  Name  and 
Feast  of  the  Name. — The  name  means,  not, 
as  is  often  said,  "  Saviour  "  or  "  God  the 
Saviour,"  but  "  the  Lord  [i.e.  Jehova]  is 
help  or  salvation."  It  is  simply  a  short- 
ened form  of  Josue  (yK'in"!),  which  in  the 
LXX  appearsas  "Jesus/'and,  according  to 
Delitzsch  ("History  of  Redemption,"  p. 
182),  was  a  common  name  in  post-exilic 
times.  InourLord'scase.it had, however, a 
pre-eminent  fitness becausein  Him,  through 
the  perfect  example  of  his  life  and  through 
his  death,  the  salvation  of  God  came  to 
the  children  of  men.  This  name  was 
announced  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  by  the 
angel,  and  actually  imposed  on  our  Lord 
at  his  circumcision.  It  was  his  personal, 
whereas  ''  Christ "  was  his  official,  name. 

In  all  ages  of  course  Christians  have 
spoken  with  devotion  of  this  holy  name, 
and  St.  Paul's  words  in  the  epistle 
to  the  Philippians  will  occur  to  eveiy- 
one.  The  devotion  received  a  new  im- 
pulse and  took  a  tangible  form  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  Franciscan  friar 
St.  Bernardine  of  Sienna  (d.  1440) 
used  to  exhibit  before  the  people  to 
whom  he  preached  a  board  with  the 
holy  name  painted  on  it  in  the  midst  of 
rays,  and  he  persuaded  a  poor  man  who 
used  to  paint  cards  and  had  been  ruined 
by  the  saint's  sermons  against  gambling  to 
make  a  living  in  another  way — viz.  by 
painting  the  holy  name.  The  new  devo- 
tion was  examined  before  Martin  V.,  pro- 
hibited for  a  time,  defended  by  St.  John 
Capistran,  and  finally  approved  by  the 
Holy  See.  A  third  Franciscan,  Bernardino 
de  Bustis,  composed  an  office  of  the  Holy 
Name,  which  he  ofiered  for  approval  to 
Sixtus  IV.  and  Innocent  VIII. ,  but  with- 
out success.  At  last  Clement  VII.  ap- 
proved the  office  for  use  in  the  Franciscan 
order  ;  permission  to  use  it  was  extended 
by  subsequent  Popes  to  other  churches, 
and  at  last  Innocent  XII I.,  yielding  to 
the  prayers  of  the  Emperor  Charles  VI., 
on  November  29.  1721,  ordered  the  feast 
to  be  celebrated  throughout  the  Church 
on  the  second  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 

JBlXrS,  CHUKCB  IkA^XTS  RE- 
SPECTZxa-G.  When  CAistianity  be- 
came supreme,  we  find  Constantine  pub- 
lishing restrictive  edicts  against  the  Jews, 
in  which  it  was  declared  penal  for  them, 
to  insult  or  injure  converts  to  Christianity, 
and  the  adoption  of  Judaism  by  those  not 
born  to  it  was  forbidden.  The  Theodosian 
Code  brands  the  desertion  of  Christianity 
for  Judaism  as  apostasy,  and  the  blending 
2 


484     JEWS,  CHURCH  LAWS 

together  the  rites  and  doctrines  of  the  two 
as  heresy.  In  Spain,  where  Jews  were 
numerous,  a  long  series  of  canons  regulat- 
ing the  relations  between  them  and  Cliris- 
tiaas  may  be  quoted  from  the  Acts  of  the 
early  councils.  These  were  severe  in  their 
tenor,  for,  indeed,  the  Talmudic  Jew,  with 
bis  intense  pride  of  race,  and  scorn  and 
hatred  of  other  nations,  was  a  difficult 
person  to  deal  with.  The  Fourth  Council 
of  Toledo  (633),  over  which  St.  Isidore  of 
Seville  presided,  oixiered  that  Jews  should 
be  no  longer  coerced  to  become  Christians, 
but  that  those  who  had  been  so  coerced 
in  the  reign  of  king  Sisebut,  should  not, 
since  they  had  received  Christian  sacra- 
ments, be  allowed  to  return  to  Judaism. 
This  council  also  ordered  that  the  children 
of  Jews  should  be  separated  from  them 
and  placed  in  monasteries,  or  in  pious 
Christian  families,  to  be  instructed  in 
Christianity.  This  sweeping  measure  can 
only  have  been  partially  carried  out ;  for 
at  the  Eighth  Council  of  Toledo  (653)  we 
find  the  king  undertaking  to  protect  the 
Catholic  faith  against  Jews  and  heretics, 
and  it  is  ordered  that  the  decrees  of  the 
fourth  council  respecting  Jews  should  be 
observed.  Again,  a  canon  of  the  ninth 
council  (655)  directs  that  baptised  Jews 
be  obliged  to  repair  to  the  cities  on  the 
principal  festivals,  in  order  that  the  bishops 
might  be  able  to  judge  of  the  sincerity  of 
their  conversion.  The  Jews  in  Spain, 
being  through  Talmudic  influences  more 
in  sympathy  with  Islam  than  the  religion 
of  Christ,  assisted  the  Moors  in  the  eighth 
century  to  master  the  country  and  destroy 
the  kingdom  of  the  Visigoths. 

The  Third  Council  of  Orleans  (538) 
made  some  important  canons.  It  allowed 
that  Christians  should  be  in  servitude  to 
Jewish  masters ;  if,  however,  a  Christian 
slave  took  sanctuary  because  his  master 
was  tampering  Math  his  religion,  he  was 
not  to  be  returned  to  bondage  but  re- 
deemed at  a  fair  valuation.  Jews  were 
not  to  appear  in  the  streets  nor  hold  inter- 
course with  Christians  on  the  three  last 
days  of  Ht)ly  Week  and  Easter  Sunday. 

In  the  later  legislation,  a  constitution 
of  Clement  XI,("  Propagandse  per  univer- 
sum  "),  another  of  Benedict  XIV.  ("  Pos- 
tremo  mense  "),  and  an  epistle  of  the  last- 
named  Pontiff,  are  prominently  cited.  By 
the  first  it  is  provided  that  if  a  Jew  become 
a  Christian,  the  portion  of  his  father's 
goods  falling  to  him  shall  not  be  with- 
held by  the  family  on  account  of  his  con- 
version. But  he  is  not  allowed  to  dis- 
inherit his  other  brothers,  as  in  the  case 


JEWS,  CHURCH   LAWS     ' 

of  that  infamous  law  of  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment, according  to  which,  if  the  younger 
son  of  a  Catholic  landowner  became  a 
Protestant,  he  could  take  the  whole 
estate,  and  reduce  the  rest  of  the  family 
to  beggary. 

The  following  were  some  of  the  pre- 
scriptions of  the  ancient  law.  The  Jews  in 
Rome  were  bound  to  observe  Church  holi- 
days so  far  as  their  public  occupations 
were  concerned.  They  were  required  to 
live  together  in  a  particular  quarter  (the 
Ghetto).  Some  distinction  of  dress, 
sufficient  to  show  that  they  were  not 
Christians,  was  required  from  both  sexes. 
The  word  of  God  was  to  be  preached  to 
them  once  a  week  by  a  master  in  theology 
— if  possible,  one  who  was  versed  in 
Hebrew.  The  tribunals  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion were  allowed  to  proceed  against  Jews 
only  in  case  of  their  having  made  them- 
selves amenable  to  their  jurisdiction  by 
certain  definite  overt  acts.  It  was  lawful 
for  Christian  princes  to  tolerate  Jews, 
their  rites  and  synagogues,  within  their 
dominions ;  and  having  been  once  so  re- 
ceived and  assured  of  protection,  they 
could  not,  except  for  some  just  and 
weighty  cause,  be  expelled. 

The  children  of  Jews,  not  having  the 
use  of  free-will,  ought  not  to  be  baptised 
against  the  will  of  their  parents.  A 
Jewish  boy  who  asks  to  be  baptised,  not 
having  attained  to  the  use  of  reason,  is 
to  be  given  back  to  his  parents ;  but  not 
otherwise.  Infant  children  of  Jews,  bap- 
tised vahdly,  though  illicitly,  by  a  nurse 
or  some  other  person,  must  be  educated 
by  Christians,  and  when  they  have  come 
to  the  use  of  reason  must  be  compelled  to 
perseverance  in  the  Catholic  faith.  Under 
the  operation  of  this  rule  arose  the  cele- 
bmted  Mortara  case,  about  eighteen 
years  ago.  Copies  of  the  Talmud  are  to 
be  searched  for  and  burnt.  In  justification 
of  this  and  other  severities  the  canonists 
are  wont  to  make  copious  extracts  from 
that  extraordinary  compilation,  which, 
with  much  that  is  grave  and  noble,  con- 
tains also  80  many  puerilities,  immoral 
precepts,  and  anti-social  maxims,  that 
Christian  courts  may  well  have  deemed 
it  right  to  resort  to  stringent  measures  to 
prevent  Christians  from  being  seduced 
Ilco  adhesion  to  a  system  so  preposterous. 
For  illustrations — not  to  speak  of  those 
given  by  Ferraris,^  which  may  not  be 
entirely  trustworthy — the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to   the    Ahh6    Chiarini's  translft- 

1  Art.  "  Hebr«us." 


JOHN  OF  GOT),  ST. 

tion,*  and  to  a  recent  work  by  Oort.*^ 
It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  modern 
Jews  are  free  to  reject  any  part  of  the 
Talmud  that  may  displease  them.  If 
the  Old  Testament  is  the  written,  the 
Talmud  contains  the  oral,  law  of  Jehovah  ; 
a  consistent  Jew  believes  that  God  speaks 
to  him  through  the  Rabbins  as  much  as 
through  the  prophets.^  Even  the  legen- 
dary part,  the  "  Haggadah,"  according  to 
the  Jewish  editor  of  "  Selections  from 
the  Talmud  "  published  in  the  "  Chandos 
Classics,"  does  not  stagger  them.  "  The 
majority  of  the  [Jewish]  people,"  he  says, 
*'  clung  to  it,  and  regarded  the  Talmud  as 
a  complete  whole  worthy  of  their  reve- 
rence." 

"The  Talmud,"  says  the  Abbd 
Chiarini,'*  "  explains  the  written  law  by 
the  oral  in  the  name  of  the  Eternal,"  and 
the  Jews,  he  declares,  have  ever  valued 
it  highly  as  "  a  wall  raised  between  Jews 
and  non-Jews  always  and  everywhere." 

JOHSr  OF  GOD,  ST.,  ORDER  OF. 
St.  John  of  God  established  his  Order  of 
Charity  for  serving  the  sick  at  Granada 
in  1540.  It  spread  so  rapidly  that  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  before  the 
Jacobins  had  shut  the  doors  of  its  hos- 
pitals in  France,  and  the  "  Liberals  "  in 
Spain,  the  two  generalates.  of  Spain  and 

1  Le  Talmud,  Leipzig:,  1831. 

2  Evangelie  en  Talmud,  Leiden,  188  L — 
Oort  has  been  answered  by  the  Dutch  Rabbi 
Tal,  "Een  blik  in  Talmoed  en  Evan^ehe.*' 
The  learned  works  of  Martini  ("  Pugio  Fidei  "), 
Amsterdam, 1881.  The  Catholic  work  ofKohlin*?, 
"  Der  Talmudjude  "  (1877),  is  severely  handled 
by  ■  Delitzsch,  "  Rohling's  Talmudjude 
beleuchtet  "  (1881).  A  really  scientific  account 
of  Jewish  theology  will  be  found  in  Weber's 
excellent  work,  "  System  der  Altsynagogalen 
Palastinischen  Theologie"  (Leipzig,  1880). 
Wagenseil  ("Tela  ignea  Satanaj,"  1681),  Eisen- 
menger  ("  Entdecktes  Judenthum,"  1777),  are 
marred  by  controversial  bias.  From  them 
anti-Semitic  writers  draw  their  "facts." 

3  The  post-Talmudic  treatise  Sopherim  com- 
pares the  Bible  to  water,  the  Mishna  to  wine, 
the  Gemara  to  spiced  wine.  But  it  would  be 
quite  wrong  to  judge  the  more  educated  Jews 
by  the  Talmud.  A  reform  was  inaugurated  by 
Moses  Mendelssohn  (d.  1786).  A  reformed 
synagogue  was  founded  at  Berlin  in  1814,  in 
London  about  1840,  at  New  York  in  1843. 
The  Reformed  Jews  who  reject  the  divine 
authority  of  the  Talmud,  though  they  differ 
much  among  themselves,  many  of  them  being 
mere  Dei.-ts,  are  ver}'^  numerous  in  Germarry 
and  America.  Moreover,  the  Reform  has  had 
great  influence  on  educated  Jews  who  have  not 
opfuly  abandoned  the  orthodox  synagogues. 
For  a  history  of  the  Reform,  see  The  Jews,  their 
Customs  and  Ceremonies,  bv  the  American 
Rabbi  Mvers  (New  York,  1877). 

4  Op.  cit.  p.  59. 


OSEPH,  ST. 


485 


Italy,  into  which  the  order  was  divided, 
numbered  2,9±4  religious,  with  281  hos- 
pitals under  their  care,  in  which  there 
were  more  than  10,000  beds,  and  an 
average  of  86,000  patients  were  re- 
ceived and  attended  to  yearly.  The 
brothers  of  this  order  are  said  to  have 
been  the  first  to  establish  the  rule  in 
hospitals  that  every  patient  should  have 
a  bed  to  himself.  From  a  minute  state- 
ment of  their  system  of  hospital  manage- 
ment, printed  by  the  continuator  of 
H(5lyot,  it  would  appear  that  they 
practised  all  the  regulations  which  the 
regime  of  the  best  modern  hospitals 
prescribes  for  the  comfort  and  medical 
treatment  of  their  patients,  and  in  ad- 
dition were  tenderly  solicitous  for  their 
souls,  urging  those  to  confession  who  had 
long  discontinued  or  were  disinclined  to 
it,  and  facilitating  the  return  to  God  of 
all  the  sufferers  who  passed  through  their 
hands.  (Helyot,  continuation  [Migne], 
iv.  612.) 

JOBir,  ST.,  OF  J£RUSAX.Z:iM[, 
ORDER  OF.     [See  Hospitallehs.] 

JOSEPH,  ST.  St.  Joseph  occupies  a 
place  of  his  own  in  the  devotion  of 
modern  Catholics,  such  as  is  given  to  no 
other  saint.  This  and  the  fact  that  the 
history  of  the  devotion  is  peculiarly 
instructive  on  the  one  hand,  specially 
liable  to  misunderstanding  on  the  other, 
are  the  reasons  for  inserting  this  article  in 
a  work  which  does  not  profess  to  give 
Lives  of  the  Saints.  The  devotion  to 
St.  Joseph  is  a  striking  instance  of 
Catholic  usage,  modern  in  itself  and  yet 
based  on  most  ancient  and  Scriptural 
principles. 

The  facts  of  the  gospel  history  con- 
cerning St.  Joseph  need  not  be  repeated 
except  so  far  as  they  exhibit  his  dignity. 
He  was  the  true  husband  of  Mary,  and 
as  such  her  head.  Moreover,  Christ 
Himself  (Luc.  ii.  51),  was  "subject  "  to 
him.  In  consequence  of  his  authority 
and  his  provident  care,  he  is  honoured 
with  the  title  of  the  "Father"  of  Christ 
(Luc.  ii.  48),  although  of  course  Christ 
had  no  man  for  his  father  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  word.  To  have  been  chosen 
by  God  Himself  as  the  husband  of  the 
Virgin  Mother  and  the  foster-father  of 
our  Lord — these  surely  are  solid  grounds 
for  a  singidar  devotion  to  St.  Joseph. 
We  may  notice  here  that,  as  he  is  never 
mentioned  after  our  Lord's  public  life 
began,  he  is  supposed  to  have  died  before 
our  Blessed  Lord,  and  is  therefore  re^^.Voc^Mi 
among  Old  Testament  saints. 


486 


JOSEPH,  ST. 


At  the  same  time,  it  was  long  before 
there  was  any  general  manifestation  of  this 
devotion.  The  Monophysite  Christians 
of  Egypt  are  said  first  to  have  assigned 
a  festival  to  St.  Joseph,  viz.  on  July  20, 
which  is  thus  inscribed  in  a  Coptic 
almanac :  "  The  rest  of  the  holy  old  man, 
the  jusrt  Joseph,  the  carpenter,  husband  of 
the  Virgin  Alary,  Mother  of  God,  who 
merited  to  be  called  the  Father  of  Christ " 
(quoted  in  Smith's  "Bible  Dictionary" 
sub  voc.).  In  Western  martyrologies  of 
the  ninth  century  the  name  of  Joseph  is 
found,  and  from  the  same  time  the 
Greeks  commemorated  him  along  with 
the  other  saints  of  tlie  Old  Testament  on 
the  Sunday  before  Christmas,  and  along 
with  Mary,  David,  and  James  the  Less, 
on  the  Sunday  in  the  octave  of  Christmas 
(Bolland.  19  Martii,  in  "  Comment,  prsev. 
ad  S.  Joseph,"  §  2).  In  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries  several  orders  in 
the  West  celebrated  the  feast  of  St. 
Joseph  on  March  19.  Still  "the  feast 
of  St.  Joseph,"  Thomassin  says  ("  Traits 
des  Testes,"  p.  439),  was  unknown 
(i.e.  as  a  feast  of  the  whole  Church) 
in  the  time  of  Gerson,  who  wrote  difier- 
ent  letters  to  cause  it  to  be  celebrated — 
one  to  the  Duke  of  Berry  in  1413,  another 
to  the  cantor  of  the  church  of  Chartres, 
another  to  aU  the  churches.  Gemecius, 
who  has  written  the  Life  of  Cardinal 
Ximenes,  testifies  that  that  cardinal "  insti- 
tuted in  his  church  the  feast  of  St.  Joseph." 
St.  Teresa  and  St.  Francis  of  Sales  in 
modern  times  were  zealous  in  propagating 
the  devotion,  and  Gregory  XV.,  in  1621, 
as  well  as  Urban  VIII.,  in  1642,  made 
St.  Joseph's  day  (i.e.  March  19)  a  holiday 
of  obHgation.  Benedict  XIII.,  in  1726, 
ordered  his  name  to  be  inserted  in  the 
Litany  of  the  Saints  and  in  the  Litany 
used  in  the  "Commendation  of  the  Soul," 
after  that  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  (Gavant. 
torn.  ii.  p.  310).  In  1871  Pius  IX.,  con- 
firming a  decree  of  the  Congregation  of 
Rites,  put  the  whole  Church  under  the 
patronage  of  St.  Joseph,  chose  him  as  the 
Church's  protector,  and  made  his  feast  a 
double  of  the  first  class.  It  was  fitting 
that  Christians  should  appeal  to  him  who 
once  protected  the  human  life  of  our 
Saviour,  and  ask  his  intercession  in 
behalf  of  Christ's  mystical  body.  The 
same  Pope  had  in  September  1847  ex- 
tended the  feast  and  oflfice  of  St.  Joseph's 
Patronage  to  the  whole  Church.  The 
Pope  required  it  to  be  celebrated  on  the 
third  Sunday  after  Easter  as  a  double  of 
the  second  class  ("  Manuale  Decret.  S. 


JOSEPH,  ST.,  ORDERS  OF 

Rit.  Cong."  No.  2168).  In  other  ways 
the  Church  has  marked  her  approval  of 
the  growing  devotion  to  St.  Joseph.  The 
Creed  is  now  said  in  the  Mass  of  both  his 
feasts ;  his  name  is  inserted  after  that  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  in  the  prayer  "  A 
cunctis  ;  "  he  is  commemorated  after  her 
in  the  Suffrages  of  the  Saints ;  and  his 
name  comes  before  that  of  any  other 
patron  except  the  Angels  and  St.  John 
Baptist.     ("  Manuale,"  3709.) 

JOSEPB,  ST.,  OSDESS  OF. 
1.  Josephites.  Two  communities  bear,  or 
have  borne,  this  name.  The  first  was 
founded  by  Jacques  Cretenet  at  Lyons 
about  1640,  with  the  designation  of 
"  Priests  of  the  Mission  of  St.  Joseph ;  " 
it  was  governed  by  a  director-general ; 
its  members  did  not  take  vows ;  and  it 
devoted  itself  chiefly  to  the  foreign 
missions.  At  the  Revolution  it  was 
suppressed.  The  second  is  a  teaching 
institute,  founded  in  1817  at  Grammont 
in  Belgium  by  the  Canon  Van  Crom- 
brugghe,  for  giving  a  good  education  to 
the  sons  of  persons  in  the  commercial  and 
industrial  classes.  Several  houses  of  the 
institute,  which  is  understood  to  be  in  a 
flourishing  condition,  have  since  been 
founded  at  various  places  in  Belgium. 

2.  Lai/  Hospitalleis,  Daughters  of  St. 
Joseph.  This  society,  the  chief  employ- 
ment of  which  was  the  education  of 
orphan  girls,  was  founded  at  Bordeaux  in 
1638  under  the  auspices  of  the  archbishop 
Henri  de  Sourdis,  by  Marie  Delpech,  who 
afterwards  established  a  great  house  of 
her  order  at  Paris,  called  "  De  la  Provi- 
dence." These  daughters  of  St.  Joseph 
were  introduced  into  many  large  towns 
in  France,  but  H^lyot's  continuator  does 
not  mention  whether  they  survived  the 
Revolution. 

3.  Nuns  Hospitallers  of  St.  Joseph. 
Founded  in  1643  at  La  Fleche  in  Anjou 
by  Mademoiselle  de  la  Fenre.  Besides 
the  three  vows  of  religion,  these  nuns 
took  a  fourth  vow,  to  serve  the  poor. 
Before  the  Revolution  they  had  five  or 
six  houses,  one  of  which  was  at  Montreal 
in  Canada. 

4.  Nums  of  St.  Joseph  of  the  Good 
Shepherd.  This  congregation  was  founded 
by  the  bishop  of  Puy,  Henri  de  Maupas, 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  Jesuit  Father 
M^daille,  in  1650.  Though  dispersed  at 
the  Revolution,  the  religious  retained  the 
spirit  and  the  love  of  their  institute,  and 
in  1811  they  were  reorganised  under  an 
imperial  decree,  the  mother  house  beinar 
settled  at  Clermont  in  Auvergfue.     This 


JOSEPH,  ST.,  ORDERS  OF 

congregation  is  actively  at  work,  main- 
taining boarding-schools  and  free  schools. 
6.  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Joseph. 
The  original  name  of  the  community  of 
Sisters  established  by  Mrs.  Seton  at  Em- 
mittsbm-g,  Md.,  in  1809.  In  1850,  with  its 
dependencies,  it  assumed  the  habit  and 
the  vows  of  the  French  Sisters  of  Charity 
of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  of  which  the 
Emmittsburg  house  and  its  dependencies 
now  form  a  province.  But  these  Sis- 
ters in  the  diocese  of  New  York,  whose 
mother-house  is  at  Mt.  St.  Vincent's  on 
the  Hudson,  were  in  1846  made  inde- 
pendent of  Emmittsburg.  [Sistees  of 
Chaeity,  Supplement.] 

6.  'Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  of  Cluny. 
The  first  effoits  of  this  community, 
foimded  by  Anne  Marie  Javouhey,  may 
be  traced  back  to  1807,  but  it  was  first  for- 
mally authorised  in  1819,  being  then 
established  at  Autun.  The  reverend 
mother  Javouhey  was  superior  till  her 
death  in  1851.  She  visited  all  the 
Freuiih  colonies  in  Asia,  Africa,  and 
America,  besides  several  of  those  belong- 
ing to  England,  aud  resided  for  a  con- 
siderable time  in  some  of  them.  A 
).)arning  desire  to  labour  in  the  conversion 
and  civilisation  of  the  negro  and  other 
aboriginal  races  took  possession  of  her  in 
consequence  of  these  visits.  She  estab- 
lished her  sisters  in  nearly  all  the  French 
colonies ;  they  never  spared  themselves 
when  teaching,  or  nursing,  or  any  other 
good  work  was  required  of  them,  and 
they  have  happily  paved  the  way  for  the 
eventual  reception  of  Christianity  by 
many  an  African  nation  and  American 
tribe.  The  congregation  was  confirmed 
by  the  Holy  See  in  1854.  In  1859  it 
had  135  houses  with  1323  members,  in- 
cluding lay  sisters.  The  establishments 
abroad  (at  the  Senegal,  French  Guiana, 
Madagascar,  Tahiti,  &c.)  employed  439 
sisters,  all  natives  of  France,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  who  came  from 
Reunion,  Martinique,  and  Trinidad. 

7.  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  of  Bourg. 
This  institute,  founded  in  1828  by  Mgr. 
Devie,  bishop  of  BeUey,  in  concert  with 
the  reverend  mother  Saint  Benoit,  at 
Bourg  in  the  department  of  Ain,  and 
devoting  itself  to  teaching  and  works  of 
charity,  has  spread  itself  in  many  parts  of 
France,  Switzerland,  and  America.  In 
1859  an  average  of  two  hundred  can4i- 
dates  yearly  presented  themselves  for  the 
noviciate. 

8.  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  of  the  Appar- 

1  H%ot,  Contin.  iv.  670. 


JUBILEE 


487 


ition.  Of  this  congregation,  founded  in 
the  south  of  France  by  Madame  de 
Vialard  in  1833,  there  were  thirty  houses 
in  1859,  chiefly  in  Algeria  and  Aus- 
tralia. The  mother  house  is  at  Mar- 
seilles; teaching  and  nursing  the  sick  are 
their  chief  employments. 

9.  Sisters  or  Daughters  of  St.  Joseph. 
This  offshoot  of  the  nuns  of  St.  Joseph 
(N'o.  4  above)  was  in  183G  introduced 
into  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  by  Bishop 
Rosati.  The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  Tiave 
since  been  introduced  into  many  other 
dioceses  of  the  United  States  as  well  as 
Canada. 

TirBm:E.  The  year  of  jubilee 
(?5i*n  njK')  was  an  institution  of  the 
Levitical  law  (Levit.  xxv.  8  ad  Jin.). 
The  Jews  were  to  number  seven  sabbaths 
of  years — ie.  forty-nine  years,  and  the 
fiftieth  (not  the  forty-ninth,  as  Petavius 
and  many  others  have  maintained  against 
the  plain  words  of  the  text  v.  10,  and 
Jewish  tradition  attested  by  Philo, 
Josephus,  and  the  Talmud,  was  the  year 
of  jubilee.  The  blast  of  the  trumpet 
proclaimed  the  jubilee  throughout  the 
land  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh 
month — i.e.  on  the  day  of  atonement. 
The  land  was  to  rest,  as  in  sabbatical 
years ;  land  and  houses  in  the  open  country 
or  in  villages,  without  walls,  reverted 
to  their  original  owners  or  their  heirs ; 
all  Hebrew  slaves  were  to  go  free.  The 
law  as  a  whole  has  no  parallel  in  any 
other  code,  and  it  had  a  distinctly 
theocratic  character.  The  Hebrews  were 
the  servants  of  God  and  could  not,  there- 
fore, be  the  servants  of  men ;  the  land 
belonged  to  God,  and  was  only  lent  to  the 
Hebrew  tribes  aud  families,  who  could 
not,  therefore,  be  driven  out  by  any 
human  arrangement.  The  original  posi- 
tion of  affairs  was  to  be  restored  after  the 
sacred  sabbatical  period  of  years  and  on 
the  day  of  atonement,  when  Israel's  sins 
were  purged  *and  his  communion  with 
God  renewed.  Various  explanations  are 
given  of  the  word  jubilee,  which  is  the 
English  form  of  73^.  Some  {e.g. 
Gesenius  and  Knobel)  suppose  that  the 
word  means  "joyful  sound"  (from 
^jt) ;  others  make  it  refer  to  the 
lengthened  blast  of  the  trumpet  or  the 
streaming  crowds  of  people  (from  73J, 
to  flow.  See  Hitzig  on  Jer.  xxxiv.  8.) 
Probably  it  is  an  old  word  for  a  horn  or 
trumpet  (Ewald,  ^'  Alterthiim,"  pp.  417 
seq. ;  Dillmann  on  Levit.,  p.  609 ;  cf.  Exod. 
xix.  13,  Jos.  vi.  4-13).     Most  likely  th» 


488 


JUBILEE 


'*  year  ( f  setting  free,'  Ezek.  xlvi.  16-18, 
is  the  year  of  jubilee.  (So  Dillinam], 
against  Kuenen,'"Godsd."  i-.  96;  Well- 
hausen,  "  Geschiclite  des  Volkes  Israel,"  i. 
pp.  122  seq. ;  Smend  on  Ezek.  pp.  382 
seq.,  who  take  it  to  mean  the  sabbatical 
year.) 

The  Ohurcli  of  Christ  has  adopted 
the  term  jubilee  from  the  Jewish  Church, 
and  proclaims  from  time  to  time  a  "  year 
of  remission " — from  the  penal  conse- 
quences of  sin :  she  offers  to  her  chil- 
dren, if  they  repent  and  make  their  peace 
with  God  and  perform  certain  pious 
works,  a  plenary  indulgence,  and  during 
this  year  she  empowers  even  ordinary 
confessors  to  absolve  from  many  reserved 
cases  and  censures,  from  vows,  &c.,  &c. 
An  ordinary  jubilee  occurs  at  Rome 
every  twenty-fifth  year,  lasts  from  Christ- 
mas to  Christmas,  and  is  extended  in  the 
following  year  to  the  rest  of  the  Church. 
An  extraordinary  jubilee  is  granted  at  any 
time,  either  to  the  whole  Church  or  to  par- 
ticular countries  or  cities,  and  not  neces- 
sarily, or  even  usually,  for  a  whole  year. 
If  the  jubilee,  whether  ordinary  or  extra- 
ordinary, be  granted  to  the  faithful 
generally,  the  conditions  for  gaining  it 
usually  are  to  fast  for  three  days — viz.  on 
a  Wednesday,  Friday,  and  Saturday;  to 
visit  certain  churches,  and  pray  according 
to  the  intention  of  the  Pope,  to  give  alms, 
to  confess  and  communicate. 

It  was  in  1300  that  the  first  jubilee 
was  given.  An  impression  prevailed  at 
that  time  that  a  great  indulgence  was 
granted  in  Rome  at  the  beginning  of  each 
century,  and  with  this  belief  many  pil- 
grims flocked  to  the  city.  No  document 
m  the  Papal  archives  was  found  to  con- 
firm the  tradition,  but  Boniface  VIII. 
granted  on  February  22,  "and  for  each 
hundredth  year  to  come,  not  only  a  full 
and  more  ample,  but  rather  a  most  full 
pardon  of  all  sins  "  to  those  who  repented 
and  confessed,  and  visited  the  churches 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  thirty  times  if 
Romans,  fifteen  times  if  strangers.  The 
contemporary  historian  Giovanni  Villani 
reckons  the  number  of  pilgrims  to  Rome 
that  year  at  200,000.  Clement  VI.  in  a 
buU  of  1343  made  the  jubilee  recur  every 
fiftieth  year,  adding  to  the  previous  con- 
ditions a  visit  to  the  Lateran  church. 
This  year  the  'number  of  pilgrims  is  said 
to  have  reached  a  million.  Urban  VI., 
in  1389, 1  educed  the  cycle  of  the  jubilee 
to  thirty-three;  Paul' II.,  in  1470,  to 
twenty-five  years.  (The  chief  works  on 
the  subject  are  "  Istoria  degli  Anni  Santi," 


JUDGMENT,  GENERAL 

scritta  da  Alfani,  Napoli,  1725;  "Trac- 
tatus  historico-theologicus  de  Jubilseo, 
auctore  Fr.  Theodoro  a  Sp.  8.,"  Romse, 
1750;  the  Bull  of  Benedict  XIV., 
"Inter  praeteritos,"  Dec.  3,  1749.) 

JUDGIVXESTT,  GEITSRAI..  The 
fact  that  Christ  will  judge  all  men'  and 
angels  together  at  the  last  day  is  taught 
with  such  clearness  and  iteration  in  the 
New  Testament  and  in  all  the  Creeds 
that  we  need  not  set  about  proving  it 
here.  It  will  be  more  to  the  purpose  if 
we  attempt  to  give  a  summary  of  the 
common  theological  teaching  and  popular 
belief  on  the  matter,  endeavouring  to 
distinguish  what  is  doubtful  from  that 
which  is  certain.  We  may  remark  by 
way  of  preface  that  the  general  judgment 
is  intended  to  manifest  before  all  intelli- 
gent creatures  the.  justice  of  God,  to  ex- 
hibit Christ  in  his  majesty  before  their 
eyes,  to  glorify  the  just,  and  to  put  the 
wicked  to  open  shame. 

1.  The  Circumstances  of  the  Judgment, 
— "  As  to  the  way  in  which  that  judgment 
will  take  place,  and  in  which  men  are  to 
be  assembled,  much  cannot  be  known  for 
certain."  So  St.  Thomas  writes  ("  Suppl." 
Ixxxviii.  4)  and  no  sober-minded  person 
will  hesitate  to  agree  with  him.  But  he 
goes  on  to  say  that  there  is  a  probability  :n 
the  inference  from  Scripture  that  as  Christ 
ascended  from  Mount  Olivet  to  heaven,  so 
He  will  descend  upon  it  to  judge  the 
world.  This  probabiUty  will  not  be  rated 
high  by  those  who  believe  that  our  Lord 
did  not  ascend  from  the  summit  of  the 
mountain,  but  from  Bethany,  on  its  east- 
ern slopes.^  It  was  most  natural  that  He 
should  bid  his  disciples  farewell  in  a  re- 
tired place,  endeared  by  many  sacred 
memories,  but  such  a  spot  offers  no  strik- 
ing fitness  for  his  re-appearance  to  judge 
the  world.  At  the  "  sound  of  a  trumpet " 
— i.e.  according  to  St.  Thomas  ("  Suppl." 
Ixxvi.  2),eitherthe  voice  or  the  mere  appa- 
rition of  Christ— the  dead  will  wake. 
"  The  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  will  appear 
in  heaven  "  (Matt.  xxiv.  30).  There  is  no- 
thing in  the  context  to  indicate  the  precise 
nature  of  this  sign,  but  as  the  previous 
verse  speaks  of  the  darkening  of  the  hea- 
venly bodies,  the  "  sign  "  seems  to  con- 
sist in  some  luminous  appearance  follow- 

1  See  Luc.  xxiv.  50.  The  Empress  Helena 
built,  in  raemoiy  of  the  Ascension,  a  church  on 
the  top  of  Mount  Olivet,  close  to  a  cave  in  which 
•our  Lord  was  said  to  have  taught  (Euseb.  Vit. 
Constavt.  ill.  43).  The  position  of  the  church 
probably  occasioned  the  belief,  of  which  no 
traces  appear  till  a  much  later  date,  that  Christ 
ascended  from  the  summit. 


JUDGMENT,  GENERAL 

ing  the  darkness  and  ushering  in  the 
Messianic  glory.  The  common  opinion  of 
the  Fathers  since  Cyril  of  Jerusalem 
("  Cat."  15),  and  of  the  schoolmen,  is  that 
the  "  sign  "  is  the  sign  of  the  cross,  con- 
spicuous in  the  sky,  and  this  opinion  de- 
veloped in  the  minds  of  some  into  the 
notion  that  the  fragments  of  the  wooden 
cross  on  which  Christ  died  would  be 
united  miraculously  and  exhibited  in  the 
sky.  Scripture  tells  us  that  Christ  will 
appear  in  his  majesty  **  in  the  clouds " 
(Matth.  xxvi.  64),  "with  the  angels  of 
his  might,  in  a  flame  of  lire"  (1  Cor.  iii. 
13,2  Thess.  i.  7) — tire  which,  according  to 
Suarez  ("  In  III.  P."  disp.  57,  quoted  by 
Jungmann),  "  will  precede  the  judge  on 
his  way  to  judgment,  in  order  to  strike 
the  damned  with  instant  terror  and  to  be 
the  beginning  of  their  torment.  Christ 
will  take  his  seat  on  his  throne,  and  the 
just  will  be  placed  on  the  right,  the 
wicked  on  the  left,  of  Christ  (Matth.  xxv. 
31-33).  It  is  impossible  to  say  howlar 
"these  expressions  are  to  be  taken  strictly, 
and  great  Catholic  authorities  have  leant, 
some  to  a  literal,  some  to  a  metaphori- 
cal explanation  (see  e.g.  the  authors 
quoted  by  Maldonatus  on  the  passage  in 
Matthew).  Lastly,  it  has  been  a  popular 
belief  among  Christians,  as  well  as  among 
Jews  and  Moslems,  that  the  judgment 
will  take  place  in  the  valley  of  Josaphat, 
which  has  been  identified  with  the  narrow 
ravine  of  the  Kidron  on  the  eastern  side 
of  Jerusalem.  This  belief  arose  from  the 
words  of  Joel  (iv.  1 ;  cf.  v.  12),  "  For  be- 
hold in  those  days,  and  in  that  time,  when 
I  wiU  turn  again  the  captivity  of  Judah 
and  Jerusalem,  I  will  gather  together 
all  the  nations  and  bring  them  down  to  the 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  wiU  contend 
with  them  there  because  of  my  people 
and  my  inheritance  Israel."  It  is  very 
doubtful  whether  the  valley  of  Josaphat 
was  a  real  place  at  all ;  in  verse  14  it  is 
called  the  "valley  of  decision,"  and  the 
name  Jehoshaphat  means  "  the  Lord  has 
judged."  If  the  prophet  had  a  real 
place  in  view  he  may  possibly  have  had 
the  valley  in  the  wilderness  of  Tekoa 
(2  Paralip,  xx.),  where  Josaphat  won 
a  signal  victory  over  three  heathen  nations. 
Anyhow,  no  valley  of  Josaphat  near 
Jerusalem  is  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures 
or  in  Josephus,  or  in  any  document  older 
than  the  "  Onoraasticon  "  of  Eusebius.  Re- 
migius,  on  the  strength  of  Joel's  words, 
asserted,  in  the  middle  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, that  the  wicked  would  be  placed  for 
trial  in   the  valley  of  Josaphat,  while 


JUDGMENT,  PARTICULAR    489 

the  just  were  caught  up  in  the  air  to 
meet  their  judge.  This,  sa^^s  Merx,  in  his 
recent  commentary  on  Joel  (p.  199),  is 
the  earliest  place  in  a  Christian  commen- 
tary on  Joel,  "where  the  final  judgment 
is  fixed  geographically  and  topographi- 
cally at  Jerusalem  in  the  valley  of  Je- 
hosaphat."  In  the  commentary  to 
which  we  have  just  referred  an  elaborate 
account  of  Christian  and  Jewish  opinion 
on  the  matter  will  be  found. 

2.  *'  The  man  Christ  is  the  judge,  but 
[He  exercises  this  office]  with  a  power  and 
authority  which  is  not  human  but  divine  " 
(Petav.  "De  Incarnat."  xii.  IG).  The 
saints  (1  Cor.  vi.  2)  act  with  Him  in  his 
judicial  functions ;  though  probably  this 
only  means  that  they  approve  the  justice 
of  the  sentence.  It  seems  plain  from 
Matth.  xix.  1%,  that  the  Apostles  are 
to  judge  the  world  in  a  stricter  sense, 
though  it  is  hard  to  imagine  what  this 
sense  can  be.  St.  Thomas  conjectures 
(*'  Suppl."  Ixxxix.  1 )  that  the  Apostles  and 
"  perfect  "  men  will  notify  the  sentence  to 
others.  It  is  certain  that  all  men  will  be 
judged  (see  the  Athanasian  Creed),  and  it 
is  commonly  lield  that  the  word  "  all  "  is 
to  be  taken  quite  literally  so  as  to  include 
unbaptised  infants,  while  it  is  at  least  the 
more  approved  opinion  among  theologians 
that  angels  also  will  then  be  tried.  The 
books  will  be  opened  (Apoc.  xx.  12) — 
the  books,  perhaps,  of  conscience  and  of 
God's  remembrance.  The  examination 
made  will  consist  in  this,  that  God  will 
enlighten  the  mind  of  each  concerning  his 
own  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds,  and 
those  of  all  others.  Nearly  all  theologians 
hold  (though  the  Master  of  the  Sentences 
was  of  a  different  mind)  that  the  sins 
even  of  the  just  will  be  openly  declared,  in 
order  that  the  judgment  may  be  com- 
plete, and  that  God's  justice  and  mercy 
may  shine  forth.  In  each  individual 
case  sentence  will  be  pronounced.  St. 
Thomas  ("Suppl."  Ixxxviii.  2), .  deems 
it  more  likely  that  no  oral  words  will  be 
used  in  the  sentence.  Many,  however, 
who  are  at  one  with  him  in  thinking  that 
no  oral  words  will  be  used  to  individuals, 
still  believe  that  the  words  in  Matth.  xxv. 
"  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,"  &c., 
"  Depart,  ye  cursed,''  &c.,  will  be  orally 
addressed  to  the  multitude  of  the  saved 
and  of  the  lost. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  this  point 
is  clearly  explained  in  the  following 
words  of  the  Roman  Catechism  (P.  I. 
a.  7  of  the  Creed).     There  are  "two 


490    JUDGMENT,  PAETIOULAR 

occasions  ou  which  each  and  every  man 
must  appear  before  God,  and  render  an 
account  of  every  thought,  action  and 
word,  undergoing  finally  the  immediate 
sentence  of  the  judge.  Of  these  occasions 
the  first  happens  when  a  man  departs 
this  life  ;  for  straightway  he  is  set  before 
the  judgment-seat  of  God,  and  there  a 
most  just  inquiry  is  made  into  all  that  he 
has  ever  done,  said,  or  thought,  this  being 
called  the  private  "  (or,  as  we  usually  say  in 
English,  the  particular)  "judgment."  The 
essence  of  the  doctrine  lies  in  the  belief 
that  the  eternal  lot  of  the  soul  is  deter- 
mined by  the  judgment  of  God  imme- 
mediately  after  its  separation  from  the 
body,  and  so  much  as  this  must  be  con- 
sidered an  article  of  faith,  although  there 
has  been  no  formal  and  explicit  definition 
on  the  point.  The  doctrine,  however,  is 
clearly  implied  in  the  statement  of  the 
Council  of  Florence,  that  souls  which  quit 
their  bodies  in  a  state  of  grace,  but  in 
need  of  puiification,  are  cleansed  in  pur- 
gatory, whereas  souls  which  are  perfectly 
pure  "  are  at  once  (mox)  received  into 
heaven,"  and  those  which  depart  ''  in 
actual  mortal,  or  merely  with  original, 
sin,"  "  at  once  descend  into  hell "  ^  ("  De- 
ere turn  Unionis").  The  Fathers  of  Flor- 
ence follow  in  this  part  of  their  decree  the 
Constitution  ''Benedictus  Deus," issued  by 
Benedict  XII.  in  the  year  1336. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  many  testimonies 
can  be  produced  from  Scripture  to  prove 
the  doctrine  as  it  has  just  been  propounded. 
Nor  need  we  wonder  at  this.  The  books 
of  the  Hebrew  Bible  for  the  most  part 
speak  obscurely  of  the  life  beyond  the 
grave,  while  those  of  the  New  Testament 
are  chiefly  occupied  with  the  great  truths 
that  Christ  had  risen  and  that  He  would 
come  again  to  judge  the  world.  Still  at 
least  one  passage  from  the  gospel  of  St. 
Luke,  xvi.  29  seq.,  justifies  the  belief  of 
the  Church  and  excludes  reasonable  doubt 
on  the  matter.  Our  Lord  represents 
Lazarus  and  Dives  as  receiving  their  re- 
spective rewards  immediately  after  death. 
The  former  goes  to  the  "  bosom  of  Abra- 
ham ;"  the  latter  lifts  up  "  his  eyes  in 
Hades,  being  in  torments."  He  must  of 
course  have  been  sentenced  before  the 
general  judgment,  because  the  rich  man's 
brethren  are  spoken  of  as  still  alive.  It  is 
true  that  we  cannot  draw  dogmatic  infer- 
ences from  all  the  details  of  this  or  any 
other  parable,  and  it  is  often  hard  to  de- 
termine how  much  belongs  to  the  clothing 

1  "  Infernura."  Hell  must  be  taken  here  in 
*  large  sense  to  include  the  Limbo  of  infants. 


JUDGMENT,  PARTICULAR 

of  the  narrative,  how  much  is  meant  to 
teach  a  moral  or  doctrinal  lesson.  Still 
we  may  confidently  regard  the  truth,  that 
judgment  follows  hard  on  death,  as  part 
of  the  main  teaching  which  the  story  con- 
veys, and  so,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  St. 
Augustine  understood  the  passage. 

Several  other  places  oi  Scripture  are 
quoted  in  proof,  but  some,  as  we  cannot 
lielp  thinking,  are  irrelevant,  none  cogent. 
Eccli.  xi.  27  seq.  may  refer  to  the  judg- 
ment which  God  brings  on  the  wicked  by 
the  very  act  of  cutting  them  off"  in  the 
midst  of  their  prosperity.  Eccles.  xi.  9, 
xii.  I,i8  far  too  vague  to  serve  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  is  alleged.  Our  English 
Catechism  urges  the  verse  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  (ix.  27),  "  It  is  appointed 
unto  all  men  once  to  die,  and  after  that 
the  judgment."  The  whole  passage  scarcely 
encourages  us  to  understand  the  judgment 
as  the  particular  one.  "  As  it  is  appointed 
unto  all  men  once  to  die,  and  after  this 
the  judgment,  so  also  Christ,  being  once 
offered  to  bear  away  the  sins  of  many, 
will  be  manifested  a  second  time  without 
sin  to  those  who  wait  for  him  unto  salva- 
tion." The  natural  meaning  seems  to  be 
that  as  men  have  to  die  once  only  and 
afterwards  to  be  judged,  so  Christ  had  to 
die  once  only  and  afterwards  will  come, 
no  longer  laden  with  the  sins  of  the 
world,  to  judge  mankind.  At  all  events, 
St.  Thomas  and  Estius  both  think  that 
the  writer  of  the  Epistle  had  the  general, 
not  the  particular,  judgment  in  his  mind.^ 

The  tradition  of  the  Church  on  the 
particulnr  judgment  was  for  a  long  time 
obscured  by  the  Millennarian  errors  which 
were  held  in  early  times  even  by  many 
Catholics,  otherwise  orthodox,  and  by  the 
uncertainty  which  long  prevailed  on  the 
state  of  souls  in  the  period  between  death 
and  the  general  resurrection.  St.  Augus- 
tine, however,  speaks  clearly  and  em- 
phatically, and  that,  not  for  himself  only, 
but  for  the  Church  of  his  time.  He  is 
speaking  of  books  on  the  soul  written 
by  Vincentius  Victor,  and  he  insists  that 
there  is  nothing  in  them  except  what  is 
vain  or  erroneous  or  else  mere  common- 
place familiar  to  all  Catholics.  As  an 
instance  of  the  last,  he  gives  Victor's 
teaching  on  the  meaning  of  the  parable 
from  St.  Luke  about  which  we  have 
already  spoken.   . "  For  with  respect  to 

^  Protestant  commentators  are  also  divided 
on  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  judfrment."  Se« 
Liinemann,  ad  he.  LUnemann  himself  con- 
siders that  the  ^era  toOto  leaves  the  time  at 
which  the  judgment  is  to  follow  quite  indefinite. 


JUDIOA  PSALM 

that,"  says  St.  Augustine  ("  De  Anima  et 
ejus  Origine/'  lib.  ii.  n.  8),  "which  he 
[Victor]  most  rightly  and  very  soundly 
believes,  viz.  that  souls  are  judged  when 
they  quit  the  body,  before  they  come  to 
that  judgment  which  must  be  passed  upon 
them  when  reunited  to  the  bofly,  and  are 
tormented  or  glorified  in  that  very  flesh 
which  they  inhabited  here — was  this,  then, 
a  matter  of  which  you  were  actually  un- 
aware? Who  is  there  with  a  mind  so 
encrusted  with  obstinacy  against  the 
Gospel  as  not  to  hear,  or  hearing  not  to 
believe,  these  things,  in  the  story  of  the 
poor  man,  taken  after  his  death  to  Abra- 
ham's bosom,  and  of  the  rich  man,  whose 
torment  in  hell  is  set  before  us  ?  " 

Theologians  adduce  various  arguments 
to  show  the  reasonableness  of  belief  in  the 
particular  judgment.  ''The  time,"  says 
Suarez,  "for  merit  and  demerit  ends  with 
death;  that,  therefore,  is  the  most  suit- 
able time  for  judging  each  man's  acts, 
no  reason  existing  for  further  delay" 
(Suarez,  "In  III.  P."  disp.  62,  §  2, 
quoted  by  Jungmann,  "  De  Noviss."  cap. 
i.  art.  2).  St,  Thomas  meets  the  obvious 
objection  that  there  is  no  need  of  two 
judgments,  by  pointing  out  that  it  befits 
each  to  be  judged  both  as  an  individual 
and  as  a  member  of  the  whole  human 
race ;  that  God's  justice  must  be  publicly 
as  well  as  privately  manifested;  and  that 
the  sentence  passed  in  the  particular 
judgment  cannot  be  completely  executed 
till  the  body  is  reunited  to  the  soul 
("Suppl."  Ixxxviii.  1). 

The  common  opinion  is  that  souls  are 
judged  at  the  moment  and  in  the  place  of 
death.  God  manifests  to  the  soul  by  some 
interior  illumination  its  state  and  its  future 
lot,  whereupon  the  soul,  to  borrow  the 
illustration  of  St.  Thomas  ("Suppl."  Ixix. 
2),  finds  the  place  which  belongs  to  it  in 
heaven  or  purgatory,  or  hell,  just  as  bodies 
find  their  place  according  to  the  law  of 
gravity.  Popular  representations  which 
describe  the  soul  as  borne  by  angels  before 
the  tribunal  of  God,  there  to  be  accused 
by  devils  and  defended  by  the  guardian 
angels,  are  innocent  in  themselves,  and 
are,  indeed,  sanctioned  by  Scripture.  Still 
they  are  popular  representations,  after  all, 
not  intended  as  accurate  statements  of  the 
literal  truth. 

JXTBICA  PSAS^ltc.  Ps.  xlii.  is  said — 
preceded  and  followed  by  the  versicle 
"  Introibo  "  ("  I  will  enter  to  the  altar  of 
God,"tfcc.) — at  the  beginning  of  all  Masses 
except  those  for  the  dead  and  those  said 
during  the  time  of  the  Passion.   On  these 


JUDICIUM  DEI 


491 


occasions  the  psalm  is  omitted  because  of 
its  joyful  character.  St.  Ambrose  tells 
us  the  verse  of  the  psalm  already  referred 
to,  "  I  will  enter  to  the  altar  of  God :  of 
God  who  maketh  glad  my  youth,"  was 
recited  by  the  neophytes  as  they  walked 
after  baptism  and  confirmation  from  the 
font  to  the  altar  in  order  to  receive  com- 
munion. Since  the  ninth  century,  at 
least,  this  psalm  has  been  said  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Mass,  and  this  use  was 
common  to  the  churches  of  Spain,  France, 
Germany,  and  England  from  about  the 
same  time.  Le  Brun,  i.  p.  Ill,  gives 
minute  details  on  the  history  of  the  psalm 
as  used  at  Mass. 

xcrszcATVM.  [See  Theee  Chap- 
ters.] 

JUDZCES  SiriUODAIiES.  The 
judges  to  whom  the  Roman  Curia  com- 
mits the  trial  of  causes  in  different  coun- 
tries are  so  called.  They  must  hold  some 
dignity  in  a  cathedral  church,  and  must 
be  nominated  by  the  bishop  in  the  diocesan 
synod.  There  should  be  not  less  than  four 
for  each  diocese.  If  Si  judex  synodalis  die 
in  the  interval  between  two  synods,  the 
bishop  nominates  some  one  to  take  his 
place  until  the  next  synod  meets.  All 
nominations,  whether  in  or  out  of  synod, 
must  be  reported  to  the  Pontifical  Secre- 
tary of  Petitions  (supplicum  Ubellorum). 
(Ferraris,  Judex,  §  66.) 

JUDZCZTnuc  DEI  (ordeal,  jugement 
de  Dieu).  The  proof  of  facts  by  testi- 
mony being  attended  with  many  diffi- 
culties in  an  unsettled  state  of  society,  it 
has  been  commonly  believed  in  many 
countries  that  for  the  protection  of  inno- 
cence and  the  detection  of  guilt,  the  case 
being  doubtful,  if  the  divine  justice  were 
solemnly  appealed  to,  the 'necessary  proof 
would  be  supplied  by  a  direct  exhibition 
of  divine  power. ^  AU  the  early  barbarian 
codes,  the  Salic,  Ripuarian,  Burgundian 
law,  &c.,  allow  the  appeal  to  the  "judg- 
ment of  God."  The  modes  were  various : 
among  them  were  walking  over  red-hot 
ploughshares  or  live  coals,  handling  red- 
hot  iron,  eating  blessed  bread  [Eulggi^], 
the  trial  by  hot  water,  and  the  trial  by  cold 
water.  It  was  believed  that  a  perjurer 
could  not  swallow  blessed  bread.  In 
the  trial  by  hot  water  the  person  whose 
innocence  was  in  question  had  to  plunge 
his  arm  into  a  caldron  of  boiling  water. 
In  that  by  cold  water,  he  was  bound  hand 
and  foot  and  thrown  into  a  pond,  a  cord 
being  fastened  to  him ;  if  he  floated,  it 
was  held  that  the  water  rejected  him  and 
1  Cp.  Soph.  Ant.  264,  Virg.  ^n.  xi.  787. 


492 


JURISDICTION 


JURISDICTION 


that  he  was  guilty ;  if  he  sank,  that  he  was 
innocent.  Lastly,  there  was  the  trial  by 
combat ;  it  being  devoutly  believed  that 
the  man  whose  cause  was  just  would  not 
be  permitted  by  heaven  to  be  vanquished 
by  his  adversary.  To  give  a  few  instances 
— the  Empress  Ounegunde  (about  a.d, 
1010)  is  said  to  have  walked  unhurt  over 
red-hot  ploughshares,  when  she  appealed 
to  the  judgment  of  God  in  disproof  of  her 
alleged  unchastity ;  the  champion  of  the 
Empress  Theutburga  (860)  passed  vic- 
toriously through  the  trial  of  hot  water; 
a  monk,  Petrus  Igneus,  in  the  eleventh 
century,  to  establish  the  truth  of  his 
testimony  against  the  Bishop  of  Florence, 
walked  between  two  great  fires  placed 
close  together,  and  was  not  scorched. 
See  the  curious  article  by  Kober  in 
Wetzer  and  Welte,  in  which  the  view 
is  taken  that  the  Church  permitted  these 
ordeals,  the  issue  of  paganism,  but  with- 
out approving  of  them,  and  gi'adually, 
through  the  decisions  of  Popes  and  the 
treatises  of  doctors,  assisted  to  put  them 
down.  Most  of  the  ordeals  were  aban- 
doned in  the  course  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. The  trial  by  combat  was  abolished 
hy  St.  Louis  (about  1250)  within  his  own 
dominions ;  in  England  it  was  nominally 
legal  down  to  a  much  later  period. 

JURISSZCTZOXr.  {Ju8  dicere,  to 
administer  justice,  was  one  of  the  "  tria 
verba  "  which  denoted  the  functions  of  a 
Roman  prgetor.)  Jurisdiction  is  defined 
as  "  the  power  of  anyone  who  has  public 
authority  and  pre-eminence  over  others 
for  their  rule  and  government." 

Jurisdiction  is  first  divided  into 
ecclesiastical  and  civil.'  The  former  is 
that  which  is  concerned  with  causes 
relating  to  the  worship  of  God  and  the 
spiritual  salvation  of  souls ;  it  is  exercised 
either  in  the  foi-um  extei-num  or  in  the 
foi-um  inteimum.  Civil  or  political  juris- 
diction is  conversant  with  secular  causes, 
and  has  in  view  the  temporal  government 
of  the  commonwealth.  It  is  exercised 
only  in  the  forum  externum. 

Jurisdiction  is  again  divided  into  vol- 
untary and  contentious.  The  first  is  exer- 
cised over  persons  who  voluntarily  submit 
themselves  to  its  operation,  as  in  the 
•case  of  manumissions  and  adoptions  in 
the  civil  order,  and  ordinations,  benedic- 
tions, absolutions,  &c.,  in  the  ecclesiastical 
order.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the 
validity  of  such  acts  depends  upon  the 
willingness  of  the  parties  interested  to 
submit  to  them  ;  as  when  a  club  empowers 
a  president  whom  it  has  elected  to  frame 


bylaws  for  them,  the  validity  of  which 
depends  upon  the  voluntary  accession  of 
the  members.  The  acts  are  valid,  firstly 
and  chiefly,  because  done  by  a  power 
which  had  the  right  to  do  them — i.e. 
which  had  jurisdiction.  Contentious 
jurisdiction  is  that  which  is  exercised 
over  persons  even  against  their  will ;  it 
implies  a  dispute,  contending  parties,  and 
a  tribunal.  Thirdly,  jurisdiction  may  be 
either  ordinary  or  delegated.  Ordinary 
jurisdiction  is  that  which  belongs  to  any- 
one of  his  own  right,  or  by  reason  of  his ' 
ofiice,  in  virtue  of  some  law,  canon,  or 
custom.  Delegated  jurisdiction  is  that 
which  a  man  has,  not  of  his  own  right, 
but  by  the  commission  of  another,  in 
whose  place  he  officiates.     [Delegation.] 

Ordinary  jurisdiction  may  be  acquired 
in  three  ways:  (1;  by  commission  from 
the  supreme  ruler,  conceded  either  to  the 
dignity  or  to  the  individual ;  (2)  by  law 
or  canon ;  (3)  by  custom  or  prescription. 
Thus,  by  the  Supreme  Pontifi'  are  con- 
stituted as  ordinary  judges,  legates, 
patriarchs,  primates,  archbishops,  bishops, 
the  officials  of  the  Curia,  &c.  By  the 
supreme  lay  power  are  constituted,  in  the 
civil  order,  viceroys,  governors,  prefects, 
magistrates,  &c,,  who  all  enjoy  ordinary 
jurisdiction.  By  law  or  canon  those  are 
constituted  ordinary  judges  who  are 
elected  to  office  by  public  bodies  according 
to  the  statutes  of  their  foundation,  and  by 
pubhc  functionaries  according  to  law. 
This  is  the  case  with  the  rectors  of  uni- 
versities, the  superiors  of  convents,  the 
provosts  of  chapters,  and  the  vicais-general 
of  bishops.  The  third  way  is  by  custonl ; 
a  jurisdiction  which  has  been  exercised 
without  challenge  for  forty  years  is  held 
to  be  validated  by  prescription,  and  is 
considered  ordinary. 

All  the  Apostles  received  their  juris- 
diction, which  (except  in  the  case  of  St. 
Peter)  was  personal  and  extraordinary, 
immediately  from  Christ.  This  jurisdic- 
tion they  did  not  transmit ;  the  bishops 
and  their  successors  receive  their  jurisdic- 
tion from  (/hrist,  but  through  Peter. 
Such  at  least  is  the  view  now  generally 
held  ;  but  even  if  the  bishops  be  deemed 
to  derive  their  jurisdiction  immediately 
from  Christ,  all  Catholics  agree  that  it  is 
in  such  manner  subject  to  the  supreme 
pastorate  of  the  Pope,  that  "  it  can  be 
restrained  by  his  authority  and  sovereignty, 
and,  for  a  lawful  cause,  altogether  taken 
away."^ 

Confessors  belonging    to  the   regular 
^  Benedict  XIV.,  quoted  by  Ferraris,  §  28. 


JUS  SPOLII 

orders  have  jurisdiction  from  the  Pope 
over  the  faithful  generally  in  the  tribunal 
of  penance,  the  approbation  of  the  bishop 
having  been  obtained. 

Every  confessor  must  have  jurisdiction 
in  foro  interno,  otherwise  he  cannot 
validly  absolve.  An  absolution  given  by 
a  priest  without  jurisdiction  is  void. 
Nevertheless,  if  the  penitent  be  in  articulo 
mortis,  or  sincerely  believed  to  be  so,  he 
may  be  validly  absolved,  not  only  from  sins, 
venial  and  mortal,  which  have  been  be- 
fore confessed,  but  from  all  ecclesiastical 
censures,  even  in  reserved  cases,  by  any 
simple  priest,  even  though  he  be  degraded, 
or  an  apostate,  or  irregular  [Irrequ- 
LAEITy],  or  a  heretic. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  priest  is  of 
ecclesiastical  right,  so  far  as  its  bestowal, 
enlargement,  and  restriction  are  con- 
cerned, for  it  is  the  Church  which  confers 
it,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  she  deems  to 
be  expedient  in  the  Lord ;  but  it  is  of 
divine  right  inasmuch  as  the  faculty  of 
remitting  sin,  for  the  sake  of  which  it 
exists,  is  "  conferred  on  the  priest  in  ordi- 
nation through  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost." '     (Ferraris,  Jwisdictio.) 

JUS  SPOXiIZ  (lit.  "right  of  spoil"). 
By  "  spolium  "  is  meant  the  property  belong- 
ing to  a  beneficed  ecclesiastic  at  the  time 
of  his  death  which  he  could  not  legally 
dispose  of  by  will.  According  to  the 
canons  a  bishop  or  other  ecclesiastic 
has  only  a  right  to  such  a  portion  of 
.  the  diocesan  revenues  as  is  sufficient 
to  maintain  him  and  enable  him  to  dis- 
charge his  functions  efficiently.  What- 
ever exceeds-  this  is  the  property  of  the 
Church.  If  therefore  an  ecclesiastic  at 
his  death  be  found  to  be  possessed  of 
property,  the  result  of  savings  from  his 
share  of  Church  emoluments,  that  pro- 
perty ought  to  return  to  the  Church , 
his  natural  heirs  have  no  right  to  it.  It  is 
recorded  of  a  great  numljer  of  saints  that, 
penetrated  by  this  feeling,  they  took  care 
to  dispose  of  their  ecclesiastical  revenues 
to  the  last  farthing  in  ahnsdeeds  and 
other  good  works,  so  that,  when  death 
came,  they  might  depart  naked  out  of  this 
world  as  they  had  come  naked  into  it.  St. 
Thomas  of  Villanova  on  his  deathbed, 
"  having  commanded  all  the  money  then 
in  his  possession  (which  amounted  to  four 
thousand  ducats)  to  be  distributed  among 
the  poor  in  aU  the  parishes  of  the  city, 
then  ordered  all  his  goods  to  be  given  to 
the  rector  of  his  college,  except  the  bed 
on  which  he  lay.  Being  desirous  to  go 
»  Cone  Trid.  Sess.  xiv.  7. 


JUS  SPOLII  493 

naked  out  of  the  world,  he  gave  this  bed 
also  to  the  jailer  for  the  use  of  prisoners, 
but  borrowed  it  of  him  till  such  time  as 
he  should  expire."^  Warham,  the  last 
Catholic  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  re- 
joiced to  hear  as  he  was  dying  that  only 
thirty  pounds  were  left  in  his  coffers. 
St.  Francis  stripped  himself  of  the  very 
clothes  that  he  wore  and  gave  them  back 
to  his  father,  that  neither  he  nor  the 
world  might  henceforth  have  any  claim 
upon  one  another.  Such  examples  might 
be  indefinitely  multiplied.  A  dim  feeling  j 
in  the  popular  mind,  that  such  was  the 
more  perfect  way  for  the  ministers  of 
Christ,  may  have  had  something  to  do 
with  the  rise  of  this  singular  jus  spolii 
(or,  as  it  was  also  called,  rapite  capitef 
"  seize  and  take"),  in  virtue  of  which,  in 
the  rude  ages  following  the  fall  of  the 
Western  Empire,  anyone  who  was  present 
when  a  beneficed  ecclesiastic  expired 
thought  himself  at  liberty  to  seize  and 
carry  off  whatever  property  belonging  to 
the  deceased  he  could  lay  his  hands  on. 
Naturally  the  bulk  of  this  spoil  fell  to  lay- 
men, who  were  more  rapacious  and  less 
scrupulous  than  clerks.  The  scandalous 
abuses  to  which  the  custom  led  may  he 
conceived ;  for  ages  councils  denounced 
them  and  legislated  against  them,  but  in 
vain.  If,  however,  we  consider  the  ex- 
treme opposite  to  the  jus  spolii — what  we 
may  c^all  the  jus  heei'editatis  et  legationis — 
the  right  claimed  by  beneficiaries  in  non- 
Catholic  communions  to  transmit  and 
bequeath  the  savings  of  their  ecclesiastical 
revenues  to  their  children,  we  must  admit 
that,  while  preserving  the  outward  sem- 
blance of  decorum,  this  practice  is  intrin- 
sically far  more  scandalous  than  its 
opposite. 

As  the  power  of  sovereigns  increased 
in  Europe,  they  began  to  restrain  the 
indiscriminate  plunder  just  described,  and 
in  the  case  of  bishops,  to  draw  the  jiLS 
spolii  to  themselves.  Innocent  III.  com- 
plained (1207)  that  the  servants  of  Philip 
II.  had  stripped  the  house  and  lands  of  a 
deceased  bishop  of  Auxerre  of  property  of 
every  description,  leaving  only  the  bare 
walls.  The  inferior  feudal  lords  claimed 
the  same  right  over  the  property  of 
deceased  ecclesiastics  on  their  domains. 
The  incessant  effi)rts  of  councils  gradually 
obtained  the  renunciation  of  the  right  on 
the  part  of  sovereigns  and  lay  lords.  In 
the  thirteenth  century  it  began  to  be 
claimed,  in  a  modified  form,  by  the 
Church  herself;  and  many  Constitutions 
1  Alban  Butler,  Sept.  18. 


494 


JUSTICE 


of  later  Popes  confirmed  and  defined  tlie 
claim.  Thus  it  came  to  be  a  principle 
of  law  that  the  "  spoils  "  of  beneficiaries 
dying  without  the  faculty  of  devising,  or 
in  a  foreign  country,  or  wliich  were  ac- 
quired by  illicit  trading,  belonged  of 
right  to  the  Camera  Apostolica  or  Papal 
treasury.  This  right,  admitted  in  Italy 
for  all  orders  of  clergy,  and  in  Castile 
in  the  case  of  bishops,  was  not  allowed 
in  France,  Germany,  Belgium,  or  Por- 
tugal. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  this  jus 
gpolii  does  not  extend  to  the  patrimonial 
property  of  ecclesiastics,  nor  to  personal 
gifts  and  other  acquisitions  lawfully 
derived  to  them  during  life  from  non- 
ecclesiastical  sources.  The  law  lays  down 
various  rules  for  distinguishing  as  equit- 
ably as  possible  between  the  two  classes 
of  property,  if  an  ecclesiastic  has  died 
possessed  of  both.  From  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century  the  right  of  spoil  was 
compromised  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples 
for  an  annual  payment  to  the  Camera. 
(Ferraris,  Spolium ;  ar^.  by  Kober  in 
Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

jxrSTiCB,  in  the  widest  sense,  the 
sense  which  concerns  us  here,  is  not  a  special 
virtue,  because  it  includes  all  the  super- 
natural virtues.  According  to  St,  Thomas 
(1 2nd8e,  qu.  cxiii.  a.  l),it  "implies  a  certain 
rectitude  of  order,  even  in  the  interior 
disposition  of  a  man,  inasmuch,  namely, 
as  the  highest  part  of  man  is  subjected  to 
God  and  the  inferior  powers  of  the  soul 
are  subjected  to  that  which  is  supreme, 
viz.  to  reason."  Justice  in  this  sense 
involves  subjection  to  God  and  therefore 
the  absence  of  mortal  sin,  which  is  rebel- 
lion against  Him  ;  while  perfect  justice  is 
identical  with  the  perfection  of  every 
virtue.  Scripture  constantly  uses  justice 
(PIV  '"li^lV,  8iKaioavvr])  in  this  large 
acceptation — e.g.  "Abraham believed  God, 
and  he  rt^^jkoned  it  to  him  as  justice  " 
(Gen.  XV.  6 ;  cf.  Galat.  iii.  6,  James  ii. 
23,  and  innumerable  other  passages).  The 
"  authorised  version  "  renders  the  Greek 
and  Hebrew  words  in  these  cases 
'^  righteousness,"  and  this  has  become  the 
familiar  name  among  English  Protestants. 
The  change  of  word  does  not  seem  to 
mark  any  dilference  of  principle,  though, 
of  course,  the  older  Protestants  held  that 
the  justice  of  Christ  is  imputed  to  us — i.e. 
reckoned  to  our  account — whereas  the 
Catholic  doctrine  is  that  justice  or 
righteousness  does  indeed  come  from  the 
grace  of  God,  but  that  it  inheres  in  the 
soul  and  consists  in  a  real  change  of  the 


JUSTIFICATION 

moral  character.     "  He  who  doeth  justice 
is  just"  (John,  1  Ep.  iii.  7). 

It  is  this  general  sense  of  the  word 
justice  which  is  important  in  theology, 
and  the  plan  of  this  Dictionary  does  not 
require  that  we  should  treat  at  length  of 
justice  as  a  particular  virtue.  As  such,  it 
is  commonly  defined  in  words  adopted  by 
theologians  from  Ulpian  as  the  "  firm 
and  abiding  resolve  {voluntas)  to  give 
each  his  own  right."  It  is  subdivided 
into  legal  justice — which  orders  a  man's 
actions  to  the  common  good,  in  which,  of 
course,  he  himself  shares — and  particular 
justice,  which  orders  the  duties  of  man  to 
man.  This  latter  again  is  subdivided  into 
distributive  justice — which  inclines  su- 
periors to  a  just  distribution  of  burdens 
and  advantages  among  their  subjects — 
and  commutative  justice,  which  consists 
in  giving  to  each  his  strict  rights — e.ff. 
paying  debts,  taxes,  &c.  Commutative, 
unlike  legal,  justice  lies  solely  in  the  per- 
formance of  duties  to  others,  whereas  the 
agent's  own  good  is  part  of  the  common 
good ;  unlike  distributive  justice,  it  deals 
only  with  strict  rights  and  is  for  these 
reasons  j  ustice  in  the  most  proper  sense  of 
the  word. 

JUSTirxCATloir.  The  difference 
of  belief  on  the  way  by  which  sinners  are 
justified  before  God,  formed  the  main 
subject  of  contention  between  Catholics 
and  Protestants  at  the  time  of  the  Refor- 
mation. "  If  this  doctrine  "  {i.e.  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  bv  faith  alone)  "  falls," 
says  Luther  in  his  "  Table  Talk,"  "  it  is  all 
over  with  us."  On  this  account  the 
Council  of  Trent  was  at  pains  to  define 
most  clearly  and  explicitly  the  Catholic 
tradition  on  the  matter,  placing  it  in 
sharp  opposition  to  the  contrary  tenets  of 
the  Reformers.  We  confine  ourselves 
here  to  the  process  by  which  adults  are 
elevated  from  a  state  of  death  and  sin  to 
the  favoiu"  and  friendship  of  God;  for 
with  regard  to  infants  the  Church  of 
course  teaches  that  they  are  justified  in 
baptism  without  any  act  of  their  5wn. 

Justification,  then,  according  to  the 
council  (Sess.  vi.  5,  6),  begins  with  the 
grace  of  God  which  touches  a  sinner's 
heart  and  calls  him  to  repentance.  This 
grace  cannot  be  merited ;  it  proceeds  solely 
from  the  love  and  mercy  of  God.  It  is, 
however,  in  man's  power  to  reject  or  to 
receive  the  inspiration  from  above;  it  is 
in  his  power  to  turn  to  God  and  to  virtue  or 
to  persevere  in  sin.  And  grace  does  not 
constrain  but  asesist  the  free-will  of  the 
creature.    So  assisted,  the  sinner  is  dis- 


JUSTIFICATION 

posed  or  prepared  and  adapted  for  justifi-  l 
cation ;  he  "believes  in  the  revelation  and  | 
promises  of  God,  especially  in  the  truth 
"that  a  sinner  is  justified  by  God's  grace, 
through  the  redemption  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus ;"  he  fears  the  justice,  hopes 
in  the  mercy,  of  God,  trusts  that  God  will 
be  merciful  to  him  for  Christ's  sake, 
begins  "to  love  God  as  the  fountain  of 
all  justice,  hates  and  detests  his  sins." 
"  This  disposition  or  preparation  is  followed 
by  justification  itself,  which  justification 
consists,  not  in  the  mere  remission  of  sins, 
but  in  the  sauctification  and  renewal  of 
the  inner  man  by  the  voluntary  reception  of 
[God's]  grace  and  gifts,  whence  a  man 
becomes  just  instead  of  unjust,  a  friend 
instead  of  a  foe,  and  so  an  heir  accordi!ig 
to  hope  of  eternal  life."  ..."  By  the 
merit  of  the  most  holy  Passion  through 
the  Holy  Spirit  the  charity  of  God  is  shed 
abroad  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  are 
justified,"  &c. 

We  may  turn  to  the  views  of  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists,  as  they  are  to  be  found  in 
their  authoritative  Confessions.  They  are 
at  one  with  Catholics  in  attributing  the 
beginning  of  justification  to  the  mere 
grace  of  God,  and  in  excluding  all  merit 
or  title  on  the  part  of  the  sinner.  But 
Lutherans  maintained  that  man  "  could 
contribute  absolutely  nothing  to  his  own 
conversion,"  that  "  faith  in  Christ, 
regeneration,  renewal,"  are  to  be  ascribed 
*'  solely  to  the  working  of  God  and  to  the 
Holy  Spirit"  ("Solid.  Declar.  de  Lib. 
Arbitr."  §  20,  p.  635,  quoted  in  Mohler's 
«  Symbol."p.  108).  Here  the  Lutherans  fol- 
low th&ir  master,  who  compared  man  under 
the  action  of  grace  to  "  a  trunk  or  a 
stone  "  ("  In  Gen."  xix. ;  Mohler,  p.  107). 
The  Calvinists,  on  the  other  hand,  did 
admit  that  man  was  active  as  well  as 
passive  under  the  influence  of  grace 
("  Confess.  Helvet."  cap.  ix.  p.  21 ;  Mohler, 
p.  118);  but  as  they  held  grace  to  be  irre- 
sistible they  could  not,  of  course,  allow  the 
Tridentiue  doctrine  that  man  is  free  to 
accept  or  reject  the  invitation  of  God. 
Both  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinist  errors 
with  regard  to  human  co-operation  are 
excluded  and  condemned  (Sess.  vi.  De 
Justif.  can.  4,  5,  6).  Secondly,  whereas 
Catholics  understand  by  justification  the 
renewal  of  man's  moral  nature  by  divine 
grace,  the  reformers  took  it  to  mean  "  the 
remission  of  sins  and  the  imputation  of 
the  justice  of  Christ"  (Calvin.  "Instit." 
cap.  xi.  §  2 ;  Mohler,  p.  136 ;  and  so 
"  Solid.  Declar."  iii.  De  Fid.  Justif.  §  11 ; 
Mohler,  p.  135),  faith  being  the  condi- 


JUSTIFICATION 


495 


tion  on  which  these  benefits  are  given. 
Here  is  the  hinge  on  which  the  whole 
controversy  turns.  Catholics  regard 
justification  as  an  act  by  which  a  man  is 
really  made  just ;  Protestants,  as  one  in 
which  he  is  merely  declared  and  reputed 
just,  the  merits  of  another — viz.  Christ 
— being  made  over  to  his  account. 
With  Catholics  justification  is  effected  by 
grace  inherent  in  the  soul ;  with  Protes- 
tants it  is  something  external  to  the  soul  al- 
together— a  sentence  which  is  pronounced 
by  the  divine  judge.  True  (and  we  are 
bound  in  fairness  to  lay  great  stress  on 
this),  Protestants  hold  that  real  and 
interior  sanctification  follows  upon  justi- 
fication, so  that  change  in  heart  and  life 
is  the  sure  and  only  test  that  a  man  really 
has  been  justified  by  faith,  or,  in  other 
words,  that  the  merits  of  Christ  have 
been  imputed  to  him.  Still  a  very  im- 
portant difi'erence  between  the  Catholic 
and  Protestant  views  remains.  To  the 
Catholic,  sanctification  and  justification 
are  the  same  thing,  or  at  most  two 
aspects  of  the  same  thing — viz.  of  the  act 
by  which  God  makes  a  soul  just  and  holy 
in  his  sight.  To  the  Lutheran  or  Cal- 
vinist, they  are  distinct,  both  in  themselves 
and  in  the  order  of  time  at  which  they 
take  place.  For  it  was  the  contention  of 
Protestant  theologians  that  a  soul  is  first 
justified — i.e.  accepted  as  just  for  the 
meritjs  of  Christ  apprehended  through  faith 
and  then,  as  a  necessary  cocsequence, 
sanctified — i.e.  really  made  holy.  Lastly, 
as  Protestants  believed  that  concupiscence 
— i.e.  the  mere  interior  temptation  to 
sin,  unaccompanied  by  wilful  consent — 
constituted  sin  in  the  strict  sense,  and 
since  all  are  liable  to  such  temptations, 
they  held  very  inadequate  notions  of 
sanctification.  "  God,"  Calvin  writes, 
"  begins  this  work  of  interior  renewal 
in  his  elect,  and  proceeds  with  it 
throughout  the  whole  course  of  their  lives, 
and  that  sometimes  slowly,  so  that  they 
always  remain  subject  to  the  sentence  of 
death  before  his  tribunal  "  ("  Instit."  iii. 
11;  Mohler,  p.  144).  Very  different  is 
the  Catholic  belief,  according  to  which 
justification  excludes  all  mortal  sin  from 
the  soul  and  makes  the  love  of  God  and 
man  sovereign  within  it,  so  that  the  just 
man  is  in  no  way  liable  to  the  sentence 
of  death  at  God's  judgment  seat.  Sin, 
no  doubt,  remains,  more  in  some,  less  in 
others,  but  it  is  venial  sin,  which  does  not 
incur  the  sentence  of  eternal  woe  or 
forfeit  God's  friendship. 

The  Protestant  doctrine  has  only  an 


496 


JUSTIFICATION 


apparent  foundation  in  Scripture.  Un- 
doubtedly, the  Hebrew  word  pnVH,  the 
Greek  diKaioio  in  the  Sept.  and  N.T., 
often  mean,  not  to  make,  but  to  pro- 
nounce just  by  a  legal  sentence.  The 
judge  may  in  this  sense  "justify"  a  man 
because  his  cause  is  good,  or  from  corrupt 
motives  although  his  cause  is  bad.  Thus 
in  Deut.  xxv.  1,  the  judges  are  directed  to 
justify  (•1p^'nVni>  LXX  fitKaicoo-coo-t)  the 
just  (i.e.  to  pronounce  him  just)  and  to 
make  the  wicked  wicked — i.e.  to  pro- 
nounce him  to  be  so.  Here  the  Vulgate  has 
"justitise  palmam  dabunt "— but  in  Prov. 
xvii.  15,  "  he  who  justifies  the  wicked  and 
condemns  "  (lit.  "  makes  wicked,"  or  as  we 
might  say  "  makes  out  to  be  wicked  ") ''  the 
just — an  abomination  to  the  Lord  are 
both  the  one  and  the  other,"  it  represents 
p^lVn  by  "  justiBco."  We  do  not  there- 
fore, for  a  moment,  dream  of  bringing  any 
philological  objection  to  the  Protestant 
view,  nor  do  we  deny  that  the  Scrip- 
tural idea  of  justification  does  imply  legal 
acquittal.  But  why  does  God  pronounce 
the  sinner  just  ?  Not  because  he  comes 
to  trial  with  clean  hands,  for  by  the 
hypothesis  he  comes  laden  with  guilt. 
Not  because,  being  actually  unjust,  he  is 
pronounced  just  on  the  ground  of  a  legal 
fiction  by  which  the  merits  of  another 
are  made  over  to  his  account,  for  such  a 
procedure  would  be  unworthy  of  a  human, 
much  more  of  divine,  justice.     The  true 


KINGS  AND  QUEENS 

answer  surely  is  that  God  purifies  the 
soul  by  turning  it  from  love  of  self  to  divine 
love,  and  that  thus  He  at  the  same  moment 
renders  and  pronounces  the  sinner  just. 

Scripture  abundantly  confirms  the 
reasonableness  of  the  inference.  Itdescribes 
God  as  "destroying"  and  taking  away 
iniquity ;  it  speaks  of  the  blood  of  Christ, 
which  "  cleanses  us  from  all  sin."  If  in 
Ps.  xxxi.  (Heb.  xxxii.)  we  read  that  the 
man  is  blessed  "  whose  iniquity  is  taken 
away,  whose  sin  is  covered,  to  whom  the 
Lord  doth  not  reckon  or  impute  sin,'* 
this  blessedness  does  not  consist  in  mere 
forgiveness,  for  the  verse  ends,  "  in  whose 
spirit  there  is  no  guile."  Two  passages  in 
St.  Paul  show  that  he  knew  nothing  of 
the  spurious  distinction  between  justifica- 
tion and  sanctification.  After  telling  the 
Corinthians  that  great  simiei*s,  thieves, 
profligates,  slanderers,  Sec,  will  not  inherit 
the  "  kingdom  of  God,"  he  continues  "  And 
such  were  some  of  you,  but  you  washeck 
yourselves"  (Vulg.,  "you  were  washed"), 
"but  you  were  sanctified,  but  you  were 
justified,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  .lesus," 
&c.  (1  Cor.  vi.  11).  Here  sanctification 
is  put  before  justification,  and  if  the  Pro- 
testant theory  were  correct,  the  whole 
matter  would  have  been  thrown  into 
obscurity  and  confusion.  Again  in 
Ephes.  iv.  24,  "Put  on  the  new  man, 
who  has  been  created  according  to  God 
in  justice  and  holiness  of  truth." 


K 


SnrGS      A.VD      QTTEEXJS, 
PERORS,     ETC.,     PRAVERS      FOR. 

St.  Paul  (1  Tim.  ii.  1)  commands  prayers 
to  be  made  for  kings  and  all  in  authority, 
and  there  is  abundance  of  proof  that  the 
early  Christians  faithfully  observed  this 
duty,  even  if  their  rulers  were  heathen  or 
heretical.  Two  instances  out  of  many 
will  suffice.  "  We  sacrifice,"  says  Ter- 
tullian  ("  Ad  Scap."  2),  "  for  the  health  of 
the  Emperor,  but  to  our  God  and  his." 
So  Athanasius  prayed  publicly  for  the 
heretical  Emperor  Constantine,  as  we 
know  from  his  own  words.  ("  Apol.  ad 
Constant."  c.  11):  "I  did  but  say,  'Let 
us  pray  for  the  most  pious  Emperor 
(Avyouo-Tov)  Constantius,'  and  straight- 
way all  the  people  shouted  with  one 
voice,  *  Christ,  help  Constantius  ! '  and 
kept  on  praying  thus."  At  a  later  date, 
however,  the  names    of   emperors  who 


formally  separated  themselves  from  the 
Church  were  left  out  in  the  diptychs. 

When  the  diptychs  fell  out  of  use  the 
name  of  the  king  or  emperor  was  put  in 
the  Canon  of  the  Mass,  and  it  is  wanting 
in  very  few  mediaeval  missals.  Not  only 
did  the  ancient  English  liturgies  put  the 
names  of  the  sovereigns  in  the  Canon, 
but  many  editions  of  the  Sarum  Missal 
have  a  votive  Mass  "  pro  Rege  "  (Maskell, 
"  Ancient  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of 
England,"  p.  276).  The  name  of  the 
sovereign,  however,  is  left  out  in  the 
modern  Roman  Missal,  and  Gavantus 
("Thesaur."  P.  II.  tit.  viii.),  says  that  it 
cannot  be  added  except  in  virtue  of  an 
Apostolic  privilege  such  as  that  granted 
to  Philip  II.  of  Spain  by  Pius  V.^  Merati 
in  his  note  modifies  the  statement  so  far 
as  to  allow  that  the  name  of  the  sove- 
*  This  fact  has  been  disputed  by  Binterim. 


KISS 

reign  may  be  inserted  by  "  old  and  lawful 
custom,"  8uch  as  prevailed  in  France  and 
Venice,  when  the  names  of  the  king  and 
the  doge  were  inserted.  In  the  U.  S.  all 
lawful  authorities  are  remembered  pri- 
vately in  the  prayers  of  the  faithful, 
though  no  mention  is  made  of  them  in 
the  liturgy.  (Le  Brun,  tom.  ii. ;  Hefele, 
"Beitrage,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  299  seq.) 

KISS.  {A)  Kiss  of  Peace. — (1)  Among 
Jews  (Gen.  xxxiii.  4,  2  Kings  xiv.  33, 
Job  xxi.  27)  and  heathen  the  kiss  was 
used  much  more  frequently  than  among 
ourselves  as  a  mere  sign  of  good  will  and 
charity.  Among  the  Romans,  indeed,  the 
use  of  the  osculum  was  regulated  by  cus- 
tom and  law.  The  custom  was  naturally 
adopted  and  raised  to  a  higher  significance 
among  Christians.  Thus  St.  Paul  tells 
those  to  whom  he  wrote  that  they  are  to 
salute  each  other  in  "  a  holy  kiss  "  {ev 
tj)iXr]fi.aTt  dyia>,  Rom.  xvi.  16,  1  Cor.  xvi. 
20, 1  Thess.  v.  26),  while  St.  Peter  (1  Ep. 
V.  14)  speaks  of  a  "  kiss  of  charity  "  (eV 
(biXTj^aTi  dyaTrris).  ^iXrjfia  ayiov,  (fiiXrjixa 
aydnrjs,  da-iraa^os,  (f>i\r}fi.a  ixvcrriKov — and 
in  liturgical  language  elpfiur] — are  the  Greek 
words  most  used  by  Christian  writers  for 
the  holy  kiss ;  the  Latins  employ  osciilum 
sanctum,  osculum,  pads,  pacem  dare, 
offerre,  &c.  Tertullian  ("  De  Orat."  18) 
speaks  of  the  "  kiss  of  peace  which  is  the 
seal  of  praver,"  and  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria ("Psedagog."  iii.  11,  p.  301,  ed. 
Potter)  says  the  kiss  "  should  be  mysti- 
cal," and  enlarges  on  the  purity  of  inten- 
tion with  which  it  should  be  given. 

(a)  At  Mass. — The  kiss  of  peace  was 
given-  at  Mass  from  the  earliest  times,  as 
appears  from  Justin,  ''  Apol."  i.  65.  To 
avoid  the  dangei-s  of  abuse  to  which 
Athenagoras  Legat.  32  (quoting  ap- 
parently an  earlier  writer)  refers,  the 
"  Apostohc  Constitutions "  (viii.  11) 
order  a  rigid  separation  of  the  sexes. 

In  two  striking  ways  the  Roman 
practice  with  regard  to  the  kiss  of  peace 
at  Mass  diiFers  from  that  of  other  churches. 
In  all  the  Eastern,  as  well  as  in  the  Moz- 
arabic  and  Ambrosian  liturgies,  the  kiss 
is  given  before  the  oftertory  and  consecra- 
tion. This  is  the  order  recognised  by 
Justin  (lac.  cit.),  and  probably  arises  partly 
from  a  desirg  to  begin  the  sacred  action 
in  peace,  parti}'  because  the  exhortation 
of  the  Apostle,  at  the  close  of  some  of  his 
epistles,  led  Christians  to  salute  each  other 
at  the  end  of  the  lections,  which  came  in 
the  Mass  of  the  Catechumens  (i.e.  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  service).  In  the  Roman 
Mass,  on  the  other  hand,  the  kiss  of  peace 


KISS 


497 


follows  the  consecration,  and  is  closely 
connected  with  the  communion  ;  an  order 
which  Innocent  I.  defends  in  his  cele- 
brated letter  to  Decentius,  on  the  ground 
that  the  kiss  of  peace  is  set  as  a  "seal" 
on  the  whole  of  the  sacred  action.  Again, 
among  the  Orientals  (see  Concil.  Laodic. 
can.  19)  the  priests  gave  the  kiss  of  peace 
to  the  bishop,  then  the  laity  to  each  other ; 
and  so,  e.f/.,  in  the  liturgy  of  St.  James, 
and  in  that  of  St.  Chrysostom  as  used  at 
this  day  in  the  Greek  Church,  the  cele- 
brant simply  widies  "  peace  to  aU,"  where- 
upon the  deacon  says,  "  Let  us  kiss  each 
other  {dya7rr](raifj,€v  dWrjXovs)  that  we  may 
ajrree  in  oneness  of  mind."  In  the  Roman 
Mass  the  kiss  of  paace,  as  it  were,  passes 
down  from  the  bishop  to  the  priests. 

It  is  plain  from  the  decrees  of  the 
Councils  of  Frankfort  (794,  can.  50)  and 
Mayence  (813,  can.  44),  that  the  kiss  of 
peace  long  continued  to  be  given  in  the 
West.  It  was  only  at  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century  that  it  gave  way  to  the 
use  of  the  "  osculatorium  " — called  also 
"  instrumentum"  or  "tabellapacis,"  "  pax," 
"  pacificale,"  "  freda  "  (from  Friedc),  &c. 
— a  plate  with  a  figure  of  Christ  on  the 
cross  stamped  upon  it,  kissed  first  by  the 
priest,  then  by  the  clerics  and  congrega- 
tion. It  was  introduced  into  England  by 
Archbishop  Walter  of  York,  in  1250. 
Usually  now  the  Pax  is  not  given  at  all 
in  low  Masses,  and  in  high  Mass  an  em- 
brace is  substituted  for  the  old  kiss  and 
given  only  to  those  in  the  sanctuary. 
The  Pax  is  not  given  on  the  three  last 
davs  of  Holy  Week.  (Cf.  Tertull.  "  De 
Orat."  14.) 

(/3)  At  other  SacrameMs. — The  kiss  of 
peace  was  also  given  at  baptism  (Cyprian, 
Ep.  64,  §  4,  "Ad  Fidum"),  of  which 
custom  the  "■  Pax  tecum  "  in  our  ritual  is 
a  relic  ;  and  at  absolution  of  penitents  (see 
Eiiseb.  "  H.E."  iii.  23,  and  Martene,  '•  Ord." 
13).  The  kiss  given  by  the  other  bishops 
present  to  a  bishop  just  consecrated  is 
mentioned  "  Constit.  Apost."  viii.  5.  This 
custom  is  still  prescribed  in  the  Roman 
Pontifical.  So,  too,  is  another  ancient 
rite,  according  to  which  the  bishop  gives 
the  kiss  of  peace  to  a  priest  at  his  ordina- 
tion. In  the  Greek  Ordinal  (Goar,  "  Eu- 
chol."  p.  298)  it  is  the  new  priest  who 
kisses  the  bishop  and  other  priests. 

(y)  The  kiss  at  betrothal,  in  the  Roman 
law,  gave  the  betrothed  woman  certain 
rights  of  inheritance  and  made  her  a 
quasi-uxor.  This  rite  is  mentioned  by 
Tertulhan  ("  De  Veland.  Virg."  6  and  11) 
and  by  Greek  canonists. 


K  K 


408 


KISS 


KYRIE   ELEISON 


(P)  The  habit  of  giving  communion 
and  the  kiss  of  peace  to  the  dead  was  for- 
bidden by  the  Council  of  Auxerre  (anno 
685,  alias  578),  canon  12,  but  the  Greeks 
still  give  the  kiss  to  the  dead. 

{B)  The  Kiss  as  a  Mark  of  Honour, — 
The  "  vi'oman  who  was  a  sinner "  kissed 
(/care^iAei)  Christ's  feet  (Luke.  vii.  38), 
and  the  same  mark  of  aftectionate  reve- 
rence is  in  comnjon  use  among  Catholics. 

(a)  In  early  times  the  Christians  used 
to  kiss  the  altar  as  a  mark  of  reverence  to 
the  place  on  which  the  Eucharist  is 
offered.  The  priest  still  does  so  re- 
peatedly in  the  Roman  Mass,  out  of 
reverence  for  the  altar  and  for  the  relics 
of  saints  enclosed  there.  So  the  celebrant 
at  Mass  signifies  his  love  for  the  teaching 
of  Christ  by  kissing  the  gospel.  This 
practice  is  also  ancient,  being  mentioned 
m  the  first  of  the  Roman  Ordines.  Jonas, 
bishop  of  Orleans,  in  the  ninth  century 
recognises  the  antiquity  of  the  custom. 
(Le  Brun,  i.  p.  231 ;  and  see  under 
Gospel.) 

(^)  The  Pope's  feet  are  kissed  as 
a  mark  of  homage  immediately  after  he 
has  accepted  office;  by  Cardinals  newly 
created ;  by  those  to  whom  audiences  are 
granted;  &c.,  &c.  The  kiss  is  given  on 
the  golden  cross  of  the  sandal  which  the 
Pope  wears  on  his  right  foot. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  this  mark 
of  honour  was  not  originally  reserved  to 
the  Pope.  It  was  given,  as  Oriental 
customs  spread  throughout  the  empire,  to 
the  emperors,  as  well  as  to  patriarchs 
and  bishops.  "In  the  Liturgy,"  says 
Kraus  (art.  Fusskicss,  in  the  "  Encyclo- 
paedia of  Archaeology  "),  "the  ritual  as- 
cribed to  Gelasius  directs  the  deacon 
before  reading  the  Gospel  to  kiss  the 
Pope's  feet.  The  same  mark  of  honour 
was  given  occasionally  to  the  Popes  even 
by  the  highest  personages  on  earth — e.g. 
by  the  emperors  Justin  and  Justinian, 
by  the  kings  Luitprand,  Pepin,  by  Charle- 
magne, (fee. ;  but  it  is  also  to  be  observed 
that  the  Popes,  on  the  other  side,  also  gave 
the  act  of  adoration  to  the  emperors. 
Only  late  in  the  middle  ages  the  adoration 
by  kissing  the  feet  of  sovereigns  and 
bishops  fell  more  and  more  into  disuse, 
and  was  confined  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ, 
and  then  a  cross  was  worked  on  the 
slipper  to  show  that  this  honour  was  done 
not  to  the  mortal,  but  to  the  Son  of  God." 
Charles  V.  is  said  to  have  been  the  last 
royal  personage  who  did  obeisance  in  this 
way,  for  although  Benedict  XIV.  received 
it  fi.*om  the  King  of  Naples,  this  is  explained 


by  the  peculiar  relations  of  the  Neapolitan 
crown  to  the  Pope. 

According  to  present  custom,  the 
Pope  immediately  after  his  election  is 
divested  of  his  cardinals  dress,  puts  on 
the  house-dress  of  the  Pope  and  is  led  to 
the  altar,  whereupon  the  cardinals  kiss 
his  foot  and  right  hand,  receiving  the 
kiss  of  peace  in  return.  Next,  when  the 
Pope's  name  has  been  proclaimed  to  the 
people,  his  foot  is  kissed  by  the  Governa- 
tore  of  Rome  and  by  all  the  "  Conclavists" 
who  have  accompanied  the  cardinals. 
Both  of  these  "  adorations  "  take  place  in 
the  conclave  itself.  The  third  "  adora- 
tion" is  made  by  the  cardinals  in  the 
Sixtine  chapel,  on  the  altar  of  which  the 
Pope  is  placed  in  Pontifical  vestments.  The 
Pope  is  then  carried  on  a  litter  to  St. 
Peter's,  placed  on  the  high  altar,  and 
again  receives  solemn  "  adoration."  A 
newly-created  cardinal  kisses  the  Pope's 
foot  and  then  his  hand.  Patriarchs, 
archbishops,  and  bishops  kiss  the  Pope's 
foot  and  then  his  knee.  Other  ecclesiastics 
and  laymen  (except  sovereigns)  merely 
kiss  the  foot. 

(A  full  account  of  the  literature  on  the 
"kiss  of  peace"  will  be  found  in  Kraus, 
art.  Friedenskuss.  There  is  a  modern 
book  on  the  subject  by  Kahle,  "  l)e 
Osculo  Sancto,"  Regimont.  1867.  On  the 
kissing  of  the  Pope's  foot  there  are 
treatises  by  Valeutini,  "  Be  Osculatione 
Pedum  Rom ani  Poutificis,''  Rouue,  1588; 
by  Pougard,  "Del  Bacio  de'  Piedi  de^ 
Sommi  Pontefici,"'  Roma,  1807.) 

KinUE  EI.Z:ZS09T,  CHRZSTB 
EliZSZSOXr,  etc.  Greek  words,  meaning 
"  Lord, have  mercy  on  us,"  "Christ,  have 
mercy  on  us,"  <fec.,  retained  by  the  Latin 
Church,  and  used  in  the  breviary  offices, 
the  prayers  of  the  Rituale,  the  Litany  of 
the  Saints,  &c.,  and  in  the  Mass.  Imme- 
diately after  the  introit,  the  celebrating 
priest  and  the  server  say  alternately  "  Ky- 
rie  Eleison "  three  times,  "Ohriste  Elei- 
son "  three  times,  and  then  once  more 
"  Kyrie  Eleison  "  three  times.  Martene 
("  I)e  Antiq.  Eccles.  Rit.")  and  Mabillon 
(in  "Ord.  Rom.")  show  that  the  number 
of  Kyries  to  be  sung  by  the  choir  used  to 
be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  celebrant, 
and  also  that  the  Kyrie  was  left  out  al- 
together in  Masses  which  were  to  be 
followed  by  the  Litanies.  St.  Thomas 
(III.  ix.  83,  a.  4)  supposes  that  the  first 
triplet  (Kyrie  Eleison,  &c.)  is  addressed 
to  the  Father  ;  the  second  (Christe  Elei- 
son, &c.),  to  the  Son ;  the  third  (Kyrie 
Eleison,  &c.J,  to  the  Holy  Ghost. 


KYRIE  ELETSON 

The  use  of  the  words  at  Mass  is  un- 
doubtedly very  ancient.  Kvpie  eXerjo-ov 
occurs  in  the  Clementine  liturg-y  as  part 
of  the  prayer  for  the  Catechumens  ("Con- 
stit.  Apost."  viii.  6),  and  also  as  a  part  of 
the  Mass  of  Catechumens  in  the  ancient 
liturgy  of  St.  James.  It  is  certain  also 
that  these  Greek  words  have  been  kept 
from  ancient  times  in  the  Latin  liturgy. 


L^TARE  SUNDAY 


499 


The  Second  Council  of  Vaison,  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Aries,  which  met  in  529,  or- 
dered the  Kyrie  Eleisou  to  be  said  at 
Mass  and  other  services,  appealing  to  the 
custom  of  the  ''  Apostolic  See,  and  of  all 
the  Italian  and  Eastern  provinces."  (Le 
Brun,  "  Explication  de  la  Messe,"  torn.  ii. : 
Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Missa.") 


XiABARTTIVX  (derivation  uncertain). 
The  banner  of  the  cross,  used  by  Con- 
stantiue  in  his  campaigns.  Eusebius,  a 
contemporary  writer,  in  his  "  Lite  of 
Constantine,"  gives  the  following  account 
of  it:  "He  [Constantine]  kept  invol<iag 
God  in  his  prayers,  beseeching  and  im- 
ploring that  He  would  declare  Himself  to 
him,  who  He  was,  and  stretch  forth  his 
right  hand  over  events.  While  the  king 
was  thus  praying  and  perseveringly  en- 
treating, a  most  extraordinary  sign  from 
Heaven  appears  to  him,  which  perhaps  it 
were  not  easy  to  receive  on  the  report  of 
anyone  el?e,  but  since  the  victorious  king 
himself,  a  long  time  afterwards,  when  we 
were  honoured  with  his  acquaintance  and 
fiiendly  intercourse,  repeated  the  story  to 
us  who  are  compiling  the  record,  and 
confirmed  it  with  an  oath,  who  would 
hesitate  to  believe  the  recital  ?  especially 
as  the  ensuing  period  furnished  unerring 
testimony  to  the  tale.  About  midday, 
when  the  day  was  now  on  the  turn,  he 
said  that  he  saw  with  his  own  eyes  in  the 
sky,  above  the  sun,  the  trophy-like  figure 
of  a  cross  {o-Tavpov  rpoiratov)  composed  of 
light,  and  that  a  writing  was  attached  to 
it,  which  said,  '  By  this  conquer.'  That 
astonishment  at  the  sight  seized  upon 
both  himself  and  all  the  troops  whom  he 
was  then  leading  on  some  expedition,  and 
who  became  spectators  of  the  portent." 
That  same  night,  Constantine  went  on  to 
say,  "  the  Christ  of  God  "  appeared  to  him 
in  a  dream  with  the  same  sign  which  he 
had  seen  in  the  sky,  and  bade  him  have 
an  imitation  of  it  made,  and  use  it  in  war. 
Constantine  sent  for  goldworkers  and 
jewellers,  and  had  a  costly  banner  made 
[see  Bannek],  surmounted  by  a  crown, 
on  which  was  the  monogram  formed  of 
the  first  two  letters  of  the  name  of  Christ. 
With  this  borne  at  the  head  of  his  army. 


he  crossed  into  Italy,  defeated  Max- 
entius  in  several  battles,  and  became 
master  of  Rome.  Fifty  men  of  his  guards 
were  selected  to  have  charge  of  the  La- 
barum,  and  victory  was  the  unfailing 
attendant  of  its  display.  ^ 

XiACTXCIXTXA.  A  late  Latin  word 
meaning  milk,  or  food  made  of  milk.  St. 
Thomas  (II.  Sndse,  cxlvii.  a.  8)  distin- 
guishes lacticinia  from  flesh  and  from 
eggs.  The  Greek  Church  (Council  in 
Trullo,  can.  56)  forbade  the  use  of  eggs 
and  Inoticinia  on  all  fast  days,  even  at  the 
one  permitted  meal.  The  Latin  Church 
forbade  their  use  on  the  listing  days  of 
Lent ;  and  Alexander  VH.  condemned 
the  proposition  that  the  obligation  of 
abstaining  from  eggs  and  lacticinia  in 
Lent  was  doubtful.  With  regard  to 
other  fasts,  St.  Thomas  (loc.  cit.)  says  the 
obligation  of  abstaining  from  eggs  and 
lacticinia  varies  in  different  places,  and 
that  individuals  are  bound  to  conform  to 
the  custom  of  the  country.  St.  Liguori 
("  Theol.  Moral."  iv.  1000)  lays  down  the 
same  principle.  Even  in  Lent  the  use  of 
eggs  and  lacticinia  has  been  allowed, 
especially  in  Northern  countries,  by  Papal 
dispensation,  or  else  by  custom,  which 
the  Popes  have  tolerated  till  in  course  of 
time  it  became  a  perpetual  privilege. 
Moreover,  the  bishops  in  their  quinquen- 
nial faculties  receive  power  to  dispense 
on  this  point.  In  the  United  States,  as 
elsewhere,  the  extent  to  which  lacticinia 
may  be  used  in  Lent  is  determined  by  the 
indult  published  in  each  year.  A  recent 
Papal  dispensation  made  it  lawful  to  take 
lacticinia  on  most  fasting  days,  even  at 
collation. 

IbJETARE  SUNDAY.  The  fourth 
Sunday  in  Lent,  so  called  from  the  first 
word  in  the  antiphon  of  the  introit,  "  Re- 

1  Eusebius,  Vit.  Const,  i.  28-37,  ii.  7-9. 
:2 


500 


LAMPS 


joice,0  Jerusalem,  and  gather  together,  all 
ye  who  love  her,"  &c.  This  day  is  also 
known  as  Mid-Lent  or  Refreshment 
Sunday.  On  that  one  Sunday  in  Lent 
the  altar  is  decked  with  flowers,  the 
organ  is  played,  and  at  the  principal  Mass 
rose-colouied  vestments  are  worn  instead 
of  violet  ones. 

XiAZMEPS  have  been  from  very  early 
times  used  in  Christian  churches,  and 
have  had  a  sacred  character  attributed  to 
them.  Thus  the  fourth  Apostolic  Canon 
forbid:*  anything  to  be  ofiered  at  the  altar 
except  '"  oil  for  the  lamp,  and  incense  at 
the  time  of  the  holy  oblation."  The  contro- 
versy of  Jerome  with  Vigilantius,  who 
objected  to  the  practice,  shows  that  lamps 
were  not  only  used  to  give  light,  but 
were  burned  before  the  tombs  of  the 
martyrs  in  their  honour.  Again,  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem  (referred  to  in  Wetzer  and 
Welte,  Art.  Lmnjye)  notices  the  practice, 
which  still  continues  among  us,  of  re- 
lighting the  lamps  on  Holy  Saturday  in 
token  of  joy.  The  Cserimoniale  Episco- 
porum  favours  isuadet)  the  practice  of 
burning  a  lamp  be 'ore  each  altar,  several 
before  the  high  altar.  (Gavant.  Par.  I., 
tit.  XX.) 

Universal  custom  requires  that  a  lamp 
should  be  kept  burning  before  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  wherever  it  is  reserved.  The 
oil  in  the  lamp  must  be  made  of  olives,  or 
if  it  cannot  be  had,  the  bishop  may  per- 
mit the  use  of  other  oils,  not,  however, 
of  mineral  oils,  except  in  case  of  abso- 
lute necessity  (Decret.  S.  R.  C.  9  Julii, 
1864).  Authors  speak  of  the  practice  of 
burning  a  perpetual  light  before  the 
tabernacle  as  very  ancient,  but  do  not,  so 
far  as  we  can  And,  furnish  early  evidence 
of  it. 

ZiAircs,  THE  BOIiY.  In  1098, 
when  the  Christian  army,  after  having 
taken  Antioch  and  driven  the  Turks  into 
the  citadel,  were  besieged  in  the  city  by 
a  great  host  of  infidels  under  Kerboga,  a 
Provencal  clerk  (named  by  some  writers 
Peter  Bartholomew,  by  others  Peter 
Abraham)  came  to  Raymond  Count  of 
Toulouse,  his  liege  lord,  and  to  the  Bishop 
of  Puy,  the  Papal  legate,  and  declared 
that  St.  Andrew  had  revealed  to  him  in 
a  vision  the  existence  in  the  Church  of 
St.  Peter,  in  Antioch,  near  the  altar,  of 
the  head  of  the  spear  with  which  our 
Saviour's  side  was  pierced  during  the 
Passion.  Search  was  made,  and  the  earth 
excavated  to  a  great  depth  without  result ; 
Peter  then  went  down  himself,  and  found, 
or  professed  to  find,  the  head  of  a  lance. 


LANGUAGE  OF  THE  CHURCH 

The  Christians,  who  had  been  reduced  to 
great  straits,  now  took  courage  to  attack 
the  Moslems,  and  defeated  them,  the 
holy  lance  being  carried  before  them  in 
the  battle.  But  Boheruond  and  others 
threw  doubt  upon  Peter's  good  faith,  and 
it  was  arranged  that  he  should  undergo 
the  ordeal  of  walking  through  a  fire ; 
he  did  so,  but  died  shortly  afterwards, 
apparently  from  the  injuries  that  he 
received.  The  lance  was  taken  by  Count 
Raymond  to  Constantinople,  and  remained 
there  till  Bajazet  H.  (1492)  made  a 
present  of  it  to  Innocent  VIII.;  it  is  now 
in  the  Vatican  basilica. 

ZiAXrCE  ((iyt'a  \6yx^)'  A  small  knife 
used  in  the  Prothesis  or  early  part  of 
the  present  Greek  liturgy  to  divide  the 
Host  from  the  holy  loaf.  The  action 
commemorates  the  piercing  of  our  Lord's 
side.  The  priest  makes  four  cuts  in  the 
loaf  and  stabs  it  more  than  once,  accom- 
panying each  action  with  texts  of  Script- 
ure— "He  was  led  as  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter,"  &c. 

The  rite  is  probably  not  a  very  ancient 
one.  It  is  wanting,  not  only  in  the  Oriental 
liturgies  of  other  families,  but  also  in 
that  of  St.  James,  and  is  not  mentioned 
by  St.  Germanus.  It  is  observed,  how- 
ever, in  the  monastery  of  Mount  Sinai, 
where  all  the  new  rites  of  the  present 
Greek  Church  have  not  been  admitted. 
Martigny  gives  a  drawing  of  a  "  Culter 
Eucharisticus,"  said  to  have  belonged  to 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  and  to  have 
been  used  for  a  similar  purpose.  (See 
Goar,  who  gives  a  drawing  of  the  litur- 
gical lance ;  and  Le  Brun,  Tom.  III.  vi. 

4.) 

XiAXrCVAGS  OF  THS  CHURCH. 

This  title  is  used  for  want  of  a  better 
to  denote  the  Church's  practice  of  cele- 
brating Mass,  administering  the  sacra- 
ments, and  generally  of  performing  her 
more  solemn  services  in  dead  languages. 
For  the  Church  cannot  be  said  to  use,  or 
even  to  prefer,  any  one  language.  She 
requires  some  of  her  clergy  to  use  Greek, 
Syriac,  Coptic,  Armenian,  Slavonic,  in 
Alass,  just  as  strictly  as  she  requires  others 
to  employ  Latin.  Latin  no  doubt  is  far 
more  widely  used  than  other  ancient  lan- 
guages in  the  offices  of  the  Church,  but 
this  has  arisen  chiefly  from  the  fact  that 
those  who  would  naturally  use  Greek,  &c., 
in  their  offices  have  fallen  away  from 
Catholic  communion.  We  will  begin  with 
an  historical  account  of  the  discipline  ob- 
served, and  then  give  the  principal  reasons 
adduced  to  justify  it. 


LANGUAGE  OF  THE  CHURCH   LANGUAGE  OF  THE  CHURCH  501 


Benedict  XIV.  (''Be  Missa,*'  lib.  ii.  cap. 
2)  mentions  the  opinion  of  those  who 
held  that  the  Apostles  said  Mass  in 
Hebrew,  or  that  originally  Mass  was  said 
\  only  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  the 
three  languages  on  the  title  of  the  cross ; 
and  he  continues,  "  Those  who  are  skilled 
in  ecclesiastical  history  have  shown 
sufficiently  that  the  Apostles  and  Aeir 
successors  did,  not  only  preach,  but  also 
celebrate  the  divine  offices  in  the  vulgar 
tongue  of  the  people  in  whose  land  they 
preached  the  Gospel.''  He  quotes  Bona, 
Le  Brun,  and  Martene  in  support  of  his 
own  statement,  which  surely  does  not 
need  support.  Mass,  then,  and  the  other 
offices,  were  said  originally  in  the  vernac- 
ular, because  it  was  the  vernacular,  but 
the  Church,  so  far  as  we  know,  has  never 
once  allowed  a  change  in  the  language  of 
the  liturgy  when  the  language  in  which 
it  had  been  originally  written  had  be- 
come unintelligible  to  the  people.  Nor 
at  present  is  Mass  ever  said  in  a  tongue 
still  generally  spoken  and  understood. 
Latin,  Coptic,  and  ^thiopic,  are,  and 
have  long  been,  dead  languages,  while 
the  ancient  Greek,  Sy-riac,  Armenian, 
and  Slavonic,  used  in  the  liturgies,  are 
quite  distinct  from  the  modern  languages 
which  bear  the  same  names.  Even  schis- 
raatical  and  heretical  bodies  which  have 
preserved  the  true  priesthood,  and  there- 
fore the  true  Mass,  have  not  ventured  to 
substitute  translations  into  the  vulgar 
tongue  for  the  ancient  language  of  their 
liturgies.  Indeed,  Mass  said  in  such  a 
language  as  Coptic  is  much  less  under- 
stood' than  Mass  in  Latin,  not  only 
because  Coptic  has  no  affinity  with  the 
Arabic  spoken  by  the  people,  but  also 
because  many  of  the  Coptic  priests  can 
hardly  read  the  Coptic  words  of  their 
church  books,  and  do  not  understand 
the  meaning  of  a  single  sentence.  One 
exception  may  here  be  mentioned,  the 
only  one  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  to 
the  general  rule,  that  all  schismatical  and 
heretical  bodies  preserve  the  ancient  lan- 
guage of  their  liturgies,  and  clearly  it  is  an 
exception  which  proves  the  rule.  Le  Brun 
(Tom.  in.  diss.  vi.  a.  6)  notices  that  the 
Melchites — i.e.  schismatic  Greeks  in  the 
Patriarchates  of  Alexandria,  Antioch, 
and  Jerusalem,  who  are  in  communion 
with  the  "  orthodox "  Greek  Church  of 
Constantiople — sometimes  say  Mass  in 
Arabic,  because  it  is  often  hard  to  find 
deacons  and  other  assistants  who  can 
even  read  Greek.  A  friend  versed  in 
liturgical    science   and    in  the   Oriental 


languages  informs  us  that  this  excep* 
tional  usage  still  occurs,  e.ff.  at  Jeru- 
salem. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Church  has 
not  pursued  the  same  uniform  policy  in 
dealing  with  nations  newly  converted  to 
the  Christian  religion,  and  therefore 
destitute  of  a  liturgy.  In  the  middle  of 
the  ninth  century  the  Oriental  monks 
St.  Cyril  and  St.  Methodius  introduced, 
not  a  Latin  or  Greek,  but  a  Slavonic  or 
vernacular  liturgy  among  their  Moravian 
converts.  This  measure  of  theirs  was 
approved  by  Pope  Hadrian  IL,  and 
tolerated  by  John  VIII.  on  condition 
that  the  translation  was  faithful,  and  the 
Gospel  read  first  in  Latin,  then  in  Sla- 
vonic. But  in  1061  the  legate  of  Alex- 
ander IL  in  a  council  of  Croatian  and 
Dalmatian  bishops  prohibited  the  use  of 
the  Slavonic  liturgy — which  must  not  be 
confounded  with  the  Slavonic  versions  ot 
the  Greek  liturgies  still  used — and  the 
prohibition  was  repeated  by  Gregory  VII. 
in  a  letter  of  the  year  1080  to  Ladislaus, 
King  of  Bohemia.  However,  even  as  late 
as  1248  Innocent  IV.  allowed  a  Slav 
bishop  to  use  it  by  special  dispensation. 
In  1(315  Paul  V.  gave  the  Jesuit  mission- 
aries leave  to  celebrate  Mass  and  the 
divine  offices  in  Chinese,  but  the  brief 
never  reached  those  to  whom  it  was 
addressed.  The  Jesuits  renewed  their 
petition,  and  a  Chinese  version  of  the 
Missal  was  presented  to  Innocent  XI  ,^ 
but  nothing  came  of  the  negotiation.  In 
the  "  Propjlseum  "  of  the  Bollandist  Lives 
for  May  a  summary  is  given  of  the 
reasons  urged  for  a  vernacular  Chinese 
liturgy  by  Father  Couplet,  Procurator- 
General  of  the  Jesuit  missions. 

Such,  then,  is  the  rule  of  the  Church. 
She  never  allows  an  ancient  liturgy  to 
be  altered  because  the  language  in  which 
it  is  written  has  been  altered  or  dis- 
placed by  a  modern  one,  and  she  is  un- 
willing, though  she  does  not  always 
absolutely  refuse,  to  allow  the  use  of 
vernacular  liturgies  among  nations  newly 
converted.  The  Council  of  Trent  declares 
(Sess.  xxii.  cap.  8,  De  Sacrific.  Missse) 
that  the  Fathers  of  the  council  thought 
it  inexpedient  to  have  Mass  "  celebrated 
everywhere  in  the  vulgar  tongue,"  and 
condemns  those  who  affirm  "that  Mass 
ought  only  to  be  celebrated  in  the  vulgar 
tongue  (lb.  can.  9).     We  must  beware, 

^  So  Benedict  XIV.  in  the  edition  before 
us  ;  but  he  says  this  was  done  in  I60I,  long^ 
before  Innocent  XI.  began  to  reign.  Possibly 
1631  is  a  misprint  for  1681. 


602  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  CHURCH 

liowever,  of  pressing-  these  statements  too 
far.  Benedict  XIV.  defends  Colbert, 
bishop  of  Rouen,  who  taught  in  a  pas- 
toral that  the  ancient  mode  of  celebrating 
Mass  in  the  language  of  the  people  was 
the  fittest  means  to  prepare  the  minds  of 
the  congregation  for  participation  in  the 
sacrifice ;  or  at  least  argues  that  this  con- 
viction is  not  condemned  by  the  Council 
of  Trent.  The  Church  may  have  had 
good  and  weighty  grounds  for  foregoing 
a  usage  which  in  itself  would  tend  to  the 
greatest  spiritual  edification. 

These  reasons  seem  to  consist,  first  of 
all,  in  the  jealousy  with  which  the  Church 
guards  her  ancient  rites,  and  her  un- 
willingness to  face  the  danger ,of  constant 
change  in  them  to  meet  the  changes  in 
modern  languages.  Such  changes  might 
seriously  endanger  the  purity  of  doctrine, 
or  at  least  the  reverence  of  the  faithful 
for  the  rites  of  the  Church.  Let  the 
reader  only  consider  how  much  of  the 
reverence  which  Protestants  feel  for  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  its  pure  and  noble  language  has 
been  preserved  unchanged  for  centuries. 
A  new  edition  in  modern  English  would 
certainly  be  better  understood,  but  how 
much  of  its  power  to  soothe  the  heart 
and  to  inspire  a  sober  and  rational  de- 
votion would  be  lost  in  the  process  .^ 
Again,  the  preservation  of  the  ancient 
forms  enables  priests  to  celebrate  and  the 
faithfid  to  follow  Mass  in  all  lands,  and 
thus  impresses  upon  us,  in  a  way  which 
no  one  who  has  experienced  it  can  forget, 
the  unity  of  the  Church.  Lastly,  the 
words  of  the  Missal,  admirably  fitted  as 
they  are  for  the  use  of  the  priest,  are  by  no 
means  fitted  for  the  use  of  uneducated 
persons,  and  this  difficulty  would  not  be 
met  by  a  translation. 

Protestant  objections  arise  to  some 
extent  from  misunderstanding  the  nature 
of  Catholic  worship.  The  Mass  is  a  great 
action  in  which  Christ's  sacrifice  is  con- 
tinued and  applied.  Those  who  are 
present  bow  their  heads  at  the  conse- 
cration, and  unite  themselves  in  spirit,  if 
they  do  not  actually  communicate,  with 
the*^  communion  of  the  priest.  Christ 
crucified  is  set  forth  in  their  midst,  and  '■ 
they  know  that  they,  on  their  part,  must 
ofleV  their  souls  and  bodies  in  constant 
sacrifice  to  God  by  a  life  of  purity,  labour, 
and  self-denial.  It  is  the  expressed  wish 
of  the  Trideutine  Fathers  that  the  mean- 
ing of  'the  Mass  and  its  rites  should  be 
constantly  explained  to  the  people  by 
their  pastors ;  and  surely  the  most  ignor- 


LAPSED  (LAPSI) 

ant  person  who  follows  Mass  in  the  way 
just  described,  and  accompanies  the 
priest's  action  with  prayers  which  come 
Irom  his  own  heart,  ofiers  to  God  a 
reasonable  service.  A  life  of  self-sacrifice 
and  devotion — that  is  the  great  lesson 
taught  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and 
it  is  a  lesson  independent  of  the  language 
in  which  Mass  is  said. 

The  texts  quoted  from  1  Cor.  xiv. 
against  the  Catholic  usage  are  not  to  the 
point.  "  I  would  rather,"  says  St.  Paul, 
*'  speak  five  words  in  the  church  through 
my  intelligence,  that  I  may  instruct  others, 
than  ten  thousand  words  in  a  tongue." 
We  believe  St.  Paul  is  referring  to  ecstatic 
utterances — sighs,  exclamations,  broken 
sentences  which  were  unintelligible  to 
others,  and  in  which  the  tongue  of  the 
speaker  was  not  controlled  even  by  his 
own  intelligence.  Be  this  as  it  may,  no 
parallel  can  be  drawn  between  "  speaking 
in  tongues  "  and  the  use  of  Latin  in  the 
Mass.  Strangers  would  not  think  a  priest 
"  mad  "  (v.  23)  if  they  heard  him  reading 
the  Latin  Missal.  The  priest  prays  with 
"  his  imderstanding  '*  (v.  14),  for  he  knows 
Latin;  others  are  "edified"  (v.  17)  ;  and 
no  extraordinary  gift  of  interpretation 
(v.  13)  is  needed,  for  our  English  prayer- 
books  give  translations  of  the  Mass. 
Moreover,  St.  Paul  was  familiar  with  a 
custom  closely  analogous  to  ours,  and  with 
this  neither  he  nor  any  other  Apostle  finds 
fault.  The  services  of  the  temple  and  the 
synagogue,  like  those  of  the  synagogue  at 
this  day,  were  in  a  dead  language,  with 
the  difference  only  that  more  pains  are 
taken  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  Hebrew 
among  poor  Jews  than  of  Latin  among 
poor  Catholics. 

LAPSES  (]«A.PSZ).  A  name  given 
to  those  who  fell  away  from  the  faith 
under  heathen  persecution.  The  name 
comes  into  special  prominence  in  the  per- 
secution of  Decius  (249-251),  which  ex- 
ceeded all  previous  ones  in  method  and 
severity.  Some  Christians  fell  away  by 
actually  offering  sacrifice  to  the  false  gods 
(thurificati,  saan/lnati) ;  others  bought  a 
certificate  that  they  had  sacrificed  {libel- 
latici) ;  others  allowed  their  names  to  be 
enrolled  on  the  orticial  lists  as  having 
olieyed  the  imperial  edict  {acta  faciontes). 
Dr.  Benson  (in  Smith  and  Oheetham) 
argues  that  the  "  libellus,"  or  certificate, 
was  of  two  kinds — either  a  document 
coming  from  the  Christian  himself  to  the 
efiect  that  he  had  recanted  his  religion, 
or  from  the  magistrate,  who  certified  that 
the  Christian  had  recanted,  the  Christian 


LAST  DAY 

himself   remaining    passive    and   merely 
accepting  this  means  of  escape. 

The  "  liapsi "  were  subjected  to  long — 
sometimes  life-long — penance,  varying  ac- 
cording to  the  degree  of  their  guilt,  and, 
if  priests,  were  reduced  to  lay  communion. 
But  great  weight  was  given  to  the  "  libelli 
pacis  " — i.e.  documents  from  confessors  or 
martyrs  in  prison,  begging  the  restoration, 
of  those  who  had  fallen  and  repented,  to 
the  peace  of  the  Church.  (See  under 
Indflgences.  Cyprian's  ''  Letters  "  and 
his  treatise  "  De  Lapsis "  are  the  chief 
authorities  on  the  subject.) 

XiAST  DAV.  We  have  already  had 
to  speak  of  the  Last  Day,  under  the  articles 
A^'TICHRIST  and  Judgment,  Gexeeal 
AND  Particular.  In  this  place  we  pro- 
ceed to  note  certain  points  in  ordinary 
Catholic  belief  not  included  under  these 
previous  articles.  « 

(1)  Scripture  tells  us  of  certain  signs 
which  will  precede  the  Last  Day.  The 
Gospel  will  first  be  preached  all  over  the 
world  (Matt.  xxiv.  14),  which,  as  St. 
Augustine  warns  us  (Ep.  99),  does  not 
mean  that  all  men  will  be  converted,  but 
that  the  Church  will  exist  in  all  nations. 
When  the  fulness  of-  the  Gentiles  has 
come  in,  then— for  the  words  need  not 
imply  more  than  this  (see  Estius,  ad  loc.) 
— the  great  mass  of  the  Jews  will  em- 
brace the  Christian  belief  (Rom.  xi.  25). 
Enoch  and  Elias,  according  to  the  common 
belief,  will  appear  to  preach  penance.  This 
idea  has  an  interesting  history,  which  de- 
serves more  special  mention,  but  we  will 
begin  by  introducing  the  current  belief 
itself-  in  the  words  of  St.  Augustine : 
*' Enoch  and  Elias"  (Serm.  299),  he 
says,  ^'  live ;  they  have  been  translated ; 
wherever  they  are,  they  live.  And  if  a 
certain  conjecture  of  faith  made  from  the 
Scripture  of  God  is  not  wrong,  they  will 
die.  For  the  Apocalypse  relates  that  at 
a  future  time  two  wonderful  prophets 
will  both  die  and  rise  again,  in  the  sight 
of  men,  and  go  up  to  the  Lord ;  and  they 
are  understood  to  be  Enoch  and  Elias, 
although  in  that  passage  their  names  are 
not  given."  Let  us  trace  the  origin  of 
that  belief.  G  enesis  and  the  Book  of  Kings 
tell  us  that  Enoch  and  Elias  were  removed 
from  the  earth  in  an  extraordinary  way. 
From  Malachias  iv.  5,  and  fi'om  Matt, 
xvii.  11 — though  the  inference  is  pre- 
carious—^it  was  inferred  that  Elias,  not 
only  in  spirit  and  power,  but  in  his  proper 
person,  would  reappear  before  the  end  of 
the  world.  From  the  words  of  Ecclus. 
xliv.  16,  "  Enoch  pleased  God,  and  was 


LAST  DAY 


503 


translated  into  Paradise,  that  he  may 
give  penance  to  the  nations,"  the  same 
conclusion  was  drawn  with  regard  to 
Enoch,  though  in  the  Greek  the  words 
simply  are,  "  Enoch  pleased  God,  and  was 
translated,  [being]  an  example  of  repent- 
ance to  the  nations."  This  belief  in  the 
reappearance  of  Enoch  and  Elias  was  con- 
nected with,  and,  as  it  was  thought,  sup- 
ported by,  that  remarkable  section  of  the 
Apocalypse,  xi.  1-13.  The  holy  city — 
i.e.  Jerusalem  (see  v.  8) — with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  vaos,  or  temple  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word,  is  to  be  trodden  under 
foot  by  the  heathen.  Two  witnesses  of 
Christ,  who  are  compared  with  the  lamps 
and  olive-trees  in  Zacharias,  are  to  pro- 
phesy for  about  three  years  and  a  half, 
and  to  show  miraculous  power,  but  at  last 
they  are  to  be  killed  by  "the  beast." 
However,  after  three  days  and  a  half,  they 
are  to  live  again  and  go  up  "  to  lieaven 
in  the  cloud."  The  fate  of  Jerusalem  here 
depicted  was  taken  as  an  allegory  of  the 
fortunes  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  it 
was  commonly  supposed  that  Enoch  and 
Elias  were  the  two  witnesses.  This  be- 
lief is  expressed  clearly  by  Tertullian 
("De  An."  50),  and  was'undoubtedly the 
prevalent  and,  indeed,  aU  hut  universal 
opinion  of  the  ancients,  Tliilo,  on  the 
"Evangelium  Nicodemi,"  c.  25,  has  treated 
the  whole  question  elaborately.  Bede, 
however,  is  said  (by  Diisterdieck,  on  the 
Apocalypse,  od  loc.)  to  have  rejected  this 
interpretation ;  and  we  are  able  to  quote 
Maldonatus  (on  Matt,  xvii.  11)  for  what 
is,  as  we  venture  to  think,  a  far  more 
likely  interpretation — viz.  that  St.  John 
refers  to  Moses  and  Elias,  who  represented 
the  law  and  the  prophet>»,  and  had  already 
witnessed  to  Christ  in  his  transfiguration. 
Another  sign  of  the  nearness  of  the 
last  day  is  "  the  Apostasy  "  of  2  Thess. 
ii.  3,  which  St.  Thomas  and  Estius, 
against  many  other  interpreters,  take  to 
mean  "a  defection  from  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  that  a  universal  one,  by  which 
not  only  persons,  however  many  (a  thing 
that  has  often  happened  in  former  ages), 
but  also  the  kingdoms  and  all,  or  all  but 
all,  provinces  will  withdraw  from  the  Ca- 
tholic Church."  Signs,  too,  are  the  natural 
portents,  famine,  pestilence,  earthquakes, 
darkening  of  the  sun,  &c.,  mentioned  in 
Matt.  xxiv.  and  Luc.  xxi.  But,  after  all, 
"concerning  that  day  or  hour  no  man 
knoweth,  not  even  the  angels  in  lieaven, 
nor  the  Son,  but  the  Father "'  (Mark  xiii. 
32),  The  mistakes  which  even  able  and 
pious  men  have  made  on  this  point  ai© 


604 


LAST  THINGS 


LATERAN  CHURCH 


well  known.  "  Even  some  of  the  Fathers," 
Jimgmann  writes  ("  De  Noviss."  p.  20(S), 
•  as  St.  Cyprian,  St.  Ambrose,'  Sti  Ba>il, 
St. Gregory,  St.  Bernard,  and  distinguished 
preachers  of  the  divine  word,  like  St. 
Norbert  and  St. Vincent  Ferrer,  have  some- 
times expressed  the  opinion  that  the  day  of 
the  Lord  was  at  hand,  because  of  the  signs 
which  seemed  to  them  to  be  present."  Ihe 
persons  who  have  been  led  away  after 
this  fashion  in  our  own  time  have  been  of 
verv  different  intellectual  and  spiritual 
calibre,  and  their  warnings  have  occasioned 
some  amusement  but  very  little  panic. 

The  order  of  events  on  the  last  day 
is  quite  uncertain.  St.  Augustine  con- 
jectures {"De  Civit.  Dei,"  xx.  30),  but 
merely  conjectures,  that  the  appearance  of 
Elias  will  come  first,  then  the  conversion 
of  the  Jews,  the  persecution  of  Antichrist, 
Christ's  advent,  the  resurrection,  the 
separation  of  the  good  and  the  wicked,  the 
conflagration  and  finally  the  renovation 
of  the  world.  On  the  other  hand,  St. 
Thomas  {"  In  Sentent.  IV."  dist.  xlvii.  qu. 
2.  a.  3),  whose  opinion  is  most  commonly 
followed,  argues  that  the  action  of  fire  wiU 
begin  before  the  judgment.  It  will,  he 
thinks,  kill  and  destroy  the  bodies  of  all 
upon  the  earth,  torturing  the  evil,  serving 
as  purgatorial  torment  to  the  imperfect, 
and  inflicting  God's  vengeance  on  the 
wicked.  Further,  it  will  cleans*^  and 
renew  the  earth,  not  after  the  judgment, 
as  St.  Augustine  thought,  but  before  it. 
This  St.  Thomas  gathers  from  Rom.  viii. 
21,  which,  as  he  considers,  makes  the 
renovation  of  the  world  synchronous 
with  the  resurrection  of  the  just. 

X.AST  THZNGS.  The  four  last 
things  are  generally  said  to  be  Death, 
Judgment,  Heaven,  Hell.  These  are  not 
all,  but  the  most  important,  things  which 
happen  to  men  as  tbey  leave  and  after 
they  leave  this  w^orld.  The  Germans 
speak  of  Eschatology  (6  twv  ea-xarav 
\6yos)  as  a  special  department  of  theology, 
and  the  name  has  been  adopted  by  some 
Ebglish  writers.  It  includes  the  con- 
sideration of  purgatory,  the  resurrection, 
the  eternal  reign  of  Christ,  the  destruc- 
tion and  renovation  of  the  world.  A 
very  useful  treatise  "  De  Novissimis"  has 
been  published  by  Jungmann  (Ratisbonae, 
1874).  Most  of  the  subjects  which  fall 
under  this  head  are  discussed  in  separate 
articles. 

XiATERAir  CBX7RCB         ATTB 

COVZrcziiS.  The  family  of  the  Plau- 
tii  Lat^raui  had  a  magnificent  house  on 
the  Ccelian  hill — "  egregise  Lateranorum 


asdes,"  as  Juvenal  calls  it.  This  house, 
or  a  house  on  the  same  site,  was  known 
as  the  Lateran  palace,  and  belonged  to 
the  Empress  Fausta  (Fleury,  "  II.  E."  x. 
11).  Her  husband,  Constantine,  built 
close  to  it  the  Church  of  "the  Saviour," 
known  as  the  Basilica  Constantiniana, 
and  also — because  the  Emperor  built  a 
Baptistery  there,  and  Baptisteries  are 
associated  with  St.  John  Baptist — as  the 
Church  of  St.  John  Lateran.  It  is  the 
chief  or  Cathedral  Church  of  Rome,  and 
there  the  "Stations"  are  held  on  many 
solemn  days  (^6.  xi.  36).^  Bulls  of 
Gregory  XL,  in  1372,  and  of  Pius  V.,  in 
1569,  have  confirmed  its  pre-eminence 
over  all  other  churches,  even  St.  Peter's, 
and  justified  the  proud  inscription  which 
meets  the  eye  at  the  entrance,  "  Omnium 
urbis  et  orbis  ecclesiarum  mater  et  caput." 
In  this  church,  besides  au  important 
council  in  649  against  the  Monothelites, 
five  general  councils  have  been  held. 

(1)  Under  Calixtus  II.,  in  1123. 
More  than  300  bishops  and  600  abbots 
wero  present.  This  was  the  Ninth  Gen- 
eral Council,  and  the  first  ever  held  in  the 
West.  The  chief  object  was  to  end  the 
strife  on  Investiture  between  the  Emperor 
Henry  V.  and  the  Holy  See.  The 
arrangement  made  at  tlie  Concordat  of 
Worms  was  confirmed.  Henry  agreed  to 
leave  the  choice  and  consecration  of  pre- 
lates free,  to  resign  all  claims  to  invest  with 
rij]g  and  staff',  and  to  restore  Church  goods, 
while  the  Pope  allowed  the  elections  to 
take  place  in  the  Emperor's  presence,  gave 
him  the  right  to  decide  in  contested  elec- 
tions after  taking  counsel  from  the  metro- 
politans and  provincial  bishops,  and  to 
confer  the  regalia  with  the  sceptre. 

(2)  The  Second  Lateran  Council 
(Tenth  General  Council),  held  in  1139 
under  Innocent  II.,  and  attended  by  about 
1 ,000  prelates,,  excommunicated  Roger  of 
Sicily  (champion  of  Anacletus  II.,  the 
Antipope),  suspended  clerics  promoted  by 
Anacletus,  and  imposed  silence  on  Arnold 
of  Brescia,  the  great  ecclesiastical  dema- 
gogue of  the  day.  Thirty  canons  were 
passed  on  simony,  incontinence,  clerical 
dress,  breaking  the  "  Peace  of  God,"  and 
contests  dangerous  to  life. 

(3)  The  Third  Lateran  and  Eleventh 
General  Council  was  convoked  in  1179,  by 
Alexander  III.,  was  attended  by  more 
than  300  bishops,  and  numbered  about  a 
thousand    members  in   all.     It  ordered 

*  "  Oil  est  marquee  la  station  des  jours  les 
plu3  solennels."  But  this  is  not  borne  out^  at 
least  by  the  present  Missal. 


LATERAN  CHURCH 

that  future  Popes  should  he  elected  hy  a 
majority  of  two  thirds,  aud  passed  sen- 
tence of  excommunication  on  anyone  who 
accepted  the  Papacy  on  other  conditions, 
as  well  as  upon  those  who  supported  him. 
Disciplinaiy  enactments  were  also  made 
against  simony,  clerical  incontinence, 
intercourse  with  Saracens  and  Jews. 

(4)  Innocent  III.  opened  the  Fourth 
Lateran  and  Twelfth  General  Synod,  the 
most  imposing  probably  of  all  councils 
ever  held,  in  1215,  for  the  recovery  of  the 
Holy  Land  and  the  reform  of  the  Church. 
The  representatives  of  Frederic  II.,  of 
Henry,  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  of 
the  Kings  of  England,  France,  Aragon, 
Hungary,  Cyprus,  Jerusalem,  and  of 
other  princes,  412  bishops,  800  abbots, 
many  representatives  of  absent  bishops 
and  chapters,  were  present.  The  seventy 
decrees  of  the  council  concern  most  im- 
portant points  of  discipline  and  doctrine. 
The  Bishop  of  Constantinople  was  made 
the  first  of  the  Eastern  patriarchs;  the 
Greek  rites,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  other 
patriarchs,  were  fully  acknowledged ;  while 
at  the  same  time  the  Greek  practice  of 
rebaptising  children  already  baptised  by 
Latins,  and  of  washing  altars  to  mark 
th  ir  defilement  if  they  had  been  used  by 
Latin  priests,  was  reprobated,  and  the 
supremacy  of  Rome  insisted  on.  Regula- 
tions were  made  and  indulgences  offered 
for  the  coming  crusade.  The  duty  of 
annual  confession  "propriosacerdoti"  was 
enforced.  Definitions  were  issued  on  the 
absolute  unity  of  God.  Abbot  Joachiib 
had  maintained  that  the  three  divine 
Perso"ns  were  one  God  only  in  the  same 
sense  as  many  human  persons  are  all  men  or 
Christians  one  with  each  other  and  with 
Christ.  In  other  words  he  substituted  a 
specific  or  moral  for  that  numerical  unity 
in  which,  with  the  real  distinction  of  the 
three  Persons,  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity 
consists.  The  council,  on  the  contrary, 
defined  that  each  of  the  three  Persons  i^ 
identical  with  the  one  divine  substance. 
It  also  defined  the  Catholic  doctrine  on 
the  sacraments,  &c.,  against  the  Albigenses, 
and  in  particular  tliat  the  bread  and  wine 
in  the  Mass  are  ''  transubstantiated  "  into 
Christ's  body  and  blood. 

(5)  The  Fifth  Lateran  Council  (Eight- 
eenth General)  was  opened  by  Julius  II., 
in  1512,  and  closed  by  Leo  X.,  in  1517. 
The  Church  was  distracted  at  the  time 
by  the  schismatic  Council  of  Pisa.  The 
Fifth  Lateran  was  attended  by  15  card- 
inals and  79  (afterwards  120)  bishops, 
mostly    Italian.      The    decrees  of  Pisa 


LATROCTNIUM 


505 


were  declared  null,  the  "  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion" condemned,  and  the  French  Con- 
cordat was  approved,  canons  passed  on 
preaching,  exemption  of  regulars,  monts 
de  piste,  Sic,  &c.  Two  decrees  of  the 
council  are  of  wider  interest.  It  de- 
fined (Bull  "  Pastor  seternus")  the  Pope's  ^ 
"  authority  over  all  councils  "  and  (Bull 
"  Apostolici  regiminis  ")  condemned  those 
who  held  that  the  intellectual  soul  is 
mortal,  or  only  one  in  all  men,  or  that 
these  propositions  were  true  at  least 
philosophically.  For  the  French  objec- 
tions to  the  oecumenical  character  of 
the  council,  see  Hefele,  "  Concil."  i.  p. 
68,  and  the  article  Councils. 

XiATzir.  [See  Language  op  the 
Church.] 

IiATRZA  (Xarpf/a)  in  itself  simply 
means  "  service,"  whether  rendered  to  God 
or  man  ;  but  the  usage  of  the  Church  has 
made  it  a  technical  term  for  that  supreme 
worship  which  can  lawfully  be  offered  to 
God  alone.  The  word  is  so  lised  by  the 
Greek  Fathers  and  the  Seventh  General 
Council ;  and  St.  Augustine  ("  Contr. 
Faust."  XX.  21)  adopts  it  on  the  ground 
that  no  one  Latin  word  will  do  instead.  It 
was  probably  St.  Augustine's  influence 
which  made  it  a  familiar  term  in  Latin 
theology.  The  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  is  the 
principal  act  of  latria,  hence  it  is  called  in 
patristic  literature  Xarpeia  ryjs  olKouoixLas 
(Petavius,  "  De  Incarnat."  xv.  2). 

XiATROCIirZirM  {(Tvvoboi  Xr^crrpiKrj; 
"  Council  of  Bandits  ").  A  nrime  given  by 
Pope  Leo  (and  current  ever  since)  to  the 
heretical  council  which  met  at  Ephesus 
in  449.  Dioscorus,  Patriarch  of  Alex- 
andria, had  come  forward  in  defence  of 
the  doctrine  that  there  is  but  one  nature 
of  the  Incarnate  Word,  and  being  discon- 
tented with  the  decision  of  the  bishops 
who  met  at  Constantinople  and  affirmed 
that  Christ  was  one  Person  in  two 
natures,  he  used  his  influence  with  the 
Empress  Eudocia  to  have  a  general 
council  convoked  at  Ephesus.  Pope  Leo 
did  not  oppose  the  meeting  of  the  council, 
although  he  had  clearly  laid  down 
the  doctrine  of  the  two  natures  in  his 
letter  to  Flavian,  bishop  of  Constantin- 
ople. Dioscorus  presided  at  the  council, 
the  Papal  legates,  Juvenal  of  Jerusalem, 
Domnus  of  Antioch,  and  Flavian  of  Con- 
stantinople, being  present.  Dioscorus  tore 
their  papers  from  all  notaries  except  his 
own,  and  is  accused  of  having  falsified 
the  Acts ;  he  called  in  soldiers  and  fana- 
tical monks,  armed  with  cudgels,  Flavian 
was  trodden  under  foot  and  imprisoned, 


606 


LAUDA.  SIGN 


LAW 


and  the  other  bishops,  with  few  exceptions, 
were  forced  by  violence  and  starvation  to 
sign  a  bl  ank  paper  on  which  Dioscorus  at  ter- 
wards  set  the  condemnation  of  Flavian. 
The  Papal  legates,  however,  protested  at 
once.  Flavian  died  shortly  afterwards  on 
his  way  to  exile.  Theodosius  confirmed 
the  decrees  of  this  synod,but  it  was  rejected 
by  the  churches  of  Syria,  Asia  Minor, 
Pontus.  and  the  West.  Pope  Leo  of 
course  absolutely  refused  to  acknowledge 
it.  [See  Chalcedon,  Ootjkcil  of.] 
XiAUDA,  sxoio-.  [See  Hymns.] 
X.ii.Ul>S.  [See  Beeviary.] 
XiAXTRA  (Gr.  \avpa,  properly,  an 
alley  or  lane).  An  aggregation  of  separate 
cells,  tenanted  by  monks,  "  under  the  not 
very  strongly  defined  control  of  a  su- 
perior." ^  Usually  each  monk  had  a  cell 
to  himself,  but  in  the  laura  of  Pachomius 
one  cell  was  assigned  to  three  monks. 
For  five  days  in  the  week  the  tenants  of 
the  laura  remained  in  their  cells,  living 
on  bread  and  water,  and  working  at 
basket-makmg,  or  some  similar  employ- 
ment ;  on  the  Saturday  and  Sunday  they 
took  their  meals  together  in  the  common 
refectory,  and  worshipped  God  in  the 
common  church.  The  discipline  of  the 
laura  was  a  kind  of  intermediate  stage 
between  the  eremitical  life  of  St.  Antony 
and  the  monastic] sm  founded  by  St. 
Basil  and  St.  Benedict.  It  flourished  in 
the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  in  the 
desert  country  near  the  Jordan ;  St. 
li^uthymius,  St.  Sabbas,  and  the  abbot 
Gerasimus  were  its  chief  types  and  pro- 
moters. St.  Euthymius  lived  to  be 
ninety-six  years  old  ;  just  before  he  died 
he  told  the  person  whom  the  monks  had 
designated  as  his  successor,  that  it  was 
the  will  of  God  that  the  laura  should  be 
turned  into  a  monastery,  as  if  foreseeing 
that  this  was  the  discipline  of  the  future 
for  the  more  perfect  souls.  (Fleury,  Hvr. 
xxviii.,  xxix.,  xxx. ;  Smith  and  Cheet- 
ham.) 

ZiAVS     TZBZ,     CBRXSTE.       [See 
Gospel.] 

I^AVABO.  The  first  word  of  Ps. 
XXV.,  which  the  priest  recites  while  the 
acolytes  pour  water  on  his  hands  shortly 
before  he  begins  the  Canon  of  the  Mass. 
The  rite  indicates  the  perfect  parity  of 
heart  with  which  the  priest  should  cele- 
brate those  holy  mysteries.  This  wash- 
ing of  the  hands  (by  the  deacon,  how- 
ever) is  mentioned  by  St.  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem.  The  psalm  is  also  recited 
during  the  washing  of  the  hands  in  the 
'  J)ictionary  of  Christian  Antiq. 


liturgies  of  St.  Chrysostom  and  St.  Basil, 
It  is  not  said  in  the  Ambrosian  Mass,  in 
which  the  priest  purifies  his  hands 
silently  just  before  the  consecration. 
There  is  great  variety  on  this  point  in 
the  old  English  rites.  In  that  of  York  the 
washing  is  accompanied  by  a  verse  of  Ps. 
XXV.,  the  "  Veni,  Creator,"  and  a  prayer ; 
in  that  of  Hereford,  by  the  "  Veni,  Creator," 
and  a  prayer;  in  those  of  Sarum  and 
Bangor  (?j,  simply  by  a  prayer.  (Le 
Brun,  Benedict.  XIV.,  MaskeU.) 

lULW.  The  word  is  used  in  two 
widely  different  senses.  When  we  speak 
of  the  "  law  of  gravitation,"  we  mean  an 
observed  invariable  uniformity  of  co- 
existence and  succession  comiecting  cer- 
tain effects  with  certain  conditions  or 
causes,  so  that  when  the  conditions  are 
present  the  effect  invariably  follows.  The 
necessity  which  links  the  cause  to  the 
effect  we  do  not  understand,  nor  can 
account  for  ;  we  only  know  by  an  unfail- 
ing experience  that  it  exists ;  and  as  it 
forms  an  element  in  the  phenomenal 
system  of  motions  and  changes  in  the 
midst  of  which  we  live,  we  call  it  a 
physical  necessity,  and  the  resulting  uni- 
formity we  term  a  law  of  nature.  But 
when  we  speak  of  the  law  of  the  Twelve 
Tables,  or  of  the  laws  of  Lycurgus,  or 
the  Mosaic,  or  the  Gospel  law,  we  mean 
a  uniformity  which  ought  to  be  imposed 
(assuming  the  law  to  be  just)  on  the 
actions  of  those  subject  to  it,  but  which 
is  not  always  imposed  in  fact,  because  the 
(Subjects  of  the  law  are  free  agents  and 
can  refuse  to  obey  it.  The  necessity 
which  should,  but  does  not  always,  make 
the  conduct  conformable  to  the  precept, 
we  call  a  'moral  necessity,  or  obligation ; 
and  the  precepts  which,  being  addressed 
to  free  agents,  enjoin  but  do  not  compel 
their  own  fulfilment,  we  terra  moral 
laws,  and  divide  into  civil,  criminal, 
natural,  positive,  &c.  Of  laws  in  this 
second  sense,  the  first  is  the  natural  law, 
which  we  must  carefully  distinguish  from 
"  laws  of  nature  "  or  physical  laws.  This 
natural  law  is  implanted  by  God  in  the 
mind  of  every  one  of  his  reasonable 
creatures,  distinguishing  for  them  good 
from  evil,  and  bidding  them  follow  the 
one  and  shun  the  other.  But  since  the 
will  of  man  has  been  weakened  by  the 
fall,  he  is  not  able  to  obey  the  dictates  of 
this  natural  law  without  some  kind  of 
assistance  or  reinforcement.  This  assis- 
tance is  given,  partly  by  human  ordi- 
nances, directing,  forbidding,  rewarding, 
and  punishing,  partly  by  the  jrevealed  law 


LAX 

of  God;  through  the  operation  of  which 
it  appears  to  have  been  his  will,  first,  to 
educate  a  single  people  to  a  more  perfect 
knowledge  and  obedience ;  next,  gradually 
to  leaven  and  transform  all  the  tribes  of 
mankind,  as  they  become  one  by  one  in- 
corporated in  the  Catholic  Church.  Ac- 
cordingly the  revealed  law  is  divided, 
historically,  into  the  law  of  the  Old  and 
that  of  the  New  covenant.  The  law  of 
the  Old  covenant,  given  on  Mount  Sinai, 
prepared  the  way  for  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  and — except  as  to  that  portion  of 
it  which  was  a  restoration  of  the  natural 
law  and  is  perpetually  binding — lost  its 
divine  authority  on  the  establishment  of 
the  Church.  The  law  of  the  New  cove- 
nant is  that  which  Christ  the  king  pro- 
poses through  the  Church  [see  Chttrch 
OF  Christ,  Grace,  Sacraments]  to  the 
human  race.  Thus  every  man,  besides 
being  subject  to  the  internal  or  natural 
law  seated  in  the  conscience,  is  under  two 
external  laws.  He  is  first — if  not  actually 
and  de  facto,  yet  potentially  and  cle  jure 
— under  the  divine  law  as  interpreted  and 
administered  by  the  Catholic  Church, 
Secondly,  he  is  under  the  lex  loci,  the 
system  of  human  law  belonging  to  the 
country  of  his  birth  or  domicile.  If  a 
coutiict  arise  between  the  two  external 
laws — as  when  the  law  of  the  land  enjoins 
idolatry,  or  forbids  the  frequentation  of 
the  sacraments — it  is  manifest  that  the 
lower  law  ought  to  yield  to  the  higher, 
and  that  individual  Christians  are  bound, 
whatever  may  be  the  consequences, 
to  "hear  the  Church,"  and  disobey  any 
contrary  injunction.  (Wetzer  and  Welte, 
art.  by  Aberle.) 

]LAX.    [See  Moral  Theology.] 

ImATX  brothers  A.SfD  SISTERS. 

Persons  who  take  the  habit  and  vows  of 
religion,  but  are  employed  mostly  in 
manual  labour,  and  are  exempt  therefore 
from  the  duties  of  choir,  when  they  exist, 
or  from  the  studies,  &c.,  incumbent  on 
the  other  members  of  religious  orders, 
where  there  is  no  choir. 

The  first  instance  of  a  distinction  be- 
tween lay  brothers  (fratres  conversi,  freres 
convers)  occurred  in  the  monastery  of  Vall- 
ombrosa,  founded  in  the  earlier  part  of 
the  eleventh  century  by  St.  John  Gual- 
bert.  Afterwards  we  find  lay  brothers 
among  the  monks  of  Hirsauge,  and  the 
Abbot  William  is  said  in  his  Life  to  have 
instituted  this  kind  of  religious.  The 
Carthusians  adopted  the  new  practice,  and 
now  lay  brothers  and  sisters  are  to  be 
found    in   most    religious   orders,    even 


LAYMAN 


507 


among  the  Benedictines,  who  knew  no- 
thing of  such  a  distinction  at  first. 

Two  (iauses,  according  to  Fleury, 
contributed  to  the  change.  The  greater 
part  of  the  monks  (contrary  to  the  old 
usage)  in  the  eleventh  century  were 
ecclesiastics,  and  it  was  necessary  to  pro- 
vide for  those  who  had  the  religious  but 
no  ecclesiastical  vocation.  Next,  in  the 
eleventh  century,  Latin  was  no  longer  a 
vulgar  tongue,  and  hence  many  of  the 
religious,  ignorant  of  Latin  and  often 
unable  to  read,  were  unfit  for  the  duties 
of  the  choir.  (Fleury,  "  H.  E."  Ixi.  4,  Ixiii. 
68 ;  Discours  viii.  a.  5.) 

liAY  COSfLTtLUlSZOTH  is  a  phrase 
scarcely  used  at  present  among  Catholics. 
But  in  the  language  of  the  early  Church 
it  often  occurs  to  describe  the  state  to 
which  a  cleric  was  reduced  by  forfeiting 
the  right  to  exercise  his  functions  with- 
out being  excommunicated  and  losing  the 
ordinary  privileges  of  a  Christian.  Thus 
the  Council  of  Agde  (anno  506),  canon 
60,  orders  that  bishops,  priests,  and 
deacons,  guilty  of  certain  great  crimes, 
should  for  the  rest  of  their  lives  only 
receive  lay  communion  (communionem 
laicam). 

A  cleric  maybe  reduced  to  lay  commu- 
nion in  three  ways,  (a)  A  cleric  in  minor 
orders  may  lawfully  marry,  but  in  this 
case  the  canon  law  deprives  him  of  office, 
benefice,  and  the  privileges  of  his  state. 
The  Council  of  Trent,  however  (Sess. 
xxiii.  c.  17,  De  Reform.)  allows  the  promo- 
tion of  men  already  married  to  minor 
orders,  provided  they  are  not  "bigami" 
and  there  is  a  lack  of  other  candidates. 
They  have  the  privileges  canonis  et  fori  if 
they  wear  tonsure  and  cassock.  (/S).  A 
cleric  in  holy  orders  may  be  dispensed 
from  his  obligations — e.g.,  of  wearing  the 
clerical  dress,  reciting  his  breviary,  of 
celibacy,  &c. — by  the  Pope.  In  that' case 
the  cleric  in  question  is  usually  prohibited 
from  exercising  the  functions  of  his  ofiSce. 
(y).  The  old  law  of  the  Church  reduced 
to  lay  communion  clerics  who  were  de- 
posed or  removed  from  their  office.  But, . 
according  to  the  more  modern  canon  law, 
the  loss  of  clerical  privileges  is  only  en- 
tailed by  degradation. 

XiAYAIAsr.  One  of  the  people  Q^aos), 
as  distinguished  from  the  clergy.  The 
Septuagint  (Exodus  xix.  24,  Isai.  xxiv.  2) 
used  the  word  \abs  in  contradistinction  to 
the  priests.  The  other  Greek  versions 
have  the  words  XatKoy,  ''laic,"  and  Xat/covj/ 
"to  profane;"  and  so  the  Vulgate  (1  Reg. 
xxi,  4)  has  the  expression  '*laicos  panes.'- 


608 


LAZARISTS 


Clem.  Kom.,  Ep.  i.  40,  uses  laic  or  layman 
(KaiKos)  for  the  first  time  in  Christian 
literature,  but  he  means  by  it  a  Jewish 
and  not  a  Christian  layman.  But  in  the 
Clementine  Homilies,  Epist.  CI.  §.  6  ;  in 
Clem.  Al.  " Strom.'  iii.  12,  p.  552,  ed. 
Potter;  in  Tertullian  "Prsescr."  41,  we 
find  the  modern  use  of  XaiKos  and  laicus 
for  Christian  layman. 

IiikZARISTS.  This  is  the  popular 
name  for  the  "  Congregation  of  the  Priests 
of  the  Mission,"  founded  by  St.  Vincent 
of  Paul  in  1625,  and  established  a  few 
years  later  in  the  College  of  St.  Lazare  at 
Paris.  St.  Vincent,  being  engaged  as  a 
tutor  in  the  family  of  the  Countess  de 
Joigny,  was  summoned  one  day  to  the 
sick  bed  of  one  of  her  vassals,  a  well-to- 
do  peasant  keld  in  general  esteem,  w^ho 
desired  to  make  his  confession  to  him. 
Pressing  the  inquiry  firmly  into  the  state 
of  the  man's  soul,  St.  Vincent  discovered 
with  consternation  that  he  had  the  burden 
of  several  unconfessed  mortal  sins  on  his 
conscience,  in  spite  of  which  he  had  been 
going  on  for  many  years  making  sacri- 
legious confessions  and  communicating. 
Being  brought  by  the  saint  to  a  proper 
sense  of  the  enormity  of  hia  conduct  tbe 
man  was  very  grateful,  and  declared  with- 
out scruple  his  conviction  that  he  owed 
more  than  his  life  to  St.  Vincent.  The 
countess,  hearing  what  had  happened,  en- 
treated the  holy  man  to  preach  in  the 
church  of  ToUeville  (near  Amiens),  where 
most  of  the  congregation  were  her  vassals, 
on  the  sin  and  danger  incuiTed  by  making 
bad  confessions.  The  consciences  of  the 
hearerswere  aroused,  and  numbers  crowded 
to  the  confessional  who  had  hitherto  made 
no  use,  or  a  bad  use,  of  it.  The  countess 
now  conceived  the  idea  of  founding  and 
endowing  an  institute  for  the  purpose  of 
preaching  missions  in  country  districts. 
She  desired  Vmceut  to  obtain  if  possible  the 
services  of  Jesuits  or  French  Oratorians ; 
but  neither  society  was  able  to  undertake 
the  work  at  the  time.  Finally  it  was 
arranged  that  Vincent,  aided  by  several 
pious  secular  priests  who  had  for  some 
years  been  associated  with  him  in  his 
various  works  of  mercy  and  instruction, 
should  commence  the  missions ;  that  the 
institute  should  be  established  in  the 
College  des  Bons  Enfans,  offered  for  the 
purpose  by  the  Archbishop  of  Paris ;  that 
the  countess  should  endow  it  with  forty 
thousand  livres ;  but  that  Vincent  should 
not  leave  her  house  while  she  lived.  Thus 
was  the  institute  founded  in  the  March  of 
1624  s  the  countess  died  the  same  year. 


LECTION   OR  LESSON 

The  congregation  (which  was  confirmed 
by  a  bull  of  Urban  VIII.  in  1032)  had  a 
threefold  end — the  sanctification  of  its 
own  members,  the  work  of  the  missions, 
and  the  training  of  an  exemplary  clergy. 
As  a  rule,  eigiit  months  in  the  year  were 
devoted  to  missions,  which  were  conducted 
nearly  on  the  same  plan  on  which  Re- 
demptorist  and  Passionist  missions  are 
conducted  at  the  present  day.  St.  Vin- 
cent, having  lived  to  see  twenty-five 
houses  of  the  new  institute  established — 
in  France,  Italy,  and  Poland — died  in 
1660.  being  eighty-five  years  old.  It  has 
been  already  stated  that  the  congregation 
removed  to  the  College  of  St.  Lazare 
(which  had  belonged  to  the  regular 
canons  of  St.  Victor)  in  1632.  It  was  a 
spacious  site,  and  the  third  superior- 
general,  Edmond  Joly,  erected  on  it  the 
vast  range  of  buildings  stiU  seen  there. 
St.  Vincent  of  Paul  was  beatified  in  1729, 
and  canonised  in  1757.  In  the  time  of 
H^lyot — that  is,  early  in  the  last  century — 
there  were  eighty -four  houses  of  the  in- 
stitute in  nine  provinces,  whereof  six  were 
in  France,  two  in  Italy,  and  one  in  Poland. 
Some  of  the  fathers  showed  an  inclination 
towards  Jansenism  and  refused  to  accept 
the  bull  "  Unigenitus ;  "  but  the  firm  and 
prudent  government  of  the  general  of 
that  day,  M.  Bonnet,  checked  in  time  the 
evil  tendency.  At  the  Revolution  St. 
Lazare  was  twice  plundered  by  the  mob ; 
several  of  the  fathers  were  massacred  in 
September  1792;  and  those  who  would 
not  take  the  condemned  oath-were  drivefi 
out  of  France,  their  property  being  con- 
fiscated. The  maison  St.  Lazare  was 
turned  into,  and  still  remains,  a  prison  for 
women.  Under  the  first  Napoleon  the  con- 
gregation was  allowed  to  re-enter  France, 
and  under  the  Restoration  the  grant  was 
made  to  it  of  a  house  in  the  Rue  de 
S(5vres  in  lieu  of  St,  Lazare.  The  mis- 
sions left  vacant  in  China  and  the  Levant 
on  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuits  in  1773 
were  transferred  to  the  Lazarists. 

In  1816  a  colony  of  Lazarists  arrived 
in  St.  Louis  from  Rome,  They  opened  a 
seminary  there,  and  have  since  made  foun- 
dations and  opened  seminaries  in  other 
dioceses,  especially  in  the  Northern 
States,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

XiSCTZOX-  OR  XiESSOXr  (LectiOf 
dvdyvaxris).  Some  details  on  this  subject 
have  been  given  mider  Epistle,  Gos- 
pel, Breviary.  But  something  remains 
to  be  said  now  on  the  history  of  lections 
in  general,  and  on  the  variety  of  practice 
which   separatee  the   ancient    from   the 


LECTION  OR  LESSON 

modern,  and  again  the  Eastern  from  the 
Western  Church. 

There  was  a  far  more  extensive  and 
continuous  use  of  Scripture  in  the  public 
services  of  the  early  Church  than  there 
is  among  us.  Usually  speaking,  our 
people  only  hear  the  Gospel  and  Epistle 
read  in  the  Mass,  with  the  psalms 
and  the  little  chapter  (scarcely  more 
than  a  verse  or  two),  usually  from 
the  Epistle,  at  vespers  and  compline  on 
Sundays  or  great  feasts.  In  the  prim- 
itive Church  it  was  very  different.  Thus 
St.  Augustine  ("Praef.  Exposit.  in  1 
Joann.")  says  that  he  "was  accustomed  to 
handle  {tractare)  the  Gospel  according  to 
John  in  the  order  of  the  lessons ; "  and 
that,  although  this  order  had  been  necess- 
arily interrupted  by  lessons  for  special 
solemnities,  the  continuous  reading  had 
o\\\j  been  "  intermitted,  not  omitted." 
In  this  way  Genesis  was  read  in  Lent, 
Job  in  Holy  Week,  Acts  between  Easter 
and  Pentecost,  &c.,  &c.  Our  Breviary 
lessons  for  the  first  nocturn  are  no  doubt 
a  relic  of  this  custom.  But  they  are  only 
a  relic,  partly  because  they  are  very  in- 
complete, partly  because  the  multiplica- 
tion of  festivals  causes  many  even  of  the 
portions  given  in  the  office  to  be  left  out 
altogether ;  above  all  because  the  laity, 
as  a  rule,  cannot  assist  at  those  Breviary 
offices.  Chryostom,  says  Mr.  Scrivener 
referring  to  "Hom.  x.  in  Joann."  exhorts 
his  hearers  to  peruse  and  mark  the  pass- 
ages {■KcpiKcmai)  of  the  Gospels  which  were 
to  be  publicly  read  to  them  the  ensuing 
Saturday  and  Sunday.  (See  his  "  Intro- 
duction to  the  Criticism  of  the  New 
Testament,"  2ud  ed.  p.  69  seq.).  These 
sections,  still  preserved  with  little  altera- 
tion in  the  modern  Greek  Church,  are 
very  different  from  our  Gospels  and 
Epistles.  They  contain  the  whole  text 
of  the  Gospels,  and  at  least  nearly  the 
whole  text  of  the  Acts  and  St.  Paul's 
Epistles.  On  the  other  hand,  while  the 
Greeks  read  the  Gospel  on  Sunday  morn- 
ings in  the  office  as  well  as  in  the  lit^ 
urgy,  their  daily  offices  contain  no  lessons 
from  Scripture. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  cus- 
tom of  introducing  lections  in  the  Breviary 
office,  still  maintained  in  the  West,  was 
at  one  time  familiar  to  the  Eastern 
churches.  The  Council  of  Laodicea,  canon 
]  7,  requires  a  lesson  to  be  read  after  each 
psalm,  and  Cassian  ("  Coenob.  Inst."  ii.  4) 
mentions  that  the  Egyptian  monks  read 
two  lections,  one  from  the  New,  one  from 
the  Old,  Testament,  after  each  series  of 


LECTIONARY 


509 


twelve  psalms.  This  practice  was  already 
very  ancient  even  in  his  time.  At  the  end 
of  the  sixth  century  at  latest,  as  appears 
from  Gregory  the  Great  (Epist.  xii.  24) 
and  from  the  Rule  of  St,  Benedict,  not 
only  Scripture  but  also  homilies  upon 
it  by  Fathers  and  Doctors  of  the  Church 
were  read  in  the  office.  Charlemagne,  in  a 
"  Constitutio  de  Emendatione  Librorum  et 
Officiorum,"  of  788,  caused  these  lections 
from  the  Fathers  to  be  revised  and  altered 
by  Paul  the  Deacon.  We  have  earlier 
evidence  for  the  custom  of  reading  the 
Acts  of  the  Martyrs,  which  had  begun 
before  St.  Aug.ustine's  time  (Serm. 
cccxv.  c.  1). 

ZiECXXOM-ART.  The  oldest  Latin 
Lectiouary  was  known  as  the  "  Comes '' 
{i.e.  the  cleric's  "companion") — the 
"  Comes  Major  "  if  it  contained  the  Epistles 
and  Gospels  for  the  year  in  full,  the 
"  Comes  Minor  "  if  it  merely  noted  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  portions  read. 
The  authorship  was  attributed  to  St. 
Jerome,  and  although  there  is  no  sufficient 
evidence  for  this  belief,  the  Comes  must 
have  been  compiled  about  St.  Jerome's  time, 
for  it  is  mentioned  by  name  in  a  docu- 
ment dated  471  (Mabillon,  "  De  Re  Di- 
plomat." 1.  vi.  482  seq.,  edit.  3,  Neapoli). 
It  has,  however,  undergone  serious  alter- 
ations. A  Galilean  Lectionary  contain- 
ing sections  from  the  Prophets,  Epistles, 
and  Gospels,  was  discovered  by  Mabillon, 
and  edited  by  him  ("  De  Liturg.  Gall."tom. 
ii.).  It  is  written  in  Merovingian  char- 
acters, recognises  among  the  few  feasts 
which  it  names  that  of  St.  Genevieve,  and 
usually  assigns  three  lections  to '  each 
Mass,  after  the  manner  of  the  ancient 
Galilean  Liturgy. 

•  In  the  Greek  church  the  Ledtionaries 
consist  of  lessons  from  the  Gospels 
{ivayyekia-Tapia) ;  from  the  Acts  and  Epis- 
tles {irpa^aiToaTokoi) ;  while  a  few  books 
known  as  anoarokofvayyeKia  have  lessons 
taken  both  from  the  Gospels  and  Apo- 
stolic writings.  Traces  of  Church  lessons 
occur  in  MSS.  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  cen- 
turies— viz.  in  the  Alexandrine  MS.  and 
and  in  the  Codex  Bez^e.  Of  Greek  Lect- 
ionaries  in  separate  volumes,  none  perhaps 
are  older  than  the  eighth  century.  The 
general  name  for  tables  of  lessons,  corre- 
sponding to  the  "Comes  Minor"  in  Latin, 
is  avva^dpiov'.,  for  tables  of  week-day 
lessons  fKKoydbia  {t5>v  d'  €vayyeXiaTa>v  or 
rov  dnoo-ToKov)  while  tables  of  lessons  for 
Saints'  days  are  called  fxTjvoXoyta.  Th* 
i  oldest  known  Synaxarion  is  prefixed  to  the 
I  Codex  Cyprius  (K),of  the  eighth  or  ninth 


010 


LiECTTOK 


century ;  another  is  found  in  the  Codex 
Campensis  (M),  which  is  perhaps  a  little 
later.  An  elaborate  account  of  the  Greek 
lessons  will  he  found  in  Scrivener 
("  Plain  Introduction  to  the  Criticism  of 
the  N.T,"),  from  whom  the  latter  part  of 
this  article  has  heen  taken. 

IiZICTOR  {dvayvMo-TTji}.  A  cleric, 
in  minor  orders,  whose  duty  originally 
consisted  in  reading  the  Church  lessons. 
The  great  antiquity  of  the  order — the 
eecond  of  the  minor  orders  among  the 
Latins,  the  first  among  the  Greeks — is 
proved  by  the  facts  that  it  is  mentioned 
by  Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  in  the 
middle  of  the  third  century  (apud  Euseb. 
"  H.  E."  vi.  43),  and  that  it  is  common  to 
sects  who  differ  from  each  other,  and 
who  separated  from  the  Catholic  Church 
in  the  fifth  century — viz.  Copts,  Syrian 
Jacobites  and  Nestorians,  not  to  speak 
of  the  schismatic  Greeks.  The  Ethi- 
opians, indeed,  ignore  this  order,  but  it  is 
mentioned  in  their  ancient  canons  and 
councils,  (Denzinger,  "  Ritus  Orienta- 
lium,"  tom.  i.  p.  118.) 

The  very  form  of  ordination,  as  it 
stiU  exists  with  very  slight  alteration 
among  us  at  the  present  day,  is  given  in 
canon  8  of  the  so-called  Fourth  Council  of 
Carthage,  at  the  close  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. The  bishop  is  to  give  the  book 
(codicem)  from  which  the  Lector  is  to 
read,  with  the  words  "  Take  it,  and  be  a 
reader  of  the  word  of  God,  to  have,  if 
thou  fulfil  thy  office  faithfully  and  use- 
fully, part  with  those  who  have  ministered 
the  word  of  God." 

The  Greeks,  according  to  Chardon 
("  Histoire  des  Sacrements,"  tom.  iv.  ch. 
2),  have  from  ancient  times  ordained 
their  Readers  by  imposition  of  hands, 
the  handing  of  the  book  after  ordination 
being  among  them  comparatively  modern. 
As  to  the  other  Oriental  rites,  the  Jacob- 
ites, Copts  and  Syrians  do  not,  the 
Nestorians  do,  confer  this  order  by  laying 
on  of  hands :  all  of  them  hand  the  book 
at  the  end  of  the  ordination  rite,  but 
without  any  form  of  words.  (Denzinger, 
tom.  i.  p.  134.) 

Besides  reading  in  church,  the  Lec- 
tors were  also  employed  as  secretaries  to 
bishops  and  priests.  They  were  often 
younger  than  the  Ostiarii  or  Porters,  for 
the  Lectorate  was  the  first  order  con- 
ferred on  young  clerics  (Chardon,  loc.  cit.) 
The  Roman  Pontifical  also  assigns  to 
them  the  office  of  blessing  bread  and  the 
new  fruits,  a  duty  first  mentioned  in 
Pontificals  of  the  years  600  and  700. 


LEGATE 

(Art.  Lector  in  Wetzer  and  Welte) 
At  present  this  order  is  regarded  chiefly 
as  a  step  to  the  priesthood,  and  it  is  only 
in  the  office  of  Good  Friday  that  the 
Missal  recognises  their  functions. 

Altogether  distinct  from  the  Lectors 
just  described  are  the  "  Lector  Mensae," 
or  reader  at  table  in  religious  houses  ;  the 
"  Lector  dignitarius,"  who  regulated  the 
reading  of  the  lessons  in  some  cathedral 
churches ;  and  the  Lectores — i.e.  lecturers 
or  professors — in  monasteries  and  uni- 
versities. 

XEGATE.  Among  the  Romans 
lef/nti  were  either  ambassadors,  or  officers 
of  high  rank  appointed  with  the  sanction 
of  the  senate  to  assist  a  dictator,  consul, 
or  proconsul  in  the  performance  of  his 
duties,  military  or  civil.  In  modem 
acceptation  the  term  is  confined  to  ec- 
clesiastics representing  the  Holy  See  and 
armed  with  its  authority.  Legates  are  of 
three  kinds — legates  a  latere,  emissaries  or 
nuncios  (legati  missi,  nuntii,  internuntii), 
and  legates  by  virtue  of  their  office  {legati 
nati).  The  dignity  of  a  legate  a  latere 
is,  and  has  long  been,  confined  to  car- 
dinals, though  in  former  times  it  was  not 
so :  e.g.  Pandulf,  the  legate  sent  by 
Innocent  III.  to  receive  the  submission  of 
King  John,  was  only  a  sub-deaccn. 
Legates  a  latere  are  either  ordinary  or 
extraordinary  :  the  first  govern  provinces 
belonging  to  the  Ecclesiastical  State — such 
as  were  (before  18G0)  the  Romag-na  and 
the  March  of  Ancona — in  the  Pope's 
name;  the  second  class  are  deputed  to 
visit  foreign  Courts  on  extraordinary  occa- 
sions, such  as  a  negotiation  for  a  peace, 
or  arrangements  for  a  general  council, 
&c.  Legati  missi  correspond  to  the  am- 
bassadors and  ministers  maintained  by 
secular  States  at  foreign  capitals.  For- 
merly they  were  called  opocrisiarii 
[ApocmsiARms]  :  now,  nuncios  or  inter- 
nuncios— the  latter  being  of  inferior  rank. 
Legati  nati  are,  or  were,  archbishops  to 
whose  sees  by  an  ancient  Papal  concession 
\\iQ  legatine  authority  was  permanently 
attached:  as  was  the  case  with  Canterbury 
in  England,  and  Salzburg  and  Prague  in 
Germany. 

All  three  classes  of  legates  above 
mentioned  formerly  enjoyed  an  ample, 
and  even  an  immediate,  jurisdiction,  as 
representing  the  Holy  See,  in  the  pro- 
vinces where  they  resided.  Hence  fre- 
quent collisions  with  episcopal  authority 
arose.  To  put  an  end  to  these  conflicts, 
the  Council  of  Trent '  decreed  that  legates, 
1  Seas.  xxiv.  cap.  20,  De  Refl 


LEGEND,  THE  GOLDEN 


LEGITIMATION 


511 


even  those  de  latere,  nuncios,  ecclesiastical 
governors,  or  others,  were  not  to  presume, 
on  the  strength  of  any  faculties  what- 
soever, to  impede  the  bishops  in  matri- 
monial causes  or  in  those  of  criminous 
clerks,  nor  in  any  w^ay  to  curtail  or  dis- 
turb their  jurisdiction;  nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  they  to  take  proceedings 
against  clerks  or  other  ecclesiastical  per- 
sons, unless  after  recourse  had  been  had 
to  the  bishop  and  he  had  neglected  to  act. 
The  jurisdiction  of  legates  is  now,  there- 
fore, chiefly  appellate.  (Ferraris,  Legafus ; 
article  by  Phillips  in  Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

XiSCBXril,  TBB  GOXiDEXr.  By 
this  name  is  known  the  earliest  collection 
made  iti  the  West  of  the  Lives  of  Saints, 
as  the  work  of  Metaphrastes  was  the 
earliest  Greek  collection  of  the  same  kind. 
The  compiler  was  Jacobus  de  Voragine 
(so  named  from  his  birthplace,  Varaggia, 
near  Genoa),  archbishop  of  Genoa  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  The  "  Legenda " 
contains  177  chapters,  each  of  which 
treats  of  a  saint  or  a  festival,  according 
to  the  order  of  the  ecclesiastical  calen- 
dar. There  is  an  entire  absence  of 
critical  discrimination  in  the  use  of 
materials.  The  work  became  very  popu- 
lar, was  translated  into  several  languages, 
and  is  said  to  have  passed  through  more 
than  a  hundred  editions.  Capgrave's 
"  Legenda  Anglise,"  a  work  of  the  iifteenth 
century,  printed  by  Oaxton,  was  doubtless 
modelled  upon  the  "  Golden  Legend,''  the 
success  of  which  must  have  encouraged 
Lipomani  and  Surius  in  their  labours,  and 
prepared  the  ground  for  the  great  com- 
pilation of  the  Bollandists. 

;  IiECITXlVCATZOia-  BIT  STTBSE- 
QUEWT  MARRIAGZ:.  The  Civil  Law 
and  the  Law  of  the  Church  agree  in 
ascribing  so  great  efficacy  to  the  marriage 
tie  that  it  is  held  to  spread  itself  over, 
reach  back  to,  and  legitimate  the  birth  of 
children  to  the  same  parties  before  the 
marriag«.  The  Civil  Law  recognised  this 
principle  somewhat  less  unreservedly  than 
the  Canon,  inasmuch  as  it  ascribed  a  cer- 
tain measure  of  relative  lawfulness  to  the 
relation  of  concubinage.  Against  this  the 
Church  set  its  face,  refusing  to  allow  that 
there  could  be  any  lawful  union  between 
persons  of  opposite  sex  except  by  the  way 
of  marriage,  and  treating  the  child  of  a 
concubine  as  in  no  superior  position, 
legally,  to  the  child  of  a  courtesan. 
However  long  a  time  may  have  passed, 
even  though  the  father  may  have  had  a 
lawful  wife  and  children  in  the  interval, 


nevertheless,  the  first  wife  being  dead, 
marriage  with  the  mother  of  his  natural 
children,  even  although  he  may  be  no 
longer  capable  of  being  a  father,  or  be  en 
the  bed  of  death,  legitimates  the  children 
of  the  illicit  union,  and  makes  them  as 
capable  of  inheriting  as  if  they  had  been 
born  in  wedlock.  The  reason  is  that  the 
Church,  like  Christ,  whom  she  represents 
in  the  world,  yearns  over  her  erring 
children,  and  desires  to  leave  open  for 
them  a  locus  pamitentice ;  and  this  all  the 
more  because  the  temporal  interests  and 
natural  feelings  of  the  innocent  children 
are  promoted  and  consulted  by  such 
lenity. 

AH  that  has  been  said,  however,  pro- 
ceeds upon  the  assumption  that  at  the 
time  when  the  natural  children  were  con- 
ceived or  born  the  parties  were  free  to 
marry.  It  is  only  in  that  case  that  the 
efficacy  of  the  subsequent  marriage  can 
be  held  to  reach  back  to  the  illicit  union. 
If  either  the  father  or  the  mother  was 
married  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  the 
I  child,  it  is  the  offspring  of  adultery,  and 
no  subsequent  marriage  can  legitimate  it. 
It  has  been  strenuously  maintained  by 
many  canonists  that  if  one  of  the  parties 
was  not  free  to  marry  at  the  time  of  the 
conception  of  the  child,  even  though  such 
freedom  existed  at  the  date  of  birth,  the 
child  is  adulterine,  and  cannot  be  legiti- 
mated by  subsequent  marriage.  The 
tendency  of  opinion,  however,  has  for  a 
long  time  past  been  towards  the  doctrine 
that  the  question  should  be  decided  simply 
by  the  date  of  birth  ;  and  that  if  at  that 
time  either  party  were  so  circumstanced 
that  he  or  she  could  not  possibly,  even 
with  the  aid  of  a  dispensation,  have 
married  the  other,  the  child  cannot  be 
afterwards  legitimated ;  but  not  other- 
wise. 

A  letter  addressed  by  Benedict  XIV., 
■writing  as  a  private  doctor,  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  St.  Domingo,  in  1744,  discusses 
this  important  subject  in  all  its  bearings 
with  the  utmost  lucidity  and  force. 

The  Common  Law  of  Enoland,  follow- 
ing, it  may  be  supposed,  some  ancient 
Teutonic  custom,  does  not  allow  that 
children  born  out  of  wedlock  can  be 
legitimated,  or  can  inherit,  through  a 
subsequent  marriage  between  the  parties. 
This  was  decided  so  far  back  as  12.'36.  At 
a  council  of  the  great  men  of  the  king- 
dom held  at  Merton,  the  bishops,  who  had 
found  that  collisions  were  of  frequent 
occurrence  between  the  spiritual  and 
secular  jurisdictions  on  account  of  their 


512 


LENT 


LENT 


different  views  on  this  question— persons 
being  bastardised  by  the  one  who  were 
legitimated  and  held  capable  of  inheriting 
by  the  other  — '*  requested  that  the  king  s 
writs  should  no  longer  direct  them  to  in- 
quire specially  whether  the  individual  in 
question  were  born  before  or  after  mar- 
riage, but  generally  whether  he  were 
legitimate  or  not.  They  objected  to  the 
practice  of  the  other  courts:  (1)  that  it 
was  contrary  to  the  Roman  and  Canon 
Law ;  (2)  that  it  was  unjust,  because  it 
deprived  of  the  right  of  inheritance  the 
issue  of  clandestine  marriages,  though 
such  marriages  were  not  annulled  by  any 
law ;  and  (3)  that  it  was  inconsistent 
with  itself,  because,  while  it  bastardised 
the  child  born,  it  legitimated  the  child 
that  was  only  conceived  before  marriage, 
though  hi  both  cases  the  moral  guilt  of 
the  parents  was  exactly  the  same.  But 
their  arguments  were  fruitless.  The  earls 
and  barons  unanimously  returned  the 
answer  ^  which  has  been  so  often  repeated 
and  applauded :  '  We  will  not  change  the 
old  and  approved  laws  of  England.' "  ^ 

This  difference  continues  to  exist  in 
England,  but  in  the  U.  S.  the  Common 
Law  has,  in  nearly  all  the  States,  been 
modified  by  statute  so  that,  in  conformity 
with  Roman  Law  and  Canon  Law,  and 
with  the  law  of  all  the  countries  of  Conti- 
nental Europe,  children  born  out  of  wed- 
lock are  rendered  legitimate  by  the  mar- 
riage of  their  parents,  and  cease  to  suffer 
from  the  slur  of  bastardy,  from  which  in 
England  nothing  can  ever  deliver  them. 
(Ferraris,  Legitimatio.) 

KEXTT.  A  fast  of  forty  days  pre- 
ceding Easter,  kept,  after  the  example  of 
Moses,  Eli  as,  and,  above  all,  of  Christ 
Himself,  in  order  to  prepare  the  faithful 
for  the  Easter  feast,  and  also  of  course  on 
account  of  the  general  advantages  to  be 
derived  from  a  long  period  of  penance. 
The  Greek  and  Latin  names  for  the  fast 
{Tfo-a-apaKooTf),  Quadragesima)  indicate 
the  number  of  days.  The  Italian  Quaresima 
and  the  French  Caretne  come  from  the 
Latin ;  the  German  Fastenzeit  and  the 
Dutch  Vasten  denote  the  fast  by  pre- 
eminence, like  f)  vr}(TTfta  in  the  Greek 
calendar ;  our  own  word  Lent  comes 
from  the  Anglo-Saxon  Lencten,  i.e.  spring 
{cf.  German  Lenz,  Dutch  Lente,  spring). 

There  is  no  mention  in  Scripture  of 
the  observance  of  Lent,  or,  indeed,  of  any 
determined  time  for  fasting  among  Chris- 
tians.    In  Acts  xxvii.  9,  St.  Paul  and  his 

^  "  Xolunt  Ic'^es  Anglite  mutare." 
2  Lingard,  Hist,  of  Eng.  ii.  245. 


companions  are  said  to  have  put  to  sea  at 
a  dangerous  time,  viz.  "  when  the  fast 
was  already  over."  But  the  fast  in  view 
was  evidently  the  one  Jewish  fast  com- 
manded in  the  law,  that  on  the  Day  of 
Atonement,  the  tenth  of  Tisri.  At  that 
time  the  autumnal  equinox  was  past,  and, 
as  a  rule,  no  more  voyages  were  under- 
taken for  the  season. 

There  is,  however,  proof  that  Lent,  in 
the  general  sense  of  a  fast  preceding 
Easter,  has  been  known  from,  or  nearly 
from,  Apostolic  times.  Thus  Tertullian,  in 
his  Montanist  treatise  on  fasting,  tells  us 
that  according  to  his  Catholic  adversaries 
those  days  were  set  apart  for  fasting 
*'  under  the  Gospel  dispensation  {in 
Evangelio)  in  ^\  hich  the  Spouse  was  taken 
away"  ("De  Jejnn."2;  cf.  13),  whereas 
the  Moutanists  kept  additional  fasts.  An 
earlier  writer,  Irenseus  (apud  Euseb. 
"  H.  E."  V,  24),  speaks  of  the  fast  before 
Easter,  and  the  dirterent  modes  of  observ- 
ance which  prevailed  in  different  places. 
The  words  occur  in  a  letter  to  Victor,  who 
was  Bishop  of  Rome  from  about  190  till 
202;  and  it  is  important  to  notice  that 
Irenaeus  says  the  difference  of  observance 
was  no  new  thing,  but  had  arisen  "  even 
long  before,  in   a   past  generation  "  (/cat 

TTokv    TTpOTCpOV    eVl    Tci)U  TTpO    IjfXav).        It    Is 

plain  also  that  from  very  early  times  the 
Lenten  fast,  whatever  its  duration  may 
have  been,  was  considered  obligatory. 
This  is  clearly  implied  in  the  language 
of  Tertullian  in  the  passages  quoted  above : 
"  dies  jejuniis  determinatos ; "  "  constituta 
!  esse  solemnia  huic  fidei  scripturis  vel 
j  traditioue  majorum."  Passages  to  the 
i  same  effect  abound  in  the  later  literature 
!  of  the  Church.  The  Council  of  Gangra, 
in  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  ana- 
thematises ((3an.  19)  those  who  neglected 
to  keep  thefasts  ''observed  by  the  Church." 
Jerome,  Ep.  41.  lays  down  the  strict 
obligation  of  keeping  the  Lenten  fast 
(see  also  Ambrose :  e.g.  "  De  Noe  gt  Area," 
13).  A  number  of  similar  statements 
may  be  seen  in  Thomassin,  "  Traits  de* 
Jeunes,"  Part  I.  ch.  v.  A  famous  incident, 
mentioned  by  Sozomen  ("  H.  E.'  i.  11). 
and  often  alleged  against  the  Catholic 
practice,  is  really  an  exception  which 
proves  the  rule.  There  the  story  is  told 
of  a  Bishop  Spyridon,  who,  having  no 
other  food,  not  even  bread  or  flour,  in  the 
house,  gave  an  exhausted  traveller  swine's 
flesh  at  the  beginning  of  Lent,  and  bade 
him  eat  it  without  scruple.  But  the 
stranger  at  first  refused  to  eat  it,  on  the 
gi-ound  that  he  was  a  Christian  ;  and  the 


LENT 

bishop  before  furnishing  this  food  "  prayed 
and  bep-ged  pardon"  of  Heaven.  All 
things,  as  the  bishop  argued,  are  pure  to 
the  pure,  and  then,  as  now,  the  Lenten 
rule  yielded  to  charity  and  necessity. 

We  have  taken  Lent  hitherto  in  its 
widest  acceptation,  as  meaning  a  fast  of 
Borne  sort  before  Easter,  and  in  Ante- 
Nicene  Fathers,  so  far  as  we  are  aware, 
no  clear  notice  occurs  of  a  fast  consist- 
ing even  approximately  of  forty  days. 
In  a  very  obscure  and  possibly  corrupt 
passage  of  Irenaaus  (apud  Euseb.  v.  24) 
the  Benedictine  editor  Massuet  (Diss.  ii. 
23  seq.)  sees  an  allusion  to  the  forty  days 
with  which  we  are  now  familiar.  He 
understands  the  saint  to  say  that  some 
kept  the  fast  of  extraordinary  strictness 
known  as  xerophagy  for  one  day,  others 
for  two  or  more,  others  for  all  the  forty 
days  of  Lent.  This  is  a  possible  and 
even  plausible  explanation,  but  it  cannot 
be  considered  certain,  and  many  scholars. 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  believe  that 
Irenseus  refers  to  an  absolute  fast  from  all 
food  during  two  or  more  days,  or  for 
forty  hours.  However,  from  the  early 
part  of  the  fourth  century  onwards,  there 
are  many  references  to  Lent  as  a  period  of 
about  forty  days.  The  word  reo-o-apaKoo-ri)  is 
found  in  Can.  5  of  the  Nicene,  and  Can.  50 
of  the  Laodicean,  Council,  the  latter  being 
held,  according  to  Hefele,  somewhere  be- 
tween 343  and  381.  Even  if  the  word 
was  originally  connected  with  the  forty 
hours  during  which  Christ  lay  in  the 
tomb,  it  was  taken  in  the  fourth  century 
at  least  to  mean  a  period  of  forty  days. 
St.  Gregory  Nyssen  (tom.  ii.  p.  253) 
reckons  Lent  as  a  time  of  rather  less  than 
two  months ;  while,  in  the  West,  St. 
Augustine  (Ep.  Iv.  c.  15,  "  Ad  Januar.") 
connects  the  fast  of  Quadragesima  with 
the  forty  days'  fast  of  Moses  and  Elias. 
Still  in  this  century,  and  the  next  also,  the 
duration  of  Lent  varied  very  considerably 
in  ditlerent  churches.  Socrates  ("  H.  E." 
V.  22)  -expresses  his  surprise  that  all  used  ; 
the  same  name  Tfcra-apaKoa-Tr]  to  describe  a 
fast  which  lasted  in  diiferent  places  for 
seven,  six,  or  only  three  weeks.  There  are 
no  doubt  inaccuracies  in  the  statement  as 
Socrates  makes  it,  but  we  see  no  ground 
for  questioning  its  correctness  as  to  the 
main  fact.  From  Sozomeu,  also  a  writer 
of  the  fifth  century,  we  get  more  trust- 
worthy information.  All  Africa,  Egypt, 
Palestine  and  the  Westerns  generally,  he 
Bays  {f'  fl.  E."  vii.  19),  kept  Lent  for  six 
weeks,  the  church  of  Constantinople  and  j 
the    neighbouring   provinces    for    seven.  1 


LENT 


51» 


Cassian  ("  Collat."  xxi.  c.  24-27)  says  in 
general  terms  that  some  fasted  seven, 
others  six,  weeks,  but  he  gives  the  reason 
— viz.  that  some  excepted  Sundays  and 
Saturdays,  others  Sundays  only,  from  the 
fast.  St.  Ambrose  ("  De  Elia  et  Jejunio," 
c.  10)  recognises  the  exemption  from  fast- 
ing on  both  days.  The  practice,  however, 
of  the  Roman  Church  and  of  most  Latins 
was  to  fast  six  weeks  excepting  Sundays — 
i.e.  for  thirty-six  days.  The  usage  of 
Constantinople,  on  the  other  hand,  pre- 
vailed in  the  East,  and  the  Council  in 
TruUo,  in  692,  ordered  (Can.  55)  that  there 
should  be  no  lasting  on  Saturdays  in  Lent, 
and  no  Mass  said  except  on  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  the  fenst  of  the  Annunci- 
ation (Can.  52).  Mass  and  fasting  are  in 
the  minds  of  the  Greeks  incompatible,  so 
that  they  observed  seven  weeks  or  thirty- 
five  days  of  fasting — all  Saturdays  ex- 
cept Holy  Saturday,  the  feast  of  the 
Annunciation,  and  all  Sundays,  being 
deducted. 

However,  more  than  a  century  before 
the  Council  in  TruUo  the  Greeks  could 
fairly  claim  to  count  forty  days  in  their 
Lent.  True,  it  is  only  on  the  Monday  in 
Quinquagesima  week  that  they  enter  on 
the  strict  abstinence  both  from  flesh  meat 
and  lacticinia,  and  so  Quinquagesima  is 
called  by  them  ttjs  Tvpoqxiyov,  because,  ac- 
cording to  their  way  of  calculating,  it 
ends  the  week  in  which  cheese,  &c,,  may 
be  eaten.  But  after  Sexagesima  Sunday 
(hence  named  t?)s  anoKpeco)  no  meat  is 
eaten,  and  this  their  present  custom  was 
already  in  force  under  the  Emperor 
Justinian  in  546  (see  Fleury,  ''  Hist." 
livr.  xxxiii.  No.  23,  and  cf.  Thomassin, 
Part  II.  ch.  i). 

Various  attempts  were  made  in  the 
West  to  complete  the  number  of  forty 
days.  St.  Ambrose  (Serni.  34)  blames 
the  custom  of  those  who  began  the  fast  in 
Quinquagesima  week,  and  the  Fourth 
Council  of  Orleans  (anno  541 ;  Can.  2) 
likewise  enforces  uniformity  and  censures 
those  who  began  Lent  with  vSexagesima  or 
Quinquagesima.  The  Eighth  Council  of 
Toledo  (C)anon  9 ;  anno  653)  expresses  a 
feeling  then  and  earlier  very  common  in 
the  Church,  when  it  describes  the  thirty 
six  days  of  Lent  as  a  tithe  of  the  year 
which  Christians  dedicated  to  God.  But 
the  monks  aimed  at  greater  strictness,  for 
the  "  Regula  Magistri  "  which  Thomassin 
places  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh 
century,  enjoins  religious  to  fast  three 
days  in  Sexagesima  and  three  in  Quinquar 
gesima  week,  in  order  to  supply  for  the 

L 


614 


LIBELLATICI 


LIBER  SEPTIMUS 


six  Sundays  of  Lent  wHch  were  not  fast- 
days. 

At  last  the  Latin  Church  added  the 
four  days  of  fasting  before  the  first 
Suoday  in  Lent,  which  now  began  with 
Ash  Wednesday.  This  new  discipline  is 
recogn-'sed  in  Canon  76  of  the  Council  of 
Meaux  (anno  846),  and  it  appears  from 
the  wc  :ds  of  the  monk  Ratramnus,  who 
wrote  about  the  same  time,  that  these 
additional  days  were  observed  by  the 
Roman  Church  and  in  the  West  generally. 
Still  in  the  eleventh  century  St.  Margaret 
of  Scotland  (Surius,  Junii  die  10)  had  to 
introduce  the  habit  of  beginning  Lent 
with  Ash  Wednesday  among  her  subjects  ; 
and  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  in  the  first 
council  which  he  held,  fully  acknowledged 
the  right  by  which  the  churches  in  the  city 
of  Milan  and  in  other  parts  of  the  diocese 
which  had  retained  the  Ambrosian  rite 
began  Lent  with  the  first  Sunday  and 
thus  maintained  their  ancient  usage. 

We  can  only  touch  lightly  on  the  other 
acts  of  piety  by  which  Lent  has  been 
sanctitied  from  early  times.  It  was  a 
season  in  which  the  faithful  begged  God's 
mercy  for  themselves,  and  were  theref  :>re 
expected  to  show  mercy  to  others.  The 
money  spared  by  fasting  was  given  in 
alms  ;  the  Imperial  laws  (see  the  refer- 
ences in  Thomassin,  Part  I.  ch.  xxviii.) 
forbade  criminal  processes,  and  while  the 
Clmrch  reconciled  penitents  at  the  altar, 
the  emperors  released  prisoners,  masters 
pardoned  their  slaves,  and  enemies  became 
friends.  It  was  a  season  of  mourning, 
and  hence  the  Churcli  has  always  strongly 
discountenanced  festivities  of  aU  kinds 
during  Lent.  Lastly,  the  body  is  morti- 
fied, in  order  that  the  soul  may  be  in- 
vigorated, and  so  from  early  times  com- 
munions, sermons  and  spiritual  exercises 
generally  have  been  multiplied  in  Lent. 
(Thomassin,  "Traits  des  Jeunes,"  Paris, 
1635.  Liemke,  "  Die  Quadragesimal- 
fasten  der  Kirche,"  Miinchen,  1853.) 

]LZBx:XiXiATZCZ.    [See  Lapsed.] 

i.ZB£ZiXiZ  PACZS.  [See  Lapsed 
and  Indulgences.] 

&iBz:a  DZimxrus.  An  ancient 
collection  of  formularies  used  in  the 
Roman  church.  The  learned  Jesuit 
Garnier  supposes  that  it  was  compiled 
shortly  after  714.  It  has  been  divided  by 
Garnier  into  seven  chapters,  which  are 
subdivided  into  "  titles.*'  The  seven 
chapters  treat  of  the  following  subjects: 
(1)  formularies  used  by  the  Pope  in 
writing  to  the  Emperor,  Exarch,  Consul, 
Patriarchs,  Archbishop  of  Ravennj*,  &c.; 


[See 


(2)  formularies  for  the  election  and 
consecration  of  the  Pope,  with  the  ac- 
companying notice  to  the  Emperor, 
Exarch,  &c. :  (3)  for  the  election  and 
consecration  of  the  episcopi  subu7-bicarii ', 
(4)  four  formularies  for  giving  the 
Pallium ;  (5)  twenty-one  formularies  for 
despatch  of  business  with  Italian  bishops 
consecrated  by  the  Pope ;  (6)  on  the  ad- 
ministration and  alienation  of  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Roman  church-,  (7)  on 
privileges  granted  by  the  Popes  to  mon- 
asteries and  other  ecclesiastical  institutes. 

Fragments  of  the  "Liber  Diurnus" 
occur  in  the  mediaeval  canonists,  but  the 
book  in  its  entirety  was  long  unknown. 
An  edition  was  prepared  at  Rome  iu 
1660  by  Lucas  Holstenius,  bat  pro- 
hibited by  the  Roman  censors^  and  the 
first  edition  which  actually  appeared  was 
that  cf  Garnier  (Paris,  1680),  with  learned 
introduction,  notes,  and  dissertations. 
Additions  were  made  by  Mabillon  in  his 
"  Museum  Italicum."  These  additions  and 
various  readings  were  used  by  Hotfinann 
for  the  edition  in  his  "  Nova  CoUectio," 
tom.  ii.  Garnier's  edition  with  Mabillon's 
additions  has  been  reprinted  by  Migne  in 
his  "  Patrologia."  ' 

I.ZBER   PEN-ZXEia-TZAZ.ZS, 

Pexttential  Books.] 

Z.ZBER  PON-TZFZCAZ.ZS.  [See 
Chukch  History.] 

KZBBR  SEPTZIVIVS.  By  this 
name  are  known  two  different  collections, 
neither  of  which  is  of  authority.  1.  Pierre 
Matthieu,  of  Lyons,  made  a  collection 
of  Decretals  from  the  pontilicate  of  Gre- 
gory XL  to  that  of  Sixtus  V.,  arranged 
them  in  five  books  and  a  certain  number 
of  titles,  according  to  the  classification 
prevailing  in  the  "Corpus  Juris,"  and 
printed  them  in  1590.  They  have  been 
included  in  two  or  three  editions  of  the 
"  Corpus,"  but  are  generally  held  to  have 
no  validity  as  a  collection ;  the  separate 
Decretals  have  whatever  authority  they 
may  possess  apart  from  their  inclusion  in 
this  "  Liber  Septimus."  2.  It  was  under 
contemplation  in  the  time  of  Clement 
VIII.  (1592-1605)  to  publish  under  this 
name  a  collection  of  recent  Papal  Consti- 
tutions and  conciliar  decrees,  including 
those  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  The  book 
was  actually  printed  in  1598,  but  was 
suppressed  through  the  well-grounded 
fear  that  as  soon  as  it  appeared  it  would 
be  glossed  and  commented  for  use  in  the 
courts,  and  that  in  this  way  the  order  of 
Pius  IV.  (1564),  reserving  to  the  Holy 
See  the  interpretation  of  the  Tridentina 


r 


LIBER  SEXTUS 

decrees,  would  "be  nullified.  (Wetzer  and 
VVelte,  art.  by  Kober.) 

ZiZBSR  SSXTUS.  The  Sext  ("  Liber 

Sextus  Decretalium  ; "  see  art.  on  Canon 
Law)  was  compiled  by  order  of  Boniface 
"VIII.  and  published  in  1298.  It  received 
its  name  with  reference  to  the  Jim  books 
of  Decretals  published  by  order  of  Gre- 
gory IX.,  but  is  itself  divided,  like  that 
earlier  collection,  into  five  books  and  a 
certain  number  of  titles. 

LIBERA  xros,  &.C.  A  responsory 
sung  by  the  choir  after  the  Mass  of  the 
dead  and  before  the  absolution  of  the 
corpse.      [See  Absqltjtion    and  Ftjne- 

EALS.] 

XiZBERiL  M-OS,  A.C.  The  emholk- 
mus  or  continuation  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
in  the  Uoman  Mass.  The  prayer  with 
slight  variation  is  found  in  the  Gelasian 
and  Gregorian  Canons.  The  principal 
changes  that  have  been  made  are  in  the 
mention  of  the  saints.  At  present  only  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul 
(the  founders  of  the  Roman  church),  and 
St.  Andrew,  who  was  first  called  to  the 
Apostolate,  are  mentioned  by  name.  But 
other  names  occur  in  the  Gregorian  canon 
— viz.  Bionysius  with  Rusticus  and  Eleu- 
therius  and  Chlodoaldus.  Even  in  the 
middle  ages,  as  appears  from  the  "  Micro- 
logus,"  the  officiating  priest  could  add 
names  of  saints  here  at  discretion. 

All  the  Western  liturgies  have  a  prayer, 
not  only  corresponding  to,  but  resembling 
cur  ^'  Libera  nos.  The  prayer  in  the 
Ambrosian  Mass  is  merely  a  form  of  our 
prayer  with  slight  variations.  The  Moz- 
arabic  prayer  "  Liberati  a  malo  "  has-  at 
least  a  general  resemblance.  The  old 
Galilean  liturgy  is  furthest  removed  from 
the  Roman  standard.  There  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  Lord's  Prayer  varies  with 
the  Mass.  That  for  Christmas  begins 
'*  Libera  nos,  omnipotens  Deus,  ab 
omni  malo,"  &c.  (Benedict  XIV.  ^'  Be 
Missa."  Hammond's  *'  Liturgies,  Eastern 
and  Western.') 

KIBBRZirs  was  Bishop  of  Rome 
from  352  to  36*^.  Because  of  the  firm 
support  he  gave  to  the  Nicene  faith,  and 
to  Athanasius,  its  champion,  he  was 
banished  to  Beroea  by  the  Arian  Em- 
peror Constant! us,  some  time  after  the 
Synod  of  Milan  in  355,  the  Arian  Felix 
being  put  in  his  place  at  Rome.  Liberius 
was  separated  even  from  his  companions 
in  exile  in  order  to  increase  tlie  rigour  of 
his  punishment  and  break  his  constancy. 
In  367  Constantius  was  in  Rome,  and 
found  that  scarcely  anyone  communicated 


LIBERIUS 


615 


with  the  usurper  Felix,  and  that  the  popu- 
lace were  clamouring  for  the  recall  of 
Liberius.  At  last,  nearly  a  year  later, 
the  Emperor  consented  to  restore  Libe- 
rius to  his  see.  But  on  what  conditions  ? 
Many  ancient  documents  (we  shall  have 
to  examine  their  real  value  further  on) 
testify  that  Liberius  bought  his  pardon 
dear — viz.  by  condemning  Athanasius, 
communicating  with  heretical  bishops, 
and  subscribing  a  formula  which  denied, 
or  at  least  betrayed,  the  Nicene  faith. 
This  is  the  view,  not  only  of  Protestant, 
but  also  of  many  Catholic  historians.  It 
is  held,  e.(7.,  by  Baronius  ;  Petavius,  "  Be 
Trin."  i.  9;  Bossuet,  "Def.  Cler.  Gall." 
p.  iii.  lib.  ix.  c.  33;  Fleury,  "Hist."  livr. 
xiii.  46  ;  Bollinger,  "  Papst-Fabeln  ";  He- 
fele,  "  Concil."  (i.  681  seq?)  ;  and  many 
others.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Bollandist 
Stilting,  "  Acta  SS."  torn.  vi.  Sept. ;  Zac- 
caria,  "  De  Commentitio  Liberii  Lapsu  "; 
Palma,  "  Prselect."  tom.  i.  par.  2  ;  and 
recently  Reinerding,  "Beitrage  zur  Hono- 
rius-und  Liberiusf'rage,"  1865  j  and  Car- 
dinal Hergenrother,  "Kirchengeschichte," 
vol.  iii.,  1880,  p.  106  seq:),  treat  the  ''  fall 
of  Liberius"  as  an  Arian  fiction.  The 
question  has  naturally  assumed  great  pro- 
minence from  its  bearing  on  the  Papal 
infallibility.  In  this  article  we  treat  of 
the  historical  fact  and  of  its  dogmatic 
import  separately. 

Theodoret,  Socrates,  and  Sulpicius 
Severus  are  altogether  silent  on  the  fall 
of  Liberius,  and  we  may  fairly  take  their 
silence  as  proof  either  that  they  had  not 
heard  of  or  else  did  not  believe  it.  But 
we  have,  on  the  other  hand,  the  distinct 
and  contemporary  evidence  of  Athanasius 
twice  repeated :  "  Liberius,  being  exiled, 
later  on,  after  a  period  of  two  years,  gave 
way  (w/cXaore)  and,  in  fear  of  the  death 
with  which  he  was  threatened,  subscribed 
((po^rjdels  TOP  aneCkovfifvov  Bdvarov  vn- 
eypayj/ev).  But  even  this  shows  their  vio- 
lence ajid  the  hatred  of  Liberius  against 
the  heresy  and  his  decision  {■\lr7j(f)ou)  for 
Athanasius  when  his  will  was  free.  For 
things  done  through  torments  contrary  to 
the  original  judgment — these  are  not  acts 
of  will  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  been 
put  to  fear,  but  of  those  who  inflict  the 
torture"  ('' Epist.  ad  Mouach.  et  Hist. 
Arian."  41).  He  speaks  to  much  the 
same  efiect  in  the  "  Apol.  contr.  Arian." 
89.  "  O  wretched  man  that  you  are," 
says  another  contemporary,  St.  Hilary, 
addressing  Constantius  ("Contr.  Constant. 
Imper."  c.  11);  "  I  know  not  Avhether  there 
was  greater  wickedness  in  yom*  banishing 
2 


516 


LIBERIUS 


LIBERIUS 


him  [Liberius]  than  in  your  sendinof  hiin 
back"  (**  nescio  utruru  majore  impietate 
relegaveris  qiiam  remiseris  ").  This  looks 
like  an  allusion  to  the  price  Liberius  had 
to  pay  for  his  recall.  Sozomen  ("  H.  E." 
iv.  15)  gives  us  the  details.  "  Oon- 
stantius,"  he  says,  "  united  the  delegates 
from  the  bishops  of  the  East  [i.e.  from 
the  Semi-Arian  Council  of  Ancyra]  to  the 
prelates  who  happened  to  be  present  with 
him  in  the  Court  at  Sirmium.  They  com- 
bined the  definitions  of  the  Antiochene 
Council  in  269  against  Paul  of  Samosata 
and  those  of  Sirmium  against  Photinus 
with  the  symbol  of  the  Antiochene  Coun- 
cil of  341"  (probably  Sozomen  refers  to  the 
fourth  of  their  symbols),  "  and  persuaded 
Liberius  to  subscribe  the  new  formula  or 
collection  of  old  formulas  in  which  the 
word  '  consubstnntial '  was  abandoned. 
They  brought  him  to  take  this  step  by 
telling  him  that  the  Sfioova-ios  was  a  mere 
cloak  for  Sabelliauism.  Liberius,  however, 
insisted  that  he  who  did  not  confess  the 
Son  to  be  in  essence  and  in  all  things  like 
the  Father  was  to  be  excommunicate." 
Lastly,  Jerome,  in  his  Chronicle,  says  of 
Liberius,  "  overcome  by  the  weariness  of 
exile,  setting  his  name  to  heretical  error, 
he  entered  liome  as  a  conqueror."  And 
aga  n,  "  Gatal.  Script."  97,  he  charges 
Fortunatius  of  Aquileia  v/ith  compelling 
Liberius  to  subscribe  heresy. 

This  surelv  is  a  fourfold  cord  of  evi- 
dence not  easily  broken.  All  the  wit- 
nesses are  of  great,  two  (Athanasius  and 
Hilary)  of  the  greatest  conceivable  weight. 
And  all  the  accounts  are  at  once  indepen- 
dent of  and  consistent  with  each  other. 
Liberius  would  make  no  terms  with  the 
Anomceans,  or  extreme  Arians,  but  he 
did  communicate  with  the  Semi- Arians, 
who  condemned  Athanasius,  and  aban- 
doned the  touch-stone  of  orthodoxy — 
yiz.  the  Nicene  term  ofioovaios.  He 
subscribed  the  Semi-Arian  formula  which 
was  compiled  from  older  documents  and 
is  known  as  the  third  formula  of  Sir- 
mium.^ But  he  did  all  this  under  fear, 
consented  to  omit  the  ofxaovaios  only 
when  persuaded  that  it  was  understood 
in  an  heretical  (i.e.  Sabellian)  sense,  and 
he  accompanied  his  subscription  with  a 
protest  against  pronounced  Arianism.  We 
can  easily  understand  why  Athanasius 
speaks  with  such  touching  gentleness  of 
Liberius  in  the  moment  of  his  infirmity. 

1  This  is  given  as  higlily  probable,  for  his- 
torians ditTer  much  as  to  the  particular  formula 
signed  by  Liberius^  See  Newman's  Arians, 
^d  ed.  p.  832,  and  Bossuet,  loc.  ciU 


Moreover,  Liberius  soon  recovered  himself 
from  his  fall,  for  we  find  him  confirming 
the  orthodox  Council  of  Alexandria  in 
362. 

Stilting  and  his  numerous  followers, 
who  exculpate  Liberius  altogether,  are 
driven  to  expedients  which  we  cannot 
help  regarding  as  desperate.  They  ex- 
plain away  the  words  of  Hilary,  regard 
Jerome  and  Sozomen  as  deceived  by 
Arian  rumours,  and  try  to  show  that  the 
decisive  words  of  Athanasius  are  interpo- 
lations. "  Hilary's  words,"  says  Cardinal 
Hergenrother,  "  may  only  mean  that  on 
this  occasion  also  [i.e.  in  the  recall  of 
Liberius]  Constantius  displayed  his  im- 
piety." But  how  could  he  display  in  re- 
calling Liberius  impiety  greater  or  equal 
to  that  which  he  had  shown  in  driving 
him  from  his  see  if  he  allowed  him  to 
return  to  it  without  dishonourable  condi- 
tions ?  Next,  as  to  the  places  in  St. 
Athanasius.  Undoubtedly  it  is  true  that 
the  passage  in  the  "  Hist.  Ar.  ad  Mon." 
did  not  belong  to  the  original  draft  sent 
to  the  monks,  for  it  was  written  before  the 
supposed  fall  of  Liberius ;  but  then  Athan- 
asius begged  them  (see  the  introductory 
epistle,  c.  3)  to  send  the  letter  back,  and 
afterwards  ("  Epist.  ad  Scrap."  i.  1  j  he  for- 
warded it  to  his  friend  the  Bishop  Serapion, 
and  there  is  not  the  least  ditficulty  in  sup- 
posing that  Athanasius  completed  his  his- 
tory by  adding  to  it  the  account  of  an  event 
^hich  had  happened  in  the  interval.  The 
same  chronological  objection  is  matle  to 
the  second  passage  from  Athanasius,  and 
is  disposed  of  by  Hefele  just  in  the  same 
way.  Besides,  it  is  hard  even  to  imagine 
what  could  have  led  to  the  interpolation 
of  the  passages.  Certainly  they  were  not 
forged  in  the  interests  of  Arianism.  In 
style  and  tone  they  are  every  way  worthy 
of  St.  Athanasius,  while  the  sto.tement 
they  make  explains,  and  at  the  same  time 
is  confirmed  by,  the  words  of  Hilary. 

We  should  have  to  think  much  more 
severely  of  Liberius  if  certain  Fragments 
attributed  to  Hilary  (particularly  Frag- 
ments iv.-vi.)  and  the  letter  of  the  Pope 
incorporated  in  Fragment  vi.  were 
genuine.  In  Fragment  vi.  Liberius  is 
called  an  "  apostate  "  and  a  "  traitor  " 
{pi-cevaricator)  and  anathematised  three 
times  ;  while  Liberius  himself  makes  a 
formal  and  deliberate  confession  of  Arian 
belief.  The  Fragment  containing  these 
letters  was  supposed  by  the  Benedictine 
editor  Coustant  to  belong  to  a  lost  work 
of  Hilary  against  Ursacius  and  Valens. 
There  is  nothing  to  allege  in  favour  of 


LIBRARIES 

this  supposition  except  a  note  in  the 
margin  of  the  MS.,  "  Sanctus  Hilariua  illi 
[sc.  Liberio]  anathema  dicit."  And  there 
are  the  strongest  reasons  for  rejecting  the 
fragment  as  none  of  Hilary's,  and  regard- 
ing the  letters  of  Liberius  as  suppositi- 
tious. We  must  refer  the  reader  for  the 
arguments  >  drawn  from  chronological 
errors,  the  barbarism  of  the  style,  the 
clumsiness  and  unnaturalness  of  the  for- 
gery, to  Hefele.  He  thinks  the  letters 
were  forged  in  the  name  of  Liberius  and 
in  the  Anonioean  interest  by  a  "  Groecu- 
lus  "  who  had  but  a  very  slight  knowledge 
of  Latin,  Even  Mr.  Renouf,  though 
opposed  to  Hefele's  view,  and  much  more 
hostile  to  Liberius,  is  obliged  to  give  up 
part  at  least  of  Fragment  vi.  as  spurious.^ 

It  is  amazing  that  anyone  after  an 
impartial  consideration  of  the  facts 
should  have  pressed  them  into  the  ser- 
vice of  Gallicanism.  Liberius,  at  the 
time  of  his  fall,  taught  nothing  and  im- 
posed no  belief.  Besides,  if  the  Pope  is 
to  teach  ex  cathedra,  common  sense  re- 
quires that  he  should  be  free.  Liberius, 
on  the  contrary,  subscribed  the  Semi- 
Arian  formula  separated  from  his  friends 
and  counsellors  and  in  terror  of  death. 
It  is  as  if,  to  borrow  an  illustration  of 
Cardinal  Newman,  an  English  Chief  Jus- 
tice were  hurried  away  by  bandits,  kept 
without  notes,  books,  or  counsel,  and 
forced  under  terror  of  death  to  decide  a 
legal  case  in  one  particular  way.  No- 
body, save  from  prejudice,  would  pretend 
that  such  a  decision  was  valid.  What 
the  case  does  prove  is  the  extreme  im- 
portance attached  to  the  judgment  of 
Liberius.  They  knew  his  zeal  and 
energy,  and  "  the  impious,"  writes  Athana- 
sius,  "  said  to  themselves,  '  If  we  persuade 
Liberius,  we  shall  quickly  master  all ' " 
("  Hist.  Ar.  ad  Mon.''  c.  35). 

(The  literature  has  been  given  with 
tolerable  fulness  in  the  body  of  the 
article.  We  ought  to  add  that  Cardinal 
Newman,  even  in  the  second  edition  of  his 
"Arians"  (1871),  assumes  the  authen- 
ticity of  "  Hilary  "  Frag.  iv.  and  vi.  and 
consequently  of  the  letters  attributed 
to  Liberius,  but  he  seems  not  to  have 
seen  Hefele's  counter- arguments.  See 
«  Arians,"  p.  332.) 

XiZBRARISS.  The  two  captures  of 
Rome  in  the  fifth  century,  first  by  Alaric 

^  The  writer  of  this  article,  though  he  has 
read  Mr.  Renouf  s  pamphlets,  has  not  a  copy  at 
his  command,  and  takes  the  reference  (  Condem- 
nation i]f  Pope  Honorius,  p.  41)  from  Hergen- 
rother. 


LIBRARIES 


617 


and  afterwards  by  Genseric,  must  have 
been  fatal  to  any  large  accumulation  of 
books  in  the  Eternal  City ;  but  mention  is 
made  of  a  Vatican  library  in  the  time  of 
Pope  Vigilius  (to55),  and  under  Leo  IV. 
_(t855),  the  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Ostia  was 
its  librarian.  (Thomassin,  11.  i.  95). 
Gregory  the  Great  had  certainly  the  com- 
mand of  a  large  library.  The  famous 
Alexandrian  library — a  monument  at  once 
of  the  enlightenment  of  the  Ptolemaic 
dynasty,  and  of  the  high  grade  of  culture 
which  the  confluence  of  the  Semitic  with 
the  Aryan  intellect  at  that  city  rendered 
possible — perished,  if  we  accept  the  com- 
mon story,  through  the  bigotry  of  Omar ;  * 
but  a  few  years  later  new  libraries  began 
to  be  formed  on  northern  shores  and 
islands,  where  barbarism  had  hitherto 
reigned  supreme.  Beda^  tells  us  that 
the  abbot  Benedict  Biscop  conveyed  to 
his  monastery  of  Wearmouth,  on  returning 
from  his  numerous  Roman  journeys,  a 
large  and  splendid  library  {bihliothecam 
nohilisdmam  copiosissimamque),  which, 
"  as  necessary  for  a  completely  furnished 
church,  he  ordered  should  be  kept  entire, 
and  neither  damaged  through  neglect,  nor 
dispersed  "  in  the  hands  of  borrowers. 
This  was  about  a.d.  660.  Archbishop 
p]gbert  founded  at  York  a  "  nobilissima 
bibliotheca  "  about  750 ;  the  fact  is  men- 
tioned in  one  of  Alcuin"s  letters.^  The 
library  of  Glastonbury,  for  some  time 
after  St.  Dunstan  had  been  abbot  there, 
was  the  best  in  England.  William  of 
Malmesbuiy,  to  whose  sterling  literary 
qualities  the  student  of  English  history 
is  under  such  deep  obligation,  himself 
actively  aided  abbot  Godfrey  in  forming 
a  large  and  well-chosen  library  at  Mal- 
mesbury  Abbey.^  That  every  large 
Anglo-Saxon  monastery  had  its' library 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  In  Ireland,  at 
all  the  great  monastic  centres,  such  as 
Armagh,  Clonmacnoise,  Inisfallen,  Boyle, 
Kells,  &c.,  there  were  large  collections  of 
books ;  a  fact  which  the  number  of  Irish 
MSS.  still  surviving,  in  spite  of  the  havoc 
made  by  war  and  rapine,  and  the  effects 
of  a  damp  climate,  amply  attests.  Gene- 
rally it  is  true  of  Europe  that  all  through 
the  mediaeval  period  a  threefold  process, 
of  accumulation,  loss  or  dispersion,  and 
re-accumulation  of  books  was  going  on. 

1  But.  as  Gibbon  saj's  (oh.  li.),  the  common 
story  is  more  than  doubtful;  it  rests  on  the 
sole  authority  of  Abulpharagius,  a  writer  of  the 
thirteenth  century. 

2  Hist.  Ahbatum,  §  9. 

3  Will.  Malm.  Gest.  PonHf.  p.  246. 
*  lb.  p.  431. 


618 


IJBRAEIES 


LIMBO 


Barbarians  from  Scandinavia  ruined  most 
of  the  libraries  of  Anglo-Saxon  monas- 
teries,  and  a  large  number  of  those  in 
Ireland.     Under  St.  Dunstan  books  were 
again  copied  and  collected  ;  a  second  dark 
period  ensued  till  about  1050 ;  after  the 
Conquest  a  long  era  of  comparative  peace 
and  progress   began.     A  glance   at  the 
*'  Philobiblon"  of  Richard  of  Bury  ( 1 1 345), 
the  learned  and  politic  bishop  of  Durham, 
shows  that  the  collection,  binding,  con- 
servation, and  utilisation  of  books,  every- 
thing in  short  tliat  appertains  to  the  office 
of  a  librarian,  was  already  well  under- 
stood in  the   fourteenth  century.      The 
Kings  of  France  began  from  about  1370 
to  form  the  library  of  the  Louvre.     In 
the  fifteenth  century,  the  printing-press 
having  come  into  use,  and  ancient  learning, 
especially  Greek  learning,  being  held  in 
greater  esteem  than  ever  before,  new  books 
and  editions  were  multiplied  and  libraries 
extended.     In  this  work  Italy  took  the 
lead.     The  Vatican  library,  founded  by 
Nicholas  V.  (1447-1455)  and  enriched  by 
later   gifts  and  collections,  soon  became 
the  best  library  in  Europe.     Even  at  this 
day,  although  in  the  department  of  printed 
books  it  is  probably  surpassed  by  many, 
there  can  be  few,  if  any,  that  can  point  to 
so   superb   a   collection   of  MSS.      The 
Medici  family   founded   the   Laurenlian 
library   at   Florence,    which    could   also 
boast  of  the  public  library  of  St.   Mark, 
established  in  1437.     Venice  and  Ferrara 
laboured  in  the  same  field.     Out  of  Italy, 
Matthias  Oorvinus  founded,  about  1480,  a 
celebrated  library  at  Buda,  and  stored  up 
in  it  a  large  number  of  Greek  MSS.  which 
he  had  rescued  from  the   Turkish  con- 
querors of  Constantinople.  Unfortunately, 
his  capital  was  too  near  to  the  still  ex- 
panding power  of  the  Ottoman,  and  his 
literary  treasures  were  in  great  part  dis- 
persed or  lost.     Heidelberg^,  Vienna,  and 
Leyden,  all  founded  libraries  in  the  fif- 
teentli    century.       The    great    Cardinal 
Ximenes  added  a  well-stocked  library  to 
the  university  which  he  founded  (about 
1500)  at  Alcala.     In  England  the  views 
of  the  early  lleformers  were  not  favour- 
able to  the  interests  of  learning.     It  is 
well   known   that  the  commissioners  of 
Edward  VI.  ordered  a  large   collection 
of  MSS.,  which  had  been  given  to  the 
University  of  Oxford  by  the  good  Duke 
Humphrey,  to  be  burnt,  on  the  suspicion 
that  they  contained  matter  of  Papistry. 
Sir  Thomas   Bodley,   about  the  end   of 
Elizabeth's  reign,  repaired    this   havoc, 
Imilt  a  large  portion  of  the  present  library, 


brought  into  it  a  fine  collection  both  of 
books  and  MSS.,  and  endowed  it  with 
ample  estates.  The  library  of  the  British 
Museum,  originating  in  the  purchase  from 
Sir  Hans  Sloane  in  1753,  lavishly  aided 
ever  since  by  public  money,  and  enriched 
by  the  grant  of  the  library  of  the  Kings 
of  England,  and  the  purchase  of  George 
III.'s  collections  from  George  IV.,  takes 
the  lead  of  all  similar  institutions  in  Eng- 
land in  the  number  both  of  books  and 
xMSS.  The  Bodleian,  with  its  200,000 
volumes  and  25,000  MSS.  occupies  the 
next  place.  (Hallam's  ''Literature  of 
Europe.") 

I.IGHT  OF  CZ.OR7.  [See  Bea- 
tific Vision.] 

XiZGTJORZ.   [See  MoRiL  Theology.] 

IiIZ^BO.  The  Latin  word  Limbus 
(or  "  fringe  ")  was  used  in  the  middle  ages 
for  that  place  on  the  fringe  or  outskirts  of 
hell  in  which  the  just  who  died  before 
Christ  were  detained  till  our  Lord's  re- 
surrection from  the  dead.  It  likewise  sig- 
nifies a  place  (also  supposed  to  be  beneath 
the  earth  and  on  the  outskirts  of  hell) 
inhabited  by  infants  who  die  in  original 
sin. 

{A}  The  Limhus  Pati-um  is  the  Para- 
dise of  Luc.  xxiii.  43,  so  called  because  it 
was  a  place  of  rest  and  joy,  though  the 
joy  was  imperfect.  In  Luc.  xvi.  23,  it  is 
called  by  the  Rabbinical  name  "  Abra- 
ham's bosom  "  (Dnp?K  h^,  ip^nn),  be- 
cause there  the  just  remained  in  loving 
intercourse  with  Abraham,  the  father  of 
the  faithful.  Estius  thinks  it  was  to  the 
spirits  in  the  I  jmbo  of  the  Fathers  as  well 
as  to  those  in  Purgatory  that  Christ  is 
said  to  have  preached  (1  Pet.  iii.  19,  20). 
The  passage,  however,  is  very  difficult, 
and  very  different  interpretations  are 
given  by  Fathers  and  other  Catholic*,  com- 
mentators. 

(B)  Limhus  Infantium. —  ft  is  an  article 
of  faith  that  those  who  die  without  bap- 
tism, and  in  whose  case  the  want  of  bap- 
tism has  net  been  supplied  in  some  other 
way,  cannot  enter  heaven.  This  is  plainly 
stated,  e.g.,  by  the  Council  of  Florence  in 
the  Decree  of  Union.  But  there  was  a 
natural  repugnance  to  the  belief  that 
those  who  had  committed  no  sin  should 
be  tortured  in  hell,  and  this  difficulty  led 
theologians  to  adopt  various  theories  as 
by  way  of  escape. 

1.  Some  few  theologians  thought  that 
God  might  be  pleased  to  supply  the  want 
of  baptism  in  infants  by  other  mean.s. 
Thus  St.  Bernard  ("  De  Baptismo,'' c.  i 


LIMBO 

n.  4,  c.  ii.  n.  1)  thought  that  possibly  such 
infants  might  be  saved  by  the  faith  of 
their  parents.  A  similar  opinion  is  at- 
tributed to  Gerson,  Cardinal  Cajetan  and 
others — viz.  that  the  lack  of  baptism  might 
be  supplied  by  the  wish  for  the  sacrament 
on  the  part  of  their  parents  or  others ; 
Cajetan  requiring  in  addition  the  use  of  • 
some  external  sign  with  the  invocation  of 
the  Trinity.  (See  Billuart, ''  De  Baptism." 
diss.  iii.  a.  1.) 

Another  theologian,  Albertus  a  Bal- 
sano  ("  Compend.  Theol."  vol.  ii.  §  325, 
quoted  by  Jungmann,  "  De  Noviss."),  be- 
lieved that  God  might  commission  angels 
to  confer  baptism  on  infants  who  might 
othervdse  perish  without  it. 

2.  The  theologians  of  the  Augustinian 
order  {e.g.  Cardinal  Noris  and  Berti)  held 
an  opinion  at  the  opposite  pole — viz.  that 
the  infants  in  question  were  punished  both 
by  exclusion  from  heaven  and  by  positive 
pain,  though  much  less  pain  than  is  in- 
flicted on  those  who  die  in  actual  mortal 
sin.  This  undoubtedly  is  the  opinion  of 
St.  Augustine  (Serm.  204,  where  he 
teaches  that  unbaptised  infants  were  con- 
gigned  to  eternal  Are),  tliough  their  dam- 
nation will  be  "  the  lightest  of  all  "  ("  De 
Peccat.  Meritiset  Remiss."  i.  20). 

8.  The  gi-eat  majority  of  theologians — 
the  Master  of  the  Sentences,  St.  Buona- 
veuture,  St.  Thomas,  Scotus,  &c. — teach 
that  infants  dying  in  original  sin  suffer  no 
"  pain  of  sense,"  but  are  simply  excluded 
from  heaven.  This  opinion  is  no  modern 
invention,  for  it  is  found  in  St.  Gregory 
Nazianzen  ("Or.  in  Sanct.  Baptism." 23).^ 
But  df)  they  grieve  because  they  are  shut 
out  of  Heaven  ?  Bellarmin  ("  De  Amiss. 
Gratise,"  vi.  6,  apud  Jungmann)  answers 
Yes.  St.  Thomas  answers  that  they  do 
not,  because  pain  of  punishment  is  pro- 
portioned to  personal  guilt,  which  does 
not  exist  here.  He  says  they  do  not 
grieve  because  they  cannot  see  God,  any 
more  than  a  bird  is  grieved  because  it 
cannot  be  emperor  or  king:  "nay,  they 
rejoice,  because  they  share  in  God's  good- 
ness and  in  many  natural  perfections." 
The  opinion  of  St.  Thomas  is  the  common 
one  in  the  Church.  It  is  believed  that 
unbaptised  infants  in  Limbo  know  and 
love  God  by  the  use  of  their  natural 
powera,  and  have  full  natural  happiness. 

The  existence  of  the  Limbo  of  Infants 
has  never  been   defined  by  the  Church, 

*  He  thinks  that  infants  who  die  imbap- 
tiserl  "  will  neither  be  glorified  nor  punished  by 
the  just  judge,  as  being  without  the  seal  [i.e. 
baptism]  indeed,  but  without  wickedness." 


LITANIES 


519 


although  the  Jansenist  Council  of  Pistoia 
was  censured  by  Pius  VI.  for  scoffing  at 
it  as  a  Pelagian  fable.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Pelagians  was  Avidely  different.  They  de- 
nied original  sin  and  obliterated  the  dis- 
tinction between  grace  and  nature,  and 
when  pressed  to  explain  the  need  of  baptism 
replied  that  it  was  necessary  to  secure  ad- 
mittance to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  not 
to  obtain  eternal  life.  "  Eternal  life,"  to 
which  the  Pelagians  admitted  unbaptised 
infants,  was  of  the  same  order  as  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.  The  happiness  ob- 
tained in  the  Limbo  of  Infants  is  of  wholly 
different  order,  being  natural  instead  of 
supernatural. 

KXTAXriES  {Xuravia,  earnest  sup- 
plication). A  form  of  united  prayer  by 
alternate  sentences,  in  which  the  clergy 
lead  and  the  people  respond :  usually  of  a 
penitential  character.  A  litany  may  thus 
be  distinguislied  from  other  modern  de- 
votions, such  as  that  of  the  Stations,  in 
which,  with  much  that  is  alternate,  there 
is  also  much  that  is  not.  There  are  three 
forms  of  litany  recognised  by  the  Church 
as  suitable  for  use  in  public  worship  :  viz., 
the  Litany  of  the  Saints,  that  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin)  usually  called  the  Litany 
of  Loreto),  and  that  of  the  Most  Holy 
Name  of  Jesus.  The  Litany  of  the  Saints 
is  chanted  on  the  feast  of  St.  Mark 
(April  25),  and  on  the  three  Rogation 
days ;  on  the  former  occasion  it  is  called  the 
Greater  {litanice  majores),  and  on  the  Ro- 
gation days  the  Lesser  {litanice  minores). 
During  the  devotion  of  the  Forty  Hours, 
the  Litany  of  the  Saints  is  sung  with  the 
addition  of  certain  verses ;  on  the  other 
hand,  when  it  is  sung  on  Holy  Saturday 
and  Whitsun  Eve,  a  number  of  verses  are 
omitted.  The  Litany  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin — in  which  titles  expressive  of  the 
transcendent  dignity  and  privilege  of  the 
Mother  of  God,  as  well  as  of  the  love, 
trust  and  veneration  of  her  children 
towards  her,  are  woven  into  a  chain  of 
animated  supplication — is  now  usually 
sung  at  Benediction.  It  came  into  general 
use  from  having  been  observed  to  be  sung 
on  Saturdays  and  festivals  of  Our  Lady 
in  the  Santa  Casa  of  Loreto,  whence 
pilgrims  carried  it  into  all  Christian 
lands ;  but  a  large  portion  of  it  is  far 
older  than  the  foundation  of  the  sanc- 
tuary, which  of  course  only  dates  from 
the  thirteenth  century.  The  bull  "  Sanc- 
tissimus  "  of  Clement  VIII.  directs  that, 
whereas  a  number  of  unauthorised  litaniea 
had  lately  been  published,  no  one  should 
for  the  future  presume  to  publish,  or  to 


620       LITER.^  FORMAT.E 

use  in  public  worship,  any  litany  but 
those  in  Breviaries,  Missals,  Pontificals, 
and  Rituals  \^i.c.  the  Litany  of  the  Saints 
in  its  Tarious  forms),  and  the  Litany  of 
Loreto.  But  it  is  universally  held  that 
the  use  of  the  Litany  of  the  Most  Holy 
Name,  having  been  already  sanctioned 
by  the  Holy  See  before  the  date  of  the 
bull  ''  Sanc'tissimus,"  is  in  no  way  affected 
by  its  prohibitions. 

If  the  Greater  Litanies  fall  on  Easter 
Day  they  are  transferred  to  the  Tuesday 
following.  Priests  are  bound  sub  mortali 
to  recite  the  Litanies  both  on  St.  Mark's 
day  and  on  the  three  Rogation  days.  No 
new  names  of  saints  can  be  inserted  with- 
out the  special  permission  of  the  S.C.R. 

The  earliest  and  simplest  form  of  litany 
is  the  "  Kyrieeleison,"  which  was  recited 
in  various  ways  in  primitive  times,  but  in 
the  twelfth  century  settled  down  to  the 
form  still  in  use.  The  first  litanies  were 
embedded  in  the  liturgy ;  later  on  they 
were  developed  independently,  chiefly 
through  being  used  in  processions.  Under 
the  heading  "  Litania  Romana  "  there  is 
extant  in  a  Sacramentary  of  the  age  of 
Gregory  the  Great  a  Litany  of  the  Saints, 
evidently  intended  for  use  in  some  Gaul- 
ish church ;  ^  it  contains  101  names. 
There  is  a  manifest  connection  between 
such  a  litany  and  collections  of  short 
metrical  Lives  of  saints — such,  e.g.,  as 
that  in  a  Bodleian  MS  (No.  779),  which 
contains  104  Lives, 

The  practice  of  singing  the  Litany  of 
the  Saints  on  St.  Mark's  day  is  said  to 
have  been  instituted  by  St.  Gregory. 
Seven  processions,  starting  simultaneously 
from  seven  Roman  churches,  and  singing 
litanies  as  they  went,  all  met  in  the 
church  of  St.  Mar^  Major.'^  Their  use 
on  the  Rogation  days  was  begun  by  St. 
Mamertus,  archbishop  of  Vienne,  in  the 
year  447,  the  special  intention  being  the 
deliverance  of  the  people  from  wolves, 
which  in  that  year  were  more  than 
usually  ravenous. 

I.ITER2:  TOJLM.A.'rm,    [See  Epj- 

STOL^  EcCLESIASTICJi;.] 

Z.ZTSRJE  PATEITTSS.  Certain 
public  documents  were  so  called  from  the 
form  in  which  the  notaries  commenced 
them:  e.g.  "Per  praesens  publicum  instru- 
mentum  cunctis  pateat  evidenter ; '  ^  f <  j^^^ 

1  Art.  by  Mr.  Hotham,  in  Smith  and 
Cheetham. 

2  Hotham,  uhi  sup. 

5  This  is  the  opening  of  the  notarial  report 
of  a  sermon  preached  at  Oxford  in  1382  (MS. 
Bodl.240,p.848). 


LITTLE  OFFICE  OF  THE  B.  V. 

it  be  clearly  made  known  to  all  by  the 
present  public  instrument."  Canonists 
speak  of  the  Letters  Patent  of  Louis  XI. 
in  1475,  as  the  earliest  instance  in  France 
of  the  application  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
royal  pareatis  ("  ye  may  obey ")  or 
placitum  regium  ^  to  the  reception  of 
bulls,  briefs,  &c.,  from  Rome.  Pithou, 
in  his  work  on  the  Galilean  liberties,  sets 
forth  this  doctrine  in  its  full  tyrannous 
absurdity.  "Bulls  or  Apostolic  letters 
of  citation,  executional,  fulminatory,  or 
other,  are  not  executed  in  France  with- 
out the  pareatis  of  the  king  or  his  officers." 
"  All  bulls  and  despatches  from  the  Court 
of  Rome  must  be  carefully  examined,  to 
ascertain  if  there  be  anything  in  them 
likely  to  operate  to  the  prejudice,  in  any 
manner  whatever,  of  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  Galilean  church,  and  of 
the  king's  authority." '^ 

lilTTIiE  OFFICE  OF  THS 
BIiESSED  VZRGZZO-.  The  authorship 
has  often  been  attributed  to  Peter 
Damian,  but  Cardinal  Bona  ("  Divin. 
Psalm."  c.  12,  quoted  by  Probst,  "  Bre- 
vier." p.  299)  holds  that  It  existed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  and  that 
Peter  Damian  only  restored  its  use. 

It  consists  of    psalms,    lessons,  and 
hymns  in  honour  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
arranged  in  seven  hours  like  the  Breviary- 
office,  but  much  shorter.     It  is  rot  in- 
fluenced  by   the   course   of  the   Church 
year,  except  that  the  Alleluia  is  omitted 
in  Lent,  and  that  a  change  is  made  In 
the   office   from   Advent   to   the   Puriti- 
'  cation.     Even  the  Alleluia  is  not  added 
I  to  the  invitatoiy,  antiphons,  responsories 
I  and    versicles     in     Easter    time    (Dec, 
I  S.  R.  C.,28Martii,  1626). 

The  Council  of  Clermont,  under 
Urban  II.,  in  1096,  made  the  recitation  of 
the  Little  Office  obligatory  on  the  clergy, 
but  secular  priests  who  are  not  bound  to 
recite  the  office  in  choir  are  now  free 
from  all  obligation  of  reciting  the  Little 
Office,  as  has  been  clearly  stated  by 
Pius  V.  in  his  bull  "  Quod  a  nobis  poa- 
tulat"  prefixed  to  the  Breviary  (see 
Maskell,  "  Mon.  Rit."  vol.  iii.  p.  Ixii). 
Where  there  is  a  custom  of  reciting  it, 
the  obligation  continues.  Even  in  that 
case,  however,  it  need  not  be  said  on 
feasts  of  nine  lections  (if,  however,  there 
is  a  custom  of  saying  it  on  Sundays  and 
semidoubles  the  custom  is  to  be  main- 
tained), on  the  vigil  of  Christmas,  in 
Holy  Week,  in  the  octaves  of  Easter  and 

*  See  above,  p.  104. 

2  Wetzer  and  Welte,  art.  «  Placitum  Beg." 


LITURGIES 

Pentecost,  and  on  Saturdays  when  the 
larger  Office  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  is 
said  (Gavant.  torn.  11.  §  9,  cap.  i.  n.  2-8). 

The  matins  and  vespers  are  said 
"before,  the  other  hours  after,  the  corre- 
sponding hours  of  the  divine  office 
(Gavant.  loc.  cit.  n.  13).  In  many  re- 
ligious orders,  and  in  rules  for  persons  in 
the  world — {e.g.  the  tertiaries  of  St. 
Frani-is),  the  Little  Office  is  prescribed 
instead  of  the  Breviary  hours. 

ZiZTirSGZES.  I.  Meaning  of  the 
Word. — The  word  Xeirovpyia  means  a 
public  service,  and  specially  at  Athens  a 
public  service  which  the  richer  citizens 
discharged  at  their  own  expense.  The 
theocratic  constitution  of  the  Jewish 
commonwealth  naturally  led  the  Sep- 
tuagint  translators  to  use  XeiTovpyia  and 
the  kindred  forms  chiefly  of  the  service  of 
God  in  the  sanctuary.  It  answers  to 
various  words  in  the  original  Hebrew 
(see  e.g.  Exod.  xxviii.  21,  Num.  xxxviii., 
25,  2  Paralip.  xxxi.  4).  In  Luc.  i.  23 
it  denotes  the  service  of  a  Jewish  priest, 
and  it  is  used  in  the  New  Testament  of 
any  service  rendered  to  God  (see,  e.g., 
Pliilipp.  ii.  17).  There  is  no  clear 
instance  in  the  New  Testament  of  Xetrovp- 
yia  or  XeiTovpyeiv  signifying  a  service 
performed  by  the  Christian  clergy,  though 
in  Acts  xiii.  2  the  words,  "  As  they 
ministered  to  the  Lord  {Xei.TovpyovvTQ}v 
aiJTQ)v)  and  fasted,"  may  possibly  refer  to 
the  action  of  the  "  prophets  and  teachers  " 
in  preaching  and  guiding  the  devotions 
of  the  congregation.  Clem.  Rom.  1  Ep. 
44,  does  use  Xeirovpyia  for  the  func- 
tions 5f  the  Christian  presbyters.  In  the 
fourth  century  the  use  of  the  word 
for  priestly  ministrations  was  fully  recog- 
nised (see,  e.g.,  the  Council  of  Ancyra, 
canon  1  ;  anno  314),  and  from  that  date 
down  at  least  to  the  sixth  century  it  was 
used  for  any  solemn  service  {e.g.  evening 
prayer,  baptism,  Sec),  but  especially  for 
the  Eucharistic  service.  In  this  sense  it 
has  been  adopted  hy  the  Greek  church, 
which  speaks  of  ''  divine  liturgy  "  where 
Latins  would  say  "holy  Mass."  It  is 
in  this,  its  narrowest  signification,  that 
we  take  the  word  here.  Under  "  litur- 
gies "  we  include  all  forms  and  services 
in  any  language  and  in  any  part  of  the 
church  for  the  celebration  of  the  Euchar- 
ist. We  may  add  here  that  (tvvu^ls 
(assembly)  is  another  word  used  by  the 
Greeks  for  the  Mass,  and  that  domimca 
golemnia  (Tertull.  "  l)e  Fug."  14),  dotmni- 
cum  celebrare  (Cyprian,  "  De  Op.  et 
Eleem."  16,  Ep.  6S),  o^wm (Tertull.  "De 


LITURGIES 


n2i 


Orat."  18),  besides  "sacrifice,""  oflering/ 
"bloodless  and  rational  sacrifice/'  are 
names  common  among  the  Fathers.  The 
word  "Mass  "  first  appears  in  St.  Am- 
brose. [For  its  meaning  see  the  article 
Mass.] 

II.  Liturgical  Notices  to  the  Middle  of 
the  Fifth  Century. — Scripture  tells  us 
little  or  nothing  of  the  way  in  which  the 
Apostles  celebrated  the  Eucharist,  but 
from  the  year  150  onwards  we  have 
abundant  proof  that  the  Church  in  all 
parts  of  the  world  had  a  fixed  order  and, 
to  a  certain  extent  at  least,  fixed  words 
for  this  the  greatest  of  all  her  services. 
This  section  of  our  article  is  taken  from 
Le  Brun,  vol.  iii.  diss.  i.  a.  6,  from  whom 
we  borrow  the  patristic  references. 

The  Mass  was  said  by  the  bishop,  or 
in  his  absence  by  priests  assisted  by  at 
le^st  one  deacon  (Cyprian,  Ep.  6). 

It  began  with  lections  from  the 
prophets.  Apostles  and  Evangelists. 
These  lessons  from  the  Old  or  New 
Testament  are  mentioned  by  Justin  in 
his  first  Apology,  written  in  "^138  or  139. 
And  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Enst,  as 
attested  by  St.  Chrysostom  (*  Hom.  19 
in  Act  Ap."),  of  Gaul  (Sulpic.  Sever. 
"Vit.  Martin."  7),  Milan  and  Spain,  to 
read  the  prophets  as  well  as  the  Epistles 
and  Gospels.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the 
Roman  and  African  churches  there  were 
usually  only  two  lections — one  from  the 
Epistles,  another  from  the  Gospels,  with 
a  psalm  between  them  (August.  "  Serm." 
176  al.  170),  These  lections  were  not, 
as  now  in  our  Mass,  preceded  by  an 
introit. 

Then  followed  a  sermon,  after  which 
certain  prayers  were  said  over  the  cate- 
chumens, and  they  were  dismissed  (Am- 
brose, Ep.  14).  Here  we  have  the  first 
great  division  of  the  Mass  into  the  "  Missa 
catechumenorum  "  and  "  Missa  fidelium." 
The  Council  of  Laodicea,  canon  19, 
mentions  a  prayer  for  the  penitents  who 
were  dismissed  after  the  catechumens, 
but  in  390  Nectarius  of  Constantinople 
abolished  public  penance  in  the  East. 

The  altar  was  then  covered  with 
cloths  (Optat.  fib.  vi.)  and  the  celebrating 
bishop's  hands  were  washed  by  a  deacon 
(Cyril.  "Mystagog."  6),  and  in  all  the 
East  (Justin,  "Apol."  2;  ConciL  Laod. 
can.  19 ;  Chrysost.  "  De  Compunct.  Cor- 
tiis"),  in  Spain  and  Gaul,  the  faithful  gave 
each  other  the  Kiss  of  Peace ;  whereas 
in  Rome  and  Africa  the  Pax  immediately 
preceded  the  Communion.  The  bread  and 
the  mixed  chalice  (of  which  latter  even 


622  LITURGIES 

JiLsiin  speaks)  were  presented,  and  in 
Carthage  from  St.  Cyprian's  time  verses  of 
the  psalms  were  sung  at  this  part  of  the 
Mass. 

The  "  Sursura  corda  "  is  mentioned  by 
Cyprian,  and  Augustine  says  the  Church 
over  all  the  world  answered,  "  that  they 
lifted  up  their  hearts  to  the  Lord  "  ("  I)e 
Vera  Relig."  3).  The  Preface,  according  to 
St.Chrysostom  and  St.  Cyril,  was  followed 
by  the  Sunctus.  We  know  very  little 
from  the  Fathers  about  the  words  of  the 
*  Canon.  They  tell  us  generally  that  the 
words  of  institution  were  accompanied  by 
prayer,  the  i'aithful  answering  "Amen"  at 
the  end ;  and  St.  Augustine  ("  In  Symb.") 
says  the  sign  of  the  cross  was  made  at 
the  consecration.  The  fraction  of  the 
host  in  Africa,  and,  before  the  time  of  St. 
Gregory  the  Great,  at  Rome,  took  place, 
as  it  still  does  in  the  Ambrosian  Mass, 
before  the  Pater  Noster.  In  the  ancient 
use  of  the  Roman  and  African  churches 
the  Pax  was  given  after  the  Pater  Noster. 
At  Jerusalem  the  celebrant,  in  other 
Eastern  churches  the  deacon,  said,  "  Holy 
things  for  holy  persons."  The  veil  of  the 
sanctuary,  as  St.  Chrysostom  and  St. 
Cyril  of  Alexandria  mention,  was  par- 
tially drawn  aside  and  the  faithful  received 
communion  under  the  form  of  bread  in 
their  hands  from  the  bishop  or  priest, 
while  the  deacons  gave  them  the  chalice. 
In  the  church  of  Carthage  from  the 
fourth  century  verses  of  the  psalms  were 
sung,  and  we  know  from  St.  Cyril  that 
they  used  to  sing  the  verse  "  Taste  and 
see  that  the  Lord  is  good  "  in  the  church 
of  Jerusalem.  The  faithful  were  taught 
to  say  "  Lord,  I  am  not  worthy,"  &c.,  as 
they  went  to  communicate.  All  ended 
with  thanksgiving  and  the  salutation  or 
blessing  from  the  bishop,  "  Grace  be  with 
you  and  peace "  (Chrys.  "  Hom.  iii.  ad 
Coloss.").  These  extracts  from  the  Fathers 
are  not,  of  course,  meant  to  convey  the 
impression  that  one  liturgy  or  even  that 
all  the  forms  just  given  were  used  through- 
out the  Church.  What  they  do  prove  is 
that  the  Church  everywhere  had  certain 
forms,  and  with  regard  to  some  of  these 
forms  the  date  and  the  character  of  the 
incidental  notices  which  survive  show 
that  their  origin  may  be  traced  almost  to 
Apostolic  times  and  that  their  reception 
was  universal. 

III.  When  were  Liturgies  Jirst 
written? — Veiy  different  answers  have 
been  given  to  this  question,  which  would 
not  arise  at  all  if  we  could  assume  that 
the  Liturgies  of  St.  Jameis,  St.  Mark,  and 


LITURGIES 

St.  Clement  were  rightly  named.  It  is, 
however,  absolutely  impossible  to  sup- 
pose that  these  liturgies,  as  we  have  them, 
came  from  those  whose  names  they  bear. 
The  Clementine  Liturgy  comes  to  us 
under  the  most  suspicious  circumstances 
in  the  latest  book  of  a  notorious  forgery, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  it 
ever  was  actually  used  in  any  church. 
The  Liturgy  of  St.  James  contains  inser- 
tions from  that  of  Constantinople  which 
must  have  been  made  as  late  as  the 
fifth — one  (the  hymn  oi  to.  x(pov^\n)  as 
late  as  the  seventh  century ;  words  of 
controversial  theology  abound  in  it  (see 
Hammond,  "Ancient  Liturgies,"  xliv)  ; 
and  the  very  fact  that  no  extant  liturgies 
(except  the  Clementine)  have  any  form  of 
dismissing  penitents  points  to  a  time  later 
at  least  than  the  abolition  of  public 
penance  in  the  East  by  Nectarius  in  390. 
Doubtless  these  liturgies  contain,  older 
elements,  but  we  can  only  know  or  con- 
jecture what  they  are  by  collecting  infor- 
mation from  extraneous  sources. 

These  sources  are  of  course  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Fathers  and  the  decrees  of 
councils,  and  from  these  it  may,  we 
think,  be  safely  inferred  that  theie  was 
no  entire  written  liturgy  during  the  first 
three  centuries  of  the  Church.  Tertullian 
("  De  Corona,"  3)  assumes  that  various 
most  important  liturgical  usages  {e.g. 
celebration  of  the  Eucharist  early  in  the 
morning,  oblations  for  the  dead  on  the 
feasts  of  martyrs  (pro  nataliciis),  reception 
of  the  Eucharist  from  the  hand  of  the 
"  president ")  rest  simply  on  "  custom  " 
and  "tradition."  He  makes  no  allusion 
to  a  written  liturgy.  Cyprian  (Ep.  63) 
argues  against  those  who  used  water 
only,  instead  of  wine  mixed  with  water, 
in  the  Eucharist.  He  argues  at  length, 
and  is  evidently  anxious  to  adduce  every 
possible  reason  against  the  novelty;  but 
he,  again,  appeals  simply  to  "  the  tradition 
of  the  Lord,"  without  the  remotest  refer- 
ence to  liturgical  documents.  These,  it  may 
be  said,  are,  after  all,  only  arguments  from 
silence.  But  if  we  contrast  Cyprian's  ar- 
gument with  that  of  the  Council  in  Trullo, 
between  four  and  five  hundred  years  later, 
we  shall  see  how  strong  this  argument 
becomes.  The  council  (canon  32)  strictly 
forbids  the  Armenian  custom  of  consecra- 
ting wine  unmixed  with  water,  and  in 
proof  that  this  was  wrong  appeals  to  the 
three  Liturgies  of  St.  James,  St.  Basil, 
and  Chrysostom — i.e.  to  the  three  liturgies 
then  as  now  used  in  the  Patriarchate  of 
Constantinople  (Le  Brun,  torn.  iii.  p.  9). 


LITURGIES 

Further,  notwithstanding  the  full  infor- 
mation we  have  about  the  sacred  books 
which  the  Christians  were  required  to 
surrender  in  the  Diocletian  persecution, 
■we  hear  nothing  of  their  liturgies. 

We  assert,  then,  with  confidence,  that 
there  was  no  written  liturgy  in  the  first 
three  centuries,  and  this  though  Probst 
("  Liturgie  der  drei  ersten  Jahrhunderte," 
ad  init.)  has  tried  hard  to  show  that  such 
liturgies  existed  from  150.  Probst's 
learning  and  accuracy  deserve  all  respect, 
but  we  cannot  think  equally  well  of  his 
logical  power,  and  we  confess  that  we  are 
utterly  unable  to  discover  anything  which 
approaches  proof  in  his  laborious  argu- 
ment. We  are  disposed,  however,  to  go 
further  and  follow  Le  Brun  to  the  full 
extent  of  his  thesis — viz.,  that  written  lit- 
urgies did  not  exist  for  the  first  four  centu- 
ries. He  relies  on  Basil  "  De  Sp.  Sancto," 
c.  27 :  "  Which  of  the  Saints  has  left  us 
in  writing  the  words  of  invocation  at  the 
exhibition  of  the  bread  of  the  Eucharist 
and  the  chalice  of  benediction  ?  For  we  are 
not  content  with  those  mentioned  by  the 
Apostle  or  the  Gospel,  but  we  also  say 
other  words  before  and  after,  as  having 
great  force  with  respect  to  the  mystery, 
receiving  them  from  unwritten  tradition." 
The  reader  must  judge  for  himself  as  to 
the  import  of  these  words.  So  excellent 
an  authority  as  Mr.  Maskell  ("  Ancient 
Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England,"  ed. 
3,  xxvii)  believes  that  St.  Basil  only  means 
to  deny  that  the  liturgical  words  were 
contained  in  Scripture.  Early  in  the  fifth 
century  Pope  Innocent  I.  writing  to  the 
Bishop  Decentius,  who  had  applied  to  him 
for  the  Roman  Use,  reminds  him  that  he 
had  often  come  to  Rome  and  witnessed 
the  customs  observed  "  in  consecrating  the 
mysteries  and  in  the  performance  of  other 
secret  rites  "  (^"  in  cseteris  agendis  arcanis"), 
and  that  this  sufficed.  He  teUs  him, 
however,  that  the  Pax  should  be  given, 
not  (as  in  the  East)  before  the  consecra- 
tion, but  "after  all  the  things  which  I 
ought  not  to  disclose."  This  does  not 
look  as  if  the  Canon  of  the  Mass  had  even 
then  been  committed  to  writing  in  the 
Roman  church.  Long  before  this,  how- 
ever, there  may  have  been  a  fixed,  even  if 
there  was  not  a  written,  Canon  of  the 
Mass.  The  memoiy  of  the  ancients,  who 
were  obliged,  before  the  invention  of 
printing,  to  use  the  faculty  much  more 
than  we  are,  must  not  be  measured  by 
our  modern  standard.  It  was  a  common 
thing  in  the  ancient  Church  for  persons  to 
know  the  Psalter  by  heart,  and  priests 


LITURGIES 


623 


learned  to  repeat  the  Canon  without  book 
(even  now  no  surprising  feat)  long  after 
it  had  been  written. 

IV.  Families  of  Liturgies. — The  most 
superficial  observer  cannot  fail  to  be 
struck  by  the  difference  between  the 
Eastern  and  Western  liturgies.  Each  of 
the  former  can  be  printed  in  very  narrow 
space,  because  it  is  only  in  the  lessons  and 
subordinate  hymns  that  any  variation 
occurs.  It  is  very  different,  e.g.,  with  our 
Roman  Mass,  with  its  wealth  of  collects, 
Prefaces,  &c.  Moreover,  in  the  Roman 
Mass  there  were  at  one  time  a  much 
larger  number  of  variable  Prefaces.  There 
is  the  same  variety  in  the  liturgies  of 
Gaul  and  Spain,  and  in  these  last  even 
a  great  part  of  the  prayers  corresponding 
to  the  Roman  Canon  vary  also.  Thus  it 
comes  that  a  separate  volume  is  needed  for 
each  Western  liturgy,  while  all  the  chief 
Eastern  ones,  with  slight  omissions,  can  be 
printed  in  one  manual. 

We  are  able,  however,  to  divide  the 
liturgies  on  a  more  exact  and  thorough 
system.  "  It  is  now  thoroughly  recog- 
nised," says  Mr.  Hammond  ('•  Ancient 
Liturgies"),  "that  there  are  five  main 
groups  or  families  of  liturgies,  which  are 
distinguished  from  each  other  chiefly, 
though  not  solely,  by  the  different  arrange- 
ment of  their  parts."  Three  of  these  are 
Oriental,  two  Western — one  purely  so,  the 
other  Western  in  respect  of  the  countries 
where  it  was  used  and  many  of  its 
characteristics,  but  presenting  at  the  same 
time  certain  Oriental  peculiarities. 

(a)  The  West  S'yrian  Family  places  the 
great  intercession  for  the  living  and  the 
dead  (which  is  common  to  all  Hturgies  and 
which  is  familiar  to  us  as  the  Mementoes 
for  the  living  and  for  the  dead)  after  the 
invocation  of  the  Holy  Spirit — which  in 
Oriental  liturgies  follows  the  consecration. 
The  oldest  member  of  this  family  is  the 
Liturgy  of  St.  James,  but  this  again  is, 
"  without  doubt,  a  direct  modification  of  a 
liturgy  nearly  if  not  quite  identical  with 
the  so-called  Clementine."  St.  Basil's 
Liturgy  is  a  recast  from  that  of  St.  James, 
and  St.  Chrysostom's  an  abbreviation  of 
St.  Basil's.  In  its  chief  characteristics, 
and  even  in  part  of  its  wording,  the 
Armenian  liturgy  follows  St.  BasE's.  The 
Liturgies,  then,  of  St.  James,  St.  Basil, 
St.  Chrysostom,  of  Armenia,  are  the 
members  of  this  family.  Palestine, 
Armenia,  the  whole  territories  of  the 
Greek  and  Russian  churches,  are,  as  we 
shall  see,  the  countries  where  it  prevails. 

The  Clementine  Liturgy  never 


624 


LITURGIES 


to  have  "been  actually  used  in  any  church. 
Le  Brun  places  its  composition  at  the  end 
of  the  fourth  century.  Mr,  Hammond 
thinks  it  may  represent  liturgical  use  in 
the  middle  of  the  third  century,  at  a  time 
when  the  worship  of  the  Church,  though 
not  uniform,  still  had  not  been  broken 
up  into  the  separate  and  developed  forms 
of  the  later  liturgies.  It  bears  unmis- 
takeable  marks  of  great  antiquity.  Such 
are  the  exact  agreement  with  the  order 
of  the  parts  of  the  liturgy  mentioned  by 
Austin ;  the  prayers  over  catechumens,  the 
possessed,  penitents  ;  the  prayer  for  perse- 
cuting emperors,  &c.  Again,  the  great 
length  of  the  Preface  points  to  a  time 
when  there  was  no  elaborate  cycle  of 
feasts  to  fix  the  mind  on  particular 
grounds  of  thanksgiving.  The  eighth 
book  of  the  Apostolic  Constitutions  as  it 
stands  is  probably  not  older  than  the  fifth 
century.  But  the  compiler  would  not 
have  ventured  to  put  an  entirely  new 
liturgy  into  the  mouths  of  the  Apostles. 
The  puzzling  feature  of  this  liturgy  is  the 
absence  of  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

Liturgy  of  St.  James. — Its  antiquity 
is  proved  by  its  correspondence  with  the 
description  of  the  Liturgy  by  St.  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem .  It  was  once  current  through- 
out the  Patriarchates  of  Jerusalem  and 
Antioch.  It  exists  in  two  recensions, 
Greek  and  Syriac,  of  which,  as  Renaudot 
has  shown,  the  Greek  is  the  original.  In 
its  Greek  form  it  is  now  used  only  by  the 
Schismatic  Greeks  at  Jerusalem  on  St. 
James's  day,  October  23.  It  is  also  said 
to  be  used  in  some  islands  of  the  Archi- 
pelago. (See  Article  Liturgy  in  Smith 
and  Cheetham.)  In  its  Syriac  form,  it 
is  the  chief  and  prototype  of  the  many 
liturgies  used  by  the  Jacobites  or  Mono- 
physite  Syrians  and  by  the  Maronites 
who  are  Catholics.  The  Maronites, 
however,  have  changed  the  words  of 
consecration  to  the  Roman  form  and  re- 
duced the  invocation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  a  prayer  for  the  spiritual  beneht  of  the 
commuoicants,  who  now  receive  only 
under  one  kind. 

The  Liturgies  of  Constantinople — viz., 
those  of  St.  Basil  and  St.  Chrysostom — are 
now  used  far  more  widely  than  any  other 
Eastern  liturgies.  The  Liturgy  of  St. 
Basil  may  very  likely  be  his  in  substance, 
and  since  the  Council  in  Trullo  (i.e.  from 
the  close  of  the  seventh  century)  the 
"  Liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom  "  (an  abbre- 
viation of  St.  Basil's)  has  borue  its  present 
name.  The  Liturgy  of  St.  Basil  is  said  on 
Sundays  in  Lent  except  Palm  Sunday,  on 


LITURGIES 

Holy  Thursday  and  Saturday,  the  Vigils 
of  Christmas  and  Epiphany,  and  on  St. 
Basil's  day.  In  Lent,  except  on  Sundays 
and  Saturdays  the  Liturgy  of  the  Pre- 
sanctified  (of  uncertain  date  and  author- 
ship) is  used ;  on  all  other  days  of  the 
year  the  Liturgy  of  St .  Chr^'sost  om .  The 
Liturgies  of  Constantinople  are  used,  not 
only  by  all  Greeks  subject  to  Constanti- 
nople, or  again  (in  Slavonic)  throughout 
the  Russian  church,  by  the  Bulgarians, 
Georgians,  &c.,  but  also  by  the  Melchites 
or  Oriental  "  Orthodox"  in  communion 
with  Constantinople,  and  by  the  United  or 
Catholic  Greeks  in  Italy  and  other  parts 
of  the  world.  A  letter  of  Balsamon 
shows  that  Constantinople  in  the  twelfth 
century  had  already  imposed  her  liturgies 
on  a  remnant  in  the  other  Eastern  Patri- 
archates which  had  not  become  Nestorian 
or  Mouophysite.  She  had  thus  secured  a 
barren  uniformity  at  a  hea^y  price.  If 
it  had  not  been  for  the  vitality  of 
Nestorian,  Monophysite,  and  Monothelite 
heresy,  the  liturgies  of  Constantinople 
might  have  obtained  exclusive  possession, 
and  rites  no  less  Catholic  and  venerable 
than  those  of^  Constantinople  might  have 
perished  altogether  under  the  influence  of 
bigotry  and  ambition. 

The  Armenians  use  only  one  liturgy, 
founded  on  the  Greek  one  of  St.  Basil. 
The  United  Armenians  use  the  same  rite 
with  some  modifications.  Bartholomew 
of  Bologna,  a  Dominican  missionary,  had 
the  Roman  Missal  (Dominican  eclition) 
translated  into  Armenian,  and  introduced 
it  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century 
among  the  "  United  Brethren, '  an  order 
for  converted  Armenians.  The  two  most 
striking  peculiarities  in  the  true  Armenian 
rite- -the  use  of  unleavened  bread  and 
wine  without  water — are  shewn  by  Le 
Brun  (tom.  IV.  diss.  x.  a.  10)  to  have 
been  introduced  by  an  Armenian  council 
about  G40,  in  order  to  symbolise  the 
Monophysite  doctrine  that  Christ  had 
only  one  nature. 

(3)  The  Second  or  Alexandrian 
Family  is  characterised  by  the  occurrence 
of  the  "  Great  Intercession  "  for  living  and 
dead  in  the  midst  of  the  Preface,  and  by 
the  prominent  part  assigned  to  the 
deacon.  The  original  Church  language 
of  the  Alexandrian  church  was  Greek, 
and  we  possess  three  Greek  liturgies 
belonging  to  it :  viz.  those  of  St.  Mark, 
St.  Basil,  and  St.  Gregory.  Originally 
there  were  twelve  Coptic  liturgies,  and 
these  are  still  preserved  in  Etbiopic  by 
the  Abyssinians,  who  depend  on  Alexan- 


LITURGIES 

dria  ;  but  Gabriel,  70th  Patriarch  of  the 
Copts,  who  lived  in  the  twelfth  century, 
limited  the  Oopts  to  three  liturgies — viz., 
those  of  St.  Cyril,  St.  Basil,  and  St. 
Gregory,  all  in' Coptic.  Of  course  the 
Alexandrian  Liturgy  of  St.  Ba3il,whether 
Greek  or  Coptic,  must  be  carefully  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  Constantinople. 

The  Greek  Liturgy  of  St.  Mark  is  in 
its  main  features  very  ancient,  for  it  con- 
tains references  to  persecution  as  still 
likely,  though  it  has  been  altered  under 
the  influence  of  Constantinople.  The 
Coptic  Liturgy  of  St.  Cyril,  exhibits 
close  and  otten  verbal  agreement  with 
that  of  St.  Mark,  and  has  the  true  Alex- 
andrian arrangement  of  parts  throughout. 
The  Coptic  St.  Basil,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  identical  with  that  of  St.  Cyril  up  to 
the  Anaphora,  but  in  the  Anaphora — i.e.. 
from  the  "  Sursum  corda"  to  the  end  it 
conforms  to  the  Constantinopolitan  or 
West  Syrian  model.  Mr.  Hammond  sup- 
poses on  very  plausible  grounds  that,  the 
Alexandrian  St.  Basil,  whether  Greek  or 
Coptic,  arose  from  uniting  the  Anaphora 
of  St.  Basil  used  by  the  Greek  church  to 
the  proanaphoral  portion  of  the  original 
Alexandrian  liturgy.  Fin  ally,  the  Liturgy 
of  St.  Gregory  follows  the  type  of  the  Cop- 
tic St.  Basil.  The  chief  Ethiopic  liturgy, 
the  ''canon  univei-salis,"  closely  follows 
the  Greek  St.  Mark  and  the  Coptic  St. 
Cyril.  It  is  unique,  as  Mr,  Hammond 
points  out,  in  omitting  the  "Sursum 
corda,"  with  its  response.  Of  their  three 
existing  liturgies,  the  Copts  ordinarily 
use  that  of  St.  Basil.  St.  Gregory's  is 
only  used  in  the  midnight  Masses  of 
Christmas  and  Epiphany ;  St.  Cyril's, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  purest  re- 
presentative of  the  old  national  liturgy, 
only  on  the  Friday  before  Palm  Sunday. 
(Marquis  of  Bute,  "  Coptic  Morning 
Service  for  the  Lord's  Day,"  Introduc- 
tion.) The  Catholic  or  IJnited  Copts 
have  imitated  the  Latins  in  several  points 
— viz.,  communion  under  one  kind,  the  use 
(mostly)  of  unleavened  bread,  and  kneel- 
ing at  communion.  (Marquis  of  Bute, 
ib.) 

(y)  The  East  Syrian  Family  places  the 
general  intercession  between  the  words  of 
institution  and  the  invocation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  It  includes  the  liturgies  in  the 
Syriac  tongue  used  by  the  Nestorians  and 
Chaldeans,  &c.,  descendants  of  Nestorians 
who  abjured  heresy  and  returned  to  the 
Church,  preserving,  however,  their  ancient 
rites. 

The  Nestorians  have  three  liturgies. 


LITURGIES 


525 


The  most  ancient,  and  also  that  in  ordin- 
ary use,  is  "  The  Liturgy  of  the  Blessed 
Apostles,  composed  by  Lord  Addaeus 
[prob.  Thaddeus]  and  Maris,  Doctors  of 
the  Children  of  the  East."  It  omits  in 
its  present  form  the  words  of  institution, 
though  Bickell  has  proved  that  it  origin- 
ally contained  them  (see  Hammond,  lix). 
The  other  two  liturgies  are  called  after 
Theodore  {^of  Mopsuestia)  and  Nestorius, 
though  there  are  reasons  for  believing 
even  this  last  to  be  older  than  the  Nesto- 
rian  schism  in  181.  The  liturgy  of 
Nestorius  is  the  only  one  of  the  three 
which  has  been  corrupted  in  the  interest 
of  heresy  (Le  Brun,  diss.  xi.  a.  10). 
Le  Brun  {ib.  a.  11)  asserts  that  the  Chal- 
deans or  Nestorian  converts  of  Diarbekir 
have  adopted  a  Syriac  translation  of  the 
Roman  Missal,  using,  however,  leavened 
bread.  He  seems  to  have  been  misin- 
formed ;  at  all  events  this  is  not  the  case 
now.  Dr.  Badger,  the  learned  author  of 
the  "  Nestorians  and  their  Ritual,"  whose 
authority  is  decisive  on  such  a  point,  says 
the  Catholics  of  the  Chaldean  rite  use  the 
same  three  liturgies  as  the  Nestorians. 
They  have,  however,  introduced  the 
words  of  institution  in  the  liturgy  of  the 
Apostles,  and  placed  them  after  the  in- 
vocation in  the  other  two  liturgies.  They 
elevate  the  Host  and  chalice,  and  they 
give  the  laity  at  communion  the  Host 
dipped  in  the  Precious  Blood.  Moreover, 
the  priest  reserves  the  particles  over  after 
the  communion  of  the  people,  instead  of 
consuming  them  like  the  Nestorians; 
priests  say  Mass  daily,  and  even,  if  there 
are  several  priests  in  one  church,  have 
more  than  one  Mass  on  the  same  altar 
(Badger,  vol.  ii.  p.  241  seq.). 

(5)  The  Kindred  but  Independent 
Liturgies  of  Gaid  and  Spain. — Here  the 
Great  Intercession  comes  just  after  the 
offertory,  though  the  Mozarabic  Mass  has 
also  a  Memento  ot  the  living  before  the 
Pater  Noster.  Not  only  collects,  lections, 
&c.,  but  also  the  greater  part  of  the 
prayers  which  correspond  to  the  Canon 
are  variable.  It  has  been  supposed  that 
these  liturgies  are  partly  due  to  the 
church  of  Asia  Minor,  with  which  the 
ancient  church  of  Lyons  was  connected. 
However  that  may  be,  certain  it  is  that 
this  Western  family  of  liturgies  has  some 
Eastern  peculiarities:  such  are  "  Sancta 
Sanctis"  in  the  Mozarabic  Liturgy,  and, 
in  both  the  Galilean  and  Moz;irabic  rites, 
the  regular  reading  of  a  lection  from  the 
Old  Testament,  the  various  proclamations 
by  the  deacon,  the  "  Preces  "  {i.e.  probabJy 


626 


LITURGIES 


LITURGIES 


a  series  of  intercessions  like  the  ectenSf 
or  deacon's  litany  in  Eastern  liturgies), 
and  the  giving  of  the  Pax  early  in  the 
service,  whereas  in  the  Roman  Mass  it 
has  always  been  given,  according  to  the 
earliest  notice  extant,  after  the  consecra- 
tion. 

The  word  "  Mozarahic  "  is  from  Moz- 
zarah,  the  participle  of  an  Arabic  verb 
meaning  ^'  to  adopt  the  Arab  mode  of 
life."  It  must  have  been  applied  to  Chris- 
tians living  under  the  Moors,  but  the 
liturgy  is  much  older  than  its  name,  for 
it  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  known 
to  Isidore  of  Seville  in  the  sixth  century. 
It  was.  indeed,  this  Saint  and  his  brother, 
St.  Leander,  who  had  the  principal  share 
in  compiling  the  Spanish  Missal,  and  St. 
Isidore  presided  over  a  Council  of  Toledo 
■which  imposed  it  on  all  Spain  and  on 
Narbonne,  which  did  not  belong  to  the 
Franks  till  759.  In  Charlemagne's  time 
the  Mozarabic  or  Gothic  rite  fell  into 
some  disrepute  because  of  expressions  in 
it  supposed  to  favour  the  Adoptionist 
heresy.  Early  in  the  ninth  century,  after 
much  discussion  between  Rome  and  Spain, 
the  Missal,  from  which  the  incriminated 
phrases  had  been  removed,  was  declared 
orthodox ;  the  Spaniards,  however,  being 
required  to  conform  the  words  of  consecra- 
tion to  those  in  the  Roman  Missal.  But  in 
the  next  century,  Alexander  II.,  Gregory 
VII.,  and  Urban  II.,  made  great  efforts  to 
substitute  the  Roman  Missal  In  the 
thirteenth  century,  the  Mozarabic  rite  had 
disappeared  from  every  cathedral  church, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  it  had 
disappeared  altogether.  In  1500,  Cardinal 
Ximenes  published  the  Mozarabic  Missal 
with  some  few  assimilations  to  Roman 
use,  and  built  a  collegiate  church  in  which 
this  Missal  and  the  Mozarabic  Breviary 
(printed  1 502)  were  to  be  used.  Dr.  Neale 
(quoted  by  Hammond,  p.  Ixv)  tells  us 
that  at  present  the  Mozarabic  rite  is  fol- 
lowed, not  only  in  this  church,  but  in 
two  parish  churches  in  Toledo  and  one  at 
Salamanca.  The  most  remarkable  feature 
in  the  Mass  to  an  ordinary  observer  is 
the  elaborate  symbolism  of  the  Fraction. 
The  Host  is  divided  first  into  two,  then 
into  nine  parts,  each  with  a  separate 
name,  taken  from  the  mysteries  of  Christ's 
life. 

Gallican  Liturgy.  —  This  venerable 
liturgy  does  not  exist  in  a  complete  form, 
since  no  Gallican  "  Antiphonarium  "  (the 
book  containing  introits,  ofiertories,  &c.) 
has  yet  been  found.  But  we  have  three 
Saciamentaries     printed     by     Cardinal 


Thomasi  in  1680,  and  again  by  Mabillon 
in  his  "  De  Liturgia  Gallicana,"  in  1685. 
The  first  is  called  by  Mabillon  "  Gallico- 
Gallicanum,"  and  was  probably  used  in 
South  Gaul ;  the  second,  "  Missale  Franc- 
orum,"  used  in  North- Western  Gaul,  con- 
tains a  large  admixture  of  Roman  elements 
— the  prayers  are  Gelasian,  the  Preface, 
though    retaining     its    Gallican     name, 
"  Contestatio,"  ends  like  the  Preface  in 
the  Roman  Mass ;  the  third, "  Gallicanum 
Vetus,"  seems  free  from  Roman  admix- 
tures, except  in  the  office  for  Good  Friday. 
Besides,  we  have  a  Gallican  Lectionary 
edited    by   Mabillon   in   his   work  cited 
above,  and  a  "  Sacramentarium  Gallica- 
num," found  by  Mabillon  in  the  monasterj- 
at  Bobbio,  and  printed   by  him   in   his 
"Museum  Italicum."    But  this  last  has 
the  Gregorian  or  Roman  Canon.    Further, 
we  have  a  most  detailed  and  valuable  ex- 
position of  the  old  Gallican  Mass,  in  an 
extract  from  two  letters  of  St.  Germanus 
of  Paris,  written  in  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century.     Additional  fragments  of 
eleven  Gallican  Masses  have  been  published 
by  Mone  ("  Griechische  und  lateinische 
Missen,"  Frankfort,  1850),  and  a  few  more 
by  Bunsen  ("  Analecta  Ante-Nicen.")  and 
Mai    ("Script.   Vet.   Vaticana    Collect." 
tom.  ii.).     From  the  materials  at  his  com- 
mand, Le  Brun  has  been  able  to  give  a 
very  full  and  trustworthy  account  of  the 
Gallican    Liturgy,    which  in    the   order 
(though  not  in  the  name)  of  its  various 
parts  is  almost  identical  with  the  Moz- 
arabic Liturgy,  which  we  possess  entire. 
Want  of  space  compels  us  to  refer  our 
readers  to  Le  Brun's  clear  and  interesting 
account  in  tom.  iii.     It  was  under  the 
influence  of  Pepin  and  Charlemagne  that 
the  Gallican  gave  way  to  the  Roman  rite. 
The   Caroline    books,   composed  in  790, 
certify  that  the  Roman  was  already  re- 
ceived in  "  the  provinces  of  all  the  Gauls," 
in  Germany  and  Italy,  as  well  as  among 
the  Saxons  and  "  certain  nations  of  the 
North."  ~  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
revision  of  the  Roman  Missal  made  for 
the  use  of  their  dioceses  by  French  bishops 
in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies,  and  now  at  last   entirely   aban- 
doned, must  not  be  confounded  with  the 
ancient  Gallican  Missals.      Rome  never 
approved  these  modern  revisions  by  epi- 
scopal authority,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  ancient  Gallican  rite,  if  it  had  been 
retained,  would  have    been  in   no  way 
affected  by  the  decree  of  Pius  V.  forbid- 
ding any  deviation  from  the  Roman  INIissal 
as  approved  by  him,  except  in  churches 


LITURGIES 

where  a  prescription  of  two  hundred  years 
could  be  claimed  for  the  liturgy  in  use.^ 

The  Roman  Missal  and  its  Derivatives 
are  characterised  by  the  position  of  the 
Pax  just  before  cominimion,  and  the 
division  of  the  Great  Intercession  into  a 
Memento  of  the  living  before,  and  of  the 
dead  after,  the  consecration.  The  early 
history  of  the  Roman  Liturgy  is  unknown. 
Writers  of  great  name,  Mihnan,  De  Rossi, 
Lightfoot,  Westcott,  &c.,  have  contended, 
with  great  probability,  that  the  oriijinal 
Roman  church  was  composed  mainly  of 
persons  who  spoke  Greek.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  names  in  the  salutations  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  nearly 
all  the  names  of  the  Roman  bishops  for 
the  first  two  centuries,  are  Greek.  So  is 
all  the  early  literature  of  the  Roman 
church.  And  it  is  held  by  Westcott 
("  Canon,"  p.  269)  and  many  others 
that  the  early  Latin  versions  of  the  New 
Testament,  were  made  for  Africa,  not  for 
Rome.  Again,  St.  Paul  wrote  to  the 
Roman  Church  in  Greek ;  for  few  now 
will  adopt  the  unfortunate  suggestion  of 
the  scholiast  in  the  Peshito,  that  the  origi- 
nal of  the  Epistle  was  in  Latin.  If  we 
adopt  this  view,  we  shall  also  be  led  to 
the  supposition  that  the  liturgy  was  in 
Greek.  When  Justin  wrote  his  '^  Apology  " 
to  the  Emperor  Pius,  he  was  living  in 
Rome.  If  in  describing  the  celebration 
of  the  Eucharist  he  draws  his  picture  (as 
would  be  most  natural)  from,  the  Roman 
church,  then,  undoubtedly,  the  Roman 
Liturgy  was  Oriental  in  character.  The 
liturgical  order  in  Justin  difiers  in  marked 
features  from  the  Latin  Mass  of  Rome,  as 
it  was  when  we  first  hear  of  it  and  as  it 
is  now,  and  agrees  with  the  Oriental 
liturgies  of  Family  I. 

The  oldest  authentic  notice  of  the 
Roman  Mass  is  in  Innocents  letter  to 
Decentius  (anno  416).  He  mentions  two 
characteristics  which  distinguish  the  Ro- 
man Mass  from  all  other  liturgies — viz. 
the  giving  of  the  Pax  towards  the  end  of 
the  Mass,  and  the  Memento  of  the  living 
after  the  oblation  and  in  theCanon  ("  Prius 
ergo  orationes  sunt  commeudandse  ac  tunc 
eorum  nomina  quorum  sunt,  edicenda,  ut 
inter  sacra  mysteria  noniinentur  ").     The 

^  But  certain  genuine  Galilean  rites  were 
preserved  down  to  the  Revolution  in  many 
French  churches,  notably  the  episcopal  bene- 
diction between  the  Pater  Noster  and  the  "  Pax 
Domini"  (preserved  at  Sens,  Paris,  Auxerre, 
Troies,  Meaux,  &c.),  and  the  lection  from  the 
Old  Testament  in  the  Masses  of  Christmas  Day. 
Le  lirun,  torn.  III.  iv.  4. 


LITURGIES 


627 


Roman  order  was  already  ancient,  for 
Innocent  attributes  it  to  St.  Peter.  The 
Canon  of  the  Roman  Mass  must  have  been 
fixed  in  every  detail  in  St.  Leo's  time 
(440-461) ;  for,  according  to  the  ancient 
author  of  the  "Lives  of  the  Popes,"  he 
added  the  words  "  Sanctum  sacriticium, 
j  immaculatam  hostiam,"  We  have  a  Leo- 
nine Sacramentary,  published  by  Muratori 
in  his  "  Liturgia  Romana  Vetus,''  but  un- 
fortunately it  contains  merely  collects  and 
Prefaces  without  Ordinary  or  Canon.  The 
'■'  Lives  of  the  Popes  "  attributes  a  more 
important  work  of  revision  to  Gelasius 
(492-496),  who,  it  is  there  said,  composed 
prayers  and  Prefaces.  Walafrid  Strabo 
adds  that  Gelasius  set  in  order  the  prayers 
composed  by  himself  and  others.  The 
Gelasian  Sacramentary  was  edited  at 
Rome  from  a  MS.  "■  copied  before  the  year 
700  "  (so  Le  Brun,  tom.  Ill,  diss.  ii.  a.  2. ; 
Mr. Hammond, on  the  contrary,  says  "from 
an  early  ninth  century  MS."),  and  after- 
wards from  other  MSS.  by  Gerbertus,  in 
his  work  on  the  old  German  Liturgy 
(1776-79).  It  agrees  closely,  and  has 
perhaps  been  altered  into  conformity  with 
the  Gregorian  Ordo  and  Canon.  Pope 
Vigilius  (elected  538)  sent  the  Roman 
Canon  ("  Canonicse  precis  textum ")  to 
Profuturus,  bishop  of  Braga,  in  Spain. 
He  tells  him  that  this  Canon  was  in- 
variable the  whole  year  through  (and 
here  let  the  reader  note  a  distinguishing 
mark  of  the  Roman  as  contrasted  with 
all  other  Western  liturgies),  except  that 
on  the  solemnities  of  Easter,  Ascension^ 
Pentecost,  Epiphany,  and  of  the  Saints, 
certain  "  Capitula  "  appropriate  to  the  day 
were  added.  '11.ese  "  Japitula "  werd 
most  likely,  as  Le  Brun  conjectures,  short 
additions  similar  to  those  now  made  in 
the  "Communicautes"and  "  Hanc  igitur." 
The  finishing  stroke  was  put  to  the  work 
by  Gregory  the  Great  (690-604),  whose 
Sacramentary  was  edited  by  Pamelius  in 
the  second  volume  of  his  "Liturgicon 
Latinum "  (Cologne,  1571),  by  Rocca 
(Rome,  1597),  and  by  the  Benedictine 
Menard  (iu  1642)  with  learned  notes. 
Gregory  made  a  slight  change  in  the 
Canon — viz.  by  adding  the  words  "  dies- 
que  nostros,"  &c.  (see  article  Canon),  and 
another  of  far  greater  moment,  by  placing 
the  Fraction  after,  whereas  till  then  it  had 
occurred  before,  the  Lord's  Prayer.  He 
abbreviated  the  rest  of  the  MasS.  Thus 
he  substituted  verses  for  entire  psalms, 
and  whereas  the  Gelasian  Mass  had  two 
or  three  prayers  before  the  Epistle,  one 
Secret,  two  Post-communions — of  which 


528  LITURGIES 

one  was  said  over  the  people  ('*  super 
populum") — Gregory  reduced  the  ordinary 
number  of  these  prayers  to  three :  Collect, 
Secret,  Post-communion :  and  of  the  Pre- 
faces— very  numerous  in  ancient  times — 
kept  only  those  few  which  we  still  have 
(Muratori,  "  De  Rebus  Liturg/'p.  14 ;  and 
Mabillon,  "  De  Lit.  Gallican."  i.  cap.  2, 
iv.  apud  Maskell).  Since  Gregory's  day, 
rubrics  have  been  multiplied,  Masses  added 
for  new  feasts,  &c.  &:c.,  "bat  there  has 
been,"  says  a  learned  Protestant,  "  no 
change  of  importance  in  the  Roman 
Liturgy.  That  is  to  say,  the  number  of 
prayers  composing  the  5lass,  the  order  in 
which  tbey  occur,  and  the  names  of  them, 
have  remained  unaltered "  (Hammond, 
p.  Ixxiii). 

The  Ambrosian  Mass  is  not  a  daughter, 
but  a  sister  of  the  Roman  or  Gregorian 
Liturgy.  In  the  crucial  tests,  the  position 
of  the  Pax  and  of  the  Great  Intercession, 
it  differs  from  the  Mozarabic  and  Gallican, 
and  exactly  agrees  with  the  Roman  Mass. 
But  like  the  Roman  Liturgy  before  Gre- 
gory, it  is  rich  in  Prefaces,  and  has  the 
Fraction  before  the  Pater  Noster.  It  has, 
however,  adopted  the  ''diesque  nostros," 
&c.,  from  the  Gregorian  Canon ;  and  seve- 
ral introits,  and  the  arrangement  of  the 
three  Masses  on  Christmas,  have  been  bor- 
rowed from  Rome.  It  has  been  thought 
tliat  Greek  influence  may  be  traced  in  the 
prayers  over  the  corporal  ("  super  siudo- 
nem"),  the  litanies  said  on  Sundays  in 
Lent,  the  proclamation  by  the  deacon 
before  the  Epistle,  &c. 

We  pass  over  the  Liturgy  of  the 
Patriarchate  of  Aquileia,  which  seems  to 
have  been  a  mere  variety  of  the  Roman 
Use,  but  of  which  little  is  known ;  and  we 
pass  on  to  a  subject  of  far  greater  interest 
to  us — viz.  the  Liturgical  Use  of  the 
Ancient  Church  of  England  down  to  the 
Reformation.  We  take  as  our  guide  the 
admirable  works  of  Mr.  Maskell — one 
entitled  the  "  Ancient  Liturgy  of  the 
Church  of  England,"  and  the  other, 
"  Monumenta  Ritualia."  It  is  probable, 
from  St.  Augustine's  question  to  Pope 
Gregory,  that  the  ancient  British  churches 
used  a  liturgy  akin  to  those  of  Gaul  and 
Spain.  But  the  influence  of  St.  Augustine 
led  to  a  wide  adoption  of  the  Roman 
Liturgy  in  its  main  features.  In  747  the 
Council  of  Cloveshoo,  which  may  fairly 
be  taken  as  representing  south  and  middle 
England  -for  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, the  Bisliop  of  Rochester,  three 
bishops  from  Mercia,  two  from  Wessex, 
one  from  Lincoln,  and  one  from  Sussex, 


LITURGIES 

were  present  (see  Hefele,  *'  Concil.  lu.  p. 
o62)--<iecreed  that  "  the  holy  feasts  of  our 
Lord's  dispensation  in  the  flesh,  in  all 
things  duly  pertaining  to  them — i.e.  in  the 
office  of  Baptism,  in  the  celebration  of 
Masses,  in  the  manner  of  the  chant — should 
be  celebrated  according  to  the  copy  which 
we  have  in  writing  from  the  Roman 
Church."  These  words  are  clear  and  ex- 
press, nor  is  there  room  for  doubt  that  as 
Christianity  spread  among  the  Saxons, 
the  Roman  replaced  the  Gallican  Canon, 
and  that  gradually  the  whole  Missal,  in  its 
main  features,  was  modelled  after  the 
Roman  prototype. 

It  is  true  then,  in  a  general  way,  that 
the  English  used  the  Roman  Liturgy. 
But  only  in  a  general  way :  first,  because 
before  the  invention  of  printing,  the  uni- 
formity which  has  prevailed  since  Pius  V. 
issued  his  authoritative  edition  of  the 
Roman  Missal  was  a  matter  of  impos- 
sibility ;  and,  next,  because  the  power  of 
bishops  to  regulate  public  worship  in  their 
dioceses  was  not  restrained,  as  at  present, 
and  they  used  this  power  in  introducing 
minor  differences,  though  they  preserved 
all  the  main  character  of  the  Roman  Mass. 
Thus  different  Uses  arose.  About  1085 
Osmund,  bishop  of  Salisbury,  promulgated 
a  form  for  his  diocese,  which  became  ac- 
cepted in  the  South  of  England  and  spread 
into  Ireland  and  Scotland.  Then  there 
were  the  Uses  of  York  and  Hereford,  and 
(in  fewer  dioceses)  those  of  Lincoln  and 
Bangor.  Many  of  the  ancient  books  were 
destroyed  at  the  Refoi-mation,  and  only  a 
fragment  of  the  Lincoln  Use  remains.  It 
is  not  certain  that  we  Imow  the  Use  of 
Bangor,  though  Mr.  Maskell  believes  that 
a  MS.  from  which  he  has  printed  the 
Ordinary  and  Canon  contains  the  Use  of 
that  church.  Besides,  there  was  a  Use  of 
St.  Paul's  in  London  (where  the  Sarum 
books  were  not  received  till  1414),  of 
which  we  know  nothing.  And  no  doubt 
there  were  varieties  in  the  Sarum  rite 
which  might  be,  and  were,  to  a  certain 
extent,  regarded  as  separate  Uses. 

Mr.  Maskell  has  placed  the  Ordinary 
and  Canon  of  the  Mass  according  to  the 
Sarum,  (supposed)  Bangor,  York,  Here- 
ford, and  Roman  Uses,  in  parallel  columns. 
To  tliis  we  must  refer  the  reader,  for  a 
complete  enumeration  of  the  points  in 
which  these  Uses  differ  from  each  other 
v.'ould  be  long  and  tedious,  and  would, 
after  all,  convey  a  much  less  vivid  impres- 
sion than  any  reader  familiar  with  the 
Roman  Mass  can  gain  for  himself  with 
little  pains  by  reading  the  texts.     Wecou- 


LITURGIES 


LOCI  THEOLOGIOI 


529 


tent  ourselves,  therefore,  with  a  few  general 
remarks. 

There  is — we  will  not  say  no  difference 
of  doctrine :  between  the  old  and  the  pre- 
sent rites  of  the  English  church  there  is,with 
one  exception,  no  point  of  difference  from 
which  any  theological  argument  could  he 
deduced.  This  exception  occurs  in  a  single 
prayer.  After  the  priest  has  put  a  frag- 
ment of  the  Host  in  the  chaHce,  he  prays, 
in  the  four  English  Uses,  that  this  mixture 
of  Christ's  body  and  blood  may  be  to  him- 
self and  to  all  who  -partake  of  it  ("  omni- 
busque  sumentibus,"  *'  et  omnibus  sumenti- 
bus  ")  health  of  mind  and  body.  The  words 
italicised  are  a  relic  of  the  time  when  the 
faithful  communicated  under  both  kinds, 
retained  long  after  they  had  ceased  to  do 
so.  They,  of  course,  are  no  evidence  of 
change  of  doctrine,  though  they  do  prove 
change  of  discipline;  but  Archbishop 
Oranmer,  in  his  answer  to  the  Devon- 
shire rebels,  availed  himself  of  them  as  an 
argument  for  communion  in  both  kinds. 

The  lirst  impression  upon  a  modern 
Catholic  reader  made  by  the  reading  of 
these  old  English  Uses  will  be,  we  think, 
one  of  surprise  that  he  finds  himself  so 
much  at  home  in  them.  They  are  utterly 
unlike  the  "  Communion  Service  "  of  the 
church  now  established,  while  we  are  con- 
vinced that  if  thejy  were  re-introduced 
in  England,  the  English  people  would 
scarcely  feel  any  ditiierence.  In  the  Ordi- 
nary of  the  Mass,  the  old  Enghsh  and 
modern  Roman  rites  agree  part  for  part 
and,  as  a  rule,  word  for  word.  In  the 
Canon,  almost  every  word  is  the  same 
down  to  the  end  of  the  "  Libera  nos '" — 
i.e.  to  the  end  of  the  Canon  proper.  After 
that,  mau}-^  of  the  prayers  are  different. 
This  difference  is  easily  explained,  for  the 
prayers  which  follow  the  "  Libera  nos  " 
are  later  than  St.  Augustine's  time ;  nay, 
with  the  exception  of  the  "  Agnus  Dei  " 
(added  by  Pope  Sergius,  and  adopted  in 
all  the  English  Uses),  they  are  later — some 
of  them  much  later — than  the  Council  of 
Cloves^hoo,  which  imposed  the  Roman 
Missal  on  England.  Indeed,  the  prayer 
which  the  priest  says  before  the  Pax 
("  Domine  Jesu  Christe  ")  was  not  to  be 
found  in  the  Roman  Missal  even  in  1090, 
after  St.  Osmund's  time.  We  need  not 
wonder,  then,  that  there  is  in  this  part 
considerable  divergence  between  the  Eng- 
lish Uses  and  the  Missal  of  Pius  V. 

What  the  English  had,  was,  not  a 
national  Liturgy  like  that  of  the  (^opts 
or  Chaldeans,  or  even  a  Liturgy  so  distinct 
from  the  Roman  as  that  of  Milan,  but  Eng- 


lish editions  or  recensions  of  the  Roman 
Liturgy.  Nor  must  it  be  supposed  that 
Rome  deprived  the  English  of  their 
ancient  usages.  Rome  in  no  way  inter- 
fered, or  would,  so  far  as  can  be  conjec- 
tured, ever  have  interfered.  She  has  not 
only  tolerated,  but  enforced,  the  ancient 
Liturgies  of  the  East.  She  allows  the 
Dominican  variety  of  the  Roman  Mass, 
&c.,  &c.  The  bull  of  Pius  V.,  as  he  ex- 
pressly stated,  did  not  impose  the  new 
edition  of  the  Missal  on  any  church  which 
had  rites  of  its  own  with  a  prescription  of 
two  hundred  years.  The  Reformers  set 
themselves  energetically  to  destroy  the 
Sarum  books;  copies  became  extremely 
rare,  and  the  clergy,  forced  to  get  their 
education  abroad,  naturally  preferred  to 
say  Mass  and  office  from  the  modern 
Roman  books  which  were  so  much  more 
easily  procured. 

(A  full  account  of  the  literature  will  be 
found  in  Smith  and  Cheetham,  article 
Liturgies.  Some  of  the  most  important 
works  have  been  noticed  in  the  course 
of  this  article.  Le  Brun,  '*  Explication 
de  la  Messe,"  is  a  most  accurate  and 
convenient  repertory  of  all  the  results 
obtained  by  Renaudot,  Mabillon,  Menard, 
&c.  It  abounds  besides  in  original  research, 
and  gives  full  accounts  of  the  chief  Litur- 
gies, with  learned  notes.  But  no  student 
should  be  without  Mr.  Hammond's  reprint 
of  the  texts  of  the  Ancient  Liturgies,  ac- 
companied by  an  excellent  Introduction. 
Mr.  Hammond  puts  the  student  in  pos- 
session of  a  rational  classification  of  the 
liturgies,  and  teaches  him  to  fix  his  at- 
tention on  the  cardinal  points  in  reading 
larger  books.) 

X.OCZ  THEOZiOaici.  The  sources 
from  which  theological  arguments  are 
drawn.  The  name  has  become  familiar 
through  the  celebrated  work  of  Melchior 
Canus  (1523-1560),  a  Spanish  Dominican, 
Professor  of  Theology  at  Salamanca, 
employed  at  the  Council  of  Trent  under 
Paul  III.,  and  finally  Bishop  of  the 
Canaries.  In  this  work,  which  is  written 
in  most  elegant  and  classical  Latin,  Canus 
uses  the  word  loci  or  tottoi  exactlv  as 
Aristotle  and  Cicero  had  done — i.e.  in  the 
sense  of  sedes  e  quibus  aiyumenta  prO" 
muntur.  It  discusses  the  use  to  be  made 
by  the  theologian  of  Scripture,  Councils, 
Fathers,  Philosophy,  &c.,  and  forms  a  scien- 
tific introduction  to  Dogmatic  Theology. 
Canus  complains  that  theologians  argued 
little  from  the  Councils,  not  frequently 
enough  from  Scripture,  scarcely  at  all 
from  History,  and  he  sets  himself  to  guide 


530 


LOaOTHETE 


them  into  a  fuller  and  more  discriminating 
use  of  the  material  which  the  revival  of 
letters  was  opening  up.  Both  in  style 
and  in  method  Canus  marks  a  new  era. 
He  had  a  most  powerful  influence  in 
inaujjurating  the  critical  and  historical  as 
distinct  from  the  merely  scholastic  theo- 
logy. (From  the  work  of  Canus  itself, 
and  from  Kuhn,  *'  Dogmatik,"  i.  p.  486 
seq.) 

I.OGOTBETE  (KoyoOe-njs,  properly, 
an  accountant).  Besides  a  number  of 
officers  in  the  civil  service  who  bore  this 
title  at  the  Byzantine  Court,'  it  was  given 
to  the  chief  ^official  of  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  the  logotheta  ecclesiasticus, 
whose  functions  closely  resembled  those 
of  an  episcopal  chancellor  in  the  Western 
Church.  [See  Chancellor,  Episcopal.] 
(Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

XiORSTO.  In  the  Ecclesiastical 
State,  a  few  miles  south  of  Ancona,  on  a 
hill  three  miles  distant  from  the  sea, 
there  is  a  stately  domed  church,  the  work 
of  Bramante,  rising  among  the  houses  of 
the  little  city  of  Loreto.  On  entering  the 
church,  the  pilgrim  or  traveller  observes 
under  the  dome  "  a  singular  rectangular 
edifice,  of  no  great  height,  constructed 
apparently  of  white  marble,  and  richly 
adorned  with  statues  and  sculpture." 
This  is  the  famous  Santa  Casa,  or  Holy 
House,  which  tradition  asserts  to  be  the 
very  same  building  in  which  the  Biassed 
Virgin  Mary  dwelt  at  Nazareth,  where 
she  heard  the  message  of  the  archangel, 
and  where  the  Holy  Family  resided 
during  the  childhood  and  hidden  life  of 
our  Lord.  Its  internal  length  is  about 
31  feet ;  its  breadth,  13  feet.  The  roof 
is  modern.  Externally,  the  original  walls 
cannot  be  seen ;  but  within  the  building 
the  coarse  stonework  of  the  original 
masonry  is  exposed  to  view.  The  material 
is  a  dark  reddish-coloured  stone.  It  was 
once  thought  to  be  brick,  in  which  case 
this  could  not  have  been  the  house  which 
once  stood  at  Nazareth,  where  brick 
houses  are  unknown.  But  on  this  ques- 
tion of  the  stone  of  which  the  Santa 
Casa  is  built,  more  will  have  to  be  said 
further  on,  when  the  ciurent  objections 
to  the  legend  come  under  consideration. 
Towards  the  eastern  end  of  the  house 
Btands  an  altar,  and  behind  the  altar  is  an 
image,  said  to  be  of  olive  wood,  now 
blackened  by  the  smoke  of  the  lamps ; 
this  is  the  famous  image  of  our  Lady  of 
Loreto. 

The  legend  of  the  Holy  House  in  its 

>  See  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  ch.  liii. 


LORETO 

main  features  runs  as  follows.  The 
Christian  power  having  been  finally  ex- 
pelled from  Palestine,^  the  house  in  which 
God's  Mother  dwelt  for  many  years  with 
her  Divine  Sou  and  St.  Joseph  was  com- 
pletely at  the  mercy  of  the  infidels.  That 
it  might  be  removed  to  a  place  of  safety, 
and  be  for  the  future  in  Christian  hands, 
angels  lifted  it  from  its  foundations,  and 
bore  it  through  the  air,  in  the  first  place 
to  Illyria,  where  it  rested  on  the  top  of  a 
hill  at  Tersatz  or  Tersatto,  near  Fiume,  in 
the  night  of  May  10,  1291.  In  the 
morning  the  inhabitants  wondered  to  see 
a  house  standing  where  none  had  been 
before ;  they  approached  it,  noticed  that 
it  was  without  foundations,  and  upon 
entering  saw  an  altar  and  an  image  of  the 
Virgin  and  Child.  But  the  Holy  House 
of  Nazareth,  for  such  it  was,  did  not  long 
remain  at  Tersatz.  After  three  years  and 
a  half,  on  December  10,  1294,  it  was  re- 
moved to  the  opposite  side  of  the  Adriatic. 
Shepherds  near  Recanati  are  said  to  have 
seen  it  borne  through  the  air,-  and  de- 
posited in  a  wood  near  the  sea  called 
Lauretum,  either  from  the  laurels  which 
grew  there  or  because  it  belonged  to  a 
rich  lady  of  Recanati  named  Laureta. 
Soon  pilgrims  visited  it  in  great  numbers, 
but,  the  place  being  remote,  brigands  also 
made  their  appearance,  and  to  approach 
the  house  became  a  work  of  danger.  In 
less  fhau  a  year  (August  1295)  there  was 
a  third  removal,  to  a  hill  three  or  four 
miles  from  the  wood,  along  which  passed 
a  public  road.  The  spot  where  the  Holy 
House  alighted  belonged  to  two  brothers, 
who  quarrelled  as  to  their  respective 
rights  of  property  in  the  site.  Agnin,  in 
December  1295,  the  house  was  removed 
from  its  place,  but  only  for  a  very  short 
distance,  and  was  set  down  in  the  middle 
of  the  public  road  above  mentioned, 
where  it  has  remained  to  the  present  day. 
The  Blessed  Virgin,  appearing  in  a  vision 
to  a  holy  hermit  who  dwelt  near  Recanati, 
soon  after  the  final  translation,  unfolded 
to  him  the  true  character  of  the  house. 
After  a  time  the  people  of  Tersatz  heard 

1  By  the  capture  of  Acre,  1291. 

8  The  accounts  vary ;  Baptista  says  that 
the  great-great-srandfather  of  a  certain  Paul  of 
Recanati  saw  the  house  "  gliding  over  the 
waves  of  the  sea  like  a  ship ;  "  Tursellinus, 
though  his  narrative  is  otherwise  consistent 
with"  this  view,  adds  that,  "  there  was  one 
among  them  [the  shepherds]  who  affirmed  that 
he  saw  it  when  it  was  being  borne  in  mid  air 
over  the  sea ;  "  Jerome  Angelita  (who  wrote 
about  1530,  and  before  Tursellinus)  simply  saya 
that  it  was  "  miraculously  cairied  over  the  sea.** 


LORETO 


LORETO 


631 


where  it  was,  and  numlDers  of  tliem 
crossed  the  sea  to  visit  it.  These  simple 
pilgrims  are  said  to  have  solemnly  en- 
treated our  Lady  to  return  to  them, 
exclaiming-,  "Torua,  torna  a  noi,  hella 
Signora,  eon  la  tua  Casa." 

Such  being  the  legend,  it  remains  to 
inquire  by  what  kind  of  testimony  it  is 
supported,  and  to  consider  objections 
which  have  been  advanced  against  various 
portions  of  it.  The  evidence  producible, 
whatever  may  be  its  value,  is  not  so  strong 
and  conclusive  as  of  itself  to  exclude  the 
possibility  of  doubt.  No  contemporary 
book  or  record,  with  the  exception  of  two 
documents  which  will  be  considered 
further  on,  can  be  appealed  to  as  noticing 
the  translation.  No  extant  writing  of  the 
fourteenth  century  directly  ^  mentions  it. 
The  archives  of  Tersatz  and  E-ecanati, 
which  are  said  to  have  contained  state- 
ments confirmatory  of  ditlerent  parts  of 
the  above  narrative,  have  perished.  The 
earliest  account  of  the  translation  which 
can  be  distinctly  traced  was  drawn  up  by 
Peter  George  Teremanus,  or  Teramano, 
guardian  of  the  Santa  Casa,  in  1460 ;  on 
this  the  accounts  given  by  Baptista  and 
Angelita  were  evidently  based.  Tere- 
manus examined  witnesses  and  took  down 
their  evidence ;  one  of  these,  named 
Francis,  deposed  that  his  grandfather, 
who  lived  to  be  120  years  old,  had 
told  him  that  he  had  seen  the  House 
while  it  was  still  in  the  wood,  and  often 
gone  in  and  prayed  there.  Teremanus 
put  together  a  narrative  which  he  in- 
scribed on  a  tablet  and  hung  up  in  the 
Santa  Casa ;  this  tablet  was  seen  and  read 
by  Baptista  and  Angelita.  Two  bulls  of 
Paul  TI.,  dated  1464  and  1471,  speak  of 
the  '*  Domus  et  Imago "  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary  at  Loreto ;  the  later  of  the 
two  refers  in  general  terms  to  the  transla- 
tion. 

The  first  writer  who,  in  works  still 
extant,  speaks  of  the  translation,  seems  to 
have  been  Baptista  Mantuanus,  an  Italian 
poet  of  some  note  who  joined  the  Car- 
melite order  (to  which  the  custody  of  the 

^  The  expression  "directly"  is  used  because 
Jerome  Angelita,  who  was  perpetual  chancellor 
of  the  commune  of  Recanati,  and  wrote  on 
Loreto  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  declares 
that  he  had  found  among  the  town  records  a 
brief  of  Benedict  XIII.  (for  XII.)  dated  in  1341, 
which  he  umlerstood  as  indirectly  referring  to 
the  image  contained  in  the  Santa  Casa-  The 
brief  inclulgencea  a  picture  in  a  church  at 
Recanati,  which,  being  a  copy  of  the  said 
unage,  was  visited  by  aged  persons  who  could 
not  walk  out  as  far  as  Loreto. 


sanctuary  of  Loreto  was  committed  by 
Sixtus  IV.)  and  wrote  a  history  of  the 
church  about  1480.^  He  derived  his  in- 
formation chiefly  from  the  tablet  of 
Teremanus,  whom  he  calls  Neronianus. 
In  his  "  Agelarii,"  a  poem  in  Latin  hex- 
ameters,*^  Baptista  enlarges  in  a  florid 
style  on  the  marvellous  translation.  After 
Baptista  came  the  Jerome  Angelita 
already  mentioned,  who  dedicated  his 
circumstantial  history  of  the  Santa  Casa 
to  Clement  VII. ;  he  was  followed  by  the 
Jesuits  TorseUino  and  Riera,  and  many 
others. 

There  is,  however,  evidence  of  earlier 
date  that  Loreto  was,  and  had  long  been, 
a  celebrated  shrine  of  our  Lady  ;  and  the 
question  suggests  itself,  on  what  did  that 
celebrity  rest  ? '  Flavins  Blondus,  born  in 
1388,  in  his  work  "  Italia  lllustrata,"  of 
which  we  may  place  the  date  between 
1430  and  1440,^  speaks  of  the  "  sacellum" 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  at  Loreto  as  of  a 
shrine  of  great  celebrity,  and  notices  the 
number  of  costly  ex-votos,  testifying  to 
the  gratitude  of  the  ofF<;rer8,  which  were 
hung  on  the  walls  of  the  church.  It  can 
hardly  be  doubted  that  this  "  sacellum  " 
was  identical  with  the  Santa  Casa  now  at 
Loreto.  The  same  word  is  frequently 
used  by  Baptista  in  his  history  already 
mentioned,  and  there  it  evidently  refers  to 
the  Santa  Casa,  the  migrations  of  \^iich 
he  describes  nearly  in  the  same  manner 
as  in  the  legend  given  above.  There- 
fore, if  Flavius  did  not  mean  the  Santa 
Casa  by  the  "sacellum"  of  the  Virgin 
(which  he  distinguishes  from  the  "  basi- 
lica "  to  which  it  was  attached),  he  must 
have  meant  some  building  which  in  the  in- 
terval between  1430  and  1480  totally  dis- 
appeared and  was  replaced  by  a  house 
built  of  stone  brought  from  Palestine  for 
the  purpose,^  to  represent  our  Lord's  abode 
at  Nazareth.  To  adopt  such  a  view 
without  a  particle  of  evidence  would  be 
uncritical.  Flavins,  therefore,  when  he 
mentions  the  "■  sacellum  celeberrimum  "  of 
Loreto,  is  speaking  of  the  present  Santa 
Casa,  the  antiquity  of  which  is  thus 
traced  to  within  150  years  of  the  time  at 
which  the  legend  says  it  was  brought 
to  Loreto.  But  surely  his  words  authorise 
us  to  go  further ;  he  speaks  of  this  as  the 

^  Baptista,  Opera  omnia  (Antwerp,  1576), 
vol.  iv.  p.  216. 

2  lb.  vol.  i,  p.  362. 

3  At  the  end  of  the  treatise  Flavius  speaks 
of  Eugenius  IV.  (f  1447)  as  still  living. 

•*  The  necessity  of  this  inlerence  will  be 
shown  further  on. 
M  2 


632 


LORETO 


LORETO 


most  famous  shrine  of  the  Virgin  "  in  the 
whole  of  Italy  ;"  but  the  growth  of  such 
a  fame  must  have  been  an  aflair  of  many 
years ;  we  should  naturally  suppose  that 
the  commencement  of  the  devotion  could 
not  have  been  later  than  the  middle  of 
the  fourteenth  century.  Hence  by  a  pro- 
cess of  legitimate  inference  we  are  led  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  present  Santa 
Oasa  must  have  been  at  Loreto  within 
some  fifty  years  of  the  time  which 
the  legend  fixes  for  its  arrival. 

A  further  question  arises — Can  the 
existence  of  the  Santa  Casa  be  traced 
before  its  alleged  removal  to  Loreto  ?  A 
remarkable  passage  in  a  description  of  the 
Holy  Laud  by  a  Greek  writer  named 
Phocas,  of  which  a  translation  *  is  given 
in  the  article  on  Loreto  by  Mr.  Meyrick, 
in  the  '-Christian  Remembrancer"  for 
April  1854,  throws  light  on  this  point. 
Phocas  visited  Nazareth  in  1185,  and 
says  that  he  found  two  churches  there, 
one  of  which  contained  the  house  of 
Joseph  in  which  the  Annunciation  and 
Conception  were  said  to  have  taken  place. 
He  says  in  one  place  that  this  house 
was  "transformed  into  a  most  beautiful 
church " ;  but  a  few  lines  further  on  we 
come  to  a  passage  which  shows  what  his 
meaning  was.  For  after  saying  that  in 
this  church,  on  the  left  side,  near  the 
altai*,  there  was  a  cave,  he  adds :  "  Pro- 
ceeding from  the  mouth  within  the  cave, 
you  come  down  a  few  steps  and  thus  gain 
a  view  of  that  which  was  anciently  the 
house  of  Joseph,  in  which,  after  her  return 
from  the  fountain,  .  .  .  the  angel  thus 
saluted  the  Virgin.  Now  on  the  spot 
where  the  salutation  took  place,  there  is 
a  cross  of  black  stone,  graven  in  relief  on 
white  marble,  and  on  the  right  side  of 
the  said  altar  was  a  small  cot  (ixiKpos 
otKio-Kos-),  in  which  the  ever  Virgin 
Mother  of  God  had  her  chamber."  It  is 
contended  that  either  the  whole  house 
here  mentioned,  or  else  the  "  cot "  on  the 
right  side  of  the  alfar,^  was  the  Santa 
Casa  now  at  Loreto.  This  much,  at  any 
rate,  is  clear,  that  about  100  years  before 
the  date  assigned  to  the  first  removal  of 
the  house  to  Tersatz,  there  was  a  building 
within  a  church  at  Nazareth  which 
tradition  named  "the  house  of  Joseph." 
Not. ling  seems  to  have  been  changed  at 
a  period  nearly  seventy  Years  later  (1253), 
when  St.  Louis  visited  Nazareth.     About 

1  The  original  may  be  read  in  the  Acta 
Sanctorum,  t.  ii.  Mai.  p.  3. 

2  IJenedict  XIV.  favoured  the  second  of 
these  suppositions. 


1262  this  church,  as  is  mentioned  in  a 
letter  from  Urban  IV.  to  St.  Louis,  dated  in 
the  following  year,^  was  "  levelled  to  the 
ground  "  by  the  Sultan  of  Babylon.  But 
it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  the 
house  was  destroyed,  for  the  Christians 
would  be  likely  to  block  up  and  conceal 
the  entrance  of  the  cave.  For  a  specimen 
of  the  way  in  which  travellers  spoke  of 
the  state  of  things  at  Nazareth  after  1291, 
we  may  take  the  passage  cited  by  Mr. 
Meyrick  from  Sir  John  Mauudevile,  who 
visited  Palestine  about  1350.  "It  [the 
church]  is  now  all  downe ;  and  men  have 
made  a  litylle  resceyt,  besyde  a  pilere  of 
that  chirche,  for  to  resceyve  the  oftrynges 
of  pilgrymes."  There  is  no  mention  here 
of  anything  like  what  Phocas  saw. 
Gradually  a  new  subterranean  chapel 
was  fashioned,  smaller  than  the  Santa 
Casa,  but  partly  on  the  same  area ;  this  is 
now  called  the  "  Chapel  of  the  Angel." 
The  original  foundations  of  the  "  house  of 
Joseph  "  were  explored  in  the  seventeenth 
century  by  the  Franciscan  guardians  of 
the  shrine  at  Nazareth  ;  and  they  testified 
that  they  exactly  tallied  with  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  house  at  Loreto.'^ 

Adamnan  of  lona,  a  writer  of  the 
eighth  century,  also  speaks  of  the  two 
churches  at  Nazareth,  and  his  language 
has  been  supposed  to  imply  that  the 
house  of  Joseph  had  existed  on  the  site  of 
one  of  them,  but  was  in  existence  no 
longer.  But  the  words  need  not  neces- 
sarily be  so  understood ;  they  are  perlectly 
compatible  with  the  actual  existence  of 
the  house  at  the  time  when  Arculfus, 
Adamnan's  informant,  visited  Nazareth. 

Respecting  many  other  points  of  in- 
terest relating  to  the  Santa  Casa,  such  as 
the  frequency  of  the  miracles  wrought 
there,  the  visions  of  our  Lady  at  Tersatz 
and  Loreto,  the  bulls  of  Pontifi's,  and 
the  alterations  made  by  Papal  order  in  the 
house  itself,  the  reader  is  referred  to  one 
or  more  of  the  works  mentioned  at  the 
end  of  the  article,  particularly  to  those  of 
the  Abbe  Caillau,  Archbishop  Kem'ick, 
and  Father  Hutchison. 

A  few  of  the  common  objections  to 
the  authenticity  of  the  Holy  House  call 
for  some  remark.  The  late  Dean  Stanley, 
who  gives  a  glowing  and  really  beautiful 
description  of  the  environs  of  the  Lake  of 
Gennesareth  in  his  "  Sinai  and  Palestine," 
was  led  to  treat  of  the  history  of  the  Santa 
Casa  in  connection  with  his  visit  to  Naza- 
reth.  No  one  can  be  surprised  that  a  man 

1  Meyrick,  p.  357. 

2  Hutchison,  p.  74. 


LORETO 

60  prepossessed  in  favour  of  a  non-miracu- 
lous and  non-clerical  OJiristianity  rejected 
the  Lore  to  legend,  though  he  cannot  have 
been  insensible  to  its  beauty.  He  thought 
he  could  show  that  if  the  Santa  Oasa  was 
ever  connected  with  a  grotto  in  the  side 
of  the  hill  at  Nazareth,  according  to  the 
received  view,  either  the  house  had  no 
door,  or  there  was  a  dead  wall  between 
it  and  the  grotto,  and  no  way  of  passing 
from  one  to  the  other.  His  argument  is 
met  and  shown  to  be  fallacious  in  the 
work  of  Father  Hutchison.  The  Dean 
thought  that  the  house  must  have  been 
built  of  set  purpose  by  some  devout 
person  or  persons  in  the  middle  ages,  to 
keep  alive  devotion  to  the  mystery  of  the 
Incarnation,  just  as  the  chapels  of  the 
Sacro  Monte  at  Varallo  were  built,  and 
with  the  feeling  that  prompted  the  Pisans 
to  bring  home  earth  from  Palestine  in 
their  eallevs  and  cover  their  Campo  Santo 
with  it.  it  is  enough  to  say  that  this  is 
pure  conjectm-e,  and  that  if  such  a  w  ork 
had  ever  been  undertaken  at  Loreto,  some 
record  of  it  could  hardly  fail  to  have  been 
preserved. 

It  was  for  a  long  time  a  common 
Protestant  objection  that  the  Santa 
Casa  could  not  have  been  the  house  at 
Nazareth,  because  it  was  of  brick,  and 
brick  buildings  were  unknown  at  Naza- 
reth. It  is  now  well  known  that  the 
house  is  built  of  stone ;  but  it  has  been 
maintained  that  this  stone  is  the  common 
red  volcanic  stone  of  the  neighbourhood, 
and  "  wholly  unlike  anything  in  Pales- 
tine.". The  contradictory  of  this  assertion 
appears  to  have  been  established  through 
the  exertions  of  Mgr.  (now  Cardinal) 
Bartohni,  who  sent  to  an  eminent  profes- 
sor of  chemistry  at  Pome  four  samples  of 
stone — two  brought  from  Nazareth,  and 
two  taken  (with  the  Pope's  permission) 
from  the  walls  of  the  Santa  Casa — with  a 
request  that  he  would  analyse  and  report 
on  them.  The  professor  reported  that  the 
chemical  composition  of  the  four  samples 
was  absolutely  identical,  although  in  ap- 
pearance and  mechanical  characteristics 
they  differed  considerably.^  Father  Hutchi- 
son concludes  that  "  the  stone  of  which 
the  Holy  House  is  composed  is  limestone, 
identical  with  that  of  Nazareth,  the  stone 
about  Loreto  being  of  a  totally  different 
character." 

Mr.  Meyrick,  perhaps  the  ablest  of  all 
the  assailants  of  the  legend,  has  fallen 
into  several  inaccuracies.     Endeavouring 

1  Hutchison,  p.  79.  The  Report  is  given 
t«  extenso  by  Father  Hutchison,  p.  80. 


LORETO 


533 


to  show  that  the  views  taken  by  different 
Pontiffs  have  not  been  in  agreement  with 
one  another,  he  says  (p.  368),  "  The  bull 

of   ...  .    Julius  II makes  the 

house  pass  at  once  from  Nazareth  to 
Recanati."  It  is  true  that  Torsellino 
says  so,  but  the  fact  is  otherwise  ;  the 
bull  of  Julius,  of  which  Archbishop 
Kenrick  (p.  145)  prints  the  text,  dis- 
tinctly states  that  the  house  was  first 
removed  ^'  ad  partes  Sclavonics  et  locum 
Flumen  nuncupatum,"  Again,  Mr.  Mey- 
rick, when  endeavouring  to  throw  discredit 
on  Jerome  Angelitas  statement  that. 
Nicolas  Frangipani,  lord  of  Tersatz,  was 
absent  at  the  time  of  the  first  translation, 
having  gone  to  the  war  with  the  Emperor 
Rodolph,  states  that  that  emperor  died 
"  on  the  15th  July,  1291,"  only  some  two 
months  after  the  date  assigned  to  the  trans- 
lation. But  in  fact  Rodolph  died  on 
September  30, 1291 .  An  error  of  more  im- 
portance is  the  assertion  that  there  is  an 
absolute  lack  of  contemporary  evidence  for 
the  legend.  Mr.  Meyrick  must  sureJy  have 
seen  the  large  work  of  Martorelli ;  in  this 
(vol.  ii.  p.  49)  the  text  is  given  of  a 
letter  of  instructions,  dated  September  9, 
1295,  and  addressed  by  the  priors  of  the 
com-mune  of  Recanati  to  their  emissary, 
one  Alexander  de  Servannis,  in  Avliich 
they  state  that  the  "  Sancta  Domus"  has 
wonderfully  been  removed  from  its  rest- 
ing-place in  the  wood  to  the  land  of  two 
brothers  of  the  Antici  family,  and  that  he 
is  to  confer  with  the  town's  agent  at 
Rome  with  a  view  to  obtaining  from  the 
Pope  a  brief  authorising  the  transfer  of 
the  new  site  to  the  town  of  Recanati. 
Cinelli,  a  Florentine,  author  of  a  work  on 
Loreto  never  printed,  but  in  the  possession 
of  a  Roman  canon  at  the  time  when 
Martorelli  wrote,  is  said  to  state  in  it 
that  he  had  copied  this  letter  from  the 
original  in  the  possession  of  the  Marches! 
Antici.  Cinelli  wrote  about  1705.  In 
his  unprinted  history  is  also  said  (by 
Martorelli)  to  be  contained  a  letter  from 
Paul  of  the  Wood,  written  in  1297  to 
Charles  Duke  of  Sicily,  and  informing 
him  of  "varioais  particidars  respecting  the 
translation.  It  is  plain  that  these  state- 
ments of  Martorelli  require  more  investi- 
gation than  they  have  yet  received.  If 
the  original  letter  of  the  priors  existed  in 
his  time,  there  seems  no  reason  why  it 
should  not  be  still  preserved  in  some 
Italian  library,  and  if  it  were  found,  and 
declared  by  palaeographers  to  be  really  of 
the  date  assigned  to  it  by  Cinelli,  the 
question  of  the  truth  of  the  legend  would 


634 


LOW  SUNDAY 


be  nearly  settled.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
the  letters  can  be  proved  to  he  fabri- 
cations, or  if  the  credit  of  Cinelli  can  be 
shown  to  be  nil,  the  question  would 
remain  where  it  was  before. 

(Caillau,  "  Hist.  Critique  et  Eelig.  de 
N.  D.  de  Lorette,"  1843 ;  Flavius  Blondus, 
"Opera,"  Basle,  1659;  Hutchison,  "Lo- 
reto  and  Nazareth,"  1863;  Jerome  An- 
gelita,  "  Hist,  dell  a  Traslatione  deUa 
Santa  Casa,"  1671 ;  Kenrick,  "  The  Holy 
House  of  Loretto,"  Philadelphia,  1876 ; 
Mant nanus,  Baptista,  '^  Opera  Omnia," 
Antwerp,  1576 ;  Martorelli,  "  Teatro 
Istorico,"  &c.,  Rome,  1732  ;  Meyrick,  art. 
on  Loreto  in  "  Christ.  Remembrancer," 
April  1854;  Torsellino,  "  Historia  Laur- 
etana."  Cologne,  1622 ;  English  version  of 
Torsellino,"  by  T.  P.,  1608;  Zucchi, 
"  Istoria  di  Loreto,"  Italian  version  of 
Torsellino,  with  an  additional  book, 
Venice,  1610.) 

XO'W  SVXrSAY'.  The  first  Sunday 
after  Easter.  The  name  given  to  it  in 
the  Missal  rnd  Breviary  is  "  Dominica  in 
Albis,"  because  then  the  newly-baptised 
wore  their  white  robes  lor  the  last  time. 
St.  Augustine  mentions  this  custom  in  a 
sermon  for  the  day,  and  it  is  alluded  to 
in  the  noble  Breviary  hymn  still  used  in 
the  vespers  of  Low  Sunday,  "  Ad  regias 
Agni  dapes." 

The  name  Low  Sunday,  like  the 
Greek  avmracrxa,  emphasises  the  contrast 
between  the  great  Easter  solemnity  and  the 
Sunday  which  ends  the  octave.  Another 
Latin  name  "  Pascha  clausum "  is  pre- 
served in  the  Dutch  name,  "Beloken 
Paschen,"  i.e.  "  close  of  Easter."  The  name 
"  Quasimodo  "  is  taken  from  the  first  w^ord 
of  the  introit  in  the  Mass,  and  is  the 
common  name  for  this  Sunday  in  France 
and  Germany. 

Z.UTHZ:'r  A19-B  IiUTBERANZSM. 
Martin  Luther  was  born  at  Eisleben, 
Saxony,  No\ ember  10,  1483,  and  died 
there  February  18, 1546.  His  father  was 
a  peasant  who  afterwards  became  a  miner. 
Soon  after  Martin's  birth  the  family  re- 
moved to  Mansfeld,  and  there  the  lad 
received  his  early  education.  The  public 
or  elementary  schools  at  this  time  were 
Tery  numerous  in  Ge^man3^  Martin's 
gifts  were  marked  from  the  beginning. 
He  had  a  fine  voice,  was  admitted  to  the 
choir,  aiid,  following  the  custom  of  the 
time,  sang  before  the  houses  of  the  rich  to 
gain  money  enough  to  enable  him  to 
prosecute  his  studies  in  a  higher  school. 
At  fourteen  he  was  sent  to  the  school  of 
the  Franciscans  at  Magdeburg,  where  he 


LUTHER  AND  LUTHERANISM 

remained  a  year.  From  Magdeburg  he 
went  to  Eisenach,  where  his  voice  at- 
tracted the  attention  and  favour  of  Dame 
Ursula  Cotta,  a  wealthy  lady,  who  re- 
ceived him  into  her  house  and  supported 
him  until  he  entered  the  university  of 
Erfurt  (1501).  Martin's  father  was  now 
a  master-miner  and  in  a  position  to 
advance  his  son.  He  sent  him  to  Erfurt 
to  study  law.  There  he  remained  until 
1505,  when  he  took  his  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts  and  began  a  course  of  lectures  on 
Aristotle.  He  was  of  an  ardent  and 
impulsive  temperament  and  had  strong 
religious  leanings.  The  sudden  death  of 
a  friend,  who  was  struck  by  lightning  at 
his  side,  seems  to  have  determined  his 
vocation.  In  spite  of  the  opposition  of 
his  father  and  friends,  he  entered  the 
Augustinian  Convent  at  Erfurt  to  dedicate 
himself  to  God  (July  17,  1605).  There 
he  went  through  the  customary  discipline, 
and  in  1507,  his  father  objecting  to  the 
last,  he  was  ordained  priest.  Luther's 
earnestness  and  application  won  the  favor 
of  Dr.  John  Staupitz,  the  Augustinian 
provincial  of  Meissen  and  Thuiingia. 
Frederick  the  "Wise,  elector  of  Saxony, 
had  opened  a  university  at  Wittenberg 
and  was  looking  for  capable  professors. 
At  the  recommendation  of  Staupitz, 
Luther  was  olfered  the  chair  of  dialectics 
(1508)  and  afterwards  lectured  in  theo- 
logy. Urged  by  Staupitz,  he  undertook, 
though  at  first  with  extreme  reluctance, 
to  preach.  His  abilities  were  so  marked 
and  his  zeal  so  apparent,  that  in  1510  he, 
with  a  brother  friar,  was  chosen  to  visit 
Rome  on  business  of  the  order.  The 
sight  of  Rome  and  the  memories  it  called 
up  moved  the  impressionable  young  man 
so  deeply  that  he  fell  on  his  knees  and 
cried :  "  Hail,  Rome,  holy  city,  thrice 
sanctified  by  the  blood  of  martyrs  !  " 

From  his  coming  to  man's  estate  Lu- 
ther's mind  seems  never  to  have  been 
wholly  at  rest,  nor  were  his  convictions 
wholly  clear  on  certain  doctrinal  points. 
At  Rome,  the  Rome  of  Leo  X.,  he  was 
scandalised  to  hear  that  many  priests 
were  unbelievers.  Returning  to  his  uni- 
versity, he  resumed  his  lectures  and  his 
studies,  was  made  Doctor  of  Theology 
(1512),  and  studied  closely  Greek  and 
Hebrew  in  order  to  enable  him  better  to 
expound  the  Scriptures.  About  this  time 
Pope  Leo  X.  proclaimed  indulgences  in 
Germany,  for  those  w-ho  contributed  to 
the  completion  of  St.  Petei's  basilica  in 
Rome.  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  elector 
and  archbishop  of  Mentz  and  Magdeburg, 


LUTHER  AND  LUTHEEANISM   LUTHER  AND  LUTHERANISM  686 


was  ordered  to  publish  the  indulgences, 
and  John  Tetzel,  of  Leipzig,  a  learned 
and  eloquent  Dominican,  was  appointed 
by  Albert  to  preach  the  indulgences 
among  the  people. 

The  proclamation  of  indulgences  was 
not  new  in  Germany,  nor  was  opposition 
to  it  on  the  part  of  tlie  people  and  of 
both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities 
new.     [See  Induloencks.] 

When  Tetzel  began  to  preach  the  in- 
dulgences, opposition  at  once  broke  out, 
and  Luther  took  the  lead  in  the  opposi- 
tion. He  drew  up  his  objections  hi  the 
shape  of  ninety-tive  propositions,  which 
he  fastened  to  the  door  of  the  castle 
church  at  Wittenberg  on  All  Saints' 
eve  (October  31,  1617).  In  these  he  at- 
tacked the  abuse,  not  the  doctiine,  of 
indulgences,  pronouncing  anathema  on 
whosoever  spoke  against  the  truth  of 
Papal  indulgences  (Prop.  71).  He  stilted, 
furthermore,  that  he  had  no  purpose  to 
speak  against  Holy  Writ  or  the  doctrines 
of  the  Popes  and  Fathers  of  the  Church. 
Nevertheless  the  propositions  contained 
the  germ  of  his  future  heresy. 

In  assiiiling  the  abuse  of  indulgences 
Luther  only  gave  voice  to  a  widespread 
feeling  in  Germany.  He  at  once  gained 
a  number  of  adherents,  among  tbem  men 
of  intluenee  both  in  Church  and  State. 
The  Bishop  of  Wurzburg  wrote  to  the 
Elector  Enxierick  to  protect  I^uther.  A 
heated  controversy  arose.  There  were 
various  replies  to  Luther,  one  of  the 
ablest  being  by  Tetzel.  A  more  famous 
and  learned  opponent  still  was  Dr.  John 
Eok,  vice-chancellor  of  the  University  of 
Ingoldstadt.  Luther,  now  wholly  roused, 
replied  with  heat  and  haste  to  his  adver- 
saries, and  in  a  style  and  manner  not 
at  all  in  accord  with  modern  ideas  of 
controversial  courtesy.  His  opponents 
Were  asses,  pigs,  dolts,  S:c,,  and  were  as- 
sailed with  St  ill  viler  epithets.  Where  he 
failed  in  argument  ho  took  refuge  in  in- 
vective, often  of  the  coarsest  kind.  As 
the  controversv  deej>ened  he  struck  far- 
ther away  from  the  doctrinal  truths  he 
had  hitherto  preached  and  taught.  Yet 
he  claimed  to  be  in  perfect  acvord  and 
sympathy  with  the  centre  of  Catholic 
doctrine,  and  in  the  letter  to  Pope  I^eo 
X.  which  accomnnnied  his  pix^kpositions 
and  their  defence  lie  wrote  :  ♦'  Most  Holy 
Father,  I  cast  myself  at  thy  feet  with  nil 
that  I  have  and  am.  Give  life  or  take 
it;  call,  recall,  approve,  reprove;  your 
voice  is  that  of  Christ,  who  presides  and 
speaks  in  you." 


Probably  none  of  the  parties  engaged 
in  the  controversy  had  any  idea  at  Uiis 
time  whither  it  was  drifting.  The  Pope 
took  the  matter  easily.  Nevertheless  he 
appointed  a  court  to  try  the  case  and 
summoned  (August  7,  1*518)  Luther  to 
Rome  to  defend  himself.  At  the  request 
of  the  Elector  Frederick,  the  Diet  of 
Aug^bui^  was  substituted  for  Rome  as 
the  place  of  trial,  and  Cardinal  Cajetan, 
Papal  leg-ate,  was  appointed  to  repre- 
sent the  Pope  at  the  Diet.  Luther  ap- 
peared (October,  1618).  The  cardinal's 
nistriictions  were  to  enter  into  no  con- 
ti*oversy,  but  demand  an  absolute  retrac- 
tation on  Luther's  part.  Luther  claimed 
that  he  had  said  naught  against  the 
Scriptures,  the  doctrine  of  the  Church, 
the  deci-ees  of  Popes,  or  reason.  He  con- 
sented to  declare  formally  his  reverence 
and  obedience  to  "  the  Roman  Church  in 
every  word  and  deed,  whether  in  time 
past,  present,  or  future,"  and  if  he  had 
said  aught  contrary  to  this  de<'laration  he 
wished  it  to  be  considered  as  having  beeji 
never  sjKiken.  He  fled  from  Augsburg" 
angry  at  heart. 

The  Po^H)  issued  a  bull  explaining 
clearlv  the  true  teaching  of  the  Chui"cn 
on  inclulgences  (November  0,  1518),  and 
sent  Charles  of  Miltitz,  himself  a  Saxon, 
as  nuncio  into  Germany  with  a  view  to 
reconciling  all  parties  and  bringing  about 
peace.  Miltitz  seemed  to  side  with  Lu- 
ther as  against  Tetzel.  He  prevailed 
upon  Luther  to  write  another  letter 
(March  8,  1510)  of  complete  submission 
to  the  Pone  and  to  the  authority  of  the 
Church  ;  but  the  nuncio  wavS  deceived  in 
imagining  his  mission  accomplished. 

While  the  German  bishops  were  pre- 
paring to  meet  and  confer  on  the  points 
of  dispute  a  public  discussion  took  place 
at  Ijt>ipzig  bt^tween  Luther  and  his  friends 
and  their  opponents.  Getirge,  duke  of 
Saxony,  nresided,  and  a  laur©  and  culti- 
vated auaienco  assembled.  With  Luther 
were  his  triend  Carlstadt  and  the  Witten- 
bt>rg  pn^fessors.  Opposed  to  them  was 
the  learned  Eck,  alia  the  pn^t'essors  of 
Cologne,  I^mvain,  and  Leipzig.  The 
chief  matters  of  divscussion  weu>  the  con- 
dition of  man  at\er  the  fall;  fret>-will  juid 
grace  ;  penance  and  indnlgt^nces ;  and  the 
primacy  of  the  Chun^h  of  l\onu»,  which 
prinuicy,  Luther  maintained,  rested  only 
on  human  authority,  claiming  that  the 
Pope  had  no  m(m>  jurisdiction  than  the 
AiYihbishop  of  Magrdebui-g  or  the  lUshop 
of  Paris.  Here  also  Luther  ga\  e  open  ex- 
pression to  his  dt>ctrino  that  faith  alone. 


636  LUTHER  AND  LUTHERANISM   LUTHER  AND  LUTHERANISM 


■with  or  without  good  works,  secures 
salvation.  He  furthermore  denied  free- 
will in  man  and  the  infallibility  of  the 
oecumenical  councils,  Duke  George, 
seeing  the  danger  of  these  propositions, 
stopped  the  discussion. 

The  universities  of  Paris,  Louvain, 
and  Cologne  condemned  Luther's  propo- 
sitions (1519).  Luther  retaliated  with 
abus3  of  the  faculties  of  those  establish- 
ments, and  on  October  11,  1520,  wrote  to 
the  Pope,  sending  bim  his  pamphlet  on 
"  Christian  Liberty,"  and  assailing  in 
Tirulent  terras  the  whole  office  and  dig- 
nity of  the  Papacy.  Meantime  he  was 
incessant  in  dele  nee  of  his  theories,  and 
between  1520  and  1521  he  launched  out 
pamphlet  after  pamphlet,  that  were 
eagerly  caught  up  by  the  German  people 
and  spread  abroad,  creating  discussion 
and  tumult  everywhere.  In  these  he 
taught  that  the  Bible  was  the  only  source 
of  faith  ;  that  human  nature  was  wholly 
corrupted  by  original  sin ;  that  conse- 
quently man  was  not  free,  and  whatever 
he  did,  whether  good  or  ill,  was  the  work 
of  God  ;  that  faith  alone  saves ;  that  the 
hierarchy  and  priesthood  are  unnecessary, 
and  exterior  worship  is  useless ;  that  the 
sacraments  were  profitless  (a  doctrine 
that  he  afterwards  modified),  and  that 
Christian  priesthood  is  universal. 

These  doctrines,  especially  the  last, 
caught  the  hearts  of  multitudes,  the 
gist  of  them  being  an  absolute  freedom 
from  all  restraint  and  a  practical  sanctifi- 
cation  of  sin.  Luther  appealed  strongly 
to  the  spirit  of  nationality  and  greed. 
He  addressed  the  emperor,  the  nobles, 
and  the  peoples.  He  urged  the  emperor 
to  overthrow  the  power  of  the  Pope, 
confiscate  the  wealth  of  the  Church, 
abolish  feasts  and  holidays  and  Masses 
for  the  dead.  He  substitutt-d  German 
for  the  Latin,  which  was  the  literary 
language  of  the  time,  and  by  this  means 
his  teachings  spread  the  more  readily 
among  his  countrymen,  while  he  made 
use  of  vile  illustrations  to  caricature  the 
Pope,  the  monks,  and  the  teachings  of 
the  Church. 

On  June  15,  1520,  the  Pope  issued  a 
bull  specifically  condemning  Luther's 
teachings  and  excommunicating  him  if  he 
refused  to  retract  within  sixty  days.  Lu- 
ther retorted  with  a  pamphlet  in  which 
he  held  the  author  of  the  Dull  to  be  Anti- 
christ. He  succeeded  in  winning  over 
the  elector  of  Saxony,  who  used  his  good 
offices  in  Luther's  behnlf  with  the  em- 
peror Charles  V.    Luther  appealed  (No- 


vember 17,  155^0)  from  the  authority  of 
the  Pope  to  a  general  council,  and  on 
December  10,  1520,  publicly  burned  the 
Pope's  bull  at  Wittenberg,  consigning 
the  Pope  himself  to  "  fire  eternal."  The 
emperor,  seeing  the  flame  that  was  being 
kindled  over  the  land,  convoked  the 
German  Diet  at  Worms  (1521).  Luther 
appeared  before  the  Diet  to  answer  the 
charges  against  him,  and  refused  to  re- 
tract unless  "  convicted  of  error  by  Scrip- 
ture proof  or  by  plain  reason,"  he  relying 
absolutely  on  his  own  interpretation  of 
Scripture.  All  efi'orts  to  change  him 
being  unavailing,  he  was  ordered  to  quit 
Worms,  and  left  under  a  safe-conduct. 
He  was  taken  to  Wartburg,  near  Eisenach, 
and  there  remained  from  May  1521  to 
March,  1522,  living  under  the  name  of 
"Master  George"  and  dressing  as  a 
knight.  The  Diet  of  Worms  placed  him 
under  the  ban  of  the  empire  as  a  heretic. 
But  the  circumstances  of  the  time  and 
the  opposition  of  the  German  States  ren- 
dered the  edict  inefiective. 

At  Wartburg,  which  he  called  his 
"  Patmos,"  Luther  employed  much  of  his 
time  in  translating  the  Bible  into  German 
and  in  issuing  more  pamphlets.  Leo  X. 
died  December  1,1521,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Adrian  YI.,  who  took  up  with  great 
earnestness  the  subject  of  reform  within 
the  Church.  He  urged  the  Diet  of  Niirn- 
berg  (November  ]  522)  to  take  active  and 
vigoi'ous  steps  against  Luther,  for  "  the 
revolt  now  directed  against  the  spiritual 
authority  will  shortly  deal  a  blow  at  the 
temporal  also."  The  Diet  confessed  that 
it  was  impossible  to  enforce  the  edict 
against  Luther  for  fear  of  a  popular  up- 
rising. Adrian  died  in  1523  and  wa3 
succeeded  by  Clement  VII. 

Clement  sent  Cardinal  Campeggio  to 
the  Diet  at  Nurnberg,  but  he  was  as  un- 
successful as  his  predecessors.  Most  of 
the  princes  seemed  to  favour  a  break  with 
Rome,  and  Frederick,  the  elector  of 
Saxony,  made  himself  the  chief  protector 
of  Luther  and  those  who  followed  him. 
The  States  divided:  Mecklenburg,  An- 
halt,  Mansfeld,  Prussia,  and  the  cities  of 
Brunswick  and  Magdeburg  declared  for 
Luther,  under  the  leadership  of  John,  the 
new  elector  of  Saxony,  and  Philip,  land- 
grave of  Hesse,  an  alliance  being  con- 
cluded at  Torgau  (May  4,  1526).  The 
other  side  made  an  alliance  at  Dessau, 
and  thus  began  the  division  between  the 
Catholic  and  Protestant  States  of  Ger- 
many. 

Luther's  teachings  had  already  taken 


LUTHER  AND  LUTHERANISM     LUTHER  AND  LUTHERANISM    537 


eif  ect  among  the  people.  Many  religious 
renounced  their  orders  and  their  yows. 
Carlstadtj  Luther's  friend,  raised  a  moh 
at  Wittenberg  and  destroyed  the  altars 
and  images  of  Christ  and  the  saints. 
The  same  was  done  elsewhere.  Infant 
baptism  was  rejected  at  Zwickau,  where 
Nicholas  Storch  organised  a  society  that 
developed  into  the  Anabaptists.  These 
attracted  Oarlstadt  and  other  prominent 
Lutherans,  and  great  exce.'ses  were  com- 
mitted by  them  at  Wittenberg.  Luther 
took  alarm,  and  leaving  A\'artburg  reached 
Wittenberg  on  Good  Friday,  1522. 
All  through  Easter  week  he  harangued 
his  followers  and  condemned  their  vio- 
lence. More  monks  left  their  convents, 
took  wives,  and  recruited  the  Lutheran 
ranks.  The  teaching  of  human  irrespon- 
sibility for  sin  and  disregard  of  all  au- 
thority took  effect  among  the  masses. 
'J'he  peasants  rose  m  rebellion  against 
their  lords,  burned  convents,  and  stormed 
the  castles  of  the  nobles.  Thomas  Miin- 
zer  took  the  lead,  preaching  human 
equality.  Lutlier  himf-elf  was  compelled 
to  preach  against  those  whom  his  doc- 
trines had  aroused,  and  he  urged  the 
nobles  to  slay  without  mercy  these  "  chil- 
dren of  the  devil."  His  advice  was  taken 
and  it  is  estimated  that  a  htmdred  thou- 
sand peasants  were  slain  in  the  "  Peas- 
ants' War." 

Luther  called  Henry  VIH.  the 
"crowned  ass,  liar,  varlet,  idiot,  snivel- 
ling sophist,  and  swine  of  the  Thomist 
herd."'  The  learned  Erasmus  was  also 
drawn  into  the  controversy  against 
Luther,  and  waa  answered  in  similar 
strain.  Luther  had  now  thrown  off  his 
monk's*  habit,  ai^d  on  June  13,  1525,  he 
married  Katharina  von  Bora,  an  ex-nun 
of  Nimptschen,  in  Saxony.  He  had  been 
already  famed  for  his  free  life  even  among 
his  own  followers,  and  this  final  step 
brought  great  ridicule  on  the  Reformer. 
"  It  was  thought,"  w^rote  Erasmus,  "that 
Luther  was  the  hero  of  a  tragedy ;  but 
for  my  part  I  regard  him  as  playing  the 
chief  part  in  a  comedy  that  has  ended, 
like  all  comedies,  in  a  marriage." 

Luther's  adherents  had  become  so 
numerous  that  he  found  it  necessary  to 
systematise  a  form  of  faith  and  of  eccle- 
siastical government  for  them  in  lieu  of 
that  which  he  had  taught  them  to  reject. 
A  synod  was  called  at  Homburg  by 
Philip  of  Hesse  (October  1526).  It  was 
there  agreed  to  adopt  a  synodal  constitu- 
tion which  gave  each  congregation  com- 
plete control  over  its  own  ecclesiastical 


discipline.  This  plan,  with  some  modifi- 
cations to  secure  outward  uniformity, 
was  adopted  in  the  Lutheran  States. 
Preachers  were  appointed  by  a  commis- 
sion of  ecclesiastics  and  laymen.  The 
established  ecclesiastical  foundations  were 
abolished,  and  the  head  of  the  State  was 
made  the  supreme  authority  within  the 
State  on  matters  of  Church  government. 
To  educate  the  rising  generation  in  his 
doctrines  Luther  published  a  larger  and 
a  smaller  catechism  to  be  used  in  the 
schools  (1529).  These  measures  brought 
the  Lutherans  closer  together,  and  at  the 
Diet  of  Spires,  held  in  1526,  the  TiUtheran 
States  presented  a  bold  and  organised 
front  in  the  persons  of  their  princes.  The 
emperor  was  at  war  and  consequently  not 
in  a  position  to  enforce  any  demands. 
The  Diet,  accordingly,  at  the  dictate  of 
the  Lutherans,  recognised,  until  the  meet- 
ing of  an  uecumenical  council,  the  right  of 
each  State  to  act  for  itself  in  regard  to 
religious  matters.  The  Diet  assembled 
again  at  Spires  in  1529  to  determine  reli- 
gious difficulties  and  take  measures  against 
the  Turks.  The  conditions  proposed  by 
the  Catholic  princes  were  moderate 
enouofh,  but  the  Lutherans  solemnly 
protested  against  them,  whence  the 
name  of  Protestants  (April  19,  1529). 
They  claimed  to  be  the  exclusive  heirs 
of  the  true  religion,  the  onlj'  members  of 
the  one  saving  Church  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  pronounced  the  Mass  an  idolatrous 
act  of  worship  w^hich  should  not  be 
tolerated. 

Disputes  arose  among  the  Lutherans 
themselves  concerning  the  Eucharist. 
Luther  denied  the  Catholic  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation,  and  denied  also 
Zwingli's  figurative  interpretation  of  the 
words  "  This  is  my  body."  He  invented 
the  theory  of  consubstantiation.  A  con- 
ference was  held  at  Marburg  (October  1, 
1529)  to  settle  the  dispute,  but  it  only 
served  to  widen  the  dissension,  and  mani- 
fest the  absurdity  of  Luther's  claim  to 
free  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures. 

A  Diet  was  held  at  Augsburg  (June 
1530),  at  which  the  emperor  Charles  V. 
presided.  The  Emperor  demanded  a 
written  confession  of  faith  from  the  Pro- 
testant princes  and  a  list  of  the  practices 
of  which  they  complained.  Hence  origi- 
nated what  is  known  as  the  Augsburg 
Confession,  or  Symbol  of  Faith,  which 
was  drawn  up  by  Melanchthon  and  suf- 
fered subsequent  changes.  Luther  fuUy 
approved  of  it.  The  Confession  was  an 
embodunent  of  Luther's  teachings  in  a 


638  LIITHER  AND  LUTHERANISM       LUTHER  AND  LUTHERANISM 


partially  disguised  form,  and  among  the 
pretended  abuses  were  Communion  under 
one  kind,  private  Masses,  clerical  cplibacy, 
confession, and  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy. 
The  Catholic  theologians  drew  up  a  Con- 
futation of  the  Confession,  which  met  the 
approval  of  the  emperor  and  of  the  Catho- 
lic princes,  and  the  Protestants  were 
ordered  to  renounce  their  errors  and  re- 
turn to  the  ancient  faith.  A  hopeless 
attempt  to  bring  about  unity  was  made, 
but  frustrated  by  Luther  and  his  more 
resolute  followers.  The  Zwinglian  cities 
drew  up  a  Confession  of  their  own,  and 
Zwingli  himself  another  of  his  own. 
The  emperor  put  an  end  to  the  profitless 
discussion,  giving  the  Protestants  till 
the  15th  of  the  following  April  to  deter- 
mine on  their  course. 

The  Protestant  princes  met  at  Smal- 
kald  on  Christmas  Day,  1530,  and  there 
entered  on  an  offensive  and  defensive 
alliance,  known  as  the  League  of  Smal- 
kald  (March  29,  1531),  to  bind  them  for 
seven  years.  Both  Luther  and  Melan- 
chthon  now  authorised  the  use  of  arms  for 
the  maintenance  of  Protestantism.  The 
emperor,  needing  the  Protestant  alliance, 
entered  into  negotiations  with  them, 
conceding  at  Niirnberg  (July  23,  1532) 
that  until  the  assembly  of  a  general 
council  no  action  should  be  taken 
against  the  Protestants,  but  that  every- 
thing should  remain  as  it  was.  This  is 
known  as  the  Peace  of  Niirnberg. 

Clement  VIL  died  in  1534,  and  was  ( 
succeeded  by  Paul  III.,  who  was  anxious 
to  convene  a  council,  that  the  Protestants 
might  attend.  But  they  rejected  all 
overtures.  The  League  of  Sraalkald  was 
renewed  (1535)  for  ten  years.  In  1534 
Luther  completed  his  translation  of  the 
whole  Bible,  and  in  1537  issued  the  Arti- 
cles of  Smalkald,  which  were  accepted 
by  the  League,  and  which  embodied  a 
spirit  of  deep  hostility  to  the  Catholic 
Church.  "  May  God  till  you  with  hatred 
of  the  Pope  !  "  was  his  parting  benedic- 
tion to  the  League,  and  thenceforth  the 
League  refused  to  attend  any  council  of 
the  Church. 

The  Swiss  joined  the  Protestant 
League  in  1638,  and  the  elector  of 
Brandendurg  in  1539.  The  dtichy  of 
Saxony  also  joined,  and  Luther  con- 
tinued to  inflame  the  minds  of  princes 
and  people  against  the  Catholic  Church 
and  the  council.  The  emperor  summoned 
another  religious  conference,  which  finally 
met  at  Worms  (January  14,  1541).  It 
resulted  in  nothing.    A  Diet  was  next 


called  at  Ratisbon  (April  6),  which  proved 
equally  ineffectual. 

The  Anabaptists,  supposed  to  have 
been  crushed  in  the  Peasants'  War,  now 
rose  up  again  and  appeared  in  Miinster 
under  John  of  Ley  den  and  others.  Poly- 
gamy was  introduced,  and  riot  of  every 
kind  reigned,  until  the  city,  after  a  siege 
of  eighteen  months,  was  taken  by  storm 
(June  25,  1535)  and  the  leaders  executed 
with  extreme  cruelty.  Philip  of  Hesse, 
who  had  been  married  sixteen  years,  and, 
with  his  wife  living,  was  a  notorious  free- 
liver,  asked  Luther  to  authorise  him  to 
marry  a  second  wife.  After  much  hesi- 
tation the  Reformer,  fearful  of  losing 
Philip's  assistance,  granted  the  requisite 
authorisation  "  in  order  to  provide  for  the 
welfare  of  his  body  and  soul,  and  to  bring 
greater  glory  to  God." 

Lutherauism  now  began  to  be  intruded 
into  various  places  by  force  of  arms. 
Luther  saw  the  seeds  of  religious  dissolu- 
tion already  at  work.  His  health  was 
broken  and  his  spirit,  save  as  against 
Rome.  He  entertained  grave  doubts 
about  the  efficacy  of  his  work.  The  re- 
form he  saw  to  be  a  reform  downwards. 
Public  morals  were  at  a  lower  grade  than 
they  had  been  before.  ''  Since  we  began 
to  preach  our  doctrine,"  he  said  in  his 
pidpit  at  Wittenberg  in  1532,  "  the  world 
has  grown  daily  worse,  more  impious, 
and  more  shameless.  Men  are  now  beset 
by  legions  of  devils,  and,  while  enjoying 
the  full  light  of  the  Gospel,  are  more 
avaricious,  more  impure  and  repulsive, 
than  of  old  under  the  Papacy.  Peasants, 
burghers,  and  nobles — men  of  all  degrees, 
the  highest  as  well  as  the  lowest — are  all 
alike  slaves  to  avarice,  drunkenness, 
gluttony,  and  impurity,  and  given  over  to 
shameful  excesses  and  abominable  pas- 
sions." ''  Let  us  go  from  this  Sodom," 
he  wrote  to  Catharine  in  1545,  and  quitted 
Wittenberg  in  disgust,  only  returning  at 
the  demand  of  the  elector  and  of  the  uni- 
versity. At  Eisleben  he  died  shortly 
after  delivering  a  most  violent  sermon 
against  the  Jews. 

Owing  to  the  wars,  scandals,  and  dis- 
turbances of  the  time  Luther  an  ism  spread 
rapidly  over  many  of  the  German  States 
and  cities,  being  imposed  upon  some  by 
force  of  arms.  Albert  of  Brandenburg 
introduced  it  into  Prussia,  and  at  his  death 
in  1568  Lutheranism  was  the  predominant 
religion  in  his  domain  of  West  Prussia. 
It  readily  made  its  way  into  Silesia,  where 
the  Lutherans  soon  quarrelled  among 
themselves     on    doctrinal    matters.      It 


LYONS,  COUNCILS  OF 

entered  more  slowly  into  Poland,  and 
after  a  severe  strufr^le  its  progress  was 
stayed  by  the  exertions  of  some  holy  and 
zealous  prelates  and  the  coming  of  the 
Jesuits.  It  made  more  rapid  advances  in 
Mvonia,  Courland,  Esthonia,  Hungary, 
and  Transylvania,  though  in  Hungary  it 
was  supplanted  hy  Calvinism.  In  Sweden 
it  was  established  by  Gustavus  Vasa,  and 
soon  passed  into  Denmark,  Norway,  and 
Iceland.  The  same  causes  were  at  work 
everywhere  to  favour  its  progress:  cor- 
ruption of  public  morals,  wealth  of  the 
Church,  scandals  among  the  clergy,  greed 
of  gain  on  the  part  of  the  princes,  nobles, 
and  people.  After  the  first  flush  of  con- 
quest Lutheranism  never  made  any  ad- 
vance in  territory. 

In  1834  Frederick  William  III.,  King 
.of  Prussia,  by  a  royal  edict,  united  the 
Lutherans,  Zwinglians,  and  Calvinists  in 
his  dominions  into  w^hat  he  was  pleased 
to  call  the  "Evangelical  Church,"  much 
to  the  disgust  of  many  of  them.  A 
number  of  Lutherans,  rather  than  sub- 
mit to  this  interference  of  the  state  in 
their  religious  affairs,  emigrated  to  the 
U.  S.,  where  the  first  colony  of  Luther- 
ans, composed  of  Swedes,  had  been  made 
about  1630.  It  ought  to  be  noted  that 
the  Danish,  Swedish,  and  Norwegian 
Lutherans  have  preserved  much  more  of 
Catholic  doctrine  and  tradition  than 
have  the  German  Lutherans.  [See  The 
Kefoemation.]  The  masses  of  the  Lu- 
theran population  in  Germany  no  longer 
attend  church.  It  is  estimated  that 
there  are  about  40,000,000  Lutherans 
in  the  .world,  20,000,000  of  these  be- 
ing Germans.  _  To-day  Lutherans  rank 
about  fourth  in  numerical  order  among 
the  Protestant  denominations  of  the 
United  States.  The  number  of  their 
communicants  is  rated  at  738,302  for  the 
year  1882.  This  would  represent  a  Lu- 
theran population  of  from  three  to  four 
millions. 

ii-E-OM-s,  coirxrcii.s  or.     I.  The 

first  General  Council  of  Lyons  ended  the 
long  strife  between  the  emperor  Frederic 
II.  and  the  Church.  The  emperor,  w'ho 
was  educated  under  Innocent  III.,  was  a 
man  of  extraordinary  abilities  and  of  a 
wide  culture,  most  unusual  in  that  age. 
He  was  a  great  statesman,  he  fostered  the 
schools  of  Palermo  and  Naples,  encouraged 
the  study  of  Arabic,  philosophy  and 
mathematics,  and  set  in  his  own  person 
an  example  of  taste  in  Italian  literature. 
Unhappily,  he  had  a  superstitious  belief 


LYONS,  COUNCILS  OF       539 

in  astrology,  he  was  charged  with  grave 
immorality,  his  temper  was  cruel  and 
despotic,  and  his  word  could  not  be 
trusted.  He  had  been  crowned  emperor 
in  1220,  and  his  differences  with  the 
Church,  which  had  begun  under  the  gentle 
Pope  Honorius  III.,  broke  out  into  open 
war  under  Gregory  IX.,  in  whom  Frede- 
ric met  an  antagonist  as  determined  as 
himself.  In  1227,  the  Pope  ex-;ommuni- 
cated  the  emperor  for  constantly  deferring 
a  crusade  which  he  had  promised  to  under- 
take. Tlie  latter  replied  by  seizing  Rome 
and  driving  out  the  Pope.  When  he  did 
go  to  Jerusalem,  he  was  still  excommuni- 
cate ;  he  showed  that  he  had  undertaken 
the  crusade  purely  from  political  motives ; 
stories  were  circulated  of  his  contemptu- 
ous speeches  in  the  Holy  City,  w^hich 
gained  for  him  the  reputation  of  an  un- 
believer; and  it  was  not  till  1230  that 
he  was  absolved  from  excommunication. 
In  1239  he  again  incurred  excommunica- 
tion for  his  attack  on  the  Lombards,  and 
for  setting  his  natural  son  Enzio  on  the 
throne  of  Sardinia,  a  fief  of  the  Church. 
He  seized  the  States  of  the  Church,  and 
in  the  njidst  of  the  strife  Gregory  IX. 
died.  Celestine  IV.  reigned  only  for  a 
few  days,  and  the  Holy  See  was  vacant 
for  two  veal's.  In  1243,  Innocent  IV.,  a 
former  friend  of  Frederic's,  was  elected 
Pope.  The  new  Pope  refused  to  absolve 
Frederic  except  on  conditions  w^hich  the 
emperor  would  not  accept.  Frederic 
promoted  sedition  and  tumult  in  Rome, 
and  by  occupying  all  roads,  bridges,  and 
harbours,  cut  the  Pope  off  from  intercourse 
with  the  rest  of  the  world.  In  this  ex- 
tremity, the  Pope  fled  from  Sutrl  by 
Civita  Vecchia  and  Genoa  to  Lyons, 
whither,  on  January  3,  1245,  he  sum- 
moned all  kings,  princes  and  prelates  to, 
a  general  council. 

The  Byzantine  emperor,  Baldwin  II.,. 
the  Latin  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople, 
Antioch,  and  Aqidleia,  and  140  bishops, 
besides  cardinals,  were  present  at  the  con- 
sultation previous  to  the  council,  while 
the  famous  jurist  Taddeo  di  Suessa,  de-- 
fended  the  cause  of  his  master,  Frederic. 
At  the  first  session  (June  28,  1245),  in  the 
cathedral  church  of  St.  John,  the  Pope, 
in  a  long  speech,  enlarged  on  the  five 
wounds  of  Christendom — viz.  the  sins  of 
the  higher  and  lower  clergy,  the  supremacy 
of  the  infidels  in  the  Holy  Land,  the  straits 
of  the  Latin  emperor  in  Constantinople, 
the  excesses  of  the  Tartars  in  Hungary 
and  the  neighbouring  countries,  the  op- 
pression of  the  Church  by  the  emperor 


540        LYONS,  COUNCILS  OF 

Frederic.  He  accused  the  emperor  of 
perjury,  sacrilege,  and  heresy ;  of  immo- 
rality; of  maintaining  an  understanding 
with  the  Saracens  ;  of  friendship  with  the 
Sultan  of  Babylon.  In  the  third  session 
various  decrees  were  passed  on  elections 
to  benefices,  contributions  to  be  levied  for 
the  Holy  Land  and  the  Latin  Empire  in 
the  East,  and  for  help  against  the  Tartars ; 
on  the  abuse  of  Church  censures,  &c.  «S:c. 
Again  Taddeo  sought  to  exculpate  his 
master,  and,  failing  in  this,  he  protested 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  council, 
denied  that  it  was  oecumenical,  though 
there  were  now  250  bishops  present,  and 
appealed  to  a  future  Pope  and  true  gene- 
ral council.  The  Pope,  at  the  council's 
request,  solemnly  renewed  the  sentence  of 
excommunication  against  Frederic,  de- 
posed him  from  his  office,  and  absolved  his 
subjects  from  allegiance,  authorised  a  new 
election  to  the  empire,  excommunicated 
all  who  should  seiTe  him,  whetlier  as 
emperor  or  king,  and  promised  that  the 
Holy  See  would  provide  for  Sicily.  The 
bishops  dashed  their  candles  to  the  gTOund, 
in  token  of  assent,  and  set  their  seals  to 
the  instrument  of  excommunication. 

In  1246,  the  electors  who  took  the 
ecclesiastical  side  raised  Henry  Respi  of 
Thiiringen,  and  after  his  death,  in  1247, 
"William  of  Holland,  nephew  of  the  Duke 
of  Brabant,  to  the  royal  dignity.  Frede- 
ric had  still  a  considerable  following, 
but  his  son  Conrad  had  been  defeated  at 
Frankfort  in  1246,  and  he  himself  met 
with  a  decided  reverse  before  Parma,  in 
1248.  In  1250,  he  died  in  Apulia,  66 
years  of  age.  He  had  made  his  confession 
to  his  friend  the  archbishop  of  Palermo, 
and  been  reconciled  to  the  Church. 

II.  Pope  Gregory  X.,  who  was  eager 
for  a  new  crusade,  opened  the  Second 
Council  of  Lyons  (the  Fourteenth  General 


MACEDONIANS 

Council)  in  May  1274.  James  I.  of  Arra- 
gon,  the  Latin  Patriarchs  of  ConstHnti- 
nople  and  Antioch,  ambassadors  from 
England,  France,  Germany,  and  Sicily, 
5C0  bishops,  besides  other  prelates,  met 
in  the  cathedral  church.  St.  Thomas  of 
Aquin  died  on  his  way  to  the  council; 
St.  Buonaventure  was  actually  present, 
and  died  before  it  was  over.  A  tax  was 
imposed  on  ecclesiastical  benefices  in 
favour  of  the  East.  On  June  24  the  Greek 
ambassadors  arrived,  and  in  the  Mass  on 
the  feast  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  the 
Gospel  and  Creed  were  sung  in  Greek  as 
well  as  in  Latin,  the  clause  "  Filioque  " 
being  repeated  three  times.  In  the  fourth 
session,  July  6,  the  documents  from  the 
Greek  emperor,  Michael  Palaeologus,  i'roiu 
the  heir  to  his  throne  and  from  their 
prelates  were  publicly  read,  the  emperor's 
representative  swore  that  his  master  re- 
nounced the  schism  and  returned  to  the 
obedience  of  the  Pope.  The  union  thus 
efiected  was  scarcely  more  than  nominal, 
and  certainly  was  of  short  duration,  but 
it  led  to  an  important  definition  by  the 
council — viz.  that  "  the  Holy  Ghost  pro- 
ceeds eternally  from  the  Father  and  the 
Son,"  "  as  from  one  principle  "  and  "  by  a 
single  spiration."  An  important  measure 
was  passed  to  regulate  and  accelerate 
Papal  elections.  The  cardinals  were  to 
assemble  in  the  town  where  the  last  Pope 
died,  ten  days  after  his  decease;  they 
were  to  be  strictly  secluded  "  in  conclave  " 
from  the  outer  world  ;  their  rations  were 
to  be  diminished  after  the  first  three  days 
and  diminished  yet  further  after  eight 
days,  if  their  business  still  remained  to  be 
done.  Other  decretals  (collected  in  the 
"Sextus  Decretalium  ")  were  published  by 
the  Pope,  partly  during,  partly  after,  the 
council.     (Helele,  "  Concilien.") 


M 


niACABSES,  FEAST   OF 

Saints.] 

scACBBON-ZAxars  Tcalled  also  Fneu- 
matomaehi).  Heretics  who  denied  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  God,  equal  to  and  con- 
substantial  with  Father  and  Son.  Mace- 
donius  was  a  Semiarian  and  bishop  of 
Constantinople  tiU  his  deposition  by  the 
Acacians,  who  were  pronounced  Arians 
in  360.     After  his  deposition,  his  influence 


[See  !  brought  the  Trinitarian  controrerby  into  a 
new  stage.  Confessing  that  the  Son  was 
like  the  Father  in  substance,  he  held  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  was  a  creatuse,  like  the 
angels,  and  a  servant  of  the  Fatlier  and 
the  Son.  He  was  joined  by  several  of  the 
Semiarian  leaders,  Eustathius  of  Sebaste, 
Eleusius  of  Cyzicus,  and  Marathonius  of 
Nicomedia.  This  last  was  a  chief  support 
of  the  party,  and  from  him  they  were 


MAGISTERIUM  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Bometiraes  called  Marathonians.  The 
doctrine,  owing  partly  to  the  strict  life  of 
its  apostles,  was  widely  accepted,  not 
only  in  Constantinople,  but  also  in  all 
Thrace,  Bithynia,  and  the  neighbouring 
provinces.  Under  Julian,  the  Mace- 
donians held  synods  especially  at  Zele  in 
Pontus.  They  were  condemned  in  a 
Roman  synod  under  Pope  Damasus  in 
374,  at  a  great  Illyrian  synod  in  375,  and 
finally  in  the  Second  General  Council  in 
381.  In  383,  Theodosius  prohibited  all 
exercise  of  their  religion.  (ITefele,  "  Con- 
cil."  vols.  i.  ii. ) 

XVXACISTBRXin^  OF  THE 

czsiriiCH.     [See  CnuRCH  op  Christ.] 

:major  orders.  The  superior 
ranlvs  of  the  sacred  ministry'' — bishops, 
priests,  deacons,  and  subdeacons — are  said 
to  have  major  orders.  Before  the  thir- 
teenth century  the  subdiaeonate  was  one 
of  the  minor  orders. 

l^AsrzCHBES.  Mani  or  Manes,  the 
founder  of  this  sect,  was  born  at  Babylon 
about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century. 
From  the  religion  of  the  Persians  he 
derived  the  doctrine  of  the  two  principles, 
and  from  Gnostic  sects  the  notion  of  the 
hatefuluess  of  matter.  He  and  his  fol- 
lowers must  not  be  regarded  as  Christians 
lapsed  into  heresy,  but  as  heathens  who 
adopted  so  much  of  Christian  ideas  as 
suited  their  purpose.  Mani  was  an 
Oriental  philosopher ;  the  notion  of  a 
moral  fall,  and  a  personal  conviction  of 
sin,  on  which  Christianity  is  built  up, 
were  repugnant  to  him.  In  his  view  the 
soul  of  man  suffered,  not  from  a  weak  and 
corrupt  will,  but  from  contact  with 
matter.  Whatever  evils  the  soul  allows 
itself  to  commit  are  on  this  view  physical, 
not  moral — miseries,  not  sins.  Again, 
the  restorative  energy  must  be  looked  for, 
not  in  a  religion  which  reforms  the  will, 
and  after  it  the  whole  nature,  but  in  an 
enlightening  philosophy,  which  reduces 
the  contaminating  contact  with  matter 
to  a  minimum.  According  to  Mani, 
"  two  systems  stood  eternally  opposed — 
God  with  the  kingdom  of  light  and  the 
aeons  [see  Gnostics],  and  Satan  with 
his  kingdom  of  darkness  and  the  de- 
mons." ^  Light  is  the  animating  principle 
in  all  nature  ;  and  all  beings  are  higher 
or  lower  according  to  the  measure  of 
their  participation  in  the  light.  Woman 
is  the  gift  of  the  demons,  who  impel  men 
to  propagate  their  Irind  in  order  that 
emancipation  from  matter  and  darkness 
may  never  come  to  them.  The  ideal  light- 
1  Mahler,  i.  316. 


MANIPLE 


641 


clad  soul  is  the  Redeemer,  or  Christ,  who 
descended  from   heaven  in  what  was   a 
body  only  in  appearance,  to  teach  men  to 
bridle  and  extirpate  their  desires,  so  that 
they  may  return  to  their  true  home,  the       « 
kingdom   of  light.     The    sect    observed 
three  seals    {signaculd) — the  seal  of  the 
mouth,  the  seal  of  the  hands,  and  the  seal 
of  the  bosom.     By  the  first  they  were 
forbidden  to  eat  meat  or  eggs,  or  to  drink 
wine  or  milk  :  by  the  second,  to  kill  any 
animal  or  tear  in  pieces  any  plant ;  by 
the  third,  to  marry,  or  at  least  to  have 
offspring.      The  members    were    divided 
into  the  *'  elect "  and  the  "  hearers ;  "  the 
former  were   expected    to    observe    the 
Manichsean    doctrine   strictly ;  from   the 
latter    less   was   required.     They   could 
gather  plants  and  prepare  them  for  food, 
and  when  so  prepared,  the  "  elect "  took 
them  from  their  hands.     The  Manicheea 
rejected   the  Old   Testament   altogether, 
and  while  accepting  the  New  Testament 
put  aside  such  passages  as  did  not  suit 
them  on  the  pretence  that  they  were  in- 
terpolated.    They  regarded  Mani  as  the 
Paraclete  promised  by  Christ,  and  had  a 
hierarchy    imitated    from    that     of    the 
Catholic     Church.       The     sect    became 
numerous  in  the  East,  flourished  in  North 
Africa,  and  even  spread  k)  several  countries 
of  Southern  Europe.      The  promises   of 
light,  wisdom,  and  enfranchisement  which 
they  held  out  to  their  disciples  seduced 
for   a  time   the  powerful   mind    of    St. 
Augustine.      Everyone    knows   how    he 
shook  himself  free  from  them,  and  wrote 
eloquent  treatises  against  them.     Several 
Christian  emperors,  down  to  and  includ- 
ing  Justinian,   published   edicts   against 
them,  and  little  is  heard  of  Manicheeism 
after  the  sixth  century,  although  the  dis- 
tinclive   doctrines   of  the  sect   reappear 
among   the  Paulicians,  the  Cathari,  the 
Albigenses,   the    Bogomiles,    and    other 
mediaeval  heretics.     (Mohler,  "  Kirchen- 
geschichte.") 

nSAirzPIiG.  An  ornamental  vest- 
ment worn  by  subdeacons  and  by  clergy 
of  hiofher  orders  at-Maos.  It  hangs  from 
the  lef<-  arm  below  the  elbow  (Gavantus 
says  above  the  elbow,  but  he  is  corrected 
by  Meratus),  and  is  fastened  by  strings 
or  pins.  It  is  of  the  same  colour  and 
material  as  the  chasuble.  Priests  put  it 
on  before  Mass  after  the  girdle.  Bishops 
do  not  take  it  till  they  have  said  the  Con- 
fiteor  at  the  foot  of  the  altar.  It  is  sup- 
posed to  symbolise  penance  and  sorrow, 
and  the  prayer  which  the  priest  is  directed 
in  the  Missal  to  say  as  he  puts  it  on 


542 


MANIPLE 


alludes  to  this  signification.  "  Be  it  mine, 
O  Lord,  to  bear  the  maniple  of  weeping 
and  sorrow,  that  I  may  receive  with  joy 
the  reward  of  toU."  And  the  prayer  said 
^  by  the  bishop  is  much  the  same.  Liturgi- 
cal writers  also  see  in  the  maniple  a 
symbol  of  the  cords  with  which  Christ 
was  bound  on  his  capture. 

Many  writers,  following  Cardinal 
Bona,  have  thought  that  they  could  trace 
the  mention  of  the  maniple  to  Gregory 
the  Great,  who  wrote  to  John  of  Ravenna 
because  the  clergy  of  that  see  had  begun 
to  use  onappulce,  wliich,  up  to  that  time, 
had  been  peculiar  to  Roman  ecclesiastics. 
It  has  been  shown,  however,  by  Binterein 
that  the  vmppules  were  not  maniples  but 
portable  haldacchini.  The  mosaic  of  St. 
Vitalis  at  Ravenna  (sixth  century)  repre- 
eents  the  bishop  and  clergy  without 
maniples,  and  it  is  not  till  the  eighth  and 
ninth  centuries  that  any  trace  of  the 
maniple  is  found.  It  was  originally  a 
handkerchief  (hence  the  name  tnanipulus) 
used  for  removing  perspiration  and  the 
moisture  of  the  eyes.  Mabillon  quotes 
from  a  document  of  the  year  781 ,  in  which 
"  five  maniples "  are  named  along  with 
other  vestments.  In  889,  Bishop  Riculf, 
of  Soissons,  required  each  church  to  have 
at  least  two  girdles  and  as  many  clean 
maniples  ("totidem  nitidas  manipulas"). 
In  the  tenth  century,  Bishop  Ratherius 
forbade  anyone  to  say  Mass  without 
amice,  alb,  stole,  "  fanone  et  planeta."  The 
planeta  is  the  chasuble  ;  the  fano  (Goth, 
fana,  allied  to  the  Greek  Triyi^os  and  the 
Latin  pannus,  and  the  same  word  as  the 
modern  German  Fahne)  is  the  maniple  ; 
hantfan  or  hantvan  being  the  translation 
of  manipuliis  or  manijmla  in  mediaeval 
vocabularies. 

The  following  are  the  principal  changes 
which  have  occurred  in  the  form  and  use 
of  the  maniple.  Originally,  as  has  been 
gaid,  it  was  a  mere  handkerchief,  used 
indeed  at  Mass,  but  then  for  ordinary 
purposes.  But  it  was  richly  ornamented. 
Thus  in  908,  Adalbero,  bishop  of  Augs- 
burg, offered  a  maniple  worked  with  gold 
at  the  shrine  of  St.  Galius.  In  the 
Basilica  of  St.  Ambrose  at  Milan  there 
are  four  figures  of  saints,  constructed  in 
835,  with  ornamental  maniples  on  their 
left  arms,  much  like  Gothic  maniples  of  a 
much  later  date.  Hefele  gives  a  figure 
(belonging  to  the  ninth  century)  of  a 
priest  with  little  bells  on  his  maniple,  in 
imitation  doubtless  of  the  bells  on  the 
coat  of  the  Jewish  High  Priest.  But 
•ven  as  late  as  1100  Ivo  of  Chartres 


MANTELLETTA 

mentions  the  use  of  the  maniple  for  wip- 
ing the  eyes,  and  it  was  only  gradually 
that  the  maniple  hecame  entirely  of  stiff 
material.  The  prayer  in  the  Missal,  as 
we  have  seen,  still  alludes  to  the  old  and 
simple  use. 

Again,  in  1100  a  Council  of  Poitiers 
restricted  the  use  of  the  maniple  to  sub- 
deacons,  and  such  is  the  present  custom. 
But  only  a  little  before  the  council  Lan- 
franc  speaks  of  the  maniple  as  commonly 
worn  by  monies,  even  if  laymen.  A 
statute  of  the  Church  of  Liege  (1287) 
directs  that  the  maniple  should  be  two 
feet  long,  which  is  much  more  than  its 
present  length.  Moreover,  since  the 
chasuble  used  to  cover  the  entire  body, 
the  priest  did  riot  put  on  the  maniple  till 
the  chasuble  was  raised  after  the  Confiteor 
and  his  arm  left  free.  A  memory  of  the 
old  state  of  things  is  preserved  by  bishops 
at  their  Mass.  (Gavantus,  with  Merati's 
notes.     Hefele,  "  Beitrage.") 

nXAirsus.  In  the  Capitularies  of 
Charlemagne  respecting  Saxony  (Ba- 
luze,  i.  183,  quoted  by  Stubbs  in  "  Const. 
Hist.,"  i.  228)  it  is  ordered  that  for  every 
church  a  house  with  enclosed  yard  (curtis) 
and  two  mami  of  land  shall  be  provided. 
Here  and  in  many  other  places  the  word 
seems  to  signify  merely  a  measure  of  land, 
and  is  probably  equivalent  to  hovata  or 
ox-gang,  the  quantity  of  land — usually 
about  twelve  acres — which  could  be  tilled 
with  one  ox.  Graduall}'  the  meaning  of 
the  word  changed,  till  it  came  to  signify 
"a  house  with  land  attached  to  it,"  a 
residence.  Thus  in  an  agreement  made 
in  1219  between  the  bishop  of  Lincom 
and  the  abbot  of  St.  Albans,'  it  is  stipu- 
lated that  the  vicar  of  Leighton  shall 
have  a  "  mansus  competens  "  along  with 
the  small  tithes  and  other  advantages. 
As  used  by  Matthew  Paris  in  his  Life  of 
Abbot  Paul,  who  liveil  soon  after  the  Con- 
quest, ("  terra  trium  mansuum  cum  toti- 
dem  hortis  "j,  the  expression  seems  to  be 
passing  from  its  earlier  into  its  later 
meaning.'*  In  the  Chronicle  of  Brompton 
(fl.  1200)  the  term  is  used  simply  for 
mansion  or  residence.^ 

MASarTEIiXiETTA.  A  vestment 
made  of  silk  or  woollen  stuff,  open  but 
fastened  in  front,  rea«hing  almost  to  the 
knees,  without  sleeves  but  with  openings 
for  the  arms  and  with  a  low  collar  round 
the  neck.  It  is  worn  by  cardinals,  bishops, 
abbots,  and  the  "  prelati "  of  the  Roman 

i  Matt.  Paris  (Wats),  p.  180. 

»  lb.  p.  ftO. 

5  Tw  ys.  X  Script  913. 


MANUAL 


Court,  as  well  as  by  others  to  whom  the 
privilege  is  granted  by  the  Pope.  It  is 
used  to  cover  the  rochet,  so  that  bishops 
wear  it  only  when  they  are  out  of  their 
dioceses,  the  uncovered  rochet  being  the 
sign  of  jurisdiction.  The  mantellette  of 
cardinals  are  of  three  colours — viz.,  red, 
violet,  and  rose-coloured  (rosnceo) ;  those  of 
a  bishop  are  always  of  the  same  hue. 
(Moroni,  "  Dizionario  istorico.") 
VfLANTTAJ,.      [See  RiTFAL.] 

x^XAisruAXi  nxASSES.    [See  jNIass.] 
iucA.KCio»rzTs.    [See  GifosTic] 

m/lATlQNST^S.  There  has  been 
much  dispute  on  the  origin  of  the  name,  but 
the  following  is  probably  the  true  account. 
Maro,  a  Syrian  monk,  contemporary 
with  St.  Ohrysostora,  settled  on  Mount 
Lebanon,  and  after  his  death  a  monastery, 
called  after  him  the  monastery  of  St. 
Maro,  was  founded  between  A.pamea  and 
Emesa,  on  the  Orontes.  A  monk  belong- 
ing to  this  house,  and  known  as  John 
Maro,  was  named  bishop  of  Botrys  in 
676  by  Macariur*,  Patriarch  of  Antioch, 
who  was  afterwards  deposed  as  a  Mono- 
thelite  by  the  Sixth  General  Council.  John 
Maro  thus  became  the  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral head  of  the  Christian  population  on 
Mount  Lebanon,  and  contended  success- 
fully both  against  Saracens  and  Melchites. 
On  the  destruction  of  the  old  monastery 
of  St.  Maro  by  the  Imperialists,  another 
was  ibuuded  at  Kefr-Nay,  in  the  district 
of  Botrys,  and  thither  the  head  of  St. 
Maro  was  brought.  Partly  from  the  John 
Maro  who  died  in  707,  partly  from  St. 
Maro,  the  patron  of  the  monastery,  the 
Monothelite  Christians  on  Mount  Lebanon 
were  called  Maronites. 

In  1182  a  Latin  Patriarch  of  Antioch 
united  them  to  the  Catholic  Church.  A 
schism  was  caused  through  Greek  influence, 
and  a  Maronite  Patriarch  fell  away.  But 
the  rent  whs  healed  in  1216,  and  ever 
since  the  Maronites  have  been  stedfast 
Catholics.  Originally  the  Maronites 
acknowledged  their  Patriarch  as  civil 
ruler,  but  after  a  brief  space  they  were 
governed  on  a  feudal  system  by  an  Emir 
chosen  bj^  the  aristocratic  families,  and  he 
in  turn  nominated  the  Sheiks.  In  1842 
an  arrangement  was  made  by  which  the 
government  of  the  Lebanon  was  divided 
between  two  Emirs,  one  chosen  by  the 
Maronites,  another  by  the  Druses,  the 
former  having  a  Druse,  the  latter  a 
Maronite,  assessor.  The  terrible  massacres 
of  Maronites  by  the  Druses  in  1860 
(16,000  Maronites  were  slain,  100,000 
were  driven  from  their  homes)  led  to  fresh 


ARONITES 


543 


changes.  The  Lebanon  was  placed  under 
one  governor  nominated  bv  the  Turks; 
feudal  rights  were  abolish  >1,  but  each 
nation  has  its  own  Sheiks.  In  1865  the 
number  of  Maronites  was  ibout  150^000., 

The  Patriarch  is  choseu  by  the  bishops, 
the  Pope  confirming  and  sending  the 
pallium.  He  is  subject  to  Propaganda. 
He  appoints  and  consecrates  the  bishops. 
He  alone  consecrates  the  holy  oils  and 
chrism.  No  translation  from  Syriac  into 
Arabic  can  be  made  without  his  approval. 
Every  three  years  he  must  summon  the 
bishops  to  a  synod.  His  title  (conferred 
by  Alexander  IV.  in  1254)  is  Patriarch 
of  Antioch,  and  he  always  adds  the  name 
of  Peter  to  his  own.  His  income  consists 
of  100,000  piastres  derived  from  three 
monasteries,  with  about  100,000  more  from 
a  poll-tax  levied  on  all  adult  Maronites, 
a  tax  of  five  piastres  each  levied  from  the 
priests,  tithes,  and  a  subsidy  from  bishops 
and  religious  houses. 

Metropolitan  is  a  mere  title  of  honour. 
Formerly  the  faithful  of  each  diocese  re- 
commended a  candidate  for  a  vacant 
bishopric.  Since  17.'i6  the  Patriarch  has 
nominated  with  the  advice  of  his  bishops 
and  also  of  the  clergy  and  nobles  of  the 
vacant  diocese.  The  bishops  alone  give 
the  sacrament  of  Confirmation.  There 
are  also  titular  bishops,  two  of  whom  are 
the  Patriarch's  vicars,  another  administers 
his  diocese,  another  is  his  agent  at  Rome, 
&c.  The  diocesan  bishops  are  supported 
by  lands  belonging  to  the  diocese,  reserves 
in  the  taxes  and  tithes  collected  for  the 
Patriarch,  and  stole  fees:  Since  1736 
there  have  been  only  nine  bishoprics, 
counting  that  of  the  Patriarch,  of  which 
Beyrout,  Tripolis,  Aleppo,  Damascus, 
Baalbek,  Sidon,  Cyprus  are  archiepis- 
copal,  Byblus  (the  Patriarch's  bishop- 
ric), and  Eden  episcopal  sees.  The  arch- 
deacon, oeconotnus,  jjeriodeutes  or  harduty 
archpriest  and  chorepiscopus  are  the 
officials  of  the  diocese. 

The  parish-priests,  usually  married, 
are  chosen  by  the  people.  There  are 
300  parishes,  500  secular  priests.  The 
parish-priest  is  allowed  to  till  land,  and 
his  income  consists  in  offerings  of  corn, 
oil,  silk,  &c.,  and  stole  fees.  There  are 
three  lower  or  minor  orders — viz.,  psaltist, 
reader  and  subdeacon,  three  greater  or 
higher,  deacon,  priest,  bishop.  The  ton- 
sure is  given  before  the  minor  orders. 
There  are  three  general  and  several  dio- 
cesan seminaries,  the  latter  of  recent 
origin.  There  is  also  a  Maronite  college 
at  Rome.     Education  is  given  in  Arabro, 


644 


MARRIAGE 


MARRIAGE 


the  vulgar,  and  in  Syriac,  the  liturgical, 
language,  and  also  of  course  in  the  theo- 
logical sciences. 

The  Maronite  religious  follow  the  rule 
of  St.  Antony.  Down  to  1767  there  were 
only  two  congregations,  one  of  St.  Isaias, 
another  of  St.  Antony  or  St.  Elisaeus.  The 
statutes  of  both  congregations  were 
approved  by  Clement  XII.  But  in  1770 
Clement  XIV.  approved  the  subdivision  of 
the  latter  congregation  into  that  of  Aleppo 
and  that  of  the  Baladites  or  "  natives  " 
belonging  to  Mount  Lebanon.  These 
Baladites  are  chiefly  laymen.  Each  of 
the  three  congregations  has  a  general 
superior,  chosen  for  three  years  and  inde- 
pendent of  the  Patriarch,  and  a  procurator 
at  Rome.  There  are  (or  were  in  1865) 
about  1,000  lay  brothers  and  600  Fathers. 
Fourteen  monasteries  belong  to  the  con- 
gregation of  St.  Isaias,  four  to  that  of 
Aleppo,  nineteen  to  that  of  the  Baladites, 
There  are  seven  nunneries  of  the  strict 
observance.  There  are  also  many  irre- 
gular monasteries  and  nunneries  where 
the  rule  is  less  strict,  and  the  superior 
must  belong  to  the  founder's  family.  In 
one  convent  of  Maronite  nuns,  a  Western 
rule,  that  of  the  Visitation,  is  observed. 

IMCARBXAGE.  I.  The  Nature  of 
Marriage  as  such. — Marriage  is  a  natural 
contract  between  man  and  woman,  which 
Christ  has  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a 
sacrament.  Heathen  may  be,  and  are, 
united  in  true  marriage,  and  their  union  is 
of  course  a  lawful  one,  sanctioned  and 
blessed  by  God  Himself,  who  is  the  author 
of  nature  as  well  as  of  grace.  But  it  is 
only  among  baptised  persons  that  the  con- 
tract of  marriage  is  blessed  and  sanctified 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  become  a  means 
of  conferring  grace,  so  that  we  must  dis- 
tinguish between  marriage  in  itself  or  ac- 
cording to  the  natural  law  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  sacrament  of  marriage  on 
the  other.  Theologians  commonly  give 
the  following  dehnition  of  marriage  taken 
from  the  Master  of  the  Sentences.  It  is 
"  viri  mulierisque  conjunctio  raaritalis 
inter  legitimas  personas  individuam  vitse 
societatem  retinens."  It  is  "conjunctio 
viri  et  mulieris" — i.e..  the  union  of  man 
and  woman,  the  persons  between  whom 
the  contract  is  formed  ;  it  is  "  maritalis  " 
— i.e.  it  implies  the  giving  to  each  power 
over  the  person  of  the  other,  and  so  is  dis- 
tinct from  the  union  of  friend  with  friend, 
man  with  man  in  business,  and  the  like  ; 
it  is  "  inter  legitimas  personas" — i.e.  be- 
tween those  who  are  not  absolutely  pre- 
vented by  lawful  impediment  from  con- 


tracting such  an  union;  "individuam 
vit86  societatem  retinens,"  it  binds  them 
to  an  undivided  and  indissoluble  partner- 
ship during  life,  and  so  is  distinct  from 
such  unhallowed  unions  as  are  contracted 
for  a  time  or  may  be  ended  at  will.  If 
we  add,  "  gratiam  conjugibus  conferen- 
dam  signiflcans" — i.e.  being  an  (efficacious) 
sign  of  grace  to  be  bestowed  on  the 
persons  contracting— we  have  ihe  full 
definition  of  marriage  as  a  sacrament.  Of 
course,  the  definition  gives  the  bare  essen- 
tials of  maiTiage,  for  it  ought  to  include 
the  most  perfect  union  of  heart  and  soul, 
sympathy  and  interest. 

Two  points  in  the  above  definition 
may  cause  some  difliculty,  since  it  as- 
sumes that  even  in  the  law  of  nature  a 
man  can  only  have  one  wife  (and  of  course 
a  woman  only  one  husband),  and  further 
that  by  the  same  law  the  marriage  tie 
lasts  till  death. 

With  regard  to  the  former  point,_poly- 
gamy,  according  to  St.  Thomas  ("  Suppl." 
Ixv.  1),  does  not  absolutely  destroy  the 
end  of  marriage,  for  it  is  possible  that  a 
man  with  several  wives  should  protect 
them  and  provide  for  the  education  of  his 
children.  And  therefore  (as  many  theo- 
logians suppose,  from  the  time  of  the 
Deluge)  God  allowed  the  Patnarchs  and 
others,  whether  Jews  or  heathen,  to  have 
more  wives  than  one.  But  polygamy 
cruelly  injures  the  perfect  union  of  mar- 
riage ;  it  degrades  man  by  sensuality  and 
exposes  woman  to  the  miseries  of  jealousy 
and  neglect ;  it  endangers  the  welfare  of 
the  children,  and  so  may  be  justly  stig- 
matised as  contrary  to  the  law  of  nature. 
Moreover,  monogamy  alone  is  contem- 
plated in  the  institution  of  marriage  : 
Gen.  i.  24, v"  Therefore  a  man  will  leave 
his  father  and  his  mother  and  will  cleave 
to  his  wife,  and  they  shall  be  one  fiesh.'^ 
The  legislation  in  Deut.  xxv.  5  seq.  appears 
to  assume  that  mniogamy  was  the  rule 
among  the  Hebrews ;  so  does  the  book  of 
Proverbs  throughout,  and  particularly  the 
beautiful  description  of  the  good  wife  in 
ch.  xxxi.,^  and  the  same  idea  pervades  the 
noble  poetry  of  Ps.  cxxviii.  (see  also  in 
the  Deutero-canonical  books,  Tob.  i.  11; 
Ecclus.  xxvi.  1).  It  was  not  till  a.d. 
1020  that  a  law  of  Rabbi  Gershon  ben 

1  The  estimate  of  women  is  high  through* 
out  the  Old  Testament.  We  need  only  remind 
the  reader  of  Mary  the  sister  of  M(  ses,  Der 
borah,  Anna.  See  also  Prov.  xiv,  1  ;  xviii.  22  g 
xix.  14  (even  xxi.  9,  19,  are  not  really  differ 
rent  in  spirit).  The  most  unfavourable  judg- 
ment is  that  of  Eccles.  vii.  28. 


MARRIAGE 

Judah  in  the  Synod  of  Worms  absolutely 
prohibited  polygamy  among  the  Western 
.lews.  It  was  practised  by  the  Jews  of 
Oii?tile  even  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
and  still  survives  among  the  Jews  of  the 
East  (Kalisch  on  Exodus,  p.  370;  on 
Levit.  p.  374).  But  our  Lord  Himself 
expounded  and  enforced  the  natural  law 
of  marriage,  and  recalled  men  to  the  idea 
of  marriage  given  in  Genesis.  It  is  worth 
noticing  that  He  quotes  the  Septuagint 
text,  which  is  more  express  in  favour  of 
monogamy  than  the  Hebrew:  ''And  the  two 
shall  be  one  flesh."  (So  also  the  Sama- 
ritan Dn^JC^D  n^ni,  "  and  there  shall  be 
from  the  two  of  them  one  flesh " ;  the 
New  Testament  invariably,  Mark  x.  8  ; 
1  Cor.  vi.  IC ;  Ephes.  v.  31 ;  and  the 
Vulgate.  The  Targum  of  Onkelos,  on 
the  other  hand,  exactly  follows  the 
Hebrew.)  Again,  since  Christ  spoke 
generally  of  all  mankind  and  not  simply 
of  those  who  were  to  be  members  of  his 
Church,  theologians  hold  that  He  with- 
drew the  former  dispensation,  and  conse- 
quently that  polygamy  is  unlawful  and  a 
violation  of  natural  law  even  in  heathen. 
(Billuart,  "  De  Matrimon."  diss.  v.  a.  1.) 

The  same  principles  apply  to  the 
second  point  of  difficulty.  Moses,  our 
Lord  declares,  permitted  divorce  because 
of  the  hardness  of  men's  hearts,  i.e.  to 
prevent  greater  evils;  and  in  consequence 
of  this  dispensation  it  was  perhaps  lawful 
for  th§  heathen  to  imitate  the  example  of 
the  Jews  in  this  respect  also.  But  here, 
too,  Christ  has  recalled  all  mankind  to  the 
primitive  institution.  The  apparent  ex- 
ception'  which  our  Lord  makes  will  be 
considered  below,  and  certain  cases  in 
which  marriage  may  be  really  dissolved 
have  been  explained  in  the  article  on 
Divorce. 

II.  (a)  The  Sacrament  of  Marriage. — 
A  sacrament  is  an  outward  sign,  and  no- 
body doubts  that  in  marriage,  as  in  all 
other  contracts,  some  outward  sign  on  the 

?art  of  the  contracting  parties  is  necessary, 
'hey  must  signify  their  consent  to  the 
solemn  obligation  of  living  together  as 
man  and  wife.  It  is  plain,  too,  that  mar- 
riage may  be  called  a  sacred  sign,  for  it 
typifies,  as  St.  Paul  (ad  Ephes.  v.)  assures 
us,  the  mysterious  union  between  Christ 
and  the  Church,  which  is  his  bride.  But 
is  it  an  efficacious  sign  of  grace  ?  That 
is,  is  the  contract  of  marriage  accom- 
panied by  signs  which  not  only  betoken 
but  necessarily,  in  consequence  of  Christ's 
institution,  convey  grace  to  all  baptised 
persons  who  do  not  wilfully  impede  the 


MARRIAGE 


545 


entrance  of  the  grace  into  their  hearts  ? 
This  is  a  question  on  which  Catholics  are 
divided  from  Protestants,  and  which  was 
agitated  among  Catholics  themselves  late 
even  in  the  middle  ages.  St.  Thomas 
("Supp."  xlii.  a.  3),though  he  assumes  that 
marriage  is  a  sacrament  of  the  new  law, 
inquires  whether  it  "  confers  grace,"  and 
mentions  three  opinions :  first,  tliat  it 
does  not  do  so  at  all,  and  this  opinion  he 
dismisses  at  once ;  next,  that  it  confers 
grace  only  in  the  sense  that  it  makes  acts 
lawful  that  would  otherwise  be  sins  (this 
opinion  he  also  rejects,  but  in  a  less  sum- 
mary way) ;  and  thirdly,  that  when 
"  contracted  in  the  faith  of  Christ,"  it 
confers  grace  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  the 
married  state,  and  this  opinion  he  accepts 
as  "  more  probable."  It  is  plain  that  all 
which  the  second  opinion  attributes  to 
marriage  may  be  truly  said  of  marriage 
as  a  natural  contract,  and  does  not  by  any 
means  amount  to  a  confession  that  mar- 
riage is  a  Christian  sacrament  in  the 
sense  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  What 
St.  Thomas  gives  as  the  more  probable 
opinion  is  now  an  article  of  faith,  for  the 
council  (Sess.  xxiv.  De  Sacram.  Matr.), 
after  stating  that  Christ  Himself  merited 
for  us  a  grace  which  perfects  the  natural 
love  of  marriage  and  strengthens  its  in- 
dissoluble unity,  solemnly  defines  (Can.  1) 
that  marriage  is  "  truly  and  properly  one 
of  the  seven  sacraments  of  the  evangelical 
law  instituted  by  Christ." 

The  same  council  speaks  of  Scripture 
as  insinuating  (innuit)  this  truth,  and 
more  can  scarcely  be  said.  One  text,  in- 
deed, as  translated  in  our  Douay  Bible, 
would  certainly  seem  to  settle  the  ques- 
tion—viz. Ephes.  v.  31,  32,  "For  this 
cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  shall  adhere  to  his  wife  ;  and 
they  shall  be  two  in  one  flesh.  This  is 
a  great  sacrament,  but  I  speak  in  Christ 
and  in  the  Church."  But  we  venture  to 
think  that  this  is  not  the  true  sense  of 
the  Vulgate,  "Sacramentum  hoc  mag- 
num est ;  ego  autem  dico  in  Christo  et 
in  ecclesia,"  which  exactly  answers  to 
the  original  Greek,  except  that  "in 
Christo  et  in  ecclesia"  would  be  better 
rendered  as  in  the  old  Latin  of  Tertullian 
("  Contr.  Marc."  V.  18  ;  "  De  Anima,"  11), 
"  in  Christum  et  in  ecclesiam."  "  Sacra- 
mentum  "  need  not  mean  a  '*  sacrament  " 
any  more  than  the  Greek  ixvo-Trjfuov  which 
it  represents,  and  to  prove  this  we  need 
not  go  beyond  the  text  of  the  Vulgate 
itself,  which  speaks  of  the  "  sacramentum  ** 
of  godliness,  1  Tim.  iii.  16 ;  the  "  sacra- 


546 


MARRIAGE 


mentum"  of  the  seven  stars;  the '"'  f»acra- 
mentuni"  of  the  woman  and  the  beast, 
Apoc.  i.  20  ;  xvii.  7.  Indeed,  though  the 
word  "  sacramentnm  "  occurs  in  fifteen 
other  places  of  the  Vulgate,  it  cannot 
possibly  naean  a  sacrament  in  any  one  of 
them.  We  translate,  accordingly,  ''  This 
mystery  is  great,  but  I  Bpeak  with  refer- 
ence to  Chi-ist  and  the  Church  " — that  is, 
the  words,  "  For  this  cause  shall  a  man 
leave,"  &c.,  contain  a  hidden  or  mysterious 
sense,^  in  virtue  of  which  St.  Paul  regards 
Adam's  words  about  the  union  between 
man  and  wife  as  a  type  or  prophecy  of 
the  imion  between  Christ  and  his  Church. 
We  have  the  authority  of  Estius  for  this 
intei-pretatiou,  which  is  that  generally 
adopted  by  modern  scholars,  and  he 
denies  that  the  ancients  appealed  to  this 
text  to  prove  marriage  a  sacrament. 

On  the  other  hand,  St.  Cyril  ("Lib. 
ii.  in  Joann.")  says  that  Christ  was  present 
at  the  wedding  in  Cana  of  Galilee  that  He 
might  sanctity  the  principle  of  man's 
generation,  "  drive  away  the  old  sadness 
of  child-bearing,"  "  give  grace  to  those  also 
who  were  to  be  born ;  "  and  he  quotes  the 
words  of  St.  Paul,  "  If  any  man  is  in 
Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  j  old  things 
have  passed  away." 

St.  Augustine  ("  Tract.  9  in  Joann," 
cap.  2)  holds  similar  language.  This 
theory,  however  credible  in  itself, certainly 
does  not  lie  on  the  sm-face  of  St.  John's 
narrative. 

More  may  be  made  of  1  Tim.  ii.  11  scq. 
"  Let  a  woman  learn  in  quietness,  in  all 
subjection.  But  teaching  I  do  not  permit 
to  a  woman,  nor  to  have  authority  over  a 
man,  but  to  be  in  quietness.  For  man 
was  first  formed,  then  Eve,  and  Adam 
was  not  deceived,  but  the  woman  being 
deceived  hath  fallen  into  transgression  ; 
but  she  shall  be  saved  through  her  child- 
bearing,^  if  they  continue  in  faith  and 
love  and  sanctification  with  temperance." 
St.  Paul  excludes  women  from  the  public 
ministry  of  the  Church,  and  reserves  that 
for  men.  But  he  assigns  them  another 
muiistry  instead.  They  are  to  save  their 
own  souls  by  the  faithful   discharge  of 

1  The  formula,  "This  is  a  great  my.stery," 
is  a  common  Rabbinical  one,  X'T'p"'  NT"1'  S*1- 
See  Schocttgen,  Horce,  p.  783  sea.,  and  the 
same  Chaldee  word  for  "  my.stery"  is  preserved 
in  the  Peshito  rendering  of  the  verse. 

2  Bi.shop  Ellicott,  ad  he,  translates 
"  through  the  child-bearing  " — /  e.  through  tlie 
birth  or  Christ.  It  seems  to  us  incredible  that 
St.  Paul,  if  he  really  meant  this,  should  have 
expressed  it  by  an  allusion  so  obscure  and 
abrupt. 


MARRIAGE 

their  duties  as  Agaves,  and  to  be  the  source 
of  the  Church's  increase,  for  it  cannot 
subsist  without  marriage  any  more  than 
without  the  sacrament  of  order.  Women 
are  to  be  the  mothers  of  children,  whom 
they  are  to  tend  and  train  for  the  service 
of  Christ.  And  just  as  a  special  grace  is 
given  to  those  whom  God  calls  to  the 
priestly  state,  so  is  "  the  state  of  marriage 
placed  under  the  protection  and  blessing 
of  a  special  grace,  as  being  dedicated  to 
the  Church  and  subserving  its  continual 
growth  and  expansion."  Thus  the  inter- 
course of  the  sexes,  which  is  apt  to 
become  a  source  of  fearful  corruption,  is 
blessed  and  sanctified,  more  even  than  in 
its  primitive  institution,  and  directed  to  a 
still  higher  end,  that  of  carrying  on  the 
Church's  life  on  earth.  The  natural 
union  is  holy  and  beautiful :  Christ  per- 
fects the  union  of  heart  and  soul  and 
makes  it  still  more  holy  and  beautiful  by 
sacramental  grace ;  and,  hallowed  by 
a  sacrament,  marriage  becomes  the  perfect 
antitype  of  Christ's  union  with  his 
Church.  He  cleansed  his  Church  that 
He  might  unite  it  to  Himself.  He  sanc- 
tifies Christian  man  and  woman  in  their 
union  that  it  may  be  '*  a  hallowed  copy  of 
his  own  union  with  his  Church"  (see  the 
eloquent  passage  in  Dolliuger,  in  "  First 
Age  of  the  Church,"  Engl.  Transl.  p.  361, 
362). 

The  reader  must  remember  that  we 
do  not  allege  this  last  passage  as  ip  any 
way  conclusive  from  a  controversial  point 
of  view,  though  we  do  think  it  fits  in  well 
with  the  Catholic  doctrine.  Many  au- 
thorities are  alleged  from  tradition,  one  or 
tw^o  of  which  we  have  already  given  in 
speaking  of  the  marriage  at  Cana.  St. 
Ambrose,  "  De  Abraham,"  i.  7,  says  that 
he  who  is  unfaithful  to  the  marriage  bond 
''  undoes  grace,  and  because  he  sins  against 
God,  therefore  loses  the  share  in  a  hea- 
venly nnstery  {sacramenti  codestis  consor- 
tium amittit).'^  St.  Augustine,  *'  De  Bono 
Conjugali,"  cap.  24,  writes:  "The  advan- 
tage of  marriage  among  all  nations  and 
men  lies  in  its  being  a  cause  of  generation 
and  a  bond  of  chastity,  but  as  concerns 
the  people  of  God,  also  in  the  holiness  of 
a  sacrament  {in  sanctitate  sacramenti). "" 
Here  the  distinction  drawn  between 
natural  and  Christian  marriage,  and  still 
more  the  comparison  made  between  the 
"  sacramenta "  of  marriage  and  order,^ 
seem  t-o  warrant  our  rendering  of  "  sanc- 
titate sacramenti." 

1  He  says  the  "  sacramentum  ordinationis  " 
remains  in  a  cleric  deposed  ft*  crime,  and  that 


MARRIAGE 

(3)  The  Nature  of  the  Sao'amenial 
Grace,  ^-c. — Marriage,  then,  is  a  sacrament 
of  tlie  new  law,  and  as  such  confers 
grace.  The  sacrament  can  only  be  re- 
ceived by  those  who  have  already  received 
baptism,  the  gate  of  all  the  other  sacra- 
ments ;  and  marriage  is  not,  like  baptism 
and  penance,  instituted  for  the  cleansing 
of  sin,  so  that  grace  is  conferred  on  those, 
and  those  only,  who  are  at  peace  with 
God.  Christians  who  are  in  mortal  sin 
may  contract  "a ~valid~in^jFriage,''but  they 
receive  nograce,  though  they  do  receive 
the  sacrament  and  therefore  have  a  claim 
and  title  to  the  sacramental  grace  when 
they  have  amended  their  lives  by  sincere 
repentance.  Christians,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  contract  marriage  with  due 
dispositions  receive  an  increase  of  sancti- 
fying grace,  and,  besides,  special  graces 
which  enable  them  to  live  in  mutual 
and  enduring  affection,  to  bear  with  each 
other's  infirmities,  to  be  faithful  to  each 
other  in  every  thought,  and  to  bring  up  the 
children  w^hom  God  may  give  them  in  his 
fear  and  love.  They  may  go  confidently 
to  God  for  every  help  they  need  in  that 
holy  state  to  which  He  has  deigned  to 
call  them,  for  He  Himself  has  sealed  their 
union  by  a  great  sacrament  of  the  Gospel, 
Theologians  are  not  agreed  about  the  time 
•when  Christ  instituted  the  sacrament. 
Some  say  at  the  wedding  in  Cana  ;  others 
when  He  abrogated  the  liberty  of  divorce 
(Matt,  xix.)  ;  others  in  the  great  Forty 
Days  after  Ii^aster. 

(y)  If  we  ask,  further,  how  this  grace 
is  conferred,  or  in  other  words  who  are 
the  Ministers  of  the  Sacrament,  what  are 
the  words  and  other  signs  through  which 
it  is  given,  the  answer  is  far  from  easy. 
It  is  evident  that  there  must  be  a  real 
consent  to  the  marriage  on  both  sides, 
otherwise  there  can  be  no  contract  and 
therefore  no  sacrament.  But  is  the  ex- 
pression of  mutual  consent  enough  ?  The 
great  majority  of  mediaeval  theologians, 
though  William  of  Paris  is  quoted  on  the 
other  side,  answered  yes.  They  held  that 
wherever  baptised  persons  contracted 
marriage,  they  necessarily  received  the 
sacrament  of  marriage  also.  On  this 
theory,  the  parties  themselves  are  the 
ministers  of  the  sacrament;    the  matter 

BO  the  bond  of  marriagce  is  only  loosed  by 
death.  However,  cap.  18  proves  that  St.  Au- 
gustine did  not  use  the  word  "  sacramentum  " 
in  its  precise  modern  sense,  for  he  calls  the 
polygamy  of  tlie  Jews  "sacramentum  pluralium 
nuptiaruni,"  as  typifying  the  multitude  of  con- 
verts to  the  Church. 


MARRIAGE 


647 


consists  in  the  words  or  other  signs  by 
which  each  gives  him  or  herself  over  to 
the  other ;  the  form,  which  gives  a  deter- 
minate character  to  the  matter,  consists 
in  the  acceptation  of  this  surrender  by 
each  of  the  contracting  parties.  Hence 
(apart  from  the  positive  enactments  of 
Trent,  for  which  see  Clandestinity,  under 
Impediments  op  Markiage),  wherever 
Christians  bind  themselves  by  outward 
signs  to  live  as  man  and  wife,  they  receive 
the  sacrament  of  marriage.  No  priest  or 
religious  ceremony  of  any  kind  is  needed. 
A  very  different  view  was  put  forward  in 
the  sixteenth  century  by  Melchior  Canus 
("  Loci  Theol.  "  viii".  5).  He  held  that 
the  priest  was  the  minister  of  the  sacra- 
ment ;  the  expressed  consent  to  live  as 
man  and  wife  the  matter ;  the  words  of 
the  priest,  "  I  join  you  in  marriage,"  or 
the  like,  the  necessary  form.  A  marriage 
not  contracted  in  the  face  of  the  Church 
would,  on  this  theory,  be  a  true  and  valid 
marriage  but  not  a  sacrament.  Theolo- 
gians and  scholars  of  the  greatest  learning 
and  highest  reputation,  Sylvius,  Estius, 
Tournely,  Juenin,  Renaudot,  &c.  (see 
Billuart,  "  De  Matrim."  diss  i.  a.  6)  em- 
braced this  opinion.  In  its  defence  an 
appeal  might  be  made  with  great  plausi- 
bility to  the  constant  usage  of  Christians 
from  the  earliest  times,  for  they  have 
always  been  required  to  celebrate  marriage 
before  the  priest.  But  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  Tertullian  ("  De  Pudic."  4),  strong  as 
his  language  is  against  marriages  not  con- 
tracted beifore  the  Church,  says  that  such 
unions  "  are  in  danger  "  (periclitantur)  of 
being  regarded  as  no  better  than  concu- 
binage, which  implies  that  they  were  not 
really  so.  Nor  does  he  make  any  distinc- 
tion between  the  contract  of  marriage  in 
Christians  and  the  sacrament,  though  it 
would  have  been  much  to  his  purpose 
could  he  have  done  so.  Besides,  the 
language  of  the  Fathers  quoted  above 
points  to  a  belief  that  Christ  elevated  the 
contract  of  marriage  to  a  sacrament,  not 
that  He  superadded  the  sacrament  to 
marriage.  Moreover,  Denzinger  ("Ritus 
Orientales,"  torn.  i.  p.  152  seq.)  shows 
that  the  Nestorians,  who  have  retained 
the  nuptial  benediction  from  the  Church 
and  believe  in  the  obligation  of  securing 
it,  still  consider  that  marriage,  even  as  a 
sacred  rite,  may  be  performed  by  the  par- 
ties themselves  if  the  priest  cannot  be 
had  ;  and  he  quotes  from  Gregoriiis  Dat- 
heviensis  this  dictum, "  Marriage  is  effected 
through  consent  expressed  in  words,  but 
perfected  and  consummated  by  the  priest's 
m2 


648 


MARRIAGE 


blessing  and  "by  cohabitation."  Now,  at 
all  events,  tHe  foriner  of  the  two  opinions 
given  is  the  only  tenable  one  in  the  Church. 
Pius  IX.  in  an  allocution,  September  27, 
1852,  laid  down  the  principle  that  there 
"  can  be  no  marriage  among  the  faithful 
which  is  not  at  one  and  the  same  time  a 
sacrament ;  "  and  amonij:  the  condemned 
propositions  of  the  Syllabus  appended  to 
the  Encyclical  "  Quanta  Oura  "  of  1864, 
the  six-ty-fourth  runs  thus : — ''  The  sacra- 
ment of  marriage  is  something  accessory 
to  and  separable  from  the  contract,  and 
the  sacrament  itself  depends  simply  on 
the  nuptial  benediction."  Whether,  sup- 
posing a  Christian  (having  obtained  a 
dispensation  to  that  effect)  were  to  marry 
a  person  who  is  not  baptised,  the  Chris- 
tian party  would  receive  the  aacrament 
as  well  as  enter  into  the  contract  of  mar- 
riage, is  a  matter  on  which  theologians 
differ.  Analogy  seems  to  favour  the 
affirmative  opinion. 

(6)  The  Conditions  for  the  Validity/  of 
Marriage  are  mostly  identical  with  the 
conditions  which  determine  the  validity 
of  contracts  in  general.  The  consent  to 
the  union  must  be  mutual,  voluntary, 
deliberate,  and  manifested  by  external 
signs.  The  signs  of  consent  need  not  be 
verbal  in  order  to  make  the  marriage 
valid,  though  the  rubric  of  the  Ritual 
requires  the  consent  to  be  expressed  in 
that  manner.  The  consent  must  be  to 
actual  marriage  then  and  there,  not  at 
some  future  time;  for  in  the  latter  case 
we  should  have  engagement  to  marry  or 
betrothal,  not  marringe  itself.  Consent  to 
marry  if  a  certain  condition  in  the  past  or 
present  be  realised  {e.g.  "  I  take  you  N. 
for  my  wife,  if  you  are  the  daughter  of 
M.  and  N.")  suffices,  supposing  that  the 
condition  be  fulfilled.  Nay,  it  is  generally 
held  that  if  a  condition  be  added  de- 
pendent on  future  contingencies  {e.g.  ^'  1 
take  you  N.  for  my  wife,  if  your  father 
will  give  you  such  and  such  a  dowry") 
the  marriage  becomes  a  valid  one  without 
any  renewal  of  the  contract,  whenever 
the  condition  becomes  a  reality.  The 
condition  appended,  however,  must  not  be 
contrary  to  the  essence  of  marriage — e.g. 
a  man  cannot  take  a  woman  for  his  wife 
to  have  and  hold  just  as  long  as  he 
pleases.  (See  Gury, '"  Theol.  Moral."  De 
Matrimon.  cap.  iii.) 

III.  Indissolubility  of  Marriage. — The 
law  of  Israel  (Deut.  xxiv.  1)  allowed  a 
man  to  divorce  his  wife  if  she  did  not 
find  grace  in  his  eyes,  because  he  found  in 
her  some  shameful  thi;ig  ("l^^j  nny*  lite- 


MARRIAGE 

rally  the  "nakedness  or  shame  of  a 
thing ;  "  LXX,  aa-xw^^  irpayfia ;  Vulg, 
aliquant  fceditateni) ,  and  the  woman  was 
free  at  once  to  marry  another  man.  The 
school  of  Shammai  kept  to  the  simple 
meaning  of  the  text.  Hillel  thought  any 
cause  of  offence  sufficient  for  divorce — 
e.g.  "  if  a  woman  let  the  broth  burn ;  " 
while  R.  Akiva  held  that  a  man  might 
divorce  his  wife  if  he  found  another 
woman  handsomer.  (See  the  quotation 
from  "  Arbah  Turim  Nilchoth  Oittin,"  i. 
in  McCaul,  ''  Old  Paths,"  p.  189).  The 
Pharisees  tried  to  entangle  Christ  in  these 
Rabbinical  disputes  when  they  asked 
Him  if  a  man  might  put  away  his  wife 
"  for  any  cause."  In  Athens  and  in 
Rome  under  the  Empire  the  liberty  of 
divorce  reached  the  furthest  limits  of 
Rabbinical  licence.  (For  details  see  DoUin- 
ger,  "  Gentile  and  Jew,"  "  Engl,  Transl. 
vol.  ii.  p.  236  seq.  p.  254  seg.)  Our  Lord, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  condemned  the 
Pharisaic  immorality,  annulled  the  Mosaic 
dispensation,  and  declared,  "  Whosoever 
shall  put  away  his  wife,  except  for 
fornication,  and  shall  marry  another, 
committeth  adultery,  and  he  who  marrieth 
her  when  she  is  put  away  committeth 
adultery"  (Matt.  xix.  9).  The  Catholic 
understands  our  Lord  to  mean  that 
the  bond  of  marriage  is  always,  even 
when  one  of  the  wedded  parties  has 
proved  unfaithful,  indissoluble,  and  from 
the  first  Christ's  declaration  made  the 
practice  of  Christians  with  regard  to 
divorce  essentially^  and  conspicuously 
different  from  those  of  their  heathen  and 
Jewish  neighbours.  Still  it  was  only  by 
degrees  that  the  strict  practice,  or  even 
the  strict  theory  just  stated,  was  ac- 
cepted in  the  Church.  And  before  we 
enter  on  the  interpretation  of  Christ's 
words,  we  will  give  a  sketch  of  the 
history  of  practice  and  opinion  on  the 
matter. 

Christian  princes  had  of  course  to  deal 
with  the  subject  of  divorce,  but  they  did 
not  at  once  recast  the  old  laws  on 
Christian  principles.  Constantine,  Theodo- 
sius  the  Younger,  and  Valentinian  HI., 
forbade  divorce  except  on  certain  specified 
grounds  ;  other  emperors,  like  Anastasius 
(in  497)  and  Justin  (whose  law  was  in 
force  tiU  900),  permitted  divorce  by 
mutual  consent,  but  no  one  emperor 
limited  divorce  to  the  single  case  of 
adultery.  Chardon  says  that  divorce  (of 
course  a  vinculo)  was  allowed  among  the 
Ostrogoths  in  Spain  till  the  thirteoith 
century,  in  France  under  the  first  and 


MARRIAGE 

second  dynasties,  in  Germany  till  the 
seventh  century,  in  Britain  till  the  tenth. 
(Ohardon,  "Hist,  des  Sacrements,"  torn, 
r.  Mariage,  ch.  v.) 

It  would  be  waste  of  labour  to  accu- 
mulate quotations  from  the  Fathers  in 
proof  of  their  belief  that  divorce  was  un- 
lawful except  in  the  case  of  adultery. 
But  it  is  very  important  to  notice  that 
the  oldest  tradition,  both  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  Churches,  regarded  marriage  as 
absolutely  indissoluble.  Thus  the  "  Pastor 
Her  rase  "  (lib.  ii.  Mand.  iv.  c.  1),  Athen- 
agoras,  "  Legat."  33  (whose  testimony, 
however,  does  not  count  for  much,  since 
he  objected  to  second  marriages  alto- 
gether), and  Tertullian  ("De  Monog."  9), 
who  speaks  in  this  place,  as  the  context 
shows,  for  the  Catholic  Church,  teach  this 
clearly  and  unequivocally.  The  principle 
is  recognised  in  the  Apostolic  Canons 
(Canon  48,  al  47),  by  the  Council  of 
Elvira  held  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century.  Canon  9  (which,  however,  only 
speaks  of  a  woman  who  has  left  an  un- 
faithful husband),  and  by  other  early 
authorities. 

However,  the  Eastern  Christians, 
though  not,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  ear- 
liest times,  came  to  understand  our  Lord's 
words  as  permitting  a  second  marriage  in 
the  case  of  adultery,  which  was  supposed 
to  dissolve  the  marriage  bond  altogether. 
Such  is  the  view  and  practice  of  the 
Greeks  and  Oriental  sects  at  the  present 
day.  And  even  in  certain  parts  of  the 
West  similar  views  prevailed  for  a  time. 
Many  French  synods  {e.g.  those  of  Vannes 
in  465  and  of  Compiegne  in  756)  allow 
the  husband  of  a  wife  who  has  been  un- 
faithful to  marry  again  in  her  life-time. 
Nay,  the  latter  council  permitted  re- 
marriage in  other  cases :  if  a  woman  had 
a  husband  struck  by  leprosy  and  got 
leave  from  him  to  marry  another,  or  if  a 
man  had  given  his  wife  leave  to  go  into  a 
convent  (Canons  16  and  19).  Pope 
Gregory  II.,  in  a  letter  to  St.  Boniface 
in  the  year  726,  recommended  that  the 
husband  of  a  wife  seized  by  sickness 
which  prevented  cohabitation  should  not 
marry  again,  but  left  him  free  to  do  so" 
provided  he  maintained  his  first  wife. 
(Quoted  by  Hefele,  "  Beitrage,"  vol.  ii.  p. 
376.)  At  Florence  the  question  of  divorce 
was  discussed  between  the  Latins  and 
Greeks,  but  after  the  Decree  of  Union ; 
and  we  do  not  know  what  answers  the 
Greeks  gave  on  \he  matter.  The  Council 
of  Trent  confirmed  the  present  doctrine 
and  discipline  which  had  long  prevailed 


MARRIAGE 


049 


in  the  West  in  the  following  words 
"  If  any  man  say  that  the  Church  is  in 
error  because  it  has  taught  and  teaches, 
following  the  doctrine  ot  the  Gospels  and 
the  Apostles,  that  the  bond  of  marriage  can- 
not be  dissolved  because  of  the  adultery  of 
one  or  both  parties,  let  him  be  anathema." 
(Sess.  xxiv.  De  Matrim.  can.  5).  The 
studious  moderation  of  language  here  is 
obvious,  for  the  canon  does  not  directly 
require  any  doctrine  to  be  accepted  ;  it 
only  anathematises  those  who  condemn  a 
certain  doctrine,  and  implies  that  this 
doctrine  is  taught  by  the  Church  and 
derived  from  Christ.  It  was  the  Venetian 
ambassadors  who  prevailed  on  the  Fathers 
to  draw  up  the  canon  in  this  indirect 
form,  so  as  to  avoid  needless  oftence  to  the 
Greek  subjects  of  Venice  in  Cyprus, 
Candia,  Corfu,  Zante,  and  Cephalonia. 
The  canon  was  no  doubt  chiefly  meant  to 
stem  the  erroneous  views  of  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists  on  divorce. 

Our  Lord's  utterances  on  the  subject 
of  divorce  present  some  difficulty.  In 
Mark  x,  11,  12  ;  Luke  xvi.  18,  He  abso- 
lutely prohibits  divorce  :  "  Whosoever 
shall  put  away  his  wife  and  marry 
another,  com mitteth adultery  against  her; 
and  if  a  woman  put  away  her  husband 
and  be  married  to  another,  she  corauiitteth 
adultery."'  But  in  Matt.  xix.  9,  10,  there 
is  a  marked  difference  :  "  Whosoever  shall 
put  away  his  wife,  except  for  fornication, 
and  marry  another,  committeth  adultery; 
and  he  who  marrieth  a  woman  put  away, 
committeth  adultery."  So  also  Matt.  v. 
32.  Protestant  commentators  understand 
our  Lord  to  prohibit  divorce  except  in  the 
case  of  adultery,  when  the  innocent  party 
at  least  may  marry  again.  Maldonatus, 
who  acknowledges  the  difficulty  of  the 
text,  takes  the  sense  to  be — "  Whoever 
puts  away  his  wife  except  for  infidelity 
commits  adultery,  because  of  the  danger 
of  falling  into  licentiousness  to  which  he 
unjustly  exposes  her,  and  so  does  he  who 
in  any  case,  even  if  his  wife  has  proved 
unfaithful,  marries  another."  He  takes 
St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  as  explanatory 
of  the  obscure  passage  in  St.  Matthew. 
Subsequent  scholars,  we  venture  to  think, 
have  by  no  means  improved  on  Maldon- 
atus, Hug,  who  is  never  to  be  mentioned 
without  respect,  suggested  that  Christ 
first  (in  Matt.  v.  32)  forbade  divorce 
except  in  case  of  adultery  ;  then  Matt, 
xix.  9,  10,  forbade  it  altogether,  the 
words  "  except  for  fornication "  in  the 
latter  place  being  an  interpolation — a 
suggestion  perfectly  arbitary  and  I'ollowed 


650 


MARRIAGE 


MARRIAGE 


by  nobody.  A  well-known  Catholic  com- 
mentator, Scbegg,  interprets  the  words 
"  for  fornication  "  (eVl  iropvela)  to  mean, 
"  because  the  man  has  found  his  marriage 
to  be  null  because  of  some  impediment, 
and  so  no  marriage  at  all,  but  mere 
concubinage."  In  this  event  there  would 
be  no  occasion  for  or  possibility  of 
divorce.  On  Matt.  v.  32  (napeKTos  Xoyov 
TTopveias,  save  where  fornication  is  the 
motive  reason  of  the  divorce)  he  thinks 
Christ  took  for  granted  that  the  adulteress 
would  be  put  to  death  (according  to  Levit. 
XX.  10)  and  so  leave  her  husband  free,  an 
hypothesis  which  is  contradicted  by  the 
"pericope  of  the  adulteress."  (John  viii. 
3  scq.).  Bollinger's  elaborate  theory  given 
in  the  iippendix  to  his  "  First  Age  of  the 
Church  "  is  less  ingenious  than  that  of 
Hag,  but  scarcely  less  arbitrary.  He 
urges  that  nopveveiv  can  only  refer  to  "for- 
nication," and  cannot  be  used  of  sin  com- 
mitted after  marriage ;  but  rropveia  and 
TTopvfvetv  are  used  of  adultery  (1  Cor.  1  ; 
Amos  vii.  17;  Sir.  xxiii.  33),  so  that 
we  need  not  linger  over  Bollinger's  con- 
tention (which  has  no  historical  basis,  and 
is  objectionable  in  every  way)  that  ante- 
nuptial sin  on  the  woman's  part  annulled 
the  union  and  left  the  man  free,  if  he  was 
unaware  of  it  when  he  meant  to  contract 
marriage.^ 

IV.  The  Unity  of  Matriaffe.— The 
unlawfulness  of  polygamy  in  the  common 
sense  of  the  word  follows  from  the 
declaration  of  Christ  Himself,  and  there 
was  no  room  for  further  question  on  the 
matter.  With  regard  to  reiteration  of 
marriage,  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  vii.  39,  40) 
distinctly  asserts  that  a  woman  is  free  to 
maiTy  on  her  husband's  death.  Still  there 
is  a  natural  feeling  against  a  second  mar- 
riage, which  Virgil  expresses  in  the  beau- 
tifid  words  he  puts  into  Dido's  mouth — 

lUe  meos,  primus  qui  me  sibi  junxit,  amores 
Abstulit ;  ille  habeat  secum  servetque  sepulcro. 

And  this  feeling,  of  which  there  are 
many  traces  among  the  heathen,  was  yet 
more  natural  in  Christians,  who  might 
well  look  to  a  continuance  in  a  better 
world  of  the  love  which  had  begun  and 

1  DoUint^er  objects  to  the  instance  from 
1  Cor.  V.  1,  be'^ause  he  says  there  is  no  Greek 
■word  for  "incest,"  so  that  the  Apostle  was 
oblij^ed  to  use  nopveCa.  VV^hy  noppeia  rather 
than  noix^Cfi'^  As  to  Amos  vii.  17,  "Thy  wife 
will  commit  fornication  in  the  city,"  lie  urges 
that  this  defilement  was  not  to  be  voluntary  on 
the  woman's  part,  and  therefore  was  not  adul- 
ter}'. This  ariiument  proves  too  much.  If  it 
was  not  adultery  because  not  wilful,  no  more 
was  it "  fornication." 


grown  stronger  year  by  year  on  earth. 
Moreover,  the  Apostle  puts  those  who  had 
married  again  at  a  certain  disadvantage, 
for  he  excludes  them  (1  Tim.  iii.  2 ; 
Titus  i.  6)  from  the  episcopate  and 
priesthood.  And  the  Church,  though 
she  held  fast  the  lawfulness  of  second 
marriage  and  condemned  the  error  of  the 
Montanists  (see  Tertullian,  "  De  Monog." 
"  Exhortat.  Castitatis "),  and  of  some 
Novatians  (Concil.  Nic.  i.  Canon  8),  treated 
such  unions  with  a  certain  disfavour.  This 
aversion  was  much  more  strongly  mani- 
fested in  the  East  than  in  the  West. 

Athenagoras  ("Legat."  33)  says 
Christians  marry  not  at  all,  or  only 
once,  since  they  look  on  second  marriage 
as  a  "  specious  adultery "  {evTrpenrjs 
eart  fioixela).  Clement  of  Alexandria 
("Strom."  iii.  1,  p.  551,^  ed.  Potter) 
simply  repeats  the  apostolic  injunction, 
"  But  as  to  second  marriage,  if  thou  art 
on  fire,  says  the  Apostle,  marry."  (In 
iii.  12,  p.  651,  he  is  referring  to  simulta- 
neous bigamy.)  Early  in  the  fourth 
century  we  find  Eastern  councils  showing 
strong  disapproval  of  second  marriage. 
Thus  the  Council  of  Neocsesarea  (Canon  7) 
forbids  priests  to  take  part  in  the  feasts  of 
those  w^ho  married  a  second  time,  and 
assumes  that  the  latter  must  do  penance. 
The  Council  of  Ancyra  (Canon  19)  also 
takes  this  for  granted,  and  the  Council  of 
Laodicea  (Canon  1)  only  admits  those 
who  have  married  again  to  com- 
munion after  prayer  and  fasting.  Basil 
treats  this  branch  of  Church  discipline  in 
great  detail.  For  those  who  married  a 
second  time  he  prescribes,  following 
ancient  precedent,  a  penance  of  one  year, 
and  of  several  years  for  those  who  marry 
more  than  once.  (See  the  references  in 
Hefele,  "Concil."  i.  p.  331);  "Beitriige," 
i.  p.  50  seq.)  Basil's  rigorism  had  a 
decided  influence  on  the  later  Greek 
church.  A  Council  of  Constantinople,  in 
920,  discouraged  second,  imposed  penance 
for  third,  and  excommunication  for  fourth 
marriage.  Such  is  the  discipline  of  the 
modern  Greek  church.  At  a  second  mar- 
riage the  "  benediction  of  the  crowns  "  is 
omitted,  and  "  propitiatory  prayers  "  are 
said  ;  and  although  some  concessions  have 
been  made  with  regard  to  the  former 
ceremony,  Leo  AUatius  testifies  that  it 
was  still  omitted  in  some  parts  of  the 
Greek  church  as  late  as  the  seventeenth 
century.  .  A  fourth  marriage  is  stiU  abso- 
lutely prohibited.^ 

1    The    Oriental    sects    (Copts,    Jacobitea, 
Armenians)  are  even  stricter  than  the  Greek*. 


MARRIAGE 

The  Latiu  Church  has  always  been 
milder  and  moreTr6nsisfeut.  The  "  Pastor 
Hermse  "  (lib.  ii.  Mandat.  iv.  4)  emphati- 
cally maintains  that  there  is  no  sin  in 
second  marriage.  St.  Ambrose  ("De 
Viduis,"  c.  11)  contents  himself  with  say- 
ing-, "  We  do  not  prohibit  second  mar- 
riages, but  we  do  not  approve  marriages 
frequently  reiterated."  Jerome's  words 
are,  "I  do  not  condemn  tliose  who  marry 
twice,  three  times,  nay,  if  such  a  thing 
can  be  said,  eight  times  {non  datjino 
digamos,  imo  et  tngamos,  et,  si  did  potest, 
octogamos)"  but  he  shows  his  dislike  for 
repeated  marriage  (Ep.  Ixvii.  "  Apol.  pro 
libris  adv.  Jovin.").  Gregory  III.  advises 
Boniface,  the  Apostle  of  Germany,  to 
prevent,  if  he  can,  people  marrying  more 
than  twice,  but  he  does  not  call  such 
unions  sinful.  Nor  did  the  Latin  Church 
impose  any  penance  for  reiterated  mar- 
riage. We  do,  indeed,  find  penance  im- 
posed on  those  who  married  again  in  the 
penitential  books  of  Theodore,  who  be- 
came archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  668. 
But  Theodore's  view  came  from  his  Greek 
nationality  ;  and  if  Herardus,  archbishop 
of  Tours,  speaks  of  third  marriage,  kc, 
as  "  adultery,"  this  is  probably  to  be  ex- 
plained by  the  Greek  influence  which  had 
spread  from  England  to  France.  Any- 
how, this  is  the  earliest  trace  of  such 
rigorism  in  the  West. 

The  Latin  Church,  however,  did  ex- 
hibit one  definite  mark  of  disfavour  for 
reiterated  marriage.  The  "Corpus  Juris" 
contains  two  decretals  of  Alexander  III. 
and  Urban  III.,  forbidding  priests  to  give 
the  nuptial  benediction  in  such  cases. 
Durandus  (died  1296)  speaks  of  the  cus- 
tom in  his  time  as  difl'erent  in  different 
places.  The  ''Rituale  Roman um "  of 
Paul  V.  (1605-1621)  forbids  the  nuptial 
benediction,  only  tolerating  the  custom 
of  giving  it,  when  it  already  existed,  if  it 
was  the  man  only  who  was  being  married 
again.  The  present  Rubric  permits  the 
nuptial  benediction  except  when  the 
woman  has  been  married  before. 

V.  Ceremonies  of  Marriage. — From 
the  earliest  times  and  in  all  times  Chris- 
tians have  been  wont  to  celebrate  their 
marriages  in  church,  and  to  have  them 
blessed  by  the  priest ;  nor  can  they  cele- 
brate them  otherwise  without  sin,  except 
in  case  of  necessity.  "It  is  fitting," 
Ignatius  writes  ("Ad  Polycarp."5),  "for 
men  and  women  who  marry  to  form  this 

The  Neshorians,  however,  are,  as  mig^ht  have 
been  expected,  free  from  any  spirit  of  slrictness 
on  this  point.   Denzinger,  Rit.  Orient,  i.  p.  180. 


MARRIAGE 


651 


union  with  the  approval  of  the  bishop, 
that  their  union  mav  be  according  ta 
God."  "  What  words  can  suffice,"  Ter- 
tuUian  says  ("Ad  Uxor."  ii.9),  "  to  tell  the 
happiness  of  that  marriage  which  the 
Church  unites,  the  oblation  confirms,  and 
the  blessing  seals,  the  angels  announce, 
the  Father  acknowledges  !  " 

In  the  form  approved  for  the  U.  S.  the 
priest  in  sui-plice  and  white  stole  questions 
the  man  and  woman  as  to  their  consent. 
Then  each  party  expresses  this  consent  at 
length  and  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  with 
joined  hands: — "I,  N.  N.,  take  thee, 
IST.  N.,  for  my  lawful  wife  (husband),  to 
have  and  to  hold  from  this  day  forward, 
for  better  for  worse,  for  richer  for  poor- 
er, in  sickness  and  in  health,  till  death  do 
us  part."  Then  the  priest  says  in  Latin : 
"  I  join  you  in  marriage  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Amen."  Then  the  mar- 
riage-ring is  blessed,  and  the  bride- 
groom, taking  it  from  the  priest,  puts 
it  on  the  ring-finger  of  the  bride,  say- 
ing :  "  With  this  ring  I  thee  wed,  and 
I  plight  unto  thee  my  truth."  Then 
the  priest  says  in  Latin :  "In  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Amen."  Then  come  a 
few  versicles  and  responses,  and  he  con- 
cludes with  a  prayer  begging  God  to 
bless  and  strengthen  the  union. 

This  is  the  form  used  even  when  there 
is  no  Nuptial  Mass  celebrated.  It  is  the 
earnest  desire  of  the  Church  that  all  Ca- 
tholics should  be  married  in  the  morn- 
ing with  a  Mass.  In  her  liturgy  she 
has  a  special  Mass  for  bridegroom  and 
bride.  She  shows  the  importance  of 
this  when  she,  as  it  were,  breaks  through 
her  ordinary  customs  by  allowing  the 
married  couple  to  come  into  the  sanc- 
tuary, and  by  interrupting  the  canon  of 
the  Mass  and  inserting  special  prayers 
for  the  bridegroom  and  bride. 

Many  of  these  ceremonies  belonged 
originally  to  the  betrothal.  [See  Es- 
pousals.] The  ring,  ov  annvltis  pronubuSy 
was  used  to  plight  troth  before  Christian 
time  by  the  Romans.  So  again,  espousing 
with  gold  and  silver,  called  arrh<s,  cer- 
tainly existed  among  the  Franks  previous 
to  their  embracing  Christianity,  also  among 
the  Jews,  whence  it  may  have  passed  into 
the  Greek  ritual.  The  joining  of  hands 
(once  accompanied  by  a  kiss)  is  alluded 
to  by  Tertullian  ("  De  Virg.  Veland."  11). 
St.  Isidore  of  Seville,  quoted  by  Chardon, 
says  the  ring  was  put  on  the  fom-th  finger 
of  the  left  hand,  because  it  contains  a 


552 


MARRIAGE 


vein  immediately  connected  -witli  the 
heart.  This  sage  reason  was  the  current 
one  in  the  middle  ages. 

The  words  of  the  priest,  "  Ego 
jungo  "  ("I  join  you  into  marriage'), 
are  (^f  comparatively  recent  origin.  ''Any- 
one," says  Chardon  (torn.  v.  "  Mariage/' 
ch.  2),  "  may  convince  himself  of  this  by 
looking  through  the  extracts  from  ancient 
Sacramentaries  and  Missals  published  by 
Father  Martene."  They  are  omitted,  the 
same  author  continues,  m  a  Pontifical  of 
Sens  (only)  300  years  old,  and  they  are 
wanting  in  the  ''  Ordo  ad  faciendum 
sponsalia"  reprinted  by  Mr.  Maskell  from 
a  Sarum  **Manuale"  of  1543.  On  the 
Otiier  hand,  two  striking  ceremonies  men- 
tioned by  Nicolas  I.  in  his  answer  to  the 
Bulgarians,  and  both  older  than  Chris- 
tianity itself,  are  now  unknown  among  us. 
These  are  the  solemn  veiling  of  the  bride 
and  the  wearing  of  crowns  by  the  married 
couple.  The  Greeks  have  kept  this  latter 
rite:  indeed,  "crowning"  among  them  is  a 
common  word  for  the  nuptial  benediction. 
The  marriage  service  according  to  the  old 
English  use  of  Sarum  is  substantially  the 
same  as  the  modern  Roman  one,  but  more 
elaborate.  The  couple  stood  at  the 
church  door  till  the  man  had  placed  the 
ring  on  the  woman's  hand  (the  right 
hand,  by  the  way),  and  certain  prayers 
had  been  said  over  them.  Additional 
prayers  were  said  over  them  at  the  altar 
steps  :  then,  before  Mass  began,  they  were 
placed  in  the  presbytery — "  that  is  to  say, 
between  the  choir  and  the  altar  "  (rubric 
of  Sarum  Manual).  The  rubric  of  the 
Hereford  Missal  directs  them  to  hold 
lights  in  their  hands.  The  Nuptial  Mass 
was  "of  the  Trinity,"  with  prayei-s  for 
the  occasion.  After  the  Sanctus,  four 
clerics  in  sui-plices  held  a  veil  {pallium) 
over  them  while  they  lay  prostrate,  and 
the  special  benedicti-^n  was  given  after 
the  Fraction  of  the  Host.  At  the  "  Agnus 
Dei,"  the  pnllium  was  removed,  both  rose, 
the  bridegroom  received  the  pax  from  the 
priest  and  kissed  his  wife.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  Sarum  Manual  which 
answers  to  our  nuptial  prayer  before  the 
**  Ite  Mi.'sa  est,"  though  the  Hereford 
Missal  gives  a  special  form  of  benedic- 
tion with  the  chalice.  After  Mass,  bread 
and  wine,  or  some  other  liquor,  were 
blessed  and  tasted  by  the  newly-married 
couple.  At  night  the  priest  blessed  the 
nuptial  couch. 

It  must  not  be  thougrht  that  these  rites, 
even  so  far  as  they  diHer  from  those  now 
in    use,    were    in    any    way    peculiarly 


MARTYR 

English.  They  occur  almost  exactly  in 
the  same  order  and  form  in  a  Ritual  of 
Rennes  and  a  Pontifical  from  the  monas- 
tery of  Leri,  from  which  Chardon  {loc. 
cit. )  gives  copious  extracts.  But  we  can 
find  no  parallel  for  the  placing  of  the  ring 
on  the  bride's  right  hand. 

In  the  Greek  church  the  marriage 
service  is  known  as  aKokovOia  tov  o-re^ai^o)- 
fiuTos,  the  office  of  crowning.  After  the 
espousals,  in  which  two  rings,  one  of  gold 
and  another  of  silver,  are  placed  on  the 
altar  and  given  by  the  priest  to  bride- 
groom and  bride  respectively,  the  persons 
to  be  married  enter  the  church,  preceded 
by  the  priest  with  the  incense.  After 
Psalm  xxxi.  and  various  prayers  the  priest 
puts  a  crown  on  the  head  of  each  with 
the  words,  "The  servant  of  God  N. 
crowns  the  servant  of  God  N.  in  the 
name,"  &c.  There  is  no  mention  of  Nup- 
tial Mass  in  the  modern  Greek  Eucho- 
logies,  and  Greeks  are  usually  married 
in  the  evening.  From  more  ancient  MSS., 
however,  Goar  found  that  the  bridegroom 
and  bride  used  to  receive  Communion 
from  a  particle  of  a  Host  previously  con- 
secrated and  placed  in  a  chalice  with 
ordinary  wine.  The  offices  of  marriage 
araon^  the  other  Orientals  are  given  by 
Denzinger. 

X^ARTVR  (fj-dprvs,  then  fidprvpf 
which  was  originally  the  ^olic  form). 
A  witness  for  Christ.  In  early  times 
this  title  was  given  generally  to  those  who 
were  distinguished  witnesses  for  Christ*)^ 
then  to  those  who  sufl'ered  for  Him;^ 
lastly,  after  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, the  title  was  restricted  to  those  who 
actually  died  for  Him.  The  ,very  first 
records  of  the  Church  which  we  possess 
tell  us  of  the  honours  done  to  the  martyrs. 
It  was  the  martyrs  who,  first  of  all,  were 
regarded  as  saints ;  the  relics  of  the 
martyrs  which  were  first  revered  ;  to  the 
martyrs    that    the    first    churches  were 

i  MapTv?  and  the  cognate  words  begin  to 
assume  their  later  technical  sense  in  Acts  xxii. ; 
Apoc.  ii.  13.  This  technical  sense  is  probably 
intended  in  Clem.  Rom.  1,Ad.  Cor.  5  ;  certainly 
in  Ignat.  Ad  Ephcs.  1  ;  Mart.  Polvc.  19;  Me- 
lito  (apiid  Eu?eb.  //.  E.  iv.  26)  ;  Dionys.  Co- 
rinth, {ib.  ii.  25)  ;  Hegesippus  {ib.  ii.  23,  iv.  22); 
Epist.  Gall.  (lb.  v.  1.  2);  Anon.  Adv.  Cataph. 
(ib.  v.  16)  ;  Iren.  i.  28,  1,  &c. ;  though  at  the 
same  time  the  words  were  also  used  of  testi- 
mony which  was  not  sealed  by  death.  The 
epistle  of  the  Martyrs  of  Vienne  and  Lyons 
just  quotfd  distinguishes  between  confessors 
(o/xoAovoi)  and  martyrs,  but  in  Clement  Alex. 
(Strom,  iv.  9,  p.  ^96)  and  even  in  Cyprian  the 
distinction  is  not  observed.  The  Decian  perse- 
cution tended  to  fix  it. 


MARTYROLOGY 

dedicated.  The  name  "martyrium" 
{fxapTvpiov),  which  at  first  meant  the 
church  built  over  a  martyr's  remains,  was 
given  to  churches  generally,  even  if  dedi- 
cated to  saints  who  were  not  martyred, 
though  this  usage  was  partly  justified 
by  the  fact  that  a  church  was  not  conse- 
crated till  the  relics  of  some  martyr  had 
been  placed  in  it. 

Benedict  XIV.,  in  his  work  on 
"  Canonisation"  (lib.  iii.  cap.  11  seq.), 
gives  the  modern  law  of  the  Church  on 
the  recognition  of  martyrdom  with  great 
fulness.  He  defines  martyrdom  as  the 
"voluntary  endurance  of  death  for  the 
faith  or  some  other  act  of  virtue  relating 
to  God."  A  martyr,  he  says,  may  die 
not  only  for  the  faith  directly,  but  also  to 
preserve  some  \irtue — e.ff.  justice,  obe- 
dience, or  the  like,  enjoined  or  counselled 
by  the  faith.  He  mentions  the  dispute 
among  theologians  whether  a  person  who 
died  for  confessing  the  Immaculate  Con- 
■  ception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  in 
his  time  had  not  been  defined,  would  be 
a  martyr.  He  gives  no  decided  opinion 
on  the  point,  but  says  that  "  in  other 
cases  the  safe  rule  is  that  one  who  dies 
for  a  question  not  yet  defined  by  the 
Church  dies  in  a  cause  insufficient  for 
.  martyrdom."  Further,  he  explains  that 
to  be  a  martyr  a  man  must  actually  die 
of  his  sufferings  or  else  have  endured 
pains  which  would  have  been  his  death 
but  lor  miraculous  intervention. 

I^ARTYROILOGV.  A  list  of  martyrs 
and  other  saints,  and  the  mysteries  com- 
memorated on  each  day  of  the  year,  with 
brief  notices  of  the  life  and  death  of  the 
former.  It  is  these  brief  notices  which  dis- 
tinguish a  Martyrology  from  a  mere  calen- 
dar. It  is  read  in  monastic  orders  at  Prime 
after  the  prayer  "  Deus,  qui  ad  principium." 
It  is  followed  by  the  versicle  "  Precious  in 
the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  his 
paints,"  and  by  a  petition  for  the  inter- 
cession of  the  heavenly  court ;  and  these 
words  are  retained  even  in  the  sectilar 
office  when  the  Martyrology  is  not  actually 
recited.  Mr.  Maskell  has  collected  many 
proofs  that  in  England  the  Martyrology 
used  to  be  said  in  the  monastic  chapter, 
not,  like  the  office,  in  the  choir.  This 
custom,  however,  was  in  no  way  peculiar 
to  England,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
notes  of  Meratus  on  the  subject  (Pars.  II. 
sect.  V.  cap.  xxi.).  After  Prime,  or  some- 
times after  Tierce,  the  monks  adjourned  to 
the  chapter,  heard  the  Martyrology  and 
s^id  the  prayers  which  now  form  part  of 
Prime,   "  DeiLS,   in   adjutorium  meimi "; 


MARY 


553 


Dignare,  Domine,  die  ista,"  &c.,  before 
setting  out  to  their  daily  labour. 

Gregory  the  Great  speaks  of  a  Martyr- 
ology used  by  the  Roman  Church  in  his 
day,  but  we  do  not  know  for  certain 
what  it  was.  A  Martyrology  attributed 
to  Jerome  is  printed,  e.g.,  in  Vallarsi's 
edition  of  his  works.  It  has  undergone 
many  revisions  and  later  editions.  It  is 
quite  possible  that  Jerome  may  have  col- 
lected a  Martyrology  from  the  various 
calendars  of  the  Church,  and  that  the 
Martyrology  which  goes  by  his  name,  as 
we  have  it,  is  the  corruption  of  a  book 
used  in  St.  Gregory's  time  at  Rome.  The 
lesser  Roman  Martyrology  was  found  at 
Ravenna  by  Ado,  archbishop  of  Menne, 
about  850.  A  third  Martyrology  is  attri- 
buted (erroneously,  Hefele  says)  to  Bede, 
and  the  foundation  of  the  work  may 
probably  come  from  him.  AH  Western 
Martyrologies  are  based  on  these  three. 
We  have  Martyrologies  from  Flortis,  Ado, 
Ilsuard,  in  France ;  from  Rabauus  and 
Notker  of  St.  Gall;  in  Germany. 

The  Roman  Martyrology  mentioned, 
as  we  have  seen,  by  Gregory  the  Great 
is  mentioned  again  at  the  English  Coun- 
cil of  Cloveshoo.  Such  a  work  is  of  course 
subject  to  constant  alterations  from  the 
addition  of  new  feasts,  &c.  A  revision 
of  the  Roman  Martyrology  was  made  by 
Baronius  and  other  scholars  in  1584.  It 
was  revised  again  imder  Urban  VIII. 
(See  Laemmer,  "  De  Mart.  Rom."  Ratis- 
bon£e,'  1878.) 

XVIAR-S-  (Mapta>,2  Dnp).    The  object 

^  This  scholar  classifies  Martyrologies  thus: 
(1)  that  attributed  to  Jerome;  (2)  Murtyr. 
Rom.  Paw.  published  by  Kosweyd  i.:  1618,  and 
written  in  Rome  about  740 ;  (S)  a  j^cnuine 
Martyrology  of  Bede,  with  interpolations  from 
Florus  of  Lyons  ;  (4)  that  of  Usuard,  dedicated 
to  Charles  the  Bald,  used  from  the  ninth  cen- 
tur}',  not  only  in  Benedictine  houses,  but 
throughout  ihe  West.  In  the  fifteenth  century 
no  other  was  in  use  except  in  St.  Peter's,  and 
even  there  the  Murtyrology  was  but  a  transla- 
tion of  Usuard. 

2  The  nominative  and  vocative  of  Mary, 
the  Mother  of  our  Lord,  is  alwavs  Mapt^/* 
(Matt.  xiii.  55  ;  Luc.  i.  27,  30,  34,  38,  39,  46, 
56  ;  ii.  34  ;  Acts  i.  14),  the  only  exception 
beint,^  i.  19,  where  the  reading  is  doubtful. 
Sometimes  the  genitive  is  Mapia?  ;  sometimes  it 
is  indeclinable,  as  in  Luc.  ii.  5,  16.  The  word 
Mnpta'tt,  or  Mary,  is  of  course  identical  with 
Miriam,  the  nnme  of  the  sister  of  Moses.  The 
meanings,  "  bitterness"  (from  Heb.'^);3),"lady  " 

(from  Chaldeeand  Syriac,  t5^p»  (;^o  the  same 
word  which  is  familiar  to  all  in  Maranaiha^ 
"  our  Lord  cometh,"  1  Cor.  xvi  22),  must  cer- 
tainly be  ahandoned  on  philological  grounds. 
There  can  scarcely  be  a  doubt  that  the  derivA- 


664 


MARY 


MARY 


of  this  article  is  to  sum  up  and  justify 
the  teaching-  and  practice  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  her  devotion  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  Catholics  do  not  stand  alone  m 
this  devotion,  for  the  schismatic  Greeks, 
and  most  of  the  ancient  Oriental  sects 
agree  with  Catholics  in  magnifying 
Mary's  dignity  and  seeking  her  mt«r- 
cession.  Protestants,  on  the  other  hand, 
are  all  but  unanimous  in  condemning  the 
Church's  devotion,  and  have  often  de- 
nounced it  as  idolatrous.  Some  points 
which  concern  us  here  will  be  passed 
lightly  over,  because  we  have  considered 
them  elsewhere.  The  Immaculate  Con- 
ception is  discussed  in  a  special  article. 
We  have  endeavoured  to  show  (see 
Beatific  Vision)  that  Mary  and  the 
other  saints  already  see  God  face  to  face ; 
we  assume  further  that  she  and  they  are 
able  to  hear  our  prayers,  reserving  the 
treatment  of  that  question  to  the  article 
Saints. 

I.  Mary  in  Scripture. — It  may  be 
fairly  alleged  that  the  Bible  begins  with 
Mary.  AVhen  God  cursed  the  serpent,  He 
said,  "  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee 
and  the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed 
and  her  seed."  Of  course  those  who 
think  the  serpent  was  only  a  serpent  will 
see  no  prophecy  or  anything  more  than  a 
prediction  of  the  strife  in  Eastern  lands 
between  man  and  the  serpent,  his  deadly 
and  insidious  foe,  the  serpent  stealthily 
aiming  at  the  man's  heel,  the  man  aiming 
at  the  serpent's  head.  But  Protestants 
who  believe,  as  the  Apocalypse  implies, 
that  the  serpent  was  the  de\il,  and  that 
our  Lord  is  the  promised  "  seed  of  the 
woman  "  who  was  to  crush  the  serpent's 
head,  are  logically  bound  to  understand 
the  woman  who  is  to  be  at  enmity  with 
the  serpent  as  Mary.  The  woman  and 
her  seed  are  put  close  together — the 
"  enmity  "  of  the  one  is  compared  with 

tion  generally  accepted  among  scholars  from 
n*l)0'  "  ^^  rebel,"  is  correct ;  so  that  "  Mary," 
or  "  Miriam  "  =  "  rebellion."  The  mediasval 
notion  that  the  word  "Mary"  was  connected 
with  the  Latin  "  mare  "  is  curious.  The  last 
syllable  "yam,"  Qt,  does  mean  the  sea.     But 

how  St.  Bernard  came  to  think  "Mary  "  meant 
"star  of  the  sea,"  we  cannot  say  (q^  lifi^D' 

"lit^ht  of  the  sea"  ?).  No  part  of  the  word 
lesembles  any  word  for  "star"  in  Hebrew, 
Syriac,  Chaldet.  or,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  in 
any  language.  It  might  easily  (though,  of 
course,  quite  wrongly)  be  taken  to  mean  "  Lord 
of  the  sea,"  and  perhaps  this  led  to  the  notion 
that  it  meant  "star,"  unless  our  suggestion  in 
brackets  be  right. 


that  of  the  other,  and  to  what  woman  is 
all  this  applicable  except  to  Mary  ?  She 
was  the  virgin  *  (this  is  not  the  place  to 
discuss  the  meaning  of  the  word  in  the 
original)  who  was  to  bear  a  child,  and 
that  child  was  to  be  called  Emmanuel, 
"God  with  us." 

This  prediction  was  fulfilled,  and 
Mary  received  the  highest  dignity  pos- 
sible to  a  mere  creature.  She  was  not 
indeed  the  mother  of  the  Godhead,  but 
she  was  the  mother  of  God,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  Christ  her  Son  was 
God  and  man  in  one  Person.  True,  her 
Son  did  not  take  his  divine  nature  from 
her,  any  more  than  a  son  who  is  mere 
man  receives  his  soul  from  his  mother. 
The  soul  is  infused  by  God,  but  as  body 
and  soul  are  united  in  one  human  person, 
we  reasonably  speak  of  a  woman  as  the 
mother  of  her  son,  not  merely  as  the 
mother  of  a  human  body.  And  granting 
this,  it  is  strange  that  sincere  Christians 
should  stumble  on  the  language  in  which 
the  Church  speaks  of  Mary.  She  is 
exalted  above  the  angels,  for  surely  God's 
mother  is  nearer  to  Him  than  the  angels 
who  stand  before  the  throne.  From  her 
Christ  took  the  blood  He  was  to  shed 
for  her  and  for  us  all.  Moreover,  whereas 
the  two  great  dignities  of  virginity  and 
maternity  are,  according  to  God's  ordinary 
law,  incompatible,  in  Mary's  case  they 
were  imited.  Joseph  "  took  unto  him  his 
wife,  and  he  knew  her  not  until  she 
brought  forth  her  first-born  son :  and  he 
called  his  name  Jesus  "  (Matt.  i.  24,  25). 
We  do  not  know  where  to  find  more 
beautiful  or  more  impassioned  language 
used  by  the  Church  about  Mary  than  the 
words  which  occur  in  the  "  Common  "  of 
the  Breviary  office  : — "  Holy  and  stainless 
virginity,  with  what  praise  to  extol  thee 
I  do  not  know ;  He  whom  the  heavens 
cannot  contain  was  contained  in  thy 
bosom.  Blessed  art  thou  amongst 
women,  and  blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy 
womb."  Yet  these  words,  strong  as  they 
are,  simply  state  a  primary  tenet  of  the 
Christian  faith.  Her  virginity,  her 
divine  maternity,  h.^r  position  as  the  sole 
parent  of  Him  who  had  no  man  for  his 

1  Too  much  is  made  by  some  Catholic 
writers  of  the  article  in  the  Hebrew  of  Is.  vii.  14, 
"Behold  the  virgin  with  child  and  bringing 
forth  a  son."  Probably  "  the  virgin  "  means 
the  virgin  standing  before  the  prophet  in  vision. 
Besides",  the  definite  article  is  used  in  Hebrew 
where  we  should  not  employ  it  in  English.  See, 
e.g.  Mum.  xi.  '27,  lit.  "  the  lad  ran  and  told 
Moses,"  though  this  is  the  first  mention  of  any 
lad  (Ewald,  Gram.  §  277  a). 


MARY 

father — tliese  ai*e  the  deeply-laid  foun- 
dations of  Mary's  glory. 

But  Mary  was  not  merely  the  passive 
instrument  of  the  Incarnation.  By  the 
free  use  of  her  own  will  she  co-operated 
in  our  salvation,  and  was  associated  with 
her  divine  Son.  It  depended  on  her 
will  whether  or  no  the  divine  economy 
by  which  the  Incarnation  and  our  re- 
demption were  accomplished  was  to  he 
frustrated,  as  the  first  dispensation  had 
been  by  the  disobedience  of  Adam  and 
Eve.  The  account  in  Luc.  i.  26-38,  and 
especially  Mary's  question,  "  How  will 
this  be,  seeing  that  I  know  not  man  ?  " 
are  proof  of  the  deliberate  way  in  which 
Mary  chose  her  part,  and  the  freedom  of 
the  consent  is  expressed  in  her  words, 
"  Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  be 
it  unto  me  according  to  thy  word."  And 
so  her  cousin,  St.  Elizabeth,  acknow- 
ledges not  only  Mary's  dignity  as  the 
Mother  of  the  Messias,  "  Whence  is  this 
unto  me  that  the  mother  of  my  Lord 
should  come  unto  me  ?  "  but  also  Mary's 
personal  holiness  and  share  in  the  work 
of  our  salvation.  "  Blessed  is  she  who 
believed,  because  "  (or  perhaps  "  that  ") 
"  there  will  be  an  accomplishment  of  the 
things  spoken  to  her  by  the  Lord" 
(Luc.  i.  43-45). 

Mary  maintains  and  exercises  her 
rights  and  privileges  as  the  mother  of 
Christ  throughout  the  Gospel  history.  It 
is  she  who  bore  the  Light  of  light  into 
the  world  in  the  stable  at  Bethlehem. 
She  nourished  at  her  breast  and  with  a 
mother's  love  that  human  life  which  her 
divine  Son  had  condescended  to  take  from 
her.  He  Himself  has  told  us  how  grate- 
ful He  is,  how  bountiful  his  reward  for 
a  cup  of  water  given  in  his  name.  It 
was  Mary's  privilege  to  minister  to  Him 
directly,  and,  first  by  herself,  then  in  union 
with  St.  Joseph,  actually  to  support 
Christ's  life  during  his  early  years.  To 
her  and  to  St.  Joseph  He,  the  Lord  of 
all,  "was  subject"  (Luc.  ii.  51).  Not  less 
but  more  "  subject "  than  ordinary  sons, 
because  He  was  "  made  under  the  law," 
and  came  to  give  a  perfect  example  of 
the  way  that  the  law  which  commands 
filial  obedience  should  be  kept.  In  her 
company  Christ  spent  thirty  out  of  the 
three  and  thirty  years  of  his  earthly 
sojourn.  At  her  request  He  made  the 
water  wine,  and  so  inaugurated  his  public 
ministry  and  manifested  his  glory.  When 
nearly  all  the  Apostles  had  fled  she  stood 
at  the  foot  of  his  cross,  siifiering  surely 
as  no   other  inother  ever   suffered,   and 


MARY 


556 


drinking,  as  no  other  creature  ever  drank, 
the  chalice  of  Christ's  Passion. 

There  is  no  hint  in  Scripture  of  any 
sin  or  imperfection  on  Mary's  part.  No 
doubt  our  Lord,  when  she  told  Him  at 
the  wedding  that  there  was  no  wine, 
answered,  "  Woman,  what  is  there  to  me 
and  to  thee  :  mine  hour  is  not  yet  come  ?  " 
(the  translation  is  that  of  Dr.  Westcott). 
The  passage  is  confessedly  a  hard  one. 
Possibly  Christ  may  have  meant  that 
there  was  nothing  in  common  between 
his  divine  and  her  human  nature.  She 
could  not  fathom  the  oounpels  of  his 
omniscience.  The  hour  of  full  triumph 
which  she  naturally  and  innocently  de- 
sired had  not  come  yet,  was  not  to  come 
till  that  hour  which  St.  John  again  and 
agpin  calls  Christ's  own  (John  vii.  .'^0, 
viii.  20,  xiii.  1),  the  hour  of  his  weak- 
ness, his  passion,  and  his  death. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  two  things  are 
certain.  First,  in  the  word  woman  (we 
quote  the  same  distinguished  Protestant 
scholar),  there  "  is  not  the  least  tinge  of 
reproof  or  severity.  The  address  is  that 
of  courteous  respect,  even  of  tenderness." 
Next,  Mary  cannot  possibly  have  been 
guilty  of  fault  in  asking,  or  rather  suggest- 
ing, the  very  thing  that  Christ  did.  Nor 
does  the  New  Testament  ever  imply  that 
Mary  ceased  to  be  a  virgin  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  confirms,  though  it  nowhere 
states,  the  Catholic  dogma  of  her  per- 
petual virginity.  We  read  of  our  Lord's 
brethren,  but  the  same  word  is  used  in 
Genesis  xiii.  8,  xxix.  15,  for  the  relation- 
ship between  Abraham  and  Lot,  Laban 
and  Jacob,  and  yet  we  know  that  they 
were  uncles  and  nephews,  not  brothers  in 
the  strict  sense.  Again,  those  who  press 
the  word  "  brother  "  against  the  virginity 
of  Mary,  must  be  reminded  that  St. 
Joseph  is  called  the  "  Father  "  of  Jesus, 
and  that  not  only  by  those  who  knew  no 
better,  but  by  the  Blessed  Virgin  herself, 
who  knew  all  (Luc.  ii.  48).  The  evan- 
gelist himself  calls  Joseph  the  Father  of 
Jesus  (Luc.  ii.  33),  and  Mary  and  Joseph 
(Luc.  ii.  41,  43)  his  "  parents,"  and  it  is 
interesting  and  most  instructive  to  note 
that  later  scribes  have  taken  offence  and 
altered  the  reading  in  each  of  the  three 
cases.  Another  objection  to  the  Catholic 
doctrine  is  often  drawn  from  the  words 
of  St.  Matthew  i.  25 :  Joseph  "  knew 
not "  his  wife  "  till  she  brought  forth  a 
son  "(the  word  first-born  is  wanting  in 
the  best  MSS.) ;  and  of  St.  Luke  ii.  7 :: 
Mary  brought  forth  "  her  first-born 
son."    But  St.  Matthew's  evident  purpoe© 


556 


MARY 


MARY 


is  to  accentuate  the  fact  that  Mary  was 
a  virgin  at  Christ's  birth  ;  he  asserts  and 
implies  nothing  as  to  what  happened 
afterwards.  In  St.  Luke  the  prominent 
idea  is  the  consecration  of  the  first  male 
child,  and  this  appears  from  v.  23  of  the 
same  chapter,  "  As  it  has  been  written  in 
the  law  of  the  Lord,  every  male  opening 
the  womb  shall  be  called  holy  to  the 
Lord.''  With  him  the  first- begotten  is 
equivalent  to  the  "male  opening  the 
womb,"^  and  has  nothing  to  do  with 
subsequent  children.  St.  John  furnishes 
positive  evidence,  urged,  Bishop  Light- 
foot  writes,  "  with  fatal  efiect,"  against 
the  view  that  Mary  had  other  children 
than  Jesus.  Our  Lord  on  the  cross  (John 
xix.  26,  27)  commended  his  mother  and 
St.  John  to  each  other's  care.  Why,  if 
she  liad  children  of  her  own?  Lven 
Meyer  admits  that  it  wUl  not  suffice  to 
say  that  Christ's  "  brethren "  did  not 
believe  in  Him  (John  vii.  5),  for  "the 
speedy  overcoming  of  this  unbelief  (Acts 
i.  14)  could  scarcely  be  concealed  from  " 
Christ.  And  indeed  it  is  inconceivable 
that  Christ  should  appear  to  one  of  Mary's 
supposed  sons,  that  this  son  should  be 
specially  entrusted  with  the  administration 
of  the  Mother  Church  of  Jerusalem,  that 
Mary  herself  should  join  in  worship  with 
her  '•  sons  "  (Acts  i.  14),  and  yet  all  the 
time  live  in  the  house  and  under  the  care 
of  a  comparative  stranger.  We  may  add 
that  this  interpretation  of  Scripture  has 
approved  itself,  not  only  to  Catholics  and 
learned  High  Churchmen  like  Pearson 
and  Mill,  but  also  to  recent  Protestant 
scholars  who  cannot  be  suspected  of  undue 
bias  in  the  matter — viz.  to  Westcott  (see 
the  Commentary  on  John,  ad  vii.  3,  xix. 
26),  and  to  Lightfoot  (on  Galatians,  p. 
263).' 

1  Not,  of  course,  in  so  strict  a  sense  as  to 
exclude  thie  integritas  carnis  post  partum. 

2  It  would  require  a  treatise  to  give  the 
reasons  alleged  for  the  diiferent  views  dn  the 
*'  brethren  of  the  Lord,"  because  these  reasons 
depend  on  a  number  of  details,  most  of  which 
must  be  given  at  length  or  not  at  all.  Here 
we  can  do  little  more  than  state  the  views 
themselves,  with  the  history  of  their  re- 
ception or  rejection.  (1)  Helvidius,  who 
lived  at  Rome,  maintained,  about  38(>,  that 
these  "  brethren  "  were  the  sons  of  Joseph  and 
Mary.  This  theory  was  supported  about  the 
same  time  by  Bonosus,  bishop  of  Sardica,  and 
apparently  also  by  Jovinian,  a  monk  probably 
of  Milan.'  It  was  condemned  soon  aft^r  it  ap- 
peared, in  Synods  at  Rome  and  Capua.  It  has 
no  support  \n  antiquity,  except  perhaps  from 
Tertullian,  and  is  regarded  by  all  Catholic 
writers  as  heretical.  Thus  Petavius  calls  it 
"  detestable  to  Ciiristian  ears,  and  sacrilegious 


Mary,  then,  was  the  Virgin  Mother  of 
God.  She  remained  in  perpetual  virginity ; 

according  to  the  judgment  of  the  ancient 
Fathers  ;  "  nay,  heretical,  since  even  sr  iT^ral 
councils  call  Mary  iei  trdpeevos  (De  IncamaL 
xiv.  3).  It  has,  however,  been  adopted  by  very 
many  Protestants.  (2)  "Nearly  j.ll  ihe 
Greeks,"  according  to  Maldonatus,  besides 
Hilary  and  Ambrose,  held  that  the  "brethren  '* 
were  sons  of  Joseph  by  a  former  marri.ige.  and 
consequently  that  "James,  the  i)iother  of  the 
Lord,"  was  a  different  person  from  James,  the 
son  of  Alphfeus,  one  of  the  twelve.  In  reality,  as 
Lightfoot  shows,  this  theory  was  common  to  all 
writers,  Greek  and  Latin  (except,  of  course, 
those  who  held  the  heretical  view  mentioned 
first),  down  to  Jerome's  time,  and  after  his  time 
to  all  Greek  writt^rs,  except  Cliryso^tom  in  his 
latest  works  and  Theodoret.*  Itis  incorporated 
in  the  Greek  offices,  which  distinguish  between 
James,  "  the  Lord's  brother,"  and  Alphaius. 
Maldonatus  (see  Matt.  xii.  46)  rejects  but  does 
not  censure  this  view.  Petavius  simply  says  it 
is  "  more  probable  that  Joseph  had  not  been 
previously  married."  In  modem  times  this 
hypothesis  has  found  a  powerful  advocate  in 
Bishop  Lightfoot.  This  older  opinion  afforded 
a  ready  explanation  of  the  term  "brethren." 
All  who  took  Joseph  for  our  Lord's  father 
would  look  on  his  sons  by  a  former  marriage  as 
our  Ijord's  half  brothers,  and  speak  of  them  as 
his  "  brethren."  The  use  of  the  word  is  pos- 
sible, but  not  nearly  so  natural,  on  the  view 
to  be  mentioned  next.  At  tlie  same  tnne  it 
must  be  admitted  that  Catholic  feeling,  espe- 
cially during  the  last  three  centuries,  has 
attached  itself  strongly  to  the  virginity  <»f  St. 
Joseph,  as  most  in  keeping  with  his  oflice  as 
the  guardian  of  our  Lord  and  the  Blessed  Virgin. 
(3)  Jerome  advocated  and  to  nil  np  earance 
started  a  third  view — viz.  that  the  "  brethren" 
were  sous  of  a  sister  of  the  Blessed  Viruin  also 
called  Mary.  The  "  brethren  "  of  Jesus  were 
James,  Judas,  Joseph,  or  Joses,  and  Simon 
(Mark  vi.  o).  Now,  of  these,  James,  the 
Lord's  brother,  is  said  by  St.  Paul  (Gal,  i.  19  ; 
this  interpretation,  however,  is  doubtful)  to 
have  been  an  Apostle.  But  the  only  James  iu 
the  apostolic  lists  whom  St.  Paul  can  mean  and 
name  here,  is  Jamas  the  son  of  Alphteus,  James 
the  son  of  Zebedee  being  dead  long  before  the 
Apostle  wrote  (Acts  xii.  2).  Therefore,  James 
the  Lord's  brother  was  the  son,  not  of  Joseph,  but 
Alphfeus.  But  we  can  also  ascertain  the  n.ame 
of  his  mother,  since  in  Matt,  xxvii.  oG  ;  Marc. 
XV.  40,  we  read  that  Mary  the  mother  of  James 
and  Joseph,  and  therefore  the  wife  of  Alp'ineus, 
was  present  at  the  crucifixion.  This  Mary  is 
to  be  identified  with  Mary  the  wife  of  Clopaa 
and  the  sister  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  who  St. 
John  says  was  present  by  the  cross  (John 
xix.  25).'  It  is  very  doubtful  wliether  St.  John 
means  to  say  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  had  a 
Bister  also  called  Mary  ("  his  mother — and  his 
mother's  sister,  Mary  of  Clopas — and  Mary 
Magdalene"),  or  whether   he    mentior.s  four 


*  Theophylact's  opinion — viz.  that  Clopas 
dying  chiUlless,  Joseph  raised  up  children  to 
him — is  obviously  onl}-  a  modification  of  the 
commou  Greek  theory. 


MARY 

she  was  associated  with  a  closeness  im- 
possible to  other  creatures  in  the  work  of 
her  divine  Son.  She  was  faithful  and 
obedient  to  her  Son  and  Saviour  at  the 
first,  faithful  and  obedient  to  the  end. 
Scripture  is  silent  about  her  later  life  and 
it3  close.  But  Christians  believe  that  life 
here  is  a  preparation  lor  the  better  life  to 
come,  and  from  the  greatness  of  Mary  s 
work  and  diguit}-  on  earth,  they  learned 
to  conceive  her  greatness  in  power  in 
heaven,  where  her  love  is  made  perfect 
and  she  is  for  ever  with  her  Son.  Natu- 
rally, therefore,  they  came  to  discover  in 
the  Apocalypse — the  one  book  of  the  New 
Testament  which  can  hardly  fail  to  have 
been  written  after  Mary's  death — a  picture 
of  Mary  in  heaven.  **  The  only  passage," 
savs  Cardinal  Newman — (but  see  Wisdom 
ii."  23,  24)—"  Development,"  p.  414— 
"  where  the  serpent  is  directly  identified 
with  the  evil  spirit  occurs  in  the  twelfth 
chapter  of  Revelation ;  now,  it  is  ob- 
servable that  the  recognition,  when  made, 
is  found  in  the  course  of  a  vision  of  ^  a 
woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  the 
moon  under  her  I'eet : "  thus,  two  women 
are  brought  into  contrast  with  each  other. 
Moreover,  as  it  is  said  in  the  Apocalypse, 
'The  dragon  was  wroth  with  the  woman, 
and  went  about  to  make  war  with  her 
seed,'  so  it  is  prophesied  in  Genesis :  *  I 
will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the 
woman,  and  between  thy  seed  and  her 
seed.  He  shall  bruise  (r^)  thy  head,  and 
thou  shalt  bruise  (?)  his  heel'  Also  the 
enmity  was  to  exi<t,  not  only  between  the 
serpent  and  the  seed  of  the  woman,  but 
between  the  serpent  and  the  woman  her- 
self; and  here,  too,  there  is  a  correspon- 
dence in  the  Apocalyptic  vision."  There 
is,  then,  •*  reason  for  thinking  that  this 
mystery  at  the  close  of  the  Scripture 
record  answers   to    the    mystery  in   the 

■\Tomen  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  ('*  his  mother 
and  his  mother's  sister — M  iry  of  Clopas  and 
M  ary  Magdalene  ").  A  n\how,  Jerome's  theorj' 
is  rendered  still  more  plausible  b}'  the  fact,  for 
so  it  may  be  fairh'  regarded,  that  "  Alphasus  " 
and  ''Ciopas"  (this  is  the  true  reading  in 
John  xix.  25 ;  "Cleophas,"  in  Luc.  xxiv.  18,  is 
another  name  altogether)  are  two  forms  of 
the  same  Aramaic  name  "Chalpai"  (''SPn)' 
This  view  that  our  Lord's  brethn-n  were  his 
cousins  became  the  accepted  one  in  the  Latin 
Church,  which  in  her  Mass  and  office  only  recog- 
nises two  Jame«es,  one  the  son  of  Zebedee,  the 
othor  son  of  Alphgeus,  "brother"  of  the  Lord 
and  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  Among  Protestants, 
Dr.  Mill,  of  Cambridge,  has  defended  it  with 
groat  learning  and  ingenuity  in  a  treatise 
entitled  The  Accounts  of  our  Lord's  Brethren 
in  the  N.T.  vindicated  (Cambridge :  1843.) 


MARY 


557 


beginning  of  it,  and  that  the  woman 
mentioned  in  both  passages  is  one  and  the 
same,  and  that  she  can  be  none  other 
than  "  Mary.  We  need  not  be  at  a  loss 
to  imagine  the  way  in  which  Mary  exer- 
cises her  great  power  in  heaven.  Once 
the  body  of  Christ  was  entrusted  to  her 
care,  surely  in  heaven  she  cannot  fail  t(< 
intercede  for  his  mystical  body — for  all 
those  who  are  her  children  because  they 
are  the  brethren  of  her  Son.  And  this 
Son  is  her  Son  still ;  lie  hears  her  prayers 
with  filial  love  and  tenderness,  since — as 
the  Scripture,  and  especially  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  assures  us — Christ  has 
carried  his  human  nature  to  the  right 
hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  and  He 
cannot  continue  to  be  man  if  he  has 
ceased  to  be  a  son.  When  Protestants 
assert  that  the  relation  of  son  and  motlier 
ceased  to  exist  between  Jesus  and  Mary 
when  his  earthly  years  were  over,  they 
thereby  do  away  with  all  claim  on  our 
part  to  the  human  sympathy  of  Christ. 
Yet  it  is  this  human  sympathy  of  his  in 
heaven  to  which  great  prominence  is  given 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  to 
which  devout  Protestants,  who  will  not 
hear  of  devotion  to  Mary,  cling  as  their 
comfort  and  stay. 

II.  The  Trndition  of  the  Church  on 
Devotion  to  Mnry. — It  would  be  vain  to 
deny  that  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
was  far  less  prominent  in  ancient  than  in 
modern  times,  and  we  shall  have  occasion 
shortly  to  show  how  easily  this  diH'erence 
may  be  explained.  But  it  would  be  a 
gross  mistake  to  suppose  that  Catholics 
at  any  time  doubted  lier  great  place  in 
the  work  of  redemption  or  ignored  her 
dignity,  as  most  Protestants  do.  The 
latter  have  always,  and  almost  univer- 
sally, shrunk  from  using  the  title  "  Theo- 
tocos,"  or  Mother  of  God.  We  believe 
we  are  not  wrong  when  we  say  that  the 
use  of  this  expression  would  serve  of  itself 
to  mark  the  person  who  employed  it  as  a 
Catholic.^  Yet  "  it  was  familiar  to  Chris- 
tians from  primitive  times,  and  is  used, 
among  other  writers,  by  Origen,  Eusebiua, 
St.  Alexander,  St.  Athanasius,  St.  Am- 
brose, St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  St.  Gregory 
Nyssen,  and  St.  Nilus  "  (Newman's  "  De- 
velopment," p.  145).     It  is  the  imi versa! 

'  Of  coarse  we  put  the  Greeks,  &c.,  out  of 
count,  and  also  that  modern  school  in  the 
Church  of  England  which  studiously  imitates 
Catholic  phra'eclogy.  And  even  among  these 
the  popular  use  of  the  words  "  Mother  of  God  " 
is,  we  imagine,  very  recent,  if  it  exists  even 
now. 


6f>8 


MARY 


doctrine  of  the  early  Church  that  Mary- 
was  the  second  Eve  (see  Immacitlate 
Conception).  St.  Irenseus  says  that 
"  Mary,  bein^  obedient,  became,  both  to 
herself  and  to  all  mankind,  the  cause 
of  salvation ; "  that  "  the  knot  of  Eve's 
disobedience  was  loosed  by  Mary's  obe- 
dience ; "  that  "  what  the  Virgin  Eve 
bound  by  unbelief,  this  the  Virgin  Mary 
unbound  by  faith  ;  "  that  "  as  by  a  virgin 
the  human  race  had  been  given  over  to 
death,  by  a  virgin  it  is  saved  "  (Iren.  iii. 
22, 4;  V.  1 9, 1)  ;  thus  absolutely  excluding 
the  common  Protestant  notion  that  Mary 
was  merely  a  passive  instrument  in  the 
Incarnation,  to  v,hom  no  special  gratitude 
is  due.  Further,  he  says  that  "  she  was 
drawn  to  obey  God,  that  of  the  Virgin 
Eve  the  Virgin  Mary  might  become  the 
advocate"  (v.  19,  1).  In  the  last  place, 
St.  Irenaeus  speaks  of  Mary  as  "  prophesy- 
ing for  the  Church  "  when  she  uttered  her 
"  Magniiicat,"  and  it  is  certain  that  from 
the  f^econd  century  at  latest  Mary  was 
taken  as  a  type  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
Thus,  the  "Virgin  Mother"  is  a  title 
given  to  the  Church  in  the  letters  written 
by  the  Christians  of  Vienne  and  Lvons  in 
the  vear  1 77  (see  Euseb.  "  H.  E."  v!'  1,45), 
and  by  Clem.  Alex.  ("Pged."  1,  6).  And 
this  language  was  adopted  by  Marcus,  a 
Gnostic  heretic  of  the  same  period,  who 
made  the  Virgin  hold  the  place  of  the 
Church  in  his  symbolical  system  (Iren.  i. 
15,  3).  It  is  important  to  notice  this,  for 
it  proves  that  when  Catholics  go  to  Mary 
as  to  their  mother,  a  title  and  office  which 
also  belong  to  the  Cliurch,  their  practice 
is  consonant  with  the  spirit  of  ancient 
Christianity.  Nor,  again,  does  it  by  any 
means  follow  thnt  because  the  Fathers 
take  the  woman  in  Apoc.  xii.  1  to  repre- 
sent the  Church,  we  are  really  following 
an  opposite  interpretation  if  we  believe 
the  Blessed  Virgin  to  be  primarily  and 
directly  intended.^ 

We  have  two  instances  of  Mary's 
interposition  from  heaven  in  favour  of 
Christians  on  earth,  preserved  from  the 
scanty  literature  of  the  first  three  centuries. 
St.  Gregory  Nysseu,  in  the  fourth  age,  re- 
lates that  his  namesake  Gregory  Thau- 
maturgus,  in  the  third,  was  pondering 
theological  doctrines  shortly  before  he 
was  made  priest ;  that  the  Blessed  Virgin 

^  Erasmus  denied  that  any  of  the  earh' 
Fathers  understood  the  woman  in  Apoc.  xii.  to 
be  the  Blessed  Virgin.  The  passage  quoted 
against  him  from  St.  Augusdne  by  Ballerini 
in  his  Sylloge  of  Documents  on  the  Immaculate 
Conception  is  not  regarded  as  genuine  by  the 
Benedictine  editors. 


MARY 

appeared,  and  bade  St.  John  disclose  to 
the  young  man  the  **  mystery  of  godliness,*' 
and  that  St.  John  answered,  "  that  he  was 
ready  to  comply  in  this  matter  with  the 
wish  of  the  Mother  of  the  Lord,  and 
enunciated  a  formula  well  turned  and 
complete,  and  so  vanished."  So,  St.  Gre- 
gory Nazianzen  records  an  incident  con- 
temporaneous with  that  just  given — viz, 
that  a  Christian  woman  had  recourse  to 
Mary,  and  so  obtained  the  conversion  of  a 
heathen  who  was  trying  to  pervert  her  by 
magic.  (See  Newman,  "  Development," 
pp.  415,  416.)  We  need  not  defend  the 
truth  of  these  stories.  True  or  false,  they 
prove  that  in  the  fourth- century  devotion 
to  the  Mother  of  God  was  well  established 
and  already  regarded  as  ancient ;  and  in 
both  instances  "  the  Blessed  Virgin  ap- 
pears especially  in  that  character  of 
Patroness  or  Paraclete,  which  St.  Ireuaus 
and  other  Fathers  describe,  and  which 
the  mediaeval  Church  exhibits — a  loving 
Mother  with  clients."     (Newman,  ib.) 

But  till  the  last  part  of  the  fourth 
century  there  were  strong  reasons  which 
kept  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  the 
background.  There  was  the  danger  of 
scandal  to  the  heathen,  who,  with  their 
own  inadequate  notions  of  worship,  might 
misconstrue  the  honour  paid  to  Mary ; 
and  then  there  was  the  long  struggle 
with  Arianism,  when  the  Church  was 
contending  for  the  very  centre  of  the  faith. 
When  once  the  belief  in  the  full  Godhead 
of  the  Son  had  been  fenced  it)und  by 
formal  definition,  when  once  it  had  Ijeen 
decided  that  no  exaltation  of  the  Son 
would  suffice  unless  He  was  confessed  to 
be  the  one  eternal  God,  then  there  was 
no  longer  any  danger  of  confusing  Mary's 
honour  with  that  of  her  Divine  Son.  To 
honour  Mary  was  not  idolatry,  unless  the 
Arians,  who  had  employed  far  higher 
language  of  Christ  than  Catholics  have 
ever  used  of  his  Blessed  Mother,  were 
ortliodox  in  their  belief  Nay,  it  became 
clearer  than  ever  that  the  belief  in  Mary 
was  necessary  to  a  right  belief  in  Christ. 
Nestorius  denied  the  unity  of  his  Person. 
He  allowed  that  God  dwelt  in  Him,  but 
not  that  the  man  Christ  Jesus  was  God ; 
and  this  was  tantamount  to  denying  the 
Incarnation  altogether,  and  reducing  the 
difference  between  Christ  and  his  creatures 
to  a  matter  of  degree,  since  God  dwells 
in  the  hearts  of  all  the  just.  In  order, 
therefore,  to  secure  right  faith  in  the 
manhood  of  the  Eternal  Son,  the  Church 
defined  at  Epbesus,  what  she  had  held 
everywhere  and  from  the  beginning,  that 


MARY 

Mary  is  tlie  Mother  of  God.  Cardinal 
Newman  has  collected  a  catena  of  patris- 
tic passages  ("  Development,"  p.  145  secj.) 
on  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  date  from 
the  conclusion  of  the  main  controversy 
with  the  Arians  and  the  rise  of  that 
with  Nestorius.  Augustine  will  allow  no 
question  of  sin  to  be  raised  when  Mary 
is  concerned.  Antiochus  calls  her  *'  the 
Mother  of  Life,  of  Beauty,  of  Majesty," 
•'the  Morning  Star."  St.  Proclus,  "the 
Fair  Bride  of  the  Canticles,"  ''the  Stay 
cf  Believers,"  "the  Church's  Diadem." 
'*  Let  us  make  confession,"  says  an  early 
writer,  probably  one  of  the  Fathers  of 
Ephesus,  "  to  (iod  the  Word,  and  to  his 
Mother  .  .  .  Hail,  Mother,  clad  in  Light ! 
.  .  .  Hail,  all-undefiled  Mother  of  Holi- 
ness !  .  .  .  With  her  is  the  fount  of  life, 
and  breasts  of  the  spiritual  and  guileless 
milk,  from  which  to  suck  the  sweetness 
we  have  even  now  earnestly  run  to  her," 
&c.  We  have  only  taken  a  few  words 
here  and  there  from  (Jardinal  Newman's 
quotations,  but  surely  we  have  done 
enough  to  show  that  the  Church  of  the 
fifth  century  addressed  the  same  language 
to  Mary  as  the  Church  of  the  nineteenth. 

It  is  true  that  the  great  Fathers  St. 
Basil,  St.  Clirysostom,  and  St.  Cyril  of 
Alexandria,  sometimes  express  themselves 
in  a  very  dilierent  tone.  Cardinal  New- 
man has  considered  these  passages  in  his 
"  Letter  to  Dr.  Pusey  "  {'[  Diff.  of  Angl." 
vol.  ii.  p.  128),  and  we  will  only  venture 
on  one  remark.  It  may  sound  paradoxical, 
but  we  believe  it  true,  that  these  passages 
tend  to  confirm  Catholic  belief  in  Mary  s 
spotless  sanctity.  Some  great  Father 
alleges  that  the  sword  which  was  to 
pierce  Mary's  heart  was  doubt  in  her  Sons 
divinity  which  took  possession  of  her 
soul  beneath  the  cross,  and  again,  that 
Christ  reprehended  his  mother  for  some 
fault,  of  haste  or  the  like,  at  the  Marriage 
of  Cana.  We  do  not  think  any  sober  Pro- 
testant scholar  would  approve  of  such 
exegesis.  And  when  individual  Fathers 
argued  in  such  a  way,  the  Church  was 
justified  in  disregarding  their  opinions, 
great  saints  and  doctors  though  they 
were.  Common  sense,  as  well  as  the 
sense  of  the  faithfid,  was  against  them, 
and  they  had  neither  right  nor  power  to 
arrest  the  stream  of  devotion  to  Mary. 
The  stream  grew,  uo  doubt,  in  its  course 
through  the  atree,  but  its  source  was  in 
the  Eternal  Hills. 

Evil,  indeed,  would  this  devotion  be, 
if  it  diminished  or  obscured,  ever  so  little, 
that  supreme  devotion  to   God,  who  is 


MARY,  FEASTS  OF         659 

over  all,  and  to  Jesus  Christ  whom  He 
has  sent.  But  one  who  dared  to  put 
Mary  on  an  equality  with  God,  or  to  deny 
that  Christ  is  the  "  one  mediator  between 
God  and  man  " — i.e.  the  sole  author  of 
our  redemption,  the  beginner  and  the 
finisher  of  our  faith — would,  by  that  very 
fact,  cease  to  be  a  Catholic.  Every  Catho- 
lic child  is  taught  that  Mass  can  be  ofiered 
to  God  alone,  and  the  obligation  of  hearing 
Mass  every  Sunday,  the  adoration  paid  to 
the  Blessed  Sacrament,  &c.,  keep  the 
supreme  character  of  the  worship  due  to 
God  constantly  before  the  mind.  We  are 
far,  of  course,  from  any  wish  to  defend 
exaggerated  or  imprudent  language.  One 
of  the  greate.  t  of  the  Church's  theologians, 
among  whose  many  virtues  a  tender  de- 
votion to  the  mother  of  God  was  not  the 
least,  protests  against  extravagant  and  ill- 
founded  praise  of  Mary.  "  This  kind  of 
idolatry,"  he  writes,  "secret,  and,  as 
Augustine  says,  natural  to  the  human 
heart,  is  far  removed  from  th^  grave  cha- 
racter of  theology — that  is,  of  heavenly 
wisdom."  And  he  quotes  certain  "  golden 
words  "  of  Gerson,  also  a  devout  client  of 
Mary,  in  which  he  (Gerson)  "restrains 
immoderate  licence  in  setting  forth  the 
praises  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  confines 
it  within  the  limits  of  a  sober  and  manly 
piety"  (Petav.  "  De  Inearnat."  xiv.  9). 
Admonitions  to  the  same  eilect  may  be 
found  in  the  work  of  another  famous 
Cathfilic  scholar — highlv  esteemed  by 
Benedict  XIV.  and  Clement  XIV.— 
Muratori,  "De  Moderamiue  Ingeniorum." 
We  would  only  urge  that  the  effect  of 
Catholic  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
must  net  be  judged  on  a  priori  grounds 
but  tested  Ify  experience.  It  is  am(mg 
Protestants  who  have  repudiated  this  de- 
votion, not  among  Catholics,  who  have 
retained  it,  that  imperfect  and  false  ideas 
on  the  divinity  of  Christ  have  struck 
root. 

(There  is  a  vast  literature  on. this  sub- 
ject. We  would  specially  notice  the 
chapters  of  Petavius,  in  his  treatise  on 
the  "  Incarnation  ; "  Cardinal  Newman,  in 
his  "  Development,"  and  "  Letter  to  Dr. 
Pusey ; "  "  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Mary,"  by 
Mr.  J.  B.  Morris — a  work  full,  not  only 
of  recondite  learning,  but  also  of  deep 
thought,  and  which,  marred  though  it  is 
by  eccentricities,  will  well  repay  careful 
study  ;  and  a  short  but  masterly  rationale 
of  the  doctrine  and  devotion  in  Father 
Ryder's  "  Catholic  Controversy.") 

'  iVXiLR-s-,    FSASTS    OF.      Benedict 
XIV.,  quoting  a  note  of  Mabillon  on  St, 


560         MARY,  FEASTS  OF 

Bernard,  says  that,  even  as  late  as  the 
twelfth  century,  four  feasts  only  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  were  celebrated  in  the 
Church — those  of  the  Purification,  An- 
nunciation, Assumption,  and  Nativity. 
At  present,  the  number  of  her  feasts  has 
risen  to  about  twenty.  An  account  has 
been  given,  in  separate  articles,  of  those 
which  relate  to  events  in  the  Blessed 
Virgin's  history — viz.  to  her  Conception, 
Nativity,  Name,  Presentation,  Espousals, 
Annunciation,  Visit  to  St.  Elizabeth 
(Visitation),  Purification  (see  Candle- 
mas), Dolours,  and  Assumption.  There 
are  other  feasts  which  commemorate 
Mary's  int-erest  in  the  Church  militant  on 
earth,  and  these  will  be  mentioned  here. 

(1)  Feast  of  Mary  the  Help  of  Chris- 
tians, M3,y  24 — in  the  Supplement  of  the 
Breviary.  The  title  "Help  of  Christians  " 
was  added  to  the  Litany  of  Loreto  by 
Pius  V.  after  the  naval  victory  of  Lepanto 
over  the  Turks.  The  feast  was  instituted 
by  Pius  VII.,  who  attributed  his  deliver- 
ance from  a  captivity  of  five  years  at 
Savona  and  his  return  to  Home,  out  of 
which  he  had  been  twice  driven  by 
violence,  to  the  intercession  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin. 

(2)  Feast  of  "  The  Blessed  Virgin  Mary 
of  Mount  Carmd.'^ — For  the  connection  of 
tne  Carmelite  order  with  the  mountain  of 
that  name,  see  the  article  on  the  Carmel- 
ites, and  for  the  privileges  attached  to  the 
Carmelite  scapular,  see  ScapulaPwS.  The 
feast  was  approved  for  the  Carmelites  by 
Sixtus  V.  in  1587.  Paul  V.  inserted  new 
lections  in  the  office,  which  was  rt^vised 
by  Bellarmin.  Benedict  XIII.  extended 
the  feast  to  the  whole  Church. 

(3)  St.  Mary  of  Snow  \Dedicatiunis 
ecclesicB  S.  Marice  ad  Nives). — This  church 
is  sometimes  called,  from  the  Pope  who  is 
eaid  to  have  founded  it,  the  Liberian 
Basilica;  the  Sixtine Basilica,  because  Six- 
tus III.  enlarged,  or,  as  Tillemont  thinks, 
founded  it ;  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Crib  (i?.  Maries  ad  l^-eesepe),  because  the 
relics  of  the  crib  in  which  (^hrist  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  laid  were  brought 
there  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century  ;  and,  most  con:monly,  the  Church 
of  St.  ■  Mary  Major,  a  name  given  to  it 
from  the  eighth  century,  because  of  its 
magnificence  and  its  rank  as  the  second 
church  of  Christendom,  the  Lateran 
Church  being  the  only  one  which  takes 
precedence  of  it.  The  name  ad  nives 
given  in  the  Martyrology  and  Breviary  is 
due  to  the  Jbllowing  story.  John,  a 
Roman    patrician,   and    his  wife,  being 


MARY,  FEASTS  OF 

childless,  wished  to  spend  their  fortune  in 
honour  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  She  sig- 
nified to  them  and  to  Pope  Liberius  in 
dreams  that  she  wished  a  church  dedi- 
cated  to  her  on  the  Esquiline  Hill,  and 
told  them  that  the  site  would  be  marked 
out  by  snow.  Next  day  it  was  found 
that  the  promised  snow  had  actually 
fallen,  though  the  month  was  August 
and  the  heat  intense.  Benedict  XIV. 
collects  all  the  evidence  which  can  be 
produced  for  this  miracle,  his  oldest 
authority  being  that  of  Pope  Nicolas  IV. 
in  1287.  The  lections  in  the  older 
Breviaries  add  that  when  Liberius  began 
to  dig  the  foundation,  the  earth  opened 
of  itself. 

(4)  Our  Lady  of  Mercy^  (deMercede), 
September  24. — The  order  of  Our  Lady  of 
Ransom  was  founded  by  St.  Peter  Nolas- 
cus,  St.  Raymond  of  Pennafort,  and 
James  King  of  Arragon,  with  the  object 
of  freeing  Christian  captives  from  the 
Turks.  The  feast  was  approved  first  of 
all  for  the  order  itself,  then  extended  to 
Spain,  next  to  France,  and  lastly  by 
Innocent  XII.  to  the  whole  Church. 

(5)  Feast  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary f 
first  Sunday  in  October. — The  victorr^  ( * 
Lepanto  was  won  by  Don  Juan  of  Austria, 
October  7,  1571,  while  the  members  of 
the  Confraternity  of  the  Rosarj'  at  Rome 
were  making  special  supplication  for  the 
success  of  the  Christian  arms,  and  Pius  V., 
then  Pope,  ordered  that  an  annual  com- 
memoration should  be  made  of  "St.  Marv 
of  Victory."  Gregory'  XIII.  instituted 
the  feast  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary  on 
the  first  Sunday  in  October  for  all 
churches  with  a  chapel  or  altar  dedicated 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin  under  that  title. 
Clement  X.  extended  the  feast  to  all  the 
dominions  of  the  Spanish  king.  The 
Emperor  Leopold  begged  Innocent  XII. 
to  extend  the  feast  to  the  whole  Church, 
but  the  Pope  died  before  he  was  able  to 
do  so.  At  last  Clement  XI.,  after  another 
victory  over  the  Turks  had  been  obtained 
in  1710  by  the  Emperor  Charles  VL,  and 
Corfu  been  fi-eed  from  Turkish  besiegei-a 
in  the  same  year,  made  the  feast  of  uni- 
versal observance.  The  lections  of  the 
Second  Nocturn,  which  contain  a  history 
of  the  origin  of  the  feast,  were  added  under 
Benedict  XIII. 

1  "Ransom  "  >vould,  of  coui-se,  be  the  natural 
translation.  But  "Our  Lady  of  Mercy  "  is  the 
common  rendering  in  most  English  Calendars  ; 
and  so  in  German,  *'  vou  der  Barinherzigheit." 
And  this  appears  to  be  correct,  for,  according 
to  Dufresne,  "  merces,"  in  mediaeval  Latin,  is 
used  for  "  misericordia." 


MAR\,  FEAST  OF  THE  NAME 

(6)  Patronage  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 
— The  feast  was  approved  for  Spain  in  1679, 
for  the  States  of  the  Church  by  Benedict 
XIII.,  in  order  to  celebrate  the  power  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin's  intercession.  It  is 
now  usually  kept  in  churches  which  have 
permission  to  celebrate  it  on  the  second, 
not,  as  at  first,  on  the  third  Sunday  in 
November.  Other  feasts  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  are  celebrated  by  permission  in 
certain  parts  of  the  Churcli.  Such  are 
the  feasts  of  the  Divine  Maternity  and  of 
the  Purity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  kept  on 
the  second  and  third  Sundays  of  October 
(the  former  feast  is  observed  in  the 
IF.  S.);  theProdigiesof  the  Blessed  Virgin^ 
kept  at  Rome  and  some  other  places  on 
July  9 ;  the  Motlier  of  the  Divine  Pastor, 
kept  in  Tuscany  on  the  first  Sunday  in 
May  by  leave  of  Pius  VII. ;  Our  Lady  of 
Consolation,  on  the  first  Sunday  in  July ; 
Our  Lady  of  Peace,  on  the  fourth  Sunday 
in  October.  (See  ''  Manuale  Decret.  S. 
Kit.  Cong."    No.  21.39  seq.) 

(7)  The  Feast  of  Our  Lady's  Expecta- 
tion {E.vpeetatio  partus)  should  have  been 
mentioned  in  a  separate  article.  The 
Spanish  Church  used  to  keep  the  feast 
of  the  Annunciation  on  December  18, 
by  a  decree  of  a  Council  of  Toledo  in 
the  seventh  century.  The  object  was  to 
prevent  the  feast  falling  in  Holy  or  Easter 
Week.  When  the  Spaniards  adopted  the 
Roman  usage  with  regard  to  the  Annun- 
ciation, they  instituted  the  feast  of  the 
Expectation  to  replace  their  old  observance 
on  December  18,  and  the  lattei*  feast 
was  approved  by  Gregory  XIII.  The 
Spaniards  also  call  it  the  "  Feast  of  O,"  be- 
cause the  first  of  the  greater  antiphons  is 
said  in  the  vespers  of  its  vigil.  It  was 
extended  to  the  Venetian  territory  in 
1695  and  to  the  States  of  the  Church  by 
Benedict  XIII.  in  1725.  It  is  kept  in 
England,  but  is  not  a  feast  of  the  whole 
Church.  (Chiefly  from  Benedict  XIV., 
*'  De  Festis.") 

MARir,  FEAST  OF  THE  UAXVIE. 
The  real  and  supposed  meanings  of  the 
name  have  been  explained  in  the  article 
on  the  Blessed  Virgin.  The  feast  of  the 
Name  arose  at  Cuenca,  in  Spain,  and  its 
local  celebration  was  approved  by  the 
Pope  in  1513.  This  permission  was  with- 
drawn by  Pijts  V.  and  restored  by  Sixtus 
V.  Originally,  the  feast  seems  to  have 
been  kept  on  September  22.  Innocent 
XI.,  after  the  victory  obtained  against  the 
Turks  and  the  consequent  relief  of  Vienna 
from  siege  in  1683,  extended  the  feast  and 
office  to  the  whole  Church. 


MASS 


561 


MARY  OFFICE  OF  SATURDAY. 

The  oflice  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  said  on 
all  Saturdays,  not,  however,  when  a  feast 
of  Nine  Lessons  falls  on  that  day,  not 
during  Advent  and  Lent,  on  ember  days, 
vigils,  or  ferhas  on  which  the  lessons  of  a 
previous  Sunday  have  to  be  said  at  Matins. 
In  this  ortice  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  the 
twelve  feiial  psalms  are  said,  and  there  are 
only  three  lessons,  the  last,  however,  being 
followed  by  the  Te  Deum.  This  rule  was. 
authorised  by  Urban  II.  at  the  Council  of 
Clermont  in  1090.  The  present  otiice  was- 
composed  and  issued  under  Pius  V. 
Clement  VIII.  revised  it,  and  substituted 
a  lesson  from  St.  Jerome  instead  of  the 
previous  one  from  St.  Epiphanius  for  the 
month  of  April.  Mystical  reasons  are 
given  by  liturgical  writers  f  ^r  this  com- 
memoration of  the  Blessed  Virgin  on  the 
Sabbath  —e.g.  that  the  eternal  Word 
rested  in  her.  (Gavantus  on  the  Rubrics 
of  the  Breviary.) 

X^ASS.  The  Catholic  doctrine  on  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Mass  has  been  explained 
in  the  article  Eucharist,  the  general 
history  of  the  Iloman  Mass  under 
LiTUEGY,  and  the  history  of  the  com- 
ponent parts  of  the  Mass  under  special 
articles.  Canon,  Colli:ct,  Introit, 
Kyrie,  and  the  like.  Here  we  confine 
ourselves  to  matters  of  terminology  and 
special  regulation. 

(1)  77ie  word  "  Mass.''— About  its 
meaning  and  derivation  theie  is  not  the 
least  room  for  reasonable  doubt.  Attempts 
have  been  made  to  find  its  origin  in 
Hebrew.  Asa  (ilb'y)  means  to  do,  and 
sometimes  to  perform  a  sacred  action,  to 
sacrifice  (like  Upa  pi^civ  in  Homer),  and  it 
was  suggested  that  a  noun,  Misah  (nb'yp), 
might  be  derived  from  the  verb.  Such  a 
formation  is  a  sheer  impossibility  in  He- 
brew, and  cannot  be  thought  of  without 
a  shudder.  Maaseh  (nb'J/O)  is  the  proper 
form.  A  Hebrew  word  "  Missah  "  (nDlp) 
does  occur  Deut.  xvi.  10,^  and  an  attempt 
was  made  to  derive  the  Latin  word  from 
it,  though  the  Hebrew  word  in  question 
means  "number,"  "rate,"  &c.,  and  has 
nothing  to  do  with  sacrifice.  It  only 
occurs  once,  and  if  the  Church  had  wished 
to  adopt  a  Hebrew  word  for  "sacrifice," 
she  would  havechosen,wemay  be  very  sure, 
one  of  the  numerous  Hebrew  words  which 

^  "^y^  T\y]^  n5?3.  Here  HDD  comes  next 
a  word  which  does  mein  *' free-will  offer- 
ing." and  the  Vulgate  rendering,  "  oblationem 
spontaneam  manus  tuas,"  is  probably  the  inno- 
cent cause  of  confusion. 
O 


662 


MASS 


MASS 


occur  times  without  number  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  one  of  which,  "  corhan," 
occurs  in  the  New  (Marc.  vii.  11 ;  cf.  Matt, 
xxvii.  6),  and  is  frequentty  used  in  the  Pe- 
shito  or  chief  Sj  nac  version  for  "sacrifice." 
Besides,  if  the  early  Church  had  adopted 
the  word  from  the  Hebrew,  as  it  did  adopt 
other  Hebrew  words,  such  as  "  Hosanna," 
"Amen,"  "Alleluia,"  "Sabaoth,"  we  should 
find  some  trace  of  it  in  the  Greek  and  Orien- 
tal churches.  We  should  expect  to  find  it 
above  all  in  Syriac,  a  language  closely 
allied  to  Hebrew,  and  which  has  in  its 
New  Testament  version  three  words  for 
sacrifice  as  close  to  the  corresponding 
Hebrew  words  as,  e.g.^  the  French  homme 
is  to  homo.  But  no  trace  of  "  Mass  "  can 
be  found  except  in  Latin,  and  the  lan- 
guages which  are  daughters  of  Latin. 
Here  and  there  we  find  ixiaaa  in  Greek, 
but  in  such  a  way  as  shows  at  once  that 
it  is  merely  a  Latin  word  written  in  Greek 
letters.  Thus  the  "  Chronicon  Paschale," 
written  about  600,  describes  Justinian  as 
dismissing  the  ofiicers  of  the  palaces  and 
bidding  them  keep  their  houses.  The 
words  are  Kcii  edcoKev  evdtoos  p-iaaas  rols 
rod  naXaTiov,  kol  Xeyet  rols  rrvyK^riTiKoTs, 
'ATreX^arf,  eKaaros  (^v^d^ei  tou  oikov 
avTov — "and  straightway  he  r/ave  their  die- 
missals  to  the  oiricials  of  the  palace  and 
said  to  the  senators, '  Go  away :  let  each 
keep  his  house.'  "  The  word  fxia-aas  is  here 
clearly  taken  from  the  Latin,justas"Pala- 
tium  "  is.  We  are  ashamed  to  linger  so 
long  over  such  a  question,  but  unhappily 
the  class  of  people  who  think  that  any 
word  can  be  derived  from  any  other  word 
a  little  like  it  is  not  yet  extinct. 

The  word  "  Missa,"  then,  is  of  purely 
Latin  origin  and  comes  from  "  mittere," 
to  send.  St.  Thomas  (III.  Ixxxiii.  4,  ad  9)  ^ 
suggests  among  other  explanations  that 
"  Missa  "  may  mean  prayers  sent  to  God  ; 
and  a  similar  explanation — viz.  that 
"  Missa  "  means  the  sending  or  offering  up 
of  the  sacrifice  to  God — has  been  defended 
with  great  learning  in  recent  times  by  a 
professor  at  Wiirzburg,  the  late  Hermann 
Miiller,  in  a  treatise  on  "Missa:  the  Origin 
and  Meaning  of  the  Name "  ("  Missa, 
Ursprung  und  Bedeutung  der  lienennung," 
Wertheim,  1873).  This  writer  proves 
that  "mittere"  is  sometimes  used  by 
classical  writers  in  connection  with  "  in- 
ferise,"  the  sacrifices  of  the  dead.  But 
this  is  not  enough  to  explain  why  the 

1  Miiller  (p.  87)  quotes  Peter  of  Clugny 
(lib.  ii.  Mirac.  28) :  "  Sacrificium  offerimus, 
quod  et  usu  jam  veteri  tracto  nomine,  quia  Deo 
mittitur,  Missam  vocamus." 


Church  adopted  an  obscure  and  scarcely 
intelligible  word  for  "sacrifice,"  when  plain 
and  familiar  terms,  "sacrificium,"  "obla- 
tio,"  &c.,  were  at  hand.  Moreover,  the 
history  of  the  word  is  advei-se  to  any  theory 
which  connects  it  with  the  notion  of  sacri- 
fice. We  may  then  dismiss  this  account 
also  and  give  the  accepted  explanation. 

"  Missa  '  is  only  another  form  of  "  mis- 
sio,"  "dismissal."  A  good  instance  of  a 
similar  form  is  supplied  by  "repulsa  "'  (  = 
"repulsio")  in  the  line  of  Horace,  "  Virtus 
repulsee  nescia  sordidse  : "  and  many  more 
examples  present  themselves  from  the  Latin 
of  a  later  period — "  ascensa  "for  "  ascensio," 
"  collecta  "  for  "collectio,"  "  confessa  "  for 
"  confessio,"  and  last  of  all  "  remissa ''  for 
"  remissio,"  &c.  About  the  year  500  Avitus 
of  Vienne,  writing  to  the  Burgundian  king 
Gundobald  (Ep.  1,  Migne,lix.  p.  186),  who 
wished  for  an  explanation  of  the  words 
"non  missum  facitis"  in  the  old  Latin  ver- 
sion of  Marc.  vii.  11,  1:^,  says  that  in 
churches  and  law-courts  "  Missa  fie'ri  pro- 
nuntiatur,  cum  populus  ab  observatione 
dimittitur  "  ("  dismissal  is  announced  when 
the  people  are  let  free  from  [farther]  atten- 
dance)." This  derivation  of  "  JMissa  "  from 
"  mittere  "  was  clear  to  St.  Isidore  of  Seville 
("  Etymolog."  vi.  19).  Now,  in  the  liturgy 
there  were  two  solemn  dismissals — first,  of 
the  catechumens  after  the  Gospel  and  Ser- 
mon ;  next,  of  the  faithful  it  the  end  of  the 
service.  The  word  for  dismissal  then  came 
to  denote  the  service  from  which  the 
persons  in  question  were  dismissed.  The 
first  authority  for  this  use  of  Missa  for  the 
fiturgy,  putting  aside  a  spurious  letter  of 
Pius  I.,  is  St.  Ambrose  (Ep.  20,  4.) 
He  uses  the  woixls  "  Missam  facere " 
More  than  two  hundred  years  later  Sv. 
Gregory  of  Tours  uses  the  modern  phrase, 
"  Missam  dicere."  And  it  must  be  re- 
membered that,  so  far  from  the  word 
Missa  having  any  necessary  connection  at 
the  first  with  the  Eucharist,  it  was 
employed,  not  only,  as  we  have  already 
seen  in  law-courts,  but  also  for  church 
services  which  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  Eucharist.  Matins,  as  Sirmond  in  his 
"  N  i)tes  on  St.  Avitus,"  (Ep.  1)  shows,  were 
called  "  Missae  matutinae,"  Vespers  "  MisssB 
vespertinae."  "  Missa  "  also  occurs  in  a 
canon  of  the  ninth  centurv  in  the  sense  of 
festival  (Hefele,  "  Concil/'  iv.  p.  256  of 
the  second  edition). 

II .  Customs  and  Regulations  concei-ning 
Mass. — Some  of  these  are  given  in  separi.  t« 
articles — e.g.  under  Altar,  Vestments, 
Communion.  Others  may  be  mentioned 
here. 


MASS 

(a)  The  Frequency  of  Celebration. — 
In  early  times  ilie  bishop  and  priests 
celebrated  together.  This  custom  seems 
to  have  continued  in  Rome  long  after  it 
had  ceased  elsewhere,  being- mentioned  by 
Amalarius  of  Metz  in  the  ninth  century, 
and  later  still  by  Innocent  III.  It  has  not 
yet  entirely  died  out  among  us,  for  at  the 
Mass  of  Ordination  the  newly-ordained 
priests  say  Mass  jointly  with  the  bishop, 
though  they  do  not  partake  of  the  same 
Host  or  of  the  Precious  Blood.  In 
churches  outside  the  city  priests  celebrated 
independently  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the 
priests  of  the  Roman  tituii,  practically 
equivalent  to  urban  parishes,  used  the 
Host  consecrated  and  sent  to  them  by  the 
Pope. 

Ordinarily  speaking,  then  (an  exception 
will  be  noted  presently),  there  was  but  one 
Mass  each  day  in  the  same  church,  and 
this  is  still  the  custom  of  tlie  Greeks  and 
Orientals,  unless  where,  as  in  the  case  of 
Uniates,  they  hav«  been  influenced  by 
Western  practice.  Nor  was  Mass  said 
everywhere  on  all  days  of  the  week.  It 
may  perhaps  be  inferred  from  Acts  ii.  42, 
46,  that  the  Apostles  celebrated  the 
Agape  ending  with  the  Eucharist  daily. 
Justin,  however  ('*xApol."i.  67),  only  speaks 
of  the  Eucharistic  celebration  on  Sunday. 
St.  Augustine  (Ep.  54,  "Ad  Januar.")  in- 
forms us  that  in  some  places  there  was 
Mass  daily,  in  others  only  on  Sundays,  in 
others  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays.  Mass 
was  said  daily  in  Africa  (Cyprian,  Ep. 
Iviii.),  in  Rome  and  Spain  (Hieron.  Ep. 
lxxi."x\dLucin."),atMilan(LeBruu  quotes 
Ambrose;  lib.  ii.  ep.  14.  "  Ad  Marc. '),  at 
Antioch  and  Constantinople  (Chrys.  "In 
Ephes."  Ilom.  iii.  d.^)  But  at  Osesarea 
St.  Basil  tells  us  Mass  was  said  only  on 
Sundays,  Fridays,  and  Saturdays,  and  the 
feasts  of  the  Martyrs.  Of  course,  when 
we  speak  uf  Mass  every  day,  we  except 
Good  Friday  and  Holy  Saturday  in  the 
Roman  Church,  all  the  days  of  Lent 
except  Saturdays  and  Sundays  in  the 
Church  of  Constantinople. 

On  many  occasions  Mass  was  reiterated 
by  the  san^e  celebrant  where  now  one 
Mass  would  be  said  and  a  commemoration 
made  or  more  than  one  Mass  said  by 
diiFerent  celebrants.  AVe  have  spoken  of 
this  custom  in  the  article  on  Christmas 
Day,  and  need  not  dwell  on  it  longer 
here.  Apart  from  this,  a  twofold  spirit 
prevailed    in    the    middle    ages.      Some 

1  Tillemont  has  shown  that  these  homilies 
were  delivered  there,  and  Montf'aucon  is  of  the 
aame  opinion. 

oo 


MASS 


663 


priests  said  several  Masses  daily  out 
of  devotion.  "■  Priests  were  allowed  to 
celebrate,"  says  Meratus  (Pars  I.  in 
Ruhr.  Gener.),  "  several  times  a  day,  as 
often  as  they  thought  good,  so  that  one 
would  say  Mass  twice,  another  three 
times,  another  as  often  as  he  pleased  on 
the  same  day,  believing  that  God  was 
inclined  to  mercy  as  olten  as  Christ's 
Passion  was  brought  to  mind  : "  and  he 
quotes  Walafrid  Strabo,  "De  ReTsus 
Eccles."  cap.  2o,  who  relates  that  Pope 
Leo  HI.  sometimes  celebrated  nme  times 
in  one  day.  Pope  Alexander  II.  forbade 
any  priest  to  say  Mass  more  than  once  in 
the  day,  and  his  enactment  is  incorporated 
in  the  "  Decretum "  of  Gratiau.  The 
Pope,  however,  mentions,  and  apparently 
without  disapproval,  the  habit  of  say- 
ing two  Masses  daily,  "  one  of  the  day, 
another  for  the  dead."  St.  Anselm 
and  St.  Albert  are  said  by  Meratus  to 
have  done  so.  Mr.  Maskell  ("  Ancient 
Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England,"  p. 
228)  collects  many  English  canons  pro- 
hibiting the  repetition  of  Mass  on  the 
same  day  by  the  same  priest.  Thus  a 
Provincial  Constitution  of  Archbishop 
Lang  ton  prohibits  anyone  from  celebrat- 
ing more  than  once  a  day  except  on 
Christmas  and  Easter  Sunday,  and  on 
occasion  of  a  funeral  in  the  church  ;  and 
one  of  the  last  injunctions  published 
in  England  before  the  change  of  religion 
was,  that  ''  no  priest  say  two  Masses  in 
one  day,  except  Christmas  Day,  without 
express  licence." 

Devotion  led  some  holy  persons  at  tlie 
same  period  in  quite  an  opposite  direction. 
St.  Thomas  of  C'auterbury  did  not  cele- 
brate daily  ;  and  a  (contemporary,  noting 
this,  says  the  practice  of  priests  on  this 
point  varied,  that  those  who  celebrated 
often  were  to  be  commended  for  the 
purity  of  their  lives;  those  who  acted 
like  St.  Thomas,  for  their  humilitv  (Fleury, 
"H.  E."'  livr.'lxx.  §  64).  Mass  was. 
said  rarely  among  the  Carthusians,  and 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  in  his  "  Testament,'' 
wished  one  priest  only  to  celebrate  each 
day  in  his  convents.  The  other  priests 
were  to  content  themselves  with  hearing 
Mass  (Fleury,  livr.  Ixxix.  25). 

By  the  present  law^  priests  are  strictly 
prohibited  from  saying  Mass  more  than 
once  on  any  day  except  Christmas  Day. 
Bishops,  however,  have  often  leave  to  cele- 
brate, or  allow  their  priests  to  celebrate, 
twice  on  a  Sunday  or  holiday  of  obligation, 
if  a  large  number  of  people  would  other- 
wise be  unable  to  hear  Mass ;  and  most 
2 


564 


MASS 


English  priests  hold  faculties,  renewed  at 
intervals,  to  this  eifect.  The  ablations 
must  not  be  taken  at  the  former  Mass. 
The  present  Pope,  moved  by  the  necessity 
of  the  case,  has  permitted  bishops  in 
Mexico  to  have  three  Masses  celebrated 
by  one  priest  on  tiie  same  day.  No  law 
requires  a  priest,  as  such,  to  celebrate 
daily,  and  it  is  commonly  held  that  he  is 
not  bound  to  do  so  except  on  the  more 
solemn  feasts  (St.  Lijtruori,  "  Theol. 
Moral."  lib.  vi.  §  313).  A  parish  priest 
must  say  Mass  wheu'iver  at  least  the 
people  'are  bound  to  hear  it.  Modern 
saints— e.,v-  St.  Ignatius  and  St.  Francis 
of  Sales — strongly  encourage  priests  to 
celebrate  daily,  and  this  is  now  the 
common,  though  by  no  means  the  uni- 
versal, custom. 

(3)  The  hour  of  Mass  was  subject  to 
no  special  regulation  down  to  the  middle 
of  the  fifth  century,  thouu'h  it  was  usually 
said  early  in  tiie  morning.  Le  Brun 
thinks  that  the  custom  of  saying  Mass 
at  tierce  {i.e.  at  9  a.m.)  began  with 
the  monks.  It  is  mentioned  by  Cassian, 
Sidonius  Apolliuaris,  a  (Council  of  Orleans 
in  511 ,  and  St.  Gregory  of  Tours.  On  the 
stations — i.e.  Wednesday  and  Friday,  and 
in  Rome  on  Saturday  (all  usually  lasting 
days)  it  was  said  at  sext — i.e.  noon ;  on 
other  fasting  days  after  none — i.e.  three 
o'clock ;  at  ordinations  the  fast  was  con- 
tinued through  Friday  or  Saturday  till  the 
early  morning  of  the  day  following,  when 
the  Mass  was  said.  (See  Le  Brun,  torn  iii. 
diss.  i.  art.  0.)  According  to  the  present 
law  Mass  must  not  be  said  before  dawn 
or  later  than  midday,  and  it  is  a  serious 
matter  notably  to  trangress  these  limits 
except  in  virtue  of  Apostolic  indult.  The 
rule  which  requires  the  priest  to  have  said 
Matins  and  Lauds  previously  is  not  so 
strict.  There  are  special  rules  on  the 
relations  of  Office  and  Conventual  Mass, 
Mass  of  Requiem,  &c.,  in  the  rubrics  of 
the  Missal. 

(y)  The  Application  of  Mass. — The 
Mass  is  a  sacrifice  of  adoration,  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving;  it  is  also  a  sacritice  of 
propitiation  •  for  sin,  and  a  means  of 
obtaining  all  graces  and  blessings  from 
God.  In  the  Canon  of  the  Roman  Mass 
and  all  other  liturgies  the  sacrifice  is 
always  off -red  specially  for  certain  persons 
— e.g.  for  those  present  in  the  church,  for 
those  who  c.mtributed  the  bread  and  wine 
for  the  consecration,  &c.  Theologians, 
following  Scotus,  recognise  a  threefold 
fruit  of  tlie  sacritice.  There  is  the  general 
fruit,  in  which  all  the  faithful  participate, 


MASS 

the  more  special  fruit,  which  belongs  to 
those  for  whom  the  priest  specially  offtira 
the  sacrifice,  and  the  most  special  fruit, 
proper  to  the  celebrant  himself.  The 
Canon  of  the  Mass  recognises  this  dis- 
tinction, and  so  bears  witness  to  its 
antiquity.  The  celebrant  offers  "  for  thy 
holy  Catholic  Church  "  ;  again  he  speaks 
of  those  "  on  whose  account  we  offer  to 
Thee,  or  who  offer  to  Thee,  this  sacrifice  of 
praise";  he  also  calls  the  Mass  "the 
oblation  of  our  ministry,"  and  in  an 
earlier  part  of  the  liturgy  offers  the  Host 
"  for  my  numberless  sins  and  offences  and 
negligences."  Theologians  dispute  how 
far  and  in  what  wHy  the  eHect  of  the 
oblation  is  limited,  very  many  denying  that 
there  is  any  such  limit  except  in  the 
capacity  of  those  for  whom  the  offering  is 
made,  so  tbat,e./7..  Mass  said  for  a  hundred 
persons  would  profit  each  as  much  as  if 
said  for  one  only.  Practically,  however, 
a  priest  has  to  act  on  the  opinion  that  the 
effect  of  the  sacritice  is  limited  by  the 
ordination  of  Christ,  or  in  some  other 
manner  over  and  above  the  limitation 
already  mentioned.  Here,  then,  it  suffices 
to  say  that  in  '^  saying  Mass  "  for  a  person 
or  persons  a  priest  applies  in  their  interest 
the  more  special  fruit  of  the  s:icritice.  If 
under  an  obligation  of  making  this  applica- 
tion, he  must  not  extend  it  to  others  save 
with  the  implied  condition  that  he  does 
not  intend  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of 
those  who  have  the  first  claim.  But 
of  course  he  always  offers  generally  for 
the  whole  Church,  and  reserves  the  special 
fruit  of  the  Mass  to  himself.  The  follow- 
ing regulations  exist  with  regard  to  the 
application. 

All  bishops  and  priests  with  cure  of 
souls  are  bound  to  say  Mass  for  their 
people  on  Sundays  and  holidays  of  obliga- 
tion. If  the  holiday  of  obligation  heis 
become  a  day  of  devotion,  the  duty  of 
saying  Mass  for  the  flock  continues. 
Missionary  priests,  such  as  those  in  the 
"United  States,  are  mere  delegates  of 
the  bishop  without  cure  of  souls  in  the 
strict  sense.  They  are  not  therefore 
bound  to  offer  the  sacrifice  on  these  days 
for  the  people  in  their  district,  though 
charity  makes  it  tit  that  they  should  do 
so.  In  all  cathedrals  find  collegiate 
churches  the  Conventual  Mass  (see  below) 
must  be  said  daily  for  benefactors,  and 
chaplains,  &c.,  are  bound  to  say  Mass 
daily  for  the  founder  of  the  chaplaincy  or 
benefice,  unless  it  appear  from  the  terms 
of  the  foundation  that  this  was  not  in- 
tended.    Lastly,    a    strict  obligation  of 


MASS 


MASS 


565 


saying  Mass  for  tlie  donor's  intention  is 
incurred  by  priests  who  accept  an  alms  on 
that  condition.  This  alms  or  stipend  is 
meant  for  the  celebrant's  support,  and 
corresponds  to  tlie  offerings  of  bread  and 
wine  made  by  the  faithful  in  old  days. 
The  bishop  fixes  the  amount  of  this 
stipend  or  tax,  as  it  is  called,  and  the 
priest  must  not  ask,  though  he  may  accept, 
more.  If  he  has  leave  to  duplicate  or  say 
two  Masses  he  must  receive  alms  for  one 
only,  and  if  he  asks  another  priest  to  say 
the  Mass  in  his  stead,  he  must  hand  over 
the  whole  alms.  Many  rules  have  been 
made,  particularly  of  late,  to  prevent  any 
appearance  of  traffic  or  avarice  in  this 
matter.  Moreover,  Benedict  XIV.  points 
out  that  the  rich  have  no  unfair  advantage 
over  the  poor  because  of  their  greater 
power  to  have  Masses  said  for  them.  All 
souls  are  God's,  and  He  can  give  the  poor 
a  special  share  in  the  general  prayers  of  the 
Church,  and  supply  their  wants  in  a  thou- 
sand ways.  Riches  and  poverty  are  each, 
if  rightly  used,  the  means  of  salvation. 

III.  Names  for  different  kinds  of 
Masses. — (a)  High  Mass,  in  Latin  Missa 
solemnis,  is  Mass  with  incense,  music, 
the  assistance  of  deacon  and  sub-deacon, 
&c.  It  is  usually  sung,  when  there  is  a 
sufficient  number  of  clergy,  at  least  on 
Sundays  and  great  feasts.  Meratus  quotes 
the  term  Missa  alta  from  Rymer's 
''  Foedera,'*  and  the  term,  Mr.  Maskell 
says,  seems  to  have  been  chiefly  in  use  in 
England.  But  the  fact  that  in  Dutch 
and  Flemish  exactly  the  same  term — viz. 
JIooymis,.\s,  used,  while  the  Germans  have 
Hochamt,  surely  proves  that  Missa  alta 
must  have  been  familar  in  other  countries. 
"  Missa  dominica "  and  "  awea "  were 
medieval  names  for  Masses  of  special 
solemnity.  Under  solemn  Masses,  Me- 
ratus classes  Pontifical  Masses,  celebrated 
by  the  bishop  with  his  insignia,  and 
Papal  Masses,  celebrated  by  the  Pope  on 
certain  great  feasts  with  special  rites. 
The  Pontifical  Mass  (the  thing,  not  the 
name)  is  mentioned  in  a  Roman  Ordo 
supposed  to  belong  to  the  former  part  of 
the  eighth  century.  Meratus  refers  to  a 
treatise  on  Papal  Masses  by  Marcellus, 
archbishop  of  Corcyra — "Rituum  eccle- 
siasticorum  sive  S.  Caerimoniarum  S. 
Romanse  Ecclesise." 

(/3)  Loto  Mass :  Missa  hassa  in  French 
and  English  documents ;  Basse  Messe ; 
Missa  plana'in  the  "  Cajrimoniale  Episc." 
Mass  said  without  music,  the  priest  at 
least  saying,  and  not  singing,  the  Mass 
throughout. 


(y)  Missa  cantata  ;  also  called  media. 
A  Mass  sung,  but  without  deacon  and 
sub-deacon  and  the  ceremonies  proper  to 
High  Mass.  In  some  American  dioceses 
the  use  of  incense  is  permitted  at  such 
Masses. 

(S)  Missa  2^ublica  (sometimes  com- 
munis)  ;  a  Mass  to  which  the  faithful  of 
either  sex  are  admitted.  Hence  Gregory 
the  Great  prohibited  such  Masses  in 
monasteries.  From  the  sixth  century  at 
least,  nine  o'clock  was  the  time  fixed  for 
such  Masses.  The  decree  on  this  point 
attributed  to  Telesphorus  in  the  second 
century  is  of  course  a  forgery. 

(e)  Missa  pi'ivatn  (also  secreta,  fami' 
Maris,  peculiaris)  is  difficult  of  definition. 
Meratus  gives  one  explanation  which 
identifies  it  with  Low  Mass;  another 
according  to  which  it  is  any  Mass  at  which 
the  priest  alone  communicates.  It  would 
be  convenient  if  we  could  use  this  word 
or  had  another  word  to  describe  Mass 
which  the  priest  says  chiefly  for  his  own 
devotion  or  that  of  his  friends,  and  not 
to  satisfy  the  wants  of  a  parish,  college, 
(fcc.  In  all  private  Masses  the  priest 
must  have  at  lea-st  a  server  to  represent 
tlie  body  of  the  faithful.  Solitary  Masses 
were  once  celebrated  by  indulgence  or 
privilege  in  monasteries.  They  are  now 
strictly  forbidden. 

(^)  Mism parochialis ',  the  "Assembly 
of  the  faithful  in  which  they  offer  public 
prayers  and  sacrifice  by  the  ministry  of 
their  pastor,  and  learn  from  him  what 
they  should  do  and  not  do  for  their  own 
salvation  and  the  edification  of  their 
neighbours."  The  Council  of  Trent 
directs  bishops  to  warn  the  faithful  that 
they  should  hear  Mass  in  their  parish 
churches  at  least  on  Sundays  and  greater 
festivals. 

(rj)  Capitular  Ma«s  is  the  High  Mass 
on  Sundays  or  festivals  in  collegiate 
churches. 

{&)  Conventual  Mass  is  that  which 
"  the  rectors  of  cathedral  and  collegiate 
churches  are  bound  to  have  celebrated 
every  day  solemnly  and  with  music  after 
tierce."  It  must,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  be  applied  for  benefactors.  It  is 
also  known  among  regulars  as  Missa 
canonica,  tertia,  jmhlica,  communis,  major. 

(t)  Votive  Masses  are  those  which  do 
not  correspond  with  the  office  of  the  day, 
but  are  said  by  the  choice  (votum)  of  the 
priest.  On  all  days  except  Sundays, 
feasts  of  double  and  more  than  double 
rank,  and  certain  other  days  specially 
excepted,  a  priest  may  say  a  Votive  Mass 


see 


MASTER 


of  tlie  Trinity,  the  Angels,  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul,  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the  dead, 
&c.  &c.,  instead  of  that  assigned  for  the 
day. 

(k)  Missa  adventitia  or  manualis  is  a 
Mass  said  for  the  intention  of  a  person 
who  gives  an  alms ;  and  is  opposed  to  a 
Missa  leyata,  said  for  a  special  intention 
in  consequence  of  a  legacy  or  foundation. 
Thus  Missa  adventitia  or  manualis  is  a 
*' chance  "  Mass — one  which  "comes  to 
hand." 

(X)  The  Missa  praesanctijicatoimm  is 
really  not  a  Mass  at  all.  Some  account 
of  it  will  he  found  under  Holy  Week 
and  Lent.^  Still  more  remote  from  the 
true  idea  of  Mass  is  the  Missa  sicca,  a 
celebration  without  either  consecration  or 
communion,  very  common  in  the  middle 
ages  in  the  presence  of  the  sick,  at  sea, 
and  on  other  occasions  when  a  true  Mass 
could  not  be  said.  St.  Louis  of  France 
used  habitually  to  have  this  Missa  sicca 
said  at  sea.  Sometimes  it  was  celebrated 
with  all  the  ceremonies  of  High  Mass.  It 
is  now  fallen  out  of  use,  except  that 
persons  learning  the  ceremonies  of  Mass 
sometimes  say  a  Missa  sicca  before  ordi- 
nation. A  real  Mass  was  sometimes  said 
at  sea.  Gavautus  (Pars  I.  tit,  xx.  f.) 
disapproves  the  practice,  because  of  the 
danger  that  the  chalice  may  be  over- 
turned. Benedict  XIV.  ("De  Missa," 
lib.  iii.  cap.  6,  §  11)  holds  that  Mass 
cannot  be  said  at  sea,  even  if  there  seems 
to  be  no  danger  of  irreverence,  without 
an  Apostolic  iudult. 

MASTSR.     [See  Degrees.] 

ZvSASTER  OF  THE  SACREB 
PiiZijflLCE  (inagister  sacri  palatii).  This 
is  a  dignity  of  the  Roman  Curia  [Ceria 
Romana],  and  is  said  to  have  been  hrst 
conferred  on  St.  Dominic,  who,  observing 
that  the  attendants  of  cardinals,  while 
their  masters  were  transacting  business 
with  the  Pope,  for  want  of  employment 
used  to  indulge  in  idle  and  frivolous  pas- 
times, obtained  the  permission  of  Hono- 
rius  III.  to  form  them  into  a  class  and 
explain  the  liible  to  them.  Originating 
thus,  the  office  gradually  became  one  of 
greater  importance,  imtil  it  included  the 
right  of  nominating  the  preachers  before 
the  Pope  on  certain  great  festivals,  that 
of  acting  as  consultor  to  several  congre- 
gations, that  of  conferring  the  degree  of 
doctor  in  theology  and  philosophy,  with 

1  The  thirty-sixth  canon  of  JEAh'ic,  in  957, 
shows  that  one  office  of  the  Presanctitied  on 
Good  Friday  was  used  in  Eng  and  a  thousand 
years  ago  (Maskell,  Ancient  Lit.  p.  214). 


MAURISTS 

other  privileges,  as  well  as  the  duty  of 
examining  and  licensing  all  books  pub- 
lished in  Rome. 

mATRZCTTI^A  (dim.  of  matrix,  a  roll 
or  register).  The  roll  containing  the 
names  of  the  clergy  permanently  attached 
to  a  cathedral,  or  a  collegiate,  or  a  parish 
church  ;  also,  the  list  of  the  names  of  the 
students  regularly  admitted  into  any 
university. 

MATRICVI.ATZOM-  (matHcida). 
The  act  of  entering  the  name  of  a  student 
upon  the  matricula  or  roU  of  a  university, 
which  in  ordinary  cases  is  not  done  till 
the  candidate  for  admission  has  proved 
his  cjmpeteriCy  by  passing  an  examination 
in  certain  prescribed  subjects. 

TtlAJJ-SS-DlI      THURSDAY.  [See 

Holy  Week.] 

MAURISTS.  The  famous  congrtiga- 
tion  of  St.  Maur,  an  otishoot  of  the  Bene- 
dictine order  [Bbneoictixes},  took  its 
name  in  honour  of  the  favourite  disciple 
of  St.  Benedict  so  called,  who  extended 
the  order  greatly  in  France  in  the  sixth 
century,  and  founded  the  Abbey  of 
Glanfeuil,  called  after  him  St.  Maur-sur- 
Loire.  Hence,  in  these  northern  com> 
tries,  the  Benedictine  rule  was  regarded  aa 
having  him  for  its  author  almost  equally 
with  St.  Benedict  himself  j  cf.  Chau- 
cer's— 

"The  reule  of  seA'nt  Maure  or  of  seint  Beneyt. 
{ProL  a  T.) 

In  the  sixteenth  century,  much  relaxation 
having  crept  into  the  monastic  observance 
of  Benedictine  houses  in  the  South  of 
Eui'ope,  various  enterprises  of  reform  were 
set  on  foot  by  monks  in  whom  the  ancient 
fervour  still  glowed.  There  was  estab- 
hshed  in  Lorraine,  by  Dom  Didier  de  la 
Cour,  the  austere  congregation  of  St. 
Vanne.  Many  convents  in  France  de- 
sired to  embrace  this  reform,  and  it  was 
solemnly  adopted  at  the  monastery  of 
St.  Augustine  at  Limoges  in  1613.  Here 
and  at  other  French  houses  the  congre- 
gation of  St.  Vaune  planted  monks  who 
might  teach  their  principles  and  procedure. 
But,  Lorraine  being  at  that  time  politi- 
cally separate  from  France,  it  was  thought 
expedient  that  a  uev/  congr3gation  should 
b3  erected  for  the  latter.  This  being 
eUected  in  1018,  the  new  iustitute,  of 
which  Dom  BtSuard  was  the  chief  propa- 
gator, took  the  name  of  St.  Maur ;  aiid 
being  supported  by  Card,  de  Retz,  and 
afterwards  by  Richelieu,  rapidly  extended 
itself  among  the  Benedictine  convents  in 
France.     In  and  near  Paris  they  even- 


MAUKISTS 

tually  had  three  prreat  houses,  the  Blancs 
Manteaux,  St.  Germain  des  Pres,  and 
St.  Denis.  The  rule  was  at  first  observed 
in  its  i'ull  strictness  m  the  houses  which 
adhered  to  the  congregation;  and  in 
union  with  this  religious  movement  an 
enthusiasm  for  literature  and  learning 
developed  itself,  which  modified  all  the 
arrangements  adopted.  A  general,  ap- 
pointed for  life,  governed  the  whole  in- 
stitute, which,  at  the  time  wlien  Ilt^lyot 
wrote  (about  1 720),  compi  ised  one  hundred 
and  eighty  abbeys  and  priories,  grouped 
in  six  provinces.  In  every  province  there 
were  one  or  two  noviciates;  on  leaving 
which,  the  young  novice  was  admitted  to 
profession  in  some  monastery,  and  trained 
in  piety  and  ecclesiastical  knowledge 
duriiig  two  years.  After  that  he  was 
eno;'aged  for  five  years  in  the  study  of 
philosophy  and  theology,  and  finally  for 
one  year,  called  the  "  year  of  recollection," 
in  the  exercises  and  studies  designed  to 
fit  him  for  receiving  the  priesthood  at  the 
end  of  it.  If  we  may  judge  by  the  fruits, 
the  preparation  must  have  been  exceed- 
ingly well  fitted  to  train  men  for  success- 
fully engaging  in  the  pursuits  of  literature 
and  criticism.  Those  "  Benedictine 
editions  "  of  the  Fathers,  which  scholars 
Icnow  so  well  and  value  so  highly,  all 
came  from  members  of  the  congregation 
of  St.  Maur.  Among  their  colossal 
labours  may  be  mentioned  "  Gallia 
Christiana,"  the  "  History  of  French 
Literature,"  the  "  Recueil "  of  the  his- 
torians of  France,  Mabillon's  "Annals 
of  the  Benedictine  Order,"  and  "  Lives  of 
Benedictine  Saints,"  Tassin's  literary 
history  of  the  congregation,  Martene's 
"  Amplissima  Collectio,"  &c.,  &c.  The 
majority  of  their  own  countrymen  appear 
to  be  in  haste  to  forget  them  ;  but  the 
rest  of  the  world  will  not  soon  forget  the 
gentle,  pious,  genial,  indefatigable  Mabil- 
lon,  the  Venerable  Bede  of  these  later 
times ;  nor  Edmond  Martene,  that  model 
of  exact  and  thorough  research ;  nor 
Montfaucon,  whose  vast  erudition  illus- 
trated by  the  engraver's  art  the  whole 
field  of  Graeco-Roman  antiquity  and 
founded  the  science  of  archaeology;  nor 
Ruinart,  the  historian  of  the  Martyrs; 
not  to  speak  of  Rivet,  Bouquet,  Lami, 
Labat,  Luc  d'Achery,  Le  Nourri, 
M(^nard,  Martianay,  and  many  more, 
whose  names  all  suggest  priceless  services 
rendered  in  this  or  that  field  to  the  cause 
of  secular  and  sacred  learning. 

The  later  history  of  the  congregation, 
from  the  time  of  H^lyot  to  their  suppres- . 


MAY 


667 


sion  in  1792,  is  more  chequered.  Jan- 
senism insinuated  itself  into  some  of  the 
convents;  and  in  the  controversy  which 
grew  out  of  the  publication  of  the  Consti- 
tution "  Unigenitus"  (I7I3),  although  the 
general  and  the  superiors  remained  loyal 
to  the  Holy  See,  many  of  the  monks 
joined  the  party  of  opposition.  After 
some  time,  relaxations  of  the  rule,  such 
as  the  abandonment  of  the  old  habit, 
modification  of  the  prohibitions  respecting 
food,  and  the  curtailment  of  the  mid- 
night ottice,  were  demanded  in  many 
convents,  and  to  a  great  extent  conceded. 
The  pseudo-philosophic  spirit  that  was 
abroad  infected  even  a  congregation  which 
had  commenced  as  an  austere  reform  not 
two  centuries  before ;  and  if  Helyot's 
contiuuator  may  be  trusted,  a  Freemasons' 
lodge  was  established  at  Glanfeuil  in 
1775,  and  the  prior  of  the  Maurist 
monastery  there  became  the  venei'ahle  of 
the  lodge.  Nevei-theless,  the  congregation, 
though  it  no  longer  produced  minds  of  the 
calibre  of  those  which  adorned  it  at  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  continued  to  be 
devoted  to  learning  and  literature.  The 
"  Academy  of  Saumur,"  established  in  the 
abbey  of  that  town,  achieved  a  wide  re- 
putation. In  education  also  their  colleges 
and  schools  were  most  successful,  and 
attracted,  particularly  after  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  Jesuits,  pupils  of  the  best 
blood  of  France  ;  among  these  colleges 
were  Soreze  in  Burgundy — reopened  in 
our  times  by  Lacordaire — Tirou,  Pont 
Levoy,  St.  Germer,  and  Auxerre.  After 
1780  the  dissensions  which  had  long 
troubled  the  peace  of  the  congregation 
grew  more  violent,  and  would  probably 
have  led  to  its  dissolution  even  if  the 
Revolution  had  not  occurred,  and  turned 
them  out  of  their  monasteries.  (Ilelyot, 
continued  by  Badiche.) 

MAir.  In  recent  times,  a  custom  has 
arisen  of  addressing  public  prayer  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  decMng  her  altar  with 
flowers,  singing  hymns  in  her  honour,  &c., 
daily  during  the  month  of  May.  The 
prayers  used  are  from  books  of  popular 
devotion,  for  the  Church  does  not  recog- 
nise this  "  Month  of  May  "  by  any  change 
in  the  Mass  or  Ofhce.  However,  Pius 
VII.  in  a  brief,  March  21,  ]815,  granted 
an  indulgence  of  300  days  daily  to  those 
who  practise  this  devotion  at  home  or  in 
church,  and  a  plenary  indulgence  any- 
one day  in  the  month  on  condition  of 
confession,  communion,  and  prayer  for  the 
intention  of  the  Pope.  It  is  somewhat 
difficult  to  ascertain  where  or  when  the 


668 


MECHITARISTS 


celebration  of  the  month  of  May  was 
introduced  amonp:  us. 

BIECBZTA.RZSTS.  This  congrega- 
tion, wbieli  exists  for  the  purpose  of 
instructing"  and  improving  the  scattered 
members  of  the  Armenian  nation,  was 
founded  by  an  Armenian  named  Mechitar, 
who  was  born  in  1G76  at  Si  was,  the 
ancient  Sebastia,  a  town  near  the  source 
of  the  HalyS;  on  the  borders  of  Pont  us  and 
Cappadocia.  His  family  appears  to  have 
belonged  to  the  section  of  the  Armenian 
nation  which  has  alwaj'S  adhered  to  the 
Catholic  Church.  From  the  time  when 
he  was  ordained  priest,  in  1699,  the 
desire  of  labouring  for  the  temporal  and 
eternal  welfare  of  his  countrymen  pos- 
sessed itself  of  his  whole  nature.  He  went 
to  Constantinople,  and  formed  an  asso- 
ciation there  to  carrj"^  out  his  design  ;  but 
being  opposed  by  some  of  the  schismatic 
Armenians,  he  trnnsferred  his  operations 
to  Modon  in  the  Morea,  which  at  that 
time  belonged  to  the  Republic  of  Venice. 
Here  he  and  his  companions  worked  on 
for  fourteen  years;  but  in  1715,  war 
having  broken  out  between  the  Porte  and 
the  Kepublic,  Modon  was  taken  by  the 
Turks,  and  Mechitar's  convent  was  broken 
lip.  He  then  retired  to  Venice,  and 
obtained  from  the  Government  the  island 
of  San  Lazzaro,  which  lies  in  the  lagune 
between  ihe  Lido  and  the  city.  Here  he 
founded  that  Armenian  convent  which 
travellers  from  foreign  lands  never  fail  to 
visit  and  unanimously  and  cordially 
admire.  Literary  labours,  which  have 
for  their  object  to  perfect  and  regularise 
the  Armenian  language,  and  to  translate 
into  it  the  more  important  works  of  the 
various  European  literatures,  have  always 
been,  and  are  still,  zealously  prosecuted 
here  by  these  intelligent  Orientals. 
Branches  from  the  mother  house  have  been 
founded  at  Vienna  and  Trieste,  and  at 
several  places  in  Hungary.  The  All- 
geineine  Zeitung  (December  17,  1850), 
thus  writes  of  the  Mechitarists :  "  When 
one  takes  a  near  view  of  their  labours  at 
Vienna  and  Venice,  one  is  amazed  at  the 
powerful  induence  which  the  literary 
activity  of  these  learned  monks  exerts  on 
the  Armenian  nation  scattered  throughout 
the  East.  The  reviews,  the  books,  the 
numerous  translations  of  works  on  history, 
geography,  philology,  natural  science, 
and  voyages  and  travels,  which  are 
printed  in  the  Mechitarist  presses  of 
Vienna  and  Venice,  are  carried  far  beyond 
Persia  to  the  banks  of  the  Indus  and  the 
Ganges,  and  have  everywhere  called  forth 


MEDIATOR 

among  the  Armenians  the  desire  of  know- 
ledge and  a  tiiste  for  reading,  and  set  on 
foot  a  literary  movement  which  was 
before  entirely  dormant  in  a  people  till 
lately  essentially  and  exclusively  com- 
meicial."  (Art.  by  Gams  in  Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

IMLEBZATOH  {fxea-LTijs, "  sequester  Dei 
et  hominum  Christus"  in  TertuU,  ''  Adv. 
I  Prax."  27).   St.  Paul  (1  Tim.  ii.  5)  speaks 
of  Christ  as  the  "one  mediator  between 
I  God  and  man,"  and  it  is  plain  that  he 
'  vindicates   this   office   as  one   proper  to 
Christ  alone,  for  the  passage  runs ;  "There 
is  one  God,  one  mediator  also   between 
God  and  men,  a  man  Christ  Jesus,  who 
gave  Himself  also  a  ransom  for  all,"  &c. 
Christ  is  the  one  mediator,  because  He 
I  alone  could  draw  near  to  God  in  virtue  of 
I  merits  which  were   his  own,  and  inde- 
!  pendently   of  the   merits  of  any  beside 
Himself.      He   alone  could  oHer   a  pro- 
\  pitiation  intinite  in  value  for  the  sin  of 
;  man  and  obtain  in  return  all  the  gifts  of 
'  salvation.    This  He  did  as  man,  not  how- 
ever as  mere  man,  but  as  man  who  was  also 
God,  so  that  He  was  able  to  make  full  and 
!  perfect  atonement.     Further,  St.  Thomas 
I  points  out  (iii.  26,  2)  that  a  mediator,  from 
the  very  fact  that  He   ccmes   between, 
must  be  distant  from  each  extreme.    Now 
"  Christ  as  man  is  far  from  God  {clistat  a 
Deo)   in    nature  and  from   men   in   the 
dignity  of  grace  and  glory."     Again,  a- 
mediator's  office  is  to  join  the   two  ex- 
tremes, and  this  Christ  does  "  by  setting 
before  men  the  commandments  and  gifts 
of  God,  by  making  satisfaction   to  God 
for  them  and  by  interceding   ibr  them. 
Christ,  therefore,  as  man  is  most  truly 
called  mediator." 

The  Arian  error  on  this  point  lay  in 
their  belief  that  the  Word  in  his  super- 
human nature  came  between  God  and 
creatures.  Creatures  "could  not  bear  the 
hand  of  God,"  and  "  a  mediator  became 
necessary  that  things  generated  might 
come  to'be."  St.  Athanasius  ("  Defens. 
Fid.  Nic."  cap.  iii.  §  8)  shows  the  illogical 
character  of  the  error,  ibr  if  the  Son  is  a 
creature,  then  on  the  Arian  theory 
another  mediator  must  have  been  required 
t-o  create  Him ;  if  not  a  creature.  He  is 
true  God. 

The  Protestant  mistake  consists  m 
interpreting  St.  Paul's  words  as  if  they 
excluded  the  mediation  of  the  saints. 
Assuredly  there  is  only  one  mediator  of 
redemption,  and  the  saints,  says  Estius 
{ad  loc.),  are  "  mediators  in  an  imperfect 
way — i.e.  they  intercede  for  na  with  God, 


MEDITATION 

just  as  all  persons  do  who  in  prayer  com- 
mend our  salvation  to  God."  "  Whoever 
heseeches  God  for  others  constitutes 
himself  after  a  manner  a  medium  and  an 
intercessor  between  them  and  God,  thou>2h 
he  does  this  leaning  nnt  on  his  own  merits, 
but  on  another's — viz.  Christ's.  For  what- 
ever the  saints  seek  for  us  in  prayer,  they 
only  seek  through  Christ."  In  this  im- 
perfect sense  St.  Paul  calls  Moses  a 
«  mediator  "  (Galatians  iii.  1 9,  20).  This 
is  his  common  title  in  Jewish  writers  and 
his  mediatorial  otHce  clearly  appears,  e.//., 
Deut.  V  2,  6 — "  I  stood"^  between  the 
Lord  and  you ; "  and  the  doctrine  of 
angelic  mediation  is  asserted  in  a  beautiful 
passage  of  Elihu's  speech  (Job  xxxiii.  23) 

If  there  be  for  him  an  angel  to  mediate, 

One  of  a  thousand, 
To  (Icckre  to  mAU  what  is  right  for  him. 
Then  He  (God)  is  gracious  to  him  .and  says : 
"  Loose  liirn  from  going  down  to  the  pit  ; 
I  have  found  a  ransom." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  about  the 
meaning  of  the  word  italicised  (|*''7P). 
"  An  angel  interceding  with  God  on 
behalf  of  men,  a  /xeonVT;?,"  is  Gesenius' 
commentary.  So  Delitzsch,  "  Mittler," 
*•  mediator"  (he,  however,  understands  the 
"angel  of  the  covenant ").  The  Targum 
rendering  is  Paraclete,  advocate  (NtOvp!^?)- 
The  LXX  entirely  misses  the  sense ;  the 
Vulgate  has  ''loquers  pro  eo." 

We  may  remark  by  the  way  that  tlic 
doctrine  of  angelic  mediation  prominent 
in  the  book  of  Job  has  not,  so  fa^  as  we 
know,  received  due  atterjtiou  from  Catho- 
lics ;  observe  the  words  in  the  first  speech 
of  Eliphaz  (v.  1), 

Call.     Is  there  one  to  answer  thee  ? 
To  which  of  the  hoh'  ones  (i.e.  angels)  wilt  thou 
turn  ? 

On  which  passage  an  eminent  Protestant 
scholar  comments  thus :  "  They  (angels) 
appear  as  intercessors  for  men  with  God, 
brino-ing  men's  needs  before  Him,  and 
mediating  in  their  behalf.  This  work  is 
easily  connected  with  their  general  office 
of  labouring  for  the  good  of  men,  espe- 
cially of  the  pious  ;  still  it  is  here  for  the 
first  time  ascribed  to  them."  (Dillmanu, 
on  Job,  p.  44. 

MEDXTiLTIOliI'  A7TB  XMIEirTAIi 
PRAYER.  Meditation  in  its  narrower 
and  technical  sense  may  be  defined  as  the 
application  of  the  three  powers  of  the 
soul  to  prayer — the  memory  proposing  a 
religious  or  moral  truth,  the  uuderytanding 
considering  this  truth  in  its  application  to 
the  individual  who  meditates,  while  the 


MEDITATION 


669 


will  forms  practical  resolutions  and  desires 
grace  to  keep  them.  It  is  distinguished 
from  vocal  prayer,  because  in  meditation 
no  words  are  used,  and  from  the  higher 
forms  of  mental  prayer  (e.(/.  affective 
prayer,  contemplation,  &c,),  because  in 
these  there  is  no  methodical  use  of  the 
reason.  Mental  prayer  of  some  kind  must 
be  as  old  as  the  human  race,  but  it  was 
St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola  who  reduced  the 
rules  of  meditation  to  system,  and  con- 
tributed to  the  spread  of  meditation  at  a 
regular  hour  and  for  a  fixed  space  of  time. 
Thus  St.  Benedict  supposes  that  some  of 
his  monks  will  pray  after  the  vocal  prayers 
of  the  office  with  tears  and  application  of 
heart  (Rule,  c.  26,  quoted  by  Fleury, 
"H.  E."  xxxii.  15),  and  an  incident  in 
his  life  (c.  4,  Pleury,  lot:  cit.)  shows  that 
the  religious  used  to  pray  in  private  after 
the  chanting  of  the  psalms.  So  St. 
Columban  admonishes  his  religious  on  the 
duty  of  private  prayer  and  the  continual 
application  of  the  mind  to  God. 
("  Pcenit."  n.  19  ;  Fleury,  xxxv.  10). 

Modern  ascetical  writers  are  much 
more  precise,  and  in  all  communities  of 
men  and  women,  in  all  seminaries,  &c.,  a 
time  is  set  apart  dully  for  mental  prayer, 
which  is  imposed  by  rule.  The  practice 
of  mental  prayer  is  recommended  to  secu- 
lar priests,  and  also  to  lay  persons  if  they 
have  some  education  and  desire  to  lead 
a  perfect  life.  The  method  given  by  St. 
Ignatius  in  his  exercise  is  that  generally 
recommended  and  used,  at  least  till  the 
person  who  meditates  forms  a  method  of 
his  own.  The  best  exposition  of  it  is  by 
Father  Roothaan,  (leneval  of  the  Society, 
"De  Ratione  Meditandi "  (Rojure,  1871). 
The  Ignatian  method  has  been  simplified 
by  St.  Liguori,  and  the  Sulpicians  have  a 
method  of  their  own,  propounded  by  M. 
Olier ;  another  is  given  by  the  Carmelite 
John  of  Jesus-Mary.  Books  of  medita- 
tion without  number  have  appeared  during 
the  last  three  centuries,  and  we  cannot 
pretend  to  mention  even  the  principal 
names.  Da  Ponte,  Avancini,  Crasset, 
Lancicius,  Challoner,  Chaignon  are  those 
which  most  readily  occur  to  us. 

Benedict  XIV.,  in  his  work  on  Beati- 
fication, naturally  rebukes  the  rashness  of 
the  Jesuit  Hurtado,  who  maintained  that 
the  daily  and  formal  practice  of  mental 
prayer  was  necessary  for  salvation.  It 
is,  however,  a  great  and  powerful  help 
to  self-improvement  and  advance  in 
virtue. 

After  meditation  comes  affective 
prayer,  in  which  the  soul  goes  straight  to 


570 


MELCHITES 


God  by  affection  of  the  will  without  need 
of  formal  discourse  or  reasoning.  Next 
come  higher  degrees  of  prayer,  which  the 
experience  of  the  saints  proves  to  be  most 
real,  but  which  are  far  removed  from 
ordinary  experience.  Contemplation,  we 
are  told,  is  either  natural  or  infused  in 
an  extraordinary  manner  by  God,  and  in 
the  latter  the  soul  is  said  to  be  passive — 
i.e.  to  be  in  some  special  sense  moved  by 
God.  It  is  important  to  notice  that  in  the 
passive  prayer  '*free  will  exercises  itself 
in  the  whole  of  its  extent."  Catholic 
mystics  insist  on  this,  and  wholly  reject 
the  false  notions  of  absorption  in  the  Deity, 
loss  of  personality,  &&.  Bossuet  proves 
this  at  length  from  St.  Teresa,  St.  John 
of  the  Cross,  &c.  (See  his  "Instructions 
sur  les  Etats  d'Oraison,"  traits  1,  livr.  vii. 
n.  13.  This  work  makes  the  whole  matter 
comprehensible,  so  far  as  it  can  be  compre- 
hended, and  is  full  of  learning). 

BIEIaCHXTES.  The  word,  which 
comes  from  the  Semitic  word  (Heb. 
l]^p,  Syr.  Y^^^^,  Chald.  -q^p,  the  Arabic 

is  the  same)  for  king,  means  royalists. 
When  multitudes  of  Chrie<tians  in  the 
East  and  especially  in  Egypt  fell  away 
from  the  Church  after  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  and  clung  to  the  Monophysite 
creed,  the  Church  of  Constantinople  and 
the  Byzantine  Court  remained  orthodox, 
and  the  Emperors  exerted  their  influence 
on  the  Catholic  side.  Hence  the  name  of 
Melchites  was  given  to  those  Christians 
in  the  patriarchates  of  Alexandria,  An- 
tioch,  and  Jerusalem,  who  held  to  the 
definition  of  Chalcedon.^  They  were  of 
course  closely  connected  with  the  patri- 
archate of  Constantinople,  they  adopted 
its  liturgy,  and  when  Constantinople  was 
severed  by  schism  from  the  Catholic 
(/hurch,  they  lapsed  also.  In  fact,  both 
from  a  dogmatic  and  liturgical  point  of 
view,  the  Melchites  are  simply  Greeks 
living  in  Egypt  and  Syria,  And  just  as 
Jacobites,  Copts,  or  Nestorians,  when 
they  return  to  the  Church,  retain  their 
ancient  rites,  so  the  Melchites  who  have 
recovered.  Catholic  unity  retain  the 
liturgies  of  St.  Chrysostom  and  Basil, 
and  the  canon  law  to  which  they  have 
])een  accustomed.  Silbernagl,  writing  in 
1865,  reckons  the  number  of  Catholic 
Melchites  at  about  35,000. 

The  Melchite  or  Greek  Catholic  Church 

'  On  the  same  principle  tlie  orthodox  called 
the  Monothelites  of  Mount  Lebanon  "  maradaei," 

fr.;m  ?j!aD,  "  to  rebel." 


MELCHITES 

of  Antioch  dates  from  1686,*  when  the 
Greek  Patriarch  Athanasius  IV.  of 
Antioch  submitted  to  the  Pope.  From 
Antioch  the  Catholic  Melchites  spread  to 
the  patriarchates  of  Alexandria  and 
Jerusalem. 

The  Patriarch  of  Antioch  is  chosen 
by  the  bishops  of  the  patriarchate.  The 
election,  however,  must  be  examined  and 
approved  by  Propaganda  and  confirmed 
by  the  Pope.  If  the  election  is  pronounced 
invalid,  the  Pope  nominates,  and  the  Pope 
may  appoint,  if  necessary,  a  coadjutor 
with  right  of  succession.  The  Patriarch, 
who  is  subject  to  Propaganda,  lives  at 
AinTeraz,  on  the  Lebanon,  in  the  seminary 
for  priests.  The  bishops  are  elected  by 
the  clergy  of  the  diocese,  the  right  of  con- 
firmation and  consecration  resting  with 
the  Patriarch.  The  bishops  may  be 
taken  from  the  secular  clergy,  if  un- 
married. The  Patriarch  administers  his 
own  diocese  of  Damascus  through  a  vicar. 
Subject  to  the  Patriarch  are  the  Arch- 
bishops of  Aleppo,  Diarbelrir,  Beyrouth, 
Bosra,  and  the  Bishops  of  Horns  or  Emesa, 
Baalbek,  Tripolis,  Zahleh  and  Ferzid. 
The  secular  priests,  who  are  educated  at  a 
seminary  on  Mount  Lebanon,  may  con- 
tinue to  live  as  married  men  if  married 
before  receiving  holy  orders. 

A  Greek  Patriarch  of  Alexandria  made 
his  submission  and  received  the  pallium 
from  Clement  XL  in  1713,  but  he  had  no 
Catholic  successors,  and  the  Alexandrian 
patriarchate  is  administered  by  the  vicar 
of  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch.  This  vicar 
is  a  bishop  in  pai'tihus  and  lives  at  Cairo. 
There  are  two  Greek  Catholic  churches 
at  Cairo,  one  at  Rosetta,  a  hospice  at 
Damietta.  Another  bishop  in  partihus, 
also  a  vicar  of  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch, 
administers  the  Patriarchate  of  Jeru- 
salem. Sur  (Tyre)  and  Saida  (Sidon)  are 
archbishoprics,  Jean  dAcre  a  bishopric. 

The  Melchite  religious  follow  the  rule 
of  St.  Basil,  with  modifications.  The 
monks  are  divided  into  two  congregations. 
The  congregation  of  St.  Salvator  was 
founded  in  1715,  and  is  ruled  by  an 
abbot-general,  who  lives  at  Deir-el-Muk- 
hallis,  a  few  miles  north-east  of  Sidon. 
There  are  500  monks,  eight  monasteries, 
and  twenty-one  hospitia.  This  congrega- 
tion has  a  house  at  Home — Sta.  Maria  in 
Carinis.  Most  of  the  parishes  are  supplied 
by  these  monks.  The  other  congregation, 
of  St.  John  Baptist  (''  ISfar  Johanna-el- 
Shuweu' "),  erected  early  in  the  eighteenth 

^  Or  rather  1720,  when  Ignatius,  who  had 
resigned,  was  restored  to  his  see. 


MELETIAN  SCHISM 

century,  has  also  a  hospice  at  Rome — Sta. 
Maria  in  Dominica,  detta  la  Navicella. 
This  congregation,  which  is  recruited  from 
Aleppo  and  Lebanon,  was  subdivided,  by 
authority  of  Gregory  XVI.  in  1832,  into 
the  congTegation  of  Aleppo,  with  four 
monasteries  and  two  hospices,  and  that  of 
the  Baladites,  with  the  same  number  of 
monasteries  and  hospices,  besides  the 
hospice  at  Rome.  At  this  last,  however, 
the  procui'ators  of  both  congregations 
reside. 

There  are  three  convents  of  nuns,  one 
belonging  to  each  of  the  three  congrrega- 
tions  just  enumerated.  (Silbernagl,  " Kir- 
chen  des  Orients.") 

MEXiETlAzr  SCHISM.  The  name 
is  equivocally  applied  to  two  entirely 
different  transactions. 

I.  Schism  of  Meletivs  of  Egypt. — An 
admirable  article  by  Ilefele  '  tlirows  light 
on  this  obscure  and  complicated  aifair,  in 
which  the  prmcipai  actor  figures  to  dis- 
advantage m  the  writings  of  one  saint, 
and  to  advantage  in  those  of  another. 
Meletius  was  bishop  of  liycopolis  in  the 
Thebaid.  At  the  time  of  the  persecution 
of  Diocletian,  when  many  of  the  Egyptian 
bishops  were  in  prison,  and  Peter,  the 
Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  absent  from  his 
«ee  (perhaps  he  was  in  hiding),  Meletius 
took  upon  himself  to  ordain  priests  in 
dioceses  other  than  his  own — a  thing 
clearly  against  the  canons — and,  going  to 
Alexandria,  associated  hitrself  with  Arius, 
then  a  layman,  and  ordained  priests  and 
episcopal  visitors  on  his  own  authority, 
without  reference  to  the  absent  patriarch. 
This  conduct  naturally  occasioned  a 
schism,  which,  begiiming  about  304,  was 
not  finally  extinguished  till  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century.  It  is  not  known  in 
what  y^ear  Meletius  died.  St.  Athanasius 
mentions  Meletius  and  the  Meletians  in 
several  places  of  his  writings,  and  says 
that  the  former  sacrificed  to  idols  during 
the  persecution.  Hefele  thinks  that  with 
regard  to  this  Athanasius  must  have  been 
misled  by  a  false  report,  since  it  is  in- 
credible that  St.  Epiphanius  should  have 
spoken  in  terms  of  commendation  of 
Meletius  if  he  had  known  hioi  to  have 
consented  to  this  act  of  weakness.  The 
Meletian  schismatics  joined  the  Arians  in 
aU  their  persecution  of  Athanasius.  On 
the  other  hand,  St.  Epiphanius,  in  his 
work  on  Heresies,  tells  the  story  of  the 
schism  from  a  quite  different  point  of  view. 
It  arose,  according  to  him,  out  of  a  differ- 

^  In  Wetzer  and  ^Yelte. 


MENTAL  RESERVATION     57\ 

ence  of  opinion  between  the  Patriarch 
Peter  and  Meletius,  on  the  subject  of  the 
*'  lapsi,"  the  former  taking  a  lax  view, 
and  being  willirig  to  consent  to  their  re- 

Elacement  in  all  their  functions  on  terms 
y  which  the  zealous  piety  of  Meletius 
was  scandalised.  Hefele  thinks  it  probable 
that  this  version  of  the  schism  was  given 
to  St.  Epiphanius  in  his  youth  by  some 
Meletian  priests  of  Eleutheropolis,  where 
Meletius  is  stated  to  have  ordained  clergy. 
The  Council  of  Nicsea  (325)  took  the 
matter  in  hand,  and  endeavoured,  by 
means  of  a  synodal  letter,  to  dispose  of  it ; 
but  the  cunning  of  the  Meletians  enabled 
them  to  elude,  to  a  great  extent,  the  con- 
ditions which  it  was  sought  to  impose 
upon  them. 

II.    Schism  of  Meletius  of  Antioch. — 

See  EUSTATHIANS. 

KCEMEN-TO.      [See  DiPTTCHS.] 

MEMORZA.  (1)  A  shrine  or  reli- 
quary containing  relics  of  some  martyr  or 
martyrs,  which  in  primitive  times  it  was 
customary  to  carry  in  procession.  St. 
Augustine,  in  the  twenty-sbcond  book  of 
the  "  De  Civitate  Dei  "  (ch.  8),  speaks  of 
the  "  Memory  "  of  the  *'  Twenty  Martyrs  " 
at  Hippo,  and  mentions  several  instances 
of  "  Memories  "  of  the  protomartyr  St. 
Stephen,  belonging  to  diflerent  churches, 
being  carried  in  procession  by  the  respec- 
tive bishops,  and  oecoming  the  occasion  ol 
n)iraculous  cures.  "  Lucillus,  bishop  of 
Sinita,"  he  says,  "  while  carry  ing  this  holy 
burden  {pia  sarcind)  was  cured  of  an 
infirmity  under  which  he  had  long  la- 
boured." 

Abuses  having  arisen  through  the 
eagerness  to  obtain  relics,  a  law  of  Theo- 
dosius  ("Ood.  Theod."  ix.  17,  7)  ordered 
that  none  should  buy  or  dismember  the 
bodies  of  martyrs,  or  remove  them  from 
place  to  place.'  This  law  cannot  have 
been  in  force  in  Africa  at  the  time  when 
St.  Augustine  wrote  as  above. 

(2)  A  church  or  chapel  built  in  memcn'y 
of  a  martyr  or  confessor,  and  often  over 
his  tomb.  Such  a  chapel  usually,  if  not 
always,  contained  relics  of  the  martyr. 

MESTOX.OGY  (Gr.  fx{]v).  A  monthly 
register.  By  this  name  the  Greeks  desig- 
nated the  calendars  inscribed  with  the 
names,  primarily  of  martyrs,  but  after- 
wards of  confessors  also,  which  in  the 
Latin  Church  were  called  Martyrologies. 
(See  Martyrologt.) 

MENTAI.  RESERVATZOHr  or  re- 
striction (j-estrictio  mentalis)  occurs  where 

'  Robertson,  Hist,  of  the  Christian  Church, 
i.864. 


572    MENTAL  RESERVATION 

a  person  uses  words  in  a  sense  other  than 
that  which  is  obvious  and  which  he 
knows  they  are  likely  to  convey.  Thus, 
a  man  who  tells  a  beggar  that  he  has  no 
money  in  his  pocket,  meaning  that  he  has 
no  money  to  give  the  beggar,  uses  mental 
reservation.  He  inserts  mentally  a  quali- 
fication or  restriction  which  is  not  ex- 
pressed. 

If  the  restriction  is  of  such  a  nature 
that  it  cannot  be  perceived  by  the  hearer, 
then  the  person  who  uses  it  certainly  sins. 
So  all  Catholics  are  bound  to  hold.  (See 
Prop.  20,  27,  28,  among  those  con- 
demned by  Innocent  XI.) 

On  the  other  hand,  almost  all  theolo- 
gians hold  that  it  is  sometimes  lawful  to 
use  a  mental  reservation  which  may  be, 
though  very  likely  it  will  not  be,  under- 
stood fiom  the  circumstances.  Thus,  a 
priest  may  deny  that  he  knows  a  crime 
which  he  has  only  learnt  through  sacra- 
mental confession.  A  man  may  deny  a 
crime  he  has  committed  if  interrogated 
and  forced  to  answer  by  one  who  has  no 
authority;  or,  again,  according  to  St. 
Liguori,  if  asked  to  lend  money,  he  may 
equivocate,  and  say  "  I  wish  I  had  it." 

But  it  must  be  remembered  that,  as 
is  allowed  on  aU  hands,  just  cause  is 
needed  to  make  equivocation  lawful.  A 
habit  of  equivocation  is  detestable  to  all 
good  men,  and  the  practice  of  perfect 
Bimplicity'and  straightforwardness  is  not 
only  estimable  and  engaging,  and  virtuous, 
but  it  is  also  the  wisest  course. 

Next,  St.  Liguori  says  plainly  that  all 
equivocation  is  sinful  when  a  man  is  put 
on  his  oath  by  just  authority ;  that  it  is 
utterly  wicked  for  tradesmen  to  affirm  on 
oath  that  their  goods  cost  more  than  they 
really  did,  and  then  shelter  themselves 
under  equivocation  ;  that  no  equivocation 
must  be  used  in  contracts,  or  generally 
in  matters  concerning  the  interests  of 
others. 

rurther,  many  even  of  the  strongest 
opponents  of  mental  reservation  would 
allow  equivocation  in  extreme  cases :  e.g. 
few  would  say  that  it  was  unlawful  for  a 
man  to  equivocate  if  a  burglar  asked  him 
where  his  money  was,  or  how  much  he 
had ;  or  if  a  murderer  asked  him  where 
he  could  find  his  intended  victim.  It  may 
be  mentioned  that  St.  Liguori  makes  some 
difficulty  about  letting  a  servant  say  his 
master  is  not  at  home,  when  this  is  not 
true  in  its  obvious  sense.  Yet  this  prac- 
tice is  common  in  England.  If  we  admit, 
as  many  Protestant  authorities  have  done, 
that  equivocation  is  in  some  cases  allow- 


MERIT 

able,  it  is  hard  to  settle  what  these  cases 
are.  No  doubt,  equivocation  is  always  an 
evil,  though  not  always  a  sin,  and  the  less 
of  it  there  is  the  better.  With  regard  to 
St.  Liguori's  judgment  on  particular 
cases,  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  no 
Catholic  is  bound  to  follow  him  through- 
out, and  Cardinal  Newman  has  recorded 
his  own  dissent  from  St.  Liguori's  teach- 
ing on  this  matter.  In  some  of  his 
decisions  on  mental  reservation  there  is 
high  theological  authority  on  the  other 
side. 

We  may  add  that  Catholic  theologians 
justify  the  lawfulness  of  equivocation  by 
an  appeal  to  John  vii.  8,  where  our  Lord 
says,  "  I  go  not  up  to  this  feast "  ("  Taber- 
nacles '■).  The  argument  cannot  be  pressed 
against  Protestants,  for  the  weight  of 
documentary  evidence  favours  another 
reading—"  I  go  not  up  yet  to  this  feast." 
(See  St.  Liguori,  "  Theol.  Moral."  lib.  iv. ; 
and  Cardinal  Newman,  "  History  of  my 
Religious  Opinions.") 

nXBRCV,  SPZRZT1TAI.  AKB  COR- 
PORAI.  -WORKS  OF.  In  the  middle 
ages  seven  great  works  of  mercy  to  the 
souls  and  bodies  of  our  fellow-men  were 
enumerated,  and  called  the  Spiritual  and 
Corporal  Works  of  Mercy.  The  classifica- 
tion constantly  appears  in  works  of  art, 
and  is  retained  in  modern  catechisms. 
The  Seven  Works  of  Corporal  Mercy  are,  to 
feed  the  hungry,  give  drink  to  the  thirsty, 
to  clothe  the  naked,  visit  prisoners,  visit 
the  sick,  harbour  strangers,  bury  the 
dead;  of  Spiritual  Mercy,  to  convert 
sinners,  instruct  the  ignorant,  counsel 
the  doubtful,  console  the  affiicted,  bear 
wrongs  patiently,  forgive  injuries,  pray 
for  the  living  and  the  dead.  They  are 
all  comprised  in  two  rude  hexameters — 

Visito,  poto,  cibo,  redimo,  tego,  colligo,  condo. 

Consule,  carpe,  doce,  solare,  remitte,  fer,  ora. 

MERIT,  in  its  strict  theological 
sense,  is  a  quality  which  belongs  to  the 
moral  actions  of  free  and  responsible 
agents  and  makes  these  actions  worthy 
of  reward.  Merit  implies  a  real  propor- 
tion between  the  work  done  and  the 
reward  given.  Thus,  a  man  who  labours 
well  in  the  fields  deserves,  or  merits,  his 
day's  wages  from  the  master  who  hired 
him ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  a  beggar 
who  comes  to  receive  a  promised  alms 
cannot  be  said  to  earn  or  merit  it.  To 
put  it  in  another  way,  a  man  who  merits 
can  claim  his  reward  as  a  matter  of  jus- 
tice, but  one  who  has  been  promised  a 
reward  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  work 
done  may  appeal  to  the  fidelity  and  kind- 


MERIT 

ness,  but  not,  strictly  speaking,  to  the 
justice  of  the  donor.  In  order  to  merit, 
a  man  must  be  free,  since  he  cannot  claim 
reward  for  a  service  which  he  has  no' 
power  to  withhold,  and  which,  therefore, 
is  not  his  to  give  ;  what  he  does  must, 
obviously,  be  good ;  it  must  be  done  in 
the  service  of  the  person  who  is  to  confer 
the  reward,  and  the  latter  must  have 
agreed  to  accept  the  work  done  and  to 
reward  it,  since  nobody  is  bound  to  pay 
for  work,  however  excellent,  which  he 
does  not  want.  We  have  been  speaking 
of  merit  in  a  sense  strict  and  deiinite,  but 
at  the  same  time  general — of  merit  as  it 
may  exist,  e.g.,  between  man  and  man; 
and  so  far,  we  suppose,  there  is  no  matter 
for  dispute  between  Catholics  and  Protest- 
ants. 

The  controversy  begins,  however, 
when  we  pass  from  the  nature  of  merit  to 
a  consideration  of  the  cases  in  which  it 
exists.  Protestants  admitted  that  man 
might  merit  reward  from  his  brother  man 
and  that  Christ  merited  eternal  life  for 
Himself  and  for  all  who  believe  in  Him 
from  the  hand  of  God.  But  the  Re- 
formers denied  that  the  good  works  of  the 
just  merited  an  eternal  reward,  and  they 
were  bound  in  consistency  to  do  so,  for 
they  were  committed  to  the  theory  that 
men  were  justified  solely  by  the  merits  of 
Christ  imputed  to  them  or  reckoned  to 
their  account,  and  they  rejected  the 
Catholic  doctrine  that  God  accepted 
sinners,  because  they  were  renewed  within 
by  the  grace  of  Christ,  that  He  counted 
them  just  and  good  because  they  really 
had  become  just  and  good,  because  He 
Himself  had  washed  and  cleansed  them 
and  reformed  their  nature  more  wonder- 
fully than  He  had  formed  it  at  the  first. 
Hence  Luther  and  Melanchthon  held  that 
the  best  works  of  good  men  were  actually 
sinful — nay,  that  but  for  God's  mercy 
they  were  mortal  sins.  "Every. work  of 
the  just  man,"  Luther  writes,  "is  damn- 
able and  a  mortal  sin,  if  it  be  judged  by 
God's  judgment."  Melanchthon  is  just 
as  decided.  "  Works  which  follow  justi- 
fication, although  they  proceed  from  the 
Spirit  of  God,  who  has  taken  possession 
of  the  heart  of  justified  persons,  yet  be- 
cause done  in  the  flesh  which  remains 
unclean  are  themselves  also  unclean." 
"We  have  taufi^ht  that  we  are  justified 
by  faith  alone,  that  our  works,  that  our 
strivings  are  nought  but  sin."  Calvin, 
though  his  language  is  more  moderate, 
maintains  the  same  thesis  in  substance — 
viz.  that  the  "  good  works  of  the  faithful 


MERIT 


573 


lack  such  perfect  purity  as  can  endure  the 
sight  of  God,  and  are  in  a  manner  de- 
filed.' ^  In  diametrical  and  conscious 
opposition  to  this  estimate,  the  Council 
of  Trent  (sess.  vi.  De  Justif.  canon  32) 
declares  that  a  man  if  already  justified, 
"  through  such  good  works  as  he  does 
by  the  grace  of  God  and  merit  of  Christ 
whose  living  member  he  is,  truly  merits 
increase  of  grace,  eternal  life,  and  the 
actual  attainment  of  eternal  life,  if  he 
dies  in  grace."  This  doctrine  is  limited 
in  several  ways,  and  it  will  be  better  to 
state  these  modifications  and  append  the 
grounds  of  the  Tridentine  doctrine  as  we 
proceed.  In  great  measure,  indeed,  the 
statement  suffices  to  justify  the  doctrine. 

(1)  The  just  have  no  claim  for  are- 
ward  apart  from  God's  merciful  promise. 
This  is  plain  from  the  very  nature '  of 
merit  as  we  have  already  seen.  Even 
from  other  men,  we  cannot  in  strict 
justice  clrtim  a  reward  for  services  done, 
unless  they  have  expressly  or  by  implica- 
tion agreed  to  remunerate  them.  But 
besides  this  we  cannot  profit  God  by  our 
service.  He  is  all- wise  and  almighty.  His 
bliss  is  complete  in  itself,  and  He  has  no 
need  of  us  and  of  our  works.  Besides, 
our  service  is  already  due  to  God  by 
other  titles.  A  slave  looks  for  no  reward 
from  his  master,  and  any  recompense  he 
may  receive  comes  to  him  from  liber- 
ality and  not  from  justice.  Thus,  men 
condemned  to  penal  servitude,  which  is  a 
kind  of  slavery,  work  hard,  but  they  have 
no  claim  at  law  for  wages.  But  no  slave 
can  belong  to  his  master  so  absolutely  as 
man  to  his  Creator.  Our  existence  is 
God's  gift:  his  strength  supports  us  at 
each  instant ;  his  we  are,  and  Him  we 
have  to  serve.  There  would  have  been 
no  injustice  had  God  called  us  to  sei-ve 
Him  without  reward,  and  our  service  at 
the  best  would  be  imperfect.  Hence  our 
Lord  reminds  us  of  the  manner  in  which 
God  might  have  dealt  with  us.  A  slave. 
He  says,  has  to  work  in  the  fields,  and 
when  he  comes  home  he  has  to  prepare 
his  master's  meal  and  take  his  own  after- 
wards. "  Does  he  thank  that  servant 
because  he  did  the  things  he  was  bidden  ?" 
So  you  also,  when  ynu  do  all  that  you 
are  bidden,  say,  "  We  are  unprofitable 
servants :  we  have  done  what  we  were 

1  The  quotations  are  taken  from  MOhler's 
Sj/mbolik,  kap.  iii.  §  21,  §  22.  His  references 
are  to  Luther,  Assert.  Omn.  Art,  0pp.  torn.  ii. 
fol.  325  b;  Melanchthon,  Loc.  Theohg.  pp. 
108,  158;  Calvin,  Opusc.  p.  430;  7n6ti<.  ii.  8, 
§  59,  iii.  4,  §  28. 


674 


IVIERIT 


bound  to  do  "  (Luc.  xvii.  7  seq.).  So,  we 
say,  G(»d  might  have  dealt  with  us,  but  as 
a  matter  of  fact  He  has  not  done  so.^ 
He  has  graciously  promised  to  reward 
our  good  works  with  life  eternal,  and 
since  the  promise  has  been  made,  since 
further  there  is  a  real  proportion  between 
the  work  done  and  the  reward  given,  the 
reward  is  merited  or,  in  other  words, 
God's  justice,  no  less  than  his  fidelity  to 
his  promise  is  the  warrant  that  it  will  be 
given.  Scripture  speaks  on  this  point  as 
plainly  as  the  Council  of  Trent.  "For 
the  rest,  there  is  reserved  for  me  the 
crown  of  justice  which  the  Lord  will 
give  in  that  day,  the  just  judge  "  (2  Tim. 
iv.  8).  Whatever  the  exact  sense  of  "  the 
crown  of  justice  "  may  be,  the  last  words 
"  the  just  judge  "  leave  no  room  to  doubt 
that  St,  Paul  expected  a  reward  from  the 
justice  of  God.  So  again  in  Hebrews  vi. 
10,  the  words  are,  "  God  is  not  unjust  to 
forget  your  work  and  labour  of  love,"  and 
the  justice  consists  in  giving  the  reward 
of  "  salvation,"  as  the  preceding  verse 
proves.  The  same  truth  follows  from  the 
reiterated  assurance  that  "  God  will 
render  to  every  man  according  to  his 
works  "  (Rom,  ii.  6). 

(2)  It  is  only  works  done  in  the 
friendship  and  by  the  grace  of  God  which 
merit  eternal  life.  St.  Paul  constantly 
asserts  that  no  man  can  be  justified  by 
the  works  of  the  law.  In  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans  he  shows  that  the  heathen 
(i.  18-32)  and  the  Jews  (ii.  1-29)  were 
alike  under  condemnation  before  God, 
that  justification  came  by  the  Gospel  and 
throucrh  faith  (iii.  21-26),  and  that  all 
boasting  is  thereby  excluded  (iii.  27-31). 
In  1  Cor.  xiii.  we  have  the  general  state- 
ment, "  If  I  give  my  body  to  be  burnt  and 
have  not  charity,  it  profits  me  nothing." 
The  contrary  doctrine — viz.  that  man 
"  can  be  justified  by  his  own  works  done 
through  the  strength  of  human  nature  or 
the  teaching  of  the  law,"  is  anathematised 
by  the  Council  of  Trent  {loc.  cit.  canon  1). 
The  work  of  our  salvation  begins  wholly 
from  the  grace  of  God  and  the  co-opera- 
tion of  our  free  will ;  it  springs  from  grace, 
not  from  merit,  from  the  divine  mercy, 
not  from  the  divine  justice.  God  moves 
the  sinner  to  believe  and  to  repent,  and 
pours  the  Holy  Ghost  and  divine  love  into 
his  heart,  not  because  of  any  merits  which 
Ho  sees  in  him,  but  because  of  his  own 

1  Those  who  quote  Luc.  xvii.  7  aprainst  the 
Catholic  doctrine  forget  that  Christ  promises  to 
do  (Luc.  xii.  37)  the  very  thing  which  the 
master  in  the  parable  (Luc.  xvii.)  does  not  do. 


MERIT 

infinite  compassion.  But  when  the 
sinner  has  passed  from  death  to  life,  the 
least  work  done  by  Gods  grace  merits 
heaven.  Each  is  the  fruit  of  Clirist's 
Passion,  each  is  done  and  can  only  be 
done  by  those  "  who  have  received  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God."  The  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  heart  is  a  "fountain  of  water 
springing  up  to  eternal  life  "  (John  iv. 
13).  The  smallest  work  of  mercy,  if 
done  by  Christ's  indwelling  grace,  is  from 
that  very  fact  due  to  a  principle  which 
utterly  transcends  all  earthly  reward,  and 
which  therefore  justly  claims  recompense 
in  heaven.  Hence  St.  Paul  boldly  tells 
the  Colossians  (i.  10)  to  "  walk  worthily 
of  the  Lord,"  and  the  Thessalonians 
(Ep.  ii.  1,  6),  so  to  sutler  as  to  be 
"counted  worthy"  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  To  deny  the  merit  of  the  just  is  to 
detract  from  the  merit  of  Christ  in  whose 
'  strength  they  act. 

I  Nor  can  the  doctrine  of  merit,  so 
:  understood,  fail  to  prove  a  powerful  in- 
'  centive  to  humility  and  '  gratitude. 
"  What  merits  of  his  own,"  St.  Augustine 
asks  (Ep.  119,  al.  104)  "  has  [the  sinner] 
set  free,  to  boast  of,  since  had  he  received 
according  to  his  merits,  he  would  have 
been  condemned  ?  Are  there  therefore  no 
merits  of  the  just  ?  Evidently  there  are, 
because  they  are  just.  But  there  were 
no  merits  in  order  that  they  might  become 
just,  for  they  were  made  just  when  they 
were  justified;  but  as  the  Apostle  says, 
'  Justified  freely  by  his  grace.' "  Aiid 
further  on  in  the  same  epistle,  "  What 
merit,  then,  can  there  be  in  man,  anterior 
to  grace  and  on  account  of  which  he  can 
receive  grace,  seeing  that  grace  alone 
works  in  us  all  our  good  deserts,  and 
seeing  that  God,  when  He  crowns  our 
merits,  crowns  what  are  nothing  else  than 
his  own  gifts.  For  as  from  the  begin 
ning  of  faith  we  obtained  mercy,  not 
because  we  were  faithful,  but  in  order 
that  we  might  be  faithful,  so  in  the  end, 
when  life  will  be  eternal,  He  will  crown 
us,  as  it  is  written,  *  in  pity  and  in  mercy.' 
So  not  in  vain  do  we  sing  to  God,  '  And 
his  mercy  will  go  before  me,'  '  And  his 
mercy  will  follow  me.'  Whence  also 
even  eternal  life,  which,  endless  itself, 
will  be  attained  at  the  end,  and  therefore 
is  given  after  merits,  is  itself  too  called  a 
grace,  because  these  same  merits  of  which 
it  is  the  reward  have  not  been  done  by  us 
of  our  sufficiency,  but  have  been  done  in 
us  by  gi*ace,  because  it  (eteraal  life)  is 
given  freely,  not  that  it  is  not  given  in 
consequence  of  merits,  but  because  the 


MERIT 

merits  to  which  it  is  given  are  themselves 
a  gift." 

.  Again,  the  Catholic  doctrine  is  utterly 
opposed  to  the  legalism  which  expects 
measure  for  measure,  so  much  reward  in 
heaven  for  so  much  external  service  on 
earth.  There  is  a  Jewish  saying,  "  God 
did  not  reveal  the  reward  attached  to 
each  commandment,  for  had  He  done  so, 
man  would  keep  some  and  neglect  others," ' 
It  could  not  have  arisen  among  Christians. 
To  them  *^love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law."  The  love  of  God  above  all,  and  of 
men  for  his  sake — that  is  the  one  indis- 
pensable work ;  and  of  itself,  though  all 
external  works  may  be  absent,  it  merits 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  He  who  loves 
has  passed  from  death  to  life;  external 
good  works  can  claim  a  reward  so  far  and 
so  far  only  as  they  spring  from  love,  are 
the  expression  of  love,  serve  to  intensify 
love. 

It  is  not  worth  while  to  show  at 
length  that  the  Fathers  taught  the 
Catholic  doctrine  on  grace  and  justifica- 
tion, for  the  Reformers  were  conscious 
that  they  could  not  appeal  successfully  to 
tradition,  and  they  professed  to  restore  a 
belief  contained  indeed  in  Scripture,  but 
forgotten  even  from  early  times  in  the 
Chuich.  We  may,  however,  refer  the 
reader  to  (Clem.  Rom.  1  Ep.  30,  cf.  32 ; 
Ep.  Barnab.  19 ;  Iren.  iv.  30,  3 ;  TertulL 
*'  Scorp."  \2).  It  was  only  the  Gnostics 
in  the  first  ages  of  the  Church  who 
denied  the  merit  of  good  works.  (See 
Iren.  i.  23,  3,  i.  25,  5).  It  is  more  im- 
portant to  note  that  merit  is  sometimes 
used  in'  a  looser  sense,  and  that  tlieo- 
logians  recognise  an  inferior  or  imperfect 
merit — viz.  "  Meritum  de  Congruo," 
merit  of  congruity.  This  latter  is  not, 
properly  speaking,  merit  at  all,  it  is  a 
right  founded  in  friendship  and  liberality, 
not  in  strict  justice.  Thus  no  one  can 
merit  the  first  grace   or  recovery   from 

1  Quoted  from  Tanchuraa  on  Ekeb.  in  the 
learned  Jewish  work.  Hamburger's  Jteal  Eacyd. 
fur  Bibel  und  Talmud,  p.  701,  art.  "  Lohn  unci 
Strafe."  There  are  noble  rabbinical  maxims 
on  merit :  e.g.  "  The  reward  of  a  commandment 
is  a  commandment  {i.e.  leads  to  the  keeping  of 
another  commandment),  and  the  wages  of  sin 
is  sin''  (^Aboth.  iv.  2)  ;  and  by  Antigonus  of 
Soto  (about  198  B.C.),  "  Be  not  as  servants  who 
serve  their  master  to  receive  a  rcAvard,  but  be 
like  servants  who  do  not  sei-ve  their  master 
because  of  the  reward :  let  the  fear  of  heaven 
rule  over  you"  (Aboth.  i.  2).  But  there  is 
nothing  in  the  great  collection  of  rabbinical 
dicta  on  the  subject  in  the  article  referred  to 
above  which  approaches  ever  so  distantly  to  the 
•pirit  of  Matt.  xxii.  37-40 ;  Rom.  xiii.  10. 


METROPOLITAN 


67e 


mortal  sin,  nor  can  a  holy  man  merit  the 
conversion  of  another,^  or  his  own  perse- 
verance in  grace.  (See  Final  Persever- 
ance.) It  is,  however,  lawful  to  hold- 
that  a  just  man  may  merit  a  sinner's  con- 
version de  con/jruo,  because  it  is  con- 
gruous or  fitting  that  God  should  hear 
the  prayer  of  one  who  is  admitted  to  hia 
friendship.  In  the  other  cases,  Billuart 
denies  that  there  is  any  place  even  for 
merit  de  congruo,  unless  we'  take  it  to 
mean  merit  in  a  still  laxer  and  vaguer 
acceptation.  Thus  we  may  say,  if  we 
like,  that  a  man  who,  moved  by  God's 
grace,  believes,  sorrows  for  his  sin,  resolves 
to  begin  a  new  Hfe,  hopes  in  God's  mercy, 
&c.,  merits  de  congruo  the  further  grace 
of  justification,  because  these  previous 
works  dispose  the  soul  to  receive  sancti- 
fying grace.  But  if  the  question  be  asked 
in  general  terms,  does  a  sinner,  so  dis- 
posed, merit  God's  pardon  and  grace,  the 
answer  must  be  "  no,"  and  so  the  Council 
of  Trent  expressly  defines. 

MBTROPO^ZTiLSJ  {metropolitan 
metropolitanus).  The  thirty-third  of  the 
Apostolic  Canons  says  that  the  bishops 
in  every  country  {cujusque  gentis)  ought 
to  know  which  among  them  is  the  first, 
and  take  him  to  a  certain  extent  as  their 
head,  and  do  nothing  unusual  without 
his  consent.  It  was  manifestly  the  inten- 
tion of  St.  Paul  that  Titus  should  stand 
in  a  relation  of  this  kind  to  all  the  bishops 
established  in  the  cities  of  Crete  ;  ^  and  a 
comparison  of  1  Tim.  ch.  iii.  with  Tit.  i. 
seems  to  justify  the  inference  that  Timothy 
bore  a  similar  rank  among  the  bishops  of 
Asia.  This  leading  bishop  among  his 
brethren  would  naturally  be,  or  come  to 
be,  the  prelate  of  the  most  important  city 
{metropolis)  in  the  province  or  countiy. 
In  the  case  of  an  entire  coimtry,  such  as 
Syria  or  Egypt,  each  with  its  dependen- 
cies, the  bishop  of  the  capital  city 
(Antioch,  Alexandria,  &c.),  was  called 
the  imtriarch ;  in  the  case  of  a  province, 
the  metropolitan.  The  ecclesiastical 
divisions,  for  a  long  time  after  the  con- 
version of  Constantine,  conformed  them- 
selves closely  to  the  civil ;  the  same  chief 
city  of  a  province  contained  the  praetor 
as  the  head  of  the  temporal,  and  the 
metropolitan  as  the  head  of  the  spiritual 

1  Ps.  xUx.  8  (in  the  Hebrew)  may  be  quoted 
here,  though  it  really  speaks  of  redemption 
from  temporal  death,  "  Surely  a  brother  cannot 
redeem  a  man ;  he  cannot  give  to  God  an 
atonement  for  him  ;  the  ransom  of  his  soul  will 
be  too  precious,  and  he  must  let  that  be  for 
ever." 

2  Tit.  L 


676 


MILITARY  ORDERS 


MILITARY  ORDERS 


organisation.  In  process  of  time  it  often 
happened  that  the  seat  of  the  civil 
government  was  removed  to  another  city, 
while  no  corresponding  change  took  place 
in  things  ecclesiastical ;  in  such  cases  the 
name  "  metropolitan "  ceased  to  be  suit- 
able, and  was  replaced  by  "  archbishop." 

In  former  times  the  power  of  metro- 
politans over  their  suilragans  was  great  •, 
they  could  hear  and  decide  any  charges 
made  against  them,  and  excommunicate 
them  if  they  deemed  it  necessary.  The 
Council  of  Trent  reduced  this  power 
within  strict  limits.  It  enacted  that 
criminal  causes  of  a  more  serious  kind,  in 
which  bishops  were  implicated,  should  be 
tried  and  decided  only  by  tbe  Supreme 
Pontiff,  with  the  proviso,  however,  that  if 
a  previous  local  inquiry  were  necessary,  it 
should  be  committed  to  none  but  the 
metropolitans,  or  bishops  specially  dele- 
gated by  the  Holy  See.  The  minor 
criminal  causes  of  bishops  are,  under  the 
same  cunon,  to  be  tried  by  the  provincial 
council  or  by  persons  deputed  by  it.^ 

Metropolitans  cannot  exercise  ordinary 
jurisdiction  in  the  dioceses  of  their 
suffragans,  nor  visit  their  cathedrals,  or 
any  portion  of  their  dioceses,  except  on 
the  mandate  of  the  provincial  council. 
Nor  have  they  any  jurisdiction,  propria 
jure,  over  monasteries  situated  within  the 
dioceses  of  their  suffragans. 

On  the  rights,  privileges,  and  dignities 
still  annexed  to  the  office  of  a  metro- 
politan, see  the  article  Archbishop. 
(Ferraris,  Metropolitanus  ]  Soglia,  ii.  5, 
49.) 

MZXiZTARY  ORDBRS.  H^lyot 
enumerates  between  ninety  and  a  hundred 
military  orders.  Of  these,  the  knights  of 
Oalatrava  and  the  Hospitallers  have 
been  already  noticed ;  for  the  Templars 
and  the  Teutonic  order,  see  those  articles. 
Of  the  remainder,  particulars  respecting  a 
few  of  tlie  more  important  are  here 
subjoined. 

(1 )  Of  Alcantara. — Founded  in  Castile 
in  1177 ;  its  object  was  the  subjugation  of 
the  Moors.  The  knights  wore  a  white 
mantle  embroidered  with  a  green  cross. 
For  a  century  after  their  institution  they 
did  great  service  to  the  Christian  cause; 
in  the  fourteenth  century  their  quarrels 
with  the  knights  of  Calatrava,  resulting 
in  actual  war,  no  less  retarded  and  dis- 
graced it.  The  order  became  extremely 
wealthy ;  the  rents  of  the  grand-master- 
ship in  the  time  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 

1  Seas.  xxiv.  De  Ref.  c.  5. 


amounted  to  forty-five  thousand  ducata.* 
Castles,  towns,  and  convents,  belonging  to 
this  and  the  other  military  orders,  were 
seen  in  every  part  of  Spain.  The  election 
to  the  office  of  grand-master,  involving 
the  disposal  of  large  patronage  and  the 
wielding  of  great  power  and  influence, 
became  the  cause  of  infinite  jealousy  and 
contention  ;  and  by  a  prudent  decision  of 
th-e  Pope  (1494)  the  control  of  the  order 
was  granted  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  for 
life.  In  the  reign  of  Philip  II.  the  grand- 
mastership  was  annexed  in  perpetuity  to 
the  crown ;  the  subordinate  dignitiee, 
having  survived  the  object  for  which  they 
were  instituted,  became  the  empty  decora- 
tions of  an  order  of  nobihty. 

(2)  The  Annunziata,  or  the  Collar. — 
Instituted  by  Amadeus,  Count  of  Savoy, 
about  1360. 

(3)  The  Bath. — So  named  from  one 
of  the  ceremonies  of  knighthood  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  England.  The 
esquire  who  was  to  be  knighted  was  put 
into  a  bath ;  while  he  was  in  it  two  other 
esquu*es,  experienced  in  chivalry  and  its 
laws,  came  to  him,  and  after  explaining 
the  duties  which  knighthood  would  im- 
pose upon  him,  poured  water  upon  his 
shoulders  and  so  left  him.  After  the 
bath  he  was  taken  into  a  chapel,  and  con- 
tinued in  prayer  the  whole  night,  "  asking 
the  Lord  and  his  blessed  Mother  that  of 
their  worthy  grace  they  would  give  him 
power  and  strength  to  receive  this  high 
temporal  dignity  in  honour  of  their  holy 
Church,  and  of  the  order  of  chivalry."* 
At  daylight  he  confessed  to  »  priest,  and 
afterwards  heard  Mass.  After  the  com- 
pletion of  the  ceremony  by  the  king's 
striking  him  on  the  collar  with  his  right 
hand  and  saying  "  Be  a  good  knight,"  he 
was  led  up  to  the  altar,  knelt,  and  placing 
his  right  hand  upon  it,  promised  to  main- 
tain the  right  of  Holy  Church  all  his  life 
long.  Geoffrey  of  Anjou,  the  father  of 
Henry  II.,  is  said  to  have  been  knighted 
in  this  manner  by  Henry  I.  in  1128. 

The  honours  of  the  order  of  the  Bath, 
though  its  religious  meaning  is  now  lost, 
are  highly  prized  in  England  to  this  day. 
The  dignities  are — Knight  Grand  Cross 
(G.C.B.),  Knight  CoTnmander  (K.C.B.), 
and  Companion  (C.B.)  In  each  grade 
there  is  a  military  and  a  civil  division. 
The  ribbon  is  crimson ;  the  motto,  "  Tria 
juncta  in  uno."  Altogether  the  order 
numbers  more  than  l,OuO  members. 

1  Prescott's  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  i.  278. 

2  From  Nicholas  Upton's  book,  written 
about  1441,  De  BeMilitari,&s  cited  by  Helyot 


MILITARY  ORDERS 

(4)  Of  Cmstantine. — This  order  seems 
to  nave  been  created  by  the  Emperor 
Isaac  Angeliis  Comnenus  about  1190, 
probably  in  imitation  of  the  orders  among; 
the  Crusaders.  Innumerable  fictions  and 
forgeries  have  been  set  on  foot  from  time 
to  time,  in  order  to  invest  this  and  other 
military  orders  with  the  dignity  of  an 
antiquity  to  which  they  have  no  claim. 
Thus  the  order  now  in  question,  it  was 
stoutly  maintained,  was  first  founded  by 
Constantine  the  Great.  In  the  opinion  of 
Papebroke  the  Bollandist,  no  military  order 
can  prove  that  it  originated  before  the 
twelfth  century. 

(5)  The  'Dannebrog. — This  Danish 
order,  if  it  had  a  mediaeval  origin  at  all, 
and  was  not,  as  Helyot  was  inclined  to 
suspect,  manufactured  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  was  founded  by  Waldemar  II. 
about  i219.  The  number  of  knights  must 
not  exceed  19. 

(6)  The  (?rtr)?er.— Founded  by  Edward 
III.  in  1347.  According  to  the  common 
story,  which  however  appears  to  have 
been  unknown  to  Froissart,  the  Countess 
of  Salisbury  dropped  her  garter  in  the 
court  at  Windsor,  which  the  king  picked 
up  and  bound  round  his  knee,  and  then, 
perceiving  that  the  courtiers  were  inclined 
to  laugh,  said,  "Honi  soit  qui  mal  y 
pense."  "  Honi "  is  old  French  for  maudit, 
accursed.  The  number  of  the  knights, 
including  the  king,  was  fixed  at  twenty- 
six,  and  to  this  it  was  limited  for  several 
centuries.  The  number  at  the  present 
time  is  forty-nine.  The  ancient  dress  was 
a  blue  mantle  with  a  red  cross  on  the  left 
side,  a  collar  whence  depended  a  repre- 
sentation of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon, 
called  a  "  George "  (cf.  Shakespere's 
"  Now  by  my  George,  my  garter,  and  my 
crown  "),  and  a  blue  garter  round  the  left 
leg. 

(7)  The  Glorious  Virgin  Mary. — 
Founded  at  Vicenza  in  1233.  The 
knights,  who  must  be  of  noble  blood, 
bound  themselves  (like  a  "  vigilance  com- 
mittee "  in  modern  times)  to  take  up 
arms  against  the  disturbers  of  the  public 
peace,  and  against  those  who  committed 
outrages  and  escaped  punishment.  They 
vowed  conjugal  chastity,  obedience  to 
their  commander,  and  to  protect  widows 
and  orphans.  In  course  of  time  they 
became  rich,  and  thought  more  of  enjoy- 
ing themselves  than  of  anything  else; 
whence  the  people  called  them  in  derision 
the  "  Freres  Joyeux." 

(8)  The  Golden  Horseshoe. — Founded 
at  Paris  by  a  duke  of  Bourbon  in  1414. 

p 


MILITARY  ORDERS        677 

Its  object  seems  to  have  been  to  encourage 
duelling,  since  the  seventeen  knights  of 
whom  it  was  composed  swore  to  fight 
with  each  other,  on  foot  or  a  outrance, 
within  two  years,  if  they  could  not  sooner 
find  seventeen  gentlemen  outside  the  order 
who  would  fight  with  them. 

(9)  The  Thistle. — Instituted  bv  James 
v.,  King  of  Scotland,  in  1534.  The 
collar  of  the  order  is  of  thistles  twisted 
together  ;  from  it  hangs  the  badge  of  St. 
Andrew,  with  the  motto  ''  Nemo  me 
impune  lacesset."  After  the  flight  of 
Mary  Stuart  to  England  this  institute  fell 
into  abeyance,  but  was  revived  by  James 
II.  at  Windsor  in  1687,  when  he  made 
several  great  Scottish  noblemen  knights 
of  the  order.  Again  it  came  to  nothing 
in  consequence  of  the  revolution  of  1688, 
but  was  revived  by  Queen  Anne  in  1703, 
on  a  Protestant  basis.  The  order,  which 
numbers  at  present  twenty  knights,  is 
accessible  only  to  peers. 

(10)  The  Toison  d'Or,  or  Golden 
Fleece. — Instituted  by  Philip  the  Good, 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  in  1429,  with  a 
distinctly  religious  and  Catholic  end. 
The  original  statutes  say,  that  out  of  the 
great  and  perfect  love  which  Duke  Philip 
had  to  the  noble  estate  of  chivalry,  "in 
order  that  the  true  Catholic  faith,  the 
estate  of  Holy  Church  our  mother,  and 
the  tranquillity  and  prosperity  of  the 
Commonwealth  may  be  .  .  .  defended, 
guarded,  and  maintained,"  he  had  insti- 
tuted, and  did  institute,  on  that  his 
wedding  day,  to  the  glory  of  God,  in 
reverence  of  his  blessed  Mother,  and  in 
honour  of  the  Apostle  St.  Andrew,  "  an 
order  and  fraternity  of  chivalry  or  ami- 
able company  of  a  certain  number  of 
knights  ...  to  be  called  the  order  of  the 
Toison  d'Or."  Charles  the  Bold,  son  of 
the  founder,  required  the  knights  to  as- 
sume a  magnificent  dress  of  crimson  velvet. 
The  grandson  of  Charles,  the  Archduke 
Philip,  marrying  the  heiress  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  transmitted  the  right  of  con- 
ferring the  order  of  the  Toison  d'Or  to 
the  kings  of  Spain,  who  have  ever  since 
retained  it.  The  figure  of  a  sheep  in 
gold,  hung  round  the  neck  by  a  silken 
ribbon  or  a  small  gold  chain,  is  the  dis- 
tinguishing decoration  of  the  order. 

In  the  long  list  of  these  military  orders 
there  are  several  which  accomplished  in 
their  day  real  work,  and  work  which 
could  not  have  been  accomplished  so  well 
by  any  other  agency.  When  the  organisa- 
tion of  society  as  a  whole  was  still  im- 
perfect, kings  were  glad  to  employ  these 


678 


MILLENNIUM 


MINIMS 


partial  organisations,  in  which  the  actua- 
ting principle  was  religious  enthusiasm  or 
love  of  lame,  to  check  enemies  abroad  and 
abuses  at  home  that  otherwise  could  not 
easily  have  been  reached.  Yet  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  suspect  that  a  large 
proportion  of  these  institutions  did  more 
harm  than  good — by  fostering  aristocratic 
pride  and  exclusiveness,  and  pandering  to 
social  or  personal  vanity — thus  raising 
barriers  unnecessarily  between  class  and 
class,  and  furnishing  fuel  to  those  smart- 
ing feelings  of  envy  and  alienation  which 
are  wont  only  to  be  appeased  by  revolu- 
tion.    (H^lyot.) 

MZliZiEiirirzuM.  In  the  Apocalypse 
(ch.  XX,)  it  is  said  that  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  God  s  enemies,  "  the  beast  and 
the  kings  of  the  earth  and  their  armies," 
with  "  the  false  prophet  "  and  Satan  him- 
self, will  be  bound  and  cast  into  the  pit. 
The  saints  are  then  to  rise  and  reign  with 
Christ  a  thousand  years.  At  the  end  of 
this  period  Satan  is  to  be  loosed  for  a 
brief  space.  The  nations  deceived  by  him 
will  gather  against  the  "  beloved  city  "  in 
which  the  saints  are  encamped.  Then 
fire  will  descend  and  devour  the  wicked  ; 
Satan  will  be  cast  for  ever  into  hell,  and 
the  general  judgment  will  take  place. 
Many  of  the  early  Christians  took  this 
as  a  literal  description  of  events  which 
wdmld  occur  at  the  end  of  the  worlds 
history.  Those  who  held  to  such  an 
interpretation  were  known  as  Chiliasts  or 
Millenarians — i.e.  believers  in  the  reign  of 
a  thousand  years.  This  belief  was  very 
common  in  tha  early  Church.  It  was 
held  by  Papias,  bishop  of  Hierapolis, 
early  in  the  second  century  (Euseb. 
"  H.  E."  iii.  39),  by  St.  Justin  MartjT 
("Trypho."  81),  by  St.  Irenseus  ("Adv. 
Hser."  V.  86),  by  Lactantius  ("  Div. 
Inst."  vii.  24),  by  Tertullian  and  Victorinus 
Petabionensis  (see  Hieron.  "  De  Vir. 
Illustr.''  xviii..  where  he  refers  to  a  lost 
work  of  Tertullian).  The  opinion  was 
no  doubt  Jewish  in  origin.  (See  Grabe, 
"  Spicileg,"  vol.  i.  p.  231.)  It  was  also 
held  outside  the  Church  in  a  gross  and 
sensual  form  bv  the  Judaising  Gnostic 
Cerinthus  (Euseb.  "  H.  E."  iii.  28),  and 
opposed  by  the  Roman  presbyter  Caius 
(Euseb.  Inc.  cit.)  At  Alexandria  the 
allegorical  mode  of  interpretation  was  of 
course  unfavourable  to  Chiliasm.  Still, 
even  in  the  Alexandrian  district  Nepos, 
bishop  of  Arsinoe,  in  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  was  a  vehement  Millenarian. 
He  wrote  a  "  refutation  of  the  Allegorists  " 
(tXeyxos  tCdv  aKXrjyopiaT&v),  directed  par- 


ticularly against  Origen,  and  had  a 
powerful  following.  Peace  was  restored 
by  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  who  held 
a  council  on  the  matter  in  255.  (See 
Euseb.  vii.  23,  and  Hefele,  "  Concil."  p. 
134  seq.)  It  was  probably  the  fear  of 
INIillenarianism  which  partly  occasioned 
the  objections  long  prevalent  in  the  East 
to  the  authority  of  the  Apocalypse.  After 
the  establishment  of  Christianity,  the 
belief  in  the  reign  of  the  saints  for  a 
thousand  years  almost  died  out.  But  St. 
Augustine  ("Civ.  Dei."  xx.  7)  confesses 
that  he  once  held  it.  It  appeared  from 
time  to  time  in  the  middle  ages,  and  is 
still  advocated  by  some  Protestants. 

Muzzarelli  (quoted  by  Jungmann,  "  De 
Novissimis,"  p.  308)  sums  up  the  common 
judgment  of  theologians  on  the  subject. 
The  theory  as  held  by  the  early  Fathers, 
he  says,  is  not  heretical,  but,  considering 
the  weight  of  authority  on  the  other  side, 
it  is  at  least  improbable. 

MIDrims  (Ordo  Minimorum  Eremi- 
tarum  Sancti  Francisci  de  Paula).  The 
name  commonly  applied  to  members  of 
the  order  of  Minim-Hermits,  an  austere 
order  of  mendicant  friars  foimded  by  St. 
Francis  of  Paola.  They  were  known  in 
Paris  before  the  Revolution  as  JBons 
Hommes — "Good  Men" — because,  as  it 
is  supposed,  their  convent  in  Paris  had  at 
one  time  belonged  to  the  monks  of  Grand 
Mont,  who  had  popularly  been  so  called, 
and  in  Spain  as  "  Brothers  of  Victory," 
on  account  of  the  victory  which  Ferdi- 
nand V.  had  gained  at  Malaga  over  the 
Moors  as  a  result,  according  to  the  gene- 
ral belief,  of  the  prayers  of  St.  Francis  of 
Paola.  They  were  called  "  Minims " 
{minimis  the  least)  by  their  founder,  to 
humble  them  even  below  the  Francis- 
cans, who  in  humility  call  themselves 
minor  (friars  minor),  the  "  less." 

St.  Francis,  their  founder,  was  born 
about  1416  in  Calabria  in  Italy,  at  Paola, 
a  small  city  on  the  western  coast  mid- 
way between  Naples  and  Reggio.  His 
parents,  James  Martorillo  and  Vienna 
di  Fuscado,  were  a  pious  couple  of  the 
middle  class.  When  a  boy  of  thirteen 
Francis  was  sent  to  a  Franciscan  con- 
vent in  his  native  town,  for  he  had  al- 
ready begun  to  display  the  extraordinary 
piety  which  gave  indication  of  his  future 
holy  career.  He  showed  a  strong  affec- 
tion for  the  Franciscan  rule,  but  it  was 
not  the  will  of  God  that  he  should  be- 
come a  member  of  that  order.  At  nine- 
teen he  was  living  as  a  hermit  in  a  soli- 
tary place  near  Paola,  and  the  fame  of 


MINIMS 

his  sanctitj  had  already  spread  about  in 
Calabria.  Young  as  he  was  in  years,  his 
piety  was  so  well  assured  that  he  was 
prevailed  on,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
ordinary  of  the  diocese,  to  receive  some 
disciples,  and  with  them  he  began  a  re- 
ligious community  in  Paola.  Cells  were 
constructed  on  ground  belonging  to  his 
father,  and  the  chapel  of  the  new  com- 
munity was  dedicated  to  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi.  In  1444  he  established  a  colony 
at  Paterno,  and  eight  years  later  he 
finished  on  a  more  splendid  scale  his 
convent  and  church  at  Paola ;  the  next 
year  (1453)  making  a  third  establishment 
at  Spezano  Maggiore,  and  in  1460  found- 
ing still  another  convent  at  Cortona.  So 
far  the  new  religious  order  had  been  liv- 
ing without  any  rule,  except  such  as 
their  holy  founder  had  from  time  to  time 
given  them  by  word  of  mouth  and  by  the 
example  of  his  own  life.  But  from  the 
first  a  perpetual  Lent  had  been  observed 
by  them.  In  1464  Francis  founded  the 
first  house  of  his  order  in  Sicily,  at 
Milazzo,  where  he  remained  until  his 
return  to  Calabria  in  li68. 

The  fame  of  his  sanctity  having  reached 
Rome,  a  strict  examination  was  made 
into  the  history  of  his  life  and  into  the 
working  of  his  communities,  and  in  1473 
Pope  Sixtus  IV.  approved  the  new  con- 
gregation under  the  name  of  the  "  Her- 
mits of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi."  The  fol- 
lowing year  Francis  was  named  by  tjie 
Holy  See  its  first  superior- general,  and 
the  congregation  was  exempted  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  ordinaries.  But  Six- 
tus refused  to  sanction  the  perpetual 
Lent,  though  even  this  was  afterwards 
accorded.  In  1493  Francis  composed  his 
first  Rule,  which  was  approved  by  Pope 
Alexander  VI.,  who  changed  the  name  of 
the  order  to  the  "  Minim-Hermits  of 
Francis  of  Paola,"  the  name  it  has  re- 
tained ever  since.  In  1495  the  same 
Pope  confirmed  the  privileges  hitherto 
conferred  on  the  order,  also  giving  it  all 
the  privileges  generally  possessed  by  the 
mendicant  friars.  In  1501,  having  per- 
fected his  first  Bule  and  having  rear- 
ranged it,  and  having  also  established  his 
perpetual  Lent  as  a  vow,  and  having 
prepared  a  Rule  for  people  of  either  sex 
who  live  in  the  world — that  is  to  say, 
Tertiaries — he  submitted  these  two  Rules 
to  the  Pope,  who  approved  them  the  next 
year  (1502).  The  Rules,  being  again  re- 
touched, were  confirmed  by  a  bull  of 
Alexander  VI.  which  conferred  new  pri- 
vileges ;  all  of  which  was  again  confirmed 


MINIMS 


579 


in  1505  by  Pope  Julius  II.  P'inally,  the 
holy  founder  having  put  the  finishing 
touch  to  his  two  Rules,  and  having  added 
a  third  Rule  for  nuns,  all  three  were  ap- 
proved and  confirmed  by  a  bull  of  the 
same  Pope  July  25,  1506.  Besides  these 
three  Rules  Francis  composed  a  Correo 
tonu7n,  or  manual  of  penances,  and  a 
Ceremonial  for  the  recitation  of  the  Di- 
vine Office,  &c. 

Francis  was  invited  to  France  by  Louis 
XL,  whom  be  attended  on  his  death- 
bed; and  there  he  spent  the  rest  of  his 
days,  founding  numerous  communities 
in  France,  Spain,  Italy,  and  Germany. 
The  first  colony  in  Spain  was  made  at 
Malaga  in  1493,  and  in  Germany  in  1497. 
The  order  was  never  established  in  the 
North  of  Europe,  nor  in  England,  Scot- 
land, or  Ireland,  for  the  persecution 
which  soon  set  in  in  all  those  countries 
rendered  them  unfit  fields  for  so  con- 
templative an  order  as  the  Minims.  St. 
Francis  died  in  his  convent  at  Plessis- 
les-Tours,  Good  Friday,  1507,  being  then 
ninety-one.  In  1562  the  Huguenots, 
while  sacking  this  convent,  found  the 
saint's  body,  and,  having  fastened  a  rope 
about  its  neck,  dragged  it  to  the  chapel, 
where  they  burned  it  along  with  the  cru- 
cifix of  the  high  altar,  but  some  Catho- 
lics afterwards  recovered  the  saint's  bones 
from  the  ashes. 

January  1, 1508,  Father  Francis  Binet 
was  elected  general.  At  that  time  the 
order  was  divided  into  five  provinces — 
Italy,  Tours,  France,  Spain,  and  Ger- 
many— but  it  afterwards  had  thirty-one 
provinces.  At  first  the  general  of  the 
order  was  chosen  for  three  years,  but 
since  1605  he  has  always  been  elected  for 
six  years  by  the  general  chapter,  which 
consists  of  the  general,  the  colleagues- 
general,  the  provincial,  and  the  pro- 
curator-general. Each  province  has  its 
chapter  also.  The  superior  of  a  convent 
is  called  the  corrector,  because  he  is  re- 
quired to  correct  himself  and  those  sub- 
ject to  him,  and  he  is  elected  for  one 
year,  ordinarily  not  being  eligible  for  re- 
election except  after  an  interval  of  at 
least  one  year.  Formerly  there  were 
visitors-general,  but  these  were  sup- 
pressed as  unnecessary. 

As  in  all  of  the  mendicant  orders, 
the  Minims  consist  of  First,  Second,  and 
Third  Orders  so  called — that  is  to  say, 
of  friars,  nuns,  and  tertiaries,  these  lat- 
ter being  affiliated  lay  people  living  in 
the  world.  The  Minim  tertiaries  never 
but  once,  and  that  for  a  short  time  only — 
p2 


580 


MINISTER 


MIRACLES 


at  Toledo,  in  Spain — have  lived  in  com- 
munitv.  St.  Francis  of  Sales  is  said  to 
have  been  a  Minim  tertiary.  The  first 
nuns  of  the  order  took  their  vows  in  1495 
at  Andujar,  in  Spain.  The  habit  of  the 
Minim  friars  consists  of  a  gown  of  coarse 
woollen  stuff,  reaching  to  the  ankles,  and 
of  the  natural  colour  of  the  wool  without 
any  dye.  The  chaperon,  or  shoulder- 
piece  of  the  cowl,  of  the  same  colour  as 
the  gown,  reaches  in  front  to  about  half- 
way between  the  waist  and  the  knee.  The 
girdle  is  a  woollen,  unbleached  and  un- 
dyed  rope,  and  has  five  knots  for  the 
clerical  and  lay  friars  and  four  for  the 
tertiaries.  Formerly  the  Minims  were 
barefoot,  or  at  most  wore  sandals;  but 
the  custom  was  relaxed  and  now  all  are 
shod.  With  the  exception  of  the  head- 
dress, which  resembles  that  worn  by 
most  orders  of  nuns,  the  habit  of  the 
Minim  nuns  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
friars. 

The  vow  of  a  friar  of  this  order  is  as 
follows:  "I,  Brother  N.,  vow  and  pro- 
mise to  Almighty  God  and  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin  ]\lary,  to  the  whole  heavenly  choir, 
and  to  you,  my  reverend  Father  N., 
and  to  this  sacred  order,  to  remain  stead- 
fast and  to  persist  throughout  the  whole 
of  my  life  in  the  way  of  living  and  in  the 
Rule  of  the  Brothers  of  the  Order  oi 
Minims  of  St.  Francis  of  Paola,  which 
has  been  approved  by  our  Holy  Father 
Pope  Alexander  VI.  and  afterwards  by 
Pope  Julius  II.  of  blessed  memory,  per- 
severing in  living  under  the  vow^s  of 
poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  and  of 
the  life  of  Lent,  according  to  the  deter- 
minations and  the  circumstances  indi- 
cated and  prescribed  in  the  same  Rule." 

I^ZIO'ISTER.  Among  the  Franciscans 
and  Capuchins  the  head  of  the  order  is  the 
minister-general,  and  each  province  is 
placed  under  a  minister-provincial.  Againy 
the  general  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  has 
five  assistants,  called  ministers,  who  are 
elected  by  the  general  congregation,  and 
are  empowered,  through  the  admonitov, 
to  represent  to  the  general  anything 
irregular  which  they  may  have  observed 
in  his  irovernment. 

MZXrZSTSRS  OF  THS  SZCK.  This 
order  was  tirst  founded  as  a  congregation 
of  priests  and  lay  brothers  by  St.  Camillus 
of  Lellis  to  serve  the  sick  in  hospitals. 
The  approval  of  the  Holy  See  was  given 
in  1586 ;  five  years  later  Gregory  XIV. 
constituted  them  a  religious  order,  under 
the  protection  of  Cardinal  di  Mondovi, 
with  their  principal  establishment  at  the 


Church  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen  at  Rome 
and  in  the  houses  adjoining.  The  re- 
ligious, besides  the  three  ordinary  vows, 
take  a  fourth  vow  to  assist  the  sick  in  the 
hour  of  death.  There  is  a  general  of  the 
order  elected  for  life,  who  is  assisted  by 
four  consultors  ;  the  chapter-general  meets 
once  in  six  years.  The  dress  is  that  of 
secular  priests,  with  the  addition  of  a 
large  brown  cross  on  the  soutane,  and 
another  on  the  cloak.  The  noviciate  lasts 
for  two  years;  the  religious  are  exempt 
from  the  obligation  of  singing  office  in 
choir,  and  from  attending  processions,  on 
account  of  the  absorbing  nature  of  their 
duties  beside  the  sick.  They  only  fast  on 
Fridays,  in  addition  to  the  fasts  prescribed 
by  the  Church.  At  the  death  of  the 
founder  in  1614,  there  were  sixteen  houses 
j  of  the  order,  containing  about  three 
I  hundred  religious.     [Helyot.] 

MZSronZTES.      [See   FliANCISCANS.] 
MZRilCZiSS.    The  Latin  word  mira- 
culu77i  means  something  wonderful — not 
necessarily    supernatural,    for,    e.g.,    the 
"  Seven  Wonders  of  the  World  "  were 
1  known   as  the  "  Septem  Miracula."     In 
'  theological  Latin,  however,  and  in  Eng- 
1  lish,   the   words    ■miTacidum,    "  miracle," 
1  are   used  commonly   onl}--   of  events    so 
:  wonderful  that  they  cannot  be  accounted 
;  for  by  natural  causes.     This  use,  as  we 
:  shall  see  presently,  is  not  sanctioned  by 
I  the  Vulgate  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
I  ment,  and  is  not  thoroughh^  supported  by 
the  language  of  the  original  Greek.      It 
has  its  disadvantages  as  weU  as  its  ad- 
vantages,  though,   of  course,  the    esta- 
blished   terminology    cannot    be    altered 
now,  even  if  it  were  possible — as  we  be- 
lieve it  is  not — to  find  a  more  convenient 
word.     It  will  be  well,  however,  to  say 
something  on  the  Scriptural,  and  parti- 
cularly the  New  Testament  phraseology. 

(1)  Miracles  are  called  repara  {pro- 
digia.  See  Exod.  iv.  21 ,  where  it  is  the 
rendering  of  D^ri?10»  shining  or  splendid 
deeds) — i.e.  prodigies,  because  of  the  sur- 
prise they  cause.  The  Greek  word  Oav- 
fjidaia,  which  would  exactly  answer  to 
miracula,  is  found  in  the  New  Testament 
once  only  {6av}xa,^  never).  Matt.  xxi.  15 : 
and  there  in  a  wider  sense  than  "  miracle." 
There  is  no  great  difference,  from  a  theo- 
logical point  of  view,  between  the  words 
"  prodigy  "  and  "  miracle."  It  is,  how- 
ever, well  worth  notice  that  the  New 
Testament  never  uses  the  word  "  prodigy  " 
by  itself.  It  speaks  of  '*  signs  and  pro- 
1  Never,  i.e.  for  a  '*  wonderful  thin^."  See 
Apoc.  xvii.  7. 


MIRACLES 

digies,"  &c.,  many  times ;  of  "  prodigies  " 
simply,  never.  Evidently,  the  vronder 
caused  is  not  the  only  or  even  the  chief 
feature  in  a  miracle,  and  this  the  New 
Testament  writers  are  careful  to  note.^ 

(2)  Miracles  are  also  frequently  called 
*'  signs  "  {a-TjfjLfla  ;  an  accurate  rendering 
of  nimX,  Ex.  vii.  3.),  to  indicate 
their  purpose.  They  are  "marvels"  and 
"  prodigies  "  which  arouse  attention,  but 
the  "  wonder "  excited  is  a  means,  and 
Dot  an  end,  and  the  "  miracle  "  is  a  token 
of  God's  presence  ;  they  conjSrm  the  mis- 
sion and  the  teaching  of  those  who  deliver 
a  message  in  his  name  (see  Acts  xiv.  3 ; 
Heb.  ii.  4).  Of  course,  it  is  only  by  usage 
that  the  word  "  sign  "  acquires  this  techni- 
cal sense,  and  it  does  not  always  in  the 
New  Testament  mean  a  supernatural  sign. 

(3)  They  are  often  described  as 
**  powers  "  (bvvdfieis),^  inasmuch  as  they 
eidiibit  God's  power.  They  are  evidences 
that  new  powers  have  entered  our  world 
and  are  worliing  thus  for  the  good  of 
mankind.  God,  no  doubt,  is  always 
working,  and  He  manifests  his  power  in 
the  operation  of  natural  law.  But  we 
are  in  danger  of  looking  upon  the  world 
as  if  it  were  governed  by  laws  indepen- 
dent of  God,  and  of  forgetting  that  his 
hand  is  as  necessary  in  each  moment  of 
the  world's  existence  for  each  operation 
of  created  things  as  it  was  for  creation 
at  the  first.  In  a  miracle,  God  produces 
sensible  effects  which  transcend  the  opera- 
tion of  natural  causes.  Men  are  no  longer 
able  to  say,  "  This  is  Nature,"  forgetting 
all  the  while  that  Nature  is  the  continuous 
work  of  God ;  and  they  confess,  "  The 
finger  of  God  is  here."  In  Christ,  miracles 
were  the  "powers,"  or  works  of  power 
done  by  Him  who  was  Himself  the  power 
of  God.  And  so,  miracles  done  through 
the  saints  flow  from,  and  are  signs  of,  the 
power  of  God  within  them.  "  Stephen, 
full  of  grace  and  power,  did  great  prodi- 
gies and  signs  among  the  people  "  (Acts 
n.  8). 

1  The  Hebrew  n'lsSs^  "  wonderful   thing 

in  the  land  of  Cham  "  (Ps.  cvi.  22)  is  the  word 
nearest  to  "  miracuhi." 

2  nil-123)  '*  deeds  of  strength,"  is  the 
Old  Testament  Avord  which  comes  neayost 
fiucajuei?,  and  the  Peshito  has  almost  the  same 
word,  jJLOfjQit,  but  it  is  used  very  inaccu- 
rately for  ar,ij.€la  (Acts  ii.  19,  43  ;  v.  12  ;  2  Cor. 

Xii.  12),  for  repara   (ActS  XV.  12),  for   Tepara  Kal 

iTTifJiela  (Acts  ii.  22  ;  iv.  30).  In  Acts  vii.  36 
there  are  three  Syriac  terms  for  two  Greek. 
The  text  of  the  Peshito  before  us  is  that  of 
Leusden  and  Schaaf. 


MIRACLES 


681 


(4)  Christ's  miracles  are  often  called 
his  "  works,"  as  if  the  form  of  working 
to  be  looked  for  from  Him  in  whom  the 
"  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwelt  bodily." 
They  were  the  characteristic  works  of 
Him  who  came  to  free  us  from  the  bondage 
of  Nature,  to  be  our  life,  to  overcome 
death,  to  lead  us,  first  to  a  worthier  and 
more  unselfish  life,  and  then  to  a  better 
world  in  which  sorrow  and  death  shall  be 
no  more.  They  are  the  first-fruits  of  hie 
power ;  the  pledges  of  that  mighty  work- 
ing by  which,  one  day,  He  will  subject 
all  things  'to  himself  and  make  aU  things 
new. 

From  a  different  point  of  view,  then, 
the  same  event  is  a  "  prodigy,"  a  "  sign," 
and  a  "  power ; "  each  word  presenting  it 
under  a  distinct  and  instructive  aspect. 
The  three  words  occur  three  times  toge- 
ther—viz. in  Acts  ii.  22;  2  Cor.  xii.  12; 
2  Thess.  ii.  9  (in  the  last  passage  of  the 
false  miracles  of  Antichrist).  In  each 
case  the  Vulgate  has  kept  the  distinction 
with  accurate  and  delicate  fidelity;  and 
we  cannot  help  expressing  our  regret  that 
the  Douay  version,  in  Challoner  s  recen- 
sion, should  have  obliterated  the  dis- 
tinction and  blunted  the  sense  of  Scripture 
by  translating — e.ff.  Acts  ii.  22 — "  by 
miracles  and  wonders  and.  signs,"  as  if 
"  wonder  "  added  anything  to  "  miracle." 

We  cannot  pretend  to  consider  here, 
in  full,  the  objections  made  to  the  possi- 
bility of  miracles,  but  can  only  give  in 
brief  the  teaching  of  Catholic  theologians, 
and  particularly  of  St.  Thomas,  on  the 
matter.  The  latter  defines  a  miracle  as 
an  effect  which  "  is  beyond  the  order  (or 
laws)  of  the  whole  of  created  nature  " — 
"  prseter  ordinem  totius  naturae  creatae  " 
(T.  ex.  4).  He  explains  further,  that  an 
event  may  transcend  the  laws  of  some 
particular  nature  and  yet  by  no  means  be 
miraculous.  The  motion  of  a  stone  when 
thrown  up  in  the  air,  to  take  his  own 
instance,  is  an  effect  which  exceeds  the 
power  which  resides  in  the  nature  of  the 
stone ;  but  it  is  no  miracle,  for  it  is  pro- 
duced by  the  natural  power  of  man,  and 
does  not  therefore  exceed  the  power  of 
nature  in  its  entirety.  No  natural  law 
can  account  for  the  sun's  going  back  on 
the  dial  of  Achaz,  for  the  resurrection  of 
Lazarus,  or  for  the  cure  of  Peter  s  wife's 
mother  by  Christ  when  she  was  sick  of 
a  fever.  All  these  things  exceeded  the 
powers  of  Nature,  though  in  different 
degrees,  and  they  are  instances  of  the 
three  grades  of  the  miraculous  which  St. 
Thomas  distinguishes  (I.  cv.  8).    In  the 


682 


MIRACLES 


first  case,  the  very  substance  of  the  thing 
done  is  beyond  the  power  of  Nature  to 
effect  (''  excedit  facultatem  natarae,  quan- 
tum ad  subslantiam  facti ") ;  in  the  second, 
the  recipient  of  the  effect  stamps  it  as 
miraculous  ("excedit  facultatem  naturae, 
quantum  ad  id  in  quo  fit"),  since  natural 
powers  can  indeed  give  life,  but  not  to 
the  dead ;  in  the  third,  it  is  the  manner 
and  order  in  which  the  effect  is  produced 
("  modus  et  ordo  faciendi  ")  that  is  mira- 
culous, for  the  instantaneous  cure  of  dis- 
ease by  Christ's  word  is  very  different 
from  a  cure  efiected  by  the  gradual  opera- 
tion of  care  and  medical  treatment.  The 
latter  is  natural,  the  former  supernatural. 

The  definition  given  makes  it  un- 
reasonable to  deny  the  possibility  of 
miracles,  unless  we  also  deny  the  existence 
of  God.  Usually,  He  works  according 
to  natural  laws,  and  this  for  our  good, 
since  we  should  be  unable  to  control 
natural  agents  and  to  make  them  serve 
us,  unless  we  could  count  on  the  effects 
known  causes  will  produce.  But  God  is 
necessarily  free ;  He  is  not  subject  to 
natural  laws,  and  He  may,  for  wise  reasons, 
make  created  things  the  instruments  of 
effects  which  are  beyond  their  natural 
capacity.  A  miracle  is  not  an  effect 
without  a  cause  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a 
miracle  because  produced  by  God,  the 
First  Cause.  It  is  not  a  capricious  exer- 
cise of  power.  The  same  God  who  ope- 
rates usually,  and  for  wise  ends,  according 
to  the  laws  which  He  has  implanted  in 
Nature,  may  on  occasion,  and  for  ends 
equally  wise,  produce  effects  which  tran- 
scend these  laws.  Nor  does  God  in  work- 
ing miracles  contradict  Himself,  for  where 
has  He  bound  himself  never  and  for  no 
reason  to  operate  except  according  to  these 
laws? 

It  is  also  clear  from  the  definition 
given  that  God  alone  can  work  miracles. 
"  Whatever  an  angel  or  any  other  crea- 
ture does  by  his  own  power,  is  according 
to  the  order  of  created  nature,"  and  there- 
fore not  miraculous  according  to  the  defi- 
aition  with  which  we  started  (I.  ex.  4). 
It  is  quite  permissible  to  speak  of  saints 
or  angels  as  working  miracles;  indeed. 
Scripture  itself  does  so  speak.  Still,  we 
must  always  understand  that  God  alone 
really  performs  the  wonder,  and  that  the 
creature  is  merely  his  instrument.  Hence 
it  follows  that  no  miracle  can  possibly  be 
wrought  except  for  a  good  purpose.  It 
does  not,  however,  follow  that  persons 
through  whose  instrumentality  miracles 
occur  are  good  and  holy.    St.  Thomas,  | 


MIRACLES 

quoting  St.  Jerome,  holds  that  evil  men 
who  preach  the  faith  and  call  on  Christ's 
name  may  perform  true  miracles,  the 
object  of  these  miracles  being  to  confirm 
the  truths  which  these  unworthy  persons 
utter  and  the  cause  which  they  represent.^ 
Thus  the  gift  of  miracles  is  in  itself  no 
proof  of  holiness.  But,  as  a  rule,  miracles 
are  effected  by  holy  men  aud  women,  and 
very  often  they  are  the  signs  by  which 
God  attests  their  sanctity  and  the  power 
of  their  prayer  (2  2udse  clxxviii.  2).  In 
all  these  cases,  the  miracle  is  a  sign  of 
God's  will,  and  cannot,  except  through 
our  own  perversity,  lead  us  into  error. 

It  is  otherwise  with  the  "lying  won- 
ders" which,  St.  Paul  says,  Antichrist 
will  work,  or  which  Pharaoh's  magicians 
are  supposed  by  some  to  have  done  by  the 
help  of  devils.  Real  miracles  these  can- 
not be,  for  God,  who  is  the  very  truth, 
cannot  work  wonders  to  lead  his  creatures 
into  error.  But  the  demons,  accordiug  to 
St.  Thomas,  are  so  far  beyond  us  in  know- 
ledge and  strength,  that  they  may  well 
work  marvels .  which  would  exceed  all 
natural  powers,  so  far  as  we  know  them, 
and  would  seem  to  us  superior  to  any 
natural  power  whatsoever,  and  so  to  be 
truly  miraculous  (I.  cxiv.).  True  miracles, 
then,  are  practically  distinguished  from 
false  ones  by  their  moral  character.  They 
are  not  mere  marvels,  meant  to  gratify 
the  curiosity  of  the  spectator  and  the 
vanity  of  the  performer.  They  are  signs 
of  God's  presence ;  they  bring  us  nearer 
to  Him  with  whom  "  we  ever  have  to  do ; " 
they  remind  us  that  we  are  to  be  holy  as 
He  is  holy,  to  cultivate  humility,  purity, 
the  love  of  God  and  man.  The  doctrine 
which  they  confirm  must  appeal  to  us, 
apart  from  its  miraculous  attestation. 
"  Jesus  answered  them  and  said,  My 
doctrine  is  not  mine,  but  his  who  sent 
me.  If  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  will 
know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of 
God,  or  whether  I  speak  from  myself.  He 
who  speaketh  of  himself,  seeketh  his  own 
glory,  but  he  that  seeketh  the  glory  of 
Him  that  sent  him,  he  is  true,  and  in- 
justice is  not  in  him  "  (John  vii.  16).  So 
our  Lord  appeals,  in  answering  John's 
disciples,  to  his  miracles,  not  simply  as 
works  of  power,  but  as  stamped  with  a 
moral  character,  and  in  their  connec- 
tion with  the  rest  of  his  work.  "  Blind 
see    again  and    lame  walk,    lepers    are 

^  Sylvius,  oue  of  the  best  known  commenta- 
tors on  St.  Thomas,  holds  that  heretics  may 
work  miracles ;  not,  however,  in  confirmation 
of  their  heresy. 


MIRACLES 

cleansed,  and  deaf  hear,  and  corpses  are 
raised,  and  the  poor  have  the  Gospel 
preached  to  them  ;  and  blessed  is  he  who- 
soever shall  not  be  scandalised  in  me  " 
(Matt.  xi.  6  seq.).  In  short,  there  was  a 
witness  within,  as  well  as  without,  to 
Christ's  mission,  and  the  miracles  had  no 
voice  for  those  who  were  deaf  to  the 
voice  within.  Because  they  were  deaf  to 
this  voice  within,  the  Pharisees  ascribed 
Christ's  miracles  to  Beelzebub.  They 
blasphemed,  or  were  in  danger  of  blasphe- 
ming, the  Holy  Ghost  who  spoke  to  their 
hearts.  And  precisely  the  same  danger 
which  made  men  reject  Christ's  miracles 
will  make  them  accept  the  marvels  of 
Antichrist. 

So  far,  many  Protestants  are  with  us ; 
but  whereas  most  of  them  consider  that 
miracles  ceased  with,  or  soon  after,  the 
Apostolic  age,  the  Catholic  Church,  not, 
indeed,  so  far  as  we  know,  by  any  formal 
definition,  but  by  her  constant  practice  in 
the  canonisation  of  saints,  and  through 
the  teaching  of  her  theologians,  declares 
that  the  gift  of  miracles  is  an  abiding 
one,  manifested  from  time  to  time  in  her 
midst.  This  belief  is  logical  and  con- 
sistent. Miracles  are  as  possible  now  as 
they  were  eighteen  centuries  ago.  They 
were  wrought  throughout  the  course  of  the 
old  dispensation  and  by  the  Apostles  after 
Christ's  death ;  and  although  miracles,  no 
doubt,  were  specially  needed,  and  there- 
fore more  numerous,  when  Christianity 
was  a  new  religion,  we  have  no  right  to 
dictate  to  the  All-wise,  and  maintain  that 
they  have  ceased  to  be  required  at  all. 
Heathen  nations  have  still  to  be  converted. 
Great  saints  are  raised  up  in  dififerent  ages 
to  renew  the  fervour  of  Christians  and 
turn  the  hearts  of  the  disobedient  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  just.  The  only  reasonable 
course  is  to  examine  the  evidence  for 
modern  miracles,  when  it  presents  itself, 
and  to  give  or  withhold  belief  accord- 
ingly. This  is  just  what  the  Church  does. 
The  Anglican  Bishop  Fitzgerald,  at  the 
end  of  a  most  thoughtful  and  useful  essay 
on  "Miracles"  in  Smith's  "Bible  Dic- 
tionary," asserts  that,  according  to  the 
confession  of  their  ablest  advocates,  eccle- 
siastical miracles  belong  to  the  class  "  of 
miracles  which  may  be  described  as  am- 
biguous and  tentative — i.e.  the  event,  if 
it  occurred  at  all,  may  hav«  been  the 
result  of  natural  causes."  Then,  indeed, 
the  question  would  be  at  an  end.  But 
any  one  who  looks  into  Benedict  XFV.'s 
treatise  on  "  Canonisation,"  or  into  Car- 
dinal Newman's  "Lectures  on  Anglican 


MIRACLES 


688 


Difficulties,"  will  see  what  an  extraordi- 
nary mistake  this  is.  This  able  writer  is 
wasting  words  and  exposing  the  weakness 
of  his  own  cause  when  he  argues  that  the 
course  of  Nature  cannot  be  interrupted 
"  by  random  and  capricious  variation," 
that  strong  evidence  is  needed  to  make 
supposed  miracles  credible,  and  that  the 
true  miracles  of  Christianity  at  its  birth 
may  have  occasioned  spurious  imitations 
of  fanatical  credulily.  All  this  may  be 
admitted,  but  it  does  not  touch  the  ques- 
tion. And  when  Dr.  Fitzgerald  rests  the 
belief  in  miracles  upon  the  authority  of 
inspired  writers,  and  urges  that  there  is  no 
such  authority  for  ecclesiastical  miracles, 
he  forgets  that  the  first  Christians  must 
have  believed  the  miracles  of  Christ  and 
the  Apostles  before  any  inspired  record  of 
them  had  been  made.  In  many  cjises,  too, 
the  belief  in  Apostolic  miracles  must  have 
come  first,  that  in  Apostolic  inspiration 
second. 

It  must  be  observed,  however,  that 
ecclesiastical  and  Scriptural  miracles  claim 
widely  different  kinds  of  belief.  The 
Scriptural  miracles  rest  on  divine  faith, 
and  must  be  accepted  without  doubt.  No 
ecclesiastical  miracle  can  become  tlie  object 
of  faith,  nor  is  any  Catholic  bound  to  be- 
lieve in  any  particular  miracle  not  recorded 
in  Scripture.  He  could  not,  without  un- 
soundness in  doctrine,  deny  that  any 
miracles  had  occurred  since  the  Apostolic 
age,  and  he  owes  a  filial  respect  to  the 
judgment  of  "high  ecclesiastical  authority; 
but  within  these  limits  he  is  left  to  the 
freedom  and  to  the  responsibilities  of 
private  judgment. 

Lastly,  although  there  is  a  danger  in 
incredulity,  even  when  this  incredulity 
does  not  amount  to  abandonment  of  the 
faith.  Catholic  saints  and  doctors  have 
insisted  on  the  opposite  danger  of  cre- 
dulity. To  attribute  false  miracles,  says 
St.  Peter  Damian,  to  God  or  his  saints, 
is  to  bear  false  witness  against  them ; 
and  he  reminds  those  who  estimate  sanc- 
tity by  miraculous  power  that  nothing 
is  read  of  miracles  done  by  the  Blessed 
Virgin  or  St.  John  Baptist,  eminent  as 
they  were  in  sanctity,  and  that  the  virtues 
of  the  saints  which  we  can  copy  are  more 
useful  than  miracles  which  excite  our 
wonder  (Fleury,  "  H.  E."  Ixi.  2).  Nean- 
der  ("  Kirchengeschichte,"  viii.  p.  26  seq.), 
after  speaking  of  the  popular  taste  for 
legendary  miracles  in  the  middle  ages, 
continues :  "  Men  were  not  wanting  to 
contend  against  this  spirit,  and  a  catena 
of  testimonies  may  be  produced  from  the 


584 


MISSAL 


MISSION 


twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  on  the 
true  significance  of  the  miraculous  in  re- 
lation to  the  divine  life,  and  against  an 
exaggerated  estimation  of  external  mira- 
cles. Nor  were  such  thoughts  peculiar  to 
enlightened  men  who  rose  above  their 
age ;  they  may  be  f  aken  as  an  expression 
of  the  common  Christian  feeluig  in  those 
centuries."  The  medipeval  biographer  of 
Bernard  of  Tiron  says  that  for  the  con- 
versions of  fallen  women  which  he  eifected 
through  God's  grace  he  was  more  to  be 
admired  than  if  he  had  raised  their  dead 
bodies  to  life.  And  the  biographer  of 
St.  Norbert  writes:  "It  is  the  visible 
miracles  which  astonish  the  simple  and 
ignorant,  but  it  is  the  patience  and  virtues 
of  the  saints  which  are  to  be  admired  and 
imitated  by  those  who  gird  themselves  to 
Christ's  service."  (See  the  references  in 
Neander,  loc.  cit.) 

(On  the  subject  of  miracles  generally, 
Archbishop  Trench's  dissertation  at  the 
beginning  of  his  "  Essays  on  the  Miracles  " 
may  be  consulted.  It  is  specially  valuable 
for  its  Patristic  references.  The  opinions 
of  the  Schoolmen  on  the  nature  of  miracles 
are  well  given  by  Neander,  vol.  viii.  p.  26 
of  the  last  German  edition.  Cardinal 
Newman's  "Essay  on  Ecclesiastical  Mi- 
racles "  is  well  known.) 

BXZSSAlb.  The  book  which  contains 
the  complete  service  for  Mass  throughout 
the  year. 

In  the  ancient  Church  there  was  no 
one  book  answering  to  our  Missal.  The 
service  for  Mass  was  contained  in  the 
Antiphonary,  Lectionary,  Book  of  the 
Gospels,  and  Sacramentary.  This  last, 
besides  matter  relating  to  other  sacra- 
ments, gave  the  collects,  secrets,  prefaces, 
canon,  prayer  infra  canonem,  and  post- 
communion,  and  from  the  eighth  century 
at  latest  it  was  known  as  Missal  or  Mass- 
book.  There  were  "  Corapleta  Missalia," 
— i.e.  Missals  which  contained  more  of 
the  service  of  the  Mass  than  the  Sacra- 
mentaries ;  but  we  do  not  know  how  far 
this  completeness  went,  for  "  during  the 
ages  which  intervened  between  the  use  of 
the  Liber  Sacramentorum  and  the  general 
adoption  of  the  complete  book  of  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  the 
Missal  was  in  a  transition  state,  sometimes 
containing  more,  sometimes  less  of  the 
entire  office.  Thus  the  MSS.  which  still 
exist  vary  in  their  contents  (Maskell, 
'•'  Monumenta  Bit.,"  p.  Ixiii.  seq.)}   There 

1  The  Missale  Phnarium  contains  all  the 
service  for  Mass — i.e.  it  is  a  Missal  in  the  modern 
sense. 


are,  of  course,  printed  Missals  according 
to  the  various  rites — Missale  Romanum, 
Ambrosianum,  Missal  ad  usum  Sarum 
(first  printed  edition  known,  Paris  1487), 
and  the  various  uses  of  religious  orders 
(Dominicans,  Benedictines,  &c.)  The 
Roman  Missal  was  carefully  revised  and 
printed  under  Pius  V.,  who  carried  out  a 
decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent  on  the 
matter,  and  strictly  enjoined  the  use  of 
this  Missal,  or  faithful  reprints  of  it,  in  all 
churches  which  could  not  claim  prescrip- 
tion of  two  hundred  years  for  their  own 
use.  It  was  revised  again  under  Clement 
VIII.  and  Urban  VIII.  New  Masses 
have  of  course  been  added  from  time  to 
time,  and  to  the  INlissal  as  to  the  Breviary 
a  "  Proper  "  may  be  added  by  permission 
of  the  Iloly  See,  containing  Masses  for 
the  saints  venerated  in  a  particular 
county,  diocese,  order,  &c. 

IVZISSXOXJ.  Mission  is  inseparably 
connected  with  jurisdiction,  so  that  he 
who  is  validly  "  sent "  exercises  a  lawful 
jurisdiction  in  the  place  to  which,  and 
over  the  persons  to  whom,  he  is  sent;  and, 
e  converso,  any  person  exercising  a  lawful 
jurisdiction  must  be  held  to  have  received 
true  mission.  Mission  precedes  juris- 
diction in  the  order  of  thought,  but  is 
coincident  with  it  in  practice. 

A  priest  having  the  care  of  souL 
within  a  certain  district  must  be  sent  to 
that  district  by  the  bishop,  who  has  the 
general  charge  of  all  the  souls  within  his 
diocese ;  he  cannot  appoint  himself  to 
it.  "  How  shall  they  preach  unless  they 
be  sent  ?  "  ^  In  a  regular  parish  there 
may  be  more  priests  than  one  engaged  in 
ministerial  functions,  but  one  alone  has 
the  responsibility,  as  the  curatm,  of  the 
souls  within  it.  He  has  ordinary,  not 
delegated  faculties ;  other  priests  minis- 
tering within  his  parish  have  not  ordi- 
nary faculties.  In  missions,  as  here  in 
England,  the  head  priest  and  the  others 
usually  difler  only  in  this,  that  the  latter 
receive  their  faculties  to  be  exercised 
"  cum*  dependentia "  of  the  former. 
Priests,  even  parish  priests,  are  not  now 
held  to  have  jurisdiction  in  the  external 
forum  (Soglia,  ii.  §  86),  but  only  in  the 
internal.     [Fortjm,  &c.] 

Again,  the  bishop  from  whom  the 
mission  of  the  paroe/ius  is  derived  does 
not  assume  his  pastoral  office  of  his  own 
authority ;  still  less,  in  consequence  of  a 
call  from  his  flock;  his  recognition  or 
confirmation,  if  not  actual  election,  by 
the  Pope  as  the  successor  of  St.  PeUtf 
J  Kom.  X.  16. 


MISSION 

constitutes  his  mission  and  the  title  of 
his  jurisdiction.  The  mission  of  the 
Pope  himself  is  from  above,  and  rests  on 
the  divine  promises,  clearly  expressed  as 
they  are  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  certified 
by  the  tradition  of  the  Church.  [Church 
OF  Christ  ;  Pope.] 

^'The  mission  of  the  priest,"  says 
Bendel,^  has  its  prototype  in  that  of 
Jesus  Christ :  ^'  As  my  Father  hath  sent 
me,  so  send  I  you."  Jesus  Christ  was 
sent  into  the  world  to  seek  all  the  souls 
which  were  lost ;  the  Apostles  were  sent 
by  Jesus  Christ  to  all  parts  of  the  earth 
to  continue  his  work  in  his  name  ;  the 
successors  of  the  Apostles,  without  any 
break  in  the  chain,  are  sent  by  the  Church 
to  fulfil  their  charge,  and  these  send  in 
their  turn  the  confessors  and  pastors 
delegated  by  them  to  spread  the  beams 
of  grace  from  the  centre  to  the  extremities, 
and  cause  every  soul  which  desires  it  to 
participate  in  the  benefits  of  their  minis- 
try." .  .  .  .  "  The  Church  is  the  visible 
institute  of  salvation  among  men ;  through 
her  alone  power  is  given  to  the  priest,  by 
mission,  to  announce  in  the  virtue  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  the  word  of  God,  as  it  has 
been  all  along  preserved  incorrupt  by  her, 
to  transmit  to  the  faithful  the  graces 
of  which,  through  the  merits  of  Christ, 
she  is  the  depositary,  and  to  direct  them 
in  the  way  of  salvation  in  virtue  of  the 
sovereign  authority  which  she  represents. 
He  who  is  not  legitimately  sent  cannot 
be,  in  the  full  force  of  the  words,  "  a 
minister  of  the  Church  having  charge  of 
souls." 

In  non-Catholic  denominations  the 
mission  to  a  particular  locality  usually 
proceeds  from  the  governing  body,  such 
as  the  General  Assembly  in  the  Kirk  of 
Scotland,  or  the  Conference  of  a  hundred 
ministers  among  the  Wesleyans.  But  if 
it  be  asked  whence  such  governing  bodies 
derived  their  mission,  it  is  invariably 
found  that  they  derived  it  in  the  first 
instance  from  some  heresiarch  or  other 
self-appointed  individual,  who  made  a 
breach  in  ecclesiastical  unity,  or  else 
made  a  fresh  schism  in  that  which  was 
itself  a  schism.  Thus  mission  among  the 
Presbyterians  has  Calvin,  and  among  the 
Methodists,  Wesley,  for  its  fountain 
head.  In  the  Anglican  Church  mission  is 
derived  ostensibly  from  the  Crown,  which 
claims  to  be  "  in  all  causes  and  over  all 
■persons,  ecclesiastical  and  civil,"  within 
the  British  empire  "supreme."  Every 
bishop,  on  doing  homage  for  his  see  to  the 

1  Art.  "  Missions/'  in  Wetzer  and  Welte. 


MISSIONS,  POPULAR  586 

sovereign,  has  to  say,  "  I  do  acknowledge 
and  confess  to  have  and  hold  the  bishopric 
of  it,  and  the  possession  of  the  same 
entirely,  as  well  the  spiritualities  as 
the  temporalities  thereof,  only  of  your 
Majesty,  and  of  the  Imperial  Crown  of 
this  your  Majesty's  realm."  ^  Those  who 
find  this  view  too  Erastian  hold  that 
mission  is  conferred  along  with  conse- 
cration, in  which  case  Anglican  mission 
must  be  ultimately  derived  from  Parker, 
Elizabeth's  first  bishop,  who  made  a 
breach     in     ecclesiastical    unity.       [See 

JURISBICTION.] 

nxZSSTOXr  (  =  quasi-parinh).  In 
countries  where  the  majority  of  the 
population  is  non-Catholic,  either  through 
having  lost  the  faith  or  not  having  yet 
been  converted  to  it,  the  priests  having 
charge  of  souls  are  not  inducted  into 
parishes,  but  stationed  on  missions.  In 
England,  after  the  change  of  religion, 
many  such  missions  were  entrusted  to 
members  of  religious  orders,  which  en- 
joyed in  a  normal  state  of  things  various 
privileges  and  exemptions.  This  led  to  a 
conflict  of  jurisdiction  between  the  mon- 
astic superiors  and  the  vicars-apostolic, 
and  it  was  finally  decided  by  Benedict 
XIV.  that  "  regular  missionaries  in  Eng- 
land are  subject  to  the  vicars-apostolic  in 
all  that  concerns  the  care  of  souls  and 
the  administration  of  the  sacraments,"* 
notwithstanding  the  privileges  of  their 
orders.  In  what  relates  to  the  observance 
of  their  rule  they  are  subject  to  their 
monastic  superiors.  Since  the  establish- 
ment of  the  hierarchy  in  England  in  1850 
the  priests  with  quasi-parishes  still  re- 
main mere  missioners  removable  at  the 
bishop's  will,  with  the  exception  of  "  Mis- 
sionary Rectors "  permanently  instituted 
(see  Acts  of  Prov.  Council  of  Westm.  I. 
App.),  who,  in  virtue  of  decrees  of  Pro- 
paganda and  synodal  statutes  confirmed 
by  the  Holy  See,  hold  certain  rights  and 
privileges.  (Ferraris,  Missiones ;  Mis- 
stonarii.) 

^  Mzsszoirs,  POPViLAa.  To  quicken 
faith  and  piety  among  Christians,  whom 
their  life  in  the  world  has  made  tepid 
and  careless,  is  for  the  pastors  of  the 
Church  an  object  of  no  less  solicitude 
than  to  convert  the  heathen.  In  sub- 
stance, mission-preaching  has  been  em- 
ployed in  every  age  of  the  Church  ;  it 
was  applied  with  extraordinary  fruit  by 
St.   Francis   and   St.   Dominic ;   but  its 

1  Father  Hutton,  TTie  Anglican  Ministrpf 
1879,  p.  504  n. 

2  Flanagan,  Church  History,  ii.  373. 


686  mSSIONS,  POPULAR 

reduction  to  a  system  has  been  the  work 
of  comparatively  recent  times,  and  was 
commenced  by  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  when 
(1617)  he  preached  his  first  mission  to 
the  peasants  of  Folleville.  [See  Lazar- 
I8TS.]  The  Jesuits,  Redemptorists, 
Passionists,  and  Rosmiuians  have  applied 
themselves  with  special  earnestness  to 
this  branch  of  pastoral  work  ;  see  those 
articles.  The  following  sketch  of  a 
mission  and  of  its  fruits  is  from  an  article 
by  Stemmer.^  "  A  popular  mission  con- 
sists in  a  series  of  sermons  and  religious 
exercises,  lasting  over  a  certnin  number 
of  days,  directed  by  missionary  priests 
with  the  approbation  of  the  ordinary,  in 
order  to  instruct  and  convert  sinners, 
and  rekindle  Christian  faith  and  Christian 
practice.  This  series  or  cycle  of  medita- 
tions, devotional  exercises,  and  addresses, 
the  general  aim  of  which  is  to  excite 
penitential  feelings,  treats  of  the  destiny 
and  end  of  man,  of  free  will,  of  the  need 
of  grace,  of  the  divine  justice,  eternity, 
the  necessity  of  conversion,  the  heinous- 
ness  of  sin,  its  consequences,  and  the 
misery  of  impenitence  ;  of  the  last  things 
— hell,  eternal  punishment,  and  dam- 
nation. Together  with  these  terrifying 
themes  the  preacher  speaks  of  the  msrcy 
and  love  of  God,  the  graces  stored  up  in 
the  Church,  the  sacraments  of  Penance 
and  the  Eucharist ;  usually  also  of  loving 
our  enemies,  H61y  Communion,  the  re- 
newal of  baptismal  vows,  and  persever- 
ance in  doing  good.  In  this  way  the 
sinner  is  brought  to  contrition,  whence 
come  hope  and  a  moral  change."  After 
describing  the  availableness  at  this  stage 
of  the  tribunal  of  Penance,  the  writer 
proceeds :  "  The  mission  is  usually  termi- 
nated by  the  renewal  of  baptismal  vows," 
a  general  communion,  "  the  dedication  of 
the  palish  to  the  Blessed  Virgin ,  promises 
of  amendment  and  thanksgiving  before 
the  altar,  the  erection  of  a  cross  or 
stations,  the  solemn  publication  of  the 
indulgence  attached  to  the  mission,  and 
the  celebration  of  Mass  for  the  souls  of 
the  relatives  and  friends  of  the  faithful 
present.  Thus  do  the  few  days  devoted 
to  a  true  popular  mission,  with  all  the 
truths  which  it  proclaims,  all  the  acts 
which  it  disposes  to  and  realises,  form  a 
real  source  of  benediction  to  the  souls  that 
are  willing  to  profit  by  it.  It  is  a  work 
of  teaching  and  conversion  which  un- 
deceives those  who  are  misled,  convinces 
those  who  doubt,  shakes  the  indifferent 

>  Wetzer  and  Welte,  ''MissioM." 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN 

in  their  false  security,  and  stops  hardened 
sinners  in  full  career;  it  is  an  extra- 
ordinary weapon  with  which  falsehood 
and  error  are  attacked  directly,  boldly, 
and  persistently,  to  the  destruction  of 
erroneous  systems  and  the  triumphant 
erection  of  truth  on  their  ruins.  Deep- 
seated  prejudices  and  inveterate  faults, 
though  attacked  at  intervals  from  the 
pulpit,  always  find  some  corner  in  the 
heart  where  they  can  hide  themselves 
and  hold  their  ground  ;  but  the  man  who 
attends  a  mission  meets  an  assailant  who 
deals  blow  after  blow  untU  the  con- 
viction of  the  enormity  of  his  blindness 
and  of  his  faults  is  forced  upon  the 
hearer's  conscience.  Ill-gotten  gains  are 
renounced,  guilty  practices  and  criminal 
connections  are  broken  off,  hatreds  of  old 
standing  are  appeased,  separated  couples 
reconciled,  lawsuits  amicably  settled  ;  the 
converted  sinners  show  a  change  of 
conduct,  and  the  face  of  family  and 
parochial  life  is  altered ;  through  the 
whole  district  human  existence  is  modi- 
fied for  the  better  ;  sanctiti cation  spreads  ; 
and  where  unbelief,  immorality,  discord, 
disobedience,  and  antipathy  formerly 
prevailed,  the  severity  of  Christian  faith 
is  now  established,  with  union,  love,  and 
the  peace  of  God." 

nXISSZOlO'S  TO  THE  BEA- 
THEXT.  The  kingdom  of  God,  beginning 
as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago,  has  grown  into  a 
great  tree ;  the  stages  of  its  growth  are 
here  briefly  noticed. 

The  multitude  collected  at  Jerusalem 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  from  whom  the 
first  converts  to  the  Christian  faith  were 
gathered,  belonged  for  the  most  part  to 
countries  bordering  on  the  Levant  or 
lying  still  further  east.  They  came  from 
Persia,  Mesopotamia,  Asia  Minor,  Arabia, 
and  Noith  Africa;  some  were  from 
Crete ;  the  only  western  country  indi- 
cated is  Italy.  These  converts,  when 
they  returned  to  their  homes,  must  have 
spread  Christian  belief  around  them. 
The  seed  thus  sown  needed  tending  ;  and 
the  traditions  as  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Apostles,  which  tell  us  that  the  labours 
of  most  of  them  were  confined  to  thase 
very  Eastern  countries,  are  therefore  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  report  in  Acts 
ii.  St.  Thomas,  according  to  a  probable 
tradition,  visited  India,  and  founded  there 
the  Christian  community  which  stiU 
bears  his  name.  The  legend  that  St. 
James  the  son  of  Zebedee  passed  into 
Spain  and  founded  a  Church  at  Santiago 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN        MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN   587 


in  Galicia,  is  of  little  authority.*  It 
must  have  been  regarded  in  the  Apostolic 
circle  as  a  momentous  step,  when  St. 
Paul  (Actsxvi.  6-10),  crossing  the  Helles- 
pont, lirst  carried  the  light  of  Christianity 
into  Europe.  St.  Peter,  after  residing  for 
some  time  at  Antioch,  fixed  his  see  about 
A.D.  42  at  Rome,  which  from  that  time 
became  the  centre  of  Christendom.  But 
the  full  bearing  and  import  of  his  primacy 
were  only  gradually  discerned  in  the 
Church ;  and  the  Apostolic  sees  of  Alex- 
andria and  Antioch,  with,  later  on,  Con- 
stantinople and  Jerusalem,  and  generally 
the  gi-eater  sees,  acted  as  powerful  secon- 
dary centres  to  difi'use  the  faith  among 
the  neighbouring  countries.  In  Mace- 
donia, at  Athens  and  Corinth,  and  in 
Greece  generally,  Christianity  was  planted 
by  St.  Paul.  A  very  ancient  legend 
carries  Lazarus  and  his  sister  Martha  to 
the  South  of  France,  near  Marseilles.  A 
beautiful  tradition,  not  however  older 
than  the  middle  ages,  speaks  of  Joseph 
of  Arimathea  as  visiting  Britain  and 
founding  a  flourishing  Church  at  Glaston- 
bury. 

Second  Century. — The  great  work  of 
this  period  was  the  conversion  of  Roman 
Gaul.  Documents  still  extant  describe 
for  us  the  persecution  at  Lyons  in  177, 
when  St.  Pothinus  was  bishop,  and 
Blandina  suffered  martyrdom.  All  along 
the  coast  of  North  Africa,  and  in  Spain, 
the  faith  must  have  been  silently  spread- 
ing throughout  this  century,  but  details 
are  wanting.  About  182,  Pope  Eleu- 
therus,  at  the  request  of  Lucius,  a  British 
king,  is  said  by  Beda  to  have  taken 
measures  for  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity into  Britain. 

Third  Century. — The  records  of  the 
persecution  of  Severus  disclose  the  exis- 
tence of  a  flourishing  Church  in  North 
Africa.  In  Italy,  Christianity  is  believed 
to  have  been  planted  in  the  principal 
cities,  such  as  Milan  and  Ravenna,  in  or 
soon  after  the  time  of  the  Apostles ;  but 
detailed  information,  except  as  to  the 
names  of  the  bishops,  is  wanting.  In 
Persia,  the  faith  made  rapid  advances  all 
through  this  century,  from  Seleucia  as  a 
centre  of  operations,  where  one  of  the 
seventy-two  disciples  named  Mares  is  said 
to  have  been  the  first  bishop.  About  220 
the  Parthian  monarchy  gave  way  to  the 
dynasty  of  the  Sassanides,  which,  under 
the  belief  that  its  stability  depended  on 
its  firm  adhesion  to  the  old  fire-worship 

1  Hefele  seems  to  reject  it ;  see  his  article 
on  St.  James,  in  Wetzer  and  Welte. 


of  the  nation,  produced  after  a  time  a 
series  of  unrelenting  persecutors  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

In  Central  and  Northern  Frapce,  St. 
Denys  made  numerous  conversions  in  the 
yeare  270-280.  About  the  same  time  St. 
Quentin  planted  the  faith  in  the  Verman- 
dois,  St.  Lucian  at  Beauvais,  and  St. 
Mellon  at  Rouen. 

Fimrth  Century. — The  persecution  of 
Diocletian  showed  that  Spain,  which  gave 
St.  Eulalia  of  Merida,  and  Britain,  which 
gave  St.  Alban,  to  the  roll  of  martyrs, 
both  possessed  a  strongly  rooted  Chris- 
tianity. The  Armenians  were  converted 
in  great  numbers  by  Gregory  the*  Illu- 
minator. Frumentius  planted  the  faith 
in  Abyssinia,  and  was  the  first  bishop  of 
Axum  (356).  St.  Martin  of  Tours  ex- 
tinguished most  of  the  paganism  that  still 
lingered  in  Western  Gaul.  f 

Christianity  at  Zurich,  in  Switzerland, 
dates  from  St.  Felix  and  his  sister  St. 
Regula,  martyred  in  303.  Alemannic 
pagan  invaders  overran  the  country  in 
the  fifth  century.  After  the  great  defeat 
of  Zulpich  (496),  the  Alemans  gradually 
became  Christians,  and  a  noble  Aleman, 
Robert,  re-established  the  faith  and  built 
a  church  at  Zurich  about  692.  His 
brother,  Wichard,  did  the  same  at  Lucerne 
towards  the  end  of  the  seventh  century. 
The  see  of  Martigny  in  the  Valais,  not 
far  from  St.  Maurice,  famous  for  the 
martyrdom  of  the  Theban  legion,  is  said 
to  have  been  founded  about  300.  The 
see  of  Lausanne  grew  out  of  that  of 
Avenches,  which  is  believed  to  have  been 
founded  about  350. 

The  Teutonic  Goths,  pressing  south- 
ward from  the  Baltic,  occupied  in  the 
fourth  century  what  is  now  Roumania, 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Danube,  and 
were  allowed  by  Valens  when  pressed  by 
the  Huns  to  cross  the  river  (376),  and 
settle  in  the  Roman  province  of  Moesia. 
Christianity,  which  had  been  introduced 
among  them  by  some  captives  whom  in 
one  of  their  expeditions  they  had  carried 
away  from  Cappadocia,  appears  to  have 
made  rapid  progress.  Theophilus,  bishop 
of  the  Christian  Goths,  was  present  at  the 
Council  of  Nicsea  and  subscribed  its  de- 
crees. A  persecution  arose  about  370,  of 
which  we  have  an  interesting  account  in 
the  acta  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Sabas.* 
At  that  time,  according  to  the  distinct 
testimony  of  St.  Austin,^  the  Christian 
Goths  were  all  Catholics.     But  Ulfilas, 

1  Alban  Butler,  Apr.  12. 

2  De  CVr.  Z>«,  xriii.  52. 


fi88    MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN        MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN 


who  was  their  bishop  after  Theophilus, 
visiting  Constantinople  in  376,  was  per- 
suaded to  embrace  Arianism,  and  he  in- 
troduced it  among  his  people.  The  same 
1  Jlfilas  invented  an  alphabet  for  the  Goths, 
and  translated  the  Bible  into  their 
tongue  ;  of  this  version,  large  portions  are 
extant.  These  Goths  of  Ulfilas  belonged 
to  the  Visigothic  or  Western  branch  of 
the  nation,  and  they  communicated  the 
Arian  heresy  to  the  Ostrogothic  or 
Eastern  branch.  In  Theodoric  the  Ostro- 
golAi  Arianism  mounted  on  the  throne  of 
Italy ;  but  soon  after  his  death  it  was 
crushed  by  the  sword  of  Belisarius.  The 
Arian  Visigoths,  driven  out  of  Gaul  by 
the  Catholic  Franks,  founded  a  powerful 
kingdom  in  Spain  ;  their  conversion  will 
be  noticed  further  on. 

Fifth  Centw-y. — At  its  commence- 
menfthe  Persian  king  Izdegerd  listened 
favolrably  to  the  teaching  of  St.  Mar- 
ruthls,  who  made  many  conversions. 
A  fresh  persecution  raged  between  420 
and  450,  About  this  latter  date  the 
Persian  clergy  began  to  side  with  Nes- 
torius  ;  and  the  kings,  from  motives  easily 
understood,  encouraged  them  to  set  at 
naught  the  decrees  both  of  Ephesus  and 
Chalcedon.  In  490,  through  the  defec- 
tion of  Babuaeus,  the  patriarchal  see  of 
Seleucia  became  Nestorian.  The  heresy 
obtained  at  one  time  an  immense  develop- 
ment, reckoning,  under  the  Patriarch, 
25  metropolitans  and  J40  bishops. 

Many  Jews  were  converted  (418)  in 
Minorca,  and  St.  Euthymius  (421) 
preached  with  success  to  some  Arabian 
tribes. 

Ireland  was  converted  by  the  preach- 
ing of  St.  Patrick.  [See  Irish  Church.] 

The  Burgundians,  a  Teutonic  people, 
in  alarm  at  the  approach  of  the  Huns, 
sought  instruction  in  Christianity  from 
the  Romanised  Gauls  among  whom  they 
had  settled  ;  and  having  obtained  it,  and 
embraced  the  faith,  they  defeated  the 
invaders.  This  was  about  430.^  After- 
wards they  lapsed  for  a  time  into  Arian- 
ism. 

The  see  of  Geneva,  where  there  are 
believed  to  have  been  bishops  as  far  back 
as  AD.  200,  was  subjected  by  Leo  the 
Great  (450)  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Vienne.  The  first  bishop 
of  Coire  in  the  Grisons  was  St.  Asimo, 
for  whom  the  Bishop  of  Como  signed  the 
decrees  of  a  council  at  Milan  in  452. 

The  Franks,  who  under  Clevis,  had  in- 
vaded Gaul  from  beyond  the  Rhine,  and 
»  Milman,  Lat.  Ckriatianiiy ,  i.  348. 


destroyed  every  vestige  of  Roman  domi- 
nation, embraced  Christianity  along  with 
their  king  in  496,  after  his  great  victory 
over  the  Alemanni. 

The  Southern  Picts  in  Galloway  were 
converted  by  St.  Ninian,  a  Briton,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  century. 

Sixth  Century. — The  Arian  Suevi  of 
Galicia  were  converted,  chiefly  by  the 
preaching  of  St.  Martin  of  Duma,  about 
561.  In  587,  under  King  Recared,  the 
whole  Visigothic  nation  in  Spain  re- 
nounced Arianism  and  embraced  the 
orthodox  faith.  Great  progress  was 
made  in  converting  the  Flemings  by  St. 
Vedast  (f  540),  first  bishop  oi"  Arras  and 
Cambrai,  who  may  be  regarded  as  their 
apostle. 

St.Gall,anIrishraonk,  about  585  pene- 
trated into  Switzerland  and  established 
the  famous  abbey.  From  the  monastery 
of  lona,  founded  in  570  by  the  Irish  St. 
Colra  cille — i.  e.,  "dove  of  the  cells" — 
missionaries,  at  first  mostly  IrisJi,  evan- 
gelized Western  and  Northern  Scotland. 
The  Celts  of  Cumberland,  Wales,  and 
Cornwall  still  preserved  the  Christianity 
long  before  received  from  Roman  mis- 
sionaries. In  596  St.  Augustine,  with 
forty  monks,  was  sent  from  Rome  by 
Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  and  began  to 
establish  Christianity  among  the  pagans 
of  the  South  of  England. 

Seventh  Century. — The  conversion  of 
the  Angles  and  Saxons  was  being  regu- 
larly carried  on,  not  by  kings  forcing  the 
creed  upon  unbelievers  at  the  sword's 
point,  but  by  bishops,  monks,  and  secular 
priests  who  manifestly  sought  not  their 
goods  but  their  souls.  It  is  true  that 
there  were  reaction  and  relapse  here  and 
there,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  pages  of 
Beda ;  but  the  general  movement  of  the 
moral  tide  was  forward.  The  Angles  of 
Deira  (Yorkshire)  with  their  Idng,  Edwin, 
received  the  faith  (633)  from  the  Roman 
missionary  Paulinus.  The  Angles  of 
Bernicia — i.e.  of  the  eastern  districts  of 
England  and  Scotland  from  the  Tees  to 
the  Forth — were  made  Christians  by  the 
preaching  of  the  Irish  monks  of  lona, 
whom  St.  Oswald  (635)  mvited  into 
Northumbria.  No  dilierence  of  doctrine 
divided  the  two  classes  of  missioners ; 
but  they  were  at  variance  on  an  impor- 
tant point  of  discipline — viz.  the  right 
observance  of  Easier  [Easter;  Irish 
Church].  St.  Aidan,  the  first  bishop  in 
Bernicia,  fixed  his  see  at  Lindisfarne  on 
Holy  Isle ;  in  the  tenth  century  it  wae 
removed  to  Durham. 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN        mSSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN   689 


The  Gospel  was  carried  by  English 
missioners  to  Friesland  and  Holland.  St. 
Wilfrid,  banished  from  his  see  (679), 
dwelt  for  some  time  in  Friesland  and 
converted  many.  But  the  true  founder 
of  the  Dutch  Church  was  St.  Willibrord, 
who,  landing  in  Holland  in  690,  fixed  his 
eee  at  AViltenburg  or  Utrecht. 

Eighth  Century. — The  German  tribes 
were  still  for  the  most  part  buried  in 
heathenism ;  only  at  the  north-west, 
through  the  mission  of  Willibrord  and 
his  companions,  and  at  the  south-west, 
through  the  gradual  conversion  of  the 
Alemanni  of  Baden  and  Suabia  since 
their  subjugation  by  the  Franks,  had  an 
impression  been  made.  The  eighth 
century  witnessed  the  solid  foundation  of 
the  German  church  through  the  preaching 
of  Winfrid  (St.  Boniface).  In  this  great 
affair  the  blessing  and  sanction  of  the 
Roman  See  were  as  carefully  sought  and 
as  deliberately  given  as  before  the  con- 
version of  England.  St.  Boniface  was 
papal  legate  in  Germany  for  many  years, 
having  been  fir^t  consecrated  bishop  by 
Gregory  II.  in  723.  In  745  he  fixed  his 
metropolitan  see  at  Mentz.  Some  time 
before  (740)  he  had  found  his  way  into 
the  vast  region  watered  by  the  Danube 
and  its  tributary  streams,  and  there 
founded  the  sees  of  Regensburg  (Ratis- 
bon),  Frisingen,  Passau,  and  Salzburg. 
From  tbe  last  two  sees  Christianity  was 
carried  to  the  Teutonic  or  mixed  popula- 
tions further  east. 

The  Saxons  of  Westphalia,  Hanover, 
lind  Oldenburg  were  coerced  by  Char- 
lemagne, who  harried  them  with  per- 
petual war  till  they  submitted,  into  the 
reception  of  Christianity.  This  was  the 
commencement  of  the  system,  too  common 
all  through  the  middle  ages,  by  which 
unbelievers  were  scared  by  the  threatened 
loss  of  life  or  goods  into  embracing,  or  at 
least  professing,  the  religion  of  Christ. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  treat- 
ment of  the  Saxons  was  a  considerable 
factor  in  the  anti-Christian  ferocity  which 
from  this  time  till  their  tardy  conversion 
two  centuries  later  possessed  their  sea- 
roving  neighbours  of  Scandinavia,  and 
brought  innumerable  miseries,  wrongs, 
and  losses  on  the  innocent  English  and 
Irish  populations. 

The  English  St.  Willehad,  who  had 
been  working  among  the  Saxons  and 
Frisians  since  770,  was  consecrated  to  the 
eee  of  Bremen  in  787. 

Ninth  Century. — The  missionary 
efforts  of  the  Church  were  now  chieflv 


directed  to  the  rough  Scandinavian  North, 
and  to  the  Slavonic  peoples  which  every- 
where bordered  on  the  German  tribes  and 
the  Byzantine  empire.  St.  Anschar 
visited  Sweden  in  830  and  made  many 
converts.  In  834  he  was  chosen  Arch- 
bishop of  Hamburg  (with  which  Bremen 
was  afterwards  united),  in  fulfilment  of  a 
grand  scheme  of  Charlemagne  for  planting 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe  a  missionary 
centre  for  the  conversion  of  all  the  pagans 
of  Northern  Europe.  In  853  he  was  again 
in  Sweden,  and  from  that  time  the  light 
of  religion  was  never  quenched  there, 
though  it  long  flickered  and  seemed  on 
the  point  of  expiring.  Some  progress  was 
made  under  Charlemagne  in  converting 
the  Slavs  of  Brandenburg.  Again,  on 
the  Danube,  east  of  Passau,  by  the  ex- 
termination of  the  Avars,  Charlemagne 
made  room  for  the  "  Eastern  March " 
(Austria)  and  the  great  see  of  Vienna. 
The  Slavs  of  Bulgaria  were  converted  by 
the  monk  Methodius  (865),  whom  their 
king  Bogoris  had  invited  from  Constan- 
tinople. Constantine  and  the  same  Metho- 
dius brought  the  faith,  at  the  request  of 
their  duke  Bartilas,  to  the  Slavs  of 
Moravia.  Methodius  about  the  same 
time  visited  Bohemia,  and'  baptised  the 
duke  Boriwoy,  with  his  saintly  wife 
Ludmilla.  The  Czech  population  readily 
followed  the  example  of  their  rulers.  The 
country  remained  for  some  time  ecclesi- 
astically subject  to  the  Bishop  of  Ratisbon ; 
the  see  of  Prague  was  not  founded  till 
968. 

Tenth  Century. — The  work  of  con- 
verting the  Slav  races  and  the  Northmen 
continued.  The  Normans,  after  the  grant 
of  what  is  now  Normandy  to  their  duke 
Rollo  (911),  embraced  the  faith,  and  soon 
began  to  extend  and  illustrate  it  with  the 
force  and  genius  characteristic  of  the  race. 
The  Slavs  of  Brandenburg  were  finally 
converted  under  Henry  the  Fowler  (928), 
who  turned  their  country  into  a  march  of 
the  empire. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  century- 
good  progress  had  been  made  in  Russia 
in  the  territory  of  Kiew.  Olga,  the  widow 
of  the  Grand  Duke  Igor,  visited  Constan- 
tinople in  957,  and  was  baptised  in  the 
church  of  St.  Sophia.  The  schism  caused 
by  Photius  had  been  healed  up,  and  the 
Eastern  church  was  at  this  time  in  com- 
munion with  Rome ;  it  was  not  till  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century  that  the 
breach  was  reopened  under  Ceruliraus, 
and  became  chronic.  [Greek  Church.! 
Olga's  example  was  not  generally  foUowea 


680    MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN         MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN 


by  the  people  ;  it  was  not  till  the  reign  of 
her  grandson  Vladimir  that  a  strong 
movement  towards  Christianity  took 
place  among  the  Kussians.  The  see  of 
Kiew  was  founded  in  988. 

In  Denmark,  where  many  missioners 
had  laboured  in  the  ninth  century  with 
little  outward  fruit,  the  time  had  at  last 
come  for  sees  to  he  founded.  Sleswig, 
with  Poppo  for  its  first  bishop,  and 
Aarhuus  were  erected  into  bishoprics 
about  948.  Lunden,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Eider,  was  made  a  metropolitan  see 
in  1104. 

Misaco  or  jMieceslas,  duke  of  Poland, 
marrying  a  pious  Bohemian  princess, 
agreed  to  become  a  Christian,  and  was 
baptised  in  966 ;  his  subjects  made  little 
difficulty  about  following  his  example. 
Jordan  was  the  first  bishop  of  Poland, 
which  was  attached  to  the  province  of 
Magdeburg. 

Geisa,  the  duke  or  voyvode  of  the 
Magyars  of  Hungary,  became  a  Christian 
about  995.  In  996  he  welcomed  into  his 
country  St.  Adalbert  of  Prague,  by  whose 
preaching  great  numbers  were  converted. 
His  son,  St.  Stephen,  the  first  Christian 
king  of  Hungary,  married  Gisela,  sister  to 
the  Emperor  Henry  II.  St.  Adalbert  gave 
up  his  life  in  the  attempt  (997)  to  con- 
vert the  Prussians  about  Dantzic. 

Shortly  before  the  end  of  the  century 
Olaf,  king  of  Sweden  (t  1024),  brought 
over  Siegfried,  the  English  priest,  and  was 
baptised  at  Husaby  in  West  Gotland. 
Christianity  became  the  religion  of  tbe 
kingdom,  but  paganism  lingered  long  in 
remote  districts. 

Thorwald,  an  Icelander,  having  been 
converted  in  Saxony,  took  home  with 
him  the  priest  Friedrich  (981),  and  had 
much  success  in  bringing  over  his  country- 
men. The  conversion  of  the  islanders 
was  finished,  after  a  rough  fashion,  by 
Thangbrand,  an  emissary  of  the  King  of 
Norway,  between  997  and  999.  The  first 
bishop  fixed  his  see  at  Skalholt  in  1056. 

Eleventh  Century. — About  a.d.  1000 
the  English  Siegfried  already  mentioned 
preached  to  the  Norwegians,  daf  Trygg- 
wason,  king  of  Norway,  who  fell  in  battle 
in  that  year,  was  a  Christian,  but  his 
people  had  not  gone  with  him.  Norway, 
after  being  for  many  years  under  the 
rule  of  the  Swedes  and  Danes,  regained 
its  independence  through  the  courage 
and  endurance  of  Olaf  Haraldson  (St. 
Olaf)  in  1017.  By  a  mixture  of  force 
and  persuasion  Olaf  brought  over  the 
great  majority  of  his  couatrymen  into 


the  pale  of  the  Church.  Grimkele,  an 
Englishman,  was  the  first  bishop  of 
Trondhiem. 

The  Slavs  of  Mecklenburg,  among 
whom  Christianity  had  been  already 
preached,  but  ineffectually,  all  embraced 
the  faith  about  1050,  under  their  prince, 
Gotschalk. 

Twelfth  Century. — The  conversion  of 
the  Slavs  went  on.  Boleslas,  duke  of 
Poland,  having  conquered  Pomerania, 
sent  for  St.  Otho,  bishop  of  Bamberg, 
who,  having  first  obtained  the  sanction  of 
the  Pope,  came  to  Gnesen  in  1125,  and 
thence  passed  into  Pomerania,  visiting 
Pii-itz,  AVollin,  and  Stettin.  The  people 
readily  listened  to  him,  and  were  baptised 
in  vast  numbers  by  total  immersion. 
Adalbert  was  appointed  the  first  bishop 
of  Kammin  in  1128. 

Christianitj'  was  forced  upon  the 
Finns  by  their  Swedish  masters  about 
1150.  The  see  was  at  first  at  Randa- 
maki,  but  was  removed  to  Abo  in  1300. 

The  Slavs  of  the  Isle  of  Rugen, 
having  been  subdued  by  the  King  of 
Denmark,  showed  a  readiness  to  embrace 
Christianity.  They  worshipped  a  mon- 
strous wooden  idol  with  four  heads, 
which  tbey  called  Suantovit,  a  corruption 
of  "  St.  Vitus,"  the  name  of  the  patron 
saint  of  the  monasteiy  of  Corbie,  whence 
some  monks  had  come  300  years  before, 
but  had  been  compelled  to  depart  before 
their  message  was  half  comprehended  by 
the  simple  islanders  Now  (1168)  Suan- 
tovit was  broken  up  and  burnt,  and  the 
people  received  baptism.  They  were  the 
last  member  of  the  great  Slavonic  family 
to  embrace  the  faith.  The  Pope  placed 
the  island  under  the  Bishop  of  Roskild. 

The  remaining  pagan  population  of 
Livonia,  Courland,  and  Esthonia,  was 
compelled  by  violence  to  adopt  Chris- 
tianity towards  the  end  of  this  century 
by  Albert  the  Bear,  margrave  of  Bran- 
denburg, and  Henry  the  Lion,  duke  of 
Saxony. 

Thirteenth  Century. — All  the  nations 
of  Europe  were  now  Christian  ;  all  be- 
longed to  the  Catholic  Church,  though 
the  Russians  did  so  in  an  imperfect  sense, 
being  out  of  communion  with  the  Holy 
See.  Attempts  were  made  by  fervent 
preachers  of  the  newly-founded  mendicant 
orders  to  carry  the  faith  among  the  Ma- 
hometans, and  the  Christian  populations 
under  Mahometan  rule  in  Asia  Minor, 
Syria,  &c.  These  efforts,  owing  to  the 
pride  and  invincible  prejudice  of  the 
Moslems,  met  with  little  success.    The 


mSSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN       MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN    691 


Teutonic  knights,  uniting  themselves  to 
the  Order  of  the  Sword  founded  in  1202, 
carried  on  from  1237  a  long  and  cruel 
war  against  the  natives  of  East  Prussia. 
These  last  had  been  found  intractable  and 
ferocious,  and  their  rejection  over  and 
over  again  of  the  teaching  of  the  mission- 
aries was  held  to  justify  proceeding  against 
them  by  way  of  a  crusade.  The  war 
lasted  fifty-three  years,  and  ended  in  the 
complete  subjugation  of  Prussia,  over 
which  the  Teutonic  order  then  claimed 
to  exercise  sovereign  rights.  Prussians 
who  were  willing  to  become  Christians 
were  declared  free  men  and  enjoyed  all 
private  rights,  but  those  who  chose  to 
remain  in  unbelief  were  made  slaves  to 
the  conquerors. 

Fourteenth  Century. — ^This  was  an 
age  of  lamentable  reaction.  Crusades  to 
the  Holy  Land  being  now  regarded  as 
impracticable,  Christian  princes  turned 
their  arms  against  one  another.  The 
hundred  years'  war  between  England  and 
France  began.  The  see  of  St.  Peter 
remained  for  seventy  years  at  Avignon, 
to  the  detriment  of  many  religious 
interests ;  and  soon  after  the  return  of 
Gregory  XI.  (1376)  began  the  Great 
Schism,  which  distracted  and  perplexed 
all  Christian  nations  for  nearly  forty 
years. 

The  people  of  Lithuania  (1386),  at  the 
command  of  their  duke,  Jagellon,  ac- 
cepted the  Gospel,  and  were  baptised  in 
vast  numbers. 

Fifteenth  Century. — The  maritime 
nations,  Spain  and  Portugal,  while  ex- 
tending the  limits  of  geography,  were 
full  of  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the 
faith.  The  people  of  the  Canary  and 
Azore  Islands  were  converted  in  this  age, 
and  under  Portuguese  auspices  three 
Dominican  friars  (1491)  opened  a  pro- 
mising mission  on  the  Congo,  in  Western 
Africa.  Immediately  upon  the  discovery 
of  America  (1402)  the  religious  orders, 
especially  the  Dominicans,  Franciscans, 
Augustinians,  and  Trinitarians,  hastened 
to  send  labourers  to  the  new  field. 

Sixteenth  Century. — While  some  of 
the  European  nations  were  being  led 
away  by  heretical  teachers  into  revolt 
from  the  Church,  new  populations  were 
entering  her  fold  in  the  Transatlantic 
regions  opened  out  by  the  energy  of 
Spain.  Cortes,  as  soon  as  he  had  con- 
quered Mexico,  did  all  that  he  could  to 
make  the  people  Christians.  Franciscan 
missioners  appeared  there  in  1623,  fol- 
lowed by  Dominicans  and  Jesuits.    The 


heroic  virtue  of  Martin  de  Valenza,  and 
his  zeal  in  preaching,  converted  great 
numbers  of  the  Mexicans.  At  the  present 
day  but  few  of  the  people  remain  un- 
converted ;  the  country  is  divided  into 
eleven  sees,  that  of  Mexico  being  metro- 
politan. 

In  New  Granada,  Spanish  missionaries 
appeared  very  early ;  the  first  see  was 
founded  at  Santa  Marta  in  1529.  St. 
Louis  Bertrand  laboured  here  from  1561 
to  1669,  and  is  said  to  have  converted 
fifteen  thousand  of  the  Indians.^  St. 
Peter  Claver,  sometimes  called  the 
Apostle  of  the  Negroes,  after  extra- 
ordinary labours  and  sufferings,  died  at 
Cartagena  in  1654.  Before  1800  the 
majority  of  the  population,  both  Indian 
and  negro,  had  become  Catholic. 

In  Venezuela  the  see  of  Caraccas 
was  founded  in  1531.  In  1800  three- 
fourths  of  the  Indian  population  of  the 
province  were  computed  to  be  Christians. 

The  conquest  of  Peru  by  Pizarro  was 
soon  followed  by  the  establishment  of  a 
bishops  see  at  Lima  (1639),  raised  to 
metropolitan  rank  in  i  648.  St.  Turibius, 
the  third  archbishop,  is  regarded  as  the 
apostle  of  that  region.  The  glorious  St. 
Rose  of  Lima,  who  died  in  1617  at  the 
age  of  thirty-one,  '*  bloomed  in  the  Indies 
in  the  flower  of  virginity  and  patience."  * 
Dominican,  Franciscan,  and  Jesuit  mis- 
sioners combined  their  efforts,  and  by  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
conversion  of  the  Peruvian  Indians, 
within  all  the  districts  subject  to  Spain, 
was  accomplished. 

In  Bolivia,  Chiquisaca  was  erected 
into  a  bishop's  see  in  1551.  Jesuit 
missions  made  rapid  progi-ess  in  convert- 
ing the  J[ndians ;  about  a  hundred  years 
later  not  less  than  100,000  of  them  were 
Christians. 

In  Chili,  the  see  of  Santiago  dates 
from  1561.  Those  of  the  native  tribes 
which  submitted  to  the  Spaniards  soon 
became  Christians;  but  the  nation  of  the 
Araucanos  and  other  tribes,  preserving 
their  independence,  retained  along  with 
it  their  idolatry.  To  this  day  there  are 
many  unconverted  Indians  in  Chili. 

The  vast  and  fertile  plains  of  Brazil 
began  to  be  occupied  by  the  Portuguese 
about  1600.  The  first  missionaries  were 
Franciscans.  The  Jesuit  Father,  Nobrega, 
was  sent  to  Brazil  by  St.  Ignatius  in 
1549.     Father  Anchieta  joined  him  four 

1  See  his  Life,  in  English,   recently  pub' 
lished,  by  Father  Wilberforce,  O.S.D. 

2  Collect  for  St.  Rose's  feast,  Aug.  30. 


692   MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN        MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN 


years  later,  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  life 
in  extending  the  faith  among  the  Indians. 
His  sanctity  was  demonstrated  by  mira- 
cles, and  he  is  often  called  the  Apostle  of 
Brazil.  The  first  see  was  founded  at 
Bahia  in  1561. 

The  first  see  in  La  Plata,  now  the 
Argentine  Republic,  appears  to  have  been 
that  of  Cordova  (1570),  where  the  Jesuits 
had  in  process  of  time  a  magnificent 
college.  St.  Francis  Solano  preached  to 
the  Indians  of  Tucuman  and  the  Chaco 
in  1589,  and  converted  a  great  number  of 
them. 

The  faith  was  brought  into  Central 
America  by  Franciscans.  Alfcnso  de 
Betan^os  preached  both  to  Spaniards  and 
Indians  in  Costa  Rica  with  great  fruit 
from  1660  to  his  death  in  1566.  Other 
friars  laboured  successfully  in  Guatemala 
during  the  last  thirty  years  of  the  century. 

Some  Augustinian  friars,  headed  by 
Alfonso  Gutierrez,  went  out  to  the 
Philippine  Islands  in  1575  at  the  request 
of  Philip  II.,  and  began  to  preach  to  the 
natives.  Three  years  later  they  were 
joined  by  a  party  of  Franciscans  under 
the  B.  Pedro  de  AKaro.  In  nine  years 
250,000  natives  had  embraced  Christi- 
anity. At  the  present  day,  out  of  a 
population  variously  estimated  at  from 
five  to  nine  millions,  the  vast  majority 
are  Catholics ;  and  they  have  learnt  the 
arts  of  civilised  life,  along  with  the 
doctrines  of  salvation,  beneath  the  foster- 
ing wing  of  the  Church.  It  is  lamentable 
to  compare  with  this  .picture  the  miserable 
condition  of  the  Maories  of  New  Zealand. 
Victimised  by  half  a  dozen  Protestant 
sects,  and  unable  to  decide  for  themselves 
which  of  the  Christianities  ofiered  to 
them  was  the  true  one,  this  brave  and 
gifted  people,  divided  still  more  than 
when  they  were  heathens  by  the  very 
influence  which  should  have  united  them, 
have  been  unable  to  resist  the  corrupting 
effects  of  the  civilisation  which  has  en- 
folded them  within  its  toils,  and  are  now 
rapidly  perishing. 

The  first  see  in  the  Philippine  Islands 
was  founded  at  Manila  in  1581.  This 
was  made  metropolitan  in  1621,  and 
three  other  sees  have  been  since  erected. 

The  Portuguese  established  their 
power  firmly  on  the  west  coast  of  India 
about  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and 
a  see  was  founded  at  Goa  in  1534.  St.  | 
Francis  Xavier  arrived  in  India  in  1542  ; 
he  preached  on  the  Fishery  Coast,  and  in 
Cochin,  Madura,  and  Travancore,  and 
made  many  thousands  of  converts.  These  I 


were  chiefly  of  low  caste,  or  of  no  caste 
at  all ;  Brahmin  exclusiveness  and  Mus- 
sulman rancour  strongly  barred  the  way 
against  the  spread  of  Christianity  among 
the  upper  classes  of  Indian  society. 

Japan  received  St.  Francis,  when  he 
landed  at  Cangoxima  in  1549,  with  open 
arms.  The  progi*ess  of  Christianity  was 
extremely  rapid,  and  kings  and  princes 
embraced  the  faith  ;  and  it  seemed  as  if  a 
national  convei-sion,  like  those  of  which 
earlier  ages  aflbrded  so  many  examples, 
were  about  to  be  effected.  Gregory  XIII. 
in  1585  forbade  any  missionaries  not  be- 
longing to  the  company  to  preach  the 
Gospel  in  Japan.  About  the  same  time  a 
Japanese  embassy  visited  Rome.  The 
sequel  will  be  told  in  the  next  section. 

Seventeenth  Century. — Xavier  had 
desired  to  carry  the  Gospel  into  China, 
but  he  died  in  the  neighbouring  isle  of 
Sanciau  (1552)  without  having  set  foot 
in  the  empire.  Towards  1600  some 
Jesuit  Fathers  entered  China,  but  little 
effect  was  produced  till  after  Father  Ricci 
had  made  his  way  to  Pekin  (1602)  and 
conciliated  the  goodwill  of  the  emperor. 
The  scientific  attainments  of  Ricci,  and, 
after  him,  of  the^  Fathers  Schall,Verbiest, 
&c.,  were  what  won  from  the  imperial 
house  respect  for  them,  and  some  degree 
of  toleration  for  the  Chinese  converts. 
In  1663  there  are  said  to  have  been 
300,000  Catholics  in  China.  But  several 
causes  combined  to  overcloud  this  bright 
prospect :  (1)  the  dispute  about  the  Chinese 
ceremonies  between  the  Jesuit  and  the 
Dominican  missioners  [Jesijits]  ;  (2)  the 
persecution,  more  or  less  connected  with 
this  dispute,  raised  by  the  Government 
against  the  Christians  towards  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  ;  (3)  the 
suppression  of  the  Society  of  Jesiis  ;  and 
(4)  the  French  Revolution,  which  para- 
lysed the  missionary  energy  of  the  chief 
Catholic  nation  for  many  vears.  Within 
the  last  fifty  years  great  efibrts  have  been 
made  to  regain  the  ground  lost.  China 
is  now  divided  into  twenty-five  sees, 
under  vicars-apostolic,  and  the  total 
number  of  Catholics  can  be  little  less 
than  a  million.  Numerous  conversions 
occur  each  year  in  almost  every  one  of 
the  '•  Chr6tient(5s,"  or  Christian  settle- 
ments, which  are  planted  thickly  in 
every  province  of  the  vast  empire. 

The  Seminary  "  des  Missions  Etran- 
geres,"  founded  in  1663  in  the  Rue  du 
Bac,  Paris,  has  carried  on  ever  since, 
chiefly  in  Eastern  countries,  a  glorious 
work  of  evangelisation. 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN        MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN   693 


In  the  course  of  this  century  mission- 
aries belonging  to  various  orders,  chiefly 
Domiuicaus  and  Jesuits,  carried  the 
Gospel  to  Tonquin,  Cochin-China,  0am- 
boja,  Siam,  Malaysia,  and  Buriuah, 
countries  which  all  lie  within  the  Indo- 
Chinese  peninsula.  The  later  history  of 
these  missions  has  been  of  the  usual 
chequered  character.  In  Tonquin  and 
Cochin-China  there  have  been  prolonged 
persecutions  and  frequent  martyrdoms. 
At  the  present  day  these  countries  are 
governed  by  twelve  vicars-apostolic,  and 
the  number  of  Catholics  contained  in 
them  may  be  roughly  estimated  at 
280,000.1 

Canada  and  Acadia  (Nova  Scotia) 
were  colonised  by  France  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century ;  the  first  bishop's 
see  was  founded  at  Montreal  in  1659. 
The  Jesuit  Fathers  Brebeuf,  Jogues, 
Lallemant,  and  Daniel  converted  the 
Hurons  to  Christianity.  But  the  enemies 
of  France  instigated  the  Iroquois  to 
attack  the  Hurons ;  all  the  above-named 
missionaries  met  with  violent  deaths,  and 
the  Hurons  were  nearly  exterminated,** 
Acadia  was  ceded  to  England  in  1713, 
and  Canada  in  1763.  The  French-speak- 
ing population  of  Lower  Canada  has 
remained  Catholic,  and  the  efforts  of  the 
missionaries  have  secured  for  the  Church 
the  large  floating  half-caste  population 
of  "  voyageurs  "  and  traders,  besides  con- 
verting many  of  the  Indian  tribes  which 
roam  over  the  surface  of  British  North 
America. 

In  India,  the  Jesuit  Nobili  (1606), 
assuming  the  dress  and  customs  of  a 
Brahmin,  and  not  associating  with 
persons  of  inferior  caste,  made  a  con- 
siderable impression.  The  B.  John 
de  Britto,  also  a  Jesuit,  addressed  him- 
self to  the  lower  castes,  and  is  said  to 
have  converted  8,000  idolators ;  he  gave 
his  life  for  the  faith.  The  flourishing 
Christianity  of  Ceylon,  evangelised  partly 
by  Franciscans,  partly  by  the  Ven,  Jos^ 
Vaz,  of  the  Goa  Oratory,  and  other  Fathers 
of  the  same  congregation,  was  injured  and 
retarded  by  the  Dutch  after  they  had 
dislodged  (1656)  the  Portuguese  from 
the  island.  When  Ceylon  fell  into  British 
hands,  equity  was  Letter  observed,  and 
at  the  present  day  there  are  400,000 
Catholics,  governed  by  two  vicars-apos- 
tolic. 

The  policy  of  British  rule  in  India, 
with  other  causes,  has  tended   to  keep 

*  Durand,  Missions  Francoises,  ch.  vii. 

*  Parkman,  The  Jesuits  in  North  America. 


Christianity  stationary,  and  at  this  day 
the  total  number  of  Christians  in  British 
India  is  said  to  be  less  than  one  million. 
Of  these,  about  250,000  are  believed  to  be 
Europeans  or  Eurasians  (half-castes).  Of 
the  remainder  about  534,000  are  found 
in  the  Madras  Presidency,  and  of  these 
about  416,000,  or  fom'-fifths  nearly,  are 
'*  returned  as  Roman  Catholics."  ^  In 
the  Native  States  the  Christians  number 
about  700,000.  Concerning  these  we 
have  not  met  with  creed  returns,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  great  majority 
are  Catholics. 

The  Goa  schism  arose  in  the  following 
manner.  When  the  see  of  Goa  was 
founded  in  1534,  a  treaty  was  signed 
between  Portugal  and  the  Holy  See, 
giving  to  the  king  of  that  country  the 
right  of  patronage  over  the  churches  of 
India  on  certain  conditions.  After  their 
power  on  the  Malabar  coast  had  been 
displaced  by  that  of  the  Dutch,  and  the 
circumstances  were  consequently  changed, 
the  Portuguese  still  refused  to  recog- 
nise the  action  of  the  Holy  See  in  en- 
trusting ecclesiastical  interests  in  those 
regions  to  clergy  of  non-Portuguese 
nationality.  A  long  and  painful  history 
is  connected  with  these  disputes,  and  the 
schism  is  not  entirely  healed  to  this  day. 
The  Indian  missions  were  reorganised  by 
Gregory  XVI.,  who  in  1840,  Portugal 
having  notoriously  failed  or  become 
unable  to  fulfil  its  part  of  the  contract, 
suppressed  the  original  bull  of  patronage. 
Including  the  two  sees  in  Ceylon,  there 
are  now  twenty-three  vicariates-apostolic 
in  India. 

In  Japan,  where  a  considerable  section 
of  the  people  had  become  Christians,  the 
Government  took  the  alarm,  and  com- 
menced to  persecute  about  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Xogun  became  tai- 
cosama,  or  supreme  temporal  ruler,  in 
1615,  and  from  that  time  to  his  death  in 
1650  pursued  a  settled  plan  of  extermi- 
nation. In  this  he  was  aided  by  the 
selfish  policy  of  the  Dutch,  who  assisted 
him  in  putting  down  the  revolt  of  the 
Christians  of  a  large  district,  wliom  the 
persecution  had  driven  to  despair.  About 
1650  there  were  but  few  professed  Chris- 
tians left.  When,  however,  after  Japan 
was  opened  to  Europeans  a  few  years 
ago,  the  Catholic  missioners  returned, 
they  found  interesting  proofs  of  the  sur- 
vival of  a  pure  Christianity  among  a 
considerable  number  of  the  people.  At 
present  there  is  one  bishop  in  Japan ;  the 
1  Encycl.  Brit,  9th  ed. "  India." 


aa 


694   MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN 


MITRE 


number  of  Catholics  \»e  have  seen  roughly 
estimated  at  15,000. 

Eighteenth  Century. — The  celebrated 
Jesuit  missions,  or  "  Ileductions,"  in 
Paraguay  attained  their  greatest  develop- 
ment in  the  first  half  of  this  century. 
The  Jesuits  had  obtained  permission 
from  the  King  of  Spain  to  isolate  their 
Indian  converts  in  the  settlements  founded 
by  them,  and  to  manage  their  affairs 
independently  of  the  colonial  adminis- 
tration. A  group  of  theocratic  com- 
munities was  thus  formed  in  the  plains  of 
the  Parana  and  Uruguay,  in  each  of 
which  the  clergy  were  at  once  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  rulers  of  their 
flocks;  in  which  crime  was  almost  un- 
known, and  industry  universal;  and  a 
community  of  goods  was  established  as 
in  the  Apostolic  age.  The  Indians  "in 
medium  quserebaot ; "  the  crops  which 
they  raised  were  thrown  into  a  common 
stock,  and  divided  by  the  clergy  among 
the  different  households  ;  not  that  this 
was  regarded  as  a  permanent  arrange- 
ment, but  only  as  that  most  suitable  for 
the  new  Christians  at  the  actual  stage  of 
mental  and  moral  development  which 
they  had  reached.  The  converts  after  a 
tune  displayed  an  extraordinary  talent 
for  imitating  any  kind  of  handicraft, 
mechanism,  or  artistic  workmanship. 
The  eyes  of  all  the  philanthropists  of 
Europe  were  turned  upon  this  new  ex- 
periment in  human  education.  Unfortu- 
nately the  hostility  of  the  colonists,  the 
transfer  of  the  territory  of  Uruguay  from 
Spain  to  Portugal,  the  malignant  policy 
of  Pombal,  and  finally  the  suppression  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  brought  utter  de- 
struction on  a  work  than  w^iich  the  whole 
history  of  evangelic  enterprise  presents 
nothing  more  suggestive  and  encouraging. 

Nineteenth  Century. — In  1822  the 
"  Work  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  " 
was  established  at  Lyons,  with  a  view  to 
assisting  in  the  establishment  and  support 
of  foreign  missions.  It  was  computed 
that  in  the  first  fifty  years  of  its  existence 
the  Church  had  received,  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  missions  connected  with 
this  society,  an  accession  of  about  700,000 
neophytes.  It  distributes  at  the  present 
time  an  income  tjxceeding  200,000/.  a  year. 

By  the  exertions  of  the  present  Bishop 
of  Salford  (Dr.  Vaughan)  ''  St.  Josei)h's 
College  of  the  Sacred  Heart  for  Foreign 
Missions,"  the  chief  object  of  which  is  to 
educate  missioners  to  preach  to  the  heathen, 
was  founded  a  few  years  ago  at  Mill  Hill, 
near  London.     Its  missionaries  already 


occupy  important  fields  of  work  in  the 
Madras  Presidency  of  India  and  Borneo, 
besides  the  Negro  Missions  in  the  United 
States. 

Great  efibrts  have  been  made  in  recent 
years  for  the  extension  of  the  Gospel  in 
Africa.  Besides  the  titular  sees  in  Algeria 
there  are  eleven  vicariates,  administered 
by  bishops,  which  embrace  the  greater 
part  of  the  seaboard  all  round  the  con- 
tinent, and  also  the  newiy-fouuded 
vicariate  of  Central  Africa,  of  "which  its 
bishop,  Mgr.  Comboni,  fixed  the  seat  at  El 
Obeid,  in  Kordofan. 

In  Oceania  there  are  fifteen  vicariates- 
apostolic,  most  of  which  are  of  recent 
creation.  When  the  Catholic  missionaries 
have  not  been  interfered  with  (as  in  the 
Gambler  Islands,  Easter  Island^  and  Mar- 
quesas Islands)  the  native  population  has 
sometimes  embraced  Christianity  en  masse; 
but  in  numerous  instances  the  work  has 
been  and  is  made  dilficult  by  the  opposi- 
tion of  Wesleyans,  Baptists,  and  other 
sectaries. 

The  supreme  direction  of  all  Catholic 
missions  rests  with  the  Sacred  Congrega- 
tion of  Propaganda  [Propaganda].  (Hen- 
rion,  "  Hist,  des  Miss.  Cath. ; "  Durand, 
"  Miss.  Cath.  Frau9aises ;  "  Wetzer  and 
Welte,  passim ;  Fleury,  "  Hist.  Eccl. ;  " 
"  Dublin  Review,"  Jan.  1879.) 

IMEZTRE  {Mitra  infida).  A  head- 
dress worn  by  bishops,  abbots,  and  in 
certain  cases  by  other  distinguished 
ecclesiastics.  Mitra  (ji'iTpa)  is  used  in 
Greek  and  Latin  for  the  turban  which 
was  worn  by  women,  and  among  the 
Asiatics,  specially  Phrygians,  by  men. 
It  had  no  connection  with  religious  rites. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  band  (infula) 
was  worn  by  heathen  priests  and  by  the 
sacrificial  victims.  The  Jewish  priests 
wore  a  cap  (ny^iD,  KL^apis  in  the  LXX) 
of  uncertain  form,  though  the  root  points 
to  a  round  shape,  and  the  high  priest 
a  turban  (nSp.VP)^  from  a  root  meaning 
"  to  wind  "  (in  LXX,  KiBapis  and  ixirpa), 
with  a  plate  of  gold  on  the  front 
(|>*V;  LXX,  TreraXov;  Vulg.  "  lamina"), 
inscribed  with  the  words,  "  Holiness  to 
the  Lord."  The  Vulgate  uses  "mitra" 
for  the  high  priest's  head-dress  (Ecclus. 
xlv.  14),  for  the  priest's  (Exod.  xxix.  9; 
Levit.  viii.  13).  It  is  cei-tain,  however, 
that  the  early  Church  did  not  adopt  tl'.e 
head-dress  of  the  Jewish  priesthood  and 
transfer  it  to  her  own  priests  or  chief 
priests.  Polycrates  of  Ephesus,  indeed, 
writing  about  190  (apud  Euseb.  "  H.  E." 


MITRE 

V.  24)  says  of  St.  Jolin  the  Evangelist 
tliat  lie  "became  a  priest,  having  worn  the 
plate  (jreTaXov),"  and  Epiphanius  (Haer.) 
about  380,  makes  a  similar  statement 
about  St.  James,  except  that  he  makes  it 
in  St.  James's  case  a  mark  of  his  Jewish, 
not  his  Christian  priesthood,  for  he  says 
he  was  allowed  both  to  wear  the  n^ToXov 
and  enter  the  Holy  of  Holies.  This 
account  of  Epiphanius  is  evidently  legen- 
dary, for  on  what  possible  ground  could 
the  authorities  of  the  Temple  treat  James 
as  high  priest?  Bishop  Lightfoot  (see 
also  Ptouth,  "  IleU.  Sacr."  ii.  p.  28)  is  pro- 
bably justified  in  regarding  the  language 
of  Polycrates  on  St.  John's  "plate"  as 
metaphorical.  But,  in  any  case,  such  a 
"  plate  "  answers  to  no  vestment  now  in 
use ;  and  even  if  we  could  translate  it 
*^ mitre"  (as  we  cannot),  this  use  by  St. 
John  stands  quite  by  itself.  It  would 
have  been  his  custom,  not  that  of  the 
Ohurch. 

Hefele,  who  treats  the  above  notices 
of  St.  John  and  St.  James  as  mere  legends, 
contends,  nevertheless,  that  there  are 
clear  traces  of  mitres  used  as  part  of  the 
official  ecclesiastical  costume  from  the 
fourth  century.  After  carefully  consider- 
ing the  proofs  which  he  alleges,  we  can 
see  no  reason  for  abandoning  the  j  udgment 
of  Menard,  the  learned  Benedictine  editor 
of  St.  Gregory's  Sacramentary  —  viz. 
that  for  the  first  thousand  years  of  her 
history  there  was  no  general  use  of  mitres 
in  the  Church.  All  Hefele's  references 
can,  we  think,  be  explained  as  poetical  or 
metaphorical.  And,  on  the  other  hand, 
Hefele  himself  allows  that  no  Sacramen- 
tary or  Ritual-book  before  1000  a.d.  men- 
tions the  mitre,  much  less  the  bishop's 
investment  with  it  at  consecration, though, 
e.g.,  in  a  Mass  for  Easter  Sunday  written 
before  986  the  ornaments  of  a  bishop  are 
enumerated.  Again,  liturgical  writers, 
such  as  Amalarius  and  Walafrid  Strabo, 
are  silent  on  the  subject.  "  It  is  not,'  we 
again  quote  from  Hefele,  "  it  is  not  till 
the  eleventh  century  that  representations 
of  popes,  bishops,  and  abbots  with  the 
mitre  occur;  though  from  that  time 
onwards  they  are  very  numerous." 

The  use  of  the  mitre  seems  to  have 
begun  at  Rome,  and  then  to  have  spread 
to  other  churches.  Leo  IX.,  in  1049, 
gave  the  "  Roman  mitre "  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Treves,  and  this  is  the  earliest 
instance  known  of  such  a  concession. 
Canons  also,  e.g.,  at  Bamberg,  got  leave 
from  Rome  to  wear  the  mitre  on  certain 
feasts,  and  it  was  used  by  all  cardinals 

Q 


MIXED  MARRIAGES       595 

till,  in  1'245,  the  first  Council  of  Lyons 
sanctioned  the  cardinal's  hat.  According 
to  Gavantus  (tom.  i.  149),  the  first  con- 
cession of  a  mitre  to  an  abbot  was  made 
by  Urban  II.  in  1091.  The  straight  lines 
and  sharp  point  familiar  to  us  in  the 
Gothic  mitres  first  appear  in  works  of 
art  of  the  thu-teenth  century.  The 
Italian  mitre  with  its  greater  height  and 
curved  lines  came  into  use  in  the  four- 
teenth. 

Bishops  and  abbots  (if  mitred)  receive 
the  mitre  from  the  consecrating  bishop,  a 
ceremony,  as  Catalani  shows,  of  late  in- 
troduction. The  "  Caerimoniale  Episco- 
porum "  distinguishes  the  "  precious 
mitre,"  adorned  with  jewels  and  made  of 
gold  or  silver  plate ;  the  "  mitra  auri- 
phrygiata,"  without  precious  stones  (it 
may,  however,  be  ornamented  with 
pearls)  and  of  gold  cloth  {ex  lela  aurea)  ; 
the  "  plain  mitre  "  {mitra  simi^lex)  of  silk 
or  linen  and  of  white  colour.  The  bishop 
always  uses  the  mitre  if  he  carries  the 
pastoral  stafi;  Inferior  prelates  who  are 
allowed  a  mitre  must  confine  themselves 
to  the  simple  mitre,  unless  in  case  of 
an  express  concession  by  the  Pope 
("Manuale  Decret."  870).  The  Greeks 
have  no  mitre.  The  Armenians  have 
adopted  a  kind  of  mitre  for  bishops  and 
a  bonnet  for  priests  since  the  eleventh 
century.  (Hefele,  "  Beitriige,"  vol.  ii. ; 
Gavantus,  Bona,  "  Rerum  Lit,"  lib.  i. ; 
Catalani  on  the  "  Pontifical  "  ;  Menard  on 
St,  Gregory's  Sacramentary.  Innocent  III. 
gives  mystical  meanings  to  the  mitre  and 
its  parts — eg.  the  two  horns  are  the  two 
testaments ;  the  strings,  the  spirit  and  the 
letter,  &c.). 

MIXED  MAHRZAGES  are  mar- 
riages between  persons  of  different  reli- 
gions. A  marriage  between  a  baptised 
and  unbaptised  person  is  invalid ;  one 
between  a  Catholic  and  a  person  of 
another  communion — e.g.  a  Protestant — ■ 
is  valid,  but,  unless  a  dispensation  has 
been  obtained  from  the  Pope  or  his  dele- 
gate, unlawful.  This  explanation  has 
been  already  given  in  the  article  on  the 
Impediments  OE  Maekiage.  But  it  will 
be  usefid  to  say  something  here  on  the 
legislation  of  the  Church  on  marriages 
between  Catholics  and  other  Christians 
not  Catholics. 

(1)  Benedict  XIV.  (Instruction  on 
Marriages  in  Holland,  1741.  Encyclical, 
"  Magnae  nobis ")  has  declared  the 
Church's  vehement  repugnance  to  such 
unions,  on  the  ground  that  they  are  not 
likely  to  be  harmonious,  that  they  ex- 
q2 


696       AnXED  MARRIAGES 

pose  the  Catholic  party  and  the  children 
to  danger  of  perversion,  that  they  are  apt 
to  produce  indifference,  &c.,  Sec. 

(2)  He  says  the  Church  has  permitted 
them  for  very  grave  reasons,  and  generally 
in  the  case  of  royal  personages ;  but  even 
then  on  condition  that  the  Catholic  party 
be  free  to  practise  his  or  her  religion, 
and  that  a  promise  he  given  that  the 
children  of  either  sex  be  brought  up 
Catholics. 

(3)  Increasing  intercourse  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants  made  such  mar- 
riages far  more  frequent,  and  the  conditions 
insisted  on  by  Benedict  XIV.  were  neg- 
lected. In  Silesia  a  law  of  the  State  in 
1803  required  the  children  of  mixed 
marriages  to  be  brought  up  in  the  religion 
of  the  father.  In  England,  till  very 
recent  times,  there  was  a  common  arrange- 
ment by  which  the  boys  were  brought  up 
in  the  father's,  the  girls  in  the  mother's) 
religion  ;  and  neither  in  Silesia  (see  Her- 
genrother,  "  Kirchengeschichte,"  vol.  ii.  p. 
856  seq.)  nor  in  England  did  the  Catholic 
clergy,  as  a  rule,  oppose  this  state  of 
things.  An  attempt  was  made  by  the 
Prussian  Government  in  1825  to  intro- 
duce the  law  which  prevailed  in  Silesia 
and  the  other  Eastern  provinces  to  the 
Bhineland  and  Westphalia;  and  this 
order  of  the  Cabinet  was  accepted  by 
Von  Spiegel,  archbishop  of  Cologne,  and 
also,  though  with  some  scruple,  by  the 
Bishops  of  Paderborn,  Miinster,  and 
Treves.  This  led  Pius  VIII.  and  Gregory 
XVI.  to  declare  a  mixed  marriage,  when 
it  was  not  understood  that  the  children 
of  either  sex  should  be  brought  up 
Catholics,  contrary  to  the  "  natural  and 
divine  law."  Otherwise,  the  priest  could 
take  no  part  in  the  celebration.  In 
extreme  cases,  and  to  avoid  greater  evils, 
he  might  passively  assist  at  the  contract ; 
but   more   the   Pope   himself    could  not 

f)ermit.  Obedience  to  these  Papal  briefs 
ed  to  the  imprisonment  of  Droste  von 
Vischering,  the  new  archbishop  of 
Cologne,  in  1837,  and  to  that  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Posen  in  1839.  The 
bishops,  even  those  who  had  once  been  of 
a  dillerent  mind,  steadfastly  adhered  to  the 
Papal  regulations.  One  exception,  how- 
ever, must  be  mentioned.  The  Prince- 
Bishop  of  Breslau  resigned  his  see  in 
1840  rather  than  submit,  and  became  a 
Protestant.  He  died  in  1871.  Under 
the  good  king,  William  IV.,  peace  was 
gradually  restored  beween  Church  and 
State. 

(4)  In  the  U.  S.,  as  elsewhere,  the  fol- 


MOJs^K 

lowing  is  the  present  law.  If  a  Catholic 
and  Protestant  desire  to  marry,  they 
must  promise  to  comply  with  the  condi- 
tions given  above.  Then,  if  the  bishop 
is  satisfied  that  some  grave  reason  for  the 
marriage  exists,  he  may  grant  a  dispensa- 
tion, and  the  marriage  is  then  celebrated 
in  the  priest's  house.  But  the  nuptial 
benediction  is  not  permitted.  In  Eng- 
land, the  Anglican  clergy  no  longer  being 
registrars  for  civil  recognition,  no  repe- 
tition of  the  ceremony  in  the  Established 
Church  is  tolerated, 

■KloiMi'NiSTa.     [See  Grace,] 
MOI.ZM-OS.     [See  Quietism.] 
moNiiSTERY.       [See     Convent  ; 
Monk.] 

ZMEOZTK  (A.-S.  munuc,  through  the 
Lat.  monachus,  Gr.  ^ovaxo^,  "  solitary  "). 
The  ascetics  of  the  first  Christian  age 
have  been  already  described  [Ascet^]. 
They  did  not,  as  a  rule,  separate  them- 
selves from  men,  but  in  the  world  practised 
a  rigid  mortification,  and  aimed  at  ful- 
filling the  counsels  of  perfection.  Mona- 
chism  commenced  in  Egypt.  In  the 
middle  of  the  third  century  the  persecu- 
tion of  Becius  caused  many  fervent  Chris- 
tians to  leave  the  cities  and  flee  into  the 
deserts,  there  to  find  that  fi-eedom  in  the 
divine  service  which  human  laws  denied 
them.  For  a  long  time  they  lived  apart, 
each  in  his  own  cell,  supporting  them- 
selves by  daily  labour.  The  anchoritos 
or  hermits  [Hermits]  were  those  who 
specially  desired  solitude ;  of  these,  St. 
Paul  was  the  founder.  St.  Antonj, 
whose  life  embraces  more  than  a  hundred 
years  (250-356),  chose  for  a  time  absolute 
solitude,  but  in  his  later  years  he  allowed 
a  number  of  disciples  to  gather  round 
him,  who,  though  living  each  apart,  were 
eager  to  profit  by  the  depth  and  wisdom 
of  his  advice,  and  ready  to  practise  what- 
ever rules  he  might  impose.  Tims  St. 
Antony  was  the  founder  of  Monachism, 
although  the  ccenobitic  life,  which  has 
been  a  characteristic  of  nearly  all  the 
monks  of  later  times,  had  not  yet  ap- 
peared. Of  this,  St.  Pachomius  is  regarded 
as  the  originator,  who,  about  a.d.  315, 
built  monasteries  in  the  Thebaid.  It  is 
easy  to  conceive  how  the  common  life 
should  appear,  under  given  conditions, 
more  suitable  as  a  road  to  perfection  than 
the  separate  life.  How  one  might  pass 
into  the  other  may  be,  seen  from  a  passage 
in  the  "  Orations  "  of  St.  Gregory  Nazian- 
zen.^  Speaking  of  St.  Athanasius  taking 
refuge  with  the  contemplatives  of  Egypt, 
1  Or.  21. 


MONK 


MONOPHYSITES 


697 


who,  "  withdrawing  themselves  from  the 
world,  and  embracing  the  wilderness,  live 
to  Goi,"  he  says  that,  of  these,  "some, 
practising  a  life  absolutely  solitary  and 
unsocial,  converse  with  themselves  and 
God  alone,  knowing  no  more  of  the  world 
than  they  can  become  acquainted  with  in 
the  desert;  others,  loving  the  law  ot 
charity  by  way  of  intercourse  {KoLvcovia), 
at  once  men  of  solitude  and  men  of  society, 
while  dead  to  all  other  men  and  to  worldly 
affairs  in  general  .  .  .  are  a  world  to  one 
another,  and  by  comparison  and  contact 
sharpen  one  another's  virtue."  Hilarion, 
a  disciple  of  St.  Antony,  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  to  introduce  communities  of 
monks  in  Palestine :  Eustathius  of  Sebaste, 
in  Armenia ;  St.  Basil,  in  Cappadocia. 
St.  Athanasius,  by  making  knoAvn  at 
Borne  the  story  of  the  wonderful  life  of 
St.  Antony,  is  said  to  have  caused  a  great 
movement  towards  monasticism;  in  the 
time  of  St.  Jerome  the  city  had  many 
monasteries  both  of  monks  and  nuns.  St. 
Martin  was  a  strenuous  upholder  of  the 
ccenobitic  life ;  two  celebrated  French 
monasteries,  Marmoutier,  near  Tours,  and 
Ligug6,  near  Poitiers,  were  of  his  founda- 
tion. The  rule  of  St.  Austin  was  perhaps 
rather  designed  for  regidar  clerks  than 
for  monks,  who  for  a  long  time  after  their 
institution  were  all  laymen.  At  first  it 
was  nearly  true  that  every  monastery 
followed  its  own  rule ;  gradually,  how- 
ever, the  rule  of  St.  ISasil  [Basilians] 
obtained  a  preference,  and,  after  its  trans- 
lation into  Latin  by  Rutin  us  of  Aquileia, 
was  largely  adopted  in  the  West.  Mona- 
chism  languished  in  Italy  in  the  fifth 
century,  owing  to  the  irruptions  of  the 
barbarians ;  in  the  sixth  (529),  the  strong 
but  gentle  hand  of  St.  Benedict  of  Nursia 
raised  it  to  a  pedestal  from  which  it  has 
never  since  been  dethroned.  [Benedic- 
tines.] The  Benedictine  rule  gradually 
swallowed  up  all  the  others,  being  found 
more  suitable  than  any  to  the  conditions 
of  life  in  Western  Europe.  For  several 
centuries  no  other  rule  was  heard  of.  In 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  the 
Orders  of  Climy,  Oamaldoli,  the  Chart- 
reuse, and  Oiteaux,  branched  off  from  the 
parent  stem.  In  the  thirteenth  century 
appeared  the  friars ;  in  the  sixteenth,  the 
Je8uits,Theatines,  and  other  regular  clerks ; 
followed  down  to  our  own  day  by  the 
various  congregations  of  both  sexes,  the 
members  of  which,  under  their  several 
institutes,  devote  themselves  to  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  their 
neighbour. 


MOKTOPKTSITES.  Tie  early  his" 
tory  of  the  Monophysitee,  who  held  that 
there  was  but  one  nature  in  Christ,  and 
were  condemned  at  the  General  Council 
of  Chalcedon,  has  been  given  in  a  separate 
article.  [Chalcedon.]  For  two  years, 
Eudocia,  the  widow  of  Theodosius  II., 
was  averse  to  the  Confession  of  Chalce- 
don, and  the  monks  in  Palestine,  counting 
on  her  protection,  di*ove  Juvenal,  the 
Patriarch,  from  his  see.  In  Egypt,  Pro- 
terius,  the  orthodox  successor  of  Dioscorus, 
was  murdered  in  457  by  the  fanatical 
populace,  headed  by  Timothy  the  Cat 
and  Peter  the  Stammerer,  of  whom  the 
former  usurped  the  Patriarchate,  tUl  driven 
out  by  the  troops  of  the  Empeior  Leo  I. 
In  Antioch,  another  monk,  Peter  the 
Fuller,  overthrew  the  lawful  Patriarch, 
on  his  refusal  to  insert  the  words,  "  Who 
was  crucified  for  us,"  in  the  Trisagiou. 
Scarcely  were  these  Monophysite  leaders 
removed,  when  their  party  found  a  pro- 
tector in  the  usurping  Emperor  Basiliscus 
(475-477).  Timothy  the  Cat  and  Peter 
the  Fuller  recovered  their  sees,  and  the 
decision  of  Chalcedon  was  set  aside  in  an 
Imperial  Encyclical. 

The  Catholics  might  have  looked  for 
triumph  when  Zeno  came  to  the  throne. 
The  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  Acacius, 
had  been  hitherto  orthodox,  and  Zeno  re- 
stored an  orthodox  Patriarch  at  Alexan- 
dria— viz.  Timothv  Salifaciolus,  succeeded 
by  Talaja.  But  the  latter  offended  the 
court  and  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  and 
Acacius  leagued  with  Peter  the  Stam- 
merer, who  on  the  death  of  Timothy 
the  Cat  became  leader  of  the  Egyptian 
Monophysites,  and  Zeno  hit  on  a  com- 
promise meant  to  unite  Catholics  and 
Monophysites.  His  "  Henoticon  "  of  482 
condemned  Nestorius  and  renewed  the 
anathemas  of  St.  Cyril  but  ignored  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon,  ordered  preachers 
to  avoid  the  points  of  controversy  between 
Monophysites  and  their  opponents,  and 
bade  the  churches  confine  themselves  to 
the  Nicene  Creed  with  the  additions 
made  to  it  at  Constantinople.  Peter  the 
Fuller  at  Antioch,  Timothy  the  Stam- 
merer in  Egypt,  on  the  one  hand,  Aca- 
cius of  Constantinople  on  the  other,  ac- 
cepted these  terms.  But  Rome  would 
bear  nothing  of  the  "  Henoticon,"  and 
there  was  a  schism  between  East  and 
West  from  484  to  519.  Even  at  Con- 
stantinople a  powerful  party,  headed  by 
monks,  known  as  the  Acoemeti,  rejected 
the  "  Henoticon,"  and  again  many  Mono- 
physites in  Egypt  abhorred  it,  feU  away 


698 


MONOTHELITES 


from  Timothy  tlie  Stammerer,  and  formed 
a  separate  sect,  that  of  the  Acephali. 
Justin  I.  acknowledged  the  authority  of 
Chalcedon,  and  the  church  of  Constanti- 
nople was  once  more  in  communion  with 
that  of  Rome. 

From  this  time  the  Monophysites  split 
up  into  numerous  sects.  The  Phtharto- 
latrae,  or  Severians,  fought  with  Aph- 
thartolatrae,  or  Julianists,  on  the  cor- 
ruptible or  mcorruptible  nature  of  Christ's 
body.  A  subdivision  of  the  latter  held 
that  Christ's  body  since  its  union  with  the 
Word  was  increate  ;  the  Ctistolatrse  were 
of  the  contrary  opinion.  The  Themistians, 
or  Agnoetse,  held  that  the  himaan  element 
in  Christ  before  his  resurrection  was  sub- 
ject to  ignorance.  A  Monophysite  Aris- 
totelian, Philoponus  (560),  argued  that 
the  three  Persons  of  the  Trinity  were 
three  distinct  individuals,  and  his  followers 
were  known  as  Tritheists.  Other  Mono- 
physite sects  are  mentioned  by  Peta\dus. 

In  636,  Armenia  became  Persian ;  in 
640,  the  Saracens  became  masters  of 
Egypt ;  and  in  these  countries  the  Mono- 
physites were  of  course  freed  from  Byzan- 
tine persecution.  In  Syria  and  Mesopo- 
tamia they  were  harassed  by  Justinian, 
but  their  cause  was  maintained  by  the 
zeal  of  the  beggar-monk.  Jacobus  Zan- 
galus,  called  El  Baradai.  In  all  these 
countries,  Monophysite  churches  still  exist. 
They  are  represented  (1)  by  the  Armenian 
National  Church;  (2)  by  the  Jacobite 
Christians  of  Syria  and  Mesopotamia; 
(3)  the  Coptic  church ;  (4)  the  Abyssinian 
church.  The  Schismatic  Christians  of  St. 
Thomas  are  now  connected  with  the  Jaco- 
bites. All  these  sects  are  desci-ibed  under 
separate  articles.  (Hefele,  '*  Concil."  vol. 
ii.  For  an  elaborate  account  of  the  Mono- 
physite divisions,  see  Petavius,  ^'  De  Incar- 
nat."  I.  cap.  16,  17.) 

MOzaroTBBiLZTES.  A  name  given 
to  those  who  held  that  Christ  had  only 
one  will.  "  One  will ; "  **  one  operation," 
of  the  Word  made  Flesh,  were  the  watch- 
words of  their  party.  They  argued,  there 
is  but  one  Person  in  Christ,  therefore  a 
single  will,  and  a  single  operation.  The 
Catholic  doctrine,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
that  there  are  two  natures,  and  therefore 
two  operations  and  two  wills  in  Christ. 
The  will  is  a  faculty  of  the  nature,  and 
if  Christ  had  no  human  will  He  cannot 
have  been  true  man.  He  remains  for  ever 
God  and  Man,  in  two  distinct  natures 
each  nature  operates  in  the  way  proper  to 
itself,  Nature  being  the  principle  of  opera- 
tion ;  there  are  therefore  two  operations 


MONOTHELITES 

and  two  wills  in  Christ,  the  one  Divine, 
the  other  human,  although  these  "w-ills 
are  in  perfect  harmony  with  each  other — 
since  the  human  wiU  of  Christ  follows, 
and  is  perfectly  subject  to,  his  Divine 
wiU.  That  Christ  had  two  wills  is  im- 
plied in  Luc.  xxii.  42,  John  v.  30,  where 
He  distinguishes  his  own  (human)  will 
from  that  of  the  Father's,  which  is  one 
with  Christ's  Divine  will.  Thus,  Pope 
Agatho's  synodal  letter,  accepted  at 
the  Sixth  General  Council — the  Third  of 
Constantinople — de6nes  that  Christ  has 
"  two  natural  wDls,  without  division, 
change,  partition,  confusion,  not  contrary 
to  each  other,  but  the  human  will  follow- 
ing and  subject  to  the  Divine."  We  may 
here  add  that  Catholic  theologians  dis- 
tinguish three  kinds  of  operation  in  Christ ; 
those  which  are  purely  Divine — e.g.  crea- 
tion, preservation  of  his  creatures,  &c. ; 
those  which  are  purely  human,  eating 
and  drinking,  weeping,  &c. ;  those  in  which 
each  nature  acts — the  Divine,  as  the  prin- 
cipal, the  human,  as  the  instrumental 
cause — e.ff.  raising  the  dead,  giving  sight 
to  the  blind,  &c.  We  proceed  to  the 
history  of  the  heresy. 

Herachus  (610-641)  naturally  desired 
the  reconciliation  of  Monophysites  and 
Catholics,  for  the  Persians  had  pressed 
forward  to  the  Hellespont,  and  there  was 
urgent  need  to  unite  the  Christians  of  the 
Empire  as  one  man  against  them.  In 
622,  Heraclius,  in  an  interview  with  Paul, 
the  head  of  the  Armenian  Monophysites, 
suggested  the  form  "one  energy,"  as  a 
means  of  reconciling  the  contending  parties. 
He  made  use  of  the  same  expedient, 
taught  him  probably  by  Sergius  of  Con- 
stantinople in  62Q,  when  he  tried  to  effect 
a  union  between  Cyrus,  Catholic  bishop 
of  Phasis,  and  Athanasius,  the  Jabobite 
Patriarch.  When  Cyrus  became  Patriarch 
of  Alexandria,  he  taught  in  nine  KfcfxiXcua 
that  Christ,  because  his  two  natures  were 
united  in  one  Person,  "  performed  Divine 
and  human  acts  by  one  theandric  operation 
{i.e.  by  one  operation  at  once  Divine  and 
human)  according  to  St.  Dionysius" 
(i.e.  pseud o-Dionysius  the  Areopagite). 
Sophronius,  a  monk  of  Palestine,  when  at 
Alexandria,  tried  to  keep  Cyrus  from 
publishing  these  Ke<fyd\aia,  and  also  op- 
posed the  Monothelite  doctrine  at  Con- 
stantinople. Soon  after,  Sophronius  wsa 
raised  to  the  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem, 
and  continued  to  oppose  the  union  which 
had  been  effected  with  a  section  of  the  Mo- 
nophysites— viz.  the  Theodosians.  Cyrus 
and  Sergius,  occupying  the  two  great  sees 


MONOTHELITES 

of  Alexandria  and  Constantinople,  vigo- 
rously supported  the  Mouothelite  com- 
promise, and  the  latter  tried  to  enlist 
Pope  Honorius  on  the  same  side — with 
what  measure  of  success  has  been  shown  in 
a  separate  article.  [See  Honoriijs.]  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Catholic  doctrine  was 
clearly  formulated  by  the  Synod  of  Jeru- 
salem, which  met  under  Sophronius,  in 
634.  Three  years  later  Jerusalem  was 
taken  by  the  Saracens,  and  shortly  after- 
wards Sophronius  died.  In  638  Honorius, 
too.  was  gone,  and  a  new  phase  of  the 
controversy  began. 

In  638  Heraclius  gave  his  Imperial 
authority  to  an  Ecthesis  or  exposition  of 
the  faith  composed  by  Sergius.  This 
document  forbade  either  phrase  "  one  "  or 
"  two  energies,"  but  affirmed  "  one  will  " 
in  Christ.  The  Ecthesis  was  supported 
by  Pyrrhus  and  Paul,  successors  of  Ser- 
gius at  Constantinople,  and  by  two  coun- 
cils held  there  in  638  and  639  ;  but  it  was 
opposed  throughout  the  West,  condemned 
by  the  Popes  John  IV.  and  Theodore, 
Paul  of  Constantinople  beiug  excom- 
municated by  the  latter  Pope.  Moreover, 
the  orthodox  doctrine  found  a  powerful 
champion  in  the  abbot  Maximus,  formerly 
secretary  of  Heraclius,  then  abbot  of 
Chrysopolis,  who  was  active  in  defence  of 
the  Catholic  doctrine  in  Africa  (the  par- 
ticular place  is  uncertain)  where  he  held  a 
dispute  with  Pyrrhus,  and  at  Rome.  The 
Emperor  Constans  II.  withdrew  the 
Ecthesis  and  enforced  upon  the  empire 
under  strict  penalties  another  document, 
known  as  the  Type,  which  forbade 
aU  discussion  of  the  number  either  of 
the  energies  or  the  wills.  But  in  the 
Lateran  synod  of  649  Pope  Martin  I. 
condemned  both  Type  and  Ecthesis,  and 
anathematised  the  Monothelite  leaders. 
Martin  was  seized,  finally  banished  to  the 
Chersonnese,  where,  after  enduring  much 
misery,  he  died  in  665.  Maximus  also 
died  in  banishment  after  cruel  maltreat- 
ment in  662.  An  approach  to  peace 
between  Rome  and  Constantinople  was 
made  about  this  time,  but  it  was  not  con- 
cluded till  Constantine  Pogonatus  (668- 
686)  in  union  with  Pope  Agatho  convoked 
the  Third  General  Council  of  Constantin- 
ople. It  met  in  680,  defined  the  existence 
of  two  wills  in  Christ,  and  anathematised 
Sergius,  Cyrus,  Honorius,  Pyrrhus,  Paul, 
&c.  The  presiding  Papal  legates  signed 
the  decrees,  which  were  confirmed  by 
Pope  Leo  II.  So  ended  the  last  great 
dogmatic  dispute  in  the  East.  It  was 
only  in  a  corner  of  Asia — viz.  in  the 


MONTANISTS 


599 


fastnesses  of  Lebanon — that  the  Mono- 
thelite doctrine  lingered.  The  adherents 
of  this  doctrine  gathered  round  the 
monastery  of  St.  Maro,  acknowledged  its 
abbot  as  their  head,  and  persevered  in 
their  isolation  till,  during  the  Crusades, 
they  were  reconciled  to  the  Church. 
[See  Margnites.]  (Hefele,  "Concil." 
vol.  iii.) 

MOITTAIO-ISTS.  The  earlier  writers 
call  them  "  the  men  of  Phrygia  "  {oi  Kara 
^pvyas)  because  Montanus  belonged  to 
that  country,  and  it  was  at  Pepuza  that 
he  and  two  women,  Maximilla  and 
Priscilla,  claimed  to  exercise  prophetic 
gifts.  The  great  importance  of  the 
movement  is  shown  by  the  facts  that 
Tertullian,  the  ablest  of  the  Antenicene 
Fathers  except  Or i  gen,  was  won  over  to 
Montanism ;  that  Claudius  Apollinaris, 
Miltiades,  and  Rhodon  exerted  themselves 
against  it ;  that  the  first  councils  of  the 
Church  were  held  in  the  middle  of  the 
second  century  to  stem  its  progress  in 
Asia  Minor ;  and  that  three  bishops  of 
Rome,  Soter,  Eleutherus,  and  (probably) 
Victor,  pronounced  themselves  against  it 
—the  last,  according  to  Tertullian,  after 
some  hesitation  (TertuU.  "  Adv.  Prax." 
1).  Montanus,  if  we  may  believe  the 
report  mentioned  by  Euseb.  ("  H.  E."  v. 
16),  hanged  himself,  and  so  did  Maxi- 
milla. The  power  of  Montanism  did 
not  outlast  the  second  century,  but 
adherents  of  the  sect  are  mentioned 
even  in  edicts  of  Justinian  and  Leo  the 
Isaurian. 

Montanism  was  a  reaction  against  a 
change  which  necessarily  occurred  as  the 
number  of  Christiana  increased,  as  the 
extraordinary  gifts,  prophecy  and  the  like, 
became  very  rare,  and  there  was  no  sign 
of  our  Lord's  coming  to  close  at  once  the 
fortunes  of  the  world  and  the  Church. 
It  was  this  speedy  coming  of  Christ 
which  the  new  prophets  announced  ;  it 
was  the  belief  in  its  nearness  which  they 
endeavoured  to  revive.  "  After  me,"  said 
Maximilla  (Epiphan.  "Hser."  xlviii.  2), 
"  there  will  be  no  longer  a  prophetess,  but 
the  consummation."  The  prophets  had 
already  seen  a  miraculous  representation 
of  Christ's  descent  from  heaven  (Tertull. 
"  Adv.  Marc."  iii.  24).  It  was  time,  then, 
for  Christians  to  break  utterly  with  a  world 
which  would  ere  long  break  with  them. 
The  concessions  which  the  Apostles  even 
had  made  to  human  weakness  were  to  be 
allowed  no  longer.  The  Paraclete  had 
appeared  in  the  prophets  and  inaugurated 
the  last  and  most  perfect  stage  in  the  de- 


eoo 


MONTANISTS 


velopment  of  the  Olmrch  ("De  Virg. 
Veland."  1).  The  new  discipline  now  in 
force  made  second  marriages  unlawful 
(Tertull.  "  Adv.  Marc."  i.  29,  and  "  De 
Monog."  and  "Exhort.  Castit."  through- 
out) ;  made  the  fasts  of  the  Stations 
obligatory,  and  prolonged  the  fast  till  the 
evening,  whereas  with  the  Catholics  it 
ended  at  3  p.m.  ("De  Jejun."  10);  and 
imposed  two  weeks  (Saturdays  and  Sun- 
days excepted)  of  "  xerophagy  "  —  i.e. 
of  abstinence  from  flesh-meat,  wine, 
dainties  of  all  sorts,  and  the  bath  {ib.  15). 
No  flight  in  persecution  was  lawful  ("  De 
Fuga,"  6).  But  the  most  serious  dif- 
ference between  Montanists  and  Catholics 
arose  from  their  diftierent  views  on  abso- 
lution. In  the  "  De  Pudicitia  "  Tertullian 
combats  the  claim  of  the  Roman  bishop 
to  pardon  grievous  sinners  and  restore 
them  to  the  peace  of  the  Church.  He 
argues  that  this  power  belonged  to  the 
Apostles  personally,  just  as  the  grace  of 
miracles  did,  but  denies  that  it  was  trans- 
mitted to  their  successors.  God  alone 
could  forgive  sins,  and  though,  no  doubt, 
He  might  declare  his  will  through  the 
prophets,  and  enable  the  Church  to  ab- 
solve from  adultery,  &c.,  as  a  matter  of 
fact  the  Paraclete  had  said  through  the 
prophets,  "The  Church  can  pardon 
crimes,  but  I  will  not  do  so,  lest  they 
commit  more  crimes"  ("Pudic."  21). 
*'  Psychici,"  or  "  animal  men,"  is  the 
name  the  Montanists  gave  to  Catholics ; 
"  spiritual  men "  was  the  title  they 
claimed  for  themselves. 

Except  on  the  power  of  the  Keys 
there  was  no  dogmatic  difierence  between 
Montanists  and  the  Church.  Tertullian 
speaks  of  the  Paraclete  as  inaugurating 
new  discipline,  not  new  doctrine  ("  De 
Pud."  11),  and  the  author  of  the  "  Philo- 
eophumena  "  (viii.  19)  expressly  says  the 
Montanists  held  Catholic  doctrine,  and 
only  attributes  Sabellian  *  error  to  some 
of  them  (ni/ey  Se  avrojv  tji  tS>v  "NorjTiavav 
aipicrfi  a-vvTiBiixfvoi.  <f.r.X.).  As  the 
Gnostics  undermined  the  dogma,  so  the 
Montanists  the  discipline  of  the  Church. 
The  one  set  individual  wisdom  and  in- 
tellect, the  other  individual  holiness  and 
devotion  against  the  claim  of  ecclesias- 
tical authority.  And  thus  it  is  that 
Gnosticism  and  Montanism  are  two  great 
factors  in  the  development  of  the  Catholic 

*  "  Patripassian  "  would  be  more  accurate.  No 
one  could  be  more  opposed  to  such  an  error  than 
Tertullian.  The  general  orthodoxy  of  the 
Montanists  is  further  attested  by  Finnilian,  Ad 
Cyp.  and  Epiphan  Uaer,  xlviii.'  1. 


MORAL  THEOLOGY 

Church.  The  opposition  which  they  oo» 
casioned  led  the  Church  to  assert  explicitly 
her  double  claim — her  claim  to  teach  the 
absolute  truth  on  the  one  hand;  to  try 
the  spirits  and  restore  the  sinner  on  the 
other.  [Schwegler's  work  on  Montanism — 
Tiibingen,  1841 — led  to  a  more  intelligent 
appreciation  of  the  subject.  Baur  has 
given  an  interesting  summary  of  his  views 
in  his  "  Kirchengeschichte,"  p.  237  &eq. 
But  the  best  and  most  careful  account,  so 
far  as  we  know,  is  that  of  Ritschl, 
"  Entstehungder  Altkatholischen  lurche,'' 
pp.  462  seq\. 

]M[ORA]L  TBEOAOGir  is  the  science 
of  the  laws  which  regulate  duty.  It  is 
distinguished  from  moral  philosophy,  or 
ethics,  which  is  concerned  with  the 
principles  of  right  and  wrong,  and  with 
their  application,  so  far  only  as  they  can 
be  discovered  from  the  light  of  nature ; 
whereas  moral  theology  estimates  the 
moral  character  of  actions  by  their  con- 
formity, or  want  of  conformity,  not  only 
to  the  natural  standard  of  ethics,  but  also 
to  the  Christian  revelation  and  positive 
law  of  the  Church.  It  is  different  from 
dogmatic  theology,  which  investigates  the 
truths  of  revelation,  their  connection 
with  each  other  and  the  conclusions 
which  may  be  drawn  from  them ;  moral 
theology,  on  the  other  hand,  looks 
primarily  to  duty  and  practice,  not  to 
speculative  truth :  it  considers  faith  as  a 
moral  obligation,  and  the  truths  of  faith 
as  principles  of  conduct.  But  perhaps 
we  shall  give  a  better,  if  a  less  scientific, 
idea  of  moral  theology  by  describing  it 
as  the  science  of  priests  sitting  in  the 
confessional,  the  science  which  enables 
them  to  distinguish  right  from  wrong, 
mortal  sin  from  venial  sin,  counsels  of 
perfection  from  strict  obligation,  and  so 
to  administer  the  sacrament  of  Penance. 
Indeed,  it  is  because  moral  theology  has 
arisen  from  the  wants  and  is  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  priests  in  the  confessional, 
because  it  is  directed  to  the  solution  of 
cases  more  or  less  likely  to  occur,  that 
treatises  on  the  subject  are  mostly  deficient 
in  scientific  unity.  They  draw  from 
philosophers  and  dogmatic  theologians, 
canon  and  civil  law,  ascetieal  and  litur- 
gical authors,  &c.,  the  material  which  a 
priest  wants  that  he  may  know  when  to 
give,  when  to  refuse,  absolution,  what 
conditions  he  is  to  exact  from  his  pent- 
tents,  how  he  is  to  advise  and  exhort 
them. 

In  the  first  centuries  of  the  Churc. 
public  penance  was  in  force.    Taia  wae 


MORAL  THEOLOGY 


MORAL  THEOLOGY    601 


regulated  by  tlie  canons ;  much  less  was 
left  to  the  judgment  of  the  bishop  or  the 
priest,  and  therefore  there  was  no  pressing 
need  for  compendiums  of  moral  theology. 
The  administration  of  the  sacrament  of 
Penance  was  regulated  by  conciliar  deci- 
sions or  by  collections  of  penitential 
canons,  such  as  those  attributed  to  St. 
Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  St.  Peter  of 
Alexandria,  St.  Basil,  and  St.  Gregory 
Nyssen.  From  the  seventh  ^  to  the 
thirteenth  century  the  use  of  penitential 
books  prevailed  in  the  Latin  OJiurch — 
that  is  to  say,  from  the  whole  body  of 
decrees,  canons,  and  sentences,  those 
things  which  pertained  to  the  sacrament 
of  Penance  were  gathered  in  one  book, 
known  as  "  Extracts  from  the  Canons  of 
the  Fathers  for  the  Healing  of  Souls," 
♦'On  Remedies  for  Sins,"  or,  simply, 
"  Penitential  Book."  In  the  thirteenth 
century  moral  theology  arose.  Up  to  that 
time  the  confessor  had  to  be  guided  purely 
by  his  own  reason  and  the  authority  of 
ecclesiastical  decisions  contained  in  his 
"  Penitential  Book."  But  now  scholastic 
theologians  and  canonists  began  to  discuss 
the  sense  of  ecclesiastical  decisions,  to 
harmonise  them,  to  draw  inferences  from 
them  and  from  the  principles  of  the 
natural  and  revealed  law.  "  Cases  of 
conscience  "  were  considered  and  decided 
on  the  private  judgment  of  theologians, 
nnd  not  merely,  as  before,  by  councils  and 
bishops,  though  the  name  of  "  casuist " 
l)egan,  apparently,  some  centuries  later. 
(Collections  were  made  of  the  things 
a  confessor  should  know  when  he.  had  to 
decide  cases  and  doubts  proposed  to  him. 

Among  the  earliest  works  on  moral 
theology  are  the  following,  which  belong 
to  the  thirteenth  century :  "  Summa  de 
Casibus  Penitentialibus,"  by  St.  Raymund 
of  Pennafort  (floruit  1228).  Its  four 
books  treat  (1)  of  sins  against  God ;  (2) 
of  sins  against  our  neighbour;  (3)  of 
ecclesiastics,  their  rights,  privileges, 
duties ;  (4)  of  marriage.  It  was  printed 
at  Louvain,  1480  ;  Colosme,  1495  ;  Paris, 
1500.  "Summa  de  Virtutibus"  and 
"  Destructorium  Vitiorum,"  are  two  works 
attributed,  on  doubtful  grounds,  to 
Alexander  of  Hales.  The  "Speculum 
Morale,"  by  Vincent  of  Beauvais.  The 
"  Liber  Penitentiarum,"  by  John  of  God, 
written  in  1247.  Glosses  on  the 
"  Summa  "  of  St.  Raymund  of  Pennafort 
were  written  by  a  Dominican,  Gulielmus 
Redonensis,  about  1250,  and  widely  circu- 

*  They  were  introduced  rather  earlier  in  the 
East ;  see  the  article  on  Penitential  Books, 


lated  under  the  name  of  "  John  of  Frei- 
burg." A  little  later  came  St.  Bonaven- 
ture's  "  Confessionale." 

The  chief  productions  of  the  fourteenth 
century  were:  the  "  Summa  Major"  and 
"  Qusestiones  Casuales/'by  the  Dominican, 
John  of  Freiburg ;  the  "  Summa  de 
Casibus  Conscientise,"  by  a  Franciscan, 
Astesanus  or  Astensis ;  "  Summa  Casuum 
Conscientise,"  by  Monaldus,  another 
Franciscan,  who  flourished  about  1330; 
"  Summa  Casuum  Conscientise,"  by  Bar- 
tholomaeus  a  S.  Concordia,  a  Dominican 
of  Pisa,  who  wrote  in  1338;  "Speculum 
Curatorum,"  by  a  Benedictine,  Ranulphus 
Higdenus  (1357).  But  the  most  famous 
book  of  this  age  appeared  in  1385  from 
the  pen  of  Joannes  de  Burgo.  It  is  en- 
titled, "  Pupilla  Oculi  omnibus  Sacer- 
dotibus  tain  Curatis,  quam  non  Curatis, 
summe  necessaria,  in  qua  tractatur  de 
septem  sacramentorum  administratione, 
de  decem  praeceptis  decalogi,  et  de  reliquis 
ecclesiasticorum  ofliciis." 

Many  famous  works  on  moral  theology 
are  due  to  authors  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
Gerson's  "  Opusculum  Tripartitum  de 
prseceptis  decalogi,  de  confessione,  de  arte 
moriendi,"  had  so  great  a  reputation  that 
seventeen  synods  ordered  priests  to  use  it 
in  expounding  the  Decalogue,  hearing 
confessions,  and  visiting  the  sick.  Three 
canonised  saints,  St.  Bernardine  of  Sienna 
("  De  Confessione  "),  St.  John  Capistran 
("  Speculum  Conscientiae,"  tractatus  "De 
Canone  Poenitentiali,"  "  De  Usuris,"  "De 
Contractibus,"  Sec),  and  St.  Antoninus, 
archbishop  of  Florence,  wrote  on  moral 
subjects.  The  "  Summa  Theologica  et 
Samma  Confessionalis "  of  the  last  has 
often  been  republished  and  is  still  quoted. 
Many  other  names  might  be  given.  Nor 
must  it  be  supposed  that  an  idea  can  be 
formed  of  mediaeval  moral  theology  from 
an  account,  even  if  an  exhaustive  one,  of 
books  exclusively  devoted  to  this  science. 
On  the  contrary,  the  greatest  moral  theo- 
logian of  the  middle  ages,  and  the  one  who 
has  had  the  most  enduring  influence,  is 
St.  Thomas  of  Aquin.  But  he,  especially 
in  the  "  Secunda  Secundse,"  treats  moral 
theology  in  its  organic  connection  with 
dogmatic  theology.  His  example  has  been 
followed  by  many  later  writers  ;  and  this, 
we  venture  to  think,  is  the  true  scientific 
method,  though  far  less  convenient  for  prac- 
tical purposes.  Scotus,  on  the  other  hand, 
scarcely  touched  on  moral  questions  ;  per- 
haps because  he  found  the  ground  suffi- 
ciently occupied  by  Alexander  of  Hales 
and  St.  ThomaSi 


602        MORAL  THEOLOGY 

From  the  sixteenth  century  moral 
theology  has  been  treated  with  greater 
completeness,  and  its  order  has  been  per- 
fected for  practical  use.  But  the  great 
change  which  has  occurred  consists  in 
this,  that  theories  affecting  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  moral  theology  arose  and  divided 
casuists  into  schools  clearly  separated 
from  and  often  bitterly  hostile  to^  each 
other.  Medina,  a  Spanish  Dominican 
(1528-1581)  and  professor  at  Salamanca, 
first  (in  his  "  Exposition  of  St.  Thomas")  ' 
propounded  the  theory  since  known  as 
Probabilism  ^  in  set  terms,  and  kindled  a 
controversy  which  raged  for  two  centuries  j 
after  his  death  and  is  not  yet  quite  ' 
extinct. 

A  probable  opinion  is  one  which  rests 
on  reasons  which  are  good  and  solid,  but 
not  so  strong  as  to  exclude  all  doubt. 
Hence,  in  many  matters  of  conscience 
there  may  be  a  probable  opinion  according 
to  which  I  am  free  to  choose  a  particular 
course  of  action,  and  another  opinion,  also 
probable,  that  I  have  no  such  hberty,  the 
law,  human  or  divine,  having  already 
decided  the  matter  for  me.  After  doing 
my  best  to  ascertain  the  real  extent  of  the 
obligation,  I  am  still  in  doubt.  The 
opinion  which  favours  the  law  and  that 
which  favours  my  Uberty  both  seem  pro- 
bable. In  such  cases,  Probabilists  hold 
that  I  am  free  to  use  my  liberty.  A 
doubtful  law,  they  urge,  is  not  binding. 
A  man's  conscience  can  be  bound  by  a 
law  only  so  far  as  he  knows  of  its  exist- 
ence ;  and  in  this  case  I  do  not  know  for 
certain  the  existence  of  the  law,  nor  have 
I  the  means  of  doing  so.  Therefore  I 
may  act  with  safety,  because  I  am  certain 
that  practically  the  law  does  not  bind  me. 
But  several  limitations  must  be  made. 
First,  I  must  be  sure  that  the  opinion  on 
the  side  of  liberty  rests  on  a  firm  basis  in 
the  reason  of  the  thing,  in  the  authors  of 
great  name  and  weight  who  support  it,  or 
in  both.  The  proposition  that  I  may 
follow  a  probability  however  slight  in 
favour  of  liberty,  belongs  to  lax,  not  to 
Probabilist,  theologians,  and  was  con- 
demned by  Innocent  XI,  (Prop.  3).  Next, 
if  a  man  is  under  the  obligation  of  attain- 
ing to  some  definite  exteraal  end,  he  is 
bound  to  take  all  reasonable  means  of 
securing  that  end,  and  may  by  no  means 

1  This  is  the  account  generally  given. 
Echard  ( Script.  Dominican,  torn.  ii.  p.  257  ; 
quoted  by  Billuart,  JDe  Act.  Human,  vi.  1)  tries 
fo  show  that  Medina  was  not  really  a  Proba- 
bilist, though  he  admits  that  he  made  way  for 
the  thin  end  of  the  wedge. 


MORAL  THEOLOGY 

follow  an  opinion  probable,  or  even  more 
probable,  that  the  end  will  be  secured. 
He  must  take  the  most  certain  means 
open  to  him.  For  example,  a  priest  must 
not  confer  the  sacraments  after  a  fashion 
which  leaves  doubt  as  to  their  validity,  if 
a  safer  path  is  open  to  him.  A  man  must 
not  pay  a  debt  with  money  or  a  cheque 
which  he  knows  may  prove  worthless, 
though  he  has  strong  reasons  for  thinking 
them  good.  A  doctor  must  not  use 
doubtful  remedies,  if  he  has  better  ones  at 
command.  A  man  may  not  fire  at  game, 
if  he  knows  there  is  even  a  slight  danger 
of  wounding  a  feUow-creature.  Such 
opinions,  again,  are  lax,  not  Probabilist, 
and  are  contrary  not  only  to  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  Christianity,  but  also 
to  the  naturtil  conscience  and  common 
sense  of  mankind. 

Laxity  manifests  itself  in  many  ways, 
and  the  reader  may  form  some  idea  of  the 
scandalous  excesses  into  which  it  has  run 
b}^  reading  the  list  of  propositions  con- 
demned by  the  Popes,  especially  by 
Innocent  XI.  We  need  not  say  more 
about  it  here  ;  and,  on  the  other  side,  we 
may  also  dismiss  the  opinion  of  the 
Rigorists,  or  Tutiorists,  who  held  that 
we  must  always  take  the  safer  way, 
always  sacrifice  our  freedom,  however 
small  the  probability  that  our  freedom  is 
restrained  by  the  law.  This  opinion  was 
proscribed  by  Alexander  VIII.  A  kindred 
opinion  that  we  must  not  take  advantage 
of  our  liberty  unless  we  can  point  to  an 
opinion  of  the  highest  probability  in  its 
favour  may  also  be  dismissed,  for  it  never 
found  any  consiilerable  support  among 
theologians.  Very  different  is  it  with 
another  system  of  moral  theology,  known 
as  I^robabiliorism,  for  long  the  powerful 
and  even,  for  a  time  and  in  a  certain 
degree,  the  triumphant  rival  of  Proba- 
bilism. 

The  Probabiliorists  put  no  restraint  on 
liberty,  where  a  man  was  convinced  on 
solid  grounds  that  the  balancf^  of  evidence 
was  decidedly  in  favour  of  his  liberty.  In 
such  a  case,  they  said,  he  acted  prudently 
and  as  became  a  Christian.  He  was  doing 
his  best  to  ascertain  the  truth,  and  after 
weighing  the  reasons,  had  decided  that 
he  might  do  this  or  that  without  sin.  He 
judged  according  to  the  merits  of  the 
case  and  decided  according  to  the  rules  of 
evidence,  just  as  an  honest  judge  would 
do.  He  chose  the  way  to  which  he  was 
inclined,  not  solely  because  of  his  inclina- 
tion, but  because  of  the  preponderating 
evidence.    On  the  other  hand,  a  man  who 


U17I7BR 


s^> 


MOKAL  THEOLOGY 

used  his  liberty  when  the  prohahility  of 
the  opinions  for  and  against  his  right  to 
exercise  it  were  evenly  balanced,  wantonly 
exposed  himself  to  danger  of  material 
sin.  If  he  acted  against  an  opinion 
which  he  himself  allowed  to  be  more 
probable,  alleging  an  opinion  also  probable 
on  his  own  side,  he  was  judging  against 
the  weight  of  evidence  and  therefore 
sinning  against  the  truth.  If  the  Proba- 
bilists  quoted  the  maxim,  "A  doubtful 
law  does  not  bind,"  the  Probabiliorists  re- 
torted, "  In  doubtful  matters  choose  the 
safer  side."  If  the  Probabilists  pleaded 
that  they  acted  with  safe  and  sure  con- 
science, since,  doubtful  as  they  might  be 
as  to  the  absolute  lawfulness  of  a  particu- 
lar action,  they  could  be  certain  in  practice 
that  the  action  was  lawful  to  tbem,  since 
the  law  was  uncertain,  and,  not  being  cer- 
tain, had  no  binding  force,  the  Proba- 
biliorists replied,  "  You  cannot  feel  certain 
of  this  without  culpable  presumption. 
The  reflex  principle  which  you  assume  to 
be  morally  certain  and  make  the  basis  of 
your  conviction  that  in  the  particular  case 
you  are  certainly  free  to  act,  is,  in  fact, 
contested  by  all  Probabiliorists — i.e.  by  a 
vast  number  of  grave  and  learned  theo- 
logians from  all  nations,  orders,  and  ranks 
in  the  Church.  Yet,  if  this  retlex  princi- 
ple be  doubtful,  if  your  argument,  '  The 
law  is  uncertain,  and  therefore  I  am  cer- 
tain it  does  not  bind,'  is  itself  not  abso- 
lutely and  evidently  cogent,  then  the 
question  is  at  an  end.  You  yourselves 
admit  the  wickedness  of  acting  with  a 
conscience  practically  doubtful.  '  What- 
soever is  not  of  faith  is  of  sin.' " 

From  1580  till  about  1650  Probabilism, 
as  even  Billuart  does  not  venture  to  deny, 
held  possession  of  the  schools.  The  great 
theologians  prior  to  Medina's  date  did  not 
treat  the  question  formally,  and  ai-e  quoted 
on  both  sides.  From  about  1650  a  power- 
ful reaction  set  in.  In  France,  Zaccaria 
writes,  Probabilism  was  hated  as  "  tlie 
pest  of  morality,"  and  in  1700  it  was  con- 
demned in  the  Assembly-General  of  the 
French  clergy.  The  learned  Benedictines 
of  St.  Maur  and  St.  Vannes  and  the 
Fathers  of  the  French  Oratory  were 
notoriously  hostile  to  it.  Nor  must  it  be 
thought  that  this  hostility  was  peculiar  to 
French  ecclesiastics  or  to  Galileans. 
Most,  according  to  Billuart,  of  the  Do- 
minicans, some  distinguished  Jesuits  (e.g. 
Gonzalez,  General  of  the  Society),  and 
many  Italian  writers  {e.g.  Concina,  the 
learned  brothers  Peter  and  Jerome  Bal- 
lerini,    Berti,    Fagnanus,     many    years 


MORAL  THEOLOGY 

secretary  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Council)  were  in  the  hostile  ranks.  Bene- 
dict XIV.  made  the  moral  theology  of 
the  Jesuit  Antoine  (in  the  Roman  edi- 
tion of  the  Franciscan  Carbognano),  an 
author  rigid  even  among  the  Probabi- 
liorists, the  text-book  at  the  Propaganda. 
And  it  may  perhaps  be  worth  mention 
that  Bishop  Milner  recommended  Collet, 
another  Probabiliotist,  for  the  use  of  his 
clergy.  It  was  the  text-book  at  Oscott 
within  the  memory  of  priests  still  alive. 
Henno,  a  well-known  Franciscan,  calcu- 
lated that  when  he  wrote — viz.  in  1710 — 
there  were  twenty  Probabiliorists  for  one 
Probabilist ;  while  the  Flemish  theologian 
Billuart,  in  1747,  thought  the  preponder- 
ance of  numbers  on  the  side  of  Proba- 
biliorism  had  been  doubled  in  the  interval. 
No  faith  can  be  placed  even  in  the  proxi- 
mate accuracy  of  these  estimates.  StiU, 
they  may  be  fairly  accepted  as  evidence 
that  numbers  were  on  the  side  of  Proba- 
biliorism. 

The  proportion  is  now  reversed,  and 
Probabilism  is  the  popular  theory  through- 
out the  Church.  It  may  indeed  be 
regarded  as  the  only  existent  theory. 
Carriere  (died  1864),  a  distinguished 
Sulpician,  who  wrote  "De  Contractibus 
et  Matrimonio,"  is  the  only  recent  writer 
on  moral  theology,  so  far  as  we  know,  who 
is  not  a  Probabilist.  This  change  is  due 
partly,  we  think,  to  the  force  of  reason, 
for  we  cannot  see  that  Probabiliorism  is 
logical  and  consistent,  and  the  arguments 
adduced  by  its  advocates  really  tend  to 
Tutiorism ;  partly  to  the  disappearance  of 
the  old  French  church  and  many  Catholic 
universities  where  the  stricter  doctrine  on 
morals  had  a  strong  hold  ;  partly  to  the 
great  influence  of  St.  Liguori's  works  on 
moral  theology.  His  ^'Theologia  Moralis" 
and  "  Homo  Apostolicus  "  appeared  about 
the  middle  of  last  century,  and  have  often 
been  republished .  At  present  th  e  Probabilist 
theology  of  this  writer  is  accepted  almost 
everywhere  in  the  Church,  and  the  recent 
works  of  Scavini  and  Gury  are  little  more 
than  adaptations  of  St.  Liguori,  though, 
of  course,  these  authors  do  not  follow  him 
blindly,  and  the  Jesuit  Ballerini  (in  his 
notes  to  Gury)  often  differs  from  his  con- 
clusions. Moreover,  the  Congregation  of 
Rites,  in  a  decree  confirmed  by  the  Pope 
in  1803,  declared  that  St.  Liguori's  works 
contained  "nothing  worthy  of  censure." 
This,  as  H.eilig,  the  Redemptorist  editor, 
explains,  by  no  means  imphes  that  each 
statement  of  St.  Liguori  is  true,  or  even 
that  none  of  them  vvill  ever  be  condemned 


604 


MORTAL  SIN 


by  the  Church.  It  only  means  that  his 
•works  are  free  from  any  "  error  already 
recognised  as  such  by  the  Olmrch."  So 
again,  in  1831,  the  Sacred  Penitentiary 
affirmed  that  a  confessor  might  safely  fol- 
low all  St.  Liguori's  opinions  on  account  of 
the  judgment  of  the  Holy  See  just  quoted, 
adding,  however,  that  there  was  no  fault 
in  adopting  the  opinions  given  by  other 
appioved  authors.  "She  recent  elevation 
of  St.  Liguori  to  the  rank  of  Doctor  of 
the  Church  makes  no  formal  difference  in 
the  authority  of  his  system,  though  it  is 
clearly  another  mark  of  the  Church's  ap- 
probation. The  Pope  would  not  have 
made  St.  Liguori  a  Doctor  of  the  Church 
had  he  regarded  the  great  literary  work 
of  his  life  in  defending  and  expounding 
Probabilism  as  a  mistake. 

We  passed  over  by  design  a  subdivision 
•which  exists  among  Probabilists  them- 
selves. iEqui-probabilists  hold  that  a 
man  may  use  his  liberty,  if  the  reasons  in 
favour  of  his  right  to  do  so  are  at  least 
equal  in  probability  to  those  on  the  other 
side,  but  not  otherwise.  Probabilists 
pure  and  simple  would  allow  a  man  to 
take  advantage  of  his  liberty,  if  he  has 
really  probable  grounds  for  thinking  that 
the  law  does  not  bind  him,  even  if  the 
argument  on  the  other  side  is  more  pro- 
bable. This  subdivision  of  Probabilists  is 
an  old  one,  but  it  has  attracted  more 
attention  of  late,  now  that  Probabilists 
are  in  possession  of  the  field  and  have 
time  for  disputes  with  each  other.  The 
Redemptorist  authors  of  the  '^Vindiciae 
Alphonsianae "  try,  we  believe,  to  show 
that  St.  Liguori  was  an  .^qui-probabilist. 
The  object  of  their  book  is  to  correct 
Ballerini,  who  edited  the  moral  theology 
of  his  brother  Jesuit  Gury,  with  elaborate 
notes,  in  which  he  not  only  assumes  that 
St.  Liguori  was  a  Probabilist  pure  and 
simple,  but  often  defends  the  probability 
of  opinions  which  St.  Liguori  rejected. 
In  his  third  edition,  Ballerini  replies  to 
the  charges  of  laxity  which  the  Redemp- 
torists  made  against  him. 

(The  historical  part  of  this  article  is 
drawn  from  Zaccaria's  learned  dissertation 
prefixed  to  some  editions  of  St.  Liguori's 
"  Theologia  Moralis."  We  have  said 
nothing  of  the  great  moral  theologians 
•who  have  written  during  the  last  three 
centuries,  De  Lugo,  Sporer,  La  Croix,  &c., 
because  a  useful  list  of  them  is  prefixed 
to  Gury's  work  and  is  sure  to  be  in  the 
bands  of  those  whom  the  subject  in- 
terests.) 

MORTAii  szir.    [See  Sin.] 


MYSTICAL  SENSE  OF  SCRIPTURE 

XIXOZZETTA  (from  mozzo  mutHtis; 
cf.  fiiTvXns  and/xyriXof,  curtailed).  A  short 
vestment,  qiute  open  in  front,  which  can, 
however,  be  buttoned  over  the  breast, 
covering  the  shoulders  and  with  a  little 
hood  beliind.  It  is  worn  by  the  Pope, 
by  cardinals,  bishops,  abbots,  and  others 
who  do  so  by  custom  or  Papal  privilege — 
e.ff.  in  England  by  canons.  As  it  is  the 
usual  state  dress  oi  a  bishop,  when  he  is 
not  saying  mass  or  performing  other 
sacred  functions,  bishops,  Sec,  are  usually 
painted  with  the  mozzetta.  The  mozzetta 
leaves  the  greater  part  of  the  rochet  un- 
covered, hence  it  is  either  not  worn  at  all 
or  worn  only  over  the  mantelletta  by  car- 
dinals, bishops,  and  others  where  they 
have  no  jurisdiction.  Thus  the  cardinals 
wear  the  mozzetta  and  rochet  onl}"^  in 
the  churches  from  which  they  take  their 
titles;  but  throughout  Rome  during  a 
vacancy  of  the  Holy  See,  especially  at 
Conclaves. 

The  Pope  wears  five  difi'erent  mozzette. 
In  the  hotter  part  of  the  year — viz.  from 
the  first  vespers  of  the  Ascension  to  the 
feast  of  St.  Catharine,  his  mozzetta  is  of 
red  satin  except  on  vigils,  ember  days, 
Masses  of  the  dead,  and  other  penitential 
occasions,  when  it  is  of  red  serge  or 
camlet  ("  di  saia  rossa  o  cammellotto.") 
The  other  half  of  the  year,  he  wears  a 
mozzetta  of  red  velvet,  except  as  a  mark 
of  sorrow  or  penance  in  Advent,  Septua- 
gesima  to  the  end  of  Lent,  vigils,  &c., 
when  his  mozzetta  is  of  red  woollen  cloth 
(panno  rosso).  On  a  feast,  such  as  those 
of  the  Annunciation  and  Conception,  the 
anniversary  of  his  election  and  consecra- 
tion, on  visiting  a  church  where  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  is  exposed,  tfec,  he 
puts  aside  the  mourning  mozzetta  even 
during  penitential  seasons,  From  Holy 
Saturday  till  Saturday  in  Low  Week,  his 
mozzetta  is  of  white  damask.  The 
cardinals  have  four  mozzette — viz.  of  red 
or  purple  silk,  violet  silk,  rose-coloured 
silk,  violet  serge.  (Moroni,  "  Dizionario 
Istorico.") 

mnmHATOTLT  or  Purificatory.  A 
cloth  of  linen  or  hemp  (S.  0.  R.  May  18, 
1819),  used  for  cleansing  the  chalice.  It 
has  a  small  cross  in  the  middle  to  distin- 
guish it  from  the  Lavabo  towel.  It  is 
mentioned  in  the  "  Coeremoniale  Epi- 
scoporum,"  but  its  use  is  of  recent  date 
and  it  is  not  blessed.  The  Greeks  use  a 
sponge  instead.  (Benedict  XIV.  "  De 
Miss."  i.  V.  5.) 

mirsTicAJM  SENSS  or  scrip- 
TURSi     In  the  historical  or  literal  sense 


MYSTICAL  THEOLOGY 

words  siornify  things  ;  but  sometimes  God 
ordained  that  the  things  signified  by  the 
words  should  signify  other  things,  and  so 
we  get  the  mystical  or  spiritual  sense. 
St.  Paul,  for  example,  tells  us  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  that  Ismael  and 
Isaac  were  types  of  Jewish  bondage  and 
Christian  liberty.  The  mystical  sense  is 
subdivided  into  the  allegorical,  where  the 
things  of  the  old  signify  the  mysteries  of 
the  new  law,  the  moral  where  they 
signify  moral  precepts,  the  anagoginal 
where  they  signify  future  glory  (St. 
Thomas,  I.  Qu.  I.  a.  10).  The  mystical 
interpretation  is  by  no  means  peculiar  to 
Christians.  Philo,  St.  Paul's  contem- 
porary, found  in  the  allegorical  interpre- 
tation of  the  Old  Testament  an  easy 
means  of  reconciling  it  with  Greek  phi- 
losophy, and  allegorical  interpretation 
has  been  systematized  by  the  Rabbins.^ 
St.  Paul's  authority  proves  that  there  is 
a  mystical  sense  in  Scripture ;  but  com- 
mon sense  warns  us  of  the  dangers 
attached  to  such  a  method  of  interpreta- 
tion. And  St.  Thomas,  following  St. 
Augustine,  teaches  tiiat  arguments  can 
be  drawn  from  the  literal  sense  alone 
(Joe.  cit.). 

niVSTZCAIi  THSOZiOGV.  One 
of  the  subdivisions  of  theology  classed 
under  the  more  general  division  of  Moral 
Theology.  It  is  sometimes  identified 
with  Ascetical  Theology,  but  it  seems 
more  proper  to  confine  its  definition  in 
such  a  way  as  to  distinguish,  it  precisely 
hy  its  specific  name  of  "  Mystical,"  fn&m 
that  which  is  more  properly  called  "  As- 
cetical." According  to  this  stricter  de- 
finition it  is  described  as  comprising  two 
parts — viz.  the  doctrinal  and  the  experi- 
mental.    The  experimental  is  defined  as 

1  They  also  recognise  four  modes  of  inter- 
preting Scripture — viz.  the  literal  (tD^Pj),  the 

seeking  of  hints  for  laws,  precepts,  &c.  (TD^)> 

the  deduction  of  dogma  and  legal  determina- 
tions  (C^-n),  the  interpretation  of   mystical 

theology  (nio)-  See  Hamburger,  ^ea/.  JS'nc^c/. 
/iir  Bibel  und  Talmud ;  art. "  Exegese." 


MYSTICAL  THEOLOGY     60B 

"a  pure  knowledge  of  God  which  the 
soul  ordinarily  receives  in  a  luminous 
darkness  or  obscure  light  of  sublime  con- 
templation, together  with  an  experi- 
mental love  so  intimate  that  the  soul, 
losing  itself  altogether,  is  united  to  God 
and  transformed  into  Him."  This  is 
called  Theology  because  it  contains  acts 
proximately  referred  to  God  as  their 
object ;  Mystical  because  acquired  by  a 
secret  operation  known  only  to  God  and 
the  recipient  of  his  divine  favours;  and 
experimental,  because  it  is  only  by  per- 
sonal spiritual  experience  that  such  a 
knowledge  of  God  can  be  gained.  Doc- 
trinal Mystical  Theology  is  "  a  science 
which  considers  the  acts  of  the  experi- 
mental, and  discusses  their  essence,  pro- 
perties, and  effects,  according  to  the 
authority  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  con- 
templative saints,  giving  practical  rules 
for  the  guidance  of  tliose  who  have 
attained,  or  are  in  the  way  to  attain,  the 
state  of  high  contemplation." 

The  most  eminent  mystical  writers  in 
the  Catholic  Church  are  Pseudo-Diony- 
si  us  the  so-called  Areopagite,  St.  Ber- 
nard, St.  Thomas,  St.  Anselm,  St. 
Buona Ventura,  Hugh  and  Richard  of  St, 
Victor,  Gerson,  Harphius,  Taider,  St. 
Teresa  and  St.  John  of  the  Cross,  and 
others.  The  great  modern  Doctor  in 
Mystical  Theology,  whose  works  are  the 
most  complete  and  luminous,  the  most 
sublime,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
philosophically  exact  and  precise,  and 
whose  authority  is  the  highest  which  any 
private  theologian  can  have,  is  St.  John 
of  the  Cross.  His  works  have  been 
translated  into  English  in  the  best  manner 
by  Mr.  Lewis.  A  more  unpretending 
but  very  solid  and  useful  treatise  is  the 
"  Sancta  Sophia  "  of  F.  Baker,  an  English 
Benedictine.  As  scientific  and  methodi- 
cal treatises  for  the  use  of  directors  and 
professed  theologians,  the  "  Institutiones 
Theologiae  Mysticse"  of  F.  Schram, 
O.S.B.,  and  the  "  Directorium  Mysticum  " 
of  F.  Scaramelli,  S.J.,  are  in  the  highest 
repute. 


^8    NAME,  CHRISTIAN,  ETC. 


NECROLOGY 


N 


ITAMS,  CHRZSTZAN-,  ETC,     [See 

Baptismal  Name.] 

larAXVKE  or  jesxts.    [See  Jbstjs.] 
XTAME  OP  MARir.    [See   Mary, 

Feast  op  the  Name.] 

ITATAIiE,  ZTATAXiZTZA.    The  day 

on  which  a  saint  is  born  into  eternal  life 
— i.e.  the  day  of  his  death.  The  Church 
does  not  celebrate  the  natural  birthday  of 
the  saints  because  they  were  born  in  sin, 
and  the  fact  that  she  keeps  the  birthday 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist  is,  as  St.  Augus- 
tine points  out,  an  exception  which 
E roves  the  rule,  for  St.  John  was  cleansed 
rom  original  sin  before  his  birth.* 

The  use  of  Natale,  Natalitia,  &o.,  for 
the  day  of  a  saint's  death  is  very  ancient. 
Thus  the  Church  of  Smyrna  says  of  their 
bishop  Polycarp, "  We  keep  the  birthday  of 
liis  martyrdom  "  {tt)v  tov  fiaprvpLov  avrov 
fjfifpav  yeveffXiov)  ("Mart.  Polyc."  18), 
and  Tertullian  speaks  of  the  Mass  said  on 
the  feasts  of  Martyrs  as  "  oblationes  pro 
natalitiis  "  ("  De  Corona,"  8).  The  Church 
still  retains  the  use  of  the  word  in  her 
collects.  Thence  Natale  came  to  mean 
ia  feast  generally—  e.g.  "  Natale  Petri 
de  Cathedra  "  in  the  ancient  Kalendarium 
Becclerianum  is  the  feast  of  St.  Peter's 
chair.  It  was  also  used  for  the  anni- 
versary of  a  bishop's  consecration.  (Probst, 
loc.  cit. ;  Smith  and  Cheetham.) 

iTATZOxrAZi  SYxroB.  [See  Coun- 
cil.] 

10-ATZVZT-S-  or  THE  BXtESSE3> 
VZRGixr.  Nothing  is  known  about  the 
place,  date,  or  circumstances  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin's  birth.  Joachim  and 
Anne  were  her  parents,  and  this  belief, 
the  earliest  authority  for  which  is  the 
tradition  of  Apostolic  days,  was  cur- 
^  rent  in  the  East.  This  teaching  is 
found  in  the  "  Protoevangelium  Jacobi," 
an  apocryphal  gospel  of  early  date. 
It  is  recognised  by  St.  John  of  Damascus 

1  Apparently,  hovever,  even  the  heathen 
jvomans  used  "  natale  '  as  a  euphemism  for  the 
day  of  death.  This,  at  least,  seems  to  follow 
from  Mommsen  {De  Collegiis,  p.  127),  as  quoted 
by  Probst  (Kirchliche  DiscipUn  der  drei  ersteii 
Jahrhunderte,  p.  127).  A  quotation  is  given 
from  Statutes  of  the  Lanuvian  Collegium,  with 
lists  of  feasts  for  the  "natalia"  or  dnys  on 
which  the  meral)ers  had  died. 


and  James,  bishop  of  Edessa,  while  the 
"  Liber  Pontificalis,"  mentions  in  the  life 
of  Pope  Leo  III.  that  he  had  the  history  of 
St.  Joachim  and  St,  Anne  painted  in  the 
Basilica  of  St.  Paul.  The  feast  of  St. 
Anne  on  July  26,  which  is  mentioned  in 
the  Roman  and  other  Martyrologies,  was 
sanctioned  for  the  whole  Church  by 
Gregory  XIIL  in  1684. 

It  is  very  uncertain  when  the  feast  oi 
the  Blessed  Virgin's  nativity  was  intro* 
duced.  The  Breviary  lessons  for  the 
feast,  said  to  be  taken  from  St.  Augustine, 
are  of  com*se  spurious.  The  mention  of 
the  feast  in  Sacramentaries  of  St.  Leo 
and  St.  Gregory  prove  little,  considering 
the  changes  and  frequent  recensions 
which  books  of  that  sort,  intended,  as 
they  are,  for  practical  purposes,  are  sure 
to  undergo.  It  is  not  mentioned  by  the 
Council  of  Mayence  in  813,  though  it 
gives  a  list  of  the  feasts  then  celebrated, 
nor  again  in  the  capitularies  of  Charle- 
magne and  Louis  the  Pious.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  mentioned  by  Walter, 
bishop  of  Orleans,  in  871,  and  in  a  work 
on  the  virginity  of  Mary  ascribed  to  St. 
Ildefonsus,  but  really,  as  Dachery  thinks, 
written  by  Paschasius  Radbertus,  in  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century.  It  is  placed 
in  the  list  of  holidays  by  the  Emperor 
Manuel  Commenus  in  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century,  and  the  Copts  as  well  as 
the  Greeks  have  adopted  it.  Both  Greeks 
and  Latins  now  keep  it  on  September  8, 
though  at  one  time  this  was  not  every- 
where the  day  fixed  for  the  celebration. 
The  octave  was  added  by  Innocent  IV. 
in  consequence,  it  is  said,  of  a  vow  made 
by  the  cardinals  at  the  election  of  Celes- 
tine  IV.  The  dissensions  between  the 
Church  and  Frederic  II.  made  it  difficult 
to  secure  the  peace  necessary  for  an 
election,  and  in  this  extremity  the  Con- 
clave begged  the  Blessed  Virgin's  prayers 
and  promised,  in  case  the  favour  was 
granted,  to  have  an  octave  added  to  the 
feast  of  her  nativity. 

WECROZiOGT.  A  book  containing 
the  names  of  the  dead,  especially  of 
bishops  who  had  built  the  church  to 
which  the  necrology  belonged,  of  bene- 
factors, friends,  &c.j  that  they  might,  be 


NEOPHYTE 

prayed  for.  Sucli  a  book,  as  Meratus 
shows,  is  mentioned  by  Bede  ^  ("  H.  E." 
iv.  14).  According  to  Mr.  Maskell  it 
seems  also  to  have  been  called  Album  or 
"  White  Book,"  Obituarium,  Mortilegium. 
(Meratus  on  Gavantus,  torn.  II.  §  v. 
21 ;  Maskell,  "  Monumenta  Ritualia," 
clxxvii.  seq.). 

SrSOPKVTE  (Gr.  veoc^vTos,  newly 
grown,  of  new  nature).  The  term  was 
applied  in  the  primitive  Church  to 
converts  newly  baptised.  They  were 
dressed  in  white  garments,  and  continued 
to  wear  them  for  eight  days  after  their 
baptism.  Thus  of  the  West  Saxon  king 
Ced walla,  who  renouncing  his  crown 
went  to  Rome  to  be  baptised,  and  died 
soon  after,  we  hear  that  he  died  while 
still  in  his  white  garments,  ^'in  albis 
adhuc  positus."  "^  Tbe  Nicene  Council 
ordered  ((>an.  2)  that  neophytes  should 
not  be  hastily  admitted  to  holy  orders, 
but  should  undergo  a  probation  of  con- 
siderable leogtli.  This  canon  was  evi- 
dently founded  on  the  prohibition  of 
St.  Paul  (1  Tim.  iii.  6),  and  occasioned 
by  the  ill  effects  which  had  arisen  from 
neglecting  it.  In  later  times  the  neo- 
phytes commonly  met  with,  at  least  in 
Europe,  were  converts  from  heresy, 
Judaism,  or  Islam.  For  these  Gregory 
XIII.  founded  an  ecclesiastical  college. 
The  matrimonial  relations  between 
spouses,  of  whom  one  has  become  a 
neophyte  but  the  other  refuses  to  leave 
his  or  her  original  persuasion,  give  rise  to 
many  difficult  questions  in  canon  law. 
The  Catholic  missionaries  still  use  the 
term  for  their  converts  from  the  heathen, 
whose  fervour  and  steadfastness  are  often 
found  to  equal  anything  recorded  of  the 
primitive  neophytes.  (Ferraris,  Neo- 
phyti.) 

xrBSTORZAlO'S.  A  name  given  to 
the  Christians  who  follow  the  doctrine 
of  Nestorius,  and  hold  that  there  are  two 
persons  as  well  as  two  natures  in  Jesus 
Christ.  These  two  distinct  persons,  the 
person  of  God  and  that  of  man,  were,  he 
said,  bound  together  in  Jesus  Christ  by  a 
merely  moral  union — i.e.  there  was  a 
conformity  of  will  between  the  man 
Christ  and  God  the  Word,  who  dwelt  in 
Him,  and  hence  the  properties  of  one 
natui'e  or  person  could  not  be  ascribed 
to  the  other.  He  rejected,  e.g.,  such 
expressions  as  the  "Word  suffered,"  on 

1  "Quaerant  in  suis  codicibus  in  quibus 
defuuctorum  est  annotata  depositio."  Bede,  loe. 
eit. 

2  Bede,  H.  E,  v. 


NESTORIANS 


607 


the  ground  that  it  was  the  man  Christ 
and  not  God  the  Word  who  was  capabla 
of  suffering ;  "  Mary  is  the  mother  of  God," 
since  Christ  indeed  had  a  mother,  but 
God  had  none  (Petav.  "  De  Incarnat." 
i.  9).  But  a  full  account  of  the  doctrine 
and  history  of  Nestorius  has  been  given 
in  the  article  on  the  Council  of  Ephesus, 
and  we  confine  ourselves  to  the  history 
of  the  Nestorian  Church. 

The  Nestorians  had  their  original 
home  and  centre  in  Chaldaea  and  Meso- 
potamia. Christianity,  it  is  said,  was 
hrst  preached  there  by  Mar  Addai  and 
Mar  Mari,  of  the  number  of  the  Seventy. 
The  Bishop  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon 
held  the  chief  see  in  these  parts,  and 
after  the  schism  became  independent  of 
Antioch.^  The  famous  school  of  Edessa 
and  the  WTitings  of  Theodore  of  Mop- 
suestia  prepared  the  way  for  Nestorian- 
ism,  and  when  in  498  Babaeus,  whom 
the  metropolitan  Barsumas  of  Nisibis 
had  won  over  to  Nestorianism,  ascended 
the  throne  of  Seleucia-Ctesiphon,  Catho- 
licism disappeared  almost  entirely  in  Me- 
sopotamia. The  Persians  for  obvious 
reasons  encouraged  the  schism  which 
separated  their  Christian  subjects  from 
the  Greek  church  of  the  Byzantine 
empire.  The  Persian  kingdom  was  the 
refuge  of  Nestorianism.  Thence  it  spread 
not  only  through  Mesopotamia,  Chaldea, 
and  Persia,  but  also  to  Arabia,  Egypt, 
Media,  Bactria,  Hyrcania,  India,  and  even 
China.  The  Nestorian  Patriarch  in  the 
eleventh  century  had  twenty-five  metro- 
politans under  him  ;  the  Nestorian  "  com- 
munion extended  from  China  to  Jerusa- 
lem, and  its  numbers,  with  those  of  the 
Monophysites,  are  said  to  have  surpassed 
those  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches 
together"  (Newman's  "  Arians,"  p.  426). 

Towards  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century  the  Nestorian  numbers  fell 
rapidly,  owing  to  the  persecution  by  the 
Mongol  kinof  Timour.  Later,  the  Nes- 
torians suffered  from  internal  schism. 
On  occasion  of  a  contested  election  to  the 
Patriarchate  three  bishops  and  many 
priests  appealed  to  Pope  J  ulius  II.,  who 
in  1553  proclaimed  Sulaka  "  Patriarch  of 
the  Chaldeans,"  and  thus  began  the  series 
of  patriarchs  for  the  Chaldeans  or  de- 
scendants of  Nestorians,  who  have  re- 
nounced Nestorian  doctrine  and  are  in 

1  Assemani  holds  it  for  certain  that  till  the 
schism  the  Bishop  of  Seleucia  was  a  mere 
metropolitan  subject  to  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch. 
He  must,  however,  have  been  superior  iu  esti- 
mation to  the  other  metropolitans. 


008 


NESTORIANS 


union  with  the  Pope  In  1582  an  arch- 
bishop, Simeon,  who  had  separated  some 
years  previously  from  the  Nestorian 
Patriarch,  and  called  himself  Patriarch 
of  Km-distan,  also  submitted  to  the  Pope, 
and  he  too  received  from  Rome  the  title 
of  Chaldean  Patriarch.  These  reunions 
with  the  Catholic  Church  did  not  last 
long.  But  since  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  there  were  two  Nestorian 
Patriarchs,  one  residing  at  Mosul,  another 
in  Central  Kurdistan,  and  the  constant 
intestine  strife  favoured  the  efforts  of  the 
Roman  missionaries.  In  1780  the  Nes- 
torian Patriarch  Mar  Elias  at  Mosul 
became  a  Catholic,  and  consequently  it  is 
only  by  the  Lake  of  Urumiah  and  among 
the  mountains  of  Kurdistan  that  Nes- 
torians  are  found.  The  Christians  in  the 
low  countries  by  the  banks  of  the  Tigris 
are  Chaldeans — i.e.  the  descendants  of 
Nestorians,  now  re-united  to  the  Catholic 
Church.  The  Nestorians  proper  call 
themselves  Suraya  (Syrian)  Christiane, 
Meshihaye  (Christians)  Nestoraye,  but 
never  Chaldeans,  which  name  is  ex- 
clusively reserved  to  Catholics.  It  is 
true  the  Nestorian  Patriarch  calls  him- 
self "  Patriarch  of  the  Chaldeans  in  the 
East,"  but  this  title  he  only  only  assumes 
in  order  to  place  himself  on  a  level  with 
the  Catholic  Patriarch  at  Mosul,  and  to 
avoid  being  regarded  by  the  Latins  as  the 
head  of  an  heretical  sect. 

The  Bishop  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon 
received  the  title  of  Catholicos  in  the 
fourth  century— as  representative  in  the 
East  of  the  Antiochene  Patriarch.  He 
himself  assumed  the  title  of  Patriarch 
after  the  schism.  TiU  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century  he  was  chosen  by  the 
metropolitans  and  other  bishops.  These 
last  assembled  with  the  archdeacon  of 
the  former  Patriarch  and  with  the  chief 
laity  and  chose  the  new  Patriarch 
unanimously.  In  difficulty,  recourse 
was  had  to  the  lot,  and  from  987  the 
secular  power  confirmed  the  election. 
Since  1450  the  Patriarch  has  been  chosen 
from  one  family,  and  generally  the  office 
has  descended  from  uncle  to  nephew. 
The  indispensable  qualification  for  a 
Patriarch  is  that  his  mother  during  her 
pregnancy  and  while  suckling  her  child, 
and  the  new  Patriarch  himself  till  the 
time  of  his  election,  should  never  have 
tasted  flesh-meat.  The  Patriarch  con- 
firms the  election  of  bishops,  translates 
and  deposes  them.  He  alone  con?ecrates 
the  holy  oils  ;  no  book  can  be  published 
without  his  approbation.    He  prescribes 


NESTORIANS 

the  liturgical  rules  and  his  name  is  always 
mentioned  in  the  daily  office.  The 
Patriarch  also  exercises  civil  jurisdiction 
in  cases  where  Nestorians  only  are  con- 
cerned, and  though  there  is  a  right  of 
appeal  to  the  Emir,  it  is  seldom  used. 
In  872  the  residence  of  the  Patriarch  was 
transferred  from  Seleucia  to  Bagdad ; 
from  1258  onwards,  he  resided  in  vaiious 
places;  after  1560  he  lived  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Mosul.  After  Elias  XI.,  patri- 
arch of  Mosul,  had  been  reconciled  to  the 
Catholic  Church  in  1780,  the  Bishop  of 
Urumiah,  who  had  assumed  the  title  of 
Patriarch  long  before  in  1582,  became  the 
only  Nestorian  Patriarch.  In  1690  he 
withdrew  to  Kochanes,  in  Kurdistan. 
In  1 842  his  residence  was  burnt  by  the 
Emir,  Nurallah  Beg,  next  year  he  was 
driven  by  the  Kurds  to  Mosul;  but  in 
1848  he  returned  to  Kochanes  (Badger, 
vol.  i.  pp.  258,  374.)  His  income  is  got 
from  a  poll-tax  levied  every  three  years, 
from  commutation  of  excommunications 
into  fines,  and  from  a  tithe  on  the  first- 
fruits  contributed  for  the  support  of  the 
churches. 

The  new  bishops  used  to  be  chosen  by 
clergy  and  laity  in  the  presence  of  the 
provincial  bishops.  At  present  they  are 
chosen,  if  any  suitable  candidate  can  be 
found  in  this  way,  from  the  relatives  of 
the  former  bishop.  The  bishop  is  conse- 
crated by  the  Patriarch  and  sometimes  by 
the  metropolitan;  but  in  the  latter  case 
he  must  receive  the  completion  of  the 
rite,  involving  the  confirmation  of  the 
election,  from  the  Patriarch  himself. 
Diocesan  synods  are  to  be  held  twice  a 
year,  those  of  the  metropolitan  province 
annually,  those  of  the  Patriarchate  eveiy 
four  years.  Bishops  in  distant  places 
may  send,  instead  of  personal  appearance, 
an  account  of  their  dioceses  and  letters  of 
union  to  the  Patriarch  once  every  six 
years.  Married  men  or  widowers  cannot 
become  bishops,  metropolitans,  or  patri- 
archs. A  law  of  the  Patriarch  Babseus 
in  499  permitted  the  reiterated  nuptials 
even  of  the  highest  ecclesiastics;  but  it 
was  repealed  by  the  Patriarch  Mar-Abas 
in  514.  Siill  the  letter  of  two  canons 
in  the  Sinhados  assumes  that  bishops  may 
be  married  (Badger,  vol.  ii.  ch.  SO,  p. 
180).  The  metropolitan  (matran)  ha« 
no  power  over  his  suffragans,  except  that 
of  summoning  them  to  synods  pnd  con- 
secrating them.  The  usual  title  of  the 
bishop  is  "Abuna"  (Father).  He  is 
supported  by  an  annual  poll-tax,  gifts  in 
kind  at  harvest-time,  fees  for  ordination, 


NICENE  COUNCILS 


NOCTURN 


consecration  of  churches,  dispensations 
for  marriage,  &c.  The  diocese  of  the 
Patriarch  is  in  Central  Kurdistan.  There 
are  eight  metropolitans  with  seven 
bishops.  The  whole  Nestorian  popula- 
tion amounts  to  about  70,000  ("  Silber- 
nagl."  p.  22'2).  The  archdeacon  is  the 
bishop's  vicar  in  the  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral matters.  The  chorepiscopus  (saura 
or  visitor,  corresponding  to  the  Greek 
TTcpio^evTTjs)  visits  the  country  churches. 
He  instructs  the  country  clergy  in  their 
functions,  sees  that  the  episcopal  dues  are 
collected,  superintends  the  election  of 
parish-priests,  &c.  His  place  is  at  the 
bishop's  left,  that  of  the  archdeacon  at 
his  right.  Next  comes  the  archpriest, 
who  is  the  chorepiscopus  of  the  city. 

The  parish-priests,  who  are  married 
and  may  even  marry  again  after  ordina- 
tion, are  chosen  by  the  people,  the  bishop 
contirming  the  choice.  An  office  peculiar 
to  the  Nestorians  is  that  of  the  Sciahara 
or  cleric,  who  is  responsible  for  the  night- 
hours  of  the  Breviary  office.  He  is  only, 
as  a  rule,  a  cantor  (omurd)  by  ordination, 
although  he  is  called  deacon  or  priest. 
The  parish-priests,  though  they  have 
great  influence  and  are  consulted  in  all 
political  and  domestic  affairs  of  import- 
ance, get  very  little  money  and  follow  a 
trade.  There  are  two  minor  orders, 
reader  and  subdeacon ;  three  higher, 
deacon,  priest,  bishop.  The  tonsure  is 
given  before  the  lectorate. 

The  monasteries,  once  numerous 
among  the  Nestorians,  are  now  extinct. 
The  only  old  monastery  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  Chaldeans— e.e.  Catholics  of  the 
same  rite,  and  no  new  ones  have  arisen. 
The  monastic  profession  declined  after  the 
fourteenth  century,  when  vows  of  chastity 
were  no  longer  regarded  as  irrevocable. 
The  canons,  however,  required  monks  and 
nuns  who  married  to  do  so  privately  and 
with  the  bishop's  leave.  A  monk  and 
nun  before  their  marriage  were  subjected 
to  ponance.  Although  there  are  now  no 
nmmerie?,  there  are  women  under 
temporary^  vows  of  chastity  who  occupy 
themselves  in  works  of  Christian  charity 
(Badger,  vol.ii.  p.  179). 

(Assemani,  '' Bibl.  Orient."  P.  ii. 
cap.  1-6.  Badger,  "  The  Nestorians  and 
their  Rituals," '  London,  1852.  Silber- 
nagl.  ''  Kirchen  des  Orients,"  pp.  202  seq.) 

N-ZCEZTE  COVirczXiS.  The  main 
history  of  the  Nicene  councils  has  been 

1  It  appears,  however,  to  be  very  possible 
to  obtain  release  from  these  vows  (Badger, 
vol.  ii.  p-  17y). 


already  given — that  of  the  former  in  the 
articles  Arians  and  Creeds,  that  of  the 
latter  under  Iconoclasts.  Little  need  be 
added  here.  For  the  convocation,  presi- 
dency, &c.,  of  both,  see  the  article 
Councils. 

L  The  First  Nicene  and  First  General 
Council  met  in  325,  after  Oonstantine 
had  sent  Hosius  to  Alexandria  in  order 
to  reconcile  the  Catholics  and  Arians, 
and  the  mission  had  proved  unsuccessful. 
The  bishops,  according  to  Athanasius,who 
was  present,  were  318  in  number,  mo.^tly 
from  the  East,  though  Hosius  of  Cordova 
played  a  great  part  in  the  council,  and 
the  Roman  bishop  was  represented  by 
the  priests  Vitus  and  Vincentius.  Besides 
asserting  the  full-  and  consubstantial 
divinity  of  the  Son,  the  council  dealt 
with  various  matters  of  discipline,  especi- 
ally the  Paschal  controversy  (see  Easter) 
and  the  Meletian  schism.  The  canons 
are  twenty  in  number,  for  the  eighty 
Arabic  canons  are  mostly  of  much  later 
date.  Neophytes  were  not  to  be  or- 
dained (Canon  2),  clerics  not  to  live  with 
fmhintroductcB  (3) ;  the  metropolitans  to 
coniiwn  and  superintend  episcopal  elec- 
tions (4) ;  no  bishop  to  receive  persons 
excommunicated  by  another,  but  an  appeal 
might  be  made  to  the  provincial  council 
(5) ;  the  patriarchal  rights  of  Rome, 
Alexandria,  and  Antioeh  were  to  be 
maintained  (6)  ;  decisions  follow  on  the 
rijrhts  of  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  (see 
Jerusalem)  ;  on  the  reconciliation  of  the 
Cathari  or  Novatians  (8)  ;  then  come 
penitential  canons  (9-14) ;  canons  on 
usury,  change  of  place  by  the  clergy,  &c. 
(15-17)  ;  subjection  of  deacons  to  priests 
(18) ;  the  disciples  of  Paul  of  Samosata 
were  to  be  rebaptised  before  they  were 
received  into  the  Church  (19)  ;  prayer 
was  to  be  made  standmg  on  Sundays  and 
during  Easter  time.  (See  also  Celibacy.) 

2.  The  Second  Nicene  Council,  ;fche 
Seventh  General,  met  in  787  under 
Tarasius.  Besides  defining  the  venera- 
tion due  to  holy  images,  the  council  pub- 
lished twentv-two  canons,  in  which  the 
so-called  Apostolic  Canons,  and  the  oecu- 
menical character  of  the  Council  in  Trullo 
were  recognised,  clerics  forbidden  to  leave 
the  church  where  they  had  been  stationed, 
the  hves  of  bishops,  the  relations  of  clerics 
and  nuns  regulated,  double  monasteries  for- 
bidden, &c.,  &c.  For  the  position  taken 
by  Rome  with  reference  to  some  of  these 
enactments,  see  Tritllo,  Council  in, 

NIMBUS.    [See  Aureole.] 

xrocTUKur.    [See  Breviary.] 

B 


eio 


NOMINATION 


zroxvxzTO'ATZOiir.  One  of  the  ways 
by  which  the  designation  of  a  bishop  to  a 
see  may  be  effected.  The  oi-dinary  mode  is 
that  of  election  by  the  chapter  ;  this  has 
been  the  rule  ever  since^  in  the  Empire, 
the  Concordat  of  Worms  (1122)  put  an 
end  to  the  abuse  of  the  emperor's  invest- 
ing bishops  by  "ring-  and  crosier,"  and 
since,  in  England,  the  Papal  interdict 
compelled  King  John  to  cease  from  forcing 
his  nominee  upon  the  see  of  Norwich.  In 
France,  by  the  Concordat  of  1515  [Cox- 
cordat],  the  Holy  See  conceded  the 
nomination  to  bishoprics  to  the  Kings  of 
France,  but  the  persons  chosen  were  to 
be  confirmed  by  the  Pope,  after  due 
inquiry  into  their  canonical  qualifications. 
Under  the  Concordat  of  1»02  the  nomina- 
tion, with  a  similar  proviso,  continues  to 
be  in  the  hands  of  the  French  Government. 
Not  the  King  of  France  only,  but  the 
Kings  of  Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  Two 
Sicilies,  and  the  House  of  Austria,  ob- 
tained this  right  of  nomination.  It  was 
extended  even  to  the  President  of  Hayti, 
by  a  Concordat  signed  in  1860.  Yet,  as 
Buss  well  remarks,^  the  monarchical 
principle  does  not  imply  or  require  such 
a  right ;  and  if  it  be  said  that  it  is  part 
of  that  surveillance  which  a  civil  ruler 
must  exercise  over  all  that  passes  within 
his  dominions,  "  one  may  answer  that  it 
is  solicitude  for  ecclesiastical  interests 
which  ought  to  determine  the  election  of 
a  bishop,  and  that  this  solicitude  is  more 
to  be  expected  in  an  ecclesiastical  body 
than  in  the  government." 

XTOMOCAXrOZr  [vo^tos,  law  ;  Kava>Vf 
rule).  Collections  of  the  canons  of  re- 
cognised councils,  and  of  such  portions  of 
the  civil  law  as  refer  to  Church  matters, 
are  called  by  this  name.  The  earliest  is 
that  of  Fulgentius,  a  deacon  of  the  Church 
of  Carthage  in  the  sixth  century.  The 
best  known  is  that  compiled  in  the  ninth 
century  by  the  celebrated  Photius,  pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople  ;  it  contains  the 
ancient  canons  down  to  and  including 
those  of  the  Seventh  General  Council,  or 
second  of  Nicsea  (787),  and  the  imperial 
constitutions  affecting  the  church  to  the 
same  date.  Balsanion,  chartophylax  at 
Constantinople  in  the  thirteenth  centuiy, 
ndded  a  commentary  to  the  work  of  Pho- 
tius. The  Nomocanon  which  goes  under 
the  name  of  St.  AVladiinir,  and  is  accepted 
as  the  basis  of  canon  law  in  Russia,  con- 
tains canons  which  are  not  recognised  by 
the  Western  Church. 

zroivs.    [See  Breviary.] 

»  Art.  '-Bishop,"  in  Wetzer  and  Welte. 


NOVATIANISM 

xrovATXAsrzsM.  Novatian,  s 
Stoic  philosopher,  was  delivered,  as  is 
said,  from  demoniacal  possession  by  the 
exorcisms  of  the  Church,  and  became  a 
catechumen.  In  danger  of  death,  he  re- 
ceived clinical  baptism,  and  afterwards, 
without  being  confirmed,  was  ordained 
priest.  During  persecution  he  refused  to  as- 
sist his  brethren,  but,  later  on,  he  protested 
against  the  laxity  of  the  Roman  clergy  in 
receiving  the  lapsed  to  penance,  and  led 
away  many  Roman  priests.  Afterwards, 
he  was  a  bitter  opponent  of  Pope  Corne- 
lius, on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  lihel- 
laticus'j  persuaded  three  country  bishops 
to  consecrate  him  in  the  year  251,  and 
thus  became,  in  Fleurys  words,  "  the  first 
Anti-Pope  "  (Fleury,  li.  p.  220).  He  con- 
secrated new  bishops  and  sent  them  as 
emissaries  to  various  parts  (Cyprian,. 
Ep.  Iv.). 

He  added  heresy  to  schism,  for  he 
denied  the  Church's  power  to  absolve  the 
lapsed  1  (Pacian,  "  Ad  Symphor."  Ep.  3). 
He  was  condemned  in  councils  at  Rome 
and  Carthage,  and  by  Dionysius  orf 
Alexandria.  His  sect,  however,  continued, 
and  won  adherents  in  CcMistantinople, 
Asia  Minor,  and  especially  Phrvgia.  Like 
the  Montanists,  they  condemned  second 
marriage,  and  they  rebaptised  Catholics 
who  joined  them.  They  called  themselves 
"the'pui-e"  (KaOapovs,  Euseb.  "H.  E."  vi. 
43).  Even  at  the  Nicene  Council,  Ascesius, 
a  Novatian  bishop,  defended  these  severer 
principles  on  penance  (Socrates,  "  H.  E.'' 
i.  10). 

A  modem  historian  (Baur,  "  Kirchen- 
^eschichte/'  i.  p.  367)  has  said  with 
justice  that  the  Cathari,  or  Ncvatians, 
sacrificed  the  catholicity  to  the  sanctity  of 
the  Church.  Undoubtedly,  the  fullprivi« 
leges  of  the  Church  are  for  the  pure,  and 
the  pure  alone.  But  the  Church  is  the 
steward  of  the  Divine  mysteries,  and  it  is 
her  office,  through  the  means  of  grace  en- 
trusted to  her,  to  eflfect  and  to  renew  that 
purity  of  heart  which  she  requires  from 
her  children.  The  Church  has  neither 
the  power  nor  the  will  to  exclude  those 
who  truly  repent.  Hatred  of  sin  and 
mercy  to  sinners  is  the  double  lesson 
taught  by  her  Divine  Founder.  If  she 
refused  to  receive  sinners,  she  would 
cease  to  be  catholic  ;  if  she  received  them 

*    It  must  be  remembered   how  strict  the 
discipline   of  the   Church  was  in  tliose  day 
Thus  Cr prian  ( Ep.  Iv.)  tells  us  that  some  of  ti 
Catholic  bishops  absolutely  refused   to   accef 
the  repentance  of  any  one  who  had  committed 
adultery:    " totum    pcenitentiae   locum  contm 
adulteria  cluserunt." 


NOVICE,  NOVITIATE 

without  true  repentance,  she  would  cease 
to  he  holy.  (The  principal  authorities  on 
the  Novatian  schism  are  Euseh.  "  H.  E." 
n.  43  seq. ;  Cyprian's  numerous  Epistles 
to  Cornelius.  Pacian,  Ep.  3,  "  Ad 
Symphorian."  thus  sums  up  the  doctrine 
of  Novatian :  "  Quod  mortale  peccatum 
ecclesia  donare  non  possit,  imo  quod  ipsa 

{>eccat  recipiendo  peccantes."  For  the 
ate.r  history  of  the  Novatians,  see  Socrat. 
«H.  E."  V.  21,  22.) 

SrOVZCE,  TflTOVITZATE  (Lat.  novi- 
tius).  The  name  of  "  novice  "  is  given  to 
those  persous,  whether  men  or  women, 
and  whatever  their  age  may  be,  who  have 
entered  some  religious  house  and  desire  to 
embrace  its  rule.  Upon  entering,  they 
assume  the  habit  of  the  order  or  congre- 
gation, and  follow  the  community  life  and 
customs.  The  term  of  probation,  or 
^'  novitiate,"  is  at  least  for  one  year ;  ^ 
sometimes  it  extends  to  two  or  three  years. 
During  that  period  neither  is  the  order 
bound  to  the  novice  nor  the  novice  to  the 
order.  At  the  end  of  the  term  the  order 
is  in  no  way  bound  to  allow  the  novice  to 
make  his  profession,  if  he  does  not  seem 
to  those  in  authority  likely  to  adorn  the 
religious  life ;  and  the  novice,  on  the  other 
hand,  may  quit  the  order  without  censure, 
and  retains,  should  he  do  so,  the  property 
wliich  he  possessed  at  the  time  of  his  ad- 
mission, or  which  he  may  have  subse- 
quently become  possessed  of.  Nor  can 
he,  while  a  novice,  legally  renounce  such 
property  in  favour  of  the  order,  unless 
with  the  licence  of  the  bishop  and  within 
the  two  months  next  preceding  his  pro- 
fession.*^  But  he  may  make  a  will  in  favour 
of  the  order  which  ho  has  joined,  and  for 
this  reason — because  it  is  in  his  power  at 
any  time,  if  he  decides  not  to  go  on  to 
profession,  to  cancel  his  will.  The  fact  of 
his  having  made  it  is  therefore  no  restraint 
upon  his  leaving  the  order  if  he  thinks 
himself  unfit  for  it ;  whereas,  if  he  had 
renounced  his  property  altogether  in 
favour  of  the  order,  or  his  parents  had  re- 
nounced it  for  him,  this  fact  would  tend 
to  restrain  his  freedom  in  the  event  of  a 
sudden  reaction  of  feeling  coming  upon  him 
soon  after  his  becoming  a  novice. 

The  earliest  age  at  which  profession  is 
allowable  was  fixed  by  the  Council  of 
Trent  at  sixteen  years. 

The  name  "  novitiate  "  is  also  some- 

'  Cone.  Trid.  sess.  xxv.  c.  15,  de  Reg.  et 
Mon. 

2  Cone.  Trid.  sess.  xxv.  cap.  16,  De  Reg.  et 
Mon.  But  this  veto  upon  renunciation  does 
not  apply  to  novices  in  the  Society  of  Jesus. 


NUN 


611 


times  given  to  the  house,  or  separate 
building,  in  which  novices  pass  their  time 
of  probation.     (Ferraris,  Novitius.) 

xrvsr  (Lat.  nonna.  From  the  fifth 
century  nonnus  and  nonna  occur  pretty  fre- 
quently in  relation  to  monks  and  nuns,  a 
sense  of  quasi-filial  respect  being  attached 
to  the  words.  Comp.  the  Gr.  vdwa,  aunt, 
and  the  It.  nonno  and  nonna,  grandfather 
and  grandmother).  A  nun  is  a  maid  or 
widow  who  has  consecrated  herself  to 
God  by  the  three  vows  of  poverty,  chas- 
tity, and  obedience,  and  bound  herself  to 
live  in  a  convent  under  a  certain  rule. 

1.  Historical.  —  H^lyot  and  other 
French  ecclesiastical  writers  of  the  last 
century  were  of  opinion  that  the  founder 
of  the  first  nunnery  was  St.  Syncletica  of 
Egypt,  of  whom  an  ancient  life  is  extant, 
written  not  later  than  the  end  of  tlie 
fourth  century.^  This  opinion  was  chiefly 
grounded  on  the  belief  that  the  author  of 
that  life  was  St.  Athanasius,  who  thus 
would  have  been  the  biographer  both  of 
the  first  monk  (St.  Antony)  and  of  the 
first  nun.  But  the  difference  of  style  is 
too  great  to  allow  us  to  ascribe  the  latter 
work  to  St.  Athanasius.  No  earlier 
notice  of  a  nunnery  occurs  than  that 
found  in  the  saint's  life  of  St.  Antony, 
who,  when  he  was  renouncing  the  world 
(about  270),  placed  his  sister  in  a  house 
of  virgins  (jrapdevcov),  and  many  years 
afterwards  rejoiced  to  find  her  persevering 
in  a  chaste  and  holy  life,  and  ruling  other 
virgins  similarly  minded.  But  long  before 
the  institution  of  nunneries,  and  even 
side  by  side  with  them  long  after  their 
first  establishment,  the  Church  recog- 
nised and  encouraged  several  classes  of 
pious  women,  such  as  widows,  deacon- 
esses, hospitallers,  canonesses  (canonicce ; 
their  principal  duty  was  the  care  of 
funerals),  ascetrice,  and  consecrated 
virgins  living  with  their  parents.^  The 
letters  of  St.  Jerome  ^  give  us  a  clear 
view  of  the  austere  and  exalted  life  led 
by  these  last.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century  nunneries  began  to  be 
multiplied  at  Rome.  St.  Augustine 
founded  one  at  Hippo  under  his  own 
sister  as  superior,  and  gave  to  it  a  rule 
which  is  extant  in  his  109th  Epistle. 
St.  Scholastica,  the  sister  of  St.  Benedict, 
founded  and  governed  a  nunnery  under 
her    brother's    direction.     The    rule    of 

1  Alban   Butler,  Jan.  5  ;    Helyot,  Dissert, 
Prelim.  §  8. 

2  On  all  these,  see  Thomassin,  Vetus  et  Nova 
Discipl.  I.  iii.  51-2. 

3  "  Ad  Eustochium,"  «  Ad  Marcellam,"  &c 
.2 


612 


NUN 


enclosure  [Enclosure]  was  gradually 
enforced  on  nunneries  with  more  and 
more  of  strictness.  A  French  council 
(755)  says :  ^ — "  Nuns  must  not  go  forth 
out  of  their  monastery ;  bat  if  any  among 
them  have  fallen  into  a  fault,  let  her  do 
penance  within  the  monastery  under  the 
direction  of  the  bishop."  The  chapter 
*'  Periculoso  "  of  Boniface  VIII.  settled 
the  question  irrevocably ;  enclosure  has 
been  since  imposed  on  all  nuns  taking 
solemn  vows.  Nevertheless  some  convents 
have  evaded  the  rigour  of  the  rule,  and 
the  Holy  See  has  tolerated  their  conduct. 

The  "primitive  practice  in  the  Church 
was,  that  virgins  becoming  nuns  should 
be  veiled  and  consecrated  by  the  bishop. 
In  process  of  time,  *Uhrough  oversight 
occasionally,  but  more  frequently  owing 
to  absence  or  pressure  of  occupation  on 
the  part  of  the  bishops ''  (Thomassin),  the 
ancient  practice  ceased  to  be  strictly  ob- 
served, and  great  numbers  were  veiled  by 
the  abbesses,  or  by  simple  priests.  This 
was  strongly  condemned  as  an  abuse  by 
several  French  councils,  and  the  right  of 
veiling  virgins  was  reserved  to  the 
bishops  ;  presbyters,  however,  might  give 
the  veil  to  widows.  Thomassin  infers, 
from  a  canon  of  the  Council  of  Tribur 
(895),  that  the  Fathers  of  that  council 
recognised  two  veils — one,  that  of  pro- 
bation, with  which  a  young  girl  might 
clothe  herself  as  early  as  twelve  years ; 
the  other  the  veil  of  consecration,  to  be 
given  by  the  bishop,  and  not  to  be  as- 
sumed till  she  was  twenty-five  years  old. 

The  capitularies  of  Charlemagne  and 
bis  son  order  the  suppression  or  consoli- 
dation of  small  nunneries,  in  which  it 
was  thought  the  rule  could  not  be  per- 
fectly observed. 

It  may  be  stated  as  a  general  fact, 
applicable  to  nearly  all  the  great  orders 
of  men,  that,  soon  after  the  foundation  of 
each,  an  order  or  orders  of  women, 
subject  to  or  in  connection  with  it,  was 
established,  in  which  the  rule  and  statutes 
of  the  founder  were,  so  far  as  the  diffe- 
rence of  sex  permitted,  punctually  ob- 
served. Even  the  Society  of  Jesus  is  not 
an  exception,  for  although  the  founder 
obtained  a  prohibition  from  the  Pope 
against  the  Company's  undertaking  the 
direction  of  nuns,  the  "  Dames  Anglaises," 
and  several  more  recent  institutes,  though 
not  otherwise  connected  with  the  Society, 
follow  the  rule  of  St.  Ignatius. 

If  we  consider  the  four  principal 
monastic  rules  separately,  we  find  that — 
1  Thomassin,  I.  iii.  47. 


NUN 

a.  The  rule  of  St.  Basil  [Basujaitb] 

was  the  basis  of  that  framed  by  Albert, 
patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  for  the  order  of 
Mount  Carmel  [Carmiilites],  and  adopted 
in  its  original  rigour  by  St.  Teresa,  for 
the  order  of  Discalced  Carmelites,  which 
she  founded  in  16G'2. 

b.  The  rule  of  St.  Austin  is  followed 
by  communities  of  nuns  annexed  to  every 
congregation  of  Austin  canons  and 
hermits ;  also  by  Dominican  nuns  and 
the  Ursulines.  All,  or  nearly  all,  the 
communities  of  women  founded  since  the 
Council  of  Trent  ft)llow  the  rule  of  St. 
Augustine,  but  have  in  addition  a  body 
of  constitutions  or  customs  suited  to  their 
special  end  and  spirit. 

c.  The  rule  of  St.  Benedict  is  followed 
by  the  nuns  of  Camaldoli,  Vallombrosa, 
and  Fontevrault.     (See  Helyot.) 

d.  The  rule  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  is 
embraced  by  the  order  of  nuns  called 
Poor  Clares,  founded  by  St.  Clare ;  this 
is  the  second  order  of  St.  Francis. 

The  nuns  of  St.  Jerome  follow  a  rule 
found  in  the  works  of  that  doctor;  the 
nuns  of  the  Visitation  (1610),  one  given 
them  by  St.  Francis  de  Sales ;  it  is  the 
rule  of  St.  Austin  with  a  number  of 
slight  modifications. 

2.  Riyhts  and  Obligations. — Of  the 
numerous  and  miimte  regulations  con- 
tained in  the  canon  law  touching  the 
rights,  obligations,  and  privileges  of 
religious  women,  a  few  of  the  more  im- 
portant are  here  subjoined.  The  general 
direction  of  all  their  houses  is  vested  in 
the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Bishops  and 
liegulars  [Congregations,  Roman].  The 
oi-ders  and  congregations  of  recent  origin 
are  usually  under  the  ordinary  juris- 
diction of  the  bishops  ;  of  the  older  orders, 
some  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  regulars. 
It  is  an  exceptional  case  when,  as  with 
the  Brigittines,  and  the  order  of  Fontev- 
rault, tiie  homes  of  the  connected  congre- 
gation of  men  are  (or  were)  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  superior  general  of  the 
nuns.  Nearly  all  nuns  who  are  bound 
by  solemn  vows  are  under  the  obligation 
of  perloi-ming  the  divine  ofiice  in  choir, 
and  this  they  nmst  do  for  themselves ; 
their  chaplains  may  not  undertake  it  for 
them.  The  bishop  may  control  theb 
music.  They  use  either  the  Roman 
Breviary  or  that  approved  for  some  order 
of  men.  They  may  solemnise,  so  it  be 
done  moderately  and  discreetly,  their 
titular  feast.  The  number  of  religious 
who  can  be  received  in  any  convent  is 
determined  according  to  the  amount  of 


NUN 


NUNCIO 


613 


revenues,  or  of  customary  alms,  available 
for  their  support.  Nuns  are  allowed  to 
receive  young  girls  as  boarders  for  edu- 
cation, but  upon  many  conditions — e.g. 
the  consent  of  the  Sacred  Congregation 
must  be  obtained ;  the  boarders  must 
sleep  in  a  separate  building  or  wing; 
they  must  not  be  under  seven  or  above 
twenty-five  years,  and  if  any  one  of  them 
desires  to  become  a  nun,  she  cannot  do 
so  without  being  first  interrogated  by  the 
bishop  or  his  deputy,  so  that  the  sincere 
and  voluntary  character  of  her  wish  may 
be  tested.  The  novitiate,  which  postulants 
in  early  times  often  passed  b^ore  they 
took  the  habit,  cannot  now  be  passed  in 
a  secular  dress.  Nuns  cannot  stand  in 
the  relation  of  sponsors.  While  on  the 
one  hand  those  are  excommunicated  who 
attempt  to  force  any  virgin  or  widow  to 
become  a  nun  against  her  will,  those  on 
the  other  are  visited  with  the  same  penalty 
who  without  just  cause  hinder  any  woman 
from  assuming  the  religious  habit  and 
taking  vows. 

The  confessors  of  nuns  must  be  selected 
and  approved  by  the  bishop  for  convents 
subject  to  him.  For  convents  subject  to 
regulars  the  regular  prelate  appoints  con- 
fessors, subject  to  the  approbation  of  the 
bishop.  In  either  case  a  confessor  cannot 
hear  confessions  in  the  same  monastery 
for  a  period  exceeding  three  years^ 

3.  Government,  mode  of  life,  the  veil, 
8fc. — The  superiors  of  nuns  are  elected  in 
chapter  by  secret  voting^  (see  Abbess), 
in  some  cases  for  life,  but  generally  for  a 
term  of  years.  In  every  convent  there  is 
a  superior  and  a  mistress  of  novices  ;  the 
other  offices  vary.  The  bishop  often  ap- 
points a  canon,  or  an  experienced  priest, 
to  exercise  his  authority  in  regard  to 
the  external  government  of  the  convent. 
Nuns  take  their  meals  in  common,  but 
each  must  have  her  separate  cell.  With 
regard  to  diet,  fasting,  clothing,  taking 
the  discipline,  mode  of  saying  office,  &c., 
there  is  an  infinite  diversity  of  practice  in 
the  different  orders  and  congregations. 
In  primitive  times,  when  a  virgin  con- 
secrated herself  to  God,  her  hair  was  cut 
off;  this  is  expressly  mentioned  in  the 
lives  of  St.  Syncletica  (fourth  century) 
and  St.  Gertrude  of  Nivelle  (seventh  cen- 
tury).'^ The  white  veil  of  reception  is 
given  to  the  postulant  either  by  the  bishop 
or  the  superior  at  the  commencement  of 
her  novitiate ;  the  veil  of  profession  (which 

1  Cone.  Trid.  sess.  xxv.  6,  De  Reg.  et  Mon. 
3  Alban  Butler,  Jan.  5,  Mar.  17,  Wetzer  and 
Welte, « Gertrude.' 


is  black  in  some  orders,  white  in  others) 
is  given  by  the  bishop  at  the  end  of 
it.  (See  Religious  Profession.)  The 
veil  of  a  Christian  nun  symbolises  con- 
tinence in  flesh  and  spirit,  holiness  to  the 
Lord.  It  signifies  an  espousal,  not  that  har- 
monious union  of  two  unlike  bun: an  beings 
on  which  conjugal  happiness  depends,  but 
a  far  more  perfect  union  of  two  unlikes — 
viz.  of  the  human  soul  and  Christ,  effected 
by  means  of  prayer,  obedience,  and  the 
sacraments.  (Ferraris,  Moniales;  Thomas- 
sin,  "  Vetus  et  Nova  Eccl.  Disc."  Part  I.) 

xruirczo  {nuntius,  messenger). 
A  Legate  a  latere  of  the  Roman  see 
[Legaie]  discharges  a  commission  directed 
to  special  ends,  and  in  its  nature  tempor- 
ary; a  Nuncio  of  the  same  see  is  its 
permanent  official  representative  at  some 
foreign  court.  The  diplomatic  ajrents  of 
the  Pope  are  of  three  classes :  nuncios, 
internuncios,  and  apostolic  delegates.  In 
1882  there  were  nuncios  at  the  courts  of 
Vienna,  Madrid,  Lisbon,  and  Rio  de 
.laneiro,  and  to  the  republican  government 
in  Paris ;  internuncios  at  Munich  and 
the  Hague;  and  apostolic  delegates  at 
Costa  Rica,  Buenos  Ayres,  and  Quito. 
In  1865,  besides  the  capitals  named,  there 
were  nuncios  at  Brussels,  Mexico,  and 
Naples,  and  an  internuncio  at  Florence. 
Before  the  French  Revolution  nuncios 
resided  at  Warsaw,  Venice,  Lucerne, 
Naples,  Florence,  Cologne,  and  Brussels. 
To  the  last  named  Clement  VIII,  com- 
mitted the  oversight  of  the  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish missions.  A  constitution  of  Benedict 
XIV.  enjoins  all  nuncios  to  watch  over  the 
residence  of  bishops  within  their  dioceses. 

Papal  nuncios  were  formerly  invested 
with  an  extensive  jurisdiction;  their 
tribunals  were  courts  of  appeal  from  the 
ordinary  ecclesiastical  courts  of  the 
countries  in  which  they  resided.  From 
the  language  of  one  of  the  Tridentine 
decrees,'  it  would  appear  that  they  some- 
times encroached  on  the  rights  of  the 
bishops,  and  tried  causes  in  the  first 
instance.  In  Germany,  the  Archbishops 
of  Mentz,  Cologne,  and  Treves,  who  were 
Electors  of  the  empire  and  legati  nati, 
resented,  and  often  thwarted,  the  exercise 
of  jurisdiction  by  the  nuncios  ;  and  the 
establishment  of  a  nunciature  at  Munich 
in  1785  by  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  was 
the  signal  for  an  acrimonious  controversy. 
The  troubles  arising  out  of  the  French 
Revolution  soon  absorbed  the  attention  of 
the  disputants;  and  the  Munich  nunciature 
was  abolished  in  1799.  ( Ferraris,  Nuntius.^ 
i  Sess.  xxiv.  20,  De  Ref. 


614 


OATH 


OBEDIENCE 


o 


OATH.  The  calling  on  God  to  wit- 
ness that  the  statement  made  is  true  or  to 
make  the  fultilment  of  a  promise  hind 
under  a  more  solemn  ohligation.  Oaths 
were  required  on  certain  occasions  in  the 
Hebrew  law  (see,  e.g.,  Exod.  xxii.  10,  11 ; 
Deut.  vi.  13,  X.  20),  and  the  prophets 
{e.g.  Amos  iv.  2 ;  Is.  xiv.  24 ;  Jer.  li.  14) 
speak  of  God  Himself  a«  swearing.  Two 
places  (only  two,  so  far  as  we  remember) 
in  the  O.T.  seem  at  first  sight  to  condemn 
swearing — viz.  Zach.  v.  3;  Ecclesiast.ix.2, 
but  it  is  clear  from  the  context  that  false 
and  perhaps  rash  swearing  is  meant. 

There  is,  however,  much  more  diffi- 
culty about  our  Lord's  teaching  on  oaths, 
and  it  is  well  known  that  some  sects — e.g. 
the  Waldenses,  the  Hussites,  the  "  Society 
of  Friends,"  have  believed  that  oaths  are 
forbidden  to  Christians.  In  Matt.  v. 
33-37,  Christ  certainly  seems  to  forbid 
all  oaths,  whether  direct — i.e.  by  the  name 
of  God  Himself — or  indirect — i.e.  by 
objects  related  to  God,  such  as  the  temple, 
heaven,  &c.  "  Let  your  word  be  yea,  yea, 
nay,  nay,  but  what  is  beyond  this,  is  from 
the  evil  one."  St.  James's  words  (v.  12) 
are  to  the  same  effect.  On  the  other  hand, 
St.  Paul,  far  from  contenting  himself 
always  with  a  simple  "  yea,"  or  "  nay, ' 
most  distinctly  calls  God  to  witness  the 
truth  of  his  assertions  (Rom.  i.  9 ;  2  Cor. 
xi.  31  ;  Gal.  i.  20 ;  Philip,  i.  8 ;  and 
especially  2  Cor.  i.  23),  and  the  fact 
seems  to  be  that  our  Lord  desired  a  state 
of  perfection  in  his  followers  which  would 
make  oaths  unnecessary,  and  therefore 
wrong,  so  long,  at  least,  as  they  were  a 
"  little  flock  "  known  to  one  another.  A 
Christian's  character  was  to  make  his 
word  as  good  as  his  oath.  In  dealing, 
however,  with  the  heathen  world.  Chris- 
tians could  not  expect  their  word  to  be 
taken  in  this  way,  and  the  presence  of 
bad  Christians  in  the  Church  made  its 
actual  state  very  different  from  that  ideal 
which  Christ  set  before  his  disciples. 
Many  who  could  not  be  trusted  to  avoid 
the  shameful  sin  of  lying,  might  still 
shrink  from  the  greater  sin  and  shame  of 
perjury ;  and  hence  the  Church  not  only 
maintained  the  obligation  of  taking  an 
oath  when  it  was  required  in  civil  courts, 
but  also  herFclf  exacted  oaths  on  cer- 
tain solemn  occasions  from  her  chUdreu 


She  has  ever  taught  the  lawfulness  of 
oaths,  provided  always  that  they  are 
taken  with  judgment — i.e.  for  a  grave 
cause  ;  injustice — i.e.  provided  the  thing 
sworn  be  lawful ;  and  in  truth — i.e.  pro- 
vided the  thing  sworn  be  true  (Jer.  iv.  2). 
(See  the  profession  of  faith  imposed  by 
Innocent  JII.  on  converted  Waldenses; 
the  Constitution  of  John  XXII.  against 
the  Fraticelli,  anno  1318 ;  Prop.  43, 
among  the  propositions  of  Wickliff  con- 
demned by  Martin  V.  and  the  Coimcil  of 
Constance,  anno  1418.) 

Although  it  is  always  wicked  to  swear 
without  a  conviction  that  the  thing  sworn 
is  true,  it  is  not  always  wrong  to  break  a 
promise  made  on  oath.  A  promissory 
oath  to  commit  a  crime  is  sinful,  and  to 
keep  the  promise  is  an  additional  sin. 
Again,  notable  change  of  circumstances 
may  excuse  from  the  keeping  of  an  oath. 
Further,  though,  generally  speaking,  no 
earthly  power  can  dispense  from  keeping 
an  oath  made  in  favour  of  another,  still, 
in  other  cases  a  dispensation  may  be  valid. 
Thus,  a  superior  may  dispense  in  an  oath 
concerning  things  subject  to  his  authority, 
because  such  an  oath  is  unlawful,  except 
with  an  implied  condition — viz.  if  the 
person  who  has  authority  in  the  matter 
consents.  A  parent,  e.g.,  may  annul  the 
promissory  oaths  of  his  children  below 
the  age  of  pub^ty.  So,  again,  an  oath 
against  the  common  good,  or  an  oath  ex- 
torted by  fear  or  fraud,  may  be  dispensed 
by  the  bishop  or  by  those  who  have 
quasi-episcopal  jurisdiction — e.g.  by  a 
chapter  in  the  vacancy  of  a  see,  or  a^rain 
by  confessors  with  power  to  dispense  from 
vows.  (St.  Liguori,  "Theol.  Moral."  lib. 
iv.  tract.  2.)         • 

Many  solemn  oaths  ordered  by  the 
Church  are  made  more  solemn  by  touching 
the  Gospels;  and  in  the  middle  ages 
persons  swearing  often  touched  the 
Blessed  Sacrament,  relics,  the  sacred  ves- 
sels, &c.  Such  an  oath  was  called 
"corporal,"  a  term  which  has  nothing  to 
do  with  the  "corpor.il,"  or  linen  cloth  on 
which  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  laid,  but 
simply  refers  to  corporal  or  bodily  con- 
tact with  the  sacred  object.  (See  Maskell, 
"  Monument.  Rit."  vol.  ii.  p.  li.  seq.). 

OBEBZSIO-CS.      [See    EVANGELICAI 

Counsels.] 


DELATES 

OBIiATSS.  Ohlates  of  St.  Charles. 
This  is  a  congregation  of  secular  priests, 
who  "ofler"  themselves  (whence  the 
name)  to  the  bishop,  to  be  employed  by 
him  in  any  part  of  the  diocese  he  may 
choose,  and  upon  any  work  which  he 
may  commit  to  them.  St.  Charles  Bor- 
romeo,  archbishop  of  Milan,  having  found 
in  his  large  diocese,  parts  of  which  were 
greatly  neglected  or  totally  abandoned, 
the  need  of  a  band  of  zealous  self-sacri- 
ficing labourers,  who  would  be  ready  to 
go  and  do  at  once  whatever  he  com- 
manded them  to  do,  founded  this  congre- 
gation of  "  Oblates  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
and  St.  Ambrose*'  in  1578.  He  estab- 
lished them  in  the  church  and  presbytery 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Milan.  Dividing 
the  congregation  into  six  "  assemblies," 
he  directed  that  two  of  these  should 
always  remain  in  the  community  house 
in  the  city,  while  the  four  others  were  at 
work  in  other  parts  of  the  diocese.  There 
is  a  house  of  this  congregation  at  Bays- 
water,  having  several  affiliations  in  other 
parts  of  London. 

Oblates  of  St.  Frances  of  Roine.  A 
community  of  religious  women,  bound 
only  by  simple  vows,  established  at  Rome 
in  1433. 

Oblates  of  Italy.  An  association  of 
secular  priests  founded  by  some  zealous 
ecclesiastics  at  Turin  in  1816.  They 
have  the  charge  of  the  mission  of  Eastern 
Burmah. 

Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate.  A 
society  of  priests  founded  at  Marseilles  in 
1815  by  Charles  de  Mazenod,  afterwards 
bishop  of  the  diocese.  The  Bishop  of 
Marseilles  for  the  time  beiDg  is  their 
superior  general.  Their  numbers  have 
increased  greatly,  and  they  have  been  of 
inestimable  service  by  placing  themselves 
at  the  disposal  of  the  bishops  to  be  em- 
ployed on  the  mission  in  Canada,  liritish 
India,  and  the  United  States.  These 
Oblates  were  introduced  into  the 
United  States  in  1848.  There  are  not 
many  in  this  country,  but  they  have 
flourishing  houses  at  Plattsburg,  N".  Y., 
and  Rio  Grande  City  and  Brownsville, 
Texas. 

OBXiATZ.  Children  dedicated  in 
their  early  years  to  the  monastic  state. 
[See  BENEDiCTDfES ;  Schools.] 

OBXiATI.  A  class  of  persons  of 
whom  ecclesiastical  annals,  especially  in 
the  middle  ages,  furnish  frequent  ex- 
amples, who  "  offered "  and  gave  them- 
selves and  their  property  to  a  monastery 
for  the  glory  of   God    and  their    own 


OFFERTORY 


615 


spiritual  improvement.  The  father  of 
St.  Hugh  of  Lincoln  was  an  "■  oblatus  " 
in  the  monastery  of  the  Great  Chartreuse, 
in  which  the  saint  himself  was  a  monk, 
and  tenderly  watched  over  his  father's 
old  age.  Benedict  XIV.  ("  De  Synodo 
Diceces."  vi.  3)  says,  that  although  oblati 
are  not  religious,  yet  if  they  have  trans- 
ferred their  entire  property  to  the  monas- 
tery, retaining  neither  capital  nor  rent, 
they  are  ecclesiastical  persons,  and  enjoy 
the  privilpgium  fori,  and  immunity  from 
secular  burdens.  (Ferraris,  Oblati  Monas- 
teriorum.) 

OCTAVARZirni.  The  purpose  of  the 
book  is  explained  by  its  title,  "Octava- 
rium  Romanum  sive  octavse  festorum, 
lectiones  secundi  scilicet  et  tertii  nocturai 
singulis  diebus  recitandse  infra  octavas 
sanctorum  titularium,  &c."  Mr.  Maskell 
knows  of  no  edition  prior  to  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  use  of  the  book  is 
not  obligatory  on  those  who  have  to  say 
the  divine  office,  though  it  is  sometimes 
referred  to  in  the  Ordo. 

OCTAVE.  The  Christian,  following 
the  example  of  the  Jewish,  Church  cele- 
brates certain  feasts  till  the  eighth  or 
octave  day.  The  number  eight  is  sup- 
posed to  represent  perfection,  for  the 
seven  days  of  the  week  are  taken  as 
figures  of  the  ages  of  the  world  and  the 
eighth  of  the  eternal  rest  which  is  to 
follow  them. 

Octaves  are  privileged  or  non-privi- 
leged; and  the  former,  again,  are  sul> 
divided  into  classes.  In  the  octaves  of 
Easter  and  Pentecost,  no  other  feast 
may  be  kept  and  no  commemoration 
made,  except  of  a  simple,  if  it  falls 
after  the  first  three  days.  In  the  octave 
of  Epiphany  (not,  however,  on  the 
octave-day)  the  feast  of  the  patron  saint, 
title,  or  dedication  of  the  Church  may 
be  kept.  In  the  octave  of  Corpus  Christi 
doubles  may  be  kept  (only  doubles,  how- 
ever, of  the  first  and  second  class  can  be 
transferred  to  this  octave),  but  the  octave 
day  only  gives  place  to  a  double  of  the 
first  class.  During  non-privileged  octaves 
even  semi-doubles  are  celebrated.  Those 
last,  to  which  all  octaves  except  those 
already  enumerated  belong,  are  again 
arranged  in  order  of  dignity,  so  that  the 
lesser  gives  way  to  the  greater  in  case 
of  concurrence.  (Gavantus,  tom.  ii.  §  3, 
cap.  8.) 

OFFERTORT.  (1)  An  antiphon 
which  used  to  be  sung  by  the  choir 
while  the  faithful  made  their  offerings  of 
bread  and  wine  for  the  Mass,  of  gifts  for 


G16 


OILS,  HOLY 


the  support  of  the  clergy,  &c.  From 
St.  Augustine's  time  verges  of  the  Psalms 
were  sung  in  North  xlfrica  during  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  gifts,  and  the  Oiiei-tory  in 
the  Roman  Missal  has  been  in  use  from 
ancient  times,  being  found  in  the  Anti- 
phonary  of  St.  Gregory,  though  the 
precise  date  at  which  it  was  introduced 
IS  uncertain.  The  oblations  of  bread  and 
wine  by  the  faithful  began  to  fall  into 
disuse  from  about  the  year  1000,  but  the 
antiphon  and  its  name  are  still  retained. 
The  Offertory  is  said  immediately  after 
the  Creed. ^    (Le  Brun,  Benedict  XIV.). 

(2)  The  oblation  of  bread  and  wine 
by  the  priest,  made  after  the  recitation  of 
the  antiphon  just  mentioned.  "The 
Church  does  really  offer  bread  and  wine, 
but  not  absolutely  and  in  themselves ; 
for  in  the  new  covenant  no  oblation  is 
made  of  lifeless  things:  indeed,  no  obla- 
tion is  made  other  than  that  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  wherefore  the  bread  and  wine  are 
ofiered  that  He  may  make  tljem  his  body 
and  blood."  (Bossuet,  "Explic.  des  Prieres- 
de  la  Messe.")  In  the  oblation  the  priest 
speaks  of  the  bread  as  "  the  spotless 
victim,''  and  of  the  chalice  as  the  "  chalice 
of  salvation  "  by  anticipation — i.e.  he  looks 
forward  to  the  moment  when  they  will 
be  changed  into  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ.  All  the  ancient  liturgies  contain 
an  oblation  of  the  gifts  before  consecra- 
tion (see  the  comparative  table  in  Ham- 
mond's "Ancient  Liturgies,"p.  xxvi.  seq.); 
but  the  five  prayers  with  which  the 
oblation  is  made — "  Suscipe,  Sancte  Pater," 
"Ofl'erimus  tibi,""In  spiritu  humilitatis," 
"Veni,  Sanctificator,"  "Suscipe,  Sancta 
Trinitas,''  are  of  recent  date,  as  ap- 
pears "  from  the  silence  of  Walafrid, 
Amalarius,  Rupert,  and  Innocent  III." 
concerning  them  (Benedict  XIV.  "  De 
Miss."  II.  X.)  The  incensation  of  the 
oblafa  or  gifts  in  solemn  Masses  seems  io 
have  been  little  known  in  the  West  till 
the  ninth  century,  when  it  was  intro- 
duced in  France.  The  ceremony  occurs 
in  the  Greek  liturgies  (Le  Brun,  torn.  ii. 
2  P.  a.  7).  The  great  oblation  of  Christ's 
body  and  blood  must  be  carefully  distin- 
guished from  the  Offertory  or  anticipatory 
oblation  of  bread  and  wine. 

OZX.S,  BOZtT.  There  are  three  holy- 
oils,  consecrated  by  the  bishop  on  Holy 

1  Why  does  the  priest  say  "  Orenius  "  before 
the  offertory  ?  Probably  because  some  praver 
like  that  "  Super  Sindoncm  "  in  the  Ambrosian 
Mass  has  fallen  out.  This  is  Mr.  Hammond's 
solution.  See  also  "Oremus"  in  Smith  and 
Cheetham. 


OLD  CATHOLICS 

Thursday,  and  received  from  him  by  the 
priests  who  have  charge  of  parishes  and 
districts. 

(1)  The  oil  of  catechumens,  used  in 
blessing  fonts,  in  baptism,  consecration  of 
churches,  of  altars  whether  fixed  or 
portable,  ordination  of  priests,  blessing 
and  coronation  of  kings  and  queens. 

(2)  Chrism  (see  Confirmation),  used 
in  blessing  the  font,  in  baptism  and  con- 
firmation, consecration  of  a  bishop,  of 
paten  and  chalice,  and  in  the  blessing  of 
bells. 

(3).  Oil  of  the  sick,  used  in  extreme 
unction  and  the  blessing  of  bells. 

The  Rituale  Romanum  requires  these 
oils  to  be  kept  in  vessels  of  silver  or 
alloyed  metal  (stannum — properly  a  mix- 
ture of  silver  and  lead),  in  a  decent  place, 
and  under  lock  and  key.  The  S.  Cong. 
±tit.  strictly  forbids  the  pastor  to  keep 
them  in  his  house,  except  in  cases  of 
necessity.  (See  "  Manuale  Decret.''  2,  670- 
2).  The  oils  of  the  past  year  must  not 
be  used,  but  common  oil,  in  lesser  quan- 
tity, may  be  added  to  the  blessed  oils  if 
necessary.  For  the  history  of  the  use  of 
these  oils,  see  Bapiism,  Confirmation, 
&c.  &c. 

OI.D  CATHOIiZCS  (Alt-Katholiken). 
A  name  assumed  by  various  priests  and 
lay-people  in  Germany  who  protested 
against  the  Vatican  definition  of  Papal 
infallibility,  and  formed  themselves  into 
a  separate  body. 

Scarcely  was  the  Vatican  definition 
issued,  when  Dr.  Dollinger  solemnly  pro- 
tested against  it,  as  an  innovation  on 
Catholic  doctrine.  He  found  large  sup- 
port in  the  universities.  Nearly  all 
Catholics  in  the  teaching  body  of  Munich 
(44  Docenten),  professors  from  Freiburg, 
Breslau,  Prasrue,  Miinster,  four  professors 
from  Bonn,  joined  the  opposition.  Some 
of  them,  such  as  Reusch,  Langen,  Fried- 
rich,  were  men  of  considerable  reputation 
for  ability,  learning,  and  character. 
Nothing  of  course  need  be  said  of  Dol- 
linger. The  party  looked  for  encourage- 
ment to  those  German  bishops  who  had 
been  opposed  to  the  definition,  but  in 
this  they  were  disappointed.  The  leaders 
of  the  protesting  movement  were  excom- 
municated. 

In  1871,  at  an  Old  Catholic  Congress 
in  Munich,  but  against  the  declared  wish 
of  Dollinger,  the  resolution  of  forming 
Old  Catholic  congregations  was  formed, 
and  on  June  4,  1873,  Dr.  Reinkens  was 
consecrated  bishop  by  Heydekamp, 
Jansenist     bishop    of   Deventer.      The 


OLD  CATHOLICS 

bishop  had  a  salary  allotted  him  by  the 
Government  (10,000  thalers  from  Prussia, 
2,000  from  Baden);  but  his  jurisdiction 
over  his  adherents  is  very  limited;  the 
real  power  is  vested  in  a  Synod  of 
Deputies  from  the  congregations,  of 
■whom  the  majority  are  laymen.  In 
many  cases  the  Catholic  churches  were 
made  over  to  the  Old  Catholics  by  the 
Government,  a  result  which  was  accele- 
rated by  a  decree  of  Pius  IX.  forbidding- 
Catholic  rites  in  all  churches  where 
partial  possession  had  been  granted  to  the 
new  body.  The  cause  of  ^*  Old  Catholic- 
ism" enjoyed  the  special  favour  of  the 
Governnjent  then  engaged  in  a  contest 
with  the  Church. 

Facts,  however,  have  proved  that  so 
inconsistent  a  position  could  not  be  main- 
tained. The  first  synod,  in  1874,  changed 
the  Tridentine  doctrine  on  auricular 
confession  and  made  fasting  and  ab- 
stinence voluntary ;  the  second,  in  1875, 
reduced  the  number  of  feasts  and  set 
aside  nearly  all  the  canonical  impediments 
of  marriage,  except  those  recognised  by 
the  State ;  the  third,  in  187^,  permitted 
priests  to  marry  and  receive  the  nuptial 
blessing,  but  forbade  them  to  officifite 
after  marriage  ;  the  fifth,  in  1878,  allowed 
persons  in  holy  orders  to  marry,  and  to 
perform  all  the  functions  of  the  ministry. 
This  resolution  was  passed  in  spite  of  a  pro- 
test from  the  Jansenist  Bishops  of  Holland. 
Friedrichand  the  Bonn  professors,  Langen, 
Menzel,  and  Keusch  (previously  vicar- 
general  to  the  Old  Catholic  bishop), 
withdrew  from  their  former  associates. 
Keusch  continued  to  officiate  at  Bonn, 
and  thus  formed  a  schism  within  a  schism. 
There  is  no  official  census  of  the  German 
Old  Catholics,  for  in  1880  Dr.  Reinkens 
told  his  adherents  to  return  themselves 
simply  as  Catholics  ;  but  it  may  be  safely 
said  that  their  number  in  tlie  whole  empire, 
to  judge  even  by  their  own  statements, 
does  not  reach  50,000. 

In  Austria  they  are  a  very  insignificant 
body,  though  they  have  two  men  of 
learning  among  them — viz.  the  Canonists 
Von  Schulte  and  Maassen.  In  Switzer- 
land only  three  priests  refused  submission 
to  the  Vatican  Council ;  but  a  "  Christian- 
Catholic  "  Church  w^as  formed  in  great 
part  from  the  most  disreputable  elements 
under  the  auspices  of  the  cantonal 
governments.  Edward  Herzog  was 
consecrated  bishop  by  Dr.  Keinkens  in 
September  1876.  The  "Christian-Catho- 
lic "'  Church  has  a  married  priesthood,  a 
vernacular  liturgy,  and  has  made  con- 


ONTOLOQISM 


C17 


fession  voluntary.  This  body  is  visibly 
dwindling  away.  Attempts  have  been 
made  to  erect  schismatical  churches  by 
the  ex-Dominican  Prota-Giurleo  at 
Naples,  in  Spain  b}"-  the  priest  Aguazo,  in 
Mexico  by  eighteen  priests,  in  France  by 
the  eloquent  ex-Carmelite  Loyson  ("  Rec- 
teur  de  TEglise  Catholique  Gallicane)  ; " 
but  they  do  not  deserve  serious  notice. 
(From  the  art.  "  Alt-Katholiken  "  in  the 
new  edition  of  the  "  Kirchen-Lexikon.'^ 
See  also  Armenians,  in  the  Appendix  to 
this  Dictionary.) 

OMOPHORzozr.  [See  Pallium.] 
Oxa-TOZiOGZSlVX.  This  is  the  name, 
first  given  by  Gioberti,  which  designates 
a  form  of  Platonic  Mysticism  whose  prin- 
ciples were  inculcated  by  Marsilius 
Ficinus,  systematically  constructed  by 
Malebranche,  and  again  recast  by  the 
above-mentioned  Gioberti.  The  name 
denotes  that  it  is  a  first  principle  of  the 
theory  of  cognition  which  lies  at  the  basis 
of  the  system ;  that  the  order  of  intel- 
lectual apprehension  follows  the  order  of 
real  being.  The  necessary,  self-existing 
being  is  first  in  the  real  order  ;  therefore 
it  is  the  first  object  of  intellectual  vi.-ion, 
and  is  that  in  and  by  which  every  con- 
tingent and  created  existence  becomes 
visible.  Gioberti's  theory  was,  for  a 
time,  very  attractive  to  many  Catholics, 
and  seemed  likely  to  gain  an  extensive 
sway.  It  was  very  vigorously  contro- 
verted by  Liberators  and  others  as  con- 
trary to  the  doctrine  of  St.  Thomas,  as 
rationally  groundless,  and  as  leading  logi- 
cally to  consequences  which  are  theo- 
logically unsound  and  incompatible  with 
dogmas  of  faith.  On  account  of  this 
dangerous  theological  tendency  seven 
propositions,  embracing  the  fundamental 
tenets  of  Ontologism,  were  censured  by 
the  Holy  See,  as  propositions  which  can- 
not safely  be  taught,  in  a  decree  of  the 
congregation  of  the  Inquisition  bearing 
date  September  18,  1861. 

Prop.  I.  An  immediate  cognition  of 
God,  at  least  habitual,  is  essential  to  the 
human  intellect,  so  that  without  this  it 
can  have  cognition  of  nothing,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  the  intellectual  light  itself. 

II.  The  being  which  we  perceive  by 
the  intellect  in  all  things,  and  without 
which  we  intellectually  perceive  nothing, 
is  the  divine  being. 

III.  The  universals,  considered  a 
parte  rei,  are  not  really  distinguished 
from  God. 

IV.  The  congenital  knowledge  of  God, 
as  being  in  the  simple  sense  of  the  term. 


618 


ONTOLOGISM 


OPUS  OPERATUM 


involves  in  an  eminent  mode  every  other 
cognition,  so  that  by  it  we  possess  an 
implicit  cognition  of  every  being  under 
every  respect  in  which  it  is  cognoscible. 

V.  All  other  ideas  are  nothing  but 
modifications  of  the  idea,  in  which  God 
is  intellectually  perceived  as  being,  in  the 
simple  sense  of  the  term. 

VI.  Created  things  are  in  God  as  a 
part  is  in  a  whole,  not  indeed  in  a  formal 
whole,  but  in  one  which  is  infinite  and 
most  simple,  which  places  its  quasi  parts 
outside  of  itself,  without  any  division  or 
diminution  of  itself. 

VII.  Creation  can  be  thus  explained  : 
God,  in  the  special  act  in  which  He  intel- 
lectually cognises  and  wills  Himself  as 
distinct  from  any  determinate  creature — 
e.g.  man — produces  that  creature. 

Various  attempts  were  made  by  par- 
tisans of  Ontoloirism  to  maintain  that  this 
censure  of  the  Holy  See  was  not  directed 
against  this  system,  but  against  another 
species  of  pantheistic  Ontologism  taught 
in  Germany.  But  one  of  their  number, 
M.  Brancherau,  having  a  conscientious 
doubt  on  the  subject,  drew  up  a  summary 
of  the  doctrine  contained  in  a  text-book 
which  he  had  himself  composed,  com- 
prised in  fifteen  theses,  which  he  submitted 
to  the  Roman  congregation  for  judgment. 
The  decision  was  given  in  September, 
1862,  pronouncing  the  substantial  identity 
of  these  propositions  with  the  seven 
already  disapproved,  and  declaring  that 
they  feU  under  the  same  censure,  that 
they  consequently  could  not  be  taught, 
and  that  the  text-book  itself,  which  was 
only  a  development  of  the  same  theses, 
could  not  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  pupils. 
On  Febraary  22,  1866,  a  decree  of  the 
united  Congregations  of  the  Inquisition 
and  of  the  Index,  formally  approved  by 
the  Holy  Father,  censured  the  writings 
of  Prof.  Uba^hs,  of  Louvain,  another  dis- 
tinguished Ontologist,  as  containing  the 
same  doctrine  condemned  in  the  seven 
propositions.  During  the  same  year  M. 
Hugonin,  who  had  been  nominated  to  an 
episcopal  see  in  Fi-ance,  was  required  by 
the  Papal  Nuncio  at  Paris,  as  a  condition 
of  receiving  the  confirmation  of  his  ap- 
pointment, to  publish  a  retractation  of 
the  doctrine  contained  in  his  "Etudes 
Philosophiques,  Ontologie,"  and  to  promise 
to  do  all  which  depended  on  him  in  the 
episcopal  office  to  prevent  the  teaching  of 
this  same  doctrine  in  the  schools  of 
France.  All  these  distinguished  persons 
submitted  with  docility  to  the  sentence 
of  Rome.    Since  it  has  become  manifest 


that  the  Holy  See  did  intend  to  condemn 
as  unsafe  the  fundamental  doctrine  of 
Ontohigism  proper — viz.  that  the  human 
intellect  has  an  immediate  cognition  of 
God  as  its  proper  object  and  the  prinf  iple 
of  all  its  cognitions — the  system  has 
fallen  dead,  so  far  as  Catholics  are  con- 
cerned. It  still  lingers,  under  various 
modifications,  by  which  the  genuine  idea 
which  lies  at  its  basis  is  so  far  altered  or 
obscured  as  to  be  comparatively  harmless, 
and  really  or  apparently  exempt  from 
positive  censure.  In  such  shapes,  how- 
ever, it  is  no  longer  potent  to  attract 
thoroughgoing  thinkers,  and  is  of  small 
moment. 

(Kleutgen  gives  a  brief  but  thorough 
exposition  of  the  seven  propositions,  with 
a  refutation  of  the  errors  contained  in 
them,  in  a  work  which  in  the  Frencli 
translation  is  entitled  "  Ontologisme  jug^ 
par  le  Saint-Siege."  [Paris :  Gaume 
Freres  et  J.  Duprey,  3  Rue  de  I'Abbaye, 
1867.]  The  works  of  Cardinal  Dechamps 
may  "  also  be  consulted  for  information 
concerning  the  controversy.) 

OPUS  OPERATUBK.  A  word  used 
by  mediaeval  theologians  and  adopted  by 
the  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  vii.  can.  8) 
to  express  the  nature  of  the  effects  which 
the  sacraments  produce.  Man  has  the 
power  by  the  perversity  of  his  will  to  stay 
the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments  ,•  and  certain 
dispositions — such  as  the  love  of  God  and 
man,  or  again,  truerepentance  and  sincere 
purpose  of  amendment — are  absolutely 
necessary,  in  those  who  have  the  use  of 
reason,  in  order  that  they  may  derive 
benefit  from  the  sacraments.  These 
dispositions,  however,  are  only  conditions 
without  which  the  grace  of  the  sacra- 
ments cannot  be  received.  The  grace 
itself  comes  not  from  them,  but  from  the 
institution  of  Christ. 

The  following  clear  explanation  is 
given  by  Bellarmin  ("  De  Sacramentis," 
lib.  ii.  1).  In  justification,  he  says,  as 
received  through  the  sacraments,  many 
causes  concur:  on  God's  part,  the  will  to 
employ  the  sensible  sign ;  on  Christ's  part, 
his  Passion  and  merits :  on  the  part  of 
the  minister,  power  and  intention ;  on 
the  part  of  the  recipient,  the  will  to  re- 
ceive the  sacrament,  faith,  and  re- 
pentance ;  on  the  part  of  the  sacrament, 
the  application  of  the  sensible  sign.  "  But 
of  all  these,  that  which  actively,  proxi- 
mately, and  instrumentally  effects  the 
grace  of  justification,  is  only  that  external 
act,  called  sacrament,  and  this  is  the 
sense    of   '  Opus    Opemtum,'  the    word 


ORARIQM 

(operatum)  being'  taken  passively,  so  that 
when  we  say  tlie  sacrament  confers  grace 
ex  opere  operato,  our  meaning  is  that 
grace  is  conferred  by  virtue  of  the  sacra- 
mental act  itself  instituted  by  God  for 
this  end,  not  by  the  merit  of  the  minister 
or  the  recipient." 

ORARZUiw.    [See  Stole.] 

ORi\TE,  FRATRSS,  &,c.      So  the 

address  begins  in  which,  after  the 
Offertory  and  Lavabo,  the  priest  bids  the 
people  pray  that  his  sacrifice  and  theirs 
may  be  acceptable  to  God.  Originally 
the  priest  simply  said  "  Orate,"  or  "  Orate 
pro  me,"  "  Orate  pro  me,  peccatore."  R^mi 
of  Auxerre,  in  a.d.  880,  is  the  first  to  give 
a  fuller  form,  but  he  appends  it  merely  as 
an  explanation, "  Orate,  fratres  " — i.e.  "  ut 
meum  ac  vestrum  pariter  sacrificium  ac- 
ceptum  sit  Domino."  In  the  churches  of 
Paris  and  Meaux  down  to  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  the  English  Missals  of 
Sarum,  Bangor,  and  York,  the  words  ran, 
"Orate,  fratres  et  sorores,"  &c.  The  answer 
which  the  server  makes  is  "  Suscipiat,"&c. ; 
but  the  response  is  given  in  a  vast-variety 
of  forms  by  the  mediaeval  Missals,  and  it 
still  varies  much  in  the  rites  of  different 
religious  orders.  (Le  Brun,  torn,  ii.,  iii. 
Part.  art.  x.  Maskell,  "  Ancient  Litur- 
gies.") 

ORATORY.  In  the  earliest  times 
Mass  could  only  be  said  in  private  houses, 
and  after  the  erection  of  churches  it  was 
still  often  said  in  private  dwellings.  The 
growth  of  the  parochial  system  led  to  a 
sharper  distinction  between  parochial 
churches  and  oratories  or  chapels.  Thus 
the  Council  of  Agde,  canon  24  (anno 
506),  permits  Mass  to  be  said  in  oratories, 
but  not  on  the  great  feasts  of  Easter, 
Christmas,  &c.  So  the  Council  of 
Clermont,  can.  14  (anno  635,.  In  the 
East,  the  Synod  in  TruUo,  can.  31  (anno 
692),  prohibited  service  in  oratories  with- 
out the  bishop's  leave,  and  many  Western 
councils  issued  similar  edicts. 

An  oratory  is  public  or  private,  ac- 
cording as  it  has  or  has  not  a  door  opening 
into  the  public  road.  The  older  canon- 
law  allowed  Mass  to  be  celebrated  in 
either  with  the  bishop's  leave.  But  the 
Council  of  Trent  limited  episcopal  powers 
in  the  matter,  and  the  following  is  the 
present  state  of  the  law. 

A  bishop  may  always  permit  Mass  in 
a  public  oratory,  blessed  and  set  apart  for 
divine  service. 

In  the  oratories  of  religious,  seminaries, 
hospitals,  &c. 

In  his  own  palace. 


ORATORY,  THE  FRENCH   619 

In  the  house,  wherever  it  may  be,  in 
which  he  resides  at  the  time.  (This  privi- 
lege was  taken  away  by  Clement  XI.,  but 
restored  by  Innocent  XIII.) 

In  private  oratories  for  just  cause  and 
for  a  time. 

But  a  permanent  privilege  of  celebrat- 
ing in  a  private  oratory  can  be  granted 
by  the  Pope  alone.  (Concil.  Trident. 
i.  sess.  xxii.  Liguori,  "  Theol.  Moral."  lib 
vi.  Tract  3,  cap.  3,  dub.  4). 

ORATORV,  THE  FREITCH.  A 
society  of  priests  founded  by  Cardinal  de 
B^rulle  at  Paris  in  1011,  with  the  advice 
of  C^sar  de  Bus,  the  Pere  Cotton,  and 
other  eminent  men,  in  order  to  strengthen 
ecclesiastical  discipline,  which  had  beer 
weakened  during  the  troubles  of  tht 
League.  Bossuet  says  that  Mons.  de 
B(§rulle  "  preferred  to  give  no  other  spirit 
to  his  company  but  the  spirit  of  the 
Church  itself,  no  other  rule  than  her 
canons,  no  other  superiors  than  her 
bishops,  no  other  bond  but  charity,  and 
no  vows  but  those  of  baptism  and  ordina- 
tion." To  deepen  devotion,  promote  pro- 
fessional studies,  and  spread  an  ecclesias- 
tical spirit  among  the  secular  clergy,  that 
through  them  the  whole  population  might 
be  reached  and  influenced,  were  the  prin- 
cipal objects  of  the  institute.  In  1612  it 
was  declared  a  royal  foundation.  After 
some  hesitation  Paul  V.  (1614)  approved 
tne  society,  under  the  title  of  "  Congrega- 
tion of  the  Oratory  of  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  France."  In  1616  a  residence, 
vnth  chapel  annexed,  was  occupied  in  the 
Rue  St.  Honors.  The  fathers  paid  much 
attention  to  music,  and  were  called  "  les 
p^res  du  beau  chant."  The  favourite 
work  of  the  founder  was  the  institution 
of  seminaries  for  the  training  of  priests  ; 
of  these  he  lived  to  see  six — at  Langres, 
Nevers,  »S:c. — in  working  order.  He  was 
the  friend  and  supporter  of  Descartes,  and 
the  congregation  always  had  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  rather  favourable  to  Car- 
tesianism.  The  cardinal  died  in  1629, 
leaving  fifty  seminaries,  colleges,  and 
houses  of  retreat  in  the  erection  of  which 
he  had  been  instrumental,  all  in  full 
activity.  The  saintly  Pere  de  Coudreu 
succeeded  him  in  the  government  of  the 
congregation ;  he  was  followed  by  Bour- 
going,  Senault,  Sainte  Marthe,  and  De  la 
Tour.  Jansenism  took  a  strong  hold  of 
the  congregation,  and  the  bull  "  Unigeni- 
tus"was  long  a  bone  of  contention  among 
the  members  ;  but  the  sounder  portion  at 
last  prevailed,  and  the  bull  was  accepted 
by  the  society  in  1746.    At  the  Revolu- 


620  ORATORY  OF  ST.  PHILIP  NERI      ORATORY  OF  ST.  PHILIP  NERl 


lion  the  educational  functions  discharged 
by  the  congregation  saved  it  for  a  time ; 
but  the  Fathers  firmly  resisted  the  Civil 
Constitution  of  the  Clergy,  and  when  the 
ceremony  of  consecrating  the  constitu- 
tional bishops  was  appointed  to  take 
place  in  their  church  m  the  Rue  St. 
Honors,  they  all  refused  to  be  present. 
Later,  a  few  gave  way  and  took  the  oath. 
The  "Oratory  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception," founded  at  Paris  in  1852  by  M. 
P^tetot,  cur6  of  St.  Roch,  and  the  abb^ 
Gratry,  adopted  the  rule  of  the  ancient 
society. 

Among  the  eminent  men  whom  the 
French  Oratory  produced  were  Thomassin 
(a  name  often  quoted  in  these  pages), 
Lejeune,  Richard  Simon,  Malebranche, 
Quesnel,  Pouget,  Massillon,  Renaudot, 
Jean  Morin,  commonly  called  Morinus,  Le 
Brun,  Lami,  and  Duhamel.  ("  Encycl.  du 
XIX™*  Siecle,"  1862,art.by  Jules  Sauzay.) 

ORATORir  OF  ST.  PHZX.ZP 
ITERZ.  Philip  Neri,  a  native  of 
Florence,  remarkable  from  his  childhood 
upwards  for  the  singular  beauty  and 
purity  of  his  character,  came  to  reside  at 
Rome,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  in  1533. 
For  some  years  he  was  tutor  to  the  chil- 
dren of  a  Florentine  nobleman  living  in 
Rome.  His  life  was  one  of  habitual  self- 
denial,  penance,  and  prayer.  A  thirst  for 
doing  good  consumed  him  ;  and  by  degrees 
he  gathered  round  him  a  number  of  men, 
young  and  old,  whom  he  animated  by  his 
discourses  to  a  greater  zeal  for  God  and 
hatred  of  evil,  and  to  a  more  exact  regu- 
larity of  life  than  they  had  known  before. 
This  he  did  while  still  a  Inyman ;  but  on 
the  advice  of  his  confessor  he  received 
holy  orders,  and  was  ordained  priest  in 
1561.  For  a  short  time  after  his  ordina- 
tion he  received  in  his  own  chamber  those 
whom  he  had  won  to  God,  and  instructed 
them  on  spiritual  things;  then,  during 
seven  years,  in  a  larger  room.  Out  of  these 
colloquies  was  gradually  perfected  the 
plan  of  evening  exercises,  which  is  to  this 
this  day  practised  by  the  congregation, — 
plain  sermons  being  preached,  hymns  sung, 
and  popular  devotions  used,  in  a  regular 
order,  on  every  week-day  evening  except 
Saturday.  The  number  of  persons  attend- 
ing the  exercises  still  increasing,  he  ob- 
tained (1558)  from  the  administration  of 
the  Church  of  St.  Jerome  leave  to  build 
over  one  of  the  aisles  of  that  church  a 
chapel,  to  which  he  gave  the  modest  name 
of  an  "  oratory,"  whence  arose  the  name 
of  the  congregation.  About  this  time 
many  persons  afterwards  eminent  in  the 


Church  and  the  world  joined  him,  amongst 
whom  were  Caesar  Baronius,  the  ecclesias- 
tical historian,  and  Francis  Maria  Tarugi, 
afteinvards  Cardinals,  Lucci,  Tassone,  &;c. 
Six  years  later,  the  Florentines  livirig  in 
Rome  having  requested  him  to  undertake 
the  charge  of  the  Church  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  which  they  had  just  built,  the 
saint  (1564)  caused  Baronius  and  others 
of  his  followers  to  remove  thither  and  to 
receive  ordination.  From  this  date  the 
commencement  of  the  congregation  is 
reckoned.  Their  numbers  increasing,  it 
seemed  desirable  to  the  Fathers  to  haVe  a 
house  of  their  own.  The  old  church  of 
the  Vallicella,  situated  in  the  heart  of 
Rome,  was  ceded  to  them  in  1575 ;  and 
St.  Philip  at  once  caused  the  present 
magnificent  church,  called  the  "  Chiesa 
Nuova,"  to  be  commenced  on  the  site. 
The  Fathers  removed  to  the  Vallicella  in 
1577  on  the  completion  of  the  church; 
St.  Philip  joined  them  in  1583.  Gregory 
XIII.  had  approved  and  confirmed  the 
erection  of  the  congregation  in  1575,  The 
constitutions  of  the  society — which  St. 
Philip  desired  shoidd  be  composed  of 
simple  priests,  without  vows,  but  agreeing 
to  a  rule  of  life — wiere  approved  by  Paul 
V.  in  1612.  St.  Philip  died  in  1595,  was 
beatified  in  1615,  and  canonised  in  1622. 
The  rule  of  the  congregation  from  the 
first  was  that  each  house  should  be  in- 
dependent, the  only  exception  being  made 
in  favour  of  certain  Italian  oratories 
(Naples,  San  Severino,  and  afterwards 
Lanciano),  which  were  at  first  adminis- 
tered by  the  mother  house  at  Rome. 

The  Oratory  was  introduced  into 
England  in  1847  by  Dr.  (now  Cardinal) 
Newman,  who,  during  his  long  sojourn  in 
Rome  following  upon  his  conversion,  had 
studied  closely  the  work  of  the  holy 
founder  and  become  deeply  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  his  institute.  The  first 
house  was  at  Mary  Vale,  i.e.  Old  Oscott, 
and  was  transferred,  after  a  temporary 
sojourn  at  St.  Wilfrid's,  Staflbrdshire,  to 
Alcester  Street,  Birmingham,  in  January 
1849.  A  short  time  later  a  house  was 
opened  at  King  WiUiam  Street,  Strand, 
London,  by  F.  Faber,  with  several  other 
fathers  who  belonged  to  the  Birmingham 
congregation,  and  were  still  subject  to 
Father  Newman.  In  October  1850  the 
London  house  was  released  from  obedience 
to  Biriningham,  and  erected  into  a  congre- 
gation with  a  superior  of  its  own.  It  was 
finally  transferred  to  Brompton,  where 
it  is  now  erecting  a  large  domed  church. 
The  Oratory  at  Birmingham  has  remained 


ORDER,  HOLY 

under  the  direction — even  since  his  ele- 
vation to  the  purple — of  its  illustrious 
founder,  and  has  become  a  great  centre 
for  the  midland  counties  of  Catholic 
preaching  and  education. 

The    following    passage    embodies    a 

Portion  of  the  cardinal's  conception  of  St. 
'hilip's  work.  ''He  was  raised  up," 
writes  Cardinal  Newman,  "  to  do  a  work 
almost  pecuUar  in  the  Church,"  Instead 
of  combating  like  Ignatius,  or  being  a 
hunter  of  souls  like  St.  Cajetan, "  Philip 
preferred,  as  he  expressed  it,  tranquilly  to 
cast  in  his  net  to  gain  them  ;  he  preferred 
to  yield  to  the  stream  and  direct  the 
current — which  he  could  not  stop — of 
science,  literature,  art,  and  fashion,  and  to 
sweeten  and  sanctify  what  God  had  made 
very  good  and  man  had  spoilt.  And  so 
he  contemplated  as  the  idea  of  his  mis- 
sion, not  the  propagation  of  the  faith,  nor 
the  exposition  of  doctrine,  nor  the  cate- 
chetical schools  ;  whatever  was  exact  and 
systematic  pleased  him  not ;  he  put  from 
him  monastic  rule  and  authoritative 
speech,  as  David  refused  the  armour  of 
his  king.  No ;  he  would  be  but  an  ordinary 
individual  priest  as  others ;  and  his 
weapons  should  be  but  unaffected  humility 
and  unpretending  love.  All  he  did  was 
to  be  done  by  the  light,  and  fervour,  and 
convincing  eloquence  of  his  personal 
character  and  his  easy  conversation.  He 
came  to  the  Eternal  City  and  he  sat  him- 
self down  there,  and  his  home  and  his 
family  gradually  grew  up  around  him,  by 
the  spontaneous  accession  of  materials 
from  without.  He  did  not  so  much  seek 
his  ovm  as  draw  them  to  him.  He  sat  in 
his  small  room,  and  they  in  their  gay 
worldly  dresses,  the  rich  and  the  well- 
born as  well  as  the  simple  and  the 
illiterate,  crowded  into  it.  .  .  .  And  they 
who  came  remained  gazing  and  listening 
till,  at  length,  first  one  and  then  another 
threw  ofl'  their  bravery,  and  took  his  poor 
cassock  and  girdle  instead;  or,  if  they 
kept  it,  it  was  to  put  hair-cloth  under  it, 
or  to  take  on  them  a  rule  of  life,  while 
to  the  world  they  looked  as  before."  ^ 

ORBER,  HOXiir.  Holy  Order,  ac- 
cording to  CathoUc  doctrine,  is  a  sacra- 
ment of  the  new  law,  by  which  spiritual 
power  is  given  and  grace  conferred  for  the 
performance  of  sacred  duties. 

I.  The  Meaning  of  the  Word '' Ordo" 
is  explained  by  St.  Thomas  ("  Suppl.'' 
xxxii.  2,  ad  4),  and  the  investigation  of 
modern  scholars  has  proved  his  view  to 

^  Scope  and  Nature  of  UniversUy  Education^ 
Disc.  viii. 


ORDER,  HOLY 


G21 


be  substantially  correct,  ''Ordo'*  means 
"  rank,"  whether  high  or  low,  but  the 
meaning  was  restricted,  much  as  our  own 
word  "rank"  often  is,  to  "  eminent  rank" — 
i.e.  the  clerical  position  as  distinct  from 
that  of  laymen.  Salmasius  suggested  (see 
Ritschl.  "  Entstehung  der  Altkatholischen 
Kirche,"  p.  388)  that  the  earliest  Christian 
writers  in  Latin  borrowed  the  word  from 
the  municipal  constitution  of  the  Romans, 
so  that  "■  ordo  "  would  mean  "  magistracy." 
But  it  is  much  more  likely  that  they 
adopted  it  as  a  version  of  kXtjpos',  and,  as 
the  reader  will  presently  see,  it  was  only 
by  degrees  that  it  acquired  the  exclusive 
sense  of  "eminent"  or  "  magisterial  rank." 
Thus,  though  TertuUian  implies  that  the 
"ecclesiae  ordo"  is  distinct  from  the  laity 
("De  Monog.'  7),  though  he  speaks  of  per- 
sons who  "•  are  chosen  into  the  ecclesias- 
tical order"  ("  De  Idololatr."  7),  and, 
again,  of  "the  priestly  order"  ("ordo 
sacerdotalis,"  "  De  Exhort.  Cast."  7)  ;  he 
also  recognises  "  widows  "  as  an  '*  order  " 
of  the  Church  ("  Ad  Uxor."  i.  7  ;  and  cf. 
"ordines,"  in  the  plural,  "De  Monog." 
12).  Even  Jerome  uses  "ordo"  in  its 
wide  and,  as  we  believe,  original  sense. 
For  ("  In  Jesaiam,"  Lib.  V.  cap.  xix.  18)  he 
enumerates  five  "  orders  "  of  the  Church 
("  ecclesise  ordines") — viz.  bishops,  pres- 
byters, deacons,  the  faithful,  catechumens. 
II.  The  Number  of  Orders. — In  the 
Latin  Church  the  ecclesiastical  orders  are 
those  of  bishops,  priests,  deacons,  sub- 
deacons,  acolytes,  exorcists,  readers, 
ostiarii,  or  door-keepers.  The  first  three 
are  as  old  as  the  time  of  the  Apostles ; 
and  all  must  be  very  ancient,  for  they 
are  mentioned  incidentally  by  Cornelius, 
bishop  of  Rome,  in  the  middle  of  the 
third  century  (apud  Euseb.  "  H.  E."  vi. 
43).  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  think 
that  their  institution  was  recent  even 
then.  Some  canonists  add  another  order, 
that  of  the  tonsure,  but  it  is  generally 
regarded  as  a  mere  introduction  to  the 
clerical  state,  and  this  \iew  is  consonant 
to  the  language  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
(sess.  xxiii.  cap.  2).  Apart  from  this, 
very  many  theologians,  among  whom  is 
St.  Thomas,  do  not  regard  the  episcopate 
as  a  separate  order,  but  only  as  the  com- 
pletion and  extension  of  the  priesthood, 
and  hence  reckon  the  number  of  the 
orders  as  seven.  The  title  of  the  Triden- 
tine  chapter  already  referred  to,  "  De 
Septem  Ordinibus,"  favours  this  view ; 
but,  according  to  the  eminent  canonist 
Philips,  it  is  not  found  in  the  earlier  edi- 
tions.  The  theory  rests  on  the  assumption 


622 


ORDER,  HOLY 


that  all  orders  are  referred  to  the  Eucharist, 
and  thus  the  bishop  has  no  power,  which  a 
simple  priest  has  not  also,  except  that  the 
former  can,  the  latter  cannot,  convey  this 
power  to  others  by  ordination.  Those 
who  hold  the  episcopate  to  be  a  distinct 
order  not  unnaturally  reject  this  exclusive 
reference  of  holy  order  to  the  Eucharist 
as  arbitrary,  and  argue  that  the  power  of 
ordination  and  confirmation  sufficiently 
justifies  the  position  of  the  episcopate  as 
separate  order.  The  orders  of  bishop, 
priest,  deacon,  and  (but  only  since  the 
thirteenth  century)  subdeacon  are  called 
"  sacred  "  or  "  greater,"  those  of  acolyte, 
&c.,  ''  minor,"  orders.  In  the  Greek, 
Coptic,  and  Nestorian  Churches  the  orders 
recognised  are  those  of  bishop,  priest, 
deacon,  subdeacon,  and  reader,  to  which 
that  of  "singer"  (•(//■aXr?)?)  is  sometimes 
added.  Great  variety,  however,  has  pre- 
vailed in  the  East,  both  as  to  the  number 
and  classification  of  the  orders,  and  we 
must  refer  the  reader  for  fuller  informa- 
tion to  Goar  ("  Euchologion ")  ;  to  Den- 
zinger  ("  Ritus  Orientalium,"  vol.  i.  p. 
116  seq.) ;  and  to  the  articles  on  the 
individual  orders  in  this  work. 

III.  Soli/  Order  as  a  Sacrament. — ^The 
Council  of  Trent  defines  (sess.  xxii.  De 
Sacr.  Ord.  can.  3)  that  order  is  "truly 
and  properly  a  sacrament  instituted  by 
Christ,"  and  that  by  means  of  it  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  given  (Canon  4).  Evidently,  in 
ordination  there  is  an  external  sign, 
but  the  question  at  issue  between  Catho- 
lics and  most  Protestants  turns  on  the 
grace  which,  as  Catholics  believe,  accom- 
panies the  sign.  A  priest,  as  the  Church 
teaches,  receives  supernatural  power  in 
his  ordination,  an  indelible  character  (see 
the  article  on  Character),  and,  if 
rightly  disposed,  grace  to  support  him  in 
the  exercise  of  his  ministry.  If  this  ques- 
tion be  settled,  the  rest  of  the  contention 
follows.  A  sign  which  necessarily  con- 
veys grace  cannot  have  been  instituted 
by  authority  which  is  merely  human,  and 
the  external  sign,  gi*ace  given,  institution 
by  our  Lord,  are  the  thi-ee  constituents  of 
a  sacrament. 

That  grace  is  given,  follows  from  the 
clear  statements  of  Scripture.  Christ 
*'  breathed  on "  his  Apostles  and  said, 
"  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whoseso- 
'  ever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted 
unto  them  ;  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain, 
they  are  retained "  (John  xx.  23). 
St.  Paul  twice  reminds  St.  Timothy  of 
the  grace  he  had  received  at  ordination. 
"Do  n^t  neglect  the  grace  which  was 


ORDER,  HOLY 

given  through  prophecy,  with  laying  on 
of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery  "  (1  Tim. 
iv.  14);  "I  put  thee  in  mind  to  rekindle 
the  grace  (orrather  gift,  xo-pia-fxa)  of  God, 
which  is  in  thee  through  the  laving  on 
of  my  hands  "  (2  Tim.  i.  6).  St.  Timothy 
was  marked  out  for  his  office  by  some  one 
who  had  the  prophetic  spirit,  common  in 
the  early  Church,  and  the  presbyters 
joined  St.  Paul  in  the  imposition  of 
hands,  just  as  presbyters  unite  with  our 
bishops  in  the  same  way  at  the  present 
time.  But  the  former  was  an  acciden- 
tal, the  latter  an  unessential  circum- 
stance, and  hence  St.  Paul  omits  the 
mention  of  both  in  the  second  passage. 
The  grace  was  conveyed  by  the  imposition 
of  Apostolic  hands  (observe  the  contrast 
"  tvitk"  fxcTu,  the  laying  on  of  the  hands 
of  the  presbj'tery,  "  and  '  throiujli^  8lo,  the 
laying  on  of  my  hands  "),  and  the  context 
leaves  no  doubt  that  the  grace  given  was 
for  the  right  administration  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical otfice.  St.  Timothy  is  to  remember 
the  grace  received,  and  to  let  no  one 
despise  his  youth,  to  be  the  example  of 
the  faithful,  &c.  &c  ;  he  is  to  "  rekindle 
it,"  for  the  Spirit  given  is  one  of  power, 
love,  temperance,  &c.,  and  he  must  not 
be  ashamed  of  the  "  testimony  of  the 
Lord."  It  is  in  vain  that  an  able 
writer  (Hatch,  "Organisation  of  the 
Early  Christian  Church,"  p.  133)  urges 
that  ;^apio-/Lta  has  a  latitude  of  meaning, 
and  may  be  rendered  "  talent."  This  is  not 
a  fair  account  of  its  meaning  in  the 
New  Testament;  but  if  it  were,  what 
then  ?  Plainly  Timothy  did  not  receive 
a  natural  "talent"  by  laying  on  of 
hands.  Nor  was  it  merely  the  office  en- 
trusted to  him,  for  it  would  be  senseless 
to  speak  of  "  rekindling  "  an  office.  It 
was,  then,  just  what  Mr.  Hatch  denies 
that  ordination  can  give — viz.  an  interior 
quality,  the  fire  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
heart,  ever  present  to  empower  and 
quicken  St.  Timothy  in  the  exercise  of 
his  duties.  It  did  not  come  from  man, 
though  man  had  it  in  his  power  to  "  re- 
kindle "  and  correspond  to  it.  It  is  well 
to  notice  that  an  interpretation  substan- 
tially identical  with  ours  is  given  and 
justified  from  the  context  by  one  of  the 
best  Protestant  commentators  on  the 
Pastoral  Epistles  (Huther,  ad  loc).  Fur- 
ther, if,  as  Mr.  Hatch  supposes,  the 
clergy  had  been  originally  mere  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people,  deriving  all 
their  power  from  them,  and  only  doing 
for  the  sake  of  order  and  convenience 
what  laymen  might  do  also,  then  indeed 


ORDER,  HOLY 

it  "would  he  hard  to  "believe  in  the  sacra- 
mental character  of  the  rite.  St.  Paul, 
however,  speaks  of  e7i  Io-kottoi  (the  precise 
meaning  of  the  word  does  not  concern 
lis  here)  as  those  whom  *'  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  appointed  to  tend  the  Church 
of  God  which  he  acquired  through  his 
own  blood  "  (Acts  xx.  28).  If  the  Holy 
Ghost  appoints  those  who  are  ordained 
to  their  sacred  function,  the  prophecy  or 
popular  election  which  designs  them  for 
these  functions  being  a  separable  accident, 
then  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  St. 
Paul  assuming  that  the  same  Holy 
Ghost  endowed  them  with  grace  and 
power.  It  is  quite  true  that  Jewish 
Rabbis  were  set  apart  by  imposition  of 
hands,^  and  Mr.  Hatch  has  collected  many 
interesting  and  instructive  parallels  to 
different  parts  of  the  ordination  rite  from 
the  customs  of  the  Roman  magistracy, 
&;c.  These,  however,  in  no  way  affect 
the  main  question.  No  one  supposed  that 
the  imposition  of  hands  would  of  itself 
prove  the  grace  of  orders,  while  the 
other  rites  to  which  Mr.  Hatch  refers  are 
allowed  on  all  hands  to  be  of  merely 
human  institution.  Our  appeal  is  to  the 
grace  which  Scripture  assures  us  is  at- 
tached to  the  imposition  of  hands  for  holy 
orders,  and  we  fail  to  see  that  the  appeal 
can  be  set  aside  on  the  grounds  which 
Mr.  Hatch  and  so  many  other  learned 
Protestants  allege. 

Such  is  the  value  assigned  to  the 
Sacrament  of  Holy  Order  in  the  Scripture, 
and  the  burden  of  proof  lies  on  our  adver- 
saries, -if  they  maintain  that  the  clergy, 
having  first  received  their  power  from 
God,  sunk  after  the  Apostolic  age  to  mere 
representatives  of  the  congregation.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  Christian  antiquity  is  in 
harmony  with  Scripture.  Only,  the  ques- 
tion of  election  or  designation  to  office 
must  not  be  confused  with  the  power 
given  in  ordination  to  the  office  ;  and 
again,  we  must  not  expect  full  and  dog- 

*  See  Buxtorf,  Lexicon  Chald.  et  Rabbin. 
art.   n3''?DD  5   **^"d   for  full  information,  with 

abundant  references  to  the  Talmud,  Hamburi^er, 
Real-Encycl.  das  Judtntkums,  art.  "Ordina- 
tion." The  ordination  was  given  sometimes  on 
the  authority  of  the  Prince  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
Boraetimes  on  tlie  authority  of  the  Prince  and 
Sanhedrim  conjointly.  The  rite  is  as  old,  pro- 
babl}%  as  the  Sanhedrim,  and  was  the  rule  till 
the  fifth  century  a.d.  Instances  of  ordination 
occur  much  later — e.g.  one  in  the  sixteenth.  It 
is  remarkable  that  the  O.T.  books  after  the 
Pentateuch  (Numbers  xxvii.  11  ;  Deut. 
xxxiv.  9)  contain  no  instance  of  ordination 
by  imposition  of  hands. 


ORDER,  HOLY 


623 


matic  statements  on  the  nature  of  Holy 
Order  in  the  brief  and  occasional  writings 
of  the  early  Fathers.  Their  main  con.ten- 
tion  against  heretics  did  not  turn  on  the 
question  of  their  orders,  or  want  of  orders ; 
in  many  cases  heretics  did  possess  true 
orders  ;  but  on  the  fact  that  they  were 
outside  the  one  Church.  Still,  St.  Ignatius 
speaks  of  the  bishop  as  having  "  acquired 
his  ministry,  not  from  himself,  nor  through 
men"  (Philad.  i.).  The  bishop  is  to  be 
regarded  as  "  the  Lord  Himself  "  (Ephes. 
vi.)  "Let  that  be  considered  a  valid 
Eucharist  which  is  under  the  bishop  or 
one  commissioned  by  him  "  (Smyrn.  viii.) 
— a  rule,  however,  which  in  all  likelihood 
was  meant  as  a  warning  against  all  schis- 
matical  rites,  even  if  celebrated  by  a 
priest,  for  the  word  /Se/Sam  can  scarcely  be 
pressed.  True,  Tertullian  ("  De  Exhort. 
Cast."  7,  "  Monog."  7, 12)  holds  very  diffe- 
rent language,  asserts  the  universal  priest- 
hood of  Christians,  and  reduces  the  diffe- 
rence between  clergy  and  laity  to  one  of 
ecclesiastical  institution.  But  then  Ter- 
tullian was  a  bitter  Montanist  when  he 
thus  wrote,  and  it  was  the  characteristic 
of  Montanism  to  set  the  claims  of  indivi- 
dual piety  against  the  claims  of  the  hier- 
archy. And,  although  he  does  certainly 
assume  that  his  premiss — viz.  that  all 
Christians  are  priests — will  be  accepted  by 
Catholics,  it  is  quite  in  the  manner  of  this 
exaggerated  writer  to  take  the  Catholic 
and  Scriptural  doctrine  that  all  Christians 
are  priests  in  a  sense,  just  as  Israel  was  in 
a  sense  a  nation  of  priests,  and  to  dis- 
tort it  into  the  admission  that  even 
Catholics  made  no  essential  difference 
between  priest  and  layman.  (See  Dol- 
linger,^'Hippolytus  and  Callistus,"  Eng- 
lish translation,  p.  320  seg'.)  His- reckless 
use  of  Scripture,  and  misrepresentation 
of  fact,  to  enforce  his  Montanist  views 
(see  e.g.  "  Exhort.  Cast."  7  and  9),  shows 
how  little  he  can  be  trusted.  Nothing  of 
the  sort  can,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  be 
found  in  a  Catholic  bishop  who  called 
Tertullian  his  master,  we  mean  Cyprian. 
He  speaks  of  the  bishops  as  successors  of 
the  Apostles  (Ep.  xliv.  Ixvi.  See  also 
Clarus  a  Mascula,  "  In  Sentent.  Episc." 
79,  and  this  by  ordination,  as  he  expressly 
says)  ;  he  derives  the  power  of  the 
Episcopate  (xxxiii.)  not  from  the  people 
but  from  Christ's  commission  to  Peter 
(ib.).  Just  as  much  to  the  point  is  a  pas- 
sage of  Cyprian's  contemporary  Firrailian, 
who  says  the  power  of  forgiving  sins  has 
been  bestowed  on  the  Apostles,  then  on 
the  churches  and  the  bishops,  who  have 


624 


ORDER,  HOLY 


succeeded  the  Apostles  "by  successive  ordi- 
nation {ordinatione  vicaria,  inter  "  0pp. 
Cypr."  Ep.  Ixxv.).  So  again  in  the  Apos- 
tolic Constitution,  which  belongs  to  the 
same  period,  we  read,  "  Neither  do  we 
permit  laymen  to  perform  any  of  the 
priestly  functions  (lepariKcov  epya>v) — e.(/. 
sacrifice,  baptism,  ordination,  blessing 
great  or  small.  For  through  the  imposi- 
tion of  the  bishop's  hands  such  dignity  is 
given."  ("Const.  Ap."  iii.  10.)  This 
rule  is  attributed  to  the  Apostles.  The 
Council  of  Nicsea  forbade  deacons  to  give 
communion  to  presbyters,  and  this  on  the 
ground,  which  is  taken  for  granted,  that 
the  former  had  no  authority  or  power  to 
ofier  sacrifice.  "  Neither  the  rule  nor  cus- 
tom has  handed  down,  that  those  who 
have  no  authority  to  offer  {i.e.  to  offer 
sacrifice,  Trpoacpepetv,  this  principle  bemg 
assumed),  should  give  the  body  of  Christ 
to  those  who  do  offer."  (Can.  18.)  Later 
Fathers  who  treated  of  doctrine  at  greater 
length  furnish,  as  we  should  expect, 
more  explicit  statements.  "  Who  gives," 
says  the  author  of  a  work  falsely  attri- 
buted to  St.  Ambrose,^  "the  episcopal 
grace  P  You  answer  without  doubt, 
God.  Bat  still  God  gives  it  through  man. 
Man  imposes  the  hand,  God  gives  the 
grace."  ("  De  Sacerdot.  Dign."  cap.  6. ) 
St.  Augustine  ("  Contr.  Epist.  Parmen." 
ii.  13)  compares  the  sacrament  of  order 
to  that  of  baptism ;  neither  can  be  reite- 
rated ;  ordination,  even  when  given  by  a 
schisraatical  bishop,  is  valid,  and  again 
("De  Bono  Conjugali,''  cap.  24),  he 
maintains  the  indelible  character  of  order. 
It  is  not  lost,  if  the  flock  ia  withdrawn 
from  the  pastor ;  it  abides  ic  spite  of  the 
pastor's  crimes,  though  of  course  its  per- 
manence increases  the  culprit's  guilt. 
("  Sacramento  domini  semel  imposito  non 
carebit  quamvis  ad  judicium permanente"). 
This  indelible  character  of  order  follows 
from  the  principles  for  which  we  have 
been  contending.  Man  cannot  take  away 
what  he  did  not  give.  And  further,  if  a 
wicked  or  schismatical  bishop  ordain, 
after  all  it  is  God  who,  in  the  words  of 
the  author  quoted  above,  "bestows  the 
grace." 

We  will  only  add  that  the  existence 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  naturally  inclines  us  to  believe  in 
the  sacrament  of  order.  God,  who  in  the 
old  law  appointed   a  priesthood  to  offer 

1  It  is  printed  in  all  editions  of  the  saint's 
works,  but  the  Benedictines  have  shown  it 
cantiot  be  his.  Petavius  quotes  it  as  the  work 
of  St.  Ambrose. 


ORDER,  HOLY 

saciifices  which  could  not  take  away  sin, 
did  not  surely  leave  the  sacrifice  in 
which  the  "  Word,"  as  St.  Irengeus  says, 
is  "  offered  up  "  to  Him  without  appointed 
ministers  and  guardians.  Nor  does  Ca- 
tholic belief  foster  priestly  pride.  Such  an 
abuse  may  and  does  occur,  for  here,  as 
elsewhere,  man's  weakness  and  sin  mars 
the  work  of  God.  But  the  very  fact  that 
bishops  and  priests  hold  a  commission 
from  God  and  not  from  their  flocks,  is  a 
preservation  against  the  temptation  to 
please  men  at  the  expense  of  virtue  and 
truth.  A  man  who  holds  his  place  be- 
cause of  his  popularity  has  far  more 
temptation  to  vanity  than  a  priest  who 
knows  he  is  nothing  except  for  a  grace 
he  has  received  beyond  any  merits  of  his 
and  in  common  with  multitudes  of  others ; 
that  he  can  only  use  this  grace  in  accord- 
ance with  laws  which  man  cannot  change, 
and  that  it  involves  dread  responsibilities. 
It  needs  no  great  piety  orhumilityto  feel 
the  contrast  between  the  trust  reposed  in 
him  and  his  own  weakness.  It  is  the 
contrast  between  God  and  man,  not  be- 
tween men,  which  is  the  true  source  of 
humility ;  and  what  is  said  of  Christians 
generally  is  specially  applicable  to 
priests.  "  We  have  the  treasure  in 
earthen  vessels,  that  the  excellence  maybe 
God's,  and  not  from  us  "  (2  Cor.  iv.  7). 
Priests  and  people  alike  sink  into  nothing 
before  Him.  "  The  eyes  of  man's  pride 
shall  be  humbled,  and  the  loftiness  of 
men  shall  be  bowed  down,  and  the  Lord 
alone  shall  be  exalted  in  that  day  "  (Isa. 
ii.  11). 

I V .  The  Ordei's  in  which  the  Saci-ament 
is  given. — St.  Thomas  ("  Suppl.'l  xxxvii. 
a.  3)  holds  that  each  order  is  a  sacrament, 
and  this  apparently  was  the  common  opi- 
nion in  the  middle  ages.  But  historical 
study  and  knowledge  of  the  Eastern  rites 
do  not  favour  this  view,  which  is,  we 
believe,  no  longer  common.  Probably, 
the  orders  lower  than  the  diaconate  are 
only  of  ecclesiastical  institution,  and  are 
not,  therefore,  accompanied  by  sacramen- 
tal grace.  It  is  certain  from  the  proofs 
given  above  and  from  the  Tridentine  defi- 
nition (sess.  xxii.  especially  canons  4, 
7),  that  the  episcopate  and  priesthood 
are  sacraments  ;  and  it  is  all  but  univer- 
sally held  (Durandus  and  Cajetan  are 
quoted  on  the  other  side)  that  the  diaco- 
nate is  so  also.  Indeed  this  seems  to  be 
a  clear  consequence  from  Canon  4,  just 
quoted,  and  Billuart  calls  this  opinion 
that  the  diaconate  is  a  sacrament,  "  so 
common  and  certain  that  several  theolo- 


ORDER,  HOLY 

gians  charge  the  contrary  sentiment  of 
I)urandus  and  Oajetan  with  rashness" 
(Billuart,  ''  De  Ord."  I.  a.  3,  §  1). 

V.  The  Minister  of  Orders.— The  dis- 
tinction by  Divine  right  between  bishops 
and  presbyters  has  been  sufficiently  ex- 
plained in  the  article  on  the  former.  Here 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  ordmary 
minister  of  orders  is  the  bishop.  Priests, 
however,  may,  by  concession  of  the  Pope 
or  Church,  confer  minor  orders,  and 
certain  abbots  exercise  this  privilege, 
though  the  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  xxiii. 
cap.  10,  '^De  Reform.")  withdrew  from 
them  the  right  of  doing  so,  except  in  the 
case  of  their  own  subjects.  Those  who 
hold  the  subdiaconate  to  be  of  merely 
ecclesiastical  institution  would  naturally 
allow  that  the  Pope  might  permit  a  simple 
priest  to  give  that  order.  It  is  much 
harder  to  believe  that  the  Pope  could  em- 
power a  priest  to  ordain  any  one  deacon. 
Theologians  of  name  assert  that  such  a 
privilege  was  given  in  1489  to  a  Cistercian 
abbot,  and  used  by  the  Cistercian  General 
at  Rome  in  1662  with  the  Pope's  know- 
ledge, but  the  alleged  fact  is  disputed. 
(See  Billuart,  loc.  cit.  diss.  ii.  a.  1.)  A 
bishop  cannot  lawfully  ordain  any  except 
those  who  belong  to  his  diocese  by  birth, 
domicile  (see  the  Article),  possession  of  a 
benefice,  or  by  having  lived  in  his  house 
for  three  years.  In  this  last  case  the 
bishop  must  at  once  confer  a  benefice  on 
the  person  ordained.  A  bishop  may  give 
letters  dimissorial,  enabling  another  bishop 
to  ordain  the  bearers  of  them,  and  if  the 
see  has  been  vacant  a  whole  year,  then, 
but  not  till  then,  the  chapter  may  give  such 
letters.  The  superiors  of  Regulars  must 
send  their  subjects  to  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese,  but  in  case  he  is  absent,  then  the 
superior  may  send  his  subjects  with  dimis- 
sorials  to  any  bishop.  The  dimissorials 
must,  however,  be  accompanied  with  a 
certificate  from  the  bishop's  vicar-general, 
chancellor,  or  secretary  (Gury,  "  Theol. 
Moral."  De  Ord.  cap.  3).  The  episcopate 
may  be  conferred  on  any  Sunday  or  feast 
of  an  Apostle,  the  other  holy  orders  on 
Ember  Saturdays,  Saturday  before  Pas- 
sion Sunday  and  Holy  Saturday.  Minor 
orders  may  be  given  on  the  days  men- 
tioned last,  and  also,  if  the  ordination  is 
not  a  general  one,  "  on  Sundays  and  other 
festivals  "  (Liguori,  "  Theol.  Moral."  De 
Ord.  §  794).  These  rides  as  to  the  time 
of  ordination,  and  in  particular  the  greater 
freedom  as  to  the  time  allowed  for  conse- 
cration of  bishops  and  conferring  minor 
orders,  are  very  ancient.    The  only  change 


ORDER,  HOLY 


625 


to  be  held,  not  as  now,  in  the  morning  of 
Saturday,  but  on  the  evening  of  Saturday 
or  Sunday  morning.  They  were  held  in 
the  Church  in  the  presence  of  the  people. 
As  a  rule,  a  bishop  was  consecrated  in  his 
own  church  or  that  of  his  metropolitan. 
(Chardon,  "Hist,  des  Sacr."tom.  v.  ch.  vi.) 
We  have  seen  that  Augustine  recog- 
nised the  validity  of  heretical  and  schis- 
matical  ordinations,  provided,  of  course, 
the  ordaining  bishop  had  used  the  essen- 
tial matter  and  form.  The  same  principle 
had  been  followed  by  the  Council  of  Nicsea 
in  dealing  with  the  Meletians  and  Nova- 
tians  (see  Hefele, "  Concil."  vol.  i.  pp.  353, 
407  seq.),  and  by  Popes  Leo  I.,  Anasta- 
sius  II.,  and  Innocent  I.  But  in  the  eighth 
and  following  centuries  this  point  of  doc- 
trine was  obscured.  The  fact  that  persons 
ordained  in  conscious  schism  could  receive 
no  sacramental  grace,  though  they  did 
receive  character  and  power,  that  they 
had  no  jurisdiction,  that  they  were  recon- 
ciled to  the  Church  by  an  imposition  ^f 
hands,  mistaken  perhaps  for  re-ordination, 
led  to  the  error.  The  decision  of  a  Roman 
coimcil  in  769  against  the  Anti-Pope  Con- 
stantine  has  been  variously  interpreted. 
But  in  any  case,  "  after  the  death  of  Pope 
Formosus,  his  adversaries.  Stephen  VH. 
and  Sergius  III.,  regarded  the  orders 
given  by  him  as  invalid."  (The  words 
are  Cardinal  Hergenrother's,  "  Kirchen- 
geschichte,"  vol.  i.  p.  712.)  In  the  tenth 
century,  persons  ordained  by  the  Anti- 
Pope  Leo  VIII.  were  required  to  say  at 
their  degradation  "My  Father  Leo  had 
nothing  to  give,  and  has  given  me  nothing." 
In  the  eleventh  century,  simony  was  known 
as  the  "heresy  of  Simon,"  and  many 
maintained  that  ordination  by  bishops 
simoniacally  elected  was  invalid  (Hergen- 
rother,  iZ>.).  St.  Peter  Damian  defended 
the  true  doctrine,  but  Peter  Lombard 
found  the  diversity  of  opinion  on  the 
validity  of  heretical  ordination  so  great 
that  he  considered  the  question  to  be  almost 
insoluble.  Even  in  the  thirteenth  century 
William  of  Paris  believed  that  the  Church 
could  withdraw  the  character  of  holy 
order  by  degradation,  while  others,  start- 
ing with  the  view  that  the  episcopate  was 
a  mere  extension  of  the  presbyterate, 
supposed  that,  although  a  degraded  priest 
could  still  say  Mass,  a  degraded  bishop 
could  not  validly  ordain.  As  a  rule,  how- 
ever, the  great  scholastics  adhered  to  the 
teaching  of  St.  Augustine,  which  in  the 
end  was  accepted.  (Hergenrother,  ib.  p. 
987  seq.). 


626 


OEDER,  HOLY 


VI.  The  Matter  and  Form  of  Holy 
Order. — An  account  of  the  rite  of  ordina- 
tion will  he  found  under  the  different 
articles,  Deacoit,  Lector,  &c.  This,  how- 
ever, seems  the  fitting  place  to  discuss  the 
theological  question  as  to  the  essential 
matter  and  form  of  the  orders  in  which 
the  sacrament  is  undoubtedly  given — viz. 
the  orders  of  bishop,  priest,  and  deacon. 
There  are  three  opinions. 

(a)  "  Nearly  all  the  scholastics,"  says 
Catalani  ("  Comm.  in  Pontif."  tom.  i.  p. 
197),  "  who  discuss  the  matter  and  form 
of  the  episcopate,  make  its  form  consist  in 
these  words,  '  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost,' 
which  are  uttered  by  the  consecrating  and 
assisting  bishops,  touching  the  head  of  the 
person  to  be  consecrated,  just  as  the  book 
of  the  Gospels  is  placed  on  his  head." 
Many  scholastics  hold  that  the  matter 
and  form  of  ordination  to  the  priesthood 
consists  in  the  bishop's  handing  to  the 
new  priest  the  paten  and  chalice — an  act 
commonly  called  the  "  tradition  of  the 
instruments,"  and  the  form  in  the  accom- 
panying words.  The  scholastics  felt  special 
difficulty  about  the  diaconate,  but  some 
of  them  placed  the  matter  and  form  in  the 
giving  of  the  dalmatic,  or  else  of  the  book 
of  the  Gospels.  (See  Chardon,  tom.  v. 
^'  De  rOrdre,"  ch.  v.)  And  St.  Thomas 
("  Supp."  xxxiv.  a.  4,  5)  implies. that  he 
held  o'le  or  other  of  these  theories. 

(/3)  AVe  do  not  think  any  theologian 
at  the  present  day  would  defend  the  theory 
just  stated.^  The  objection  to  it  will 
presently  appear.  Many  of  the  later 
scholastics,  however,  hold  a  doctrine  which 
has  some  resemblance  to  it.  They  sup- 
pose that  Christ  left  the  Church  to  de- 
termine the  specific  matter  and  form  of 
holy  order,  and  that  this  determination 
has  been  difi'erent  for  different  places. 
According  to  them,  the  matter  and  form 
for  the  West  consist  partly  in  the  words 
and  rites  just  enumerated,  partly  in  the 
imposition  of  hands  (for  the  ordination  of 
priests  the  third  imposition  in  the  Roman 
Pontifical),  and  in  the  accompanying 
words,  which  denote  the  reception  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  for  the  office  given. 

The  following  reasons  tell,  as  we  ven- 
ture to  think,  with  fatal  effect  against 
either  of  these  theories,  the  latter  of  which 

1  Still,  even  the  Carmelite,  Thomas  a  Jesu, 
in  his  learned  work,  De  Procuranda  salute 
omnium  Gentium  (Antwerp,  1613  ;  it  is  a  guide 
for  missionaries,  with  special  reference  to 
Oriental  rites),  says  (lib.  vii.)  that  Oriental 
orders,  according  to  the  truer  opinion,  are 
invalid,  because  given  without  tradition  of 
instruments. 


ORDER,  HOLY 

has  the  additional  defect  of  resting  on  ar- 
bitrary assumption. 

The  words  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost," 
cannot  be  the  necessary  form  of  episcopal 
consecration.  They  are  unknown  in  the 
Greek  and  Syriac  rites,  and  not  only  so, 
but  they  are  of  recent  introduction  in  the 
AVest.  "  They  do  not  occur,"  says  Char- 
don, writing  in  1745,  "  in  Latin  Rituals 
which  are  older  than  400  years,  and  they 
are  wanting  even  in  several  modern  ones" 
(loc.  cit.  ch.  i.).  The  testimony  of  Mori- 
nus  and  Marteneis  substantially  the  same. 
"  None  of  the  English  Pontificals,  except 
the  Exeter,  contain  this  form  "  (Maskell, 
"  Monument.  Rit."  vol.  ii.  p.  274).  Again, 
the  tradition  of  instruments  for  the  ordina- 
tion of  priests  is  unknown  at  this  day  to 
the  Greeks,  and  was  unknown  to  the  Latins 
till  the  tenth  (so  Morinus)  or  eleventh 
(Chardon)  century.  The  last  imposition 
of  hands  in  the  Roman  Pontifical,  that 
after  the  communion,  apd  also  the  words 
"  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  sins  ye 
remit,"  &c.,  were  unknown,  according  to 
Morinus  and  Chardon,  even  in  the  West, 
for  1,200  years.  Again,  Western  Rituals 
previous  to  the  ninth  century  say  nothing 
about  the  placing  of  the  Gospels  in  the 
hands  of  the  man  to  be  ordained  deacon, 
and,  of  course,  do  not  contain  the  form  of 
words  with  which  the  book  of  the  Gospels 
is  presented.  The  rite  began  in  England 
(Chardon,  ch.  v. ;  Maskell,  p.  210),  and  is 
not  to  be  found  in  any  Pontifical  before 
the  tenth  century,  those  of  English  use 
alone  excepted.  Even  in  the  twelfth 
century,  Latin  writers  who  treat  in  detail 
about  the  rite  for  ordination  of  deacons 
are  silent  about  the  form  '^Receive  the 
Holy  Ghost,  for  strength,"  &c.*  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  investing 
of  the  deacon  with  the  dalmatic  cannot 
be  traced  beyond  the  middle  ages.  These 
facts  are,  we  believe,  accepted  by  all  the 
most  eminent  critics,  Morinus,  Marten e, 
Chardon,  &;c.  It  is  only  in  slight  details — 
e.g.  as  to  the  precise  date  of  introduction — 
that  they  differ,  and  thus  we  are  led  to 
the  third  theory,  which  we  state  chiefly 
in  the  words  of  Chardon. 

(y)  The  form  need  not  be  imperative — 
"  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost,"  or  the  like ; 
no  tradition  of  instruments  is  needed  for 
validity.  "  The  essential  matter  and  form 
of  ordination  consist  only  in  the  imposition 
of  the  bishop's  hands,  joined  to  the  invoca- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit."  ^     Morinus  was 

1  Thus,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  necessary  form 
is  indeterminate  ;  it  may  be  precatory,  impera- 
tive, &c.    But,  accoi-ding  to  this  opinion,  the 


ORDER,  HOLY 

led  to  adopt  this  opinion  by  the  knowledge 
he  gained  when  member  of  a  Roman  con- 
gregation formed  by  Urban  VIII.  to  exa- 
mine the  Greek  Euchologium.  It  has 
been  adopted,  scarcely,  as  Ohardon  asserts, 
by  nearly  all  theologians  of  repute,  but 
certainly  by  nearly  all  critics  and  scholars. 
It  is  in  harmony  with  the  statements  of 
Scripture,  of  the  Fathers,  and  the  ancient 
Ritual  books.  It  in  no  way  contradicts 
the  statements  of  the  Tridentine  Council, 
as  Morinus  shows,  nor  the  practice  of 
the  Church  in  requiring  those  who  have 
not  touched  the  instruments,  to.be  re- 
ordained  conditionally.  For,  so  long  as 
there  is  no  authoritative  decision  on  the 
point,  the  Church  rightly  insists  that  the 
safer  course  be  taken. 

Thus  the  matter  of  the  consecration  of 
a  bishop  would  lie  in  the  imposition  of 
hands  when  the  Gospels  are  placed  on  his 
head  and  the  form  m  the  invocation  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  preceded  in  te 
present  Latin  rite  by  the  words  '' Refcei've 
the  Holy  Ghost."  A  priest  is  dji;dkiTier(} 
when  the  bishop,  with  the  avSi^i'stajnft 
priests,  imposes  his  hands  and  says, 
"  Oremus,  fratres,"  &c.,  "  Exaudi  nos,  quse- 
sumus,"  &c.  (i.e.  when  the  second  im- 
position is  made).  A  deacon  is  made  by 
the  imposition  of  the  bishop's  right  hand, 
and  the  form  lies  in  the  prayer,  "  Emitte 
in  eos,  qusesumus,"  &c.  But  the  other 
ceremonies  and  prayers  seem  to  determine 
and  specificate  the  meaning  of  these 
forms,  and  mark  the  special  purpose  (the 
office  of  a  deacon,  &c.),  for  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  invoked.  Hence,  though 
these  particular  rites  are  not  absolutely 
necessary,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  if 
all  were  omitted  and  nothing  left  in  any 
way  corresponding  to  them,  the  grace  of 
orders  would  be  conveyed.  (On  the 
question  of  the  matter  and  form  we  have 
followed  Tournely,  "  Praelect.  Theol.,"  De 
Ordine.^) 

VII.  The  Subjects  or  JRecipients  of  the 
Sao-ament. — Any  baptised  male  capable 
of  intending  to  receive  the  sacrament 
may  do  so  validly.  We  make  the  limi- 
tation as  to  intention  on  the  authority  of 

Church  has  not  determined  and  cannot  deter- 
mine, po  far  as  concerns  validity,  what  Christ 
left  indeterminate. 

1  Our  own  view  would  rather  be  that 
whereas  tlie  form  may  be  either  precatory  or 
imperative,  the  Latin  Church  has  now  adopted 
an  imperative  form,  "  Accipe  Spiritum,"  in  or- 
daining bishops  and  deacons.  The  change  in 
the  form  of  absolution  would  thus  offer  a  com- 
plete analog^-.  But  we  have  thought  it  safer 
to  follow  a  recognised  authority. 

s  s 


ORDERS,  RELIGIOUS       627 

Tournely  (loc.  cit.  qu.  iv.  a.  4,  "verisi- 
milius  videtur  "),  and  because  it  commends 
itself  to  us  on  grounds  of  history  and 
reason.  It  is  right,  however,  to  say  that 
the  Thomists  generally  believe  that  an 
infant,  or  those  who  are  hopelessly  mad, 
might  validly  receive  any  order  except 
the  episcopate,  to  which  last  cure  of  souls 
is  necessarily  attached.^  AU  admit  that 
in  adults,  with  the  exception  just  men- 
tioned, intention  is  required. 

To  be  ordained  lawfully  a  person 
must  have  the  due  age  and  knowledge; 
he  must  have  observed  the  interstices  :  he 
must  be  free  from  irregularity,  suspension, 
excommunication  ;  he  must  be  of  good 
life,  and  have  the  signs  of  a  call  or  vo- 
cation from  God.  For  holy  orders  he 
needs  a  title.  For  these  requisites  we 
refer  to  the  articles  devoted  to  them. 
But  the  mention  of  interstices  suggests 
the  questions  raised  on  ordinations  pei- 
saltum — i.e.  ordination  to  a  higher  order 
of  a  person  who  has  not  received  a  lower 
one. 

The  Church  has  always  disapproved 
such  ordinations,  except  in  rare  cases, 
and  looked  on  the  exercise  of  lower  orders 
as  the  best  preparation  for  ascending 
higher.  Still,  St.  Cyprian  was  made 
priest  and  bishop  without  passing  through 
the  lower  grades  ("  Vita  Pontii,"  cap.  '6). 
St.  Augustine  received  the  priesthood  in 
the  same  way  ("  Vita  Possidii,"  cap.  4). 
Morinus,  a  very  high  authority,  denies 
that  antiquity  furnishes  any  instance  of 
a  person  who  was  not  already  a  priest 
being  consecrated  bishop.  But  clear 
cases  are  produced  by  Chardon  (ch.  v.), 
and  Martene  (''  De  Antiq.  Eccles."  lib.  i. ; 
"  Bit."  cap.  8,  a.  S).^  The  lower  order  is 
contained  in  the  higher,  and  Church 
history  records  sudden  elevations  justified 
by  extraordinary  merit  and  emergency, 
just  as  secular  history  records  sudden 
elevations  like  that  of  Xanthippus  the 
Lacedaemonian  in  the  first  Punic  war 
(Polyb.  "Hist."  i.  32),  or  of  Spinola  to 
the  rank  of  general. 

ORDERS,         REI.ZGZ017S.  The 

fundamental  conceptions  which  lie  at 
the  root  of  the  religious  life  (in  the 
technical  sense  of  the  word  "  religion  ") 

1  So  St.  Thomas,  Suppl.  xxxix.  2.  But 
Billuart,  diss  iii.  a.  3,  §  1,  with  some  other 
Thomists,  will  not  admit  tins  exception  ;  and, 
indeed,  it  can  scarcely  be  maintained. 

2  "Certe  Joannes  S.  Galli  discipuhis, 
diaconus  ordinatus,  episcopus  Constantiensis 
factus  est,  presbvteratu  non  suscepto,  ut  satis 
clare  docet  Strabo  in  Vit.  S.  Galli,  c.  28." 
Martene,  loc.  cit. :  he  gives  other  instances. 

2 


628        ORDERS,  RELIGIOUS 

have  been  more  or  less  examined  in  the 
articles  Ascet^,  Hermits,  Monk,  and 
Nun.  On  the  external  development  of 
that  life  within  the  Church,  since  the 
time  when  religious  orders  first  arose,  a 
few  g:eneral  remarks  will  find  here  their 
appropriate  place. 

The  conception  of  orders  of  monks  did 
not  arise  so  long  as  every  monastery  was 
an  independent  entity,  managing  its  own 
affairs  without  reference  to  any  other 
authority  but  the  general  law  of  the 
Cluirch,  Beda  speaks  of  monasteries 
following  the  rule  of  St.  Benedict,  but  he 
never  speaks  of  the  order  of  St.  Benedict. 
It  was  only  when,  commencing  in  the 
tenth  century,  separate  commuuities  such 
as  those  of  Cluny,  Citeaux,  and  the 
Chartreuse,  were  formed  within  the  great 
Benedictine  brotherhood,  and  these  com- 
munities, however  widely  scattered,  sub-' 
mitted  to  the  rule  of  a  single  superior 
(usually  the  abbot  of  the  mother  house), 
and  met  periodically  in  order  to  settle 
th'^ir  common  affairs,  that  the  term 
^*  order  "  came  into  use.  A  completely 
new  order — the  Trinitarians,  was  founded 
by  St.  John  of  Math  a  towards  the  close 
of  the  twelfth  century  for  the  redemption 
of  Christians  held  in  captivity  by  the 
infidels.  The  institution  of  Our  Lady  of 
Mercy,  founded  (1218)  by  St.  Peter 
Nolasco  as  an  order  of  chivalry,  but 
afterwards  transformed  into  a  religious 
order,  had  the  same  end  in  view.  Early 
in  the  thirteenth  century  the  mendicant 
orders — Franciscan,  Dominican,  and  Car- 
melite friars  (see  those  articles) — were 
either  founded  or  came  into  distinct 
prominence  ;  in  the  second  half  of  the 
century  they  were  joined  by  the  Augus- 
tinian  friars.  These  four  orders,  having 
no  landed  property,  but  subsisting  on 
alms,  preached  in  all  parts  of  Europe, 
but  especially  in  cities,  where  luxury  and 
civic  pride  were  beginning  to  show  them- 
selves, the  humbling  and  fortifying  doc- 
trines of  the  Cross.  The  Servites,  founded 
by  seven  merchants  of  Florence  and  pro- 
pagated by  St.  Philip  I3eniti,  after  a 
struggling  existence  of  more  than  two 
centuries,  were  recognised  by  Innocent 
VIII.  (1487)  as  a  fifth  mendicant  order, 
with  privileges  in  all  respects  equal  to 
those  of  the  other  four.  The  Jeronymites 
and  Biigittines  were  founded  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  founder  of  the 
Minims  (1473),  a  filiation  of  the  order 
of  St.  Francis,  was  St.  Francis  of  Paula. 

The  movement  of  the   Reformation, 
of  which  the  mainspring  was  the  rebellion 


ORDERS,  RELIGIOUS 

of  man's  lower,  again^  the  restraints 
imposed  upon  it  by  his  higher  nature, 
was  met  on  the  Catholic  side  partly  by 
direct  antagonism,  partly  by  argument, 
and  partly  by  the  reassertion,  under  new 
forms  adapted  to  the  altered  circum- 
stances of  the  time,  of  the  unchanging 
Christian  ideal  of  the  moral  and  religious 
end  of  man.  And  since  the  spirit  of  the 
Church  is  most  clearly  seen  in  the  re- 
ligious orders,  it  was  to  be  expected  that 
the  conflict  with  Protestantism  would 
fall  to  a  large  extent  into  the  hands  of 
men  bound  by  the  three  vows.  The 
Society  of  Jesus  (1540)  opposed  to  the 
indiscipline  and  licence  of  Protestantism 
a  more  rigid  and  unquestioning  obedience 
to  authority  than  had  yet  been  known 
in  the  Church.  The  Theatines  (1524), 
Capuchins  (1528),  and  Bamabites  (1533), 
were  founded  in  order  to  wage  war  against 
the  corruption  of  morals  which  prevailed, 
and  to  promote  the  religious  education  of 
the  people.  The  Discalced  Carmelites, 
men  and  women  (1580,  1563),  practised 
the  full  austerities  prescribed  by  the 
original  rule.  On  the  movement  among 
the  Benedictines,  see  that  article,  and 
Maueists.  In  the  following  century  an 
austere  reform  of  the  Cistercian  order 
was  established  in  the  monastery  of  La 
Trappe  by  Dom  Armand  de  Rancy 
(1662).    [Trappists.] 

In  the  middle  ages,  when  the  power 
of  law  was  still  weak,  and  society  was 
often  agitated  by  unpunished  acts  of 
turbulence  and  injustice,  the  sight  of  the 
peaceful  and  orderly  life  of  a  monastery, 
spent  in  a  round  of  ceaseless  prayer, 
praise,  and  study,  was  by  the  very  con- 
trast deeply  refreshing  and  stimulative 
to  the  higher  characters  among  the  laity. 
But  when  in  process  of  time  the  "  reign 
of  law  "  was  firmly  established,  this  con- 
trast lost  much  of  its  sharpness,  and,  so 
far  as  immunity  from  illegal  violence  was 
concerned,  ceased  to  exist.  It  was  there- 
fore fitting  that  religions  society,  in  order 
to  maintain  its  ground  in  advance  of 
civil,  and  not  only  "allure  to  brighter 
worlds,"  but  also  "  lead  the  way,"  should 
produce  new  manifestations  of  the  old 
endeavour  after  perfection.  Coming  forth 
from  the  cloister  into  the  world,  but  still 
not  of  the  world,  the  religious  life  has 
sanctified  and  embraced  all  those  varied 
activities  which  have  the  relief  of  human 
suffering,  and  the  dispelling  of  that  ignor- 
ance which  is  an  obstacle  to  salvation,  as 
their  end.  Hence  has  arisen  the  multitude 
of  congregations  which  adorn  the  Catholic 


ORDINARY,  THE 

Church  of  our  own  day.  A  few  of  these 
are  noticed  in  the  article  Congregations, 
Eeltgiotjs. 

The  opposition  of  the  governing  class 
in  nearly  all  the  countries  of  Europe  to 
the  religious  orders — an  opposition  lately 
carried  in  France  to  the  length  of  an 
ignoble  persecution — is  grounded  not  on 
anything  political,  but  on  fundamental 
divergence  in  moral  and  religious  ideas. 
The  governing  classes  appear  to  think 
that  man  has  no  hei-eafter,  and  that  his 
business  is  to  get  as  much  enjoyment  out 
of  his  short  term  of  life  here  as  he  can. 
Jieligious  men  and  women  know  that  the 
case  is  far  otherwise  ;  they  cannot  cease 
therefore  to  hold  up  the  teaching  of 
Christ  and  the  practice  of  the  saints  for 
human  instruction,  in  spite  of  any  im- 
pediments which  statesmen  may  throw 
in  their  way. 

ORDIKARir,  THE.  By  this  name, 
in  the  language  of  the  Church,  is  denoted 
the  diocesan  bishop,  "  who,  in  union  with 
the  common  Father  of  Christendom,  in 
virtue  of  the  mission  and  the  powers 
which  he  holds  from  our  Lord,  as  a  lawful 
successor  of  the  Apostles,  L=»  called  of 
common  right,  ywe  ordinario,  to  accom- 
plish the  Divine  work  of  the  sanctification 
of  the  faithful  in  the  diocese  over  which 
he  presides."  ^  The  ordinary  performs  all 
ecclesiastical  functions  —  teaching,  ad- 
ministering the  sacraments,  governing  the 
flock  of  Christ — in  his  own  right ;  priests 
perform  them  by  virtue  of  the  delegated 
right  wliich  they  derive  from  their  bishop. 
[See  Bishop,  Suferagan,  and  Coad- 
jutor.] 

ORBZir ATZOXr.  The  chief  rules  of 
law  concerning  the  collation  of  holy 
orders,  in  relation  to  Persons,  Times,  and 
Places,  form  the  subject  of  the  present 
article. 

Persons. — Women  are  incapable  of 
being  validly  ordained,  inasmuch  as  both 
the  healthy  natural  instincts  of  mankind 
and  positive  Apostolic  injunction  (1  Cor. 
xiv.  34;  1  Tim.  ii.  11)  require  that 
women  should  be  "  silent  in  the  churches." 
When  mention  is  made  in  the  "  Corpus 
Juris "  of  the  ordination  of  deaconesses,'^ 
this  is  to  be  understood  not  of  ordination 
properly  so  called,  but  of  a  special  bene- 
diction in  virtue  of  which,  in  convents  of 
women,  those  receiving  it  were  em- 
powered to  read  homilies  or  gospels 
before  the  community. 

To  receive   holy  orders  validly,  it  is 

1  Wetzer  and  Welte,  art.  by  Permaneder. 
*  Cap.  23,  caus.  27,  quaest.  1. 


ORDINATION 


629 


necessary  to  have  been  baptised  and,  at 
least  for  adults,  to  be  acting  voluntarily. 
To  receive  them  licitly,  it  is  necessary  to 
be  in  a  state  of  grace,  to  have  been  con- 
firmed,^ to  take  them  in  regular  order  and 
not  pel-  saltum,  not  to  be  irregular  [Irre- 
gularity],^ to  have  attained  the  canonical 
age  required,  to  be  under  no  censure,  to  be 
sufficiently  educated,^  to  be  ordained  either 
by  one's  own  bishop,  or,  if  otherwise,  with 
his  licence,  and  after  the  production  of  his 
dimissorial  letters  [Dimissorials],  and, 
lastly,  to  have  a  legitimate  and  sufficient 
titley  by  which  is  understood,  either  a 
benefice,  or  a  patrimony  adequate  to  a 
man's  support,  or  religious  poverty — i.e. 
the  poverty  which  religious  men  embrace 
by  vow.  AU  orders  in  the  regular  course 
of  things  are  conferred  by  bishops ;  but 
abbots  also  have  the  power — in  some 
cases  even  before  they  have  been  blessed — 
of  conferring  minor  ordera  on  their  own 
subjects  (subditi). 

Times. — The  canonical  age  required 
for  the  tonsure  and  the  three  lowest 
grades  of  orders  (ostiarius,  lector,  and 
exorcist)  is  seven  years  completed.  For 
the  acolyteship,  twelve  years  com.pleted. 
For  the  subdiaconate,  the  canonical  age 
is  22,  for  the  diaconate  23,  and  for  the 
priesthood  25 ;  in  these  three  cases  it  is 
the  commenced  not  the  completed  yep.r 
that  is  meant.  For  the  episcopate  the 
full  age  of  30  years  is  required. 

The  tonsure  can  be  conferred  on  any 
day,  at  any  hour,  and  in  any  place. 
Minor  orders  can  be  conferred  at  general 
ordinations,  and  also  on  any  Sunday  or 
holiday,'*  and  not  necessarily  during  Mass. 
Sacred  orders,  according  to  the  law,  can 
only  be  conferred  on  the  Saturdays  in 
the  four  Ember  weeks,  on  the  fifth 
Saturday  in  Lent,  or  on  Holy  Saturday, 
and  always  during  Mass.  But  since  the 
plenitude  of  the  Papal  authority  can  dis- 
pense with  any  positive  law,  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  orders  are  lawfully  conferred  on 
the  members  of  all  those  religious  orders 
which  have  received  a  special  privilege  of 
such  a  tenor  from  the  Holy  See  at  times 

1  Cone.  Trid.  sess.  xxiii.  4,  De  Ref. 

2  There  are,  however,  certain  cases  of  ir- 
regularity, incurred  for  no  very  grave  cause, 
in  which  the  bishop  can  give  a  dispensation 
and  then  ordain  licitly. 

5  In  the  Corpus  Juris  Pope  Gelasius  says  : 
"Let  none  presume  to  promote  illiterate  persons 
to  the  clerical  order,  for  one  who  is  destitute  of 
learning  cannot  be  fit  for  sacred  functions." 
See  also  Couc.  Trid.  sess.  xxiii.  4,  De  Ref. 

*  In  dioceses  where  a  special  custom  pre* 
vails  to  that  ettect,  minor  orders  can  be  given 
on  Fridays  or  on  an  Ember  Wednesday. 


680 


ORDO  ROMANUS 


other  than  those  named  by  the  law.  The 
episcopate  is  conferred  on  a  Sunday,  or 
on  the  festival  of  an  Apostle,  unless  a 
Papal  indult  has  authorised  the  choice  of 
some  other  day. 

Two  grades  of  sacred  orders — e.g.  the 
diaconate  and  the  subdiaconate — cannot 
be  conferred  on  the  same  day. 

On  the  intervals  to  be  observed  be- 
tween the  collation  of  the  various  grades, 
see  Intekstices. 

P/rtce.— The  Council  of  Trent  enjoined 
(sess.  XXV.  8,  De.  Ref.)  that  sacred  orders 
should  be  publicly  conferred  in  the  cathe- 
dral or  in  one  of  the  principal  churches  of 
the  diocese  in  the  presence  of  the  canons. 
Minor  orders  the  bishop  can  confer  in  his 
own  palace.  But  notwithstanding  the 
injunction  of  the  council,  custom  has  long 
sanctioned  the  collation  of  sacred  orders 
by  the  bishop  in  his  own  house  or  chapel, 
if  any  reasonable  cause  can  be  shown  for 
the  non-compliance  with  the  law.  (Fer- 
raris, Ordo,  Ordinare.) 

ORDO  ROMAirO'S.  Certain  ancient 
collections  of  ritual  prescriptions,  or 
rubrics,  as  observed  in  the  Roman  Church, 
bear  this  name.  They  are  represented  at 
the  present  day  by  the  Ceremoniale  and 
the  Pontiticale  Romanum  {q.v.)  The 
first  of  these  collections  which  appeared 
in  print  was  the  "  Ordo  Vulgatus  "  (1559) 
of  Melchior  Hittorp.  Towards  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century  Mabillon,  in 
his  "  Museum  Italicum,"  edited  fifteen 
"  Ordines,"  the  first  ten  ^  of  which  are  of 
great  but  uncertain  antiquity ;  of  the  last 
five  the  authors  and  dates  are  known. 
The  rubrics  and  directions  which  they 
contain  relate,  some  to  ordinary,  others 
tx)  extraordinary  ceremonies.  Of  the 
former  class  are  the  Papal  Mass,  the  Epis- 
copal Mass,  the  celebration  of  Baptism 
and  Extreme  Unction,  Ordinations,  the 
Communion  of  the  sick,  the  ceremonial  of 
the  last  three  days  of  Holy  Week,  Papal 
and  cardinalitial  functions  during  the 
offices  of  the  whole  year,  sacerdotal  func- 
tions on  all  ferias,  benedictions,  &c.,  &c. 
Of  the  second  class  are  the  election 
and  consecration  of  a  Pope,  the  corona- 
tion of  the  emperor  and  of  kings,  the 
creation  of  cardinals,  the  nomination  of 
legates,  canonisation,  &c.  (Wetzer  and 
Welte,  art.  by  Kober.) 

ORGAir  {opyavov,  organum)  is  used 
in  the  LXX  for  instruments  of  any  kind, 
but  especially  of  musical  instruments. 
It  occurs   not  only  as  the  rendering  of 

»  The  first  are  at  least  older  than  the  ninth 
century,  for  they  are  mentioned  by  Amalasius. 


ORGAN 

IJ-li;,  the  "pipe"  or  "flute,"  but  also 
of  "1*133  and  p^D,  which  were  stringed  in- 
struments (Ps.  cl.  4,  cxxxvii.  2 ;  Amos 
V.  23,  vi.  5).  Our  Latin  psalms  naturally 
conform  to  the  Septuagint  use  ;  but  the 
Vulgate,  so  far  as  it  is  Jerome's  indepen- 
dent work,  employs  the  word  much 
more  carefully.  There  "  organum  "  never 
means  a  stringed  instrument.  It  occurs 
fourteen  times  in  Jerome's  rendering  of 
the  Hebrew  text ;  three  times  it  repre- 
sents n>1j;,  a  "  pipe "  (Gen.  iv.  21 ;  Job 
xxi.  12,  XXX.  31)  ;  in  the  other  places  it 
is  the  generic  word  for  instruments  of  all 
kinds,  a  very  accurate  rendering  of  the 
Hebrew  D"*^?,  to  which  in  this  latter  case 
it  always  answers.  (So  1  Paral.  xv.  16  ; 
xvi.  6,  42  ;  xxiii.  5  ;  2  Paral.  v.  13  ;  vii. 
6;  xxiii.  13;  xxix.  20,  27;  xxx.  27; 
xxxiv.  12).  Aquila,  so  far  as  we  have 
observed,  anticipated  Jerome  in  accuracy 
on  this  point,  for  he  did  not  fall  into  the 
blunder  of  mistaking  with  the  LXX  the 
^'  pipe ''  of  Job  xxi.  12  for  a  harp  (see 
Field,  "Hexapl.  Orig."  tom.  ii.  p.  39). 
Nor,  again,  does  he  in  Amos  v.  23  and 
Ps.  cxxxvii.  2,  use  opyai/a  lor  the  stringed 
instruments  mentioned  there  (Field,  tom. 
ii.  pp.  074, 290).  Jerome  not  unfrequently 
imitated  Aquila,  and  he  may  have  done 
so  in  this  case. 

The  organ,  then,  in  the  Vulgate,  so  far 
as  it  means  a  definite  instrument  at  all,  is 
equivalent  to  pipe.  But  in  St.  Augus- 
tine's time,  as  appears  from  his  com- 
mentary on  Ps.  Ivi.  (Heb>  Ivii.),  it  was 
already  used  in  its  modern  sense.  He 
speaks  of  it  as  a  large  instrument  in 
which  the  wind  was  supplied  from 
bellows.  It  arose  from  a  development  of 
the  sj-rinx  or  set  of  pipes  bound  together. 
First  these  pipes  were  placed  m  a  box 
and  sounded  by  means  of  a  slide  which 
opened  the  hole  with  which  the  pipe  was 
connected.  The  invention  of  this  per- 
forated slide  is  attributed  to  Ctesibius. 
Then,  as  the  breath  of  the  musician  was 
not  enough  to  play  so  many  pipes,  wind 
was  supplied  by  bellows  worked  by  the 
hand  or  by  water.  Such  an  hydraulic 
organ  ("  organum  hydraulicum  ")  is  de- 
scribed by  TertuUian"  ("  De  Anima,"  14), 
who  attributes  the  invention  to  Archi- 
medes; and  there  is  also  a  well-known 
account  of  an  organ  with  a  bellows 
of  bull's  hide  in  an  epigram  by  Julian 
the  Apostate.  The  hydraulic  organ 
is  also  mentioned  by  Talmudical  writers, 
who  retain  the  word  uSpavXts  (D72'!I15|I)i 


ORGAN 


ORGAN 


631 


and  the  legend  adds  that  it  was  not 
allowed  in  the  temple  because  its 
soft  tones  spoilt  the  singing  (Ham- 
burger, "  Real  Encycl.  fiir  Bibel  und 
Talmud,"  p.  886).  In  757  the  Byzan- 
tine Emperor  Constantine  Copronymus 
sent  an  organ  to  Pepin,  and  another  was 
sent  to  Charlemagne  by  Constantine 
Michael  (references  in  Ducange,  mb  voc. 
"Organum").  A  little  later  Pope  John 
VIII.  begged  Anno,  bishop  of  Freising, 
to  send  him  an  organ,  with  some  one  able 
to  manage  it  (Mansi,  "  Ooncil."  torn.  xvii. 
col.  245).  The  derelopment  of  the  in- 
strument does  not  concern  us  here.  We 
only  observe  that  keys  were  introduced 
in  the  eleventh  century  and  pedals  in- 
vented in  the  fifteenth,  by  Bernard,  a 
German  in  the  service  of  the  Doge  of 
Venice,  and  pass  on  to  the  ecclesiastical 
use  of  the  organ. 

It  has  never  been  adopted  among  the 
Greeks  or  Orientals.  Ohrysostom  (in  Ps. 
cl.)  speaks  of  musical  instruments  gene- 
rally as  only  "permitted"  in  Jewish 
worship  "  on  account  of  their  weakness." 
Theodoret  (in  Ps.  cl.  5  and  6)  holds 
much  the  same  language^  while  the  author 
of  "  Quaest.  et  Respons.  ad  Orthodox.," 
once  attributed  to  Justin  Martyr,  but 
certainly  written  after  the  conversion  of 
the  empire,  says  expressly  that,  whereas 
instruments  were  allowed  in  the  temple, 
singing  only  without  instruments  is  per- 
mitted  in  Christian  churches.  ("  Respons. 
ad  Qusest."  107.)  The  Greeks  and  Rus- 
sians at  this  day  rigidly  follow  the  same 
rule.  ■ 

As  to  the  West,  we  may  at  once  put 
aside  the  fables  that  the  organ  was  intro- 
duced into  the  churches  by  Pope  Vitalian 
or  even  Pope  Damasus.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  it  was  the  presents  of  organs 
made  to  Pepin  and  Charlemagne  which 
led  to  the  Church  use  of  the  instruments. 
For  Walafrid  Strabo  in  the  middle  of  the 
ninth  century  gives  an  account  of  the 
organ  in  the  church  at  Aix- la-Chapelle, 
probably  the  very  organ  sent  to  Charle- 
magne from  Constantinople.  Its  tones 
were  so  sweet  and  powerful,  according  to 
this  writer,  that  they  caused  a  woman  to 
faint  and  die  (Walafr.  Strabo,  "  Carm.  de 
Apparatu  Eccles.  Aquisgranensis").  Fur- 
ther, it  has  been  shown  from  ancient 
charters  that  there  was  an  organ  in  the 
church  of  Verona  in  Charlemagne's  time. 
(Ughelli,  "  Italia  Sacra,"  tom.  v.  pp.  604, 
610.)  A  great  organ  with  fourteen  bellows 
and  400  pipes  was  built  by  Elfeg,  bishop 
of  Winchester,  for  the  Benedictine  abbey  | 


there  (Mabillon,  "  Annal.  Benedict."  tom 
vi.  p.  630),  and  another  at  Ramsey  is 
mentioned  in  the  life  of  Oswald,  arch- 
bishop of  York.  (Mab.  ih.  p.  727.) 
From  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries 
organs  were  usual  in  cathedral  and  mon- 
astic churches,  and  Bingham's  assertion 
("Antiq."  vii.  7,  §  14)  that  they  were 
unknown  there  till  after  the  time  of  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas  is  quite  erroneous. 
True  it  is,  however,  that  protests  were 
occasionally  made  against  the  use  of 
organs.  "  Whence,"  says  Aelred  ("  Spe- 
culum Caritatis,"  ii.  23),  "whence,  now 
that  types  and  figures  are  over,  so  many 
organs  and  cymbals  in  the  church  ? 
Wherefore  that  horrible  sound  of  bellows, 
more  like  thunder  than  the  sweetness  of 
the  voice  ?  "  More  remarkable  still  is  the 
opinion  of  St.  Thomas  (2  2ndse  xci.  2). 
He  is  answering  the  objection  that  as 
"  the  Church  does  not  use  musical  in- 
struments for  the  praise  of  God,  lest  it 
should  seem  to  Judaise,  so  by  parity  of 
reasoning  "  it  should  not  permit  singing. 
He  replies,  "musical  instruments"  such 
as  pipes,  harps,  &c.,  "  minister  to  de- 
light and  do  not  promote  virtue,  and 
were  only  permitted  to  the  Jews  because 
of  their  carnal  dispositions  ;  whereas 
singing  does  help  devotion."  It  is  evi- 
dent that  he  did  not  approve  of  instru- 
mental music.  In  the  Papal  chapel  it  has 
never  been  employed.  At  Trent  efibrts 
were  made  to  banish  all  music  from 
Mass,  but  the  majority  of  the  bishops, 
especially  the  Spaniards,  opposed  this 
measure  (Pallavicino,  "  Istoria  del  Concil. 
di  Trento,"  xviii.  6),  and  the  Council 
(sess.  xxii.  Decret.  de  Observ.  in  Celebr. 
Miss.)  simply  required  that  the  music 
should  be  grave  and  devout.  Similar  in- 
junctions were  made  by  Benedict  XIV.  in 
1749. 

The  use  of  the  organ  is  rejected  in 
orthodox  synagogues.  The  Protestants 
were  divided  on  the  matter ;  the  Luther- 
ans and  Anglicans  retaining,  the  "Re- 
formed" at  first  rejecting  it.  Thus,  it 
was  not  till  the  close  of  the  last  century 
that  organs  were  introduced  at  Berne,  and 
they  are  still  absent  in  most  of  the  Scotch 
Presbyterian  churches,  though  even  there 
a  change  has  begun. 

[Bingham,  and  the  articles  in  Wetzer 
and  Welte,  Smith  and  Cheetham,  Mr. 
Grove's  "  Dictionary  of  Music,"  have  been 
consulted.  But  we  have  found  by  far 
the  most  full  and  accurate  information 
in  Ersch  and  Griiber,  "  Conversation's 
Lexicon,"  article  OryelJl 


632 


ORIGEN 


ORIGINAL  SIN 


ORZCExr.    [See  Hell.]  I 

ORZGZxr  AX.  szir  is  the  sin  which 
we  inherit  by  natural  descent  from  Adam, 
oar   first  father.     The  Council  of  Trent  j 
(sess.  V.  Decret,  de  Peccato  Orig.)  defines,  j 
as    of   faith,   that   Adam   lost    original  ! 
justice  not  only  for  himself  but  also  for  i 
us ;  that  he  "  poured  sin,  which  is   the  \ 
death  of  the  soul,  into  the  whole  human  ' 
race,'   and  that  this  sin  comes,  not  by  ! 
imitation  of  Adam's  transgression,  but  by  I 
propagation    from    him.      Further,    the  | 
council  teaches  that  origiiml  sin  does  not 
consist  in  those  desires  and  temptations 
which  are  common  to  our  fallen  nature,  j 
because  they  remain  even  after  baptism,  | 
which  takes  away  original  sin ;  and  the 
council  condemns  the  error  of  Lutherans 
and  others  who  supposed  that  original  sin 
destroyed  free  will  and  made  man  incapa- 
ble  of   good   actions.     The    Fathers   of 
Trent,  as  Pallavicino  informs  us,  carefully 
abstained  from  interfering  in  the  scholastic 
disptites  on  this  point.     They  appeal  to 
St.  Paul,  particularly   in  Romans  v.  12 
seq.,   and   do   not   go   beyond   the  plain 
statements  of  Scripture.     But  it  will  be 
well  to  draw  out  the  common  teaching  of 
theologians,  putting  aside  for  the  present 
points  on  which  they  differ. 

God  made  Adam  the  representative  of 
all  who  were  to  descend  from  him  by 
natural  generation.  "  God,  who  had  made 
him  our  begimiing,  bad  made  all  depend  on 
him  for  himself  and  us .In  sin- 
ning, he  lost  all,  as  well  for  himself  as  for 
us."  (Bossuet, "  Defense  de  la  Tradition," 
p.  ii.  1.  ix.  cb.  12).  Had  he  persevered,  we 
should  have  been  born  in  original  j  ustice. 
As  it  is,  we  are  conceived  and  born  in  sin 
and  the  children  of  wrath.  Our  nature 
and  faculties  remain  entire  and  we  are 
still  capable  of  natural  good,  but  we  are 
left  without  grace,  and  therefore  without 
the  means  of  reaching  that  supernatural 
end  to  which  God  has  ordered  us.  "  The 
remission  of  this  sin  consists  in  being 
transplanted  into  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Just 
one,  and  the  Author  of  all  justice."  Thus 
St.  Thomas  places  the  essence  of  original 
sin  in  "the  privation  of  original  jus- 
tice," the  privation  not  the  mere  nega- 
tion, because  the  gifts  of  grace  are 
absolutely  necessary  for  us  in  order  that 
we  may  prepare  for  heaven.  Concu- 
piscence, or  the  rebellion  of  the  senses, 
though  not  original  sin,  or  in  itself  a 
sin  at  all,  is  still  a  consequence  of  the 
fall. 

Such  is  the  common  teaching  of  Catho- 
lic theologians,  for  the  opinion  of  Gregory 


of  Rimini  and  others,^  that  it  consists  in 
a  morbid  quality  transmitted  by  Adam,  is 
universally  rejected  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  views  held  by  Oatharinus  and 
Pighius/*  that  it  is  merely  the  actual  sin 
of  Adam  imputed  to  us,  does  not  seem  to 
satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  Triden- 
tine  definition.  And  so  understood,  the 
Catholic  doctrine,  mysterious  though  it 
is,  does  not,  like  that  of  the  Reformers, 
present  insuperable  difficulties  to  the 
moral  sense. 

For,  whereas  it  would  have  been  un- 
just had  God  deprived  us  of  the  gifts 
proper  to  our  nature,  withf>ut  actual  guilt 
on  our  part,  Catholics  hold  that  He  did 
nothing  of  the  sort.  Grace  is  in  no  way 
a  part  of,  or  due  to  human  nature.  It  is 
God's  free  gift.  He  gives  it  and  with- 
draws it  according  to  his  own  will.  We 
have  no  claims  to  possess  it,  no  ground 
of  complaint  if  it  is  taken  away.  Our 
natural  faculties  enable  us  to  know  and 
love  God  as  our  Creator  and  constant 
benefactor,  and  to  order  our  lives  aright. 
We  have  no  title  to  more. 

It  may  be  objected  that  God  has 
ordered  us  to  a  supernatural  end,  that  we 
cannot  choose  one  which  is  simply  natural, 
and  that  grace  is  our  only  means  of 
escaping  utter  misery.  This  is  true. 
But  God  condemns  none  to  misery  be- 
cause of  original  sin.  He  deprives  us  of 
original  justice  to  which  we  had  no  title, 
and  then  He  gives  all  abundant  oppor- 
tunity of  recovering  grace  and  entering 
h^ven  by  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  by 
becoming  new  men  in  Him.  God  ordered 
us,  first  of  all,  to  an  end  infinitely  above 
our  nature,  and  gave  us  by  his  free  gift 
original  justice  to  attain  it.  Adam  for- 
feited the  original  gift,  and  then  God, 
still  ordering  us  to  a  supernatural  end, 
and  having  no  will  to  impose  impossible 
commands,  gave  us  the  grace  of  our 
Redeemer  as  the  means  of  reaching  it. 
The  only  exception  occurs  in  the  case  of 
infants  who  die  without  baptism.  And 
they,  according  to  the  belief  now  uni- 
versally received,  far  from  being  miser- 
able, attain  natural  happiness  in  the  next 
world.    [See  Limbo.]  " 

The  doctrine,  then,  of  original  sin  is 
mysterious,  but  by  no  means  cruel  or 
unreasonable.  We  cannot  fuUy  under- 
stand the  manner  in  which  it  is  trans- 

1  "Nullo  modo  defendi  potest,"  Bellarmin 
says  ;  but  he  admits  it  was  held  by  Peter  Lom- 
bard, Henricus,  Grci^ory  of  Rimini,  and  Driedo. 
Bellarm.  De  Amiss.  Grat.  lib.  v.  cap.  16. 

>  See  Bellarm.  loc.  cit.  cap.  16. 


ORIGINAL  SIN 


ORIGINAL  SIN 


638 


mitted,  for  the  soul  comes  directly  from 
God,  not  from  the  parents.  But  here, 
too,  the  Catholic  doctrine  that  original 
sin  is  a  mere  privation,  not  a  positive 
quality,  comes  to  our  help.  God  cannot 
be  the  author  of  sin,  nor  can  He  stain 
the  souls  which  come  from  Him.  But 
He  can  and  does  infuse  souls  deprived  of 
original  justice-,  and  since  the  infusion 
follows  by  a  natural  law  on  the  generation 
of  the  body,  in  that  sense  natural  propa- 
gation may  be  rightly  called  the  cause  of 
original  sin. 

Theologians  differ  widely  on  the  con- 
sequences of  original  sin.  Undoubtedly 
concupiscence  flows  from  the  depriva- 
tion of  original  justice.  Had  Adam 
persevered,  our  bodily  appetites  would 
have  been  in  perfect  subjection  to  reason, 
our  reason  itself  to  God.  But  according 
to  the  stricter  Thomists,  by  the  rebellion 
of  the  flesh  consequent  on  original  sin, 
man  sinks  below  his  natural  state. 
Thomas  de  Lemos  (''Panopl.  Grat."  tract, 
de  Laesione  Lib.  Arbitr.)  insists  that, 
although  after  the  fall  nature  remains 
entire  "  as  to  its  essence  and  faculties,  it 
is  not  so  with  respect  to  the  natural  in- 
clination to  good."  (So  also  Alvarez, "  De 
Auxil.  Grat."  lib.  vi.  disp.  45.)  Both 
these  quotations  are  from  Kuhn  ("Dog- 
matic. Lehre  der  Gnade,"  i. p.  269).  Other 
great  theologians,  and,  as  we  think,  more 
reasonably,  look  on  man's  ignorance,  the 
rebellion  of  his  appetites,  &c.,  as  con- 
natural to  his  finite  and  composite  nature. 
In  Adam,  an  extraordinary  grace  perfectly 
restrained  appetites  which  reverted  after 
the  fall  to  their  natural  condition.  The 
opposite  theory  is  well  put  by  Bellarmin. 
When,  he  says,  the  supernatural  gift  was 
removed,  "  Human  nature,  left  to  itself, 
began  to  experience  that  struggle  between 
the  lower  and  higher  part,  which  Avould 
have  been  natural — i.e.  would  have  fol- 
lowed from  the  condition  of  matter,  had 
not  God  conferred  on  man  the  gift  of 
justice  over  and  above."  Human  nature, 
he  continues,  ''does  not  suffer  more  from 
ignorance  and  infirmity  than  it  would  do 
had  it  been  created  in  a  purely  natural 
state."  And  he  concludes :  "  The  corrup- 
tion of  nature  does  not  come  from  the 
want  of  any  natural  gift,  or  from  the 
accession  of  any  evil  quality,  but  simply 
from  the  loss  of  a  supernatural  gift  on 
account  of  Adam's  sin.  ("De  Gratia 
Primi  Hominis,"  apud  Mohler  "  Sym- 
bolik,"  p.  64.) 

The  Doctrine  in  Scripture. — The  Old 
Testament  never  asserts  that  we  sinned 


in  Adam,  or  even  inherited  sinfulness 
from  him.  But  Ps.  li.  (1.)  7,  "  Behold,  in 
guilt  I  was  brought  forth,  and  in  sin  my 
mother  conceived  me,"  '*  contains  the 
basis  of  the  doctrine,  inasmuch  as  it  re- 
gards sinfulness  as  something  inborn,  and 
so  not  as  resulting  from  the  abuse  of  free- 
dom "  (Hupfeld,  ad  loc).  Job  expresses 
the  same  idea,  though  less  distinctly. 
"  Who  can  bring  pure  from  unclean  P  Not 
one"  (xiv.  4).  In  Wisdom  ii.  23,  24, 
death  is  said  to  have  entered  into  the 
world  "  by  the  envy  of  the  devil,"  and 
the  Rabbins  ^  developed  the  doctrine  that 
all  had  sinned  and  incurred  death,  because 
represented  by  Adam  and  so  implicated 
in  his  sin.  Even  this,  however,  is  less 
than  the  doctrine  of  original  sin. 

In  St.  Paul  we  have  the  first  explicit 
statement  of  the  doctrine.  "  As  through 
one  man  sin  came  into  the  world,  and 
death  by  sin,  and  so  death  penetrated  to 
all  men,  because  "^  all  sinned.  (The  con- 
struction breaks  off"  here.)  For  until  the 
law,  sin  was  in  the  world,  but  sin  is  not 
reckoned  if  there  is  no  law ;  but  sin 
reigned  from  Adam  to  Moses,  even  on 
those  who  did  not  sin  after  the  likeness  of 
the  transgression  of  Adam,  who  is  a  type 
of  the  one  to  come.  But  not  as  the 
trespass,  so  also  the  gift  of  grace.  For  if 
by  the  trespass  of  one  the  many  died, 
much  more  the  grace  and  the  gift  in  the 
grace  of  the  one  man  Jesus  Christ  abounded 
to  the  many." 

It  may  safely  be  maintained  that 
Pelagius  and  many  other  writers  ancient 
and  modern,  who  understand  St.  Paul  to 
speak  only  of  actual  sin  by  which  men 
imitate  Adam,  distort  the  grammar  and 

1  The  Rabbinical  names  for  original  sin  are 
"the  sin  of  the  first  man"  (ms  ^{tD^ 
|1K^K'in)>  "the  pollution  of  the  serpent"  (t^DHV 
K^hJ  h^)'  Th®  Targum  on  Ruth  iv.  22 
alleges  that  David's  father,  having  no  sin  of  hi» 
own,  died  on  account  of  the  counsel  given  to  Eve 
by  the  serpent,  for  whicn  all  the  generations  of 
the  earth  were  condemned  to  death.  Levy, 
C/iafddisches  Worterbuch,  sub  voc.  Xt^''^;  quotes 

a  similar  statement  from  Baba  Bathra,  17  a, 
respecting  Benjamin,  Amram,  father  of  Moses, 
Jesse,  father  of  David,  and  Kilab,  David's  son. 
These  four  were  personally  sinless,  and  died  for 
the  counsel  of  the  serpent. 

^  €<|)'  cJ  cannot  mean  in  quo,  '*  in  whom  "  (e»/  ^), 
as  the  Vulgate  renders  it.  But  the  Valgate 
rendering  does  not  alter  the  dogmatic  sense. 
Estius  defends  the  Vulgate  rendering  on  insuf- 
ficient grounds,  but  with  great  moderation. 
"  Tolerari  potest "  is  his  verdict  on  our  render- 
ing. Bossuet  (loc.  cit.  liv.  vii.  eh.  12  $eq.)  is 
far  more  severe. 


634 


ORIGINAL  SIN 


sense  of  the  passage.  For  (a)  St.  Paul 
describes  a  momentary  act  of  sin  "  because 
all  sinned"  {ij^iaprov) — i.e.  in  Adam.  Not 
"  have  sinned,  or  were  sinning."  (/3)  It  is 
not  true  thjyt  death  is  universal  because  all 
have  actually  sinned.  Millions  have  died 
before  they  were  capable  of  sin.  (y)  The 
parallel  between  the  two  Adams  would 
be  destroyed  on  the  Pelagian  interpreta- 
tion. Not,  in  the  first  instance,  by  the 
imitation  of  Christ,  but  by  the  reconcilia- 
tion (see  V.  II)  which  Christ's  death 
etlected,  we  are  saved  ;  just  so,  not  by  fol- 
lowing Adam's  example,  but  by  an  act 
external  to  us  on  the  part  of  the  former 
Adam,  we  were  lost,  (b)  St.  Paul  argues 
that  there  could  be  no  trespass  against 
law — i.e.  law  externally  promulgated — 
between  Adam  and  Moses,  because  no  such 
law  was  given  except  to  a  few.  Men 
in  that  interval  did  not  sin  like  Adam 
by  actual  transgression  of  positive  law. 
Yet  they  died  because  they  sinned  in  Adam 
their  head. 

The  Tradition  of  the  Church.— The 
forcible  teaching  of  St.  Paul  was,  as 
everybody  knows,  f  uUy  appreciated  by  St. 
Augustine.  It  is  useless  to  multiply  cita- 
tions, but  we  may  give  one  passage  ("  En- 
chirid."  cap.  10)  which  fairly  represents 
the  form  in  which  he  constantly  expresses 
the  doctrine.  "  He  [Adam],  exiled  after 
sin,  bound  his  offspring  also,  which  by 
sinning  he  had  corrupted  as  it  were  in  the 
root,  under  the  penalty  of  death  and  con- 
demnation, so  that  all  progeny  born  of 
himself  and  his  wife  the  occasion  of  his 
sin  and  partner  in  his  condemnation  by 
concupiscence  of  the  flesh,  in  which  con- 
cupiscence his  disobedience  met  a  punish- 
ment like  itself,  should  draw  to  itself 
original  sin,  and  thence  be  drawn  through 
diverse  errors  and  pains  to  that  last  and 
endless  torture  with  the  angels  who  de- 
serted and  corrupted  [others],  and  with 
those  who  inherit  and  share  in  their 
portion." 

Here  we  have  the  doctrine  distinctly 
formulated  that  all  men  sinned  in  Adam, 
and  that  we  are  condemned  because  of  him, 
and  it  is  very  hard  to  produce  testimonies 
which  touch  this,  the  central  point  at 
issue,  from  Ante-Nicene  Fathers.  Iren- 
seus  (ii.  1%  4)  speaks  of  "infants"  as 
born  again  to  God,  and  of  Christ  aa 
"  sanctifying  infants."  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria ("Strom."  iii.  9,  p.  640)  connects 
the  fact  of  physical  death  with  Adam's 
sin.  Tertullian  holds  that  Adam  not 
only  imparted  death  to  his  descendants, 
but  also  infected  all  who  sprang  from  him 


OSTIARIUS 

with  lust,  and  generally  with  a  morbid 
inclination  to  sin  ("  Testimon.  An,"  3; 
"De  Pud."  6  J  "De  Jejun."  3;  "Adv. 
Marc."  i.  22,  v.  17).  Origen  admits  a 
natural  inclination  to  sin  (nduTes  fxev 
ol  livdpwTTOi  npos  TO  afiaprdveiv  necfiVKapev) 
"  C.  Cels."  iii.  62-64,  iv.  40  (where  see  a 
catena  of  passages  from  Ante-Nicene 
Fathers  in  Spencer's  note) ;  and,  "  In 
Levit."  Hom.  viii.  3,  which  only  exists  in 
the  Latin  version,  he  infers  from  the  cus- 
tom of  baptising  infants  their  need  of 
purification.  "  In  Levit."  xii.  4,  he 
attributes  the  corruption  of  nature  to  the 
fact  that  men  derive  their  bodies  from 
their  parents  by  natural  generation.  Cy- 
prian, like  Tertullian,  traces  sin  and  death 
to  the  fall("De  Bono  Patient."  17 ;  cf. 
"  Testimon."  iii.  54),  but  he  goes  in  one 
passage  far  beyond  Tertullian.  Adults, 
he  says,  be  their  sins  ever  so  great,  are 
not  to  be  deterred  from  baptism,  much 
less  infants,  who  "  have  committed  no 
sin,"  but  only  "by  carnal  descent  from 
Adam  have  contracted  the  infection  of 
ancient  death,"  and,  in  whose  case,  "  not 
their  own  sins,  but  those  of  another,  are 
remitted  ("  remittuntur  non  propria  sed 
aliena  peccata,"  Ep.  Ixiv.). 

The  above  account  has  been  made 
from  private  notes,  and  the  conclusion  to 
which  it  leads  is  confirmed  by  the  greatest 
historical  authorities.  Petavius  ("  De  In- 
carnat."  xiv.  2)  says  the  Greek  Fathers 
speak  little,  and  then  not  clearly,  about 
original  sin,  and  that  Augustine  was  tlie 
first  among  the  Latins  to  treat  the  matter 
accurately.  Cardinal  Newman  is  of  the 
same  mind,  and  he  quotes  Petavius, 
Jansenius,  Walch,  "  men  of  such  different 
schools  that  we  may  surely  take  their 
agreement  as  a  proof  of  the  fact."  ("  De- 
velopment," p.  22.)  Bossuet,  indeed  (loc. 
cit.  liv.  viii.),  argues  vigorously,  but  with 
small  success,  on  the  other  side.  It 
is  enough  for  Catholics  to  show,  as  they 
certainly  can,  that  their  belief  in  the  doc- 
trine is  due,  not  to  St.  Augustine,  but  to 
St.  Paul. 

ORTHODOX       CHITRCH.  [See 

Greek  Schismatic  Church.] 

ORTHOSOX'Sr,  FEAST  OF.  [See 
Iconoclasts.] 

OSTZA&XVS,  or  Doorkeeper,  holds 
the  lowest  of  the  minor  orders  in  the 
Latin  Church.  His  office  was  more  im- 
portant in  ancient  times  before  the  con- 
version of  the  Roman  Empire.  He  had 
to  prevent  the  heathen  from  entering  and 
disturbing  the  service,  to  keep  the  laity 
separate   from    the    clergy,   men    from 


OSTIARIUS 

women,  and  to  see  generally  that  decorum 
was  maintained.  He  had  to  guard  the 
church  and  all  that  it  contained,  to  open 
the  church  and  sacristy  at  certain  hours, 
to  open  the-  book  for  the  preacher,  &c. 
(Ohardon,  "Hist,  des  Sacr."  torn.  v. 
ch.  2.) 

The  office  is  mentioned  by  Pope 
Cornelius  in  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury (Euseb.  "  H.  E."  vi.  43),  and  in  the 
very  ancient  collection  of  canons  com- 
monly but  wrongly  attributed  to  the 
Fourth  Council  of  Carthage,  in  398.  The 
rite  of  ordination  is  the  same  as  that  in 
the  Roman  Pontifical.  The  bishop  gives 
the  keys  to  the  persons  ordained,  saying, 


PALLIUM 


635 


"  Go  act,  as  having  to  render  God  an 
account  of  the  things  locked  'by  these 
keys."  In  the  present  rite  the  ostiarius 
is  led  by  the  archdeacon  to  the  church 
doors  ;  he  locks  and  opens  them  and  rings 
the  bells.  Neither  of  these  two  ceremonies 
is  mentioned  in  the  Carthaginian  canons 
or  in  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary.  The 
former,  however  (the  opening  of  the 
doors),  is  very  ancient,  being  given  in  the 
Gregorian  Sacramentary  and  in  some  very 
ancient  MSS.  Of  the  latter  (ringing  the 
bells)  no  trace  is  found  in  ancient  Pon- 
tificals. In  the  time  of  Charlemagne  and 
Amalarius  (a.d.  820),  it  was  the  priest's 
business  to  ring  the  bells. 


PiVIiEA..  Certain  canons  in  the  De- 
cretum  of  Gratian  [Canox  Law],  about 
fifty  in  number,  have  the  superscription 
"  Palea."  Some  have  considered  this  to 
be  a  part  of  the  word  "  Paucopalea,"  the 
name  of  one  of  Gratian 's  disciples ;  others 
have  thought  that  these  canons  (which  in 
the  MSS,  of  the  Decretum  usually  appear 
in  the  margin),  as  treating  of  matters  of 
slight  importance,  were  hence  called 
"palea,"  chaff.  But  as  many  of  these 
canons  refer  to  matt-ers  of  the  highest 
importance,  this  derivation  appears  inad- 
missible. Whatever  be  the  origin  of  the 
name,  it  is  certain  that  in  the  oldest 
MSS.  of  the  Decretum  the  Paleae  are  few, 
that  in  those  of  later  date  they  become 
numerous,  and  that  in  practice  they  are 
of  equal  authority  with  the  canons  known 
to  have  been  compiled  by  Gratian  him- 
self. 

IPAJmImA..  a  smaU  cloth  of  linen 
used  to  cover  the  chalice  and  usually 
stiffened  with  cardboard,  &c.  The  upper 
/part  may  be  cove-ed  with  silk  (S.O.R., 
January  10,  1852).  Part  of  the  corporal 
used  to  be  employed  for  the  covering  of 
the  chalice,  but  Innocent  III.  mentions 
the  palla  as  distinct  from  the  corporal. 
(Benedict  XIV.  "De  Miss."  I.  v.  6.) 

PAXiZilUllI.  A  band  of  white  wool 
worn  on  the  shoulders.  It  has  two 
strings  of  the  same  material  and  four 
purple  crosses  worked  on  it  It  is  worn 
by  the  Pope  and  sent  by  him  to  patriarchs, 
primates,  archbishops,  and  sometimes, 
though  rarely,  to  bishops  as  a  token 
that  they  possess  the  "fulness  of  the 


episcopal  office."  Two  lambs  are  brought 
annually  to  the  Church  of  St.  Agnes  at 
Rome  by  the  Apostolic  subdeacons  while 
the  "  Agnus  Dei  "  is  being  sung.  These 
lambs  are  presented  at  the  altar  and  re- 
ceived by  two  canons  of  the  Lateran 
Church.  From  this  wool  the  pallia  are 
made  by  the  nuns  of  Torre  de'  Specchi. 
The  subdeacons  lay  the  pallia  on  the  tomb 
of  St.  Peter,  where  they  remain  all  night. 
A  bishop  cannot,  strictly  speaking,  assume 
the  title  of  patriarch,  archbishop,  &c., 
cannot  convoke  a  council,  consecrate 
bishops,  ordain  clerics,  consecrate  chrism 
or  churches,  till  he  has  received  the  pall. 
He  is  bound,  if  he  is  elected  to  a  see  of 
metropolitan  or  higher  rank,  to  beg  the  pal- 
lium from  the  Pope,  **ingtanter,  instantius, 
instantissme,"  within  three  months  after 
his  consecration  or  from  his  confirmation, 
if  he  was  already  a  bishop  and  has  come 
to  the  metropolitan  see  by  translation. 
Meanwhile,  he  can  depute  another  bishop 
to  consecrate  if  he  has  in  due  time  ap- 
plied for  the  pallium.  He  receives  it 
from  the  hands  of  another  bishop,  dele- 
gated by  the  Pope  after  taking  an  oath 
of  obedience  to  the  latter,  and  wears  it  on 
certain  gi-eat  feasts,  a  list  of  which  is 
given  in  the  Pontifical.  He  cannot  trans- 
mit it  to  his  successor  or  wear  it  out  of 
his  own  patriarchate,  province,  &c.  If 
translated,  he  must  beg  for  another  pal- 
lium. The  pallium  or  pallia,  if  he  has 
received  more  than  one,  are  buried  with 
the  bishop  to  whom  they  were  given. 

The  early  history  of  the  pallium  is 
involved  in  hopeless  obscurity.     We  take 


636 


PALLIUM 


PALM  SUNDAY 


the  following  facts  from  Chardon  ("  Hist. 
des  Sacr,"  torn.  v.  De  I'Ordre,  ch.  ix.). 
Pallium  is  the  Latin  name  for  the 
i^ariov  or  loose  upper  garment  of  the 
Greeks.^  Among  the  Romans,  the  use 
of  the  pallium  was  specially  affected  by 
philosophers,  and  afterwards  by  Christian 
ascetics  (see  Tertullian's  treatise  "  De 
Pallio").  Two  great  critics — viz.  De 
Marca  and  Baluze — believed  that  the  pal- 
lium was  first  given  to  bishops  as  a  mark 
of  special  dignity  by  the  emperors.  It  is 
true  Pope  Vigilius  would  not  grant  the 
pallium  to  Auxanius  and  Aurelian,  arch- 
bishops of  Aries,  without  the  emperor's 
consent.  Gregoiy  the  Great  took  the 
same  precantiou  in  granting  it  to  Sy.igrius, 
bishop  of  Autun.  But  this  deference  to 
the  imperial  will  arose  from  the  difficult 
circumstances  of  the  time,  and  De  Marca 
admits  that  Gregory,  before  he  had  been 
calumniated  to  Maurice,  gave  the  pallium 
to  Vigilius  of  Aries  without  consulting 
the  emperor.'^ 

We  may  dismis3  the  doubtful  state- 
ment of  Anastasius  (ninth  century)  that 
the  Pope  Marcus  (d.  336)  gave  the  pal- 
lium to  the  Bishop  of  Ostia,  and  the 
mention  of  the  pallium  in  the  spurious 
donation  of  Oonstantine.  In  all  proba- 
bility the  pallium  was  at  first  an  orna- 
ment of  prelates  (probably  of  metro- 
politans), and  had  no  special  connection 
with  Rome.  See  the  synod  of  Macon 
(anno  581),  canon  6,  which  forbids  arch- 
bishops to  say  Mass  without  the  pallium, 
though  it  is  certain  that  then  the  French 
metropolitans,  as  such,  did  not  get  their 
pallia  from  Rome. 

The  Pope  then  wore  the  pallium  as  a 
mark  of  his  own  authority,  and  an  ex- 
amination of  the  Liber  Diumus  makes  it 
probable  that  he  sent  it  to  suburbican 
bishops— ?'.e.  bishops  in  the  provinces  near 
Rome,  over  whom  the  Pope  exercised  a 
specially  immediate  authority.  The  send- 
ing of  it  marked  the  special  dependence  of 
tliese  b'shops  on  the  Pope.  Next,  the 
Popes  granted  the  Roman  pallium  to 
vicars-apostolic — i.e.  to  their  representa- 
tives in  distant  provinces.  The  first  certain 
example  of  such  a  concession  is  the  grant 
of  a  pallium  to  St.  Csesarius  of  Aries  by 
Pope    Symmachus  in    613.      Thus   the 

1  It  was  tucked  round  the  neck  in  running 
or  other  active  exercise.  Hence  perhaps  the 
origin  of  the  present  form. 

2  A  «'ecree  <>f  Valentinian  Til.  (anno  432), 
gi-ants    the   di'/nity  of   archbishop  and  honor 

eiUii  to  the  prelate  holding  the  see  ot  R.ivenna. 
aronius  and  Bona  deny  the  authenticity  of 
this  decree. 


Roman  pallium  came  to  be  regarded  as  a 
special  mark  of  honour  and  was  eagerly 
coveted  by  bishops.  Gregory  the  Great 
granted  it  to  Syagrius  of  Autun,  to  the  two 
metropolitan  bishops  in  England  (Canter- 
bury and  York),  &c.  This  ('hardon  calls 
"the  third  degree  in  the  fn-tuues  of  the 
pallium."  Next  a  rule  was  made  at  a 
general  synod  of  Franks  under  St.  Boni- 
face in  747,  that  metropolitans  must  ask 
the  pallium  from  Rome.  This  law  was 
not  always  regarded.  It  was  enforced, 
however,  in  a  capitulary  of  Charlemagne, 
and  after  that  always  or  nearly  always 
observed  in  the  Prankish  Empire. 

In  877,^  the  great  synod  of  Ravenna 
under  John  Vlll.,  representing  all  Italy, 
required  (cap.  i.)  metropolitans  to  de- 
mand the  Roman  pallium  personally  or 
by  deputy  within  three  months  of  their 
consecration.  Otherwise,  they  could  not 
consecrate  other  bishops,  and  were  liable, 
after  three  monitions,  to  deposition.  The 
Pope  insisted  on  this  rule  being  kept  in 
France.  The  rule  was  soon  afterwards  es- 
tablished throughout  the  West,  except  in 
Ireland,  where  the  pallium  was  unknown 
even  in  St.  Malachi's  time,  as  appears 
from  St.  Bernard's  life  of  that  saint. 
Innocent  III.  forbade  even  the  assump- 
tion of  the  name  of  archbishop  till  the 
pallium  had  been  obtained,  and  the  decree 
forms  part  of  the  "  Corpus  Juris." 

In  the  East,  the  Patriarchs  gave  a 
sort  of  pallium  (wfiocjiopiov)  to  their 
metropolitans.  Alter  the  time  of  the 
Crusades,  the  Fourth  Lateran  Council 
(canon  6)  required  even  patriarchs  to 
receive  the  pallium  from  the  Pope. 

To  sum  up,  the  pallium  was  an  orna- 
ment of  metropolitans,  given  to  them 
perhaps  from  early  times  by  the  patri- 
archs and  by  the  Pope  in  that  compara- 
tively narrow  district  which  was  under 
his  most  immediate  supervision.  Then  the 
Pope  gave  it  to  his  vicars  in  distant 
parts,  then  as  a  mark  of  special  honour 
j  to  some  bishops,  then  he  required  all 
Western  metropolitans  to  ask  it  from 
him  before  exeicising  their  I'unctions  as 
archbishops,  and  finally  the  rule  was  ex- 
tended even  to  patrinrchs. 

PAliM  sxJirJiJL-Y.  The  Sunday 
before  Easter,  on  which  the  Church  cele- 
brates Christ's  entry  into  Jerusalem.  The 
I  name,  "Palm  Sunday"  ("Dominica  in 
}  Palmas,"  or  "  ad  Palmas,"  ^atatv  topri}), 
is  ancient,  for  it  occurs  in  the  "  Life  of 
Euthymius  "  (died  472),  and  is  spoken  of 

1  Nicolas  I. had  made  a  still  more  stringent 
rule,  but  only  for  Bulgaria. 


PARABOLANI 

M  a  prreat  day  by  Isidore  of  Seville. 
According  to  our  present  rite,  palms  or 
olive-branches  are  blessed  by  the  celebrant 
before  Mass,  and  distributed  to  the  faith- 
ful ;  the  clergy  walk  in  procession  through 
the  church  and  pass  outside.  Then  can- 
tors enter  the  church,  leaving  the  rest 
without ;  the  hymn,  "  Gloria,  laus,  et 
honor,"  is  sung,  both  parties,  those  within 
and  those  without,  taking  part.  At  last 
the  subdeacon  knocks  at  the  door  with 
the  shaft  of  the  processional  cross,  and 
the  whole  body  march  up  the  church. 
The  Greeks  have  a  procession  with  palms 
at  matins. 

Martene  denies  that  any  trace  of  the 
processica  can  be  found  before  the  eighth 
century,  and  he  seems  txi  be  perfectly  right, 
in  spite  of  Merati's  elaborate  attempt 
(Tom.  II.  pars.  iv.  tit.  7)  to  produce 
earlier  testimonies.  Merati  shows  that 
the  name  Palm  Sunday  occurs  in  an 
ancient  Roman  Calendar  published  by 
Martene  himself  in  his  "  Anecdota,"  and 
dating  from  the  fourth  or  fifth  century  ; 
that  ^St.  Ad  helm  (709)  mentions  the 
singing  of  the  "  Ozanna  ; "  and  that  in  a 
prayer  in  the  most  ancient  MS.  of  the 
Gregorian  Sacramentary  (tenth  century) 
there  is  an  allusion  to  the  practice  the 
faithful  had  of  coming  to  the  church  with 
palms.  These  instances  clearly  are  not  to 
the  point.  In  an  "  order  "  observed  in 
a  German  monastery,  and  ascribed  by 
Mabillon  to  the  year  800  arc,  the  pro- 
cession is  mentioned,  and  so  in  Pseudo- 
Alcuin  (tenth  century). 

In  ancient  times  those  who  were  to  be 
baptised  on  Holy  Saturday,  called  "com- 
petentes,"  heard  the  whole  Creed  ex- 
plained on  this  Sunday.  Hence  its  old 
name,  "Pascha  petitum  s.  competen- 
tium." 

PARABOZiANX  (Gr.  TTCtpaliaWeaOai, 
to  expose  oneself  to  danger.  The  word  "  para- 
bolani,"  vnth  its  Latin  suffix,  was  evidently 
formed  from  trapd^oKoi,  "dare-devils,"  the 
men  who  for  money  fought  with  wild 
beasts  in  the  amphitheatre).  The  '*para- 
bolani,"  a  class  of  lay  as.<-'istants  to  the 
clergy,  principally  engaged  in  looking 
after  the  sick  and  attending  to  funerals, 
are  frequently  mentioned  by  writers  of  the 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  centuries.  Gibbon 
describes  them  as  a  charitable  corporation 
originally  founded  in  the  time  of  the 
Emperor  Gallienus.^  They  were  very 
numerous  at  Alexandria,  and  seem  to  have 
formed  a  kind    of    body-guard    to    the 

*  Decline  and  Fall,  ch.  xlvii. 


PARASCEVE 


637 


patriarch  Cyril  at  the  time  of  his  contest 
with  the  prefect. 

PARACZiETZ!  (napaKk-qro^') .  A  word 
used  four  times  in  St.  John's  Gospel  (xiv. 
16,  26;  XV.  26;  xvi.  7)  as  a  name  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  once  in  his  first  Epistle 
(ii.  1)  of  Christ.  It  is  found  nowhere 
else  in  the  N.T.  and  nowhere  in  the  LXX. 
The  Vulgate  rendering  in  the  Gospel  is 
Paracletus,  in  the  Epistle  Ad  vocatus  ;  and 
Paraclete  (usually  Paraclitus)  is  a  common 
title  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  Breviary. 
The  Rhemish  follows  the  Latin. 

Aquila  gives  TrapaKkrjToi  as  a  rendering 
of  "comforters"  (D^PDSP),  Job  xvi.  2, 
where  the  LXX  more  rightly  has 
TrapaKXrjTopes.  Origen,  "  De  Princip.''  ii. 
4,  in  the  version  of  Rutinus,  says  the 
word  when  used  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
means  comforter  ("  a  consolatione  dicitur 
Paraclesis  enim  Latine  consolatio  dicitur  "). 
This  interpretation,  though  widely  adopted 
by  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers,  is  surely 
erroneous.  The  word  means  "  one  called 
in,"  an  advocate  or  pleader.  This  ap- 
pears from  the  passive  form,  the  constant 
classical  use,  the  undoubted  sense  in 
1  John  ii.  1  (though  even  there  the 
Greek  Fathers  take  it  as  "comforter"), 
and  the  use  of  the  word  in  Rabbinical 
writers  (see  t^^'pplB  in  Buxtorf.)^  The 
Holy  Ghost  pleads  the  Christian  cause 
against  the  world  (John  xv.  8),  and 
Christ's  with  the  Christian  (xiv.  26;  xv. 
26;  xvi.  14). 

PARADISE  (D^^ID).  An  old  Persian 
word  adopted  at  an  early  date  by  the 
Hebrews.  It  only  occurs  three  times  in 
the  Old  Testament,  and  always  means 
simply  "a  park"  (Cant.  iv.  13;  Neh.  .ii. 
8 ;  Eccl.  ii.  6,  pi.).  In  the  LXX  (Gen. 
ii.  8)  and  Peshito  it  is  used  for  that  par- 
ticular garden  or  park  in  which  Adam 
and  Eve  were  placed;  and  in  the  later 
Jewish  theology  for  that  part  of  Hades 
which  was  inhabited  by  the  souls  of  the 
just,  and  which  we  call  "Limbo."  In 
this  sense  it  occurs  in  Luc.  xxiii.  43. 
Lastly,  in  2  Cor.  xii.  4 ;  Apoc.  ii.  7,  it 
means  "  heaven,"  or  "  a  part  of  heaven." 
[See  Heaven^,  and  Limbo.] 

PARASCEVz:  {napaa-KevT]),  "pre- 
paration"— i.e.  for  the  Sabbath  and  so 
equivalent  to  Friday.  It  is  retained  in 
the  Missal  as  a  name  for  Good  Friday. 

1  He  quotes,  e.ff.,  a  gloss  on  the  Pirke  Avoth. 
ii. :  "  A  paraclete  is  a  good  mediator  for  a  man 
to  a  king ;  "  "  If  he  has  good  paracletes  he  will 
be  delivered;  "  "  Penance  and  good  works  are 
a  man's  paracletes  in  the  heavenly  judgment," 

&C. 


638 


PASCHAL  CANDLE 


PASSIONISTS 


PASCBAXi  CAM-DZ.B.    [See  Holy 

AVeek.] 

PASCBAIi  COlflTTROVERS-r.  [See 

Easter.] 

p ASCBAX.  PRBCEPT.    [See  Com- 

MTJNIOIT.] 

PASSZOir  SUN-BAT.  The  Sunday 
before  Palm  Sunday.  With  Passion  Sun- 
day the  more  solemn  paxt  of  Lent  begins  ; 
the  images  are  veiled  with  violet  at  the 
first  vespers;  the  Judica  psalm  and  the 
Gloria  Patri  are  omitted  at  the  Introit, 
&c.  The  name  Passion  Sunday  is  ancient, 
but  we  have  been  able  to  find  no  ancient 
or  even  mediaeval  author  who  mentions 
the  veiling  of  the  images.  None  is  quoted 
by  Gavantus  or  Meratus.  It  is  said  to 
refer  to  the  last  words  of  the  Gospel  for 
the  day.  "  Jesus  autem  abscondit  se  et 
exivit  a  templo." 

PASSZOnrzsTS.  Their  full  title  is, 
"  Congregation  of  the  Discalced  Clerks  of 
the  most  holy  Cross  and  Passion  of  our 
Loi-d  Jesus  Christ."  Their  founder,  St. 
Paul  of  the  Cross,^  bom  near  Genoa  in 
1694,  put  on  the  habit  of  the  order  in 
1720,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Bishop 
of  Alessandria,  Monsignor  Gastinara. 
The  dress  resembles  that  worn  by  regular 
clerks;  over  the  soutane  hangs  a  heart, 
suspended  from  the  neck,  with  a  cross 
above  it ;  a  black  leathern  strap  is  round 
the  waist.  In  1721,  having  compiled  the 
constitutions  •  which  he  wished  his  fol- 
lowers to  observe,  Paul  went  to  Rome  in 
order  to  obtain  sanction  for  his  proceed- 
ings. This  sanction  was  withheld  for 
many  years,  in  the  course  of  which  Paul 
was  ordained  priest  and  employed  on 
various  works  of  charity  in  Rome.  All 
obstacles  being  at  length  removed,  he 
established  the  first  monastery  of  his 
congregation  at  Argentaro,  near  Orbitello, 
in  1737.  The  rules  of  the  society  were 
confirmed  by  Benedict  XIV.  in  1741. 
Clement  XIV.  showed  the  Fathers  marked 
favour,  and  conferred  on  them  the  house 
and  church  Op  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo  on 
the  Ccelian  Hill.  Here  the  holy  founder 
took  up  his  abode,  and  here  (1775)  he 
died.  The  congregation  rapidly  extended 
itself  after  his  death,  but  for  some  time 
within  the  limits  of  Italy  only.  But  Paul's 
most  settled  purpose,  and  the  subject  of  his 
impassioned  longing,  had  been  to  work  and 

Sray  for  the  conversion  of  England.  His 
esire  was  in  part  fulfilled  when,  in  1842, 
his  followers  obtained  a  footing  in  Great 
Britain.  Their  provincial  was  Father 
Ignatius  Spencer,  a  convert  from  Angli- 
canism.   There  are  now  five  Passionist 


houses  in  England — at  Highgate,  Broad- 
way, Harborne,  Sutton,  and  St.  Helen's; 
two  in  Ireland — Mount  Argus,  near  Dub- 
lin, and  Belfast ;  and  one  in  Scotland — 
Glasgow.  The  congregation  has  for  many 
years  had  the  spiritual  charge  of  those 
Catholics  in  Bulgaria  and  Roumania, 
about  10,000  in  number,  who  adhere  to 
the  Latin  rite.  They  have  also  housas  in 
Belgium  and  in  New  South  Wales. 

The  life  of  a  Passionist  is  very  austere. 
They  fast  three  days  in  every  week, 
besides  Advent  and  Lent ;  they  wear 
nothing  on  their  feet  but  sandals;  they 
rise  at  night  to  say  Matins,  and,  indeed, 
recite  the  ofiice  in  choir  at  all  the  canoni- 
cal hours.  They  divide  their  time  between 
contemplation  and  action;  being  inde- 
fatigable in  giving  missions  and  retreats, 
especially  to  persons  living  in  community. 
Besides  the  three  usual  vows,  they  make 
a  fourth — that  they  will  do  their  utmost 
to  keep  alive  in  the  hearts  of  the  faithful 
the  memory  of  our  Lord's  passion.  On 
the  day  of  their  profession  they  make  a 
vow  of  perseverance  in  the  congregation. 
Nevertheless,  they  only  take  simple  vows. 
(H%ot,  "Contin.") 

The  Passianists  in  America.  —  The 
following  account  has  been  furnished 
us  of  the  introduction  of  the  Congre- 
gation of  Passionists  into  this  country, 
and  of  the  present  condition  of  the 
American  Province : 

"  The  Passionists  were  introduced 
mto  the  United  States  in  1852  by  the 
Right  Rev.  Michael  O'Connor,  bishop  of 
Pittsburg.  The  first  colony  consisted  of 
three  priests  and  one  brother.  The 
superior  was  Father  Anthony  Calandri, 
who  died  April  27,  1878.  A  retreat  was 
soon  built  in  a  suitable  location  on  a  hUl 
to  the  south  of  Pittsburg,  which  is  still 
the  novitiate  of  the  order  in  the  United 
States.  Applications  for  admission  were 
not  wanting,  and  in  1859  the  Fathers 
were  able  to  establish  a  second  house  in 
Dunkirk,  diocese  of  Buffalo,  N.Y.  In 
1861  a  third  foundation  was  made  in 
West  Hoboken,  N.J.,  which  has  since 
become  the  residence  of  the  provincial. 
These  three  houses  were  erected  into  a 
province  in  1863,  with  Father  Dominic 
Tarlattini  as  first  provincial.  Since  then 
three  more  retreats  were  added — one  near 
Baltimore,  Md. ;  another  in  Cincinnati, 
O. ;  and  the  third  near  Louisville,  Ky. ; 
to  say  nothing  of  the  foundations  in 
Mexico  and  Buenos  Ayres.  The  Ameri- 
can Province  of  St.  Paul  of  the  Cross 
numbers,  at  present  (1883),  about  160 


PASTOR 

religious  —  viz.  70  priests,  40  clerical 
students,  and  40  lay  brothers. 

"  Althoui^h  missions  and  spiritual  re- 
treats are  the  principal  external  works 
for  the  good  of  souls  prescribed  by  the 
rule  of  the  Passionist  fathers,  still  the 
necessities  of  the  faithful  and  the  scarcity 
of  priests  in  this  country  compelled  them 
at  first  to  undertake  the  spiritual  charge 
of  the  Catholics  living  in  the  vicinity  of 
their  foundations,  who  otherwise  would 
have  had  no  one  to  minister  to  their 
spiritual  wants.  But  as  the  population 
increased  and  priests  became  more  nu- 
merous, most  of  these  charges  were  gradu- 
ally relinquished,  and  at  present  the 
Passionist  Fathers  retain  only  a  few 
parishes.  Calls  for  missions  and  retreats, 
on  the  other  hand,  have  become  very 
frequent,  and  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  year  several  bauds  of  missionaries  are 
at  work  simultaneously  in  different  locali- 
ties. Their  method  in  conducting  missions 
is  substantially  the  same  as  that  followed 
by  other  missionaries,  but  the  prominence 
given  in  their  preaching  to  the  mysteries 
of  our  Lord's  passion  is  found  to  be 
singularly  effective  in  rousing  the  negli- 
gent and  stimulating  the  devout  to  still 
greater  fervour.'* 

Pi\.STOR.  Jesus  Christ,  who,  in  the 
Preface  for  festivals  of  the  Apostles,  is 
called  "  Pastor  asternus,"  communicates 
the  characteristics  of  a  good  shepherd  of 
souls  to  all  those  who  faithfully  discharge 
the  office  of  governing  in  his  Church. 
This  communication  is  pre-eminently 
made  to  the  Roman  Pontiff,  who,  in  the 
collect  "pro  Papa"  is  described  as ''pastor 
ecclesise ; "  it  also  appertains  in  lesser 
degrees  to  bishops  and  priests,  upon  each 
one  of  whom  it  devolves  to  lead,  feed, 
and  gently  rule,  like  a  shepherd,  the  flock 
committed  to  him. 

PAT  EM'.  A  plate  used  from  the  earli- 
est times  to  receive  the  Host  consecrated  at 
Mass.  Larger  patens,  called  ministeriales, 
were  used  for  the  communion  of  the 
people.  It  is  consecrated  with  chrism  by 
the  bishop,  and  this  rite  of  consecration  is 
mentioned  in  a  Galilean  Sacramentary  as 
old  as  the  eighth  century,  published  by 
Mabillon  in  the  ''Museum  Italicum." 

PATER  XJTOSTER.  The  prayer 
taught  by  our  Lord  to  his  disciples.  It 
occurs  in  all  the  ancient  liturgies  with  one 
notable  exception — that  of  the  so-called 
Clementine  liturgy — given  in  the  Apostolic 
Constitutions.  Its  absence  there  has 
never  been  satisfactorily  explained.  In 
all  the  chief  liturgies  it  occurs  much  in 


PATERINES  639 

the  same  place — i.e.  shortly  before  the 
Communion.  In  most  of  the  Greek,  in 
the  Mozarabic  and  the  Ambrosian  litur- 
gies, the  Canon  was  followed  by  the 
Fraction  of  the  Host,  then  came  the  Pater. 
St.  Gregory  settled  finally  the  place  of 
the  Pater  in  the  Roman  Mass,  placing  it 
where  it  now  stands,  immediately  after 
the  Canon  i.nd  before  the  Fraction.  This 
seems  to  be  the  sense  of  Gregory's  words 
when  he  says  (Lib.  7.  Indict.  2.  Epist. 
64,  quoted  by  Le  Brun)  that  the  Sicilians 
taunted  him  with  following  the  use  of 
Constantinople  and  reciting  the  Pater, 
"  mox  post  canonem,"  "  immediately  after 
the  Canon,'*  and  so  they  are  understood  by 
Le  Brun,  tom.  iii.  Diss.  ii. ;  Benedict  XIV. 
"  De  Miss."  ii.  19  ;  Probst,  "  Lit.  der 
ersten  drei  Jahrhund."  p.  366 ;  Ham- 
mond, "Ancient  Lit."  Ixxii.  The  other 
view — viz.  that  the  Pater  was  introduced 
into  the  Roman  liturgy  by  Gregory,  is 
maintained  ly  Mr.  Scudamore  in  his 
article  on  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  Smith  and 
Cheetham.  The  Pope  also  tells  us  that, 
whereas  in  the  East  (and  also  in  the 
Galilean  rite)  the  Pater  was  said  by 
priest  and  people,  at  Rome  it  was  recited 
by  the  priest  alone.  In  nearly  all  the 
ancient  liturgies  the  Pater  is  introduced 
by  a  preface,  like  the  exhortation  in  the 
Mass.     "  Prseceptis  salutaribus,"  &c.^ 

The  Pater  occurs  in  all  the  Breviary 
hours  at  the  beginning  and  end,  and 
sometimes  in  the  course  of  the  hour 
itself.  But  whereas  in  the  Mass  it  is  said 
aloud,  in  the  Breviary  it  is  said  secretly, 
or  at  most  only  the  first  and  concluding 
words  are  said  audibly.  The  reason  is 
that  at  the  part  of  the  Mass  where  the 
Pater  occurs  the  faithful  only  were  pre- 
sent, while  catechumens,  &c.  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  hours.  (So  Benedict  XIV. 
loc.  cit.) 

The  addition  to  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
"  For  thine  is  the  kingdom,"  is  wanting  in. 
the  best  ancient  authorities.  It  probably 
arose  for  ,the  embolismus  [see  the 
article]  of  the  liturgy  used  in  the  Syrian 
church.  (See  Westcott  and  Hort,  N.T. 
vol.  ii.  Notes  on  Matt.  vi.  13.) 

PATERIITES.  A  Manichsean  sect 
which  first  came  into  notice  under  this 
name  in  Italy  about  1040,  when  a  number 
of  them  were  convicted  of  heresy  by 
Heribert,  archbishop  of  Milan,  and  burnt 
at  the  stake.     They  taught  that  matter 

^  The  Ethiopic  liturgj-  is  an  exception.  But 
the  introduction  to  the  Pater  is  generally  in 
the  form  of  a  prayer — not  a  statement,  as  in 
the  Roman  and  Ambrosian  Maa*. 


640  PATRIARCH,  PATRIARCHATE 

was  essentially  evil,  condemned  marriage, 
and  set  at  nought  Church  authority. 
The  Lombard  married  clergy,  when 
(1057)  they  were  attacked  on  the  score 
of  incontinence  by  Anselm  of  Badagio 
and  Ariald,  taunted  their  assailants  with 
being  Paterines.  Mohler  ^  identities  them 
with  the  Boni  Homines  who  were  con- 
demned by  the  Council  of  Lombers  in 
1176,  They  appear  again  among  the 
heretical  sects  that  infested  Languedoc  at 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  centui-y,  and  are 
then  identified  with  the  Oathari  or  Puri- 
tans. Innocent  III.  spoke  of  "  impii 
Manichaei,  qui  se  Catharos  vel  Patarinos 
appellant."  ^  The  origin  of  the  name  is 
unknown.  [Albigenses  ;  Boni  Homines  ; 
Bulgarians.] 

PATRIARCH,  PATRIARCHATE. 

The  dignity  of  Patriarch — the  Primacy  of 
St.  Peter  being  considered  as  standing 
apart — is  the  highest  grade  in  the  hierarchy 
ot  jurisdiction.  Immediately  next  to  the 
rank  of  Patriarch  may  come  that  of 
"  Primate ;  "  metropolitans  or  archbishops 
follow;  under  each  metropolitan  are 
ranged  his  suffragan  bishops.  In  the  fifth 
century  the  Exarchate  [Exarch]  was  an 
intermediate  grade  between  the  Patriar- 
chate and  the  rank  of  metropolitan. 

The  Sixth  Canon  of  the  first  Nicene 
Council  recognises  an  ancient,  customary, 
and  legitimate  authority  in  the  Bishops  of 
the  three  sees  of  Alexandria,  Rome,  and 
Antioch  (named  in  this  order)  over  their 
respective  provinces.  The  title  of  "Pa- 
triarch," however,  is  not  given ;  the  thing 
is  recognised,  but  not  the  word.  The 
title  came  into  use  in  the  fifth  century,  at 
least  in  its  present  sense,  for  it  had  earlier 
been  used  loosely  for  any  great  see.  From 
the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  century, 
Constantinople  gradually  came  to  occupy 
the  position  of  a  fourth  Patriarchate. 
That  of  Jerusalem,  after  a  struggle  for 
precedence  between  it  and  Csesarea,  be- 
came the  fifth.  For  the  history  of  each 
of  these  Patriarchates,  excluding  Rome, 
see  Alexandria,  Church  of  ;  Antioch  ; 
Constantinople,  Patriarchate  op  ; 
Jerusalem,  Pa TRiARCHArE  of.  Since  the 
misfortunes  which  overtook  the  Eastern 
church  (Monophysite  heresy,  Mussulman 
domination,  Greek  schism,  &c.)  severed 
all  these  four  sees  from  Catholic  unity, 
the  Popes  have  continued  to  nominate 
bishops  to  the  lost  Patriarchates ;  but  these 
bishops  have  resided  at  Rome,  except 
lately  in  the  case  of  Jerusalem,  the  Patri- 

1  Khchengeschichte,  ii.  ch.  v.  §  3. 

2  Wetzer  and  Welte,  art.  "  Patariner." 


PATRON,  PATRONAGE 

arch  of  which,  Monsignor  Valerga,  com- 
menced to  reside  at  his  see  in  1847.  Be- 
sides the  Latin  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  the 
Holy  See  admits  a  Maronite,  a  Melchite, 
and  a  Syrian  Patriarch  of  the  same  see,  a 
Patriarch  of  Cilicia  of  the  Armenian,  and 
a  Patriarch  of  Babylon  of  the  Chaldaic, 
rite. 

There  are  also  three  minor  Patriarchs 
in  the  Western  Church — the  Patriarch  of 
the  Indies,  who  is  the  prelate  of  highest 
rank  in  the  church  of  Spain ;  the  Patriarch 
of  Lisbon ;  and  the  Patriarch  of  Venice. 

PATRZniOIirV     OF     ST.     PETER. 

[See  States  op  the  Church.] 

PATRZPASSiAir.      [See     Sabel- 

ltan.] 

PATRON-,       PATRONTAGE.       The 

word  pat r onus  is  used  in  three  senses 
in  canon  law :  it  signifies  (1)  an  advocate 
or  barrister ;  (2)  the  former  master  of  a 
manumitted  slave,  to  whom  under  the 
Roman  law  a  certain  control  over  his 
freedman  was  reserved ;  (3)  a  person 
having  the  right  to  present  to  a  benetice. 
The  third  sense  only  is  here  in  question. 

The  subject  of  patronage  is  of  little 
practical  interest  to  American  Catho- 
lics, as  there  are  no  benefices  in  the 
United  States.  Nor  has  it  much  more 
importance  for  the  Catholics  of  Ireland 
or  Great  Britain,  as  a  benefice  in  Ca- 
tholic hands  in  those  countries  since 
the  spoliation  of  the  "Reformation" 
has  been  something  very  rare  indeed. 

Patronage  (juspatronatus)  is  defined 
to  be  "  the  right  or  power  of  nominating 
or  presenting  a  clerk  for  preferment  to  a 
vacant  ecclesiastical  benetice."  It  may  be 
usefully  considered  from  three  points  of 
view,  according  as  (1)  its  acquisition,  (2) 
its  transfer,  and  (3)  its  prominent  incidents 
are  taken  into  account* 

1.  The  right  of  patronage  is  acquired 
in  one  of  three  principal  ways — by  founda- 
tion, or  building,  or  endowment — according 
to  the  memorial  line : 

Patronuni  faciunt  do?,  aedificatio,  fundus. 

If  one  person  founds  a  church  by  giving 

the  ground,  a  second  builds  it,  and  a  third 

endows  it,  the  right  of  patronage  belongs 

I  to  the  three  jointly.     The  consent  of  the 

bishop   is,  oi"    course,    always   necessary. 

;  An  endowment,  in  order  to  convey  a  right 

'  of  patronage,   must  be   sufficient — i.e.   it 

must  be  ample  enough  to  provide  a  decent 

maintenance  for  those  serving  the  Church, 

and  to  meet  the  annual  expense  of  lights 

j  and   other  Church  requisites.     Otherwise 

1  it  is  not  an  endowment,  but  a  benefaction, 

'  and  as  such  carries  no  right  of  patronage. 


PATRON,  PATRONAGE 

Patronage  acquired  by  Papal  privilege, 
conceded  at  any  date  anterior  to  the 
Council  of  Trent,  was  abolished  by  a 
decree  of  that  Council;  ^  hence  anyone  now 
claiming  it  on  that  ground  must  show  that 
such  privilege  was  conceded  since  the 
Council,  with  a  clause  expressly  derogating 
from  its  decree.  Patronage  can  also  be 
acquired  by  prescription,  if  multiplied 
unopposed  presentations  can  be  proved. 

2.  The  transfer  of  patronage  ordinarily 
takes  place  in  one  of  four  ways — by  suc- 
cession, donation,  sale,  or  exchange.  By 
succession — as  when,  on  the  death  of  a 
patron,  the  right  passes  to  his  heirs,  whether 
at  law  or  under  settlement  or  devise. 
When  the  patronage  passes  by  donation, 
the  consent  of  the  bishop  is  usually,  but 
not  in  all  cases,  necessary.  With  regard 
to  the  third  mode — sale — it  is  instructive 
to  compare  the  provisions  of  the  canon  law 
with  the  law  and  practice  of  the  Anglican 
communion  as  regards  the  sale  of  advow- 
sons.^  In  England  an  advowson  can  be 
sold  separately,  and  for  the  best  price. 
The  sole  condition  is  that  the  benefice  be 
not  actually  vacant  at  the  time  of  sale ; 
otherwise  no  distinction  is  made  between 
advowsons  and  any  other  kind  of  pro- 
perty. The  canon  law  does  not  permit  an 
advowson  (jus  patronatus)  to  be  sold 
separately  at  all.  It  can  only  be  sold 
indirectly — i.e.  through  being  inseparably 
annexed  to  some  other  property  which 
is  susceptible  of  legal  sale.  Thus,  if  a 
man  sell  his  whole  estate,  and  to  this 
estate  an  advowson  be  annexed,  the  latter 
passes  to  the  purchaser  along  with  the 
other  property.  Or  even  if  the  sale  be 
not  of  a  man's  whole  estate,  but  only  of  a 
particular  piece  of  property — a  palace,  a 
farm,  a  Held,  &c. — to  which  a  right  of 
patronage  is  inseparably  annexed,  that 
right  is  transferred  to  the  purchaser  by 
the  sale.  But  in  all  such  cases  canon  law 
exacts  the  condition  that  the  price  given 
be  not  enhanced  on  account  of  the  an- 
nexed patronage.  Any  simoniacal  attempt 
to  sell  the  patronage  as  such  is  visited  by 
the  law  with  severe  penalties. 

3.  The  chief  incidents  of  patronage 
are  four — presentation,  honour,  defence, 
maintenance  in  case  of  poverty.  (1)  The 
first-named  is  so  strictly  inherent  in  a 
patron  that  if  he  present  a  qualified  clerk 
for  a  benefice,  the  bishop  is  bound  to  accept 
him,  -even  though  he  may  know  of  one 
more  worthy.     But  the  presentation  must 

1  Sess.  XXV.  De  Ref.  c.  9. 

2  An  advowson  is  the  perpetual  right  of 
presentation  to  a  benefice. 


PATRON  AND  TITULAR    641 

be  made  within  four  months  if  the  patron 
be  a  layman,  withhi  six  if  he  be  a  clergy- 
man ;  otherwise  it  passes  for  that  time  to 
the  bishop.  The  law  is  more  tender  of  lay 
than  of  ecclesiastical  patronage,  because 
interference  with  the  former  would  tend 
to  discourage  rich  laymen  from  building 
churches  and  extending  Christianity. 
Women  are  capable  of  presenting  to 
benefices  equally  with  men.  No  patron 
can  present  himself  to  any  benefice  in  his 
gift,  although  he  may  ask  the  bishop  to 
confer  it  upon  him,  and  the  bishop  may,  at 
his  discretion,  legally  do  so.  (2)  By 
"  honour  "  are  understood  the  precedence 
and  respect  which  a  patron  may  justly 
claun  in  a  church  founded  by  him  or  his 
ancestor.  (3)  •'  Defence "  refers  to  the 
right  and  duty  of  the  patron  to  watch 
over  the  beneficiary  property,  arid  prevent 
its  waste  or  dilapidation.  (4)  "  Mainten- 
ance in  poverty  "  is  the  claim  which  the 
patron  has,  should  misfortune  overtake 
him  and  reduce  him  to  want,  to  receive  a 
decent  maintenance  (and  this  applies  to 
his  wife  and  children  also)  out  of  the 
revenues  of  the  benefice  in  his  gift.  (Fer- 
raris, Jus  patronatus.) 

PATROSr  AND  TZTVX.AR  OF 
CBVRCH,  PIiACS,  &,c.  The  title  of 
a  church  is  the  name  it  bears — e.g.  of  the 
Trinity,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Mary,  St. 
Saviour,  «&c.  The  patron  saint  is  that 
saint  under  whose  special  protection  it  has 
been  placed.  Thus  the  titular  is  a  wider 
term  comprehending  the  persons  of  the 
Trinity,  mysteries  {e.g.  Corpus  Christi), 
and  saints  ;  the  patron  of  a  church  can 
only  be  a  saint  or  angel.  Of  churches 
with  the  title  of  St.  Mary,  the  patronai 
feast  is  the  Assumption.  Only  a  canonised 
(not  a  beatified)  saint  can  be  chosen  as 
patron.     (S.  C.  R.  23  Martii,  1630.) 

The  patron  of  a  church  is  chosen  hj  the 
founders  ("ex  fundatorum  beneplacito," 
Merat.  §  iii.  12,  1).  Usually  only  one 
patron  is  chosen,  or  else  two  patrons 
whose  feast  falls  on  the  same  day.  The 
feast  of  the  principal  titular  or  patron  is 
a  double  of  the  first  class  with  an  octave. 
This  holds  good  even  of  churches  not  yet 
consecrated.  The  rule,  however,  does  not 
apply  to  chapels  of  seminaries,  «S:c.  &c. 
The  rules  for  churches  which  have  more 
than  one  patron  with  independent  feast 
are  the  same  as  those  given  below  for 
local  patrons. 

The  patron  of  a  place  is  chosen  by  the 
people  with  the  consent  of  the  clergy. 
(Decret.   Urban.  YIII.,  23  Mart.   1630.) 

I  A  place  may  have  several  patrons,  prin- 

X 


642      PAUL  OF  S AMOS  ATA 


PAX 


csipal  and  less  principal,  but  not  more  than 
one  principal  patron  except  by  immemo- 
rial custom  or  Apostolic  indult.  The  feast 
of  the  principal  patron  is  a  double  of  the 
first  class  with  an  octave  (so  also,  if  there 
are  several  chief  patrons) ;  of  a  "  less  prin- 
cipal," a  greater  double  when  celebrated 
solemnly,  otherwise  a  lesser  double. 

The  feast  of  the  chief  or  titular  patron 
of  the  cathedral  church  is  kept  through- 
out the  diocese  even  by  regulars,  who, 
however,  are  not  obliged  to  celebrate  the 
octave.     (S.  0.  R.  27  Mali,  1628.) 

The  constitution  of  Urban  YIII. 
(Const,  clxi.  "Universa,"  §  2)  requires 
that  only  two  patronal  feasts  be  imposed 
in  any  one  place  as  holidays  of  obligation 
— one  the  feast  of  a  chief  patron  of  the 
kingdom  or  province,  the  other  that  of  a 
chief  patron  of  the  city,  town,  village,  »&c. 

PATTlb      OF      SAIHOSATA.         [See 

Alogl] 

PAVAZCXAIO'S.  In  the  fancy  of 
Gibbon  ("  Decline  and  Fall,"  ch.  liv.)',  this 
Manichean  or  quasi-Manichean  sect,  after 
its  banishment  from  Asia,  "  scattered  over 
the  West  the  seeds  of  reformation."  By 
"  reformation  "  can  only  be  meant  revolt ; 
a  common  fury  of  negation  and  destruc- 
tion may  easily  have  induced  the  Pro- 
testants of  the  sixteenth  century  to  accept 
the  Paulicians  as  the  ancient  exponents  of 
their  own  principles ;  but  negation  is  no 
permanent  bond;  and  when  the  positive 
doctrines  of  the  sect  are  calmly  examined, 
they  appear  to  bs  such  as  no  moderate 
Protestant  would  endorse.  The  Paulicians 
rejected  or  minimised  the  Sacraments, 
abhorred  images,  and  condemned  the  in- 
vocation of  the  saints ;  while  reverencing 
some  books  of  Holy  Scripture,  they  re- 
pudiated Church  tradition  and  the  doctrine 
of  a  visible  Church ;  in  their  eyes  relics 
were  rubbish,  miracles  impostures,  and 
the  Blessed  Virgin  not  the  mother  of 
God.  So  far  all  is  plain  sailing;  and  a 
zealous  Presbyterian  might  recognise  in 
the  Pauliciaus  the  theological  ancestors  of 
his  own  "  Nullifiers."  But  the  Paulicians 
also  believed  in  two  Powers,  one  good, 
the  other  evil,  dividing  the  universe 
between  them ;  and  they  held  the  earth 
and  all  things  sensible  to  have  been  created 
by  the  spirit  of  evil.  The  good  God,  they 
said,  created  the  soul  of  man ;  the  wicked 
power,  or  Bemiurgus,  created  his  body. 
Instead  of  sin  in  the  body  being  an 
oflPence  against  the  *'  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  on  this  view  it  was  the  natural 
outcome  of  the  bodily  constitution ;  there- 
fore, of  course,  inculpable.     They  rejected 


the  Old  Testament  as  the  work  of  the 
Demiurgus.  Jesus  Christ,  they  said,  did 
not  take  his  body  from  Mary,  but  brought 
it  down  with  him  from  heaven.  They 
admitted  neither  of  St.  Peter's  Epistles ; 
most  of  them  rejected  also  the  Acts. 
Such  was  the  sect  which,  according  to 
Gibbon,  "  scattered  over  the  West  the  seeds 
of  reformation  " ! 

The  origin  of  the  name  "  Paulician  "  is 
uncertain ;  one  theory  derives  it  from  a 
certain  Paul,  who,  with  his  brother  John, 
founded  a  society  near  Samosata  early  in 
the  seventh  century ;  another  —  which 
Gibbon  prefers — sees  in  it  merely  an  evi- 
dence of  the  high  value  which  they  set  on 
the  life  and  writings  of  St.  Paul.  They 
first  come  prominently  into  notice  in  the 
seventh  century,  when  they  were  organised 
by  Constantine,  a  native  of  a  village  near 
Samosata,  who  took  the  name  of  Silvanus. 
Other  eminent  leaders  among  them  were 
Simeon,  Sergius,  Chrysocheir,  and  Baanes. 
They  became  very  numerous  in  Armenia, 
and,  being  persecuted  by  the  imperial 
otfieers,  rose  in  revolt;  nor  was  their 
subjugation  entirely  effected  till  the 
tenth  century.  For  their  later  history 
see  the  article  Bulgarians.  (Wetzer 
and  Welte,  art.  by  Kerker;  Photius, 
"  Contra  Manichaeos ;  "  Petrus  Siculus, 
Hist.  Manich.  in  "  Bibl.  Patrum,"  vol.  xvi.) 

PATTXiZSTS.  The  Institute  of  the 
Missionary  Priests  of  St.  Paul  the  Apostle 
was  founded  in  New  York  by  the  Rev. 
I.  T.  Hecker  and  several  associates  in  the 
year  1858.  Its  members  are  engaged  in 
ordinary  parochial  work,  in  giving  missions, 
in  the  education  of  their  scholastics,  and 
in  literary  labour.  The  monthlv  magazine, 
"The  Catholic  World,"  is  under  their 
direction,  and  they  have  published  several 
volumes  of  sermons  as  well  as  other  works 
on  different  topics  connected  with  the 
Catholic  religion. 

PA.X.  The  Kiss  of  Peace  in  the  Mass 
has  been  described  under  that  heading. 
The  Pax  here  intended  is  that  which  was 
given  to  the  people  to  kiss  at  Mass.  It  was 
introduced  in  England  about  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  widely 
used.  It  is  called  "  osculatorium  "  (Syn. 
Constit.  of  York,  1250  and  1252)  ;  "oscu- 
latorium pacis"  (Statutes  of  Canterbury, 
about  1281);  "asserad  pacem"  (Council 
of  Oxford,  in  1287);  "tabula  pacis" 
(Council  of  Merton,  about  1300);  "mar- 
mor  deosculandum "  (Synod  of  Bayeux, 
about  the  same  date).  It  was  adopted  in 
France,  Italy,  Spain,  and  Germany.  But 
the  use  was  almost  extinct  in  Le  Brun's 


PAX  VOBIS 

time,  on  account  of  the  absurd  contentions 
for  precedency  to  which  it  gave  rise ; 
though  it  was  presented  in  some  cases  to 
communicants,  &c.  We  have  been  refer- 
ring to  the  use  at  Mass.  It  is  stili  used 
in  communities,  confraternities,  &c.,  at 
times  of  ordinary  prayer.  (From  Le 
Brun,  Tom.  II.  part  v.  art.  7.  See  also 
Maskell,  "Ancient  Lit."  p.  50.) 

PAX  VOBZS  is  said  by  bishops  after 
the  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis."  If  the  "  Gloria" 
be  not  said,  then  the  bishop's  salutation  is 
the  same  as  the  priest's — viz.  "Dominus 
vobiscum."  The  fact  that  "Pax  vobis" 
was  our  Lord's  Easter  greeting  to  the 
Apostles  made  it  unsuitable  for  penitential 
days.     (Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Miss.") 

PSCTOR.A,Zi  CROSS.  A  small  cross 
of  precious  metal  worn  on  the  breast  by 
bishops  and  abbots  as  a  mark  of  their  office, 
and  sometimes  also  by  canons,  &c.,  who 
have  obtained  the  privilege  from  Rome 
(Deer.  S.C.  R.  17  Sept.  1828).  Innocent  III. 
is  the  first  author  who  clearly  mentions 
the  pectoral  cross  as  one  of  the  episcopal 
insignia.     (Gavant.  P.  I.  tit.  2.) 

PECTri.IVIM[  CI.&RZCI.  The  pro- 
perty of  which  an  ecclesiastic  can  be  in 
possession  is  divided  into  peculium  bene/i- 
ciale,  or  ecclesinsticum,  and  jJeculium  pairir- 
moniale,  or  quasi-patrimoniale.  The  former 
consists  (1)  of  the  annual  profits  of  his 
"benefice  or  benefices;  (2)  of  the  dues 
which  he  receives  in  the  discharge  of  his 
clerical  functions.  The  latter  consists  (1) 
of  property  which  has  come  to  him  by 
inheritance,  donation,  or  bequest;  (2)  of 
that  which  he  has  acquired  for  himself — 
e.g.  by  writing.  Over  property  of  the 
former  class  he  has  no  power  of  testa- 
mentary disposition ;  that  of  the  latter 
class  he  can  freely  dispose  of. 

PSXiAG-ZASrxszVE  was  an  extreme 
reaction  from  the  Gnostic  and  Manichean 
doctrine  that  men  were  necessarily  deter- 
mined to  good  or  evil.  According  to 
Peiagius  (1)  Adam's  sin  injured  himself 
only,  so  that  his  poster! t}^  are  born  inno- 
cent. Infants  were  baptised  that  they 
might  be  united  to  Christ  and  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven ;  not  that  they  might 
be  purged  from  original  sin  (Concil. 
Carthag.  anno  411,  can.  2,  3).  (2)  It 
was  possible  to  live  altogether  without 
sin  ("■  hominem  posse  esse  sine  peccato," 
Pelag.  apud  August.  "  De  Gratia  Christi," 
cap.  iv.).  (3)  Grace,  as  Catholics  under- 
stand the  term,  was  not  necessary  or  even 
possible.  Pelagius  made  grace  'consist 
simply  in  the  gift  of  nature,  and  esjiecially 
of  free-will.     When  pressed  by  his  adver- 


PELAGIANISM 


643 


saries,  he  admitted  the  need  of  exterior 
grace — viz.  "  law  and  teaching,"  "  the 
example  of  Christ,"  &c.  Nay,  some  think 
he  allowed  that  God,  by  interior  grace, 
enlightened  the  understanding  (August; 
op.  cit.  7,  10,  40;  Petav.  "  De  Pelag. 
et  Semi-Pelag.  User."  cap.  iv.)^  But  the 
essence  of  his  heresy  remained,  for  he 
never  granted  that  the  will  must  be  moved 
and  aided  by  God's  grace  -before  we  can 
take  one  step  towards  life  eternal;  and 
even  if  Pelagius  admitted  the  possibility 
of  inierior  illumination  of  the  understand- 
ing, he  certainly  did  not  hold  such  a  grace 
to  be  necessary. 

Pelagius,  who  was  a  monk  or  ascete, 
and  is  said  to  have  been  born  in  Britain 
(Bretagne  ?),  preached  at  Rome  (400-410) 
with  great  applause.  Here  he  was  joined 
by  Celestius,  also  a  monk.  Pelagius  at- 
tacked the  doctrine  of  original  sin  in  his 
fourteen  books  on  St.  Paul's  Epistles. 
They  stUl  exist,  but  with  serious  altera- 
tions in  a  Catholic  sense,  and  are  edited 
by  Vallarsi  in  his  edition  of  St.  Jerome. 
His  letter  to  Demetrius  (anno  411),  and 
his  "Libellus  fidei  ad  Innocentium"  (anno 
417)  are  also  given  there.  St.  Augustine 
("  De  Grat.  Christi,  Peccat.  Grig.  Nat.  et 
Grat.")  has  preserved  fragments  of  four 
books  Jjy  Pelagius  on  "Free-will."  The 
strife  on  original  sin  began  at  Rome  in 
410,  Celestius  was  condemned  by  a 
synod  of  Carthage,  whither  he  had  gone 
in  411.  Pelagius  next  appears  in  Pales- 
tine, whither  Orosius  pursued  him  at  the 
request  of  Augustine,  who  had  already 
written  three  anti- Pelagian  works — viz. 
"  De  Spiritu  et  Littera,"  "  De  Peccatorum 
Meritis  et  Remissione,"  "  De  Perfectione 
Justi  Hominis."  Jerome  also  attacked 
Pelagius  in  an  ^'  Epistle  to  Ctesiphon  "  and 
a  dialogue  against  the  heresy  in  three 
books.  A  synod  at  Jerusalem  in  416 
tried  Pelagius,  but  came  to  no  decision; 
another  at  Diospolis,  late  in  the  same 
year,  acquitted  him.  St.  Augustine  at- 
tacked Pelagius  again  in  his  work  "De 
Gestis  Pelagii."  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia 
defended  him  in  a  lost  work  (7r/)6s  tovs 
Xeyovras  (fivcrei  koX  jir)  yvoufxr]  tttuUlv  tovs 
dvdpdonovs) ;  the  Africans,  again,  con- 
demned the  heresy  in  the  Councils  of 
Carthage  and  Mileve  (416).  Both  parties 
had  recourse  to  Pope  Innocent,  who  de- 
clared the  doctrine  of  Pelagius  erroneous, 
but  died  before  the  case  could  be  fully 
judged.  Zosimus  (417-18)  was  deceived 
by  a  profession  of  faith  which  Celestius 

^  We  cannot  see  that  the  refereuces  given  by 
Petavius  prove  this. 


644   PENA.NCE,  SACRAMENT  OF 

made,  and  declared  both  Oelestius  and 
Pelagius  innocent.  More  condemnations 
of  Pelaj^ianism  followed  in  the  Cartha- 
ginian Councils  of  417  and  418,  and  in 
the  latter  year  Zosimus  re-investigated 
the  matter,  anathematised  Pelagius  and 
Celestius,  and  notified  this  step  in  an 
"epistola  tractoria"  to  the  bishops. 
Eighteen  Italian  bishops  who  refused  to 
subscribe  this  epistle  were  deposed,  among 
them  the  learned  Julianus  of  Eclanum, 
against  whom  St.  Augustine  wrote 
("  Contra  Duas  Papist,  ad  Bonifac."  anno 
420 ;  "  Contr.  Julian."  lib.  vi.  anno  421 ; 
later  still,  the  ''Opus  Imperfect,  contr. 
secundam  Julian.  Kespons.").  Pelagius 
and  Celestius  now  found  an  asylum  with 
Nestorius  of  Constantinople,  and  along 
with  him  they  were  condemned  in  the 
Third  General  Council — that  of  Ephesus — 
in  4.'U.  This  result  was  due  in  great 
measure  to  the  energy  of  Augustine  and 
the  efforts  of  Marius  Mercator,  a  Western 
layman  living  at  Constantinople. 

PSSTAIO'CZ:,  SACRAAXEXTT  OF. 
The  Latin  word  pceniteMia  (from 
punire  in  an  archaic  form  pcenire) 
means  sorrow  or  regret,  and  answers  to 
the  Greek  fifrdvoia,  change  of  mind  or 
heart.  As  a  theological  terra,  penance  is 
first  the  name  of  a  virtue  which  inclines 
sinners  to  detest  their  sins  because  they 
are  an  offence  against  God.  Then  penance 
came  to  mean  the  outward  acts  by  which 
sorrow  for  sin  is  shown,  and  the  word  was 
supposed  by  St.  Augustine  to  come  from 
*' poena"  and  by  others,  e.f/.  Peter  Lom- 
bard, from  "  poenam  tenere."  The  Greek 
word '  ^.erdmia  has  wandered  further 
still  from  its  orio-iual  sense,  for  in  the 
Greek  liturgies  it  means  simply  a  prostra- 
tion. Thus  in  the  office  for  ordination  of 
deacons  the  rubric  runs,  "  The  priest  de- 
parts with  the  deacon  and  they  make  three 
DOWS  (ttoioCo-i  ixeTavoias  rpeiy)  to  the  icon 
of  the  Lord  Christ."  (See  Morinus,  "  De 
Poen."  lib.  i.  cap.  1.)  In  a  more  restricted 
sense  still,  penance  is  used  for  the  peni- 
tential diiicipline  of  the  Church,  or  even 
for  the  third  station  of  public  penitents 
(so,  e.(/.,  1.  Concil.  Tolet.  canon  2),  and 
again  for  the  satisfaction  which  the  priest 
imposes  on  the  penitent  before  absolving 
him  from  his  sins.     Lastly,  penance  is  a 

1  The  Rabbinical  term  is  ni-IK^nj "  turning," 
"  conversion  "  ;  and  the  Syrian  Christians  have 
the  same  word  in  the  Syriac  or  Chaldee  form — 

viz.  ]ZaLO.-«.Z.  This  word  is  the  trar-clation 
of  fxf TttVoia  in  the  Peshito,  and  is  .'^till  retained, 
fc^.,  by  the  Maronites  (see  Morinus,  L  7.). 


PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  OF 

sacrament  of  the  new  law  instituted  by 
Christ  for  the  remission  of  sin  committed 
alter  baptism. 

So  understood,  penance  is  defined  as  a 
'' sacrament  instituted  by  Christ  in  the 
form  of  a  judgment  for  the  remission  of 
sin  done  after  baptism,  this  remission 
being  effected  by  the  absolution  of  the 
priest,  joined  to  true  supernaturaLsorrow, 
true  purpose  of  amendment,  and  sincere 
confession  on  the  part  of  the  sinner."  The 
Council  of  Trent  (Sess.  xiv.)  defines  that 
priests  have  real  power  to  remit  and  retain 
sins,  that  persons  are  bound  b}'  the  law  of 
God  to  confess  before  the  priest  each  and 
every  mortal  sin  committed  after  baptism, 
so  far  as  the  memory  can  recall  it,  and 
also  such  circumstances  as  change  the 
nature  of  these  sins,  and  that  the  sacra- 
ment of  penance  is  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  forgiveness  of  post-baptismal  sin. 
It  is  true  that  perfect  sorrow  for  sin  which 
has  ofiended  so  good  a  God,  at  once  and 
without  the  addition  o  f  any  external  rite 
blots  out  the  stain  and  restores  the  peace 
and  love  of  God  in  the  soul.  "  There  is 
no  condemnation  to  those  who  are  in 
Christ  Jesus,  who  wnlk  not  after  the  tiesh, 
but  after  the  spirit."  But  this  perfect 
sorrow  involves  in  a  well-in-^tructed 
Catholic  the  intention  of  fuldlling  Christ's 
precept  and  -receiving  the  sacrament  of 
penance  when  opportunity  occurs.  This 
implicit  desire  of  confession  and  absolu- 
tion may  exist  in  many  Protestants  who 
reject  the  CathoUc  doctrine  on  this  point. 
They  desire  the  sacrament  of  penance  in 
this  sufiicient  sense,  that  they  earnestly 
wish  to  fulfil  Christ's  law,  so  far  as  they 
can  learn  what  it  is.  In  this  sense  the 
sacrament  is  necessary  for  the  salvation 
of  those  who  have  fallen  into  mortal  sin 
after  baptism.  They  must  receive  it 
actually  or  by  desire,  this  desire  being 
either  explicit'  or  implicit.  This  point  is 
of  capital  importance  for  the  apprehension 
of  Catholic  doctrine.  We  in  no  way 
deny  that  God  is  ready  to  forgive  the  sins 
of  non- Catholics  who  are  in  good  faith  and 
who  turn  to  Him  with  loving  sorrow. 
But  the  High  Church  doctrine  that  con- 
fession cf  mortal  sin  is  not  an  absolute 
duty  imposed  by  the  law  of  Christ,  or 
that  absolution  is  a  benefit  which  the 
penitent  is  not  absolutely  bound  to  seek, 
is  in  the  sharpest  antagonism  to  the 
Catholic  feith  as  defined  at  Trent.  The 
Council  also  teaches  that  satisfaction  must 
be  made  for  the  temporal  punishment 
which  may  be  due  even  to  pardoned  sin, 
and  that  confession,  contrition,  absolution 


PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  OF 

and  satisfaction,  are  the  four  parts  of 
penance.  The  minister,  and  the  only 
possible  minister  of  the  sacrament  is  a 
priest  with  ordinary  or  delegated  power 
to  absolve.  The  form  consists  in  the 
words,  "  I  absolve  thee  from  thy  sins," 
&c.  Mortal  or  venial  sins  (for  it  is  of 
faith  that  venial  sins  may  be  confessed, 
though  there  is  no  obligation  of  doing  so)^ 
supply  the  place  of  matter.  The  Council 
speaks  of  sins  as  the  "  quasi  materia,"  for 
though  Thomists  and  many  other  theo- 
logians hold  that  sorrowful  confession  of 
sins  is  the  proximate  matter  of  the  sacra- 
ment, Scotists  maintain  that  absolution  is 
both  matter  and  lorm,  and  the  Council 
abstained  from  interfering  in  this  scho- 
lastic dispute.  In  the  articles  on  Con- 
fession, Absolution,  &c.,  many  details 
relating  to  this  sacrament  have  been 
given,  so  that  we  may  content  ourselves 
here  with  an  elucidation  of  the  main  prin- 
ciples. 

1.  Priests  have  received  power  from 
Christ  to  forgive  sins  in  his  name  and 
according  to  his  law — i.e.  in  the  case 
of  true  repentance.  God  alone  can 
remit  sins,  but  lie  has  been  pleased  to 
make  the  priest's  absolution  the  means  by 
which  his  grace  is  conveyed.  He  said  to 
his  Apostles,  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  •, 
whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  re- 
mitted {i.e.  become  remitted)  unto  them, 
and  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain,  they  have 
been  retained"  («.e. continue  to  be  retained 
before  God,  John  xxi.  23).  This  wonder- 
ful power  must  have  been  intended  for  the 
successors  of  the  Apostles,  as  well  as  for 
the  Apostles  themselves,  for  it  is  incredible 
that  this  means  of  pardon  was  conferred 
only  for  a  short  period  of  the  Church's 
life.  While  sin  lasted,  the  stream  of 
gi-ace  and  mercy  must  continue  to  flow. 
History  proves  the  correctness  of  this  in- 
ference, for  in  all  ages  the  power  of  abso- 
lution has  been  used  and  recognised. 
Thus  Cyprian  urges  the  sinner  to  repent 
"  while  confession  may  be  made,  while 
satisfaction  and  remission  through  the 
bishops  {sacerdotes)  are  accepted  before 
God."  ("  De  Ijaps,"  29  ;  the  remission 
included,  no  doubt,  absolution  from  cen- 
sures.) In  this,  says  St.  Chrysostom 
("  De  Sacerdot."  iii.  5,  6),  the  priests  of 
the  Gospel  excel  those  of  the  Jewish 
Church,  that,  whereas  Jewish  priests 
could   merely  declare   a    man    clean   of 

1  Morinus  (lib.  ii.  cap.  3)  believes  he  has 
proved  that  the  confession  of  venial  sins  was 
common  in  the  Church  during  the  lifetime  of 
Tertullian. 


PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  CF  G45 

leprosy,  the  Christian  priests  "  have  re- 
ceived power,"  not  with  regard  to  the 
leprosy  of  the  body  but  "the  impurity  of 
the  soul,"  a  power  which  consists  not  in 
declaring  that  the  uncleannes^s  is  re- 
moved but  in  actually  "  removing  it 
entirely  "  {airaKkixTTeiv  navre'Xcos  eXo/3oi/ 
i^c.vcriav).  He  proves  this  saoerdotal 
power  by  an  express  appeal  to  the  words 
in  St.  John,  "  Whose  sins  ye  remit,"  &c. 
So  again  the  author  of  an  ancient  homily, 
printed  among  the  works  of  St.  Athanasius 
(Migne,  "  Patrol."  iv.  p.  183.  The  Bene- 
dictines place  it  among  the  cluhia,  but  say 
it  is  found  '*  in  ancient  MSS."),  says, 
"If  thy  bonds  are  not  loosed,  entrust 
thyself  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  Those 
are  to  be  found  who  can  loose  us,  having 
received  this  power  from  the  Saviour  " 
{i^ovcriav  ravrrju  elXrjcfiOTfs  napa  rod 
Scurr^pos),  "  whose  sins  ye  remit,"  &c. 
Morinus  (lib.  viii.  cap.  1)  quotes  from 
Leo,Ep.91,  "  Ad  Theodor." :  "Very  useful 
and  necessary  is  it  that  the  guilt  of  sin 
should  be  loosed  before  the  last  day  by 
the  judgment  of  the  priest."  Augustine, 
Ep.'lSO,  "Ad  Honorat."  (apud  Morin. 
ibidem),  urges  the  clergy  not  to  flee  in 
persecution,  because  their  presence  will  be 
urgently  required  for  "  the  administration 
(confcctionem)  of  the  sacraments."  '*  If 
the  ministers  are  wanting,  what  ruin  will 
come  on  those  who  depart  this  life  mi- 
regenerate  [i.e.  unbaptised]  or  bound, 
[i.e.  unabsolved]  !  "  The  value  of  these 
testimonies  lies  partly  in  the  fact  that 
they  do  not  argue  for  the  priestly  power 
of  absolution,  but  avssume  it,  partly  in 
their  connection  with  the  strong  utterances 
of  Scripture  on  the  one  hand,  the  peni- 
tential discipline  of  the  Church  on  the 
other.  It  must  have  required  a  strong 
belief  in  the  power  of  absolution  to  make 
men  undergo  long  years  of  rigorous 
penance  in  order  to  obtain  it.  It  may  be 
well  here  to'  answer  two  objections. 
Morinus  (lib.  viii.  8.  10,  11)  has  shown, 
and  indeed  demonstrated,  that  do^oi  to 
the  twelfth  century  absolution  was  always 
given  among  the  Latins  in  a  precatory 
form.  And  it  is  evident  from  Goar  and 
Renaudot  (in  the  "  Perp^tuit^  de  la  Foi ") 
that  the  Greeks,  the  Jacobites,  and  Nes- 
torians  still  preserve  this  precatory  form. 
This,  however^  cannot  fairly  be  alleged 
against  our  belief,  that  the  priest  exercises 
judgment  in  the  sacrament  of  penance, 
and  does  really  bind  or  loose.  No  one 
will  deny  that  the  bishop  in  absolving  an 
excommunicate  person  and  restOi  ing  him 
to  Church  communion  exercised   nidifial 


646  PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  OF 

power  and  authoritatively  remitted  eccle- 
siastical censures.  Yet  here,  too,  as  well 
as  in  sacramental  absolution,  the  form  was 
precatory  even  as  late  as  the  time  of 
Burchard,  bishop  of  Worms,  who  lived  at 
the  close  of  the  tenth  century.  (See  the 
quotation  in  Ohardon,  "Hist,  des  Sacr." 
tom.  iv.  §§4,  7.)  Further,  it  may  be  said, 
that  absolution  was  sometimes  given  by  a 
deacon,  and  Cyprian  (Ep.  xviii.),  writing 
in  the  summer  of  250,  does  certainly  re- 
quire the  lapsed  in  danger  of  death  to 
make  confession  (exomologesis)  and  re- 
ceive imposition  of  hands  from  a  deacon, 
if  a  presbyter  cannot  be  found.  But  it  is 
clear  that  he  is  speaking  of  absolution 
from  censures,  and  indulgence  granted 
through  the  intercession  of  the  martyrs, 
and  the  distinctions  already  made  in  the 
article  on  Absolution  are  suiRcient  to 
meet  this  difficulty.^ 

2.  Absolution  is  invalid  unless  given 
by  a  priest  with  ordinary  or  delegated 
jurisdiction  over  the  penitent.  This 
follows  from  the  ilict,  attested  by  Scripture, 
that  the  priest  in  penance  exercises  judg- 
ment. A  magistrate  cannot  bind  or  loose 
a  man  charged  Avith  theft,  unless  the  law 
subjects  that  man  to  his  authority,  or 
unless  he  has  received  special  power  from 
the  state  to  try  the  case.  The  tribunals 
of  the  Church  are  not  less  carefully  regu- 
lated than  those  of  the  State,  since  God 
is  a  God  of  order  and  not  of  confusion. 
The  fundamental  power  to  absolve  is  given 
at  ordination,  but  its  exercise  depends 
absolutely  on  ecclesiastical  authority.  In 
earliest  times  absolution  was  given  by  the 
bishop  alone,  or  by  the  bishop  in  union 
with  the  presbyters.  After  the  rise  of 
the  Novatinn  heresy,  the  office  of  peni- 
tentitiry  priest  was  instituted.  Later, 
pai'ishes  were  established  first  in  the  large 
towns  and  then  ih  the  country,  and  from 
that  time  the  accepted  principle  approved 
by  the  Fourth  Lateran  Council  was,  that 
parishioners  were  bound  to  confess  to  their 
own  priest  or  to  another  priest  with  his 
permission.  Chardon  reports  a  case  from 
the  twelfth  century  in  which  St.  Ailert, 
monk  of  the  abbey  of  Crespin  in  Hainaut, 
received  power  from  Paschal  II.  and 
Innocent  ll.  to  hear  the  confessions  of  all 

1  It  is  plain,  however,  from  many  decrees  of 
synods,  that  deacons  did  hear  confessions  in 
cases  of  necessity,  though,  of  course,  they  had 
no  power  to  absolve.  This  practice  lasted  till 
late  in  tlie  middle  ages.  Many  also  confessed 
to  laymen  at  the  hour  of  death,  if  a  cleric  was 
not  to  be  found,  and  great  scholastic  doctors  re- 
commeuded  this  act  of  humiliation  (Chardon, 
t-ii.  §7,  ch.  2). 


PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  OV 

who  came  to  him.  In  1227,  Gregory  IX. 
gave  the  Dominicans  authority  to  hear 
confessions  everywhere,  and  the  same 
privileges,  which  led  to  bitter  opposition, 
lasting  for  centuries,  on  the  part  of  the 
seculars,  were  extended  to  the  other 
mendicant  friars  and  confirmed  by  many 
Popes.  They  were  limited  by  the  Council 
of  Trent,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  articles 
on  Absolution  and  Confession.  (See 
Chardon,  tom.  iii.  §  8,  ch.  2.)  Li  all  these 
disputes,  the  principle  that  absolution 
could  only  be  given  by  a  priest  with  juris- 
diction was  fully  acknowledged,  i'or  the 
mendicants  had  of  course  jurisdiction, 
though  it  was  extraordinary — i.e.  not 
attached  to  their  office  but  directly  con- 
ferred by  the  Pope.  The  Orientals  also 
regard  absolution  as  a  judicial  act,  and  do 
not  dream  that  it  can  be  given  by  any 
priest.  Confession,  according  to  an  Ori- 
ental document,  probably  Coptic  (cited 
by  Uenzinger,  •'  llit.  Orient."  tom.  i.  p. 
100),  "  cannot  be  made  save  to  a  priest, 
whether  secular  or  religious,  «&c.,  who 
must  have  received  this  authority  from 
the  Patriarch  or  from  his  own  bishop, 
with  the  consent  of  the  clergy  and  chiefs  of 
the  people." 

3.  The  necessity  of  confessinff  all 
morf.al  sins  after  baptism  also  follows 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  absolving 
power.  Christ  gave  his  Apostles  au- 
thority to  bind  and  loose,  but  they  can- 
not exercise  this  discretion  till  the  sins,  as 
they  are  in  the  conscience  of  the  penitent, 
have  been  submitted  to  their  judgment. 
It  is  only  in  the  case  of  mortal  sins  that 
this  necessity  arises,  though,  as  a  rule,  it 
is  expedient  to  confess  venial  sins  like- 
wise, for  venial  sin  does  not  bind  the  soul 
over  to  evil  and  destroy  the  grace  of  God 
within  it,  or  exclude  absolutely  from  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  so  that  here  there  can 
be  no  strict  necessity  for  absolution.  It  is 
needless  to  prove  that  certain  mortal  sins 
of  a  very  aggravated  character  had  to  be 
confessed  in  the  primitive  Church,  for  this 
no  instructed  person  will  deny,  and  the 
writer  of  the  article  on  Penitence  in  the 
"Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities," 
edited  by  Smith  and  Cheetham,  admits 
that  this  confession  of  the  three  "  mortalia 
peccata "  was  obligatory,  even  if  the  sin 
had  been  secret.  Possibly  St.  James  may 
be  alluding  to  the  public  confession  when 
he  says,  "  Confess  your  sins  one  to 
another ; "  for,  as  Bollinger  ("  First  Age 
of  the  Church,"  p.  325)  points  out,  this 
confession  is  mentioned  in  immediate 
connection  with  extreme  unction.   " '  Con- 


PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  OF 

fess  to  one  another '  refers  to  the  priests 
called  in  to  anoint  the  sick  man  and  to 
pray  for  him,  and  to  whom  he  is  to 
confess  his  sins."  Whatever  may  be 
thought  of  this  interpretation,  we  have 
early  evidence  that  confession  much  more 
extensive  than  that  of  the  three  great 
mortal  sins  (viz.  murder,  idolatry,  and 
adultery)  was  known  to  the  early  Church. 
Origen  (Horn,  in  Ps.  xxxvii.  n.  6)  thus 
exhorts  the  sinner:  "  Look  round  diligently 
for  one  to  whom  you  should  confess  your 
sins."  He  is  to  find  a  phvsician  "  learned 
and  merciful  "  who  will  judge  if  his  sick- 
ness is  of  such  a  nature  that  "it  ought  to 
be  exposed  in  the  meeting  of  the  whole 
church;  "  and  again  (Horn,  in  Luc.  xvii.), 
**  if  we  reveal  our  sins  not  only  to  God 
but  also  to  those  who  can  heal  our  sins 
and  wounds,  our  sins  will  be  blotted  out 
by  Him  who  says, '  Behold,  I  will  blot  out 
like  a  cloud,' "  Sec.  Basil's  words  are  ex- 
press. "  It  is  neceasary  to  confess  our 
sins  to  those  who  are  entrusted  with 
the  dispensation  of  the  mysteries  of 
God  "    (avayKa'iov  toIs  TreiTKmvfxivois  rfjv 

OlKOVOfXiaV     Tcbv      flVirTTJ^JLCOV      TOV      QfOV     TO. 

at^LapTrjjxaTa  e^ofioXoyfla-Oai.  ''  Reg.  Brev. 
Tract.  Respons.  in  Interr."  288).  Further, 
what  followed  on  the  cessation  of  public 
penance  is  well  worth  consideration. 
This,  in  the  case  of  secret  sins,  came  to 
an  end  in  the  Church  of  Constantinople 
soon  after  the  abolition  of  the  presbyter 
em  TTJs  fxeravola^,  or  penitentiary,  at  the 
close  of  the  fourth  century.  It  came  to 
an  end  because  it  was  of  human  institu- 
tion. -But  sacramental  confession,  being 
of  divine  origin,  lasted  when  the  peni- 
tential discipline  had  been  changed,  and 
continues  to  this  day  among  the  Greeks 
and  Oriental  sects.^  So  again  Leo,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Bishops  of  Campania  (Ep. 
clxviii.,  ed.  Ballerini), desired  the  abroga- 
tion of  public  penance  because  of  its 
deterrent  effect,  and  because  it  was  not  of 
Aj^ostolic  institution ;  but  he  adds, 
"since  it  is  enough  that  the  guilt  of 
consciences  should  be  manifested  to  the 
priests  alone  by  secret  confession."  An 
opinion,  however,  did  prevail  to  some 
extent  in  the  middle  ages,  even  among 
Catholics,  that  confession  to  God  alone 
sufficed.  The  Council  of  Chalons  in  813 
(canon  33)  says :  "  Some  assert  that  we 
should  confess  our  sins  to  God  alone,  but 
some  think  (percensent)  that  they  should 

^  Exception,  however,  must  be  made  of  the 
Copts  and  Ethiopians,  with  whom  confession 
seems  to  have  died  out  in  the  middle  ages, 
(Chardon,  torn.  ii.  §  2,  ch.  5.) 


PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  OF  647 

be  confessed  to  the  priests,  each  of  which 
practices  is  followed  not  witliout  great 
fruit  in  Holy  Church  ....  Confession 
made  to  God  purges  sins,  but  that  made 
to  the  priest  teaches  how  they  are  to  be 
purged."  This  former  opinion  is  also 
mentioned  without  reprobation  bv  Peter 
Lombard  ("In  Sentent.  Lib.  IV."  dist. 
17).  St.  Thomas,  in  his  commentary  on 
the  Sentences,  says  that  what  had  once 
been  a  mere  opinion  was,  in  his  time,  on 
account  of  the  decision  of  the  Church, 
under  Innocent  HI.,  to  be  accounted 
heresy,  and  ("  Suppl."  qu.  vi.  a.  3)  he  main- 
tains that  the  necessity  of  confessing 
mortal  sins  after  baptism  exists  by  divine, 
and  not  merely  by  church,  law. 

4.  We  say  nothing  here  of  the  sorrow 
for  sin  and  purpose  of  amendment  requi- 
site in  the  sacrament,  referring  the  render 
for  an  explanation  of  this  point  to  the 
article  on  Conteition,  and  we  pass  to 
satisfaction,  which  is  the  fourth  and  last 
part  of  penance.  It  is  defined  by  Billu- 
art  ("  Poen."  diss.  ix.  1)  as  "  a  payment 
of  the  temporal  punishment  due  to  sin 
through  works  which  are  good  and  penal 
and  are  imposed  by  the  confessor." 

"Catholics,"  says  Bossuet  ("Expos, 
de  la  Foi  Cath."  viii.),  "teach  unanimously 
that  only  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  both  God 
and  man,  was  capable,  through  the  infinite 
dignity  of  his  person,  of  oftering  to  God 
sufficient  satisfaction  for  our  sins.  But, 
having  satisfied  superabundantly,  He  was 
able  to  apply  this  satisfaction  in  two  ways, 
either  by  granting  entire  remission  with- 
out letting  any  penalty  remain,  or,  oi' 
the  other  hand,  by  commuting  a  greater 
into  a  lesser  penalty — i.e.  eternal  into 
temporal  punishment.  As  that  former 
fashion  is  more  complete  and  in  better 
harmony  with  his  goodness,  He  wnploys 
it  in  baptism;  but  we  believe  that  He 
employs  the  second  way  in  the  case  of 
those  who  fall  back  into  sin  after  baptism, 
being,  as  it  were,  constrained  to  do  so  by 
the  ingratitude  of  those  who  have  abused 
his  first  gifts  so  that  they  have  to  suffer 
some  punishment,  although  the  eternal 
one  is  remitted.  From  this  we  must  not 
infer  that  Jesus  Christ  has  failed  to  make 
entire  satisfaction  for  us;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  that,  having  acquired  an  absolute 
right  over  us  by  the  infinite  price  He  has 
offered  for  our  salvation.  He  grants  us 
pardon  on  the  conditions,  under  the  laws, 
and  with  the  reserves  which  seem  good  to 
Him."  He  proceeds  to  argue  that  Pro- 
testants, who  allege  that  Christ  could  not 
have  satisfied  fully  for  actual  sin,  if  He 


648    PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  OF 

left  us  subject  to  temporal  punishment, 
might  as  well  say  that  Christ  has  not 
satisfied  for  original  sin  because  He  has 
left  us  subject  to  death  and  to  other  infirmi- 
ties of  the  soul  and  body  which  are 
consequences  of  the  Fall.  *•  Similarly,  we 
should  not  marvel  that  He  who  showed 
Himself  so  merciful  to  us  in  baptism 
should  display  greater  severity  when  once 
we  have  broken  our  holy  promises.  It  is 
just,  n-ay,  it  is  lor  our  own  good,  that  He, 
when  lie  remits  [the  guilt  of]  sin  along 
with  the  eternal  punishment,  should  exact 
some  temporal  punishment  from  us  in 
order  to  bind  us  to  duty." 

Scripture  proves  that  God  inflicts 
temporal  punishment  for  pardoned  sin, 
for  Nathan  said  to  David  after  he  had 
acknowledged  his  double  crime,  '*  The 
Lord  also  has  caused  thy  sin  to  pass 
away ;  thou  shalt  not  die.  Only  because 
thou  hast  so  made  the  enemies  of  the 
Lord  to  blaspheme  through  this  matter, 
even  the  son  that  is  born  to  thee  shall 
surely  die,"  (2  Reg.  or  Sam.  xii.  14), 
Dan.  iv.  27  (so_  Heb.  LXX  and  Vulg. 
'*  Authorised,"  iv.  27)  is  the  classical 
pass;ige  for  l^e  doctrine  that  man  has  the 
power  of  making  satisfaction  for  sin  by 
good  works.  "  Therefore,  O  king,  let  my 
counsel  please  thee,  and  redeem  thy  sins 
by  justice,  and  thy  perversities  by  show- 
ing kindness  to  the  poor."  Here,  as  in  all 
other  articles  on  dogma,  we  have  given  a 
literal  translation  from  the  original,  and 
our  version  of  this  text  is  justified,  while 
that  of  the  "  Authorised  Version  "  (''  break 
off")  is  excluded,  both  by  the  laws  of  the 
language  and  by  the  judgment  of  the 
best  Pr(3testant  and  Jewish  scholars.  We 
append   our    reasons    in    a    note.*     The 

1  The  words  occur  in  the  Chaldee  portion  of 
Daniel,  ar:d  the  main  question  is,  does  the 
Chaldee  word  p-jQ  mean  "  redeem  "  or  "  break 

oflF"?^  It  can  only  mean  "redeem."  (1)  The 
word  is  found  once  only  in  that  small  portion  of 
the  Bible  which  is  written  in  Chaldee,  but  it  is 
of  very  frequent  occurrence  in  the  Chaldee 
literature.  It  is  used  by  Onkelos  (Exod.  xxi. 
8)  of  "  redeeming "  a  slave;  a  "field"  (Lev. 
xx\.  25)  ;  in  the  other  Targums  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  soul — "who  hast  redeemed  my  soul 
from  every  affliction  "  (2  Sam.  iv.  9).  t-evy, 
in  his  Chaldee  Dictionary,  gives  numerous  in- 
stances of  the  use  of  the  verb  in  Peal  from  the 
Targums.  In  all,  except  one,  it  must  mean 
"to  buy  back,"  "redeem,"  &c,  ;  it  never  on  e 
bears  the  sense  given  it  in  the  Protestant 
version.  (2)  Syriac,  which  is  scarce^'  a  dis- 
tinct  language  from  Chaldee,  has  the  same 

■word, -  <^\  ^-  It  occurs  pretty  often  in  the 
Peshito  version  of  the  N.T.,  and  "redemit"  is 
the  first  rendering  given   by  Schaaf  in    his 


PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  OF 

penitential  discipline  of  the  early  Church 
witnesses  to  the  belief  that  satisfaction 
by  penitential  works  is  necessary  in 
itself,  and  is  required  as  a  part  of  the 
sacrament  of  penance.  Nor  did  the  early 
Christians  consider  satisfaction  merely  as 
means  of  deepening  repentance,  repairing 
scandal,  and  awakening  salutarv  sorrow. 
Cyprian  ("  De  Laps."  35,  36)"  exhorts 
the  lapsed  "to  be  forward  in  good  works 
by  which  sins  are  purged,  to  give  frequent 
alms  by  which  souls  are  freed  from  death," 
"to  induce  the  Lord  to  pardon  sin  by 
perseverance  in  good  works."  Calvin 
himself  acknowledges  that  all  Christian 
antiquity  admitted  the  necessit}'  of  peni- 
tential satisfaction.  "  I  am  little  moved," 
he  writes,  "  by  passages  which  every- 
Avbere  occur  in  the  writings  of  the 
ancients  concerning  satisfaction.  I  see 
that  some  of  them,  I  will  say  frankly 
nearly  all  whose  works  are  extant,  went 
wrong  in  this  matter,  or  spoke  too 
severely  and  harshly."  ("  Listit."  iii.  cap. 
4,  §  38,  quoted  by  Billuart.) 

It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  satis- 
faction is  in  theological  language  an 
integral  but  not  an  essential  part  of  the 
Sacrament.  In  other  words,  the  priest, 
both  as  judge  and  physician  of  the  soul, 
is  boimd  to  impose  a  penance ;  and  the 
penitent,  if  it  is  reasonable,  is  bound  to 
accept  it.  Even  if  the  penance  is  un- 
reasonable, he  must  seek  another  penance 
and  absolution  from  another  priest.  But 
whereas  true  supernatural  sorrow  with 
purpose  of  amendment,  absolution,  and, 
according  to  the  common  opinion,  some 
outward  confession  of  sin   by   word   or 

Syriac  Lexicon.  Thus  it  is  used  to  render 
eppvo-oTo  (Coloss.  i.  13),  "  and  redeemed  us  from 
he  power  of  darkness."  Sometimes  it  means 
"  to  go  away  "  ;  never  "  to  break  otl""  (o)  The 
Vulgate  rendering,  "  redime,"  is  supported  by 
the  LXX  AvVpwaat.  (4)  It  is  adopted,  sometimes 
even  without  a  notice  of  the  rendering  given  in 
the  "  Authorised  "  and  Lutheran  versions,  by 
De  Wette  in  his  revision  of  Luther's  Bible ;  by 
Ewald  (Propheten,  vol.  iii.  p.  .366) — "  lose 
deine  SundendurchGerechtigkeitein"  ;  Hitzig 
{Comm.  on  Daniel,  p.  67),  who  justly  remarks 
that  the  rendering  "  break  off"  is  contrary  to 
the  exegetical  tradition,  and  has  "no  analogy 
to  support  it " ;  and  by  Gesenius.  To  these 
Protestant  authorities  we  may  add  another, 
Bertheau,  and  the  Rabbins,  Eben  Ezra  and 
Saadia  (cited  by  Hitzig),  and  a  mo.lern  Jewish 
scholar,  FUrst,  in  his  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  Con- 
cordance and  in  his  Dictionary.  Were  the  pas- 
sage in  Daniel  Hebrew,  the  Vendering  "  break 
off"  could  bo  supported  by  a  comparison  of 
Gen.  xxvii.  40;  but  it  is  Chaldee,  and  common 
sense  requires  us  to  interpret  a  Chaldee  word 
by  Chaldee,  not  Hebrew,  usage 


PENANCE,  SACRAMENT  OF 


PENITENTIAL  DISCIPLINE    649 


sign,  are  always  and  in  all  circumstances 
necessary  for  the  validity  of  the  Sacra- 
ment, still,  in  the  case,  e.g.,  of  a  man  in 
his  agony,  the  priest  may  give  absolution 
without  imposing  a  penance.  (Billuart, 
Diss,  ix.  a.  2.)  In  the  ancient  Church 
part  at  least  of  the  penance  was  usually 
performed  before  absolution ;  at  present 
the  priest  in  most  cases  imposes  the 
penance,  and,  if  he  judges  that  the  peni- 
tent is  well  disposed,  gives  absolution. 
The  dift'erence  is  one  of  discipline  and  not 
of  principle,  for,  with  the  exception  given 
above,  absolution  is  not  given  even  now 
unless  there  is  the  resolution  on  the  part 
of  the  sinner  to  perform  the  penance 
unposed  upon  him. 

Many    Protestant    objections  to   the 
sacrament   of    penance,    as  administered 
among  us,  arise  from  misunderstanding. 
Confession  to  the  priest  tends  to  deepen 
and  not  to  replace  shame  and  sorrow  for 
the  offence  done  to  God.     It  protects  the 
sinner  against  self-delusion — for  no  man  is 
a  good  judge  in  his  own  cause — and  the 
priest   is   able   to   insist   upon   the   duty 
of  restoring  ill-gotten  goods,  reconcilia- 
tion with  enemies,  forgiveness  of  injuries, 
avoiding    occasions    of    sins,    retracting 
calumny,  kc,  in  many  cases  when  the 
sinner    might    be  blinded   by    his    own 
passions  or  interests.     At  the  same  time 
the    priest    affords  the    best    protection 
against  despair  or  indiscreet  zeal.     There 
is  little  in  the  laborious  work  of  the  con- 
fessional to  satisfy  cliriosity,  for  the  priest 
learns  nothing   except   the   number   and 
species    of    sins    committed,    and   he   is 
bound  under  the  most  sacred  obligations 
to  abstain  from  all  unnecessary  questions, 
particularly  from  all  such  as  might  convey 
knowledge  of  sins  previously  unknown  to 
the  penitent.     He  has  to  decide  accord- 
ing   to    the   principles   of    an    elaborate 
casuistry  which  he  has  studied  for  years, 
and  in  which  he  has  been  examined  by 
his     superiors,     before     he     enters     the 
confessional.     There    is    little    room    for 
tyranny    on    his   part,   for   the    faithful 
know  well  that  they  may  have  recourse 
to   any    approved    confessor.     Here,    as 
elsewhere,  holy  things  may  be  profaned. 
But  the  Church  deprives  a  priest  of  the 
power  to  absolve  an  accomplice,  rigorously 
punishing  any  attempt  to  do  so  ;  and  were 
a  priest  so  miserable  as  to  abuse  the  con- 
fessional for  bad  ends,  then  the  person  to 
whom  he  had  spoken  wrongly  could  not  be 
absolved  even  by  another  priest  till  he  or 
she  had  communicated  the  name  of  the 
criminous  clerk  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese. 


Such  cases  are  necessarily  of  very  rare 
occurrence ;  for  sin  of  this  kind  would  in- 
volve almost  inevitable  ruin  to  the  priest. 
Of  all  pastoral  ministrations  we  firmly  be- 
lieve there  is  none  which  involves  a 
more  self-denying  devotion  to  a  mono- 
tonous duty,  none  where  the  good  effects 
are  so  plain  and  visible,  and  very  few 
which  are  more  seldom  marred  by  human 
weakness  and  sin. 

(The  work  of  Morinus  is  a  storehouse 
of  learning.  Much  historical  information 
will  be  found  in  Chardon's  "  Hist,  des 
Sacr."  The  writer  of  this  article  only 
knows  Denys  de  Ste.  Marthe,  "  Traite  de 
la  Confession,"  Paris,  1685,  by  Chardon's 
quotations.) 

PEZO-XTElO'TIAXi  SZSCZPI.XN-E 
AlffD  BOOKS.  The  right  of  punishing 
members  for  ofl'ences  against  its  laws 
and  depriving  them  altogether  or  for  a 
time  of  its  privileges,  belongs  to  any  well- 
constituted  society.  It  was  exercised  by 
the  Synagogue  (Luc.  xvi.  2 ;  John  vi.  2)  ; 
Christ  sanctioned  the  use  of  it  in  his 
Church  (Matt,  xviii.  15-17)  ;  and  in  1  Cor. 
V.  1-5  we  see  St.  Paul  enforcing  the 
penitential  law  of  the  Church  against  a 
notorious  offender.  Of  course,  this  peni- 
tential discipline  in  the  Christian  C'hurch, 
though  analogous  to  the  procedure  of 
human  societies,  claims  a  higher  origin 
and  is  of  a  much  more  serious  nature. 
The  power  of  inflicting  spiritual  penalties 
has  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Church 
by  Christ  Himself;  it  is  exercised  in  his 
name ;  it  may  involve  deprivation  of  the 
sacraments,  which  are  the  great  appointed 
means  of  grace ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  the  object  of  penitential  discipline, 
not  only  to  preserve  the  holiness  of  the 
Church,  but  also  to  awaken  wholesome 
fear  and  sorrow  in  the  heart  of  the  offender 
while  there  is  yet  time,  "  that  his  soul  may 
be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord."  Ob- 
viously, the  Church  must  use  this  power 
in  the  way  most  likely  at  the  time  to 
benefit  souls,  and  her  penitential  canons 
have  varied  much  at  different  periods  and 
in  difierent  places.  Still,  on  the  whole, 
it  is  possible  to  distinguish  three  distinct 
periods  in  the  history  of  penance — the 
first  extending  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Church  to  the  rise  of  the  Novatian  heresy 
in  the  middle  of  the  third  century  (Mori- 
nus, lib.  iv.),  the  second  reaching  to  about 
the  year  700  after  Christ  {ih.  lib.  vi.),  the 
third  \o  the  eleventh  century  {ih.  lib.  vii.). 
Of  these  periods,  the  first  represents  peni- 
tential discipline  in  its  initial  stage;  the 
second,  in  its  full  development  and  vigour ; 


650    PENITENTIAL  DISCIPLINE 

the  third,  in  its  decay.  Most  of  what  we 
have  to  say  is  taken  from  the  great  work 
of  Morinas,  "  De  Disci^lina  in  Admiuis- 
tratione  Sacramenti  Poenitentiae,"  in  the 
Venetian  edition  of  1702. 

First  Penod. — ^The  sins  for  which 
pubhc  penance  was  inflicted,  were  the 
three  "  mortal  crimes "  ^  {crimina  mor- 
talia,  Cyprian,  "  De  Bono  Patient."  c.  14) 
of  idolatry,  mui'der,  and  adultery,  com- 
mitted after  baptism.  TertuUian  adds 
"  fraud  "  to  the  list  of  "  graver  and  fatal 
crimes  which  cannot  be  forgiven  "  ("  Pu- 
dic."  ]  9)  ;  but,  generally  speaking,  it  was 
only  the  various  forms  of  the  three  great 
sins  which  reduced  a  man  to  the  rank  of 
a  penitent.  Tertullian  ("  De  Pcenit."  c.  9) 
has  left  us  a  vivid  picture  of  penance  as 
he  was  accustomed  to  see  it  practised. 
He  describes  penance,  which  was  generally 
known,  even  among  the  Latins,  as  "ex- 
omologesis,"  because  it  involved  open  con- 
fession of  sins,  as  a  "  discipline  by  which 
a  man  was  prostrated  and  humiliated." 
He  speaks  of  the  penitents  as  lying  on 
sackcloth  and  ashes,  of  the  unwashed 
body,  the  feeding  on  bread  and  water, 
the  fasting  and  prayer,  the  grovelling  at 
the  feet  of  the  presbyters  and  others  who 
had  a  name  for  sanctity,  the  groans  and 
tears.  As  yet  there  was  no  formal  division 
of  penitents  into  grades,  and  penance, 
though  severe,  did  not  always  last  long. 
The  Apostolic  Constitutions  (ii.  16),  in 
a  passage  which  may  be  fairly  taken  as  a 
picture  of  the  penitential  discipline  in  the 
tirst  period,  orders  a  great  sinner  to  be 
excluded  altogether  from  the  Church ;  then 
the  deacons  are  to  admonish  him  and  in- 
troduce him  to  the  congregation ;  then 
penance  is  to  be  inflicted  (a-Tidaxras  avrov) 
"  in  proportion  to  his  sin,  for  two,  three, 
five,  or  seven  weeks,"  at  the  end  of  which 
period  the  bishop  is  to  receive  him  into 
communion,  with  imposition  of  hands  (ib. 
18.  X€ipo6fTr](Ta^  avTov  Za  Xovnov  eivai  iv 
TO)  TToifivicf),  accompanied  by  the  prayers 
of  the  faithful.  Here  we  see  the  geims 
of  the  later  and  more  formal  system, 
though  the  penalty  contemplated  is  slight. 
Cyprian  (Ep.  Ivii.)  announces  his  inten- 
tion of  admitting  to  communion  those 
who  had  fallen  into  idolatry  in  a  former 
persecution  and  had  done  penance  since. 
His  reason  for  this  indulgence  was  that 
fresh  persecution  was  at  hand. 

But  while  penance  was  comparatively 
light,  admission  to  it  was  often  hard  to 

1  We  have  used  such  expi*essions  as  "  mortal 
crimes,"  "  offences,"  &c.,  to  prevent  confusion 
with  "  mortal  sin  "  in  the  modern  sense. 


PENITENTIAL  DISCIPLINE 

obtain.  For  in  this  early  period  penance 
was  looked  on  rather  as  a  grace  shown  to 
sinners  than  as  a  penalty  which  they  had 
to  bear.  It  was  in  the  difficulty  of  being 
admitted  to  penance,  not  in  the  penance 
itself,  that  the  severity  of  the  early  Church 
appears.  For  a  brief  period,  even  the 
Roman  Church  refused  absolution  utterly 
and  altogether  in  the  case  of  the  three 
"mortal  crimes."  This  absolution  was 
granted  till  the  middle  of  the  second 
century  ("  Pastor  Herm."  Mandat.  iv.  1), 
but  it  must  have  been  withdrawn,  pro- 
bably shortly  after  the  "Shepherd"  of 
Ilermas  was  written  (this  is  evident  from 
the  first  chapter  of  Tertullian,  "  De  Pudic." 
Compare  also  the  words  of  Hermas,  loc.  cit, 
"  Servis  Dei  poenitentia  una  est,"  with 
Visio,  ii.  2,  where  it  is  said  that  soon  the 
opportunity  of  performing  penance  wiU 
expire).  Zephyrinus  (202-219)  relaxed 
this  severity  in  the  case  of  adulterers 
(see  the  "  De  Pudic"),  and  his  successor, 
Callixtus  (219-222),  admitted  all  sinners 
to  communion  after  penance  ("PhUo- 
sophimi."  ix.  12),  and  this  milder  dis- 
cipline became  established.  (See  the 
"  Epistle  of  the  Roman  Clergy,"  Cyprian, 
Ep.  30.)  In  Africa,  too,  the  discipline 
had  become  milder,  for  Cyprian  (Ep.  Iv. 
No.  21)  mentions  the  opinion  of  bishops 
in  his  province  that  "  peace  was  not  to  be 
granted  to  adulterers"  as  a  thing  of  the 
past.  The  Spanish  church  continued  to  be 
more  severe,  for  even  after  our  period  the 
Synod  of  Elvira,  in»  306,  excluded  great 
sinners  from  all  hope  of  communion  (see, 
e.g.  canons  1,  6,  8).  Moreover,  in  no 
part  of  the  Church  was  communion  given 
to  those  who  had  fallen  a  second  time 
after  baptism  into  mortal  crime.  It 
was  Pope  Siricius  (Ep.  1,  "  Ad  Himer." 
c.  5),  towards  the  close  of  the  fourth 
century,  who  insisted  on  a  more  indul- 
gent course.  So,  agam,  it  was  the  ordi- 
nary practice  to  refuse  communion  to  the 
dying,  if  they  had  been  previously  ex- 
communicated and  had  not  done  penance 
in  health.  We  must  remember,  however, 
that  sacramental  absolution  from  guilt, 
canonical  absolution  from  penitential 
discipline,  censures,  &c.,  and  giving  com- 
munion, are  three  distinct  things,  and 
the  refusal  of  the  first  does  not  follow 
from  that  of  the  second  or  third.  Hefele 
("Concil."i.  p.  165)  and  Frank  ("  Buss- 
disciplin,"  &c.,  1867)  believe  that  though 
canonical  absolution  and  communion  often 
were,  sacramental  absolution  never  was, 
refused  to  any  sinner. 

Second  Fej'iod, — After  the  rise  of  the 


PENITENTIAL  DISCIPLINE 


PENITENTIAL  DISCIPLINE  651 


Novatian  heresy,  the  penitential  system 
was  fully  orp-anised.  The  Nicene  Council, 
can.  13,  established  the  principle  that 
communion  was  to  be  given  in  the  hour 
of  death  to  penitents,  however  great  their 
previous  crime.  We  have  seen  that  Pope 
Siricius  extended  this  lenity  even  to  re- 
lapsed penitents.  St.  Chrysostom,  it  is 
said  (Socrates,  "  H.  E."  vi.  21),  received 
penitents  again  and  again,  however  fre- 
quent their  relapses,  and  the  Third  Council 
of  Toledo,  in  689,  speaks  in  canon  11  of 
a  lax  practice  which  permitted  men  to 
sin  as  often  as  they  pleased,  and  present 
themselves  anew  to  the  priest  for  recon- 
ciliation. (See  Hefele's  note,  "Concil." 
iii.  p.  61.) 

On  the  other  hand,  the  list  of  "  mortal 
offences  "  was  enlarged.  We  find  traces 
of  such  increase  in  the  list  of  sins  which 
subjected  to  penance,  in  the  canons 
ascribed  to  Gregory  of  Nyssa  and  Basil. 
"  Many  Fathers,"  says  Morinus  (lib.  v. 
cap.  v.),  "  who  wrote  after  Augustine's 
time,  extended  this  [the  necessity  of  pub- 
lic penance]  to  all  crimes  which  the 
civil  law  punished  vnth.  death,  exile,  or 
other  grave  corporal  penalty "  j  and  he 
proves  this  by  many  quotations — e.(/.  from. 
Popes  Pelagius  II.  and  Grearory  I.  Fur- 
ther, in  the  East  certain  grades  of 
penance  came  to  be  recognised.  The  three 
higher  grades  are  mentioned  or  alluded 
to  in  tlie  canonical  epistle  of  Gregory 
Thaumaturgus  (can.  1,  8,  9,  on  the  last, 
in  which  the  graide  of  o-vcrravres,  or  con- 
sist entes  is  alluded  to  but  not  mentioned 
by  nanie,  see  the  extract  from  the 
commentary  of  Zonaras  in  Routh,  "  Rell. 
Sacr."  torn.  iii.  p.  279).  The  eleventh 
canon,  which  enumerates  all  four  grades, 
is  certainly  spurious,  and  is  much  later 
than  ( Gregory's  time.  (See  Routh,  loc.  cit. 
p.  '2^1.)  Still,  from  the  fourth  century 
onwards,  the  Eastern  Church  divided 
penitents  into  four  classes.  They  are  thus 
described  in  the  eleventh  canon  of  Gre- 
gory in  words  which  are  quite  accurate, 
and  were  probably  added  as  a  gloss  to 
the  authentic  canons.  "Weeping"  (the 
Trpoa-KkaLovres,  or  Jlentes,  were  the  lowest 
class)  "  takes  place  outside  the  door  of  the 
church,  where  the  sinner  must  stand  and 
beg  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  as  they  go 
in.  Hearing "  (the  aKpocdjievoi,  or  ati- 
dientes,  were  the  second  class)  "is  per- 
formed within  the  gate  in  the  porch,  where 
the  sinner  must  stand  while  the  catechu- 
mens are  present,  and  then  go  out.  For, 
hearing  the  Scripture,"  he  says,  "  and  the 
instructioii,  let  him  be  expelled,  and  not  be 


admitted  to  the  prayer.  Prostration  "  (the 
state  of  the  vttottitttovt^^,  substrati,  the 
third  class)  "  requires  the  sinner  to  stand 
within  the  church  door,  and  to  go  out 
with  the  catechumens."  (Before  going, 
they  prostrated  themselves  to  receive  the 
imposition  of  the  bishop's  hands  with 
prayer,  hence  their  name.)  The  consia- 
tenf.es  (the  last  class — a-va-TdiTfs.  cmisis- 
tentes)  ''  stand  together  with  the  faithful, 
and  do  not  go  out  with  the  catechumens. 
Last  comes  participation  in  the  sacraments 
(dytao-jLtartoi/)."  The  two  lower  grades 
were  little  known  in  the  West,  and  the 
Latin  Fathers  generally  mean  by  "  peni- 
tents "  the  suhsirati,  or  vironiTrrovTfs.  A 
severe  course  of  life — fasts,  shaving  of  the 
head,  wearing  a  peculiar  dress,  abstinence 
from  the  enjoyment,  and  even  sometimes 
from  the  business  of  life,  were  the  hard- 
ships which  penitents  (under  which  term 
we  do  not  include  the  consistent es)  had  to 
undergo.  The  penance  la sted  long  years — 
e.g.  the  Canons  of  Basil,  which  represent 
the  discipline  of  the  whole  East,  impose 
fifteen  years  of  penance  for  adultery,  seven 
for  fornication.  Many  canons  of  Councils 
speak  of  clerics  as  subjected  to  penance 
{e.g.  Neocaes.  can.  1 ;  I'llib.  70 ;  I.  Araus. 
4 ;  I.  Arel.  29)  ;  but  sometimes  the  de- 
gradation of  a  cleric  was  considered  equi- 
valent to  the  penance  of  a  layman,  and  it 
was  felt  to  be  unfair  that  he  should  incur 
a  double  penalty  for  one  crime.  (So, 
e.g.  Can.  Apost.  26 ;  and  the  letter  of 
Pope  Siricius  to  Himerius,  "  Pcenitentiam 
agere  cuiquam  non  conceditur  clericorum." 
Mansi,  "  Concil."  tom.  iii.  col .  660.)  W  ith 
regard  to  the  sick  and  dying,  tlie  rule 
varied  at  different  times  and  in  different 
churches.  Cyprian  (Ep.  Iv.  23)  lays  down 
the  principle  that  great  and  notorious 
offenders,  who  had  done  no  penance  be- 
fore their  sickness,  "  were  to  be  excluded 
entirely  (omnino  prohibendos)  from  the 
hope  of  communion  and  peace."'  The 
Synod  of  Aries  (anno  314),  which  repre- 
sented the  whole  of  the  Western  Church, 
also  debarred  death-bed  penitents  from 
communion  (can.  22)  ;  but  the  Council  of 
Niceea  (can.  13)  relaxed  this  stringent 
rule.  Still  less  was  commimion  refused 
to  secret  sinners  who  sought  penance  on 
their  death-beds,  or  to  such  as  were 
actually  doing  penance  when  sickness  over- 
took them.  After  the  organisation  of  the 
grades  or  stations  of  penance,  a  penitent 
who  had  received  communion  in  dangerous 
sickness  was  usually  sent  back  to  do 
penance  in  case  of  recovery.  Sometimes 
he  returned  to  the  grade  in  which  he  had 


652  PENITENTIAL  DISCIPLINE 


PENITENTIAL  DISCIPLINE 


been   before ;  sometimes  he   was  placed 
among  the  consistentes. 

Third  Period,  frorn  the  Seventh  till  the 
Eleventh  Century. — Before  this  time  the 
laws  of  public  penance  had  been  altered 
very  seriously  in  the  East.  The  office  of 
penitentiary  had  been  abolished  at  the 
close  of  the  fourth  century  at  Constanti- 
nople (Socrates,  *'  H.  E."  vii.  IG  ;  Sozomen 
«  H.  E."  V.  19),  and  this  led  to  the  ces- 
sation of  public  confession  and  public 
penance  for  secret  sins.  The  stations  of 
penance  are  mentioned  at  the  end  of  the 
seventh  century  in  canon  87  of  the  Coun- 
cil in  Trullo.  But  the  Greek  litui-gies, 
except  perhaps  that  of  St.  James  and  one 
used  by  the  Abyssinians,  contain  no 
reference  to  the  dismissal  of  penitents 
from  the  assembly  of  the  faithful.  About 
the  beirinniug  of  the  seventh  century,  as 
Morinus  (lib.  vii.  1)  proves  by  citations 
from  Bede,  Egbert,  Rabanus  Maurus,  &c., 
it  was  received  as  an  axiom  throu<rhout 
the  West  that  public  penance  was  to  be 
done  only  for  public  sins. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however, 
that  the  rigour  of  public  penance  had 
abated  among  the   Latins.     True,  even 

Sublic  penitents  no  longer  received  the 
ally  imposition  of  the  bishop's  hands, 
and  they  were  no  longer  shut  out  from 
the  very  sight  of  the  sacred  mysteries. 
But  all  through  this  period  a  vast  number 
of  persons  were  to  be  seen  in  the  churches 
"distinguished  from  [the  rest  of]  the 
faithful  by  their  dress,  place  [in  the 
church],  mourning,  and  whole  manner  of 
life"  (Morinus,  vii.  2).  Some  of  them 
witnessed  Mass  at  a  distance  from  a  spot 
inside  the  church  ;  others  took  their  place 
in  a  eeparate  part  of  the  church  ;  a  third 
class  mixed  with  the  rest  of  the  congre- 
gation, but  were  forbidden  to  communi- 
cate {ih.  7).  The  bishop  prescribed 
this  penance,  and  the  civil  law  compelled 
the  offender  to  undergo  it.  Very  often  a 
man  was  forced  to  appear  as  a  public 
penitent,  though  for  one  reason  or  other 
ne  had  not  been  condemned  or  even  tried 
by  the  civil  court.  It  was  enough  if  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  had  juridical 
proof  of  his  guilt.  In  the  early  part  of 
this  period,  the  beginning  of  Lent,  the 
"caput  jejunii,"  as  it  was  called,  was 
looked  on  as  the  most  fitting,  though  not 
the  only  time,  for  the  solemn  imposition 
of  public  penance  {ih.  vii.  19).  Nor  was 
private  penance  less  severe.  It  differed 
from  public  penance  only  inasmuch  as  it 
could  be  imposed  by  a  priest,  whereas 
public    penance    was    innicted    by    the 


bishop  or  a  priest  specially  empowered 
by  him,  and  inasmuch  as  the  solemn 
rites  of  public  were  omitted  in  private 
penance.  The  same  long  fasts  and  other 
austerities,  the  same  long  abstinence  I'rom 
communion,  were  the  penalties  of  secret 
sin.  Every  priest  who  heard  confession 
was  bound  to  use  a  "  penitential  book  " — 
i.e.  a  book  which  contained  the  penalties 
attached  to  particular  sins  by  the  canons, 
Popes,  Fathers,  or  custom,  along  with 
the  forms  to  be  observed  in  confession, 
absolution,  and  the  rest.  The  Jloman 
Penitential,  and  those  of  Theodore,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  Bede,  were 
those  which  had  the  highest  repute  in 
the  West,  but  there  were  many  others. 
These  books  were  the  guides  of  confessors 
down  to  the  thirteenth  century.  A 
glance  at  the  ''  Summary  of  Penitentials  " 
given  in  Zaccaria's  essay  pref  xed  to  the 
"  Moral  Theology "  of  St.  Liguori  will 
easily  convince  the  reader  of  the  sr^everity 
which  then  prevailed.  From  the  latter  part 
of  the  tenth  century  flogging  was  added  to 
the  other  penitential  exercises,  and  at  an 
earlier  part  of  our  period  exile  (mentioned 
in  the  Penitentials  of  Bede  and  in  that 
knowni  as  the  Roman)  and  perpetual 
retirement  to  a  monastery  were  imposed 
as  penances. 

Fvurth  Period,  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth 
Centuries  (Morinus,  lib.  x.  cap.  16  seq). — 
During  this  period  tlie  rigour  of  penance 
was  greatly  relaxed ;  public  penance, 
except  in  certain  cases,  especially  in  that 
of  heresy,  almost  disappeared,  and  on 
the  whole  we  may  note  a  transition  to 
modern  practice.  The  following  were  the 
chief  causes  of  the  change  : — 

(a)  The  Itedemption  of  Sins. — Long 
before  this  time  the  practice  had  arisen 
of  procuring  exemption  from  canonical 
penance  by  giving  alms,  &c.  This  cus- 
tom, indeed,  is  mentioned  and  condemned 
by  an  English  council  held  in  747,  ond  it 
was  generally  recognised  in  the  ninth 
century.  But  sncii  redemptions  were  at 
first  partial,  and  only  allowed  when  part 
of  the  penance  had  been  done.  This 
accorded  with  the  spirit  of  the  primitive 
Church,  which  remitted  part  of  the 
penance  to  sinners  who  showed  extra- 
ordinary sonow  and  zeal.  But  from  the 
end  of  the  tenth  or  opening  of  the  eleventh 
century  penances  due  to  sins  were  arith- 
metically computed — i.e.  if  seven  years 
of  penance  were  assigned  for  committing 
a  sin  once,  twenty-one  j^ears  were  rcsckoned 
as  the  penalty  due  for  committing  it  three 
times,  and  large  alms,  flagellation,  reel- 


PENITENTIAL  DISCIPLINE 

tations  of  the  Psalter,  were  accepted  as 
redemption  of  penance.  Thus  St.  Peter 
Damian  tells  the  story  of  a  man  who  by 
cruel  flao-ellation  and  frequent  recitations 
of  the  Psalter  accomplished  a  hundred 
years  of  penance  in  six  days.  The  arith- 
metical computation  of  penance  had  made 
its  performance  in  the  old  way  impossible. 

{j3)  Remissions  of  penance  were  freely 
granted  for  icorJcs  of  piety  —e.g.  contri- 
butions to  aid  in  the  building  of  churches, 
or  even  works  of  public  utility,  such  as 
building  bridges  or  the  like.  As  a  rule, 
those  indulgences  were  partial,  but  a 
complete  remission  of  penance  was  often 
obtained  by  performing  several  good 
works.  Maurice,  who  succeeded  Peter 
Lombard  in  the  see  of  Paris,  built  his 
great  cathedral  and  four  abbeys  by  means 
of  indulgences.  It  is  right  to  add  that 
the  Fourth  Lateran  Council  protested 
against  the  reckless  freedom  with  which 
these  indulgences  were  given. 

(y)  The  Crusades  did  more  than 
anything  else  to  relax  penitential  rigour, 
and  this,  in  the  opinion  of  Fleury,  was 
the  moHt  important  effect  they  produced. 
As  early  as  1 087  Pope  Victor  XL  offered 
a  general  remission  of  penance  to  those 
who  took  up  arras  against  the  Saracens 
of  Africa,  alter  they  had  spoiled  the  abbey 
of  Monte  Cassino.  In  1095  Urban  II. 
offered  the  same  reward  to  those  who 
joined  in  the  crusade.  Secret,  as  well  as 
public,  sinners  availed  themselves  of  the 
opportunity ;  and  when  for  two  hundred 
years  penance  had  been  remitted  to  vast 
multitudes  who  took  part  directly  or  in- 
directly in  these  wars,  it  became  out  of 
the  question  to  think  of  restoring  the 
ancient  rigour.  It  is  curious  to  observe 
that  bearing  arms  was  just  one  of  the 
things  which  penitents  in  ancient  times 
were  strictly  forbidden  to  do.  But  it  was 
supposed  that  the  prohibition  only  applied 
to  war  between  Christians. 

(h)  The  Scholastics  developed  the 
opinion  that  absolution  might  be  granted 
before  the  performance  of  penance,  that 
the  canonical  penalties  were  arbitrary,  or 
in  any  case  might  be  remitted  by  the  con- 
fessor, and  not  merely,  as  in  former  days, 
by  the  bishop. 

(e)  The  mendicant  friars,  who  were 
constantly  passing  from  place  to  place, 
became  the  favourite  confessors,  and  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  defer  abso- 
lution and  stay  to  watch  the  progress  of 
the  penitent. 

The  Pontifical  still  contains  an  office 
for  the  expulsion  of  penitents  from  the 


PENITENTIAL  PSALMS     663 

church  by  the  bishop  on  Ash  Wednesday. 
The  penitents  are  to  approach  in  peni- 
tential garb,  bare  feet,  &c. ;  ashes  are  to  be 
placed  on  their  heads,  and  the  doors  of 
the  church  shut  against  them  till  Holy 
Thursday.  Such  public  ignominy  is  to 
be  inflicted  only  for  enormous  crimes, 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  bishop,  peni- 
tentiary, or  other  official  to  whom  the 
power  has  been  delegated.  The  Council 
of  Trent,  however  (sess.  xxiv.  cap.  8), 
desires  that  public  (but  not  solemn) 
penance  be  indicted  on  public  sinners, 
imless  the  bishop  judge  it  to  be  inex- 
pedient. St,  Charles  enforced  this  rule 
in  his  synods.  But  solemn  or  even 
public  penance  is  now  scarcely  known. 
Still,  in  an  English  book  published  at 
Douay  as  late  as  1743  with  ecclesiastical 
approbation  ("  The  Good  Confessor,"  kc, 
by  Samuel  Marley,  D.D.,  p.  522  seq.),  the 
imposition  of  public  penance  for  public 
sin  is  strictly  enjoined  upon  the  con- 
fessor. It  is  suggested,  e.g.,  that  the 
penitent  kneel  at  the  church  door  during 
the  chief  Mass,  with  a  light  in  his  hands, 
and  beg  pardon  of  the  congregation. 
Drunkenness  is  given  as  an  example  of 
a  sin  which  should  be  expiated  in  this 
way.  It  is  evident  from  the  whole 
chapter  that  penances  of  this  kind  were 
still  frequently  imposed.  (Morinus  is 
the  great  authority  on  the  subject. 
Chardon,  ^  Hist,  des  Sacr."  torn.  iii.  iv., 
gives  a  clear  and  useful  summary  of  the 
facts.  A  much  shorter  but  very  inter- 
esting summary  will  be  found  in  Fleury, 
Discours  iv.  and  vi.  The  writer  has 
also  read  the  articles  in  Kraus,  "Real- 
Eucycl.,"  and  in  Smith  and  Cheetham, 
but  without  finding  much  that  had  not 
already  been  given  by  Morinus.  The 
work  of  Wiisserschleben, "  Bussordnungen 
der  abendlandischen  Kirche,"  Halle,  1851, 
is  only  known  to  him  from  the  references 
in  Smith  and  Cheetham.) 

PEirZTEXrTZAXi  PSAKMS.  A 
name  given  to  seven  psalms,  which  ex- 
press sorrow  for  sin  and  desire  of  pardon. 
The  psalms  are  6,  31,  37,  50,  101,  129, 
142  (in  the  Latin  numeration).  Innocent 
III.  ordered  their  recitation  in  Lent; 
Pius  V.  fixed  the  Fridays  in  Lent  after 
lauds  as  the  time  at  which  they  should 
be  said,  but  they  are  not  said  on  Good 
Friday  or  on  a  feast  of  nine  lessons.  There 
is  no  obligation  of  saying  them  in  the 
private  recitation  of  the  Breviary,  though 
those  who  do  so  may  gain  an  indulgence 
of  fifty  days  The  name  and  arrangement 
of  the  Penitential  Psalms  is  very  ancient. 


664 


PENSIONS 


PENTECOST 


Possidius  tells  us  that  St.  Aug'ustine,  when 
dying,  caused  the  penitential  psalms, 
which  are  few  in  number,  to  be  fixed  on 
the  wall  opposite  his  bed.  Probably  our 
penitential  psalms  are  meant.  Cassio- 
dorus  (d.  665)  gives  a  mystical  reason 
for  the  number  seven — viz.  that  sin  is 
remitted  by  baptism,  martyrdom,  alms, 
forgiving  others,  converting  others,  abun- 
dance of  charity,  and  penance.  They 
are  also  mentioned  in  the  oldest  Roman 
Ordines  (Gavantus,  torn.  ii.  §  ix.  cap.  4). 
The  antiphon  "  Ne  reminiscaris "  from 
Tobias  iii.  3,  now  attached  to  these 
psalms  in  the  Roman  Breviary,  seems  to 
have  been  added  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
(Maskell,  *'Monumenta  Rit."  vol.  iii. 
p.  82.) 

Psursxoirs.  At  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  Maximus,  who  had  a  short 
time  before  been  substituted  for  Domnus 
as  bishop  of  Antioch,  requested  the 
sanction  of  the  Fathers  to  his  assigning 
a  pension  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  see 
sufficient  for  the  support  of  Domnus. 
The  legates  of  Pope  Leo,  the  other  patri- 
archs, the  entire  synod,  and  the  imperial 
judges  assented  to  the  request  in  prin- 
ciple, leaving  it  to  Maximus  to  arrange 
the  details  according  to  his  judgment  of 
what  was  necessary. 

Gregory  the  Great  used  to  send  clerks 
convicted  of  incontinence  to  various 
monasteries  for  penance,  but  required 
that  the  churches  to  which  they  belonged 
should  supply  them  with  adequate  pen- 
sions, so  that  they  should  not  be  a  burden 
on  the  monasteries. 

An  ecclesiastical  pension  is  not  canoni- 
cal or  permitted  except  under  the  follow- 
ing conditions :  1.  The  receiver  must  be 
an  ecclesiastic,  free  from  censure  and 
irregularity;  2.  The  pension  must  be 
founded  on  a  just  cause ;  3.  He  who 
creates  the  pension  must  have  the  faculty 
to  do  so,  and  such  faculties  are  granted 
by  the  Pope,  and  may  be,  as  some  theo- 
logians think,  by  the  bishops  also  ;  4.  The 
enjoyment  of  the  pension  ceases  with  the 
natural  or  civil  death  of  the  pensioner. 
(Thomassin, "  Vet.  et  Nova  Eccl.  Disc."  iii. 
2,  29-31  ;  Moroni,  Pensions  Ecclesi- 
astica.) 

PElTTECOST.^  The  feast  of  Weeks 
(niyi^  in)  '^as  one  of  the  three  great 
feasts  of  the  Jewish  law.  It  was  the 
feast  of  the  in-gathered  harvest,  and 
the  later  Jews  regarded  it  as  a  solemn 

1  For  the  derivation  of  the  word  Whitsun- 
day, see  that  article. 


commemoration  of  the  Mosaic  legislation 
in  the  third  month  (Exod.  xix.  1);  but 
there  is  no  trace  of  such  a  view  in  the 
Bible  or  even  in  Josephus  and  Philo.  It 
was  kept  on  the  fiftieth  day  after  the 
first  day  of  the  Passover,  Nisan  16,  the 
second  day  of  the  Paschal  feast,  being 
reckoned  as  the  first  of  the  tiftv  days 
(Lev.  xxiii.  15,  16;  cf.  Ew.  "  Alther- 
thiim,"  p.  399  scq.).  Hence  the  Greek 
name  nevTrjKoaTT),  originally  an  adjective 
with  Tjixepa  understood  and  then  treated 
as  an  independent  substantive  (eV  rjj 
TrevTTjKooTfj  ^opTTf  rj  ecrriv  dyLa  cnTO. 
€^8ofici8an>,  Tob.  ii.  1.  There  is  nothing 
answering  to  this  in  the  Chaldee  or 
Hebrew  versions  as  given  by  Neubauer,  or 
in  the  Vulgate ;  but  Sabatier's  "  Itala  "  has 
"  in  Pentecosten  festo  nostro  qui  est 
sanctus  a  septem  annis  '*).  To  Christians 
the  day  became  specially  sacred,  for  on  it 
at  the  third  hour  {i.e.  about  nine  o'clock) 
the  Holy  Ghost  descended  miracu- 
lously on  the  Apostles.  The  ancient 
tradition  that  this  Pentecost  fell  on  a 
Sunday  is  confirmed  by  John  xviii.  28, 
for  if  the  Friday  on  which  Christ  died 
was  the  eve  of  the  Passover,  i.e.  Nisan  14, 
then  the  16th,  the  first  of  the  fifty  days, 
and  the  fiftieth  day  itself  must  both  have 
been  Sundays. 

Pentecost  was  kept  as  a  Christian 
festival  from  very  early  times.  The  word 
was  used  both  for  Whitsunday  and  for 
the  whole  period  of  fifty  days  after 
Easter.  Irenseus  in  a  lost  work  on  the 
Pasch  is  said  to  have  mentioned  the 
custom  of  praj'ing  erect  during  this  season 
(see  the  work  falsely  attributed  to 
Justin  Martyr, "  Qusest.  et  Respons."  115, 
tom.  iii.  P.  2,  p.  180,  in  Otto's  edition); 
and  Origen,  the  ''  Apostolic  Constitu- 
tions" {y.  20),  as  well  as  the  Council  of 
Elvira  (anno  306,  can.  43),  speak  of  the 
feast  on  the  day  itself.  There  was  no 
fasting  during  the  whole  period,  for  even 
the  fast  on  the  vigil  was  not  known  in 
the  early  Church  ;  indeed,  Quesnel  thinks 
the  custom  in  the  Roman  Church  is  not 
older  than  the  twelfth  centurv,  though 
Meratus  and  Benedict  XIV.  ("De  Festis," 
615)  believe  its  introduction  must  be 
placed  much  earlier.  The  Vigil  of  Pente- 
cost was  one  of  the  two  days  on  which 
solemn  baptism  was  conferred,  and  hence 
the  Missal  still  gives  a  form  for  the  bless- 
ing of  the  font  on  that  day.  Benedict 
XIV.  also  mentions  as  customs  which  pre- 
vailed in  some  places,  the  blessing  of  the 
candle,  for  which  a  form  is  given  by 
Martene   ("De  Autiq.  Ecclesise   Rit.'»), 


PERSECUTIONS 


PERSECUTIONS 


656 


the  blowing  of  trumpets  at  the  Veni, 
Sancte  Spiritus,  in  the  Mass  of  Whitsun- 
day, the  discharge  of  fire  from  the  roof,  the 
letting  doves  loose  in  the  church,  and  the 
scattering  of  roses.  The  Sundays  wliich 
follow  till  Advent  are  dated  from  Pente- 
cost in  the  Roman  Calendar. 

PERSECTTTXOZO'S  (during  the  first 
six  centuries).  An  exhaustive  essay, 
**  Christenverfolgungen,"  See.  on  this  sub- 
ject has  lately  appeared  in  the  "  Real- 
Encyklopadie  of  Christian  Antiquities," 
edited  by  Dr.  Kraus.  The  limits  of  the 
present  work  permit  us  only  to  give  a 
brief  general  outline  of  the  prmcipal 
facts. 

During  the  first  century  Christianity 
was  to  a  great  extent  confounded  with 
Judaism  in  the  eyes  of  the  Roman 
officials,  and  since  the  latter  was  a 
licita,  the  former  shared  the  same 


privilege.  The  persecutions  under  Nero 
and  Domitian  were  local  and  occasional ; 
no  systematic  design  of  extirpating  Chris- 
tianity dictated  them.  Gradually, 
partly  because  the  Jews  took  pains  to 
sever  their  cause  from  that  of  the  Chris- 
tians, partly  because,  in  proportion  as 
Christinnity  was  better  understood,  the 
universality  of  its  claim  on  human  thought 
and  conduct,  and  its  essential  incompati- 
bility with  pagan  ideas,  came  out  into 
stronger  relief,  the  antagonism  grew 
sharper,  and  the  purpose  of  repression 
more  settled.  Charges,  various  in  their 
nature,  "vyere  brought  against  the  Chris- 
tians ;  they  were  treasonable  men  (inajes- 
tatis  rev)  who  denied  to  tlie  emperors  a 
portion  of  their  attributes  and  dignity ; 
they  were  atheists,  who  so  far  from 
honouring  the  gods  of  the  empire  declared 
that  they  were  devils ;  they  were  dealers 
in  magic ;  lastly,  they  practised  a  foreign 
and  unlawful  religion  {relif/io  peregrina 
illicitd).  Possessed  by  such  conceptions, 
a  high  Roman  official,  especially  if  he  were 
a  man  of  arbitrary  or  brutal  character, 
or  if  Christians  were  indiscreet,  could  not 
lack  pretext  in  abundance  for  persecution, 
even  before  any  general  edict  of  proscrip- 
tion had  appeared.  The  rescript  of  Tra- 
jan (98-117)  directed  the  policy  of  the 
government  for  a  hundred  years.  "  Search," 
he  said,  "  is  not  to  be  made  for  Christians; 
if  they  are  arrested  and  accused  before  the 
tribunals,  then  if  any  one  of  them  denies 
that  he  is  a  Christian,  and  proves  it  by 
offering  sacrifice  to  our  gods,  he  is  to  be 
pardoned."  The  implication  was,  of 
course,  that  those  who  avowed  their 
Christianity  and  refused  to  sacrifice  were 


to  be  executed,  as  the  adherents  of  an 
unlawful  religion.  All  through  the 
second  century,  the  popular  sentiment, 
whenever  a  Christian  was  put  on  his  trial, 
raged  against  the  accused ;  the  mob,  still 
for  the  most  part  pagan,  believed  every 
wild  and  monstrous  calumny  that  was 
afloat  against  the  sect.  "  If  the  Tiber 
overflows,"  says  Tertullian,  '^if  the  Nile 
does  not  overflow,  if  there  is  a  drought, 
an  earthquake,  a  scarcity,  or  a  pestilence, 
straightway  the  people  cry,  '  The  Chris- 
tians to  the  lions.'  "  This  popular  aver- 
sion is  noticed  in  the  reports  of  the  peise- 
cution  in  Asia  Minor,  in  which  St.  Poly- 
carp  suffered  (probably  about  155,  under 
Antiminus  Pius),  and  of  the  terrible 
slaughter  of  Christians  at  Lyons  and 
Vienne  under  Marcus  Aurelius.  In  202 
Severus  issued  a  formal  edict  forbidding 
conversions  either  to  the  Jewish  or  the 
Christian  religion  under  heavj'^  penalties. 
The  persecution  which  ensued  lasted  ten 
or  eleven  years ;  but  from  about  212  lo 
the  reign  of  Decius  (249-251)  was  a  time 
of  comparative  peace,  and  Christians 
multiplied  in  every  direction.  Even  upon 
the  general  population  an  impression  was 
by  this  time  made ;  and  the  attitude  of  the 
mob,  in  the  persecutions  of  Christinns 
which  happened  after  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  was  at  first  apathetic,  then 
respectful,  finally  even  compassionate. 
Under  Decius,  who  was  an  enthusiast  for 
the  ancient  glories  of  the  republic  and 
empire,  the  systematic  general  persecu- 
tions began,  which  aimed  at  stamping  out 
Christianity  altogether.  Fabian,  the 
bishop  of  Rome,  and  St.  Agatha  in  Sicily, 
were  among  the  victims  of  the  Decian 
storm.  Fortunately  it  was  short;  but 
when  it  had  passed  over,  the  number  of 
the  lapsi,  or  those  who  in  various  degrees 
had  given  way  under  the  pressure,  was 
found  to  be  very  great.  Under  Gallus 
there  was  peace,  but  Valerian  (257)  re- 
newed the  persecution.  The  martyrdoms 
of  St.  Lawrence,  St.  Cyprian,  and  St. 
Fructuosus  of  Tarragona,  date  from  about 
this  time.  Again,  from  260  (in  which 
year  an  edict  of  Gallienus  declared  Chris- 
tianity to  be  a  legal  religion),  to  300,  the 
government  left  the  Chi'istians  undisturbed 
except  for  a  few  months  (270)  under 
Aurelian.  In  303,  the  terrible  persecu- 
tion of  Diocletian  was  ushered  in  by  the 
destruction  of  the  gi-eat  church  at  Nico- 
media.  On  the  next  day  appeared  an 
edict,  orderinir  that  all  buildings  used  for 
religious  worship  by  the  Christians  should 
be  destroyed,  and  that  their  sacred  books 


656 


PERSECUTIONS 


should  be  given  up  to  the  authorities  and 
burnt.  Christians  themselves  were  de- 
clared to  be  outlawed  and  civilly  dead; 
they  were  to  have  no  remedy  in  the 
courts  aj^ainst  those  who  did  them  wrong  ; 
and  they  were  to  be  subject,  in  every  rank, 
to  torture.  A  second  edict  ordered  that 
all  bishops  and  priests  should  be  im- 
prisoned ;  a  third,  that  such  prisoners 
should  be  compelled  by  every  possible 
means  to  offer  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  The 
extreme  violence  of  this  persecution  did 
not  last  beyond  two  years;  but  in  that 
time  the  blood  of  martyrs  flowed  abund- 
antly in  Palestine,  Italy,  Gaul,  Spain,  and 
Britain.  A  detailed  account  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  Christians  in  Palestine  may 
be  read  in  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
Eusebius.  For  some  years  after  the  abdi- 
cation of  Diocletian  (305)  civil  war  deso- 
lated the  empire  ;  but,  after  the  fall  of 
Maxentius,  Coustantine  and  Licinius, 
about  the  beginning  of  813,  published  the 
famous  edict  of  Milan,  by  which  complete 
toleratioQ  was  given  to  the  Christians,  and 
Christianity  was  placed  on  a  footing  of 
perfect  equality  with  what  had  been  till 
now  the  State' religion.  This  edict  was 
published  some  months  later  at  Nico- 
media,  so  that  both  in  East  and  West  the 
period  of  martyrdom  was  closed. 

The  persecution  of  Julian  (361-3) — 
although  martyrdoms  were  not  wanting, 
e.g.  those  of  SS.  John  and  Paul — consisted 
rather  in  a  studied  exclusion  of  Christians 
from  the  favour  of  the  Court  and  govern- 
ment, together  with  a  prohibition  of 
teaching  rhetoric,  literature,  and  philo- 
sophy, than  in  actual  measures  of  coer- 
cion. 

For  a  notice  of  the  prolonged  persecu- 
tion of  the  Christians  in  Persia  under  the 
Sassanides,  see  Missions  (fourth  cen- 
tury). 

The  cruel  persecution  of  the  Catholics 
in  Africa  by  their  Vandal  conquerors, 
under  Geiseric  (Genseric),  Ilunneric,  and 
his  successors  (439-523),  was  motived 
partly  by  the  hatred  and  contempt  which 
these  Teutons  bore  to  all  of  Roman  blood 
or  nurture,  partly  by  the  inevitable 
antagonism  between  the  Arian  heresy 
which  they  professed  and  the  Catholic 
creed,  and  partly  by  the  policy  of  humbling 
and  weakening  those  whom  they  could 
not  hope  to  attach  sincerely  to  their 
government. 

The  persecution?  of  the  Spanish 
Catholics  by  the  Arian  Visigothic  kings 
Euric  and  Leo vi gild,  in  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries,  were  of  no  great  intensity. 


PETER'S  CHAINS 
PERSON-.     [See  TEmiTY.] 

PETSR'S    CHAZIirS,  FEAST  OF. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, and  how  long  before  that  it  is  im- 
1  possible  to  determme,  the  festival  of  St. 
I  Peter  ad  Vincvla  was  celebrated  at 
I  Rome  on  August  1.  The  Greeks  keep 
I  the  corresponding  feast  on  January  16; 
i  the  Armenians  on  January  22.  One  of 
the  lessons  in  the  Roman  Breviary  for  the 
day  relates  that  the  Empress  Eudocia, 
wife  of  Theodosius  the  Younger,  having 
obtained  during  a  visit  to  Jerusalem  the 
chains  with  which  the  Apostle  had  been 
bound  by  Herod's  order,  and  from  which 
he  was  miraculously  set  free  (Ads  xii.), 
brought  them  to  Constantinople  (439), 
and  having  deposited  one  of  them  in  the 
church  of  St.  Peter  in  that  city,  sent  the 
other  to  Rome  as  a  present  to  her  daughter 
Eudoxia,  who  had  married  Valentinian 
III.  Papebroch  the  Bollandist,  who  has 
a  long  dissertation  on  St.  Peter's  chains, 
under  date  June  29,  and  Baronius  (a.  439), 
are  both  inclined  to  accept  this  story. 
There  seems  no  means  of  fixing  the  date 
at  which  it  first  found  its  way  into  the 
Breviary. 

But,  besides  these  Palestinian  chains, 
a  very  early  tradition  knew  of  other 
chains  borne  by  St.  Peter,  those,  namely, 
with  which  he  was  bound  in  the  Mamer- 
tine  prison  at  Rome  during  the  Neronian 
persecution.  The  Acts  of  Pope  Alex- 
ander, bishop  of  Rome,  between  121  and 
132,  are  believed  by  Papebroch  to  be  gen- 
uine, and  to  have  been  compiled  before 
250.  In  these  Acts  a  certain  St.  Balbina 
is  spoken  of  as  having  sought  and  found 
the  chains  of  St.  Peter,  which  she  gave 
in  charge  to  Theodora,  sister  of  Hermes, 
the  Praefectus  Urbis.  These  must  have 
been  the  Neronian  chains,  for  neither 
tradition  nor  probability  permits  the 
supposition  of  a  transfer  of  the  Pales- 
tinian chains  to  Rome  at  that  remote 
date. 

In  a  sermon  "  De  Vinculis,"  attributed 
to  Bed  a,  it  is  said  that  this  Pope  Alexander 
instituted  a  feast  on  August  1  in  honour 
of  St.  Peter,  and  built  the  churcli  called 
ad  Vincula,  in  which  his  chains  were 
wont  to  be  kissed  by  a  devout  people. 
Filings  of  the  chams  of  St.  Pf>ter  were 
from  a  very  early  period  enclosed  by  Popes 
in  rings  or  keys,  and  sent  to  friends  or 
correspondents  to  whom  it  was  desired  to 
show  special  favour.  To  thi-<  jiractice,  in 
the  opinion  of  Papebroch,  St.  Augustine 
refers  when  he  says  that,  "  deservedly, 
through  all  the  churches  of  Christ,  the 


PETER'S  PENCE 

iron  of  those  penal  chains  is  esteemed 
more  precious  than  gold."  ^ 

No  Greek  writer  speaks  of  the  re- 
moval of  one  of  the  chains  to  Rome,  nor 
mentions  Eudocia  in  connection  with 
them.  There  is,  however,  a  Greek  ora- 
tion, extant  in  MS.  in  several  Italian 
libraries,  on  St.  Peter's  chains.  Though 
commonly  attributed  to  St.  John  Chry- 
sostom,  it  is  of  uncertain  date  and  author- 
ship ;  Baronius  would  assign  it  to  Proclus 
or  Germanus,  patriarchs  of  Constanti- 
nople in  the  seventh  century ;  Papebroch 
sees  no  reason  why  it  should  not  really 
have  been  written  by  Chrysostom.  In 
this  oration  it  is  merely  stated  that  the 
first  Christian  emperors  brought  a  chain 
(not  chains)  from  Jerusalem  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  placed  it  in  the  church  of 
St.  Peter. 

Two  Roman  churches  at  the  present 
day  recall  the  bonds  of  St,  Peter;  one, 
S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  is  on  the  Esquiline 
Hill,  the  other,  S.  Pieti'o  in  Carcere,  on  the 
Capitol.  In  the  former  is  preserved  tbe 
chain  said  to  have  been  given  to  Eudoxia ;  ^ 
the  latter  is  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  prison 
in  which  the  Apostle  was  incarcerated. 

The  feast  of  this  day  was  called  by 
the  Anglo-Saxons  Lammas — *.  e.,  Loaf- 
Mass  ;  *  solemn  thanksgiving  being  made 
on  it  for  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  ofter- 
ings  presented. 

PBTBR'S  PEircz:  (denarius  S. 
Petri,  Pom-gesccot,  Rom-scot?).  An  an- 
nual tax  of  one  penny  for  every  house  in 
England, collected  at  Midsummer,  and  paid 
to  the  Holy  See.  It  was  extended  to  Ire- 
land under  the  bull  granted  by  Pope  Adrian 
to  Htnry  II."*  The  earliest  documentary 
mention  of  it  seems  to  be  the  letter  of 
Canute  (1031),  sent  from  Rome  to  the 
English  clergy  and  laity.*  Among  the 
"duesAvhich  we  owe  to  God  according 
to  ancient  law,"  the  King  names  "the 
pennies  which  we  owe  to  Rome  at  St. 
Peter's"  {denarii  quos  Romce  ad  Sanctum 
Petrum  debemus),  "whether  from  towns 
or  vills."     It  may  hence  be  considered 

1  Serin.  39,  De  Sanctis. 

2  In  one  fonn  of  the  martyrolog}-  of  Usuard 
(^Acta  Sanctorum,  June,  vol.  vii.)  there  is  a 
legend  to  the  effect  that  when  the  chain  sent  to 
Eudoxia  from  Constantinople  was  brought  in 
contact  with  the  Neronian  chain,  the  two 
miraculously  cohered.  See  also  the  lesson  for 
the  day  in  the  Koman  breviary. 

3  A.-S.  HIaf-Maesse. 

*  Matth.  Paris,  ed.  Wats,  p.  95.  But,  as  is 
weJl  known,  the  genuineness  of  this  bull  is  now 
dispute!  (see  the  last  volume  of  the  Analecta 
Pontificia), 

6  Flor.  of  Wore.  a.  1031. 


PETER'S  PENCE 


657 


certain  that  the  tax  was  deemed  one  of 
ancient  standing  in  the  time  of  Canute, 
but  its  exact  origin  is  variously  related. 
West  Saxon  writers  ascribe  the  honour 
(for  it  was  regarded  as  an  honour  by  our 
forefathers)  of  its  institution  to  kings  of 
Wessex ;  Matthew  Paris,  who  represents 
Mercian  traditions,  gives  it  to  Oli'a,  king 
of  Mercia.  Malme.^bury  makes  Ethel- 
wulf,  the  father  of  Alfred,  the  founder ; 
so  that  the  same  king  who  instituted 
tithes  would  on  this  view  have  esta- 
blished "Peters  Pence."  But  a  writer 
Very  little  later  than  Malmesbury — Henry 
of  Huntingdon — attributes  the  grant  to 
Otla,  king  of  Mercia,  who  "  gave  to  the 
Vicar  of  St.  Peter,  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
a  iixed  rent  for  every  house  in  his  kingdom 
for  ever."  Matthew  Paris,  in  his  "  Two 
Offas  "  (printed  by  Wats),  gives  the  Mer- 
cian tradition  in  an  expanded  form.  Oifa, 
visiting  Rome  in  great  state,  besides  other 
munificent  offerings,  burdens  his  kingdom 
with  the  "■  Rom-scot,"  which  is  to  be  paid 
to  the  Roman  Church  for  the  support  of 
the  English  school  and  hostel  at  Rome. 
It  was  to  be  one  silver  penny  {argenfeus) 
for  every  family  occupying  land  worth 
thirty  pence  a  year.  On  the  other  band, 
Layamon,  the  poet  (writing  about  1209, 
among  West  Saxon  traditions),  ascribes 
the  institution  to  Ina,  a  king  of  VVessex. 
No  certain  conclusion  can  be  arrived  at ; 
but,  on  the  whole,  it  seems  probable  that 
the  "  Rom-scot "  owed  its  foundation  to 
OfFa,  witli  whose  prosperous  and  success- 
ful reign  the  initiation  of  the  thing  would 
be  more  in  keeping  than  with  the  troubled 
times  of  Ethelwulf,  although  the  latter 
may  well  have  consented  to  extend  that 
which  had  been  before  only  a  Mercian 
impost  to  the  West  Saxon  part  of  his 
dominions. 

The  "alms,"^  sent  by  Alfred  to  Pope 
Marinus,  who  then  "  freed  "  the  English 
school  at  Rome,  were  probably  nothing 
more  than  arrears  of  Peter's  pence,  the 
receipt  of  which,  made  it  possible  for  the 
Pope  to  free  the  inhabitants  in  the  English 
quarter,  and  the  pilgrims  resorting  to  it 
for  hospitality,  from  all  tax  and  toll. 
Geolfi'ey  Gaimar  ^  is  responsible  for  the 
curious  statement,  that  in  consideration  of 
the  Peter's  pence  (the  "  dener  de  la  mei- 
son ")  given  by  Canute,  the  Pope  made 
him  his  legate,  and  ordered  that  no  Eng- 
lishman charged  with  crime  should  be 
imprisoned  abroad,  or  exiled,  but  should 
"  purge  himself  in  his  own  land." 


»   Sax.  Chr,  883. 

2  See  Mon.  Hist.  Brit.  p.  821. 


U  U 


668 


PETROBRUSIANS 


It  is  probable  that  there  was  at  all 
times  ^reat  irregularity  ia  the  payment  of 
the  Romescot.  It  is  recorded  to  have 
been  sent  to  RoQie  in  1095,  by  the  hands 
of  the  Papal  nuncio,  after  an  intermission 
of  many  years.  Again,  in  1123,^  we  read 
of  a  legate  coming  into  England  after  the 
Roniescot.  From  1534  it  ceased  to  be 
rendered. 

The  tribute,  or  cess,  of  1,000  marks 
(700  for  England,  300  for  Ireland),  which 
King  John  bound  himself  and  his  heirs  to 
pay  to  the  Roman  see,  in  recognition  of 
the  feudal  dependence  of  his  kingdom, 
was  of  course  wholly  distinct  from  the 
Peter's  pence.  After  being  paid  by  Henry 
III.  and  Edward  II.,  but  withheld  by 
Edward  I.  and  Edward  III.,  it  was 
formally  claimed  with  arrears,  in  1366, 
by  Urban  V. 

Tiie  Peter's  Pence  of  modern  days 
is  a  voluntary  contribution  made  by  the 
faithful,  and  taken  np  under  the  direc- 
tion of  their  bishop,  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff. 

PSTROBRUSZAXTS.  An  heretical 
sect  of  the  twelfth  century ;  the  leaders 
of  which,  Peter  de  Bruys  and  Henricus, 
in  so  far  as  they  attacked  the  hierarchy 
and  preached  simplicity  of  life,  may  be 
regarded  as  the  forerunners  of  Arnold  of 
Brescia.  A  letter  of  Peter  the  Venerable,'^ 
abbot  of  Cluny,  is  the  chief  source  of 
information  respecting  them.  Bruys  pro- 
pagated his  opinions  in  Languedoc  in  the 
first  twenty  years  of  the  twelfth  century ; 
lie  perished  at  the  stake,  through  a  move- 
ment of  popular  exasperation,  in  1124. 
Henricus  (who  may  perhaps  be  identified 
with  the  "■  Henricus  haereticus  "mentioned 
by  Matthew  Paris  under  the  year  1151), 
after  a  long  career  of  success,  partly  in 
Maine,  but  chiefly  in  Southern  France, 
was  tried  at  the  council  held  at  Rheims, 
by  ]:]ugenius  III.,  in  1148,  and  sentenced 
to  perpetual  imprisonment.  He  died  in 
the  fi)llowing  year.  The  following  ab- 
stract of  the  Petrobrusian  tenets  is  given 
by  a  Protestant  writer :  ^  "  They  were 
strongly  opposed  to  infant  baptism,  saying 
that  you  could  wash  a  young  child's  skin, 
but  you  could  not  cleanse  his  mind  at  that 
early  age.  They  objected  to  the  building 
and  using  of  churches,  declaring  that 
God  could  hear  us  whether  we  prayed  in 
a  tavern  or  a  church,  in  a  market-place 

'    Sox.  Chrnn. 

2  Migne,  Patrol  vol.  189. 

3  J.  C.  Morison,  in  his  Life  and  Timen  of 
St.  Bernard ;  not  a  very  wise  book,  but  never 
conscioush'  unfair. 


PHILOSOPHY 

or  in  a  temple,  before  an  altar  or  before  a 
stall.  They  maintained  that  crosses,  in- 
stead of  being  held  in  reverence,  should 
be  destroyed  and  cast  away ;  that  the 
instrument  by  which  Christ  had  suffered 
such  agonies  ought  not  to  be  made  an  object 
of  veneration,  but  of  execration.  They  de- 
nied the  Real  Presence  in  the  Eucharist. 
Prayers  and  Masses  for  the  dead  they 
utterly  ridiculed,  and  said  that  God  was 
insulted  by  church  singing ;  as  He  took 
pleasure  only  in  holy  affections,  shrill 
voices  and  musical  strains  could  neither 
win  nor  appease  Him."  » 

PHZZ<OSOPKY.  We  are  compelled 
from  want  of  space  to  forego  any  attempt  at 
ahistory  of  philosophy  as  pursued  within  the 
Church,  and  must  confine  ourselves  to  the 
accepted  definition  of  philosophy,  a  brief 
sketch  of  its  development,  and  a  few 
words  on  its  relation  to  faith.  There  was 
really  no  systematic  philosophy  in  the 
Church^  till  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries,  when  the  physical  and  meta- 
physical works  of  Aristotle  became  known 
in  translations.  Some  of  the  Fathers 
condemned  philosophy  altogether  (so,  e.g., 
Irenaeus,  "Adv.  Hser."  ii.  14,  2;  ii.  25,  5; 

1  Nor,  of  course,  in  the  New  Testament, 
where  philosophy  is  only  mentioned  once,  and 
then  in  a  bad  sense  (Col.  ii.  8).  On  the  other 
hand,  great  attention  has  been  given  by  recent 
scholars — e.g.  Ewald  and  Delitzsch  in  Gerniany  ; 
Hook3'-as,  Kuenen,  and  Tiele  in  Holland — to  the 
"  wisdom  "  of  the  0.  T.  writers.  The  *•  wise  " 
men,  or  sages,  were  undoubtedly  a  recognised 
class  among  the  Hebrews,  distinct  from  the  priests 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  propliets  on  the  otlier 
(see,  e.g.,  Jer.  xviii.  18),  Now,  in  the  Hebrew 
Bible — specially  in  Proverbs,  Job,  and  Eccle- 
siastes — we  have  the  remains  of  this  "  wisdom 
literature,"  and  it  has  this  marked  characteristic. 
The  Jewish  law,  all  the  national  prerogatives 
and  peculiarities  of  Israel,  fall  into  the  back- 
ground. So,  on  the  other  hand,  does  prophetic 
revelation  (only  once  alluded  to  in  Prov.— viz. 
XX ix.  18).  The  wisdom  is  natural,  and  not 
dogmatic ;  cosmopolitan,  not  Israelite,  Its 
main  object  is  to  regiJ.ite  life  by  the  data  of 
experience.  For  this  reason  the  prophets  pro- 
test against  some  manifestations  of  this  "  wis- 
dom," as  being  godless  (Is.  v.  21  ;  xxix.  14; 
Jer.  iv.  22  ;  viii.  9 ;  ix.  20),  while  they  show 
at  the  same  time  the  influence  of  this  "  wisdom," 
or  gnomic,  literature  on  their  own  style  (see, 
especially,  Is.  xxviii.  23-29).  So  far,  then. 
Proverbs,  Job,  &c.,  occupy  the  position  of 
philosophy  ;  but  the  Hebrew  *'  wisdom  "  is  not 
speculative,  but  practical,  'ihe  Hebrew  "  sages  " 
correspond,  not  to  the  Greek  philosophers,  but 
to  the  Greek  "sages,"  the  wise  men  who  pre- 
ceded the  philosophers.  (Sensible  re4narks  on 
the  whole  subject  are  made  by  Kueneo — 
Onderzcek,  vol.  iii.  p.  88 — and  Tide  has  treated 
the  matter  admirably — Egijpt.  en  Mesopotam, 
Godsdiensten.  p.  629  seg.) 


PHILOSOPHY 

ii.  14,  5;  Tertullian,  "Pr^scr."'  7;  the 
author  of  the  "  Philosophumena,"  vii.  19). 
Tatiau  and  Hermias,  among  the  Apologists, 
are  equally  bitter.  Theophilus  ("Ad 
Autol."  ii.  8,  12;  iii.  3,  7,  17)  qualifies 
blame  with  ftiiut  praise.  St.  Athanasius 
professes  his  ignorance  of  a  common 
philosophical  term,  and  Basil  his  dislike  of 
philosophy  in  general  (see  Newman's  note 
in  the  "Oxford  Athanasius,"  p.  52). 
Aristotle  was  regarded  with  special  aver- 
sion (Ir^i.  ii.  14,  5;  TertuU.  "Proescr." 
7;  "  Philosophum."  vii.  19).  Others 
found  in  the  heathen  philosophers  an 
acknowledgment  of  Christian  mysteries, 
and  looked  on  philosophy  as  a  preparation 
for  Christ  (so  Justin,  of  the  Stoics  and 
Heraclitus,  "Ap."  2,  8 ;  of  Socrates,  ib. 
10;  Clem.  Al.  "  Strom."  i.  5,  p.  331,  333; 
with  reference  to  Plato,  v.  13,  p.  696 ;  vi. 
15,  p.  80.2;  V.  13,  p.  697;  v.  14,  p.  714; 
Origen,  e.(/.  "C.  Cels."  vi.  8,  where  he  quotes 
a  spurious  passage  of  Plato  to  show  that 
he  knew  the  "  Son  of  God  ").  Now,  both 
these  views,  in  spite  of  their  opposition 
to  each  other,  agree  in  this,  that  they 
conceive  of  philosophy  as  external  to 
Christianity.  To  Clement  and  those  who 
think  with  him,  philosophy  is  a  friendly 
power  which,  partly  from  the  "  light 
which  lightens  every  man,"  partly  by  bor- 
rowing from  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  leads 
men  to  Christ ;  to  Irenseus  and  others  it  is 
a  dangerous  rival  of  the  Church.  The 
views  are  not  really  far  apart,  and  the 
adherents  of  neither  ever  reached  the 
scholastic  theory  that  philosophy  and 
theology  are  two  independent  sciences, 
each  of  which  has  a  province  of  its  own ; 
Augustine,  even,  has  no  formal  and  com- 
plete system  of  philosophy;  and  though 
at  the  close  of  the  patristic  period  logic 
was  zealously  cultivated,  a  philosophy  in 
the  strict  sense  had  not  begun  to  be.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century 
speculations  on  the  nature  of  universal 
ideas  began  to  excite  attention  in  the 
Church,  though  the  dispute  was  conducted 
in  great  measure  with  reference  to  the 
mysteries  of  the  Trinity  and  Incarnation, 
so  that  it  was  half-theological,  half-philo- 
sophical. Roscelin,  canon  of  Compiegne 
(about  1089),  propounded  the  Nominalist 
view  that  universals  are  mere  abstractions 
from  individual  things ;  he  was  a  Tritheist 
in  theology,  was  condemned  at  Soissons 
in  1092,  and  opposed  by  the  Realists 
William  of  Champeaux  (d.  1121)  and 
Anselm  of  Canterbury  (d.  1109).  Up  to 
this  time  only  a  few  of  Aristotle's  logical 
works  were  known  in  the  West  ^"  Oateg." 

u 


PHILOSOPHY 


659 


"  De  Interpret."  besides  Porphyry's  " Isa- 
goge  " ;  after  1 128,  Aristotle's  "  Analytica" 
and  "  Topica  ").  About  1200,  translations 
of  Aristotle's  metaphysical  and  physical 
writings  appeared,  and  the  influence  of 
the  gi'eat  Arabic  commentators  on  Aris- 
totle (Avicenna,  b.  980 ;  the  Pantheist 
Averroes,  1113-1198)  began  to  tell. 
These  metaphysical  studies  met  with  great 
opposition.  A  council  of  Paris  in  1210 
ordered  Aristotle's  metaphysical  works  to 
be  burnt  (Fleury,  "11.  E."  Ixxvii.  59); 
and  the  Papal  legate,  Robert  of  Cour^on, 
in  1215  forbade  the  use  of  Aristotle's 
physical  or  metaphysical  works,  and  this 
by  order  of  Pope  Innocent  III.  (Fleury, 
Ixxvii.  39).  This  decree  was  modified  by 
Gregory  IX.,  and  practically  abrogated  by 
Urban  V.,  and  soon  the  Aristotelian  phi- 
losophy became  supreme  in  the  West. 
The  Franciscan  Alexander  of  Hales,  born 
in  Gloucestershire  (d.  1245),  was  the  first 
scholastic  who  was  acquainted  with  all 
the  works  of  Aristotle  and  knew  some- 
thing of  the  Arabian  commentators. 
Albert  the  Great  (1193-1280),  St.  Thomas 
of  Aquin  (1225  Or  7-1274),  Duns  Scotus 
(d.  1308),  diftering  as  they  did  on  many 
points,  philosophical  and  theological,  were 
all  Aristotelians.  All  distinguished  be- 
tween the  provinces  of  faith  and  reason, 
accepted  the  decisions  of  the  Church  as 
supreme  in  the  former,  and  followed 
Aristotle  as  the  great  representative  of 
human  reason.  A  much  freer  position 
with  respect  to  Aristotle  was  maintained 
by  the  later  Nominalists.  The  first  great 
leader  of  this  school  was  the  Franciscan 
Occam  (provincial  in  England,  theologian 
to  Louis  of  Bavaria,  d.  1347),  who  aban- 
doned the  Scotism  of  his  order.  He  was 
followed  by  some  Dominicans — e.(/.  by  the 
Englishman  Robert  Holcott,  by  the  great 
Frenchmen  Peter  d'Aillv  and  Gerson  (d. 
1429),  and  by  Gabriel  Biel  (d.  1495),  the 
last  great  Nominalist.  The  Aristotelian 
philosophy,  on  the  w^iole,  held  its  own 
within  the  Church  till  the  time  of  Des- 
cartes. Jesuits  like  Suarez  choose,  indeed, 
between  St.  Thomas  and  Scotus,  but  they 
are  professed  Aristotelians. 

To  the  Scholastics  generally  philosophy 
is  the  "  science  of  things  through  their 
ultimate  causes,  so  far  as  such  science  is 
attainable  by  the  light  of  nature."  We 
say  by  "  ultimate  causes,"  for,  whereas 
lower  sciences,  such  as  mechanics,  chemis- 
tiy,  &c.,  borrow  principles  from  other 
sciences,  philosophy  borrows  from  no 
other  science :  it  considers  "  being  as  being," 
the  nature  of  things  in  their  widest  aspect, 
u2 


660 


PmLOSOPHY 


It  eitlier  deals  with  "  beiiif^  "  in  itself  or 
with  "being"  as  the  object  of- and  as  or- 
dered by  reasoning,  or  with  "being"  as  the 
object  of  and  ordered  by  the  will.  The 
two  latter  classes  {ens  rationale  and  morale) 
are  the  subject-matter  of  two  subdi- 
visions of  philosophy — viz.  of  logic  and 
ethics.  "  Being"  in  itself — i.e.  as  ordered 
by  God — may  be  considered  as  liable  to 
sensible  motion,  and  then  it  is  the  sub- 
ject-matter of  physics;  or,  again,  we  may 
consider  "  being  "  like  that  of  God  or  the 
angels,  which  is  superior  to  such  motion, 
or,  in  our  consideration  of  "being," 
abstract  from  sensible  motion,  then  we 
get  metaphysics  (so  Goudin,  "Philo- 
sophia  D.  Phomse  ").  Logic,  metaphysics, 
physics,  and  ethics,  therefore,  are  the 
four  subdivisions  of  philosophy,  psycho- 
logy ^  being  merely  a  branch  of  physics. 
Next,  philosophy  reasons  only  from  the 
light  of  nature,  and  has  no  direct  con- 
nection with  revelation.  It  proves,  e.g., 
the  "being"  of  God,  which  /;an  be  done 
from  his  works;  it  does  not  investigate 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  which  is 
wholly  beyond  reason.  Hence  the  naarked 
difference  between  the  scholastic  philosophy 
and  many  modern  systems,  which  latter 
claim  to  be  a  substitute  for  revelation, 
and  to  give,  in  the  form  of  reason,  that, 
so  far  as  it  is  reasonable,  which  the  un- 
instructed  believe.  Further,  the  scholastics 
taught  that  philosophy  is  the  handmaid 
of  faith:  first,  because  it  prepares  the 
way  for  faith  by  establishing,  e.g.,  the 
spiritual  nature  of  the  soul,  the  existence  of 
God,  &c. ;  next,  because,  though  it  cannot 
prove  revealed  truths,  it  can  show  that 
they  are  not 'evidently  contrary  to  reason ; 
thirdly,  because,  whenever  the  provinces 
of  philosophy  and  theology  touch,  the 
philosopher  must,  if  need  arise,  correct 
his  conclusions  by  the  higher  and  more 
certain  truth  of  faith.  It  is  a  scholastic 
axiom  that  nothing  can  be  true  in  philoso- 
phy which  is  false  in  theology.  Observe, 
the  Church  does  i»ot  teach  philosophy ; 
that  is  not  her  province.  She  merely 
declares  a  philosophy  which  rejects,  e.g., 
the  primary  truths  of  morals  or  religion, 
to  be  false.  The  correction  of  the  false 
reasoning  she  leaves,  and  must  leave,  to 
others. 

After  Descartes  there  was  an  increas- 
ing defection  from  scholastic  philosophy 
among  Catholics.  The  philosophy  of 
Malebranche  (d.  1715),  bitterly  opposed 
as  it  was  by  Bossuet  ("Lettre  171,  ii  un 

1  So,  e.g ,  Goudin  and  the  older  writers 
generally. 


PHILOSOPHY 

Disciple  du  P.  Malebranche"),  became 
very  popular  in  France.  The  representa- 
tives of  other  Catholic  schools  of  philo- 
sophy among  Catholics  hold  a  far  lower 
place  in  the  history  of  speculation.  Such, 
during  this  century,  were  the  Ontologists 
and  Traditionalists  in  France;  Hermes, 
Baader,  Giinther  in  Germany.  Their 
systems  were  condemned  on  theological 
grounds  by  ecclesiastical  authority,  and 
are  now  all  but  forgotten.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  philosophical  works  of  Rosmini 
(1797-1855)  and  the  Spanish  priest Balmes 
still  enjoy  high  repute. 

A  great  revival  of  the  Scholastic,  or 
rather  of  the  Thomist,  philosophy  began 
some  thirty  years  ago.  Protestants  them- 
selves showed  a  more  generous  apprecia- 
tion of  the  Schoolmen,  and  Catholics 
reverted  to  their  teaching,  partly  from 
impatience  at  the  instability  of  modern 
systems,  partly  because  of  the  close  con- 
nection between  the  Scholastic  philosophy 
and  the  language  used  in  the  definitions 
of  the  later  Churcli,  partly  because  of  the 
security  felt  in  adopting  a  philosophy 
which  was  in  proved  harmony  with 
Catholic  doctrine.  The  philosophical 
works  of  Liberatore  and  Sanseverino  are 
perhaps  the  best  known  among  those  ot 
the  "  New  Scholastics ; "  and  a  man  of 
much  higher  ability,  the  Jesuit  F.  Kleutgen 
("  Philosophie  der  Vorzeit,"  1860),  has 
written  an  elaborate  defence  of  Thomist 
principles.  The  Thomist  philosophy  is  now 
taught  in  almost  every  seminary,  and  the 
present  Pope,  in  the  Encyclical  "  ^terni 
Patris,"  has  approved  and  urged  the 
teaching  of  the  philosophy  of  St.  Thomas. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
Rosmini's  works  were  recently  declared, 
"  after  a  most  rigorous  examination/' 
free  from  all  censure.  Again,  the  physics 
of  the  Schoolmen,  which  no  one  thinks  of 
defending,  are  yet  an  integral  part  of  their 
philosophy.  And,  however  high  St.  Thomas 
may  rank  as  a  philosopher,  it  is  none  the 
less  true  that  a  person  who  accepts  his 
theories  because  they  are  his,  thereby  re- 
nounces the  study  of  philosophy  altogether 
and  confuses  the  methods  of  philosophy 
with  those  of  faith.  It  is  fair  to  say  that 
Kleutgen  is  vei:y  far  from  such  unreason- 
able exaggeration,  and  the  late  Dr.  Ward 
confesses  himself  utterly  unable  to  imder- 
stand  the  reasoning  of  persons  who  speak 
as  if  the  most  intellectually  dutiful  sons 
of  the  Church  were  those  who  accept 
every  "  philosophical  proposition  current 
among  the  Scholastics"  ("  Essays  on  the 
Ohui-ch's  Doctrinal.  Authority,"  p.  641) 


PflOTINUS 

(The  best  account  of  the  history  of  tlie 
Scholastic  philosophy  will  he  found  in 
Ueherweg's  '^  History  of  Philosophy."  It 
has  been  translated.) 

PKOTZirus.  A  disciple  of  Marcel- 
lus  of  Ancyra  and  bishop  of  Sirmiuna, 
in  Pannonia.  lie  began  to  teach  his 
heresy  as  early  at  least  as  344,  when 
he  was  condemned  by  an  Antiochene 
synod.  He  distinguished  between  the 
Word  and  the  Son.  The  former,  in  the 
etrict  sense  (the  Xoyos  dvcoTaros),  was  not 
a  Person,  but  the  immanent  reason  of  God. 
The  Holy  Ghost  was  merely  the  energy 
of  God,  and  Christ  no  more  than  a  man 
born  miraculously  of  a  virgin  (so  Hefele, 
"  Concil."  i.  p.  635  ;  but  this  is  not  certain), 
who  could  be  called  "  Son "  only  in  an 
improper  sense,  because  the  Word  of  God 
wrought  in  Him  with  special  power.  His 
opinions  were  very  much  those  of  modern 
Socinians,  and  for  this  reason  Petavius 
speaks  of  the  latter  as  "  Photiniani." 
Photinus  was  condemned  both  by  Semi- 
Arians  and  Catholics,  but  there  has  been 
great  difference  of  opinion  among  Catholic 
scholars  as  to  the  number  and  dates  of  the 
synods  which  condemned  him.  Petavius 
and  Sirmond  disputed  at  length  on  the 
matter.  Some  account  of  the  controversy 
will  be  found  in  Hefele  ("Concil."  vol.  i 
p.  634  seq.).  Photinianisra  was  rejected 
as  a  heresy  in  the  General  Council  at 
Constantinople  in  381. 

PHOTIXTS.  [See  Greek  Chtjrch.] 
PZ.A.RISTS.  By  this  name  are 
known  the  regular  clerks  of  the  Seuole 
Fie  (religious  schools),  an  institute  of 
secondary  education  founded  at  Rome  by 
St.  Josepli  Calasanctius  in  the  last  years 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  This  founda- 
tion was  sanctioned  as  a  congregation 
under  simple  vows  by  Paul  V.  in  1617, 
and  as  a  religious  order  four  years  later 
by  Gregory  XV.  The  first  children 
taught  in  the  schools  were  collected  from 
the  streets,  and  the  founder  was  content, 
after  their  religious  education  had  been 
well  provided  for,  to  have  them  instructed 
in  reading  and  writing  only ;  but  by 
degrees  the  programme  was  extended 
until,  besides  all  the  subjects  of  a  good 
modern  education,  it  embraced  Latin  and 
Greek  and  philosophy.  Plouses  of  the  order 
were  soon  planted  in  various  Italian  towns, 
and  in  1631  the  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Olmiitz 
introduced  the  Fathers  into  Moravia. 
Alexander  VII.  in  1656  insisted  that  they 
should  return  to  the  status  under  which 
they  could  only  take  simple  vows;  but, 
thirteen    years   later,    Clement    IX.   re- 


PILGRIM 


661 


instated  them  in  the  full  privileges  of  a 
religious  ofder.  The  Pi-rirists  appear  to 
have  never  entered  France  or  Great 
Britain,  or  any  country  outside  the  limits 
of  Europe.  The  chief  centres  of  their 
activity  have  been,  and  are,  Italy,  Austria- 
Hungary,  and  Spain.  About  1870  they 
numbered  some  2,000  religious.  (H^lyot ; 
Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

PICPVS,  CON-GREG ATIOM-  OF. 
A  deacon  in  the  seminary  ofPoi'iers,  Pierre 
Coudrin  by  name,  when  the  infidel  govern- 
ment of  France  dispersed  ( 1 792)  all  students 
under  training  in  the  episcopal  seminaries, 
resolving  not  to  be  false  to  his  vocation, 
and  heariog  that  the  Bishop  of  Clermont 
was  in  hiding  somewhere  in  Paris,  went 
there,  found  him  out,  and  received  priest's 
orders  at  his  hands.  During  the  ten  vears 
of  persecution  which  followed,  Coudrin, 
who  was  of  course  one  of  the  pj'ctres  non 
assermentes,  exercised  his  ministry  in  the 
midst  of  danger,  hardship,  and  poverty, 
in  the  dioceses  of  Poitiers  and  Tours. 
Gradually  he  matured  the  plan  of  a  new 
congregation  which,  while  protesting  in 
the  most  dii*ect  way  against  the  prevalent 
unbelief  by  maintaining  the  Perpetual 
Adoration  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
should  undertake  the  preparation  of 
candidates  for  the  priesthood,  and  also 
the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the 
heathen.  The  Bishop  of  Mende,  whose 
household  he  entered,  sympathised  in  his 
projects  and  aided  him  to  realise  them. 
With  the  bishop's  help  Coudrin  instituted 
(1805)  his  congregation  in  the  buildings 
known  as  of  Picpus,  in  the  Faubourg  St. 
Antoine,  Paris.  The  approbation  of  the 
Holy  See  was  given  in  1817.  Seminaries 
in  various  parts  of  France  were  confided 
to  the  Fathers  of  Picpus;  and  in  1825  the 
third  fundamental  aim  of  the  institute 
began  to  be  realised,  when  Leo  XII.  sent 
six  of  its  membei's  to  preach  the  faith  in 
the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  From  that 
time  the  missionary  activity  of  the  con- 
gregation has  gone  on  with  an  ever- 
increasing  development,  chiefly  in  the 
regions  of  South  America,  Australasia, 
and  Oceania.  The  history  of  the  earlier 
congregation  of  Picpus,  a  reform  of  the 
third  order  of  St.  Francis  founded  by 
Vincent  Mussart  at  Franconville  in  1594, 
is  given  at  considerable  length  by  H^lyot, 
who  was  himself  a  member  of  it. 

PIS^GRXM,  PXI.GRIZVZAGB  {p<n'e^ 
grinus,  perec/rmatio;  Lb.  pelleffrino;  Ft. 
pelerin.)  The  well-k^.own  line,  ''caelum 
non  animum  mutant;,  qui  trans  mare 
currunt,"  contains  but   a  half-trr.th,  fox 


662 


PILGRIM 


PILORIM 


universal  experience  attests  the  stimula- 
ting, recreative,  and  enlightening  power 
which  mere  change  of  scene  often  exerts 
on  the  mind  of  man.  These  effects  are 
likely  to  be  enhanced  when  the  change 
has  a  moral  motive.  ''Movemui*  enim," 
says  Cicero,  "  nescio  quo  pacto  locis  ipsis 
in  quibus  eorum,  quos  diligimus  aut 
admiramur,  adsunt  vestigia  "  (we  are  inly 
stirred  by  the  very  spots  where  the  traces 
exist  of  those  whom  we  love  aud  admire). 

The  pilgrimages  of  the  Jews  to  Jerusa- 
lem at  the  time  of  the  great  festivals  were 
matter  of  precept  and  obligation.  Tlie 
pilgrimages  to  Pagan  shrines  (of  Jupiter 
Tyrius,  or  Melcarth,  at  Gades,  of  Jupiter 
Capitoiinus  at  Rome,  of  Apollo  at  Delphi, 
Diana  at  Ephesus,  &c.),  and  those  flock- 
ings  of  innumei-able  worshippers  to  shrines 
of  Rama  and  Crishna  which  take  place  in 
our  own  day,  usually  proceed  on  the 
assumption  that  the  power  of  the  divinity 
whose  help  is  sought  is  locally  circum- 
scribed, but  that  within  the  limits  of  his 
own  jurisdiction  it  is  indefinitely  great. 
I'he  Christian  creed,  according  to  which 
"  God  is  a  spirit,"  to  be  sought  and  found 
not  specially  "on  this  mountain,  nor  yet 
at  Jerusalem,"  but  wherever  the  true 
worshippers  approach  Ilim  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  might  seem  at  first  sight  to  afibrd 
little  encouragement  to  pilgrimages.  For, 
as  St.  Jerome  ^  says — and  other  Fathers 
hold  similar  language — Christians  '•  dare 
not  confine  the  omnipotence  of  God  to  one 
narrow  corner  of  the  world.  .  .  .  From 
Jerusalem  and  from  Britain  the  court  of 
heaven  is  equally  open."  Nevertheless,  so 
certain  is  it  that  religious  impressions, 
blunted  and  weakened  by  the  daily  busi- 
ness of  the  market-place  and  the  street, 
require  in  most  minds  to  be  often  graven 
afiesh  (and  that  by  means  of  impulses 
coming  from  without,  for  it  would  be 
vain  to  trust  to  the  sufficiency  of  those 
coming  from  within),  that  the  Church  has 
from  the  first — wbile  admitting  the  danger 
of  abuses,  and  taking  measures  to  prevent 
them — approved  the  use  of  pilgrimage  to 
holy  places  as  a  very  potent  help  and 
incentive  to  a  devout  life.  She  also 
favours  the  practice,  because  she  recog- 
nises the  undoubted  fact,  that  God  has 
often  granted,  and  still  grants,  interior 
and  exterior  favours,  graces,  and  miracles, 
at  particular  places  or  shrines,  to  honour 
certain  mysteries,  saints,  &c. 

A  Protestant  writer'-^  in  the  "Die- 
Cited  by  Mr.  Scudamore,  in  the  article 
noticed  below. 

2  Mr.  Scudamore. 


tionary  of  Christian  Antiquities"  (Smith 
and  Cheetham)  has  collected  with  praise- 
worthy industry  a  multitude  of  facts 
bearing  on  the  conditions  under  which 
pilgrimages  were  made  in  the  first  eight 
centm'ies.  It  would  appear  from  the 
letters  of  Paula  and  Eustochium  (in- 
cluded among  those  of  St.  Jerome),  that 
from  the  date  of  the  Ascension  to  their 
own  day  a  continued  stream  of  pilgrims 
had  rcborted  to  the  Holy  Places.  The 
first  recorded  pilgrim  is  St.  Alexander 
(third  cent.),  who  is  said  to  have  visited 
Jerusalem  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow.  Of 
the  devout  journey  of  Helena,  the  mother 
of  Constantine,  whose  faith  and  zeal  are 
said  to  have  been  rewarded  by  the  dis- 
coveiy  of  the  true  cross,  we  have  a  full 
relation  from  the  pen  of  Eusebius.  The 
French  bishop  Arculfus  visited  Jerusalem 
in  the  seventh  century,  and  after  his 
return  told  his  story  to  Adamnan,  abbot 
of  lona,  who  embodied  the  narrative  in 
his  tract,  "  De  Locis  Sanctis."  In  the 
eleventh  century,  Palestine  having  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  Seljukian  Turks, 
Christian  pilgrims  were  subjected  to  many 
indignities,  the  report  of  which  in  Europe 
led  eventually  to  the  first  Crusade. 

The  usual  motives  for  a  pilgrimage 
were  :  (1)  the  desire  to  realise  the  objects 
of  faith  and  quicken  religious  feeling  ni 
the  soul ;  (2)  the  fulfilment  of  a  vow  ;  (3) 
some  special  benefit — as  when  Chaucer's 
pilgrims  went  to  Canterbury — 

The  holy  blissful  martir  for  to  seke. 
That  hem  hath  holpen  whan  that  thei  were 
seke  ; 

(4)  the  execution  of  some  penitential  task, 
whether  self-imposed  or  enjoined  by  the 
clergy. 

The  more  celebrated  shrines,  towards 
wbich  the  currents  of  pilgrhnage  have 
set  strongly,  are:  (1)  those  of  our  Lord, 
in  other  words,  the  Holy  Places  in 
Palestine;^  (2)  those  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin ;  (3)  those  of  angels  and  saints. 
Among  the  sanctuaries  of  our  Lady, 
which  have  been,  or  are,  thronged  by  the 
resort  of  pilgrims,  may  be  mentioned 
Walsingham  (on  the  pilgrimage  to  which 
Erasmus  wrote  a  tract),  Einsiedeln  in 
Switzerland,  Chartres  and  Fourvieres  in 
France,  Mfijria  Zell  in  Germany,  Loreto 
in  Italy,  and  Guadaloupe  and  Montserrat 
in  S.pain.  The  grotto  of  Lourdes,  since 
the  event  of  1858,  has  become  the  centre 

1  These  have  been,  since  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, iu  the  guardianship  of  the  Franciscan 
order. 


PISA,  COUNCIL  OF 

of  attraction  to  an  immense  concourse  of 
pilgrims.  Among  the  sanctuaries  of 
angels  and  saints  may  be  named  the 
"  limina  Apostolorum,"  or  the  tombs  of 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul  on  the  Vatican  hill, 
the  church  of  St.  Michael  on  Monte 
Gargano  (the  devotion  of  Norman  pil- 
grims to  which  led  to  the  Norman  con- 
quest of  Naples),  and  the  shrink  of  the 
English  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  a  pil- 
grimage to  which  is  the  apt  setting  of 
the  well-known  "  Tales  "  of  Chaucer. 

PISA,  COTTNCXJm  op.  Gregory 
XII.  (Angelo  Corrario)  had  been  elected 
Pope  in  1406,  the  Antipope  Benedict  XIII. 
(Peter  de  Luna)  in  1395,  and  Europe 
was  divided  between  the  two  "  obediences." 
After  much  negotiation,  both  Gregory 
and  Benedict  were  induced  to  promise  to 
adopt  the  wa}"^  of  cession,  in  pursuance  of 
which  each  would  have  withdrawn  his 
claim  to  the  pontificate.  But  misunder- 
standings arose,  and  the  promises  were 
not  kept.  The  schism  had  now  lasted 
thirty  years,  producing  confusion  and 
bewilderment  throughout  the  Christian 
world.  The  leading  cardinals  on  both 
sides,  in  view  of  this  disastrous  state  of 
things,  met  together,  and  agreed,  since  no 
other  way  of  restoring  unity  seemed 
feasible,  to  ignore  the  claims  of  both 
rivals,  and  themselves  summon  a  general 
council,  to  meet  at  Pisa  on  March  25, 
1409.  The  Council  met  on  the  day  ap- 
pointed ;  its  twenty-third  and  last  session 
was  held  on  August  7  following.  From 
first  to  last,  twenty-four  cardinals,  four 
patriarchs,  eighty  bishops,  a  hundred  and 
two  proctors  of  bishops,  eighty-seven 
abbots,  two  hundred  delegates  of  abbots, 
besides  a  great  number  of  generals  of 
orders,  doctors,  deputies  of  universities, 
and  ambassadors,  attended  the  council. 
Within  little  more  than  four  months  the 
synod  finished  the  business  for  which  it 
was  convened.  It  first  cited  the  rival 
claimants  to  appear;  on  their  failing  to 
do  so,  it  declared  itself  to  be  the  lawful 
representative  of  the  Universal  Church, 
and  to  have  power  to  judge  aU  pontifical 
pretensions ;  it  decreed  that  all  Christians 
ought  to  withdraw  their  obedience  both 
from  Gregory  and  Benedict;  it  enter- 
tained an  act  of  accusation  against  them  ; 
after  hearing  evidence,  it  pronounced  the 
sentence  of  deposition  against  them  both, 
and  declared  the  Holy  See  to  be  vacant ; 
it  rejected  the  claim  of  Hobert,  Gregory's 
supporter  to  the  imperial  throne,  and  re- 
cognised Wenzel ;  lastly,  it  arranged  for 
the  holding  of  a  conclave  from  which 


PISTOIA,  SYNOD  OF        663 

Card.  Philargi  came  forth  as  Pope,  and 
took  the  name  of  Alexander  V. 

Hefele  says  of  this  council,  "  Neither 
ecclesiastical  authority  nor  the  most 
trustworthy  theologians  have  ever  num- 
bered it  among  the  CBCumenical  councils." 
0'  Cone."  Introd.)  Its  unfortunate  issue 
(Gregory  and  Benedict  both  refusing  to 
yield,  and  there  being  thus  three  claim- 
ants for  the  papacy,  down  to  the  time  of 
the  Council  of  Constance)  he  attributes 
partly  to  the  perversity  of  the  temporal 
princes,  but  chiefly  to  the  council  itself; 
to  the  erroneous  theory  on  which  they 
based  the  deposition  of  Gregory  XII.  and 
Benedict  XIII. — viz.  that  by  their  conduct 
they  were  heretical  against  the  article 
''  Unam  Sanctam  Cath.  Ecclesiam  " — a 
theory  which  no  one  believed  in,  and 
again  to  their  violence  and  precipitation 
in  resorting  to  extreme  measures.  ("  Con- 
ciliengesch."  vi.  901.) 

Nevertheless  Bellarmin  calls  it  a  Gene- 
ral Council,  and  looks  upon  it  as  "  neither 
clearly  approved  nor  clearly  rejected."^ 
Not  the  former ;  for  Martin  V.  would 
not  absolutely  call  Alexander  V.  Pope, 
though  recognising  the  validity  of  some 
of  his  acts;  and  St.  Antoninus  will  not 
allow  that  either  he  or  his  successor  was  a 
true  Pope.  Not  the  latter ;  for  many  good 
theologians  {e.ff.  Natalis  Alexander, 
Raynaldus,  and  Ballerini)  afiirm  that 
both  the  Council  and  the  Pope  whom  it 
created  were  legitimate  ;  nor  would  Alex- 
ander VI.  have  taken  that  title  if  it  had 
been  generally  believed  that  Alexander 
V.  was  no  true  Pope.  So  far  from  that, 
"  it  may  almost  be  called  the  common 
opinion,"  proceeds  Bellarmin,  "  that  both 
Alexander  and  John  his  successor  were 
true  Popes." 

An  English  prelate,  Robert  Ilallam, 
bishop  of  Salisbury,  acted  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  proceedings  at  Pisa.  [Anti- 
popes  in  Appendix.]  (Wetzer  and  Welte, 
art.  by  Hefele.) 

PZSTOZA,  sviroa>  of.  Leopold, 
grand  duke  of  Tuscany  and  brother  of 
the  Emperor  Joseph  II.  began  in  1780  to 
introduce  many  chano:es  in  the  discipline, 
worship,  &c,,  of  the  Tuscan  Church.  In 
1782  he  suppressed  the  Inquisition  and 
he  also  interfered  in  doctrinal  matters, 
recommended  the  "  doctrine  of  St.  Augus- 
tine "  and  the  Biblical  commentary  of  the 
learned  Jansenist  Quesnel.  His  chosen 
ally  was  Scipio  Ricci,  bishop  of  Pistoia 
and  Prato,  formerly  vicar-general  to 
Incontii,  archbishop  of  Florence.  In 
1  De  Cone,  et  Eccl.  i.  8. 


664 


PLACET  REGIUM 


PLAIN  CHANT 


1786  Leopold  laid  before  the  Episcopate 
of  the  Duchy  fifty-seven  articles  for  the 
"  reform  of  the  Church  "  in  the  Jaasenist 
and  Febronian  sense.  Only  three  bishops, 
of  whom  Ricci  was  one,  accepted  them. 
That  same  year  (September  18),  the  Synod 
of  Pistoia  met.  Tamburini  was  the  pro- 
motor  and  234  priests  were  present.  The 
Janseiiist  doctrines  on  grace  were  ap- 
proved. But  besides  this  the  principles 
of  a  spiritual  democracy  were  a&serted. 
God,  it  was  said,  had  given  power  to  the 
Church,  and  it  was  the  Church  which 
communicated  it  to  the  pastors,  including 
even  tlie  Pope.  Bishops  were  to  be  prac- 
tically independent  of  the  Pope,  the 
priests  in  diocesan  synods  were  to  be 
judges  of  faith  and  discipline,  &c.j  &c. 
Lastly,  a  multitude  of  decrees  were 
passed  condemning  practices  common  in 
the  Church — e.g.  devotion  to  the  Sacred 
Heart,  missions,  use  of  Latin  in  the  Mass, 
the  influence  of  Scholastic  theology,  multi- 
plication of  religious  orders,  feasts,  &c,,&c. 

The  destruction  of  altars,  images,  &c., 
under  Ricci's  direction,  set  the  Tuscan 
populace  in  an  uproar:  they  stormed  his 
palace  in  1787,  and  he  had  to  resign  his 
see.  The  bishops,  with  scarcely  an  ex- 
ception, were  firmly  opposed  to  the  Pis- 
toian  decrees,  from  which  eighty-five 
propositions  were  condemned  by  Pius  VI. 
in  the  bull  "  Auctorem  fidei "  of  1794. 
Solari,  bishop  of  Noli,  in  the  Genoese 
territory,  was  the  only  prelate  found 
publicly  to  oppose  the  bull.  Ricci  him- 
self in  1805  made  a  recantation,  and  was 
reconciled  to  Pius  VII.,  though  it  appears 
from  the  bishop's  letters  that  his  senti- 
ments were  not  really  changed.  Solari 
joined  himself  to  the  Constitutional 
bishops  in  France.  (From  Cardinal  Her- 
genrothers"  Kirchengeschichte,"  &c.  The 
acts  of  the  synod  were  printed  at  Pietoia, 
also  Ticini  1789,  Laibach  1791,  Bamberg 
1790.  The  *' Auctorem  fidei"  may  be 
read  in  Denzinger's  "  Enchiridion,"  Gelli 
edited  the  '^  Memorie "  of  Ricci  "with 
documents,"  Florence,  1865.) 

PZ*^CET  REGZUM.  [See  Canon 
Law  ;  Exequatur.] 

PlbAZSr  CHANT  ^  (cantus  planus  or 
/irmus,  canto  fermo,  chant  d'iglise).  The 
Church  music  introduced  or  perfected  by 
Gregory  the  Great,  and  still  dominant  in 
Christian  worship  in  all  Western  lands, 
is  called  by  this  name.  By  the  epithet 
"plain"  it  is  distinguished  (1)  from 
figured  or   florid  music;  (2)  from  part 

1  See  the  article  tinder  this  head  in  the 
Appendix, 


music,  as  admitting  melody  but  not  har- 
mony ;  (3)  from  modern,  Italian,  or  five- 
lined  music  of  a  sacred  character.  "  Ema- 
nating from  and  pi'obably  embodying 
many  of  the  sacred  strains  of  David,  the 
prophets,  and  Apostles,  propagated  by 
St.  Ambrose,  collected,  enlarged,  and 
improved  by  the  illustrious  Pope  St. 
Gregory  the  Great,  ever  since  the  favourite 
music  of  the  Church,  it  is  now  conse- 
crated exclusively  to  her  services,  is 
written  on  a  stave  of  four  lines,  and 
totally  excludes  those  ostentatious  dis- 
pla^^s  and  tawdry  decorations  which  form 
so  prominent  a  feature  of  secular  music."  * 

When  passages  such  as  Mark  xiv.  26, 
Eph.  V.  19,  are  considered,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  vocal  music  was  employed 
from  the  first  in  the  Church  services,  but 
we  have  little  precise  knowledge  of  the 
arrangements  which  were  in  use-  before 
the  time  of  St,  Ambrose.  It  was  this 
saint,  according  to  St.  Augustine  ('*Conf." 
ix.  7),  who  brought  to  Milan  the  mode 
of  chanting  which  he  had  learnt  during 
his  residence  at  Antioch.  The  ancient 
Greek  music  was  adapted  for  auditors 
endowed  with  great  sensitiveness  of  ear ; 
it;  recognised  three  scales — the  diatonic, 
in  which  the  music  ascends  chiefly 
by  intervals  of  a  tone  in  length,  the 
chromatic,  in  which  it  ascends  by  half- 
tones, and  the  enharmonic,  in  which 
it  ascends  by  quarter-tones.  But  the 
development  of  mus^ical  science  among 
the  Greeks  was  fatally  hampered  by  the 
adoption  of  a  defective  scale  of  only  four 
notes,  the  tetrachord.  St.  Ambrose  and 
St.  Gregory  confined  Church  music  to  the 
diatonic  scale,  but  they  extended  this 
scale  to  seven  sounds,  distinguished  by 
the  first  seven  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
agreeing  apparently  in  this  with  the 
ancient  Latin  music.^  The  octave  of  the 
first,  above  or  below,  was  the  first  or  the 
last  of  a  series  of  seven  similarly  related 
sounds,  diflering  from  the  first  series  only 
in  pitch.  The  first  or  key-note  was  either 
C  (afterwards  called  Ut  or  Do)  or  F; 
no  other  key  was  employed.  B  fiat  wa3 
necessarily  introduced,  in  order  that  the 
scale  of  F  might  correspond  with  that  of  C ; 
but  no  other  flat  or  sharp  was  permitted. 

There  are  three  points  of  prime  im- 
portance in  every  description  of  music — 
rhythm,    character,    and    notation.     By 

1  From  A  Choir  Manual  in  Gregorian 
Music  (Dublin,  1844),  believed  to  have  been 
written  by  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Kenehan,  late 
President  of  Mavnooth. 

2  See  Virg.  JEn.  vi.  646  j  Hor.  OdLvi,"^ 


PLAIN  CHANT 


PLAIN  CHANT 


666 


comparing  plain  chant  in  each  of  these 
respects  with  modern  music,  we  shall 
arrive  at  a  clearer  comprehension  of  it. 
1.  The  rhythm  of  a  piece  of  modern  music 
is  indicated  hy  the  signature,  which  tells 
us  that  it  is  either  in  common  or  triple 
time,  or  some  variety  of  one  of  them  ;  the 
music  is  divided  into  hars,  or  passages 
equivalent  in  length,  and  in  each  bar  the 
rhythmical  principle  announced  at  the 
outset  remains  predominant.  In  plain 
chant  there  is  no  such  division  into  bars 
equivalent  in  length.  The  rhythm  of 
the  music  is  derived  rather  from  the 
metrical  rhythm  of  tlie  psalm  or  \\\  mn  to 
which  it  is  set  than  vice  versa  ;  whence  in 
those  pieces  which,  being  in  prose,  have 
no  rhythm  of  their  own — e.g.,  the  "  Gloria  " 
and  the  "  Credo,"  the  Gregorian  tones  to 
which  they  are  set  appear  almost  destitute 
of  rhythm;  they  depend  for  their  charm 
on  the  pleasing  combination  and  contrast 
of  sounds — i.e.  on  the  melody.  A  rude 
artificial  rhythm  is,  however,  given  to 
such  pieces  when  the  sentences  are  sung 
alternately  by  two  choirs.  2.  The  cha- 
racter of  a  piece  of  modern  music  is 
shown  by  the  Italian  words  {adagio, 
andante,  &c.)  prefixed  to  it,  taken  in 
connection  with  its  rhythm  and  the  key 
in  which  it  is  composed ;  it  is  also  gene- 
rally indicated  by  the  iinown  class  of 
music  (dperatic,  military,  sacred,  &c.) 
to  which  the  piece  in  question  belongs. 
The  character  of  Gregorian  music  is  shown 
in  quite  another  manner — namely,  by  the 
mode  in  which  it  is  written.  In  the  time 
of  St.  Greo-ory  the  various  musical  styles 
which  had  prevailed  among  the  principal 
♦  Hellenic  populations  were  not  yet  for- 
gotten ;  the  Dorian  mode  was  still  asso- 
ciated with  grave  and  solemn,  the  Lydian 
with  gay  and  cheering  sounds.^  Out  of 
the  various  styles  or  modes  St.  Gregory 
selected  eight — the  Dorian  (ffrave),  the 
Phrygian  (exultant),  the  Lydian  (cheer- 
ing), the  Mixto-Lydian  (angelical);  these 
are  the  four  authentic  modes  ;  the  Hypo- 
Doric  (mournful),  the  Hypo-Phrygian 
(harmonious),  the  Hypo-Lydian  (devout), 
and  the  Hypo-Mixto-Lydian  (sweet). 
The  authentic  modes  are  numbered  1,  3, 

5,  7  ;  the  other  four,  called  the  plagal — 
i.e.  collateral — modes,  are  numbered  2,  4, 

6,  8.  Each  authentic  has  a  pin  gal  mode 
annexed  to  it ;  the  tonic  or  final  note  of 
both  being  the  same,  but  the  dominant — 

1  Comp.  Milton's  "to  the  Dorian  mood 
Of  flutes  and  soft  recorders,"  P.  /..  i. ;  and 
Dry  den,  "  Softly  sweet  in  Lydian  measures," 
Alexander's  Feast, 


i.e.  the  note  "  on  which  the  tune  chiefly 
turns,  and  to  which  the  other  notes  refer,"  ^ 
being  always  different.  3.  The  notation 
of  a  piece  of  modern  music  is  eifected  by 
means  of  a  stave  of  five  lines,  which,  ac- 
cordinyr  to  the  clef  used  (Sol  clef,  Do  clef, 
Fa  clef),  may  be  suitable  to  boys',  tenor, 
or  bass  voices,  but  on  which,  when  once 
determined  by  the  clef,  the  value  and 
position  of  a  note  never  vary.  The  nota- 
tion of  Gregorian  music  is  by  means  of  a 
stave  of  four  lines,  on  any  one  of  which 
either  of  the  two  received  clefs  (C  and  F) 
may  be  placed,  and  determine  thereby 
the  sound  of  all  other  notes,  above  and 
below.  The  forms  of  note  and  other  ex- 
pedients employed  on  the  five-line  stave 
are  such  that  the  length  of  any  sound  can 
be  either  extended  or  abridged  to  an 
almost  indefinite  extent.  In  Gregorian 
music  the  notes  were  originally  all  of  the 
same  length ;  at  present  they  are  of  three 
kinds,  Longs,  Breves,  and  Seraibreves; 
the  Long  being  equal  to  the  Breve  and 
Semibreve.  The  admirable  invention  of 
the  stave  was  unknown  to  St.  Gregory ; 
it  was  introduced  in  the  eleventh  century 
by  Guido  d'Arezzo,  a  Benedictine  monk, 
who  also  gave  the  names^  which  iu  many 
countries  they  still  bear  to  the  notes  of 
the  diatonic  scale,  replacing  tlie  C,  D,  E, 
&c.,  of  Gregory  by  the  syllables  Ut,  Re, 
Mi,  Fa,  Sol,  La,  taken  from  the  first 
verse  ^  of  the  hymn  in  honour  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist  sung  at  Vespers  on  the  least 
of  his  nativity.  The  five-line  stave  of 
modern  musi?,  is  merely  a  development  of 
the  four-line  stave  of  (j}uido.  Minor  keys 
are  unknown  in  plain  chant.  (See  the 
"  Choir  Mnnual,"  quoted  in  the  note  on 
the  precedin<r  page ;  Martigny's  "  Diet. 
des  Antiq.  Chret."  ;  and  the  art.  "  Musik  '* 
in  Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

Persevering  eflbrts  have  been  made  of 
late  years,  both  in  Germany  and  in  this 
country,  to  banish  all  but  pure  Gregorian 
music  from  our  churches.  For  ourselves 
we  are  inclined  to  adhere  to  a  remark  by 
the  writer  of  the  elaborate  article  in  the 
Dictionary  of  Wetzer  and  Welte  ;  it  is  to 
the  effect  that,  although  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  during  the  decadence  of  the 
Gregorian  chant  the  Christian  idea  has 
vanished  from  a  great  deal  of  modern 
Church  music,  still  we  can  neither  aban- 
don the  new  elements,  nor  confine  our- 

*   Choir  Mariual,  p.  1.  ^^^, — -;:?*^ 

2  Ut  quean  t  lax  is  resonare  fibpif^^']£^.jA_  j^^^^ 
Mira  gestorum /amuli  tuofum,C-p.p    TTTK  ^^"^ 

^So/ve  poUuti  lahii  reatum,  ^'  '  «  *  fw  TT 

Sancte  Joannes. ,  j  y,  J^^^  J  7  ^  R  ^  *  T''    * ' 


^IF^o'l^ 


666  PLURALITY  OF  BENEFICES 


PONTIFICAIi 


selves  exclusively  to  the  old  ;  "  these  two 
elements  must  therefore  be  reconciled,  and 
it  is  for  the  Church  to  solve  the  difficult 
problem." 

VImTJUAJmITV     of    BEITEFZCES. 

Among  the  canons  of  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon  (451)  is  one  forbidding  the 
cumulation  of  two  or  more  benefices  in 
the  same  hands.  The  Council  of  Trent,^ 
decrees  that,  whereas  there  are  many  who, 
*Meceiving  not  God  but  themselves," 
seek  by  fraud  or  collusion  to  hold  several 
benefices  at  once,  no  one  for  the  future, 
whatever  his  rank  in  the  hierarchy,  shall 
be  appointed  to  more  than  one  ecclesi- 
astical benefice,  provided  always  such 
benefice  be  suflScient  for  his  support.  If 
it  be  not  so,  he  may  lawfully  hold  another 
along  with  it,  provided  the  two  be  not 
incompatible.  The  incompatibility  of 
benefices  is  a  wide  and  intricate  subject ; 
for  the  purpose  of  this  article  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  say,  that  one  chief  cause  of  in- 
compatibility is  the  existence  of  an  obli- 
gation to  continuous  personal  residence 
in  regard  to  both  benefices,  as  in  the  case 
of  two  bishoprics,  two  parishes,  two 
canonries,  &c. 

Notwithstanding  what  has  been  said, 
the  instances  of  Papal  dispensations, 
authorising  the  same  person  to  receive, 
and  even  to  hold,  several  benefices  to- 
gether, are  undoubtedly  numerous.  This 
is  explained  by  Navarrus  ^  in  the  follow- 
ing manner : — "  If,"  he  says, "  his  Holiness 
grants  to  one  holding  several  benefices 
others  in  addition,  it  is  not  that  he  has 
the  intention  of  dispensing  in  contraven- 
tion of  the  decree  aforesaid,  but  because 
he  believes  that  all  the  benefices  are 
necessary  for  the  suitable  maintenance  of 
the  petitioner,  and  that  otherwise  hia 
confessor  will  not  give  him  absolution, 
unless  first  he  shall  have  resigned,  or  have 
the  firm  intention  of  resigning,  such  of 
the  benefices  as  are  not  necessary  for  his 
suitable  maintenance.  There  are,  how- 
ever, special  cases,  as  to  which  canonists 
are  agreed  that,  if  the  good  of  the  Church 
so  require,  the  Pope  may  grant  a  dispen- 
sation for  validly  holding  two  or  more 
benefices,  even  though  lliey  are  per  se 
incompatible." 

Important  decrees  against  plurality 
were  passed  by  tha  Third  Council  of 
Lateran  (17  79),  and  also  by  the  Fourth 
Council  (1215).  (Ferraris,  Benejicium, 
art.  vi). 

POiiiTGAnxT.    [See  Marriage.] 

1  Sess.  xxiv.  c.  17,  De  Ref. 

'  Ferraris,  "  Beneficium,"  art.  vi. 


POXTTIFZC  a:l.  a  book  containing 
the  rites,  some  of  which  can  be  performed 
by  a  bishop  only,  others  only  by  priests 
specially  empowered  by  the  bishop.  Such 
books  were  compiled  in  the  middle  ages 
from  the  old  Sacramentaries  and  Ordines 
by  bishops  for  their  own  use  and  that  of 
their  successors.  Pontificals  probably 
came  into  use  during  the  eighth  century, 
the  earliest  extant  being  that  of  Egbert, 
archbishop  of  York  from  732  to  7m. 
The  copy  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris 
seems  to  have  been  written  in  Egbert's 
life-time.^  Ordinarium  was  another  name 
for  the  Pontifical.  It  occurs  in  the  gloss 
on  the  "  Clementina  Unica  [of  Clement 
v.]  de  Jurejurando,"  and  in  a  necrology 
of  Paris,  both  quoted  by  Catalani. 
Zaccaria  ("  Biblioth.  Rit.")  gives  a  list  of 
MS.  Pontificals  of  French  and  German 
dioceses.  According  to  Mr.  Maskell, 
there  is  an  imperfect  Bangor  Pontifical 
(thirteenth  century)  in  the  possession  of 
the  dean  and  chapter,  a  perfect  Pontifical 
of  the  Sarum  use,  and  an  imperfect  Ponti- 
fical fi'om  Winchester  in  the  Cambridge 
Library,  three  or  four  imperfect  Pontificals 
in  the  British  Museum,  an  Exeter  Ponti- 
fical (twelfth  century)  in  the  cathedral 
there.  It  will  be  seen  how  very  rare 
English  MS.  Pontificals  are.  Neither  the 
Bodleian  nor  the  British  Museum  has  one 
perfect  copy.  MS.  Pontificals  were  of 
course  not  multiplied  like  Missals  or 
Breviaries. 

The  first  printed  edition  of  the  Roman 
Pontifical  was  edited  by  A.  P.  Piccolo- 
mini,  Bisbor)  of  Piacenza,  in  1486. 
Albertus  Castellanus  dedicated  another 
edition,  in  which,  he  says,  he  had  made* 
many  changes,  to  Leo  X.  It  was  revised 
under  Clement  VIIL,  again  corrected 
under  Urban  VIIL,  and  the  bulls  of  these 
Popes  (1596  and  1644)  require  all  bishops 
&c.,  strictly  to  conform  to  the  Roman 
Pontifical  so  revised.  Tliis  must  be  un- 
derstood of  bishops  belonging  to  the 
Latin  Church,  for  the  Catholic  Greeks, 
Maronites,  &c.,  have  their  own  Pontificals, 
of  which  Zaccaria  gives  a  list.  There  is 
a  learned  commentary  on  the  Roman 
Pontifical  in  three  volumes  by  (Catalani. 
This  article  has  been  compiled  from  the 
Prolegomena  to  Catalani's  edition,  from 
Zaccaria's  "Bibliotheca  Ritualis,"  and  from 
Maskell's  "  Monumenta  Ritualia." 

1  So  Mr.  Scudamore  (art.  "Pontifical,"  in 
Smith    and    Cheetham).      But    Mr.    Maskell 
{Mon.    Bit  vol.  i.  p.  132)  says   the  MS. 
written    about    the    beginning    of  the 
century. 


POOR  CLARES 

POOR  CKA.RES.  This  is  the  second 
order  of  St.  Francis,  called  the  Povere 
Donne,  or,  in  French,  Clarisses.  Their 
founder  was  the  virgin  St.  Glare,  born  at 
Assisi,  of  which  St.  Francis  also  was  a 
native.  When  very  young  she  heard  of 
the  seraphic  life  led  by  St.  Francis  in  his 
little  convent  of  the  Portiuncula,  and 
aspired  to  imitate  it.  Against  much 
opposition  ehe  renounced  the  world,  and 
was  received  by  St.  Francis  at  the 
Portiuncula  in  1212.  Her  sister  Agnes 
soon  joined  her :  the  church  of  St. 
Damian  was  assigned  to  them ;  and  in  a 
short  time  she  had  no  lack  of  followers. 
Within  eight  years  the  order  had  spread 
into  both  France  and  Spain.  The  Cardinal 
Ugolino,  who  was  protector  of  the  whole 
order  of  St.  Francis,  placed  St.  Clare 
and  her  nuns  temporarily  under  the  rule  of 
St.  Benedict,  adding  some  constitutions  of 
great  austerity.  Under  these  they  ob- 
served a  perpetual  fast,  and  on  three  days 
of  the  week  in  Lent  fasted  on  bread  arid 
water ;  they  lay  on  boards ;  their  habit 
was  rough  and  of  coarse  material;  and 
they  could  not  speak  to  one  another  at 
any  time  without  the  superior's  leave. 
In  1224  St.  Francis  gave  a  written  rule 
to  St.  Clare,  which  contained  several 
mitigations  of  that  which  they  had 
hitherto  observed ;  they  were  now  not  to 
fast  on  Christmas  day,  nor  ever  on  bread 
and  water  ;  moreover,  the  silence  imposed 
was  confined  to  certain  hours  of  the  day. 
Like  the  friars,  they  were  not  to  possess 
any  landed  property.  This  rule  was  ap- 
proved by  Innocent  IV.  in  1246. 

A  Bohemian  princess  renounced  the 
world  in  1234  in  order  to  serve  God  in 
this  order,  which  by  her  means  was  pro- 
pagated in  Bohemia  and  in  the  German 
countries  adjoining  it.  St.  Clare  died  in 
the  odour  of  sanctity  in  1253.  Various 
modifications  of  the  rule  given  by  St. 
Francis  having  found  their  way  into 
several  convents,  Cardinal  Cajetan,  with 
the  approbation  of  Urban  IV.,  drew  up  in 
1264  a  rule,  substantially  agreeing  with, 
but  somewhat  mitigated  from  that  given 
by  St.  Francis,  which  was  adopted  by 
the  great  majority  of  the  daughters  of  St. 
Clare.  Some,  however,  particularly  in 
Spain  and  Italy,  preferred  to  follow  the 
unmitigated  rule.  The  order  was  thus 
divided  into  two  branches,  the  larger 
being  known  by  the  name  of  Urbanists, 
the  latter  by  that  of  Clarisses. 

The  reform  of  St.  Colette  (1436) 
consisted  in  bringing  back  a  number 
of  convents  in  France  and  Flanders  to 


POPE 


667 


the  exact  observance  of  the  rule  of  St 
Francis. 

The  first  monastery  of  Franciscan 
nuns  or  Minoresses  founded  in  England 
(1293)  was  outside  Aldgate,  to  the  East 
of  London ;  the  house  soon  came  to  be 
called  "  the  Minories,"  a  name  which  the 
locality  still  retains.  At  the  dissolution, 
besides  this  house,  there  were  two  other 
convents  of  Poor  Clares,  at  Brusyard,  in 
Suffolk,  and  Denny,  in  Cambridgeshire. 

The  government  and  direction  of  the 
order,  being  divided  between  a  Cardinal 
Protector  and  the  superiors  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans, were  for  a  long  time  a  subject  of 
controversy  and  difficulty  ;  until,  early  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  Julius  11.  placed 
the  Poor  Clares  entirely  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  general  and  provincials  of 
the  Friars  Minors. 

In  the  time  of  H^lyot  this  order  pos- 
sessed 900  convents,  with  more  than 
2,500  religious.  The  French  Revolution 
swept  most  of  their  houses  away  ;  but  five 
or  six  have  been  restored  in  France,  and 
a  rather  larger  number  exist  in  Austria. 
In  England  there  are  five  convents,^  four 
of  which  (Baddesley,  Bullingham,  Corn- 
wall Road,  and  Levenshulme)  follow  the 
reform  of  St.  Colette ;  in  Ireland  seven, 
at  BallyjamesdufI,  Galway,  Harold's 
Cross,  near  Dublin,  Keady,  near  Armagh, 
Kenmare,  Newry,  and  Knock. 

POOR  M&ir  OF  Xiiroirs.  [See 
Vaudois.] 

POPE.  The  word  {irdTnras  or  rrdnaSf 
originally  a  childish  word  for  father,  Lat. 
papa)  was  given  at  first  as  a  title  of  re- 
spect to  ecclesiastics  generally.  Among 
the  Greeks  at  this  day  it  is  used  of  all 
priests,  and  was  used,  as  late  at  least  as 
the  middle  ages,  of  inferior  clerics.  In 
the  West  it  seems  to  have  bfecome  very 
early  a  special  title  of  bishops.  Thus  the 
Roman  clergy  (Cyprian,  Ep.  viii.  1)  speak 
of  the  Bishop  of  Carthage  as  "  the  blessed 
Pope  "  ("  Benedictum  Papatem '').  Even 
as  late  as  the  sixth  century  the  title  of 
Pope  was  sometimes  given  to  metropo- 
litans in  the  West.  (See  Hefele, "  Concil." 
iii.  p.  20  seq.)  Gradually,  however,  the 
title  was  limited  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
and  we  find  a  synod  of  Pavia  in  998 
(Hefele,  iv.  p.  653)  rebuking  an  arch- 
bishop of  Milan  for  calling  himself  Pope. 
Gregory  VII.,  in  a  Roman  Council  of  the 
year  1073,  formally  prohibited  the  assump- 
tion of  the  title  by  any  other  than  the 

1  Baddesley  (near  Warwick),  Bullingham 
(near  Hereford),  Darlington,  Levenshultne, 
London  (Cornwall  Road). 


668 


POPE 


POPE 


Roman  Bishop.  It  is  of  course  in  this 
last  and  most  restricted  sense  that  we  use 
the  word  here.  By  the  Pope  we  mean 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  who  is,  according- 
to  Catholic  doctrine,  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  and  as  such  the  vicar  of  Christ, 
the  visible  head  of  the  Church,  the  doctor 
and  teacher  of  all  the  faithful.  We 
propose  to  j^ive  some  account  (1)  of  the 
place  St.  Peter  occupies  in  Scripture ; 
(2)  of  the  position  of  the  Pope  in  the  Ante- 
Nicene  age ;  (3)  of  the  testimonies  of 
later  fathers  and  councils ;  (4)  to  sketch 
the  position  of  the  Pope  in  the  Church  of 
the  present  time.  Obviously,  in  a  subject 
80  vast  we  cannot  do  more  than  direct 
attention  to  the  chief  points. 

(1)  The  Position  of  Peter  in  the  Neiv 
Tesitament. — Peter  was  first  brought  to 
Christ  by  his  brother  Andrew.  "  And 
Jesus,  looking  at  him,  said,  Thou  art 
Simon  [i.e..  "hearer"],  the  son  of  John 
('icoai/ou  is  the  reading  best  supported), 
thou  shalt  be  called  Cephas,"  which 
is  interpreted  Peter — i.e.  stone  or  rock. 
The  three  synoptic  evangelists  agree 
in  putting  Peter's  name  first  in  the  list 
of  the  Apostles,  and  all  note  the  change 
of  his  name  from  Simon  to  Peter  ("  He 
conferred  on  Simon  the  name  of  Peter," 
Marc.  iii.  16.  "Simon,  whom  al?o  He 
named  Peter,"  Luc.  vi.  14,  "  first  Simon, 
who  is  called  Peter,"  Matt.  x.  2),  and 
later  the  reason  for  the  change  of  name 
appeared.  The  change  of  name  in  itself 
must  have  been  strange  and  significant  in 
the  ears  of  a  pious  Jew.  He  could 
scarcely  fail  to  remember  the  depth  of 
meaning  which  had  lain  in  the  change  of 
Abram's  name  to  Abraham,  or  how  Jacob 
had  won  the  glorious  name  of  Israel, which 
was  the  pride  and  the  joy  of  his  descen- 
dants. And  besides,  ^'Kock"^  was  one  of 
the  most  familiar  names  for  that  God  who 
was  at  once  the  strength  of  his  people, 
their  impregnable  fortress  and  refuge, 
their  shelter  in  the  noon-day  heat  of  perse- 
cution. Christ  Himself  explained  the 
reason  for  which  he  had  changed  Simon's 
name  to  Peter.     Hitherto  He  had  been 

1  "  Rock "  ("Viv)  is  constantly  used  as  a 
title  of  God  (see,  e.g.,  Deut.  xxxii.  4,  "  The 
rock — perfect  is  his  work ; "  I  Sam.  ii.  2  ;  Is. 

XXX.  29  ;   Ps.  xviii.  82  (and  so  y^D)'     ^"ce 

only  is  God  called  a  "stone"  (pfc^) — viz.  in 

Gen.  xlix.  24,  "the  shepherd,  the  stone  of 
I?rael."  But  probably  we  should  point,  with 
Ewald,  Dillman,  and  others,  ^'^'•\  "the  shep- 
herd of  the  stone  of  Israel,"  with  reference  to 
Gen.  xxviii.  18  seq. ;  xxxv.  14,  &c.  Keil, 
Ealisch,  &c,  maintain  the  Masoretic  reading. 


the  visible  head  of  that  society  which  He 
had  gathered  round  Him  and  He  needed 
no  vicar.  But  soon  his  disciples  were  to 
see  Him  on  earth  no  more,  and  He 
promised  to  provide  his  visible  Church, 
after  He  had  gone  to  Heaven,  with  a 
visible  head.  Peter  had  confessed  that 
his  Master  was  "the  Christ  the  Son  of  the 
living  God."  Christ  accepted  and  re- 
warded this  confession,  which  sprang  from 
divine  faith.  Peter  had  said  Christ  was 
the  Son  of  God,  "  And  I,"  Christ  replied, 
"  say  to  thee  that  thou  art  Peter  (or  rock),^ 
and  on  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church, 
and  the  gates  of  Hades  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.  And  I  will  give  to  thee  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  will 
be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou 
shalt  loose  on  earth  will  be  loosed  in 
heaven  "  (Matt.  xvi.  18-19). 

Four  promises  to  Peter  "  of  power  and 
pre-eminence  in  the  Church  "  are  contained 
ih  these  words.  In  a  sense  all  the  Apos- 
tles became  the  foundation-stones  of 
Christ's  Church  (Ephes.  ii.  19,  20 ;  Apoc. 
xxi.  14).  I  But  Peter  was  to  be  its  chief 
foundation-stone.  He  is  not  to  derive  his 
strength  from  the  Church;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  Peter  is  to  draw  his  strength 
from  Christ,  and  the  Church  from  Peter, 
^ext,  the  Church  built  on  Peter  cannot 

1  It  has  often  been  urged  that  Peter  does 
not  mean  "  rock,"  but  "stone,"  TreVpa  being  the 
word  for  "  rock."  Sound  scholarship  will  not 
support  this  distinction  or  the  inference  drav/n 
from  it.  Christ  calls  Simon  Ile'Tpo?,  not  niTpa^ 
simply  because  TreVpa  could  not  stand  as  a  man's 
name.  This  is  fully  admitted  by  Meyer,  one  of 
the  most  eminent  N.T.scholai;s — perhaps  the  most 
eminent  who  has  appeared  in  our  own  time. 
He  quotes,  to  show  how  commonly  TreVpo?  occurs 
in  the  classics  with  the  meaning  "  rock,"  Plato, 
Ax.  p.  371 ;  Soph.  Phil.  272;  O.  C.  19,  1591 ; 
Pind.  Nem.  iv.  46  ;  x.  126.  "  Christ,"  he  says, 
"  declares  Peter  a  rock  because"  of  his  strong 
faith  in  Him  ;  "  and  again,  "  The  evasion  often 
taken  advantage  of  in  controversy  with  Rome 
— viz.  that  the  '  rock  '  means,  not  Peter  himself, 
but  the  firm  ftiith  and  the  confession  of  it  on 
the  part  of  the  Apostle — is  incorrect,  since  the 
demonstrative  expression,  *  on  t/iis  rock,'  can 
only  mean  the  Apostle  himself."  We  may  add 
that   Cephas    (SStJs)   is  a  common  word   in 

the  Chaldec  Targums  for  "  rock  "—e.g.  "  in  the 
shadow  of  the  rock"  (Tarj:.  on  Is.  xxxii.  2. 
Other  instances  in  Levy,  Chalddischcs  Worter- 
buch).  In  the  Syriac  form  it  occurs  very  fre- 
quentlv  in  the  Peshito,  where  it  means,  (1) 
"rock;"  (2)  "stone;"  (3)  "  Peter."  ThuS, 
in  the  text  before  us  (Matt.  xvi.  18)  we  have 
the  very  same  word  for    Uirpoi    and    irerpax 

"  Thou  art  Cephas  (  ^2)  P),  and  on  this  Cephas 

m 

I  will  build  my  Church." 


POPE 


POPE 


fail.  The  gates  of  the  invisible  world,  I 
strong  as  they  are,  will  not  enclose  and 
to  prevail  against  the  Church ;  nay,  they  i 
themselves  will  at  last  be  broken  and  will 
give  up  their  dead ;  but  the  Ohureh  built 
on  Peter  will  endure  till  death  is  "  swal- 
lowed up  in  victory"  (1  Cor.  xv.  54), 
and  even  then  the  Church  will  not  cease 
to  be ;  only  the  Church  which  fights  and 
struggles  here  will  be  changed  into  the 
Church  which  triumphs  and  reigns  in 
heaven.  Thirdly,  while  the  Church  lasts, 
Peter  (and  his  successors)  will  hold  its 
keys.  Christ,  who  has  the  ''  key  of  the 
house  of  David,"  Christ,  who  opens  and  no 
man  shuts,  shuts  and  no  man  opens,  con- 
tinues to  be  the  Master  of  the  house ;  but 
Peter  is  the  steward  to  whom  the  keys 
are  committed.  He  admits  to  and  ex- 
cludes from  the  Church  in  his  Master's 
name.  In  other  words,  he  is  the  centre  of 
the  Church's  unity.  All,  from  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  down  to  the  most 
obscure  of  the  Church's  children,  hold 
their  place  and  exercise  their  functions  in 
subordination  to  Peter.  Fourthly,  what 
he  binds  and  looses  on  earth  is  bound  and 
loosed  in  heaven  —i.e.  he  is  the  ultimate 
earthly  judge  of  what  is  lawful  and  un- 
lawful. He  is  to  lay  down  the  laws  and 
conditions  on  which  communion  with  the 
Church  and  participationdn  its  privileges 
depend,  and  the  decisions  of  his  tribunal 
here  will  be  ratified  in  the  heavenly  court.  ^ 
Once  more  before  his  Passion  Christ 
made  a  promise  to  Peter  which  brought 
the  strength  he  was  to  have  for  his  future 
office,  find  by  virtue  of  Christ's  help,  into 
sharp  contrast  with  his  sin  and  frailty  as 
a  man.  He  was  to  deny  his  Master  three 
times,  but  this  denial  was  not  to  involve 
the  loss  of  faith  or  to  deprive  him  of  his 
supernatural  strength  as  the  future  rock 
of  the  Church.  "  Satan  has  sought  for 
you  [plural — i.e.  the  Apostles]  to  sift  you 
as  wheat,  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee 
[singular — i.e.  for  Peter]  that  thy  faith 
may  not  fail,  and  thou,  being  once  con- 
verted [when  thou  hast  once  turned  to 
Me],  strengthen  thy  brethren"  (Luc. 
xxii.  31,  32).  No  intelligent  reader  can 
fail  to  notice  the  significant  change  of 
number  here.     Temptation  is  common  to 

1  Usually,  "binding  and  loosing"  are  taken 
to  mean  "  retaining  and  remitting"  sins.  But 
"  bind  and  loose "  were  the  technical  words 
with  the   Rabbis  (see  ^p^  T^firi  ^°  Buxtorf, 

Lex.  Chald.  et  Rabb.)  for  "  prohibition  and  per- 
mission ; "  and  it  is  very  hard  to  see  how 
Christ's  words  could  have  conveyed  any  other 
to  his  hearers. 


Peter  with  the  other  Apodtles.  Satan 
has  "  asked  for "  them  all,  that  he  may 
sift  them  by  temptation  and  separate 
them  like  chaff  from  the  wheat.  But  it 
is  for  Peter  specially  that  Christ  prays, 
because  on  him,  the  man  of  rock,  on  him 
and  him  alone  the  faith  of  the  Church 
depends.  It  is  his  peculiar  office  to 
strengthen  his  brethren.  Even  so  deter- 
mined a  Protestant  as  Bengel  admits  that 
"  this  whole  speech  of  our  Lord  presup- 
poses that  Peter  is  the  first  of  the  Apo- 
stles, on  whose  stability  or  fall  the  less  or 
greater  danger  of  the  others  depended 
(quo  stante  aut  cadente  cceteri  aut  minus 
aut  magis  ^^e^-tc/i^aren^M;')."  After  the 
resurrection  Christ  graciously  allowed  St. 
Peter  to  atone  for  his  threefold  denial  by 
a  threefold  declaration  of  love,  and  again, 
under  a  new  metaphor,  Christ  committed 
to  him  the  fulness  of  jurisdiction.  Christ 
was,  and  ever  is,  the  Good  Shepherd,  but 
in  a  few  days  his  visible  presence  was  to 
be  withdrawn,  and  on  earth  Peter  was  to 
be  chief  shepherd  of  Christ's  flock. 
"  Feed  my  lambs."  "  Be  the  shepherd  of 
my  sheep"  (perhaps  "little  sheep,"  Trpo- 
/Scirm).  "  Feed  my  sheep "  (perhaps 
Trpo^aria  again).  The  Church  was  still 
Christ's  flock  ("  my  lambs,"  "  my  sheep  "), 
but  Peter  is  entrusted  by  Christ  with  the 
otHce  of  feeding  both  the  old  and  the  little 
ones  of  the  flock.  The  duty  of  feeding 
the  young  and  "  the  watchful  care  and 
rule  over  maturer  Christians  "  (Westcott, 
ad  loc.)  are  alike  laid  upon  him.  The 
gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  power  of 
remitting  and  retaining  sins,  are  bestowed 
on  the  other  Apostles  as  well  as  upon.  St. 
Peter.  But  Peter  alone  receives  the  keys 
of  the  Church ;  he  alone  is  the  rock  on 
which  the  Church  is  built ;  on  the  faith 
of  him  alone  the  faith  even  of  the  other 
Apostles  depends ;  he  alone  is  made  the 
shepherd  of  the  whole  flock.  This  primacy 
of  Peter  after  Christ's  ascension  clearly 
manifests  itself  even  in  the  scanty  records 
of  the  New  Testament,  though  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  personal  inspira- 
tion of  the  other  Apostles  and  the  fact 
that  they  were  free  to  extend  their  mis- 
sionary conquests  throughout  the  earth 
made  their  relation  to  Peter  very  different 
from  that  between  the  Pope  and  bishops 
of  later  times,  who  have  no  gift  of  in- 
spiration and  whose  jurisdiction  is  confined 
to  the  limits  of  a  particular  diocese. 
Still,  as  has  been  said,  the  subordination 
of  the  other  Apostles  to  Peter  does  evi- 
dently appear.  At  his  instigation  steps 
were  taken  to  fill  up  the  vacancy  in  the 


ero 


POPE 


Apostolic  college,  and  he  laid  down  tiie 
tules  of  the  election.  "The  punishment  of 
Ananias  and  Sappliira,  the  anathema  on 
Simon  Magus,  the  first  heretic,  the  first 
yisithig  and  confirming  the  churches  suf- 
fering under  persecution,  were  all  his  acts. 
If  he  was  sent  with  St.  John  by  the 
Apostolic  College  to  the  new  converts  at 
Samaria,  be  was  himself  member  and 
president  of  that  college.  So  the  Jews 
sent  their  high-priest  Ismael  to  Nero ;  and 
St.  Ignatius  ('Philad.' 10)  says  that  the 
neighbouring  churches  in  Asia  had  sent, 
Bome  their  bishops,  some  their  priests  and 
deacons  "  (Dollinger,  "  First  Age  of  the 
Church ").  He  was  indeed  the  Apostle 
of  the  Circumcision,  in  this  following 
Christ,  who  had  said,  "  I  am  not  sent  but 
tmto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel"  (Matt.  xv.  24),  while  St.  Paul 
was  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  (Gal.  ii. 
7).  This,  however,  involved  no  more 
than  a  division  of  labour,  and  in  no  way 
derogated  from  St.  Peter's  position  as 
chief  of  the  Apostles  and  head  of  the 
whole  Church.  On  the  contrary,  it  was 
St.  Peter  who  was  taught  by  revelation 
'*  to  call  no  man  common  or  unclean," 
and  who  first  publicly  and  solemnly 
opened  the  gates  of  the  Chui-ch  to  the 
Gentiles  by  the  baptism  of  Cornelius 
(Acts  X.).  "  St.  Paul  did  not  enter  upon 
his  peculiar  office  of  preaching  to  the 
Gentiles  till  after  his  fifteen  days'  con- 
ference with  St.  Peter"  (Gal.  i.  18),  and 
this  though  he  constantly  insists  on  the 
fact  that  his  doctrine  and  Apostolic 
authority  came  to  him  direct  from  heaven. 
About  A.r.  51  an  Apostolic  council  was 
held  at  Jerusalem  to  decide  the  conti-o- 
versy  with  the  Judaisers.  "  Certain  men 
coming  down  [to  Antioch]  from  Judsea 
kept  teaching  the  brethren,  'Unless  ye 
are  circumcised  according  to  the  custom 
of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be  saved.' "  It  is 
often  alleged  that  St.  James's  position  in 
the  assembly  is  quite  iuconsistent  with 
St.  Peter's  primacy.  The  very  contrary 
seems  to  be  the  case.  No  doubt  St. 
James  says  (Acts  xv.  19),  "  I  judge  " — i.e. 
"I  give  a  decision  for  myself  and  my 
brother  Apostles."  But  we  cannot  under- 
stand the  history  till  we  observe  that 
there  were  two  questions  before  the 
council :  one  a  question  of  doctrine — viz. 
Is  circumcision  necessary  for  salvation? 
and  then  a  question  of  expediency — 
What  disciplinary  decree  will  be  most 
likely  to  promote  peace  between  Jewish 
and  Gentile  converts?  On  the  former 
question  St.  Peter  pronounces   authori- 


POPE 

tatirely.  He  is  the  first  to  speak.  He 
tells  the  assembly  that  God  had  or- 
dained that  the  Gentiles  should  heir 
the  Gospel  "through  my  mouth,"  that 
God  had  "purified  their  hearts  by 
faith,"  that  He  had  made  no  difference 
between  Jew  and  Gentile,  that  both 
were  to  be  saved  by  the  grace  of  Christ. 
Thereupon  "the  whole  multitude  was 
silent,"  and  heard  Paul  and  Barnabas 
recount  their  missionaiy  experience  (v. 
12).  St.  James  refers  to  and  accepts  St. 
Peter's  doctrinal  decision  (v.  14),  and 
proceeds  to  give  his  oiivn  judgment  on  the 
practical  rules  to  be  laid  down — viz.  ab- 
stinence from  things  oft'ered  to  idols, 
things  strangled,  blood,  &c.  It  was  natu- 
ral, on  Catholic  principles,  that  St.  Peter 
should  pronounce  the  doctrinal  decision ; 
it  was  also  natural  and  fitting,  in  the  cir- 
cumstances, that  St.  James  should  give 
his  judgment  on  the  practical  rules,  for 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  were  both  parties 
in  the  dispute,  already  committed  to  tho 
cause  of  freedom  and  spirituality ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  St.  James,  the  head  of 
the  chief  Jewish  church,  was  just  the  man 
likely  to  conciliate  the  Pharisaic  party. 
Further,  in  a  famous  passage  (Gal.  ii.  11), 
St.  Paul  says  of  himself  that  he  "  with- 
stood Peter  to  the  face,  because  he  was 
condemned  "  (KaTcyvcoa-fifvos  —  i.e.  "  his 
conduct  carried  its  own  condemnation 
with  it,"  Lightfoot,  ad  loc).  But  there 
was  no  question  of  error  in  faith.  St. 
Peter,  when  he  went  to  Antioch,  with- 
drew from  eating  with  the  Gentile  converts 
and  acted  against  the  principles  of  Gospel 
liberty  he  had  maintained  at  Jerusalem 
shortly  before.  This  proves,  no  doubt, 
that  St.  Peter  was  capj>ble  of  error  in 
judgment  and  of  vacillation.  It  is  no 
argument  against  his  primacy,  nor  does 
it  show  that  he  could  teach  the  Church 
false  doctrine,  or  cease  to  be  the  rock  on 
which  its  faith  is  built.  In  short,  the 
Gospels  in  plain  and  unmistakeable  terms 
recount  the  Divine  institution  of  the 
Petrine  primacy.  There  is  nothing  to 
contradict  and  something  to  confirm  the 
Gospel  view  of  Peter's  primacy  in  the 
Apostolic  records,  and  the  natural  exposi- 
tion of  Christ's  words  remains  in  its  rights. 
(2)  The  Pope  in  the  Ante-Nicene  Age. 
— It  is  the  constant  ti-adition  of  the 
earliest  Christian  writers  that  Peter  held 
the  first  place  among  the  Apostles.  Ter- 
tulUan  ("Preescr.''  22;  "Monog."  8) 
asserts  that  Peter  is  the  rock  on  which 
the  Church  was  built,  and,  again,  that 
Christ  left  the  keys  to  him  and  "  through 


POPE 


POPE 


671 


him  to  the  Ohurch  "  ("  Scoi-p."  10),  which 
last  words  exactly  tally  with  the  Catholic 
doctrine  that  Peter  is  the  fountain-head 
of  all  spiritual  rule  and  jurisdiction. 
Clement  of  Alexandria  ("  Quis  Dives,"  c. 
xxi.  p.  947)  speaks  of  Peter  as  "  the  elect, 
the  chosen  one,  the  iirst  of  the  disciples." 
Origen  declares  that  Peter  was  "  the  great 
foundation  of  the  Church,  the  most  solid 
rock  on  which  Christ  founded"  it,  that 
he  was  "  the  prince  of  the  Apostles  *'  ("  In 
Exod."Hom.  v. ;  "  In  Luc.''  Horn,  xvii).^ 
It  is  impossible  to  give  in  full  all  or 
nearly  all  the  passages  in  St.  Cyprian 
which  express  his  belief  in  St.  Peter's 
primacy,  for  he  is  never  weary  of  assert- 
ing it.  We  may  quote,  however,  the 
following  words:  "Peter,  on  whom  the 
Church  had  been  built"  (Ep.  lix.  7) ;  "One 
Church  founded  on  Peter  "  (Ep.  Ixx.  3)  ; 
"Peter,  to  whom  the  Lord  entrusted 
the  feeding  and  the  care  of  his  sheep,  on 
whom  He  set  and  founded  his  Church " 
("De  Habit.  Virg."  10);  "One  is  the 
Church  and  founded  on  one,  who  also 
received  its  ke3^■3"  (Ep.  Ixxiii,  11); 
'*  Peter,  on  whom  He  built  his  Church 
and  from  whom  He  instituted  and  showed 
the  origin  of  unity"  (Ep.  Ixxiii.  7). 
Cyprian  has  been  sometimes  understood 
to  mean  that  St.  Peter  received  his  power 
as  the  representative  of  all;  that  ho 
merely  stood  for  the  Apostles,  who  were 
all  one  in  dignity  and  jurisdiction.  But 
the  words  just  cited  go  far  beyond  this. 
Christ,  according  to  Cyprian,  did  not 
merely  show  the  unity  by  giving  the  keys 
to  Peter  alone,  but  He" instituted "  the 
unity  of  the  Church  from  Peter — i.e.  He 
made  the  Church  one  by  giving  it  one 
visible  head.  We  may  also  refer  to  Ep. 
Ixvi.  8;  "Ad  Fortunat."  11;  Ep.  xliii. 
6.  It  is  true  that  in  one  of  his  letters 
(Ep.  Ixxi.  3)  Cyprian  argues  that  the 
controversy  on  the  validity  of  heretical 
baptism  must  be  decided  "  by  reason,  not 
•justom,"  and  urges  that  even  Peter, 
"  whom  the  Lord  chose  as  the  first  {quern 
primum  elegit ;  Peter,  of  course,  was  not 
chosen  first  in  order  of  time),  and  on 
whom  He  built  his  Church,  when  after- 
wards Paul  disputed  with  him  about  the 
circumcision,  made  no  arrogant  claim  or 
insolent  assumption,  so  as  to  say  that  he 
held  the  primacy  and  that  those  who 
were  new  and  had  come  later  should 
rather  give  way  to    him;    nor  did    he 

1  For  the  passages  in  which  Origen  seerns, 
but  only  seems,  to  hold  a  contrary  view  on  the 
title  '•  rock,"  see  the  note  of  Huetius  on  Origen, 
"  In  Matt."  torn.  12. 


despise  Pq,ul  because  he  had  been  pre- 
viously a  persecutor  of  the  Church,  but 
he  admitted  the  counsel  of  truth  and 
easily  agreed  to  the  good  reason  which 
Paul  asserted."  But  St.  Cyprian  here 
is  not  denying  St.  Peter's  primacy;  on 
the  contrary,  he  irnplies  his  belief  in  it. 
What  he  says  is  that  St.  Peter  did  not 
assert  his  authority  on  that  occasion,  and 
this  simple  statement  of  fact  would  be 
accepted  by  all.  Cyprian's  works  ("  Sen- 
tent.  Episc."  17)  supply  us  with  another 
testimony  from  one  of  his  contemporaries 
and  fellow-bishops  to  the  general  belief 
that  Christ  "  built  the  Church  on  Peter." 
We  conclude  with  another  illustration, 
which  has  an  interest  of  its  own.  The 
"  Homilies  "  falsely  ascribed  to  Clement  of 
Rome  betray  their  Judaising  and  heretical 
character  in  this  among  other  ways,  that 
they  exalt  the  dignity  of  St.  James,  "  the 
bishop  of  bishops,"  and  of  the  Mother 
Church  of  Jerusalem.  Yet  even  there 
we  find  St.  Peter  called  "  the  foundation 
of  the  Church"'  (p.  10,  ed.  Dressei ;  p.  6, 
ed.  Ltigarde),  "  the  firm  rock  which  is  the 
foundation  of  the  Church"  (Horn.  xvii. 
19 ;  see  also  viii.  6). 

St.  Peter's  connection  with  the  Roman 
Church  as  its  founder  is  proved  by  his- 
torical evidence  which  cannot  be  set 
aside,  except  by  an  extreme  scepticism 
which  would  serve  equally  to  undermine 
the  historical  character  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  New  Testament  itself  ia 
silent  about  St.  Peter's  presence  at  Rome, 
except  that  St.  Peter,  in  his  first  epistle, 
sends  greetings  from  the  Church  in  Baby- 
lon (1  Pet.  V.  13),  which  all  ancient 
writers,  with,  so  far  as  we  know,  only 
one  late  and  insignificant  exception  (that 
of  Cosmas  Indicopleustes),  understand  to 
mean  Rome.  Many  internal  arguments 
from  the  N.  T.,  ably  stated  by  Bollinger 
("First  Age  of  the  Church,"  p.  97  seq.), 
support  this  view.  But,  apart  from  this, 
we  have  abundant  evidence  from  the 
earliest  ages  and  from  every  quarter  of 
the  globe.  Dionysius,  bishop  of  Corinth 
(about  170),  in  a  letter  to  the  Romaic 
Christians  (apud  Euseb.  "  H".  E."  ii.  26), 
mentions  the  fact  that  both  the  Corinthian 
and  Roman  Churches  were  "planted"  by 
Peter  and  Paul  {ttiv  diro  Tlerpov  koI  HavXov 
(})vT€iav),  and  that  both  died  as  martyrs 
there  at  the  same  time.  About  190, 
Irenseus,  bishop  of  Lyons,  the  disciple  of 
St.^Polycarp,  who  was  the  disciple  of  St. 
Jonn,  speaks  ("Adv.  Hser."  iii.  3)  of  the 
Roman  Church  as  "  greatest,  most  ancient, 
known  to   all,  founded   and  constituted 


672 


POPE 


by  the  most  glorious  Apostles  Peter  and 
Paul."  "  HaviDg  founded  and  built  the 
Church  [of  Rome],  the  blessed  Apostles 
entrusted  to  Linus  the  administration  of 
the  episcopacy."  Caius,  a  Roman  pres- 
byter under  Zephyrinus  (200-218),  says: 
"  I  can  point  out  the  trophies  of  the 
Apostles.  For  if  you  will  go  to  the  Vatican 
or  to  the  Ostian  road,  you  will  find  the 
trophies  of  those  who  founded  this  Church  " 
(Euseb.  "H.  E."  ii.  25).  A  Httle  later, 
the  African  Tertullian  tells  us  (''Adv. 
Marc."  iv.  5)  that  Peter  and  Paul  left  to 
the  Romans  "  the  gospel  sealed  with  their 
blood " ;  that  Clement,  bishop  of  Rome, 
was  ordained  by  Peter  ("  Praescr."  32) ; 
that  at  Rome  Peter  suffered  like  his 
Master  ("  Praescr."  36).  This  early  evi- 
dence from  Greece,  Gaul,  Africa,  and 
Rome  itself  is  so  certain  and  so  sufficient 
that  we  do  not  care  to  dwell  on  evidence 
which  is  merely  probable.  The  language 
of  St.  Ignatius,  the  disciple  of  St.  John 
("Rom,"  4),  as  Bishop  Lightfoot  justly 
remarks  (in  his  edition  of  Clem.  Rom. 
p.  46),  "seems  to  imply  that  they  [Peter 
and  Paul]  had  both  preached  in  Rome," 
and  the  preaching  and  death  of  the  two 
Apostles  there  appears  to  have  been  the 
subject  of  a  very  early  work,  "  The 
Acts  of  Peter  and  Paid  "  (see  Hilgenfeld, 
"Nov.  Test, extra  Canonem  Recept."fascic. 
iv.  p.  68),  Against  this  uniform  tradition 
nothing  can  be  advanced  on  the  other 
side.  It  was  this  connection  of  Peter 
with  Rome  which  made  "the  Chair  of 
Peter  "  an  accepted  name  for  the  Roman 
see.  Thus  Cyprian  (Ep.  lix.  14)  uses  the 
following  words  of  persons  who  had  been 
concerned  in  the  schism  of  Felicissimus 
and  had  gone  to  Rome :  "  They  dare  to 
sail  to  the  see  of  Peter  and  to  the  chief 
church  (ad  ecdesiam  principalein),  from 
which  the  unity  of  bishops  {uvitas  sacer- 
dot.ulis)  has  arisen."  The  early  Church 
thus  believed  in  the  primacy  of  Peter, 
and  also  held  that  the  Roman  Church  is 
''  the  Chair  of  Peter." 

Nor  is  direct  testimony  to  the  authority 
and  supremacy  of  the  Roman  Church 
wanting.  At  the  very  beginning  of 
patristic  literature  Ignatius  describes  the 
Roman  Church  as  "  presiding  in  the  place 
of  the  region  of  the  Romans,"  and  again, 
as  the  Church  "  which  presides  over 
charity  "  ("  Rom."  ad  in  it.)  Hefele,  in  his 
edition  of  the  "  Apostolic  Fathers,"  takes 
this  latter  phrase  to  mean  a  presiderr^e 
over  "  the  whole  congregation  of  Chris- 
tians," who  are  bound  together  by  charity, 
and  this    interpretation    is  defended  at 


POPE 

length  by  Hagemann  ("  Romische  Kirche,* 
p.  681  seq.)  In  any  case  the  primacy 
of  Rome  over  the  Christian  world  is 
acknowledged,  for  had  Ignatius  meant  to 
confine  the  primacy  of  the  Roman  Church 
to  Rome  itself,  the  assertion  would  have 
come  to  this,  that  the  Roman  Church 
presided  over  itself,  which  has  no  meaning. 
"  Presides  "  {npoKdOrjTai)  is  the  very  word 
which  St.  Ignatius  uses  {e.(/.  *^  Magnes."  6) 
to  describe  the  authority  of  the  bishop  in 
his  own  diocese ;  and  this  acknowledgment 
is  all  the  more  important  because  i^  c^mes 
from  one  who  was  himself  bi^'xor  o^ 
Antioch,  which  also  could  boasf  of  its 
connection  with  St,  Peter.  Tcrtallian 
makes  communion  with  the  Apo-^tolic 
Churches — i.e.  the  Churches  founded  by 
Apostles — the  test  of  Catholic  unity 
("  Praescr."  21  et passim)  ;  but  Rome  alone 
he  cal's  "  the  happy  Church,  into  whicb 
the  Apostles  poured  all  their  doctrine 
with  their  blood."  ("  Prgescr."  36.)  Tha 
words  Tertullian  wrote  after  his  lapse 
into  Montanist  heresy  disclose  still  more 
plainly  the  power  claimed  by  the  Pope  in 
his  day.  For  he  ridicules  the  "  per- 
emptory edict "  of  Zephyrinus  the  Roman 
bishop  and  his  pretence  to  speak  as 
"  bishop  of  bishops.  "  1  want  to  know," 
he  exclaims.  "  how  you  usurp  this  au- 
thority for  the  Church."  ^  And  at  once 
he  answers  his  own  question  by  supposing 
that  the  Pope  does  so  on  the  strength  of 
the  words,  "On  this  rock  I  will  build 
my  Church."  "  To  thee  have  I  given  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  "  What- 
soever thou  shalt  bind  or  loose  on  earth, 
will  be  bound  or  loosed  in  heaven." 
(Tertull.  "  DePudic,"  21.)  But  the  most 
important  testimony  to  the  authority  of 
Rome  in  the  first  ages  of  the  Church  is 
that  of  Irenaeus.  He  wrote  the  third 
book  of  his  work  against  heresies,  in 
which  the  words  which  we  are  about  to 
quote    occur,    between    184    and    192.* 

^  I.e.  for  the  Roman  Church,  because  founded 
by  Peter.  "  Idcirco  prgesumis  et  ad  ti?  derivasse 
solvendi  et  alligandi  potest  a  tem,  id  est  ad 
omnem  ecclesiam  Petri  propinquani." 

2  In  iii.  21  lie  mentions  Theodotion's  version 
of  the  O.  T.,  which  was  not, published  before 
180  (see  Field,  Uexapl.  Orig.  torn.  i.  p.  38)  ; 
and  in  iii.  8  he  speaks  of  Eleutherus  (177-190, 
according  to  Jattl^,  Regest.  Pontif.)  as  actual 
bishop  of  Rome.  With  the  exception  of  a  few 
fragments,  the  work  of  Ireuajus  only  remains 
in  a  Latin  version.  Massuet  (Diss.  ii.  §  53), 
Lachmann  (iV.  T.  Graece  et  Latine,  Praef.  p.  x.), 
and  Westcott  (iV.  T.  Canon,  p.  280)  consider 
that  the  version  was  known  to  Tertullian,  and 
therefore  nearly  conteniporaneous  \vith  the 
Greek.    Massuet'a  conclusion  was  contested  by 


POPE 

But  he  "  is  rightly  included  in  what  may- 
be called  the  Apostolic  family "  (New- 
man, "  Tracts  Theological  and  Ecclesi- 
astical/' p.  200),  for  he  was  the  disciple 
of  St.  Polycarp  (Iren.  ad  Florin,  apud 
Euseb.  "H.  E."  v.  20),  who  was  the 
disciple  of  St.  John.  He  had  singular 
opportunities  of  knowing  the  mind  of  the 
Church  throughout  the  world,  for  he  was 
brought  up  in  Asia  Minor,  he  was  bishop 
of  Lyons,  and  twice  at  least  he  came  into 
intimate  relations  with  Rome.  Irenseus 
then  appeals  (''  Adv.  Haer."  iii.  3),  in 
attacking  Gnostic  error,  to  the  Apostles. 
They,  he  insists,  had  perfect  knowledge, 
and  delivered  the  truth  in  its  fulness  to 
the  Church.  He  points  out  that  differ- 
ent churches  are  able  to  trace  back 
the  succession  of  their  bishops  to  the 
Apostles,  and,  since  it  would  be  tedious 
to  enumerate  all  these  churches,  he  has 
recourse  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  founded 
by  "two  most  glorious  Apostles,  Peter 
and  Paul."  **  Pointing  to  the  tradition 
which  this  Church  has  received  from 
the  Apostles,  to  that  faith  which  has 
been  announced  to  the  whole  world,  and 
which  has  come  even  to  us  by  the  succes- 
sion of  bishops,"  we  confound  all  who 
err  from  the  right  way.  "  For  with  this 
Church,  because  of  its  more  powerful 
principality,^  every  church  must  agree — 
that  is,  the  iaithful^  everywhere — in  which^ 
{i.e.  in  communion  with  the  Roman 
Church)    the  tradition  of  the  Apostles 

Sabatier  (Vetus  Italica^  Praef.  n.  93)  and  the 
Benedictine  authors  of  the  Histoire  Litteraire  de 
la  France,  vol.  i.  "  S.  Irenee,"  §  2.  In  anv  case, 
the  fidelity  of  the  Latin  is  admitted  on  all 
hands.  The  Syriac  Fragments  published  by 
Harvey  in  1857  would  prove  this,  "  if  a  doubt- 
ful cause  needed  support"  (Harvey's  Irenceus, 
vol.ii.  p.  431). 

1  "  Principalitas "  can  only  mean  "princi- 
pality" or  "supremacy."  It  occurs:  iv.  88, 
♦*  God  holds  the  principality  ;  "  ii.  30,  God  "  is 
above  every  principality  and  domination."  In 
eight  other  places  it  is  used  of  the  supreme 
God  of  the  Gnostics.  So,  i.  26,  1,  "  the  princi- 
pality which  is  above  all,"  "  the  principality 
■which  is  above  everything."  It  is  iised — as  we 
know  from  the  Fragments  of  the  original  Greek 
preserved  in  Phihsophum.  x.  21  ;  Theodoret, 
Hceret.  Fab.  i.  15 — to  translate  avOevria,  "  au- 
thorit}'  "  or  "  supremacy." 

2  "  Undique  "  =  "  ubique,"  as  Tliiersch  and 
Stieren  admit.  Cf.  iii.  24, 1,  "  Prsedicationem  ec- 
clesijE  undique  constanteni,"  with  i.  10,  2,  "Prae- 
dicatio  veritatis  ubique  lucet." 

3  "  In  qua,"  "  in  which  " — i.e.  "  in  union 
■with  which,"  or  "  in  the  unity  of  %-hich."  Cf. 
"Salutem  in  eo  dedit"  (iii".  12.  4);  "Quod 
perdideramus  in  Adam"  (iii.  18,  1);  and  "In 
qua  una  cathedra  [sc.  Petri]  unitas  ab  omnibus 
servareter  "  (Optat.  Schism,  Don.  ii.  2^. 


POPE 


673 


has  ever  been  preserved  by  those  on 
every  side."  Then  he  enumerates  the 
series  of  Popes,  beginning  with  Linus. 
According  to  St.  Irenseus  the  faithful  all 
over  the  world  must  agree  with  the 
teaching  of  the  Roman  see,  in  which  the 
tradition  of  the  whole  Church  is  virtually 
contained.  This  assent  is  due  because 
Rome  has  the  "more  powerful  princi- 
pality," and  this  principality  rests  on  the 
Apostolic  dignity  of  the  Roman  Church, 
as  the  whole  context  shows.  When 
Ireneeus  wrote  general  councils  had  not 
been  dreamt  of.  It  was  from  the  Apostles, 
not  from  them,  that  the  Roman  Church 
derived  her  supreme  power.  Nor,  again, 
does  Rome  depend  upon  the  assent  of  the 
faithful ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  faith- 
ful all  over  the  world  who  are  bound  to 
agree  with  her.  This  passage  has  been 
the  crux  of  Protestant  theologians.  For 
two  centuries  and  more  they  have  been 
devising  a  variety  of  interpretations,  no 
one  of  which  has  found  general  acceptance 
even  among  themselves.  In  the  last 
Protestant  book  on  St.  Irenaeus  with 
which  we  are  acquainted,  the  writer 
admits  that  the  saint  '•  passing,  as  it  were 
in  prophecy,  beyond  hmiself,  anticipates 
the  Papal  Church  of  the  future,"  that  he 
marks  out  Rome  "  as  the  chief  seat  of 
Apostolic  tradition,  as  the  centre  which 
sustains  and  unites  the  whole  Church." 
(Ziegler,  "Irenaus,"  1871,  p.  151.)^ 

We  cannot  expect  many  instances  of 
the  exercise  of  Papal  power  at  this  time. 
Time  was  needed  to  develop  the  principles 
contained  in  the  Apostolic  tradition  on 
''  the  Chair  of  Peter,"  and,  besides,  the 
hand  of  the  persecutor  was  heavy  on  the 
Church.  Still,  indications  of  Roman  supre- 
macy are  not  wanting  in  the  facts  of 
early  history.  "The  heretic  Marcion, 
excommunicated  in  Pontus,  betakes  him- 
self to  Rome."  "  The  Montanists  from 
Phrygia  come  to  Rome  to  gain  the 
countenance  of  its  bishops;  Praxeas 
from  Asia  attempts  the  like."  "  St.  Victor, 
bishop  of  Rome,  threatens  to  excommuni- 
cate the  Asian  churches."  "  St.  Stephen 
refuses  to  receive  St.  Cyprian's  deputation, 
and  separates  himself  from  various 
churches  of  the  East;   Fortunatus   and 

1  The  interpretation  given  in  the  text  is  that 
of  the  Galileans  Natalis  Alexander,  Bossuet, 
Massuet,  and  Ceillier ;  also  of  DoUinger, 
Church  History,  Engl.  Transl.  i.  p.  25i5,  and 
Friedrich,  Kirch engesch ichte  Deutschlands,  i.  p. 
409.  Interpretations  mutually  destructive  will  be 
found  in  Salmasius,  De  Frimatu,  p.  65  ;  Grabe, 
ad  loc. ;  Neander,  i.  p.  259  ;  Gieseler,  i.  p.  176. 


XX 


874 


POPE 


POPE 


Felix,  deposed  by  Cyprian,  have  recourse 
to  Rome ;  Basilides,  deposed  in  Spain, 
betakes  himself  to  Rome."  "The  pres- 
byters of  St.  Dionysius,  bishop  of  Alex- 
andria, complain  of  his  doctrine  to  St. 
Dionysius  of  Rome  ;  the  latter  expostu- 
lates with  him  and  he  explains."  (New- 
man, "  Development,"  p,  157  seq.)  No 
doubt  the  early  Fathers  spoke  a,nd  acted 
at  times  in  a  manner  inconsistent  with 
their  own  utterances  elsewhere  on  Roman 
authority.  This  was  perfectly  natural, 
seeing  that  they  had  indeed  the  tradition 
of  the  Chm-ch,  but  not  formal  definitions 
or  even  a  developed  theological  system  to 
guide  them.  It  would  of  course  be  a 
monstrous  anachronism  were  we  to  attri- 
bute a  belief  in  Papal  infallibility  to 
Ante-Nicene  Fathers.  Our  contention 
simply  is  that  the  modern  doctrine  on 
Papal  power  is  the  logical  outcome  of 
patristic  principles.  It  is  another  and 
a  very  different  thing  to  say  that  the 
early  Fathers  themselves  saw^  all  this,  and 
they  were  of  course  furthest  from  seeing 
it  when  they  were  irritated  by  an  un- 
wonted interference  on  the  part  of  Rome 
or  opposed  to  Rome  in  theological  contro- 
versy. And  it  deserves  to  be  carefully 
remembered  that  there  is  no  counter- 
theory  to  be  found  in  the  Fathers  of  the 
Ante-Nicene  age.  The  external  unity  of 
the  Church  is  their  constant  theme.  But 
if  the  see  of  Peter  was  not  the  centre  of 
unity,  then  what  was?  If  two  bishops 
anathematised  and  refused  to  communicate 
with  each  other,  how  were  the  faithful  to 
know  which  of  the  two  was  in  the  unity 
of  the  Church  ?  If  we  do  not  take  the 
chair  of  Peter  as  the  centre  of  unity, 
then  the  Ante-Nicene  Fathers  supply  no 
aifewer  to  the  question.  They  never  men- 
tion general  councils  or  appeal  to  a 
majority  of  the  bishops  throughout  the 
world.  Yet,  if  each  bishop  is  to  be 
independent  and  subject  to  God  alone, 
we  should  have  a  thousand  Popes  instead 
of  one,  and  the  unity  of  the  Church 
would  be  shattered  into  pieces.^  Our 
opponents  may  complain  that  the  early 
Fathers  do  not  speak  fully  enough  on  the 
authority  of  Rome,  that  their  acts  and 
dicta  are  occasionally  inconsistent  with 
Roman  claims.  They  cannot  say  with  any 
show  of  reason  that  the  drift  of  patristic 
teaching  tends  to  any  definite  theory  of 

1  Cyprian,  indeed,  does,  in  the  stress  of  con- 
troversy, commit  himself  to  a  theoiy  of  absolute 
epij^copal  independence  (Ep.  Iv.  21).  But  he 
distinctly  contradicts  himself  even  in  the  same 
Epistle  (iv.  24)  and  Ixiv.  1  j  lix.  9. 


church  unity,  other  than  that  of  the 
Catholic  Roman  Church. 

(3)  The  Fathet's  of  the  Fourth  and 
Fifth  Centuries. — Here  the  difficulty  lies, 
not  in  finding  proofs  that  Papal  supremacy 
was  asserted  and  recognised,  but  in  select- 
ing typical  instances  from  the  mass  of 
evidence.  "  More  ample  testimony,"  says 
Cardinal  Newman,  "  for  the  Papal  supre- 
macy, as  now  professed  by  Roman 
Catholics,  is  scarcely  necessary  than  what 
is  contained "  in  a  series  of  passages 
which  he  quotes.  ("  Development,"  p. 
148  seq.)  ''  The  simple  question  is  whether 
the  clear  light  of  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries  may  be  fairly  taken  to  interpret 
to  us  the  dim,  though  definite,  outhnes 
traced  in  the  preceding" — i.e.  the  Ante- 
Nicene  age.  The  following  are  among 
the  most  striking  passages  in  which  the 
Fathers  maintahi  not  only  that  the  Pope 
holds  a  supremacy  of  jurisdiction  by 
divine  right,  but  also  that  commimion 
wuth  him  is  the  necessary  condition  of 
Catholic  unity. 

Optatus,  lib.  ii.  c.  2,  3 :  "  You  cannot 
deny  that  you  know  that  in  the  city 
of  Rome  the  episcopal  chair  was  bestowed 
on  Peter  first,  in  which  Peter,  head  of 
all  the  Apostles,  sat,  in  which  one  chair 
unity  was  to  be  preserved  {servaretur)  by 
all,  that  the  rest  of  the  Apostles  might 
not  maintain  each  his  own  chair,  that  he 
might  be  at  once  a  schismatic  and  a  sinner 
who  against  the  chair  which  stands  by 
itself  {singularem  cathedrani)  set  another.'* 
He  then  enumerates  the  Popes  from 
Peter  down  to  Siricius,  the  Pope  of  his  own 
day.  The  Council  of  Aquileia,  in  which 
St.  Ambrose  took  a  chief  part,  begs  in  a 
letter  to  the  Emperor  Gratian  that  he 
will  "  not  permit  the  Roman  Church,  the 
head  of  the  whole  Roman  world  and  that 
sacred  faith  of  the  Apostles,  to  be  dis- 
turbed, because  from  it  the  rights  of 
venerable  admonition  flow  forth  for  all." 
(Mansi,  "  Concil."  tom.  iii.  col,  622.)  St. 
Ambrose  tells  us  ("  De  Excidio  Satyri,"  i. 
47)  that  his  brother,  in  places  where  the 
schism  of  Lucifer  prevailed,  if  he  doubted 
the  orthodoxy  of  a  bishop,  asked  him, 
"  if  he  communicated  with  the  Catholic 
bishops,  that  is,  with  the  Roman  Church." 

St.  Jerome  (Ep.  15)  addresses  these 
words  to  Pope  Damasus :  "  Following 
none  but  Christ,  I  am  associated  in 
communion  with  your  Holiness — that  is, 
with  the  cliair  of  Peter.  On  that  rock  I 
know  the  Church  was  built.  Whosoever 
eateth  the  lamb  out  of  this  house  is  pro- 
fane.   If  anyone  is  not  in  the  ark  of 


POPE 

Noe  he  yhM  perish  when  the  floods 
prevail.  ...  I  know  not  Vitalis ;  I  will 
have  none  of  Meletius  ;  Paulinus  is 
strange  to  me.  Whoso  gathereth  not 
with  you  scattereth ;  that  is,  he  who  is 
not  on  Christ's  side  is  with  Antichrist." 
**  Come,  my  brethren,"  says  St.  Augustine 
to  the  Donatists  ("  Ps.  eontr.  Don."),  "  if 
you  wish  to  be  grafted  in  the  vine.  .  .  . 
Reckon  up  the  bishops  even  from  the  very 
see  of  Peter.  .  .  .  That  is  the  rock  which 
the  haughty  gates  of  hell  do  not  overcome." 
In  416  a  council  of  sixty-eight  bishops  at 
Carthaore,  and  of  fifty-nine  at  Mileve  in 
Numidia,  condemned  Pelagius,  whose 
doctrine  had  been  anathematised  live  years 
before  in  another  council  at  Carthage. 
Each  of  the  two  last  councils  sent  letters 
to  Pope  Innocent,  begging  that  Apostohc 
authority  might  be  given  to  their  decrees. 
("  Ep.  Concil.  Carthag.  Const."  Epp. 
Innoc.  26.)  Another  letter  was  sent  to 
the  Pope  by  Augustine  and  four  other 
Hshops,  in  which  they  tell  him  what 
had  been  done  against  Pelagianism.  AH 
these  letters  are  full  of  deference  to  the 
Apostolic  See,  and  the  Bishops  of  the 
Council  at  Mileve  tell  the  Pope  that 
heretics  were  more  likely  to  yield  to  his 
authority,  which  was  "  derived  from  the 
authority  of  Holy  Scripture  "  ("  auctori- 
tati  tuae  ex  scripturarum  sacrarum  auc- 
toritate  depromptse,"  Const.  Ep.  28). 
Innocent  replied,  commending  them  for 
following  the  old  rule  which  prescribed 
that  answers  should  come  to  all  the 
provinces  from  the  Apostolic  fount. 
Before  Rome  spoke,  but  after  the  pro- 
vincial councils,  St.  Augustine  (Ep.  178) 
admits  that  "  Pelagianism  was  not  yet 
fully  excluded  from  the  Church."  After 
the  councils  had  been  confirmed  by  Rome, 
after  the  rescript  came,  he  thought  that 
by  the  letters  of  Innocent  "  the  whole 
doubt  had  been  removed  "  (*^  Contr.  Ep. 
Pelag."  ii.  3).  Pelagius  himself  had  pro- 
mised "  to  condemn  all  which  that  see 
[the  Roman  see]  had  condemned  " 
(August.  "De  Peccat.  Grig."  7),  We 
need  not  dwell  on  the  claims  made  by 
the  Popes  themselves.  "  The  canons 
themselves  have  decidud,"  says  Pope 
(jrelasius  (492-6)  writing  to  Faustus, 
"  that  no  one  whosoever  shall  appeal 
from  this  see,  and  so  provide  that  it  shall 
judge  the  whole  Church  and  itself  be 
judged  by  none.  .  .  .  Timothy  of  Alexan- 
dria, Peter  of  Antioch,  Peter,  Paul,  John, 
not  one,  but  many,  bearing  the  episcopal 
name,  by  the  authority  of  the  Apostolic 
see  alone,  were  cast  down.  .  .  .  Therefore, 


POPE 


676 


■we  are  in  no  fear  lest  the  Apostolic 
judgment  be  reversed,  to  which  the  voice 
of  Christ,  tradition,  and  the  canons  have 
given  the  decision  of  controversy  through- 
out the  whole  Church."  (Mansi,  "  Concil." 
tom.  viii.  16  seg.)  At  an  earlier  date — viz. 
in  the  year  422 — Pope  Boniface  had 
spoken  of  the  Roman  see  as  that  "  from 
which,  if  any  divide  himself,  he  becomes 
an  outcast  from  the  religion  of  Christ" 
(Const.  Epp.  Bonifac.  14). 

It  may  be  objected  that  all  this  is 
Western  evidence.  But  testimony  quite 
as  strong  comes  to  us  from  the  East.  In 
341  (or,  as  some  think,  342)  Pope  Julius, 
with  a  synod  of  fifty  Italian  bishops  (see 
Athanas.  *'  Apol.  contr.  Arianos,"  ad  init., 
and  the  epistle  of  the  synod  of  Philippor 
polls,  Mansi,  tom.  iii.  130)  restored  two 
Eastern  prelates,  St.  Athanasius  and 
Paul  of  Constantinople,  to  their  sees. 
"  He "  (Pope  Julius),  says  the  Greek 
historian  Socrates  ("  H.  E."  ii.  15),  "  in 
accordance  with  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Roman  Church,  established  the  bishops 
in  outspoken  letters,  sent  them  back  to 
the  East,  restored  each  to  his  own  see, 
and  laid  his  hand  upon  those  who  had 
rashly  deposed  them."  Eustathius,  bishop 
of  Sebaste,  was  reinstated  on  producing  a 
letter  of  restitution  from  Pope  Liberius. 
(Basil,  Ep.  263.)  Chrysostom  and  his 
persecutor  Theophilus  appealed  to  Pope 
Innocent.  The  latter  also  addressed  him- 
self to  the  Bishops  of  Milan  and  Aquileia, 
but  that  the  appeal  was  made  specially  to 
Rome  appears  from  the  statement  in  a 
letter  from  Anysius,  bishop  of  Thessalo- 
nica  who  was  a  friend  of  Chrysostom's — 
viz.  "that  he  abode  by  the  judgment  of 
the  Romans  "  {cos  efxfievei  rfj  Kpicrei  tt]  t5>v 
'Pcofxaicov).  (See  the  life  by  Palladius,  him- 
self a  contemporary  of  Chrysostom,  cap.  3.) 
But  it  is  in  the  proceedings  of  the  two 
great  Councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon 
that  Roman  supremacy,  with  its  divine 
sanction,  shines  forth  most  clearly.  Cyril 
did  not  dare  to  break  ofi'  communion  with 
Nestorius  till  he  had  consulted  Pope 
Celestine.  He  begged  the  Pope  to  declare 
his  mind  on  this  point  (Mansi,  "  Concil." 
tom.  iv.  1011  seq.)  The  Pope  told  his 
legates  to  act,  not  as  disputants,  but  as 
judges  (Const.  Ep.  Gel.  17.)  The  Fathers 
of  Ephesus  passed  sentence  on  Nestorius, 
"  compelled  and  constrained  (avayKaias 
KaT€iT(ix0€VTes)  by  the  sacred  canons  and 
the  letter  of  our  most  holy  Father  and 
fellow-minister  Celestine,  bishop  of  the 
Roman  Church."  (Mansi,  iv.  1207.)  John 
of  Antioch,  after  a  schismatical  resistance 
x2 


676 


POPE 


POPE 


to  Pope  and  council,  returned  to  Catholic 
unity.  Whereupon  Sixtus  III.  reminds 
hiiu  that  he  has  learned  by  experience 
"  -what  it  is  to  think  with  us.  Blessed 
Peter,-  in  the  person  of  his  successors,  has 
handed  down  what  he  has  received.  Who 
would  wish  to  cut  himself  olf  from  the 
first  of  the  Apostles,  taught  by  our 
master  Himself  ?  "  (  Const.  Epp.  Sixt. 
III.  Ep.  6.)  The  Fathers  of  Chalcedon 
acknowdedge  that  the  Pope  had  presided 
over  the  council  through  liis  legates  "  as 
head  over  the  members,"  that  the  Pope 
*'  is  appointed  for  all  (Trao-t  Kadicrrdfievos) 
interpreter  of  the  voice  of  Peter  ;  "  they 
say  that  "  Dioscorus  had  dared  to  restore 
Eutyche*  to  the  dignity  of  which  he  had 
been  deprived  by  his  Holiness,"  and  had 
"  turned  in  his  madnes-s  against  him  to 
whom  the  Saviour  had  entrusted  the 
guardianship  of  the  vine."  They  men- 
tion the  28th  canon,  and  askits  confirma- 
tion, that  ''  the  establishment  of  good 
discipline  {evra^ias),  as  well  as  of  faith, 
might  be  attributed "  tc  Leo.  Finally, 
they  gave  an  account  o/  all  that  had  been 
done  to  the  Pope, "  that  he  might  confirm 
it"  {(Is  jSfdaioiaiv,  Mansi,  torn.  vi.  148  seq.). 
Next  year  the  Emperor  Marcian  wrote  to 
Leo  that  doubts  had  arisen  in  the  minds 
of  many  whether  his  Holiness  had  con- 
firmed the  decrees  of  the  council  (to. 
TVTTcodevTa  iSfBaioacrev).  One  more  instance 
and  we  have  done.  The  Formulary  or 
Libellus  of  Pope  Hormisdas  was  signed  in 
519  by  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople, 
and  imposed  by  the  Byzantine  emperor 
upon  all  the  bishops  within  his  dominions. 
It  contains  the  following  words :  "  Whereas 
the  sentence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  can- 
not be  set  aside,  in  which  He  says,  '  Thou 
art  Peter,  and  ©n  this  rock  I  will  build 
my  Church  ; '  the  above  words  are  con- 
firmed by  the  effects,  since  in  the  Apostolic 
see  religion  has  ever  been  preserved  with- 
out stain.  Anxious,  therefore,  by  no 
means  to  be  severed  from  this  hope  and 
faith,  and  following  in  all  things  the 
constitutions  of  the  Fathers,  we  anathema- 
tise all  heretics,  especially  Nestorius,  &c. .  . 
receive  and  approve  all  the  encyclical 
letters  of  Pope  Leo,  which  he  wrote  con- 
cerning the  Christian  religion.  Whence, 
as  we  have  said  before,  following  in  all 
things  the  Apostolic  see,  and  proclaiming 
all  its  constitutions,  I  hope  I  may  attain  " 
(we  are  not  responsible  for  the  grammar) 
"to  be  with  you  in  the  one  communion 
which  the  Apostolic  see  proclaims,  in 
which  is  the  perfect  and  true  solidity  of 
tie  Christian  religion."  (Mansi,  torn.  viii. 


407  ;  Hefele,  «  Concil."  p.  673,  694  seq.) 
This  Libellus  was  also  approved  by  the 
Eighth  General  Council. 

Such  was  the  tradition  of  East  and 
West,  long  before  the  forgery  of  the  False 
Decretals,  long  before  schism  rent  the 
Eastern  patriarchates  from  the  obedience 
due  to  the  Holy  See.  With  good  right, 
therefore,  did  the  Council  of'  Florence 
define  "■  that  the  Roman  Pontiff  is  the 
successor  of  blessed  Peter,  prince  of  the 
Apostles  ;  that  he  is  the  true  vicar  of 
Christ ;  tiiat  he  is  head  of  the  whole 
Church,  Father  and  doctor  of  all  Chris- 
tians ;  that  to  him  [in  the  person  of] 
blessed  Peter  was  given  full  power  of 
feeding,  ruling,  and  governing  the  uni- 
versal Church,  as  also  ^  is  contained  in 
the  acts  of  oecumenical  councils  and  in 
the  holy  canons."  It  is  necessary  to  bear 
in  mind  that  all  Catholics,  Galilean  as 
well  as  Ultramontane,  accepted  the  belief 
that  the  Roman  Church  is  the  centre  of 
unity,  and  that  communion  with  her  is 
the  test  of  Catholicity.  "The  Son  of 
God,''  says  Bossuet,  "  since  He  willed  that 
his  Church  should  be  one  ....  instituted 
the  primacy  of  St.  Peter  to  maintain  and 
cement  it."  The  chair  of  Peter  "  is  the 
common  centre  of  all  Catholic  unity " 
("  Exposition  de  la  Foi  Catholique,"  21. 
"  The  Catholic  Church  from  her  birth  has 
had  for  a  mark  of  her  unity  her  com- 
munion with  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  so 
that,  remaining  in  it,  as  we  do,  without 
letting  anything  separate  us  from  it,  we 
are  the  body  which  has  seen  those  who 
have  severed  themselves  fall  on  the  right 
hand  and  the  left "  ("  Premiere  Instruction 
Pastorale  sur  les  Promesses  de  TEglise," 
n.  32).     "  We  grant  that  in  Church  law 

^  "  Quemadmodum  etiam "  is  now  proved 
to  be  the  true  reading.  It  is  found  in  the  ori- 
ginal copy  signed  by  the  Council  (Milanesi,  in 
the  Giornale  Storico  degli  Archivi  Tuscani  for 
1857,  pp.  196-225  ;  and  Cecconi.inthe^rwjonia, 
Feb.  1870).  It  was  in  the  -'auilientic  "  copy  of 
the  Colbertine  library  (Bossuet,  Def.  Cler.  Gall. 
vL  11)  ;  in  the  authentic  copy  of  the  Vatican 
(see  the  letter  of  Mamachius,  Orsi,  Rurn.  Font. 
vi.  11)  ;  in  the  fifteenth  century  copies  of  the 
Vatican  (Facsimiles  in  Civiltd,'  Feh.  5,  1870). 
Of  these  last,  one  has  "etiam"  written  "et," 
whence  probably  the  false  reading?  "  quemad- 
modum et "  crept  into  the  text  of  Blondus  and 
obtained  some  currency  in  the  printed  copies. 
Brequigny  {Memoires  file  la  Soclete  des  Inscrip- 
tions, torn,  xliii.  306  seq.)  denies  (against  the 
authors  of  the  Nouvelle  Diplomatique,  v.  316 
seq.)  that  any  of  the  four  originals  mentioned 
by  Syropulus  exist.  He  admits,  however,  that 
the  MS.  copy  at  Florence  was  made  before  the 
departure  of  the  Greeks,  so  that  in  any  case  the 
question  is  completely  settled. 


POPE 

there  is  nothing  the  Pope  cannot  do,  when 
need  requires  it"  (''Def."  xi.  20).  He 
looked  on  Archbishop  Fenelon's  sub- 
mission to  the  Pope,  who  condemned  his 
book,  as  a  natural  act  of  "  ecclesiastical 
subordination,"  for  "there  is  one  chief 
bishop,  there  is  one  Peter  appointed  to 
guide  all  the  flock,  there  is  one  Mother 
(Jhurch  established  to  teach  all  the  others  ; 
and  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  founded 
on  that  unity,  as  on  an  immovable  rock, 
cannot  be  shaken  "  ("  Relation  des  A  ctes 
et  Deliberations"  on  Quietism,  vol.  xx. 
p.  505,  in  the  new  edition  of  Bossuet,  par 
Lachat,  Paris,  1864). 

(4)  The  Vatican  Decrees. — In  two  im- 
portant particulars  the  last  council  went 
beyond  the  principles  accepted  by  Galil- 
eans. First  it  defined  that  the  Pope  has 
not  only  "the  office  of  inspection  and 
direction,"  but  also  "  the  whole  fulness  of 
supreme  power  "  in  discipline  as  well  as 
faith,  and  that  this  power  is  "  ordinary 
and  immediate  over  all  and  each  of  the 
pastors  and  of  the  faithful."  This  is  in 
no  way  meant  to  derogate  from  the  rights 
of  bishops,  or  to  make  them  mere  delegates 
or  vicars  of  the  Pope.  On  the  contrary, 
the  council  teaches  that  they  too  have 
"ordinary  and  immediate  jurisdiction '^  in 
their  dioceses,  that  they  have  been  "  placed 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  that  they  have  "  suc- 
ceeded to  the  position  of  the  Apostles," 
that  they  are  "  true  pastors."  It  may  be 
well  to  quote  on  this  point  two  theo- 
logians whom  no  one  will  suspect  of 
w^atering  down  the  Ultramontane  doc- 
trine. Speaking  of  the  allegation  that 
Ultramontanes  "consider  the  episcopate 
as  the  Pope's  mere  creation  and  vice- 
gerent, just,  e.g.,  as  the  Roman  Congre- 
gations are,"  Dr.  Ward  replies  that "  every 
Catholic  would  repudiate  such  a  tenet  as 
erroneous  and  even  heretical."  So  again 
Dr.  Murray  (author  of  the  treatise  "  De  Ec- 
clesia,"  &c.),  writes:  "Christ  established, 
not  episcopal  order  merely,  but  episcopal 
jurisdiction.  That  is,  He  ordained  that 
there  should  be  for  ever  in  the  Church, 
besides  the  universal  pastor,  pastors 
having  particular  flocks,  with  power  to 
teach,  legislate,  inflict  censures,"  &c.,  &c. 
The  Pope  may  for  a  just  cause  withdraw 
jurisdiction  from  a  particular  bishop,  but 
he  cannot  destroy  the  corpus  ejnsco- 
porum  (See  Ward,  "  Essays  on  the 
Churcii's  Doctrinal  Authority,"  pp.  376, 
877.)  Such  is  the  true  sense  of  the 
Vatican  decree,  and  plainly  it  is  in  per- 
fect harmcny  with  the  exposition  given 
above   of  Christ's  words  to    St.    Peter, 


POPE 


677 


"Feed  my  sheep,"  "Feed  my  lambs." 
The  whole  flock  and  each  member  of  it 
are  given  to  St.  Peter's  charge.  His 
successors  draw  their  authority  over  each 
Christian  from  Christ  Himself.  The 
Pope,  iu  virtue  of  his  office,  has  direct 
power  over  each  Christian  in  any  par- 
ticular diocese  ;  the  bishop  of  that  diocese 
has  the  same  power  attached  to  his 
office,  but  the  bishop  must  exercise  it  in 
union  with  and  subordination  to  the 
Pope.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  supposing 
that  superior  and  inferior  may  both 
have  ordinary  jurisdiction  in  the  same 
place.  Thus  the  ordinary  right  which 
the  constitution  might  give  a  sovereign  to 
try  legal  cases  by  commission  would  in 
no  way  make  it  impossible  for  the  ap- 
pointed judges  also  to  exercise  ordinary 
jurisdiction. 

Next,  the  Vatican  Council  teaches 
"  that  when  the  Roman  Pontift"  speaks 
ex  cathedra — that  is,  when  he,  using  his 
office  as  pastor  and  doctor  of  all  Christians, 
in  virtue  of  his  Apostolic  office  defines  a 
doctrine  of  faith  and  morals  to  be  held 
by  the  whole  Church,  he  by  the  divine 
assistance,  promised  to  him  iu  the  blessed 
Peter,  possesses  that  infallibility  with 
which  the  Divine  Redeemer  was  pleased 
to  invest  his  Chiu'ch  in  the  definition  of 
doctrine  on  faith  or  morals,  and  that, 
therefore,  such  definitions  of  the  Roman 
Pontiff"  are  irreformable  in  their  own  na- 
ture and  not  because  of  the  consent  of  the 
Church  "  _("  Pastor  ^  ^ternus,"  cap.  4). 
The  Pope  in  himself  is  subject  to  error  like 
other  men  ;  his  infallibility  comes  from  the 
spirit  of  God,  which  on  certain  occasions 
protects  him  from  error  in  faith  and 
morals.  He  has  no  infallibility  in  merely 
historical  or  scientific  questions.  Even  in 
matters  of  faith  and  morals  he  has  no 
inspiration,  and  must  use  the  same  means 
of  theological  inquiry  open  to  other  men. 
He  may  err  as  a  private  doctor  ;  nor  is 
any  immunity  from  error  granted  to  books 
which  he  may  write  and  publish.  Even 
when  he  speaks  with  Apostolic  authority 
he  may  err.  The  Vatican  Council  only 
requires  us  to  believe  that  God  protects 
him  from  error  in  definitions  on  faith  or 
morals  when  he  imposes  a  belief  on  the 
Universal  Church. 

So  understood,  the  Papal  infallibility 
follows  by  logical  consequence  from 
principles  already  illustrated  in  this  arti- 
cle and  that  on  the  Chukch.  Our  argu- 
ment is  not  addressed  to  Protestants.  They 
must  understand  and  accept  the  infalli- 
bility of  the  Church,  and  the  position  o/ 


678 


POPE 


the  Holy  See  as  the  foundation  of  faith 

and  centre  of  unity,  before  they  can  under- 
stand or  accept  the  Vatican  definitions. 
It  is  against  the  Gallican  theory  that  we 
are  arguing  now,  and  we  therefore  take 
for  granted  the  Catholic  principles  which 
Gallicans  held. 

We  have  seen  that  from  the  earliest 
times  the  faith  of  Peter  and  his  successors 
has  been  taken  as  the  foundation  of  the 
Church;  indeed,  so  much  is  implied  in 
Christ's  w-ords  to  the  chief  of  his  Apo- 
stles. Peter,  says  Bossuet,  by  his  confession 
of  Christ's  Godhead  "  attracts  to  himself 
that  inviolable  promise  which  makes  him 
the  foundation  of  the  Church.  The  word 
of  Jesus  Christ,  which  makes  what  He 
wills  out  of  nothing,  gives  such  strength 
to  a  mortal.  Let  it  not  be  said  or  thought 
that  St.  Peter's  ministry  ends  with  him- 
self ;  that  which  is  to  serve  as  the  support 
of  an  eternal  Chm'ch  can  never  end.  Peter 
will  live  in  his  successors ;  Peter  will  ever 
speak  in  his  chair;  this  is  what  the 
Fathers  say,  and  630  bishops  at  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  confirm  (Sermon 
a  I'Ouverture  de  TAssembltSe-generale  du 
Clerg^).  Now,  if  Peter  and  his  successors 
are  the  foundation  of  an  infallible  Church, 
of  a  Church,  moreover,  unchangeable  in 
constitution,  they  themselves  must  be  in- 
fallible. If  they  were  to  impose  a  false 
belief  on  Christians,  the  faith  and  infalli- 
bility of  the  Church  itself  would  be 
shaken. 

Let  us  turn  once  again  to  Bossuet,  and 
see  how  he  expounds  Christ's  charge  to 
Peter,  "  Confirm  thy  brethren."  Christ,  he 
says,  "  does  not  merely  give  a  command- 
ment to  Peter  individually :  Peter  receives 
"  an  office  w^iich  [Christ]  founds  and  in- 
stitutes in  his  Church  for  ever."  "There 
was  always  to  be  a  Peter  in  the  Church 
to  confirm  his  brethen  in  the  faith ;  it 
was  the  most  fitting  means  of  establish- 
ing that  unity  of  sentiments  which  the 
Saviour  desired  above  everything  ;  and 
that  authority  was  so  much  the  more 
necessary  for  the  successors  of  the  Apo- 
stles, inasmuch  as  their  faith  was  less 
stable  than  that  of  those  from  whom  they 
sprang "  (de  ieurs  auteurs,  "  Meditations 
sur  I'EvaDgile,"  Ixxii.).  But  if  the  bishops 
are  infallible  because  confirmed  in  the 
faith  by  Peter's  successors,  those  who  hold 
Peter's  place  must  be  themselves  infallible. 
Further,  if  the  see  of  Home,  which  is  by 
divine  appointment  the  head  of  the  Church 
and  the  centre  of  unity,  solemnly  and  per- 
sistently uiade  false  belief  a  condition  of 
commmiion,  then  one  of  two  things  must 


POPE 

follow — either  the  body  of  the  Church 
would  accept  the  heresy  which  the  Pope 
propounded  and  so  forfeit  its  infallibility, 
or  else  would  maintain  the  truth,  and  be 
left  without  the  head  and  centre  of  unity 
given  by  Christ.  Either  consequence  is  a 
sheer  impossibility  on  Gallican,  no  less  than 
on  Ultramontane,  principles. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  for  a  moment 
that  the  Pope  is  an  absolute  monarch.  He 
cannot,  as  we  have  already  shown,  annul 
the  constitution  of  the  Church  ordained 
by  Christ.  His  power  of  definition  is 
limited  by  a  multitude  of  previous  defini- 
tions due  to  his  predecessors,  to  the 
councils,  to  the  ordinary  exercise  of  the 
Church's  magisterium  through  the  pastors 
united  to  the  Holy  See.  If  the  Pope 
obstinately  rejected  an  article  of  faith 
which  had  already  been  proposed  by  the 
Church,  and  to  which  the  Pope  owes 
allegiance  as  much  as  the  simplest  of  the 
faithful,  he  might  be  judged  and  replaced. 
"  It  has  always  been  maintained,"  says 
F.  Ryder  ("Catholic  Controversy," p.  30), 
"  that  for  heresy  tlie  Chm'ch  may  judge 
the  Pope,  because,  as  most  maintain,  by 
heresy  he  ceases  to  be  Pope."  Bellarmin 
and  Turrecremata  maintain  that  he  would 
cease  to  be  Pope  ipso  facto -^  Cajetan  and 
John  of  St.  Thomas  require  formal  depo- 
sition. Of  course,  we  maintain  that  the 
assent  of  Christians  is  due  to  the  Pope's 
decision  in  matters  of  faith  and  morals 
discussed  in  the  Church.  We  refer  only 
to  the  case  of  a  Pope  directly  contradicting 
previous  definitions,  teaching,  e.g.,  that 
Christ  is  not  God,  that  the  J^lessed  Virgin 
is  equal  to  God,  or  the  like.  So  that 
this  admission  is  in  no  way  contrary  to  our 
statement  of  Papal  infallibility.  In  such 
a  case  (we  may  well  think  that  Provi- 
dence would  prevent  its  occurrence)  the 
faithful  would  be  protected  from  error 
and  the  Church  would  not  be  left  without 
a  head. 

(5)  The  Pope's  Election ;  the  Exercise 
of  his  Powers  ;  Titles^  <^c. 

(a)  liome  and  the  Papacy. — As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  Pope  is  and  always  has 
been  Bishop  of  Rome,  and,  according  to 
the  common  opinion,  this  connection  be- 
tween Rome  and  the  Papacy  exists  by 
Divine  law.  According  to  others,  how- 
ever {e.g.  Soto,  apud  Billuart  "  De  Fide," 
diss.  iv.  a.  4),  the  Pope  might  choose 
another  see,  or  might  govern  the  Church 
without  holding  any  special  see  at  all. 

O)  Papal  Election. — In  the  first  ages 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  chosen,  like 
other  bishops,  by  the  clergy  and  people, 


POPE 

with  the  assent  of  the  neighbouring 
bishops,  and  the  person  elected  was  con- 
secrated by  the  Bishop  of  Ostia.  The 
Christian  emperors  decided  doubtful  elec- 
tions, while  Odoacer  and  Theodoric  the 
Great  claimed  the  same  rigbt  as  kings  of 
Italy.  Felix  III.  was  actually  nominated 
by  Theodoric,  and  other  Italian  kings 
received  a  sum  of  money  for  confirming 
Papal  elections.  After  Justinian  recovered 
Italy,  the  election  of  a  new  Pope  was 
notified  to  the  Exarch  of  Eavenna  and 
confirmed  by  the  Byzantine  emperors. 
From  the  eighth  century  onwards  the 
influence  of  the  Eastern  empire  over 
Italy  declined,  and  the  Papal  elections 
were  disturbed  by  factions  in  the  city. 
The  canon  in  which  Hadrian  I.  concedes 
the  right  of  nomination  to  Charlemagne 
is  spurious ;  still,  as  a  rule,  the  election 
took  place  in  the  presence  of  commis- 
eioners  from  the  Oarlovingian  emperors. 
After  the  deposition  and  death  of  Charles 
the  Fat,  the  Papal  elections  became  once 
more  and  for  a  long  time  an  object  of 
factious  contention,  till  the  Roman  em- 
perors began  once  again  to  exert  their 
influence.  The  first  German  Pope, 
Gregory  V.,  owed  his  nomination  to 
imperial  favour,  and  four  German  bishops 
were  raised  in  succession  to  the  Papal 
dignity  by  Henry  III.  The  decree  of 
Nicolas  II.  in  1059  marks  a  new  era.  The 
cardinal  bishops  [Cardinal]  were  to  elect, 
with  the  approval  of  the  clergy  and  people, 
^'saving  the  honour  due  to  our  beloved 
son  Henry,  who  is  now  king  and  will  be, 
as  we  hope,  by  God's  favour,  emperor, 
according  as  we  have  already  granted  to 
him  and  his  successors,  who  have  obtained 
this  right  personally  from  the  Apostolic 
See."  Gradually  the  influence  of  the 
Roman  emperor?  fell  away,  and  the  elec- 
tion rested  in  the  hards  of  the  cardinals 
alone,  no  distinction  being  made  between 
the  cardinal-bishops  and  other  members 
of  the  Sacred  (Jollege.  Something  has 
been  said  on  the  present  mode  of  elec- 
tion and  the  chief  enactments  on  the 
subject  in  the  article  on  Conclaves,  and 
to  this  we  refer  our  readers,  adding,  how- 
ever, the  following  facts  from  Ferraris 
(art.  Papa).  Ecclesiastical  and,  as  is 
commonly  held,  divine  law,  make  it  im- 
possible for  a  Pope  to  nominate  his  suc- 
cessor. The  election  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  cardinals.  In  the  event  of  all  the 
cardinals  being  dead,  some  think  the 
right  of  election  would  pass  to  the 
Canons  of  St.  John  Lateran,  others  to 
the  Patriarchs,  others  to  a  general  coun- 


POPE 


679 


cil.  The  cardinals  are  not  bound  to 
choose  one  of  their  own  body  ;  a  layman, 
and  even  a  married  man,  may  be  law- 
fully elected.  In  modern  times  Austria, 
France,  and  Spain  have  been  allowed  to 
exclude  any  single  candidate,  provided 
they  notify  their  objection  before  the 
election  is  made.  This,  of  course,  is  a 
mere  concession,  not  a  right.  Portugal 
and  Naples  have  claimed  to  exercise  the 
same  power,  but  have  never  been  allowed 
to  do  so. 

(y)  The  Insignia  of  the.  Fope  are  the 
pedum  rectum,  or  straight  crosier ;  the 
pallium,  which  he  wears  coiistantly ;  the 
tiara,  or  triple  crown.  [See  Tiara  ; 
Crosier;  Pallium;  Kiss.]  He  is  ad- 
dressed as  "  Your  Holiness,"  "  Beatissime 
Pater,"  &c.,  and  lie  speaks  of  himself  as 
"  Servus  servorum  Dei."  [See  the  article.] 
(5)  The  Actual  Exercise  of  Papal  Power, 
— The  Pope  is  Bishop  of  Rome,  Metropoli- 
tan of  the  Roman  province,  the  only  real 
Patriarch  in  the  West  (see  Hefele  on  the 
6th  Nicene  Canon,  "  Concil."  I.  p.  897  seq). 
Even  these  offices,  as  held  by  him,  differ 
in  this  from  the  same  offices  as  held  by 
others — viz.  tnat  the  Pope  holds  them 
without  having  to  render  an  account  of 
his  administration,  to  any  earthly  superior. 
No  line  of  demarcation  can  be  drawn 
between  the  Pope's  exercise  of  Papal  and 
Patriarchal  power.  The  fulness  of  the 
latter  is  included  in  the  former,  and,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  Pope  for  long  did  not 
exercise  throughout  the  whole  West  the 
power  which  the  Eastern  Patriarchs 
wielded  in  confirming  the  election  of 
bishops,  &c.  It  is  still  true,  however, 
that  the  Pope  exercises  more  immediate 
power  over  bishops  in  the  W^est,  where 
there  is  no  other  Patriarch,  than  in  the 
East,  with  Patriarchates  of  its  own.  We 
need  not,  however,  consider  here  the  Papal 
government  in  the  East.  The  number  of 
Greeks  and  Orientals  who  acknowledge 
the  Pope's  jurisdiction  is  very  small,  and 
enough  has  been  said  on  the  subject  in 
other  articles — e.g.  in  those  on  the  various 
Eastern  rites.  We  speak  only  of  the 
Pope's  power  as  exercised  in  the  Latin 
Church,  and  we  take  as  our  guide  Cardinal 
Soglia  ("Institut.  Juris  public!  Eccles." 
lib.  ii.  cap.  1). 

The  Pope,  then,  is  the  supreme  judge 
in  all  controversies  of  faith,  and  he  may 
and  does  exercise  this  power  immediately 
or  through  the  Sacred  Congregations. 
Thus  he  may  condemn  or  prohibit  booko, 
he  may  reserve  to  himself  the  canonisa- 
tion of  saints,  he  may  alter  the  rites  of 


680 


PORTEFORIUM 


the  Church  in  matters  which  are  not 
essential.  Often,  on  such  occasions,  the 
Pope,  though  exercising  his  supreme 
power,  does  not  speak  ex  cathedra  or  claim 
in'allibilitv.  To  him  the  supreme  direc- 
tion of  discipline  belongs.  He  may 
enact  laws  for  the  whole  Church,  and 
dispense  from  the  common  Church  law. 
It  is  his  duty  to  see  that  the  canons  are 
observed,  and  to  this  end  he  may  send 
legates  and  nuncios  to  distant  provinces 
and  receive  appeals  from  all  persons  in  all 
parts  of  the  world.  He  reserves  to  him- 
self the  hearing  of  the  "  greater  causes '' 
— e.(/.  grave  charges  against  a  bishop.  He 
can  intiict  censures,  such  as  excommuni- 
cation, on  all  Christians,  and  reserve  to 
himself  the  power  of  absolving  from 
certain  sins.  He  alone  can  erect,  suppress, 
and  divide  dioceses,  translate  or  deprive 
bishops,  and  that  without  crime  on  their 
part  if  the  general  good  requires  it ;  he 
alone  can  confirm  the  election  of  bishops 
or  appoint  coadjutors  with  right  of  succc:^- 
sion.  Bishops  are  required  at  various 
intervals  to  visit  the  li7nina  Apostoloi-um 
and  give  an  account  of  their  ministry. 
Lastly,  the  Pope  alone  can  approve  new 
religious  orders,  and  exempt  them,  if  he 
sees  tit,  from  episcopal  jurisdiction. 

(Ballerinis  "  De  Primatu"and  "  De 
Potestate  Summ.  Pontif."  are  among  the 
most  usefid  books  on  the  subject.  But 
theologians  and  canonists  without  num- 
ber have  treated  of  it,  and  it  would  be 
vain  to  attempt  an  account  of  the  litera- 
ture in  the  space  at  our  command.) 

POBTEFOKZum  (portean,  portuary, 
poi'tius,  portuasse,  porthoos,  portfory)  was 
the  common  word  in  England  for  the 
Breviary.  Originally  the  name  was 
meant  to  denote  that  the  book  was  port- 
able, but  the  original  meaning  was  for- 
gotten and  the  word  used  of  copies,  how- 
ever large.  The  word  is  as  old  as 
Breviarium,  and  though  of  constant  oc- 
currence in  English  documents  and  litera- 
ture, does  not  seem  to  have  been  known 
on  the  Continent.  (Maskell,  "  Mon.  Kit." 
vol.  i.  p.  xcviii.  seq.^ 

poRTruiB'CD'liA.  This  was  one  of 
the  three  churches,  at  or  near  Assisi,  which 
were  repaired  by  St.  Francis.  "The  old 
little  church,  .  .  .  like  the  holy  chapel 
at  Loreto,  is  inclosed  in  the  middle  of  a 
spacious  church,  annexed  to  a  large  con- 
vent in  the  hands  of  Recollects  or  Re- 
formed Franciscans;  it  is  the  head  or 
mother  house  of  this  branch  of  the 
order."  *  Here,  according  to  the  common 
»  Alban  Butler,  Oct.  4. 


POST-COMMUNION 

tradition  (of  which,  however,  there  is  no 
trace  in  the  five  oldest  biographies  of  the 
saint),  Jesus  Christ  appeared  to  St. 
Francis  in  1221,  and  "bade  him  go  to  the 
Pope,  who  would  give  a  plenary  indul- 
gence to  all  sincere  penitents  who  should 
devoutly  visit  that  church."  ^  Two  years 
later,  Honorius  III.,  at  the  request  of  St. 
Francis,  granted  the  indulgence  (com- 
monly known  in  Italy  as  the  "  Pardon  of 
Assisi"),  confining  it  to  the  2nd  of 
August,  and  to  the  Church  of  the  Por- 
tiuncula.  Gregory  XV.  (1022)  extended 
it  to  all  the  churches  of  the  Observant 
Franciscans,  including  the  Recollects  or 
Reformed,  between  first  Vespers  and  sun- 
set on  August  2.  Innocent  XI.  (1678), 
in  favour  of  the  same  churches,  allow^ed 
this  indulgence  to  be  applied  by  way  of 
sufirage  to  the  relief  of  the  souls  in  Pur- 
gatory. Finally,  the  indulgence  of  the 
Portiuncula  can  be  gained  in  all  churches 
in  which  the  third  order  of  St.  Francis  is 
canonically  established.  (Moroni;  AVet- 
zer  and  Welte.) 

PORT-ROVAii.     [See  Jansejs^ists.] 

POSSESSXODJ,       BEMOXriACiili. 

A  state  in  which  an  e-vil  spirit,  by  God's 
permission,  inhabits  the  body  of  a  rational 
being.  The  devil  is  able  in  this  way  to 
torture  the  body,  to  deceive  the  senses  by 
hallucinations,  and  indirectly,  because  of 
the  connection  between  soul  and  body,  to 
torture  the  soul,  to  impair  and  pervert  its 
faculties.  He  cannot,  however,  inhabit 
the  soul,  for  this  is  a  power  which  belongs 
to  God  alone ;  much  less  can  he  master 
the  free  wiU  and  force  the  possessed 
person  to  sin.  But  he  may  increase  to  a 
fearful  extent  the  power  of  temptation, 
overpower  the  body  and  even  produce 
insanity,  in  which  last  case  the  possessed 
person  may  of  course  commit  actions  out- 
wardly sinful,  for  which  he  is  not  re- 
sponsible. In  obsession  (also  called  cir- 
cumcessio)  the  devil  attacks  the  man  in  an 
extraordinary  manner  from  without — by 
presenting,  e.y.,  phantoms  to  the  senses 
— but  does  not  inhabit  the  body  or  exert 
an  abiding  and  immanent  influence.  [See 
Energumen;  Exorcist.] 

POST-COMMUM-ZON*.  A  prayer 
or  prayers,  varying  with  the  day,  said  after 
the  priest  has  taken  the  ablutions.  In 
the  Gelasian  Sacramentary  it  was  always 
followed  by  a  prayer  over  the  people,  and 
this  is  still  the  case  in  the  Ferial  Masses  in 
Lent,  when  the  Post-Communion  is  still 
succeeded  by  the  "  Humiliate  capita  vestra 
Deo "  and  the  "  Oratio  super  populum." 
1  Alban  Butler,  Oct  4. 


t 


POSTIL 

All  the  Western  liturgies  conform  in  this 
art  to  the  same  type.  The  Ambrosian 
as  a  "  Post-Communio ; "  the  Galilean  a 
''Collecdo  post  commimionem"  and  a 
"  Consummatio  vel  ad  plebem." 

In  the  Mozarahic  rite,  however,  the 
prayers  after  Communion  are  invariable. 
(Le  Brun  ;  Benedict  XIV^ ;  Hammond.) 

POSTI3L.  Originally,  a  note  or 
commentary  on  a  passage  of  Scripture, 
the  derivation  being,  post  ilia  verba  textus. 
Since  such  commentaries  often  took  a 
hortatory  or  homiletic  form,  the  word 
postilla  came  to  be  used  for  a  short  sermon. 
The  sense  of  "commentary"'  appears  in 
the  title  of  the  celebrated  fourteenth- 
century  work  of  Nicholas  de  Lyra,  **  Post- 
illa in  uni  versa  Biblia."  [Gloss A  Or- 
DINARIA.]  Ayer\),postillare,  "to  compose 
a  commentary,"  also  came  into  use. 

POVERTV.  [See  Evangelical 
Counsels.] 

POIVBR  OF  KEYS.  [See  Penance ; 
Excommunication;  Pope.] 

PRAGl^ilTIC     SAWCTIOW.      By 

this  term  the  mediaeval  lawyers  under- 
stood a  solemn  edict,  adopted  and  pub- 
lished with  every  formality  by  the 
sovereign  of  a  country,  with  the  advice 
of  liis  councillors  and  of  the  estates  of 
the  realm.  To  the  general  reader  the 
name  is  chiefly  familiar  in  connection 
with  the  celebrated  instrument  by  which 
Charles  VI.,  emperor  of  Germany,  en- 
deavoured to  secure  for  his  daughter 
Maria  Teresa  the  peaceable  succession  to 
all  the  dominions  of  the  House  of  Austria. 
Among  Pragmatic  Sanctions  which  have 
dealt  with  ecclesiastical  affairs,  three  are 
specially  noted.  The  first,  which  is 
ascribed  to  St  Louis  (1268),  grants  many 
liberties  and  privileges  to  the  church  of 
France.  For  an  account  of  the  second, 
passed  at  Bourges  by  Charles  VII.  (1438), 
see  the  articles  Gallic anism  and  Con- 
cordat. The  third  (1446)  preceded  the 
concordat  between  Eugenius  IV.  and  the 
German  nation  ;  on  which  see  Concohdat. 
PRAVER.  [See  Mental  Prater; 
Breviary,  &c.] 

PREACHERS,  ORDER  OF.      [See 

Dominicans.] 

PREACHIlffG.  Christian  preaching 
began  with  our  Lord  Himself,  who  en- 
trusted the  continuation  of  the  work  to 
his  Apostles.  At  fi.rst  the  Christian 
congregations  were  instructed  not  only 
by  "  teachers "  in  the  common  accepta- 
tion of  the  term,  but  also  by  "  prophets," 
to  whom  the  counsels  of  C^od  were 
revealed  in  an  extraordinary  manner — a 


PREACHING 


681 


gift  which  might  include  a  knowledge  of 
the  future,  though  this  was  not  necessarily 
the   case.     Later,   the  Fathers   speak   of 
preaching  as  a  chief  part  of  the  bishop's 
office.     In    Africa,   till   St.    Augustine's 
time)   it   was    not    usual    for   priests   to 
preach  ("  Vita.  Possid."  5),  and  this  was 
also   the   case   in   the   time   of  Socrates 
("  II.  E  "  V.  22)  at  Alexandria.     On  the 
other  hand,  Origen  preached  in  Palestine 
while  only  a  layman    or   at  least  not  a 
priest  (Euseb.  "  H.  E."  vi.  19.).     Even  in 
the  African  church  preaching  by  laymen, 
at  the  request  of  the  clergy,  became  a 
permitted  use   {Inicus  prase7itibu8  clericis 
nisi  ipsis  rogantihus  doc.ere  non  audeat,  c. 
98  of  the  so-called  Concil.  Carthag.  iv. 
anno  398).     According  to  a  well-known 
statement  of  Sozomen  (*'  H.  E."  vii.  19)  ^ 
sermons   had   not   been   preached   at   all 
in  the  Roman  Church  till  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century,  but  possibly  the  truth  is 
that  down  to  St.  Leo  s  pontificate  there 
had   been   no   great   preacher   or  formal 
sermons   in   the   Greek   style    at   Rome. 
The  preacher  sat  during  his  sermon ;  the 
people   sometimes   sat,   sometimes  stood. 
Sermons  were  delivered  on  Sundays  and 
feasts,    and     Chrysostom's    homilies    on 
Genesis  prove  that  sermons  were  delivered 
daily  in  Lent.    In  the  East  sermons  were 
often  very  long.     Chrysostom's  discourse 
lasted  sometimes  for  two  hours.     In  the 
West  they  were  generally  short.     Chry- 
sostom,  the  two  Gregories,  Basil  in  the 
East,  Ambrose,  Augustine,  Leo,  Gregory 
the  Great  in  the  West,  were  the  great 
preachers  of  the  Patristic  period. 

For  a  long  time  they  had  no  successors 
who  came  near  them  in  eloquence.  The 
Synod  of  Mayence  in  847  (c.  2)  requires 
each  bishop  to  have  a  book  of  Latin 
homilies,  and  turn  them  "in  linguam 
rusticam  Roraanam  aut  Theotiscam"  for 
the  good  of  the  people.  Peter  Damian  in 
the  eleventh, and  St.  Bernard  in  the  twelfth 
century,  were  conspicuous  preachers.  A 
new  era  began  with  the  rise  of  the  mendi- 
cant orders,  Tauler,  Suso,  in  the  four- 
teenth century,  St.  Vincent  Ferrer  (d. 
1419)  and  Savonarola  in  the  fifteenth, 
Louis  of  Granada  in  the  sixteenth,  were 
Dominicans ;  Bemardine  of  Siena  and 
John  Capistran  in  the  fifteenth  were 
Franciscans ;  John  of  Avila  (d.  1569)  a 
secular.  Enormous  crowds  surrounded 
the  great  preachers  of  the  later  middle 

1  ovre  fie  6  ejria/coTTOS  ovt'  oXXos  ti?  ivOdSe  tir 

e«*cATjaia9  fiifiao-jcet.  Valesius,  in  his  note  on  the 
passage,  quotes  Cassiodorus,  who  had  lived  at 
Rome,  as  witness  to  the  same  fact* 


682 


PREADAMITES 


age,  and  sometimes  persons  actually  died 
from  the  emotion  whieh  the  sermon 
awoke  in  them. 

Important  regulations  on  preaching 
were  enacted  by  the  Council  of  Trent 
(Sess.  V.  De  Reform. ;  Sess.  xxiv.  De 
Reform,  cap.  iv.).  The  council  teaches 
that  preaching  is  the  "principal  office  of 
bishops,"  and  requires  bishops,  parish 
priests,  and  all  who  have  the  cure  of 
souls,  to  preach  personally,  or  in  case  of 
lawful  impediment  by  deputy,  at  least  on 
Sundays  and  solemn  feasts.  Further, 
during  the  fasts,  and  particularly  during 
Advent  and  Lent,  the  bishop  is  to 
provide  sermons  daily,  or  at  least  three 
times  a  week.  Regulars  preaching  in 
their  own  churches  must  first  be  examined 
and  approved  by  their  superiors  and  must 
seek  the  bishop's  blessing,  nor  are  they  to 
preach  even  there  against  the  bishop's 
will.  In  other  churches  they  cannot 
preach  without  episcopal  licence.  Bishops 
are  to  warn  the  faithful  that  they  are 
bound  to  hear  the  word  of  God  in  their 
own  parish  church,  if  they  can  do  so 
without  inconvenience.  The  sermons  are 
to  be  short  and  simple  and  of  a  practical 
character. 

We  can  only  mention  a  few  of  the 
great  preachers  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  the  golden  age  of 
preaching.  In  France  the  names  of 
Bossuet,  the  Jesuit  Bourdaloue  (1632- 
1704),  MassiUon  (1638-1742)  will  occur 
to  all.  Be  laColombiere,  S.J.  (d.  1682), 
and  Fl^chier,  chiefly  remembered  for  his 
funeral  orations  (d.  1710),  are  prominent 
in  the  second  class.  In  Italy  the  great 
preacher  was  the  holy  Jesuit  Segneri 
(d.  1 694) ;  in  Portugal,  Vieira,  also  a 
Jesuit  (d.  1697).  In  our  own  century 
the  great  preachers  have  been  the  Italian 
Theatine  Ventura,  and  in  France  the 
Jesuit  Ravignan,  the  great  Bominican 
Lacordaire,  and  the  late  gifted  Bishop  of 
Orleans,  Dupanloup.  Of  Irishmen,  one 
of  the  greatest  as  a  popular  preacher  was 
the  Dominican  Thomas  ^N^icliolas  Burke. 
Veith,  at  Vienna,  Cardinal  Diepenbrock 
and  Forster,  bishops  of  Breslau,  tbe  Jesuit 
Father  Roh  and  others,  have  won  high 
reputation.  (The  latter  part  chiefly  from 
Kraus,  "  Kirchengeschichte.") 

PRBADAMZTSS.  The  first  author 
of  the  Preadamitic  system,  as  Zaccaria 
calls  it,  is  said  to  have  been  Giordano 
Bruno,  a  Bominican  (who  abandoned  his 
order  and  the  CathoUc  religion),  though 
there  are  traces  of  it  in  Rabbinical 
writers.    It  was  developed  by  a  French 


PRECIOUS  BLOOB 

Calvinist,  Isaac  de  la  Peyreyre,  in  a  book 
entitled  "  PraeadamitaB,  sive  Exercitatio 
super  versibus  12,  13,  et  14,  cap.  v. 
Epist.  ad  Rom.,  quibus  inducuntur  primi 
homines  ante  Adamum  conditi,"  in  the 
year  1655  (not  1652  as  Calmet  has  it). 
He  held  that  Adam  was  the  progenitor  of 
the  Jews  only,  and  that  the  Flood,  which 
was  local  merely,  did  not  destroy  the 
nations  who  had  inhabited  the  earth  long 
before  Adam's  creation.  He  appealed, 
e.g.,  to  the  words  of  Cain,  Gen.  iv.  14, 
"  Every  one  who  tindeth  me  will  kill  me," 
to  Cain's  building  a  city,  to  the  impossi- 
j  bility  of  supposing  that  the  Antipodes 
were  peopled  in  prehistoric  times  from 
Asia,  &c.,  &c.  Peyreyre  became  a 
Catholic,  and  retracted  his  system,  which, 
cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  Catholic 
doctrine  of  original  sin,  at  Rome  (ad 
Philotimum  Ep.)  in  1 657.  He  died  with 
the  Fathers  of  the  French  Oratory  in 
1675,  aged  82.  (Zaccaria,  "  Prolegom.  in 
Petav.  de  Op.  Sex  Bierum.") 

PREBSZTD  (Lat.  prfsbenda).  The 
term  is  probably  derived  from  the  daily 
rations  issued  to  soldiers.  A  prebend 
is  the  share  in  the  revenues  of  a  chapter 
[Chapter,  Cathedral]  or  collegiate 
church,  enjoyable  by  each  canon  or  pre- 
bendary. A  capitulary  of  Charlemagne 
orders  that  no  canon  should  hold  a 
benefice  along  with  a  prebend;  those 
found  doing  so  were  to  be  deprived  of 
both.  When  the  common  life  of  canons 
was  generally  discontmued,  in  the  course 
of  the  tenth  century,  a  division  was 
made  of  the  Church  revenues  into 
episcopal  and  capitular,  and  each  canon 
enjoyed  his  share  of  the  latter,  which 
was  still  called  his  prebend,  together 
with — at  least  in  the  case  of  the  senior 
members  of  the  chapter — a  prebendal 
residence.  (Smith  and  Cheetham ;  Wetzer 
and  Welte.) 

FRECZOtrs  BI.OOB.  (1)  Relics.— 
Beyrout,  Bruges,  Saintes,  the  imperial 
monastery  of  Weingarten,  the  English 
monasteries  of  Ashridge  and  Hailes,  have 
claimed  to  possess  relics  of  the  precious 
blood.  (Faber,  "  Precious  Blood,"  p.  204.) 
St.  Thomas  says  ("S."IIL  qu.  liv.  a.  2)  that 
aU  the  particles  of  blood  which  Christ 
shed  in  his  Passion  were  reassumed  by 
him  in  his  resurrection,  "  but  that  blood 
which  is  kept  in  some  churches  as  relics 
did  not  flow  from  Christ's  side,  but  is 
said  to  have  flowed  miraculously  from 
some  image  of  Christ  when  struck  " — i.e, 
it  never  was  the  blood  of  Christ  at  all. 
Observe,  the  saint  makes  no  exception, 


PRECONISE 

and  8pea"k8  doubtfully  of  tlie  supposed 
miracles.  Benedict  XIV.  ("De  Fest." 
§  374)  admits  the  possibility  that  some 
particles  of  Christ's  blood  may  not  have 
been  reassumed,  and  may  remain  as 
relics.  In  this  case  they  are  not  united 
to  the  God-head,  and  it  would  be  the 
crime  of  idolatry  to  give  them  divine 
worship. 

(2)  Cmifraternities. — F.  Faber  men- 
tions a  very  ancient  one  at  Ravenna ;  one 
at  Rome  erected  under  Gregory  XIII. 
and  confirmed  by  Sixtus  V.,  afterwards 
merged  in  the  confraternity  of  the  Gonfa- 
lone.  Its  members  were  priests  and 
preached  missions.  An  arch-confraternity 
was  set  up  in  the  church  of  San  Nicolo 
in  Carcere  by  Albertini,  bishop  of  Ter- 
racina,  and  Bufalo,  canon  of  San  Marco 
under  Pius  VII.  A  confraternity  was 
founded  at  St.  Wilfrid's,  in  Staffordshire, 
in  1847,  and  transferred  to  the  London 
Oratory  in  185C. 

(3)  Orders. — There  was  a  Cistercian 
congregation  of  nuns,  entitled  Bernardines 
of  the  Precious  Blood,  at  Paris  in  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  ceutury. 
Bufalo,  who  died  in  1837,  founded  a 
congregation  of  Missioners  of  the  Precious 
Blood,  and  another  congregation  of  Nuns 
of  the  Precious  Blood.  (See  Faber, 
"  Precious  Blood,"  c.  vi.) 

(4)  The  Feast  was  instituted  and 
fixed  for  the  first  Sunday  of  July  by 
Pius  IX.  after  his  return  from  Gaeta. 
There  was  already  a  Mass  and  office  for 
the  Friday  after  the  fourth  Sunday  in 
Lent,  but  only  permitted  for  certain 
places. 

PRECOirzSE  {prcecOf  a  public  crier.) 
When  the  preliminary  inquiry  at  Rome, 
required  by  the  Council  of  Trent  and 
several  Papal  constitutions  in  the  case  of 
those  nominated  to  the  h^her  ecclesi- 
astical dignities,  has  terminated  favour- 
ably for  the  person  designated,  a  report  to 
that  effect  is  made  in  secret  Consistory  by 
the  Cardinal  Protector  of  the  nation  to 
which  the  candidate  belongs,  and  after 
the  cardinals  present  have  all  given  their 
opinions  on  his  eligibility,  the  Pope — if 
the  majority  be  in  his  favour — pronounces 
his  solemn  approbation  of  the  appoint- 
ment. This  approbation  is  termed  the 
"  preconisation,"  and  the  Pope  is  said  to 
"preconise"  the  archbishop,  bishop,  or 
other  dignitary,  whose  cause  has  been 
brought  before  him.  The  approbation  is 
posted  up  ad  valvas  ecclesice,  and  a  bull  of 

Sreconisation  is  expedited  to  the  candi- 
ate.    [See  Bishop,  §  iv.] 


PREDESTINATION  683 

PREDESTIM-ATZOIO-.  St.  Augus- 
tine's definition — viz.  ''  God's  prevision 
and  preparation  of  benefits  by  which 
those  who  are  freed  [i.e.  from  eternal 
death]  are  most  certainly  freed "  ("  le 
Bono  Persev."  cap.  14) — is  generally  ac- 
cepted by  Scholastic  theologians.  They 
are  all  ^  agreed  that  God  predestinates 
from  all  eternity  the  number  of  elect, 
that  He  bestows  the  grace  needed  to 
obtain  eternal  life  veithout  any  respect  to 
merits  on  their  part,  either  before  or  after 
grace  is  conferred,  so  that  life  eternal  ia 
his  free  gift ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  no  adult  enters  heaven  except  because 
he  has  of  his  own  free  will  corresponded 
to  the  grace  of  God,  and  none  are  lost 
eternally  except  by  the  perversity  of 
their  own  will,  since  God  sincerely  desires 
all  men  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  and  be  saved.  But  if  we  ask  why, 
seeing  God  gives  grace  enough  to  all,  and 
desires  the  salvation  of  all,  some  are 
saved,  others  reprobate,  theologians  give 
difierent  answers. 

(1)  According  to  the  Thomists,  "God's 
purpose  of  efficaciously  conducting  some 
rather  than  others  to  salvation  has  no 
reason  on  our  part,  but  depends  entirely 
on  God's  mercy  and  free  will "  (Billuart, 
"  De  Deo."  diss.  ix.  a.  4).  To  those  who 
are  predestinated  God  gives  grace  efficaci- 
ous in  its  own  nature,  and  so  orders  it 
that  they  die  in  this  grace ;  to  others  He 
givea  grace  which  is  merely  sufficient 
[see  the  article  on  Grace],  and  to  which, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  nobody  corresponds, 
though  all  have  the  power  of  doing  so. 

(2)  A  large  number  of  Jesuit  theolo- 
gians, known  as  Congruists,  hold,  like  the 
Thomists,  an  absolute  predestination  to 
glory,  irrespective  of  merits  foreseen.  God 
gives  to  the  predestinate  tlie  same  grace 
as  to  the  reprobate ;  but  to  the  former  in 
circumstances  under  which  He  foresees 
they  will  accept  it,  to  the  latter  in  those 
under  which  He  foresees  they  will  not  do 
so.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  Suarez 
(after  his  return  to  Spain),  of  Bellarmin, 
Antoine,  and  many  others.  A  decree  of 
the  Jesuit  general  Aquaviva  made  it  the 
recognised  teaching  of  the  society,  but 
the  decree  seems  to  have  been  practically 
inoperative.  (See  Schneemann,  *'  Controv. 
de  Divinae  Gratiae  Liberique  Ajbitrii  Con- 
cord." cap.  16.) 

(3)  A  large  number  of  Jesuits — e.ff. 

1  An  exception,  apparently,  should  be  made 
of  Catharinus,  quoted  by  Petavius,  and  of  Pi- 
ghius,of  whom  somethingis  said  by  Schneemann 
Both  seem  to  graze  Semi-Pelagianism. 


884 


PREFACE 


PREMONSTRATENSIANS 


Toletiis,  Maldonatrus,  Lessiiis,  Vasquez, 
Valen'ia,  and  Suarez,  while  he  taug-ht  at 
Rome  (so  Schneemann,  loc.  cit.),  admit 
that  predestination  to  grace,  but  deny 
that  predestination  to  plory,  is  irrespec- 
tive of  merit  foreseen.  God  decrees,  they 
Bay,  to  give  grace  to  all  and  predestinates 
those  who,  as  He  foresees,  will  correspond 
to  it,  the  rest  being  reprobate. 

It  is  to  be  carefully  observed  that  the 
Thomists  admit,  just  as  much  as  Lessius, 
that  God  desires  the  salvation  of  all,  and 
gives  all  sufficient  means  of  attaining 
that  end.  Whether  their  theory  is  logi- 
cal and  consistent  is  another  question,  and 
one  on  which  the  Church  has  never  pro- 
nounced. It  is  a  matter  of  philosophy 
and  logic  rather  than  of  faith.  On  the 
other  hand,  no  Catholic  may  hold  with 
Gottschalk,  a  German  monk  of  the  ninth 
century,  or  with  Calvin  in  later  times,  that 
God  willed  the  salvation  of  the  predesti- 
nate alone,  so  that  the  reprobate  perished 
necessarily. 

The   history   of   patristic    opinion   is 
given  with  his  usual  fulness  of  learning  j 
and  critical  discernment  by  Petavius  ("  De  | 
Deo,"   lib.  ix.  and  x.).     Augustine  most  ! 
certainly  held   and    constantly   asserted  I 
predestination  not  only  to  grace  but  to  | 
glory  without  respect  to  merits  foreseen.  '\ 
(See,  e.g..  a  decisive  passage,  ^*  De  (^orrep-  I 
tione  et  Gratia,'*  cap.  vii.)     Nobody,  says 
Petavius,   who  was  himself  of  the  con-  ; 
trary  opinion  on  the  theological  question,  '• 
nobody  could  doubt  this  unless  "  blinded  ' 
by  party-spirit "  (loc.  cit.  cap.  vi.).     But 
the  same  great  scholar  shows  how  very  \ 
different  the  opinion  of  the  Greek   and  | 
earlier  Latin  Fathers  was ;  and  Augus- 
tine, though  he  rightly  exercised  a  mighty 
influence  on  the  subsequent  Church,  has 
BO  claim  to  represent  the  whole  of  her 
tradition. 

PBSFACE.  A  prelude  or  introduc- 
tion to  the  Canon  of  the  Mass,  consisting 
in  an  exhortation  to  thanksgiving  made 
by  the  celebrant,  in  the  answers  of  the 
minister  or  choir,  and  a  prayer  ending  with 
•die  8anctus,  in  which  God  is  thanked  for 
his  benefits.  The  Greeks  have  only  one 
Preface,  which  in  the  Clementine  liturgy 
is  extremely  long.  The  Galilean  and 
Mozarabie  rites,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
rich  in  Prefaces,  and  so  originally  was  the 
Roman  liturgy,  which  from  the  sixth  till 
about  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century  had 
a  special  Preface  for  nearly  every  feast. 
About  II 00  the  number  was  reduced  in 
most  churches  of  the  Roman  rite  to  ten — 
viz.  the  common  one,  found  in  nearly  all 


the  ancient  Sacramentaries,  and  nine 
others  named  in  a  letter  falsely  attributed 
to  Pelagius,  predecessor  of  St,  Gregory, 
and  cited  in  the  "  Micrologus,"  .tc. — viz. 
the  Preface  of  Christmas,  Epiphany,' Lent, 
Easter,  Ascension,  Pentecost,  the  Trinity, 
the  Apostles,  the  Cross.  Urban  II.  is 
said  by  Gratian,  who  lived  tiity  years 
later,  to  have  added  the  Preface  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  in  1095.  The  Sarum  Use 
had  "  proper  Prefaces  "  for  the  "  (concep- 
tion. Nativity,  Annunciation,  Visitation, 
Veneration,  and  Assumption  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin."  "  The  York  tJse  added  another 
for  the  days  between  Passion  Sunday  and 
Easter.  The  Hereford  appointed  the 
same  Preface  from  Palm  Sunday  to 
Easter."  (Maskell ;  the  rest  of  the  article 
is  from  Le  Brun  and  Hammond.) 

PBEXiATE  ijyrcelatus).  A  general 
name  for  an  ecclesiastical  dignitary, 
whether  among  the  secular  or  the  regidar 
clergy,  who  has  a  jurisdiction  inherent  in 
his  office,  and  not  merely  one  transmitted 
to  him  as  the  delegate  of  a  superior. 
The  designation  is  extended  in  a  wider 
sense  to  the  prelates  of  the  Pope's  Court 
and  household,  as  having  a  superiority  of 
rank. 

Prelature,  or  prelacy,  is  the  status  of 
a  prelate.  When  the  first  Scotch  Pres- 
byterians raved  against  "Popery, Prelacy, 
and  Erastianism,"  prelacy  in  their  mouths 
was  not  exactly  equivalent  to  "epi- 
scopacy ; "  they  meant  that  they  were  in 
rebellion  against  canon  law  and  eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction.  It  is  true  that  they 
erected  a  new  jurisdiction,  far  more 
burdensome  and  inquisitorial  than  the  old 
one  ;  on  which  see  Buckle's  "  History  of 
Civilisation,"  vol.  ii.  chap.  v. 

PREMOSrSTBATElirSZAia-S.  This 
celebrated  order  of  regular  canons  was 
founded  by  St.  Norbert  in  1119,  at  a  place 
called  Premontre  (that  is,  "foret'hewn"),  a 
lonely  valley  in  the  forest  of  Coucy,  near 
Laon.  Several  other  sites  had  been 
offered  to  the  saint  in  vain ;  but  as  soon 
as  he  saw  this  valley  he  said,  "  Here  is 
the  place  which  the  Lord  hath  chosen." 
A  monastery  was  built,  which  remained 
the  mother  house  of  the  order  till  the 
French  Revolution;  it  is  now  in  ruins. 
St.  Norbert  was  soon  joined  by  thirteen 
companions,  to  whom  he  gave  the  rule 
of  St.  Austin  to  observe,  with  certain  con- 

^  So  Le  Brun,  torn.  ii. ;   but  the  letter,  aa 

given  in  Leofric's  Missal,  omits  the  Prcf-tce  for 

the  Epiphany  and  substiiutc-s  one  for  the  dead 

(Maskell,  Ancient  Liturgies  of  tlie  Church  oj 

;  England^  p.  103  seq.). 


PREMONSTRATENSIANS 

Btltutions  framed  by  himself.  The  habit  of 
the  Norber tines  was  white ;  hence  they 
were  commonly  called  in  England  the 
White  CMiions.  Their  founder  imposed 
on  them  perpetual  fastino^,  and  an  entire 
abstinence  from  meat ;  but,  as  in  other 
orders,  mitigations  after  a  time  crept  in, 
folloAved  by  a  general  relaxation,  which  in 
its  turn  led  to  several  remarkable  reforma- 
tions. The  Abbot-General  at  Premontr^ 
exercie^ed  a  general  supervision  over  the 
whole  order  down  to  1512,  when  all  the 
abbeys  in  England  and  Wales  were  sub- 
jected to  the  Abbot  of  Wei  beck.  There 
were  at  one  time,  according  to  H^lyot,  a 
thou'^and  Premonstratenslan  abbeys,  many 
provostships  and  priories,  and  live  hundred 
houses  of  nuns.  In  England,  at  or  shortly 
before  the  Dissolution,  there  were  thirty- 
five  houses;  the  names  are  given 
below.  ^ 

Lecuy,  the  last  abbot  of  Pr^montr^,  was 
a  man  of  exceptional  ft)rce  and  nobleness 
of  character.  Driven  from  his  abbey  in 
1790,  he  bore  his  unbent  and  undislionoured 
head  through  all  the  mournful  or  shameful 
scenes  of  the  Revolution,  and  living  far  on 
into  the  present  century  died  in  his 
ninety-fourth  a  ear  in  18o4,  A  few  months 
before  his  death,  the  old  man  compiled  a 
short  tract  on  the  history  of  his  order ; 
from  these  touching  and  simple  pages  the 
reader  will  thank  us  for  mukiifg  the 
following  extract : — 

"Of  tbis  illustrious  order,  once  so 
widely  extended,  the  debris  only  are  left. 
Its  impoverishment  began  with  the  Eng- 
lish schism.  The  Reformation  caused  it 
yet  further  losses  by  the  suppression  of  a 
great  number  of  houses  in  the  countries 
which  embraced  it.     The  abbeys  in  Spain, 


'  H<;uses  marked 
marked  c  cells  : — 
Aluwick, 
Barlings  (Line). 
Bayham  (Suss.). 
Beauchief  (Derb.). 
Bileigh  (Essex). 
Blan.'land   (North- 

umb.). 
Bradsole(Kent). 
Broadholm  (Notts), 

n. 
Cvjkersand  (Lane). 
10  Corham  (York). 
Croxton  (Leic). 
West  Dereham 

(Xorf.). 
Dodford  (Worc.),c. 
iJurford  (Suse.). 
Easbv  (York.). 
Egleston  (York.). 
Hagnaby  (Line). 
*  See  above. 


n  were  nunneries  ;  those 

Hales  Owen. 

Hornbv  (Lane  ),  c. 
20  Irford'(Linc.),  »j. 

Kaylend      (North- 
ants),  c. 

Langdon  (Kent). 

Langley  (Xorf.). 

Lavenden  (Bucks). 

Leystone  (SufF.). 

Newbo  (Line). 

Newhouse  (Line) 

Shap. 

Stanlev  (Derb.). 
30  Sulbv  (Northants). 

Tichtield  (Hants). 

Torr  (Oev.). 

Tupholm  (Line). 

Welbeck  (Notts). 

Wendling  (Norf.). 


PREMONSTRATENSIANS     685 

about  1573,  separated  themselves  from  the 
body  of  the  order  in  order  to  form  a  con- 
gregation  apart,   retaining   however   the 
habit     and     the    statutes.       Under    the 
Emperor  Joseph   II.,   other  suppressions 
took  place   in  the  hereditary  provinces  ; 
still,  besides  the  Erench  abbeys  of  either 
observance,  which  numbered  before  1789 
about    one   hundred,   there   remained   in 
Belirium  and  different  parts  of  Germany 
some    very    fine    establishments,    distin- 
guished by  their  regularity  and  love  for 
ecclesiastical  learning.     Notably,  Swabia, 
where  the  abbots  were   prelates   of  the 
empire,  had  lost  nothing;  and  in  spite  of 
so  many  suppressions  the  order  of  Pr^ 
montr^  might  still  be  called  flourishing. 
At  the  Revolution  all  the  Erench  houses 
suffered  the  fate   of   other   ecclesiastical 
institutions,  enveloped  in  a  common  pro- 
scription.    The  invasion  of  Belgium  by 
revolutionary  armies    extended    to    that 
country  the  measures  of  destruction  taken 
in  France  ;  what  the  order  still  possessed 
in  Germany  perished  along  with  the  great 
sees  and  rich  endowments  of  the  German 
church,  sacrificed  to  a  svstem  of  indem- 
nities, at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the 
Confederation    of   the    R!dne.      Of    the 
splendid  heritage  of  St.  Norbert,  subject 
to  the  crosier  of  Pr^montr<5,  there  remained 
in  1805  ten   abbeys,  of   which    two,  in 
Prussian  Silesia,  liad  been  till   then  re- 
ligiously   maintained    by    the    kings    of 
Prussia,  though  Protestants.     It  was  but 
natural,  when  the  Catholic  princes  seized 
the    property   of    religious,    that    those 
who  were  not  so  should  follow  their  ex- 
ample, and  these  two  abbeys  ceased  to  ex- 
ist.    At  present  only  eight  remnin,  which 
are  indebted   for   their  existence  to  the 
piety  and  good  will  of  the  Emperor  of 
Austria.    Three  of  these  are  in  Bohemia ; 
the  chief  of  them — Strahow,  in  the  city  ot 
Pr^igue — is  the  depository  of  the  relics  of 
the  holy  patriarch,   the   founder   of  the 
order." 

We  believe  that  these  eight  houses 
still  exist,  and  that  several  others  have 
arisen  in  Belgium.  In  England,  two 
small  Premonstratensian  houses,  cells 
apparently  of  some  Belgian  abbey,  have 
been  recently  founded  at  Jrowle  and 
Spalding,  in  Lincolnshire.^  Still  more 
recently  a  community  of  French  Premon- 
stratensians  has  been  established  at  Stor- 
rington,  on  land  given  by  the  Duke  of 

_*  The  canons  of  this  order  possess  the 
unique  privilege  of  eligibility  to  the  charge  of 
secular  parishes  without  Papal  dispensation. 
(See  Soglia,  Instit,  Canon,  ii.  cap.  8.) 


686  PREMUNIKE 

Norfolk.  (Hi^lyot  and  his  continuator ; 
Dugdale's  "Monasticon.") 

PRSMinvzRE.  The  statute  of  pre- 
munire  (16  Rich.  ii.  c.  5),  passed  in  1393, 
was  designed  by  the  king  and  parliament 
of  England  to  check  evasions  of  the 
existing  statutes  against  pro  visors — i.e. 
persons  appointed  to  English  benefices  or 
dignities  by  Papal  provision.  The  Holy 
See  had  employed  various  means,  including 
excommunication  or  the  menace  of  it,  for 
the  protection  of  persons  whom  it  had 
"  provided "  to  benefices,  and  for  the 
punishment  of  all  who  might  interfere  with 
them.  On  this  account  a  severe  penal 
clause  Was  inserted  in  the  above-m^tioned 
statute,  to  the  effect  that  if  any  man 
should  pursue  or  obtain  in  the  court  of 
Rome  excommunications,  bulls,  or  other 
things,  against  the  king's  crown  and 
regality,  or  bring  them  into  England,  or 
receive  or  execute  them,  "such  person  or 
persons,  their  notaries,  procurators,  main- 
tainers,  abettors,  fautors,  and  counsellors, 
shall  be  out  of  the  king's  protection,  their 
goods  and  chattels,  lands  and  tenements, 
shall  be  forfeited  to  the  king,  and  their 
persons  attached  wherever  they  may  be 
found."  ^  Execution  of  process  under 
this  statute  was  by  means  of  a  writ  called 
of  "  Premunire  " — from  the  first  words, 
"  Premunire  \_pr<smonere]  facias " — 
whence  in  time  the  statute  itself  was  so 
called. 

PRBSBlTTEltii..  The  wife  of  a  pres- 
byter, especially  a  wife  who  had  come  under 
the  operation  of  the  rule  which  rendered 
the  continence  of  clerics  necessary.  1  he 
position  of  such  persons  is  dealt  with  by  the 
canons  of  the  Council  of  Tours  (667).  In 
these  cases  the  presbytera  usually  went 
into  a  convent,  but  without  taking  the 
habit.     (Smith  and  Cheetha,m,) 

PRESBTTERZAIO-S,  SCOTTISH. 
The  doctrine  and  discipline  of  Presby- 
terians, founded  upon  the  teaching  of 
Calvin  and  his  management  of  ecclesias- 
tical affairs  at  Geneva,  were  perhaps 
embraced  as  early  in  England  as  in  Scot- 
land, for  Christopher  Goodman, an  English- 
man, was  associated  with  Knox  when 
they  were  both  in  exile  in  Mary's  time, 
and  sat  in  the  First  General  Assembly 
held  at  Edinburgh.  But  since  the  form 
of  Protestantism  which  first  prevailed  in 
Eno-land  and  supplanted  the  Catholic 
Church  there  was  that  of  the  English 
episcopalian  reformers  [see  Anglican 
Ohubch],  and  Presbytery  did  not  rise  into 
importance  until  much  later,  we  shall  here 
I  I  .ngard,  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  iii. 


PRESBYTERIANS,  SCOTTISH 

almost  confine  our  remarks  to  the  sub- 
version of  Catholicity  in  Scotland,  and 
the  introduction  of  new  ecclesiastical 
arrangements  in  its  place. 

Before  the  destructive  fanatical  out- 
break which  is  associated  with  the  name 
of  John  Knox,  the  Catholic  Church  in 
Scotland  had  thirteen  sees — of  which 
two,  St.  Andrew's  and  Glasgow,  were 
metropolitan — and  upwards  of  100  monas- 
teries large  and  small.  ^  Of  these,  nineteen 
belonged  to  the  Austin  Canons ;  the 
magnificent  establishments  of  Holyrood, 
Jedburgh,  Scone,  and  St.  Andrew's  were 
among  the  number.  The  Franciscans 
had  thirteen  houses,  the  Dominicans 
eleven,  the  Cistercians  ten ;  among  these 
last  were  the  abbeys  of  Melrose  and  New- 
bottle.  The  Benedictines  had  nine  or  ten 
abbeys  and  cells,  including  Dunfermline, 
Arbroath,  and  Lindores.  Among  the  six 
Premonstratensian  houses  was  Dryburgh, 
the  ruins  of  which  still  charm  the  traveller 
by  their  incomparable  grace.  The  rest 
were  distributed  among  the  other  orders. 
That  the  Scottish  clergy,  both  secular  and 
regular,  stood  greatly  in  need  of  reforma- 
tion, is  an  indisputable  fact ;  but  how  far 
corruption  had  gone  is  a  point  w^hicli  can- 
not be  easily  determined.  If  we  attach 
credit  to  the  rhetoric  of  Knox  and  his 
followers,  we  must  believe  that  the  whole 
clerical  body  in  Scotland,  with  scarcely  an 
exception,  was  stained  with  avarice  and 
conscious  hypocrisy,  and  sunk  in  gross 
immorality,  sloth,  and  gluttony.  But  the 
interest  which  these  men  had  in  making 
such  assertions  believed  would  make  us 
suspend  our  belief  in  them,  even  if 
there  were  no  rebutting  evidence.  On  the 
whole  there  seems  good  reason  for  ac- 
cepting on  this  subject  the  contemporary 
testimony  of  Bishop  Lesley.'^  The  Bishop 
of  Ross  says  that  some  of  the  bishops  had 
been  for  a  long  time  past  engaged  in  poli- 
tical and  diplomatic  business,  and  that 
others  lived  too  freely  {liherius  viveren£), 
forgetting  their  sacred  functions,  so  that 
the  whole  hierarchy  had  become  lowered 
in  popular  esteem.  The  pernicious  system 
of  holding  abbeys  in  commendam  was  in 
full  vigour  ;  thus  Lord  James  Miuray,  a 
bastard  son  of  James  V.,  was  commend- 
atory abbot  of  St.  Andrew's.  As  to  the 
priests  and  monks,  Lesley  declares  that 

*  Eight  sees  were  suffragan  to  St.  Andrew's 
— viz.  Dunkeld,  Aberdeen,  Moray,  Dunblane, 
Bre^'hin,  Ross,  Caithness,  and  the  Orkneys ; 
and  three  to  Glasgow — viz.  Whitherne,  Lis- 
more,  and  Sodor  and  Man. 

^  De  Origing,  &c.,  p.  68. 


PRESBYTERIANS,  SCOTTISH 

most  of  them,  in  either  order,  were  per- 
sons of  piety  and  virtue  ;  but  he  adds 
that  there  was  one  vice — licentious  livinj^ 
— of  which  many  of  them,  and  another 
— great  negligence  in  preaching — of  which 
nearly  all,  were  guilty.  He  mentions  it  as 
a  deplorable  circumstance  that  the  people 
had  not  been  provided  with  an  elementary 
catechism,  for  want  of  which  they  often 
could  not  tell  whether  what  the  sectaries 
taught  them  was  true  or  not. 

*'The  Reformation,"  says  a  modern 
historian  ^  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  "  waiS 
baronial  in  Scotland,  monarchical  in  Eng- 
land." Almost  all  the  nobles  who  had 
been  detained  as  prisoners  in  England 
after  the  battle  of  Sol  way  Moss  (1541) 
returned  home  Protestants.  The  English 
monasteries  had  been  just  dissolved,  to  the 
great  enrichment  of  their  brother  aristocrats 
south  of  the  Tweed ;  Lollard  preachers 
were  everywhere;  and  their  denunciations 
of  a  wealthy  and  powerful  priesthood, 
electric  as  was  then  the  condition  of  the 
religious  atmosphere,  fell  upon  willing 
ears.  A  countryman  of  their  own  was 
soon  found,  who  in  extravagance  and 
fluency  of  reviling  left  the  English  Lollards 
far  behind.  John  Knox,  born  in  Hadding- 
tonshire in  1 505,  studied  with  some  dis- 
tinction at  the  universities  of  St.  Andrew's 
and  Glasgow,  having  attended  the  lectures 
of  the  eminent  theologian  John  Mair,  or 
Major.  He  probably  imbibed  Lollard 
opinions  very  early  ;  if  before  his  ordina- 
tion, his  voluntarily  placing  himself  under 
th^  control  of  the  canon  law  is  a  remark- 
able fact.  The  death  at  the  stake  in  1527 
of  Patrick  Hamilton,  who  had  studied  at 
Wittenl^erg  and  brought  home  Lutheran 
opinions,  se*>ms  to  have  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  him.  However,  he  became  a 
priest,  and  thus  was  cauonically  bound  to 
continence,  an  obligation  which  he  set  at 
nought  by  marrying,  not  once  only  but 
twice. 

Not  only  was  there  a  strong  Lollard 
party  in  Scotland  between  1530  and  1540, 
but  several  Franciscan  and  Dominican 
friars  took  up  warmly  the  cause  of  eccle- 
siastical reform,  and  preached  against 
abuses  and  superstitions.  Of  this  there  is 
ample  evidence  in  the  history  which  bears 
the  name  of  Knox.  As  late  as  1545  the 
bulk  of  the  people  were  attached  to  the 
old  faith ;  "^  Knox  speaks  of  Edinburgh 
in  1546  as  "drowned  in  superstition"; 
but  in  the  fifteen  years  which  followed 

*  Dr.  J.  Cunningham  ;  see  notice,  end  of 


art. 


2  Cunningham,  i.  218. 


PRESBYTERIANS,  SCOTTISH  687 

a  gi-eat  change   is  said  to  have  taken 
place. 

George  Wishart,  a  friend  of  Knox, 
was  burned  for  heresy  in  1545;  and  partly 
in  revenge  for  this.  Cardinal  Beaton  was 
assassinated  at  St.  Andrew's  by  members 
of  the  reforming  party  in  1546.  Knox 
hastened  to  St.  Andrew's  and  made 
common  cause  with  the  assassins.  He  is 
supposed  to  have  renounced  his  priesthood 
some  time  before,^  and  to  have  arrived  at 
the  conclusion  that  ecclesiastical  functions 
could  not  be  lawfully  discharged  but  in 
obedience  to  a  "call"  from  some  reformed 
congregation.  The  men  of  blood  to  whom 
he  had  joined  himself  gave  him  the  desired 
"  call,"  and  Knox  became  a  minister.  We 
hear  of  controversies  between  him  and 
representatives  of  the  Catholics.  The 
volubility,  earnestness,  and  audacity  of 
the  man  were  amazing  ;  but  we  see  that 
he  "  abounds  in  his  own  sense  " ;  his  inca- 
pacity for  taking  in  any  but  the  one 
naiTow  view  of  religion  to  which  he  liad 
committed  himself  is  manifest  from  the 
account  of  these  disputes  which  he  has 
himself  transmitted ;  and  when  we  find 
him  resolutely  maintaining  that  no  rites 
or  ceremonies  are  lawful,  unless  "  God  in 
express  words  hath  commanded  them,"  ^ 
we  are  able  to  take  the  measure  of  his 
spiritiial  wisdom.  Every  Presbyterian  at 
this  day  who  countenances  Di\  Lee's  inno- 
vation of  organs  in  the  kirk,  since  organs 
are  nowhere  "expressly  commanded,'"  falls 
under  the  ban  of  the  patriarch  of  his  re- 
ligion. In  a  sermon  preached  about  the 
same  time  Knox  defined  the  Roman 
Church  to  be  "the  last  beast,"  and  the 
head  of  it  to  be  "the  Man  of  Sin,"  the 
"  Antichrist,"  and  the  "  Whore  of  Baby- 
lon." This  violence  is  easUy  accounted 
for.  Knox  intended  to  violate  the  canons 
and  marry ;  ^  and  be  knew  that  if  the 
Catholic  Church  and  the  canon  law  re- 
tained their  ascendancy  in  Scotland,  he, 
as  a  married  priest,  would  not  only  lose 
the  career  to  which  his  ambition  urged 
him  forward,  but  also  be  in  danger  of 
punishment.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he 
and  his  friends  could  overpower  the 
Church  and  establish  their  own  sect,  the 
highest  ecclesiastical  rank,  along  with  a 
commanding  position  in  the  State,  was  at 
once  within  his  reach. 

The  French  king  sent  an  expedition 
which  compelled   the   surrender    of    St. 

»  Cunningham,  i.  223. 

2  History,  p.  80. 

3  He  dui,  in  fact,  marrj'  Margery  Bowes 
two  years  afterwards. 


688  PRESBYTERIANS,  SCOTTISH 

Andrew's,  and  Knox,  being  taken  along 
with  the  garrison,  was  condemned  to  the 
galleys.  For  some  years  French  and 
Catholic  influences  were  in  the  ascendant ; 
and  Knox,  after  his  release,  deemed  it 
best  to  retire  to  England.  In  1549  a 
reforming  council  met  at  Edinburgh  under 
Archbishop  Hamilton,  attended  by  six 
bishops  and  fourteen  abbots,  and  enacted 
sixty- eiiiht  disciplinary  canons.  Two 
years  later  the  Parliament  passed  an  Act 
imposing  severe  penalties  on  any  who 
should  "contemptuously  make  pertur- 
bation in  the  kirk  in  the  time  of  divine 
service."  When  Mary  came  to  the  throne 
(1553),  Knox  found  his  way  to  Geneva,  and 
came  under  the  influence  of  the  powerful 
mind  of  Calvin.  To  this  intercourse  he 
chiefly  owed  the  specific  Presbyterian  be- 
lie fs-lviz.  that  some  are  predestinated  to 
eternal  life,  and  some — the  greater  number 
— to  eternal  damnation  ;  that  bishop  and 
presbyter  are  two  different  names  for  the 
same  office  ;  and  that,  in  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  although  the  faithful 
really  and  truly  partake  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  yet  that  body  and  that 
blood  are  in  heaven  and  not  on  earth,  and 
the  elements  undergo  no  change.  Superior 
as  it  is  to  the  shallow  commonplaces  of 
Zuinglius,  this  doctrine  can  hardly  be  said 
to  be  less  mysterious,  though  much  less 
logical,  than  that  of  transubstantiation, 
•which  the  Calviuists  rejected  with  so 
much  heat. 

Between  1564  and  1560  Mary  of 
Guise,  the  queen  regent,  mother  of  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  administered  the  govern- 
ment in  her  daughter's  name.  During  all 
this  time  a  tierce  struggle  was  going  on 
between  the  men  of  the  old  and  the  new 
opinions.  The  Protestant  noblemen, 
headed  by  the  Earls  of  Argyle,  Glencairn, 
and  Moi-ton,  met  together  in  1557,  and 
drew  up  the  "  First  Covenant."  They 
pledged  themselves  thereby  to  establish  the 
"Word  of  God  and  his  congregation," 
and  to  support  these  with  all  their  strength 
against  the  "  congi-egation  of  Satan,"  by 
which  they  meant  the  bishops  and  Catholic 
clergy.  They  were  hence  called  the 
*'  Lords  of  the  Congregation."  The  bishops 
did  what  they  could  to  strengthen  the 
hands  of  the  regent,  who,  however,  from 
political  motives,  desired  to  keep  in  with 
both  parties.  Walter  Milne,  an  old  man 
who  had  once  been  a  priest,  but  gone  over 
to  the  Reformers,  was  burnt  at  St.  Andrew's 
in  1 568.^     But  the  bishops  were  not  really 

>  Altofrether,  about  twenty  Protestants 
appear  to  have  suffered  death  in  Scotland  for 


PRESBYTERIANS,  SCOTTISH 

strong ;  the  tide  was  setting  the  other 
way ;  and  Knox  felt  emboldened  to  return 
to  Scotland.  While  the  tension  of  feeling 
on  each  side  was  at  its  height,  he  went  to 
Perth,  the  fair  city  on  the  Tay,  then 
embellished  with  several  religious  houses 
of  great  beauty.  He  preached  a  sermon 
against  "  idolatry,"  after  which  there  was 
a  riot ;  images,  altars,  and  pictures  were 
destroyed  and  defaced;  the  Carthusian 
abbey  was  plundered  and  greatly  damaged, 
and  the  monks  ill-used ;  the  Dominican 
and  Franciscan  friaries  were  destroyed. 
The  ruin  of  Scone  Abbey  followed.  Knox 
then  went  into  Fife,  and  ct)ntinued  this 
line  of  preaching  ;  more  destruction  of  art 
monuments  was  the  result.  Defying  the 
inhibition  of  the  archbishop,  he  preached 
at  St.  Andrew's  (1559),  and  immediately 
afterwards  the  magistrates  and  the  mob 
"  proceeded  to  destroy  the  Dominican  and 
Franciscan  monasteries,  and  to  rifle  and 
deface  all  the  churches  in  the  town."^ 
The  cathedral,  which  was  at  the  same 
time  the  church  of  the  Austin  Canons,  a 
building  of  rare  beauty,  was  dismantled 
about  the  same  time.  There  was  now  a 
state  of  actual  war,  and  the  Lords  of  the 
Congregation  marched  upon  Edinburgh, 
"flushed  with  these  victories  over  the 
monuments  of  idolatry  and  architecture  " 
(sic).'  Here  is  the  true  Puritan,  ring  ;  it 
is  not  only  against  what  he  calls  super- 
stition, but  against  the  "  sublime  and 
beautiful  "  that  the  Puritan  revolts.  Art 
withers  under  his  tread,  like  grass  beneath 
the  hoofs  of  the  Calmuck  cavalry. 

The  struggle  was  marked  by  several 
sudden  changes  of  fortune;  the  Scotch 
Protestants  showed  little  courage,  and 
their  English  allies  little  skill.  The 
French  troops  who  had  come  to  support 
the  regent  and  garrisoned  Leith,  were 
well  handled  and  gained  some  remarkable 
successes;  but  they  were  foreigners,  and 
this  told  heavily  against  them.  In  April 
1560  the  regent  died;  her  death  led  to  a 
negotiation,  and  indirectly  to  the  triumph 
of  Protestantism.  The  young  queen, 
whose  husband,  Francis,  had  just  suc- 
ceeded his  father  Henry  II.,  was  al^sent  in 
France ;  the  Catholics  were  left  without 
any  natural  leaders.  By  the  treaty  of 
Edinburgh  (July  1 560)  made  between  the 
French  envoys  of  Francis  and  Mary  and 
English  plenipotentiaries  (Cecil  and 
Sadler),  acting  on  behalf  of  the  Scotch 

cause  of  religion  from  1527  to  the  end  of  the 
struggle. 

1  Cunningham,  p.  253. 

«  lb.  p.  260. 


PRESBYTERIANS,  SCOTTISH 

nobility  and  people,  it  was  agreed,  intei' 
alia,  til  at  the  forces  on  both  sides  should 
be  disbanded,  and  the  French  troops 
return  home ;  that  a  parliament  or  con- 
vention of  the  three  estates  should  meet 
on  August  1,  and  that  any  complaints  of 
wrongs  done  to  them,  made  by  bishops, 
abbots,  or  other  churchmen,  should  be 
considered  by  the  Parliament  and  redressed, 
"as  they  should  find  according  to 
reason."  ^ 

The  event  soon  showed  that  Cecil  had 
over-reached  the  French  envoys  in  the 
negotiation.  The  wrongs  of  which  the 
churchmen  had  to  complain  were  serious 
enough — e.(/.  while  the  hostilities  lasted, 
the  Bishops  of  Dunkeld,  Dunblane,  and 
Ross  had  been  driven  by  the  sectaries 
from  their  houses  and  dispossessed  of  all 
their  property ;  the  monasteries  of  Dun- 
fermline, Melrose,  and  Kelso  had  been 
plundered,  and  the  lands  and  moveables  of 
churchmen  seized  upon  in  every  part  of 
the  country.*  It  was  the  evident  intent 
of  the  treaty  that  wrongs  such  as  these 
should  be  redressed.  But  when  the  Par- 
liament met,  being  composed,  as  to  the 
great  majority,  of  enthusiastic  or  deeply 
interested  sectaries,  it  proceeded  to  pass 
bills  for  the  subversion  of  the  Catholic 
religion ;  alter  which,  it  is  needless  to  say 
that  they  did  not  find  it  "according  to 
reason  "  to  give  the  bishops  any  compen- 
sation whatever. 

Before  these  bills  were  adopted,  a 
confession  of  faith  in  twenty-five  articles,- 
drawn  up  by  Knox  and  his  party,  was 
read  in  Parliament,  faintly  opposed  by 
the  Catholic  members,  who  seem  to  have 
been  helpless  and  stupefied,  and  accepted 
by  the  Assembly.  To  a  large  extent  the 
doctrine  of  these  articles  is  sound ;  they 
err  rather  by  exclusion  than  by  inclusion. 
One  capital  error  regards  the  Church 
Catholic,  which  (art.  xvi.)  is  said  to  con- 
sist only  of  the  elect.  On  the  Eucharist, 
the  Calvin istic  doctrine  described  above  is 
asserted  (art.  xxi.) 

On  August  24,  1660,  the  Parliament 
passed  a  bill,  by  which  it  was  ordered  that 
none  should  "  say  Mass,  nor  yet  heere 
Mass,  nor  be  present  thereat,  under  the 
paine  of  confiscation  of  all  their  goods, 
and  punishing  of  their  bodies  at  the  dis- 
cretion of   the   magistrates."    A   second 

1  Calderwood,  ii.  8. 

2  At  Aberdeen,  through  the  firnniess  of  the 
Earl  of  Huntley  and  the  Lesleys,  a  brave 
Btand  was  made,  and  the  agents  of  rapine  were 
foiled  for  a  considerable  time  (Lesley,  571, 
674). 


PRESBYTERIANS,  SCOTTISH  689 

bill,  dated  the  same  day,  declared  that 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  thenceforward  no 
authority  in  Scotland,  and  decreed  punish- 
ments against  any  who  should  recognise 
such  authority.  Such  was  the  Scottish 
"St.  Bartholomew's  Day." 

In  Knox's  "  History  "  these  bills  are 
described  as  "  Acts  "  ;  but  they  were  not 
really  so,  for  they  required  the  royal 
assent  or  ratification ;  this  Sir  James 
Sandilands  was  sent  into  France  to  demand, 
but  Mary  steadily  refused.  They  were 
first  ratified  by  the  Regent  Murray  in 
1567.  This  single  fact  throws  a  sinister 
light  on  the  conduct  of  the  Protestant 
party  towards  the  unhappy  queen,  before 
her  tiight  to  England  and  during  her 
imprisonment  there.  But  the  new^  religion, 
in  Knox's  view,  "from  God  hath  full 
power,  and  needed  not  the  sufirage  of 
man ;"  *  whether  legal  or  not,  it  was  forced 
upon  the  people  of  Scotland  with  all  the 
power  of  the  secular  arm.  When  Mary 
(1561)  returned  to  her  kmgdom,  and  re- 
quired the  liberty  of  her  religion  in  her 
private  chapel  at  Holyrood,  Kuox  said, 
doubtless  wdth  perfect  sincerity,  that  "  one 
Masse  was  more  fearfull  to  him  than  if  ten 
thowsand  armed  enemies  were  landed  in 
anie  part  of  the  realme."-*  This  senti- 
ment, according  to  the  experiences  of 
many  of  the  saints,  is  precisely  that  of 
the  devil  on  the  same  subject.  The  Lords 
controlled  him  on  this  point,  nor  did  they 
pay  much  regard  to  his  "  Book  of  Dis- 
cipline," calling  many  things  in  it,  parti- 
cularly the  proposal  to  devote  the  Church 
property  to  the  sustentation  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  kirk,  "  devout  imaginations." 
What  is  called  the  "First  General 
Assembly  "  was  held  in  December  1 660 ; 
it  was  attended  by  six  ministers,  among 
whom  were  Knox  and  Goodman,  and 
thirty-six  lay  delegates. 

Some  doubt  appears  to  exist  on  the 
question  how  many  of  the  bishops  joined 
the  movement.  Bishop  Lesley  oistinctly 
states,^  that  in  1561  only  one  had  done  so, 
the  Bishop  of  Gallow^ay ;  according  to  Dr. 
Cunningham,^  the  Bishops  of  Caithness 
and  Orkney  also  became  Protestants. 

All  this  time  there  was  a  party  among 
the  nobles  favourable  to  the  retention  of 
episcopacy  and  the  use  of  the  English 
prayer-book  :  and  in  process  of  time,  when 
Jarnes  VI.  grew  to  manhood,  he  became 
persuaded  that  bishops  were  a  necessaiy 
support   to   the  regal  power,  and  main- 

1  History,  p.  282. 

2  Calderwood,  ii.  147. 
5  P.  583.        *  L  223. 


XY. 


690  PRESBYTERIANS,  SCOTTISH 

tained  a  small  Protestant  hierarchy  side 
by  side  with  the  ministers  and  the  General 
Assembly.  Knox  himself,  who  had  de- 
clared against  bishops  many  years  before,^ 
submitted  shortly  before  his  death  (1572) 
to  the  introduction  of  episcopacy,  "  in 
order  to  secure  the  episcopal  revenues."  ^ 
The  form  of  Presbyterian  polity  as  now 
seen  in  Scotland  was  chiefly  the  work  of 
a  man  of  high  ability  and  sincere  con- 
viction, Andrew  Melville.  He  was  the 
master  spirit  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
1580  which  absolutely  condemned  epi- 
scopacy, and  the  chief  framer  of  the 
"  Second  Book  of  Discipline,"  in  which 
the  system  of  church  courts  and  assem- 
blies, one  above  another,  and  each  strength- 
ened by  a  lay  representation — kirk 
session,  presbytery,  synod,  general 
assembly — is  minutely  and  skilfully  laid 
down.  In  this  able  document  the  proper 
functions  of  the  kirk  and  the  state  are 
distinguished  with  great  judgment;  and 
the  separation  of  the  two  powers,  and  the 
exaltation  of  the  kirk  to  the  highest  place, 
are  asserted  in  language  which  strikingly 
recalls  the  definitions  of  the  bull  "  Unam 
Sanctam."  The  Assembly  of  1581  also 
adopted  the  famous  "Negative  Con- 
fession," chiefly  directed  against  "all  kinds 
of  papistrie  " ;  it  ig  extremely  curious,  but 
our  space  does  not  permit  of  our  giving 
an  abstract  of  it.  Every  one  of  the 
Presbyterian  kirks,  large  and  small,  among 
which  the  mass  of  the  Scottish  people  is 
now  distributed,  regards  this  assembly 
with  the  highest  veneration. 

Negation,  however,  is  a  poor  basis  for  a 
theology;  and  one  need  feel  no  surprise 
that  the  clerical  intellect  of  Scotland, 
during  the  three  centuries  that  have 
followed,  has  been  stricken  with  sterility. 
The  ministers  have  certainly  written  many 
books,  but  their  theological  discussions  in- 
terest few  outside  their  own  country.  Not 
one  of  the  ecclesiastical  sciences  has  been 
in  any  way  advanced  by  Scotch  Presby  ter- 
ianism.  The  lay  Scottish  intellect,  thanks 
to  the  natural  endowments  of  the  race, 
and  a  good  system  o.f  primary  education, 
has  achieved  great  things;  it  has  perfect- 
ed the  steam-engine  and  the  steam-boat, 
developed  political  economy,  composed 
the  Waverley  Novels,  and  borne  more 
than  its  full  share  in  the  great  governing 
and  colonising  enterprises  of  the  English 

1  In  1547  {History,  p.  79). 

*  Cunningham,  p.  345. 

3  Even  Chalmers  is  no  exception ;  the  man 
■was  admirable,  but  his  works  have  no  per- 
manent value. 


PRESBYTERY 

people.  But  who  can  prove  that  all  this 
might  not  have  been  done,  Scotland  re- 
maining Catholic  ?  The  clerical  intellect 
pays  the  penalty  of  having  submitted 
itself  to  such  a  patriarch  as  John  Knox, 
with  whom  passion  habitually  took  the 
place  of  reason,  and  frantic  revilino-  was 
substituted  for  patient  and  equitable  in- 
vestigation. 

(Knox,  "Hist,  of  the  Reformation," 
IG'44  ;  Calderwood,  "  Hist,  of  the  Kirk  of 
Scotland,"  1843;  John  I^sley,  "  De 
Origine,  Moribus,  et  Rebus  Gestis  Sco- 
torum,"  1578 ;  Cunningham,  "  Church 
Histoiy  of  Scotland,"  2nd  ed.,  1882;  Dean 
Stanley,  "  Lect.  on  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land," 1879;  Burton,  "Hist,  of  Scot- 
land," vol.  v.,  1870.) 

PRESBVTERT  (npea^vrepiov,  as- 
sembly of  the  elders ;  senatvs  has  the 
same  meaning).  The  word  is  used  twice 
in  the  N.T.  for  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim.* 
In  the  Christian  Church  it  signified, 
perhaps  from  the  first,  the  assembly  of 
the  entire  clergy  of  the  diocese,  both 
presbyters  (identified  with  bishops  in 
1  Peter  v.  1 )  and  deacons ;  it  was  such  a 
body  at  Ephesus,  the  "  celebrated  pres- 
bytery"'^ of  that  Church,  which  conse- 
crated Timothy  to  the  episcopal  office 
with  the  imposition  of  hands.^  St. 
Cyprian  convened  a  diocesan  council  of 
this  kind  continually,  and  did  nothing 
important  without  its  advice.  That  the 
Roman  preshyterium  in  the  fifth  century 
meant  such  a  synod — i.e.  that  it  included 
the  deacons  and  the  clergy  generally,  as 
well  as  the  presbyters,  is  plain  from  a 
letter  of  Pope  Siricius  (385)  on  the  con- 
demnation of  Jovinian.  It  therefore 
seems  reasonable  to  assign  this  same 
sense  to  the  word  when  used  by  Pope 
Cornelius  (251),  who,  writing  to  Cyprian, 
says  "  placuit  contrahi  preshyterium,"  to 
hear  the  recantation  of  Maximua.  Finally, 
when  St.  Ignatius,  about  the  beginning 
of  the  second  century,  exhorts  the  Ephe- 
sians  to  be  "  subject  to  the  bishop  and  the 
presbytery"  (Ad.  Eph.  c.  2),  the  word 
may  well  be  understood  to  have  the  same 
meaning.     (Ferraris,  rresbyterium.) 

2.  "  Presbytery  "  is  often  used  among 
English  Catholics  to  designate  the  priest's 
house.  In  this  sense  it  is  a  translation  of 
the  French  preshyth'e,  so  used  (Littr6) 
since  the  twelfth  century;  preshytenum 
(see  Ducange)  appears  never  to  have  had 
this  meaning. 

i  Acts.  xxii.  6  ;  Luke  xxii,  6& 
'  If^nat.  Ad.  Ephes.  4. 
»  1  Tim.  iv.  14. 


PRESCRIPTION 

PRESCRXPTZOxr.  The  acquisition 
of  an  object  or  a  right  on  the  strength  of 
a  long  undisturbed  possession.  It  is  of 
three  kinds — ordinary,  extraordinary,  and 
immemorial.  By  ordinary  prescription 
jurists  understand  one  which  rests  on  a 
possession  of  three,  or  of  ten,  or  of  twenty 
years — three  years  in  the  case  of  move- 
able property ;  ten  years  in  the  case  of  a 
right,  or  of  immovable  property,  intei' 
prcssentes]  twenty  years,  in  the  same 
case,  inter  ohsentes.  A  just  title  must 
also  be  proved — i.e.  the  prescriptor  must 
show  that  he  obtained  the  property  by 
purchase  or  gift,  or  some  other  mode  in 
itself  sufficient  to  constitute  a  title  in  the 
absence  of  an  adverse  claim.  He  must, 
moreover,  have  held  the  property  during 
the  time  necessary  to  constitute  prescrip- 
tion in  good  faith.  One  of  whom  it  can 
be  shown  that  he  knew  that  he  was  de- 
taining the  property  of  another  cannot 
plead  prescription.  The  canon  law  is 
more  strict  on  this  head  than  the  Roman, 
which  only  required  that  the  prescriptor 
should  have  acted  in  good  faith  at  the 
commmce7nent  of  his  enjoyment  of  the 
object.  Extraordinary  prescription,  proof 
of  which  is  required  in  many  cases  by  the 
canon  law,  especially  in  regard  to  eccle- 
siastical or  state  property,  is  of  thirty  or 
forty  years.  Immemorial  prescription  is 
merely  the  presumption  of  a  legitimate 
ownership,  founded  on  the  attestation  ot 
the  fact  of  continuous  and  undisturbed 
enjoyment,  made  by  old  or  elderly  per- 
sons, during  a  period  reaching  back  to 
the  limits  both  of  their  own  memory  and 
that  of  aged  persons  with  whom  they  had 
conversed  in  early  life.  (Wetzer  and 
Welte,  art.  by  Permaneder.) 

PRESENTATZON-         OE  TBS 

BIiSSSEQ  VZRGXIO'.  The  story  of 
Mary's  presentation  in  the  temple  when 
three  years  old  and  her  sojourn  there 
till  her  marriage  first  appears  in  Apocry- 
phal Gospels— viz.  the  Protevangelium 
and  that  of  the  Birth  of  Mary.  The  be- 
lief was  adopted  by  later  Fathers — e.g. 
St  John  of  Damascus.  Benedict  XIV. 
C'De  Fest."  P.  ii.  §  178)  considers  the 
fact  of  the  presentation  certain,  but  the 
details  of  the  story  "  altogether  uncer- 
tain." The  feast  (fla-odia  rfjs  deoTOKov) 
was  kept  by  the  Greeks  as  early  at  least 
as  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Emmanuel, 
who  ascended  the  throne  in  1143,  and 
partially  by  the  Latins  on  November  21 
since  1374.  Paul  II,  confirmed  the  feast, 
which  was  still  not  kept  in  all  parts  of 
the    "West,  by    '*  Apostolic    authority." 


PRIESTS,  CHRISTIAN       691 

Pius  v.,  on  the  contrary,  abolished  its 
celebration  in  the  Roman  Chm-ch  itself, 
though  this  was  permitted  in  other 
parts  of  the  Latin  world.  Sixtus  V. 
restored  the  feast  in  1 685  at  the  prayer 
of  the  Jesuit  Turrianus.  The  present 
office  was  corrected  under  Clement  VIII., 
who  made  the  feast  a  greater  double. 
(Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Fest.;"  Gavant. 
"Thesaur."  de  Fest.  mensis  Novemb.) 

PRESEia-TATZOir         OF  THE 

BI.ESSEO  VZRGZXr  MARY,  ORDER 
OP  THE.  This  order  was  founded 
by  Miss  Nano  Nagle  in  1777.  In 
1874  it  possessed  seventy-three  houses, 
with  1,140  nuns  and  more  than 
20,000  pupils.  Of  these  houses  fifty- 
three  were  in  Ireland,  twelve  in  British 
America,  chiefly  in  Newfoundland,  one 
in  India,  four  in  different  Australian 
colonies,  and  three  in  the  United  States. 
Nano  Nagle  belonged  to  a  good  Catholic 
family  in  the  county  Cork,  and  was  born 
in  1728.  From  the  time  of  her  complete 
conversion  to  God,  her  intense  devotion 
to  spiritual  and  moral  aims  never  faltered ; 
unsparing  of  herself,  she  knew  no  personal 
satisfaction  but  that  of  giving  her  wealth 
and  her  time  to  the  service  of  her  sorely- 
tried  countrymen.  She  established  an 
Ursuline  convent  at  Cork  in  1771.  But 
her  object  being  the  instruction  of  the 
poor,  wliereas  the  Ursuline  order  has  for 
its  main  business  the  instruction  of  the 
rich,  she  was  not  yet  satisfied.  She  built 
another  convent  near  the  first,  and  entered 
it,  with  three  companions,  towards  the 
end  of  1777.  They  were  not  enclosed, 
but  were  engaged  in  visiting  and  teaching 
the  poor,  and  followed  a  rule  drawn  up 
for  them  by  the  cur^  of  St.  Sulpice. 
They  took  simple  vows,  renewed  from 
year  to  year.  Worn  out  by  labour  and 
austerities,  Nano  die^  in  1784.  Her  in- 
stitute was  confirmed  by  Pius  VI.  in 
1791,  with  simple  vows  and  no  enclosure. 
But  in  1805,  at  the  request  of  Bishop 
Moylan,  Pius  VII.  raised  it  to  the  rank 
of  a  religious  order,  with  solemn  vows 
and  strict  enclosure.  A  fourth  vow  was 
added,  by  which  the  nuns  bind  themselves 
to  instruct  young  girls,  especially  the 
poor,  in  the  precepts  and  rudiments  of 
the  Catholic  faith.  (See  the  "Life  of 
Nano  Nagle,"  by  Dr.  Hutch;  Dub.,  1875.) 

PRIESTS,  CRRZSTZilM'.  The 
priesthood  is  the  second  in  rank  among 
the  holy  orders.  It  is  the  office  of  a  priest, 
according  to  the  Pontifical,  "  to  off"er, 
bless,  rule,  preach,  and  baptise."  First,  he 
is  empowered  to  offer  that  sacrifice  of  the 


T  Y  2 


692       PRIESTS,  CHRISTIAN 

Mass  which  is  the  centre  of  all  the 
Church's  worship,  because  in  it  Christ, 
the  great  hicfh-priest,  continually  offers 
Himself  in  a  bloodless  manner,  and  applies 
that  one  sacririce  consummated  for  our 
redemption  on  the  cross.  Next,  the  priest, 
stauding  between  God  and  his  fellow- 
men,  blesses  the  people  in  God's  name.  It 
is  his  duty,  if  a  flock  is  entrusted  to  him, 
to  rule  and  to  instruct  it,  and  to  ad- 
minister the  sacraments  of  baptism, 
penance,  holy  communion,  and  extreme 
unction,  besides  solemnising  marriages, 
&c.  His  duties  are  much  wider  than 
those  ol"  the  Jewish  priests.  The  latter  were 
to  teach  the  statutes  of  the  Lord  in  Israel 
(Lev.  X.  11  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  10;  Ezek.  xliv. 
23,  24),  and  their  lips  were  to  keep  know- 
ledge (Mai.  ii.  7 )  ;  but  these  moral  duties 
were  only  hinted  at  and  were  not  the 
subject  of  special  regulation.  On  the 
contrary,  though  the  offeriDg  of  sacrifice 
is  the  chief,  it  is  by  no  means  the  only 
duty  of  the  Christian  priest.  He  succeeds 
the  Jewish  "  elder"  as  well  as  the  Jewish 
priest.  Hence  he  is  called  tepeus  and 
sacerdos — i.e.  ''sacrificing  priest,"  but 
also  presbyter — i.e.  "  elder."  Our  Saxon 
ancestors  had  both  words,  ''  priost "  and 
"sacerd."  We  have  retained  only  the 
former,  but  always  use  it  in  the  sense  of 
the  latter. 

The  word  "presbyter"  was  familiar 
to  every  Jew.  The  "elders"  (D^^p.T-. 
7rpe(r,3vT€poi)  were  the  chief  men  in  the 
old  civil  communities  of  Palestine,  and 
the  word  exactly  answers  in  meaning  to 
the  Arabic  "sheikh."  In  later  times  the 
number  and  authority  of  these  "  elders  " 
was  definitely  fixed,  and  even  among  the 
Jews  of  the  dispersion  there  was  a  council 
(ni"*^*  =  consessus)  which  met  in  the  syna- 
gogue and  administered  the  discipline  of 
the  Jewish  community.^  No  record  re- 
mains of  the  institution  of  such  a  body 
among  Christians;  but  in  Acts  xi.  30, 
when  the  persecution  in  which  St.  James 
was  slain  drove  the  Apostles  i'rora  Jeru- 
salem, we  find  the  Church  there  provided 
with  a  senate  of  "  presbyters."  It  was 
apparently  at  a  later  date  that  such 
"presbyters"  appeared  among  commu- 
nities of  Gentile  Christians,  for  they  are 
not  once  mentioned  by  St.  Paul,  except 
in  the  pastoral  epistles.  They  were 
"  rulers"  of  the  Church,  and,  though  they 

^  Vitringa  (De  Synagog.  Vet.  lib.  ii.  cap.  4 
seq.")  is  at  great  pains  to  show  that  in  the  early 
Bynagof^ues  these  '"elders"  directed  worship  a's 
well  as  discipline.  We  cannot  see  that  he 
proves  his  point. 


PRIESTS,  CHRISTIAN 

might  teach,  if  qualified  to  do  so,  thia 
was  no  necessary  part  of  their  office 
(1  Tim.  V.  17).^  This  ruling  oifice,a&  we 
have  seen  already,  is  still  prominent  in  the 
Pontifical,  which  compares  presbyters  to 
the  "  seventy  elders  "  who  assisted  Moses. 
In  ancient  times  they  formed  the  council 
of  the  bishop,  who  for  many  centuries 
could   take   no   important   step   without 


consulting   them.     (See, 


^■9 'J 


Concil. 


Hispal.  c.  7,  anno  619.)  The  presbyters 
of  the  diocese  are  now  represented  by  the , 
chapter,  which  the  bishop  is  obliged  toj 
consult  in  enacting  statutes,  kc  In  one  ( 
place  the  New  Testament  attributes  the! 
administration  of  a  sacrament — viz.  ex- 
treme unction,  to  presbyters  (James  v.  14). 

The  words  "  priest,"  "  priesthoood  " 
(Upevs,  UpciTevpa)  are  never  applied  in  the 
New  Testament  to  the  office  of  the  Chris- 
tian ministry.  All  Christians  are  said  to 
be  priests  (1  Pet.  ii.  5,  9;  Apoc.  v.  10).  . 
This  recognition  of  the  universal  priest-  ( 
hood  of  Christians,  however,  involves  no  \ 
denial  of  the  existence  of  a  special  priest- 
hood, for  the  Israelites  too  were  called  a 
"  kingdom  of  priests,"  though  they  had,  of 
course,  a  special  priesthood  with  prerog- 
atives jealously  guarded.  Further,  the 
Old  Testament  prophesies  that  priests 
would  be  taken  from  the  Gentiles,  and 
that  the  office  of  the  priesthood  was  to 
last  for  ever  (Is.  Ixvi.  21 ;  Jer.  xxxiii.  , 
17,  18) ;  and  St  Paul,  so  far,  at  least, 
brings  the  Christian  ministry  into  con-  ' 
nection  with  the  Jewish  priesthood  that 
he  justifies  the  claim  of  the  former  to 
support  by  a  reference  to  the  way  in 
which  the  latter  "  lived  by  the  altar " 
(1  Cor.  ix.  13).  Dollinger  ("  First  Age  of 
the  Church,"  E.T.  p.  222)  also  urges  the 
liturgical  character  of  St.  Paul's  language 
(Rom.  XV.  10),  where  he  describes  him- 
self as  a  "minister"  {Xeirovpyov,  cf.  Heb. 
viii.  2)  and  as  an  evangelical  priest 
{Upovpyovvra  to  evayye\iov).  The  argu- 
ment does  not  seem  to  be  of  much 
account,  and  Estius  is  probably  right  in  con- 
sideringthe  language  merely  metaphorical. 
The  Apostle  was  a  minister  appointed  by 
Christ,  "  administering  the  gospel "  like  a 
priest,  that  the  Gentiles  might  offer  up- 
themselves  an  oblation  well  pleasing  to 
God,  sanctified  in  the  spirit. 

The  Apostolic  Fathers  also  abstain 
from  any  mention  of  a  Christian  priest- 

^  So  Cyprian,  Ep.  29.  distinguishes  the 
"presbyteri  docJ'ores"  as  a  special  class.  The 
word  "  pajstors"  (woi/Lie'ie?.  Ephes.  iv.  11),  which 
expresses  the  ruling;  office,  is  derived,  like 
"  presbyter "  itself,  from  the  l.ingunge  of  the 
Synagogue,  D^D3^Q)-    (See  Vitringa,  ii.  10.) 


PRIESTS,  CHRISTIAN 

hood;  at  least  tlie  single  reference  in  St. 
Ignat.  (Phil,  9,  kuXoI  ol  lepe7s)  is  very 
doublful.  Justin,  in  the  middle  of  the 
second  century  (Dial.  116,  117)  simply 
alludes  to  the  general  priesthood  of 
Christians.  In  a  curious  letter  to  Victor 
of  Rome  (190-200)  Polycrates  says  of  St. 
John  the  Evangelist  that  "he  was  a  priest, 
having  worn  the  mitre"  (iyevfjdrj  Upevs 
TO  TreraXov  7r((f)opTjK(i)s,  apud  Euseb. "  H.E." 
V.  24).  The  language  can  scarcely  he 
anything  but  metaphorical  (so  Routh, 
"  Rell.  Sacr.'"  torn.  ii.  p.  28).  At  the  end  of 
the  second,  or  beginning  of  the  third 
century  the  term  "  priest"  was  in  common 
use.  We  find  it  in  TertuUian  ("  Praescr." 
41,  "  aacerdotalia  munera"),  in  the 
Philosophumena  (Proem.  jxerexovres 
dp  xi(  pare  ins),  Origeu  (Ilom.  V.  in  Lev.  iv.). 
In  Cyprian  the  word  (sacerdos)  con- 
stantly occurs — usually  for  bishops,  .but 
sometimes  also  for  presbyters  ("De  Zelo 
et  Livcre,"  6). 

We  may  distinguish  three  stages  in 
the  position  of  the  priesthood. 

(1)  In  the  earliest  times  they  ruled  in 
concert  with  and  in  immediate  subordina- 
tion to  the  bishop.  The  bishop  and 
priests  said  Mass  conjointly,  and  the 
priests  administered  the  sacraments  inde- 
pendently only  in  the  bishop's  absence. 

(2)  The  presbyters  became  more  inde- 
pendent owing  to  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity and  the  gradual  establishment  of 
parish  as  distinct  from  episcopal  churches. 
Innocent's  letter  to  Decentius  exhibits 
the  change  in  actual  progress.  In  towns, 
he  says,  the  Eucharist  is  to  be  conse- 
crated by  the  bishop  only  and  sent  to  the 

I  parisM -priests ;  in  outlying  churches  the 
priests  are  to  consecrate  for  themselves. 
Thus,  separate  replaced  conjoint  rule  and 
administration  of  the  sacraments. 

(3)  Gradually  the  rule  became  a 
separable  accident  of  the  priesthood.  At 
first  a  priest,  by  the  very  fact  of  ordina- 
tion, was  attached  to  a  particular  church, 
and  only  in  rare  and  exceptional  instances 
a  man  of  extraordinary  merit  was  induced 
to  submit  to  ordination  on  condition  that 
he  should  not  be  bound  to  a  particular 
church.  In  this  way  St.  Jerome  was 
ordained  by  Paulinus  of  Antioch.  But 
from  the  eleventh  century  the  custom 
began  of  ordaining  priests  who  had  no 
benefice,  provided  they  had  the  means  of 
honourable  support  ( Juenin,  "  De  Sacr." 
diss.  viii.  cap.  8).  Further,  the  ordina- 
tion of  religious  without  cure  of  souls 
became  the  rule  instead  of  the  exception. 
And  ib  is  the  capacity  for  rule,  rather 


PRIOR,  PRIORESS 


693 


than  the  actual  exercise  of  it,  which  we] 
now  associate  with  the  priestly  office.      y 

PSHnZATS  {primas).  In  early  times 
bishops  were  called  prim^ites  who  held 
any  commanding  position  in  the  Church. 
Thus  the  Roman  Pontiff"  was  sometimes 
called  the  primate  of  the  whole  Church  ; 
and  theCouncil  of  Chalcedon  declared  that 
the  primacy,  or  first  place  before  all  (npo 
navToav  to.  Trpwreta),  was  to  be  accorded  to 
"  the  Archbishop  of  Old  Rome."  (Sess. 
xvi.  ;  cf.  Hefele,  "  Hist,  of  Councils," 
E.  T.  iii.  427.)  In  Africa  the  metro- 
politans were  called  primates,  or  bishops 
of  the  first  sees.  Carthage,  in  the 
province  of  Africa  strictly  so  called,  was 
always  the  first  see,  though  its  bishop 
might  be  junior  to  others;  in  the  other 
provinces  the  dignity  of  first  see  passed 
from  city  to  city,  as  it  depended  on  the 
priority  of  the  date  of  consecration  of  the 
respective  bishops. 

In  modern  times  those  bishops  only  are 
properly  called  primates  to  whose  see  the 
dignity  of  vicar  of  the  Holy  See  was  for- 
merly annexed.  Such  sees  are — Armagh 
in  Ireland,  Aries  and  Lyons  in  France, 
Mentz  in  Germany,  Toledo  in  Spain, 
Gran  in  Hungary,  Pisa  and  Salerno  in 
Italy,  and  some  others.  None  of  these  retain 
any  primatial  jurisdiction  except  Gran, 
the  archbishop  of  which  has  still  the  right 
of  receiving  appeals  from  all  the  other 
archbishops  in  Hungary.  Changed  cir- 
cumstances— especially  the  great  facility 
with  which  the  most  distant  countries 
can  now  communicate  with  Rome — have 
made  the  jurisdiction  of  primates  almost 
a  thing  of  the  pnst.  [Aechbtshop; 
ExAECH ;  Meteopolitan.]  (Soglia, 
"Instit.  Canon."  lib.  ii.  §  48.) 

PHIl^ZCERZUS  (prt7nus,  cera). 
The  leading  person,  or  foreman,  on  a  list 
of  the  emplo!/es  in  a  particular  business 
or  function ;  thus  we  read  of  the  p.  no^ 
tariorum,  the  p.  palatii,  &c.  "  First  on 
the  waxed  tablet  "  is  the  literal  meaning 
of  the  word.  In  its  modern  use  the  term 
is  only  applied  to  the  prsecentor  of  a 
cathedral  or  collegiate  choir,  who  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  due  instruction  of  every 
member  of  the  choir  in  ecclesiastical  chant 
and  other  things  proper  to  his  function. 
But  the  word  is  now  seldom  heard ;  the 
"primicier"  of  St.  Denis  is  among  the 
few  instances  where  it  is  still  retained. 

PRIOR,  PRIORESS.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  the  word  *' prior  "  was  used 
in  either  of  the  senses  which  it  has  borne 
for  many  centuries  past — that  is,  as  signi- 
fying either  the  ruler  of  an  independent 


694  PRIOR,  PRIORESS 

monastery,  or  the  coadjutor  and  second-in- 
command  of  an  abbot,  before  the  ponti- 
ficate of  Celestine  V.  in  the  tliirteentb 
centur3^  The  older  term  was  in-cepodtus, 
provost ;  thus  Beda  speaks  of  St.  Cuth- 
bert  having  been  prcspositus  under  the 
Abbot  Eat  a,  iirst  at  Melrose  and  after- 
wards at  Lindisfarne.*  Whenever  the 
term  **  prior  "'  occurs  in  relation  to  monks 
before  the  thirteenth  centuiy,  it  is  said  to 
be  used  in  a  loose  sense,  as  signifying 
merely  one  who  on  account  of  greater  age 
or  other  ground  of  superiority  ranked 
above  his  fellows.  The  duties  of  a  prior, 
or  prcspositus,  are  thus  described  by- 
Isidore  :  "  To  the  prcspositus  belongs  the 
charge  of  the  monks,  the  carrying  on  of 
lawsuits,  the  management  of  the  estates, 
the  cropping  of  the  fields,  the  planting 
and  cultivation  of  vineyards,  acquaintance 
with  the  law.  the  erection  of  buildings, 
the  work  of  the  carpenters  and  the 
smiths." '^  The  pi-ior  claustralis,  being 
next  to  the  abbot  in  the  monastery,  and 
appointed  by  him,  generally  for  life,  had 
the  inspection  and  control  of  the  decani, 
or  deans  [Dkcanus],  and  was  expected  to 
maintain  discipline  firmly  among  the 
monks,  for  which  purpose  he  might  use 
the  lesser  excommunication.  The  j^^'^of 
cunventucilis  was  the  master  in  his  own 
house  ;  under  him  there  was  generally  a 
sub-prior.  Yet  there  were  several  dis- 
tinct positions,  all  of  which  might  be 
described  as  priorates.  For  (1)  in  a  place 
with  a  special  history — e.g.  Durham, 
where  the  mighty  memory  of  the  abbot- 
bishop  St.  Cuthbert  coloured  and  modi- 
fied all  that  was  done  for  nine  centuries — 
the  bishop  of  the  see  might  hold  a  quasi- 
abbatial  position  in  the  monastery  out  of 
which  the  see  first  arose ;  in  which  case 
the  head  of  the  monastery  could  only  be 
a  prior.  Rut  the  Prior  of  Durham,  mo- 
dest as  the  name  might  sound,  was  a 
greater  personage  than  most  abbots. 
Secondly,  a  cell,  or  obedience,  the  offshoot 
of  some  larger  monastery,  was  always 
governed  by  a  prior.  A  conventual  prior 
in  this  sense  was  often  a  person  of  little 
dignity  or  consequence,  both  from  having 
a  very  email  community  to  govern,  and 
becau.«e  the  property  with  which  the  cell 
was  endowed  was  small.  Thirdly,  the 
superiors  of  the  houses  of  regular  canons 
(Augustinians,  Arroasians,  and — origin- 
ally— Praemonstratensians)  were  always 
called  priors,  never  abbots.  St.  Dominic, 
who  adopted  the  rule  of  St.  Austin  for 

1  Bed.iv.27. 

*  Tliomassia,  i.  iii.  65. 


PRIVILEGE 

his  friars,  probably  on  this  account  put 
their  houses  under  pi-iors. 

A  prioress  under  an  abbess  held  nearly 
the  same  position  as  a  clau.stral  prior, 
and  prioresses  governing  their  own  houses 
were  like  conventual  priors.  (Thomassin; 
Smith  and  Cheetham.) 

PRZSCZZ.l.ZAXrzsTS.  The  follow- 
ers of  Priscilliau,  bishop  of  Avilain  Spain 
(the  birthplace  of  St.  Theresa),  in  the 
foui'th  century.  An  Egj-ptian  named 
Mark  brought  the  Manichaean  doctrines 
into  Spain,  and  seduced  by  them  the 
Bishops  Instantius  and  Sahianus,  besides 
other  important  or  wealthy  persons,  of 
whom  Priscillian  was  one.  The  sect  was 
condemned  by  a  synod  held  at  Saragossa 
in  380  ;  but  even  after  this  Instantius  and 
Salvianus  ventured  to  raise  Priscillian  to 
the  see  of  Avila.  The  Emperor  Gratian 
vacillated ;  but  when  the  usurper  Max- 
imus  came  into  power,  he  listened  to  the 
complaints  of  Idacius  and  Ithacius,  the 
representatives  of  the  majority  of  the 
Spanish  bishops,  and  caused  Priscillian 
and  several  of  his  adherents  (384)  to  be 
tried  before  his  own  tribunal  at  Tre\-es.  St. 
Martin,  who  happened  to  be  at  Treves  at 
the  time,  vainly  endeavoured  to  dissuade 
Maximus  from  bringing  a  question  of 
heresy  before  a  secular  court.  Priscillian, 
the  widow  Eucbrocia,  and  several  others, 
were  condemned  and  put  to  death.  St. 
Martin  was  so  grieved  and  shocked  by 
this,  that  for  a  long  time  he  refused  to 
communicate  with  Ithacius,  and  would 
not  go  near  the  Court.  The  heresy  lin- 
gered on  in  Spain  during  the  fifth  century, 
and  was  not  entirely  extinct  at  the  date 
of  the  Council  of  Braga,  663. 

PRzvATz:  MASSES.  [See  Mass.] 

pazvATzow,     [See  Suspension.! 

PRZVZZ.z:0£.  "A  private  enact- 
ment, granting  some  special  benefit  or 
favour,  against  or  outside  the  law.'  ^  It 
differs  from  a  dispensation  in  that  this 
last  usually  refers  to  a  single  act,  such  aK 
a  marriage,  or  the  reception  of  orders, 
whereas  a  privilege  presupposes  and  legal- 
ises many  acts  done  in  pursuance  of  it. 
It  differs  from  a  grace  or  benefaction,  be- 
cause the  latter  is  confined  to  the  good 
which  it  operates  once  for  all,  whereas  a 
privilege  confers  on  its  possessor  immunity 
in  regard  to  every  act  of  the  kind  privi- 
leged, as  much  as  if  he  had  obtained  the 
sanction  of  the  law.  A  privilege  may  be 
granted  by  word  of  mouth  as  well  as  by 
deed.  Privileges "  are  either  Gc/ninst  the 
law  (as  when  the  duty  of  paying  tithes, 
*  Ferraris. 


PRIVILEGE 

or  that  of  submitting  to  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  ordinary,  is  remitted  to  certain 
persons  or  communities),  or  it  is  beyond 
or  outside  the  law — namely,  when  it  au- 
thorises acts  which  the  law  does  not  for- 
bid, but  which  are  only  allowable  to 
particular  persons,  such  as  the  power  of 
absolving  in  reserved  cases,  or  of  dispens- 
ing, and  the  like.  Again,  privileges  are 
divided  into  real,  personal,  and  mixed; 
the  first  being  primarily  annexed  to  soms 
thing  (a  place,  or  a  building,  or  a  dignity), 
and  indirectly  extended  to  the  persons  by 
whom  the  thing  is  owned  or  enjoyed  ;  the 
second  being  primarily  granted  to  some 
person,  regarded  as  an  individual ;  the 
third  being  granted  to  classes  of  persons — 
e.g.  the  privileges  of  clerics,  or  students, 
or  soldiers.  Many  other  distinctions  are 
noted  by  the  canonists.  It  is  obvious 
that  only  that  authority  can  establish  a 
privilege  which  is  competent  to  frame 
and  enforce  a  law.  Concession  made  by 
such  an  authority  is  the  usual  source  of  a 
privilege ;  it  may,  however,  also  be  ac- 
quired by  prescription.  A  third  way  is 
that  of  communication,  of  which  the 
mendicant  orders  furnish  a  brilliant  ex- 
ample, since  every  such  order  enjoys  by 
communication,  not  only  every  privilege 
ever  granted  to  any  other  mendicant  in- 
stitute, but  also  those  granted  to  any  of 
the  non-mendicant  orders. 

The  chief  privileges  appertaininor  to 
clerical  or  monastic  persons  have  been 
incidentally  stated  in  the  articles  Bishop, 
Abbot,  Deacon,  Pkiest,  Monk,  Nun, 
&c, ;  but  there  are  two  important  privi- 
leges belonging  to  the  entire  clerical  body, 
which  may  here  be  noticed.  These  are 
the  privileges  of  the  tribunal  and  the 
canon  {privileffia  fori  et  canonis).  The 
first  is  the  exemption  of  the  clergy 
from  the  secular  tribunals  in  criminal  and 
civil  causes :  an  exemption  of  the  highest 
value  in  barbarous  times,  but  less  desir- 
able in  those  more  civilised,  and  now  in 
point  of  fact  hardly  anywhere  enjoyed. 
The  privilege  of  the  canon  consists  in  the 
excommunication  (under  the  fifteenth 
canon  of  the  Second  Lateran  Council), 
with  reservation  of  absolution  to  the  Pope, 
of  any  one  who  has  "  laid  violent  hands  on 
cleric  or  monk."  (Ferraris,  Pnvilegium  ; 
Soglia,  ii.  §  iii.) 

PRXVIXiEGED  AXiTAR.  (1)  An 
altar,  such  as  the  seven  privileged  altars 
in  St.  Peter's,  by  visityjg  which  certain 
indulgences  may  be  gained. 

(2)  An  altar  at  which  Votive  Masses 
may  be  said  even  on  certain  feasts  which 


PROCESSIONS  695 

are  doubles.  There  are  often  altars  of 
this  kind  at  places  of  pilgrimage. 

(3)  Altars  with  a  plenary  indulgence 
for  one  soul  in  purgatory  attached  to  all 
Masses  said  at  them  for  the  dead.  The 
privilege  continues,  even  if  a  new  altar 
be  erected,  provided  it  be  in  the  same 
place  and  under  the  same  title.  All 
altars  are  privileged  on  All  Souls'  Day. 
Sometimes  the  privilege  is  personal — i.e. 
a  priest  may  have  the  privilege  of  gaining 
the  plenary  indulgence  always,  or  on  cer- 
tain occasions,  when  he  otters  Mass  for 
the  dead,  without  respect  to  the  altar  at 
which  he  says  it.  The  local  privilege  is 
only  granted  to  fixed  altars,  the  personal 
maybe  used  even  at  portable  altars.  The 
Mass  must  be  a  Requiem  Mass,  if  the 
rubrics  permit  it  to  be  said  on  that  day. 
This  privilege  is  not  withdrawn  in  the 
general  suspension  of  indulgences  during 
a  jubilee.  (Probst,  art.  Altar,  in  the 
new  edition  of  the  "  Kirchenlexikon.") 

PROBABXZ.X3M.  [See       MOEAL 

Theology.] 

PROCESSION'S.  The  word  in  its 
wider  sense  is  used  of  the  solemn  entrance 
of  the  clergy  to  the  altar  for  Mass,  Vespers, 
«&c.,  or  of  their  return  after  service  to  the 
sacristy.  The  oldest  Ordo  Romanua,  about 
the  year  720,  contains  elaborate  directions 
for  a  procession  of  this  kind.  At  pro- 
cessions in  a  more  restricted  sense  persons 
march  together  in  public,  that  they  may 
express  their  gratitude  to  God,  beseech 
his  mercy,  or  do  honour  to  the  living  or 
the  dead.  Processions  with  the  first  of 
these  objects  are  called  processions  simply, 
those  with  the  second  are  also  known  aa 
"  Litanise,"  "  Rogationes,"  "  Stationes," 
"  Supplicationes,"  "  Exomologeses."  Pro- 
cessions at  the  visitation,  &c.,  of  a  bishop 
and  at  funerals  are  instances  of  the  third 
class.  Processions  are  also  classified, 
according  as  they  are  made  with  or  with- 
out the  JBlessed  Sacrament,  relics,  statues 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  or  the  saints. 
Lastly,  there  are  extraordinary  processions 
ordered  by  ecclesiastical  authority  for 
some  special  cause,  and  ordinary  ones 
prescribed  by  the  common  ritual  law  of 
the  Church.  To  the  latter  class  the  pro- 
cessions on  Candlemas,  Palm  Sunday, 
St.  Mark's  Day,  three  Rogation  Days, 
Corpus  Christi,  and  at  funerals  belong. 
Each  procession  has  a  head,  who  walks  last, 
those  being  nearest  him  who  are  highest  in 
dignity  and  the  juniors  walking  in  front. 
The  chief  person,  if  a  priest,  wears  biretta, 
stole,  surplice,  and  sometimes  also  cope ; 
if  he  bears  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  always 


PROCESSIONS 


PROCESSION  OF  HOLY  GHOST 


a  cope  and  humeral  veil.  A  bishop  wears 
his  mitre  and  pastoral  staff;  but  in  pro- 
cession with  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and 
with  a  particle  of  the  True  Cross  (S.C.R. 
Sept.  2,  1690),  the  head  must  not  be 
covered,  and  then  the  bishop's  staff  is 
carried  behind,  his  mitre  before  him. 
The  baldacchino  always  carried  over 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  may  also  be 
used,  where  it  is  the  custom,  with 
particles  of  the  True  Cross  and  other  in- 
struments of  the  Passion  (S.C.R.  27  Maii, 
1823).  It  is  also  used  to  honour  the 
bishop — e.g.  at  his  solemn  entrance  into  a 
church.  The  colour  of  the  vestments  and 
the'prayers  said  vary  with  the  occasion  of 
the  procession.  An  out-door  procession 
always  staris  from  and  ends  by  returning 
to  the  church,  but  sometimes  several 
churches  are  visited  in  the  course  of  the 
procession.  The  bishop  may  compel  the 
attendance  even  of  religious  at  processions 
under  pain  of  censure,  unless  their  rule 
obliges  them  to  entire  seclusion  (S.C.R. 
ISMartii,  1679). 

Processions,  at  least  in  the  case  of 
funerals,  were  known  in  the  Church 
during  the  time  of  heathen  persecution. 
(See,  e.f/.,  •*  Acta  Martyr.  S.  Cypriani"). 
The  litanies  or  penitential  processions  are 
thought  by  some  to  be  mentioned  by 
Basil  (Ep.  507,  "Ad  Neoc." ;  but  see  the 
Benedictine  note).  Festal  processions 
are  spoken  of  as  an  ancient  custom  by 
Ambrose  (Ep.  40,  §  16,  ad  Theodos.).  The 
procession  on  St.  Mark's  Day  was  old  and 
established  in  the  time  of  St.  Gregory  the 
Great,  and  was  perhaps  a  survival  in 
a  purified  form  of  the  procession  on  the 
same  day  in  honour  of  the  goddess  Robigo 
(Ovid,  "  Fasti,"  iv.  906) ;  processions  with 
relics  were  common  in  the  fourth  century. 
(See,  e.g.,  August.  "Conf."'  ix.  7 :  Socrates, 
« 11.  E."  iii.  18.)  Gregory  '  of  Tours 
("  Hist.  Fianc."  v.  4)  mentions  the  custom 
of  carrying  banners  in  processions.  Pro- 
cessions are  in  fact  a  natural  means 
common  to  all  religions  of  publicly  ex- 
pressing the  feelings  of  the  heart,  and  are 
taken  by  an  obvious  symbolism  as  a  figure 
of  the  Christian  journey  through  this  life 
to  the  next.  (For  further  information 
see  Funerals  ;  Corpus  Ciiristi  ;  Roga- 
tions, &c.). 

PROCESSZOir     OF     TBS     BOX.'S' 

G-HOST  froim:  the  fatbbr  anb 
TKS  SON.  The  addition  made  to  the 
Nicene  Creed  at  Constantinople  in  381 
mentions  only  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  from  the  Father,  and  this  for  a 
plain  reason.      The    definitions    of   the 


Council  were  directed  against  the  Mace- 
donians, who  denied  the  divinity  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  supposed  that  he  was 
created,  like  all  else  which  is  not  God, 
through  the  Son,  The  Council,  on  the 
contrary,  denied  that  the  Third  Person 
was  to  be  placed  in  the  category  of 
creatures  at  all.  It  affirmed  his  proces- 
sion from  the  Father,  and  so  in  effect 
denied  that  he  was  created  through  the 
Son  or  owed  his  existence  to  Him,  in  the 
same  sense  that  creatures  do.  Whether 
the  Spirit  did  or  did  not  eternally  proceed 
from  the  Son,  was  a  question  which  did 
not  come  before  the  assembly.  For  a  long 
time  after,  there  was  no  controversy  on  this 
point.  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  (Mansi, 
"Concil.''  iv.  1348)  says  of  the  Holy  Ghost: 
"  Neither  do  we  regard  him  as  the  Son  or 
as  having  received  existence  through  the 
Son."  And  so  Theodoret,  criticising  the 
ninth  anathema  of  St.  Cyril,  declares  he 
will  admit  the  Spirit's  procession  from 
the  Father,  but  by  no  means  "  that  he  has 
existence "  (tj^i/  virap^iv  ^xov)  from  the 
Son  or  through  the  Stm.'  Great  au- 
thorities— Bellarmin,  Petavius,  and 
Garnier — have  seen  in  Theodoret's  criti- 
cism the  first  rise  of  the  famous  contro- 
versy on  the  double  procession.  This 
view  is  very  far  from  certain.  In  all 
probability  Theodoret  simply  meant  to 
separate  the  existence  of  the  Spirit  from 
that  of  creatures.  (So  Kuhn,  "  Trinitats- 
lelire,"  p.  484  seq.) 

However,  the  theology  of  the  Church 
was  forced  to  consider  the  eternal  rela- 
tions of  the  Second  and  Third  Persons.  If 
both  alike  proceeded  from  the  Father, 
then  how  was  the  Spirit  distinct  from  the 
Son  ?  Why  were  there  not  two  Sons  ? 
The  difficulty  met  in  West  and  East  with 
two  answers,  different  at  least  in  form  : — 

1.  The  Latin  formula  is  contained  in 
the  early  creed  falsely  ascribed  to  St. 
Athanasius — "  The  Holy  Ghost  is  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son."  So  Hilary, 
"  De  Trin."  ii.  29  ;  Augustine,  "  De  Trin." 
iv.  20.  These  appear  to  be  the  oldest 
testimonies,'^  for  Tertullian's  "  a  Patre  per 
Filium  "  ("  Adv.  Prax."  4)  can  scarcely  be 
regarded  as  a  direct  and  certain  reference 
to  eternal  procession.  There  is  no  need 
to  quote  later  writers.  Petavius  ("  Trin." 
vii.  8)  says  he  only  knew  of  one  single 

1  The  text  will  be  found  in  the  works  of  St. 
Cyril,  Migne's  reprint,  vol.  ix.  col.  432. 

2  Ambrose  (Ofe  Spiritu  S.\.  11)  says  the 
Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the 
Son*  But  in  this  place  "procedere"  means 
"to  be  sent" 


PROCESSION  OF  HOLY  GHOST     PROCESSION  OF  HOLY  GHOST  697 


Latin  author — viz.  Rusticus  the  Deacon, 
who  ever  doubted  the  correctness  of  the 
current  Latin  formula.  St.  Augustine  ("In 
Joann."  Tract,  xcix.  and  in  rnany  other 

E laces)  proves  the  procession  of  the  Spirit 
•cm  the  Son,  from  the  fact  that  the 
former  is  called  the  "  Spirit  of  the  Son  " 
(Gal.  iv.  6),  and  again  because  the  Son, 
•while  on  earth,  gave  the  Holy  Ghost  the 
temporal  mission  by,  implying  eternal 
procession  from,  the  Son.  St.  Augustine 
clearly  explains  ("  De  Trin."  v.  cap  14)^ 
that  the  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father 
and  Son,  not  as  from  two  principles,  but 
as  from  one.  St.  Anselm,  in  his  treatise 
on  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (cap. 
18  al.  17),  answers  the  objection  of  the 
schismatic  Greeks,  that  the  Latins  asserted 
the  procession  of  the  Spirit  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son  as  from  two  principles, 
by  denying  the  alleged  fact.  The  Spirit, 
he  says,  proceeds  Irom  the  Father  and 
Son,  not  in  so  far  as  they  are  distinct 
from,  but  in  so  far  as  they  are  one  with, 
each  other.  St.  Thomas  argues  (I.  qu. 
xxxvi.  a.  2)  that  if  the  Holy  Ghost  did  not 
proceed  from  the  Son,  there  would  be 
no  real  distinction  between  them,  since  in 
the  Trinity  the  Persons  are  only  distin- 
guished from  each  other  by  mutual  rela- 
tion. This  is  no  more  than  the  develop- 
ment of  a  principle  laid  down  by  St. 
Augustine  and  other  Fathers.  It  was, 
however,  rejected  by  the  Scotists. 

2.  The  Greek  Fathers  commonly  ex- 
pressed their  belief  by  another  formula — 
viz.  "  from  the  Father  through  the  Son," 
intending  by  this  mode  of  expression  to 
guard  the  doctrine  that  the  Father  is  the 
principle  or  ultimate  source  of  the  God- 
head. This  form  was  not  unknown  in  the 
West,  for  it  occurs,  e.c/.,  in  St.  Hilary 
("  DeTrin.''xii.  "ex  te,"  addressed  to  the 
Father,  "  per  eum  "),  and  implies,  instead 
of  excluding,  the  belief  that  the  Holv 
Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Son  as  well  as 
from  the  Father.  Moreover,  some  Greek 
Fathers  actually  use  the  Latin  form. 
St.  Epiphanius  does  so  again  and  again  (to 
de  ayov  nvevfxa  e^  a.^(f)OTfp<ov,  "  Haer."  74, 
7  ;  €K  Tov  TTUTpos  KOI  Tov  vlov,  "  Aucorat.  ' 
8 ;  iioa  Ofbs  etc  irarpos  Koi  vlov  to 
nvevixa,  ih.  9).  So  does  St.  Cyril  of  Alex- 
andria, who  says  the  Spirit  is  "  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  and  his  mind,"  and  no  mere 
minister,  since  He  "  knows  without  teach- 
ing all  that  appertains  to  Him  from  whom 
and  in  whom  He  is  "  ( ''In  Joann."  xiv.  25- 
26,   p.   837,   ed.  Aubert).      Other  great 

^  "Fatendum  est  Patrem  et  Fi'.iuni  princi- 
pium  esse  Spiritus  Sancti,  non  duo  principia." 


Fathers  of  the  Greek  Church  clearly 
express  their  belief  in  the  double  priices- 
sion.  Thus,  St.  Athanashis  asserts  "  it  is 
not  the  Spirit  which  knits  the  word  to 
the  Father,  but  rather  the  Spirit  receives 
from  the  Word"  (Orat.  iii.  "Contr. 
Arian."  24,  p.  454  in  the  Benedictine 
edition)  ;  and  again,  "  Such  as  we  have 
found  the  proper  relation  {IbioTxiTo)  of  the 
Son  to  the  Father,  such  we  shall  find  is 
that  of  the  Spirit  to  the  Son,  and  as  *-he  Son 
says,  '  All  that  the  Father  has  is  mine,' 
so  we  shall  tind  all  this  through  the  Son 
and  in  the  Spirit"  ("Ad  Serap."  iii.  1,  p. 
552)  ;  and  then  he  quotes  the  "  Spirit  of 
thai  Son  "  (Gal.  iv.  kA  and  other  places  in 
which  he  is  called  both  the  Spirit  of  the 
Father  and  of  the  Son.  Basil  speaks  of 
the  Spirit  as  the  "  utterance  "  of  the  Son 
(prjixa  be  vlnii  to  irvevixa,  "Contr.  Eunom." 
V.  p.  304,  ed.  Benedict. ;  see  also  ih.  ii. 
34,  p.  271.  In  iii.  1,  p.  272,  the  clause 
nap  avTov  TOflvai  e)(ov  kgI  o^^cos  ttjs  aiTias 
€K€ivT)s  e^rjixnevov  is  spurious).  A  very 
late  Father,  St.  John  of  Damascus,  is  the 
first  to  reject  the  Latin  statement  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Son 
(e£  vloii  8e  to  Trvevfia  ov  Xeyofiev,  "  De  Fide 
Orthodox."  i.  8);  and  although  St.  Thomas 
and  Petavius  consider  this  an  error  on 
his  pait,  Le  Quien  gives  strong  reasons 
for  supposing  that  he  only  meant  to  deny 
that  the  Son  is  the  ultimate  principle  of 
the  procession  or  a  principle  of  it  at  all, 
so  far  as  He  is  distinct  from  the  Father. 

Up  to  this  point,  then,  we  meet  with 
nothing  but  a  difference  of  words,  like 
that  which  divided  the  West  from  most 
of  the  Orientals  on  the  use  of  the  term 
hypostasis ;  and  for  a  long  time  each 
part  of  the  Church  was  allowed  to  go 
its  own  way  in  peace.  Pope  Hormis- 
das,  in  a  letter  to  Justin  in  521,  states 
the  double  procession  in  the  Latin  form 
("proprium  Sp.  S.  ut  a  Patre  et  Fiho 
procederet  sub  una  substantia  deitatis," 
Mansi,  viii.  521),  and  met  apparently  with 
no  opposition.  Maximus  ("  Ad  Marin." 
ed.  Combetis,  p.  70  spq.)  shows  that 
some  Greeks  (as  Le  Quien  thinks,  Mono- 
thelites)  raised  a  difficulty  on  the  matter  ; 
but  Maximus  shows  tbtit  both  formulae 
expressed  the  same  truth..  So,  on  the 
other  hand,  Pope  Hadrian,  in  a  letter  to 
Charlemagne,  defends  the  Greek  Ibrmula 
against  the  attack  of  some  Latins 
(Mansi,  xiii.  760  f,eg.).  The  Latin 
formula  was  violently  denounced  about 
the  same  time  by  John,  a  Greek  monk, 
otherwise  unknown,  who  charged  the 
Latin  monks  on  Mount  Olivet  with  heresy. 


698  PROCESSION  OF  HOLY  GHOST  PROFESSION,  RELIGIOUS 


but  no  great  result  followed.  (See  the 
«1ocuments  in  Le  Quien,  "  Diss.  Damasc." 
i.  §  xiii.  seq.) 

Unfortunately,  the  difference  of  words 
was  used  by  Photius  after  his  condem- 
nation at  Rome,  and  again  when  the 
schism  was  renewed  by  Cserularius,  as  a 
means  of  exciting  hatred  against  the 
Latins.  And  the  strife  became  more 
bitter  after  the  addition  of  the  '*  Filioque  " 
to  the  Creed  even  in  the  local  Church  of 
Rome.  Enough  has  been  said  on  these 
subjects  in  the  articles  on  the  Greek 
Church  and  on  the  Creeds.  But  some- 
thing remains  to  be  added  here  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  Schismatic  Greeks. 

Had  they  merely  anathematised  the 
Latin  formula  because  they  thought  it 
implied  two  principles,  of  spiration,  had 
they  merely  denied  the  right  of  the  Pope 
to  permit  the  addition  to  the  Creed,  all 
this  would  have  been  proof  of  a  schismati- 
cal  spirit,  but  would  not  in  itself  have 
involved  heresy  on  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity.  In  fact,  however,  the  Greeks, 
beginning  with  a  factious  opposition  to 
the  Latin  terminology,  ended  in  a  denial 
of  the  Catholic  doctrine.  Although  the 
Greek  Fathers,  says  Le  Quien,  and  St. 
John  of  Damascus,  to  whom  the  Greeks 
constantly  appealed,  taught  the  eternal 
procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the 
Father  through  the  Son,  the  schismatics 
with,  one  consent,  from  Ccerularius  to 
Beccus  {i.e.  till  about  1274),  denied  any 
eternal  procession  of  the  Spirit  through 
the  Son,  and  simply  admitted  that  the 
gifts  or  temporal  manifestation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  came  through  the  Son.  (Le 
Quien,  loc.  cit.  §  xlviii.)  Here  of  course 
is  an  absolute  opposition,  not  of  termino- 
logy, but  of  doctrine. 

A  new  opinion  was  devised  in  a 
council  held  against  the  Patriarch  Beccus, 
who  became  Catholic.  Examination 
showed  that  the  form  in  St.  John  Dan:., 
"  from  the  Father  through  the  Son," 
referred  to  eternal  procession.  Thereupon 
Gregory  of  Cyprus,  the  schismatical  suc- 
cessor of  Beccus,  advanced  the  theory  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  proceeded  from  the 
Father  through  the  Son,  not  in  respect  to 
existence,  but  to  effulgence  (els  aibiov  ck- 
(f)ap(riv).  There  was,  according  to  him, 
an  eternal  effulgence,  improperly  called 
the  Spirit,  produced  by  the  Father  through 
the  Son,  or  rather  by  all  three  Persons 
(Le  Quien,  §  xlix.  1.).  This  was  a  prelude 
to  the  notion  of  the  Palamites,  the  kernel 
of  which  consisted,  as  Combefis  puts  it, 
in  this,  that  they  considered  the  eVepy^/Aara 


and  gifts  of  the  Spirit  to  be  eternal  and 
uncreated  (Combefia  apud  Mansi,  xxvi. 
211). 

At  Florence,  Mark  of  Ephesus  began 
by  a  simple  objection  to  the  insertion  of 
the  ' ^ Filioque  '  in  the  Creed;  but  later 
on  he  asserted  that  *'  through  the  Son  " 
meant  "  with  the  Son,"  denying  any 
other  relation  between  the  second  and 
third  Persons.  Many  more  instances  of 
Greek  theologians  who  knowingly  and  of 
set  purpose  opposed  the  Catholic  doctrine 
will  be  found  in  Petavius  ("  De  Trin,"  vii. 
15).  (A  very  full  and  accurate  account  of 
the  whole  history  of  the  controversy  is 
given  in  the  first  of  the  dissertations 
prefixed  by  Le  Quien  to  his  edition  of 
St.  John  of  Damascus.  We  have  also 
derived  much  help  from  Petavius,  "  De 
Trinitate,"  and  Kuhn,  "  Trinitatslehre.") 

PROCURiLTOR.  The  authorised 
agent  or  representative  of  another  (Fr. 
p'ocureur).  Thus  it  answers  to  a  *'  proxy," 
when  the  question  is  of  a  marriage  which 
one  of  the  parties  contracts  through  a 
representative,  and  to  a  ''  sponsor,"  when 
the  question  is  of  a  baptism  where  one 
or  both  of  the  god-parents  are  not  able  to 
be  present.  In  either  of  the  above  senses, 
a  procurator  contracts  spiritual  affinity 
not  to  himself,  but  to  his  principal.  A 
procurator  is  such  either  in  respect  of  law- 
suits enteied  upon,  or  in  respect  of  busi- 
ness transactions  ;  in  the  first  case  he  is 
judiciaUs,  in  the  other  extra-judicialis. 
The  procurators  or  official  agents  of 
monasteries  of  nuns  should  not  hold  office 
more  than  three  years.  (Ferraris,  Procw- 
rator.) 

PROFSSSIOZr  OF  FAITH.  [See 
Creeds.] 

PROFESSZOir,    REZiIGZOTTS.       A 

religious  or  regular  profession  is  "  a  pro- 
mise freely  made  and  lawfully  accepted, 
whereby  a  person  of  the  full  age  required, 
after  the  completion  of  a  year  of  probation, 
binds  him-  (or  her-)  self  to  a  particular 
religious  institute  approved  by  the 
Church."^  The  full  age  required  is 
sixteen  years,  reckoned  from  the  day  of 
birth.'^  The  year  of  novitiate  or  proba- 
tion must  have  been  continuous  ;  so  that 
if  the  novice  had  interrupted  it  even  for 
so  short  a  time  as  two  hours,  e.g.  by 
leaving  the  monastery  with  the  intention 
of  entering  some  other  order,  the  year 
would  have  to  be  begun  de  novo,  from  the 
date  when  he  renewed  his  resolution  of 

1  FeiTaris. 

2  Cone.  Trid.  sees,  xxv  c.  16,  De  Reg.  et 
Mon. 


PROFESSION,  RELIGIOUS 

seeking  admission  to  the  order.  More- 
over, the  year  of  probation  must  be  spent 
in  the  religious  habit,  and  in  a  monastery 
or  other  house  designed  for  the  purpose  or 
approved  by  the  Holy  See. 

By  being  "freely  made"  is  meant, 
•with 'entire  personal  liberty,  with  the 
free  command  over  one's  own  property, 
and  without  prejudice  to  the  rights  of 
third  parties  Thus  neither  a  slave,  nor  a 
married  persor*  (without  the  consent  of 
the  other  spous*e),  nor  a  bishop  already 
consecrated  (without  a  Papal  dispensa- 
tion), can  be  validly  professed. 

The  matter  of  the  promise  is,  the  three 
essential  vows  of  religion,  poverty,  obe- 
dience, and  chastity,  and  any  other  vow 
or  vows  peculiar  to  the  institute  which 
the  candidate  is  entering. 

The  following  is  an  outline  of  the 
manner  of  profession  of  a  nun,  as  pre- 
scribed in  the  "Pontificale  Romanum:" — 

"The  Pontifical  office  is  recited  as  far 
as  the  Gospel.  The  novices,  habited  as 
during  tlieir  probationary  year,  each  ac- 
companied by  two  veiled  religious,  are  led 
from  the  convent  into  the  church,  and  go 
up  two  and  two  into  the  sanctuary ;  there 
they  kneel ;  and  the  priest,  officiating  in 
the  character  of  archpriest,  requests  of  the 
bishop,  seated  on  his  throne  before  the 
altar,  that  they  may  be  consecrated.  The 
bishop  asks  whether  they  are  fit  and 
worthy,  and  being  assured  that  they  are, 
bids  them  come  up.  They  obey,  and 
range  themselves  in  a  semicircle  round 
the  bishop,  who,  after  a  short  exhortation, 
says  to  them  in  a  loud  voice,  '  Are  you 
willing  to  persevere  in  the  observance  of 
holy  chastity  ?  '  Each  of  them  declares 
her  willingness  aloud,  and  after  placing 
her  joined  hands  between  those  of  the 
bishop,  pronounces  her  perpetual  vows. 
They  return  to  their  former  place,  and 
kneel  down,  with  heads  bowed  to  the 
ground  ;  the  bishop  kneels  in  front  of  the 
altar,  and  the  choir  sings  the  Litanies. 
After  the  sentence,  '  Ut  omnibus  fidelibus 
defunctis,'  &c.,  and  the  response,  the 
bishop  rises,  and  with  his  mitre  on,  and 
the  crosier  in  his  hand,  solemnly  blesses 
the  newly-professed,  saying,  *  Vouchsafe, 
O  Lord,  to  bless  and  consecrate  these  Tij 
servants.'  The  response  is  made,  *  We 
beseech  Thee,  hear  us.' 

"  After  the  Litanies  the  professed 
rise,  'Veni,  Creator,'  is  sung,  aftd  they 
withdraw  into  a  robing-room  to  change 
their  dress.  The  bishop  blesses  the  differ- 
ent articles  of  their  future  costume,  and 
first  of  all  the  habit,  which  they  imme- 


PROMULGATION 


699 


diately  put  on.  They  reappear,  two  and 
two,  and  again  form  a  semicircle  round 
the  bishop,  who,  after  the  prayers,  &c., 
set  down  in  the  ritual,  puts  the  veil  on 
the  head  of  each,  the  ring  on  her  finger, 
and  the  bridal  wreath  on  her  head.  After 
several  solemn  benedictions  the  Mass  con- 
tinues. At  the  Ofiertory  the  professed 
come  up  to  lay  their  ofierings  on  the  altar, 
and  at  the  Communion  the  bishop  imparts 
to  them  the  sacred  particles  which  he  has 
consecrated  for  them."^ 

With  regard  to  the  rite  of  profession, 
as  also  the  minimum  of  age  and  length  of 
probation,  there  is  considerable  diversity 
m  the  various  approved  rules  of  different 
orders.  , 

The  effects  of  profession  are,  first,  that 
nothing  short  of  a  Papal  dispensation, 
which  would  only  be  given  in  extremely 
rare  and  altogether  exceptional  cases,  can 
warrant  the  professed  in  returning  to  the 
world.  A  religious  in  any  other  order 
can  pass  into  that  of  the  Carthusians,  on 
account  of  its  great  austerity.  To  pass 
from  one  order  into  another  which  has  an 
easier  rule  is  not  permitted  without  a 
Papal  dispensation.  A  valid  profession 
secures  to  its  subject  the  right  of  main- 
tenance in  the  convent  during  life,  and 
the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  the  ecclesiastical  state.  It  annuls 
any  simple  vow  previously  contracted 
which  could  not  be  made  compatible  with 
the  exact  observance  of  the  rule.  It  can- 
cels a  promise  of  marriage,  and  even  a 
marriage  itself,  if  not  consummated.  It 
releases  its  subject,  so  far  as  ordination  is 
concerned,  from  the  irregularity  conse- 
quent on  illegitimacy  ;  finally,  it  invests 
the  convent  with  the  ownership  of  any 
property  belonging  to  the  professed  at  the 
date  of  profession,  and  also  of  any  subse- 
quently acquired.  (Ferraris,  JReyulat-is 
Professio.) 

PROIVIOTZOXr       PER      SAIiTVM. 

[See  Ordination.] 

PROiwuZiGiLTZOlu.  That  a  law 
should  bind,  it  is  necessary  that  it  should 
be  adequately  promulgated  or  published. 
From  and  after  the  date  of  such  promul- 
gation those  whom  the  law  concerns  are 
presumed  to  be  acquainted  with  it,  and 
become  liable  to  the  penalties  which  dis- 
obedience entails  in  case  of  any  infraction 
of  it.  Papal  rescripts  are  promulgated 
by  proclamation  in  acie  campi  Florce,^  and 
by  being  affixed  to  the  gates  of  the  Vati- 

1  Wetzer  and  Welte,  art.  by  Permaneder. 

2  The  Piazza  of  the  Campo  di  Flore  is  not 
far  from  the  Roman  Chancery. 


700 


PROPAGANDA 


can ;  -whence  came  the  expression  "  Publi- 
catio  iirbi  et  orbi  facta."  The  diocesan 
ordinances  and  pastorals  of  bishops  are,  in 
general,  transmitted  by  them  to  the  rural 
deans,  who  forward  copies  to  the  paro- 
chial clerg-y  under  them  ;  but  where  the 
number  of  the  clergy  is  not  very  large, 
they  receive  such  missives  direct  from  the 
bishop.  In  either  case,  the  parish  priest 
(or  missionary  rector,  as  the  case  may  be), 
completes  the  promulgation  by  reading 
from  the  pulpit  those  portions  which  con- 
cern the  laity,  and  affixing  the  document 
to  the  doors  of  his  church. 

Among  the  pernicious  doctrines  of 
modern  bureaucracy  is  that  which,  while 
denying  validity  to  Papal  or  episcopal  con- 
stitutions unless  specially  promulgated, 
makes  such  promulgation  dependent  on 
the  consent  of  the  civil  government.  The 
exercise  by  the  Pope  and  the  hierarchy 
of  their  divinely-conferred  function  of 
ruling  the  flock  of  Christ  is  thus  circum- 
scribed, and  may  at  any  time  be  rendered 
nugatory  by  a  hostile  government. 

PROPAGAITDA.  The  sacred  con- 
gregation of  Cardinals  de  propaganda 
Jide,  commonly  called  the  Congregation 
of  Propaganda,  which  had  been  contem- 
plated by  Gregory  XIII.,  was  practically 
established  by  Gregory  XV.  (1G22)  to 
guard,  direct,  and  promote  the  foreign 
missions.  Urban  VIII.  (1623-1644)  in- 
stituted the  "  College  of  Propaganda  "  as 
part  of  the  same  design,  where  young  men 
of  every  nation  and  language  might  be 
trained  for  the  priesthood,  and  prepared  for 
the  evangelic  warfare  against  heathenism 
or  heresy.  The  management  of  this  col- 
lege the  Pope  entrusted  to  the  Congrega- 
tion. Urban  caused  the  present  building 
to  be  erected,  ft-om  the  designs  of  Bernini. 
The  College  possesses  a  library  of  30,000 
volumes,  among  which  are  the  translations 
of  a  great  number  of  Chinese  works,  and 
a  large  collection  of  Oriental  MSS.  At- 
tached to  the  library  is  the  MuseoBorgia, 
which  contains  several  interesting  MSS., 
service-books,  and  autographs,  and  a  col- 
lection of  objects  sent  home  by  the  mis- 
sionaries from  the  countries  where  they 
are  stationed,  including  an  extraordinary 
assortment  of  idols.  "  The  annual  ex- 
amination of  the  pupils,  which  takes  place 
in  January  (on  the  day  before  the  Epi- 
phany), is  an  interesting  scene,  which  few 
travellers  who  are  then  in  Rome  omit  to 
attend ;  the  pupils  reciting  poetry  and 
speeches  in  their  several  languages,  ac- 
companied also  by  music,  as  performed  in 
their  respective  countries.    The  number 


PROPOSITIONS,  CONDEMNED 
of  pupils  was,  by  the  last  return,  142."  • 

[See  OOXGREGATIONS.  KOMAN.J 

PROPERT-r.  [See  Church  Pro- 
perty.] 

PROPBEC7.  (1)  Twelve  lessons 
from  the  Prophets  are  sung  after  the 
blessing  of  the  Paschal  candle  and  before 
the  blessing  of  the  font  on  Holy  Saturday. 
They  were  meant  originally  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  catechumens.  It  is  evi- 
dent from  the  Sacramentaries  and  mediaeval 
writers  on  ritual  that  the  number  varied 
very  considerably  in  dhterent  places  and 
at  different  times  (Merat.  on  Gavant.  Tom. 
I.  p.  iv.  tit.  10). 

(2)  Lessons  from  the  Prophets  at 
Mass  are  mentioned  by  Justin,  and  were  a 
regular  feature  in  the  Gallic,  Ambrosian, 
and  Spanish  Liturgies.  In  Rome  and 
Africa,  as  a  rule  there  was  no  lesson  in 
the  Ma^s  from  the  Old  Testament  (Le 
Brun,  tom.  iii.  diss.  1).  Still,  instances  of 
such  lessons  occur,  e.g.  on  the  Ember 
Saturd  ay  in  Whitsun  week,  and  occasion- 
ally, e.g.  on  Friday  in  the  same  week,  a 
lesson  from  the  Prophets  replaces  the 
Epistle. 

(3)  "  Prophetia"  was  the  name  in  the 
Galilean  Mass  for  the  Benedictus.  It 
was  followed  by  a  "  Collectio  post  prophe- 
tiam."  (Le  Brun,  Tom.  HI.  diss.  iv.  a.  3.) 

PROPOSITION'S,  coxa-SEMsrED. 
From  the  earliest  times  the  Church  has 
condemned  heretical  propositions.  The 
First  General  Council,  for  example,  ana- 
thematised certain  propositions  of  Arius. 
But  the  Church  also  condemns  proposi- 
tions which  are  not  indeed  heretical,  but 
are  opposed  in  some  lesser  degi-ee  to 
soundness  in  the  faith.  Thus  in  1418 
Martin  V.  (bull  "Inter  Cunctas '')  pro- 
posed thirty-nine  articles  for  the  examina- 
tion of  persons  suspected  of  agreement  with 
Wyclif  and  Huss.  Of  these  the  eleventh 
puts  the  question  whether  they  hold  that 
of  the  forty-five  propositions  of  Wyclif 
and  Huss,  condemned  at  the  Council  of 
Constance,  all  are  uncatholic,  and  of  these, 
some  heretical,  "  ? ome  erroneous,  others 
rash  and  seditious,  others  offensive  to 
pious  ears."  Such  condemnations  have 
been  very  common  in  the  modern  Church. 
Sometimes,  as  in  the  bull  "  Unigenitus," 
the  propositions  have  been  condemned  in 
gloho — i.e.  a  number  of  propositions  have 
been  condemned  as  respectively  heretical, 
false,  scandalous,  &;c.  Sometimes,  as  in~ 
the  "  Auctorem  fidei"  against  the  Jansen- 
ist  synod  of  Pistoia,  each  proposition  has 
a  particular  censure  attached  to  it. 

1  Murray's  Handbook  for  Rome,  1867. 


PROTESTANT 

We  may  thus  explain  the  meaning  of 
the  terms  of  censure.  A  proposition  is 
"  heretical  "  when  it  is  directly  opposed  to 
a  truth  revealed  by  God  and  proposed  by 
the  Church  ;  "  erroneous,"  when  it  is  con- 
tradictory to  a  truth  deduced  from  two 
premises,  one  an  article  of  faith,  the  other 
naturally  certain  ;  "  proximate  to  error," 
when  opposed  to  a  proposition  deduced 
with  great  probability  from  principles  of 
faith ;  "  hseresim  sapiens,"  when  it  is 
capable  of  a  good  sense,  but  seems  in  the 
circumstances  to  have  an  heretical  mean- 
ing ;  "  evil  sounding  "  or  "  offensive  to 
pious  ears,"  when  opposed  to  piety  and 
the  reverence  due  to  divine  things  accord- 
ing to  the  common  mode  of  speaking; 
"scandalous,"  when  it  gives  occasion  to 
think  or  act  amiss ;  "rash,"  when  opposed 
to  the  common  sense  of  the  Church  in 
matters  of  faith  and  morals.  This  ac- 
count is  taken  from  Viva,  "  De  Fide;"  but 
Melchior  Canus  ("  Be  Loc.  Theol."  lib. 
xii.  cap.  X.)  shows  that  opinions  have 
varied  much  on  the  precise  import  of  the 
minor  censures.  There  is  a  well-known 
work  on  the  ''  Propositiones  Damnatae  " 
by  the  Jesuit  Viva. 

PROTSSTAlffT.  The  origin  of  the 
name  was  as  follows.  At  the  first  Diet 
of  Spires  (1526)  a  decree  was  agreed  to,  to 
the  effect  that,  pending  the  convocation  of 
a  general  council,  every  prince  of  the 
German  Empire  should  be  free  to  execute 
the  imperial  edict  of  V^^orms  (1521,  by 
which  Luther  and  his  doctrine  had  been 
condemned)  in  such  a  manner  as  was  con- 
sistent with  his  being  prepared  to  answer 
for  his  conduct  to  God  and  the  Em- 
peror. The  adoption  of  this  decree 
led  in  practice  to  much  discord  and  con- 
fusion, the  princes  of  the  different  states 
being  emboldened  by  it  to  make  and  en- 
force within  their  own  territories  any 
arrangements  about  religion  that  might 
be  agreeable  to  them.  Thus,  in  states 
and  cities  where  the  Lutheran  opinions 
prevailed,  the  Catholic  worship  was  often 
forbidden.  At  the  Second  Diet  of  Spires 
(1629)  the  majority  adopted  a  new  decree 
to  this  effect:  that  those  states  which 
had  hitherto  observed  the  edict  of  Worms 
should  continue  to  observe  it ;  that  the 
other  states,  in  which  the  new  opinions 
had  been  introduced,  should  not,  pending 
the  meeting  of  the  council,  make  any 
fresh  changes  in  regard  to  religion ;  and 
that,  in  these  last-named  states,  no  preach- 
ing against  the  Sacrament  of  the  altar 
should  be  permitted,  the  Mass  should  not 
be  abolished,  and,  if  Lutheranism  had 


PROVINCE 


701 


gained  the  upper  hand,  the  Catholics  were 
not  to  be  prevented  from  hearing  Mass. 
Against  this  decree  the  Lutheran  mino- 
rity in  the  Diet  (chiefly  Duke  Frederic  of 
Saxony,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and 
Albert  of  Brandenburg)  pi'otested\  the 
meaning  of  the  protest  being  that  the  dis- 
sentient princes  did  not  intend  to  tolerate 
Catholicism  within  their  borders.  The 
followers  of  Luther  objected  to  being 
called  Lutherans ;  the  name  of  "  Evan- 
gelical," which  Luther  approved,  the 
Catholics  would  not  concede.  Hence  the 
name  "  Protestant,"  which  implied  nothing 
positive,  and  might  be  used  indifferently 
by  all  who  rejected  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  came  easily  mto  use  by  common 
consent.  (Mohler,  "  Kirchengeschichte," 
vol.  iii.) 

PROTOSrOTAR'V  (np5)T09,  nota- 
rius).  In  early  times  this  title,  whick 
seems  to  have  been  first  used  at  Constan- 
tinople in  the  eighth  century,  meant  '*  the 
chief  of  the  notaries,"  and  corresponded 
to  primicerius  notariot-um,  the  term  then 
in  use  at  Rome.  After  800,  the  title  of 
protonotary  was  introduced  in  the  West, 
and  for  a  long  time  past  it  has  designated, 
not  the  chief,  but  any  member  of  the  im- 
portant and  dignified  College  of  Proto- 
notaries  Apostolic  in  the  Roman  Curia. 
Their  great  and  varied  privileges  are  de- 
scribed by  Ferraris.  Tradition  assigns  to 
St.  Clement  in  the  first  century  the  insti- 
tution of  the  notaries,  seven  in  number ; 
Sixtus  V.  raised  the  number  to  twelve. 
They  are  of  two  grades,  a  higher  and  a 
lower,  P.  de  nuniero  participantiu7n  and 
P.  titvlares  seu  extra  numerum.  Their 
function  is  to  register  the  Pontifical  acts, 
make  and  keep  the  official  records  of 
beatifications,  &c.,  &c.  (Ferraris;  Smith 
and  Cheetham.) 

PROTOPRESBVTER.  The  proto- 
papas,  or  chief  of  the  clergy  of  the  second 
order,  was  anciently  so  called  in  the 
Eastern  Church.  In  the  acts  of  the 
Synod  of  the  Oak  (401),  Arsacius,  the 
protopresbyter  of  the  Church  of  Con- 
stantinople, figures  as  a  witness  against 
his  own  archbishop,  St.  John  Chryso- 
stom.  Apparently  the  term  was  equiva- 
lent to  "  archpriest."  (Smith  and  Cheet- 
ham.) 

PROVZU-CE.  The  territory,  com- 
prising usually  several  dioceses,  within 
which  an  archbishop  or  metropolitan 
exercises  jurisdiction.  In  rare  cases — e.g. 
Glasgow  and  Olmiitz — there  is  an  arch- 
bishop without  sufiragans. 

A  modern  theory  derives  the  provin* 


702 


PROVINCIAL 


cial  conncils  and  metropolitans  of  the 
primitive  Church  by  direct  imitation  from 
those  assemblies  and  their  presidents  by 
which  civil  affairs  were  conducted  in  the 
various  provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire.^ 
The  president  of  such  an  assembly  (koivov, 
co7iciliuni)  was,  it  is  said,  caUed  the  sacer- 
dos  provindce ;  the  members  were  called 
(Tvvehpoi  or  legati\  here  we  have  the 
original  type  of  a  metropolitan  and  bishops 
sitting  in  council  But  till  it  can  be 
shown  that  these  crvvebpoi  were,  as  Chris- 
tian bishops  were  from  the  first,  invested 
with  permanent  powers  of  government 
and  administration  within  certain  local 
limits,  the  resemblance  of  the  two  insti- 
tutions cannot  be  said  to  be  very  close. 
Of  course  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
boundaries  of  many  ecclesiastical  provinces 
merely  conformed  themselves  to  those  of 
the  civil  provinces;  the  convenience  of 
such  an  arrangement  would  be  obvious. 
[See Akchbishop ;  Metropolitan;  Dio- 
cese.] 

PROVZiiJClAXi.  The  religious  who, 
behig  appointed  either  by  the  general  of 
the  order  or  by  the  chapter,  has  the 
general  superintendence  of  the  affairs  of 
the  order  within  the  limits  of  a  certain 
province.  These  provinces  have  a  greater 
or  less  geographical  extension  according 
to  the  number  of  monasteries  established 
within  them;  when  the  monasteries  are 
numerous,  cfBtens  pai'ihiis  the  provinces 
will  be  small.  In  1580  the  residences  and 
colleges  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  [Jesuits] 
were  distributed  among  twenty-one  pro- 
vinces ;  this  implies  the  existence  of  the 
same  number  of  provincials. 

PRovzszoir,  cau-osTXCAZi.  By 
this  is  meant  the  regular  conferring  of, 
and  induction  into,  ecclesiastical  func- 
tions. It  has  three  principal  parts,  or 
stages — designation,  collation  or  insti- 
tution, and  installation.  [See  Bisb[OP,IV.  ; 
Nomination;  Collation  to  a  Benefice; 
and  Installation.] 

PROVOST  (p'ceposittis).  Professor 
Cheetham  has  collected  six  different 
senses  in  which  the  word  prcepositus  was 
used  in  the  first  eight  centuries:  (1")  tis 
the  president  or  chairman  of  any  meeting ; 
(2)  as  the  chief  of  a  body  of  canons ;  (3) 
as  the  second  in  authority  under  an 
abbot,  or  the  head  of  a  subordinate  house 
[see  Pbior];  (4)  as  that  member  of  a 
chapter  who  manages  the  estates  ;  besides 
two  senses  of  minor  importance.  Re- 
ferring to  (2),  the  provost  of  a  cathedral 

1  Art.  "Bishop,"  by  Mr.  Hatch,  in  Smith 
and  Cheetham. 


PURGATORY 

chapter  was  anciently   the   archdeacon ; 

the  provost  of  a  collegiate  chapter  was 
the  hrst  dignitary  among  the  canons.  At 
the  present  day,  in  Austria,  Prussia, 
Bavaria,  and  England,  the  cathedral 
chapters  are  presided  over  by  provosts; 
in  France  and  other  parts  of  Germany 
by  deans.  In  Austria  the  provost  of  a 
cathedral  has  the  title  and  privileges  of  a 
prelate;  the  Provost  of  Munich  has  the 
right  of  wearing  the  mitre  in  processions. 
Provosts  in  Austria  are  nominated  by  the 
Emperor ;  in  England  and  the  other 
countries  named,  by  the  Pope.  (vSmith 
and  Cheetham;  Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

PSETTBO-XSIBORE.       [See     FaLSE 

Decretals.] 

PUZiPZT.  The  old  custom  was  to 
preach  from  the  altar  or  episcopal  chair. 
But  apparently  even  in  St.  Augustine's 
time  the  ambo  originally  meant  for 
readers  and  singers,  and  large  enough  to 
hold  several  persons  easily,  was  used  for 
preaching,  and  so  was  raised  and  nar- 
rowed into  the  form  of  the  pulpit.  It 
should  be  placed  on  the  Gospel  side 
(S.  C.  IX.,  February  20,  1862),  unless 
that  side  is  already  occupied  by  the 
bishop's  throne.  The  bishop,  according 
to  the  "  Cser.  Episc,"  should  preach,  if 
possible,  from  the  throne  or  from  a  fald- 
stool at  the  altar.  If  this  is  inconvenient 
he  should  be  accompanied  to  the  pulpit 
by  the  two  canons  who  assist  at  the 
throne.  (Montault,  "  Trait6  de  la  Con- 
struct., etc.,  des  Eglises.") 

PTTRGATORY.  A  place  in  which 
souls  who  depart  this  life  in  the  grace  of 
God  suffer  for  a  time  because  they  still 
need  to  be  cleansed  from  venial,  or  have 
still  to  pay  the  temporal  punishment  due 
to  mortal  sins,  the  guilt  and  the  eternal 
pimishment  of  which  have  been  remitted. 
Purgatory  is  not  a  place  of  probation,  for 
the  time  of  trial,  the  period  during  which 
the  soul  is  free  to  choose  eternal  life  or 
eternal  death,  ends  with  the  separation  of 
soul  and  body.  All  the  souls  in  Purga- 
tory have  died  in  the  love  of  God,  and 
are  certain  to  enter  heaven.  But  as  yet 
they  are  not  pure  and  holy  enough  to  see 
God,  and  God's  mercy  allots  them  a  place 
and  a  time  for  cleansing  and  preparation. 
At  last,  Christ  will  come  to  judge  the 
world,  and  then  there  will  be  only  two 
places  left,  heaven  and  hell. 

The  Councils  of  Florence  ("Decret. 
Unionis  ")  and  Trent  ("  Decret.  de  Pur- 
gat."  ses8.  XXV. ;  cf.  sess.  vi.  can.  80, 
sess.  xxii.  *'  De  Sacrific.  Miss."  c.  2  et 
can.  3),  define  "  that  there  is  a  Purgatory, 


PURGATORY 

and  that  the  souls  detained  there  are 
helped  by  the  prayers  of  the  faithful 
and,  above  all,  by  the  acceptable  sacrifice 
of  the  altar."  I'urther  the  definitions  of 
the  Church  do  not  go,  but  the  general 
teaching  of  theologians  explains  the  doc- 
trine of  the  councils,  and  embodies  the 
general  sentiment  of  the  faithful.  Theo- 
logians, then,  tell  us  that  souls  after  death 
are  cleansed  from  the  stain  of  their  venial 
sins  by  turning  with  fervent  love  to  God 
and  by  detestation  of  those  offences  which 
marred,  though  they  did  not  entirely 
destroy,  their  union  with  Hira.  St. 
Thomas  and  Suarez  hold  that  this  act  of 
fervent  love  and  perfect  sorrow  is  made 
in  the  first  instant  of  the  soul's  separation 
from  the  body,  and  suffices  of  itself  to 
remove  all  the  stain  of  sin.  (See  the  quo- 
tations in  Jungmann,  "  De  Novissimis  "  p. 
103.)  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certain 
that  the  time  of  merit  expires  with  this 
life,  and  that  the  debt  of  temporal  pun- 
ishment must  still  be  paid.  The  souls  in 
Purgatory  suffer  the  pain  of  loss — i.e. 
they  are  in  anguish,  because  their  past 
sins  exclude  them  for  a  season  from  the 
sight  of  God,  and  they  understand  in  a 
degree  previously  impossible  the  infinite 
bliss  from  which  they  are  excluded  and 
the  foulness  of  the  least  offence  against 
the  God  who  has  created  and  redeemed 
them.  They  also  undergo  "  the  punish- 
ment of  sense  " — i.e.  positive  pains  which 
afflict  the  soul.  It  is  the  common  belief 
of  the  Western  Church  that  they  are 
torme;ited  by  material  fire,  and  it  is 
quite  conceivable  that  God  should  give 
matter  the  power  of  constraining  and 
afflicting  even  separated  souls.  But  the 
Greeks  have  never  accepted  this  belief, 
nor  was  it  imposed  upon  them  when  they 
returned  to  Catholic  unity  at  Florence. 
The  saints  and  doctors  of  the  Church 
describe  these  pains  as  very  terrible. 
They  last,  no  doubt,  for  very  different 
lengths  of  time,  and  vary  in  intensity 
according  to  the  need  of  individual  cases. 
It  is  supposed  that  the  just  who  are 
alive  when  Christ  comes  again,  and  who 
stand  in  need  of  cleansing,  will  be  puri- 
fied in  some  extraordinary  way — e.(/.  by 
the  troubles  of  the  last  days,  by  vehement 
contrition,  &c.,  but  all  this  is  mere  con- 
jecture. In  conclusion  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  there  is  a  bright,  as  well  as 
a  dark,  side  to  Purgatory.  The  souls 
there  are  certain  of  their  salvation,  they 
are  willing  sufferers,  and  no  words,  ac- 
cording to  St.  Catherine  of  Genoa,  can 
express   the  joy  with    which    they   are 


PURGATORY 


703 


filled,  as  they  increase  in  union  with  God. 
She  says  their  joy  can  be  compared  to 
nothing  except  the  greater  joy  of  Paradiee 
itself.  (See  for  numerous  citations,  Jung- 
mann, "  De  Noviss."  cap.  1,  a.  6.) 

This  may  suffice  as  an  account  of 
theological  teaching  on  the  subject.  It 
must  not  be  supposed  that  any  such 
weight  belongs  to  legends  and  specula- 
tions which  abound  in  mediaeval  chronicles 
(sea  Maskell,  "Monument.  Rit."vol.  ii,  p. 
Ixxi.),  and  which  often  appear  in  modern 
books.  The  Council  of  Trent  (sess.  xxv. 
Decret.  de  Purgat.),  while  it  enjoins 
bishops  to  teach  "  the  sound  doctrine  of 
Purgatory,  handed  down  by  the  holy 
Fathers  and  councils,"  bids  them  refrain 
"■  in  popular  discourses "  from  those 
"more  difficult  and  subtle  questions 
which  do  not  tend  to  edification,"  and 
''  to  prohibit  the  publication  and  dis- 
cussion of  things  which  are  doubtful  or 
even  appear  false." 

Scripture,  it  may  be  justly  said,  points 
to  the  existence  of  Purgatory.  There  is 
no  fellowship  between  the  darkness  of 
sin  and  selfishness  and  God,  "  in  whom 
there  is  no  darkness  at  all,"  so  that  the 
degree  of  our  purity  is  the  measure  of 
our  union  with  God  here  on  earth. 
Perfect  purity  is  needed  that  we  may  see 
God  face  to  face.  When  God  appears 
"  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see 
Him  as  He  is."  "  Every  man  who  hath 
this  hope  in  him  purifieth  himself,  as  he 
is  pure"  (1  John  iii.  2,  3),  Without 
holiness  "  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord  " 
(Heb.  xii.  14).  This  work  of  inner 
cleansing  may  be  effected  by  our  corre- 
spondence with  grace.  We  sow  as  we 
reap  :  deeds  of  humility  increase  humility ; 
works  of  love  deepen  the  love  of  God  and 
man  in  the  soul.  Often,  too,  God's  mercy 
in  this  life  weans  the  soul  from  the  love  of 
the  world,  and  affliction  may  be  a  special 
mark  of  his  compassion.  "Whom  the 
Lord  loves  He  disciplines,  and  He 
scourges  every  son  whom  he  receives 
(Heb.  X.  6).  He  disciplines  us  "for  our 
good,  that  we  may  participate  in  his 
sanctity  "  (ib.  10).  Now,  it  is  plain  that 
in  the  case  of  many  good  people  this 
discipline  has  not  done  its  work  when 
death  overtakes  thern.  Many  faults,  e.ff. 
of  bad  temper,  vaniliy  and  the  like,  and 
infirmity  consequent  on  more  serious  sins 
of  which  they  have  repented,  cleave  to 
them  still.  Surely,  then,  the  natural 
inference  is  that  their  preparation  for 
heaven  is  completed  after  death.  By 
painful   discipline  in  this  world  or  the 


704 


PURGATORY 


next  God  finislies  the  work  in  them  which 
He  has  begun,  and  perfects  it  "  unto  the 
day  of  Jesus  Christ  "  (Phil.  i.  6). 

We  would  appeal  to  those  general 
principles  of  Scripture  rather  than  to 
particular  texts  often  alleged  in  proof 
of  Purgatory.  We  doubt  if  they  con- 
tain an  explicit  and  direct  reference 
to  it.  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  iii.  10)  speaks  of 
some  who  will  be  saved  "  yet  as  through 
fire,"  but  he  seems  to  mean  the  fire  in 
which  Christ  is  to  appear  at  the  last.  He 
himself,  he  says,  has  established  the 
Corinthian  church  on  the  only  possible 
foundation — viz.  Jesus  Christ.  Others 
have  built  it  up  from  this  foundation,  or, 
in  other  words,  have  developed  the  Chris- 
tian faith  and  life  of  its  members.  These 
teachers,  however,  must  take  care  how 
they  build,  even  on  the  one  foundation. 
"  Each  man's  work  will  be  made  manifest, 
for  the  day  will  show  it,  because  it  [the 
day  of  judgment]  is  revealed  in  fire,  and 
the  fire  will  test  each  man's  work  of 
what  kind  it  is :  if  any  man's  work  which 
he  has  built  up  [on  the  foundation] 
remains,  he  will  receive  a  reward  ;  if  any 
man's  work  is  burnt  down  he  will  suffer 
loss — [i.e.  he  will  forfeit  the  special 
reward  and  glory  of  good  teachers],  but 
he  himself  wUl  be  saved,  but  so  as  through 
fire."  The  man  who  has  built  up  with 
faulty  material  is  depicted  as  still  working 
at  the  building  when  the  fire  of  Christ's 
coming  seizes  it  and  he  himself  escapes, 
but  only  as  a  man  does  from  a  house  on 
fire,  leaving  the  work  which  is  consumed 
behind  him.  St.  Paul,  if  we  have  caught 
his  meaning,  speaks  of  the  end  of  the 
world,  not  of  the  time  between  death  and 
judgment,  and  so,  we  think,  does  our  Lord 
in  Matt.  xii.  32.  The  sin  against  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  tells  us,  will  not  be  for- 
given, either  "  in  this  age  "  (eV  tovtco  tS 
alcovi) — i.e.  in  the  world  which  now  is, 
or  in  the  future  age  (ev  tm  fxiWovri) — i.e. 
in  the  new  world,  or  rather  new  period 
which  is  to  be  ushered  in  by  the  coming 
of  the  Messias  in  glory.  There  is  no  hope 
of  forgiveness  here  or  hereafter  for  the 
sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  it  does  not 
follow,  and,  granting  our  interpretation, 
it  would  be  inconsistent  with  Catholic 
doctrine  to  believe,  that  other  sins  may  be 
forgiven  in  the  age  to  come.  Thus,  "  the 
age  to  come "  would  have  precisely  the 
same  sense  as  the  corresponding  Hebrew 
words  (Ka'ji  D^iyn  —see,  e.g.,  "  Pirke 
Avoth,"  cap.  4,  and  for  many  other 
iufitancea  Buxtorf,  "  Lex  Rabbin,  et  Chald. 


PURGATORY 

8ub  voc.  dViu),  which  is  in  itself  a 
strong  argument,  and  the  meaning  we 
have  -given  is  fully  supported  by  New 
Testament  usage  (see  particularly  tov 
alo}vo9  eKeivov  Tvxe^v,  Luc.  XX.  35,  and 
(TVPTeXfia  TOV  aloovos,  Matt.  xiii.  39,  40, 
49,  xxiv.  3,  xxviii.  20 — decisive  passages, 
as  we  venture  to  think).  Maldonatus 
decidedly  rejects  the  supposed  allusion  to 
Purgatory  in  Matt.  v.  25,  26.  '*  Be  well- 
disposed  to  thine  adversary  [i.e.  the 
offended  brother]  quickly,  even  till  thou 
art  on  the  way  with  him  [i.e.  it  is  never 
too  soon  and  never,  till  life  is  over,  too 
late  to  be  reconciled],  lest  the  adversary 
hand  thee  over  to  the  judgo,  and  the 
judge  hand  thee  over  to  the  officer, 
and  thou  be  cast  into  pi-ison.  Amen, 
I  say  unto  thee  thou  shalt  not  go  out 
thence  till  thou  shalt  pay  the  last  far- 
thing." Maldonatus  follows  St.  Augus- 
tine in  the  opinion  that  the  "last  far- 
thing "  will  never  and  can  never  be  paid, 
and  that  the  punishment  is  eternal.  Just 
in  the  same  way  it  is  said  of  the  un- 
merciful slave  (Luc.  xviii.  34),  that  he 
was  to  be  handed  over  to  the  tormentors 
"  till  he  should  pay  all  the  debt."  Yet  a 
slave  could  never  pay  so  enormous  a 
sum  as  10,000  talents.  "  Semper  solvet, 
sed  nunquam  persolvet,"  "  He  will  always 
pay,  but  never  pay  off,"  is  the  happy 
comment  of  Remigius  (and  so  Chrysostom 
and  Augustine ;  see  Trench,  "  Parables," 
p.  164).  The  reader  will  find  the  various 
interpretations  of  these  texts  fairly  dis- 
cussed in  Kstius  and  Maldonatus  or  in 
Meyer.  DoUinger,  however  ("  First  Age 
of  the  Church,"  p.  249),  sees  an  "  unmis- 
takable reference  "  to  Purgatory  in  Matt, 
xii.  32,  V.  26. 

In  two  special  ways,  writers  of  the 
early  Church,  as  Cardinal  Newman  points 
out  ("Development,"  p.  385  seq.),  were 
led  to  formulate  the  belief  in  Purgatory. 
In  the  articles  on  the  sacrament  of  Pen- 
ance, we  have '  shown  the  strength  of 
primitive  belief  in  the  need  of  satisfaction 
for  sin  by  painful  works,  and  in  the 
article  on  Penance  the  rigour  with  which 
satisfaction  was  exacted.  Indeed,  the 
belief  in  Purgatory  lay  dormant  m  the 
primitive  Church  to  a  certain  extent,  Just 
because  the  fervour  of  the  first  Christians 
was  80  vehement,  just  because  the  severity 
of  penance  here  might  well  be  thought  to 
exclude  the  need  of  purifying  discipline 
after  death.  But  what  was  to  be  thought 
of  those  who  were  reconciled  on  their 
death-bed,  before  their  penance  was  ended 


PURGAIORY 


PURGATORY 


705 


or  even  begun,  or  in  whom  outward  pen- 
ance for  some  cause  or  other  had  failed  to 
do  the  whole  of  its  work?  Clement  of 
Alexandria  supplies  a  clear  answer  to 
this  question :  '*  Even  if  a  man  passes  out 
of  the  flesh,  he  must  put  otf  his  passions, 
ere  he  is  able  to  enter  the  eternal  dwel- 
ling, .  .  .  throupb  much  discipline,  there- 
fore, stripping  off  his  passions,  our  faith- 
ful man  will  go  to  the  mansion  which  is 
better  than  the  former,  bearing  in  the 
special  penance  which  appertains  to  him 
(iSt'co/xa  Trjs  ixeravoias)  a  very  great  punish- 
ment for  the  sins  he  has  committed  after 
baptism"  ("Strom.'  vi.  14,  p.  794,  ed. 
Potter).  He  speaks  of  the  angels  '*  who 
preside  over  the  ascent "  of  souls  as 
detaining  those  who  have  preserved  any 
worldly  attaclmient  (iv.  18,  p,  616),  and 
with  at  least  a  possible  relV,rence  to  Pur- 
gatory, of  fire  as  purifying  sinful  souls 
(vii.  6,  p.  851).  The  genuine  and  con- 
temporary Acts  of  St.  Perpetua,  who 
suffered  under  Septimius  Severus  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  third  century, 
plainly  imply  the  belief  in  Purgatory. 
The  saint,  according  to  a  part  of  the  Acts 
written  by  herself,  saw  iii  a  vision  her 
brother  wlio  was  dead,  and  for  whom  she 
had  prayed.  He  was  sutFering  and  she 
went  on  praying.  Then  she  beheld  him 
in  another  and  more  cheerful  vision,  and 
"knew  that  he  was  translated  from  his 
place  of  punishment "  {de  poena ;  Ruin- 
art,  "Act.  Mart.  S.  Perpet."  &c.,  vii. 
viii.).  Cyprian  (Ep.  Iv.  20),  in  answer 
to  the  objection  that  the  relaxation  of 
penitential  discipline  in  the  case  of  the 
lapsed  would  weaken  the  courage  and 
stability  which  made  martyrs,  insists  that 
after  all  the  position  of  one  who  had 
fallen  away  and  then  been  admitted  to 
martyrdom  would  always  be  much  less 
desirable  than  that  of  a  martyr.  "  It  is 
one  thing  for  a  man  to  be  cast  into  prison 
and  not  to  leave  it  till  he  pay  the  last 
farthing,  another  thyig  to  receive  at 
once  the  reward  of  faith  and  virtue; 
one  thing  to  be  tormented  long  with 
sorrow  for  sins,  to  be  purified  and  cleansed 
for  a  long  time  by  the  fire,  another  to 
purge  away  all  sins  by  martyrdom." 
Cardinal  Newman  urges  that  these  words, 
especially  "  missum  in  carcerem,"  "  pur- 
gari  diu  igne,"  "  seem  to  go  beyond "  a 
mere  reference  te  penitential  discipline  in 
this  life,  and  the  Benedictine  editor  is  of 
the  same  mind. 

Next,  we  can  prove  the  early  date  of 
belief  in  Purgatory  from  the  habit  of 
praying  for  the  dead,  a  habit  which  the 


Church  inherited  from  the  Synagogue. 
The  words  in  2  Mace.  xii.  42  seq.  are 
familiar  to  everybody.  Judas  found 
i€pa>ij.ara,  or  things  consecrated  to  idols, 
under  the  garments  of  those  who  had 
been  slain  in  battle  against  Gorgias. 
Whereupon  he  made  a  collection  of 
money  and  sent  to  Jerusalem,  "to  offer 
sacrifice  for  sin,  doing  very  well  and 
excellently,  reasoning  about  the  dead. 
For  unless  he  had  expected  those  who 
had  fallen  before  [the  others]  to  rise 
again,  it  would  have  been  supertiuous  and 
absurd  to  pray  for  the  dead.  Therefore, 
seeing  well  [e/i./3Xe7ra)i/]  that  a  most  fair 
reward  is  reserved  for  those  who  sleep 
in  piety,  his  design  was  holy  and  pious, 
whence  he  made  the  propitiation  for 
the  dead  that  they  might  be  loosed  from 
sin."'  This  passage  implies  a  belief  both 
in  Purgatory  and  the  efiicacy  of  prayers 
for  the  departed,  and  takes  for  granted 
that  this  belief  would  be  held  by  all  who 
believed  in  the  resurrection.  This  is  not 
the  place  to  discuss  the  canonical  or  even 
the  historical  character  of  the  book.  It 
represents  a  school  of  Jewish  belief  at 
the  time,  and  we  know  from  xv.  37  that 
it  was  written  before  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  Second  Maccabees  was  com- 
posed in  Greek,  but  we  have  the  fullest 
evidence  from  Hebrew  and  Chaldee 
sources  that  the  later  Jews  prayed  for 
the  dead  and  recognised  the  need  of 
purification  after  death.  Weber  ("A It- 
synag.  Palast.  Theol."  p.  326  seq.)  thus 
sums  up  the  Rabbinical  doctrine :  "  Only 
a  few  are  sure  of  [immediate]  entrance 
into  heaven;  the  majority  are  at  their 
death  still  not  ripe  for  heaven,  and  yet 
will  not  be  absolutely  excluded  from  it. 
Accordingly,  we  are  referred  to  a  middle 
state,  a  stage  between  death  and  eternal 
life,  which  serves  for  the  final  perfecting." 
Those  who  were  not  perfectly  just  here 
suffer  "  the  pain  of  fire,  and  the  fire  is 
their  penance."  The  "Pesikta,"  a  very 
ancient  commentary  on  sections  of  the 
law  and  prophets,  composed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century  after  Christ, 
describes  the  penance  as  lasting  usually 
twelve  months,  of  which  six  are  spent  in 
extreme  heat,  six  in  extreme  cold.  The 
common  Rabbinical  doctrine  that  Israel- 
ites, except  those  guilty  of  some  special 
sins,  do  at  last  enter  heaven,  and  the 
fantastical  shapes  which  the  Jewish  doc- 

1  This  sentence  is,  of  course,  ungrammati- 
cal ;  but  so  is  the  Greek  A  part  of  2  Mace,  is 
more  like  rough  notes  than  a  fmished  composi- 
tion. 


z  z 


706 


PURGATORY 


PRYMER 


trine  of  Purgatory  has  assumed,  do  not 
concern  us  here.  But  it  is  well  to  ob- 
serve that  the  Jews  have  never  ceased  to 
pray  for  their  dead.  The  following  is 
from  the  prayer  said  at  the  house  of 
mourners,  as  given  in  a  modern  Jewish 
prayer-book,  issued  with  authority:  — 
**  May  our  reading  of  the  law  and  our 
prayer  be  acceptable  before  Thee  for  the 
soui  of  N.  Deal  with  it  according  to  the 
great  mercy,  opening  to  it  the  gates  of 
compassion  and  mercy  and  the  gates  of 
the  garden  of  Eden,  and  receive  it  in  love 
and  favour ;  send  thy  holy  angels  to 
it  to  conduct  it,  and  give  it  rest  beneath 
the  Tree  of  Life."  (priV?  D""'^  "  Medi- 
tation of  Isaac,"  a  Jewish  prayer-book 
according  to  the  German  and  Polish  rite, 
p.  336-7).  1 

Against  the  Jewish  custom  and  doc- 
trine Christ  and  his  Apostles  made  no 
protest,  though  both  custom  and  doctrine 
existed  in  their  time.  Nay,  "  St.  Paul 
himself  [cf.  2  Tim.  i.  16-18  with  iv.  19] 
gives  an  example  of  such  a  prayer.  The 
Ephesian  Onesiphorus,  mentioned  in  the 
Second  Epistle  to  St.  Timothy,  was 
clearly  no  longer  among  the  living.  St. 
Paul  praises  this  man  for  his  constant 
service  to  him,  but  does  not,  as  elsewhere, 
send  salutations  to  him,  but  only  to  his 
family ;  for  him  he  desires  a  blessing  from 
the  Lord,  and  prays  for  him  that  the  Lord 
will  grant  he  may  find  mercy  with  Christ 
at  the  day  of  judgment."  The  words  in 
inverted  commas  are  from  Dolhnger's 
"First  Age  of  the  Church,"  p.  251; 
but  many  Protestant  commentators, 
among  whom  we  may  mention  De  Wette 
and  Huther,  who  is  eminent  among  recent 
commentators  on  the  Pastoral  Epistles, 
lean  to  the  same  interpretation. 

All  this  considered,  it  cannot  seem 
strange  that  every  ancient  liturgy  con- 
tains prayers  for  the  dead.  To  under- 
stand the  strength  of  this  argument  we 
must  remember  that  these  liturgies  are 
written  in  many  different  languages,  and 
represent  the  practice  in  every  part  of  the 
ancient  world.  The  very  first  Christian 
who  has  left  Latin  writings,  speaks  of 
"  oblations  for  the  dead  "  as  a  thing  of 
course  (Tertull.  "  De  Coron."  3).  It  is 
often  said  that  prayers  for  the  dead  do 

*  The  li.*^^p  is  recited  at  morning  and  even- 
ing prayer  for  deceased  parents  during  eleven 
months  of  the  year  of  mourning.  Formerly  it 
was  said  for  the  whole  year.  It  is  one  of 'the 
few  prayers  in  the  Ritual  which  are  in  Chaldee 
instead  of  Hebrew,  but  there  are  internal  signs 
that  it  comes  from  a  lost  Hebrew  original. 


not  necessarily  imply  belief  in  Purgatory, 
and  this  is  true.  The  words,  e.g.,  in  the 
Clementine  liturgy,  "  We  offer  to  Thee 
for  all  thy  saints  who  have  pleased  Thee 
from  ancient  days,  patriarchs,  prophets, 
just  men,  apostles,  martyrs,  confessors, 
bishops,  presbyters,  deacons,  subdeacons, 
readers,  singers,  virgins,  widows,  laymen, 
and  all  whose  name  Thou  knowest,"  do 
not  imply  that  those  for  whom  the  sacri- 
fice is  ofiered  are  in  a  state  of  suftering. 
But  Tertullian  ("  Monog."  10)  connects 
prayer  for  the  dead  with  Purgatory  when 
he  says  of  a  woman  who  has  lost  her 
husband  that  "she  prays  for  his  soul, 
and  supplicates  for  him  refreshment  [re- 
fricfej'ium'],  and  a  part  in  the  first  resur- 
rection, and  offers  on  the  anniversaries  of 
his  death  [dormitionisy^  So,  too,  St. 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem  ("  Mystagog."  5)  : 
"If  when  a  king  had  banished  certain 
who  had  given  him  oftence,  their  con- 
nections should  weave  a  crown  and  offer 
it  to  him  on  behalf  of  those  under  his 
vengeance,  would  he  not  grant  a  respite 
to  their  punishments  ?  In  the  same 
manner  we,  when  we  offer  to  Him  our 
supplications  for  those  who  have  fallen 
asleep,  though  they  be  sinners,  weave  no 
crown,  but  offer  up  Christ  sacrificed  for 
our  sins,  propitiating  our  merciful  God, 
both  for  them  and  for  ourselves."  StiU 
the  doctrine  was  not  fully  established  in 
the  West  till  the  time  of  Gregory  the 
Great.  Some  of  the  Greeks  conceived 
that  all,  however  perfect,  must  pass 
through  fire  in  the  next  world.  So,  e.g.y 
Origen,  "In  Num.**  Hom.  xxv.  6,  "In 
Ps.  xxvi. "  Hom.  iii.  1.  St.  Augustine 
had  indeed  the  present  doctrine  of  Pur- 
gatory clearly  before  his  mind,  but  had 
no  fixed  conviction  on  the  point.  In  his 
work  "  De  VIII  Dulcitii  Qusestionibus" 
(§  13),  written  about  420,  he  says  it  is 
"  not  incredible  "  that  imperfect  souls  wiU 
be  "  saved  by  some  purgatorial  fire,"  to 
which  they  will  \^  subjected  for  vai*ying 
lengths  of  time  according  to  their  needs. 

A  little  later,  in  the  "  De  Civitate,"  he 
expresses  his  belief  in  Purgatory  as  if  he 
were  certain  (xxi.  13),  or  nearly  so  (xx. 
25),  but  again  speaks  doubtfully  (xxi.  2Q, 
"  forsitan  verum  est ")  and  in  the  "  Enchi- 
ridion "  (69).  Very  different  is  Gregory's 
tone :  "  ante  judicium  purgatorius  ignis 
credendus  est '"  ("  Dial."  iv.  39). 

PRTIMESR.  The  Prymer  was  a  name 
given  in  England  to  a  popular  manual 
containing  the  Hours  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
the  dirge,  penitential  and  gradual  psalms, 
Pater,    Ave,     Creed,     Commandments, 


PRYMER 

Litany,  commendations,  and  otlier  occa- 
sional prayers.  It  is  only  when  different 
parts  of  the  offices,  prayers,  &c.,  are  trans- 
lated into  English  that  the  word  Prymer 
is  used.  Thus  the  title  runs,  ''  The 
Prymer  of  Salysbury  Use,"  "  The  Prymer 
in  Englysshe,*''  "The  Prymer  in  Eng- 
Ij'sshe  and  Latin,"  ifec.  Prymers  were 
published  by  the  authority  of  King 
Henry  VIII.  after  he  had  asserted  the 
royal  supremacy,  and  again  by  the  Re- 
formers, who  published  Prymers  to  suit 
th:?ir  own  way  of  thinking.  We  owe  to 
Mr.  Maskell  a  most  learned  and  interesting 
edition  of  the  English  Prymer  from  a 
MS.  now  in  the  British  Museum,  not  later 
than  1410.  The  MS.  has  no  title,  but  the 
contents  answer  to  those  of  the  Prymer, 
and  Mr.  Maskell  traces  the  word  back  to 


QUIETISM 


707 


j  the    fourteenth     century.       (From    Mr. 
Maskell's    Dissertation   on   the   Prymer, 
I  "  Monument.  Rit."  vol,  iii.). 
I  PURXFZCATZOIOr,      THAST       OF. 

I  [See  Candlemas.] 

I  PITRZFZSR.      [See  MUNDATORY.] 

PYX.     A  vase  in  which  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  reserved.     Tlie  word  occurs 
in  tliis  sense  in  a  decree  of  Pope  Leo.  IV., 
who     reigned     from     847-885     (Mansi, 
"  Coucil,"  xiv.  891).   The  pyx  should  be  of 
silver,  ffilt  inside,  and  covered  with  a  silk 
I  veil.     It  is  not  consecrated,  but  the  Missal 
I  gives  a  form  for  the  blessing  of  a  pyx  by 
j  the  bishop  or  priest  with  episcopal  facul- 
ties.    ("  Manuale   Decret."  p.   76  note). 
:  [See  also  Reservation  of  the  Blessed 
j  Sacrament.] 


Q 


QUJESTORES,  Persons  appointed 
by  the  Popes  and  bishops  who  announced 
the  indulgences  for  those  who  joined  or 
supported  the  Crusades,  contributed  to  the 
building  of  churches,  to  monasteries,  &c., 
and  collected  the  alms  given  for  these 
objects.  The  Fourth  General  Council  of 
the  Lateran  (in  1215)  enjoined  the 
Quaestors  to  be  modest  and  discreet. 
They  were  not  to  be  received  unless  they 
could  produce  letters  of  authorisation,  and 
were  •  only  to  propose  to  the  people  what 
these  letters  contained.  Similar  regula- 
tions were  made  by  the  Council  of  Vienne 
in  1311.  The  Council  of  Trent  (sess. 
xxi.  De  Ref.  cap.  9)  declared  that 
these  Quaestors  had  occasioned  intoler- 
able scandal,  that  the  proposed  remedies 
had  been  inefficacious,  and  abolished  the 
office  altogether. 

QirzBfzSIVE  is  a  name  given  to  a 
dangerous  tendency  ratlier  than  to  any 
definite  system,  for  persons  called  by  the 
common  name  of  Quietists  have  differed 
seriously  from  each  other,  and  have  ad- 
vanced to  different  degrees  of  delusion. 
The  common  tendency  consists  in  making 
perfection  here  on  earth  consist  in  a  state 
of  uninterrupted  contemplation  (see  Bos- 
suet,  "Etats  d'Oraison,"  liv.  1)  during 
which  the  soul  remains  quiet  or  passive 
under  the  influence  of  God's  Spirit,  with- 
out forming  the  ordinary  acts  of  faith, 
hope,  love,  &c.,  without  desiring  heaven 
or  fearing  hell. 


Molinos,  a  Spanish  priest,  born  at  Sara- 
gossa  in  1627,^  was  the  first  Quietist  of 
modern  times.  He  spent  a  great  part  of  his 
life  at  Rome,  and,  while  there,  published  in 
Spanish  his  "  Spiritual  Guide  "  which  was 
translated  into  Italian,  Latin,  French, 
German,  and  other  languages.  He  main- 
tained not  only  the  merits  of  passive  con- 
templation without  hope  or  desire,  but 
also  that  the  soul  in  this  state  neither 
gained  by  the  practice  of  good  works  nor 
suffered  by  gross  sins,  which  last  only 
affected  the  lower  part  of  the  nature  and 
could  not  tarnish  the  purity  of  a  contem- 
plative soul.  In  1685  the  Inquisition 
censured  68  propositions  of  Molinos  and 
condemned  the  author  to  perpetual 
imprisonment,  in  which  he  died,  having 
recanted  his  eri'ors,  in  1696.*^ 

Quietism  crossed  the  Alps,  stripped, 
however,  of  its  gross  and  directly  im- 
moral part.  It  was  propagated  by 
Malaval  at  Marseilles  in  his  "  Pratique 
facile  pour  elever  TAme  a  la  Contempla- 
tion." This  book  also  was  condemned  at 
Rome,  and  Malaval  submitted.  But 
Quietism  found  a  much  more  talented 
and  engaging  defender  in  Madame  Guyon. 
This  lady,  originally  Jeanne  Bouvier  de 

1  So  the  new  edition  of  Bossuet,  vol.  xix 
Pref. 

2  The  chief  contemporary  documents  re- 
lating to  the  condemnation  of  Molinos  and  his 
followers  were  published  in  1875,  by  Loemmer, 

'    3Ieletematum  Bomancrum  Mantissa,  p.  407  seq. 
z2 


708 


QUIETISM 


la  Motte,  bad  contracted  an  unliappy  j 
marriage  at  16  and  was  left  a  widow  at 
28.  She  went  to  the  diocese  of  Geneva 
at  the  bishop's  request  to  help  in  the  in- 
struction of  converts,  and  at  a  convent  in 
Gex  met  the  Barnabite  Father  Lacombe, 
with  whom  she  travelled  from  town  to  town. 
At  Gi'enoble  she  published  her  "  Moyen 
court  et  facile  pour  faire  TOraison."  Sonae 
time  before,  P.  Lacombe  had  issued  his 
"  Analyse  del'Oraison  Mentale."  Lacombe 
was  imprisoned  at  Paris,where  he  died  in 
1699,  and  for  eight  months  Madame  Guyou 
herself  was  confined  to  a  convent.  After 
regaining  her  freedom,  she  published  a 
book  on  the  "  Mystical  Sense  'of  Canti- 
cles "  ^  (Lyons,  1688),  and  she  contrived  to 
win  over  Fenelon,  then  tutor  to  the  grand- 
son of  Louis  XIV.,  and  she  sent  her  works, 
printed  and  MS.,  to  Bossuet.  But  with 
Bossuet  she  could  make  no  way.  His 
profound  learning,  his  common  sense,  his 
manly  and  simple  piety,  made  him  proof 
against  the  charms  of  delusion,  and  he 
could  see  nothing  in  Madame  Guyon's 
works  except  '^  a  mass  of  extravagances, 
illusions,  and  puerilities."  He  has  fully 
justified  this  verdict  in  his  "Relation  sur 
le  Quietisme."  A  commission  in  which 
Bossuet  was  the  leading  member  met  in 
1694  and  1695,  and  issued  thirty-four 
articles  in  which  the  condemnation  of 
Quietism  was  implied. 

Fenelon  was  made  archbishop  of 
Cambray  in  1695,  and  soon  after  (Feb. 
1697)  published  his  "Explication  des 
Maximes  des  Saints  sur  la  Vie  interieure," 
He  defended  the  Quietist  idea  of  "  holy 
indifference,"  in  which  the  soul  loses  all 
deliberate  desire  of  its  cwn  bliss  or  fear 


RECEPTION   OF   CON\ERTS 

of  its  own  woe.  Fenelon,  who  was  censured 
by  sixty  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne  and  re- 
futed by  Bossuet.  appealed  to  Rome,  and 
there  twenty-three  propositions  of  his 
book  were  condemned  as  rash,  scandalous, 
&c.,in  a  brief  of  Innocent  XII.  dated  1699. 
Fenelon  made  a  most  edifying  submission, 
publicly  burning  his  own  book,  "  It  is 
not  I  who  have  conquered,"  Bossuet  said 
in  reply  to  the  congratulations  offered  to 
him ;  "  it  is  the  trutb."  (Chiefly  from 
the  new  edition  of  Bossuet.) 

QlJ-ZIO'Qxril.GESXMA,  Sexagesima, 
Septuagesiraa,  the  first,  second,  third 
Sundays  before  Lent.  The  words  are 
ancient  (Septuagesima  occurs  in  the 
Gelasian  and  Gregorian  Sacramentaries) ; 
but  it  is  hard  to  divine  their  meaning. 
Alcuin  proposed  two  solutions  to  Char- 
lemagne (Thomassin,  "  Traite  des  Festes," 
p.  308  seq.) — one  that  there  are  seventy 
days  from  Septuagesima  to  '^Pascha 
clausum  " — i.e.  the  Octave  of  Easter.  This 
leaves  the  names  Sexagesima  and  Quin- 
quagesima  unexplained.  His  other  so- 
lution is  adopted  by  Thomassin  ("  Traits 
des  Jeunes,"  p.  231).  Quoting  a  passage 
from  the  "  Regula  Magistri,"  Thomassin 
says :  "It  clearly  shows  that  the  names 
Quinquagesima  and  Sexagesima  are  not 
intended  to  denote 'the  numbers  fifty  or 
sixty.  They  have  been  formed  on  the 
[false]  analogy  of  Quadragesima — i.e.  Lent 
— being  one  and  two  weeks  before  the  first 
Sunday  in  Lent.  In  the  same  rule  the 
second  week  of  Lent  is  called  Tricesima, 
the  third  Vicesima."  The  custom  of  be- 
ginning the  fast  on  Septuagesima,  &c., 
and  the  reasons  for  it,  are  given  in  the 
article  on  Lf.nt. 


R. 


REASON      AND     FAZTH.        [See 

Faith.] 

RECEPTZOSr  OF  CONVERTS 
ZNXO  THE  CHURCH.  We  speak 
here  only  of  converts  who  are  supposed 
to  have'  received  valid  baptism.  For 
adults  who  have  never  been  baptised  a 
longer  form  of  baptism  is  provided.     But 

1  Her  other  works  are :  her  autobiography, 
3  vols.  ;  Discours  Chretiens,  2  vols. ;  L'Ancien 
et  le  Nouveau  Testament,  avec  des  Explications  et 
des  Reflexions,  20  vols. ;  Caniiques  Spirituels  ; 
Vera  Mystiques. 


intlieU.  S.,  at  least,  leave  is  usually  given 
by  the  bishop  to  use  the  shorter  form. 

A  baptised  person  who  has  previously 
belonged  to  an  heretical  sect  has  incurred 
the  censures  of  the  Church,  and  cannot 
therefore  be  restored  to  the  sacraments 
or  receive  sacramental  absolution  till  he 
has  been  absolved  from  censures.  It  may 
be  that  his  error  was  no  fault  of  his,  and, 
if  so,  he  was  not  a  formal  heretic.  Still, 
he  is  treated  as  such  in  the  external  court 
of  the  Church,  aud  the  Pope  reserves  to 
himself  the  power  of  removing  the  bar  of 


RECLUSE 

excommunication.  In  many  countries, 
however,  bishops  receive  power  as  dele- 
gates of  the  Holy  See  in  their  extraordi- 
nary or  quinquennial  faculties  to  absolve 
from  the  censure  in  question,  and  in  the 
U.  S.  they  communicate  this  power  to 
all  their  priests  who  have  faculties  for 
hearing  confessions. 

When  a  priest  is  satisfied  that  a  per- 
son desiring  to  be  a  Catholic  is  sincere 
and  steadfast  in  his  desire  and  sufficient- 
ly understands  the  tenets  of  the  Catholic 
religion,  he  may  admit  him  into  the 
Church. 

The  reception  of  converts  is  as  fol- 
lows: 1.  If  the  convert  belongs  to  an 
heretical  sect  and  has  been  baptized, 
and  there  is  doubt  of  the  validity  of  his 
baptism,  he  first  makes  the  Abjuration, 
or  Profession  of  Faith,  of  Pope  Pius  IV., 
is  then  conditionally  baptized,  and  is  re- 
leased from  the  censures.  Finally  he 
makes  his  sacramental  confession  and 
receives  absolution  from  the  priest,  and 
the  plenary  indulgences.  2.  If  his 
former  baptism  is  held  to  be  valid,  the 
same  order  is  followed,  omitting  the 
conditional  baptism.  3.  If  the  neo- 
phyte has  never  been  baptized,  baptism 
simply  is  administered  and  he  is  hence- 
forward a  Catholic.  [If  the  convert, 
whether  conditionally  baptized,  or  al- 
ready validly  baptized,  does  not  belong 
to  an  heretical  sect  the  Abjuration  is 
omitted.] 

The  reception  of  a  convert  may 
take-  place  publicly  in  a  church,  or,  as  is 
more  often  the  case,  in  private,  accord- 
ing to  circumstances  and  the  wish  of 
the  convert. 

REClkU'SE.  The  life  of  a  rechise  is 
still  more  solitary  and  austere  than  that 
of  a  hermit ;  it  implies  that  the  persons 
practising  it  "live  for  ever  shut  up  in 
I  heir  cells,  never  speaking  to  anyone  but 
to  the  superior  when  he  visits  thera,  and 
to  the  brother  who  brings  them  neces- 
saries. Their  prayers  and  austerities  are 
doubled,  and  their  fasts  more  severe  and 
more  frequent."'^  St.  Romuald  allowed 
reclusion  to  such  of  his  hermits  [Camal- 
DOLi]  as  desired  and  seemed  to  be  fitted 
for  it,  as  the  highest  and  most  difficidt 
stage  of  monastic  discipline.  Female  re- 
cluses were  usually  called  inclusce.  [See 
Inclusi.] 

RECOI.X1ECTS.      A  branch  of  the 
Franciscan   order  has  borne   this  name 
(derived  from  the  detachment  from  crea- 
tures and  recollection  in  God  which  the 
1  Alban  Butler,  Feb.  7. 


RECTOR 


700 


founders  aimed  at)  for  nearly  three  cen- 
turies.    From  the  time  of  the  Minister- 
General  Elias,  who  succeeded  St.  Francis, 
the   Franciscans  have  been  divided  into 
two  branches,  Conventuals  and  Observ- 
antins,  or  of  the  Observance,  the  former 
Hving  in  great  convents  and  following  a 
mitigated  rule,  the  latter  adhering  to  the 
intention   of  the  founders   in  letter  and 
.spirit,  especially  as  to  poverty.     The  Ob- 
servantins    in    France    were    commonly 
called   Cordeliers.      Several    distinctions 
appeared  in  course  of  time  among  those 
of  the  Observance,  which  Leo  X.  endea- 
voured to  check  by  fusing  all  the  sub- 
divisions into  one,  under  the  name  of  the 
Reformed    Franciscans.      Before   this   a 
saintly  Spanish  friar,  B.  John  de  Puebla, 
had  founded  (1489)  a  house  of  "Strict 
Observance "  on   the   Sierra   Morena,   in 
Spain.      The  friars  of  the  Strict  Obser- 
vance soon  became  a  separate  congrega- 
tion ;  they  passed  into  Italy  (where  they 
received  the  name  of  "  the  Reformed  ")  in 
1525,  and  established  themselves  at  Ne  vers, 
in  France,  in  1597.     The  French  filiation 
increased  rapidly ;  the  friars  were  called 
"  Recollects ;  "  Heniy  TV.,  Louis  XIIL, 
and    Louis    XIV.   loved    and    fevoured 
them  ;  and  it  was  arranged  that  in  every 
French   province   of    tlie   Observance   a 
certain  number  of  houses  should  be  given 
up  to  the  Strict  Observance.      The  Re- 
collects were   uninfected   by   Jansenism, 
and  when  the  commission  on  the  regular 
orders  (1768)  put  it  in  their  power  to 
relax  the  austerities  of  the  rule,  they  did 
not   do   so.     Recollects  and  Reformed 
differ  only  accidentally,  and  are  subject 
to  the  same  Minister-General  at  Rome. 
There  are  the  two  families   of   Friars 
Minor  of  the  Strict  Observance.     Both 
have  convents  in  the  U.  S.     Ever  since 
the  Crusades  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  the 
other  Catholic  sanctuaries  of  Palestine 
have  been  in  charge  of  the  Franciscans. 
[See  Feaxciscaxs,  j 

RECoircziiZikTxozr  of  pextz- 
TENTS.  [See  Penitential  Disci- 
pline oi<'  Chuech  ;  Cemetery,  &c.  See 
Execration,] 

RECTOR,  1.  The  ecclesiastic  who 
has  charge  of  the  government  of  a  con- 
gregation or  a  college  is  often  called  the 
Rector. 

2.  In  England  there  is  a  certain  num- 
ber of  missions  in  each  diocese,  important 
either  on  account  of  their  having  been 
long  established  or  because  of  the  size  of 
the  congregation,  the  priests  in  charge  of 
which  are  styled  "  Missionary  Rectors." 


no 


REDEMPTOEISTS 


3.  In  the  United  States  the  term 
"Missionary  Eector"  is  applied  to  a 
priest  assigned  by  the  bishop  to  the 
charge  of  a  parish. 

REBEMPTORISTS.  The  con- 
gregation of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer,  the 
members  of  which  are  commonly  known 
as  Redemptorists,  and  in  some  countries 
as  Ligoriaus,  was  founded  by  St.  Al- 
phonsus  Maria  de  Liguori  in  the  year 
1732.  Born  of  a  noble  Neapolitan  family 
in  1696,  Alphonsus,  after  giving  promise 
of  a  brilliant  career  at  the  bar,  abandoned 
its  honours  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven 
to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state.  His 
first  desire  was  to  join  the  Congregation 
of  the  Oratory ;  being  unable  to  do  this 
on  account  of  the  opposition  of  his  father, 
he  devoted  himself  to  evangehsing  the 
poor  in  the  city  of  Naples,  and  to  the 
duties  of  preacher  and  confessor,  residing 
first  in  his  father's  house,  afterwards  in 
the  college  of  the  Chinese,  founded  by 
Father  Matthew  Ripa,  the  famous  Chi- 
nese missionary.  He  also  joined  a  secular 
congregation  of  missionaries  called  the 
Propaganda,  and  with  them  gave  several 
missions  in  the  provinces.  By  this  means 
he  came  to  know  the  spiritual  destitution 
of  the  poor  peasants  and  shepherds,  and 
felt  a  strong  desire  to  devote  his  life  to 
the  succour  of  the  rural  populations.  He 
was  confirmed  in  these  thoughts  especially 
by  the  advice  of  Monsignor  Falcoia,  bishop 
of  Castellamare.  This  prelate  had  long 
desired  the  establishment  of  an  institute 
of  apostolic  men,  who  should  strive  in  all 
things  to  copy  the  life  of  om-  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  after  his  example  to  evange- 
lise the  poor.  He  had  founded  at  Scala 
a  community  of  ladies,  called  Nuns  of  the 
Most  Ploly  Saviour,  who  prayed  con- 
tinually for  the  same  intention.  It  was 
while  gi\ing  the  spiritual  exercises  to 
these  nuns  that  St.  Alphonsus  at  last 
resolved,  under  the  direction  of  Bishop 
Falcoia,  to  gather  some  companions,  who 
should  on  the  one  hand  seek  their  own 
perfection  by  the  obligations  and  rules  of 
a  religious  life,  and  on  the  other  devote 
themselves  to  apostolic  work  among  the 
most  neglected  and  forsaken  souls.  The 
work  was  solemnly  begun  at  Scala  on 
November  9,  1732,  St.  Alphonsus  being 
then  thirty-six  years  old. 

In  caiTying  out  this  design  the  saint 
encountered  innumerable  obstacles,  first 
on  the  part  of  good  men  who  looked  on 
him  as  misled  by  enthusiasm  or  spiritual 
ambition,  and  afterwards  from  the  civil 
authorities.    The  times  were  indeed  most 


REDEMPTORISTS 

unfavourable  to  such  a  project,  and  it  is 
one  of  the  miracles  of  the  saint's  life  to 
have  founded  and  maintained  a  new  reli- 
gious congregation  at  the  time  when  the 
Marquis  Tanucci  was  all-powerful  in 
Naples.  In  spite,  however,  of  these 
obstacles,  St.  Alphonsus  succeeded  in 
establishing  several  houses  in  diflerent 
parts  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  and  before  his 
death  saw  his  institute  spreading  in  the 
Papal  States,  and  already  transported  be- 
yond the  Alps. 

On  February  25, 1749,  Pope  Benedict 
XIV.  approved  the  rules  and  confirmed 
the  new  Institute  by  a  solemn  approba- 
tion. St.  Alphonsits  had  called  his  Con- 
gregation by  the  name  of  the  Most  Holy 
Saviour ;  but  to  prevent  confusion  with 
the  canons  regular  of  that  name  in  Venice, 
the  Pope  himself  changed  the  title  to  that 
of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer.  The  members 
of  the  Congregation  of  the  Most  Holy  Re- 
deemer, besides  the  three  simple  but  per- 
petual vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obe- 
dience, bind  themselves  by  a  vow  of  perse- 
verance until  death  in  the  Institute,  which 
they  confirm  by  a  promissory  oath.  They 
are  bound  by  their  vow  of  poverty  to  refuse 
all  benefices,  offices,  or  dignities  outside 
their  Congregation.  Whenever  a  Re- 
demptorist  has  been  raised  to  a  bishop- 
ric it  has  been  by  command  of  the  Sove- 
reign Pontiff",  and  by  his  dispensation.  It 
was  in  this  way  that  St.  Alphonsus  him- 
self was  obliged  to  accept  the  bishopric 
of  St.  Agatha  of  the  Goths.  In  order 
also  more  effectually  to  pursue  the  princi- 
pal end  of  the  Institute,  which  is  to  suc- 
cour the  most  ignorant  and  neglected 
souls,  St.  Alphonsus  forbade  his  Fathers  to 
undertake  such  works  as  the  instruction 
of  youth,  the  government  of  seminaries, 
the  direction  of  nmis.  Their  main  occu- 
pation is  the  apostolic  ministry  in  the 
preaching  of  missions  and  retreats  to  all 
classes  of  persons,  but  with  a  preference 
for  such  as  are  most  neglected,  especially 
those  who  live  in  remote  villages  and 
hamlets.  A  s,  however,  in  many  countries 
the  most  neglected  souls  are  to  be  found 
in  the  great  cities,  the  intention  of  the 
founder  is  carried  out  in  labouring  for 
them.  It  is  on  record  that  St.  Alphonsus, 
about  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  his 
congregation,  seriously  debated  the  ques- 
tion of  going  himself  to  the  savage  hea- 
then in  South  Africa,  and  that  he  wel- 
comed an  invitation  that  had  been  made 
to  him  to  send  out  missionaries  for  the 
conversion  of  the  Nestorian  heretics  in 
Asia.     It  was  also   his  wish  that  the 


REDEMPTORISTS 

members  of  his  congregation  who  should 
have  reached  the  age  of  thirty  should  hind 
themselves  by  vow  to  give  missions  to  the 
heathen,  as  soon  as  they  should  receive 
the  command  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  or 
of  the  Superior-General.  This  vow  was, 
however,  considered  superfluous  by  the 
cardinals  who  examined  the  rules  for  ap- 
probation. It  need  scarcely  be  said  that 
a  founder  whose  pre-eminent  science  has 
gained  him  a  place  among  the  nineteen 
doctors  of  the  Church  could  not  be  in- 
different to  learning  among  his  disciples. 
He  insists,  therefore,  in  his  rule  on  the 
duty  of  continual  study,  so  that  his  priests 
"  may  be  of  use  and  profit  to  the  Church 
on  all  occasions." 

St.  Alphonsus  died  on  August  1, 
1787,  in  his  ninety-first  year.  Before  his 
death  he  foretold  the  spread  of  his  Con- 
gregation beyond  the  Alps,  and  rejoiced 
when  he  heard  that  two  Germans  had 
asked  admission  from  the  superior  of  the 
Roman  house.  One  of  these,  the  Vener- 
able Servant  of  God  Clement  Maria  Hof- 
bauer,  established  the  order  in  Poland, 
Austria,  and  Switzerland,  and  since  his 
death,  in  1820,  it  has  spread  through  most 
of  the  countries  of  Europe,  in  North  and 
South  America,  the  West  Indies,  and  Aus- 
tralia. It  was  introduced  into  England  by 
Dr.  Baines,  vicar-apostolic  of  the  Western 
District,  in  1843,  shortly  before  his  death. 
The  British  Isles  at  present  (1883)  form 
one  Province,  with  houses  in  London, 
Liverpool,  Perth,  Teignmouth,  Limerick, 
and  Dundalk.  In  1832  the  first  estab- 
lishment of  Redemptorists  in  the  U.  S. 
was  made  at  Detroit,  and  in  1841  an- 
other colony  arrived  and  was  settled  in 
the  diocese  of  Baltimore,  where  is  now 
the  mother-house  of  their  Eastern  Pro- 
vince. The  mother-house  of  the  West- 
ern Province,  including  great  part  of  the 
Southern  States,  is  at  St.  Louis.  These 
zealous  missionaries  have  convents  and 
churches  in  many  of  the  princii)al 
cities. 

The  Congregation  is  under  the  Govern- 
ment of  a  superior-general,  called  the 
Rector  Major,  who  is  elected  for  life  by  a 
general  chapter,  and  is  assisted  by  six 
consultors.  Plis  residence  is  in  Rome. 
The  superiors  of  the  various  provinces 
(Provincials)  and  of  the  houses  (Rectors), 
with  their  consultors,  are  appointed  for  a 
term  of  three  years  by  the  Rector  Major. 
Their  term  of  office  may  be  renewed  at 
his  discretion.  The  nuns  already  men- 
tioned, commonly  called  Redemptoris tines, 
form  the  Ordei'  of  the  Most  Holy  Re- 


REFORMATION,  THE        711 

deemer,  as  distinguished  from  the  congre- 
gation of  missionaries.  They  are  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops  in  whose 
dioceses  they  reside.  They  are  strictly 
enclosed  and  contemplative,  assisting  the 
missionaries  by  their  prayers.  They  have 
monasteries  in  several  parts  of  Europe. 
That  of  Dublin  was  founded  by  Cardinal 
Oullen. 

REFECTORV  {refectorium,  place  of 
refreshment).     [See  Convent.] 

RSFORMATZOMT,  THB.  Since  the 
conversion  of  the  Barbarians,  who  broke 
up  and  divided  amongst  them  the  Western 
Empire,  wealth  in  every  form  had  been 
lavishly  poured  upon  the  Church ;  and 
a  relaxation  of  discipline— against  which 
great  pontiffs,  saintly  bishops,  and  the 
founders  or  reformers  of  religious  orders, 
unceasingly  strove — had  been  too  fre- 
quently the  result.  Through  the  opera- 
tion of  this  and  other  causes — such  as 
wars  of  ambition,  national  rivalries,  the 
growth  of  commercial  and  other  purely 
secular  interests,  &c. — the  sense  of  the 
essential  unity  of  the  Church,  which  was 
so  strong  throughout  Christendom  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  was  con- 
siderably weakened  at  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth.  On  the  rise  and  progress 
in  Germany  of  the  series  of  conflicts  and 
changes  which  go  by  the  name  of  **  the 
Reformation,"  see  the  article  Luther  and 
LiJTHERANisM.  The  subversive  doctrines 
of  the  German  reformer  found  a  willing 
disciple  in  Gustavus  Vasa  who,  on  the 
dissolution  (1523)  of  the  Union  of  Calmar 
became  king  of  Sweden.  Aided  by  the 
brothers  Peterson  and  by  Lawrence  An- 
derson, archdeacon  of  Strengness,  whom 
he  made  Chancellor,  Gustavus  (1627)  in- 
duced the  estates  of  the  realm,  in  the 
Diet  of  Westeras,  to  sanction  the  confis- 
cation of  the  property  of  the  monasteries. 
The  work  of  change  then  went  rapidly 
on.  Lawrence  Peterson  was  appointed 
by  the  king  (1531)  archbishop  of  Upsala, 
and  married.  The  king  declared  himself 
supreme  in  matters  ecclesiastical,  and, 
setting  aside  entirely  the  authority  of  the 
Holy  See,  deposed  or  appointed  bishops 
at  his  will.  The  last  remains  of  Catholic 
usages  were  abolished  at  a  second  Diet  of 
Westeras  in  1544.  Under  the  reign  of 
King  John  (1569)  there  seemed  to  be 
some  hope  of  a  Catholic  reaction ;  an 
envoy  was  sent  to  the  court  cf  Gregory 
XIIL,  and  the  Jesuit  Possevin  was  re- 
ceived at  Stockholm ;  but  a  sudden 
change  in  the  sentiments  of  the  king  re- 
stored things  to  their  former  state.     The 


712        REFORMATION,  THE 

system  adopted  in  Sweden,  in  organizing 
which  Lawrence  Peterson  was  mainly 
instrumental,  was  Lutheranism ;  but,  as 
in  England,  bishops  were  nominally  re- 
tained. The  episcopal  authority  of  Law- 
rence Peterson,  the  head  and  fountain  of 
the  new  hierarchy,  appears  to  have  been 
derived  solely  from  the  kinjr  ;  according 
to  Kohrbacher  ("Hist,  de  I'Egl."  xxiii. 
303),  there  was  a  true  Archbishop  of 
Upsala,  Olaus  Magnus,  alive  at  the  time, 
though  in  exile ;  he  did  not  die  till  1544. 

In  Denmark  the  tyrant  (Christian  IL, 
before  his  deposition  in  1023,  had  brought 
to  Copenhagen  a  Wittenberg  preacher,  a 
follower  of  Luther,  faToured  the  mar- 
riage of  the  clergy,  and  in  various  ways 
sought  to  tamper  with  the  faith  and 
laws  of  the  Church.  His  successor, 
Frederick  I.,  instigated  by  his  son  Chris- 
tian, who  had  studied  in  Germany  and 
become  a  zealous  Lutheran,  established 
by  degrees  his  own  supremacy  in  religious 
matters,  and,  by  favouring  heretical 
preachers,  and  discouraging  and  punish- 
ing all  who  stood  up  for  the  ancient  faith, 
prepared  the  way  for  its  ruin.  At  a  diet 
held  in  1536,  at  which  no  representative 
of  the  cle'rgy  was  admitted,  he  induced 
the  assembly  to  decree  the  abolition  of 
the  Catholic  worship  in  all  the  Danish 
dominions ;  the  bishops  were  required  to 
cease  from  opposing  Lutheranism,  and 
the  beneficed  clergy  to  embrace  it.  The 
nobles  and  people  acquiesced  with  a  sin- 
gular apathy  in  all  these  changes.  The 
king  then  invited  Bugenhagen,  a  friend 
of  Luther,  into  Denmark,  appointed  him 
court  preacher,  and  commissioned  him  to 
re-organise  the  Danish  church.  Bugen- 
hagen crowned  the  king  afresh,  as  if  to 
show  that  his  previous  coronation  with 
Catholic  rites  had  been  invalid  ;  he  also 
consecrated  superintendents  in  the  place 
of  the  deposed  Catholic  bishops.  As  these 
last  successively  died  out,  the  superinten- 
dents assumed  the  title  of  bishop  ;  and 
this  is  the  origin  of  the  present  Danish 
episcopate. 

On  the  Refonnation  movement  in 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  see  the 
articles  Anglican  Church;  English 
Catholics;  Presbyterians;  and  Irish 
Church. 

In  France  the  Protestants,  there  called 
Huguenots,  became  very  numerous ;  civil 
war  broke  out  in  1662,  and  was  renewed 
at  frequent  intervals  during  more  than 
thirty  years,  till  the  abjuration  of  Pro- 
testantism by  Henry  IV.  in  1593.  By 
the  edict  of  Nantes  (1698)  liberty  of  wor- 


REFORM  ATION,  THE 

ship  was  granted  to  the  Huguenots,  and 
certain  cities,  of  which  the  chief  was 
Kochelle,  made  over  to  them.  In  the 
eighteen  flourishing  provinces  of  Holland 
and  Belgium  the  reforming  party,  owing 
to  the  neighbourhood  of  France,  adhered 
to  the  system  of  Calvin.  Under  the  rule 
of  Charles  V.,  and  afterwards  of  his  son, 
Philip  II.,  the  designs  of  the  innovators 
were  severely  repressed.  The  seizure  of 
Brille  by  the  Gueux,  in  1572,  was  the 
commencement  of  the  long  civil  war 
which  ended  in  the  disruption  of  the 
seven  northern  provinces  from  the  eleven 
provinces  of  Belgium,  and  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  former  into  a  Republic. 
The  necessity  of  providing  a  rallying 
point  and  symbol  of  union  caused  the 
adoption  bv  the  Dutch,  in  the  Synod  of 
Dordrecht '(1574),  of  the  "  l^lgic  Con- 
fession," drawn  up  by  G  ui  de  Bres,  a 
Walloon,  a  few  years  before.  This  con- 
fession is  Calvinistic.  In  1582  the  pro- 
vinces of  Holland  and  Zeeland  proscribed 
the  Catholic  worship,  and  the  wholesale 
plunder  and  desecration  of  churches  fol- 
lowed. The  final  success  of  the  revolt 
was  tlie  signal  for  a  series  of  penal  enact- 
ments which  had  for  their  object  the 
extirpation  of  Catholicism  from  the  Re- 
public. This,  however — since  the  Bel- 
gian provinces,  conterminous  in  their 
whole  breadth  with  those  of  Holland, 
had  remained  Catholic — was  found  a  task 
impossible  of  achievement. 

"  In  Switzerland  the  Reformation 
arose,  independently  of  Luther,  by  the 
exertions  of  Zwiuglius,  in  Zurich  (who 
fell  October  11,  1531,  at  Cappel,  in  a 
battle  with  the  Catholics).  It  spread 
rapidly  ;  in  1528  it  had  been  adopted, 
altogether  or  partially,  by  the  cantons  of 
Zurich,  13em,  Basle,  Appenazel,  Glarus, 
and  Schaflfhausen.  A  separation  from 
those  [the  Lutherans]  who  followed  the 
confession  of  Augsburg  grew  in  1526  out 
of  the  .  .  .  difference  of  opinion  respect- 
ing the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper ; 
and  tlms  originated  the  Reformed  party, 
which  was  first  fully  developed  in  Geneva, 

through   Calvin,   1536-1564 The 

forms  and  discipline  of  the  Reformed 
church  were  here  fully  developed.  By 
means  of  the  university,  founded  in  1539, 
under  the  direction  of  Calvin,  and  sup- 
ported by  his  exertions  and  those  of  Beza, 
Geneva  became  the  principal  school  of 
theology  for  the  professors  of  these 
opinions,  and  in  those  days  the  only  one 
where  the  French  language  prevailed." 
(Ileeren,  "  Political  System  of  Europe," 


REFRESHMENT  SUNDAY 

1.  76.)  By  the  "Consensus  Zigurinus," 
arranged  in  1549  between  Oalvin  and 
BuUinger,  of  Zurich,  a  concord,  at  least 
external,  was  brought  about  between  the 
Calvinist  and  Zwinglian  factions. 

The  true  and  Catholic  reformation, 
long  desired  but  delayed  by  many  diffi- 
culties, was  taken  up  and  successfully 
accomplished  by  the  Council  of  Trent 
(1645-1563)  ;  see  that  article. 

RBFRESKAXEIfT  SITirDiLT.   [See 

L^TARE  Sunday.] 

REGAIiIiL.  ^The  right  claimed  by 
kings  of  receiving  the  revenues  of  a 
bishopric  during  a  vacancy,  and  of  appoint- 
ing, pending  the  election  of  a  successor, 
to  all  benefices  in  the  bishop's  patronage, 
not  involving  the  cure  of  souls,  which 
might  fall  vacant  in  the  interval. 

In  England,  as  is  well  known,  the 
Norman  and  Angevin  kings  exercised  this 
right,  and  were  accustomed  to  keep  the 
sees  vacant  for  years  in  order  that  they 
might  enjoy  the  revenues.  After  the 
martyrdom  of  St.  Thomas,  Henry  II. 
(1176)  promised  the  Pope  that  he  would 
in  future  not  keep  any  vacant  bishopric 
or  abbey  in  his  hands  for  more  than  a 
year,  unless  it  were  required  by  the 
evident  necessity  of  the  case.^ 

In  France  the  regalia  was  introduced 
about  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,^ 
at  first  with  reference  to  certain  provinces 
only ;  but  there  was  a  tendency  to  extend 
it  further  and  further.  The  Council  of 
Lyons  (1274 )  in  its  fifth  session  sanctioned 
the  right  in  cases  where  ancient  custom 
could  be  pleaded  for  it,  but  forbade  on 
pain  of  excommunication  its  extension  to 
churches  hitherto  free.^  In  spite  of  this 
the  kings  of  France,  supported  by  the 
lawyers,  went  on  developing  and  extend- 
ing the  regalia,  until  by  three  edicts  of 
Louis  XIV.  (1673,  1674)  it  was  declared 
to  be  applicable  to  all  the  provinces  of 
the  French  monarchy.  The  patronage 
which  it  conferred  was  now  declared  to 
be  inherent  in  the  crown  until  such  time 
as  the  new  bishop  should  sue  out  his 
temporalities  in  the  Parliament  of  Paris 
and  pay  certain  fees  ;  and  to  this  clause  a 
retrospective  effect  was  given,  so  that  any 
beneficiary  appointed  by  a  bishop  who 
had  not  complied  with  these  formalities 
might  be  dispossessed  in  favour  of  a 
royal  nominee. 

^lost  of  the  French  bishops,  seeing 
the  overwhelming  power  of  the  crown, 

^  Lingard,  ii.  97. 

'^  Ferraria. 

3  Fleurj',  livr.  IxxxvL 


REQIONARIUS 


713 


submitted  to  these  innovations;  but  the 
bishops  of  Aleth  and  Pamiers  (Pavilion 
and  Caulet)  resisted  them;  and  whea 
royal  nominees  were  inducted  by  the 
secular  arm  into  canonries  to  which  these 
bishops  had  already  made  appointments, 
they  excommunicated  the  intruders.  The 
struggle  began  in  1675  and  lasted  several 
years.  The  excommunicated  ecclesiastics 
appealed  to  the  metropolitans  (Archbishops 
of  Toulouse  and  Narbonne)  of  the  two 
bishops,  and  obtained  from  them  decisions 
nullifying  the  episcopal  censures.  Tlie 
bishops  then  appealed  to  Rome ;  Innocent 
XL,  regarding  the  question  as  one  in 
which  the  liberties  of  the  Church  were 
involved,  espoused  their  cause,  and  an- 
nulled the  decrees  of  the  metropolitans. 
Great  confusion  and  excitement  followed. 

The  king's  interpretation  of  the  regalia 
was  supported  against  the  Holy  See,  not 
only  by  the  Parliament  and  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris  (Ilarlay),  but  also  by 
the  Jesuits.  The  explanation  of  this 
remarkable  fact  is  found  in  a  complica- 
tion of  the  question  connected  with  the 
spread  of  Jansenism  [Jansenism.]  The 
Bishops  of  Aleth  and  Pamiers  were 
known  to  be  favourable  to  Arnauld  and 
his  party,  and  they  had  appointed  to 
canonries  in  their  gift  persons  more  or 
less  imbued  with  these  opinions.  If  the 
regalia  were  maintained,  and  in  the  extent 
now  claimed  for  it,  these  men  might  be 
ejected,  and  ecclesiastics  nominated  by 
the  King's  confessor,  the  Pere  la  Chaise, 
with  whom  the  Jesuits  were  on  a 
thoroughly  good  footing,  might  be  put  in 
their  place. 

This  united  opposition  neutralised  the 
efforts  of  the  Pontiff;  and  when,  in  1682, 
the  assembly  of  the  French  clergy  issued 
its  celebrated  Four  Articles  [see  Galli- 
canism],  the  question  of  the  regalia,  in 
view  of  this  fresh  subject  of  solicitude, 
fell  into  the  background.  (Ferraris, 
Jieffalia;  Wetzer  and  Welte,  art.  by 
Bollinger.) 

REGEM-ERATZON-.    [See  BAPTISM.] 

REGZOXTARZUS.  Pope  Fabian,  it 
is  said,  divided  Rome  into  seven  regions, 
founded  no  doubt  on  the  fourteen  known 
since  the  Augustan  age,  and  he  assigned 
each  to  the  charge  of  a  deacon,  who  was 
responsible  for  the  distribution  of  alms, 
care  of  hospitals,  &c.  These  regionary 
deacons  were  the  seven  chief  deacons  of 
the  Roman  Church  ;  they  were  subject  to 
the  archdeacon,  while  the  ''titular" 
deacons — i.e.  deacons  of  the  parochial 
churches — were  placed  under  the  arch- 


714 


REGULA.IIS 


KELICS 


priest  of  each  church.  From  the  time  of 
HoDorius  II.  Rome  had  twelve  regionary 
deacons,  and  six  with  the  name  of 
Palatmales.^  The  regionarii  sang  the 
Gospel  when  the  Fope  officiated  at  the 
stations,  the  Palatinales  when  he  did  so 
at  the  Lateran.  There  was  a  similar 
division  of  subdeacons  and  acolytes. 
Sixtus  V.  fixed  the  numher  of  cardinal 
deacons  at  fom*teen.  (Mahillon,  "  Museum 
Italicum,"  vol.  ii.  p.  xi.  seq.  and  p.  567 
»eq.) 

ZtEGITZiARS.  Persons  of  either  sex 
oh=5erving  a  common  rule  of  life,  bound 
by  the  three  vows  of  religion,  and  obey- 
ing, with  regard  to  dress,  food,  and  the 
employment  of  their  time,  the  statutes  of 
the  particular  order  or  congregation  to 
which  they  belong.  (See  the  articles 
Orders,  Religious;  PROii'EssiON,  Re- 
ligious; Exemption.) 

REZiZCS.  Tiie  word  includes  the 
bodies  of  departed  saints,  fragments  of 
their  bodies,  articles  or  portions  of  articles 
which  they  have  used,  such  as  clothes, 
vestments,  rosaries,  and  the  like.  The 
(yhurcli  also  venerates  relics  of  Christ  and 
bis  Blessed  Mother.  Such  are  the  holy 
nails,  lance,  spear,  or  fragments  of  the  True 
Cross,  the  girdle,  veil,  &c.,  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  The  devotion  to  relics,  solemnly 
approved  by  the  Council  of  Trent  (sess. 
XXV.  De  Invoc.  Sanct.)  rests  on  two  great 
principles  of  Catholic  belief. 

First,  the  Church  hononrs  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  who  sleep  in  Christ.  Our 
Lord  has  opened  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
a«id  given  us  the  pledge  and  assurance  of 
the  resurrection  of  the  body.  Hence, 
Christians  have  lost  that  horror  of  dead 
bodies  which  was  characteristic  of  heathen 
and  even  of  Jews.  But  the  Church 
specially  venerates  the  bodies  of  the 
martyrs  and  other  saints ;  because,  while 
they  were  on  earth,  their  bodies  were  the 
temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  they  them- 
selves living  members  of  Christ.  Their 
souls  are  already  in  heaven,  their  glorious 
resurrection  is  a  matter  of  certainty,  and 
therefore  the  Church  joyfully  anticipates 
the  glory  wliich  God  will  give  to  these 
remains  at  the  last  day.  She  testifies  at 
once  the  firmness  of  her  belief  in  the 
resurrection  and  her  love  of  the  virtues 
which  shone  forth  in  the  saints.  For 
these  were  not  virtues  of  the  soul  only,  they 
were  proper  to  the  whole  man,  body  and 
Boul,  which  toiled  and  suffered  together. 
The  same  reasons  which  make  the  resur- 

1  "  Cui  duse  alise  demum  additsB  dia(!oniae 
numerum  xx  constituerunt "  (Mabill.  p.  xviii.). 


rection  of  the  body  credible  also  tell  in 
favour  of  the  veneration  due  to  rehcs. 
And  so  Christians  have  felt  from  the  very 
infancy  of  the  Church.  They  gathered 
the  bones  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Antioch 
(anno  107)  and  placed  them  in  linen, 
"  as  a  priceless  treasure,  being  left  to  the 
Holy  Church  by  the  grace  which  was  in 
the  martyr"  ("Act.  Mart."  6).  When 
Polycarp's  body  was  burned  in  167  the 
Christians  exhumed  the  bones  they  could 
find  ''  as  more  precious  than  costly  stones 
and  more  valuable  than  gold."  The  Jews 
suggested  that  the  Christians  would  leave 
Christ  and  worship  Polycarp,  ignorant 
that  Christians  could  "  never  leave  Christ 
or  worship  another  "  ("  Act.  Mart.  "17, 18). 
When  in  258  Cyprian  was  about  to  be 
beheaded,  the  Christians  cast  towels  and 
napkins  before  him,  clearly  that  they 
might  be  soaked  in  his  blood  ("Act. 
Procons."  5).  So  baseless  is  the  state- 
ment that  devotion  to  relics  came  into 
the  Church  from  Pagan  influences  after 
Constautine's  conversion. 

Next,  Catholics  believe  that  God  is 
sometimes  pleased  to  honour  the  relics  of 
the  saints  by  making  them  instruments 
of  healing  and  other  miracles,  and  also  by 
bestowing  spiritual  graces  on  those 
who  with  pure  hearts  keep  and  honour 
them.  For  this  principle  the  Fathers 
{e.g.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  "  Catech."  xviii.) 
appeal  to  the  Old  Testament,  which  re- 
lates the  resurrection  of  a  dead  body 
which  touched  the  bones  of  Eliseus 
(IV.  Reg.  xiii.  21),  and  to  the  New, 
which  tells  us  that  the  sick  were  healed 
by  towels  which  had  touched  the  living 
body  of  St.  Paid  (Acts  xix.  12 ;  cf.  v.  15). 
"  There  is  a  power,  says  CjvH  (loc.  cit. 
p.  293),  latent  [ey/fetrat]  even  in  the 
bodies  of  the  just."  No  proof  is  needed 
that,  after  the  heathen  persecution 
was  over,  the  Christians  sought  and 
believed  that  they  obtained  graces 
through  the  relics  of  the  saints.  St. 
Ambrose,  St.  Augustine,  and,  indeed,  the 
Fathers  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries 
generally,  are  witnesses  to  the  belief.  A 
catena  of  passages  will  be  found  in 
Petavius,  "De  Incarnat. "  xiv.  cap.  xi. 
(See  also  Newman's  "  Development,"  ch, " 
x.  §  1 ,  Resurrection  and  Helics.) 

Abuses  no  doubt  have  occurred  in  all 
ages  with  regard  to  relics.  In  1215, 
canon  62  of  the  Fourth  Lateran  Coun- 
cil, inserted  in  the  "Corpus  Juris"  for- 
bade relics  to  be  sold  or  to  be  exposed 
outside  of  their  cases  or  shrines,  and  pro- 
hibited   the    public  veneration  of   new 


RELIGIOUS 

relics  till  their  authenticity  had  heen 
approved  by  the  Pope  (Mausi,  "  Concil." 
torn.  xxii.  1049-50;  see  also  Fleury, 
"  H.  E."  livr.  Ixxvii.  54j.  The  Council  of 
Trent  (sess.  xxv.  De  Invoc.  Sanct.) 
renews  these  prohibitions  and  requires 
bishops  to  decide  on  the  authenticity  of 
new  relics  after  careful  consultation  with 
theologians,  or,  if  necessary,  with  the 
metropolitan  and  other  bishops  of  the 
province  assembled  in  council. 

Relics  are  usually  venerated  in  public 
by  being  exposed  in  their  cases,  with 
burning  lights,  upon  the  altar.  They  are 
often  placed  there  at  High  Mass  and 
incensed.  They  are  carried  in  procession 
and  the  people  are  blessed  with  them. 
A  special  Mass  and  office  are  permitted 
to  churches  which  have  an  "insignis 
reliquia"  of  a  saint  named  in  the  Roman 
Martyrology.  (See  the  decrees  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Breviary  and  Missal.) 

REZiZGZOUS  {reliffio,  prob.  from 
7-eieffo ;  relegens,  attentive,  studious, 
would  be  the  opposite  of  neglegens,  care- 
less^). The  religious  state  is  '^a  stable 
manner  of  living  in  common,  approved  by 
the  Church,  adopted  by  believers  endea- 
vouring after  (the  perfection  of  Christian 
charity,  who  nave  taken  the  vows  of  per- 
petual obedience,  poverty,  and  chastity."^ 
The  term  "religious"  in  this  sense  is  co- 
extensive with  "  regular,"  since  all  per- 
sons belonging  to  a  particular  "religio" 
are  bound  by  some  rule,  and  all  those 
living  by  rule  are  members  of  some 
religious  community. 

RfiORBZia-ATZOiar.     [See  Okdina- 

TIOX.] 

REQVZSZ^.    [See  Mass.] 

RESERVATZOHr  OF  BZlXrH- 
FZCES.  Mandates  and  favours  in  ex- 
pectation {mandata,  graticR  exyectativ(B) , 
by  which  Popes  had  been  accustomed  to 
require  that  bishops  and  others  having 
the  right  of  conferring  benefices  should, 
as  soon  as  they  fell  vacant,  confer  them 
upon  particular  persons — and  mental 
reservations,  by  which  a  Pontiff  an- 
nounced, but  without  mentioning  their 
names,  that  he  had  reserved  certain  bene- 
fices, when  they  should  fall  vacant,  in 
favour  of  particular  persons — were  all 
abolished  by  the  Council  of  Trent.^ 
With  other  Papal  reservations  the  Council 
did  not  interfere. 

The  reservation  of  benefices  is  desir- 
able for  many  reasons :  it  is  a  practical 

1  Skeat,  Etymol.  Diet. 

2  Ferraris,  "Eeligiones  Regulares." 
5  Sess.  xxiv.  c.  19,  De  Ref. 


RESERVATION  OF  BENEFICES  716 

means  of  giving  effect  in  widely  separated 
countries  to  the  supreme  pastorate  of  the 
Roman  Pontiffs;  it  links  the  different 
national  Churches  more  closely,  by  per- 
sonal ties  of  gratitude  and  affection,  to 
the  Apostolic  See,  and  through  it  to  each 
other ;  and  it  provides  the  Pope  with  the 
means  of  rewarding  those  who  have 
laboured  meritoriously  in  his  cause  and 
that  of  the  Church. 

Considered  with  reference  to  the  legal 
foundation  on  which  they  rest,  reserva- 
tions are  divided  into  four  classes — (1) 
those  which  are  contained  in  the  "  Corpus 
Juris ; "  (2)  those  which  are  found  in  the 
" Extravagants,"  outside  the  "Corpus;" 
(3)  those  specified  in  the  constitutions  of 
later  Popes ;  (4)  those  specified  by  the 
rules  of  the  Chancery.  Another  classi- 
fication, founded  on  difierences  in  the 
quality  of  reservations,  is  suggested  by 
Cardinal  Soglia.  According  to  this 
arrangement,  reservations  are  fivefold : — 

(1)  Benefices  are  reserved  on  the 
ground  of  their  own  quality  ;  thus  the 
second  rule  of  the  Chancery  reserves  to 
the  Pope  all  vacant  bishoprics,  and  the 
abbacy  or  headship  in  any  monastery  of 
men,  the  revenues  of  which  exceed  a  cer- 
tain amount.  The  fourth  rule  reserves 
the  greater  dignities  in  cathedral 
churches,  and  the  principal  dignities  in 
collegiate  churches  possessing  a  certain 
revenue.  One  such  dignity  only  in  each 
church  is  understood  to  he  affected  by 
the  rule.  With  regard  to  all  the  reser- 
vations under  this  head,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  they  do  not  take  effect 
in  countries  where  there  is  any  pact  or 
concordat  regulating  the  course  of 
patronage,  for  it  is  a  maxim  that  pactum 
prastat  juri. 

(2)  Benefices  are  reserved  on  the 
ground  of  their  being  held  by  particular 
pet'sons — e.g.  by  cardinals,  members  of 
the  Curia,  and  officials  of  the  Holy  See. 

(3)  The  third  ground  of  reservation 
is  connected  with  the  manner  in  which  a 
benefice  has  become  vacant.  Thus  a  bene- 
fice may  be  vacated  on  account  of  heresy^ 
or  collusive  simony  (simonia  confidentialis)^ 
or  informality  (as  in  the  case  of  parishes, 
in  appointing  to  which  the  concursus 
ordered  by  the  Council  of  Trent  has  been 
neglected),  or  deposition  proceeding  from 
a  particular  cause ;  in  all  these  cases, 
under  constitutions  em.inating  from  St. 
Pius  V.  and  other  Pontiffs,  reservation 
takes  effect. 

(4)  The  fourth  ground  is  connected 
with  the  place  where  the  vacancy  has 


716 


RESERVATION 


RESERVATION 


occurred.  The  benefice  of  any  eccle- 
siastic dying  at  the  court  of  Rome  is  a 
familiar  instance;  this  is  mentioned  in 
the  "  Corpus  Juris,"  and  is  the  most 
ancient  of  all  reservations. 

(5)  The  fifth  ground  depends  on  the 
time  at  which  the  vacancy  has  occurred. 
The  ninth  rule  of  the  Chancery  reserves 
all  benefices  strictly  so  called  (not  being 
in  lay  patronage),  whether  with  or  with- 
out cure  of  souls,  which  fall  vacant  in 
eight  months  of  the  year — viz.  in  January, 
February,  April,  May,  July,  August, 
October,  and  November.  In  the  case  of 
bishops,  however,  who  reside  continuously 
in  their  dioceses,  and  who  apply  ibr  the 
privilege,  the  above  rule  is  modified  to 
this  extent,  that  the  Papal  reservation 
only  takes  eftect  in  alternate  months,  the 
patronage  being  thus  equally  divided  be- 
tween the  Pope  and  the  ordinary. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  rules 
of  the  Chancery  have  no  legal  force  during 
a  vacancy  of  the  Holy  See ;  each  Pope 
renews  them  immediately  after  his  elec- 
tion. Reservations,  therefore,  which  dt'- 
pend  only  on  a  rule  of  the  Chancery,  and 
not  also  on  a  Papal  constitution,  do  not 
take  eftect  in  the  case  of  benefices  vacated 
in  the  interval  between  the  death  of  one 
Pope  and  the  election  of  another.  (Sogha, 
"  Instit.  Canon."  III.  2,  §  20.) 

RESZRVATZOXr  OF  THE  HOZ.'S' 
EUCHARIST.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Church  on  this  subject  has  been  explained 
under  the  word  Eitchaeist.  In  this 
article  we  propose  to  give  a  brief  history 
of  the  reservation  of  the  holy  Eucharist 
in  the  Church. 

a.  Causes  of  Reservation. — In  all  ages, 
of  course,  the  Blessed  Sacrament  has 
been  reserved  for  the  sick,  and  the  first 
Christians,  in  the  times  of  persecution, 
kept  the  Eucharist  at  home  and  gave  com- 
munion to  themselves.  But,  besides  this, 
(1)  the  Eucharist  was  sent  from  bishop 
to  bishop  as  a  sign  of  charity.  Irenaeus 
(apud  Euseb.  ''H.  E."  v.  24)  testifies 
that  the  bishops  of  Rome  sent  the  Eu- 
charist to  other  bishops,  and  although  the 
Council  of  Laodicea  (canon  14)  forbade 
the  sending  of  the  Eucharist  at  Easter 
into  strange  dioceses,  and  this  prohibition 
found  general  acceptance,  still  a  supposed 
decretal  of  Pope  Innocent  to  Decentius 
proves  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  sent 
the  fermentum  or  consecrated  host  "  per 
tituios  *' — i.e.  to  the  chief  churches  of  the 
city.  (2)  In  Rome,  as  we  know  from  the 
earliest  Ordo,  a  Host  consecrated  at  one 
Mass  was  placed  on  the  altar  at  the  Mass 


of  the  next  day,  to  signify  the  unity  of 
the  sacrifice.  A  similar  custom  prevailed 
in  Gaul  under  the  first  dynasty.  (3)  The 
Eucharist  was  carried  by  lay  persons, 
or  even  catechumens  (see  Ambros.  "  De 
Excid.  Sat."  i.  43),  as  a  protection  against 
danger.  This  custom  must  have  lasted, 
at  least  in  the  case  of  clerics,  till  late  in 
the  middle  ages,  for  St.  Thomas  a  Becket 
carried  the  Eucharist  with  him  when  he 
went  to  meet  Henry  II.  St.  Louis  of 
France  carried  the  Eucharist  with  him 
beyond  the  sea,  but  by  permission  of  the 
Papal  legate,  and  from  about  this  time 
the  privilege  seems  to  have  been  reserved 
to  the  Pope,  though  one  or  two  instances 
of  priests  carrying  it  for  their  own  pro- 
tection occur  in  later  times — e.g.  in  the 
life  of  Savonarola.  Among  the  Greek 
monks  it  was  still  maintained  when  Ar- 
cudius  wrote — i.e.  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. (4)  In  Rome  and  France,  as  appears 
from  the  Ordo  Romanus  and  Alcuiu,  a 
bishop  at  his  consecration  kept  a  part  of 
the  I  i  ost  presented  to  him  by  the  conse- 
crator  and  consumed  it  during  the  next 
forty  days.  The  same  usage  obtained  in 
some  parts  of  France  at  the  ordination 
of  priests.  (5)  Many  councils  reprove  the 
custom,  which  must  have  been  widely 
spread,  of  giving  communion  to  the  dead 
(Concil.  Hippo,  c.  4;  Auxerre,  c.  12; 
Statut.  Bouifac.  20).  (6)  The_  Host 
was  buried  with  the  dead.  This  was 
done  on  one  occasion,  according  to  St. 
Gregory  the  Great,  by  St.  Benedict 
("  Dial.  ii.  24),  and,  according  to  an 
ancient  author,  in  the  case  of  St.  Basil  at 
the  saint's  own  desire.  (7)  The  pen  was 
sometimes  dipped  in  the  Communion 
under  the  species  of  wine  in  subscribing 
decrees  of  councils,  &c.  Pope  Theodore, 
for  example,  signed  the  condemnation  of 
Pyrrhus  in  this  way.  (8)  In  dedicating 
churches  three  portions  of  the  Host  were 
put  in  the  altar  and  sealed  up  with  cement. 
This  rite  was  followed  by  Pope  Urban  II. 
in  dedicating  the  abbey  church  of  Mar- 
moutier  (Martene,  "  De  Rit."  torn.  i.  c.  6, 
a.  4;  quoted  by  Chardon).^ 

h.  The  Cane  or  Tabernacle  in  which  the 
Blessed  Saciament  was  Resei'ved. — The 
oldest  tabernacles  had  the  form  of  a 
tower.  According  to  Anastasius,  Cou- 
stantine  presented  St.  Peter's  Church  at 

1  la  modem  times  the  Holy  Eucharist  is 
also  reserved  for  exposition  and  benediction, 
and  in  order  that  tlie  faitliful  may  be  able 
throughout  the  day  to  adore  Christ  present  on 
the  altar.  See  Bknedictiox  ;  ExrosiTiON  ; 
Visits  to  the  Blessed  Sackamknt. 


RESERVATION 

Rome  •with  a  tower  of  pure  g-old  adorned 
with  jewels  and  with  a  dove  upon  it, 
while  Innocent  I.  and  Hilarius  I.  gave 
towers  of  the  same  kind  to  the  Churches 
of  SS.  Gervase  and  Protase  and  of  St. 
John  Lateran.  Such  a  tower  existed  in 
Chardon's  time  (the  middle  of  the  last 
century)  at  Marmoutier,  Their  turrical 
form  was  succeeded  in  many  churches  by 
tabernacles  in  the  shape  of  a  covered  cup  ; 
in  others  by  small  boxes  suspended  over 
the  altar.  The  custom,  so  common  in 
France,  of  suspending  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment in  a  tabernacle  made  like  a  dove  has 
been  described  elsewhere  (art.  Dove). 
Tabernacles  were  of  very  various  material, 
of  precious  metal,  of  precious  stone  such 
as  onyx,  of  glass  or  even  wood. 

c.  The  Place  of  lleservation. — The 
most  ancient  use  was  to  reserve  the  Holy 
Eucharist  in  Tra(rTo(f)6pia  or  thalami — i.e. 
in  chambers  at  the  side  of  the  church. 
Jerome,  in  cap.  40  Ezech.  (quoted  by 
Chardon),  alludes  to  this  custom.  This 
custom  of  reserving  the  Eucharist  in  the 
sacristy  was  not  extinct  in  France  even 
during  the  last  century.  In  the  middle 
ages  the  Eucharist  was  often  reserved  in  an 
awmry  or  press  in  the  corner  of  tbe  build- 
ing or  in  a  pillar,  such  a  press  as  we  now 
use  for  the  holy  oils.  The  modern  Greeks 
reserve  the  Eucharist  for  the  Mass  of  the 
Presanctified,  whence  it  is  carried  in  pro- 
cession to  the  altar.  For  the  sick  they 
keep  it,  according  to  Goar,  in  a  place 
called  dpTocfiopiov  behind  the  altar,  with 
a  lamp  burning  before  it.  Such  no  doubt 
is  their  rule,  but  M.  Nointel,  ambassador 
from  the  French  king  to  the  Sultan,  gives 
an  interesting  account  (printed  in  the 
*'  Perp^tuit^  de  la  Foi ")  of  the  different 
ways  in  which  he  saw  the  Eucharist  re- 
served among  the  Greeks.  Sometimes 
the  box  which  held  it  was  on  the  altar, 
very  often  it  was  put  in  a  silk  bag  and 
hung  on  a  nail. 

Gavantus  approves  the  custom  which 
exists  in  many  Catholic  Churches,  of 
placing  the  tabernacle  on  the  altar  in  a 
side  chapel;  but  in  most  American 
churches  the  tabernacle  with  the  Bless- 
ed Sacrament  is  placed  over  the  chief 
altar.  (From  Chardon,  "  Hist,  des  Sac- 
rements,"  torn.  ii.  "De  I'Encharistie," 
tom.  ii.  §  3,  ch.  viii.-x.) 

RESSRVEB  CASSS.  Certam  sms, 
power  to  absolve  from  which  is  reserved 
by  the  superior  to  himself  and  not  im- 
parted to  inferiors,  who  have  ordinary  or 
delegated  jurisdiction  over  other  sins. 
Papal  cases   are  reserved  to  the  Pope, 


RESERVED  CASES 


717 


episcopal  cases  to  the  bishop,  the  reserved 
cases  of  regulars  to  the  prelates  of  the 
order.  Jurisdiction  given  by  a  superior 
is,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  article  on 
Pexais^ce,  necessary  for  the  validity  of 
absolution.  But  a  superior  may  either 
confer  the  whole  of  the  jurisdiction  which 
he  himself  holds,  or  only  a  part  of  it, 
just -as  in  England  the  Crown  empowers 
magistrates  to  try  petty  cases,  but  not  the 
more  serious  crimes.  Hence,  the  Council 
of  Trent  (sess.  xix.  De  Poenit.  can.  11) 
defines  that  bishops  iiave  the  power  of 
reserving  cases,  and  that  absolution  from 
them  cannot  be  validly  given  by  an  ordi- 
nary confessor.  The  object  of  the  reser- 
vation is  to  increase  the  shame  of  the 
penitent,  to  impress  the  serious  nature  of 
the  offence  upon  him,  and  to  give  the 
superior,  who  is  likely  to  have  more  ex- 
perience than  the  ordinary  confessor,  the 
opportunity  of  prescribing  a  fitting  remedy. 
This  power  of  reservation,  however,  is 
given  for  edification  not  destruction. 
Clement  VHI.  warns  prelates  ^  only  to 
reserve  ''  the  more  atrocious  and  grievous 
crimes,"  and  it  is  generally  assumed  that 
the  reserve  faUs  only  on  sins  which  are 
grievous,  external,  certain,  and  complete 
in  their  kind.  The  reserved  sin  may  also 
have  a  censure  attached  to  it,  and  this  is 
almost  always  the  case  in  Papal  reserves. 
Absolution  from  a  reserved  sin  may  be 
given  by  the  superior  who  reserves  it,  by 
his  successors,  by  those  whom  he  dele- 
gates, by  his  own  superiors.  For  full 
information  we  refer  to  the  common 
treatises  on  moral  theology  ;  only  adding 
that  in  the  dioceses  of  the  U.  S.  very  few 
sins,  and  those  of  most  rare  occurrence,  are 
reserved  either  to  the  Pope  or  ordinary. 

The  practice  of  the  modern  is  con- 
sonant with  that  of  the  ancient  and 
mediaeval  Church,  which  usually  "reserved 
to  the  bishops  the  absolution  of  public 
penitents"  (Chardon,  "  Hist,  des  Sacrem." 
tom.  ii.  ch.  vii.).  Some  of  the  cases 
quoted  by  Chardon  scarcely  seem  to  the 
point— e.^.  the  direction  of  ancient  Rituals 
that  priests  are  to  hear  the  confessions  of 
those  who  present  themselves,  and  take 
them,  if  they  seem  well  disposed,  to  the 
bishop  for  absolution ;  or  the  statement  of 
Peter  the  Cantor  in  his  "Sum  of  the 
Sacraments,"  that  formerly  monks  used  to 
hear  confessions  and  the  abbot  alone  to 
absolve.  But  he  quotes  from  the  Acts  of 
a  Benedictine,  St.  Redon,  who  lived  in  the 
tenth  century,  and  from  Constitutions  of 

'  He  actually  limited  the  power  of  reserva- 
tion on  the  part  of  religious  superiors. 


18 


RESIDENCE 


RESIGNATION 


Richard,  bishop  of  Salisbury,  clear  cases 
of  Papal  reserve.  In  1171,  Pope  Alex- 
ander III.  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Upsala,  that  women  guilty  of  child-mur- 
der and  other  abominations  were  to  be 
sent  to  Rome  for  absolution.  "  This,"  says 
Fleury  ("H.  E."  Ixxii.  35),  "is  the  be- 
ginning of  Papal  reserves  for  more  atro- 
cious crimes  ; "  but  the  instances  just  given 
show  that  this  is  scarcely  correct.  Mr. 
Maskell  ("  Monum.  Rit."  vol.  i.  p.  97) 
gives  some  account  of  reserved  sins  in  the 
old  English  Church.  Thus^  a  Council  of 
Durham  in  1250  lays  down  the  principle 
that  greater  sins  are  to  be  reserved  to 
those  higher  in  office.  The  penitent  is  to 
go  to  the  bishop  or  the  penitentiary  with 
a  letter  from  his  confessor  stating  tlie 
nature  and  circumstances  of  his  sin,  or  else 
the  confessor  is  to  accompany  him.  In 
1367,  Moresby,  archbishop  of  York,  re- 
served thirty-seven  sins  to  himself  or  his 
penitent^a^)^ 

RESZDSirCE.  Before  the  Council 
of  Trent  the  non-residence  of  ecclesiastics, 
even  of  bishops,  had  long  been  a  crying 
evil.  In  the  sixth  session,  the  Fathers 
adopted  a  decree  of  reformation,  which 
provided  that  any  patriarch,  metropolitan, 
or  bishop,  who  should  remain  without 
legitimate  cause  for  six  months  together 
absent  from  his  church,  should  forfeit  a 
fourth  part  of  the  revenues.  A  still  more 
protracted  and  contumacious  absence  was 
eventually  to  be  reported  to  the  Pope, 
who  would  meet  it  by  appropriate  mea- 
sures. Finding  that  this  decree  had  been 
by  some  perversely  understood,  as  if  a 
bishop  might  without  incurring  censure 
be  absent  five  months  in  the  year  from  his 
diocese,  the  Council  in  the  twenty-third 
and  twenty-fourth  sessions  returned  to  the 
subject,  and  declared  that "  all  the  rulers  of 
patriarchal,  metropolitan,  and  cathedral 
churches,  under  whatsoever  name  or  title, 
even  if  they  be  car  d  inal  s  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Church,  are  bound  to  personal  residence 
in  their  own  church  or  diocese,  where  it 
is  their  duty  to  discharge  the  functions  of 
.  their  office,  and  cannot  be  absent,  except 
for  the  causes  and  under  the  circum- 
stances hereunder  specified."  There  are 
many  legitimate  causes  of  absence,  but 
these  must  be  approved  in  writing  either 
by  the  Pope  or  the  metropolitan ;  except 
in  the  case  of  some  urgent  political  exi- 
gency, the  occurrence  of  which,  beii?g 
usually  sudden,  and  at  the  same  time 
notorious,  dispenses  the  bishop  from  the 
necessity  of  notifying  his  absence.  As 
a  rule,   the    period    of  absence  in   the 


course  of  a  year,  apart  from  the 
urgent  causes  above  noticed,  "ought 
on  no  account  to  exceed  two  or  at 
most  three  months ;  and  care  should 
be  taken  that  there  be  a  sufficient  cause, 
and  that  the  bishop's  tiock  suffer  no  harm ; 
judgment  on  which  point  [the  Council] 
leaves  to  the  conscience  of  those  absenting 
themselves,  hoping  that  it  [their  con- 
science] will  be  scrupulous  and  full  of 
fear,  since  hearts  are  open  before  God, 
whose  work  they  are  bound  at  their  peril 
not  to  do  deceitfully."  ' 

Canons  in  cathedral  and  collegiate 
churches  are  ordinarily  bound  to  residence 
during  nine  months  in  the  year.^  But 
where  a  foundation  possesses  a  privilege, 
confirmed  by  the  Pope,  in  virtue  of  which 
the  canons  are  permitted  to  be  absent  for 
a  longer  time,  it  is  held  that  the  conciliar 
decree  does  not  derogate  from  that  privi- 
lege.^ In  the  case  both  of  bishops  and 
canons  the  period  of  absence  ought  not 
to  comprise  the  times  at  which  the  great 
festivals  (Christmas,  Easter,  Pentecost, 
(>orpus  Christi)  are  celebrated,  nor  the 
days  of  Lent  or  Advent,  The  obligation 
on  individual  canons  to  reside  does  not 
bind  when  they  have  a  lawful  excuse  for 
not  doing  so.  Such  excuses  are — illness, 
permitted  sojourn  in  a  foreign  country  for 
the  purpose  of  study  or  teaching,  and 
employment  in  the  immediate  service  of 
the  bishop. 

Parish  priests  and  other  beneficiaries 
having  cure  of  souls  cannot  be  absent  from 
their  cure  for  more  than  a  week  without 
the  bishop's  permission.  Two  months  in 
the  year  is  the  period  beyond  which  the 
bishop's  permission  of  non-residence  to 
his  clergy  is  not  ordinarily  extended. 

Diocesan  statutes,  concordats,  and  the 
civil  law  in  certain  countries,  contain  a 
great  variety  of  particular  regulations  re- 
specting the  residence  of  ecclesiastics. 

RESZGlTATZOir.  The  resignation  or 
renunciation  of  a  benefice  is,  "  the  spon- 
taneous relinquishment  of  an  ecclesiastical 
benefice,  made  before  the  lawful  superior, 
and  accepted  by  him."*  It  is  either  tacit 
or  express.  A  resignation  is  tacitly  or 
ipso  facto  made  of  any  church  preferment 
held  by  the  resigner  in  the  following  cases : 
by  one  who,  already  having  one  benefice, 
is  nominated  to  another  incompatible  with 
the  first ;  by  a  clerk  in  minor  orders  who 
enters  into  a  contract  of  marriage ;  ty  a 

^  Jer.  xlviii.  10. 

2  865=9.  xxiv,  12,  De  Ref. 

s  Ferraris.  ♦'  Canonicatus,"  art.  6. 

*  Ferriaiis. 


RESIGNATION 

clerk  becoming  professed  in  a  religious 
order  [Propession,  Rjiligious]  ;  and  by 
a  clerk  becoming  a  soldier  or  a  strolling 
player.  An  express  resignation  is  made 
either  in  words  or  in  writing,  and  is  either 
pure  or  conditional.  A  pure  resignation 
is  an  unqualified  absolute  surrender  of  the 
preferment ;  a  conditional  resignation  is 
made  sub  conditioiie,  and  is  of  five  kinds  ; 
according  as  it  is  made — (1)  in  favour  of  a 
third  person ;  or  (2)  with  the  reservation  of 
a  pension  out  of  the  revenues;  or  (3)  with 
the  right  of  resumption,  if  the  resignatary 
should  die  before  the  resigner ;  or  (4)  with 
the  right  of  resumption  at  some  given  date 
in  the  future ;  or  (5)  in  pursuance  of  an 
arrangement  for  an  exchange  of  benefices. 
But  these  conditional  resignations,  the 
status  of  the  clergy  relatively  to  the  civil 
power  being  so  different  from  w^hat  it 
formerly  was,  are  now  of  rare  occurrence. 

Publicity  is  necessary  to  the  validity 
of  a  resignation,  and  the  mode  of  publica- 
tion under  varying  circumstances  is  mi- 
nutely regulated  by  canon  law. 

Reserved  benefices,  the  collation  of 
which  belongs  to  the  Pope  alone,  cannot 
be  resigned  into  the  hands  of  any  ordinary 
lower  than  the  Pope. 

According  to  a  decretal  of  Innocent 
III.,^  a  bishop  can  only  resign  his  see  for 
one  of  six  causes,  which  are  summed  up 
in  the  memorial  lines : — 

Debilis,  ignarus,  male  conscius,  irregularis. 
Quern  mala  plebs  odit,  dans  scandala,  cedere 
possit. 

The  lawful  causes  therefore  are  physi- 
cal infirmity  ;  ignorance,  or  a  want  of  the 
knowledge  necessary  for  the  discharge 
of  his  office ;  the  consciousness  of  some 
crime,  such  as  heresy,  which,  even  after 
penance  done,  would  impede  him  in  the 
performance  of  his  duties  ;  irregularity 
(see  that  article) ;  great  personal  unpopu- 
larity, and  some  grave  scandal,  which 
nothing  short  of  his  resignation  could 
remove.     (Ferraris,  Resignatio.') 

SESPOirsORXES.  Verses  said  after 
the  Lessons,  so  called  according  to  Isidore 
because  part  of  it  is  said  by  one  reader  or 
singer  to  whom  the  choir  answer  with 
the  rest  of  the  responsory.  "  Historia  " 
is  the  name  given  in  the  Micrologia,  be- 
cause they  mostly  refer  to  the  history  in 
the  Lesson  or  commemorated  on  the  day. 
(Probst,  "Brevier  und  Breviergebet,"  "p. 
107  seg.) 

RSSURRSCTIOir  OF  THE  BOBIT, 
The  doctrine  of  a  general  resurrection  of 

1  Ferraris,  "Resignatio,"  §  29. 


RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY  719 

the  dead,  both  good  and  bad,  is  now^here 
taught  in  the  Hebrew  Bible.  The  Book 
of  Isaias,  xxvi.  19,  certainly  expresses 
faith  in  a  resurrection.  The  prophet  ex- 
presses the  disappointment  of  the  Jewish 
nation  when  their  land  was  restored  to 
them  and  they  were  not  numerous  enough 
to  people  it.  But  they  must  not  lose 
heart.  "  Thy  dead  shall  live :  thy  dead 
bodies  shall  arise.  Awake  and  shout,  ye 
who  lie  in  the  dust,  for  thy  dew  is  a  dew 
of  lights,  and  the  earth  shall  bring  forth 
the  shades  " — i.e.  the  power  of  God  shall 
descend  like  dew,  instinct  with  the  light 
of  life ;  the  corpses  shall  arise,  and  the 
departed  spirits  from  the  nether  world 
will  quicken  them  into  their  old  life.  We 
have  in  Osee  vi.  2  ("He  will  quicken  us 
after  two  days :  on  the  third  day  Pie 
will  raise  us  up  and  we  shall  live  in  his 
sight"),  and  in  Ezech.  xxxvii.  11-14 
allusions  to  a  resurrection,  but  only  in  an 
allegorical  sense.  In  Daniel  xii.  2,  as  in 
Isai.  xxvi.  19,  it  is  a  literal  and  not  a 
metaphorical  resurrection  which  is  in- 
tended, and  the  writer,  who  has  the  verse 
of  Isaias  in  his  mind,  goes  further,  and 
teaches  a  resurrection  to  shame  as  well  as 
to  joy.  "Many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the 
dusty  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  eternal 
life  and  some  to  eternal  reproach  and 
horror."  The  character  of  the  book 
makes  it  likely  that  the  "many"  who 
are  to  rise  are  all  Israelites,  some  of  whom 
have  been  faithful  to  the  law,  others 
apostates  ;  but  in  any  case  it  is  a  resurrec- 
tion of  many,  not  of  all,  which  is  pre- 
dicted. We  have  still  to  consider  the 
famous  passage  in  Job  xix.  27.  We  ven- 
ture to  give  the  following  as  an  exact 
translation  of  the  Hebrew:— "I  know 
that  my  avenger  liveth,  and  at  the  last 
[lit.  as  the  last  one — i.e.  to  speak  the  last 
decisive  word]  he  shall  rise  up  on  the 
dust.  And  after  my  skin  has  been  thus 
destroyed  [lit.  which  they  have  thus 
destroyed]  and  [away]  from  my  fiesh  1  shall 
see  God,  whom  I  shall  behold  for  myself, 
and  mine  eyes  shall  have  seen  [a  preterite 
of  confidence]  and  not  another :  my  reins 
waste  [with  longing]  in  my  breast." 
There  are  very  strong  grounds  for  believing 
that  Job  here  asserts  his  expectation  of 
immortahty,  and  this  interpretation  is 
held  by  critics,  such  as  Ewald  and  Dill- 
mann,  who  ca,nnot  be  suspected  of  dogma- 
tic prejudice.  The  confident  hope  of 
immortality  shines  forth  clearly,  just 
when  Job's  desolation,  when  the  absence 
of  all  human  comfort  is  most  complete. 
The  poem  leads  us  up  naturally  to  thi^ 


720  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY       RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY 


expreasion  of  confidence.  There  is  a 
gradual  advance  from  the  doubts  of  ch. 
xiv.  to  the  sublime  pra^'er  and  trust  of 
xvi.  18  ad  Jin.  All  this  culminates  in 
the  passage  before  us ;  nor  does  Job  fall 
back  again  to  the  depth  of  his  former 
despair.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  "  from 
my  flesh  "  may  quite  well,  according  to 
Hebrew  usage,  mean  "away  from  my 
flesh."  This  use  of  the  particle  is  very 
common  in  Hebrew  (see,  e.g.,  Gen.  xxvii. 
29,  Jer.  xlviii.  45),  and  a  striking  instance 
of  the  double  sense  of  "  from  "  in  English 
will  be  found  in  "  Richard  HI."  act  iv. 
scene  4.^  In  Second  Maccabees  we 
find  the  doctrine  of  the  resm-rection 
strongly  asserted,  but  even  there  nothing 
is  said  about  a  resurrection  of  all  men. 
And  although  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  (D^ni!?n  n?rin)  is  the  thirteenth 
article  of  the  Jewish  creed,  the  doctrine 
of  a  resurrection  of  both  good  and  bad, 
says  Weber  ("  Altsynag.  Theol."  p.  372), 
cannot  be  proved  from  the  Talmud  or 
Midrashim  ;  and  he  quotes  the  dictum  of 
Maimonides,  "The  i-esurrection  of  the 
dead  is  a  fundamental  article  of  Moses 
our  teacher  .  .  .  but  it  only  belongs  to 
the  just."  Heathen,  or  Jews  who  are  to 
be  reckoned  as  heathen,  have  no  part  in 
it.  We  may  add  that  David  Kimchi  on 
Pd.  i.  5  ("  the  wicked  shall  not  rise  in 
judgment")  denies  the  resurrection  of  the 
wicked,  and  on  Ps.  civ.  30  he  says  "  it  is 
disputed  among  our  sages  "  whether  the 
resurrection  will  be  general ;  but  adds  that 
the  "ways"  or  style  of  the  Talmud 
favours  the  belief  that  it  is  the  just  only 
who  will  rise.  This  doctrine  of  the  most 
orthodox  Jewish  doctors  is  by  no  means 
to  be  confounded  with  the  Sadducee 
denial  that  the  bodies  of  just  or  unjust 
rose  again. 

The  New  Testament,  however,  clearly 
teaches  that  the  wicked  also  will  rise 
again  (see,  e.g.,  Matt.  v.  29,  x.  28.)  In  it 
the  resurrection  of  the  just  assumes  a  new 
prominence,  and  the  "  resurrection  of  the 
flesh  "  became  an  article  of  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  and  one  of  the  most  characteristic  ^ 
^  K.  Rich.    Then  know  that  from  my  soul 

1  love  thy  daughter. 
What  do  you  think  ? 
Qu.  FAiz.   '  That    thou    dost    love    my 

daui;hter  from  thy  soul. 
So  from  thy  soul's  love  didst  thou  love 

her  brothers, 
And  from  my  heart's  love  1  do  thank 

thee  for  it. 
K.  Rich.    Be  not  too  hasty  to  confound 

my  meaning. 
>  The  Babylonians,  however,  and  the  Per- 
had  believed  in  a  resurrection.      The 


doctrines  of  Christianity.  St.  Paul  in- 
sists that  as  death  came  by  sin  (Rom.  v. 
15),  so  Christ  completes  his  redeeming 
work  by  raising  to  new  life  the  bodies  of 
those  who  sleep  in  Him  (1  Cor.  xv.  54 
seq.)  From  the  very  first  the  doctrine 
was  an  object  of  Pagan  ridicule  (Acts 
xvii.  32),  and  the  Fathers  down  to  the 
end  of  the  fourth  century  were  constantly 
employed  in  answering  Pagan  and  hereti- 
cal objections.  (See,  e.g.,  Athanag.  "  De 
Resurrect."  c.  4 ;  Iren.  "  Adv.  Hser."  v. 
3;  TertuU.  "  Apol."  48;  "  De  Carne 
Christi,"  15 ;  "  De  Resurrect."  3 ;  Minuc. 
Felix,  11 ;  Cyril  Hieros.  "  Cat."  xviii ; 
August.  "Euchirid."  26.)  We  cannot 
wonder  at  the  objections  which  Pagans 
and  heretics  such  as  the  Gnostics  felt. 
Plato,  the  noblest  of  heathen  philosophers, 
had  regarded  the  body  as  the  prison- 
house  of  the  soul,  and  death  as  an 
escape  from  the  bonds  of  matter.  It  was 
long  before  the  world  could  accept  the 
deeper  view  of  the  Christian  Church — viz, 
that  the  body  is  a  constituent  part  of 
human  nature,  that  man,  body  and  soul, 
is  the  work  of  God,  and  that  both  are 
precious  in  his  sight.  The  Christians,  on 
the  other  hand,  during  times  of  persecu- 
tion comforted  themselves  with  the  thought 
of  the  resurrection.  The  symbols  of  it — 
e  g.  the  tree,  the  eagle,  the  egg,  the  pea- 
cock— occur  on  the  oldest  monuments; 
and  so  also  the  types  of  the  resurrection — 
the  three  youths  in  the  furnace,  Job, 
Ezechiel,  Daniel  in  the  lion's  den,  the 
ascent  of  Elias,  &c.  (See  Kraua,  "  Encycl. 
Archaol."  art.  Auferstehung.) 

All  the  Creeds  confess  the  resurrection 
of  the  body,  but  the  fullest  definition  is 
that  of  the  Fourth  Lateran  Council  in 
1215  (cap.  i.  "  Adv.  Albig.") :  "  All  will 
rise  with  their  own  proper  bodies  which 
they  now  wear."  Rt.  Thomas  ("Supp." 
Ixxix.  a.  2)  says  it  is  heretical  to  deny 
the  numerical  identity  of  the  body  which 
dies  and  rises  again :  and  the  opinion 
attributed  to  Durandus  (see  Jungmann, 
"  De  Noviss."  cap.  iii.  a.  2),  viz.  that  the 
body  will  be  the  same  in  this  sense  only, 
that  it  will  be  informed  by  the  same  soul, 
does  not  seem  to  satisfy  the  terms  of  the 
Lateran  definition.  But  this  identity 
must  not  be  pressed  too  strictly.  Our 
bodies  remain  the  same,  though  the  atoms 
of  which  they  are  composed  are  in  con- 
stant change.  Jungmann  (loc.  cit.)  lays 
it  down  as  the  common  teaching  of  all 
Catholic  theologians  that  we  may  sup- 
former  ascribed  it  to  thu  god  Marduk,  who 
himself  died  and  rose  airaiii. 


RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST 

pose  part  of  the  elements  of  the  risen 
body  to  he  supplied  by  the  power  of  God 
without  in  any  way  denying  the  truth  of 
the  resurrection.  He  admits  that  modern 
writers  "  of  the  best  reputation  "  mention 
(and  apparently  hold)  opinions  which  go 
much  further  than  this. 

We  learn  from  St.  Paul  that  the 
bodies  of  the  just  will  rise  incorruptible, 
glorious  and  spiritual — i.e.  subject  no 
longer  to  animal  wants,  but  entirely 
dominated  by  the  spirit  (so  Estius,  ad 
1  Cor.  XV.  44).  The  Schoolmen  have  ex- 
panded this  Pauline  doctrine  into  the 
theory  that  the  risen  body  will  have  four 
gifts  or  endowments,  impassibility,  claritas 
or  splendour,  the  glory  of  the  soul  shin- 
ing forth  in  the  body,  subtlety — i.e.  the 
power  of  penetrating  other  bodies,  as 
Christ  passed  through  the  closed  doors, 
agility— i.e.  the  power  of  moving  and 
acting  swiftly  at  the  will  of  the  spirit. 

RESURRECTZON*  OF  CHRIST, 
[See  Easter.] 

RETREAT.    [See  Exercises.] 

RSVEIiATZOSr,   [SeelNSPIRATIQ-N-.] 

RIGORISM.     [See    Moral  Theo- 

lOGY.] 

RIDTG.  [See  Marriage  and  Bish- 
ops.] 

RTTUAILE.  A  book  which  contains 
the  forms  to  be  observed  by  priests  in  the 
administration  ot  the  sacraoients  (com- 
munion out  of  Mass,  baptism,  penance, 
marriage,  extreme  unction),  in  church- 
ings,  in  burials,  in  most  of  the  blessings 
which  they  can  give  by  ordinary  or  dele- 
gated authority.  Such  a  book  (under  the 
title  "  Manuale ")  is  mentioned  in  the 
year  1279  in  the  synodal  statutes  of  Odo, 
Archbishop  of  Paris.  It  was  known  by 
many  names — ''Manuale,"  *'  Sacerdotale," 
*' Agenda,"  "  Institutio,"  "  Baptizandi," 
"Pastorale,"  "Obsequiale,"  "Sacramen- 
tale,"  &c.  "  Manuale  "  seems  to  have 
been  the  common  name  in  England 
("  Rituale  "  and  "  Manuale  "  in  France), 
and  the  last  edition  of  the  "  Sarum 
Manual"  was  printed  at  Douay  in  1610, 
The  contents  of  these  books  agree  on  the 
whole,  but  not  in  all  details  ;  some,  for  ex- 
ample, contain  the  order  of  confirmation, 
the  blessing  of  bells,  a  few  Masses,  and 
the  like,  which  are  not  in  our  Roman 
Ritual.  A  Sacerdotale  was  edited  by 
Castellanus  and  printed  at  Rome  in  1537. 
Previously  the  different  dioceses  were  free 
to  follow  their  own  Rituals,  but  in  1614 
an  edition  with  the  title  "  Rituale  "  was 
drawn  up  under  Paul  V.,  who  in  the  bull 
"  Apostolicae  Sedi  "  exhorted  all  prelates. 


ROGATION  DAYS 


721 


3 


seoular  and  regular,  to  conform  to  it 
exactly.^ 

(From  Zaccaria,  "  Bibliothec.  Rit." 
tom.  i.  There  is  an  edition  of  the  Roman 
Ritual,  with  an  elaborate  commentary  by 
Baruflaldius,  3rd  Venetian  ed.,  1763, 
which  is  useful  for  practical  purposes,  but 
gives  hardly  any  historical  information. 
The  commentary  of  Catalani  is  also  weU 
known.  Zaccaria  also  mentions  one  in 
Italian  by  Mariscandolo,  Lucca,  1742.) 

ROCHET.  A  vestment  of  linenf  fit- 
ting closely,  with  close  sleeves  reach- 
ing to  the  hands,  proper  to  bishops  and 
abbots.  The  use  of  it  is  also  granted  to 
certain  other  dignitaries  {e.g.  to  some 
canons  in  virtue  of  privilege).  The  length 
and  closeness  of  the  sleeves  distinguish  it 
from  the  surplice.  Priests  who  are  allowed 
to  wear  it  are  to  regard  it  as  a  choir 
vestment,  and  are  not  to  use  it  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments.  Bishops, 
on  the  other  hand,  wear  it  in  giving  con- 
firmation. 

Our  word  rochet  is  from  the  French, 
the  French  from  the  Low  Latin  rochettus, 
and  that  again  from  the  old  High  German 
hrochj  rocch,  w^hich  is  the  same  as  the 
modern  High  German  Rock,  a  coat.  (So 
Littr^,  "Diet.  Fran?.")  From  the  in- 
stances given  in  Ducange  it  appears  to 
have  been  first  an  upper  garment  of  com- 
mon life,  then  a  clerical  dress.  Lynd- 
wood,  our  great  English  canonist  of  the 
fifteenth  century  ("Ad  Prov.  Eccles. 
Cant."  lib.  iii.  tit.  ^7,  quoted  by  Ducange) 
speaks  of  it  as  sometimes  used  by  clerics 
serving  Mass,  or  priests  baptising,  because 
it  left  their  arms  free,  usages  now  strictly 
forbidden  (see  "Manuale  Decret,"art.  v.), 
so  that  the  modern  limitation  of  the  rochet 
to  dignitaries  recognised  by  Urban  VIII. 
cannot  have  been  old  in  that  Pope's  time. 

The  mozzetta  and  uncovered  rochet 
are  signs  of  plenary  jurisdiction.  Hence, 
a  bishop  may  wear  his  rochet  uncovered 
within  his  own  diocese  even  in  the 
churches  of  religious  who  are  exempt, 
but  not  beyond  its  limits  (Gavant.  P.  II. 
tit.  iii.). 

ROGATIOir  BATS.  The  Monday, 
Tuesday,  and  Wednesday  before  Ascen- 
sion Day  are  observed  by  all  Catholics  of 
tlie  Latin  rite  as  days  of  solemn  supplica- 
tion, and  are  called  Rogation  davs  because 
the  Litany  of  the  Saints  is  chanted  in  the 

1  The  bull  savs  "hortamur"  merely;  but 
the  Cong,  of  Rites  declared  (Sept.  7,  1850)  that 
the  laws  of  the  Roman  Ritual  ''affect  the  uni- 
versal Church,"  and  (October  5,  1652)  that  all 
regulars  "  were  bound  "  to  follow  it  exactly. 


723  ROGATION  DAYS 

prooesaion  which  takea  place  on  each  of 
the  three  days,  rogatio  heing  the  Latin 
equivalent  for  the  Greek  word  htany. 
Those  who  are  bound  to  recite  the  bre- 
viary, are  also  bound  to  say  the  litany 
privately,  if  not  in  procession.  I'hese 
litanies  are  called  lesser,  by  comparison 
with  the  more  ancient  and  solemn  chant- 
ing of  the  litany  on  St.  Mark's  Day. 
[Litanies.] 

The  Rogations  began  in  the  kingdom  of 
Bui^imdy,  where  they  were  instituted,  or 
at  least  made  solemn  and  public,  by  Ma- 
mertus,  bishop  of  Vienne,  at  a  time  when 
the  province  suffered  from  earthquake  and 
other  troubles  (Sidon.  Apolliuar.  Ep. 
vii.  1).  Thence  they  passed  into  the 
kingdom  of  Clovis,  where  the  Council  of 
Orleans  (c.  27),  in  511,  requires  the  faith- 
ful to  rest  from  servile  work  and  to  fast, 
or,  as  Thomassiu  thinks,  to  abstain,  on 
these  days.^  In  England  the  synod  of 
Cloveshoe  in  747  prescribes  processions 
and  fasting  till  none  on  the  three  days 
before  Ascension,  "  according  to  the  way 
of  our  fathers."  A  Spanish  council  (Concil. 
Gerund,  can.  2)  in  517  recognises  Roga- 
tions with  abstinence,  but  on  the  Thurs- 
day, Friday,  and  Saturday  after  Pente- 
cost. The  ancient  custom  at  Milan,  en- 
forced by  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  was  to 
hold  the  JElogations  and  to  fast  on  the  Mon- 
day, Tuesday,  and  Wednesday  after  the 
Ascension.  At  Rome,  according  to  Anas- 
tas.  Bibliothec,  it  was  Leo  III.  who 
introduced  the  Rogation  days.  But  the 
obligation  'of  fasting  and  rest  from  work 
which  still  existed  in  the  French  church  "^ 
of  Thomassin's  time  was  not  imposed 
at  Rome.  (From  Thomassin,  "  Traits 
des  Jeunes,"  1  P.  ch.  24,  2  P.  ch.  21.) 

ROME.     [See  Pope.] 

ROOB'BEAM  ASTB  ROOB- 
SCREBxr.  The  rood-beam  separates 
the  choir  fro«.n  the  nave,  and  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  cross.  There  is  no  proof 
that  any  such  thing  was  known  in  the 
early  Church  (see  the  article  "  Rood  "  in 
Smith  and  Cheetham),  but  it  is  common 
in  modern  churches,  and  was  introduced 
as  early  at  least  as  the  twelfth  century. 
Other  figures  besides  the  crucifix  were 
often  placed  on  it  {e.g.  those  of  the  B. 
Virgin  and  St.  John),  and  lights  were 
burnt  on  it.     Ducange  quotes  a  mediaeval 

1  The  Council  of  Tours  in  567  (can.  17) 
requires  monks  to  fast  on  the  Rogation  days. 

2  Eiifflish  Catholics  were  bound  to  abstain 
from  flesh -meat  on  the  feast  of  St.  Mark  and  the 
Rouation  davs,  till  they  were  dispensed  by  Pius 
Vlil.  in  1830  {Cone.  Frov.  West.  III.  Appen- 
dix II.). 


ROSARY 

writer  who  mentions  fifty  candles  being 
placed  on  the  tables  or  rood-beam.  A 
vpU  used  to  be  suspended  from  it  during 
Holy  ,Week.  (Uucange,  art.  Trahes ; 
Vioilet  le  Due,  "  Diet,  de  I'Architecture," 
art.  Trahes.) 

Screens  separating  choir  from  nave 
were  introduced  in  French  cathedrals 
towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, and  the  richest  examples  date  from 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth.  It  was  not 
till  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  that 
the  heavy  stone  screens  were  replaced  by 
grilles.    (VioUet  le  Due,  art.  Clotures.) 

ROS.a.RV.  A  form  of  prayer  in 
which  fifteen  decades  of  Aves,  each  decade 
being  preceded  by  a  Pater  and  followed 
by  a  Gloria,  are  recited  on  beads.  A 
mystery  is  contemplated  during  the  re- 
cital of  each  decade,  and  the  rosary  is 
divided  into  three  parts,  each  consisting 
of  five  decades,  and  known  as  a  corona 
or  chaplet.  In  the  first  chaplet  the  five 
joyful  mysteries  are  the  subjects  of  con- 
templation— viz.,  the  Annunciation,  Visi- 
tation, the  Birth  of  our  Lord,  his  presen- 
tation in  the  Temple,  his  being  found 
after  the  three  days'  loss.  The  sorrowful 
mysteries  contemplated  in  the  second 
chaplet  are  the  Agony  in  the  Garden,  the 
Scourging,  the  Crowning  with  Thorns,  the 
Carrying  of  the  Cross,  the  Crucifixion.  The 
glorious  mysteries,  which  are  allotted  to 
the  third  chaplet,  are  the  Resurrection  of 
Christ,  his  Ascension,  the  Descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Assumption  and  the 
Coronation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  The 
word  rosary  iu'st  occurs  in  Thomas 
Cantipratanus,  who  wrote  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  thhteenth  century  ("  De 
Apibus,"  ii.  13  ^ — quoted  by  the  Bolland- 
ists,  **  Vita  S.  Dominici '').  The  original 
meaning  is  very  doubtful.  We  think  it 
most  likely  that  the  word  was  used  in  a 
m3'8tical  sense  and  meant  Mary's  rose- 
garden.  (So  the  writer  of  the  article 
Rosenkranz  in  Herzog,  **  Encycl.  fiir 
Protestant.  Theol.'')  It  was  also  called 
"  Psalterium  Marianum  "  because  of  the 
number  160.  Catholics  of  the  humbler 
class  still  speak  of  a  pair  of  beads,  thus 
preserving  a  pure  and  ancient  mode  of 
speech,  "  pair  "  meaning  "set,"  as  in  '^  pair 
of  organs  " — i.e.  a  set  of  organ  pipes,  or, 
in  other  words,  an  organ. 

The  practice  of  using  beads,  kc,  as  a 
help  to  memory  in  reciting  a  set  number 
of  prayers  is  not  distinctively  Christian, 
but  it  has  long  existed  in  the  Church. 
Palladius,  a  writer  of  the  fifth  century 

1  Aa  a  title,  however ;  not  in  the  text. 


ROSARY 

C"  Hist.  Lausiac."  cap.  23),  tells  us  that 
the  Egyptian  monk  Paul  in  Pherme  put 
300  pebbles  in  liis  lap  and  flung  away  one 
as  he  finished  each  of  the  three  "hundred 
prayers  he  said.  The  English  synod  of 
(Jealcythe  (Mansi,  "Concil."  torn.  xiv. 
;360)  in  816  orders  "septem  heltidum 
Paternoster  "  to  be  sung  for  a  deceased 
bishop.  Wc  can  only  guess  at  the  meaning. 
But  Spelman's  conjecture  that  it  mejins 
belts  or-  circles  of  Paters  is  plausible. 
William  of  Malmeshury  (*'  Be  Gest.  Pont. 
Angl."  iv.  4,  quoted  by  the  Bullandists, 
loc.  cit.)  says  that  Godiva,  who  founded  a 
religious  house  at  Coventry  in  1040,  left 
a  circle  of  gems  strung  together,  on  which 
she  used  to  tell  her  prayers,  that  it  might 
be  hung  on  a  statue  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

So  far  we  have  only  considered  the 
general  question  of  reciting  prayers  on 
beads,  &c.  From  the  eleventh  century 
the  BoUandists  produce  the  following  in- 
stances of  a  fixed  number  of  Aves  ad- 
dressed to  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Heri- 
ni annus,  at  the  close  of  the  century,  men- 
tions a  person  who  recited  sixty  Aves 
daily.  The  monk  Albert,  who  lived' 
about^  1005,  said  160  every  day ;  so  did 
St.  Agbert,  who  died  in  1140. 

Thus  we  find  early  traces  of  the  use 
of  something  corresponding  to  beads,  and 
we  can  trace  the  150  Aves  back  farther 
than  St.  Dominic's  time,  but  no  instance 
presents  itself  of  150  Aves,  much  less  of 
150  Aves  and  15  Paters  said  on  beads, 
before  the  lifetime  of  that  saint.  The 
notion  that  the  Venerable  Bede  introduced 
the  rosary  is  founded  on  an  absurd  etymo- 
logy ("Bead,"  from  "  Beda  "),  and  the 
statement  of  Polydore  Virgil,  who  lived 
in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
that  Peter  the  Hermit  instituted  the 
rosary,  comes  too  late  to  have  any  weight. 
The  common  story  that  St.  Dominic 
learnt  the  use  of  the  rosary  from  the 
Blessed  Virgin  by  revelation,  and  propa- 
gated it  during  the  crusade  against  the 
Albigenses,  has  been  accepted  by  later 
Popes — viz.  Leo  X.,  Pius  V.,  Gregory 
XIIL,  Sixtus  v.,  Alexander  VII.,  Inno- 
cent XL,  Clement  XI.  This  belief  rests, 
according  to  Benedict  XIV.  ("  De  Fest." 
§  160),  on  the  tradition  of  the  order  ;  no 
contemporary  writer  vouches  for  it.  But 
the  Dominican  Friar  Nicolas  (Quetif  and 
Kchard,  "  Script.  Ord.  Praed."  tom  i. 
p.  411)  gave  in  1270  to  the  B.  Christina 
a  Paternoster,  "  quod  personaliter  iv 
annis  portaverat.*'  Dominicans  too  are  re- 
presented on  a  tomb  of  Humbertus  Del- 
phinus,  who  became  a  Dominican  about 

8 


ROSMINIANS 


728 


1360,  with  rosaries  in  their  hands,  so  that 
the  rosary  in  the  strict  sense  cannot  be 
much  later  than  St.  Dominic. 

But,  of  course,  the  Ave  of  those  days 
was  not  identical  with  the  modern  form. 
It  was  simply  "  Hail,  Mary,  full  of  grace, 
the  Lord  is  with  thee ;  blessed  art  thou 
amongst  women,  and  blessed  is  the  fruit 
of  thy  womb."  Further,  the  great  Domi- 
nican writers  Quetif  and  Echard  show 
that  the  meditation  on  the  mysteries  is 
much  later  than  St.  Dominic.  It  began 
with  a  Dominican,  Alanus  de  Rupe  (De 
la  Roche),  born  about  1428  ("  Script. 
0.  P."  tom.  i.  p.  852).  (The  authorities 
consulted  for  this  part  of  the  article  are 
the  Bollandist  dissertation  on  the  Rosary, 
in  the  first  vol.  for  August;  Quetif  and 
Echard  ;  Benedict  XIV.  "  De  Fest."  For 
Feast  of  the  Rosary,  see  Mary,  Feasts 

OF.) 

According  to  Benedict  XIV.,  a  Con- 
fraternity of  the  Rosary  at  Piaceuza  was 
indulgenced  as  early  as  1254  by  Alex- 
ander IV.  The  Living  Rosary,  in  which 
fifteen  persons  unite  to  say  the  whole 
rosary  every  month,  was  approved  by 
Gregory  XVI. 

A  popular  manual  by  Labis,  trans- 
lated by  an  English  Passiouist,  enumerates 
the  following  rosaries  besides  the  Domini- 
can— viz.  that  of  St.  Bridget,  7  Paters 
and  63  Aves,  in  honour  of  the  joys  and 
sorrows  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the 
63  years  of  her  life;  that  of  the  Seven 
Dolours,  a  Servite  devotion ;  that  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception,  approved  by 
Pius  IX.  in  1855;  the  Crown  of  our 
Saviour,  attributed  to  Michael  of  Florence, 
a  Camaldolese  monk  in  1616,  and  consist- 
ing of  83  Paters,  5  Aves,  and  a  Credo ; 
the  Rosary  of  the  Five  Wounds,  approved 
by  Leo  XII.  in  1823  at  the  prayer  of  the 
Passionists. 

ROSiaXDrzAlo-S.  That  is,  the  Fathers 
of  the  Institute  of  Charity,  a  congregation 
founded  by  the  Italian  philosopher  An- 
tonio Rosmini  in  1828.  According  to 
the  design  of  the  founder,  the  members 
of  the  new  society  were  to  "  embrace 
with  all  the  desire  of  their  souls  every 
work  of  charity,  without  arbitrary  limita- 
tion to  any  particular  branch,  undertaking 
all  that  should  be  required  of  them  of 
which  they  should  be  capable."  ^  The  first 
house  of  the  institute  was  built  on  the 
Monte  Calvario,  near  Domo  d'Ossola.  In 
1831  a  branch  of  the  society  was  esta- 
blished at  Trent,  and  another  at  Verona 
two  years  later.  In  1835,  Fr.  Gentili, 
1  Life  of  Rosmini  (Father  Lockhart):1856. 
a2 


724 


ROSMINIANS 


over  whose  impulsive  and  unequal  cha- 
racter, a»  may  be  seen  in  his  biography,^ 
the  unwaverii-'g  majesty  of  virtue  seen  in 
Rosmini  had  gained,  after  a  long  struggle, 
a  complete  and  salutary  ascendancy,  was 
sent  by  the  founder  on  a  mission  to  Eng- 
land. After  a  short  stay  with  the  Tre- 
lawney  family  in  Cornwall,  Gentili  was 
settled  by  Bishop  Baines  in  the  college  of 
Prior  Park,  near  Bath ;  before  long  he 
began  to  preach  missions  with  signal  suc- 
cess in  the  large  towns,  and  died  at  Dublin 
while  thus  engaged  in  1854.  The  variety 
of  work  done  by  the  society  in  the  tirst 
ten  years  of  its  existence  was  fully  in  ac- 
cord with  its  declared  aim  •,  it  consisted  in 
giving  retreats,  preaching,  sick-visiting, 
taking  care  of  prisons  and  hospitals,  teach- 
ing, missions  abroad,  literary  work,  and 
almsgiving.  In  1838,  on  the  report  of  the 
Congregation  of  Bishops  and  Ptegulars, 
the  Institute  of  Charity  and  its  rule  were 
approved  by  the  reigning  Pontiff,  Gregory 
XVI.,  who  had  a  singular  affection  and 
admiration  for  Rosmini.  Three  months 
afterwards  the  founder  and  all  his  fol- 
lowers took  the  vows  required  by  the 
rule,  and  in  1839  the  Pope,  by  letters 
Apostolical,  nominated  Rosmini  Superior- 
General  of  the  Institute  for  life.  It  is 
well  known  that  two  of  his  smaller  works, 
one  of  which  was  "  Belle  Cinque  Piaghe 
della  Santa  Chiesa,"  were  condemned  by 
the  Congregation  of  the  Index  in  185U. 
Rosmini's  submission  to  the  decree  was 
absolute  and  unreserved ;  but  a  far  more 
serious  matter  was  behind,  even  the 
general  examination  of  all  his  philosophi- 
cal works,  including  the  '*  Nuovo  Saggio 
sull'  Origine  dell'  Idee."  After  a  severe 
and  protracted  scrutiny,  the  decision  of 
the  Congregation  was  given  in  1854, 
"  Dimittantur  opera  Antonii  Rosmini- 
Serbati,"  the  etl'ect  of  which  was  to  de- 
clare his  works  undeserving  of  censure  on 
theological  grounds.  Meantime  a  no  vitiate 
had  been  opened  on  the  side  of  the  hill 
above  Stresa,  on  the  Lago  Maggiore;  and 
here  Rosmini  chiefly  resided  in  the  last 
years  of  his  life.  Insensible  to  the  lustre 
of  a  genius  destined  permanently  to  in- 
fluence European  thought,'^  and  to  be  one 
of  the  imperishable  glories  of  the  Italian 
mind,     the    Piedmontese     Government, 

1  By  Father  Pagani. 

2  A  new  Life  by  Mr.  McWalter  is  an- 
nounced (1883) :  an  English  version  of  the 
Nuovo  Saggio  is  in  course  of  publication. 
Rosmini's  philosophy  was  described  by  a  Pro- 
testant or  free-thinking  critic  in  the  Contem- 
porary Review  in  1883  in  terms  of  high  appre- 
ciation. 


RULE,  RELIGIOUS 

some  years  after  Rosmini's  death,  which 
was  in  J  855,  confiscated  the  house  at 
Stresa,  and  converted  it  to  some  secidar 
purpose. '  There  are  at  the  present  time 
nine  houses  of  the  Institute  in  England 
and  Wales  :  at  Cardiff  (2),  London  (Ely 
Place),  Loughborough,  Market  Weigh  ton, 
Newport,  Ratcliffe,  Rugby,  and  Wad- 
hurst. 

RITBRICS.  Directions  for  the  order 
to  be  followed  in  Mass  and  other  sacred 
rites.  The  word  is  taken  from  the  Roman 
laAv,  in  which  the  titles,  maxims,  and 
principal  decisions  were  written  in  red. 
Juvenal's  words — "  Causas  age,  perfice 
rubras  majorum  leges"  (Sat.  xiv.) — 
refer  to  this.  MS.  and  even  the  tirst 
printed  Missals  have  scarcely  any  rubrics. 
These  were  contained  in  Directories, 
Rituals,  Ceremonials,  Ordines.  It  was 
Burchard,  Master  of  Ceremonies  under 
Innocent  VIII.  and  Alexander  VI.,  who 
first  set  out  at  length  both  the  words  and 
the  ceremonies  of  the  Mass  in  his  Roman 
Pontifical,  printed  at  Rome  in  1485,  and 
again  in  his  Sacerdotale,  printed  a  few 
years  later  and  reprinted  under  Leo  X. 
After  this  the  ceremonies  were  joined  to 
the  Ordinary  of  the  Mass  in  some  printed 
Missals  and  were  finally  arranged  under 
their  present  titles  by  Pius  V.  The  same 
course  has  been  followed  in  the  authorita- 
tive editions  of  the  Pontifical,  Ritual,  &c. 
(Le  Brun,  tom.  i.  «  Traits  Prelim."  a.  3.) 

RVXiE,  REliZGIOTTS.  At  the  tuue 
when  Ferraris  wrote,  about  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  it  was  considered 
that  there  were  four  principal  rules  of  the 
religious  life — the  Basilian,  the  Benedic- 
tine, the  Augustinian,  and  the  Franciscan 
— under  which,  or  some  modification  of 
which,  the  majority  of  the  existing  orders 
and  congregations  were  ranged ;  while,  in 
a  few  isolated  cases,  rules  unconnected 
with  any  of  these  four  were  observed. 
So  great  a  number  of  religious  institutes, 
especially  of  women,  has  subsequently 
arisen  in  the  Church,  and  obtained  the 
approbation  of  the  Holy  See,  that  the 
classification  of  Ferraris  is  far  from  accu- 
rately corresponding  to  the  present  state 
of  things. 

The  rule  of  St.  Basil,  founded  by  that 
saint  about  3(30,  besides  being  that  gene- 
rally observed  by  coenobites  in  the  Eastern 
Church,  was  followed,  down  to  the  recent 
secularisations,  by  a  number  of  monasteries 
in  Sicily,  Italy,  and  Spain. 

The  rule  of  St.  Augustine  (390),  ac- 
cording to  the  computation  adopted  by 
H^lyot,  was  followed  by  no  less  thaa 


RULE,  RELIGIOUS 

ninety-seven  congregations,  including 
military  orders.  Among  these  were  the 
Lateran  Canons,  the  Canons  of  Arouaise, 
the  Hermits  and  Regular  Canons  under 
the  name  of  St,  Austin,  the  Premonstra- 
tensians,  the  order  of  Preachers,  the  Ser- 
vites,  the  Theatines,  and  the  Barnabites. 
Connected  with  every  general  congrega- 
tion following  this  rule  were  nuns  of  cor- 
responding observance. 

Helyot  enumerates  sixty-seven  congre- 
gations (including  the  monks  of  Camaldoli, 
the  Cluniacs,  the  Cistercians,  the  Brigit- 
tines,  &c.)  as  under  the  rule  of  St.  Bene- 
dict (500),  besides  military  orders. 

The  rule  of  St.  Francis  (1208)  was 
and  is  professed,  with  more  or  less  of 
rigour,  by  the  various  branches  of  the 
Franciscan  order ;  of  which  the  principal 
are  the  Observants,  the  Conventuals,  the 
Poor  Clares,  and  the  Capuchins. 

Among  the  religious  following  inde- 
pendent rules  were  the  Carthusians,  the 
Carmelites,  the  Discalced  Carmelites  of 
St.  Teresa,  and  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

Many  of  the  institutes  contained  in 
H6lyot's  enumeration  are  now  extinct ;  on 
the  other  hand,  if  we  consult  the  Abbe 
Badiche's  continuation  of  Helyot,  or  turn 
over  the  pages  of  "  Terra  Incognita,"  ^  we 
find  that  in  the  last  eighty  years  an  ex- 
traordinary number  of  new  institutes,  for 
the  most  part  with  determinate  practical 
aims,  under  carefully  adapted  rules,  and 
with  simple  vows, has  arisen  in  the  Church. 
Such  are  the  Marists,  the  Faithful  Com- 
panions of  Jesus,  the  Rosminian  Fathers, 
the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  the  Sifters 
of  Providence,  the  Nazareth  Sisters,  &c. 
&c. 

RITRAlb  BEAN'S  {decani  i-urales). 
In  the  article  Dean  it  was  explained  how 
that  title,  whicb  originally  arose  in  the 
monasteries,  was  introduced  into  cathedral 
and  collegiate  chapters.  The  institution 
of  rural  deans  appears  to  have  commenced 
in  Italy  in  the  following  manner.  The 
first  parishes,  owing  to  the  thinness  of  the 

{)opulation,  were  very  large ;  as  the  popu- 
ation  increased,  the  inconvenience  of  their 
size  was  felt ;  and  Alexander  III.  ordered 
that  new  churches  should  be  built  in 
places  where  they  were  required,  and 
endowed  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  parish 
churches.  The  new  churches  would 
naturally  be  dependent  on  the  church 
within  "the  district  of  which  they  were 
built ;  this  would  be  their  matrix  ecclesia, 
and  its  rector  would  appoint  priests  to 
them.  Such  larger  districts  came  to  be 
1  By  J.  N.  Murphy  (Longmans,  1873). 


RUSSIAN  CHURCH 


725 


called  plebes  and  the  ecclesia.«tic  in 
charge  of  one  was  named  ^)/«4<mM8,  or 
ai'chipreshyter,  or  decanus.  'ilie  prac- 
tice grew  up  of  monthly  meetings  of 
the  priests  in  each  plehs  or  rural- 
deanery,  under  the  presidency  of  the 
plehanus.  An  archpriest  in  this  sense 
differed  entirely  from  the  cathedral  arch- 
priest,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  clergy 
serving  a  cathedral  church.  The  raral 
deans  were  always  subject  to  the  arch- 
deacon ;  nevertheless,  by  deputation  from 
the  bi.«^hop'  they  gradually  drew  to  them- 
selves a  considerable  jurisdiction,  of  w^hich 
in  later  times  they  have  been  deprived. 
(Thomassin,  "  Vet.  et  Nova  Eccl.  Disc."  i. 
2,  6 ;  Ferraris,  Decanus.) 

ILVSSlAJir  CBVRCH.  According 
to  the  Russian  legend,  St.  Andrew  first 
preached  the  gospel  in  Russia  and  planted 
a  cross  at  Kiev,  but  the  truth  is  that 
Christianity  came  to  Russia  from  Con- 
stantinople in  the  latter  part  of  the  ninth 
century.  At  that  time  the  Russian  Slavs 
had  been  united  under  the  rule  of  Scandi- 
navian princes,  and  Ruric  founded  the  great 
Russian  monarchy  in  864.  Soon  after, 
however,  two  other  princes,  Ascold  and 
Dir,  also  of  Scandinavian  origin,  founded 
an  independent  kingdom  at  Kiev,  so  that 
Russia  was  divided  into  two  kingdoms, 
both  under  Scandinavian  rulers— viz.  a 
northern  monarchy  with  Novgorod,  and  a 
southern  with  Kiev,  for  capital.  In  8(56 
Ascold  and  Dir  attacked  Constantinople, 
and  are  said  to  have  been  converted  by 
miracles,  variously  reported  ;  but  the  fact 
is  certain  that  their  expedition  led  to  the 
sending  of  missionaries  from  Constanti- 
nople to  Russia.  The  exact  chronology, 
which  has  a  curious  interest  here,  is  hard 
to  fix.  According  to  Constantino  Por- 
phyrogenitus,  the  mission  from  Constanti- 
nople was  sent  in  867,  when  Ignatius, 
the  lawful  and  Catholic  Patriarch,  was 
in  possession,  so  that  the  first  Ruosian 
Christians  were  Catholics,  united  to 
Rome.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  Nestor,  the 
father  of  Russian  history  (d.  1113),  is  to 
be  believed,  the  mission  was  sent  in  866, 
and  therefore  under  Photias,  the  schis- 
matical  Patriarch,  so  that  the  first  Russian 
church  was  not  in  union  with  Rome.  In 
any  case,  the  impression  made  on  the 
mass  of  the  people  at  this  time  was  very 
slight. 

In  882  Russia  was  again  subject  to  a 
single  ruler,  Oleg,  Ruric's  successor ;  Kiev, 
however,  being  the  capital.  In  955,  Olga, 
the  Russian  Helena,  was  baptised  at  Con- 
stantinople j    and   in  988  her  grandson 


7SJ6 


RUSSIAN  OHURCH 


RUSSIAN  CHURCH 


Vladimir  the  Apostolic  also  became  a 
Christian,  and  strove  successfully  to 
Christianise  his  people.  Vladimir,  whose 
lii'e  had  been  stained  by  infamous  cruelty, 
sent  ambassadors  to  examine  the  rites  and 
doctrines  of  the  Latins,  Mohammedans, 
and  Greeks,  and  attached  himself  to  the 
latter  because  their  worship  was  the  most 
imposing.  He  sent  missionaries  through 
his  dominions,  destroyed  idols,  and  though 
there  were  heathen  Russians  even  in  the 
twelfth  century,  still  Vladimir  may  fairly 
be  considered  to  have  made  the  mass  of 
the  nation  Christian.  So  far  then,  what- 
ever the  date  of  the  first  mission  may 
have  been,  Russia,  like  the  Mother-church 
of  Constantinople,  was  in  communion 
with  Rome.  The  union  was  severed  in 
the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  by  the 
schism  of  Michael  Caerularius.  But  for 
a  time  the  Russian  church  was  in  schism 
unawares,  and  knew  little  of  the  anti- 
Roman  bitterness  which  prevailed  at 
Constantinople.  Even  to  this  day,  the 
Russians,  in  their  liturgical  books,  written 
in  bid  Slavonic,  assert  the  primacy  of  the 
Roman  See.  Pope  Sylvester  is  called  the 
*'  Divine  head  of  the  holy  bishops  ;  "  Pope 
Leo,  "  the  successor  on  the  highest  throne 
of  St.  Peter,  the  heir  of  the  invincible  rock 
and  the  successor  in  his  kingdom."  Mar- 
tin, Pope  in  the  seventh  century,  is  thus 
addressed  :  "  Thou  didst  adorn  the  divine 
throne  of  Peter,  and,  holding  the  Church 
upright  on  this  rock  which  cannot  be 
shaken,  thou  didst  honour  thv  name ; " 
and  Leo  IIL  (about  800):  '"0  chief 
shepherd  of  the  Church,  do  thou  represent 
the  place  of  Jesus  Christ."  The  feehng 
was  changed,  though  the  liturgy  still  wit- 
.nessed  to  the  past,  under  Vladimir  Mono- 
machus '  (1113).  He  was  filled  with 
hostility  to  Rome  by  Nicephorus,  who 
came  from  Constantinople  and  was 
metropolitan  of  Kiev.  This  spirit  was 
fostered  by  successive  metropolitans  from 
Constantinople,  and  has  lasted  ever  since. 
Unsuccessful  attempts  to  unite  the 
Russians  with  the  Papacy  were  made  by 
Alexander  III.,  who  corresponded  with 
John  III.,  metropolitan  of  Kiev  (since 
1164) ;  by  Innocent  III.  during  the 
Latin  occupation  of  Constantinople ;  by 
Clement  HI.,  who  tried  to  engage  Russia 
in  the  third  crusade;  by  Innocent  IV., 
when  the  Russians  were  groaning  under 
Mongol  domination  (Mongol  supremacy, 

1  He  was  the  first  prince  who  was  called 
"Czar"  (=  "Upper  Kinj:");  but  the  title 
was  not  usual  till  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 


1238-1462).  Gallicia,  however,  which 
had  fallen  under  Hungarian  rule,  be- 
came Catholic,  retaining  its  Slavonic 
rites,  under  Pope  Honorius  III.  But  there 
were  causes  which  favoured  the  success 
of  Catholicism  in  part  of  Russia.  First, 
the  Russians,  weakened  by  Mongol  op- 
pression, could  not  cope  with  their  ene- 
mies on  the  West — viz.  the  Poles  and 
Lithuanians,  and  of  these  the  Poles  were 
Catholics;  the  Lithuanians,  at  first 
heathen,  were  won  over  to  a  great  extent 
by  the  zeal  of  Dominican  and  Franciscan 
friars,  in  1386  they  became  dependent  on 
the  Polish  kingdom,  and  in  1387  all 
Lithuania  except  the  Ruthenian  pro- 
vinces declared  itself  Catholic.  The 
Lithuanian  prince  Vitolt  seized  strips  of 
Russian  territory,  and  was  averse  to  the 
connection  between  his  Ruthenian  subjects 
and  the  Russian  metropolitan.  Next,  the 
metropolitan  see  of  the  Russian  church 
had  been  transferred  to  the  city  of  Vladi- 
mir in  1299,  to  Moscow  in  1328,  though 
the  title  "  Metropolitan  of  Kiev  and  all 
Russia"  was  retained.  This  w^eakened 
the  hold  of  the  Russian  church  in  the 
South-West.  In  1414  seven  Russian 
bishops  renounced  allegiance  to  the  metro- 
politan at  Moscow  and  chose  one  of  their 
own,  resident  at  Kiev.  After  a  vacancy 
of  some  years  this  metropolitan  see  of 
Kiev  was  occupied  by  Isidore,  a  Greek 
of  Thessalonica,  who  at  the  Council  of 
Florence  in  1438  warmly  supported  the 
cause  of  union.  To  this  union  the 
church  of  Northern  Russia  and  the 
temporal  ruler,  Vassili  II.,  were  from 
the  first  bitterly  opposed,  but  it  was  ac- 
cepted at  Kiev  and  in  the  nine  suffragan 
dioceses.  All  subsequent  attempts  at  the 
conversion  of  Russia  Proper — e.g.  under 
Sixtus  IV.,  Leo  X.,  and  Clement  VII. — 
proved  fruitless.  Russia,  freed  in  1462 
from  the  Mongol  yoke,  won  and  converted 
vast  provinces  in  the  North  and  East. 
Even  the  union  of  Kiev  and  its  suffragan 
sees  to  the  Catholic  Church  was  neither 
real  nor  lasting ;  though,  as  we  shall  see 
in  a  subsequent  article  on  the  Ruthenian 
Church,  it  was  afterwards  renewed  in  a 
much  more  solid  way. 

The  disciplme  of  the  Russian  church 
has  undergone  many  changes.  In  the 
middle  ages  the  Metropolitan  of  Russia 
was  nominated  by  the  Duke  and  conse- 
crated by  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople. 
Once  consecrated,  the  metropolitan  had 
immense  power  even  in  secular  matters; 
it  was  seldom,  even  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, that  the  Duke  dared  to  resist  him. 


RUSSIAN  CHURCH 

The  otiier  archbishops  and  bishops — in 
whose  election  the  Prince,  the  clergy  and 
people,  and  the  metropolitan  all  took  part 
— were  placed  in  the  strictest  subjection 
to  the  metropolitans.  Yet  the  bishops, 
on  their  part,  had  great  influence.  They 
were  well  supported  by  tithes,  and  held 
secular  jurisdiction  in  their  own  lands. 
They  had,  moreover,  the  privilege  of  in- 
terceding for  condemned  persons ;  and  no 
prince  could  engage  in  war  till  a  bishop 
had  given  his  blessing;  if  the  blessing 
was  withheld,  no  soldier  would  follow  the 
banner.  Thus,  in  spite  of  much  ignorance 
and  superstition,  wretched  disputes  on  the 
right  way  of  making  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  controversies  whether  processions 
should  move  from  east  to  west  or  west 
to  east,  ready  belief  in  grotesque  miracles, 
still  the  influence  of  the  bishops,  who 
were  taken  from  the  monastic  orders  and 
were  superior  both  in  knowledge  and 
character  to  the  rest  of  the  clergy,  was  a 
beneficent  one  on  the  whole.  They  did 
much  to  temper  the  barbarism  of  the 
times.  At  the  end  of  the  middle  ages 
the  power  of  the  Crown  was  consolidated, 
that  of  the  nobles  and  clergy  declined, 
and  the  Czars  began  to  act  more  and  more 
as  the  heads  of  the  church.  Ivan  IV. 
(1533-84)  deposed  and  even  mm-dered 
bishops,  confiscated  Church  property,  and 
forced  the  prelates  to  confirm  his  fourth 
marriage,  which  was  against  the  Greek 
canon  law,  and  to  endure  without  protest 
his  frequent  divorces,  his  fifth,  sixth,  and 
even  seventh  marriage.  In  1589,  Jere- 
mias  II.,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  con- 
secrated Job,  the  metropolitan  of  Moscow, 
Patriarch  of  the  Russias,  and  recognised 
him  as  the  third  Patriarch  of  the  Eastern 
Church,  inferior  only  to  those  of  Con- 
stantinople and  Alexandria.  The  metro- 
politan gained  nothing  by  his  change  of 
title,  but  it  suited  the  policy  of  the  Czars 
to  make  the  church  national  and  hidepen- 
dent.  The  strife  of  the  Patriarch  Nicon 
with  the  Czar  Alexis  Michaelovitz  ended 
with  the  deposition  of  the  latter  at  a 
council  of  Moscow  in  1667,  and  early  in 
the  following  century  the  entire  subjection 
of  the  ecclesiastical  to  the  imperial  power 
was  completed.  For  Peter  the  Great  left 
the  Patriarchal  See  vacant  for  twenty 
years,  and  then,  in  1721,  with  the  consent 
of  the  Eastern  Patriarchs,  placed  the 
whole  government  of  the  Russian  church 
in  the  hands  of  the  "Holy  Synod,"  which 
depended  entirely  on  the  Czar.  Catharine 
II.  seized  all  the  Church  property,  and 
Bince  then  the  prelates  have  had  a  regu- 


RUSSIAN  CHURCH        727 

lar  salary  apportioned  to  them  by  the 

State. 

The  synod  consists  of  twelve  members, 
though  the  number  has  varied  at  dift'erent 
times.  The  members  are  nominated  by 
the  Czar,  who  may  remove  them  at  will.^ 
The  synod  in  1881  was  made  up  of  the 
Metropolitan  of  Novgorod,  president,  four 
other  metropolitans,  the  Emperor's  con- 
fessor, and  the  grand  chaplain  of  the  army 
and  fleet.  The  two  last  are  secular 
priests.  To  these  is  attached  a  chief 
procurator  as  representative  of  the  Czar 
and  other  lay  ofiicials.  This  procurator, 
who  in  1770  was  a  brigadier,  may  put 
his  veto  on  any  measure,  till  it  has  been 
laid  before  the  sovereign.  Further,  each 
member  on  entering  office  swears  that  he 
recognises  the  Czar  "■  as  supreme  judge  in 
this  spiritual  assembly."  But  if  on  the 
one  side  the  synod  is  entirely  subject  to 
the  Crown,  on  the  other  the  centralising 
system  of  the  Russian  Government  gives 
the  synod  enormous  power  in  the  church. 
It  proposes  suitable  candidates  for  vacant 
sees  to  the  Czar,  it  translates  and  deposes 
bishops,  it  can  with  the  Czar's  formal 
approval  make  new  laws  for  the  church, 
it  gives  dispensations,  it  watches  over 
doctrine  and  ritual,  sees  to  the  printing  of 
liturgical  books,  examines  relics  and  the 
evidence  for  alleged  miracles,  has  the  con- 
trol of  ecclesiastical  colleges,  receives 
appeals  from  the  bishops,  it  decides  on  the 
money  to  be  given  for  building  churches 
and  monasteries,  and  superintends  the 
payment  of  the  clergy.  Nay,  since  1809 
the  bishops  must  transmit  to  the  synod 
the  money  made  in  their  dioceses  by  sale 
of  candles,  use  of  churches,  sale  of  bridal 
crowns,  collections  in  churches,  &c.  The 
whole  sum  is  then  apportioned  to  the 
different  dioceses  according  to  their  needs. 

Bishops  are  really  all  equal,  except  so 
far  as  they  are  divided  into  three  classes, 
and  receive  more  or  less  support  from  the 
Government.  Since  the  thne  of  Peter  the 
Great,  metropolitan  and  archbishop  have 
become  mere  titles  of  honour  given  by 
the  Czar  and  not  attached  to  any  diocese, 
except  that  the  Bishops  of  Kiev  and  of 
Novgorod  and  St.  Petersburg  are  always 
archbishops,  while  Siberia  is  always  placed 
under  a  metropolitan.  If  a  see  is  vacant, 
the  Holy  Synod  recommends  two  can- 
didates to  the  Czar,  who,  however,  often 
takes  the  first  step  and  names  a  person 
whom  the  synod  have  to  choose.  The 
bishops   are   all    unmarried,    and    there- 

1  There  is  only  one  ex-officio  member — viz, 
the  Metropolitan  of  Tiflis  Exarch  of  Geoi-gia. 


728 


RUSSIAN  CHURCH 


RUSSIAN  CHURCH 


fore  chosen  from  the  monks.  They  cannot 
leave  their  dioceses  on  any  account  with- 
out leave  from  the  synod.  They  must 
make  a  complete  visitation  at  least  every 
three  yeai*s.  They  are  urged  to  be  zealous 
in  establishing  schools,  and  they  may 
enforce  discipline  in  the  case  of  the  secular 
clergy  by  punishment,  not  however  in  that 
of  the  regulars,  unless  they  are  armed 
with  a  decree  from  the  synod.  The  bishop 
is  assisted  by  a  Consistory  composed  of  the 
most  experienced  and  distinguished  secular 
and  regular  clergymen.  The  bishop  pre- 
sents them  to  the  synod,  but  cannot 
remove  them  when  once  approved.  The 
Consistory  watches  over  orthodoxy,  pre- 
pares returns  on  the  state  of  tlie  diocese 
for  the  synod,  and  for  this  purpose  has 
a  body  of  officials  in  Government  pay  at 
its  disposal.  Appeal  lies  from  the  Con- 
sistory to  the  bishop,  thence  to  the  synod. 
In  very  large  dioceses — e.g.  Novgorod  and 
Moscow — a  district  is  placed  under  a  vicar 
who  is  in  episcopal  orders,  but  differs  in 
this  from  other  bishops  that  there  is  an 
appeal  from  him  to  his  metropolitan. 
Vicars  were  also  appointed  in  1832  for 
countries  where  the  people  are  mostly 
Catholic  or  Protestant.  The  number  of 
those  who  compose  the  bishops'  house- 
hold is  settled,  and  each  official  fed  and 
paid  by  the  Government.  There  are 
three  prelates  of  the  first  class — viz.  the 
Metropolitans  of  Kiev,  of  Novgorod  and 
St.  Petersburg  (united  since  1764), of  Mos- 
cow and  Colomna.  There  are  seventeen 
bishops  of  the  second  class,  thirty  of  the 
third,  nine  vicars.  Since  1801  Georgia  was 
incorporated  within  the  Russian  Empire, 
and  there  the  Metropolitan  of  Tiflis  is 
Exarch,  and  there  are  five  bishops.  There 
is  also,  since  1858,  a  Russian  bishop  at 
Jerusalem.  The  classes  of  bishops  have, 
of  course,  nothing  to  do  with  their  juris- 
diction, for  in  that  respect  all,  except  the 
vicars,  are  on  one  dead  level  under  the 
synod.  The  classes  simply  refer  to  the 
amount  of  their  allowance  from  the 
Government. 

The  *•  white  "  or  secular  clergy  must 
all  be  married,  and  are  mostly  sons  of 
priests.  They  begin  their  education  at 
the  parish  school,  continue  it  at  the  dis- 
trict school  and  diocesan  seminary,  and 
finish  at  one  of  the  four  ecclesiastical 
academies — those  of  St.  Petersburg,  Kiev, 
Moscow,  and  Kasan.  Three  or  four  years 
are  spent  at  each  of  these  stages.  The 
benefices  are  all  conferred  by  the  bishop, 
except  that  landed  proprietors  have  often 
a  r^bt  of  patronage  in  countiy  churches 


— so  far,  at  least,  that  they  can  put  a  veto 
on  the  nomination  of  a  cleric  whom  they 
do  not  wish  to  have.  The  Government 
supports  a  certain  number  of  clergymen 
in  churches  which  had  more  than  twenty 
serfs  before  the  confiscations  of  Catharine 
II.  Tliere  are  numerous  officials  at  the 
cathedrals,  and  even  small  country 
churches  are  supposed  to  have  a  deacon 
as  well  as  a  priest.  Each  regiment  has  a 
priest,  readei',  sacristan,  door-keeper,  and 
sometimes  also  a  deacon.  In  peace, 
mihtary  chaplains  are  subject  to  the 
bishop  of  the  place ;  in  the  field,  to  a 
Proto-Pope  who  is  set  over  them.  A 
canon  of  the  fifteenth  century  required  a 
priest  who  lost  his  wife  to"  live  like  a 
layman  in  a  monastery.  This  law  of  en- 
forced seclusion  was  set  aside  by  Peter 
the  Great.  A  widowed  priest  may  now 
get  leave  from  the  synod  to  officiate  as 
before;  and  even  in  the  case  of  second 
marriage  an  edict  of  Peter  the  Great  in 
1724  permits  a  priest  to  be  employed  as 
rector  of  a  seminary,  or  in  the  episcopal 
chancery,  if  he  has  applied  himself 
diligently  to  study  and  especially  to 
preaching. 

The  Russian  religious  follow  the  rule 
of  St.  Basil.  Men  must  not  be  professed 
till  they  are  forty,  women  till  they  are 
fifty.  The  noviciate  lasts  three  years,  and 
is  followed  by  another  period  of  probation. 
The  discipline  is  strict,  and  only  a  few 
monks  receive  holy  orders.  Regular 
priests  never  have  parishes,  but  the  naval 
chaplains  are  taken  from  monks  educated 
in  the  Monastery  of  St.  George  at  Bala- 
clava ;  and  not  only  the  bishops,  but  also 
many  preachers,  confessors,  and  prelates 
generally,  are  supplied  by  them.  Accord- 
ing to  the  synodal  report  of  1838,  there 
were  225  monasteries  and  100  nunneries 
receiving  support  from  the  State  in  place 
of  confiscated  property,  besides  161  monas- 
teries and  thirteen  nunneries  maintained 
by  themselves  or  by  the  people.  Only 
seven  religious  houses  are  stauropegia 
— i.e.  exempt  from  episcopal  rule  and 
subject  immediately  to  the  synod. 

The  gi*eat  symbolical  book  of  the 
Russian  church  is  "Eit^ea-i?  r^y  twv  'Paxrav 
niarccos  0'  Exposition  of  the  Faith  of  the 
Russians  ')  drawn  up  by  Mogila,  metro- 
politan of  Kiev,  and  his  suffragans  be- 
tween 1630  and  1640.  At  the  desire  of 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  it  was 
examined  by  a  commission  of  delegates 
from  Constantinople  and  Kiev,  received 
the  title  of  "  Confession  of  Faith  of  the 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Eastern  Church  " 


HUSSTAN  CHURCH 


RUTHENIAN  CATHOLICS    729 


('O^oXoyia  TTJs  UlcTTecos  rrjs  KadokiKrjs 
Koi  'Anoa-ToXiKrjs  'EKKXrjaLas  rrjs  'Ai/aro- 
XiKTJs),  was  approved  W  the  four  Eastern 
Patriarchs,  and  again  by  the  Synod  of 
Jerusalem  in  1672.  There  are  authorita- 
tive translations  into  Slavonic,  and  it  has 
heen  edited  with  a  Latin  version  by 
Kimniel  ("  libri  Symbol.  Eccles.  Orien- 
talis/'  1843).  The  Little  Catechism 
brouf,^ht  out  by  order  of  Peter  the  Great 
is  merely  a  compendium  of  the  ''  Exposi- 
tion "  or  "  Confession," 

This  Confession  shows  that  except  on 
a  very  few  points  the  Russians  believe  as 
the  Catholic  (Jhurch  believes.  Their 
Confession  teaches  the  necessity  of  good 
works  for  salvation ;  that  Scripture  and 
tradition  are  the  two  sources  of  faith  ; 
the  intercession  and  invocation  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  the  saints,  and  the  angels ; 
that  the  faithful  departed  are  helped  by 
prayers,  alms,  and  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Euchnrist;  the  Seven  Sacraments,  tran- 
substantiation  (/xerovo-iwo-tf),  <&c.  The 
commandments  of  the  Church — such  as 
fasting,  hearing  Mass  on  Sundays  and 
feasts,  itc. — are  much  the  same  as  those 
in  Catholic  Catechisms.  But  the  Russians 
deny  the  Pope's  supremacy,  and  the  pro- 
cession of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the  Son  ; 
further,  they  hold  that  marriage  may  be 
dissolved  on  account  of  adultery,  and 
maintain  that  baptism  by  sprinkling  is 
invalid.  On  this  last  point  they  differ 
from  the  Greeks.  On  Purgatory,  their 
doctrine  is  less  sharply  defined  than  ours, 
but  they  hold  ail  which  we  hold  as  of 
faith. 

Such  is  the  formal  teaching  of  the 
Russian  church.  But  since  the  latter 
half  of  the  last  century  education  has 
made  great  strides,  and  Western,  but 
especially  German,  theology  has  exercised 
a  marked  influeuce  on  the  more  educated 
members  of  the  clergy.  Prelates  in  high 
place  have  shown  their  leanings  to  Pro- 
testant views,  and  this  tendency  has  ap- 
peared in  books  printed  with  the  approval 
of  the  Holy  Synod.  The  Catechism  of 
Plato,  archbishop  of  Moscow  and  tutor 
to  Paul  I.,  differs  essentially  from  the  old 
Catechism  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, and  especially  that  of  the  Eu- 
charist. In  1805,  Archbishop  Methodius, 
of  Tver,  published  in  Latin,  with  the 
approval  of  the  synod,  a  work  on  the 
first  four  centuries  of  the  Church,  founded 
chiefly  on  Bingham.  Philaret,  the  late 
patriarch  of  Moscow,  a  man  of  talent  and 
of  cultivated  mind,  fornied  a  school  of 
theologians  imbued  with  the    spirit    of 


German  Protestantism.  He  issued  a  " 
Catechism,  and  a  Review  of  the  Contro- 
versies between  East  and  West.  While 
Germans  like  Neander  and  Schleiermacher 
have  been  read  and  studied,  Catholic  theo- 
logians are  little  known,  and  there  is  a 
constant  tendency  to  soften  the  points  of 
difference  between  Russians  and  Pro- 
testants, and  to  accentuate  those  which 
separate  Russians  from  Catholics.  At 
the  same  time,  the  interest  in  the  Greek 
Fathers  and  in  the  old  Russian  orthodoxy 
has  been  revived  in  a  certain  section  of 
the  younger  clergy. 

(The  historical  account  and  the  sketch 
o.f  doctrine  are  from  Hefele's  "  Essay  on 
the  Russian  Church,"  1864;  the  statistics 
from  Silbernagl,  '^Kirchen  des  Orients," 
ch.  iii.,  1865.  An  article  by  Professor 
Lamy,  of  Louvain,  in  the  "  Dublin 
Review"  for  April  1881,  has  also  been 
consulted.^) 

RUTKEXrZAXr  CATHOZ.ZCS.  Tlie 
name  is  given  to  Christians  who  use  the 
Greek  liturgy  translated  into  Old  Sla- 
vonic, but  own  obedience  to  the  Pope. 
They  are  descendants  of  converts  from 
the  Russian  Church,  who  have  kept  their 
old  rites  and  discipline. 

The  metropolitan  see  of  Kiev  and  its 
suffragan  dioceses  were  united  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  as  has  been  said  in  the 
article  on  the  Russian.  The  union  was 
never  satisfactory,  and  the  last  trace  of  it 
had  disappeared  early  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. But  the  cause  of  union  was  zealously 
promoted  by  the  Jesuit  school  established 
at  Vilua  by  Father  Possevin  and  by  the 
Polish  king  Calixtus  III.  In  1595  the 
Metropolitan  of  Kiev  and  seven  suffi'agans 
were  at  their  own  request  received  by 
Clement  VIII.  into  the  Catholic  commu- 
nion. Thus,  the  Ruthenian  province 
arose  ;  the  metropolitan  was  chosen  by  the 
bishops  and  all  were  placed  under  Propa- 
ganda, which  was  represented  by  the 
Polish  nuncio.  But  at  the  partition  of 
Poland  all  the  Catholic  Ruthenian 
dioceses,  except  Lemberg,  Przemysl,  and 
part  of  Brezk,  became  Russian  dominion. 
In  1795  Russia  suppressed  all  the  dioceses 
except  one ;  in  1798  three  dioceses  were 
tolerated,  a  fourth  in  1809,  two  only  by 
Nicholas  in  1828.  In  1839  three  bishops 
joined  the  schismatic  Russians,  and  there 
was  till  lately  only  one  see  of  the  United 
Ruthenians     in     Russian    Poland — viz. 

1  The  reader  will  find  a  vivid  and  interest- 
ing account  of  the  Russian  church  in  a  work  of 
Mr.  Palmer,  recently  edited  by  Cardinal  New- 
man. 


730   RUTHENIAN  CATHOLICS 


SABELLIANISM 


Ohelm  and  Belz — immediately  subject  to 
the  Pope.  At  present  there  is  another 
bishopric — viz.  Minsk —  suffragan  to 
Mohilew.  There  were  in  1865  about 
250,000  Catholics  of  the  Ruthenian  rite 
in  Russian  Poland.  Tlie  see  of  Suprasl 
was  erected  in  1799  for  the  RutheniaDS 
in  Prussian  Poland  ,  they  numbered  about 
40,000. 

In  the  Austrian  territory  the  see  of 
Lemberg",    with     its    suifragan    sees    of 
Przemysl,  Sanek,  and  Sambor  belongs  to 
the  Ruthenian  Church  of  Poland,  and  the 
history  of  its   union   with   the   Catholic 
Church  has  been  just  given.     The  metro- 
politan see  of  Lemberg  was  erected  for 
the  two  milHons  of  Ruthenian  Catholics 
in  Gallicia  by  Pius  VII.  in  1807,  Kalik 
and  Kamenek  being  united  to  it.      But 
besides  this,  many  schismatical  Slavs  in 
Hungary  followed   the   example  set  by 
their  Polish  brethren  in  15! )o.    The  union 
only  la,8ted  till  1627,  and  though  a  bishop  j 
of  Munkacs  became  Catholic  in  1649,  the  ' 
population   remained  schismatic.      More  | 
was  done  for  the  Catholic  cause  by  the  | 
Ruthenian  bishop  De  Camillis  at  the  end  I 


of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  in  1771 
the  diocese  of  Munkacs  was  properly  con- 
stituted by  Clement  XIV.  The  Catholic 
population  amounts  to  360,000  souls. 
From  the  diocese  of  Munkacs  that  of 
Eperies  was  divided  in  1816.  It  contains 
160,000  souls.  Mmikacs,  Eperies,  and 
Creis  (apparently  a  new  see)  are  under  the 
Latin  Archbishop  of  Gran.  In  Croatia 
the  Ruthenians  had  one  diocese,  that  of 
Kreutz,  with  20,000  souls,  erected  in 
1777,  and  subject  to  the  Latin  Metro- 
politan of  Agram.  But  the  see,  though 
it  existed  very  lately,  is  omitted  in  the 
latest  official  lists. 

The  Ruthenians  have  a  married 
secular  clergy  and  religious  who  follow 
the  rule  of  St.  Basil.  The  bishops  are 
usually  taken  from  the  monks.  The 
Ruthenians  are  under  the  laws  made  by 
Propaganda  for  Catholics  of  Greek  rite 
living  among  Latins.  Their  bishops  at 
their  consecration  make  the  profession 
of  faith  pi-escribed  for  the  Greeks  by 
Urban  VIII.  (Silbernagl,  "  Kirchen  des 
Orients.") 


SABBATH.  [See  STJNLAr.J 
SABEIiI.ZAM-XSM.  A  name  given 
to  two  veiy  diiFerent  forms  of  doctrine, 
which,  however,  agreed  in  this  that  they 
denied  any  real  distinction  of  Persons  in 
God.  The  Catholic  Church  teaches  that 
there  are  three  divine  Persons  really  dis- 
tinct from  each  other,  and  yet  one  God. 
The  Sabellians  confessed  with  Catholics 
the  numerical  unity  of  God,  but  denied 
the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  by  explaining 
away  the  real  distinction  of  the  Persons. 

(1)  The  earliest  form  of  the  heresy 
was  Patripassianism.  Praxeas,  who  came 
from  Asia  Minor  to  Rome  under  Pope 
Eleutherus  (175-189),  Noetus  of  Smyrna, 
who  was  excommunicated  in  his  own 
province  about  230,  Epigonus  and 
Cleomenes,  who  transplanted  the  doc- 
trine of  Noetus  to  Rome,  all  held  that 
God  the  Father  of  all  is  the  only  God 
and  that  this  one  God  became  man, 
suffered  and  died.  Thus  Praxeas  held 
"  that  the  Father  came  down  int-o  a 
virgin,  that  He  himself  was  bom  of  her, 
that  lie  himself  suffered  :  finally,  that 
He  himself  is  Jesiis   Christ"    (TertuU. 


"Adv.  Prax."  1,  and  so  28,  29,  30). 
Pressed  to  explain  how  it  was  that 
Father  and  Son  could  be  said  on  this 
theory  to  exist  at  all  after  the  Incarna- 
tion, Praxeas  replied  that  Christ  so  far  as 
He  was  flesh  was  Son,  and  so  far  as  He 
was  spirit  or  God  was  the  Father  {ib. 
27).  The  tenets  of  Noetus  were  pre- 
cisely the  same  (Hippolytus,  "  C.  Noet." 
ed.  Lagarde,  "Philosoph."  ix.  7-10).  And 
such  also  was  the  original  doctrine  of  Sa- 
beUius,  a  Libyan,  who  came  to  Rome  under 
Zephyrinus,  was  banished  from  the  Ro- 
man Church  by  Callistus,  and  took  refuge 
in  the  Libyan  Pentapolis.  The  testi- 
monies as  to  the  original  teaching  of 
Sabellius  are  too  early  and  express  to  be 
set  aside.  "  He  "  (SabeUiiis)  "  blasphemes," 
says  Dionysius,  bishop  of  Rome,  in  the 
middle  of  the  third  century,  "  saying  that 
the  Son  himself  is  the  Father,  and  vice 
versa."  (The  Epistle  of  Dionysius  is  con- 
tained in  Athanas.  *'De  Decret.  Nicen. 
Syn."  and  edited  by  Routh,  "  Rell.  Sacr." 
vol.  iii.  p.  S7S' seq.)  Novatian,  another 
author,  nearly  contemporaneous,  speaks 
of  Sabellius  as  one  "  who  calls  Christ  the 


SABELLIANISM 

Father"  (Novat.  «De  Trin."  c.  12). 
The  Macrostich,  a  Semiarian  creed  of  the 
Eusehians  (apud  Athanas.  "  De  Synod." 
26),  refers  to  those  whom  the  Latins  call 
the  Patripassians  and  we  the  Sabellians. 
So  also  Athanasius,  iii.  36 ;  and  Cardinal 
Newman  ("Oxford  Translation  of  St. 
Athanas."  p.  529)  quotes  on  the  same  side 
Euseh.  "Eccl.  Theol."  i.  p.  91;  Basil. 
Ep.  210,  5;  Rufin,  "In  Symh."  5; 
August.  "H£er."  41;  Theodor.  "Hser. 
Fab."  ii.  9.) 

(2)  The  doctrine  of  the  Sahellians, 
and  perhaps  of  Sabellius  himself,  under- 
went a  complete  transformation,  and 
resolved  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  into 
three  manifestations  of  God  *to  man. 
It  was  difficult  for  Sahellianism,  in  its 
original  form,  to  assume  even  the  ap- 
pearance of  conformity  to  the  traditional 
teaching,  embodied  in  the  form  of  baptism, 
on  the  Holy  Ghost.  A  very  early  author, 
Dionysius  of  Alexandria  (apud  Euseb. 
"H.  E."  vii.  6)  reproaches  the  Sahellians 
with  this  very  thing,  "  that  they  had  no 
idea  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  (duaia-Orjo-iav 
Tov  ay'iov  nvevixaros.)  It  was  conceivable 
that  the  Father  should  have  been  incarnate 
in  Christ,  but  there  was  no  room  for  such 
an  incarnation,  and  therefore  on  Sabellian 
principles  for  a  real  existence  of  the  third 
Person  in  the  Trinity.  Hence  Sabellius, 
or  at  least  the  Sahellians,  came  to  hold 
that  the  same  Person  is  the  Holy  Ghost 
so  far  as  He  manifests  Himself  in  the 
Christian  Church,  and  by  parity  of 
reasoning  Son  so  far  as  He  appeared  in 
Christ.'  The  same  Person  or  Hypostasis 
(so  Theodor.  "  Hser.  Fab."  ii.  9,  reports 
the  doctrine  of  Sabellius)  was  Father 
when  He  gave  the  law,  Son  when  He 
became  flesh  in  Christ,  Holy  Ghost  when 
He  descended  on  the  Apostles,  being 
"  one  person  with  three  names "  {ev 
TpioDvvfxov  Trpoaconov.)  He  compared  the 
three  TrpoacoTra  or  characters  of  God 
(Epiphan.  "  Ha3r."  62,  1)  to  the  spherical 
form,  light  and  heat  of  the  one  sun. 
'  Such  late  authorites  are  not  decisive  for 
the  supposition  that  Sabellius  himself 
held  this  view,  but  undoubtedly  the 
Sahellians  did.  Patripassianism  was  thus 
avoided  altogether ;  but  on  the  other  hand 
the  Incarnation,  no  less  than  the  Trinity, 
was  in  effect  denied,  for  the  manifestation 
of  God  in  Christ  could  diifer  in  degree 
only,  and  not  in  kind,  from  his  union  with 
other  holy  men.  This  Sabellian  doctrine, 
which  takes  npoaoinov  or  persona  in  its 
original  meaning  of  mask,  character,  &c., 
has  been  maintained  by  many  Protestant 


SAORAMENTALS 


731 


divines — e.g.  by  Archbishop  Whately  in 
his  "  Logic."  It  is  of  course  completely 
incompatible  with  Catholic  belief,  and  is 
contrary,  e.g.,  to  the  first  chapter  of  St. 
John's  GospeL 

(3)  Closely  akin  to  the  later  Sahelli- 
anism is  the  doctrine  of  Marcellus  of 
Ancyra.  He  was  a  strenuous  defender  of 
the  Nicene  definition  against  the  Arians, 
and  this  and  the  obscurity  of  his  doctrine 
account  for  the  fact  that  he  was  defended 
by  Pope  Julius,  the  Synod  of  Sardica,  and 
Athanasius  himself  (Athanas.  "  Apol.  c. 
Arian."  23,  32;  "Ep.  ad  Monach.  et 
Hist.  Arian."  6.)  He  made  the  Aoyos  a 
mere  attribute  of  God  like  the  reason  of 
man,  manifesting  itself  in  the  creation,  in 
the  incarnation,  and  in  the  sanctification 
of  Christians.  (Theodor.  "  Heer.  Fab."  ii. 
10).  In  Christ  the  Word  dwelt  with 
extraordinary  power,  to  retire  from  him 
at  the  consummation  of  all  things,  when 
the  manhood  of  Christ  would  no  longer 
reign.  (Euseb.  "  Adv.  Marcell."  ii.  2-4  ; 
"Eccl.  Theol."  iii.  8-17.) 

(Newman,  "Notes  on  Athanasius"; 
Petavius,  "  De  Trinitate"  ;  Kuhn, "  Trini- 
tatslehre";  Dollinger,  "  Hippolytus  and 
Callixtus.") 

SACRAMEXTTAXiS.  We  shall  show 
in  the  article  on  Sacraments  that  the 
word,  not  only  by  Fathers  like  St.  Augus- 
tine, but  even  by  mediaeval  theologians, 
was  widely  used  for  the  most  sacred  and 
solemn  rites  of  the  Church.  We  have 
seen  that  St.  Augustine,  like  the  Roman 
Rituale  in  present  use,  called  the  salt  in 
baptism  a  sacramentum,  while  mediaeval 
writers  use  the  word  of  religious  profession, 
holy  water,  &c.  After  Peter  Lombard, 
when  the  use  of  the  word  and  its  defini- 
tion became  restricted  and  fixed,  the  name 
"  sacramental"  was  given  to  rites  which 
have  some  outward  resemblance  to  the  sa- 
craments, but  which  are  not  of  divine  in- 
stitution. The  word  sacramentnlia  occurs 
in  the  "  Summa"of  St.  Thomas  (iii.  713), 
but  he  does  not,  so  far  as  we  know, 
enumerate  or  classify  them,  and  with 
him  sacramentalia  seems  only  to  mean 
ceremonies  accompanying  the  sacraments. 

The  sacramentals  are  enumerated  in 
the  following  line — 

Orans,  tinctus,  edens,  confessus,  dans,  benedicens  j 

— i.e.  the  prayers  of  the  Church — above 
all  the  Lord's  prayer — and  alms  (how- 
ever, to  be  called  "  sacramentals,"  prayer 
must  be  said  or  the  alms  given  in  the 
name  of  the  Church  or  in  a  consecrated 
place;  otherwise,  as  Billuart  says,  they 


732 


SAORAMENTARY 


do  not  differ  from  other  good  works), 
blessed  bread,  the  confession  at  Mass  and 
in  the  Office,  the  blessing  of  bishops  or 
abbots,  hoi  J  water  (with  which  we  may 
class  blessed  ashes,  candles,  palms,  &c.). 
If  the  "  sacramentals "  are  used  with 
pious  dispositions  they  excite  increased 
fear  and  love  of  God,  detestation  of  sin, 
and  so,  not  in  themselves,  but  because  of 
these  movements  of  the  heart  towards 
God,  remit  venial  sins.  They  have  a 
special  efficacy,  because  the  Church  has 
blessed  them  with  prayer,  andso  when,  e.g., 
a  person  takes  holy  water,  accompanying 
the  outward  act  with  the  desire  that  God 
may  cleanse  his  heart,  the  prayer  of  the 
whole  Christian  people  is  joined  to  his 
own.  The  opinion  that "  sacramentals  "  re- 
mit venial  sins  by  a  power  given  them  by 
God  over  and  above  the  good  dispositions 
with  which  they  are  used,  is  held  by  some, 
but  rejected  by  Juenin,  and  even  by 
Billuart,  as  destitute  of  warrant  in  Scrip- 
ture or  tradition. 

SACRAIMEEMTTAR'S'  (or  Zibe?' Sac7'a- 
mentormn.)  A  book  containing  the  rites 
for  Mass  and  the  sacraments  generally — 
e.g.  holy  orders,  baptism,  &c. ;  also  for 
various  sacramental  rites — e.g.  dedication 
of  churches,  consecration  of  nuns,  &c. 
It  is  represented  by  our  Missal,  Pontifical, 
and  Ritual.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Sacramentary  had  few  rubrics. 

An  imperfect  Roman  Sacramentary, 
without  Ordo  or  Canon,  was  published  by 
Muratori  in  his  "  Liturgia  Romana 
Vetus."  It  is  known  as  the  Leonine, 
though  some  of  the  Missae  are  probably 
later  than  Leo  I.  The  Gelasian  Sacra- 
mentary was  published  from  a  ninth-cen- 
tury MS.  in  the  Vatican  by  Cardinal 
Thomasius.  The  Gregorian  is  a  revision 
of  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary.  Three 
Galilean  Sacramentaries  (Missale  Gothi- 
cum,  GalUcum,  Francorum)  were  pub- 
lished by  Thomasius,  and  reprinted  by 
Mabillon  and  Muratori.  Another  known 
as  Bobbiense  was  discovered  by  MabiUon 
at  Bobbio,  and  printed  by  him  in  his 
"Museum  Italicum."  (See  Lituhgies; 
Missal;  Ordo;  Rubrics.) 

SACBAMSXTTS  OT  XJAT1TRB 
AlTD   OF    THE  JE'WZSB    CHURCH. 

If  we  define  a  sacrament  as  "  a  sign  of  a 
sacred  thing,  which  thing  sanctifies  men," 
we  are  able  to  include  the  sacraments  of 
nature,  the  old  law,  and  the  Christian 
Church  in  one  common  class.  All  are 
outward  signs ;  all  were  instituted  by  God  ; 
and  hence  distinguished  from  "sacra- 
mentals."   But  they    do  not  all  confer 


SACRAMENTS  OF  NATURE 

grace  ex  opere  opernto.  It  was  the  pri- 
mary and  direct  object  of  the  Jewish 
sacraments  to  typify  the  mysteries  of  the 
Christ  who  was  to  come.  Moreover,  the 
grace  which  most  at  least  of  the  Jewish 
sacraments  effected  was  not  grace  in  the 
proper  sense,  but  an  outward  and  legal 
status,  a  position  as  members  of  the 
Jewish  Church.  We  lay  down  these 
principles  provisionally,  for  there  is 
scarcely  a  question  in  theology  which  has 
occasioned  a  greater  variety  of  opinion. 

The  existence  of  jrrace  given  by  sacra- 
ments before  Christ  does  not  seem  to  have 
occurred  to  anyone  previous  to  St.  Augus- 
tine. His  clear  apprehension  of  the  doctrine 
of  original  sin  led  him  to  believe  that  some 
remedy  for  it  must  have  been  prescribed 
before  Christ  came,  and  this  remedy  he 
found  in  circumcision  ("  De  Nupt.  et 
Concupisc."  ii.  11 ;  "  Adv.  Donat."  iv.  24). 
This  explanation,  however,  did  not  touch 
the  case  of  children  born  before  Abraham 
received  the  covenant  of  circumcision. 
He  thinks  it  incredible  that  those  under 
the  law  of  nature  had  no  sacred  sign 
of  the  Mediator  {mcr amentum)  by  which 
they  "  helped  their  little  ones,"  though 
he  does  not  profess  to  know  what  this 
sign  was  ("Adv.  Julian."  v.  11).  Sub- 
sequent Latin  Fathers,  and  the  School- 
men generally,  adopted  St.  Augustine's 
theory,  and  the  term  "  sacraments  of  the 
old  law  "  has  been  adopted  by  the  Coun- 
cils of  Florence  and  Trent.  The  latter 
council  anathematises  (sess.  vii.  De  Sacr. 
can.  2)  the  view  of  Calvin  ("  Instit."  iv. 
14)  ^  that  there  is  no  difference  except  in 
the  outward  rite  between  the  sacraments 
of  the  old  law  and  the  new ;  but  this  is 
all  the  Church  has  decided  in  the  matter. 
It  is  agreed  that  the  statement  of  Eugenius 
IV.  in  the  Council  of  Florence  ("  Instructio 
pro  A  rmen.") — viz.  that  the  sacraments  of 
the  old  law,  unlike  those  of  the  new,  did 
not  ccmfer  but  only  typify  grace — is  not  a 
definition  of  faith.  "(See  Tournely,  "  De 
Sacr.  in  Gen."  qu.  3,  a.  3.) 

We  have  to  distinguish  between  the 
sacrament  or  sacraments  of  the  law  of 
nature  and  circumcision  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  many  sacraments  of  the  Mosaic 
law — e.g.  the  paschal  lamb,  the  ordination 
of  priests  and  Levites,  legal  purifications, 
&c. — on  the  other.  The  opinions  of  the 
School  divines  are  thus  given  by  Tournely 

1  He  of  course  admitted  this  difference,  that 
the  sacraments  of  the  old  law  shadowed  forth 
Christ  who  Avas  to  come,  while  those  of  the 
g{jspcl  "bear  testimony  to  Him  as  alreadj 
come," 


SACRAMENTS  OF  NATURE 

(1)  With  regard  to  the  Mosaic  sacraments 
excluding  circumcision.  The  Master  of 
the  Sentences  denied  that  anyone  was 
justified  by  them,  even  if  they  were 
performed  in  faith  and  charity.  Duran- 
dus  believed  that  grace  was  given  by  some 
of  the  Mosaic  sacraments — at  least  by 
ordination  to  the  priesthood.  Hugo  of 
St.  Victor  and  Bonaventure,  followed  by 
Estius,  hold  that  the  old  sacraments  gave 
grace  ex  opere  operato,  not  indeed  in  them- 
selves and  primarily,  but  so  far  as  they 
were  signs  by  which  men  confessed  their 
faith  in  the  Redeemer.  St.  Thomas  and 
many  others  have  thought  that  the 
sacraments  of  the  old  law  gave  grace  not 
€X  opere  operato,  but  ex  opere  operantis — 
i.e.  because  of  faith  in  the  minister  and 
recipient.  (2)  As  to  circumcision.  The 
Master  of  the  Sentences,  Bonaventure,  and 
many  of  the  most  celebrated  Schoolmen 
— e.g.  Alexander  of  Hales,  Scotus,  Duran- 
dus,  held  that  circumcision  was  primarily 
and  directly  instituted  as  a  remedy  for 
original  sin,  and  of  itself  sufficed  to  re- 
move it.  We  may  notice  in  passing  that 
neither  Scripture  nor  Philo  and  Josephus, 
nor  the  Rabbins,  attribute  any  such  efficacy 
to  circuracision.  Lastly,  St.  Thomas 
holds  that  circumcision  did  indeed  remit 
sin  and  confer  grace,  not,  however,  in 
itself,  but  as  a  type  of  Christ's  Passion, 
the  fai.th  of  the  recipient  if  an  adult  being 
requiaite,  and  in  the  case  of  an  infant  the 
faith  of  others  in  his  behalf.  On  these 
conditions  it  remitted  original  and  actual 
sin  if  the  latter  had  been  committed. 
In  the  case  of  children  who  died  before 
the  eighth  day  (or,  we  may  add,  of  female 
children)  he  suggests  that  some  other  sign 
of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  parents  sufficed. 
But  he  points  out  that  circumcision  did 
not,  Hke  baptism,  impress  a  character 
which  incorporates  a  man  with  Christ; 
nor  did  it  give  a  title  to  the  immediate 
possession  of  heaven,  nor  bestow  such 
abundant  grace  as  baptism  (iii.  70,  4.) 

SiVCRAMEITTS  OF  THE  GOSPSI.. 
1.  Dejinition  and  Oen&ral  Opposition 
between  Catholic  and  Frotestant  Doctrine. 
— The  Roman  Catechism  (P.  II.  cap.  i. 
n.  4),  following  the  Council  of  Trent 
(sess.  xiii.  cap.  3)  defines  a  sacrament 
as  "  a  visible  sign  of  invisible  grace  in- 
stituted for  our  justification."  There 
must  be  a  visible  sign.  Constantly,  in- 
deed, is  grace  bestowed  without  sign  at 
all ;  God  justifies  at  once  the  sinner  who 
turns  to  Him  with  sorrow  and  love,  and 
his  grace  is  continually  descending  on 
the  hearts  of  the  just,  but  in  all  these 


SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL  733 

cases  there  is  no  sign,  and  therefore  no 
sacrament.  This  sign  is  efficacious — i.e. 
it  really  effects  the  grace  which  it  signifies. 
Moral  and  spiritual  dispositions,  it  is 
true,  are  required  in  order  that  those  who 
have  come  to  the  use  of  reason  may 
receive  the  grace  of  the  sacraments  ;  but 
these  dispositions  are  the  condition  and 
not  the  cause  of  grace,  the  grace  given  is 
far  beyond  the  pious  feelings  which  the 
mere  sign  awakens,  and  herein  lies  the 
difference  between  sacraments  such  as 
baptism  and  sacramental  rites  instituted 
by  the  Church,  such  as  sprinkling  with 
holy  water.  Lastly,  it  is  beyond  the 
power  of  man  to  make  earthly  things  the 
channels  of  divine  grace;  the  Church 
may  bless  holy  water  and  hope  that  her 
prayers  for  those  who  use  it  will  be 
heard;  she  cannot  make  water  "the 
laver  of  new  birth."  Such  power  belongs 
to  Christ,  the  author  and  the  finisher  of  our 
salvation,  and  therefore  the  institutor  of 
the  sacraments. 

Very  different  was  the  Protestant 
doctrine  against  which  the  definitions  of 
Trent  were  framed.  According  to  the 
Lutherans,  the  sacraments  did  not  pro- 
duce grace,  but  were  pledges  and  seals  of 
God's  promises  to  us.  Thus  Melanchthon 
says  God  invites  us  to  his  table  in  order 
to  remove  all  doubt  from  our  minds  that 
He  has  forgiven  us,  and  the  Augsburg 
Confession  describes  the  sacraments  as 
"  signs  and  testimonies  of  God's  good  will 
towards  us."  Calvin's  teaching  is  sub- 
stantially the  same,  while  Zwingli  made 
the  sacraments  signs,  not  of  God's  fidelity, 
but  of  ours.  We  receive  the  sacraments 
to  show  that  we  believe:  they  are 
merely  the  badges  of  Christian  pro- 
fession. Several  consequences  followed 
from  the  Lutheran  definition.  It  became 
necessary  to  reduce  the  number  of  the 
sacraments,  for  it  could  not  be  said — e.g. 
of  marriage  and  holy  order — ^\^dth  any 
show  of  reason  that  their  primary  and 
direct  object  was  to  excite  faith.  Next, 
the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  sacraments 
was  out  of  all  harmony  with  Lutheran 
belief  in  consubstantiation.  Why  should 
Christ  work  a  miracle  and  place  his  true 
body  and  blood  under  the  bread  and 
wine,  if  He  did  but  mean  to  confirm  and 
renew  his  promises  ?  A  simple  feast  of 
bread  and  wine  received  in  his  name  and 
at  his  bidding  was  surely  enough,  and  so 
Luther's  doctrine  naturally  led  to  that  of 
the  Sacramentarians,  which  he  so  bitterly 
opposed.  Further,  the  Anabaptists  were 
fully  justified  by  the  Lutheran  definition 


734  SACRA.MENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL       SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL 


of  a  sacrament  in  rejecting  infant  baptism, 
since  a  sacrament  cannot  possibly  excite 
fiaith  or  assurance  in  an  unconscious  child. 
Equally  logical  were  the  Society  of 
Friends  and  other  small  sects  which 
abandoned  the  sacraments  entirely;  the 
perfect  believer  might  fairly  plead  that  to 
him  God's  word  was  enough,  and  needed 
no  confirmation  by  outward  signs  or  seals. 
So  it  happened  that  while  the  Calvinists, 
Zwinglians,  Anabaptists,  &c.,  advanced  on 
the  path  of  negation,  the  later  Lutherans 
retreated  and  almost  accepted  the  Catholic 
doctrine.  The  "  Apology  "  admits  that  a 
"  promise  of  grace "  is  annexed  to  the 
sacraments  ("sacramenta  vocamus  ritus, 
qui  habent  mandatum  Dei  et  quibus 
addita  est  promissio  gratise."  For  refer- 
ences on  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed 
doctrine,  see  Mohler,  "  Symbolik,"  book 
i.  ch.  iv.) 

The  fact  is  that  the  differences  be- 
tween Catholics  and  Protestants  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  sacraments  springs  from  the 
still  more  radical  difference  between  them 
on  redemption  and  justification.  The  Re- 
formersheld  that  man's  nature  was  wholly 
and  incorrigibly  bad  ;  he  could  only  appro- 
priate Christ  by  faith  and  have  the  merits 
of  another  set  down  to  his  account.  The 
Church,  on  the  contrary,  teaches  that 
Christ's  grace  purifies  man  within,  really 
makes  him  just,  and  ennobles  his  whole 
earthly  life  by  imparting  to  it  a  divine 
and  heavenly  character.  And  just  as 
Christ  appeared  in  flesh,  just  as 
virtue  went  forth  from  that  body  which 
He  took,  just  as  He  saved  us  by  that 
blood  which  He  willingly  shed  in  love  for 
us,  so  He  continues  to  make  sensible 
things  the  channels  of  that  grace  by 
which  our  lives  are  elevated  and  sancti- 
fied. In  baptism  we  are  born  again ;  in 
confirmation  we  grow  up  to  perfect  men  in 
Christ ;  communion  is  the  daily  bread  by 
which  the  life  of  the  soul  is  maintained  ; 
in  penance  God  "heals  the  soul  which 
has  sinned  against  Him  "  ;  when  death  is 
near,  unction  comes  to  remove  the  last 
remnant  of  infirmity  and  prepare  the  soul 
for  final  glory.  But  man  has  a  social 
as  well  as  an  individual  nature.  Marriage 
is  given  that  natural  impulses  which 
have  often  proved  the  source  of  corrup- 
tion and  crime  may  become  the  fountain 
of  blessing,  that  the  young  may  be 
brought  up  in  God's  love  and  fear,  and 
the  Church  be  the  fruitful  mother  of 
children,  Order  is  instituted  that  the 
Church  may  be  ruled  by  those  whom  God 
has  set  over  her,  may  be  fed  by  the  word 


of  life  and  with   the   other   sacraments. 
(St.  Thomas,  III.  qu.  Ixv.  a.  1.) 

(2)  The  Numher  of  Sacraments. — We 
have  already  touched  on  this  division  of 
the  subject,  for  we  have  just  given  a 
rationale  of  the  Seven  Sacraments  from 
the  "  Summa  "  of  St.  Thomas.  The  Ca- 
tholic Church  has  defined  that  there  are 
seven  sacraments  of  the  new  law,  and 
seven  only.  That  there  are  seven  sacra- 
ments is  proved  by  the  arguments  given 
in  favour  of  each  from  Scripture  and  the 
perpetual  tradition  of  the  Church,  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  as  we  shall  presently 
show,  there  is  no  other  rite  which  can 
claim  a  place  in  the  same  category. 
Again,  though  it  is  quite  true  that  the 
enumeration  of  seven  sacraments  was  un- 
known for  nearly  twelve  centuries  of 
Church  history,  this  is  explained  by  the 
fact  that  the  word  8ac7'amentu7nha.s  various 
senses,  and  till  its  sense  had  been  definitely 
fixed,  or  some  other  word  found  as  a  sub- 
stitute, the  enumeration  of  seven  sacra- 
ments was  impossible.  Indeed ,  the  history 
of  this  enumeration  furnishes  an  argument 
on  our  behalf.  How  was  it  that  when 
once  Peter  Lombard  had  fixed  the  number 
and  names  of  the  seven  sacraments,  his 
view  was  at  once  and  universallj^,  or  all 
but  universally,  accepted?  The  answer 
is,  because  he  supplied  the  complete  and 
correct  formula  for  the  doctrine  which  the 
Church  already  held.  His  statement  came 
like  a  right  word  which  exactly  expresses 
a  man's  meaning,  but  which  he  has  been 
long  searching  for  in  vain.  Once  more, 
the  Greeks  separated  from  the  Catholic 
Church  before  the  list  of  sacraments  had 
been  made.  Yet  they,  too,  reached  the 
same  conclusion.  The  "Orthodox  Con- 
fession of  the  Eastern  Church,"  solemnly 
accepted  by  all  the  Eastern  Patriarchs  and 
used  by  the  Russians,  gives  (ad  Qu.  97) 
the  number  of  sacraments  as  seven,  corre- 
sponding to  the  Seven  Gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  names  the  same  seven  which 
we  confess  (Confirmation  being  called 
TO  fxvpov  Tov  xpicTfiaToi),  So,  too,  the 
Confession  of  Dositheus,  schism  atical  pa- 
triarch of  Jerusalem,  accepted  in  the 
Council  of  Jerusalem  in  1672,  declared 
that  there  were  seven  sacraments,  and  that 
it  was  a  sign  of  "  heretical  madness  "  to 
say  there  were  more  or  less.  The  Pro- 
testant Confessions,  ^vith  scarcely  an  ex- 
ception, deny  that  there  are  more  than 
two.  But  such  a  denial  had  never  been 
made  before,  except  by  some  of  the^  me- 
diaeval heretics.  And  even  the  Pro'test- 
ants  were  not  sure  of  their  ground.    The 


SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL     SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL  735 


'  Apology  "  of  Melanchthon,  sul)scribed 
by  the  chief  Lutherans,  acknowledges  that 
*'  baptism,  the  supper,  and  absolution,  are 
three  true  sacraments."  And  it  adds  a 
fom*th,  since  "  no  difficulty  need  be  made 
against  putting  Order  in  this  rank,  if  it  be 
taken  to  mean  the  ministry  of  the  word, 
because  it  is  commanded  by  God  and 
has  great  promises."  Confirmation  and 
Extreme  Unction  are  said  to  be  "  cere- 
monies received  by  the  Fathers,"  which 
have  no  express  promise  of  grace.  In 
Marriage  they  recognise  divine  institu- 
tions, but  with  promises  of  temporal  bless- 
ing only.  "  As  if,''  says  Bossuet,  "  it  were 
a  temporal  thing  to  bring  up  childi-en  of 
God  for  the  Church,  and  to  be  saved  by- 
begetting  them  in  this  fashion  (1  Tim.  ii. 
16),  or  as  if  it  were  not  one  of  the  fruits 
of  Christian  marriage  to  cause  the  children 
born  in  it  to  be  called  holy,  as  being 
destmed  for  sanctity  "  (Bossuet,  "  Varia- 
tions," livr.  iii.  ch.  51). 

In  tracing  the  history  of  the  numera- 
tion within  the  Church,  we  may  dis- 
tinguish four  different  stages.  Till  about 
the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  we  find 
usually  two,  and  sometimes  three  rites 
placed  together  as  sacraments.  Tertidlian, 
for  example,  speaks  in  the  same  place  of 
Baptism  and  the  Eucharist  ("  De  Corona," 
3),  and  he  calls  the  latter  a  "  sacramen- 
tiun*' — though  nothing  can  be  made  of 
this,  for  he  uses  8acramentum  for  the 
oath  or  obligation  of  Christian  service, 
for  a  mystery,  and  for  a  sign  of  any 
land  which  conceals  a  sacred  meaning. 
This  use  of  the  words  sacramentmn  and 
fiva-TTjpiov  is  common  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, the  Old  Latin,  the  Vulgate,  and  all 
the  leathers,  and  is  still  retained  in  Greek 
and  Latin.  A  century  before,  Justin 
(1  Apol.  61  seq.)  had  explained  together 
the  two  sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the 
Eucharist,  and,  long  after,  Chrysostom 
("In  Joann."  Hom.  84),  preaching  on 
the  water  and  blood  which  flowed  from 
Christ's  side,  said,  "  Thence  the  sacra- 
ments [nva-Trjpia]  take  their  origin  " — viz. 
Baptism  and  the  Eucharist — ''which  the 
initiated  know."  On  the  other  hand, 
Cyprian  (Ep.  73)  classes  Baptism  and 
Confirmation  ("  signaculum  dominicum  ") 
together,  clearly  making  each  a  channel 
of  sacramental  grace  in  the  strict  sense ; 
and  in  like  manner  Pacian  ("De Baptism." 
6)  speaks  of  the  sacrament  or  mystery  of 
the  laver  and  of  chrism  ("  lavacri  et  chris- 
matis  et  antistitis  sacramentum" — mean- 
ing only  two  rites,  not  three,  for  the 
action  of  the  prelate  is  common  to  both 


sacraments).  Further,  Ambrose  ("  De 
Virgin."  cap.  10)  seems  to  attribute  a 
sacramental  efficacy  to  the  washing  of  the 
feet.  And  here  we  add,  for  the  sake  of 
convenience,  that  the  author  of  the  famous 
treatise  "  De  Sacramentis  "  (iii.  7)  long 
attributed  to  St.  Ambrose,  but  really 
written  in  our  second  period,  eagerly 
adopts  this  theory,  though  he  owns  the 
practice  of  the  Roman  Chui-ch  was  against 
him, 

Augustine  sometimes  (see  e.ff.  "  Contr. 
Faust."  xix.  14, "  Pro  baptismo  Ohristi,  pro 
eucharistia  Christi,  pro  signo  Christi") 
classes  Baptism,  Confirmation,  and  the 
Eucharist  together,  and  this  was  the  pre- 
vailing classification  down  to  the  end  of 
the  tenth  century.  Thus,  Isidore  of  Seville 
("  Etymolog."  vi.  19)  writes,  "  A  sacra- 
merdum  consists  in  a  certain  rite,  when  a 
thing  is  so  done  that  we  understand  some- 
thing to  be  signified  which  must  be  re- 
ceived with  holy  dispositions.  Now,  the 
sno'amenta  are  baptism,  and  chrism,  the 
body  and  blood."  Aytho,  bishop  of  Basle, 
in  his  capitulary :  "  They  are  to  be  taught 
to  know  what  the  sacra7nentutn  of  Bap- 
tism and  Confirmation  is,  and  of  the  Body 
of  the  Lord,  how,  in  these  same  mysteries 
[7ii7/8te7'us],  the  visible  creature  is  seen 
and  still  invisible  grace  is  supplied  for  the 
eternal  hfe  of  the  soul."  Rabanus  Maurus 
("De  Universo,"  v.  11)  repeats  Isidore 
almost  verbally.  So  the  writers  of  this 
period  generally,  when  they  enumerate 
the  sacramenta,  though  they  often  speak 
of  two  "  principal  sacramenta,"  two  which 
flowed  from  the  side  of  Christ,  &c.,  &c. 
We,  of  course,  lay  no  stress  on  the  mere 
use  of  the  word  saci'amentum,  else  we 
might  have  noticed,  e.^,,  that  St.  Augustine 
("De  Peccat.  et  Remiss."  ii.  26;  "  De 
Catech.Rud."  50)  calls  the  salt  in  baptism 
by  that  name. 

From  the  end  of  the  tenth  century  to 
the  time  of  Peter  Lombard  (d.  1164),  we 
find  a  long  list  of  saernmenta  in  vogue. 
Peter  Damian  (Serm.  69)  says  there  are 
"  twelve  sacrametita  in  the  Church." 
Hugo  of  St.  Victor  ("De  Sacr."  ix.  7) 
counts  (a)  two  necessary  sacramenta — viz. 
Baptism  and  the  Eucharist;  (/3)  sacra- 
menta useful  for  sanctification — e.g. 
sprinkling  with  holy  water,  blessed  ashes, 
&c.,  &c. ;  (y)  those  which  prepare  us  for 
other  sacred  rites — e.g.  ordination,  &c. 
St.  Bernard  (Serm.  "  Li  Coena  Domini ") 
tells  his  hearers  there  are  maray  sacramenta, 
but  he  will  only  speak  then  of  three — viz. 
Baptism,  Eucharist,  and  the  washing  of 
feet. 


736  SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL      SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL 


The  first  distinct  and  certain  mention 
of  seven  sacraments  occurs  in  Peter  Lom- 
bard (*'  Sentent."  IV.  dist.  ii).  "  Let  us 
now  come  to  the  sacraments  of  the  new 
law,  which  are  seven  in  number."  It  has 
been  said  that  the  Master  of  the  Sentences 
was  anticipated  by  Otto  of  Bamberg,  the 
Apostle  of  Pomerania  (1124-28).  The 
question  is  of  little  moment,  but  the  state- 
ment rests  on  the  word  of  a  biographer, 
not  on  any  writing  of  Otto  himself.  A 
work  of  Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  often  referred 
to — viz.  "  De  Oserimoniis  " — is  not  his,  but 
later  than  Peter  Lombard.  To  sum  up : 
In  the  earliest  ages.  Baptism  and  the  Eu- 
charist— the  two  sacraments  most  clearly 
and  directly  instituted  by  Christ,  and 
most  necessary  for  all — were  classed  toge- 
ther. Then  Confirmation,  long  given  along 
with  Baptism,  was  added  to  the  number. 
Next — as  this  niunber  of  three  did  not 
seem  to  rest  on  any  fixed  principle — various 
writers  chose  various  rites  of  the  Church 
and  put  them  together  under  the  common 
name  of  sacraynenta.  At  last,  theological 
reflection,  just  when  systematic  theology 
was  beginning  to  be,  led  Peter  Lombard 
to  the  conclusion  that  there  were  seven 
rites,  with  this  in  common,  which  separated 
them  from  all  others — viz.  that  they  were 
the  ordained  means  of  grace.  He  called 
them,  and  them  only,  sacraments.  The 
Schoolmen  at  once  perceived  the  accuracy 
of  his  doctrine  and  the  convenience  of  his 
nomenclature,  and,  finally,  the  number  of 
the  sacraments  was  defined  to  be  seven, 
in  1274-,  at  the  Second  Council  of  Lyons 
("  Prof.  Fidei  Mich.  Palgeolog."),  at  Flo- 
rence ('*  Decret.  pro  Armen."),  and  under 
anathema  at  Trent  (Sess.  vii.  "  De  Sacr." 

0.1). 

(3)  The  Matter  and  Farm  of  the  Sacra- 
ments.— Eugenius  IV.  ("  Instr.  pro  Ar- 
men.") states  that  the  sacraments  are 
effected  by  the  things  which  stand  for  the 
matter  ("  tanquam  materia  "),  by  the  words 
which  stand  for  the  form,  and  by  the  per- 
son of  the  minister ;  and  that  if  any  one 
of  these  three  things  be  wanting,  there  is 
no  sacrament.  The  terms  "  matter  "  and 
"form"  are  borrowed  from  Aristotle, 
matter  being  the  indeterminate  element 
which  form  stamps  with  a  definite  cha- 
racter. Thus,  water  may  be  used  for  the 
washing  of  the  body,  as  drink,  and  for  a 
thousand  other  ends.  But  wlien  the 
minister,  as  he  sprinkles  the  water  on  the 
catechumen,  adds  the  words,  "  I  baptise 
thee,"  &c.,  the  end  and  meanmg  of  his 
action  is  apparent,  and  we  have  the  three 
constituents  of  the  sacrament — viz.  the 


person  of  the  minister,  the  washing  with 
water,  which  is  the  matter,  and  the  words, 
which  are  the  form.  The  special  diffi- 
culties about  the  matter  and  form  of  par- 
ticular sacraments — e.g.  Penance,  Order, 
Marriao^e,  &c. — have  been  discussed  under 
these  titles  ;  but  we  may  say  in  this  place 
that  theologians  distinguish  a  double 
matter  in  the  Eucharist.  While  that 
sacrament  is  being  produced,  the  matter 
is  bread  and  wine ;  after  consecration  the 
matter  consists  in  the  outward  appearances 
or  accidents  of  bread  and  wine.  The 
difficulty  arises  from  the  fact  that  the 
Eucharist,  unlike  all  the  other  sacraments, 
continues  to  exist  after  the  words  have 
been  spoken.  Its  duration  is  not  transitory 
but  permanent,  so  long  as  the  specie's 
last. 

This  terminology  began  with  the 
Aristotelian  or  Scholastic  theologians. 
It  is  unknown,  says  Juenin  (diss.  i. 
cap.  2),  not  only  to  the  Fathers,  but  to 
lianfranc,  Anselm,  Bernard,  Hugo  of  St. 
Victor,  and  Peter  Lombard,  aU  of  whom 
wrote  formal  treatises  on  the  sacraments, 
and  it  first  appears  in  William  of  Auxerre 
about  1215.  In  early  times,  the  "  form  " 
of  a  sacrament  means  something  quite 
different — viz.  the  whole  rite.  The  Fa- 
thers commonly  distinguish  befrvN^een  the 
"  sign,"  which  includes  both  matter  and 
form,  and  the  invisible  thing,  between 
"  things  "  and  "  words  "  and  between  the 
sacrameiitum,  which  includes  all  the 
outward  part,  and  the  res  sacrajuentif 
the  invisible  part.  This  last  distinction 
is  of  capital  moment  for  the  right  under- 
standing of  patristic  texts. 

The  Council  of  Trent  defines  that 
though  the  C'hurch  may  change  rites  and 
ceremonies,  it  cannot  alter  the  "sub- 
stance "  of  the  sacraments.  This  follows 
from  the  very  nature  of  a  sacrament. 
The  matter  and  form  have  no  power  in 
themselves  to  give  grace.  This  power 
depends  solely  on  the  will  of  God,  who 
has  made  the  grace  promised  depend  on 
the  use  of  certain  things  and  words,  so 
that  if  these  are  altered  in  their  essence 
the  sacrament  is  altogether  absent.  The 
custom  of  the  Church  in  diiferent  ages 
and  countries  shows  that  the  form  is  not 
fixed  in  its  particular  words.  It  is  often 
very  hard  to  determine  what  change  in 
the  form  would  render  the  sacrament  in- 
valid. Common  sense  makes  the  decision 
turn  to  a  great  extent  on  the  intention 
with  which  the  change  is  made.  Thus 
to  baptise  "  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
the  Son,  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  Blessed 


SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL      SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL  737 


Virgin,"  would  always  show  gross  igno- 
rance or  gross  perversity  ;  but  if  the  inten- 
tion were  to  baptise  in  the  name  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  as  if  she  were  one  of  the 
divine  Persons,  or  as  if  her  name  were 
operative  in  the  sacrament,  the  baptism 
would  be  null  (St.  Thomas,  III.  qu.  Ix. 
a.  8). 

We  first  hear  of  a  conditional  form 
("I  do  not  rebaptise  thee,  but  if  thou 
art  not,"  &c.)  in  the  Capitularies  of 
Charlemagne  (lib.  vi.  cap.  181,  quoted 
by  Juenin).  The  expediency  of  express- 
ing a  condition  was  not  universally  ad- 
mitted till  it  was  approved  by  Gregory 
IX.  ("  Extra,  de  Baptism."  cap.  2,  apud 
eundem).  Till  about  1600  the  conditional 
form  was  only  used  in  the  three  sacra- 
ments which  imprint  character  (Juenin, 
a.  2).  Even  now  it  is  not  usual  to 
express  the  condition  in  the  other  sacra- 
ments, and  a  sacrament  must  never  be 
reiterated  under  condition  expressed  or 
implied,  unless  the  minister,  after  diligent 
examination,  is  unable  to  satisfy  himself 
as  to  the  validity  of  the  previous  act. 

(4)  The  Author  of  the  Sacraments. 
— The  Council  of  Trent  defines  that  the 
seven  sacraments  were  all  instituted  by 
Christ  Himself,  and  this  for  a  reason 
already  given.  But  the  Council  does  not 
say  that  Christ  instituted  them  directly 
and  immediately.  Some  of  the  older 
Scholastics  held  that  some  sacraments 
were  instituted  by  the  Apostles.  Tournely 
quotes,  for  this  opinion,  Peter  Lombard 
("IV.  Sent."  dist.  23),  Hugo  of  St. 
Victor  {"  De  Sacr."  ii.  2),  St.  Bonaven- 
ture  ("  In  Lib.  IV.  Sentent."  ad  dist.  17, 
a.  1,  qu.  3),  and  Alexander  of  Hales 
("  Summa,"  p.  iv.  qu.  24,  1),  the  last  of 
whom  believed  that  Confirmation  was  in- 
stituted in  845  at  the  Council  of  Meaux. 
This  last  opinion  must  certainly  be  re- 
jected. But  although  Tournely  holds  it 
to  be  "  true  and  certain "  that  Christ 
immediately  and  directly  instituted  each 
of  the  sacraments,  he  by  no  means  agrees 
with  Becanus,  Bellarmin,  and  Vasquez 
in  accepting  this  as  an  article  of  faith  or 
considering  that  it  is  now  heresy  to  attri- 
bute the  institution  of  some  sacraments 
to  the  Apostles,  acting  with  power  granted 
them  by  our  Lord.  He  quotes,  on  his 
own  side,  these  "  most  grave  theologians  " 
Sotus  and  Estius,  the  former  of  whom 
was  a  leading  theologian  at  Trent.  In- 
deed, Estius  goes  further  than  Tournely, 
for  he  is  inclined  to  admit  that  some- 
thing may  be  said  for  each  opinion — 
that  of  St.  Bonaventure  and  that  com- 


mon among  Post-Tridentine  theologians — 
though  more  for  the  latter  (''  ut  aliquid 
probabilitatis  habeat,  majori  tamen  pro- 
babilitate  diversae  sententise  superatur  "). 
Juenin  likewise  denies  that  the  immediate 
institution  by  Christ  is  of  faith.  Billuart 
tends  the  other  way,  but  speaks  doubt- 
fully. 

(5)  The  Minister  of  the  Sacraments. — 
Little  need  be  said  here  about  the  per- 
sonal holiness  required  in  the  dispensers 
of  the  mysteiies  of  Christ.  "Holy  things 
are  to  be  handled  in  a  holy  manner,"'  and 
the  minister  is  guilty  of  sacrilege  if  he 
confers  the  sacrament  on  others  while  he 
himself  is  at  enmity  with  God.  But  at 
the  same  time  the  Church  held  against 
the  Donatists  that  the  validity  of  the 
sacraments  does  not  depend  on  the  worthi- 
ness of  the  minister,  since  in  any  case 
Christ  is  always  present  as  the  invisible 
dispenser  of  grace.  A  person  may  even 
be  justified  in  seeking  the  sacraments 
from  one  whom  he  knows  to  be  unworthy, 
if  he  cannot  obtain  them  otherwise. 
Neither  schism  nor  heresy  deprives  a 
man  of  the  power  of  Holy  Order  (see 
Orders,  Holy).  But  a  great  difficulty 
remains.  The  Council  of  Trent  (sess. 
vii.  De  Sacr.  can.  11)  requires  us  to 
believe  that  the  minister  of  the  sacra- 
ments must  have  "  the  intention  of  doing 
that  at  least  which  the  Church  does." 
This  definition  has  been  the  occasion  of 
much  controversy  within  and  without  the 
Church.  Protestants  have  attacked  it  as 
making  the  effect  of  the  sacraments  un- 
certain. Catholics  have  interpreted  it 
variously. 

Intention  is  "  an  act  of  the  will,  by 
which  a  man  chooses  a  particular  thing." 
This  intention  may  be  actual — i.e.  present 
at  the  time ;  habitual — i.e.  once  present 
and  never  recalled,  but  not  actually  pre- 
sent, or  even  present  in  effect ;  virtual — i.e 
once  present  and  still  surviving  as  the 
cause  or  motive  of  a  man's  acts.  Thus, 
if  I  make  up  my  mind  to  take  a  journey, 
my  intention  is  actual ;  I  set  out  and  con- 
tinue walking,  though  the  purpose  is  not 
at  the  moment  present  to  my  mind,  then 
my  intention  is  virtual.  I  make  up  my 
mind  to  take  a  journey  next  aay,  and 
meantime  go  to  bed ;  while  I  am  asleep 
my  intention  is  habitual.  All  theologians 
agree  that  a  virtual  intention  is  needed 
for  the  validity  of  the  sacraments.  St. 
Thomas,  indeed,  pronounces  an  habitual 
intention  enough,  but  only  because 
habitual  meant  then  what  virtual  meant 
later. 


3b 


738  SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL      SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL 


So  far,  all  is  plain.  But  wliat  must 
the  object  of  my  intention  be  ?  Several 
answers  are  conceivable.  The  minister 
(a)  may  intend  to  perform  the  outward 
rite,  but  as  an  open  mockery,  or  as  children 
might  do  in  play,  actors  on  the  stage,  &c. 
(,S)  He  may  intend  to  perform  the  outward 
rite  seriously,  (y)  He  may  intend  to 
confer  the  grace  of  the  sacrament,  to 
regenerate,  e.g.,  the  child  whom  he  bap- 
tises, &c.  The  first  and  third  solutions 
are  inadmissible.  A  performance  of  the 
sacramental  rite  in  open  mockery  is 
allowed  by  all  to  be  invalid,  and  on  the 
Other  side,  no  one  doubts  that  an  infidel 
or  Calvinist  may  baptise,  or,  if  he  is  a 
priest,  may  say  Mass,  anoint,  &c.,  &c., 
validly.  We  will  give  the  words  of 
Tournely  ("  De  Sacr.''  qu.  vi.  a.  1) : 
"  Whatever  a  man's  opinion  may  be 
about  the  sacrament,  its  eft'ect  and  end, 
or  about  the  Church  itself,  whether  he 
rejects  all  these  things  or  admits  them, 
makes  no  difference  to  the  substance  of 
the  sacrament."  "He  need  not  intend 
to  produce  the  effect  of  the  sacrament 
or  to  perform  the  rite  of  the  Church  as  a 
sacrament,  or  to  do  what  the  Catholic  and 
Roman  Church  does;  it  is  enough  that 
he  should  intend  in  some  general  way  to 
do  what  the  Church  does,  whatever  his 
notion  about  the  Church,  the  sacrament, 
its  effect  and  object  may  be."  Unless 
the  Church  held  this,  she  would  not,  as 
she  certainly  does,  recognise  the  vaUdity 
of  many  sacraments  given  by  heretics, 
infidels,  and  even  Pagans.  Protestants 
sometimes  urge  that  bishops  have  been 
secret  infidels,  Jews,  &c.,  and  that  there- 
fore on  Catholic  principles  the  orders  and 
other  sacraments  given  by  them  must 
have  been  invahd  ;  but  it  is  evident  that 
they  have  utterly  failed  to  grasp  what 
the  doctrine  of  intention,  as  held  by  any 
Catholic,  is. 

But  is  it  enough  for  validity  if  the 
minister  merely  perform  the  external  rite 
in  a  serious  manner,  even  if  internally  he 
withhold  his  intention — i.e.  even  if  from 
malice  or  impiety  he  says  to  himself,  "  I 
don't  mean  to  act  as  the  minister  of  the 
Church,  I  don't  intend  to  baptise,  con- 
secrate, or  the  like,  but  merely  to  deceive 
the  people  "  P  We  follow  the  opinion  of 
those  who  answer  in  the  affirmative,  and 
we  give  our  reply  in  the  words  of  Bossuet 
("  Sententia  Episcopi  Meldensis,  on  the 
'  Cogitationes  Privatse "  of  Leibnitz  ").  " It 
is  a  most  common  opinion  among  Cath- 
olics that  the  intention  necessary  for  the 
validity  of  the  sacraments  consists  in  this 


— ^viz.  the  will  on  the  part  of  the  minister 
seriously  to  perform  the  rites  prescribed 
by  the  Church,  and  to  do  nothing  which 
is  calculated  to  show  a  contrary  intention, 
which  intention  he  himself  cannot  make 
void  by  any  secret  intention  whatsoever." 
This  clear  explanation  removes,  as  we 
believe,  every  difficulty.  The  people  are 
in  no  possible  danger  of  deception.  The 
serious  performance  of  the  exterior  rite 
is  all  that  is  required.  The  difficulty  that 
there  is  no  mention  of  the  necessity  of 
intention  in  Scripture  or  tradition  falls  to 
the  ground.  The  sacraments  are  to  be 
given  by  men — by  men  acting,  in  St. 
Paul's  words,  as  the  ministers  of  Christ 
and  dispensers  of  the  mysteries  of  God 
(1  Cor.  iv.  1.).  We  only  ask  that  they  be 
given  by  conscious,  human  action.  For 
example,  in  some  Masses  the  words  of 
consecration  occur  in  the  Gospel,  while 
the  bread  and  wine  are  on  the  altar. 
Will  any  one  maintain  that  the  consecra- 
tion takes  place  there  and  then  ?  Does 
any  one  suppose  that  the  ancient  Church 
thought  so  ?  Scarcely.  Yet,  if  not,  then 
the  ancient  Church  admitted  the  whole 
doctrine  of  intention  which  every  Catholic 
is  bound  to  maintain. 

This  opinion  which  we  have  been  de- 
fending was  propounded  by  Cathariuus, 
a  Dominican  theologian  present  at  the 
very  session  in  which  the  doctrine  of  in- 
tention was  defined.  Some  time  after  the 
definition  the  work  of  Catharinus  was 
reprinted  at  Rome  in  1552  by  Baldus, 
printer  to  the  Apostolic  Chamber.  (So 
Tournely.)  Cardinal  Pallavicino,  in  his 
"History  of  the  Council,"  ix.  6,  allows 
that  the  Fathers  of  Trent  did  not  suspect, 
much  less  condemn,  the  doctrine  of 
Catharinus.^  The  great  Jesuits  Salmeron 
and  Becanus,  and  the  celebrated  Domini- 
can Contenson,  espoused  it.  So  in  the 
last  century  did  the  learned  Oratorian 
Juenin.  It  was  defended  in  the  Sorbonne 
in  1686  by  Harlai,  afterwards  archbishop 
of  Paris.  We  have  seen  how  Bossuet 
speaks  of  it.  It  has  never  been  censured 
by  any  competent  authority,  for  a  proposi- 
tion condemned  before  Alexander  VIII. 
by  the  Roman  Inquisition  in  1690  was, 
as  Juenin  shows,  quite  different.  F. 
Ryder,  in  his  recent  book  on  "  Catholic 
Controversy,"  admits  that  the  question  is 
still  quite  open,  though  he  himself  holds 
the   contrary  opinion.     It  is  quite  trae 

1  The  doctrine  condemned,  as  Pallavicino 
shows,  was  that  of  Luther — viz.  that  n  sacra- 
ment given  in  open  mockery  (am  modo  aper- 
tamente  bejf'atore  e  giocoso)  is  valid. 


SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL       SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL  739 


that  the  majority  of  school  theologians 
heheve  that  secret  withholding  of  the  in- 
tention is  enough  to  invalidate  the  sacra- 
ment. Our  objection  to  this,  the  com- 
mon theory,  is  grounded,  not  so  much 
on  the  difficulties  which  follow  from  it,  as 
on  the  fact  that  its  advocates  can  adduce 
no  proof  from  Scripture  or  tradition 
(neither  Billuart  nor  even  Tournely  gives 
a  single  argument  from  the  Fathers  ^), 
while  we  fail  to  see  the  force  of  the 
argument  from  reason.  Reason  no  doubt 
requires  us  to  look  on  the  valid  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacraments  as  a  human  act 
distinguished  by  the  outward  circum- 
stances from  possible  combinations  of  the 
same  words  and  acts  which  have  no 
sacramental  character.  But  this  does  not 
carry  us  beyond  the  opinion  of  Oatharinus 
and  others  whom  we  follow. 

(6)  The  Subject  or  Suscipient  of  the 
Sacraments. — The  sacraments  are  meant 
for  the  whole  race  of  mankind ;  but  in 
order  that  they  may  be  received  with 
profit  by  adults,  certain  dispositions  are 
mdispensable.  To  the  sacraments  of  the 
dead — i.e.  Baptism  and  Penance— the  re- 
cipient must  come  at  least  with  faith  and 
hope,  sorrow  for  sin,  and  purpose  of 
amendment ;  the  sacraments  of  the  living 
— i.e.  the  other  five — must  be  received  by 
those  who  are  already  in  the  grace  and 
love  of  God,  the  living  members  of  Christ.'^ 
Otherwise  the  sacraments  only  add  to  the 
condemnation  of  those  who  receive  them. 
As  regards  mere  validity,  the  sacramout 
of  the  Eucharist  is  always  the  same,  in 
whatever  state  it  is  received,  because  in 
any  case  it  remains  the  true  body  and 
blood  of  our  Saviour.  In  order  that  the 
other  sacraments  may  be  valid,  some  in- 
tention is  necessary  on  the  part  of  the 
recipient  as  well  as  of  the  minister.  But 
whereas  the  latter  must  have  an  actual  or 
virtual  intention,  it  suffices  for  the  validity 
of  Baptism,  Confirmation,  Penance,  and 
Extreme  Unction  if  they  are  received  with 
an  habitual  or  interpretative  intention  of 
accepting  the  rite  of  the  Church.     This  is 

*  Innocent  III.  is  the  earltest  authority  they 
quote.  Their  text  from  St.  Paul  certainly 
proves  the  necessity  of  intention,  but  only  as 
Catharinus  understood  it.  For  a  priest  who 
behaves  with  exterior  seriousness  always  acts 
as  a  minister  of  Christ. 

2  Accidentally,  however,  the  sacraments  of 
the  livintc  may  restore  a  soul  to  the  grace  of 
God  ;  e.g.  if  a  person  has  attrition — i.e.  sorrow — 
for  his  mortal  sins,  which  is  suf)ernatural,  but 
imperfect,  and  a  firm  purpose  of  amendment, 
believing  erroneously,  bfit  in  good  faith,  that  he 
is  already  justified. 


plain  from  decisions  of  early  councils. 
For  example,  the  First  Council  of  Orange 
in  442  (c.  12)  ordains  that  Baptism  or 
Penance  may  be  given  to  a  man  who  has 
fallen  into  phrensy.  At  the  time,  he  haa 
no  intention  of  receiving  the  sacrament, 
but  he  is  to  receive  it,  so  the  council 
directs,  if  others  give  "  testimony  to  his 
past  desire."  There  is  a  special  difficulty, 
however,  with  regard  to  Penance,  for 
many  theologians,  believing  that  sorrowful 
confession  by  word  or  other  sensible  sign 
is  the  matter  of  the  sacrament,  are  obliged 
by  their  theory  to  hold  that  the  actual 
presence  of  some  such  sign  is  always 
necessary  for  the  validity  of  absolution. 
The  Scotists  who  make  absolution  both 
the  form  and  matter  of  Penance,  are  able 
to  consider  the  mere  desire  of  absolution 
in  the  past  enough,  even  if  the  penitent 
is  unable  to  express  it  ever  so  indistinctly 
at  the  moment.  Again,  the  mere  purpose 
of  living  a  Christian  lite  involves  the  in- 
tention requisite  for  Baptism,  Confirmation, 
and  Extreme  Unction.  Itisdih'erent  with 
Matrimony  end  Holy  Oixler,  states  of  life 
the  desire  of  which  is  no  way  imphed  in 
the  general  resolve  to  live  like  a  Christian  ; 
and  it  is  usually  said  that  a  definite 
desire  is  also  needed  for  Penance  (so 
Billuart,  "  Be  Sacr."  diss.  vi.  a.  1).  We 
have  the  same  disputes  here  as  in  the 
previous  section  on  the  necessary  object  of 
the  intention.  The  common  opinion  is 
that  it  must  be  an  internal  one  of  receiving 
the  sacred  rite;  while  Juenin  thinks  it 
likely  that  a  man  "who  withheld  his 
intention,"  and  did  but  mean  to  submit  to 
the  rite  with  external  seriousness,  would 
still  receive  it  validly.  The  whole  doc- 
trine of  intention  on  the  part  of  the  re- 
cipient, interpret  it  as  we  will,  is  not 
without  historical  difficulties.  History 
furnishes  several  instances  in  early  times 
of  men  ordained  and  supposed  to  be 
validly  ordained,  in  spite  of  their  struggles 
and  resistance.  Generally,  it  may  be  said 
that  such  persons  did  give  a  final,  though 
reluctant,  consent ;  and  Augustine  speaks 
("  Ad  Donat."  Ep.  173)  of  those  who  were 
made  bishops  after  being  imprisoned  and 
severely  handled,  "until  they  consented 
to  undertake  a  good  work."  No  such  ex- 
planation will  fit  the  case  of  the  hermit 
Macedonius,  concerning  whom  Theodoret 
("Hist.  Relig."  cap.  13)  relates  that  he 
was  ordained  priest  by  the  celebrated 
Flavian  without  the  least  knowledge  of 
what  was  going  on,  and  was  furious  when 
he  learnt  what  had  occurred.  The  only 
answer,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  is  to  say 
b2 


740  SACHAMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL 


SAINTS 


that  Flavian  was  mistaken,  and  the  ordi- 
nation good  for  nothing.  It  may  be 
asked  wherein  does  the  validity  of  a 
sacrament  consist  if  no  inward  grace 
accompanies  the  outward  sign  ?  We  reply, 
first,  that  three  sacraments  confer  charac- 
ter which  is  always  bestowed,  even  if  no 
grace  accompany  it ;  and,  next,  that  Bap- 
tism certainly.  Confirmation,  Order,  Mar- 
riage, Extreme  Unction  probably,  confer 
grace  which  revives  when  the  recipient 
enters  into  due  dispositions,  even  if  his 
malice  impeded  the  grace  at  the  time 
they  were  received.  Some  even  suppose 
that  this  holds  good  of  Penance  and  a 
few  of  the  Eucharist.  (Liguor.  ''Theol. 
Moral."  vi.  Tract,  i.  cap.  1.) 

(7)  The  Grace  of  the  Sacraments  is 
twofold.  They  increase  that  sanctifying 
grace  which  is  the  supernatural  life  of  the 
soul,  and  they  bestow  a  sacramental  grace 
— i.e.  one  which  is  special  and  singular, 
and  proper  to  each  sacrament.  A  person, 
e.g.,  who  receives  Confirmation  worthily 
obtains  besides  the  character  and  the  in- 
crease of  sanctity  a  title  to  special  assist- 
ance from  God  when  he  is  tempted  to 
forsake  the  faith,  has  occasion  to  confess 
it  by  word  or  deed,  &c.  The  Thomist 
opinion  is  that  the  sacraments  cause 
grace  physically,  which  means,  not  of 
course  that  sensible  things  have  power  in 
themselves  to  produce  it,  but  that  they 
become  instruments  in  the  almighty  hand 
of  God.  A  brush  is  powerless  to  paint  a 
picture,  but  it  is  the  instrument  of  paint- 
ing in  the  artist's  hand.  The  Scotists 
look  on  the  sacraments  as  merely  moral 
causes  of  grace.  When  the  outward 
signs  are  present  and  the  other  conditions 
fulfilled,  then  God  directly  and  without 
any  instrumentality  of  the  sacraments 
infuses  grace.  Each  opinion  h*s  found 
many  advocates  outside  of  the  Thomist 
and  Scotist  schools. 

(It  would  be  vain  to  attempt  a  list  of 
writers  on  the  sacraments,  which  would 
be  in  fact  a  list  of  nearly  all  Catholic 
theoloirians.  But  we  would  call  particu- 
lar attention  to  the  excellent  work  of  the 
French  Oratorian  Juenin,  "  Commen- 
tarius  Historicus  et  Dogmaticus  de  Sacra- 
mentis"  [Lyons,  1717].  We  have  also 
derived  great  assistance  from  a  learned 
treatise  of  the  Protestant  Hahn,  *'De 
Numero  Sacramentorura  Septenario  ra- 
tiones  historicae  "  [Breslau,  1859].  The 
references,  as  the  writer  of  this  article 
knows  by  painful  experience,  are  fre- 
uently  inaccurate,  and  the  general 
tatementi  require  sifting,  but  the  work 


is  one  of  learning  and  merit,  and  much 
may  be  learned  from  it.  Ohai  don's 
"  Histoire  des  Sacrements  "  [Paris,  1745], 
has  no  treatise  on  the  sacraments  in 
general.  But  we  take  this  opportunity 
of  expressing  our  great  obligations  to  this 
admirable  work.  Gibbon — we  quote  from 
memory — eulogises  it  as  containing  all  that 
can  be  known  on  the  subject,  and  this 
praise  is  due.  The  author  was  one  of 
the  most  learned  men  in  the  Benedictine 
Congregation  of  Vannes.) 

SACRE  CCElTR.  This  cloistered 
order  of  nuns  was  founded  at  Paris  in 
1800  by  Fr.  Yarin  (afterwards  well  known 
in  the  Society  of  Jesus)  and  Madame 
Barat.  Their  main  object  is  the  education 
of  girls  whose  parents  are  in  easy  or 
wealthy  circumstances.  They  have  three 
or  four  houses  in  England  and  as  many  in 
L-eland,  the  chief  being  Roehampton  in 
one  country  and  Roscrea  in  the  other. 
SACRED  HEART.  [See  Heart.] 
SACRiSTir.    [See  Diaconicum.] 

SAZN-TS,  ZXTTERCESSZOIir  AlffB 
ZWVOCATZOIO-  OP.  The  Comicil  of 
Trent  (sess.  xxv.De  Invoc.  Sanct.)  teaches 
that "  the  saints  reigning  with  Christ  ofier 
their  prayers  for  men  to  God  ;  that  it  is 
good  and  useful  to  caU  upon  them  with 
supplication,  and,  in  order  to  obtain 
benefits  from  God  through  Jesus  Christ, 
who  alone  is  our  Redeemer  and  Saviour, 
to  have  recourse  to  their  prayers,  help, 
and  aid."  The  prayer  which  we  may 
address  to  the  saints  is  of  course  wholly 
diflferent  from  that  which  we  offer  to  God 
or  Christ.  "We  pray  God,"  says  the 
Roman  Catechism  (p.  iv.  ch.  6),  "Him- 
self to  give  good  or  free  us  from  evU 
things ;  we  ask  the  saints,  because  they 
enjoy  God's  favour,  to  undertake  our 
patronage  and  obtain  from  God  the  things 
we  need.  Hence  we  employ  two  forms 
of  prayer,  differing  in  the  mode  [of 
address];  for  to  God  we  say  properly. 
Have  mercy  on  us.  Hear  us;  to  the 
saints.  Pray  for  us."  Or,  if  we  ask  the 
Blessed  Virgin  or  the  saints  to  have  pity 
on  us,  we  only  beseech  them  to  think  of 
our  misery,  and  to  help  us  "  by  their  favour 
with  God  and  their  intercession ; "  and 
"  the  greatest  care  must  be  taken  by  aU 
not  to  attribute  what  belongs  to  God  to 
any  other  "  ("  Cat, Rom."  ib.).  Two  points, 
then,  are  involved  in  the  Catholic  doctrine 
— the  intercession  of  the  saints  and  the 
utility  of  invoking  them. 

(1)  Intercession  of  th6  Saints. — The 
whole  of  the  New  Testament  enforces  the 
principle  that  we  are  members  of  Christ, 


SAINTS 

'  and  so  bound  to  eacli  otlier  as  members 
of  the  same  body  (see,  e.g.^  1  Cor.  xii.  12 
fieg'.).  God  might,  had  it  pleased  flim, 
have  made  us  solely  and  directly  depen- 
dent on  Himself,  but  He  has  chosen  to 
display  his  own  power  by  giving  great 
efficacy  to  the  intercession  of  the  just 
(James  V.  16).  He  taught  us  to  go  to 
Him  with  the  wants  of  others  as  well  as 
with  our  own,  and  He  has  deepened 
charity  and  humility  by  making  us  de- 
pendent to  some  extent  on  the  prayers  of 
others.  Everybody  knows  the  store  St. 
Paul  set  on  the  prayers  of  his  fellow- 
Christians  (Eph.  vi.  18,  19 ;  1  Tim.  ii.  1). 
Prayer  even  lor  enemies  was  a  duty  en- 
joined by  Christ  Himself  (Matt.  v.  44). 
Now,  it  is  hard  to  imagine  a  reason  why 
souls  which  have  gone  to  God  should 
cease  to  exercise  this  kind  of  charity  and 
to  intercede  for  their  brethren.  The  Old 
Testament  plainly  asserts  the  intercession 
of  angels,  as  has  been  proved  already  (see 
Mediator),  and  it  seems  at  least  to  imply 
the  intercession  of  departed  saints  in 
Jeremias  xv.  1 ;  and  undoubtedly  the 
later  Jews  believed  in  the  merits  and  in- 
tercession of  the  saints  of  Israel  (Weber, 
"  Altsyuagog.  Theol."  p.  314).  We  find 
an  explicit  statement  of  the  doctrine  just 
where  we  should  reasonably  expect  it. 
The  Apocalypse  was  written  later  at  least 
than  the  death  of  Nero  (June  9,  a.d.  68), 
and  the  writer  is  tilled  with  the  thought 
of  his  martyred  brethren  who  had  gone 
before  him  to  God.  He  believes  that  they 
still  sympathise  with  and  intercede  for 
those  whom  they  had  left  behind.  "I 
saw  beneath  the  altar  the  souls  of  them 
that  were  slain  because  of  the  word  of 
God  and  the  witness  which  they  had,  and 
they  cried  with  a  loud  voice.  How  long,  O 
Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  avenge 
our  blood  from  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth.  And  there  was  given  to  each  of  them 
a  white  robe,  and  they  were  told  to  rest  a 
little,  until  their  fellow-servants  and  their 
brethren  be  completed  [in  number,"  or 
else,  according  to  the  reading"  avfnrXrjpaxroi- 
a-iv,  "complete  the  number]  "who  are  to 
be  killed  even  as  they  "  (vi.  9  seq.^  So 
again,  in  v.  8  (cf.  viii.  3),  the  elders 
before  the  heavenly  altar  are  represented 
as  falling  "  before  the  Lamb,  having  each 
a  hai'p  and  golden  vials  full  of  perfumes, 
which  are  the  prayers  of  the  saints."  It 
matters  nothing  for  our  present  purpose 
whether  the  "  saints  "  mentioned  were  or 
were  not  still  on  earth.  In  either  case 
their  prayers  are  ofiered  to  God  by  the 
elders  in  heaven,  so  that  the  imagery 


SAINTS 


741 


inplies  that  the  saints  before  God  offer  up 
our  prayers  and  so  help  us  by  their  inter- 
cession. 

But  if  Scripture  were  silent,  tradition 
witnesses  to  the  doctrine  so  universally 
and  so  constantly  as  to  remove  all  doubt 
of  its  Apostolic  origin.  The  genuine 
"Acts"  of  the  early  Martyrs  abound  in 
testimonies.  Thus,  the  contemporaries 
of  St.  Ignatius,  St.  John  s  disciple,  tell 
us  that  some  saw  the  martyr  in  vision 
after  death  "praying  for  us"  ("Act. 
Mart."  7).  The  "Acts"  of  the  Martyrs 
of  Scilla  (anno  202)  speak  of  them  as 
interceding  after  death  before  our  Lord 
(Ruinart, "Act.  Mart."  ed.  Ratisb.  p.  132). 
Theodotus,  before  his  death,  says :  "  In 
heaven  I  will  confidentlv  pray  for  vou  to 
God"  {ih.  p.  384).  "  Pious  men  "  built 
the  Martyrium  of  Tiypho  and  Respicius, 
"commending  their  souls  to  the  holy 
patronage  of  the  blessed  martyrs  "  {ib.  p. 
210).  Fresh  evidence  comes  from  the 
early  Fathers.  Cyprian,  writing  to  Cor- 
nelius (Ep.  Ix.  6),  thus  exhorts  those  who 
may  be  martyred  first:  "Let  our  love 
before  God  endure;  let  not  our  prayer 
to  the  Father's  mercy  cease  for  our 
brethren  and  'sisters "  (see  also  "  De 
Habit.  Virg."  24).  .Qrigen  ("  In  Cantic." 
lib.  iii.  p.  76,  ed.  Bened.)  thinks  it  no 
"  unfitting "  interpretation  of  a  passage 
in  the  Canticles  if  we  take  it  to  mean 
that  "  all  the  saints  who  have  departed 
this  life  care  for  the  salvation  of  those 
who  are  in  the  world,  and  help  them  by 
their  prayers  and  mediation  [_mterventu\ 
with  God."  It  is  useless  to  add  passages 
from  later  Fathers.  A  long  list  of  them 
will  be  found  in  Petavius. 

(2)  Invocation  of  the  Saints. — If  it  is 
the  will  of  God  that  the  saints  should  help 
us  on  the  road  to  heaven  by  their  prayers, 
we  may  be  sure  that  He  makes  the  com- 
munion between  the  Church  militant  and 
the  Church  triumphant  perfect  on  both 
sides;  that  He  enables  us  to  speak  to 
them  in  order  that  they  may  speak  for 
us.  ^  Our  Saviour  tells  us  that  the  angels 
rejoice  over  repentant  sinners  (Luc.  xv. 
7),  and  a  passage  already  cited  fi-om  the 
Apocalypse  shows  that  the  martyrs  in 
heaven  are  aware  of  what  happens  on 
earth.  The  inscriptions  in  the  Catacombs 
recently  brought  to  light  witness  to  the 
confidence  with  which  the  Church  invoked 
the  prayers  of  departed  saints.  We 
select  a  few  instances  from  those  given  by 
De  Rossi  (in  the  "Triplice  Omaggio" 
and  "  Collection  of  Epitaphs/'  as  quoted 
in  Kraus,   "Real-Encycl,     art.    Qebet)l 


742 


SAINTS 


•'  Ask  for  us  ill  thy  prayers,  because  we 
know  thou  art  in  Christ "  (n.  16) ; 
•♦  Beseech  for  thy  sister  "  (n.  19)  ;  "  We 
•  commend  to  thee,  O  holy  [I)omi7id] 
Basilla  Orescentius  and  Micena,  our 
daughter"  (n.  17).  The  great  Fathers  of 
the  fourth  century  directly  invoke  and 
bid  others  invoke  the  saints.  St.  Gregory 
Nazianzen  begs  a  martyr,  St.  Cyprian,  to 
'*  look  down  from  heaven  upon  him  with 
kindly  eye,  and  to  direct  his  discourse  and 
his  life"  (Orat.  xxiv.  ad  Jin?).  So  he 
invokes  his  friend  St.  Basil  (Orat.  xliv. 
ad  fin.).  St.  Gregory  Nyssen,  feg,ring  the 
Scythian  invasion,  attributes  past  pre- 
servation to  the  martyr,  and  not  only 
invokes  him,  but  begs  him  in  turn  to  in- 
voke greater  saints,  Peter,  Paul,  and 
John  (Orat.  in  S.  Theodor.).  St. 
Ambrose  ("De  Yid."  cap.  9,  n.  55)  ex- 
horts Christians  to  supplicate  {pbsecfandi) 
their  guardian  angels  and  the  martyrs, 
especially  those  whose  relics  they  possess. 
"  Let  us  not  only  on  this  feast  day  but 
on  other  days  also  keep  near  them;  let 
us  beg  them  to  be  our  patrons,"  are  the 
words  of  St.  Chrysostom  on  the  martyrs 
Berenice  and  Pro'doce.  In  his  verses  the 
early  Christian  poet  Prudenti us  habitually 
invokes  the  saints;  and  St.  Augustine 
(Serm.  324)  tells  a  story  to  his  people 
of  a  woman  who  prayed  to  St.  Stephen 
for  her  dead  son,*' Holy  martyr  .  .  .  give 
me  back  my  son,"  and  was  rewarded  by 
the  miracle  she  asked.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  these  passages  are  but  samples 
out  of  many  which  might  be  adduced. 
They  come  to  us  from  every  part  of  the 
Christian  world,  and  the  devotion  which 
they  attest  cannot  have  sprung  up  as  if 
by  magic  at  once  and  in  every  quarter. 
We  may  add  that  then,  as  now,  Catholics 
were  charged  with  idolatry  because  they 
venerated  the  saints.  '  Such  accusations 
w.re  made  by  the  heathen  generally,  and 
in  particular  by  Julian  the  Apostate,  by 
the  Manicheans,  Eunomians  (extreme 
Arians), by  Vigilantius,  &c.  (See  Petavius, 
"  De  Incarnat."  xiv.  14.)  St.  Augustine's 
reply  is  well  known — viz.  that  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass  and  supreme  worship  of 
every  kind  was  oftered,  not  to  the  mar- 
tyrs, but  to  God  who  "  crowned  the  mar- 
tyrs" (so,  e.g.,  "Contr.  Faust."  lib.  xx. 
cap.  21). 

The  fact  that  the  saints  hear  our 
prayers  was  held  by  the  Fathers  as 
certain  ;  the  way  in  which  they  do  so  is  a 
matter  of  philosophical  or  theological 
speculation,  about  which  neither  they  or 
we   have  any  certainty."   In  some  way, 


SALVE,  B-EGINA 

unknown  to  us,  God  reveals  to  them  the 
needs  and  prayers  of  their  clients,  and 
Petavius  warns  us  against  curious  specula- 
tion on  the  matter.  The  very  uncertainty 
of  the  Fathers  on  this  point  throws  into 
relief  their  unshaken  confidence  in  the 
intercession  of  the  saints  and  the  advan- 
tage of  invoking  them.  Augustine, 
Jerome,  and  others,  suggest  that  some- 
times departed  saints  may  actually  be 
near  those  who  are  calling  on  them. 
Modern  theologians  have  generally  thought 
that  the  blessed  beholding  God  see  in  Him, 
as  in  a  mirror,  all  which  it  concerns  them 
to  know  of  earthly  things.  Whatever 
theory  we  adopt,  the  knowledge  of  the 
saints  depends  entirely  on  the  gift  of  God. 
We  should  be  idolaters  indeed  were  we 
to  think  of  them  as  omnipresent  or 
omniscient. 

An  account  has  been  given  of  the 
institution  of  the  Feasts  of  the  Saints  in 
a  previous  article  [Feasts].  The  devotion 
of  the  Church  has  turned  chiefly  to  the 
saints  who  died  after  Christ.  The  ancient 
liturgies  do  indeed  commemorate  the 
Patriarchs  and  prophets.  Abel,  Melchise- 
dec,  and  Abraham,  are  mentioned  in  the 
Roman  Mass,  and  more  than  a  score  of 
Old  Testament  saints  in  the  Roman 
Martyrology.  Abel  and  Abraham  are 
invoked  by  name  in  the  Litany  for  the 
Dying  prescribed  in  the  Roman  Ritual. 
The  list  of  feasts  given  by  Manuel 
Comnenus  mentions  one  feast  of  an  O.T. 
saint,  that  of  Elias;  but  the  Church  of 
Jerusalem  had  many  such  feasts,  and  at 
Constantinople  churches  were  dedicated 
to  Elias,  Isaias,  Job,  Samuel,  Moses, 
Zacharias,  and  Abraham.  But  the  Macca- 
bees are  the  only  O.T.  saints  to  whom  the 
Latin  Church  has  assigned  a  feast.^  The 
reason,  as  Thomassin  thinks,  for  the 
exception  is,  that  the  mode  of  their 
martyrdom  so  closely  resembled  that  of  the 
Christian  martyrs,  and  that  their  date 
was  so  near  to  the  Christian  period. 
(The  chief  authority  followed  has  been 
Petavius,  "  De  Incarnat."  lib.  xiv.,  which 
treats  the  subject  exhaustively,  and  for 
the  last  paragraph  Thomassin's  "  Traits 
desFestes,"  lib.  i.  ch.  9.) 

SAiiT.     [See  Baptism.] 

SAXiVJS,  REGIXTA.  The  antiphon 
said  after  I^auds  and  Compline  from  Trinity 
Sunday  to  Advent.  Some,  with  Durandus 
ascribe  its  composition  to  Peter  of  Com- 

^  I.e.  a  feast  kept  by  the  -a^hole  Church  ; 
for  the  Carmelites  keep  the  feast  of  St.  Elias, 
and.  e.g.  at  VcQice,  there  are  churches  dedicated 
to  Moses,  Job,  &c 


SANCTUARY 

postella  in  the  tenth  century,  but  Cardinal  j 
Bona,  with  better  reason,  attributes  it  to  j 
Hermannus    Contractus,     a    Benedictine  | 
monk     of    the    eleventh    century.      St.  I 
Bernard,    according  to   the  Chronicle  of  I 
Spires,  added  the  last  clause  "  O  clemens,  | 
O  pia,  0  dulcis  Virgo  Maria."  Gregory  IX., 
in  1239,  is  said  to  have  ordered  the  recita- 
tion of  the  "  Salve  "  after  Compline,  and  it 
is  certain  that  the  four  antiphons  of  the 
Blessed   Virgin  now    in   use   among   us 
were  said  daily  by  the  Franciscans  after 
Compline  as  early  as  1249.    "  But  even  the 
*  Salve,  Regina '  which  was  the  earliest 
antiphon  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  commonly 
recited  in  the   Church,   did   not   lind   a 
place  in  the  Breviary  till  it  was  put  there 
ijy   Cardinal   Quignon,    and   was   thence 
transferred   to    the    Roman  Breviary   of 
Pius  V."     (Probst,  "Brevier  und  Brevier- 
gebet,"  p.  134.) 

SANCTVILRY.  The  part  of  the 
church  round  the  high  altar  reserved  for 
clergy.  Euseb.  ("  H.  E."  x.  6)  speaks 
of  tbe  altar  in  the  church  built  by 
Constantino  at  Tyre  as  enclosed  with 
wooden  rails.     In    ancient   times, 


SARUM  USE 


743 


Morinus  ("  Be  Pen."  vi.  c.  1,  n.  10),  both 
the  Latin  and  Greek  Churches  were 
divided  into  two  parts,  the  atrium  or 
court  for  the  laity  and  the  sanctuary 
(called  by  the  Greeks  leparelov,  but  most 
commonly  ^rjfia,  from  its  raised  position. 


also 


ay  LOU   rodv 


dyia> 


V,   aovra, 


IXaarrjpiov, 


dvaKTopov)  for  bishop,  priests  and  deacons. 
The  porch,  or  vapdr]^,  is^^ot  mentioned  till 
600  years  after  Christ.  The  Latin  word 
sanetuarium  occurs  in  the  thirteenth 
capitulum  of  the  Second  Council  of  Braga, 
in  563,  which  forbids  any  lay  person  to 
enter  the  sanctuary  for  the  reception  of 
communion.  (Le  Brun,  tom.  iii.  diss.  i.  a. 
viii.) 

SAircTVS,  THE,  also  known  as  the 
Tersanctus,  as  the  angelic  hymn  among  the 
Latins,  as  the  triumphal  hymn  (emviKtos 
vfivos)  among  the  Greeks,  forms  the 
conclusion  of  the  Preface  in  all  the 
liturgies.  It  is  composed  of  the  words, 
"  Holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth," 
from  Is.  vi.  and  a  fragment  of  Ps.  cxvii. 
26  (Heb.  cxviii.),  "Blessed  is  he  who 
cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Hosanna 
in  the  highest."  In  the  Roman  rite,  ex- 
cept in  the  Pontifical  chapel  and  during 
exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  a 
small  bell  is  here  rung.  But  Benedict 
XIV.  says  he  could  not  discover  when 
this  custom  began.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  the  Missal  here  follows  the  old  Latin 
veraon,  which  retained  the  word  Sabaoth, 


while  the  Vulgate  has  exercituum.  This, 
no  doubt,  is  the  right  translation,  but 
scholars  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  original 
reference.  Ewald  believes  the  reference 
is  to  the  armies  of  angels  (Ps.  ciii.  21, 
cxlviii.  2;  1  Kings  [3  Reg.],  xxii.  19,  "the 
camp  of  God";  Gen.  xxxii.  2.)*  Schrade* 
suggests,  which  is  very  unlikely,  that  the 
hosts  of  Israel  are  intended,  while,  pro- 
bably, the  opinion  of  many  other  critics, 
Kuenen,  Bandessin,  Tiele,  Delitzch,  is  the 
right  one — viz.  that  the  original  reference 
was  to  the  stars.  These  are  constantly 
spoken  of  as  the  "  host  of  heaven,"  and 
in  Is.  xl.  26  as  the  host  which  God 
musters.  The  title  never  occurs  in  the 
Pentateuch,  Josue,  or  Judges.  But  it  is 
constantly  employed  in  the  historical  books 
from  Samuel  onwards,  in  Psalms,  in  the 
Prophets,  but  not  in  Osee,  Ezechiel,  or  in 
Micheas,  except  iv.  1-4. 

SAiTBAIiS  form  part  of  the  bishop's 
liturgical  dress.  The  fact  is  interesting, 
as  one  of  many  proofs  that  Church  vest- 
ments are  derived  from  the  dress  of  daily 
life,  and  had  originally  no  connection  with 
the  garb  of  Jewish  priests,  who  oificiated 
barefoot. 

Sandals  are  first  mentioned  as  part  of 
the  liturgical  dress  by  Amalarius  of  Metz 
("Be  Eccl.  Offic."  i.  25  and  26).  He 
distinguishes  between  the  sandals  of  the 
bishop,  which  were  fastened  with  thongs, 
because  he  had  to  travel,  and  those  of 
priests.  The  deacon's  sandals  were  the 
same  as  those  of  the  .bishop  whom  he  had 
to  accompany ;  those  of  the  subdeacons 
were  again  distinct.  Rabanus  Maurus  is 
the  next  to  mention  sandals  ("  De  Cleric. 
Institut."  i.  22) ;  he  sees  a  reference  to 
them  in  Marc.  vi.  9,  Ephes.  vi.  15,  and, 
as  they  covered  the  under  but  not  the 
upper  part  of  the  foot,  he  sees  here  a 
symbol  of  the  teacher's  duty  of  revealing 
the  Gospel  to  the  faithful  and  concealing 
it  from  infidels.  Pseud  o-Alcuin  in  the 
tenth  century  ("  De  Div.  Offic."  39) 
copies  the  authors  just  named.  On  the 
other  hand,  Hugo  of  St.  Victor  ("  De 
Sacram."  ii.  iv.  14),  Innocent  III.  ("  De 
Altaris  Myster."  i.  10,  34,  48),  Honorius 
of  Autun  ^"  Gemma  Animse,"  i.  210), 
show  that  in  their  time  the  sandals  of 
bishops  only,  not  of  priests,  belonged  to 
the  liturgical  dress,  as  is  the  case  still. 
Innocent  mentions  the  stockings  of  bishops 
(caligcs,^  also  tihialia),  which  since  the 
twelfth  century  have  been  of  silk.  (Hefele, 
"  Beitrage,"  vol.  ii.  p.  219  seq.) 

SARXrjMC  USE.      [See  LiTTJBGIBS.] 
i  So  Hefele  understands  the  term. 


7U 


SATAN 


SCAPULAR 


SA.TH.'N,    [See  Devil.] 

SATURB AY.    [See  ABSTINENCE  and 

Little  Office  of  the  Blessed  Yikgin.] 

SCAFxr:LAR  (from  scapulcB,  shoul- 
ders). A  dress  which  covers  the  shoul- 
ders. It  is  mentioned  in  the  rule  of  St. 
Benedict  fls  worn  by  monks  over  their 
other  dress  when  they  were  at  work,  and 
it  now  forms  a  regular  part  of  the  re- 
ligious dress  in  the  old  orders.  But  it  is 
best  known  among  Catholics  as  the  name 
of  two  little  pieces  of  cloth  worn  out  of 
devotion  over  the  shoulders,  under  the 
ordinary  garb,  and  connected  by  strings. 

It  was  tlirough  the  Carmelites  that 
this  devotion  began,  and  the  following  is 
the  story  told  of  its  origin :  The  Blessed 
Virgin  appeared  at  Cambridge  to  Simon 
Stock,  general  of  the  Carmelite  order, 
when  it  was  in  great  trouble.  She  gave 
him  a  scapular  which  she  bore  in  her 
hand,  in  order  that  by  it  "  the  holy  [Car- 
melite] order  might  be  known  and  pro- 
tected from  the  evils  which  assailed  it," 
and  added,  "  this  will  be  the  privilege  for 
you  and  for  aU  Carmelites ;  no  one  dying 
in  this  scapular  will  suffer  eternal  burn- 
ing." Another  marvel  is  related  by  John 
XXII.  in  the  famous  Sabbatine  bull.  The 
Blessed  Virgin,  he  says,  appeared  to  him, 
and,  speaking  of  the  Carmelites  and  those 
associated  to  them  by  wearing  the  scapu- 
lar, promised  that,  if  any  of  them  went 
to  Purgatory,  she  herself  would  descend 
and  ffee  them  on  the  Saturday  following 
their  death.  "Tljis  holy  indulgence," 
says  the  Pope,  "I  accept,  corroborate, 
and  confirm,  as  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
merits  of  the  glorious  Virgin  Mary 
granted  it  in  heaven."  To  gain  this 
privilege  it  is  necessary  to  observe  fidelity 
m  marriage  or  chastity  in  the  single 
state.  Those  who  read  must  recite  the 
Office  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  unless  already 
bound  to  the  Divine  Office;  those  who 
cannot,  must  abstain  from  flesh  meat  on 
Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  unless  Christ- 
mas falls  on  one  of  these  days.  So  the 
Sabbatine  bull,  as  given  in  the  Carmelite 
"BuUarium." 

Two  statements,  then,  have  to  be 
examined.  Is  there  any  proof  that  the 
Blessed  Virgin  appeared  to  St.  Simon 
Stock  and  made  the  promise  related 
above  ?  Is  the  Sabbatine  buU  genuine, 
and  the  story  it  teUs  true  ? 

We  take  the  latter  question  first  be- 
cause it  may  be  despatched  very  quickly. 
Launoy,  in  a  dissertation  of  wonderful 
learning,  to  be  found  in  the  second 
volume  of  his  collected  works  (the  edition 


we  have  used  is  dated  1731,  "Coloniso 
Allobrogum '"),  proves  by  a  superabun- 
dance of  reasons  that  the  bull  of  John 
XXII.  is  a  clumsy  forgery,  and  that  of 
Alexander  V.  another  forgery  made  to 
cover  the  former.  The  autograph  has 
never  been  found,  nor  has  it  any  place  in 
the  Roman  "'  Bullarium."  Its  authenticity 
is  unhesitatingly  denied  by  the  great 
Bollandist  Papebroch  in  his  reply  to  the 
attacks  made  upon  him  by  the  Carmelites 
and  by  Benedict  XIV.  ("  De  Fest."lxxiv. 
Ixxvii.).  The  latter  says  it  is  as  hard, 
perhaps  harder,  to  believe  in  this  bull 
than  in  the  story  of  the  chapel  built  on 
Mount  Carmel  in  honoui*  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  during  her  life.  He  says  he  could 
give  more  reasons  against  it  than  he  cares 
to  produce,  and  arguments  drawn  '*  from 
things  [in  the' bull]  which  want  all  ap- 
pearance of  truth."  He  alludes,  we  sup- 
pose, to  the  style  of  the  bull,  which,  as 
Launoy  points  out,  betrays  in  many  ways 
the  hand  of  the  impostor. 

As  to  the  fact  of  the  apparition  to 
Simon  Stock,  it  is  accepted  iDy  Benedict 
XIV.,  Papebroch,  and  Alban  Butler  on  the 
faith  of  a  "  Life  "  of  the  saint  by  Swayn- 
ton,  who  was  his  secretary  and  wrote  the 
story  of  the  apparition  at  his  dictation. 
A  fragment  of  this  "  Life"  was  produced 
from  their  archives  at  Bordeaux  and 
printed  by  one  of  the  Carmelites — viz. 
Cheronensis.  We  may  observe  that  the 
Carmelites  refused  a  sightof  this  "Life  "to 
Papebroch.  (See  Bollandist  "Acta  SS. 
Mali,"  torn,  iii.)*  Next,  to  understand 
the  force  of  Launoy's  arguments  for  re- 
garding this  passage  in  the  "  Life  "  if  it  be 
authentic,  as  an  interpolation,  we  must 
remember  that  the  miracle  is  represented 
as  gaining  immediate  notoriety.  These 
are  Swaynton's  or  pseudo-Swaynton's 
words :  "  The  story  running  through 
England  and  beyond  it,  many  cities 
offered  us  places  in  which  to  live,  and 
many  nobles  begged  to  be  affiliated  to 
this  holy  order,  that  they  might  share  in 
its  graces,  desiring  to  die  in  this  holy 
habit."  If  so,  the  silence  of  Carmelite 
authors  for  more  than  a  century  after  is 
remarkable.  Simon  Stock  died  in  1250. 
Ribotus,  provincial  in  Catalonia  (about 
1340),  in  his  ten  books  "  On  the  Institution 
and  Remarkable  Deeds  of  the  Carmelites," 
ignores  it.  So  does  Chimelensis  in  two 
books  specially  designed  to  glorify  the 
order  ("  Speculum  Ilistoriale"  and  "  Spe- 
culum Ordinis  Carmeli"),  and  so  do 
three  other  authors  of  similar  books 
quoted  by  Launoy.      Strangest  of   all, 


SCAPULAR 

"Waldeiisis,  a  Carmelite,  an  Englishman, 
and  writing-  in  England  ("  De  Sacramen- 
talibus  "),  tries  hard  to  prove  the  religious 
habit  a  sacramental,  and  speaks  particu- 
larly of  the  Carmelite  habit  and  the  form 
which  it  is  given.  Nothing  could  have 
been  more  to  the  point  than  Swaynton's 
story,  but  he  never  alludes  to  it.  The 
vision  is  mentioned,  apparently  for  the 
first  time,  so  far  as  is  known  for  certain, 
by  Grossus,  a  Carmelite  of  Toulouse,  in 
bis  "  Viridarium  "  (1389),  then  by  Paleoni- 
dorus  ("  Antiq.  Ord.  Carm."  vi.  8,  apud 
Launoy),  published  in  1495.  It  is 
right  to  add,  however,  that  the  Carmel- 
ites claimed  the  support  of  an  anonymous 
MS.  in  the  Vatican  said  to  have  been 
written  early  in  the  fourteenth  century. 

Many  of  the  later  Popes  have  granted 
numerous  indulgences  to  the  Confra- 
ternities of  the  Scapular,  and  no  Catholic, 
Launoy  as  little  as  anyone,  doubts  the 
utility  and  piety  of  the  institution.  "  The 
scapular,''  says  Bossuet,  "is  no  useless 
badge.  You  wear  it  as  a  visible  token 
that  you  own  yourselves  Mary's  children, 
and  she  will  be  your  mother  indeed  if  you 
live  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  ("  Sermon 
pour  le  Jour  du  Scapulaire,"  vol.  xi.  p.  369, 
in  the  last  edition  of  Bossuet).  Benedict 
XIV.  speaks  in  a  similar  tone,  but  he 
admits  that  too  many  abuse  these  symbols 
and  badges  by  a  misplaced  confidence  in 
them. 

There  are  four  other  scapulars  used  in 
the  Church  :  that  of  the  Trinity,  of  white 
linen  with  a  red  cross,  given  by  the 
Trinitarians  or  priests  delegated  by  them ; 
the  Servite  scapular  of  the  Seven  Dolours, 
which  is  of  black  woollen  stuft' ;  that  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception,  of  light  blue 
woollen  cloth,  propagated  by  Ursula 
Benincasa  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
given  by  the  Theatines,  who  governed  the 
congregation  to  which  this  nun  belonged ; 
the  red  scapular  of  the  Passion,  originated 
by  a  Sister  of  Charity  at  Paris,  who  is 
said  to  have  received  a  revelation  on  the 
matter  in  1846,  and  given  by  the  Vincen- 
tian  Fathers.  All  these  Confraternities 
are  designed  to  promote  prayer  and  other 
good  works  in  their  members. 

(This  article  has  been  compiled  from 
Benedict  XIV.  "De  Festis";  the  Bol- 
landists,  Mail,  tom.  iii. ;  Launoy,  "  Dis- 
sertat."  tom.  ii.  Swaynton's  "  Life  "  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  published  entire.  At 
least,  we  have  searched  in  vain  for  a  copy 
at  the  British  Museum.  There  is  nothing 
in  Alban  Butler  which  had  not  been 
already  stated    by  the   authors    quoted. 


scmsM 


745 


The  brief  notice  on  the  other  scapulars  is 
from  a  little  book  of  Labis,  "  Notices  et 
Instructions  sur  les  Scapulaires,"  &e.  It 
is  merely  practical,  and  has  no  historical 
worth.) 

SCHZSIME  (ax^a-ixa).  A  tear  or  rent 
(Matt.  ix.  16  ;  Marc.  ii.  21)  ;  a  division  of 
opinion  (John  vii.  43 ;  ix.  16 ;  x.  19) ; 
party  spirit  in  the  Christian  Church  (1 
Cor.  i.  10 ;  xi.  18;  xii.  25) ;  and  then,  in 
Fathers  and  theologians,  a  technical  word 
to  denote  formal  separation  from  the 
unity  of  the  Church,  "  Schismatics,"  says 
St.  Thomas  ("  2  2ndffi,"  II.  qu.  xxxix., 
a.  ] ),  "  in  the  strict  sense,  are  those  who 
of  their  own  will  and  intention  sever 
themselves  from  the  unity  of  the  Church." 
This  unity  of  the  Church,  he  continues, 
consists  in  the  connection  of  its  members 
with  each  other,  and  of  all  the  members 
with  the  head.  "  Now,  this  head  is 
Christ,  whose  representative  in  the  Church 
is  the  Supreme  Pontiff.  And  therefore 
the  name  of  '  schismatics'  is  gi^  en  to  those 
who  refuse  to  be  under  the  Supreme 
Pontiff  and  to  communicate  with  the 
members  of  the  Church  subject  to  him." 
Further,  he  thus  explains  t!,e  difference 
between  heresy  and  schism.  Heresy  is 
opposed  to  faith,  schism  to  charity;  so 
that,  although  all  heretics  are  schismatics,, 
because  loss  of  faith  involves  separation 
from  the  Church,  all  schismatics  are  not 
heretics,  sincts  a  man  may,  from  anger, 
pride,  ambition,  or  the  like,  sever  himself 
from  the  communion  of  the  Church  and 
yet  believe  all  that  which  the  Church 
proposes  for  our  behef.  Still,  a  state  of  pure 
schism— I.e.  of  schism  without  heresy — 
cannot  continue  long — at  least,  in  the 
case  of  a  large  number  of  men.  The 
words  of  St.  Jerome  (on  Titus,  cap. 
3),  quoted  by  St,  Thomas,  are  to  the 
point:  "Schism,  at  the  beginning,  may 
be  understood  as  something  different  from 
heresy,  but  there  is  no  schism  which  does 
not  invent  some  heresy  for  itself,  in  order 
to  justify  its  secession."  History  abun- 
dantly confirms  this  observation.  Bodies 
which  at  first  separate  from  the  Church 
merely  because  they  think  their  personal 
rights  have  been  infringed  are  sure,  in 
the  end,  to  deny  the  Church's  unity  and 
to  lose  the  spirit  of  faith.  And  so  St. 
Thomas  remarks  that,  as  loss  of  charity 
is  the  way  to  loss  of  faith,  so  schism  is 
the  road  to  heresy. 

Schismatics  do  not,  of  course,  lose  the 
power  of  order ;  their  priests  can  say 
Mass,  their  bishops  confirm  and  ordain. 
But  they  lose  all  jurisdiction,  so   that 


746 


SCHOLASTICUS 


'*  they  cannot  either  absolve,  excommuni- 
cate, or  grant  indulgences,  or  the  like ; 
and  if  they  attempt  anything  of  the  kiud 
the  act  is  null "  {loc.  cit.  a.  3).  Whether 
pure  schismatics  do  or  do  not  cease 
thereby  to  be  members  of  the  Church  is 
a  question  controverted  in  the  Schools. 
Many  theologians  consider  that  all  who 
retain  integrity  of  faith  are  members  of 
the  Church.  But  all  agree  that  they  are 
not  united  to  the  Church  by  charity — 
that,  if  members,  they  are  dead  members 
— so  that  the  question  is  of  no  great 
moment. 

SCKOlbASTZCUS  (Fr.  Scoldtre). 
An  ecclesiastic  attached  to,  but  generally 
not  a  member  of,  a  cathedral  or  collegiate 
chapter,  to  whom  the  administration  of 
its  schools  was  entrusted.  The  scholas- 
ticus  is  also  called,  in  charters  of  the 
eleventh  century,  capischolus,  caput  scho- 
laris,  and  magister  scholarum.  The  office 
seems  to  have  arisen  along  with  the 
schools  which  the  Capitularies  of  Charle- 
magne order  with  such  earnestness  and 
reiteration  to  be  erected  in  all  the  Frankish 
dioceses.  Those  who  held  it  often  com- 
bined teaching  with  the  superintendence 
of  teachers ;,  this  was  the  case  with  St. 
Bruno,  the  founder  of  the  Carthusians, 
appointed  in  1056  Scholasticus  in  the 
('hurch  of  Rheims.  The  Council  of 
Trent  ordered  that  the  Scholastici  of  a 
diocese  and  others  who  were  bound  to 
lecture  or  teach  should,  if  competent, 
themselves  give  instruction  in  the  semin- 
aries of  which  the  Council  decreed  the 
erection  in  all  dioceses;  and  that  in 
future  the  office  of  a  Scholasticus  (scholas- 
teria)  should  only  be  conferred  on  doctors, 
masters,  or  licentiates  in  theology  or  in 
canon  law,  and  other  fit  persons  capable 
of  teaching ;  the  collation  otherwise  to 
be  void.^     (Thomassin,  i.  3.  70.) 

SCBOOliS.  A  boy  is  usually  sent  to 
school  in  order  that  he  may  obtain,  with 
greater  ease  and  fewer  interruptions  than 
would  be  possible  at  home,  knowledge 
which  will  be  serviceable  to  him  in  after 
life.  This  is  a  motive  which  acts  on 
parents  independently  of  State  instiga- 
tion ;  it  filled  the  school  of  Flavius  at 
Venusia  with  "  big  boys,  the  sons  of  big 
centurions,"'  ^  and  took  Horace  to  that 
superior  establishment  at  Rome  which 
received  the  sons  of  "  knights  and  sena- 
tors." To  these  voluntary  schools,  which 
doubtless  existed  in  every  part  of  the 
Roman  empire,  and  were  closely  connected 
1  Sess.  xxiii.  c.  18,  De  Ref. 
«  Hor.  Sat.  i.  6,  73. 


SCHOOLS 

with  the  movement  of  Pagan  society,  it 
does  not  appear  that  Christian  parents  in 
the  first  three  centuries  sent  their  sons. 
The  earliest  Christian  school  of  which  we 
have  a  distinct  account — that  of  Panteenus 
at  Alexandria  (a.d.  180) — was  one  for 
religious  and  catechetical  instruction 
(lepa>v  \6ycov  KaTr})(r^(T(a)v)}  The  earliest 
State  provision  for  secondary  instruction 
was  made  by  the  Emperor  Vespasian,* 
who  established  a  group  of  "imperial 
schools  "  at  all  the  great  provincial  towns ; 
BesanQon,  Aries,  Cologne,  Rheims,  and 
Treves  are  particularly  mentioned.  In 
these  schools  rhetoric,  logic,  and  Latin 
and  Greek  literature  were  well  taught, 
and  many  a  Christian  apologist  owed  to 
them  the  mental  culture  which  he  em- 
ployed after  his  conversion  in  the  service 
of  Christ.  When  the  empire  had  become 
Christian,  these  schools  still  retained  the 
old  methods  and  subjects  of  instruction, 
and  even,  to  a  great  extent,  the  old  spirit. 
St.  Jerome,  who  had  himself  been  edu- 
cated in  one  of  them,  was  alive  to  the 
perilous  nature  of  this  influence,  and 
interdicted  the  reading  of  the  Pagan 
authors  to  all  those  under  his  direction 
who  were  in  training  for  the  religious  life. 
Every  bishop's  residence  was  from  the 
first  more  or  less  definitely  a  school,  in 
which  clerics  were  trained  for  the  eccle- 
siastical life.  Similarly,  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  monastic  life  under  St, 
Antony  and  St.  Hilarion,  the  monastery, 
besides  subserving  the  ends  of  self-disci- 
pline and  continual  intercession,  became 
a  school  for  training  monks.  This  was 
especially  seen  in  the  monasteries  in  Gaul 
which  followed  the  rule  of  the  abbot 
Cassian  of  Marseilles.  Early  in  the  fifth 
century  the  invasions  of  the  barbarians 
began  ;  for  four  centuries  Western  Europe 
weltered  in  chaos,  and  the  institutions  of 
civilised  life  perished.  In  the  cities  of 
Gaul,  as  the  Franks  pressed  southwards, 
the  old  municipal  schools — the  schools  of 
the  Rhetoricians  and  the  Grammarians — 
dwindled  and  were  dispersed.  Lay  life 
became  barbarous;  and  the  arts  of  bar- 
barism— which  are  chiefly  fighting,  de- 
struction, and  coarse  mdulgence — do  not 
stand  in  need  of  schools.  But  in  the 
wreck  the  episcopal  and  monastic  schools 
sui-vived,  and,  through  the  degradation 
of  lay  life,  became  ever  more  attractive. 
In  the  island  of  Lerins,  the  abbot  Honor- 
atus,  about   400,  founded  a    celebrated 

1  Eu3.  Hist.  Eccl. 

3  J.  B.  MuUinger,  The  Schools  of  Charle$ 
the  Great  (1877),  p.  12. 


SCHOOLS 


SCHOOLS 


747 


monastery,  the  school  of  which  was 
known  as  the  Studmm  Inmlanum.  Ire- 
land, soon  after  its  conversion  by  St. 
Patrick,  was  dotted  over  with  monastic 
schools,  in  which  such  learning  as  was 
then  accessible  was  prosecuted  with  re- 
markable success. 

The  suppression  of  the  schools  of 
Athens  by  order  of  Justinian  (529) 
sounded  the  knell  of  the  educational  in- 
stitutes of  antiquity.  These  schools  were, 
in  fact,  a  university,  although  that  name 
was  of  later  introduction.  They  had 
never  been  able  to  shake  off  the  Pagan 
modes  of  thought  which  gave  birth  to 
them,  and  now  the  advancing  tide  of 
Christian  ideas  engulfed  them,  without 
being  able  for  a  long  time  to  supply  their 
place.  A  few  months  after  the  suppres- 
sion St.  Benedict  founded  the  abbey  of 
Monte  Cassino,  and  the  schools  for  the 
erection  of  which  his  rule  provides  were 
soon  spread  over  Western  Europe.  These 
gradually  produced  a  race  of  teachers  and 
students  whose  higher  and  wider  views 
suggested  the  resuscitation  of  academic 
life.  It  is  sufficient  to  mention  the  names 
of  lona,  Lindisfarne,  Canterbury,  York, 
Fulda,  Rheims,  Corbie,  Fleury,  and 
Seville — not  as  being  all  of  Benedictine 
origin,  but  as  among  the  best  schools  to 
be  found  in  the  troubled  period  from 
the  fifth  to  the  tenth  century. 

The  great  organising  mind  of  Charle- 
magne endeavoured  to  make  use  of  edu- 
cation, as  of  all  other  forces  within  his 
reach,  for  restoring  civilisation  in  the 
West.  He  invited  Alcuin,  the  Scholasticus 
of  York,  as  the  best  known  teacher  in 
Europe,  to  his  Court  at  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
and  gave  into  his  charge  the  palace  school. 
Conscientious  and  painstaking,  Alcuin 
was  yet  essentially  home ;  there  is  some- 
thing cramped  and  unsatisfactory  in  his 
way  of  handling  all  the  subjects  of  his 
narrow  curriculum.  The  age  of  universi- 
ties was  not  yet.  (Jharlemagne,  and  his 
son  after  him,  were  perpetually  urging 
the  bishops  to  improve  their  schools. 
Rabanus  Maurus,  a  pupil  of  Alcuin, 
made  the  school  of  Fulda  illustilous ;  that 
of  Corbie,  in  the  same  age,  produced 
Paschasius  Radbert.  The  trivium  and 
quadriiyium — the  invention  of  which  is 
ascribed  by  some  to  Martianus  Capella,  a 
Carthaginian  professor  of  rhetoric,  by 
others  to  St.  Augustine — supplied  the 
cadre  of  the  most  advanced  instruction 
for  several  centuries.  Between  850  and 
1000,  the  inroads  of  the  Normans  and 
Danes  again  made  havoc  of  all  that  had 


been  hitherto  done  in  France  and  England 
to  promote  education.  The  Normans, 
however,  when  once  solidly  converted, 
became  the  most  active  propagators  of  all 
civilising  ideas  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  The  Norman  school  of  Bee,  founded 
in  the  eleventh  century  by  the  Abbot 
Herluin,  numbered  among  its  teachers 
Lanfranc  and  St.  Anselm.  In  schools 
of  this  class,  where  knowledge  was  sought 
at  first  hand  and  philosophy  disdained 
conventional  methods,  imiversity  ideals 
began  to  emerge.  In  the  twelfth  century, 
at  Paris,  commences  the  history  of  modern 
universities.  [University.]  After  the 
establishment  of  these  foci  of  superior 
teaching,  the  secondary  school  became,  in 
theory,  on  the  one  hand  a  stage  of  pre- 
paration for  the  university,  on  the  other 
a  place  of  final  training  for  those  who 
had  to  begin  work  early.  But  for  a  long 
time  the  first  of  these  two  aspects  of  a 
secondary  school  overpowered  the  other. 
William  of  Wykeham,  bishop  of  Win- 
chester, founded  there,  in  1373,  the  school 
which  still  exists,  expressly  in  order  to 
feed  the  college  (New  College)  which  he 
was  establishing  at  Oxford.  The  Win- 
chester foundation  was  for  a  warden  and 
ten  fellows,  three  chaplains  and  three 
clerks  in  orders,  an  informator  or  head 
master,  a  hostiarius  or  second  master, 
seventy  scholars  who  were  to  be  "  poor 
and  in  need  of  help,"  and' sixteen  choris- 
ters.^ Imitating  this  example,  Henry  VI. 
founded  the  school  at  Eton  in  1440,  as  a 
nursery  to  King's  College,  Cambridge. 
The  later  public  schools  of  England — 
Westminster,  Rugby,  Harrow,  kc. — have 
been  founded,  speaking  generally,  upon 
the  model  of  these  two,  but  without  the 
same  close  connection  with  the  uni- 
versities. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  necessity  of  separating 
primary  or  elementary  instruction  from 
secondary  began  to  make  itself  felt.  The 
greater  complexity  and  variety  of  em- 
ployments, and  the  increased  application 
of  science  to  all  the  useful  arts,  made  it 
desirable,  if  not  indispensable,  that  the 
labouring  class  also  should  at  least  be  in- 
structed in  letters  and  in  the  art  of  calcu- 
lation. Primary  instruction  on  a  large 
scale  was  first  tried  (1684)  by  the  Ven. 
Be  la  Salle,  the  founder  of  the  Christian 
Brothers.  [See  that  article.]  The  new 
grade  had  its  two  aspects — that  by  which 
it  was  a  stage  of  preparation  for  the 
secondary  school,  and  that  by  which  it 
1  The  Public  Schools,  186L 


748 


SCHOOLS 


SCHOOLS 


gave  a  final  training.  Up  to  very  recent 
times  the  former  aspect  was  little  re- 
garded ;  but,  at  present,  the  advantage  of 
making  free  and  easy  communications  by 
which  the  best  scholars  can  pavss  from  the 
primary  to  the  secondary,  and  frpm  that 
to  the  superior  grade  of  instruction,  is 
clearly  perceived  by  educationists. 

All  English  schools  before  the  E^for- 
mation  had  a  Catholic  character.  That 
being  withdrawn  from  them  by  the 
change  of  religion,  and  the  laws  prohibit- 
ing the  erection  of  new  schools  under 
Catholic  teachers,  those  who  adhered  to 
the  old  faith  were  put  to  great  straits  for 
several  generations  in  order  to  get  their 
children  educated  under  any  tolerable 
conditions.  A  single  sample  of  Protes- 
tant legislation  will  show  what  difficulties 
had  to  be  faced.  By  the  11  and  12  Will. 
in.  c,  iv.  "if  any  Papist,  or  person 
making  profession  of  the  Popish  religion, 
shall  keep  school,  or  take  upon  himself 
the  education  or  government  or  boarding 
of  youth,  he  shall  be  adjudged  to  perpetual 
imprisonment  in  such  place  within  this 
kingdom  as  the  King  by  advice  of  his 
Privy  Council  shall  appoint."^  Unless 
foreign  education  were  sought,  obscure 
private  schools,  such  as  those  of  which 
we  obtain  a  glimpse  in  the  accounts  of  the 
early  life  of  Pope,  were  the  only  available 
resort.  The  first  school  of  a  higher  class 
was  that  established  at  Sedgley  Park  (it 
had  previously  existed  in  a  humble  way 
at  Newcastle-under-Lyne)  by  Bishop 
Challoner  in  1763.  Ushaw,  which,  as 
Crook  Hall,  was  founded  in  1794 ;  Stony- 
hurst,  dating  from  the  same  year ;  St. 
Edmund's,  founded  in  1 795  ;  Downside, 
in  1798;  Oscott,  in  1808;  and  Edgbas- 
ton,  in  1858 — with  Ampleforth,  Beau- 
mont, and  Woburn  Park — are  our  prin- 
cipal Catholic  secondary  schools  at  pre- 
sent. 

The  monitorial  system  of  Bell  and 
Lancaster,  by  means  of  which  it  was  con- 
sidered that  primary  instruction  could  be 
much  extended  at  little  expense  by  setting 
the  elder  children  as  "  monitors  "  to  teach 
the  rudiments  to  the  younger,  was  brcugjit 
out  in  1797.  The  primary  schools  of 
Prussia,  organised  under  Hardenberg  with 
great  skill  and  thoroughness,  drew  general 
attention  ;  and  in  1833  the  first  public 
grant,  20,000/.,  in  aid  of  the  elementary 
education  of  the  people,  was  voted  by 
Parliament,  and  its  administration  con- 
fided to  a  Committee  of  the  Privy  Coun- 

Hook's  Church  Dictionary,  "  Schools." 


cil.  The  system  of  aiding  local  effoiia 
thus  introduced  has  received  an  enormous 
development  and  undergone  numerous 
changes  of  detail,  but  in  its  substantial 
features  it  remains  unaltered  to  the  present 
day.  In  the  Anglican  communion,  the 
organ  through  which  State  help  was  dis- 
pensed was  the  "  National  Society  for  the 
Education  of  the  Poor  in  the  Principles 
of  the  Established  Church,"  founded  in 
1812.  The  corresponding  organ  for  the 
Dissenters  was  the  "  British  and  Foreign 
School  Society."  For  Catholics  was  es- 
tablished, in  1847,  the  "Catholic  Poor 
School  Committee,"  which,  by  maintain- 
ing efficient  training-schools  for  masters 
and  mistresses,  enables  Catholic  managers 
to  obtain  their  fair  share  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary grant  for  elementary  education. 

In  Ireland  "the  penal  laws  rendered  the 
erection  of  Catholic  schools  impossible 
until  about  a  hundred  years  ago,  when 
the  ill-success  of  the  war  against  the 
American  colonists  compelled  certain  re- 
laxations. A  secondary  school  for  forty 
boarders  was  founded  at  Bnrrell's  HaU, 
Kilkenny,  in  1783,  under  Drs.  Lanigan 
and  Dunne. ^  It  throve  exceedingly,  and 
was  transformed  in  1836  into  St.  Kieran's 
College,  under  which  name  it  still  exists. 
Of  more  recent  foundation  are  Carlo w  and 
Thurles  Colleges,  and  the  Jesuit  Colleges 
of  Clongowes  and  Tullabeg.  These  in- 
stitutions, though  without  State  aid  or 
inspection,  are  already  more  flourishing 
than  the  Royal  and  Charter  Schools — 
founded  in  the  bad  times  in  order  to  pre- 
serve and  extend  Protestant  ascendency 
— could  ever  boast  of  being. 

The  National  Board  of  Education — in 
the  schools  of  which  a  combined  literary 
instruction  was  to  be  given  to  children  of 
all  creeds  during  certain  hours  in  the  day, 
while  separate  religious  teaching  might 
be  given  to  those  whose  parents  desired 
it  before  or  after  those  hours,  and  also  on 
one  particular  day  of  the  week — was 
organised  through  the  exertions  of  Mr. 
Stanlev,  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland 
(afterwards  Earl  of  Derby),  in  1831.  The 
bishops  accepted  this  arrangement,  not  as 
the  best,  but  as  the  best  obtainable, 
measure ;  and  under  it,  notwithstanding 
the  difficulties  caused  by  extreme  poverty, 
elementary  school  training  has  penetrated 
into  every  corner  of  Ireland. 

An  Act  for  the  enforcement  of  general 
education,  and  authorising  the  formation 

1  Trans,  of  the  Ossory  Archaeological  So- 
ciety, 1882,  vol.  ii.  part  2. 


SCHOOLS 

of  School  Boards,  and  the  levying-  of 
rates,  in  all  places  where  voluntary  effort 
should  appear  to  he  insufficient  forthe  need, 
was  brought  in  by  Mr.  Forster  in  1870, 
and  became  law.  Great  efforts  have  been 
made  by  the  Catholic  body  in  England, 
and  hitherto  with  a  large  measure  ^  of 
success,  to  provide  schools  under  certifi- 
cated teachers  (and  therefore  qualified  to 
participate  in  the  educational  gr^t)  suffi- 
cient for  the  reception  of  all  the  Catholic 
children  in  the  countiy.  Whether  these 
efforts  will  prevail,  or  the  Board  schools, 
from  which  definite  religious  teaching  is 
excluded,  will  more  and  more  bring  the 
elementary  instruction  of  the  people 
under  their  control,  is  a  question  still  un- 
certain. 

In  most  parts  of  the  TJ.  S.  Catholics, 
though  taxed  for  the  support  of  the 
public-schools — which  formerly  were 
distinctively  Protestant  in  their  teach- 
ing and  now  are  fast  becoming  as  dis- 
tinctively Agnostic— have  yet,  by  great 
self-denial,  succeeded  in  establishing  a 
system  of  parish-schools.  But  Catho- 
lics still  have  no  technical  schools, 
either  of  the  primary  or  "trade-school  " 
class,  or  of  the  higher  or  polytechnic. 
Secondary  education,  however,  is  flour- 
ishing. As  was  stated  in  the  article  on 
Education,  the  Divine  and  irrefragable 
right  of  the  Church  to  share  in  the  con- 
trol of  all  schools  in  which  her  children 
are  taught,  with  the  coi-responding 
right  and  duty  of  parents,  can  never  be 
surrendered  by  Catholics. 

scixTN-TZA  jMBDXA.    [See  Gbace, 

and  PREDESTIN-ATIOir.] 

SCOTCH  COI.I.SGE.  In  the  time 
of  Henry  VIII.  the  Scotch  possessed  an 
ancient  church  and  hostel  at  Rome. 
Mary  Stuart,  soon  aft<er  she  assumed  the 
government  of  Scotland,  nut  the  institu- 
tion on  a  sound  footing;  but  in  conse- 
quence of  her  long  imprisonment  in 
England  it  was  abandoned.  Clement 
VIII.,  by  the  bull  •'  In  Supremo,"  founded 
in  1600  a  college  for  training  natives  of 
Scotland  to  the  sacred  ministry  near  the 
Church  of  St.  Mary  of  Constantinople; 
,  whence,  in  1604,  he  removed  it  to  a  site 
opposite  the  Palazzo  Barberini,  granting 
to  it  at  the  same  time  the  neighbouring 
Church  of  St.  Ajidrew.  In  1616  the 
college  was  made  over  by  Paul  V.  to  the 
Jesuits,  who  had  the  management  of  it 
down  to  their  suppression  in  1773.  It 
was  revived  in  1820  by  Pius  VII.,  and 
placed  under  the  charge  of  a  Scotch 
secular  priest  as  rector.    The  college  is 


SCOTISM 


749 


under  the  Propaganda.  The  students, 
like  those  of  the  Irish  College,  pursued 
their  university  course  in  the  CoUegio 
Romano,  before  the  iniquitous  confisca- 
tion of  that  establishment  by  the  Italian 
Government. 

SCOTZSnx.  Scholastic  philosophy, 
as  has  been  shown  in  other  articles,  was 
the  philosophy  of  Aristotle  interpreted, 
developed,  and  reconciled  with  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  middle 
ages,  scholastic  theology,  accepting  the 
data  of  Catholic  faith,  occupied  itself  in 
arranging,  defending,  and  drawing  deduc- 
tions from  them  on  the  principles  of  the 
scholastic  philosophy.  Of  this  scholastic 
philosophy  and  theology,  there  were  two 
great  schools,  of  which  the  Thomist  found 
its  home  in  the  Dominican,  the  Scotist  in 
the  Franciscan,  order.  The  Nominalist 
school  found  adherents  in  both  of  these 
orders  and  in  the  Church  generally,  but 
never  exercised  an  influence  like  that  of 
the  older  systems,  and  really  marks  the 
decay  of  Scholasticism  as  a  whole.^ 

Very  little  is  known  about  the  life  of 
Scotus.  His  full  name,  Joannes  Duns 
Scotus,  has  been  variously  interpreted. 
In  the  early  middle  ages  Scotia  and 
Scot  always  means  Ireland  and  Irish- 
man. Not  till  later  were  these  terms 
used  of  the  Irish  colony  and  its  people 
in  Caledonia.  Joannes  was  probably  a 
native  of  Down  (in  Irish  Dun^  whence 
the  Latin  Dunemis).  Though  foolish- 
ly claimed  by  some  Scotch  and  English 
writers,  he  could  not,  as  Wadding,  the 
Franciscan  annalist,  shows,  have  been 
an  Englishman,  since  his  epitaph  runs, 
"  Scotia  me  genuit,  Anglia  suscepit ;  " 
not  a  Scotchman,  since  Bonaventure, 
in  a  list  of  the  Franciscan  provinces, 
mentions  that  of  "Scotia,  or  Ire- 
land." The  date  of  his  birth  is 
given  by  some  as  1265,  by  others  as 
1274.  when  he  made  his  noviciate  la 
quite  uncertain.  Of  the  names  of  his 
teachers  one  only  has  been  handed  down 
— that  of  "William  Varo,  or  Ware,  whom 
he  succeeded  in  the  chair  of  theology  at 
Oxford.  He  went  to  Paris  in  1304;  to 
Cologne  in  1308,  where  he  died  suddenly 
the  same  year  and  was  buried  in  the 
Franciscan  church.  His  M^orks  consist  of 
commentaries  on  the  logical  works  of 
Aristotle  and  the  "Isagoge"  of  Por- 
phyry, a  commentary  on  Aristotle's  "  De 
Anima,"  two  commentaries  on  Aristotle's 
"  Metaphysics,"  besides  a  shorter  work, 

1  We  refer  to  Nominalism  in  its  later  form, 
as  represented  by  Occam  and  his  followem. 


750 


SCOTISM 


SCOTISM 


"  Concbisiones  ex  xii  Libris  Metaphys. 
Aristot.,"  '*  Qrammatica  Speculativa," 
"  Tractatua  de  rerum  Principio*'  and  "De 
Primo  Principio,"  "  Theoremata,"  "Ool- 
lationes,"  "  Qusestiones  Miscellaneae," 
"  Qusestiones  Quodlibetales,"  and  an  un- 
finislied  "  Tractatua  de  Cognitione  Dei." 
All  these  books,  except  the  "  Collationes  " 
and  "  Quodlibetica/'  were  written  at 
Oxford.  There,  too,  he  wrote  his  "  Opus 
Oxoiiiense,"  a  commentaiy  on  the  "  Four 
Books  of  the  Sentences,"  which  contains 
his  whole  philosophical  and  theological 
teaching  in  a  collected  form.  The  "  Re- 
prtata  Parisiensia"  is  an  abridgement 
by  Scotus  himself  of  the  "  Opus  Oxoni- 
ense."  At  the  end  of  book  iii.  dist.  18, 
ScotuB  was  called  to  Cologne,  and  leffthe 
work  incomplete.  The  "Quodlibetica" 
consists  of  twenty-one  questions  on  which 
Scotus  disputed  in  public  when  he  took 
the  degree  of  doctor  at  Paris.  In  general 
chapters  of  the  order,  and,  as  Wadding 
thinks,  soon  after  his  death,  decrees  were 
passed  requiring  the  Scotist  doctrine  to 
be  taught  in  all  the  Franciscan  schools. 
His  works  were  collected  by  the  Irish 
Franciscan  Wadding  in  twelve  folio 
volumes  (Lyons,  1639).  Commentators 
on  Scotus  appear  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
fifteenth  century.^  Such  were  the  Irish- 
man Mauritius  a  Portu  (d.  1513),  profes- 
sor at  Padua,  afterwards  archbishop  of 
Tuam ;  Francis  Lychetus  of  Brescia  (d. 
1620),  minister-general  of  the  order; 
Joannes  Poncius  (d.  1560),  an  Irishman 
and  professor  at  Rome  ;  Hugo  Cavellus, 
professor  at  Rome  and  Louvain,  minister- 
general  of  the  order,  finally  archbishop 
and  primate  in  Ireland;  Antonius  Hi- 
quseus,  also  an  Irishman.  Among  Scotist 
theologians  the  best  known  are  Albergoni 
("  Resolutio  Doctringe  Scotisticae,"  Lyons, 
1648);  Baro  on  the  Scotist  philosophy 
(Cologne,  1668)  ;  Frassen  ("  Scotus  Aca- 
demicus,"  Paris,  1680)  ;  Hieron.  de  Monte 
Fortino,  who  arranged,  in  a  very  conve- 
nient manner,  the  teaching  of  Scotus  in  a 
"  Summa "  which  corresponds  question 
for  question  to  that  of  St.  Thomas 
("  Summa  ex  Scoti  operibus  concinnata 
juxta  Ordinem  et  Dispositionem  Summje 
S.  Thorn.  Aq."  Romse,  1728,  6  vols.  fol.). 
In  the  middle  of  the  last  century  Ferrari 
undertook  the  defence  of  Scotist  against 

1  But  long  before  this  Scotus  had  distin- 
guished disciples — e.g.  Antonius  Andrese,  the 
«'  Doctor  Dulcificus"  (d.circ.  1320) ;  Franciscus 
de  Mayronis,  the  "  Magister  Abstractionum,"  or 
"Doctor  Illuminatus"  (A.  circ.  1825)  ;  Walter 
Burleigh,  "  Doctor  Planus  et  Perspicuus " 
(1275— circ.  1337;.    (Ueberweg,  p.  457.) 


modern  philosophy  ("  Philosophia  Peri- 
pate  tica  adv.  veteres  et  recentiores  prae- 
sertim  firmioribus  propugnata  rationibus 
Joannis  Duns  Scoti,"  Venice,  1746).^ 

Scotists  no  less  than  Thomists  were, 
in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word, 
Scholastics.  The  one  as  well  as  the  other 
accepted  the  whole  tradition  of  the 
Church  as  it  was  collected  by  Peter  Lom- 
bard ;  t(^  Scotus  no  less  than  to  St.  Thomas 
the  ''  Pope  is  the  supreme  guardian  and 
divinely-instituted  exponent  of  the  de- 
posit of  faith  left  to  the  Church,  the 
highest  guide  and  ruler  of  the  Christian 
commonwealth,  the  supreme  representa- 
tive of  the  Church's  judicial  power" 
(Werner,  p.  497).  Again,  to  Scotus  as 
i  well  as  to  St.  Thomas  Aristotle  is  the  re- 
I  presentative  of  human  reason,  the  decisive 
i  authority  in  philosophical  discussion.'^ 
I  Hence,  the  differences  between  the  two 
schools,  numerous  as  they  are,  move 
j  between  very  narrow  limits.  Far  wider, 
I  far  more  interesting  and  important,  ques- 
tions arose  in  the  conflict  on  the  power  of 
the  Pope  begun  at  Constance  and  Basle 
and  prolonged  in  the  learned  French 
church,  on  a  multitude  of  questions  after 
the  rise  of  scholarship  and  historical  criti- 
cism, in  the  war  between  the  old  and  the 
new  philosophies.  Probably  just  because 
the  limits  of  opinion  were  so  narrow,  it 
came  to  pass  that  Thomists  and  Scotists 
fought  on  so  many  points  which  have 
little  interest  for  us.  So  numerous  are 
they,  that  we  can  but  make  a  selection 
from  them  here. 

(1)  Both  Thomists  and  Scotists  were 
Realists,  but  the  Realism  of  the  latter  was 
more  pronounced.  To  St.  Tliomas  no 
universal  exists  as  such.  The  essence  is 
only  actually  found  in  the  individual ;  it 
is  by  a  process  of  the  intellect — viz.  ab- 
straction— that  we  separate  humanity  in 
general  from  humanity  as  it  manifests 
itself  in  this  particular  man  and  reach 
the  idea  of  humanity  in  general.  "  Univer- 
sale, dum  intelligitur :  singulare,  dum 
aentitur."  At  the  same  time,  St.  Thomas, 
unlike  the  Nominalists,  held  that  the 
universal  has  a  "  foundation  in  reality," 
because  the  species  exists  with  identical 
qualities  in  a  number  of  individuals.  It ' 
has  precisely  the  same  character,  though 

1  There  is  also  a  handy  work  (not,  however, 
Scotist)  by  Joannes  de  Kada,  Controversia 
inter  Thomam  et  Scotum,  Venice,  1599. 

2  Still,  Scotus  adopted  many  Platonic  and 
Xeoplatonic  conceptions,  with  which  he  became 
familiar  through  Avicebron*g  (Ibn  Gebirol's) 
Fountain  of  Life  (Ueberweg,  Birt.  Fhil.  Engt 
Traosl.  i.  p.  458). 


SCOTISM 

it  is  not  numerically  one.  But  this  nu- 
merical unity  was  just  what  the  Scotists 
maintained.  To  them  the  nature  in  all 
individuals  of  the  same  species  was  nu- 
merically one.  The  obvious  difficulties 
of  this  theory  led  later  Scotists  to  modify 
it  till  it  was  scarcely  distinguishable  from 
Thomism,  or  else  to  take  refuge  in  unin- 
telligible subtleties  (Kleutgen,  "  Philos. 
der  Vorzeit,"  p.  278  seq,).  (2)  The 
Thomists  made  matter  the  principle  of 
individuation,  so  that,  e.g.,  in  spiritual 
beings  like  the  angels  there  could  only  be 
one  individual  in  each  species.  The 
Scotists  believed  that  in  indi-^iduals  there 
was  an  '^  haecceitas,"  something  which 
made  them  individual  apart  from  matter. 
(3)  St.  Thomas  held  that  second  causes, 
including  the  will,  only  move  so  far  as 
they  are  moved  by  the  first  cause.  God 
moves  the  will  to  act,  gives  the  action  as 
well  as  the  power  to  act,  in  such  manner, 
however,  as  to  leave  the  freedom  of  the 
will  unimpaired.  So,  at  least,  the  Do- 
minicans— rightly,  as  it  seems  to  us — 
understood  their  master.  Scotus,  on  the 
contrary,  held  that  "  the  created  will  is 
the  total  and  immediate  cause  of  its  voli- 
tion, so  that  God  in  respect  thereto  has 
DO  immediate  but  only  mediate  efficacy." 
The  will  is  like  a  "  free  horse,"  grace  Uke 
the  rider,  and  the  horse  can  throw  its 
rider;  otherwise,  the  will  could  not  be 
free,  and  there  would  be  no  possibility  of 
sin.  Observe  that  both  Scotus  and  St. 
Thomas  argue  on  general  philosophical 
grounds.  Very  different  from  either  is 
St.  Augustine's  position.  To  the  first 
man,  he  says,  a  grace  was  given  "  without 
which  he  could  not  abide  [in  grace]  if  he 
willed ;  but  to  will  was  left  in  his  own 
power."  After  the  fall,  God  gives  "to 
those  on  whom  He  sees  good  to  bestow  it 
an  assistance  so  great  and  of  such  a  nature 
that  we  do  will."  "The  first  freedom  of 
the  will  consisted  in  the  power  not  to  sin 
(posse  non  peccare)  ;  the  last  is  to  be  much 
greater,  not  to  be  able  to  sin  (non  posse 
peccare)."  "  One  is  the  help  without 
which  a  thmg  is  not  done  [i.e.  grace  of 
perseverance  before  the  fall],  and  another 
the  help  by  which  a  thing  is  done  "  ("  De 
Corrept.  et  Gratia,"  cap.  xi.  xii.).  But, 
clearly,  Scotus  is  far  further  removed 
from  St.  Augustine.  Kindred  to  his 
teaching  on  the  freedom  of  the  will  is  the 
tenet  of  Scotus  that  "man  without  grace 
may  avoid  all  mortal  sin"  against  the 
natural  law.  Again,  whereas  St.  Thomas 
places  final  beatitude  in  the  intellect 
which  knows  God,  Scotus  attributes  it  to 


SCOTISM 


761 


the  will  which  loves  God.^  (4)  Scotus, 
against  St.  Thomas,  denies  that  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul  can  be  proved  by  reason ; 
and  he  separates,  by  a  much  sharper  line 
than  St.  Thomas,  natural  from  super- 
natural theology.  (6)  Scotus  held  it 
"more  probable"  that  the  Blessed  Virgin 
never  contracted  original  sin,  and  he 
prove(f  this  belief  consistent  with  the 
fact  that  she  was  redeemed  by  Christ. 
(6)  He  taught  that  the  Word  would 
have  become  man,  even  had  there  been 
no  fall ;  that  the  merits  of  Christ  were 
not  infinite  in  themselves  and  from  the 
union  of  his  human  nature  with  the 
Word,  but  only  from  the  acceptation  of 
them  as  infinite  on  the  part  of  God. 
Consequently,  he  denied  the  infinite  value 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  (7)  With 
respect  to  the  Sacraments,  his  treatment 
of  the  mystery  of  the  Eucharist  differs 
on  a  multitude  of  subtle  points  from  that 
of  St.  Thomas  (Werner,  p.  283  seq.).  It 
is  more  interesting  to  observe  that  he  re- 
jected the  Thomist  doctrine  of  physical, 
and  admitted  only  a  moral,  efficacy  in  the 
Sacraments.  [For  an  explanation  of  this, 
see  Sacraments  ;  and  for  the  Scotist  doc- 
trine on  the  matter  and  form  of  Penance, 
see  the  article.]  (8)  On  moral  points, 
two  doctrines  of  Scotus  may  be  noted 
here.  St.  Thomas  denied  that  any  de- 
liberate action,  however  indifferent  in 
itself,  could  be  really  indifferent  at  the 
time  it  was  done.  Either  the  action  was 
referred  to  a  good  end  and  so  morally 
good,  or  not  so  referred  and  therefore 
evil.  Scotists  rejected  this  reasoning, 
and  held  that  the  end,  and  therefore  the 
action,  might  be  indifferent.  The  other 
point  is  connected  with  the  principles  of 
toleration.  Scotus,  against  St.  Thomas, 
held  it  lawful  to  take  away  the  children 
of  Jews  by  force,  baptise,  and  educate 
them  as  Christians. 

The  Scotist  philosophy  and  theology 
are  now,  we  believe,  abandoned,  or  all 
but  abandoned,  in  his  own  order.  But 
many  of  his  opinions  have  been  adopted 
— e.ff.  by  the  eclecticism  of  some  Jesuit 
theologians  (e.g.  on  the  moral  efficacy  of 
the  sacraments ;  on  grace,  to  a  certain 
extent) — and  have  exercised  an  enduring 
influence.  His  opinion  on  the  Immaculate 
Conception  finally  prevailed,  and  his 
theory  on  the  Incarnation  has  recom- 
mended itself,  as  a  philosophical  view  of 
that  mystery,  even  to  writers  of  name 

^  **  The  fundamental  position  of  Scotus  in 
psycliology  and  ethics  was  this :  Voluntas  est 
superior  intellectu^'  (Ueberweg,  loc.  cit.  p.  456). 


762       SCOTTISH  CATHOLICS 


SCOTTISH  CATHOLICS 


outside  the  Church.  His  differences  from 
St.  Thomas  served  the  useful  pui'pose  of 
maintaining  intellectual  life  aiM  prevent- 
ing a  servile  adherence  to  that  great 
author.^ 

(This  article  is  drawn  chiefly  from 
Werner,  "  Johannes  Duns  Scotus,"  Wien, 
1881.  It  forms  the  first  volume  of  his 
"  Scholastik  des  spateren  Mittelalt^rs.") 

SCOTTISH  CATHOX.ZCS.  The 
Gospel  was  originally  announced  in 
Scotland  by  threa  principal  teachers,  St. 
Ninian,  St.  Kentigern,  and  St.  Columba. 
The  first,  a  Briton,  who  had  been  care- 
ully  instructed  at  Rome,*^  fixed  his  see 
at  Whithern  in  Galloway,  and  thence 
evangelised  the  Southern  Picts.  His 
death  is  placed  in  432.  St.  Kentigern  or 
Mungo,  a  Strath-Clyde  Briton,  became 
the  first  bishop  of  Glasgow,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  long  episcopate  planted  the 
faith  firmly  in  Strath-Clyde,  and  helped 
to  root  out  paganism,  dying  about  603. 
St.  Columba  (Colmcille),  an  Irish  monk, 
founded  lona  (563),  and  planted  Chris- 
tianity among  the  northern  Picts — i.e. 
in  the  Hebrides,  and  in  the  Northern 
and  Western  Highlands.  For  more  than 
a  thousand  years  only  one  religion  was 
known  in  Scotland,  that  taught  by  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  the  immense  good 
done  by  it  is  acknowledged  even  by 
enemies.  A  Protestant  historian  ^  draws 
a  glowing  picture  of  the  state  of  the 
country  before  the  Reformation,  covered 
over  as  it  was  by  a  network  of  well- 
planned  institutions,  and  adorned  with 
magnificent  ecclesiastical  and  monastic 
buildings,  where  learning  was  prized  and 
art  encouraged — where  the  hungry  were 
fed  and  the  miserable  consoled.  One 
special  service  which  the  land  owed  to  its 
clergy  was  the  removal  or  mitigation  of 
slavery.  "The  priesthood  set  the  first 
example  of  mitigating  domestic  slavery — 
that  curse   and   disgrace  of  the  middle 

^  The  "Sacred  Congregation,  by  order  of 
Pau.  v.,  declared  the  doctrine  of  Scotus  free 
from  censure,  and  forbade  anyone  to  presume  to 
prohibit  the  printing  of  an}'  book  known  as 
kis  (Viva,  Disp.  59,  6,  n.  5  ;  Franz  elin,  De  Deo 
Trinn  et  Uno,  thesis  40).  Scotus,  as  U  eberweg 
points  out,  was  a  critical  rather  than  a  creative 
genius.  His  early  mathematical  training  made 
him  impatient  of  demonstration  which  was  not 
rigorous  ;  and,  accepting  the  Church's  doctrine, 
he  dismisses  many  Thomist  arguments  in  its 
favour.  Just  in  the  same  way,  Kant  accepted 
the  convictions  of  the  moral  sense  and  of  the 
"religious  consciousness,"  while  he  rejected  the 
proofs  which  Leibnitz  thought  valid. 

3  Beda,  Hist.  Eccl.  iii.  4. 

5  'Rxx^%t\\,  History  of  the  Church  in  ScotlancL 
1834. 


ages — ^having  emancipated  all  the  bond- 
men belonging  to  their  estates,  before  the 
lay  proprietors  could  be  taught  either  the 
advantage  or  the  obligation"  ^  of  doing  so. 
In  the  art.  Pkesbtterians  the  re- 
ligious revolution  of  1560  was  described. 
The  perferviduin  ingeniwn  of  the  Scotch 
was  not  content  with  the  establishment  of 
the  Knoxian  system,  unless  the  old  faith 
was  proscribed  at  the  same  time.  Ty  tier  ^ 
describes  the  anti-Catholic  legislation  of 
1560  as  consisting  mainly  of  three  acts. 
"  The  first  abolished  the  Papal  supremacy 
in  the  realm ;  the  second  repealed  all  pre- 
vious acts  in  favour  of  Popery ;  the  third 
enacted  that  any  person  hearing  or  saying 
Mass  should  suffer  for  the  first  ofience 
confiscation  of  his  property,  for  the  second, 
banishment,  and  for  the  third,  death." 
Surprise  has  often  been  expressed  at  the 
feebleness  of  the  resistance  offered.  But 
we  may  assume  that  the  bishops  knew 
their  countrymen,  and  felt  that  resistance 
would  no  longer  avail.  The  pride  and 
overweening  self-confidence  of  the  Scottish 
character  had  become  irrevocably  engaged 
on  the  wrong  side :  and  the  great  majority 
of  the  active  spirits  were  favourable  to 
change.  For  men  so  obstinate,  so  self- 
satisfied,  so  intensely  and  enthusiastically 
bent  on  having  their  own  way,  after  they 
had  once  turned  out  of  the  path  of  Catho- 
lic obedience,  it  was  impossible,  humanly 
speaking,  to  return  to  it.  Error  must 
take  its  course ;  the  Scottish  people  must 
test  to  the  very  utmost  the  system  which 
it  had  preferred  to  the  Catholic  faith  ;  and 
not  till  the  proud  edifice  of  Presbytery 
had  been  shivered  to  pieces,  and  ^its  am- 
bitious discipline  become  a  laughing-stock, 
would  the  possibility  of  a  Catholic  re- 
action arise.* 

1  Russell,  History  of  the  Church  in  Scotlandy 
i.  277. 

3  Quoted  in  Dublin  Review,  vol.  xxvii.  p. 
431 ;  see  also  Robertson's  Hist,  of  Scotl.  book 
iii. 

3  Mr.  Hill  Burton  (.Hist,  of  Scotl.  v.  204) 
says  that  Scottish  Presbyterians  at  the  present 
day  are  split  up  into  a  number  of  sects,  all 
tracing  their  descent  from  the  Kirk  of  1580, 
"of  which  every  Presbyterian  communion  in 
Scotland'' — and  there  are  some  that  "count 
their  adherents  by  hundreds" — "professes  to 
be  the  representative,  and  the  only  legitimate 
repre3«ntative,  all  others  who  profess  that  title 
being  impostors."  Some  of  these  sects  are — 
besides  the  Established  Church  and  the  Free 
Church — the  United  Presbyterians,  the  Free 
Presbyterian  Church,  the  United  Original 
Secession  Church,  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland,  the  "John  Knox"  Church 
of  Scotland,  &c.  (See  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow 
Directories.) 


SCOTTISH  CATHOLICS 

The  head  of  the  Scottish  hierarchy, 
Archbishop  Hamilton,  of  St.  Andrew's, 
was  executed  by  order  of  the  Regent 
Lenuox  in  1571.  The  last  survivor  of 
the  bishops  dispossessed  in  1560  was 
James  Betoun,  archbishop  of  Glasgow; 
he  died  at  Paris,  in  his  eighty- sixth  year, 
in  1603.  Till  1623  the  Scottish  clergy 
were  subjected  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
archpriests  of  England,  and  afterwards  to 
that  of  local  prefects  of  the  Mission. 
From  1653  to  1694  Church  affairs  were 
administered  by  three  prefects-apostolic, 
W.Bannatyne,  A.Dunbar,  and  J.  Walker. 
The  first  vicar-apostolic  was  Thomas 
Nicholson,  who  was  consecrated  in  1695, 
and  arrived  in  Scotland  in  1697,  finding 
only  twenty-five  priests  in  the  whole 
country. 

The  names  of  twelve  or  thirteen 
Scottish  noblemen  are  recorded  in  1583, 
and  again  in  1592,  as  belonging  to  the 
Catholic  party;  the  chief  of  these  was 
the  Earl  of  Huutly.  The  contemptible 
character  of  James  VI.  suggested  various 
plots  and  enterprises  to  turbulent  men  of 
all  parties  during  the  twenty  years  pre- 
ceding his  succession  to  the  English  crown. 
In  these  affairs  the  Catholic  party  was 
mixed  up,  but  with  no  permanent  result. 
About  1 590,  the  state  of  things  was  this : 
All  the  northern  part  of  Scotland,  in- 
cluding the  counties  of  Inverness,  Caith- 
ness, Sutherland,  and  Aberdeen,  with 
Forfarshire  on  the  east,  and  Wigtonshire 
and  Nithsdale  in  the  south,  were  for  the 
most  part  in  the  interests  of  the  Catholic 
party,  and  led  by  noblemen  professing  that 
faith, ^  Negotiations  were  opened  between 
Huntly,  Errol],  Angus,  and  others  on  the 
one  side,  and  Philip  TI.  on  the  other; 
Jesuit  missionaries  were  the  interme- 
diaries; even  after  the  failure  of  the 
Armada  it  was  hoped  that  a  Spanish 
army  of  30,000  men  might  be  landed  on 
the  south-west  coast  of  Scotland,  and, 
covered  by  a  force  of  cavalry  to  be  raised 
by  the  Scotch  Catholic  lords,  march  south 
into  England  to  put  down  the  government 
of  Elizabeth.^  This  was  known  as  the 
affair  of  the  "blanks,"  because  Huntly, 
Erroll,  &c.,  put  their  names  to  blank  sheets 
of  paper,  on  the  understanding  that  above 
their  signatures  the  particulars  of  the 
enterprise  should  be  inserted,  according 

1  Statement  of  Burghlev  given  by  Tytler 
in  his  History  ;  quoted  in  the  Month  for  January 
1878. 

2  "A  Discoverie  of  the  unnatural  and 
traiterous  Conspiracie  of  Scottish  Papists," 
black  letter,  Lond.  1593. 


SCOTTISH  CATHOLICS      763 

to  what  might  be  agreed  upon  between 
the  King  of  Spain  and  Fr.  W.  Creighton, 
the  Jesuit  rector  of  Louvain. 

The  General  Assembly  never  ceased  to 
press  upon  the  Government  the  execution 
of  the  penal  ^aws  against  Catholics. 
Ordinary  intolerance  might  be  passed 
over,  but  one  of  their  proposals,  made  to 
James  I.  in  1608,  calls  for  some  remark. 
It  was  "  that  the  sons  of  noblemen  pro- 
fessing Popery  should  be  committed  to 
the  custody  cf  [such  of]  their  friends  as 
are  sound  in  religion."  ^  The  penal  legisla- 
tion of  England  and  Ireland,  bad  as  it 
was,  never  so  absolutely  ignored  parental 
authority  as  it  was  proposed  to  do  on 
this  occasion.^  Among  the  many  forma 
of  oppression  which  Catholics  had  to 
bear,  not  the  least  intolerable  was  that 
which  was  described  as  "  planting  wise 
pastors."  A  Catholic  family  was  com- 
pelled to  give  hospitality  to  a  minister, 
who  of  course  constituted  himself  a  spy 
on  all  their  movements,  and  was  em- 
powered to  "  catechize  their  families  twice 
a  day."  (Chambers,  "  Domestic  Annals 
of  Scotland,"  i.  351.) 

About  1612  the  Jesuits  and  other 
missionaries  were  very  active ;  many 
conversions  were  made  and  apostasies 
repaired.  The  Government  and  the  Pro- 
testant clergy,  both  Episcopalian  and 
Presbyterian,  were  somewhat  disturbed. 
Two  Jesuit  missi6ners,  Fathers  Mo  fiat 
and  Ogilvie,  were  arrested :  the  former, 
after  a  termof  imprisonment,  was  banished ; 
the  latter,  being  plied  with  entangling 
.questions  on  the  Pope's  deposing  power 
by  the  King's  order,  and  not  answering 
satisfactorily,  was  condemned  to  be 
hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered  (1615) ; 
and  the  sentence  was  carried  out.  How- 
ever, it  is  only  just  to  the  General 
Assembly  to  say  that  they  appear  to  have 
been  averse  to  shedding  blood  ;  especially 
after  experience  had  proved  that  modes 
of  persecution  which  just  stopped  short 
of  killing  were  more  effectual  than  death 
itself.  Banishment  from  Scotland,  with 
threat  of  death  or  perpetual  imprisonment 
in  case  of  return,  was  the  usual  penalty 
both  for  priests  and  laymen.  Being  joined 
to  a  greater  or  less  confiscation  of  pro- 
perty, and  rigorously  carried  out  year 
after    year,    this  policy    of    banishment 

1  The  Month,  vol.  xiii.  p.  90. 

2  In  Ireland  the  sons  of  Catholic  landowners 
were  tasen  from  the  mother's  control  when  the 
father  had  died  leaving  them  under  age,  but 
not  otherwise.  (See  Lecky's  Hi;t.  of  the 
XVIlIth  Century.) 


8c 


764      SCOTTISH  CATHOLICS 

broug-ht  the  Catholic  party  to  a  state 
of  extreme  weakness  and  distress.  In 
1641  Father  Mambrecht  was  the  only- 
priest  left  in  all  the  South  of  Scotland ; 
whereas  in  England,  for  years  before  that 
date,  the  penal  laws  liad  been  slackly 
executed,  and  Catholics  were  going 
openly  to  Mass  in  London  down  to  the 
meeting  of  the  Long  Parliament.  The 
same  unrelenting  bigotry  pursued  and 
hunted  down  every  symptom  of  the 
revival  of  Catholic  worehip  till  far  down 
in  the  eighteenth  century.  As  if  all 
truth  had  come  into  the  world  with  John 
Knox,  and  existed  not  outside  of  their 
own  sect,  the  ministers  rejected  with 
indignation  the  "  toleration  "  and  "  liberty 
of  conscience  "  preached  by  the  Indepen- 
dents, and  reminded  the  lukewarm  Enghsh 
th?it  their  Parliament  had  joined  in  the 
same  covenant  with  the  Scots  for  the  re- 
form of  religion,  "  with  the  extirpation  of 
Popery,  Prelacie,  and  all  belonging  to  that 
hierarchic."  ^  In  1685  James  II.  vainly 
besouglit  the  Scottish  estates  to  relax  the 
penal  laws  against  the  Catholics.  He 
then  suspended  these  laws  by  an  exercise 
of  the  prerogative,  brought  over  several 
Jesuits  to  Edinburgh,  and  ordered  the 
chapel  of  Holyrood  to  be  fitted  up  for 
the  celebration  of  Mass.  This  transient 
gleam  was  soon  extinguished  by  the 
Revolution.  Under  Anne  the  magistrates 
must  in  some  places  have  been  tolerant ; 
for  we  find  the  General  Assembly  in  1713 
complaining  that  the  Catholics  had  set  up 
"  openly  in  divers  places  their  idolatrous 
worship,  notwithstanding  the  penal  laws 
which  stand  in  force  against  them."^ 
With  no  little  effrontery,  considering  that 
they  and  their  predecessors  had  allowed 
no  Catholic  to  live  in  peace  in  Scotland 
for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  past,  the 
ministers  attribute  to  their  victims  ^'  the 
hellish  design  of  extirpating  the  Protest- 
ant religion,  under  the  name  of  the 
Northern  heresie."  The  son  and  grand- 
son of  James  IL,  in  the  risings  of  1715 
and  1745,  found  great  support  in  the 
more  ardent  loyalty  of  those  Highland 
clans  which  had  retained  the  ancient 
faith.  The  failure  of  the  attempt  of  1745 
was  disastrous  to  Catholic  interests  in 
Scotland.  At  that  time,  says  Archbishop 
Strain,'  "  not  only  individuals,  but  many 

1  Scots'  Declaration  against  the  Tpleration 

of  Sects,  1648. 

2  A  Seasonable  Warning,  &c.,  issued  by  the 
Gen.  Assembl}',  1713. 

3  In  the  Memoir  prefixed  to  the  Works  of 
Bishop  Hay,  1872-3. 


SCOTTISH  CATHOLICS 

entire  families  fell  away  from  their  re- 
ligion." Deep  inroads  were  made  in  the 
Catholicity  of  the  North  through  the  faU 
of  many  heads  of  clans  and  great  land- 
holders, whose  example  was  usually  imi- 
tated in  good  faith  by  their  simple 
followers.  "The  territory  inhabited  by 
the  western  Celts  was  portioned  oti",  like  a 
chess-board,"  ^  into  Catholic  and  Calvinist 
districts.  In  the  South -the  resolution  of 
those  holding  authority  to  repress  any 
Catholic  manifestation  was  so  well  known 
that  the  attempt  was  seldom  made. 
There  were  but  seven  Jesuits  in  all  Scot- 
land when  the  order  was  suppressed. 
Aberdeenshire  was  perhaps  the  county  in 
which  religion  was  least  persecuted ;  the 
noble  house  of  Gordon  (Earls  of  Huntly) 
always  "  gave  ready  shelter  to  priests  " ; 
and  we  read  of  "an  inaccessible  college 
of  priests  living  like  a  band  of  robbers  ip 
the  wilds  of  Glenlivet."^  A  storm  of 
reviling  swept  over  Scotland  when  it  was 
announced  (1778)  that  the  Government, 
which  the  turn  that  events  had  taken  in 
America  had  seriously  alarmed,  was  bring- 
ing in  a  bill  to  relax  the  penal  laws.  A 
multitude  of  addresses,  protests,  declara- 
tions, and  overtures,  from  every  kirk-ses- 
sion, presbytery,  and  synod  in  the  kingdom, 
poured  in  upon  the  Parliament  at  West- 
minster, in  order  to  arrest  them  in  their 
wild  career.  These  were  collected  in  a 
neat  volume  of  350  pages  ;  '  in  the  intro- 
duction to  which  the  existence  of  an 
"  insidious  design  "  to  tolerate  Jesuits  and 
seminary  priests  was  deplored,  and  the 
legal  safeguards  were  declared  insecure 
which  forbade  "  the  very  dangerous  privi- 
lege of  Papists'  enjoying  herita,ble  pro- 
perty." In  1731  the  Vicariate  which  had 
been  established  in  1694  was  divided  into 
two  districts,  the  Lowland  and  Highland. 
A  Papal  rescript  of  1827  erected  three 
Vicariates — the  Eastern,  the  Western,  and 
the  Northern.  "This  last  arrangement 
remained  in  force  till  the  re-establishment 
of  the  hierarchy  by  the  Apostolic  letter 
'  Ex  supremo,'  March  4, 1878."  ("  Cath. 
Dir.  for  Scot.") 

In  the  article  on  English  Catholics 
it  was  mentioned  that  the  shock  of  the 
rioting  and  destruction  at  London  in  1780 
was  more  than  the  aged  frame  of  Challoner 
could  bear.  Bishop  Hay,  vicar-apostolic 
for  Scotland,  had  a  rather  narrow  escape 
at  the  same  time.    He  had  lately  com- 

»  Burton,  viii.  429. 
»  lb. 

5  Scotland's  Opposition  to  the  Popish  BilL 
1780. 


SCOTTISH  CATHOLICS 

pleted  a  chapel  and  house,  from  the 
exterior  of  which,  however,  every  mark 
of  their  ecclesiastical  use  was  carefully 
banished,  in  Chalmers'  Close,  High  Street, 
Edinburgh.  In  the  February  of  1779  the 
excitement  against  the  Catholic  Relief 
Bill  was  at  its  height.  Returning  from 
a  journey  the  bishop  found  the  High 
Street  occupied  by  an  enormous  crowd. 
He  asked  a  woman  what  it  meant;  she 
replied,  "  Oh,  sir,  we  are  burning  the 
Popish  chapel,  and  we  only  wish  we  had 
the  bishop  to  throw  him  into  the  fire."  ^ 
The  bishop  after  a  time  succeeded  in 
obtaining  some  compensation  for  the  pro- 
perty burnt  and  destroyed  ;  but  he  did 
not  venture  to  rebuild  the  chapel ;  that 
was  only  done  by  Bishop  Cameron,  three 
years  after  Dr.  Hay's  death,  in  1814. 

During  the  last  half  century  the 
Catholic  population  of  Scotland  has  been 
largely  augmented  by  an  Irish  immigra- 
tion, consequent  on  the  demand  for  labour 
arising  at  great  industrial  centres  like 
Glasgow  and  Paisley.  In  1878  the  Holy 
See  judged  in  its  wisdom  that  the  time 
had  arrived  for  restoring  to  Scotland  some 
of  those  ancient  sees  which  had  been 
vacant  for  nearly  three  hundred  years. 
The  mitre  of  St.  Andrew's  was  now  con- 
ferred on  Bishop  Strain,  of  the  Eastern 
district,  with  the  title  of  "Archbishop  of 
St.  Andrew's  and  Edinburgh,"  The  arch- 
diocese of  Glasgow,  which  formerly  had 
four  suffragan  sees,  was  committed  to  Mgr. 
Eyre,translated  from  the  Western  district. 
The  sees  of  Aberdeen,  Dunkeld,  Galloway, 
and  Argyll,  which  had  all  been  vacant 
since  the  Reformation,  were  resuscitated 
at  the  same  time,  and  made  suffragan  to 
St.  Andrew's.  Bishop  J.  Macdonald  was 
translated  to  Aberdeen  from  the  Northern 
district;  to  Argyll  the  old  see  of  "The 
Isles "  was  annexed.  The  number  of 
priests,  secular  and  regular,  having  cure 
of  souls  in  Scotland  rather  exceeds  three 
hundred.  The  Catholic  population  appears 
to  number  about  320,000  souls.** 

SCRUTZKrir  (scrutinium).  An  ex- 
amination of  those  who  were  about  to 
receive  baptism  as  to  their  faith  and 
dispositions.  They  were  taught  the  Creed 
and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  exorcised,  &c., 
during  those  scrutinies.  The  days  ap- 
pointed for  the  different  scrutinies  varied 
in  different  places.  At  Rome  the  Creed 
was  given  to  the  catechumens  on  the 
Wednesday  of  the  fourth  week  in  Lent 
(ti'ciditio  sijmholi),  and  they  made  profes- 

1  Archbishop  Strain's  Memoir. 

2  Cath.  Directory  for  Scotland,  1883. 

3c 


SEAL  OF  CONFESSION     755 

sion  of  faith  {redditio  spnboli)  on  Holy 
Saturday.  In  the  Roman  Church,  under 
Pope  Siricius,  there  were  apparently 
three  scrutinies  only;  at  a  later  date, 
seven;  then,  when  baptism  was  seldom 
given  except  to  infants,  the  number  fell 
again  to  three,  and  from  the  beginning  of 
the  twelfth  century — as  infants  were  bap- 
tised soon  after  birth,  even  if  there  was  no 
apprehension  of  death,  and  not,  as  formerly, 
at  Easter  and  Pentecost — the  ceremonies 
of  the  scrutiny  were  joined,  as  in  our 
present  Ritual,  to  the  actual  baptism. 
The  Gelasian  Sacramentary  contains  four 
Masses  "proscrutiniiselectorum."  (Char- 
don,  "  Hist,  des  Sacr."  torn.  i. ;  "  Bap- 
teme,"  P.  I.  ch.  vii.  viii.) 

SEAX,  or  AZ.TAR.  [See  Altar.] 
SEAZ.  OF  coia-FESSiozr.  The 
obligation  of  keeping  absolutely  secret 
knowledge  gained  through  sacramental 
confession.  It  rests  on  the  natural  law 
which  binds  us  to  keep  secrets  communi- 
cated in  confidence,  and  on  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal law,  which,  as  we  shall  see,  forbids, 
under  most  severe  penalties,  any  revelation 
of  sins  confessed  sacramentally.  But  it 
also  arises  fi'om  the  positive  divine  law, 
and,  as  Suarez  points  out,  the  obligation 
of  the  seal  is  probably  connatural,  and 
belongs  to  the  very  essence  of  the  sacra- 
ment of  Penance.  In  other  words,  Christ 
did  not  impose  the  obligation  of  confess- 
ing mortal  sins  committed  after  baptism 
and  then  add  a  protective  law  binding 
the  priest  to  secrecy,  but  the  obligation  of 
the  seal  follows  necessarily  from  the 
nature  of  confession  as  instituted  by  Him ; 
otherwise.  Penance,  which  is  the  ministry 
of  mercy  and  reconciliation,  would  become 
a  burden  intolerable  to  mankind.  W^hat 
the  priest  hears  in  sacramental  confession, 
he  hears  not  as  a  mere  man,  but  as  one 
who  stands  in  God's  place.  He  must  not 
by  word,  or  look,  or  change  of  conduct 
remind  the  penitent  himself  of  anything 
he  has  heard,  much  less  convey  such 
knowledge  to  others.  To  do  so  is  sacri- 
lege, excusable  by  no  advantage  to  him- 
self, to  the  public,  or  even  to  the  penitent. 
The  law  admits  of  no  exception,  except 
where  the  penitent  freely  gives  the  con- 
fessor leave  to  use  his  knowledge.  Not 
only  sins  however  slight,  but  moral  or 
natural  weaknesses,  sins  of  accomplices 
all  that  may  bring  the  penitent  into 
trouble,  or  contempt,  or  suspicion  of  any 
sort,  fall,  if  known  through  confession, 
under  the  sacramental  seal.  A  priest 
might  break  the  seal,  in  certain  circum- 
stances, merely  by  admitting  that  a  per- 


756     SEAL  OF  CONFESSION 

son  lias  confessed  to  him ;  or,  again,  even 
if  there  be  no  danger  of  saspicion  fixing 
itself  on  any  individual,  by  revelations 
which  might  bring  bad  repute  or  suspicion 
on  a  community  or  a  certain  number  of 
men. 

The  first  express  mention  of  the  seal 
of  confession,  so  far  as  we  know,  occurs 
in  Canon  20  of  the  Armenian  Synod  at 
Dovin,  in  527.  It  anathematises  any 
priest  who  breaks  the  seal  (Hefele,  "  Con- 
cil."  vol.  ii.  p.  718).  In  the  West,  there 
is  no  mention  of  penalties  for  breaking 
the  seal  tUl  very  late ;  probably  because 
such  a  sacrilege  was  scarcely  thought 
possible.  There  is  a  decree  attributed  to 
a  Pope  Gregory  (as  Morinus  conjectures, 
Gregory  VII.),  and  quoted  by  the  Master 
of  the  Sentences  and  Gratian  (Can. 
♦•  Sacerdos,"  2,  causa  33,  qu.  3,  dist.  6), 
which  sentences  a  confessor  guilty  of  this 
crime  to  deposition  and  to  perpetual  and 
ignominious  pilgrimage.  The  Fourth 
Lateran  Council  (^' Extra,  de  Poenit.  et 
Remiss. ; "  Const.  "  Omnis  utriusque 
sexus  ")  condemns  such  a  priest  to  depo- 
sition and  perpetual  imprisonment  in  a 
monastery.  The  sanctity  of  the  seal  is 
further  recognised  by  aU  the  Oriental 
sects  (Denzmger, ''  Rit.  Orient."  vol.  i.  p. 
101),  and  their  canon  law  threatens  with 
the  most  severe  punishments  those  who 
break  it.  True,  a  law  of  Peter  the  Great 
requires  Russian  confessors  to  reveal  the 
confessions  of  .those  who  are  guilty  of 
treason  or  of  palming  ofi"  fictitious  mira- 
cles, unless  they  desist ;  but  such  a  law 
only  proves  how  completely  the  Russian 
church  has  become  the  slave  of  the 
State. 

In  one  respect,  modern  are  stricter 
than  mediaeval  theologians  with  respect 
to  the  seal.  St.  Thomas  ("  Suppl."  xi.  1, 
ad  3)  says  an  abbot  who  knows  from  the 
confession  of  his  prior  that  the  office  is 
an  occasion  of  ruin  to  him  may,  on  some 
excuse,  relieve  him  of  his  office,  if  he 
will  not  resign  it  willingly,  provided 
always  there  is  no  danger  of  the  confes- 
sion being  revealed.  According  to  St. 
Liguori  ("  Theol.  Moral."  lib.  vi.  n.  656), 
this  is  the  doctrine  of  St.  Bonaventure 
and  Alexander  of  Hales,  but  he  adds 
that  it  can  on  no  account  be  put  in  prac- 
tice, and  this  seems  to  be  certain  from  the 
eleventh  of  the  Propositions  condemned 
in  1682  by  Innocent  XI. 

SECRET.  Either  secreta,  neut  pi. 
"  secret  things, '  or  secreta  oratio,  a  prayer 
or  prayers  said  by  the  celebrant  in  a  low 
voice,  which  cannot  be  heard  except  by 


SECRET 

himself,  after  the  Offertory  and  before  the 
Preface.  Hence,  in  some  old  Missals  it 
is  entitled  "  Super  oblata." 

The  Reformers  objected  to  the  practice 
of  saying  the  Secrets  and  nearly  all  the 
Canon  inaudibly,  and  great  disputes  on 
the  matter  arose  in  the  French  church  at 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
About  1709,  when  the  Missal  was  re^ised 
for  the  diocese  of  Meaux  at  the  order  of 
Bishop  Bissy  (five  years  later,  Cardinal), 
the  new  edition  appeared  with  an 
"  Amen,"  preceded  by  an  B-  in  red  at  the 
end  of  the  different  prayers  in  the  Canon  ; 
and  the  Rubric  requiring  the  prayers  to 
be  said  "  in  a  low  voice  "  {suhnissa  voce) 
was  explained  by  the  additional  clause — 
"i.e.  without  singing"  {i.e.  sine  cnntu). 
The  chapter  (Jan.  29,  1710)  and  the 
bishop  (in  a  mandement  two  or  three 
days  later)  repudiated  all  complicity  in 
the  change,  and  the  copies  of  the  Missal 
were  again  corrected  by  episcopal  au- 
thority. But  the  innovation  of  saying 
the  Secrets  and  Canon  aloud,  which  had 
been  previously  condemned  by  Savary, 
bishop  of  Seez,  in  a  mandement  of  1698, 
was  eagerly  defended  and  adopted  by  a 
number  of  priests  secular  and  regular, 
and  this  number  was  constantly  increasing 
in  Le  Brun's  time.  This  great  scholar 
has  written  an  elaborate  treatise  on  the 
subject,  which  forms  the  eighth  volume 
of  his  "  Explication  de  la  Messe."  The 
following  are  the  chief  points  which  he 
establishes. 

(1)  The  Meaning  of  the  word  "  Se- 
creta^ — Bossuet  ("  Explic.  des  'Prieres  de 
la  Messe,"  n.  2)  suggested  that  the  word 
came  from  secretio,  as  niissa  from  missio, 
&c.,  either  because  said  over  the  obla- 
tions, which  were  then  separated  from 
the  rest  of  the  bread  offered,  or  because 
said  after  the  separation  of  the  catechu- 
mens from  the  faithful.  This  derivation, 
adopted  as  certain  by  Vert,  is  proved 
false  by  Le  Brun.  Neither  seci-etio  nor 
secernere  is  used  for  the  dismissal  of  cate- 
chumens. Besides,  the  adjective  sense  of 
secreta — i.e.  "secret" — is  fixed  by  the 
ancient  Sacramentary  of  Bob  bio  and  the 
Ordo  Roman  us,  which  have  "  collectio 
secreta,"  "  dicta  oratione  secreta,"  and  by 
the  old  liturgical  writers — e.g.  Amalarius, 
who  says :  "  Secreta  nominatur  quia  se- 
crete dicitur." 

(2)  The  present  Discipline  of  the 
Church  makes  it  unlawful  for  any  cele- 
brant (except  bishops  in  the  Mass  of  Or- 
dination) to  say  the  Secrets  or  Canon 
audibly.      The  Council  of    Trent  (sess. 


SECRET 

xxii.  Be  Sacr.  Miss.)  approves  the  custom 
of  saying  some  parts  of  the  Mass  in  a 
*'  more  elevated,"  others  in  a  low,  voice, 
and  (canon  9)  anathematises  those  who 
assert  that  such  a  custom  is  "  to  he  con- 
demned." The  French  innovators  ex- 
plained away  these  words,  as  we  have 
already  seen.  But  hoth  Sarpi  and  Palla- 
vicino  understand  the  Council  to  mean 
secret  prayer,  inaudible  to  others ;  so  did 
St.  Charles ;  so  do  the  most  celebrated 
commentators  on  the  Rubrics,  Gavantus 
and  Quarti.  Lastly,  there  is  an  authori- 
tative interpretation  of  the  words  suh- 
missa  voce  in  the  Roman  Missal  prescribed 
by  Pius  V.  The  priest  is  to  say  the 
secret  prayers  so  low  as  not  to  be  heard 
by  those  around  (Rub.  Gen.  a.  16). 
This  settles  the  question  of  practice. 
Ecclesiastics  are  free  to  think  as  they 
please  on  the  historical  question  about  the 
date  at  which  the  usage  began ;  but  they 
must  ke^p  the  law  as  it  stands. 

(3)  The  Antiquity  of  the  Usage. — 
Cardinal  Bona  believed  that  the  Secrets 
and  Canon  were  said  audibly  till  the  tenth 
century.  His  reason  was  that  the  faithful 
used  to  answer  "  Amen"  after  the  words 
of  Consecration,  and  that  Florus,  who 
lived  in  the  ninth  century,  is  the  last 
writer  who  mentions  this  response.  That 
the  people  did  answer  ^'  Amen  "  after  the 
Consecration  is  an  unquestionable  fact ; 
but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  they 
did,  and  many  weighty  reasons  for  think- 
ing that  they  did  not,  do  so  immediately 
after  the  words  of  consecration  were 
uttered.  Neither  in  the  old  Galilean 
Missal  edited  by  Thomasius,  nor  in  the 
first  Ordo  Romanus,  nor  in  any  of  the 
Missals  older  than  the  twelfth  century 
examined  by  Le  Brun,  is  any  '^  Amen " 
marked  till  after  the  "  Per  omnia  ssecula 
saeculorum"  which  ends  the  Canon  and 
precedes  the  Pater  Noster.  All  the 
Oriental  liturgies  distinguish  the  prayers 
to  be  said  aloud  from  those  which  are 
uttered  in  an  under-tone.  True,  the 
modem  Greeks  say  the  words  of  conse- 
cration in  a  loud  voice,  but  this  custom 
was  introduced  by  a  constitution  of 
Justinian  (Novella  132,  cap.  6,  quoted 
by  Le  Brun),  and  even  now  the  Greeks 
say  the  rest  of  the  Canon  in  an  under- 
tone. Add  to  all  this,  that  the  Canon  of 
the  Mass  was  never  committed  to  writing 
in  the  first  four  centuries ;  that  St.  Cyril 
of  Alexandria  ("  In  Joann."  lib.  xii.  apud 
Le  Brun)  speaks  of  the  doors  of  the 
sanctuary  which  were  closed;  St.  Chiy- 
Bostom  of  the  curtain  drawn  during  the 


SECUL^iRISATION 


767 


Consecration,  and  we  shall  scarcely  doubt 
that  Le  Brun  is  right  in  claiming  imme- 
morial antiquity  for  our  present  use.  We 
may  quote,  in  conclusion,  two  other 
authorities.  Martene,  in  a  letter  to  Le 
Brun  (March  27,  1726),  tells  him  he  has 
treated  the  question  in  a  manner  which 
leaves  no  room  for  reply,  and  he  says 
Mabillon,  who  was  his  master,  always 
held  that  the  Canon  had  never  been  said 
audibly  in  the  Latin  Church.  The  names 
of  Mabillon,  Martene,  and  Le  Brun  are 
probably  the  very  greatest  which  could  be 
adduced  in  such  a  controversy.  Nor  can 
any  valid  objection  be  made  on  general 
grounds  to  the  practice  of  the  Church. 
It  is  fitting  in  every  way  that  the  priest, 
in  these  solemn  moments,  should  speak  in 
the  ears  of  God  alone,  and  that  the 
faithful  should  meditate  in  reverent  silence 
on  that  great  mystery  of  our  redemption 
wnlch  is  represented,  continued,  and  ap- 
plied in  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass. 

SECU]L,A,R  CIiERGT  (seeculum,  the 
world).  From  St.  Cyprian  downwards, 
the  terms  s(sculum,  scecularis,  were  h  abitu- 
ally  used  by  Christian  writers  to  express 
the  world  outside  the  Church,  and  the 
spirit  of  that  world.  In  proportion  as  the 
monastic  institution  grew  and  spread  it- 
self, the  contrast  between  the  cloister  or 
the  cell  and  life  outside  of  these  was 
more  vividly  realised,  and  when  the  pro- 
fession of  Christianity  had  become  general, 
the  contrast  was  no  longer  between 
scsculum  and  ecclesia,  but  between  the 
secular  or  worldly  and  the  monastic  or 
regular  life.  To  the  clergy  of  all  ranks 
and  orders  serving  Christ  in  the  world, 
not  bound  by  vows  or  by  a  rule  of  life, 
the  term  "  secular "  seems  to  have  been 
first  applied  in  the  twelfth  century. 
Honorius  II.  (1125)  permitted  the  monks 
of  Cluny  to  give  their  habit  to  secular 
clerks  who  desired  to  join  them;  laicoSf 
seu  clericos  sceculares  .  .  .  ad  conversionem 
mscijjere}     (Ducange,  Scsculum.) 

SECVIiARXSATIOXO-.  The  extinc- 
tion of  the  title  by  which  property,  whether 
real  or  personal,  is  held  by  the  Church, 
and  the  placing  of  that  property  at  the 
disposal  of  the  secular  power.  It  is 
obvious  that  siicb  extinction  of  title  can- 
not justly  take  effect  except  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  Holy  See,  as  representing  the 
whole  Church.  Historically,  such  consent 
has  seldom  been  asked  or  obtained;  the 
utmost  concession  to  equity  that  civil 
governments  are  accustomed  to  make  in 
such  a  case  is  to  enter  into  a  treaty  with 
i  Thomassin,  ii.  1,  10,  7. 


758 


SEMIARIANS 


SEMINARY 


the  Holy  See  for  regulating  the  compensa- 
tion, generally  a  most  inadequate  one, 
awarded  to  the  clergy,  secular  or  regular, 
whose  property  has  been  secularised. 
This  has  been  done  [Oongordat]  in 
France,  Austria,  and  Catholic  countries 
generally.  In  England,  Ireland,  Sweden, 
Denmark,  and  Holland,  no  compensation 
for  the  expropriation  of  Church  property 
has  ever  been  made. 

The  principal  European  secularisations 
have  taken  place  in  the  following  order : 
Sweden,  15S7  ;  England,  1534-8 ;  Den- 
mark, 1536 ;  North  Germany,  1621-1648 ; 
France,  1790.  In  Germany  the  great 
secularisation  took  place  in  1803,  when  the 
territories  of  the  three  ecclesiastical  Elec- 
tors, the  Prince- Archbishops  of  Cologne, 
Mentz,  and  Treves,  with  those  of  an 
immense  number  of  bishops  and  convents, 
were  apportioned  among  the  German 
sovereigns  as  indemnity  for  the  loss  wmch 
the  Empire  had  sustained  at  the  Peace  of 
Lun^ville,  through  the  cession  of  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rhine  to  France.  Spain, 
1835-6;  Italy,  1851-1882. 

SEMiARZAxrs.  [See  Abiai^s.] 
SEMXDOUBZiE.  [See  Feasts.] 
SunsZN'iiXi.'Y'.  A  school  or  college 
for  the  training  of  young  persons  destined 
for  the  priesthood.  Under  the  headings 
Schools  and  Universities  will  be  found 
Bome  account  of  the  methods  employed  by 
the  Church  to  impart  this  training,  and  to 
adapt  it  to  the  changing  circumstances  of 
European  society,  in  the  primitive  times 
and  during  the  middle  ages.  In  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  the 
univei-sity  system  was  gi*eatly  extended; 
faculties  of  theology  were  everywhere 
erected  in  them ;  and  the  old  monastic  or 
cathedral  schools,  of  the  success  of  which 
Bee,  Fleury,  York,  Rheims,  and  Cologne, 
had  given  brilliant  examples,  fell  into 
decay.  In  the  sixteenth  century  many 
of  the  existing  imiversities,  coming  al- 
together under  Protestant  influences,  were 
lost  to  the  Church ;  and  even  in  the  re- 
mainder a  spirit  of  disaffection  or  doubt 
was  rife,  which  made  them  ill  adapted 
to  nourish  and  protect  that  pure  and 
peaceful  ecclesiastical  temper  in  which  it 
18  80  desirable  that  the  future  servants  of 
the  sanctuary  should  be  reared.  The 
Fathers  of  Trent,  comprehending  in  their 
fuU  bearing  the  difficulties  and  confusions 
of  the  time,  and  providing  with  equal 
piety  and  wisdom  the  suitable  remedies, 
resolved  that,  so  far  as  in  them  lay,  no 
Catholic  diocese  should  in  future  be  with- 
out   regular    and   permanent  means    for 


supplying  itself  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion with  pastors  carefully  trained  to  meet 
its  spiritual  needs.  They  accordingly 
ordered  that  the  metropolitan  of  every 
province,  and  the  bishop  of  every  diocese, 
should  establish  at  some  suitable  place 
(if  there  were  no  institution  of  the  kind 
already  existing)  a  college  or  seminary, 
into  which  a  certain  number  of  boys  of 
not  less  than  twelve  years  of  age,  born  in 
wedlock,  able  to  read  and  write,  and 
giving  some  promise  of  perseverance  in 
the  ser\ice  of  the  Church,  should  be 
admitted.  The  sons  of  poor  parents  were 
to  be  preferred  ;  but  the  rich,  provided 
that  they  paid  their  own  expenses,  were 
not  to  be  excluded.  The  tonsure  was  to 
be  given,  and  the  ecclesiastical  dress  to  be 
worn  from  the  very  first.  All  branches 
of  study — such  as  the  ecclesiastical  chant, 
the  ritual,  the  administration  of  sacra- 
ments, and  especially  what  relates  to  the 
tribunal  of  Penance — which  contribute  to 
form  a  well-instructed  priest,  were  to  be 
taught  to  the  students  :  besides,  of  course, 
Holy  Scripture  and  theology.  The  rule 
aid  disce  aut  discede  was  to  be  strictly 
enforced.  The  management  of  the  semin- 
ary was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the  bishop 
and  two  of  the  senior  canons.  On  the 
important  question  of  "  ways  and  means  " 
the  Council  was  full  and  precise,  ordering 
that  the  prebends  of  canons  and  the 
revenues  of  ecclesiastical  benefices  of 
every  description  should  be  taxed  to  the 
extent  required  for  the  sustentation  of  the 
institution.  Two  poor  dioceses  might 
unite  to  found  one  seminary ;  and  a  rich 
diocese  might  found  more  than  one  within 
its  own  limits. 

The  wish  of  the  Council  was  but 
partially  fulfilled.  In  France  seminaries 
arose  in  every  direction  before  the  Revolu- 
tion ;  the  fame  of  St.  Sulpice,  founded  by 
M.  Olier  about  1650,  became  European; 
but  the  Revolution  swept  away  every- 
thing. The  last  sixty  years  have  witnessed 
the  refounding  of  the  seminaries  in  most 
of  the  dioceses  of  France,  in  the  shape 
both  of  grands  seiyiinaireSj  which  give 
the  final  training,  and  oi  petits  sSminaireSf 
which,  besides  providing  for  the  earlier 
stages  of  the  ecclesiastical  training,  give 
an  excellent  general  education  to  all  boys 
admitted  into  them,  whether  intending 
to  become  priests  or  not.  In  Germany 
various  obstacles  have  all  along  impeded 
the  execution  of  the  Council's  decree. 
The  usual  practice  has  been  for  cleri- 
cal students  to  pass  two  or  three  years  at 
a  university,  and  afterwards  one  year  or 


SEMIPELAQIANISM 

even  less  in  an  episcopal  seminary,  to  ac- 
quire special  professional  knowledge.     Of 
this  mode  of  meeting  the  exigencies  of  the 
problem,  so  different  from  that  appointed 
by  the  Council,  Pius  VII.,  in  a  brief  dated 
August  10, 1819,  expressed  his  disapproba- 
tion.^    Recently,  we  believe,  the  German 
bishops  have  made  great  advances  towards 
the  introduction  of  the  seminary  system. 
In   Ireland,   besides  the  great  seminary 
of  Maynooth,  there  would  appear  ^    to 
be  eight  diocesan  seminaries,  and  at  least 
as  many  diocesan  colleges,  the  ecclesiastical 
students  from  which  go  up  to  Maynooth  to 
receive    their    final  preparation   for  the 
priesthood.     In   England    and    Scotland 
there  appear  to  be  as  yet  only  three  dio- 
cesan seminaries  in  the  strict  sense.     In 
the   U.    S.  many  dioceses    have    their 
own  seminary, 3  though  some  make  use 
of  the  seminaries  established  in  richer 
dioceses,  or  send  their  students  for  the 
priesthood  abroad.     But  there  is  a  de- 
sire in  all  the  dioceses  to  open  their  own 
seminary  when  able  to  bear  the  expense. 
ss»zzPEXiAGZ.airzsM.    A  heresy 
which   arose  from    reaction  against  the 
doctrine  of  St.  Augustine  on  grace  and 
predestination.     The    Semipelagians   did 
not  go  so  far  as  Pelagius,  and  they  held 
their  errors,  so  far  as  can  l3e  known,  with- 
rut   any   intention   of  rejecting  Catholic 
doctrine.      They    were     not    considered 
heretics;  on  the  contrary,  St.  Augustine 
and    St.     Prosper    speak    of    them    as 
''  brethren,"    "  holy  men,"    &c.,    though 
their  doctrine  was  undoubtedly  heretical. 
Contention  arose   among  the   monks   of 
Adrumetum,    occasioned  by   Augustine's 
letter  to  Sixtus,  priest,  afterwards  bishop, 
of  Rome  in  418.     To  these  monks  Augus- 
tine in  426  addressed  two  letters  ("  Ad 
Valentin.  Abbat.  et  Monach.  Adrumet."), 
and  sent  along  with  them  his  little  work 
"  On  Grace  and  Free-will,"  and  afterwards 
another  "De  Correptioneet  Gratia,"  which 
Cardinal  Noris  calls  the  key  to  the  whole 
doctrine  of  the  saint.     But  in  the  follow- 
ing year  St.  Augustine  had  to  write  to 
Vitalis,   "  a  certain  learned  man  in  the 
Carthaginian    church,"    who    held    that 
"right  belief  in  God  and  assent  to  the 
Gospel  was  not  the  gift  of  God  but  of 
ourselves — that   is,  from  our   own  will." 
(August.  "  Ep.  ad  Vital."  ad  init.)     Here 
we  have  Semipelagianism  appearing  in  a 
definite  form.     Further,  Augustine  learnt 

1  Wetzer  and  Welte. 
3  See  Irish  Catholic  Directory  for  1883. 
"Some    dioceses    unite    on    one — e.g.  St. 
Joseph's  Seminary,  Troy,  N.  Y. 


SEMIPELAGIANISM        769 

from  the  letters  of  Prosper  and  Hilariua 
that  his  book  "  De  Correptione  et  Gratia  " 
had  met  with  great  opposition  among  the 
monks  of  Marseilles.  These  letters  are 
extant,  and  give  a  very  clear  and  coherent  ac- 
count of  the  Semipelagian  tenets  which  are 
often  called  the  heresy  of  the  Massilienses. 
The  monks  objected  to  the  Augustiniaa 
doctrine  that  the  number  of  the  elect  was 
absolutely  fixed  by  the  decree  of  God. 
They  made  predestination  the  mere  fore- 
knowledge of  God  that  some  would,  others 
would  not,  persevere.  They  also  held 
that  God  allowed  some  infants  to  die 
without  baptism,  some  adults  without 
hearing  the  Gospel,  only  because  He  knew 
they  would  have  made  no  use  of  these 
graces  had  they  been  offered.  Again, 
admitting  that  "  all  mankind  perished  in 
Adam  and  could  not  be  freed  from  that 
state  by  their  own  free  will,"  that  "no 
one  was  able  in  his  own  strength  to  begin, 
much  less  to  finish  any  [good]  work," 
they  still  maintained  that  the  wish  to  be 
healed,  the  beginning  of  faith  "if  not 
entire  faith,"  must  proceed  from  the  good 
use  of  the  natural  faculties.  Christ  was 
the  physician,  but  the  desire  to  be  healed 
by  Him  was  natural  and  human.  "  To 
that  grace  through  which  we  are  new- 
born in  Christ,  man  comes  by  natural 
power,  by  seeking,  asking,  knocking." 
Lastly,  they  denied  that  God  gave  not 
only  the  power  to  persevere,  but  also 
perseverance  itself  ("  ut  eis  perse verantia 
ipsa  donetur  ").  These  two  letters,  from 
which  the  words  in  inverted  commas  are 
taken,  are  eminently  trustworthy,  for  they 
speak  of  the  Massilienses  not  only  with 
courtesy  but  even  with  reverence.  St. 
Augustine  replied  by  sending  his  two 
books,  "  De  Predestinatione  Sanctorum  " 
and  "  De  Dono  Perseverantise,"  written 
in  428  or  429.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
Cassian  finished  the  writing  of  his  "XXIV. 
Conferences"  (begun  in  423,  finished  in 
428).  He  had  come  to  Provence  about 
409,  and  having  been  ordained  priest, 
founded  two  monasteries,  one  for  men,  tlie 
other  for  women.  He  is  regarded  as  the 
founder  of  the  celebrated  abbey  of  St. 
Victor  at  Marseilles,  and  is  said  to  have 
had  5,000  monks  under  him.  His  "  Con- 
ferences "  have  always  had  a  high  reputa- 
tion in  the  Church.  But  in  them  we  find 
Semipelagianism  in  its  most  developed 
and  offensive  form.  "Not  only,"  says 
Petavius  ("De  Pelag.  et  Semipelag. 
Hser."  cap.  vii.),  "did  he  attribute  the 
beginning  of  good-will  to  the  will  of 
man,  but  even  ascribed  to  it  remarkable 


760        SEMIPELAGIANISM 

and  heroic  virtues."  Thus  in  Oollat.  xiii. 
cap.  14,  he  supposes  that  God  "  withdrew 
his  hand"  from  Job  and  left  him  to 
obtain  an  actual  victory  over  Satan  in  his 
own  strength.  So  he  asserts  (ib.)  that 
the  centurion's  faith  which  Christ  praises 
(Matt,  viii.)  was  due  to  his  natural  eiforts ; 
else  he  says  Christ  would  not  have  praised 
it,  and  would  have  said^  not  "  I  have 
not  found  such  faith  in  Israel,"  but  "  I 
have  not  given  such  faith  in  Israel." 
Cassian  was  attacked  by  St.  Prosper  in 
his  "  Liber  Adversus  Collatorem,"  written 
about  432  or  rather  later.  It  is  specially 
directed  against  Conference  XIII.  already 
referred  to. 

Before  this,  in  431,  Pope  Celestine, 
appealed  to  by  Prosper  and  Hilarius,  had 
addressed  a  letter  of  capital  importance 
to  Venerius,  bishop  of  Marseilles,  and  the 
other  bishops  of  Gaul.  The  Pope,  though 
he  speaks  of  St.  Augustine  as  one  whom 
previous  Popes  had  always  reckoned 
"  among  the  best  masters,"  carefully  ab- 
stains from  insisting  on  many  points  in 
the  Augustinian  doctrine  of  grace  and 
predestination  which  had  been  regarded, 
and  most  naturally,  as  ^'hard  sayings" 
by  the  Semipelagians.  But  he  teaches 
emphatically  (1)  that  "the  will  is  pre- 
pared by  God/'  that  "  every  holy  thought, 
good  counsel,  movement  of  the  will  comes 
from  God,"  that  only  through  his  grace 
we  "  beffin  to  tvill  and  to  do  any  good," 
that  He  acts  in  us  in  order  "that  we 
may  do  and  will  what  He  wills";  (2) 
that  "no  one,  except  through  Christ,  can 
use  his  free  will  aright,"  that  none  can 
overcome  temptation  "  save  through  God's 
daily  help";  (13)  that  "we  must  refer 
final  perseverance  to  the  grace  of  Christ." 
These  statements,  he  adds,  are  enough ; 
while  he  does  not  despise,  he  declines  to 
enter  on,  the  "  deeper  and  harder  parts  of 
the  questions  which  present  themselves  " 
(Celest.  "  Ad  Episc.  Gall."  ep.  21). 

The  controversy  entered  on  its  last 
stage  about  475.  The  Predestinationist 
heresy  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  the 
person  of  Lucidus,  a  priest,  and  a  certain 
Monimus  of  Africa.  We  have  little 
accurate  information  about  these  heretics. 
Lucidus  seems  to  have  denied  free-will, 
and  to  have  held  that  men  were  lost  by 
no  will  of  their  own  and  simply  because 
they  were  reprobate  by  the  divine  decree. 
He  was  opposed  by  Faustus,  abbot  of 
Lerins,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Riez,  and 
submitted  after  he  had  been  condemned 
by  two  councils  at  Aries  and  Lyons  (pro- 
bably in  475 ;  see  Hefele,  "  Concil."  vol. 


SEQUENCE 

li.  p.  597  seq.).  But  Faustus,  in  his  two 
books  "  De  Gratia  Dei  et  Humanae  Mentis 
Libero  Arbitrio,"  showed  himself  a  Semi- 
pelagian,  and  Scythian  monks  laid  the 
matter  before  Pope  Hormisdas  and  then 
before  Fulgentius  of  Ruspe  and  other 
African  bishops  who  had  taken  refuge  in 
Sardinia,  and  who  anathematised  Faustus 
in  523.  Fulgentius  refuted  Faustus  in 
three  books,  "  De  Veritate  Prsedestina- 
tionis  et  Gratiae  Dei."  The  Catholic  doc- 
trine was  defended  in  France  by  Avitus 
of  Vienne  and  Csesarius  of  Aries  (d. 
542).  In  529,  the  Synod  of  Orange 
(Arausio),  in  South  Gaul,  gave  the  final 
blow  to  Semipelagianism.  Although 
only  a  provincial  council,  it  possesses  the 
highest  dogmatic  authority,  for  it  was 
confirmed  by  Pope  Boniface  II.  It  de- 
fines that  man  can  neither  "  believe,  will, 
desire,  attempt,  labour,  watch,  strive, 
seek,  ask,  knock"  "as  it  behoves  him" 
(can.  6),  or  even  ''think  any  good 
thing,  which  pertains  to  the  salvation  of 
eternal  life "'  (can.  7),  "  by  the  strength 
of  nature  "  and  "  without  God's  grace." 
"  No  one  has  aught  of  his  own,  except 
lying  and  sin "  (can.  22).  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Council  teaches  that  the  free 
will  of  fallen  man  is  not  destroyed,  but 
" perverted  and  weakened " ;  "A  reward 
is  due  to  good  works,  but  grace,  which  is 
not  due,  comes  first,  that  the  works  may 
be  done "  (can.  18) ;  "  Men  do  their 
own  will,  not  God's,  when  they  do  that 
which  displeases  God "  (can.  23) ; 
"That  some  are  predestined  to  evil  by 
divine  power  we  not  only  disbelieve,  but 
also  if  there  are  any  who  believe  so  hor- 
rible a  thing,  we  say  anathema  to  them 
with  all  detestation." 

(The  great  authority  on  the  history 
of  Semipelagianism  is  Cardinal  Noris, 
"Historia  Pelagiana,"  Florence,  1673; 
Patav.  1677.  See  also  Petavius,  in  the 
work  cited  in  the  text.  The  chief  sources 
are  the  works  of  Augustine,  Prosper,  and 
Fulgentius  mentioned  above.) 

SEPARATXOxr.  [See  DrvoKCE  and 
Marriage.] 

SSQUEXrCE.  A  rhythm  sometimes 
sung  between  the  Epistle  and  Gospel ;  also 
called  a  "  prose,"  because  not  in  any  regu- 
lar metre.  At  first,  the  sequence  was 
merely  a  prolongation  of  the  last  note  of 
the  Alleluia  after  the  Epistle,  till,  to  avoid 
the  wearisome  effect  of  such  a  prolonga- 
tion, words,  appropriate  to  the  occasion, 
were  substituted.  Notker,  a  monk  of  St. 
Gall,  who  wrote  about  880,  is  generally 
said  to  have  been  the  first  writer  of  se- 


SERAPHIC  DOCTOR,  THE 

quences ;  but  he  himself  tells  us,  in  his 
preface,  tliat  he  had  seen  some  verses  for 
the  notes  of  the  sequence  in  an  Antiphonary 
which  a  priest  brought  him  from  Jumieges, 
a  Benedictine  abbey  five  l-^agues  from 
Rouen.  Many  mediaeval  Missals  have 
sequences  for  every  feast  and  Sunday, 
and  they  were  made  in  such  number  and 
so  carelessly  that  the  Carthusians  and 
Cistercians  were  praised  for  not  admitting 
any  of  them.  In  the  revision  of  the 
Roman  Missal  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
only  four  sequences  were  retained  :  "  Vic- 
timse  Paschali,"  at  Easter  (attributed  to 
Wipso,  chaplain  to  Conrad  II.,  eleventh 
century) ;  "  Veni,  Sancte  Spiritus,"  at 
Pentecost  (by  Robert,  kiug  of  France,  d. 
1031);  "Lauda,  Sion,"at  Corpus  Christi 
(by  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin) ;  the  "  Dies 
Iree  "  in  Masses  of  the  Dead  (by  Thomas 
of  Celano,  d.  circ.  1250).  A  fifth  prose, 
"  Stabat  Mater,"  on  the  two  feasts  of  the 
Seven  Dolours,  must  have  been  added 
very  recently,  since  neither  Le  Brun  nor 
Benedict  XlV.  recognise  it.  Other  se- 
quences are  found  in  the  Missals  of  reli- 
gious orders — e.g.  one  for  the  Feast  of  the 
Holy  Name  in  that  of  the  Franciscans. 
The  Lyons  Missal,  in  use  till  a  few  years 
ago,  is  rich  ia  sequences,  some  very  beau- 
tiful. 

SERAPHIC  BOCTOR,  THS.  St. 
Bonaventure;  he  became  Minister-General 
of  the  Franciscans  in  1256.     [See  Fkai?^- 

CISCANS.] 

SERVZTES.  The  order  of  the 
**  Religious  Servants  of  the  Holy  Virgin," 
commonly  called  the  Servites,  was  founded 
in  1233  by  seven  Florentine  merchants, 
whose  names  were  Monaldi,  Manetti, 
Amidei,  Lantella,  Uguccioni,  Sostegni, 
and  Falconieri.  The  last,  Alexis  Fal- 
conieri,  who  lived  to  be  110  years  old, 
was  the  uncle  of  St.  Juliana  Falconieri, 
whom  H6lyot  regards  as  the  foundress  of 
theServite  Third  Order  (1306).  The 
seven  founders,  who  were  already  members 
of  a  confraternity  instituted  to  sing  the 
praises  of  Our  Lady,  being  assembled  in 
their  chapel  on  the  festival  of  the  Assump- 
tion, 1233,  were  conscious  of  a  common 
internal  admonition  that  they  should 
"enounce  the  world.  They  began  by 
selling  their  goods  and  distributing  the 
price  to  the  poor ;  then,  having  found  a 
mean  house  outside  the  city,  they  took 
up  their  abode  there,  living  in  great  aus- 
terity and  continual  prayer,  and,  with 
the  consent  of  the  bishop,  Ardinghi, 
begging  their  bread  in  the  streets.  En- 
tering the  city  one  day  to  ask  the  bishop's 


SERVUS  SERVORUM  DEI  761 

blessing  and  counsel,  they  are  said  to  have 
been  greeted  by  infants  in  their  mothers' 
arms  with  cries  of  "  See  the  servants  of 
the  Virgin  " ;  and  the  name  thus  given 
has  adhered  to  them  ever  since.  After  a 
while  they  removed  to  the  Monte  Senario, 
three  leagues  from  Florence,  and  built  a 
convent  on  the  top  of  the  mountain, 
which  was  for  centuries  the  chief  seat  of 
their  institute.  Monaldi  was  their  first 
superior ;  St.  Philip  Beniti,  who  joined 
the  order  in  consequence  of  a  vision  and 
became  the  fifth  general  (1267),  propa- 
gated it  exceedingly,  and  saved  it  from 
the  ruin  with  which  it  was  threatened  irt 
1276,  when  Innocent  V.  wished  to  sup- 
press it,  as  coming  under  the  prohibition 
of  the  Council  of  Lyons  against  the 
multiplication  of  religious  orders.  The 
habit  finally  adopted  by  the  Servites  was 
black,  with  a  leather  girdle,  a  scapulary, 
and  a  cope.  They  took  the  rule  of  St. 
Augustine,  adding  to  it  many  particular 
constitutions.  After  a  period  of  uncer- 
tainty, the  pontificate  of  Honorius  IV. 
witnessed  the  first  of  a  series  of  Papal 
confirmations  and  graces  conferred  on 
this  order,  culminating  in  the  celebrated 
constitution  "  Mare  Magnum "  (1487), 
whereby  Innocent  VIII.,  confirming  all 
former  grants,  bestowed  on  the  Servites 
equal  privileges  and  prerogatives  with 
those  enjoyed  by  the  other  four"  mendi- 
cant orders — viz.  the  Franciscans,  the 
Dominicans,  the  Augustinian  Hermits, 
and  the  Carmelites.  So  rapidly  did  the 
order  spread,  that  at  the  death  of  the  last 
of  the  seven  founders,  Alexis  Falconieri, 
it  numbered  over  10,000  religious,  besides 
nuns,  distributed  into  more  than  twenty 
provinces.  Its  strength  lay  chiefly  in 
Italy  and  Germany ;  in  England  it  had 
no  houses  before  the  Reformation.  Among 
its  distinguished  members  may  be  named 
— besides  the  seven  founders,  who  have 
all  been  beatified,  and  St.  Philip  Beniti — 
the  B.  Piccolomini  of  Sienna,  the  learned 
Ferrari,  Francis  Patrizzi,  Latiosi,  &c.  Fra 
Paolo  Sarpi,  theologian  and  counsellor  to 
the  Republic  of  Venice,  belonged  to  this 
order  [see  Trent,  Council  of].  In 
1870  this  ancient  order  was  introduced 
into  the  U.  S.,  and  they  now  have 
houses  in  Chicago  and  Menasha,  Wis. 
In  Chicago  the  Servite  friars  have  a 
convent  in  connection  with  the  Church 
of  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows  (for  Italians), 
and  near  this  is  also  a  convent  of  Ser- 
vite  sisters. 

SERVirS  SERVORUIVX  DEZ.    The 
servant  of  the  servants  of  God.     Thomas- 


762 


SEVEN  DOLOURS 


SIN 


sin  seems  to  say^  that  the  phrase  was 
first  employed  by  St.  Desiderius,  bishop 
of  Oahors,  and  then  adopted  by  the 
Roman  Pontiffs.  But  a  comparison  of 
dates  precludes  this  supposition,  for  St. 
Dagiderius  became  bishop  only  in  630 — 
i.e.  twenty-five  years  after  the  death  of 
St.  Gregory  the  Great,  who  had  jfre- 
quently  used  the  phrase  at  the  commence- 
ment of  his  letters.'^  St.  Gregory  had 
objected  strongly  to  the  title  of  Universal 
Bishop,  or  QEcumenical  Patriarch,  which 
John,  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
had  assumed ;  if  any  new  title  was  needed 
for  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  it  should  be  one 
which  likened  him  still  more  to  the  low- 
liness of  Jesus,  who  "came  not  to  be 
ministered  unto,  but  to  minister." 

SEVEXr  DO&OTTRS.  [See  Dolotjbs 
OF  B.  V.  M.] 

sxsvEsr  oirTs  of  tkb  hoiiT 
SPZXIZT.  They  are,  according  to  St. 
Thomas  (1  2ndae,  qu.  Ixviii.),  certain  gifts 
bestowed  upon  the  just  in  order  that  they 
may  promptly  follow  the  instinct  and 
movement  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  appeals 
to  the  authority  of  Scripture — viz.  Is.  xi. 
2,  where  we  are  told  that  seven  gifts  of 
the  Spirit  are  to  rest  upon  the  Messias. 
"And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  will  rest 
upon  him ;  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
imderstanding,  the  spirit  of  counsel  and 
strength,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and 
piety,  and  the  spirit  of  the  fear  of  the 
Lord  will  fill  him."  Even,  says  St. 
Thomas,  when  the  soul  of  man  is  perfected 
by  the  moral  and  the  theological  virtues, 
he  still  needs  to  be  moved  and  led  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  the  Seven  Gifts  enable 
him  to  follow  this  movement  promptly. 
All  this,  however,  is  mere  speculation,  for 
the  Scotists  deny  that  there  is  any  real 
distinction  between  the  gifts  and  the 
corresponding  virtues. 

Next,  although  the  Fathers  generally 
(ao,  e.ff.,  Ambrose,  "  De  Sp.  S."'  hb.  i.  16  ; 
August,  in  Ps.  cl.  7  ;  Greg.  "  Moral."  i. 
27)  enumerate  the  seven  gifts  of  the 
Spirit,  just  as  St.  Thomas  does,  this  is 
because  they  followed  the  LXX  or  Vulgate 
instead  of  the  original.'  Both  the  LXX 
and  Vulgate  render  the  same  Hebrew 
words  "fear  of  the  Lord"  (^>  n§5T)  in 
two  ways,  first  by  "  piety,"  then  by  "  fear 
of  the  Lord."    In  the  Hebrew  the  words 

»   Vet.  et  Nov.  Eccl.  Disc.  i.  1,  4,  4. 

3  See  Beda,  Hist.  Eccl.  i.  23,  24,  &c. 

5  It  is  strange,  however,  that  Jerome,  in  his 
Commentary  on  Isaias,  recognises  the  "  seven 
gifts  "  as  commonly  enumerated  without  raising 
any  difficulty. 


simply  are  "  The  Spirit  of  Jehovah  shall 
rest  upon  him ;  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
miderstanding,  the  spirit  of  counsel  and 
strength,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  the 
fear  of  Jehovah,  and  his  delight  ^  shall  be 
in  the  fear  of  Jehovah."  It  was  probably 
from  mere  wish  to  avoid  repetition  that 
the  LXX  varied  their  rendering,  and 
Jerome  may  have  been  unwilling  to  re- 
store a  mere  literal  rendering,  since  the 
enumeration  of  the  seven  gifts,  based  on 
the  LXX  and  Old  Latin,  was  already 
recognised  in  the  Church.  It  is  possible, 
however,  to  find  seven  gifts  (on  the  ana- 
logy of  Zach.  iii.  9,  Apoc.  iv.  5,  v.  6)  even 
in  the  original.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
seems  most  naturally  to  mean  the  Divine 
Spirit  itself,  from  which  the  six  following 
gifts  descend.  But  the  "Spirit  of  the 
Lord"  may  be  itself  a  special  gift,  and 
this  view  is  represented  by  the  Chaldee 
Targum,  which  has  "The  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy shall  rest  upon  him ;  the  spirit  of 
wisdom  and  understanding,  &c. 

SEXAGBSZMA.  [See  QttINQUA- 
GESIMA.] 

SEXT.    [See  Breviary.] 

SEXT.   [See  Canon  Law  and  Libeb 

Sexttjs,] 

SZMPI.E.    [See  Feasts.] 

Sinr.  St.  Augustine's  definition  of 
sin — viz.  "any  thought,  word,  or  deed 
against  the  law  of  God,"  has  been  adopted 
by  St.  Thomas  and  theologians  generally. 
We  have  spoken  of  original  sin  in  a  special 
article,  and  many  of  the  popular  classifica- 
tions of  sin,  e.g.,  into  carnal  and  spiritual, 
of  omission  and  commission,  are  easUy 
understood,  and  need  not  therefore  detain 
us  here.  But  something  must  be  said  of 
the  distinction  between  mortal  and  venial 
sin,  both  because  of  its  dogmatic  import- 
ance in  itself,  and  because  of  the  objections 
made  to  the  distinction  by  Protestants. 

The  early  Protestants  regarded  every 
sin  as  deserving  of  eternal  wrath.  They 
admitted  that  some  sins  were  more  heinous 
than  others,  but  they  looked  upon  all 
alike  as  mortal.  Even  the  daily  falls  of 
good  men,  according  to  Calvin  ("  Institut." 
iii.  4  '^),  make  them  "  liable  to  the  penalty 

1  Lit.  "  his  smelling  ";  9C.  "  a  sweet  savour ; " 
others,  "the  breath  of  his  nostrils."  Either 
rendering  is  possible,  but  the  doubt  does  not 
touch  the  point  in  the  text.  In  the  Targum 
the  London  Polyglot  has  copied  the  false 
pointing  in  Buxtorf  s  Rabbinical  Bible,  n^l^ilp* 
(Peal)  for  n^?.?"}!?!  (Aphel).  "      =  • ' 

»  "The  sins  "of  believers  are  venial,  not 
because  they  do  not  merit  death,  but  because 
.  .  .  there  is  no  condemnation  to  those  who  an 
in  Christ  Jesus,  their  sin  not  being  imputed  " 


SIN 

of  deatb  "before  the  judgment  seat  of  God." 
On  the  other  hand,  no  sin  is  imputed  to 
those  who  believe ;  so  that  we  may  sum 
up  the  Protestant  doctrine  thus :  All  sins 
are  mortal  in  their  own  nature,  but  in 
effect  no  sin  is  mortal  to  those  who  have 
faith,  all  sins  are  mortal  to  those  who  are 
without  saving  faith. 

Very  different  is  the  Catholic  doctrine. 
The  Church  holds  that  justification  con- 
sists in  a  real  renewal  of  man's  nature  by 
the  grace  of  Christ,  and  cannot  therefore 
admit  that  one  who  is  in  friendship  with  a 
holy  God  is  guilty  of  sins  which  in  their 
own  nature  ^  expose  him  to  eternal  death. 
The  fact  of  justification  implies  a  passage 
from  death  to  life,  from  sin  to  holiness. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Church,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  plainest  statements  of 
Scripture  and  tradition  (Jamq^  iii.  2 ;  1 
John  i.  8),  has  defined  (Concil.  Trident, 
sess.  vi.  can.  23)  that  no  one,  not  even  the 
most  holy,  can  avoid  sin  altogether  "  except 
by  a  special  privilege  of  God,  as  the  Church 
holds  concerning  the  Blessed  Virgin." 
Hence,  by  inevitable  consequences,  it 
follows  that  some  sins  are  mortal,-- others 
yenial.  There  is  an  analogy  between 
huiiran  friendship  and  that  of  the  soul 
with  God,  and  just  as  some  offences  are 
sufficient  to  destroy  friendship  entirely, 
while  others  weaken  it,  so  there  are  some 
sins  which  destroy,  others  which  do  but 
weaken  the  grace  and  love  of  God  in  the 
soul.  There  are  some  sins  of  which  St. 
Paul  says  (Gal.  v.  21)  that  they  "who  do 
such  things  will  not  inherit  the  kingdom 
of  God,"  and.  these  must  be  distinct  from 
less  serious  faults  which  none  entirely 
avoid.  This  is  the  basis  of  the  distinction 
between  mortal  and  venial  sins.  The 
former  are  against  the  very  end  of  the  law, 
which  is  the  love  of  God,  utterly  destroy 
charity  and  grace,  cause  the  death  of  the 
soul,  and  deserve  eternal  punishment. 
Venial  sin,  though  it  disposes  to  that 
which  is  mortal,  and  is  the  greatest  of  all 
evils  except  mortal  sin,  still  does  not 
annihilate  the  friendship  of  the  soul  with 
God.  Venial  sin  is  a  disease  of  the  soul, 
not  its  death,  and  grace  is  still  left  by 
which  the  sin  may  be  repaired.  Mortal 
sin  is,  on  the  contrary,  irreparable,  and  a 
man  who  is  guilty  of  it  has  lost  every 
principle  of  vitality,  so  that  he  is  as  un- 

1  The  doctrine  of  Baius  stands  midway 
between  that  of  the  Reformers  and  the  Church. 
He  held  that  "no  sin  is  venial  in  its  own 
nature  " — i.e.  apart  from  the  merciful  ordinance 
of  God  (Prop.  20;  condemned  by  Pius  V., 
Gregory  XIII.,  and  Urban  VIII.). 


sm 


763 


able  to  recover  life  as  one  who  has  suffered 
bodily  death.  Renewal  cannot  ccme  from 
within,  but  only  from  the  Almighty  power 
of  God,  who  can  make  even  the  dead  hear 
His  voice  and  live  (St.  Thomas,  1  2nd8e, 
qu.  Ixxviii.  a.  1).  It  is  very  hard  to  decide 
in  particular  what  is  or  is  not  mortal  sin. 
We  know  that  we  cannot  fall  away  from 
God  without  a  deliberate  act  of  the  will, 
and  those  walk  securely  who  avoid,  not 
indeed  all  transgression,  for  that  cannot 
be,  but  all  deliberate  transgression.  The 
distinction,  St.  Augustine  tells  us  ("  En- 
chirid."  cap.  24),  between  grave  and  light 
sins  is  to  be  determined  by  the  judgment 
of  God,  not  of  man ;  and  Scripture  does 
furnish  many  such  divine  judgments  on 
the  point.  The  tradition  of  the  Church 
and  natural  reason  following  the  analogy 
of  faith  must  also  be  taken  into  account ; 
but  when  all  is  done  much  remains,  and 
must  ever  remain,  uncertain.  Some  sins, 
such  as  those  of  blasphemy,  perjury,  im- 
purity, are,  if  deliberate,  always  mortal ; 
others — e.g,  theft — though  mortal  in  their 
own  nature,  are  venial,  if  the  amount  of 
the  wrong  done  is  very  small.  Others 
again  are  venial  in  their  own  nature,  and 
only  become  mortal  under  superadded  cir- 
cumstances. Mortal  sins  differ  very  much 
in  gravity.  The  chief  subdivision  of  venial 
sins  is  that  into  deliberate  and  indeliber- 
ate, though,  strictly  speaking,  the  latter 
are  done  with  imperfect  deliberation,  for, 
when  deliberation  is  wholly  wanting,  there 
is  no  act  of  the  will  and  therefore  no  sinlT 
It  must  be  remembered  that  in  the 
Fathers  "  mortal  "  and  "  venial "  sin  are 
terms  which  have  quite  a  different  mea^i- 
ing  from  the  modern  one  explained  above. 
The  ancient  distinction,  often  misunder- 
stood by  scholastic  writers,  is  clearly  put 
by  Petavius  in  his  edition  of  Epiphanius 
("  Animadv.  in  Hser."  lix.).  The  Fathers, 
he  says,  mean  by  mortal  sins  ("  mortalia 
seu  capitalia,"  also  "  lethalia")  not,  as  we 
do,  those  which  deprive  us  of  grace,  but  sins 
of  an  aggravated  character,  which  were 
specially  named  in  the  canons  and  synodal 
decrees,  and  which  subjected  anyone  who 
was  guilty  of  them  to  canonical  penalties. 
To  these  they  oppose  "  lighter  and  daily 
sins,"  including  in  this  class  "  some  which 
we  call  mortal  and  some  which  we  call 
venial  sins."  Very  often  the  .Fathers 
simply  distinguish  between  "  mortal  sins  " 
for  which  public  penance  was  due  and  the 
dailv  faults  of  good  people.  So  TertuU. 
"Pudic.''  19;  -'Adv.  Marc."  iv.  9; 
Ambrose,  "De  Poenit."  ii.  10;  Cassian, 
"  Collat."  xxil.  13 ;  Augustme, "  In  Joann." 


764    SINLESSNESS  OF  CHRIST 

tract,  xii.  ad  Jin.',  Serm.  852,  cap.  2 
et  3 ;  "  De  Svmbolo.  ad  Cat.''  cap.  7.  But 
the  Fathers  acknowledge  in  fact  our 
distinction  between  mortal  and  venial  sin, 
though  they  use  other  words.  Thus  St. 
Augustine  ("  De  Fide  et  Op."  26)  divides 
sins  into  three  classes — those  which  involve 
^"excommunication,  sins  without  which  we 
(5annot  live("  sine  quibus  vita  non  agitur  "), 
sins  to  be  corrected,  not  indeed  by  public 
penance,  but  by  sharp  reproof.  We  have 
Been  already  that  he  distinguishes  between 
grave  and  light  sins,  and  means  just  what 
we  do  by  mortal  and  venial  sin.  Further, 
in  Serm.  893,  and  "In  Joann."  tract,  xli. 
10,  he  distinguishes  between  "  sins  "  and 
"crimes"  ("peccatum"  and  "crimen"). 
Man,  he  says,  cannot  be  without  sin,  but 
ought  to  be  without  crime,  "  such  as 
murder,  adultery,  the  impuritxpi  formcji- 
tion,  theft,  fraud,  sacrilege  " ;  those  who 
are  exempt  from  crime  have  reached  "  an 
inchoate  liberty  "  which  will  be  perfected 
in  heaven.  And  a  little  earlier  in  the 
same  treatise  he  defines  crime  as  "  a  grave 
sin,  most  worthy  of  accusation  ar.d  con- 
demnation." This  is  precisely  the  doctrine 
of  the  modern  Church. 

szsri.ESSirx:ss  of  chrxst. 
[See  Christ.] 

SZOXr,  WOTRE  DASSZ:  BE.  The 
Congregation  of  our  Lady  of  Sion  took 
its  rise  from  a  remarkable  event  which 
occurred  in  1842,  when  M,  Alphonse 
Ratisbonne,  a  member  of  an  iniiuential 
and  wealthy  Jewish  family  at  Strasburg, 
and  himself  strongly  prejudiced  against 
Christianity,  being  then  in  his  twenty- 
seventh  year,  was  suddenly  converted  to 
the  Catholic  faith  by  the  apparition  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  with  which,  as 
he  declared,  he  was  favoured  while  stand- 
ing in  a  side  chapel  of  the  Church  of  S. 
Andrea  delle  Fratte,  at  Rome.  M.  Ratis- 
bonne at  once  asked  to  be  taken  to  a 
priest,  and  in  a  short  time  was  baptised 
and  confirmed.  He  was  engaged  to  be 
married  to  a  young  Jewess,  but  an  over- 
powering impulse  determined  him  to 
embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state,  and  he 
broke  off"  the  engagement.  His  elder 
brother,  Theodore,  had  become  a  Catholic 
many  years  before,  and,  having  taken 
orders,  "was  at  this  time  living  at  Pans. 
Alphonse  suggested  to  him  the  opening 
of  a  house  for  the  reception  of  Jewish 
children,  to  be  educated,  with  their 
parents'  consent,  as  Christians.  There 
feems  to  have  been  a  movement  in  the 
Jewish  mind  at  the  time  inclining  many 
to  embrace   Catholicism,  and  when  the 


SISTERHOODS 

Abb6  Theodore  resolved  to  act  on  his 
brother's  suggestion  there  was  no  lack  of 
candidates  for  admission.  They  were  all 
young  girls,  and  were  placed  provisionally 
in  the  Convent  of  the  "  Providence," 
under  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Vincent  of  Paul.  In  May  1843,  Theodore 
Ratisbonne,  with  the  aid  of  the  Abb6 
Desgenettes,  the  venerable  founder  of  the 
Archconfraternity  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Mary  for  the  Conversion  of  Sinners,  ob- 
tained the  approbation  of  the  Holy  See 
for  a  new  institute,  under  the  title  of 
"  Our  I^ady  of  Sion,"  the  ladies  of  which 
should  devote  themselves  principally  to 
the  charge  and  education  of  converts 
from. Judaism.  The  centre  of  the  new 
foundation  was  fixed  at  Paris,  and  now 
occupies  a  magnificent  convent,  embracing 
several  distinct  departments,  in  the  Rue 
Notre  Dame  des  Champs.  The  rule  of 
the  congi-egation  aims  at  the  union  of  the 
active  with  the  contemplative  life.  "  The 
noviciate  lasts  two  years,  after  which 
the  religious  consecrate  themselves  to  the 
Lord  by  the  simple  vows  of  poverty, 
chastity,  and  obedience.  These  vows  are 
annual  for  the  first  five  years  ;  at  the  end 
of  that  time  they  are  renewed  for  five 
years.  Finally,  after  ten  years  of  perse- 
verance, exclusive  of  the  noviciate,  the 
vows  can  be  taken  in  perpetuity."  ^  Before 
long  the  institute  planted  itself  at  Jerusa- 
lem ;  a  site  was  obtained  bordering  on 
the  Via  Dolorosa,  where  tradition  places 
the  prsetorium  of  Pilate ;  and  a  large 
convent  was  opened  in  18C2.  In  recogni- 
tion of  the  awful  memories  which  make 
this  spot  unique  on  earth,  the  religious 
repeat  three  times  a  day,  "  Pater,  dimitte 
illis,  non  enim  sciunt  quid  faciunt."  The 
congregation  has  since  opened  houses  in 
other  parts  of  Syria  and  at  Constantinople ; 
in  England  it  has  three  convents,  two  in 
or  near  London  and  the  third  at  Worth- 
ing. A  "  Community  of  Missionary 
Priests  of  Our  Lady  of  Sion,"  working  in 
concert  with  the  congregation,  was  or- 
ganised at  Pains  with  diocesan  sanction  in 
1863 ;  both  the  brothers  Ratisbonne 
joined  it. 

SZSTERBOOBS.  A  title  sometimes 
given  to  religious  orders  and  institutes  of 
women.  These  have  been  greatly  multi- 
plied in  quite  recent  times ;  and  the  fol- 
lowing enumeration  of  some  of  them, 
chiefly  the  most  recent,  must  be  taken  qm 
very  imperfect : — 

1.  Sisters  of  the  Assumjtion. — Founded 

1  Wetzer  and  Welte;  art.  by  Goschler. 


SISTERHOODS 

by  Monsignor  Affre,  arclibisliop  of  Paris, 
in  1839,  chiefly  as  an  educational  order. 
The  habit  is  violet,  with  a  cross  on  the 
breast,  and  a  white  veil.  At  the  convent 
in  Kensington  Square  there  is  the  Per- 
petual Adoration  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment. There  are  three  other  houses  in 
England. 

2.  Sisters  of  St.  Brigid,  or  of  the  Holy 
Faith. — This  sisterhood  was  founded  by 
the  late  Cardinal  Oullen,  in  1857,  to  take 
charge  of  poor  schools  for  girls  and  little 
boys.  They  have  eleven  schools,  all  in 
the  diocese  of  Dublin.  They  do  an  im- 
portant work  in  protecting  the  poor  of 
Dublin,  so  far  as  their  slender  means  will 
allow,  jfrom  the  attempts  to  destroy  their 
faith  which  are  continually  being  made 
by  the  Irish  Church  Mission  Society  (so 
called),  and  other  heretical  bodies,  assisted 
by  English  money. 

3.  Sistpj's  of  Charity.  —  Called  also 
"  Gray  Sisters,"  "  Daughters  of  Charitv," 
"  Sisters  of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul."  This 
congregation,  after  many  and  long-con- 
tinued tentative  operations,  was  founded  at 
Paris  in  1634  by  St.  Vincent  of  Paul  for  the 
work  of  nursing  the  sick  in  hospitals,  and 
placed  under  the  care  of  Madame  Legras. 
The  constitution  of  the  society  has  never 
varied.  The  sisters  take  simple  vows, 
which  are  yearly  renewed;  they  add  a 
fourth  vow,  by  which  they  bind  themselves 
to  serve  the  sick.  Postulants  are  admitted 
to  the  habit  at  the  end  of  six  months; 
the  period  of  probation  lasts  for  five  years. 
The  white  hood,  with  its  streaming 
"cor'nettes,"  of  these  sisters  is  known 
all  over  the  world.  Their  houses  were 
closed  in  France  at  the  Revolution ;  but 
Mere  Deleau,  who  was  then  superior, 
yielded  not  a  foot  of  ground  that  she 
could  keep ;  she  urged  her  children  to 
continue  to  serve  the  sick,  though  in  a 
secular  dress ;  and  a  decree  of  Napoleon 
(1801),  even  before  the  general  restoration 
of  religion,  authorised  the  reorganisation 
of  the  society,  and  assigned  to  them  large 
premises  in  the  Rue  dii  Bac.  About 
1860,  according  to  a  return  furnished  to 
the  Abb6  Badiche  (the  contiuuator  of 
Helyot)  by  the  secretary  of  the  Lazarists, 
(under  whose  direction  the  sisters  have 
always  been),  they  numbered  between 
6,000  and  7,000,  in  upwards  of  600  houses 
scattered  over  all  parts  of  the  civilized 
world.  Besides  nursing  in  hospitals  and 
taking  charge  of  orphanages,  the  sisters, 
especially  in  the  U.  S.,  carry  on  parish 
schools,  as  well  as  boarding-schools. 
The  xnother-house  of  these  sisters  in  the 


SISTERHOODS 


765 


IT.  S.  is   at  Emmittsbnrg,   Md.      [See 
Charity,  Sisters  of.] 

4.  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Paul. — 
This  congregation  was  founded  by  M. 
Chauvet,  a  French  cuv6,  assisted  by 
Mdlle.  de  Tylly,  in  1704.  Since  these 
teaching  sisters  were  introduced  into 
England  in  1847  they  have  multiplied 
with  surprising  rapidity ;  they  have  now 
(1883)  forty-eight  houses  in  different 
English  dioceses.  They  do  a  great  work 
in  the  French  colonies.  In  1873  the 
total  number  of  their  pupils  was  estimated 
at  12,000.1 

5.  Sistej's  of  Charity  (Irish). — This 
institute  was  founded  in  1815  by  Mary 
Frances  Aikenhead,  for  the  purpose  of 
ministering  to  the  sick  and  poor  in  hospi- 
tals and  at  their  own  homes.  The  sisters, 
though  not  in  any  way  connected  with 
the  celebrated  foundation  of  St.  Vincent 
of  Paul,  have  "  very  nearly,  if  not 
exactly,  the  same  objects  of  Christian 
charity  in  view."^  Archbishop  Murray 
entered  warmly  into  the  plans  of  Mrs, 
Aikenhead,  gave  the  habit  to  the  first 
sisters,  and  established  them  in  North 
William  Street,  Dublin.  The  congrega- 
tion was  approved  by  the  Holy  See  in 
1834.  The  vows  are  perpetual ;  the  rule 
is  that  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  so  far  as 
it  is  suitable  for  women  :  a  probation  of 
two  jears  and  a  half  is  undergone  before 
admission  to  the  habit.  The  community 
is  strongly  centralised,  the  Superioress  in 
Dublin,  or  wherever  she  may  reside, 
having  jurisdiction  over  all  the  convents 
and  members  of  the  order  in  Ireland. 
The  Sisters  opened  St.  Vincent's  Hospital 
in  Stephen's  Green,  Dublin,  in  1834.  The 
order  has  at  present  twenty-two  convents, 
all  in  Ireland ;  the  mother  house  is  at 
Harold's  Cross,  near  Dublin. 

6.  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd. — This 
society,  the  chief  object  of  which  is  the 
reformation  of  fallen  women,  was  founded 
by  the  Pere  Eudes  [Etidists]  and  Mar- 
guerite L'Ami  in  1646.  It  has  now  more 
than  a  hundred  houses.  [For  account  of 
these  sisters  in  the  U.  S.  see  Charity, 
Sisters  of,  of  Good  Shepherd.] 

7.  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Child  Jesus. — 
This  recent  institute,  founded  by  an  Ame- 
rican lady,  for  teaching  rich  and  poor, 
has  seven  houses  in  England  and  two  in 
the  IT.  S.  (in  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia). 

1  See  Terra  Incognita,  by  J.  N.  Murphy 
(Longmans,  1873)  ;  a  useful  compilation,  from 
which  a  large  portion  of  the  information  given 
in  the  text  is  derived. 

2  Sketches  of  Irish  Nunneries,  by  the  Very 
Rev.  Dean  Murphy,  1865. 


766 


SISTERHOODS 


SLAVERY 


8.  Sistei-s  {Little)  of  the  Poor.— This 
admirable  institute  was  founded  in  1840 
by  the  cur6  of  St.  Servan,  M.  le  Pailleur, 
aided  by  four  women  of  humble  birth, 
whose  names  were  Marie  Augustine, 
Marie  Th6rese,  Jeanne  Jugon,  and 
Fanchon  Aubert,  for  the  support,  relief, 
and  nursing  of  aged  or  infirm  poor  persons. 
In  1883  the  sisters  numbered  3,500,  and 
maintained  (their  chief  resource  being 
begging  from  door  to  door)  25,000  old 
people,  in  223  houses,  or  "  Homes." 
Their  first  house  in  the  V.  S.  was  opened 
in  1868  in  Brooklyn,  and  they  now  haye 
in  the  U.  S.  31  houses,  situated  in  all 
the  leading  cities. 

9.  Sisters  of  Mercy. — This  important 
and  flourishing  order,  offshoots  of  which 
are  found  in  many  States  of  the  American 
Union,  and  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand, 
was  founded  in  1827  at  Baggot  Street, 
Dublin,  by  Miss  Catherine  Mc  Auley,  with 
the  approbation  of  Archbishop  Murray, 
for  carrying  on  all  the  works  of  mercy, 
both  spiritual  and  corporal.  The  foundress 
took  the  title  of  her  order  from  that  of 
St.  Peter  Nolasco ;  its  rule,  with  some 
slight  modifications,  from  that  of  the 
Presentation  Nuns.  Except  in  the  case 
of  recent  filiations,  each  convent  is  inde- 
pendent of  eyery  other,  and  is  com- 
pletely under  the  jurisdiction  and  control 
of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese.  Besides 
the  three  essential  yows  the  sisters  take  a 
fourth — to  deyote  themselyes  for  life  to 
the  service  and  instruction  of  the  poor, 
sick,  and  ignorant.  Introduced  into  the 
U.  S.  in  1843,  at  Pittsburgh,  these  sisters 
haye  now  about  200  establishments  in 
this  country. 

10.  Sisters  (Poor)  of  Nazareth. 

1 1 .  Sisters  of  the  Pool'  Child  Jesus.  ^ — 
This  institute  has  two  houses  in  Eng- 
land.    It  is  a  cloistered  order. 

12.  Sisters  of  Providence. — Founded 
in  1806  in  Brittany  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  on  schools  and  caring  for  or- 
phans, the  sick,  etc.  In  1840  a  colony 
arriyed  in  the  U.  S.  and  founded  St. 
Mary's  of  the  Woods,  Indiana,  the 
American  mother-house  of  these  sisters, 
who  now  haye  many  establishments  here. 

13.  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  Congrega- 
tion of. — (To  be  distinguished  from  the 
School  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  whose 
American  mother-house  is  at  Milwaukee 
[Supplement  B].)  Founded  at  Amiens 

1  A  German  order,  forced  to  take  refuge  in 
England  by  the  persecuting  laws  of  Prussia. 
"  Poor  Child "  does  not,  of  course,  correspond 
exactly  to  "  armea  Kind." 


in  1805,  and  introduced  in  1840  into  the 
diocese  of  Cincinnati ;  colonies  haye  also 
gone  to  Massachusetts  and  elsewhere. 

S&AVSRir.  The  state  of  a  human 
being  whose  present  and  future  lot  in 
life  is  dependent  on  the  arbitrary  will  of 
another  pei-son,  or  of  other  persons.  The 
young  child  of  free  parents,  though  his 
pi'esent  lot  in  all  countries,  whether 
ciyilised  or  not,  is  largely  determinable  at 
the  wiU  of  others,  knows  that  his  future 
will  be  his  own  ;  after  reaching  a  certain 
age  he  will  be  his  own  master.  The 
slaye  has  no  such  prospect;  eyen  where 
the  law  gives  him  some  protection  from 
his  master's  cruelty  or  injustice,  he  has 
not  during  the  whole  course  of  his  life 
the  control  of  his  o^vn  acts  or  movements, 
and  his  children  are  bom  to  the  same 
coi:dition  as  himself. 

The  earliest  records  of  man  contain 
no  mention  of  slavery.  No  slave  went 
into  the  ark  with  Noe  and  the  other 
seven  persons  who  composed  his  family. 
It. seems  to  be  represented  in  the  book  of 
Genesis  as  the  punishment  of  the  sin  of 
Cham,'  whose  son  Ohanaan  was  to  be  a 
*'  seryant  of  servants "  (Vulg.  senws 
servoi-um)  to  his  brethren.  The  tirst 
mention  of  actual  slaves  is  connected 
with  Egypt ;  both  male  and  female  slaves, 
with  cattle,  &c.,  were  giyen  to  Abram  by 
the  Egyptians'^  on  his  surrendering  his 
wife  to  Pharao  ;  and  Agar,  the  domestic 
slaye  of  Sarai,  was  an  Egyptian  woman.^ 
Under  the  law  of  Moses,  the  institution 
was  fully  sanctioned  among  the  Hebrews, 
perhaps  because  of  the  "  hardness  of  their 
hearts " ;  but  they  were  to  take  slaves 
from  the  nations  around  them,  not  from 
their  own  people;  if  any  Hebrew  were 
compelled  to  sell  himself  into  bondage, 
he  could  go  out  free  in  the  year  of 
jubilee."*  At  the  return  from  the  Captivity, 
the  slayes  are  said  to  have  stood  to  the 
free  Hebrews  in  the  proportion  of  one  to 
six;^  but  the  rate  was  probably  much 
higher  than  this  in  times  of  national 
prosperity. 

Considering  the  corrupt  selfishness  of 
human  nature,  unaided  by  grace,  there  \a 
nothing  to  wonder  at  in  the  institution  of 
slavery.  Men,  and  women  too,  like  to 
liye  at  ease,  and  to  haye  the  hard  work, 
without  which  neither  food  nor  luxuries 
are  obtainable,  done  for  them.  Especially 
is  this  the  case  in  hot  countries,  in  whicn 
physical  exertion  is  always  more  or  leas 

1  Gen.  ix.  22-27.  2  Gen.  xii.  16. 

5  Gen.  xvi.  1.  *  Lev.  xxv. 

5  1  Esdr.  ii.  65 ;  quoted  by  Dr.  Lightfoot 


SLAVERY 

distressing.  When  thenneither conscience 
nor  civilisation  restrains,  any  well-armed 
human  tribe  has  a  strong  motive  for 
making  war  upon  any  neiglibouring  tribe 
which  it  believes  to  be  weaker  than  itself, 
in  order  to  obtain  the  use  of  the  enforced 
labour  of  the  vanquished.  The  instruc- 
tive volumes  of  Dr.  Barth,  long  a  resident 
in  Central  Africa,  are  one  long  commentary 
illustrating  this  statement.  Wars  for  the 
Bole  purpose  of  obtaining  slaves  were  then, 
and  are  still,  of  constant  occurrence  among 
the  teeming  nations  of  the  Soudan.  Con- 
version to  Islam,  which  for  many  j-ears 
has  been  making  great  progress  in  Africa, 
far  from  checking  slavery,  tends  to  spread 
it ;  for  it  gives  to  the  converts  a  feeling  of 
superiority  to  the  tribes  still  heathen, 
which  seems  of  itself  to  entitle  the  former 
to  make  slaves  of  the  latter.  Nothing 
but  the  twofold  conviction  (1)  that  all 
men  are  equal  in  the  sight  of  God, 
(2)  that  a  man  is  bound  to  do  to  others  as 
he  would  they  should  do  to  him,  can 
restrain  from  making  slaves  of  their 
fellows  those  who  have  the  power  to  do 
80.  This  conviction,  now  generally  enter- 
tained among  civilised  nations,  is  the  fruit 
of  Christianity ;  and  it  has  produced  a 
state  of  things,  within  the  sphere  of 
peoples  equally  civilised,  which  removes 
the  poioer  to  enslave.  Were  the  belief  in 
Christianity  to  fail,  it  does  not  appear 
what  principle  would  remain  of  sufficient 
power  to  prevent  the  civilised  from  en- 
slaving the  uncivilised. 

A^ong  the  Greeks  the  notion  pre- 
vailed that  a  man  could  not  effectively 
discharge  the  duties  of  a  free  citizen  un- 
less he  were  exempted  from  the  drudgery 
of  hfe.  This,  except  in  the  case  of  a  few 
rich  men,  could  only  be  done  by  means  of 
slavery.  Accordingly  the  institution  was 
an  integral  part  of  Hellenic  civilisation ; 
and  in  proportion  as  a  people  was  more 
intellectual  and  refined,  it  availed  itself 
of  slave  labour  more  systematically.  The 
late  Dr.  Lee,  Protestant  bishop  of  Man- 
chester, one  of  the  best  of  modern  school- 
masters, used  to  say  to  his  boys  at 
Ilugby  : — '*  Remember  now :  thirty  thou- 
sand Athenians  ;  four  thousand  Metoecs ; 
four  hundred  thousand  slaves ! "  The 
contrast  was  perhaps  accentuated  a  little 
too  strongly ;  ^  but  its  substantial  truth 
and  significance  are  unimpeachable.  We 
are  all  too  apt  to  forget:  in  admiring  the 
marvellous  fertility  of  the  Attic  genius, 

^  M.  Wallon  estimates  the  numbers  thus : 
Athenifins,  67,000;  Metoecs,  40,000;  slaves, 
about  200,000 


SLAVERY 


767 


how  ruthlessly  these  pattern  men  exploited 
the  labour  of  a  gagged  and  fettered 
multitude  of  miserable  beings,  created 
equally  with  themselves  for  happiness 
and  immortality. 

When  the  Greek  mind  began  to 
speculate  upon  slavery,  it  rejected  the 
cynical  tenet  of  the  old  times,  that  force 
is  its  own  justification,  and  that  any  man 
who  can  enslave  another  may.  It  sug- 
gested that  some  races  of  mankind  are 
naturally  inferior  to  other  races,  and  born 
to  be  their  servants.  *  Aristotle  mentions 
this  opinion,  without  however  adopting  it 
as  his  own.^  But  there  were  Greeks  who 
expressed  nobler  views.  Not  to  mention 
the  well-known  lines  of  Homer  ^ — 

Jove  fixed  it  certain  that  the  self-same  day 
Makes  man  a  slave,  takes  half  his  worth  away, 

Philemon  wrote  that  "  no  one  was  ever 
born  a  slave  by  nature ;  it  was  ill  fortune 
which  enslaved  his  body."  ^ 

The  able  work  of  M.  Wallon  describes 
the  extension  of  slavery  among  the 
Romans,  even  under  the  Republic,  and 
delineates  the  fatal  moral  corruption 
which  it  produced.  The  domestic  side 
of  Roman  life  is  unveiled  for  us  in  the 
plays  of  Plautus  and  Terence ;  we  thus 
see  how  slavery  influenced  society  and 
vitiated  character.  The  sternly  practical 
turn  of  the  Roman  mind,  understanding 
that  slavery  was  at  all  times  dangerous 
(the  war  of  Spartacus  was  sufficient  to 
prove  that),  carried  out  with  horrible 
consistency  the  doctrine  that  the  slave, 
as  against  his  master,  has  no  rights,  and 
that  revolt  is  an  unpardonable  crime. 
When  Pedanius  Secundus,  praefect  of  the 
city  under  Nero,  had  been  murdered  by 
one  of  his  slaves,  the  Senate,  on  the 
ground  that  among  the  other  slaves  there 
must  have  been  some  guilty  knowledge  of 
the  murderer's  intention,  decreed  that  the 
whole  household,  numbering  four  hundred 
— old  and  young,  men,  women,  and 
children — should  be  indiscriminately  put 
to  death ;  and  this  was  done.*  The  gladi- 
ators, who  were  bred  to  the  use  of  arms 
that  their  deadly  duels  might  furnish 
sport  for  the  Romans,  were  of  course 
slaves. 

Slavery  was  everywhere  one  of  the 
conditions  of  human  existence  when 
Christianity  appeared  in  the  world.  The 
methods  of  the  Gospel  are  not  revolution- 

1  Pol.  ^  Od.  xvii.  322.  , 

*  9v(Tet,  yap  ovSets  SovAos  eyfi'vi^Or]  iroTf, 
'H  5'  av  TVXTj  TO  aoifjia  KaTeSovXttxraro, 

Fragm.  Meineke  (quoted  by  Wallon). 

*  Tac.  Ann.  xiv.  43  (quoted  by  Lightfoot). 


768 


SLAVERY 


arj ;  they  do  not  deal  in  those  sweepmg 
general  assertions  which  fuller  experience 
always  shows  to  be  but  half  truths; 
rather  they  introduce  new  moral  principles 
into  the  hearts  of  men,  leaving  them 
there  as  germs,  to  bring  forth  fruit  in  due 
season.  So  it  was  in  the  case  of  slavery. 
"The  Gospel  never  directly  attacks 
slavery  as  an  institution  " ;  ^  nor  was  the 
liberation  of  their  slaves  prescribed  by 
the  Apostles  to  their  converts  as  an 
absolute  duty.  Christianity  lifted  men 
to  a  moral  height#at  which  the  distinc- 
tions between  slave  and  free,  Jew  and 
Greek,  seemed  of  trifling  importance. 
"  There  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew ;  there  is 
neither  bond  nor  free ;  there  is  neither 
male  nor  female.  For  you  are  all  one  in 
Christ  Jesus."  ^  "  Where  the  spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  there  is  liberty  " ;  ^  the  liberty  of 
the  mind,  even  though  the  body  be  in 
bondage.  "  He  that  is  called  in  the 
Lord,  being  a  bondman,  is  the  freeman  of 
the  Lord  " ;  ^  but  if  a  slave  could  be  made 
free,  he  was  to  prefer  freedom  (v.  21.)^ 
A  slave  was  taught  to  obey  his  master  as 
though  he  were  Christ  himself,  not  with 
eye-service,  but  heartily  and  strenuously, 
"as  to  the  Lord  and  not  to  men." 
Similarly,  masters  were  taught  to  deal 
humanely  with  their  slaves,  as  recognising 
that  they  had  a  common  master  in 
heaven,  with  whom  there  was  no  respect 
of  persons.^ 

With  such  principles  introduced  into 
human  life,  slavery,  as  being  in  ordinary 
cases  unjust,  was  at  once  undermined, 
and  gradually  fell.  Besides  manumissions 
in  life,  it  became  a  common  practice  for 
Christian  owners  of  slaves  to  emancipate 
them  by  their  last  will.  Long  before  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century  slavery  had 
disappeared  from  Christendom,  and  even 
serfdom  had  been  reduced  within  a 
narrow  compass.  The  influence  of  the 
clergy,  pressing  with  gentle  force  in  the 
same  direction  during  many  centuries, 
was  the  chief  agent  in  this  beneficent 
change.  After  the  discover}^  of  the  New 
World,  the  adventurers  and  planters 
whom  Spain  sent  out  enslaved  the  weak 
Carib  population  of  the  West  Indies,  and 
forced  them  to  work  in  the  mines.  To 
save  the  Caribs,  the  Dominican  Las  Casas 


Lightfoot,  p.  389. 
2  Cor.  iii.  17. 


»  Gal.  iii.  28. 
<  1  Cor.  vii.  22. 
5  The  passaffe  will  bear  the  opposite  inter- 
pretation, but  the  opinion  of  the  beat  modern 
commentators  appears  to  incline  to  that  hero 
adopt-ed ;  comp.  v.  23. 
»  PhU.  vi.  5-9. 


SLAVERY 

was  instrumental  in  bringing  over  negroea 
from  Africa,  whose  hardy  frames  were 
capable  of  bearing  great  labour  under  a 
tropical  sun.  Other  nations,  Protestant 
as  well  as  Catholic,  rushed  eagerly  into 
the  new  field  of  commerce  and  settlement, 
and  all  alike  enslaved  the  negro.  The* 
unscrupulous  cupidity  of  the  planters  of 
all  nations  was  pretty  much  on  a  par ; 
but  in  countries  occupied  by  Catholics 
the  Church  was  a  real  power,  and  re- 
strained to  a  great  extent  the  greed  and 
cruelty  of  the  laity.  In  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  colonies,  the  slave  was  not 
entirely  a  slave ;  a  code  of  laws  regulated 
the  relations  between  him  and  his  master  ; 
he  could  buy  his  freedom  for  a  fixed 
price  ;  and  the  slave  mother,  by.  paying;  a 
small  sum,  could  emancipate  her  child  at 
the  font.  These  mitigations  did  not 
exist  in  the  English  and  Dutch  colonies, 
where  the  ministers  of  the  various  Pro- 
testant sects,  divided  by  deep  sectional 
disagreements,  took  no  common  action, 
but  obeyed  the  public  opinion  of  those 
among  whdm  they  lived.  Before  the 
late  war  in  the  United  States,  the  Metho- 
dist ministers  at  the  North  denounced 
slavery  as  a  sin  ;  the  Methodist  ministera 
at  the  South  defended  it  as  an  institution 
sanctioned  in  Scripture,  and  eminently 
pleasing  to  the  Almighty. 

Through  the  movement  begun  by 
Quakers,  and  promoted  by  Clarkson, 
Wilberforce,  and  others,  the  slave  trade 
was  abolished  in  the  British  Empire  in 
1807,  and  slavery  itself  suppressed  in 
1833,  compensation  being  made  to  the 
planters  of  the  British  West  Indies. 
Previous  to  this,  in  1793,  slavery  had  been 
abolished  in  the  French  West  Indies,  and 
many  whites  had  been  massacred  by  the 
excited  negroes.  Most  of  these  40,000 
Catholic  whites  emigrated  to  the  U.  S. 
Spain  has  moved  more  slowly,  abolishing 
slavery  in  Porto  Rico,  and  limiting  it 
in  Cuba.  Slavery  no  longer  exists  in 
the  Spanish-American  republics.  In 
1833  William  Lloyd  Garrison  organized 
an  anti-slavery  party  in  the  U.  S.  Two 
years  later  an  editor  in  Alton,  III.,  for 
having  denounced  slavery,  was  killed  by 
a  mob,  wliereupon  Garrison  made  a  pub- 
lic speech  in  Boston  against  this  out- 
rage. Garrison  was  seized  by. a  mob  of 
leading  men  of  Boston,  hence  known  as 
the  "  broad-cloth  mob,"  and  narrowly 
escaped  with  his  life.  This  incensed  a 
young  Boston  laAvyer,  Wendell  Phillips, 
who  thereafter  worked  enthusiastically 
with  the   ''Abolitionist"  pai-ty.     The 


SLAYEEY 

struggle  continued  for  years.  At  last  the 
Federal  government,  as  a  war  measure 
in  1863,  enlarged  the  scope  of  President 
Lincoln's  proclamation  of  the  year  before 
and  abolished  slavery  in  all  the  States. 
Thus  Christianity,  aided,  no  doubt, 
•  by  mere  humanitarian  views  and  political 
considerations,  has  a  second  time  over- 
mastered those  selfish  instincts  in  man 
which  favour  the  establishment  of  slavery. 
In  Mahomedan  and  Pagan  countries,  no 
such  influence  being  in  operation,  slavery, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  will  for  a  long  time  hold 
its  ground. 

(H.  Wallon,  "Hist,  de  I'Esclavage 
dans  I'Antiquit^,"  1847;  Dr.  Lightfoot, 
*'  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  and 
to  Philemon,^'  1875 ;  Earth's  "  Travels  in 
Central  Africa.") 

SOCZETir  OF  THE  FAZTHFUIi 
COlVIPAIffZOirS  OF  JESUS.  This 
congregation,  founded  at  Amiens  by 
Madame  de  Bonnault  dTIouet  in  1820, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Pere  Varin,  of 
the  Company  of  Jesus,  to  labour  for  the 
sanctification  of  souls  and  the  reform  of 
female  education,  sent  out  branches  even 
in  the  lifetime  of  the  foundress  into  Italy, 
Switzerland,  England,  and  Ireland. 
Madame  d'Houet  usually  began  by 
opening  a  poor  school,  in  which  the 
education  was  gratuitous,  adding,  as  cir- 
cumstances permitted,  a  middle  school  in 
which  moderate  fees  were  charged,  and  a 
pemdonnat  for  the  children  of  the  rich. 
Sns  died  in  1858 ;  her  life  has  been  well 
\7rilten  by  the  Abb^  F.  Martin.  The  in- 
stitute is  now  in  a  flourishing  condition  ; 
it  posessses  fourteen  houses  in  England, 
the  principal  one  being  at  Isleworth,  near 
London,  and  two  or  three  in  Ireland,  of 
which  the  most  important  is  at  Laurel 
Hill,  near  Limerick. 

SOMASCHA,  THE  IIEGITI.AR 
CXiESlXS  OF.  The  founder  of  this 
order  was  St.  Jerom  EmiUani,  a  noble 
Venetian,  ]x>rn  in  1481.  In  his  youth  he 
adopted  the  profession  of  arms,  and 
fought  with  distinction  in  the  war, 
disastrous  for  the  republic,  which  arose 
out  of  the  League  of  Cambray  (1509). 
After  valiantly  defending  the  town  of 
CavStelnuovo,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy;  but  being  delivered,  some  say 
miraculously,  from  his  imprisonment,  he 
resolved  to  give  his  future  life  to  God. 
For  some  years  he  devoted  himself  to  the 
care  of  some  orphan  nephews,  and  to  the 
management  of  their  property.  Circum- 
stances gradually  led  him  to  the  estab- 
lishment   of  an    orphanage    at   Venice, 

3 


SORBONNE 


709 


about  1528;  this  was  followed  up  by 
similar  foundations  at  iirescia  and  Ber- 
gamo. His  first  associates  were  laymen, 
in  concert  with  whom  he  fixed  the  centre 
of  their  operations  at  Somascha,  a  village 
between  Milan  and  Bergamo.  Some 
fervent  priests  joined  him,  and  they  all 
lived  a  life  of  great  regularity  and  aus- 
terity, sanctified  by  continual  prayer,  at 
Somascha.  The  holy  founder  died  in 
1537,  before  his  institute  had  been  ap- 
proved by  the  Holy  See  ;  he  was  beatified 
by  Benedict  XIV.  and  canonised  by 
Clement  XIII.  The  Papal  confirmation 
came  in  1568;  it  erected  the  congregation 
into  a  religious  order,  under  the  rule  of 
St.  Austin,  and  gave  it  the  name  of 
llegular  Clerks  of  St.  Mayeul,  or  of 
Somascha.  The  order  was  in  course  of 
time  greatly  extended  in  Italy,  and  was 
introduced  in  France ;  besides  orphanages 
and  Magdalen  asylums,  it  had  the  direc- 
tion of  several  colleges.  Its  principal 
house  is  now  at  Rome.^     (Ilelyot.) 

SORBOXrirs.  This  famous  college 
took  its  name  from  the  founder,  Robert  * 
de  Sorbon,  who  in  1252  founded  within 
the  University  of  Paris  a  college  for  the 
maintenance  of  sixteen  theological 
students,  four  from  each  of  the  French, 
Norman,  Picard,  and  English  "  nations." 
Burses  were  soon  afterwards  added  for 
Flemish  and  German  students.  The 
discipline  was  in  the  hands  of  a  pro  visor 
or  curator,  appointed  by  a  board  presided 
over  by  the  Archdeacon  of  Paris.  The 
formal  approbation  of  the  Holy  See  was 
given  in  1268.  The  credit  and  influence 
of  the  college  continually  increased ;  the 
majority  of  the  Paris  doctors  in  theology 
were  there  trained;  in  its  halls  were 
ordinarily  held  the  meetings  of  that 
faculty ;  and  in  process  of  time  "  the 
Sorbonne "  and  the  theological  faculty 
became  identified.  This  was  certainly 
the  case  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  From  that  time,  since 
the  theologians  of  the  university  were  then 
and  long  afterwards  its  chief  celebrities, 
the  history  of  the  Sorbonne  can  hardly  be 
distinguished,  down  to  the  Revolution, 
from  that  of  the  university  itself.  On  the 
important,  and  not  very  consistent  part 
which  the  Sorbonne  played  in  the  great 
Jansenist  controversy,  see  the  article 
Jaxsenism. 

In  1629  were  opened  the  existing 
stately  buildings  of  the  Sorbonne  in  the 
Quartier  I^atin,  including  the  church  in 
which  lie  the  ashes  of  Richelieu,  mn  am- 

1  Wetzer  and  Welte. 
B 


770 


SOUL 


SOUL 


phitheatre  capable  of  seating  more  than 
1,600  auditors,  and  residences  for  thirty- 
six  "doctors  of  the  Sorbonne."  The  old 
University  of  Paris  was  destroyed  by  the 
JElevolution ;  when  it  was  reorganised  by 
Napoleon  in  1808,  a  faculty  of  Catholic 
theology,  with  seven  chairs, was  established 
at  the  Sorbonne.  But  the  influence  of  the 
Government  in  the  appointment  of  the 
professors  caused  the  bishops  to  regard 
their  teaching  with  some  mistrust ;  the 
seminarist  routine  is  so  firmly  established 
that  even  those  who  admit  its  short- 
cominors  find  it  scarcely  possible  to  abstain 
from  taking  advantage  of  it;  and  from 
these  and  other  causes,  the  present  faculty 
of  Catholic  theology  is  little  more  than  a 
nomifiis  umh-a.  The  faculties  of  the 
Sciences  and  of  Literature  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  France  also  hold  their  high  days 
for  the  conferring  of  degrees  and  prizes 
in  the  buildings  of  the  Sorbonne.  Lectures 
are  also  given  within  its  walls  by  pro- 
fessors belonging  to  these  faculties. 

SOJSJm.      The   Scholastics,  following 

*  Aristotle,  mean  by  soul  the  primary 
principle  of  life,  and  by  living  things  all 
such  as  liave  the  capacity  of  motion  from 
within.  Thus,  a  stone  has  no  life,  and 
therefore  no  soul,  because  it  does  not  move 
but  is  moved  by  forces  external  to  itself ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  vegetables, 
beasts,  and  men  have  all  souls.  A  plant, 
for  example,  unlike  inoi-ganic  substances, 
has  the  power,  so  long  as  it  lives,  of  ab- 
sorbing moisture  and  of  assimilating  it 
by  the  activity  of  its  organs.  Brutes 
have  the  same  power,  and  add  to  it  that 
of  sense;  while  the  soul  of  man  is  at 
once  vegetative,  sensitive,  and  rational. 
We  have  to  deal  here  only  with  the 
human  or  rational  soul,  and  the  object  of 
this  article  is  to  note  the  principal  heads 
of  Catholic  doctrine  on  the  subject,  not  to 
enter  on  philosophical  discussion  foreign 
to  the  plan  of  this  work. 

1.  The  Soul  is  Iminateriol. — In  rcpect 
to  his  vegetative  and'  animal  functions 
man  does  not  differ  essentially  from  the 
lower  animals,  but  whereas  the  soul  of 
brutes  is  a  principle  which  can  only  exist 
in  matter  and  only  operates  in  union  with 
it,  the  human  soul,  though  it  also  exists 

'in  and  operates  through  matter,  "has, 
nevertheless,  an  existence  apart  from  mat- 
ter and  an  operation  in  which  the  body 

_^takes  no  part "  (Kleutgen).  The  School- 
men find  the  proof  of  such  immateriality 
in  the  power  which  the  mind  has'  of  form- 
ing abstract  and  immaterial  ideas.  And 
although  this  immaterial  or  spiritual  cha- 


racter of  the  soul  and  the  freedom  of  the 
will  are  taught  by  faith,  they  may  also  be 
certainly  proved  by  reason,  and  so  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  index  declared  June  11, 
1855. 

2.  The  Unity  of  the  ^omZ.— The  three 
classes  into  which  the  functions  of  the* 
soul  naturally  fall  led  some  to  assert  the 
existence  of  three  distinct  souls—  vegeta- 
tive, animal,  and  rational.  In  the  middle 
of  the  ninth  century  the  question  assumed 
theological  importance,  and  Photius  ex- 
cited great  opposition  by  his  doctrine  that 
man  had  two  souls — one  rational,  one 
irrational — and  that  the  latter  only  sinned 
(Hefele,  "ConcO."  iv.  p.  (^34).  Tlie  im-~^ 
moral  consequences  which  flow  from  such 

a  denial  of  the  unity  of  human  nature 
are  obvious,  and  in  869  the  Fourth 
General  Council  of  Constantinople  (can. 
11),  after  stating  that  both  Old  and  New 
Testaments  attributed  "one  rational  and 
intelligent  soul "  to  man  {unam  animam 
rationnhilein  et  intellectualem,  fxiav  yf/vxrjv 
XoyiKTju  re  Koi  voepciv),  anathematised  the 
doctrine  of  "  two  souls  "  as  a  heresy.  In 
the  middle  ages,  however,  trichotomy,  or 
the  doctrine  of  "  three  souls,"  was  upheld 
by  Ockham,  who  alleged  that  the  doctrine 
of  "two  souls  " — one  good,  one  bad — not 
that  of  separate  souls,  in  itself  and  as  a 
philosophical  thesis,  had  been  condemned 
bv  the  Eighth  General  Council  (Ockham, 
"  Quodlib."  II.  qu.  10  and  11,  quoted  by 
Kleutgen),  It  deserves  notice  that 
although  St.  Thomas  (in  1  Thess.  v.  23) 
speaks  of  the  doctrine  of  "  two  souls  "  as 
"  reprobated  in  the  decisions  of  the 
Church,"  the  very  learned  Estius,  in  his 
commentary  on  the  same  passage,  regards 
the  dispute  as  merely  philosophical,  and 
evidently  did  not  admit  that  the  Church 
had  decided  the  matter  ("  an  vero  ea  duo, 
sc.  pars  ration  alls  animse  et  pars  ejusdem 
sensitiva,  re  ipsa  an  vero,  quod  magis 
recepta  est,  sola  ratione  distinguantur, 
philosophi  disputant").  In  our  own 
time  a  celebrated  German  Catholic, 
Giinther  (d.  1863),  defended  the  theory 
that  there  were  in  human  nature  two 
distinct  principles — one  the  animal  soul, 
the  principle  of  vegetative  and  animal 
life ;  the  other  a  spiritual  principle. 

3.  Union  of  Soul  and  Body. — The 
Schoolmen  speak  of  the  one  soul  as  the 
substantial  form  of  the  body.  By  the 
substantial  form  they  understand  that 
principle  by  which  a  thing  is  constituted 
in  its  proper  species,  that  which  makes  it 
what  it  essentially  is.  They  appeal  to 
the  unity  of  nature  testified  by  conscious- 


SOUL 

moss  and  acknowledged  in  the  common 
language  'of  mankind.  We  express  our 
consciousness  of  our  own  unity  when  we 
say,  "  I  feel,"  "  I  reason,"  ''  I  will/'  It  is 
not,  as  Aristotle  remarks,  so  correct  to  say 
"  My  eye  sees "  as  "  I  see  through  the 
eye."  Further,  we  are  conscious  that  we 
who  consider  and  resolve  carry  out  our 
resolution  through  the  bodily  limhs.  Our 
faculties,  indeed,  are  different,  but  all 
proceed  from  one  common  principle  of  life 
which  makes  each  of  us  a  single  being. 
The  denial  that  the  "  substance  of  the 
rational  or  intellectual  soul  is  truly  and 
in  itself  the  form  of  the  human  body  " 
was  condemned  at  the  General  Council 
of  Vienne  as  erroneous  and  out  of  har- 
mony with  {inimicam)  the  truth  of  the 
Catholic  faith.  The  condemnation  was 
directed  against  the  teaching  of  John  of 
Oliva  (1247-1:297),  a  Proveu9al  Fran- 
ciscan, who  joined  the  heretical  party  of 
the  "  Spiritual "  Friars.  The  condemna- 
tion was  repeated  by  Pius  IX.  in  1857, 
in  his  brief  to  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne 
on  the  errors  of  Giinfcher.  It  is,  however, 
well  to  remember  that  the  doctrine  of 
Scotus  is  different  here  from  that  of  the 
Thomists.  He  admitted  that  the  single 
principle  of  life  is  the  substantial  form, 
but  held  that  the  body  had  a  form  of  its 
own,  this  form  of  corporeity,  as  he  called 
it,  being  distinct  from  that  of  inorganic 
bodies. 

4.  Immortality  of  the  Soul. — Here 
there  is  a  marked  divergence  of  opinion 
among. Catholic  philosophers.  St.  Thomas 
and  many  who  follow  him  believe  that  it 
can  be  proved  by  reason.  Scotus,  on  the 
contrary,  regards  it  as  a  truth  cognisable 
by  faith  alone.  The  Roman  Congregations 
have  carefully  avoided  even  the  appear- 
ance of  condemning  the  Scotist  position. 
In  the  decree  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Index,  already  cited,  it  is  the  spiritual 
nature,  not  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
which  is  said  to  be  demonstrable  b}^ 
reason. 

6.  The  Origin  of  the  JSoid. — Origen 
held  with  Plato  that  souls  existed  before 
they  were  united  with  the  body,  and  this 
theory  forms  the  subject  of  the  first  of  the 
fifteen  anathemas  issued  by  (tvvo8os  evdrj- 
liova-a  of  Constantinople  in  543  (see  Hefele, 
"Concil."  II.  p.  790  seq.).  Putiing  this 
aside,  we  find  that  at  least  three  distinct 
theories  on  the  origin  of  the  soul  have 
been  held  in  the  Church. 

(a)  A  few  held  that  the  soul  of  men 
was  produced,  like  that  of  the  brutes,  by 
natural  generation,  no  special  power  being 

3 


SOUL 


771 


atti*ibuted  to  the  souls  of  the  parents,  ex- 
cept so  far  as  the  soul  is  the  animating 
principle  of  the  body.  This  theory  is  stated 
with  ch  aracteristic  coarseness  by  TertuUian 
{"  Be  Anima,"  27)  ;  was  stated  as  a  pos- 
sible theory  by  Rufinus  (see  Hieron. 
"  Adv.  Rufin."ii.  8)  ;  and  perhaps  adopted 
by  Macarius  (Hom.  xxx.  1).^ 

(/3)  It  was  a  common  belief  in  the 
early  Church  (Clem.  Al.  "  Strom."  iv.  6, 
p.  638 ;  ed.  Potter,  vi.  16,  p.  808  ;  Hieron. 
''In  Ecclesiast."  torn.  iii.  ed.  Vallarsi, 
p.  492-3)  that  the  soul  was  immediately 
created  by  God  and  infused  by  Him  into 
the  embryo  when  sufficiently  organised. 
Jerome,  however  (Ep.  126  ad  Marcellin 
et  Anapsych.),  admits  that  most  Westerns 
held  the  soul  to  be  "  ex  traduce." 

(y)  Augustine  found  it  hard  to 
defend  himself  against  the  Pelagians  on 
the  theory  that  the  soul  was  immediately 
created  by  God.  If  the  soul  came  straight 
from  God,  how  could  it  come  stained  with 
original  sin  ?  The  difficulty  led  Augustine 
to  investigate  the  assumption  from  which 
it  arose.  He  could  find  no  proof  in  Scrip- 
ture that  the  soul  is  directly  created  by 
God,  and,  while  he  repudiated  TertuUian  s 
theory,  he  thought  it  very  possible  (Ep. 
'*  Ad"Optat."  190,  al.  157)  that  an  imma- 
terial element  ("  incorporeum  semen  ") 
was  communicated  by  the  father  to  the 
mother.  The  philosophical  reasons  seemed 
to  him  fairly  balanced  on  either  side, 
though  he  inclined  on  theological  grounds 
to  tlie  doctrine  that  the  soul  came  by 
generation  ("De  Gen.  ad  Lit."  x.  23). 
St  Augustine's  influence  led  Fulgentiua 
("  Be  Verit.  Praedest."  iii.  18),  Gregory 
the  Great  (Ep.  ix.  62,  "Ad  Secundin."), 
and  Isidore  {"  Be  Ordine  Great."  cap.  15) 
to  decide,  or  rather  to  abstain  from  de- 
ciding, the  matter,  just  as  St.  Augustine 
himself  had  done.  On  the  other  hand, 
St  Bernard  (Serm.  II.  "  Be  Nativ."  sub 
Jin.)  and  the  Schoolmen  generally  (see, 
e.g.,  St.  Thomas,  I.  qu.  xc.)  reverted  to  the 
older  view — viz.  creationism — and  aban- 
doned that  of  Augustine — viz.  genera- 
tionism.  Benedict  XII.  required  the 
Armenian  bishops  to  accept  creationism. 
The  controversy  was  revived  in  1854  by 
Frohschammer,  priest  and  professor  of 
philosophy  at  Munich.  His  errors  on  the 
relations  of  faith  and  reason  were  pro- 
scribed by  Pius  IX.  in  a  brief  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Munich  (1862),  but  nothing 

1  "  Earthly  fathers  from  their  own  nature, 
from  their  body  and  soul,  beget  children."  The 
words    are   scarcely   definite  eroufjh   to  show 
which  theory  Macarius  held. 
1)2   . 


772       SPIRITUALISM,  ETC. 

waa  said  of  his  teaching  on  the  origin  of 
the  soul. 

SPIRZTUAI.ISM,  MESMERZSMC, 
A-XIMAI.  MAGIO-ETZSM,  &.C.  Mes- 
merism takes  its  name  from  Mesmer,  a 
German  physician  addicted  to  alchemy 
and  astrology.  This  impostor  came  to 
Paris  in  1 778,  and  found  many  credulous 
disciples  there.  He  professed  to  cm'e 
disease  hy  contact  with  magnetic  cylinders, 
and  threw  many  persons  into  conyulsions. 
His  confederate,  Puys^gur,  dispensed 
with  the  apparatus,  and  made  all  depend 
on  passes  of  the  hand  and  the  will  of 
mesmerist  and  patient.  Others,  like  Favia, 
pretended  to  induce  magnetic  sleep  hy 
the  mere  utterance  of  a  command,  while 
Petet,  at  Lyons,  brought  somnambulism 
and  clairvoyance  on  the  stage.  In  itself 
and  used  simply  as  a  natural  means  of 
producing  natural  effects,  mesmerism, 
whatever  common  sense  may  ha^ve  to  say 
on  the  matter,  is  not  condemned  by  reli- 
gion, and  so  the  Congregation  of  the 
Holy  Office  ruled  in  1840.  Of  course, 
even  then  persons  are  hound  to  beware  of 
the  moral  dangers  to  which  they  may 
expose  themselves  in  a  state  of  magnetic 
sleep  and  in  the  hands  of  persons  who 
make  a  living  by  this  disreputable  trade. 
But  the  same  authority  in  1856  strictly 
forbade  attempts  of  deluded  people  to 
find  out  the  secrets  of  the  future  and  the 
like  from  those  who  professed  to  reveal 
them  in  a  state  of  magnetic  sleep.  This 
involves  the  sin  of  divination  on  the  part 
of  the  dupes,  of  blasphemy  and  cheating 
on  the  part  of  the  clairvoyante  and  those 
who  exhibit  her. 

The  still  more  ludicrous  and  revolting 
superstition  of  Spiritualism  began  in 
America.  A  Dr.  BiUor,  of  New  York,  in 
1839,  attributed  somnambulism  to  angels 
and  daemons ;  in  1847,  "  spirits,"  which 
came  at  the  bidding  of  mediums,  assumed 
visible  shapes,  and  next  year  the  folly  of 
**  table-turni  ug "  manifested  itself  at 
Hydesville,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
The  "  spirits  "  wrote  and  spoke  nonsense 
through  their  mediums,  and,  as  they  con- 
descended to  solve  theological  questions. 
Spiritualism  developed  itself  into  a  ghastly 
caricature  of  religion,  which  won  adherents 
among  foolish  people  all  over  Europe. 
This  consultation  of  spirits  cannot,  it  is 
plain,  be  made  seriously  without  heresy, 
superstition,  and  impiety  combined.  Ac- 
cording to  Gury,  even  passive  assist- 
ance at  a  stance  is  sinful,  because  it 
is  co-operation  in  a  thing  intrinsically 
evlL 


STATES  OF  TflE  CHURCH 

STATES       OF      THE      CRXTBCB. 

Under  the  Pagan  emperors  Christianity 
was  a  religio  illicita,  and  the  Roman 
Pontiffs  were  exposed  by  their  position  to 
the  full  severity  of  the  laws;  a  large 
proportion  of  them  suffered  martyrdom. 
The  edicts  of  Constantine  in  favour  of 
the  religion  which  he  had  embraced  have 
been  noticed  in  a  previous  article 
[Church  Pkoperti,  p.  183].  In.  the 
middle  ages  it  was  long  believed  that  the 
first  Christian  emperor  had  made  a  solenm 
"Edict  of  Donation,"  conferring  on. the 
Pope,  Sylvester  I.,  the  city  of  Rome,  the 
imperial  palace  there,  and  the  "  provinces, 
.places,  and  cities  of  all  Italy,  and  the 
western  regions."  ^  This  donation  was 
long  ago  recognised  as  a  forgery ;  Mura- 
tori  assigns  its  invention  to  the  eighth 
century. 

At  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  the 
Roman  See  w^as  in  possession  of  large 
landed  estates,  chiefly  in  Italy  and 
Sicily.  After  the  death  of  Gregory  the 
Great  the  power  of  the  Eastern  Empire 
in  Italy  dwindled  more  and  more,  and  the 
Lombards,  pressing  down  from  the  North, 
threatened  to  seize  upon  Rome.  Natu- 
rally, in  the  absence  of  other  authority, 
the  Romans  and  the  people  of  the  sur- 
rounding districts  came  to  look  on  the  ^ 
Popes  as  their  protectors  and  rulers.  To 
drive  back  the  Lombards,  Pope  Stephen  II. 
appealed  for  aid  to  the  young  Prankish 
monarchy ;  Pepin  (754)  crossed  the  Alps, 
defeated  Astolfo,  the  Lombard  king,  and 
endowed  the  Papacy  with  the  Exarchate 
of  Ravenna.  This  was  the  real  beginning 
of  the  Ecclesiastical  State.  Charlemagne 
confirmed  his  father's  grant,  but  with  the 
understanding  that  the  supreme  civil  au- 
thority remained  in  his  hands  as  "  Patri- 
cian "  of  Rome.  The  next  great  acquisi- 
tion of  territory  came  through  the  bequest 
of  the  Countess  Matilda  (tlll5),  the 
friend  of  Gregory  VII. ;  it  consisted  of 
Southern  Tuscany  and  other  districts. 
But  just  as  other  portions  of  the  Papal 
territory  had  been  seized  by  various  counts 
and  princes,  so  now  the  rich  lands  of  the 
Countess  were  appropriated  by  the 
German  emperors,  and  for  a  hundred 
years  the  Popes  had  little  benefit  from  the 
gift.  At  length,  under  the  vigorous  rule 
of  Innocent  III.  (tl216),  the  right  of  the 
Roman  See  was  admitted,  and  a  compact 
Ecclesiastical  State,  in  which  the  Popes 
governed  without  a  superior — except  so 
far  as  a  vague  suzerainty  was  allowed  to 

*  Milman,  Latin  Christianity,  i.  66. 


STATES  OF  THE  CHURCH 

the   emperors — now  arose    for  the  first 
time. 

The  emperors  of  the  House  of  Hohen- 
staufen,  ever  seekiug  to  extend  their 
power  in  Italy,  left  the  Popes  no  rest. 
After  the  extmction  of  that  family  in  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  a  new 
state  of  things  arose.  Rudolf  of  Haps- 
burg,  the  new  emperor,  guaranteed  to  the 
Pope  (Gregory  X.)  in  1274  the  tranquil 
possession  of  tlie  Pontifical  territory.  The 
Popes  had  for  a  long  time  nothing  to  fear 
on  the  side  of  Germany  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  establishment  of  the  House  of 
Anjou  at  Naples,  and  the  calamitous  issue 
of  the  struggle  between  Boniface  VI H. 
and  Philip  le  Bel  gave  to  the  French 
monarchy,  in  the  fourteentli  century,  an 
unhappy  influence  over  the  temporal 
policy  of  the  Papacy.  The  Holy  See  was 
removed  to  Avignon,^  and  fixed  there 
more  than  seventy  years  (1305-1378). 
Meantime  its  Italian  territories  were  full 
of  confusion ;  from  which,  indeed,  the 
genius  of  Cardinal  Albornoz  (13.53-1368) 
rescued  them  for  a  time ;  but  after  the 
schism  had  broken  out  (1378)  the  peace- 
ful and  regular  government  of  the  Papal 
States  became  for  a  long  time  impossible. 
The  vice  of  nepotism  was  justly  charge- 
able against  several  of  the  Popes  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  This  culminated  in 
the  exaltation  of  Caesar  Borgia  over  all 
the  petty  princes  of  Central  and  Northern 
Italy.  Pope  Julius  II.  (1503-1613) 
compelled  Caesar  to  surrender  his  acquisi- 
tions, and  with  great  ability  and  vigour 
took  measures  against  all  who  had  en- 
croached upon  the  patrimony  of  the 
Church.  He  humbled  the  Venetians,  re- 
covered Bologna  and  Fermo,  and  became 
— after  Innocent  III.  and  Albornoz — the 
third  founder  and  restorer  of  the  Papal 
States.  In  1596  Ferrara,  and  in  1631  Ur- 
bino  came  by  escheat  to  the  Roman  See.  The 
States  of  the  Church  remained  with  their 
frontiers  practically  unchanged  down  to 
the  French  Revolution,  constituting  a 
territory  of  irregular  shape  in  the  centre 
of  Italy,  from  Ferrara  on  the  north  to 
Terracina  on  the  south,  having  Ancona 
for  its  eastern  and  Civita  Vecchia  for  its 
western  seaport.  By  the  treaty  of  Tolen- 
tino  (1797)  Napoleon  compelled  the  Pope 
to  cede  the  Legations,  Bologna,  Ferrara, 
and  Romagna,  and  admit  a  French  garri- 
son into  Ancona ;  Avignon  had  been 
already  seized   and   annexed  to  France. 

1  The  county  of  Avignon,  or  the  Venaissin, 
which  once  belonged  to  the  Counts  of  Toulouse, 
passed  to  the  Roman  See  in  1274. 


STATES  OF  THE  CHURCH    77S 

Subsequently  the  whole  of  the  Papal 
territory  was  appropriated  by  the  French, 
and  when  the  Pope  (Pius  V'll.)  launched 
against  Napoleon  on  this  account  the 
sentence  of  excommunication,  he  was 
arrested  and  kept  a  close  prisoner,  first  at 
Savona  and  afterwards  at  Fontainebleau. 
After  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  the  Pope  was 
reinstated  in  the  government  of  an  un- 
diminished territory.  Pius  IX.,  being 
elected  Pope  in  1846,  proclaimed  an 
amnesty  to  political  offenders,  and  sin- 
cerely endeavoured  so  thoroughly  to 
reform  the  administration  in  every  depart- 
ment as  to  leave  his  subjects  without  just 
cause  of  discontent.  The  hateful  crime 
of  the  murder  of  his  minister  Pellegrino 
Rossi  (1848)  was  the  answer  of  the 
Roman  democrats  to  the  fatherly  over- 
tures of  the  Pontiff".  The  Pope  was 
compelled  to  take  refuge  on  Neapolitan 
territory,  and  a  republic  was  set  up  at 
Rome  by  Mazzini  and  Garibaldi.  Louis 
Napoleon,  having  been  elected  President 
of  the  new  French  Republic,  sent  troops 
to  Rome,  under  General  Oudinot,  who, 
without  much  trouble,  drove  away  the 
revolutionists  and  brought  the  Pope  back. 
All  this  took  place  in  1849,  A  French 
garrison  was  left  at  Rome  ;  but  the  Pope 
knew  that  it  did  not  enter  into  the 
designs  of  Louis  Napoleon  to  defend  the 
entire  Pontifical  territory ;  in  order, 
therefore,  to  keep  it  intact  he  raised  a 
small  army,  commanded  by  the  French 
General  Lamoriciere,  and  composed  to  a 
large  extent  of  foreign  Catholics.  After 
the  war  between  Austria  and  France,  in 
which  the  power  of  the  former  was  beaten 
down  at  Solferino  (1859),  Piedmont, 
ruled  by  the  astute  Cavour  and  assisted 
by  the  revolutionary  sects,  succeeded  in 
obtaining  possession  of  Tuscany,  the 
Legations,  Modena,  Parma,  and  Naples. 
The  small  Papal  army  was  overpowered 
by  a  Piedmontese  force  many  times  more 
numerous  at  Casteltidardo  (1860).  The 
Pope  was  now  left  with  only  one  province, 
the  "  Patrimony  of  St.  Peter,"  extending 
some  fifty  miles  along  the  coast  to  the 
north  of  Rome.  Of  this  also,  and  of  his 
capital,  Pius  IX.  was  deprived  in  1870 
by  the  Piedmontese  king,  who  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  reverses  suffered  by  France 
in  the  war  with  Germany  to  set  at  naught 
the  treaty  of  1864,  by  which  he  nad 
agreed  that  Florence  should  be  the  capital 
of  the  Italian  kingdom.  It  was  now  said 
that  Rome  was  the  indispensable  capital 
of  that  kingdom,  but  that  the  Pope's 
independence  should  be  respected.     The 


774    STATES  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Papal  palace  of  the  Quirinal  and  all  the 
public  buildiiifrs  of  Home  were  appro- 
priated by  the  invaders ;  but  the  Vatican 
was  left  unassailed,  and  a  "  Law  of 
Guarantees,"  passed  by  tlie  Italian  Par- 
liament (and  capable  of  being  repealed 
by  the  same  authority),  while  assigning 
to  the  Pope  an  annual  dotation  of  two 
million  lire,  guaranteed  to  him  sovereign 
rights  within  the  limits  of  the  Vatican. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the 
dotation  has  not  been  accepted,  while  the 
fragment  of  sovereignty  guaranteed  has 
already  been  encroached  upon  in  various 
ways,  and  is  held  on  a  tenure  of  the  most 
precarious  description.  For  the  present, 
Rome  and  the  Papal  States  are  lost  to  the 
Papacy.  What  the  pious  and  the  be- 
lieving gave,  men  of  a  different  temper 
have  taken  away  ;  and  there  is  no  present 
sign  of  redress. 

The  Popes  have  not  ceased  to  declare, 
on  all  fitting  occasions,  that  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  temporal  independence  is 
necessary,  as  human  affairs  are  consti- 
tuted, to  the  free  and  full  exercise  of 
their  spiritual  authority.  It  has  been 
argued  that  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  tem- 
poral power  has  ceased  in  modern  times, 
because  the  lay  power  in  states  has  ceased 
to  be,  as  it  often  was  in  the  middle  ages, 
arbitrary,  corrupt,  violent,  and  ill-in- 
formed, but  on  the  contrary  is  adminis- 
t/ered  on  fixed  and  equitable  principles 
wh.ich  ensure  equal  justice  for  aU.  It  is 
further  maintained  that  the  danger  of  un- 
due influence,  which  might  reasonably  be 
dreaded  while  the  European  Governments 
were  seriously  (Christian  in  one  direction 
or  another,  and  which  made  intolerable 
to  previous  generations  the  notion  of  the 
Pope  as  a  French,  or  Spanish,  or  Austrian 
subject,  cannot  be  pleaded  in  an  age  when 
government  has  ceased  to  take  theology 
into  account,  and  is  administered  on  a 
purely  utilitarian  basis.  What  risk  of 
interference  with  the  Papal  government 
of  the  Church  could  there  be  while 
Oavours  and  Rattazzis  held  the  reins  of 
power  ?  The  Pope,  on  this  view,  though 
a  subject  of  the  Italian  kingdom,  might 
both  be  and  be  known  to  be  absolutely 
untrammelled  in  the  government  of  the 
Church.  It  is  quite  true  that  the  objec- 
tions to  the  inclusion  of  the  seat  of  the 
Papacy  in  any  modern  state  are  no  longer 
precisely  what  they  were.  They  have 
changed  then* character;  but  they  are  not 
less  cogent  now  than  in  former  times. 
The  very  fact  that  European  Governments 
have    ceased  to  be  Christian  makes  it 


STATES  OF  THE  CHURCH 

impossible  for  the  Papacy,  of  which 
Christ  and  his  gospel  are  the  life,  to  live 
at  peace  with  them.  Formerly,  even  if 
the  influence  of  a  Catholic  king  or 
emperor  at  Rome  appeared  to  be  excessive, 
still  it  professed,  like  the  Papacy  itself, 
to  be  directed  to  Christian  ends,  and  it 
made  use  of  similar  methods.  The  pos- 
session of  Rome  by  a  Charles  V.  or  a 
Louis  XIV.  did  not  involve  the  deluging 
of  the  city  with  immoral  and  infidel  pub- 
lications, or  the  permission  of  the  public 
exhibition  of  every  form  of  heresy  and 
absm-dity.  It  did  not  mean  that  "  Little 
Bethels "  and  sectarian  chapels  and 
churches  were  to  spring  up  unchecked,  or 
that  the  streets  were  to  be  given  over  to 
the  grotesque  proceedings  of  a  "  Salvation 
Army."  But  all  this  is  implied,  and  can- 
not but  be  implied,  in  the  possession  of 
Rome  by  such  a  state  as  Italy,  which  has 
ceased  to  be  Christian.  Truth  and  error, 
good  and  evil,  the  beautiful  and  the  un- 
seemly, are  matter's  of  indifference  to  such 
a  government ;  it  will  countenance  the 
preachers  of  heresy  as  willingly  as  the 
preachers  of  truth.'  With  such  a  state 
the  Roman  See  cannot  possibly  live  on 
terms  of  amit3^  It  is  not  a  question 
about  reasonable  toleration  or  respect  for 
the  rights  of  conscience.  As  the  Popes 
have  not  in  the  past,  so  they  would  not  in 
the  future,  interfere  with  any  Protestants 
residing  in  Rome  who  might  wish  to 
practise  their  religious  rites  in  a  quiet  and 
unobtrusive  manner.  The  question  is 
whether  a  Government  ought  to  treat  all 
religions  alike — that  is,  whether  it  ought 
to  have  no  religion,  and  ignore  the  subject 
altogether. 

Protestants  themselves,  or  the  more 
reasonable  and  enlightened  among  them, 
view  with  grief  and  scorn  the  process  by 
which  Rome  is  being  reduced  to  the  level 
of  an  English  or  American  town.  They 
would  prefer  that  at  least  one  place  shoidd 
be  left  on  earth  where  Catholic  principles 
of  government  and  maxims  of  life  might  be 
applied  without  disturbance.  They  would 
wish  to  see  the  Sacred  Congregations 
again  discharging  their  critical  and  judi- 
cial functions.  It  might  be  said  that  the 
discipline  so  set  up  must  be  ineffectual ;  a 
Roman  could  obtain  the  works  of  Renan 
or  Paul  de  Kock  at  Florence  if  the  sale 
were  forbidden  at  Rome  ;  he  could  turn 
Methodist  and  rant  in  public  at  Naples  if 
this  luxury  were  denied  to  him  at  home. 
But  what  then  ?,  Is  it  nothing  that  an 
example  of  right  practice  should  be  given, 
towards  which  European  society,  dialo- 


STATIONS 

cated  as  it  now  is,  might  gradually  tend  ? 
So  far  from  the  changed  circimistances  of 
Europe  making  it  a  matter  of  little 
moment  that  the  Pope  should  he  inde- 
pendent, there  has  never  heen  a  time 
since  the  conversion  of  Constantine  when 
his  independence  has  heen  more  vitally 
necessary,  because  in  no  previous  age  has 
the  civil  authority  so  openly  declared 
itself  unchristian.  The  Pope  rnust  oppose, 
must  be  out  of  sympathy  with  the  civil 
power,  when  he  sees  it  establishing 
schools  without  religion,  encouraging  the 
erection  of  heretical  temples,  vexing  and 
banishing  religious  orders,  and  throwing 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  those  who  desire 
to  embrace  the  religious  life.  To  make 
the  Pope  a  subject  of  any  Power  that 
governs  in  this  fashion — and  nearly  all 
civilised  states  do  so — can  only  end  in  one 
of  t  wo  ways :  either  he  will  be  forced  to 
acquiesce  in  what  he  knows  to  be  a  false 
and  mischievous  system,  or  he  will  find 
himself  in  a  state  of  continual  collision 
with  the  civil  po  vver.  The  first  a]  tern  ati  ve 
is,  of  course,  impossible;  the  second 
implies  a  state  of  things  more  or  less  re- 
sembling that  which  now  exists,  but  still 
worse  in  this  respect,  that  even  the 
shadow  of  independence  which  the  Pied- 
montese  left  to  the  Pope  in  1870,  through 
forbearing  to  seize  on  the  Vatican  palace, 
would  be  swept  away  if  he  were  openly 
declared  a  subject  ot  the  King  of  Italy. 
Against  such  a  consummation  all  Catho- 
lics worthy  of  the  name  will  be  ready  at 
any  time  to  protest,  and,  if  necessary,  in  a 
manne:f  more  eftectual  than  by  words.  The 
present  position,  painful  and  dishonouring 
as  it  is  to  the  Holy  Father,  disgraceful  to 
the  Italians,  and  afflicting  to  all  faithful 
Catholics,  evidently  does  not  possess  the 
character  of  durability. 

STATZOirs.  (1)  A  name  given  to 
the  fast  kept  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays. 
In  the  Roman  Chui-ch  the  fast  was  one 
of  devotion,  not  of  precept,  and  it  ended 
at  none — i.e.  three  o'clock  (Tertull.  "  De 
Jejun."  2).  Tertullian  ("  De  Orat.''  19) 
explains  the  word  from  the  military 
usage ;  the  stations  were  days  on  which 
the  Christian  soldiers  stood  on  guard  and 
"  watched  in  prayer."  It  was  character- 
istic of  the  Montanists  to  prolong  the  fast 
of  the  Stations  till  the  evening  ("  De 
Jejun/'  10).  Prudentius  ("  Peristeph." 
vi.  52  aeq.)  relates  of  the  martyr  Fruc- 
tuosus  that  he  refused  the  cup  offered  him 
because  it  was  a  Station  and  the  ninth 
hour  had  not  come.  In  the  East,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  fast  of  the  Stations  was 


STATIONS 


776 


obligatory  ("Apost.  Const."  v.  20 ;  "  Canon 
Apost."  69  ;  1  Epiphan.  "  Hter."  75  n.  3). 
In  the  "West,  the  fast  on  Wednesday 
never  obligatory,  died  out  altogether, 
while  that  of  Friday  became  obligatory 
about  the  end  of  the  ninth  century.  The 
Greeks,  on  the  other  hand,  still  maintain 
the  fast  of  Wednesdays  arid  Fridays. 
(Thomassin,  "Traitd  des  Jeunes,"  P,  ii. 
ch.  15 ;  see  Abstinence  and  Fast.) 

(2)  The  word,  in  another  sense,  still 
holds  its  place  in  the  Roman  jNIissal.  Many 
of  our  readers  must  have  noticed  the 
words  "  Statio  ad  S.  Petrum,ad  S.  Mariam 
majorem,"  &c., before  the  Introit  of  certain 
Masses.  Mabillon  ("  Museum  Italicum," 
tom.  ii.  p.  xxxi.)  explains  the  term 
as  meaning  either  a  fast  or  "a  con- 
course of  the  people  to  an  appointed 
place — i.e.  a  church  in  which  the  proces- 
sion of  the  clergy  halts  on  stated  days  to 
say  stated  prayers.  It  is  an  ancient 
custom  in  Rome  that  the  Roman  clei  gy 
should  on  particular  days  meet  for  prayer 
in  some  one  church  where  Mass  and  other 
divine  services  are  performed.  The  pro- 
cession of  the  Roman  clergy  to  these 
Stations  is  either  solemn  or  private  ;  the 
latter  when  individuals  betake  themselves 
privately  to  the  appointed  place,  the 
former  when  the  Pope  and  the  rest 
solemnly  proceed  thither  singing  litanies 
and  other  prayers."  The  gatherinn:  of 
clergj'  and  people  before  this  procession, 
Mabillon  continues,  was  called  coUecta, 
and  the  name  was  then  given  to  the 
prayer  said  over  the  people  before  the 
procession  started  from  one  church  to  the 
other  in  order  to  make  the  Station.  "  It 
was  St.  Gregory  who  regulated  the 
Stations  at  Rome — i.e.  the  churches  where 
the  office  was  to  be  performed  daily  in 
Lent,  on  the  Ember  days,  and  on  the 
solemn  feasts.  For  the  feasts  of  the 
saints  were  celebrated  in  the  churches 
which  contained  their  relics.  St.  Gregory 
then  marked  these  Stations  in  his  Sacra- 
mentary,  as  they  are  now  in  the  Roman 
Missal,  and  attached  them  chiefly  to  the 
patriarchal  and  titular  churches ;  but 
although  the  Stations  were  fixed,  the 
Archdeacon  did  not  fail,  after  the  Pope's 
Communion,  to  announce  the  next  Station 
to  the  people"  (Fleury,  "  H.  E."  livr. 

1  We  follow  Thomassm  in  his  interpretation 
of  the  fourth  canon.  The  passage  in  the  Con- 
stitutions (TTolcrai'  TCTpafia  Kai  iraaav  7rapa<rKevr]V 
irpo(na.(T(Toy.ev  vfiXv  vrftrTeveiv)   is,    aS  it   SeemS    tO 

US,  decisive  against  the  view  of  Hefele  {ConcU. 
vol.  i.  p.  821)  and  others.  Terpas  often  means 
"  the  fourth  day." 


77^    STATIONS  OF  THE  CROSS 

xxxvi.  §  17).  In  the  Easter  of  774, 
Charlemagne  assisted  at  the  Station  of 
Easter  Sunday  at  St.  Mary  Major,  of 
Easter  Monday  at  St.  Peter's,  Tuesday  at 
St.  Paul's — the  same  Stations  still  noted 
in  our  Missal  (Eginhard,  apud  Fleury, 
xliv.  §  5). 

STATIONS  OF  THS  CROSS 
{Via  Cruets f  Via  Caloarii).  A  series  of 
images  or  pictures  representing  the  dif- 
ferent events  in  the  Passion  of  Christ, 
each  Station  corresponding  to  a  particular 
event.  Usually,  they  are  ranged  round 
the  church,  the  lirst  station  being  placed 
on  one  side  of  the  high  altar,  the  last  on 
the  other.  The  Stations  are  among  the 
most  popular  of  Catholic  devotions  and 
are  to  be  found  in  almost  every  church. 
Sometimes  they  are  erected  in  the  open 
air,  especially  on  roads  which  lead  to 
some  church  or  shrine  standing  on  a  hill. 

The  devotion  began  in  the  Franciscan 
order.  The  Franciscans  are  the  guardians 
of  the  holy  places  in  Jerusalem,  and  these 
stations  are  intended  as  a  help  to  making 
in  spirit  a  pilgrimage  to  the  scene  of 
Christ's  sufferings  and  death.  Innocent 
XII.,  in  1694,  authentically  interpreting 
a  brief  of  his  predecessor  Innocent  XI. 
in  1686,  declared  that  the  indulgences 
granted  for  devoutly  visiting  certain  holy 
places  in  Palestine  could  be  gained  by  all 
Franciscans  and  by  all  affiliated  to  the 
order  if  they  made  the  way  of  the  cross 
devoutly — i.e.  passed  or  turned  from 
station  to  station  meditating  devoutly  on 
the  various  stages  of  the  history. 

Benedict  XIII.,  in  1726,  extended  these 
indulgences  to  all  the  faithful ;  Clement 
XII.,  in  1731,  permitted  persons  to  gain 
the  indulgences  at  Stations  erected  in 
churches  which  were  not  Franciscan,  pro- 
vided they  were  erected  by  a  Franciscan 
with  the  sanction  of  the  ordinary.  At 
present  the  connection  of  the  Stations 
with  the  Franciscan  order  is  almost  for- 
gotten, at  least  in  England,  except  as  a 
matter  of  history.  Our  bishops  can,  by 
Apostolic  faculties,  erect  the  Stations  with 
the  indulgences  attached  to  them,  and 
they  constantly  delegate  this  faculty  to 
priests.  The  English  bishops  received 
faculties  to  this  effect,  provided  there  were 
no  religious  in  the  neighbourhood  to  whom 
the  privilege  belonged,  in  1857.  In  1862 
these  faculties  were  renewed  without  this 
limitation.  The  faculties  are  quinquen- 
nial. (Cone.  Prov.  Westmonast.  II.  Ap- 
pend. I.    Concil.  IV.  Append.  II.) 

There  are  fourteen  Stations— viz.  (1) 
the  sentence    passed    on    oui*   Lord  by 


STIGMATA 

Pilate ;  (2)  the  receiving  of  the  cross ; 
(3)  our  Lord's  first  fall ;  (4)  his  meeting 
with  his  mother  •,  (5)  the  bearing  of  the 
cross  by  Simon  of  Cyrene  ;  (6)  the  wiping 
of  Christ's  face  by  Veronica  with  a  hand- 
kerchief; (7)  his  second  fall;  (8)  his 
words  to  the  women  of  Jerusalem,  "  Weep 
not  for    Me,"   &c. ;    (9)   his  third   fall; 

(10)  his  being  stripped  of  his  garments, 

(11)  his  crucitixion;  (12)  his  death; 
(13)  the  taking  down  of  his  body  from 
the  cro^;  (14)  his  burial.  In  the 
diocese  ot"  Vienna  the  number  of  the 
Stations  at  the  end  of  last  century  was 
reduced  to  eleven.  On  the  other  hand  a 
fifteenth  Station  has  been  sometimes 
added — viz.  the  finding  of  the  cross  by 
Helena.  These  changes  are  unauthor- 
ised. 

STIGMATA,  The  word  occurs  in 
Gal.  vi.  15,  "I  bear  the  marks  of  Jesus 
in  my  body."  Such  brands  or  marks 
{arlyfiaTa)  were  set  on  slaves  who  had 
run  away,  on  slaves  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  a  heathen  god,  rarely  on 
captives,  and  sometimes  soldiers  branded 
th(i  name  of  their  general  on  some  part 
of  their  body.  Probably  St.  Paul's  meta- 
phor is  taken  from  the  second  of  these 
customs,  (See  Lightlbot,  ad  loc).  He 
regarded  the  marks  of  suffering  in  Christ's 
cause  as  consecrating  him  the  more  to  his 
JNIaster's  sen-ice.  The  Latin  versions  re- 
tain the  word  "  stigmata,"  but  no  Catholic 
commentator  of  repute,  so  far  as  we  knovp-, 
ever  dreamt  that  St.  Paul  received  mira- 
culous marks  of  Christ's  Passion.  Neither 
St.  Tbomas  nor  Estius  allude  to  such  an 
interpretation,  and  Windischmann  only 
mentions  it  to  dismiss  it. 

Still,  the  idea  that  miraculous  wounds 
on  the  hands,  feet,  and  side,  like  tho«e 
borne  by  our  Lord,  were  a  mark  of  divine 
favour,  certainly  existed  in  the  mediaeval 
Church  independently  of  St.  Francis,  for 
in  1222  at  a  council  in  Oxford  an  im- 
postor who  claimed  to  have  stigmata  of 
this  kind  confessed  his  guilt  and  was 
punished  accordingly  (Fleury,  ''  H.  E." 
Ixxviii.  §  56).  Only  two  years  later — i.e. 
1224- St.  Francis  of  Assisi  (d.  1226) 
was  on  Mount  Alvernus  to  keep  his 
annual  fast  of  forty  days  ia  honour  of 
St.  Michael.  One  morning,  says  St. 
Buona venture,  about  the  14th  of  Sep- 
tember, the  feast  of  the  Exaltation  of  the 
Cross,  Francis  saw  a  seraph  flying  to- 
wards him.  There  was  a  figure  of  a  man 
attached  to  a  cross  between  the  wings. 
After  the  vision  disappeared,  the  hands 
and  feet  of  the  saint  were  found  to  be 


STIGMATA 

marliced  with  rails,  and  there  was  a 
wound  in  his  side.  The  wounds  were 
seen  by  some  of  the  friars  and  by  Alex- 
ander IV.  during  the  lifetime  of  the  saint, 
and  after  his  death  by  fifty  friars,  St. 
Clare,  and  a  multitude  of  seculars.  St. 
Buonaventure  assures  us  that  he  had  the 
testimony  of  Alexander  IV.  from  the 
Pope's  own  lips.  The  Church  keeps  a 
feast  of  the  Stigmata  of  St.  Francis,  in- 
stituted by  Benedict  XII. 

The  Dominicans  claimed  a  similar 
distinction  for  one  of  their  own  order, 
St.  Catharine  of  Siena  (1347-1380). 
They  appealed  to  a  letter  from  the  saint 
to  her  confessor,  Raymond  of  Capua,  in 
which  she  states  that  our  Lord  had  im- 
pressed the  stigmata  upon  her,  but  had 
at  her  own  request  made  them  invisible 
to  others.  They  also  quoted  the  testi- 
mony of  St.  Antoninus  and  the  hymn 
which  alludes  to  the  stigmata,  inserted  in 
the  Office  of  St.  Catharine  with  the  ap- 
proval of  Pius  II.  The  Franciscans,  who 
maintained  that  the  privilege  was  peculiar 
to  their  own  founder,  carried  the  matter 
before  Sixtus  IV.  in  1483.  The  Pope 
(himself  a  Franciscan)  forbade  under 
severe  penalties  any  one  to  paint  images 
of  St.  Catharine  with  the  stigmata.  (See 
Fleury,  "  II.  E."  Ixxix.  §  5,  cxv.  §  103.) 

Still  the  fact  of  her  stigmatisation  is 
recorded  in  the  Breviary  office,  and  a 
special  feast  in  commemoration  of  it  was 
granted  to  the  Dominicans  by  Benedict 
XIII.  In  a  work  on  the  subject  Dr. 
Imbert-Gourbeyre  enumerates  145  per- 
sons, twenty  men,  the  rest  women,  who 
are  stated  to  have  received  the  stigmata. 
Of  these,  eighty  lived  before  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Some  are  canonised, 
others  beatified,  others  simply  persons  of 
reputed  holiness.  More  than  one  is  still 
living.  The  work  just  referred  to  ("Les 
Stigmatis^es  ")  was  published  by  Palm6 
in  1873. 

STO]LE.  A  narrow  vestment  made  of 
the  same  stuff  as  the  chasuble,  and  worn 
round  the  neck.  The  Pope  always  wears 
the  stole.  Bishops  nnd  priests  wear  it  at 
Mass — the  priest  crossed  over  his  breast, 
the  bishop,  who  has  already  the  pectoral 
cross  on  his  breast,  pendant  on  each  side. 
They  also  wear  it  whenever  they  exercise 
their  orders  by  administering  sacraments 
or  by  blessing  persons  or  things.  In  some 
places  it  is,  in  others  it  is  not,  worn  in 
preaching,  and  the  custom  of  the  place 
18  to  be  followed  (S.  C.  R.  12  Nov. 
1837,  23  Mail  1846).  Deacons  wear  it 
at  Mass,  or  at  Benediction,  &c.,  when  they 


STOLE 


777 


have  to  move  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
over  the  left  shoulder  and  joined  on  the 
right  side. 

Stole — i.e.  <TTo\ri  in  classical  Greek — 
in  the  LXX  and  New  Testament  means 
a  robe  of  any  kind,  sometimes  {e.ff.  in 
Mark  xii.  38,  Luc.  xx.  46)  a  costly  or 
imposing  garment.  In  Latin  stola  was 
the  upper  garment  worn  by  women  of 
position.  The  conjecture  of  Meratus  (on 
Gavant.  torn,  i.  P.  ii.  tit.  i.)  that  our 
stole  is  the  Roman  stola  of  which  only 
the  ornamental  stripe  has  been  left,  is 
very  unlikely,  considering  that  the  stola 
was,  almost  exclusively,  a  piece  of  female 
attire.  The  stole  is  never  mentioned  by 
that  name  before  the  ninth  century. 
Theodoret  ("  H.  E."  ii.  27)  speaks  of  "a 
holy  stole  "  {Upa  o-roXr))  given  to  Maca- 
rius  by  Constantine,  but  he  only  means  a 
"  sacred  vestment  "  in  general,  and  Ger- 
manus  of  Constantinople  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighth  century  identifies  the  o-roXi) 
with  the  (f)€Xd)viov  or  chasuble,  and  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  the  oypdpLov  or  stole 
according  to  our  modern  usage  (Galland. 
"  Bibliothec."  tom.  xiii.  p.  226). 

This  word  orarium  belongs  to  the 
later  Latin,  and  means  a  cloth  for  the 
face,  a  handkerchief.  It  was  also  used 
"  in  fevorem,"  to  applaud  at  theatres,  &c., 
and  sometimes  worn  as  a  scarf.  The 
first  mention  of  It  as  an  ecclesiastical 
vestment  occurs  about  the  middle  of  the 
fourth  century,  when  the  Council  of 
liaodicea  (can.  22  and  23)  forbade 
clerics  in  minor  orders  to  use  it.  A 
sermon  attributed  to  Chrysostom,  and 
probably  not  much  later  than  his  time, 
compares  the  deacons  to  angels,  and  the 
"  stripes  of  thin  linen  on  their  left  shoul- 
ders "  (tolIs  XeTTrais  odovais  rals  eVt  Tcov 
apiaTepwv  oopLotv)  to  wings  ("  Homily  on 
the  Prodigal  Son,"  Migne,  vol.  viii.  520). 
In  the  West,  for  a  long  time  after,  orarium 
was  used  for  a  common  handkerchief  or 
napkin  (Ambros.  "  De  Excess.  Sat."  lib.  i. 
43;  August.  "De  Civit.  Dei,"  xxii.  8; 
Hieron.  Ep.  lii.  9 ;  Prudent.  "  Peri- 
steph."  i.  86 ;  Greg.  Turon,  «  De  Gloria 
Mart."  i.  93;  Greg.  Magn.  Ep.  vii. 
30.  So  the  Council  of  Orleans  in  611). 
It  is  in  the  Spanish  church  that  we  find 
the  earliest  traces  of  the  orarium  or  stole 
as  a  sacred  vestment  among  the  Latins. 
The  Council  of  Braga  in  563  (can.  9) 
speaks  of  the  orarium  as  worn  by  deacons  ; 
a  Council  of  Toledo  in  633  recognises  it 
as  a  vestment  of  bishops,  priests,  and 
deacons  (can.  28  and  40).  Another 
synod   of  Braga  in   675    mentions    the 


778 


STOLE 


present  custom  according  to  which  priests 
wear  the  orariiim  crossed  over  the  breast 
(can.  4)  ;  while  the  Synod  of  Mayence  in 
813  (can.  28)  requires  priests  to  wear  it 
not  only  at  Mass  but  habitually,  as  the 
Pope  does  now,  to  mark  their  sacerdotal 
dignity.  Several  of  the  Ordiues  Roniani 
(the  third,  fifth,  eighth,  ninth,  and 
thirteenth),  also  mention  the  orarium. 
Hence,  we  may  conclude  that  from  about 
the  time  of  Charlemagne  the  orarium  or 
stole  was  generally  adopted  throughout 
the  West  as  a  vestment  of  bishops,  priests, 
and  deacons.  The  Greeks  have  always 
regarded  the  orarium  as  a  vestment 
peculiar  to  deacons.  The  €7nTpax'i]^iov  or 
TrepiTpaxTjXiov  of  priests  differs  both  in 
form  and  in  the  manner  it  is  worn  from 
the  orarium  of  deacons.  The  Syrian 
Christians  have  adopted  the  same  word 
Of  TO,  ororo,  but  with  them  the  orro  is 
worn  by  clerics  of  all  the  orders.  Readers 
among  the  Maronites  wear  the  orro  hang- 
ing horn,  the  right  shoulder,  subdeacoTis 
in  all  the  Syrian  rites  round  the  neck, 
deacons  on  the  left  shoulder,  priests 
round  the  neck  and  in  front  of  the  breast. 
The  Syrians  also  use  the  same  word  for 
the  b}uo(f>6piov  or  pallium  of  bishops.  (See 
Payne  Smith,  "  Thesaurus  Syriacus,"  col. 

101,  102,  sub  voc.  ]y^o].)     Hefele  says  it 

appears  n*om  ancient  pictures  that  down 
to  the  twelfth  century  the  deacon's  stole 
hung  over  the  left  shoulder,  and  was  not, 
as  now,  fastened  together  on  the  right  side 
below  the  breast.  Till  a  late  period  the 
stole  was  worn  outside  the  dalmatic  as 
now  by  the  Greek  deacons  over  the 
sticharion.  Hefele  finds  the  earliest 
notice  of  a  deacon's  stole  worn  under  the 
dalmatic  in  a  Salzburg  Pontifical  of  the 
twelfth  century,  and  in  the  fourteenth 
Roman  Ordo, '  compiled  about  1300. 
Bishops,  however,  wore  the  stole  over 
the  alb  and  under  the  tuniceUa  and  dal- 
matic as  early  at  least  as  Rabanus 
Maurus  ("  Be  Cleric.  Instit."  i.  19,  20)— 
i.e.  about  816. 

The  same  author  (loc.  cit.)  speaks  of 
the  orarium  which  "some  call  stole." 
This  is  the  first  certain  instance  of  the 
use  of  the  latter  word,  for  its  place  in 
the  Gregorian  Sacramentary  may  be  one 
of  the  many  interpolations  to  which 
liturgical  books  are  peculiarly  subject. 
In  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  stole 
became  the  common  word  (so,  e.p.,  the 
Synod  of  Coyaca,  in  the  diocese  of  Oviedo, 
anno  1050,  can.  3).  The  oraria  on 
ancient  pictures  are  exactly  like  our  stoles, 


SUBDEAOONS 

resembling  the  pattern  known  as  Gothic. 
They  were  often  adorned  with  jewels, 
bells  hung  from  them,  and  letters  or 
words  were  worked  in.  Hefele  acknow- 
ledges his  failure  after  much  search  to  find 
the  reason  why  the  word  "  stole  "  came 
to  be  used  for  orarium.  The  vestment 
has  been  taken  as  a  symbol  of  the  yoke 
of  Christ  (Pseudo-Alcuiu),  of  Christ's 
obedience  (Innocent  III.)  The  prayer  in 
our  present  Missal  evidently  refers  to  the 
original  meaning  of  the  Greek  aroXr]. 
"  Give  me  back,  O  Lord,  the  stole  or  robe 
of  immortality,"  &c. 

STOI.E-FSSS.'  The  fees,  varying 
in  different  countries,  which  it  is  custom- 
ary among  the  laity  to  pay  to  a  priest  at 
the  time  of  his  discharging  any  sacred 
function  for  their  benefit — €.(/.  in  marriages, 
christenings,  and  funerals. 

SVBDEACOirs.  Ministers  of  the 
Church  who  rank  next  to  deacons.  In 
the  Latin  Church  they  prepare  the  sacred 
vessels  and  the  bread  and  wine  for  Mass  ; 
pour  the  water  into  the  chalice  at  the 
Offertory  and  sing  the  Epistle.  Among 
the  Greeks  they  guard  the  gates  of  the 
sanctuary  during  Mass,  and  prepare  the 
sacred  vessels  at  the  Prothesis.  They 
are  therefore  allowed  to  touch  the  paten 
and  chalice,  unless  they  contain  the  Holy 
Eucharist.  The  21st  Canon  of  Laodicea 
forbids  them  in  general  terms  to  touch 
the  holy  vessels;  but  Morinus  and  Van 
Espen  interpret  this  canon  as  referring 
simply  to  the  ''Great  Entrance"  in  the 
Greek  liturgy,  when  the  prepared  elements 
are  carried  in  procession  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Missa  Fidelium  from  the  Prothesis 
to  the  altar. 

Among  the  Greeks  and  Orientals  the 
subdiaconate  is  a  minor,  among  the 
Latins  a  greater  or  sacred  order.  But  it 
was  only  about  liJOO  that  even  the  Latins 
reckoned  the  subdiaconate  among  the 
greater  orders.  Martene  indeed  certifies 
that  in  Sacramentaries  as  early  as  800 
or  thereabouts  he  found  the  ordination  of 
subdeacons  placed  along  with  that  of  the 
superior,  and  separated  from  that  of  the 
inferior  ministers.  In  1097,  the  Council 
of  Benevento,  over  which  Urban  II. 
presided,  says  expressly,  "We  give  the 
name  of  sacred  orders  to  the  presbyterate 
and  diaconate."  Fifty  years  later  Hugo 
of  St.  Victor  speaks  of  the  subdiaconate 
as  a  minor  order.  But  Peter  Cantor,  who 
died  in  1197,  says  that  in  his  time  "the 
subdiaconate  had  been  recently  made  a 
sacred  order."  Innocent  III.  really  closed 
the  question  by  ruling  that  subdeacons, 


SUBDEACONS 

like  deacons  and  priests,  might  be  chosen 
bishops. 

Usually,  subdeacons  are  ordained  by 
bishops.  But  the  Synod  of  Meaux  in 
845  permits  (can.  44)  chorepiscopi  who 
certainly  were  not  bishops  ^  to  confer 
the  subdiaconate  with  the  sanction  of 
the  ordinary,  and  the  same  permission 
is  said  to  have  been  given  by  the  Pope  to 
Cistercian  abbots.  The  matter  of  ordina- 
tion in  the  Latin  Church  has  always  been 
the  tradition  of  the  instruments.  In  the 
very  ancient  collection  known  as  the 
Canons  of  the  Fourth  Council  of  Carthage, 
can.  5  lays  down  the  rule  that  a  sub- 
deacon  is  to  be  ordained  by  receiving  the 
empty  chalice  and  paten  from  the  bishop, 
while  the  archdeacon  gives  him  the  cruet 
aud  towel.  This  form  is  preserved  with 
a  very  slight  alteration  in  the  present 
Roman  Pontifical.  The  Pontifical  also 
prescribes  the  tradition  of  the  book  of 
the  Epistles,  but  this  rite  was  unknown 
till  the  twelfth  century  at  least ;  neither 
Hugo  of  St.  Victor  nor  the  Master  of  the 
Sentences,  nor  even  St.  Thomas,  mentions 
it.  The  form  aujong  the  Latins  consists 
in  the  words  which  accompany  the 
tradition :  "  See  what  kind  of  ministry 
is  given  to  you,"  &c. ;  "  Receive  the  book 
of  the  Epistles,"  &c.  Even  th^  form 
accompanying  the  tradition  of  the  paten 
and  the  chalice  is  much  more  modern 
than  the  tradition  itself,  for  the  Gregorian 
Sacramentary  has  a  prayer  ("  Benedictio 
subdiaconi")  as  the  form  of  ordination. 
Among  the  Greeks  the  matter  is  the 
laying  on  of  hands,  and  the  form  the 
prayer  during  this  action.  Such  has  been 
their  use  from  the  tifth  century  at  least, 
as  appears  from  the  false  Dionysius. 
They  have  no  tradition  of  the  instru- 
ments except  after  ordination,  when  the 
newly  ordained  are,  as  it  were,  put  in 
possession,  and  this  custom  is  of  modern 
date. 

In  the  time  of  Cornelius  (elected 
254)  there  were  seven  subdeacons  at 
Rome.  Their  functions  in  the  ancient 
Church  were  very  important.  They  were 
the  secretaries  of  bishops,  and  were  often 
sent  on  distant  and  important  missions. 
They  had  a  great  part  in  managing  the 
alms  and  temporal  goods  of  the  Church. 
The  letters  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great 
show  that  in  his  time  the  Roman  sub- 
deacons administered  the  affairs  of  St. 
Peter's    patrimony  throughout  the  pro- 

1  I.e.  in  the  West  and  at  that  time;  see 
Hefele  on  the  Antiochene  Synod  in  encoeniis, 
can.  10. 


SUICIDE 


779 


vinces,  made  reports  to  the  Pope  on  the 
conduct  of  bishops,  and  by  the  Pope's 
orders  admonished  prelates,  reformed 
abuses,  and  assembled  councils. 

(Chardon,  "  Hist,  des  Sacr."  tom.  v. ; 
Juenin,  "  Coramentarius  Historicus  et 
Dogmaticus  de  Sacramentis,"  diss  ix.  qu. 
vii.  For  the  obligations  of  the  office, 
see  Breviary  and  Celiba-CT.) 

SITBDBIiEGATE.  One  to  whom  a 
judge-delegate  transfers  his  jurisdiction 
in  a  particular  case.  [See  Delegation".] 
This  privilege  is  restricted  to  delegates 
appointed  by  the  supreme  authority  in  a 
state,  except  in  the  case  of  a  delegate  ad 
universitatem  causarum—  that  is,  one  who 
is  empowered  by  his  principal  to  try  all 
causes  that  fall  within  his  jurisdiction, 
for  such  a  delegate  is  really  a  "judex 
quasi  ordinarius,"  A  subdelegate  cannot 
be  named  (unless  by  the  consent  of  both 
parties)  to  try  cases  of  great  importance, 
for  with  respect  to  these,  the  special 
qualifications  of  the  delegate  must  be 
presumed  to  have  been  what  moved  hia 
principal  to  appoint  him  ;  and  the  inten- 
tion might  be  frustrated  if  he  could 
commit  the  most  weighty  portions  of  hijg 
charge  to  another.  A  delegate  whose 
commission  only  extends  to  the  bare 
performance  of  certain  acts  cannot  do 
them  through  a  subdelegate. 

StrFFRAGAir.  This  name  is  given 
to  a  bishop  in  an  ecclesiastical  province, 
relatively  to  the  metropolitan,  primate,  or 
patriarch,  in  whose  province  he  is.  Also, 
to  a  titular  bishop  or  bishop  in pai-tihus  who 
is  exercising  the  Pontitical  functions  and 
ordinations  for  the  ordinary  bishop  whom 
he  has  been  invited  to  assist.  Also  to 
a  titular  bishop  who  is  under  a  titular 
patriarch  or  archbishop  ;  such  are  suffra- 
gans only  in  name. 

Leo  XIII.  has  commanded  that  the 
designation  "  bishop  in  partihus  "  should 
be  replaced  by  that  of  "  titular  bishop." 

(Morone,  Dizion.  Eccl.) 

STTZCZBE.  Those  who  voluntarily, 
and  while  in  the  full  possession  of  their 
faculties  {sui  compotes)  put  an  end  to 
themselves,  are  deprived  of  ecclesiastical 
burial.  But  in  such  cases  the  canon  law, . 
like  the  common  law  of  England,  in- 
clines to  a  lenient  judgment;  and  if  a 
person  be  found,  for  instance,  drowned  or 
poisoned,  and  it  be  not  proved  that  he 
had  expressed  the  deliberate  intention  of 
taking  his  own  life,  the  law  prefers  to 
presume  some  other  cause  of  death,  such 
as  the  act  of  a  malefactor,  or  accident,  or 
temporary  aberration,  of  mind. 


780 


SUNDAY 


I»  many  countries  the  civil  kw  now 
requires  that  persons  who  have  committed 
suicide,  even  though  the  wilfulness  of  the 
act  and  their  sanity  at  the  time  be 
established,  shall  be  buried  in  the  church- 
yards. In  such  a  case  the  ministers  of 
the  Church  take  no  part  in  the  funeral 
ohseq  uies.  (  Ferraris,  I£o7n  icidium ;  Wetzer 
and  Welte.) 

SVITB AT.  The  Jewish  Sabbath  was 
the  weekly  day  of  rest  with  which  the 
week  ended.  6u  that  day  the  Hebrews 
were  forbidden  to  gather  manna  (Ex.  xv. 
23-29).  Thus  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath was  made  a  general  law  ;  they  were 
to  do  no  work  upon  it ;  the  Hebrew  family, 
the  stranger  in  the  gates,  the  slaves,  even 
the  cattle,  were  to  rest ;  and  this  because 
God  Himself  finished  the  work  of  creation 
and  rested  on  that  day,  blessing  it  and 
sanctifying  it  (Ex.  xx.  8-11).  In  Deut. 
V.  12-16  it  is  the  kindly  and  beneficent 
character  of  the  institution  which  is 
emphasised,  rather  than  its  sacredness. 
No  reference  is  made  to  creation,  but  the 
Hebrew  is  to  keep  the  Sabbath, "  that  thy 
man  slave  and  thy  woman  slave  may  rest 
even  as  thbu.  And  thou  shalt  remember 
that  thou  wast  a  slave  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  Jehovah  thy  God  brought 
thee  out  thence,"  &c.  The  importance 
attached  to  the  Sabbath  in  the  Deutero- 
nomical  and  Levitieal  codes  is  shown  by 
the  very  fact  that  Sabbath  keeping  is  the 
subject  of  a  precept  in  the  Decalogue. 
Further,  the  Sabbath  is  the  basis  of  a 
whole  series  of  enactm^iuts.  The  seventh 
month  is  the  holy  month  of  the  year. 
It  is  ushered  in  by  the  Feast  of  Trumpets, 
its  tenth  day  is  the  Day  of  Atonement,  its 
fifteenth  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  or  in- 
gathering, the  ^'joy  of  the  law."  The 
seventh  is  the  sabbatical  year;  during 
'which  the  whole  land  is  to  rest^  (Lev. 
XXV.  1-7)  ;  there  is  to  be  no  sowing,  or 
^vintage,  or  reaping,  and  thus  the  Sabbath 
extends  its  dominion  over  nature.  After 
"seven   Sabbaths  of  years"    («.«.    7  +  7 

J  According  to  the  "Book  of  the  Covenant" 
(Ex.  xxi.  2-6),  Hebrew  slaves  are  to  go  free 
not  on  the,  but  on  ever}%  seventh  year,  dating 
from  the  beginning  of  their  slavery ;  and  every 
seventh  year  the  harvest  is  to  be  left  for  the 
poor  (xxiii.  10,  11).  The  former  provision  is 
repeated  in  Deut.  xt.  12-18,  and  the  second  has 
ite  analogy  in  the  law  that  on  a  seventh  year 
proclaimed'  and  fixed,  debts  arc  to  be  remitted 
(Deut.  XV.  1-6).  The  developed  Sabbatical 
year — i.e.  the  fixing  of  one  year  for  the  whole 
country,  in  which  the  land  is  to  rest  completely 
from  being  sown  no  less  than  from  being  reaped 
—48  peculiar  to  Leviticus.  So  also  is  the  crown 
rf  the  whole  systom— viz.  the  year  of  Jubilee. 


SUNDAY 

=  49  years)  comes  the  year  of  Jubilee, 
when  Hebrew  slaves  are  to  go  free,  land 
to  revert  to  its  original  owner,  &c. 

Something  must  be  said  on  three 
points  connected  with  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
which  are  of  theological  importance 

(1)  There  is  no  trace  of  its  being 
observed  among  the  Hebrews  before  the 
time  of  Moses.  No  doubt,  in  Genesis  ii. 
3,  we  read  that  "  God  ble&sed  the  seventh 
day  and  hallowed  it,"  but  it  is  never  said 
that  He  told  men  in  the  pre-JMosaic  period 
to  do  so  likewise,  and  evidently  the  sacred 
writers  knew  nothing  of  a  Sabbath  kept 
by  the  Patriarchs.  It  is  implied  that  the 
division  of  days  into  weeks,  unknown 
among  the  Romans  till  the  Empire,  was 
very  ancient  among  some  of  the  Semitic 
people,  for  Laban  (Gen.  xxix.  27)  speaks  of 
the  *'  week  of  this  woman  " — i.e.  tlie  week 
of  marriage  festivities.  We  now  know 
that  among  the  Assyrians  the  first  twenty- 
eight  days  of  every  month  were  divided 
into  four  weeks  of  seven  days  each,  the 
seventh,  fourteenth,  twenty-first,  and 
twenty-eighth  days  being  Sabbaths ;  and 
there  was  a  general  prohibition  of  work  on 
these  days  (G.  Smith,  "  Assyrian  Eponym 
Canon,"  p.  19,  seq.)  The  date  of  this 
usage  among  the  Assyrians  is  still  un- 
certain (Dillman  on  Exod.  p.  214).  But 
we  may  conjecture  that  the  division  was 
based,  not  on  the  seven  planets,  but  on 
the  phases  of  the  moon,  and  was  familiar 
within  and  without  Israel  before  Moses. 
But  from  this  it  does  not  follow  that 
there  was  any  divine  command  to  keep 
the  Sabbath,  or  even  that  the  Israelites 
rested  on  it.  Indeed,  the  day  of  rest 
implies  a  settled  and  agricultural  life  ;  to 
a  people  of  shepherds  a  Sabbath  is  not 
necessary  or  even  possible.  (So  Well- 
hausen,  "  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel," 
ch.  iii.) 

(2)  The  Jewish  was  at  all  times  dis- 
tinct from  the  Puritan  idea  of  the  Sabbath. 
It  is  the  privilege  of  rest  for  the  slave  and 
even  for  the  beasts  on  which  the  Book  of 
Deuteronomy  dwells  with  characteristic 
kindliness.  In  IV.  Reg.  iv.  22,  23,  it  is 
mentioned  with  the  new  moons,  as  a  day 
on  which  people  went  to  hear  the  prophets. 
One  of  the  earliest  prophets,  Osee  (ii.  13) 
alludes  to  it  (again  in  conjunction  with 
the  new  moons)  as  a  day  of  joy  ;  Amos 
(viii.  6),  as  a  day  on  which  no  business 
was  done.  The  prophets  of  the  Exile  insist 
on  strict  rest ;  Jeremias,  e.g.,  forbids  carry- 
ing of  burdens  (xvii.  19  seq.).  They  en- 
large on  the  sin  of  breaking  the  Sabbath 
and  the  blessings  which  attend  its  observ- 


SUNDAY 


SUNDAY 


781 


ance  (Ezech.  xx.  16  ;  xxii.  26 ;  and  so  with 
reference  to  the  Exile,  Book  of  Isai.  Ivi. 
2 :  Iviii.  13) ;  and  the  Levitical  Code 
(Ex.  xxvi. ;  XXXV.  3  ;  Num.  xv.)  enforces 
the  obligation  of  rest  in  minute  detail, 
but  not  a  word  is  said  against  recreation 
on  the  Sabbath.^  Even  the  Pharisees, 
though  they  multiplied  rules  against  ser- 
vile work — forbade,  e.g.,  journeys  more 
than  2,000  paces  beyond  the  city  ;  climb- 
ing a  tree,'  lest  a  twig  should  break ;  works 
of  mercy,  &c.,  &c. — never  prohibited 
pleasure  as  such.  Even  a  Chief  Pharisee 
did  not  scruple  to  entertain  on  Sabbath 
(Luc.  xiv.  1).  The  Rabbinical  law  on 
dancing  illustrates  exactly  the  difference 
between  the  Pharisaical  and  Puritan 
view.  The  Eabbins  forbid  it,  not  because 
it  is  a  worldly  pleasure,  but  because  it 
would  lead  to  tuning  the  musical  instru- 
ments, which  is  reckoned  work  (Buxtorf, 
"Lex.  Rabbin."  n-n^). 

(3)  Our  Lord  did  not  during  his 
earthly  life  abrogate  the  Sabbath.  To  do 
80  would  have  been  inconsistent  with  his 
position  as  one  "made  under  the  law," 
and  with  his  own  express  teaching  (see, 
especially.  Matt,  xxiii.  1-3).  But  He  did 
expose  the  inconsistency  and  hypocrisy  of 
men  who  loosed  an  ox  or  ass  on  the 
Sabbath  and  were  shocked  when  Christ 
on  the  same  day  "  loosed  a  daughter  of 
Abraham  whom  Satan  had  bound  "  (Luc. 
xiii.  10-16).  He,  moreover,  enunciated 
two  great  principles.  The  one  was  then, 
perhaps,  part  of  the  better  Rabbinical 
teaching:  "  The  Sabbath  is  made  for  man, 
not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  (The  words, 
."  The  Sabbath  is  given  into  your  hands, 
not  you  into  the  hands  of  the  Sabbath," 
are  to  be  found  in  the  "Mechilta,"  a 
JMidi-ash  or  Gommentary  on  parts  of  Exo- 
dus, belonging  to  the  early  part  of  the 
third  century  A.D.)  Man  is  made  to  fulfil 
the  law  of  love.  Not  so  with  regard  to 
the  Sabbath,  which  is  simply  enforced  for 
man's  own  good.  Next,  the  "  Son  of 
Man  is  Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath."  Just 
as  the  Sabbath  law  must  give  way  before 
the  natural  needs  of  man,  so,  and  much 
more,  before  the  requirement  of  Him  who 
is  the  head  and  representative  of  mankind 
(Marc.  ii.  23-28).  If,  again,  the  ministers 
of  the  temple  broke  the  Sabbath  law  in 
its  service  and  were  blameless,  much  more 
might  the  disciples  do  so  in  the  service  of 

^  Is.  Iviii.  13  is  often  quoted  in  the  "  Au- 
thorised Version,"  "If  thou  turn  away  thy 
foot  .  .  .  from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holv 
day."    But  Tt^Sn  means  "  aflfairs,"  *'  business," 

as  elsewhere  in  later  Hebrew. 


One  greater  than  the  temple  (Matt.  xii. 

5-8). 

(4)  The  precept  of  observing  the 
Sabbath  was  completely  abrogated  in 
the  Christian  Church.  "  Let  no  man 
judge  you,"  says  St.  Paul  (Coloss.  ii. 
16),  in  eating  and  drinking  or  in  tho 
matter  of  a  feast  or  a  new  moon  or  of  a 
Sabbath-day  {aa^^aTcov,  from  the  Chaldee 
Xn3^,  not  "  Sabbath  days ;  "  cf.  "  Hodie 
tricesima  Sabbata,"  Hor.  "  Sat."  i.  9,  69), 
which  things  are  a  sliadow  of  things  to 
come,  but  the  body  is  C  hrist's  "  (cf.  Gal.  iv. ; 
Rom.  xiv.  5,  9).  Christians  are  not  to 
be  taken  to  task  on  such  things ;  they  do 
not  furnish  the  materials  of  a  judgment, 
good  or  bad,  since  the  shadows  are  charac- 
teristic of  the  Jewish  law,  the  substance 
of  Christ's  gospel.  Once  only  does  the 
N.  T.  refer  to  a  Christian  Sabbath. 
"  There  is  left  therefore  a  Sabbath-keeping 
(a-a^lSaTio-fjLos)  for  the  people  of  God" 
(Heb.  iv.  9).  The  reference,  however,  is 
to  no  earthly  Sabbath,  but  to  that  eternal 
rest  of  which  the  Sabbath  was  a  type. 
The  word  "  Sabbath  "  is  kept  in  the  Greek 
and  the  Latin  of  the  Church  to  denote 
Saturday — a  day  which  is  not  sacred 
among  Christians. 

(5)  In  commemoration  of  Christ's  re- 
suiTection  the  Church  observes  Sunday. 
The  observance  does  not  rest  on  the  natu- 
ral law,  which  does  indeed  require  us  to 
give  certain  time  to  the  worship  of  God,* 
but  not  a  whole  day  rather  than  parts  of 
several  days,  much  less  any  particular 
day}  nor,  again,  on  any  positive  divine 
law,  of  which  there  is  no  trace.  Sunday 
is  merely  of  ecclesiastical  institution, 
dating,  however,  from  the  time  of  the 
Apostles.  Such  is  the  opinion  of  St. 
Thomas  (2  2nd3e,  cxxii.  4  ad  2)  and  of  the 
greatest  Catholic  theologians  (so  Billuart, 
"  De  Relig."  diss.  vi.  a.  1  ;  and  Turre- 
crem.,  Thom.,  Wald.,  Cajetan,  Sylvius, 
and  others  whom  Billuart  cites).  The 
present  rule  obliges  the  faithful  to  hear 
Mass  on  that  day  and  to  rest  from  servile 
work — i.e.  work  done  with  the  hands 
rather  than  with  the  head.  But  custom 
permits  certain  servile  work  even  when 
not  required  by  necessity  or  mercy — such, 
e.ff.,  as  cooking  food — and  ecclesiastical 
authority  may  dispense  from  the  law. 
We  proceed  to  trace  the  history  of  the 
observance. 

In  a  single  passage  of  the  N.  T.— viz. 
Apoc.  i.  10 — we  find  a  special  name  for 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  "  the  Lord's 
day  "  (eV  TTJ  KvpiaKj]  rjiiepa — very  different 
from  rj  rov  Kvpiov  ^fiepa).     In  ActS  XX.  7 


78*2 


SUNDAY 


SUNDAY 


we  are  told  that  St.  Paul  ahode  seven 
days  at  Troas,  and  that  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week  the  disciples  cauie  together 
**to  break  bread."  The  same  Apostle 
"writes  to  the  Corinthians  (1  Cor.  xvi.  1 
seq.),  "  Every  first  day  of  the  week  {Kara 
fxlav  a-a/3/3arou)  let  each  of  you  lay  up  at 
home  and  colle-ct  whatever  profit  he  has 
had,"  words  which  do  not,  indeed,  directly 
imply  that  there  was  public  service  on 
Sunday,  for  Trap*  eairrw  (=  chez  ltd)  cannot 
refer  to  a  collection  in  the  Christian 
assembly.  But  they  do  seem  to  indicate 
that  Sunday  was  already  a  sacred  day,  on 
which  deeds  of  love  were  specially  suit- 
able. Heb.  X.  25  shows  this  much,  that 
the  Christians,  when  the  epistle  was 
written,  had  regular  days  of  assembly. 

(6)  The  Scriptural  references  given 
above  show  that  the  observance  of  Sun- 
day had  begun  in  the  Apostolic  age  ;  but 
even  were  Scripture  silent,  tradition 
would  put  this  point  beyond  all  doubt. 
While,  however,  Sunday  was  observed 
from  the  first,  it  is  possible  to  trace  seve- 
ral stages  in  the  observance. 

(a)  The  earliest  Fathers  speak  of  the 
assembly  for  worship,  and  especially  for 
the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist.  As 
this  is  well  known,  the  following  refer- 
ences will  suffice :  Ep.  Barnab.  15 ; 
Tgnat.  ad  Magnes.  9;  Justin  Mart.  i. 
ApoL  59 ;  Dionvs.  Corinth,  (apud  Euseb. 
"H.  E/'  iv.  23);  TertuU.  Apol.  16; 
"  De  Coron.''  3.  These  authors  speak  of 
Sunday,  which  they  call  the  "  Lord's 
Day,"  the  "Day  of  the  Loid's  Resur- 
rection," and  sometimes,  but  only  in  ad- 
dressing heathen,  the  "  Day  of  the  Sun  " 
(see  Probst,  "  I^rchliche  Disciplin  in  den 
ersten  drei  Jahrhund."  p.  247),  as  a  day 
of  sacred  joy  and  prayer.  But  we  know 
of  only  one  passage  in  any  Ante-Nicene 
Father  which  alludes  to  the  Sunday  rest. 
Tertullian,  after  mention  of  the  ritual 
usage  according  to  which  Christians  on 
Sunday  prayed  standing,  not  kneeling, 
adds  that  on  that  day  business  was  put 
aside,  that  the  soul  might  be  left  free  for 
God's  service  ("  dift'erentes  etiam  negotia 
ne  queni  diabolo  locum  demus,"  "  De 
Orat."  23).  Here  was  the  contrast 
between  Sabbath  and  Sunday.  The 
former  was  primarily  a  day  of  rest  from 
work,  and,  although  the  morning  and 
evening  sacrifices  were  doubled  on  the 
Sabbath,  no  law  of  Sabbatical  worship 
was  imposed  on  the  Israelite.  Attendance 
on  the  prophets,  and  afterwards  on  the 
synagogue,  arose  naturally  out  of  the  en- 
fbrc^  cessation  of  ordinary  work.    The 


Sunday,  on  the  other  hand,  was  primarily 
a  day  of  prayer,  and  the  words  in  the 
Apocalypse  strike  the  keynote  of  Sunday 
observance  :  "  I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the 
Lord's  day."  The  law  of  rest  arose  as  a 
protection  to  the  law  of  worship.  It 
may  be  objected  that,  after  all.  the  Church's 
law  only  requires  a  small  portion  of  Sun- 
day to  be  spent  in  prayer.  But  this  ob- 
jection rests  on  an  anachronism,  for  we 
shall  see  presently  that  the  ancient  Church 
required  the  greater  part  of  the  day  to  be 
spent  in  devotion. 

(/3)  When  Christianity  became,  or 
was  on  the  way  to  become,  the  religion  of 
the  state,  it  was  necessary  to  pass  some 
law  of  rest;  otherwise  a  Christian  who 
kept  Sunday  might  obviously  sufier  incon- 
ver.ience  from  being  summoned  to  court, 
to  military  exercise  Szc,  or  even  from  the 
competition  of  his  heathen  rivals  in  trade. 
Hence  Coustantiue,  as  Eusebias  reports, 
required  his  subjects  to  rest  on  the  feasts 
of  our  Lord  (also  on  Fridays,  if  Yalesius 
is  right  in  correcting  ras  rov  aii^iidrov 
into  Tiis  npo  rov  o-a/S/Sarov),  and  on  Sundays 
the  Chris' ian  soldiers  were  exempted  from 
work  that  they  mi^ht  have  leisure  to 
pray.  (Euseb.  "  Vit.  Constant."  iv.  18). 
A  long  series  of  imperial  enactments  on 
the  matter  is  to  be  found  in  the  Roman 
codes.  An  edict  of  Constantine  pro- 
hibited law  business  pnd  mechanical  arts 
in  towns,  though  the  country  people  were 
allowed  to  till  the  ground  on  that  day. 
Later  emperors  not  ouly  closed  the  law 
courts,  but  also  the  theatre  and  circus  on 
Sundays. 

The  decrees  of  councils  also  became 
more  and  more  stringent.  The  Synod  of 
Laodicea  (between  343  and  381)  threatens 
with  excommunication  those  who  Judaise 
by  resting  on  the  Sabbath,  but  exhorts 
Christians  to  rest  on  Sunday  "if  they 
can "  (c.  29).  About  the  same  time 
Chrysostom  speaks  (Horn,  xliii.  in  1  Cor. 
xvi.  1)  of  the  Lord's  Day  as  bringing 
"rest  and  immunity  from  labours."  The 
Second  Council  of  Macon  (c.  1)  (anno 
585)  desires  the  faithful  to  spend  the 
whole  day  in  prayer.  Theodull,  bishop 
of  Orleans,  in  his  Capitulary  (cap.  24), 
will  suffer  no  relaxation  of  prayer  ex- 
cept to  take  food.  The  Third  Council 
of  Tours  in  813  ■  (c.  40)  is  still  more 
explicit ;  the  prayer  and  praise  is  to  con- 
tinue "  till  the  evening,"  Sunday  being 
reckoned  from  evening  to  evening.  The 
Second  Council  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  in 
83G  (cap.  21)  tried  to  restore  t!ie  old 
custom  of  communicating  every  Sunday. 


SUNDAY 


SUNDAY 


783 


Nor  was  this  wide  notion  of  Sunday 
observance  peculiar  to  France  and  Ger- 
many. The  Council  of  Friuli  in  791 
(can.  13)  insists  on  the  same  demotion  of 
the  whole  day  to  prayer,  and  the  Spanish 
Council  of  Ooyaca  in  1060  (can.  6j  pre- 
scribes not  only  attendance  at  niatins, 
Mass,  and  the  "hours,"  but  also  abstinence 
from  travelling  except  in  case  of  necessity. 
Theodore  of  Tarsus  (apud  Thomassin, 
"  Traits  des  Festes,"  p.  527  j,  who  became 
archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  669,  assures 
us  that  his  fellow-Greeks  would  neither 
sail  nor  ride  (except  to  church),  or  bake, 
or  bathe,  or  write  any  unnecessary  letters 
on  Sunday.  In  all  these  authorities  and  in 
the  Fathers  generally  there  is  no  confusion 
between  Sunday  and  Sabbath.  References 
to  the  Decalogue  as  in  any  sense  the  war- 
rant for  Sunday  are  extremely  rare,  though 
C'hrysostom("in  Gen."  Horn.  x.  7)  deduces 
this  much  from  God's  blessing  and 
hallowing  the  seventh  day,  viz.  that  one 
day  in  the  week  should  be  given  to  God's 
service.'  This  principle  is  accepted  by 
modern  theologians,  so  far  at  least  that 
they  distinguish  between  the  ceremonial 
part  of  the  third  commandment,  which 
enjoins  rest  on  the  seventh  day,  and  its 
moral  part,  which  urges  us  to  consecrate 
part  of  our  time  to  heavenly  thoughts. 
But    usually    the    Fathers,    and    even 

i  A  sermon  once  attributed  to  Aupjustine 
(  Aprendix  280)  says  that  the  •'  glorj'  of  Jewish 
Sabbath-keepiny:"  was  transferred  to  Sunday, 
but  the  chanf^e  is  attributed  to  the  ♦'  doctors  of 
the  Cliurch,"  and,  besides,  the  Benedictine  edi- 
tors have  proved  that  the  sermon  is  at  least  later 
than  Ak'uin.  The  universal  teaching  of  the 
Fathers  is  that  the  Sabbath  is  abrofj^ated  in  the 
letter,  and  that  it  is  kept  spiritually  by  rest 
from  sin,  or  will  be  kept  by  eternal  rest  with 
Christ.  This  is  the  teaching  of  Justin  (Dial. 
12)  ;  Iren.  (^Adv.  Haer.  iv.  16) ;  Clem.  Al. 
(Strom,  iv.  3)  ;  Origen  (Horn.  viii.  §  2,  In  Jos. 
Contr.  Cels.  ii.  7)  ;  Victorinus  (Routli,  ReU. 
Sacr.  ii.  pp.  4,  5,  8)  ;  Augustine  ( C.  Faust. 
xviii.  5)  ;  Jerome  (In  Isai.  liii.  ad  fin.,  Ivi.  2, 
Iviii.  13) ;  Epiphanius  (H<Br.  viii.  6,  xxix.  7, 
XXX.  32 ;  ETposit.  Fid.  32)  ;  Gregory  the 
Great  (Moral,  xviii,  43)  ;  Arethes  (In  Apoc. 
xi.  2).  The  Puritan  idea  of  a  Christian  Sab- 
bath was  unknown  to  the  first  Reformers. 
But  in  Scotland  we  find  the  book  of  discipline 
drawn  up  by  John  Knox  and  five  other  minis- 
ters enforcing  Sabbath  obsei-vance  ;  and  in 
1562  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland  petitioned  the  Queen  to 
punish  Sabbath-breakers.  In  England  the 
Puritanical  or  Judaising  doctrine  was  developed 
and  systematised  by  a  learned  Puritan  clergy- 
man, Dr.  Nicolas  Bownd,  of  Norton  in  Suffolk. 
The  Westmint^ter  Confession  of  1647  (ch.  xxi.) 
was  the  first  Creed  which  emb(  died  this  view. 
(Ftr  the  history  of  Protestant  opinion,  see 
Schaff",  Creeds  of  Christendom,  vol.  i.  p.  776  seq.) 


mediaeval  writers,  appeal  simply  to  the 
resurrection  of  our  Lord  and  the  descent 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  happened  on 
Sunday,  to  the  custom  of  the  Church  and 
to  Apostolic  tradition. 

(y)  Sunday  used  to  be  reckoned  from 
evening  to  evening — i.e.  the  sanctification 
of  the  day  began  on  Saturday  and  ended  on 
Sunday  evening.  "  It  was,"  saysThomassin, 
^^  about  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century 
that  after  the  abolition  of  public  vigils  in 
the  Church,  people  began  the  celebration 
of  Sundays  and  feasts  on  the  morning  of 
the  same  day."  He  quotes  Gratian  ("  De 
Consec."  d.  «3,  c.  1),  Gregory  IX.  (''  Extra, 
de  Feriis,"  c.  1,  2),  who  recognises  the  old 
custom ;  Alexander  III.  (^6.),  who  speaks 
of  both  customs  as  existintr  in  his  time ; 
and  Ilaytho,  bishop  of  Bisle  in  his  Capi- 
tulary (cap.  8),  who  says  simply  that  Sun- 
day lasts  "a  mane  usque  ad  vesperam." 

(S)  Down  to  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century  it  was  admitted  on  all 
hands  that  the  faithful  must  hear  Mass 
on  Sundays  and  holidays  of  obligation  in 
their  parish  church.  But  about  this  time 
the  Mendicant  Friars  pleaded  that  this 
law  had  been  changed  by  Papal  privilege 
in  their  favour.  This  led  to  keen  disputes 
between  seculars  and  regulars  under 
Innocent  VI. ;  and  Sixtus  IV.,  more  than 
a  century  afterwards,  in  his  Constitution 
"Vices  illius,"  declared  that  the  law 
obliged  parishioners  to  hear  Mass  in  their 
own  church  unless  when  they  absented 
themselves  "  for  a  good  reason  "  (*'  ex 
honesta  causa").  There  has  been  much 
controversy  on  the  sense  of  this  last  clause. 
(See  Juenin,  "Comment,  de  Sacram." 
diss.  v.  §11.)  But  in  any  case  the 
Council  of  Trent  simply  recommends  (sess. 
xxii.)  attendance  at  the  parish  church, 
and  it  is  certain  from  a  Constitution  of 
Pius  V.  ("Etsi  Mendicantium,"  anno 
1567),  that  it  is  enough,  so  far  as  strict 
obligation  goes,  to  hear  Mass  in  any 
public  church. 

(e)  Modern  discipline  has  introduced 
another  and  a  much  more  important 
change.  Mass  used  to  last  for  two  hours 
and  more ;  it  can  now  be  heard  in  half  an 
hour.  Further,  the  public  recitation  of 
Matins  on  Sunday  before  Mass  was  usual 
even  in  secular  churches  till  the  end  of 
the  middle  ages,  and  it  was  well  under- 
stood that  the  faithful  must  assist  at  the 
Office  as  well  as  at  Mass.  This  has  been 
shown  above  from  the  decrees  of  councils. 
Mr.  Maskell  ("Monument.  Rit."  vol.  iii. 
p.  xxxii.)  proves  that  the  obligation  of 
hearing  Matins,  Mass,  and  Evensong  on 


784 


SUNDAY 


Sundays  and  holidays  was  recognised  in 
England  till  the  change  of  religion.  Even 
m  the  last  century  Billuart  and  many 
Other  theologians  admit  an  obligation 
(though  not  a  grave  one)  of  hearing 
Vespers  as  well  as  Mass  on  Sundays.  At 
present,  a  man  who  simply  hears  Low 
Mass  sjitisfies  the  letter  of  the  Church 
law.  But  if  he  absents  himself  from 
sermons,  if,  above  all,  he  does  not  use  the 
opportunity  the  day  of  rest  affords  for 
increased  prayer,  for  reading  good  book^, 
for  instructing  his  family  and  the  like,  he 
will  in  many  cases  sin  against  his  own 
soul.  He  can  hardly  fail  to  do  so,  unless 
he  be  like  the  perfect  Christian  of  whom 
Origen  speaks  ("C.  Cels."  viii.  22,  23), 
with  whom  every  day  is  a  spiritual  feast. 
A  man  is  in  a  bad  way  if  he  makes  a 
practice  of  hearing  a  Low  Mass,  and 
spending  the  rest  of  the  Sunday  in  frivo- 
lous recreation. 

STrPRfiM.aLC7,  ROTAXi.  By  this 
is  meant  the  doctrine  that  the  Idug  or 
chief  authority  in  the  state  has  the 
power  to  ordain  and  judge  in  the  last 
resort  without  appeal  "  in  all  causes  and 
over  all  persons,  ecclesiastical  as  well  as 
civil,"  ^  within  his  dominions.  Christi- 
anity is  thus  infei'entially  denied,  inas- 
much as  the  charge  given  by  our  Lord  to 
St.  Peter,  not  to  feed  only,  but  to  govern 
(noinaiveiv)  his  whole  flock  in  the  things 
concerning  everlasting  life  is  ignored,  and 
the  judgment  of  the  civil  ruler  substituted 
for  that  of  the  Apostolic  See.  Nor  is  this 
claim  to  supremacy  less  obstinately  main- 
tained in  very  many  communities  which 
pretend  to  tolerate  all  religions,  than  by 
old  Protestant  monarchies.  The  modern 
Continental  Liberal  has  no  sense  for  the 
lofty  yet  humbling  thoughts,  the  pure 
*j)enetrating  emotions  which  are  present 
m  the  souls  of  believers,  and  dispose  the 
best  of  them  to  the  practice  of  the  evan- 
•gelical  counsels— chastity,  voluntary 
poverty,  and  obedience.  He  considers 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man  or  woman 
to  contribute  to  the  advance  of  civilisation, 
understood  as  he  understands  it ;  and  all 
mental  or  bodily  exercise  which  does  not 
80  contribute,  he  looks  upon  as  so  much 
wasted  force.  This  waste,  if  he  has  power 
to  prevent  it,  he  will  not  permit ;  he  will 
therefcre  disperse  religious  communities, 
forbid  the  taking  of  vows,  and,  generally, 
assume  control  in  the  last  resort  over 
religious  society.  The  Radical  Govern- 
ment of  Switzerland,  with  nothine:  but 
toleration  and  enlightenment  on  its  lips, 
^  Anglican  bidding  prayer. 


SUPIIEMACY,  ROYAL 

is  as  vigilant  in  repressing  the  free  de- 
velopment of  Catholic  life  within  the 
republic  as  the  Czars  are  in  Russia  or 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  in  England. 

The  aoctrine  that  the  civil  power  has 
the  right  to  control  the  ecclesiastical,  even 
in  pm'ely  religious  matters,  is  generally 
attributed  to  Erastus,  a  German  divine  of 
the  sixteenth  century ; '  traces  of  it,  how- 
ever, may  be  found  in  the  writings  of 
Marsilius  of  Padua  and  other  mediaeval 
writers.  Cranmer,  and  afterwards 
Hooker,  espoused  it ;  it  is  indeed  the 
fundamental  tenet  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land as  such ;  Grotius  and  Hobbes  argued 
on  the  same  side.^  On  the  other  hand, 
all  Catholic  theologians  maintain  the  in- 
dependence and  supremacy  of  the  Church 
within  her  own  sphere.  This  inde- 
pendence is  of  course  implied  in  the  very 
fact  of  canon  law;  for  precepts  which 
may  be  lawfully  set  aside  at  the  bidding 
of  some  power  claiming  to  be  superior  to 
the  authority  which  framed  them  are 
not  laws  at  all,  but  only  regulations  or 
monitions.  [See  Canon  Law  ;  Juris- 
diction; FOKUM  EcCLESIASTICrM.] 

The  doctrine  of  the  royal  supremacy 
was  carried  out  more  consistently  in 
England  than  in  any  other  Protestant 
country.  It  was  one  of  the  main  causes 
of  the  civil  war  in  the  sixteenth  century ; 
the  King,  as  head  of  the  Church,  insisting 
on  ecclesiastical  arrangements  which  the 
conscience  of  the  more  advanced  Pro- 
testants condemned.  The  Puritan  re- 
public, since  it  maintained  the  penal  laws 
against  Catholics,  practically  claimed  the 
right  of  excluding  Catholicism  from  the 
country,  but  it  conceded  to  all  Protestant 
sects  the  free  management  of  their  eccle- 
siastical concerns  without  state  inter- 
ference. At  the  Restoration  the  old  state 
of  things  reappeared ;  but  the  Revolution 
of  1688  enforced  the  toleration  of  the 
sects,  and  withdrew,  so  far  as  they  were 
concerned,  the  ecclesiastical  supremacy  of 
the  Crown.  The  liberty  thus  given  has 
been  taken  advantage  of  more  and  more 
in  the  two  centuries  which  have  since 
intervened,  and  at  the  present  day  the 
supremacy  is  admitted  only  by  one-half 
of  English  Protestantism.  In  Scotland 
the  Erastian  doctrine  was  rejected  from 
the  first.  The  Presbyterian  conception  of 
the  Church  has  no  solid  basis  in  Scripture, 

1  His  real  name  was  Lieber;  he  was  9 
native  of  Baden,  and  died  in  1588.  Soon  after* 
wards  api)eared  his  celebrated  treatise,  D9 
Excomm unicatione  Ecclesiastica. 

3  UaUam,  Lit.  Miat.  u,  436. 


SUPPRESSION 

hmtory,  or  general  reason ;   but  of  this 

Church  the  Scotch  always  stoutly  upheld 
the  independence  as  apfain«t  the  state ; 
and  the  record  of  tlieir  strupfgles  and 
sacrifices  in  this  cause,  from  the  date  of  the 
First  General  Assembly  in  1560  to  the  dis- 
ruption of  1843,  forms  the  most  attractive 
feature  in  the  history  of  Preshyterianism. 
,  In  Sweden  and  Denmark  the  sovereigns 
appoint  the  bishops ;  Lutheranism  is  the 
national  religion,  and  till  within  the  last 
few  years  no  other  has  been  tolerated. 
The  Calvinism  of  Holland  is  more  accom- 
modating ;  the  battle  of  toleration  was 
fought  out  there  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  practically  won.  The  established 
religion  is  professed  only  by  about  one 
half  of  the  people,  and  Catholics  form 
nearly  40  per  cent,  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion. In  Russia  the  Czar  appoints  the 
bishops,  and  is  practically  supreme  in 
religious  matters.  The  sufferings  which 
the  exercise  of  this  supremacy  has  entailed 
on  the  Catholics  of  Poland,  Podolia,  and 
Lithuania,  are  matter  of  recent  experi- 
ence. In  France  the  present  aspect  of 
things  is  that  of  a  country  whose  religi- 
ous affairs  are  regulated  by  a  concordat  or 
solemn  treaty  concluded  (1801)  between 
the  civil  power  and  the  Catholic  Church. 
Many  other  countries  [Concordat]  have 
followed  this  example.  Of  course  all 
Powers  having  concordats  with  Rome 
implicitly  admit  her  spiritual  indepen- 
dence. The  British  state  does  not  make 
concordats  with,  but  laws  for,  the  Church 
of  England,  justly  regarding  it  as  its  own 
creature  and  subject. 

SUPPRESSZOir  OF  MOITilS- 
TERZBS.  In  every  country  of  Europe 
there  have  been  hostile  suppressions  of 
monastic  societies  ;  there  have  been  also, 
from  time  to  time,  friendly,  or  ecclesi- 
astical, suppressions,  carried  out  with  the 
approbation  of  the  Holy  See.  The  first 
and  most  memorable  instance  of  the 
former  class  is  the  closing  of  the  religious 
houses  in  England  (1535-1540)  ;  the 
particulars  are  exhibited  in  the  following 
table : — 

Monasteries  with  yearly  revenue 
under  200/ 374 

Monasteries  with  yearly  revenue 
above  that  sum  .         .         .  186 

Small  monasteries         .        .         .52 

Friaries — Augustinians        .        .    32 
„  Carmelites     .        .        .52 

„  Dominicans  .        .        .58 

,,  Franciscans  1         .        .    65 


SUPPRESSION 


785 


Total 


.  819 


1  There  were  also   forty-eight  suppressed 
houses  of  the  Knights  Hospitallers. 

3 


In  Italy  a  great  suppression  of  reli- 
gious houses  and  ecclesiastical  founda- 
tions, commenced  by  the  Sardinian 
Government  in  1855,  and  scarcely  yet 
terminated,  has  seriously  changed-  the 
moral  aspect  of  the  country.  Between 
l85o  and  1873  there  were  suppressed 
3,037  houses  for  men,  and  1,027  for 
women,  and  small  pensions  were  granted 
to  a  large  proportion  of  their  inmates, 
amounting  to  nearly  54,000  persons.  Up 
to  the  end  of  1877,  Church  and  monastic 
lands  representing  a  capital  value  of 
nearly  $170,000,000  had  been  confiscated 
by  the  state,  which,  to  disarm  local 
opposition,  grants  to  the  communes  in 
which  any  such  property  was  situated  a 
certain  proportion  of  the  proceeds  of  its 
sale.  The  establishments  spared  for  the 
present  are  compelled  to  subujit  to  the 
forced  sale  of  all  their  immovable  pro- 
perty, the  purchase  money  being  entered 
by  the  Government  to  their  credit  in  the 
Italian  rentes.  (  "  Enc.  Brit."'  Italy,  1881.) 

The  Cvlturkampf  in  Germany,  com- 
menced very  soon  after  the  Franco- 
German  war  (1870-1),  employed  the 
suppression  of  religious  societies  as  one 
of  its  most  effectual  weapons.  The 
Jesuits,  and  many  other  orders  and  con- 
gregations, were  at  that  time  expelled 
from  aU  the  territories  of  Prussia. 

In  France,  a  law  passed  during  the 
Revolution  (February  1790)  enacted  the 
suppression  of  all  orders  and  regular  con- 
gregations in  which  solemn  vows  were 
taken,  and  prohibited  their  re-estabhsh- 
ment.  This  law  had  been  long  in 
abeyance,  and  a  system  of  authorisation 
had  been  followed,  under  which  religious 
societies  which  laid  their  rules,  statutes, 
and  financial  affairs  open  to  the  in- 
spection of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior, 
were  permitted  to  exist.  Besides  these 
authorised  congregations,  a  large  number 
of  non- authorised  societies,  which  for 
various  reasons  preferred  a  hazardous 
independence  to  the  irksomeuess  of 
governmental  supervision,  had  come  into 
being :  in  1877  there  were  five  hundred 
such  societies,  comprising  nearly  22,000 
religious  of  both  sexes.  But  the  majority 
of  the  congregations  of  women  were 
authorised.  On  March  29,  1880,  the 
Government  of  M.  Freyciuet,  a  Protes- 
tant, issued  two  decrees,  of  which  one 
ordered  the  absolute  and  irrevocable 
suppression  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in 
every  part  of  France,  the  other  required 
that  all  other  non-authorised  corpora- 
tions should  within  three  months  apply 


786 


SUPPRESSION 


for  authorisation  to  the  Government, 
supply  mo-  at  the  same  time  full  and 
minute  information  as  to  all  their  con- 
cerns, internal  and  external.  It  was  well 
understood  tliat  in  the  case  of  many 
societies  the  authorisation,  had  it  heen 
applied  for,  would  have  been  refused. 
In  fact,  it  was  in  very  few  instances  ap- 
plied for,  and  when  the  prescribed  periud 
had  passed  by,  the  Government  resorted 
to  the  various  executive  means  at  its  dis- 
posal for  suspending  the  common  life  of 
the  non-authorised  societies,  causing 
closed  doors  to  be  broken  open,  seizing 
on  property,  and  forcibly  dispersing  the 
religious.  Thus  not  only  the  Jesuits, 
but  the  Dominicans  also  (except  those 
engaged  in  teaching),  the  Capuchins,  the 
Carmelites,  and  many  other  orders  and 
congregations,  the  members  of  which  bad 
supposed  the  revolutionary  furor  which 
dictated  tKe  law  of  1790  to  be  extinct, 
were  suppressed  in  France  before  the  end 
of  1882. 

Ecclesiastical  suppressions  have  been 
made  for  various  reasons ;  either  for  the 
promotion  of  learning  and  education,  or 
m  the  interest  of  discipline,  or  for  the 
removal  of  presumed  abuses  and  evils. 
Thus  a  monastery  was  suppressed  by 
Bishop  Alcock  (1497)  in  order  that  he 
might  transfer  its  revenues  to  his  new 
foundation  of  Jesus  College  at  Cambridge, 
and  two  others  were  closed  at  the  request 
of  the  Countess  Margaret,  mother  of 
Henry  VII.,  and  her  executors  (1505- 
1508),  to  aid  in  the  foundation  of  Christ's 
and  St.  John's  Colleges  at  the  same  uni- 
versity. Another  suppression  was  allowed 
in  favour  of  Bishop  Smith  (151,5),  when 
he  was  founding  Brasenose  College,  Oxford. 
A  measure  of  the  same  land,  but  on  a 
much  larger  scale,  was  permitted  by  the 
Holy  See  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  who  (1524) 
suppressed  twenty- five  small  priories,  and 
applied  their  revenues  to  Christ  Church 
at  Oxford  and  the  college  at  Ipswich 
which  he  was  then  founding.  In  1528, 
experience  having  shown  that  when  the 
number  of  monks  in  any  house  was  very 
small,  the  rule  was  seldom  properly 
observed,  Clement  VII.  granted  a  bull  to 
the  Cardinals  Wolsey  and  Campeggio, 
authorising  them  to  suppress  houses  having 
les?  than  twelve  monks,  and  transfer  their 
revenues  to  the  larger  monasteries. 

A  suppression  far  more  comprehensive 
was  effected  in  France  a  few  years  before 
the  Revolution  through  the  agency  of 
the  "  Commission  on  the  Regulars,'  a 
board   composed    of  bishops    and    high 


SURPLICE 

officials,  appointed  by  the  Crown  in  1768 
to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  religious 
orders.  The  result  qf  their  operations, 
which  do  not  appear  to  have  had  at  any 
time  the  sanction  of  the  Pope,  was,  that 
all  houses  containing  fewer  tlian  fifteen 
religious  were  closed,  that  monks  were 
forbidden  to  take  vows  before  the  age  of 
21,  and  nuns  before  that  of  18,  and  that 
nearly  1,500  monasteries  were  suppressed. 

(Tanner,  "  Notitia  Monastica  "  ; 
Helyot  [ed.  Migne],  vol.  iv.) 

SURPXiZCE.  A  garment  of  white 
linen  worn  over  the  cassock  in  choir  and 
in  the  administration  of  the  Svacraments. 
It  is  among  the  most  familiar,  and  at  the 
same  time  is  one  of  the  most  modern  of 
Church  vestments. 

The  word  superpellicium  means  a 
dress  worn  over  a  garment  of  skins. 
Such  dresses  of  fur  {^'pdlicice)  came  into 
use  among  monks  early  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, probably  to  protect  them  from  the 
cold  and  damp  during  the  long  ofiices 
in  church.  The  great  Synod  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  in  817  (can.  22)  ordered  each 
monk  to  have  two  dresses  of  fur  {pellicice). 
Over  these  peUicice  a  linen  garment,  the 
superpellicium  or  surplice,  was  worn  in 
choir.  It  is  uncertain  when  this  last 
custom  began.  The  surplice  is  mentioned 
in  1050  by  the  Council  of  Coyaca,  and 
Durandus  in  1286  speaks  of  its  use  as 
already  ancient,  but  by  no  means  universaL 
The  Spanish  synod  just  mentioned  (can. 
3)  requires  it  to  be  worn  under  the 
amice,  alb,  and  the  rest  of  the  Mass 
vestments,  and  this  usage  is  still  recognised 
in  the  rubrics  of  the  Roman  Missal 
("  Ritus  Servand."  i.  2.)  In  the  twelfth 
century  it  reached  to  the  ankles,  and  so 
the  Council  of  Basle  in  the  fifteenth 
century  requires  canons  in  choir  to  wear 
surplices  "  ultra  medias  tibias."  Cardinal 
Bona,  more  than  200  years  ago,  speaks  of 
surplices  being  already  shorter  than  the 
rule  of  Basle  required,  but  the  pictures  in 
Roman  Pontificals  of  the  last  century- 
show  that  the  present  form  of  the 
Italian  surplice  or  cotta  is  very  recent. 
To  this  day  the  length  varies  much  in 
American  churches,  but  it  never  reaches 
below  the  knees,  while  in  the  new  Italian 
fashion  adopted  by  many  of  the  English 
clergy  the  surplice  does  not  reach  nearly 
so  far.  It  was  not  till  the  seventeenth 
century  that  surplices  were  commonly 
adorned  wuth  lace.  (Hefele, "  Beitrage,"  vol. 
ii.  p.  1 74,  seq. ;  see  also  RocnEX  and  Cotta.) 

SirSPElirszonr.  A  censure  by  which 
a  cleric  is  forbidden  to  exercise  his  orders 


'UNIVE 

SUSPENSION       ^^JPO'R'^  '^^^^^^^^^^  7®^ 


or  his  clerical  office,  or  to  administer  an( 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  beuelice.  It  does 
not,  like  deposition,  deprive  a  cleric  of 
his  benefice,  or  make  him  incapable  of 
lawfully  exercising  his  office  without 
Ibnual  rehabilitation ;  much  less  does  it, 
like  degradation,  deprive  hioi  of  his 
status  as  a  clergyman.  Partial  suspen- 
sion inhibits  a  man  from  the  use  of  his 
orders,  of  his  office — i.e.  from  exercise  of 
orders  and  jurisdiction,  or,  again,  from 
the  enjoyment  and  administration  of  his 
benefice.  It  may  prohibit  from  all  exer- 
cise of  orders  or  jurisdiction,  or  only 
from  certain  acts  of  order  and  jurisdic- 
tion— e.(f.  a  bishop  may  be  suspended  from 
ordaining,  singing  Mass  pontifically,.  &c., 
and  yet  be  perfectly  free  to  say  Mass, 
govern  his  diocese,  &c.  Entire  suspen- 
sion prohibits  all  use  of  order,  jurisdic- 
tion, or  benefice.  Suspension  may  be 
perpetual — i.e.  without  any  fixed  limit, 
or  for  a  definite  time.  If  inflicted  for  a 
time,  it  ceases  of  itself  when  the  time  is 
over.  Perpetual  suspension  for  a  fault 
altogether  past  is  removed  by  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  prelate  who  inflicted  it,  his 
superior,  successor,  or  delegate.  If  in- 
flicted as  a  censure  ^  it  may  be  removed 
by  absolution  given  solemnly  according 
to  a  form  prescribed  in  the  Rituale,  if 
the  suspension  is  public  ;  or  privately  by 
absolution  in  a  general  form,  if  the 
suspension  is  secret.  The  power  of 
absolution  is  sometimes  held  by  every 
priest  empowered  to  hear  confessions, 
sometimes  reserved  to  the  bishop,  some- 
times to  the  Pope.  According  to  the 
new  reform  of  the  canon  law  in  the  Bull 
"Apostolicse  Sedis,"  October  12,  1869, 
the  following  suspensions  only  are  in- 
curred ipso  facto,  absolution  being  reserved 
to  the  Pope.  They  all  depend  on  the 
giving,  receiving,  or  exercising  orders  or 
jurisdiction  : — (1)  Suspension  from  the 
fruits  of  their  benefices  is  incurred  by 
the  chapter  of  a  vacant  see  if  they  admit 
a  bishop  before  he  has  produced  the 
Apostolic  letters  for  his  promotion ;  ^  (2) 
bishops  are  suspended  for  three  years 
from  all  right  to  ordain,  if  they  give 
orders  to  one  who  has  neither  patri- 
mony nor  benefice,  on  the  condition  that 


^  I.e.  not  merely  as  punishment,  but  for  the 
amendment  of  the  offender.  The  common  de- 
finition, to  which  we  have  adhered,  treats  sus- 
pension as  a  species  of  censure,  but  this  is  not 
always  the  case. 

2  In  this  case  the  penalties  have  been 
extended  and  increased  by  the  bull  Jtotnanus 
Fontifex,  kxig.  28,  1873. 


renounces  all  claim  to  support  from 
the  bishop ;  (3)  for  one  year  if  they 
ordain  without  dimissorials  a  person  who 
does  not  belong  to  the  diocese  or  hold  a 
benefice  in  it,  or  a  person  belonging  to  but 
long  absent  from  the  diocese,  unless  he 
has  a  certificate  of  good  character  from 
the  bishop  under  whom  he  has  been 
living ;  or  (4)  if,  apart  from  privilege, 
they  confer  a  holy  order  on  one  who  has 
neither  patrimony,  benefice,  or  the  titulus 
jmupertatis,  acquired  by  solemn  vows, 
already  made.  (5)  Religious  expelled 
from  their  order  are  suspended  from  all 
exercise  of  orders.  (6)  So  are  persons 
knowingly  ordained  by  a  bishop  under 
excommunication, suspension,  orinterdict, 
or  notoriously  heretical  or  schismatical 
(if  they  were  in  good  faith,  they  must 
wait  for  a  dispensation).  Then  follow 
some  8us]3ensions  which  afl'ect  persons 
living  in  Rome,  incurred  (a)  by  persons 
living  more  than  four  months  in  Rome 
and  ordained  by  a  bishop  not  their  own, 
without  leave  from  the  cardinal-vicar,  or 
ordained  without  being  examined  before 
the  cardinal-vicar,  or  orda,ined  by  their 
own  bishop  after  failing  in  the  exauiina- 
tion  before  the  cardinal-vicar ;  (/3)  by 
persons  in  the  six  suburbicarian  dioceses 
if  they  are  ordained  out  of  their  own 
dioceses,  unless  with  dimissorials  directed 
to  the  cardinal-vicar  himself,  or  if  they 
receive  a  holy  order  without  ten  days' 
retreat  at  the  house  of  the  Fathers  of 
the  Mission  ;  bishops  who  ordain  in  these 
cases  are  suspended  "abusu  pontitiealium  " 
for  a  year.  Further,  the  following  suspen- 
sions imposed  by  the  Council  of  Trent 
remain  in  force : — (1)  "  Ab  exercitio 
ordinura  "  on  bishops  who  act  pontifically 
without  leav^  in  other  dioceses,  and  on 
persons  ordained  by  them  there  (Concil, 
Trid.  scss.  vi.  De  Reform,  c.  5.)  (2) 
"Ab  executione  ordinum  ad  beneplacitura 
prselati  futuri "  on  all  who  receive  a  holy 
order  in  virtue  of  dimissorials  from  a 
chapter  within  a  year  of  the  vacancy  of 
the  see  (sess.  vii.  De  Reform,  c.  \0). 
(3)  For  a  year  '^  ab  exercitio  pontifi- 
calium "  on  titular  bishops  who  ordain 
without  dimissorials,  and  "  ab  execu- 
tione ordinum "  on  the  persons  so  or- 
dained, as  long  as  their  ordinary  pleases. 
(sess.  xiv.  De  Ref.  c.  2.)  (4)  "  A  colla- 
tione  ordinum "  for  a  year  on  bishops 
who  ordain  without  testimonials  of 
character  from  the  proper  ordinary,  and 
"  ab  executione  ordinum "  on  those  so 
ordained  as  long  as  their  ordinarv  sees  fit. 
(sess.    xxiii.   De  Ref.  c.   8.)     (5)   "Ab 


3»2 


788 


SUSPENSION 


officio  et  "beneficio"  for  a  year  on  those 
who  furnish  dimissorials  contrary  to  the 
Tridentine  decrees,  (sess.  vii.  De  Ref.  c. 
10. ;  xxiii.  De  Ref.  c.  10.)  (6)  Absolute 
suspension  at  the  will  of  the  ordinary  of 
the  priest  whose  rights  have  been  in- 
fringed, on  parish  priests  who  knowingly 
marry  persons  from  another  parish  with- 
out leave  from  their  priests  (sess.  xxiv. 
De  Ref.  c.  1)  ;  (7)  on  "  episcopi  con- 
cubmarii,  a  provinciali  synodo  admoniti." 
Of  course,  provincial  and  diocesan  statutes 
may  inflict  suspension  to  be  incurred  ipso 
facto,  and  prelates  are  empowered  to  visit 
the  offences  of  clerics  subject  to  them 
with  suspension  (xxv.  De  Ref.  c.  14). 

In  the  earliest  times  clerics  were  often 
punished,  not  by  simple  suspension,  but 
by  temporary  deprivation  of.  communion. 
(Canon  Apost.  45,  Illiber.  21,  Epaon.  3). 
I3ut  as  early  as  314  (Coucil.  Neocsesaren. 
c.  1)  we  have  an  inst-ance  of  suspension 
perpetual  and  from  all  fimctions  (oXws 
XeiTovpydu),  and  so  frequently  iu  the 
following  centuries  (Agde,  c.  43,  in 
Trull o,  c.  26).  In  the  so-called  Fourth 
Council  of  Carthage  (c.  GS),  where  a 
bishop  who  breaks  the  law  is  forbidden 
to  ordain,  we  have  an  instance  of  partial 
suspension,  and  in  another  early  council 
an  instance  of  suspension  from  Mass. 
(3  Aurel.  c.  7).  Often  clerics  suspended 
from  order  and  othce  retained  their 
stipend  (3  Coucil.  Aurel.  a.d.  538,  c.  19), 
while  in  other  cases  they  were  suspended 
from  their  stipend  (Coucil.  Narbonu.  A.D. 
689,  c.  11  and  13.) 

sirxTAXis.  [See  Litttegies.] 
STTKCJUmImUS  (a  hybrid  word,  o-vv, 
cella ;  one  occupyin":  the  same  cell).  The 
thing  signiried  by  the  term — namely,  that 
a  priest  or  deacon  should  live  continually 
with  a  bishop,  "  propter  testimonium 
ecclesiasticum  " — was  of  very  early  insti- 
tution ;  the  "Liber  Pontificalis"  traces  it 
to  Pope  Lucius,  in  the  second  century. 
The  word  (see  Ducange)  appears  not  to 
be  traceable  beyond  the  eighth  century. 
Leo  III.,  writing  to  Cenwulf  of  Mercia, 
speaks  of  Augustine  as  having  been  the 
syncellus  of  Gregory  the  Great.  Concellus 
or  conceUita  woidd  have  been  the  natural 
Latin  expression ;  and  the  latter  term  is 
actually  used  by  Sidonius  Apollinaris 
with  reference  to  a  monk  of  Lerins.  The 
word  syncellm  must  have  been  coined  in 
the  East ;  whence,  probably  not  before 
the  eighth  century,  it  found  its  way  into 
the  Western  Church.  In  the  Eastern 
Church  the  syncdli  were  the  chaplains 
ftnd  couMential  ministers  of  Metropoli- 


SYNTAGMA  CANONUM 

tans  and  Patriarchs.     At  Constantinople 
j  they  formed    a   corporation ;    and   their 
j  chief,  the  protosyncellus,  became  in  process 
j  of  time  a  personage  of  so  much  iraport- 
I  ance  as  to  take  rank  en  public  occasions 
I  next    after     the    Patriarch.       Cedrenus 
I  (about  1050)  says  that  before  his  time  the 
I  proto^yncellus  had  commonly  succeeded  to 
the  Patriarchal  throne   on  its  becoming 
I  vacant.   (Morone,  "Dizion.  Eccl.  ";  Smith 
I  and  Cheetham,  art.  by  Venablet.) 
I        SYUDIC  (Gr.  o-uj/St/fos).    In  classical 
I  Greek  the  word  was  used  in  three  senses : 
I  (1)  an  advocate,  especially  for  the  defen- 
!  dant;  (2)  a  public  orator;  (3)  a  judge.^ 
I  The  term  came  into  regular  use  in  Italy 
during  the  middle  ages;  the  municipal 
I  magistrates  of  cities  were  called  syndics 
I  {shidaci).    Louis  of  Bavaria  was  crovv^ned 
at  Rome  (1328)  by  the  four  syndics  of 
the  city ;  again,  in  1347,  an  othcial  so  en- 
titled, chosen  by  the  people  for  the  pur- 
pose, knighted  and  crowned  Rienzi  the 
Tribune.     At  the  present  day  it  means 
an   agent    of   a    particular    kind — "one 
chosen  to  take  charge  of  the  affairs  of  a 
community,   of  which   he   himself  is   a 
member."      A  proctor  {procurator)   may 
be  agent  either  for  a  community  or  an  in- 
dividual ;  the  term  "  syndic ''  is  confined 
to     agents     representing      communities 
(Morone). 

s-riaroB.     [See  Council.] 
svzroB,     Koiiir.       [See    ^31reek 
Church  and  Russian  Church.] 

SYXTODAI.        EXAMZN-ERS.        A 

committee  of  learned  ecclesiastics,  ap- 
pointed in  the  diocesan  synod,'^  numbering 
not  less  than  six,  and  (as  a  rule)  not  more 
than  twenty  members,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  ascertain  and  test  the  qualifications  of 
candidates  for  benefices  or  other  Church 
preferment.  They  hold  office  only  from 
one  diocesan  synod  to  another.  If  the 
committee  be  reduced  below  six  in  the 
interval  between  two  synods,  the  bishop 
makes  provisional  appointments  so  as  to 
complete  the  prescribed  number.  In 
countries  where  diocesan  synods  cannot 
be  held,  as  in  North  Germany,  the  Holy 
See  authorises  the  bishops  to  appoint 
synodal  examiners  with  the  consent  of 
the  chapters. 

STSTTAGMA  CAXTOimrM.  Besides 
the  collection  called  the  "Nomocanon" 
(see  that  article),  Photius,  the  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  made,  in  833,  a  second 
collection  of  canons,  whicli  he  designated 
as  above.     It  contains  the  canons  of  the 

*  Liddell,  Greek  Lexicon. 

>  Cone.  Trid.  sess,  xxiv.  c.  18,  De  Ref. 


SYRIAN  CATHOLICS 

fi?st  seven  General  Councils,  and  of  two 
councils  lield  at  Constantinople  by  Photius 
himself ;  also  a  series  of  extracts  from  the 
Fathers,  and  a  few  civil  laws. 

SVRIAia-  CATHOI.ICS.  The  name 
''  Syrian  Catholic  "  would  naturally  apply 
to  all  those  who  use  a  Syiiac  liturgy,  and 
to  whom  Syriac,  therefore,  is  the  sacred 
language.  Such  are  the  Chaldeans,  or  con- 
verts from  Nestorianisra  ;  the  Maroniles, 
originally  Mouothelites ;  and,  finally,  the 
converts  from  the  Jacobite  or  Monophy- 
eite  Church  in  Syria.  But  in  the  recog- 
nised language  of  the  Church  the  name 
of  Syrian  Catholics  is  given  to  the  last 
body  and  to  no  other.  These  Syrian 
Christians  are  subject  to  the  Pope,  and  of 
■course  hold  the  Catholic  faith,  but  they 
keep  the  ancient  Syriac  rites,  which  are 
common  to  the  Jacobites  and  themselves. 
[See  Liturgies.] 

A  congregation  of  Jacobite  Christians 
had  been  reconciled  to  the  Church  in 
1546,^  and  in  1781,  on  the  death  of 
George  III.,  the  Jacobite  Patriarch, 
Ignatius  ^  Michael  Giarve,  Bishop  of  the 
Syrian  Catholics  at  Aleppo,  went,  with 
the  approval  of  Propaganda,  to  Mardin, 
the  seat  of  the  Jacobite  Patriarch,  and 
persuaded  the  Jacobite  clergy  of  inferior 
rank,  many  laymen,  four  bishops,  and  the 
Archbishop  of  Jerusalem,  to  seek  union 
with  the  Catholic  Church.  Ignatius  was 
himself  chosen  Patriarch  by  the  bishops, 
and,  after  being  enthroned,  he  and  his 
electors  begged  the  pallium  from  the  Pope. 
He  nominated  the  Latin  Bishop  of  Baby- 
lon his  Procurator  at  Rome.  Meantime, 
the  rest  of  the  Jacobites  had  chosen 
another  Patriarch.  Ignatius,  whose  elec- 
tion had  been  confirmed  by  the  Pope  in 
1783,  was  driven  from  Mardin  and  took 
refuge  at  Kesrevan,  in  the  Lebanon,  where 
he  founded  the  monastery  of  Sajideh  el 
Sharfeh  (Sta.  Maria  Liberatrix),  which 
Pius  VI.  took  under  his  protection  in 
1787.  He  died  in  1800,  was  succeeded 
by  Ignatius  Michael  Daher  (resigned 
1810);  by  Simon  (resigned  1818);  by 
Ignatius  Peter  Giarve,  elected  1820,  but 
not  confirmed,  on  account  of  the  strife 
which  had  broken  out,  till  1828.  Pro- 
gress was  made  owing  to  the  conversion 

1  So  Silbemagl,  p.  309.  Hergenrother  (p. 
5)  says  the  Capuchins  converted  Achigian, 
Jacobite  bishop  of  Aleppo,  in  1650. 

2  So  Sibernagl.  Hergenrother  (foe.  cit.) 
calls  him  "  Dionysius  Michael  Giarve." 


SYRIAN  CATHOLICS        789 

of  the  Jacobite  Archbishop  of  Jerusalem, 
Gregory  Hyza,  and  his  vicar-general, 
Ignatius  Antony  Samhiri,  in  1827.  In 
1830  a  firman  of  the  Turkish  Government 
recognised  the  Catholic  Patriarch,  Ignatius 
Peter  Giarve,  as  independent  of  the  Ja- 
cobites. In  1854  Pius  IX.  preconised 
Ignatius  Antony  Sanctiri  ^  as  patriarch, 
of  the  Syrians,  and  ruled  that  he  should 
reside  at  Mardin.  In  1840  the  number 
of  Catholics  belonging  to  the  Syrian  rite 
was  reckoned  at  30,000,  but  it  is  said  to 
have  increased  considerably  since  then, 
many  conversions  having  been  made  by 
the  Capuchin  Castells  (1860,  Apostolic 
delegate  in  Mesopotamia,  Lesser  Armenia, 
and  Persia  ;  1866,  Archbishop  of  Mar- 
cianopolis;  d.  1873).  The  Syrian  Pa- 
triarch Ignatius  Philip  Harcus  (d.  1874) 
was  present  at  the  Vatican  Council.  The 
Patriarch  is  chosen  by  the  bishops.  He 
is  enthroned  during  Mass,  receives  the 
pastoral  staff,  takes  the  oath  of  obedience 
to  Pope,  and  makes  the  profession  of  faith 
prescribed  for  the  Orientals  by  Urban  VIH. 
in  1642.  He  sends  these  formulfe,  sub- 
scribed and  sealed,  to  Rome,  and  deputes 
a  priest  or  monk  to  beg  the  pallium.  He 
has  jurisdiction  over  all  Catholics  of  bis 
rite  in  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  Egypt. 
He  is  himself  immediately  subject  to 
Propaganda,  and  to  the  Vicar-Apostolic 
of  Aleppo,  as  Apostolic  Delegate.  He  is 
entitled  Patriarch  of  Antioch. 

The  diocese  of  Aleppo  is  governed 
immediately  by  the  Patriarch,  who  is  also 
administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Jerusalem. 
There  are.  besides,  the  dioceses  of  Beyrout, 
Damascus,  Diarbekir,  Emesa  or  Horiis, 
Mardin,  Mosul,  Keriatin,  Tripolis.^  The 
Syrians  have  two  monasteries  on  the 
Lebanon,  that  of  El- Sharfeh,  already  men- 
tioned, that  of  St.  Ephrem,  and  a  third, 
that  of  Mar-Behnam,  north-east  of  Nim- 
rud.  They  are  not,  however,  monasteries 
in  the  strict  sense,  but  only  houses  for 
communities  of  unmarried  secular  priests. 
The  first  two  serve  as  clerical  seminaries. 

(From  Silbernagl,  "  Verfassung  und 
gegenwartiger  Bestand  sammtlicher 
Kirchen  des  Orients,"  1865,  with  a  few 
additions  from  Hergenrother,  "  Kirchen- 
geschichte,"  1880,  vol.  ii.  p.  639  seq., 
1010  seq.) 

1  So  Silberaagl.     Hergenrother  (p.  1010) 
writes  the  name  "  Samhiri." 

2  The  list  in  the  Directory  for  1883  adds 
Babylon,  Alexandria,  and  Ge»ir. 


790 


TABERNACLE 


TEMPLAKS 


TABHRXACIiE.  [See  RESERVA- 
TION OF  THE  Holt  Efchakist.] 

TABORITES.  [See  Bohemian 
Brethren.] 

TAN-TU-M  ERGO.  [See  Fange 
Lingua,  under  Hymns.] 

TB  BEirnx.  A  hymn  in  the  form  of 
a  psahn,  recited  at  the  end  of  Matins  on 
all  feasts  except  Innocents'  Day,  and  on 
all  Sundays  except  during  penitential 
seasons. 

1.  Its  Author  and  Date. — According  to 
the  legend,  given  in  the  so-called  Chroni- 
cle ot  Dacius,  it  was  sung  in  alternate 
verses  by  Ambrose  and  Augustine  after 
the  baptism  of  the  latter.  Dacius,  bishop 
of  Milan,  died  about  555,  but  the  Chroni- 
cle which  bears  his  name  is  now  known 
to  be  a  late  and  w^orthless  forgery,  which, 
in  important  particulars,  contradicts  the 
confessions  of  St,  Augustine  himself. 
As  late  as  1695  the  story  was  defended 
by  an  Augustiuian  hermit,  Eustachius  a 
S.  Ubaldo,  but  everyone,  say  the  Bene- 
dictine editors  of  St.  Ambrose  (vol.  ii.  p. 
1410,  in  Migne's  reprint),  "not  utterly 
ignorant"  (non plane  rudis),  treats  it  as  a 
fable. 

The  rule  of  St.  Benedict  (cap.  14) 
orders  it  to  be  sung  after  the  fourth 
responsory ;  this  and  the  rule  of  Tiridius, 
a  disciple  of  Csesarius  of  Aries,  being, 
according  to  Menard  ("Annot.  in  S. 
Gregor.  Sacram."  p.  586),  the  earliest 
documents  which  mention  it.  Gavantus 
"  Jhesaur."  tom.  ii.  §  v.  xix.)  found  it 
attributed,  in  an  ancient  MS.  Breviary,  to 
St.  Abundius:  Usher  (see  Bingham, 
"  Antiq."  xiv.  ii.  §  9),  to  Nicetius,  bishop 
of  Treves  (d.  ci7'c.  635).  Abbo,  an  author 
of  the  sixth  century,  attributed  it  to  St. 
Hilary  of  Poitiers.  The  fact  is,  the  author 
is  absolutely  unknown,  but  the  form 
"  suscepturus  hominem,"  or,  rather,  "  sus- 
cepisti  hominem,"  as  the  older  texts  have 
it,  points  to  an  early  date,  for  this  expres- 
sion fell  out  of  use  after  the  rise  of 
Nestorianism.  Daniel,  in  his  dissertation 
on  the  "Te  Deum"  (in  vol.  ii.  of  his 
"Thesaur.  Hymnolog.")  seems  to  have 
established  the  fact  that  the  psalm  is 
based  on  a  Greek  hymn,  the  text  of  which 
he  gives  from  an  Alexandrian  MS.  The 
Latin  is  an  expansion  of  the  Greek,  and 


the  very  different  forms  in  which  the 
"  Te  Deum  "  occurs  shows  that  the  hymn 
gradually  assumed  its  present  fixed  form. 

2.  Use  as  a  Hymn  of  ThanJiSijiving. — 
The  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis  "  used  to  be  sung, 
just  as  the  "Te  Deum"  is  now  (Chrysost. 
^^In  Cap.  i.  Coloss."  Horn.  iii. ;  Greg. 
Turon.  "  De  Gloria  Mart."  i.  G'd  ;  Anastas. 
"  In  Vita  Leon.  III."  vol.  ii.  p.  1215,  in 
Migne's  reprint).  It  was  the  "  Te  Deum," 
however,  which  was  sung  at  the  corona- 
tion of  Chaiies  the  Bald,  and  even  earlier, 
under  Pepin,  at  the  translation  of  the 
body  of  St.  Germanus,  bishop  of  Paris,  if 
we  may  believe  the  author  of  the  narrative 
in  Surius  (see  Menard,  lac.  eit.  p.  585). 

3.  Use  in  the  Office.— This,  in  the 
Roman  Church,  came  later  than  its  use 
on  festal  occasions.  When  Amalarius 
went  to  Rome  in  831  he  found  it  was  not 
sung  there  except  "in  nataliciis  Poutifi-. 
cum"  (Amalar.  "De  Ord.  Antiphon."  crel 
init.  p.  1246,  in  Migne).  On  the  other 
baud,  the  Benedictines,  in  the  eleventh 
century,  were  reproached  with  singing  it 
even  in  Lent  and  Advent. 

TBACPIiilBS.  This  military  order 
was  founded  early  in  the  twelfth  century, 
soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  Chris- 
tian kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  by  nine  French 
knights,  among  whom  the  leading  spirit 
seems  to  have  been  Hugo  de  Pay  ens. 
High  self-denying  fervour  and  undoubting 
faith  dictated  the  enterprise,  of  which 
the  object  was  to  levy  a  permanent  militia, 
sworn  to  do  battle  for  the  defence  and 
extension  of  that  small  area  of  Christian 
light  and  truth,  pent  in  on  all  sides  by 
dark  deserts  of  Mahommedan  misbelief. 
On  the  whole,  the  Temple — at  any  rate 
till  within  a  short  time  before  its  dissolu- 
tion— remained  true  to  the  purpose  of  its 
institution.  Aspirants  for  knighthood 
joined  it  in  great  numbers;  solemn  forms 
of  initiation  were  devised  ;  like  a  reliorious 
order  it  was  organised  into  provinces, 
each  containing  so  many  preceptorics  and 
commandei-ies.  The  knights  took  the 
three  vows  of  religion ;  wealth  poured  in 
upon  them,  was  even  thrust  upon  them, 
but  it  aggrandised  the  order,  not  the  in- 
dividual. In  little  more  than  a  century 
the  nine  knights  had  grown  into  a  trained 
army  of  fifteen  thousand  warriors.     That 


TEMPLARS 

fervour  declined,  that  contact  with  Orien- 
tal manners  sometimes  corrupted,  that  the 
respect  in  which  they  were  held  engen- 
dered pride,  and  overflowing  wealth 
sometimes  brought  luxury  along  with  it — 
all  this  is  true ;  hut  to  admit  it  is  but  to 
Bay  that  the  Templars,  like  other  men, 
felt  the  pressure  of  circumstances  and 
were  subject  to  human  frailty ;  it  is  no 
proof  that  their  institute  was  either  a 
mistake  or  a  mischief.  While  the  Chris- 
tian kingdom  endured,  the  Templars 
fought  strenuously  for  its  presei-vation  ; 
but  the  unfortunate  rivalry  between  them 
and  the  Knights  of  St.  John  [Hospital- 
lers] robbed  the  military  efforts  of  both 
orders  of  much  of  their  efficacy.  After 
the  loss  of  Jerusalem  (1187)  the  vassal 
Christian  principalities  carried  on  the 
struggle,  with  ever  dwindling  fortune,  for 
a  century  longer ;  and  in  this  struggle 
the  swords  of  the  Templars,  though 
with  far  too  little  ameuahility  to 
any  higher  control  or  general  plan  of 
operations,  were  ever  wielded  with  dis- 
tinguished bravery.  At  the  closing 
scene  of  Christian  power  in  Palestine — 
the  fall  of  Acre  in  1291 — the  forces  of 
the  besieged  were  coumianded  by  the 
Master  of  the  Temple,  who  was  killed 
while  fighting  valiantl3^  The  order  then 
established  itself  in  Cyprus,  where  the 
descendants  of  Guy  de  Lusignan  still 
reigned,  in  the  hope  that  time  would 
bring  some  opening  whereby  they  might 
regain  their  footing  in  the  Holy  Land. 
But  years  wore  on  and  nothing  was  done. 
The  Hospitallers,  who  had  been  driven 
out  of  Palestine  at  the  same  time  as  the 
Templars,  still  had  work  cutout  for  them  ; 
wherever  they  were  they  could  tend  the 
sick  ;  and  their  well-considered  project  o^ 
attacking  Rhodes  (in  which  the  Templars 
refused  to  share)  proved  to  Christendom 
that  the  Knights  of  St.  John  had  no  inten- 
tion of  abandoning  the  conflict  with  Islam 
which  they  had  been  waging  for  two 
hundred  years.  The  Templars,  on  the 
other  hand,  took  up  no detinite  enterprise; 
they  were  so  rich  that  they  could  afford 
to  wait,  and  so  powerful  that  they  dreaded 
no  attack.  At  once  the  question  arose, 
"What  was  the  use  of  the  Templars  ? 
Why  should  not  the  order  dissolve  itself, 
now  that  the  cause  of  which  they  were 
champions  had  failed,  and  that  which 
they  had  undertaken  to  defend  was  lost 
beyond  recovery  ?  In  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal only  did  the  order  continue  to  be 
popular,  because  the  knights  flung  them- 
selves earnestly  into  the  national  contest 


TEMPLARS 


701 


against  the  Moors.  Philip  the  Fair,  irri- 
tated at  the  state  and  splendour  which 
the  Templars  observed,  and  coveting  their 
wealth,  laid  a  deep  plot  for  their  destruc- 
tion. An  apostate  Italian  Templar  and  a 
French  heretic,  his  accomplice,  informed 
the  king  that  they  could  make  fearful 
revelations.  Charges  were  formulated 
(1307),  at  the  head  of  which  was  that  of 
formally  denying  Christ  and  spitting  on 
the  cross  at  the  time  of  initiation  into  the 
order.  They  were  also  accused  of  sorcery, 
of  idolatry,  of  foul  and  unnatural  lusts, 
of  causing  parts  of  the  Canon  of  the 
Mass  to  be  omitted  in  their  churches,  of 
betraying  the  Christian  cause  in  the  East, 
&c.  The  King  caused  all  the  Templars 
throughout  France  to  be  suddenly  arrested 
on  the  saine  day  and  thrown  into  prison. 
Upon  their  answers  to  the  charges  made 
against  them — their  denials,  admis.sious, 
re-denials,  and  prevarications — volumes 
have  been  written,  but  no  solid  result  has 
been  obtained.  Nor  can  it  ever  be,  since 
whatever  confessions  individual  'J'emplars 
made  were  extorted  by  torture,  which 
was  applied  all  through  this  trial  with 
horrible  frequency  and  severity,  and  were 
invariably  retracted  when  the  victims 
found  themselves  out  of  the  King's  power. 
The  Pope,  Clement  V.,  interfered  so  far 
as  he  dared,  but  too  weakly  and  irreso- 
lutely to  save  them.  Great  numbers  of 
the  French  knights  died  under  the  torture 
or  from  the  effects  of  long  imprisonment; 
about  a  hundred  were  burnt  at  t!ie  stake, 
on  the  ground  that  having  retracted  their 
confessions  they  should  be  dealt  with  as 
relapsed  heretics.  The  Grand  Master, 
Du  Molay,  alter  being  long  kept  in  prison 
and  driven  by  torture  to  admit  the  truth 
of  some  of  the  charges,  finally  (in  March 
1813)  retracted  those  admissions  and  was 
burnt  at  the  stake.  The  order  was  dis- 
solved in  France,  and  all  its  wealth 
seized  by  the  King.  In  England  (1310) 
Edward  II.,  at  the  request  of  the  Pope, 
had  caused  all  the  Templars  in  the  king- 
dom to  be  imprisoned,  but  their  trial  was 
conducted  with  less  inhumanity,  and 
though  condemned,  it  was  upon  evidence 
so  flimsy  that  in  the  present  day  a  man 
could  not  be  convicted  on  it  of  the  most 
trifling  offence.  In  Spain  and  Portugal 
the  knights  were  put  on  their  trial  on  the 
same  charges,  but  honourably  and  enthu- 
siastically acquitted.  In  Germany  also 
they  were  acquitted.  The  Council  of 
Vienne  (1311)  decreed  the  entire  dissolu- 
tion of  the  order. 

(The  chief  works  on  the  history  of 


792 


TEMPTATION 


THEATINES 


the  Tc^mplars  are  bv  G.  Dupuy,  Jos.  von 
Hammer,  Havemann,  Miehelet  [in  his 
"  Hist,  of  France "],  Eavnouard,  and 
Wilke.) 

TSiviPTATZOiir.      [See    Concxjpi- 

SCKXCE.] 

TEMPTATION  or  CHRIST.  [See 

Christ.] 

TEiviPUS  CX.ATTSIT1VI.  [See  Low 
Sunday.] 

TSI&ESTAirs.  Discalced  Carmelites 
of  both  sexes,  living  under  the  reformation 
of  St.  Teresa.     [See  Carmelites.] 

TSRTlilRlsS.  The  status  of  a 
tertiary,  that  is  "  a  member  of  the  third 
order,"  was  originated  by  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi,  who,  after  he  had  founded  his 
own  order,  and  after  the  order  of  Minorite 
nuns  [Poor  Clares],  living  under  a  rule 
prescribed  by  him,  had  been  founded  by 
St.  Clare,  instituted  (1221)  a  third  order, 
as  a  sort  of  middle  term  between  the 
world  and  the  cloister,  the  memljers  of 
which,  men  and  women,  should  be  bound 
by  rule  to  dress  more  soberly,  fast  more 
strictly,  pray  more  regularly,  hear  Mass 
more  frequently.,  and  practise  works  of 
mercy  more  systematic^iUy  than  ordinary 
persons  living  in  the  world.  He  called 
them  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  Penance. 
They  had  to  undergo  a  year's  novitiate, 
and  to  take  a  simple  vow  to  observe  the 
rule.  They  were  also  to  abstain  from 
dances  and  theatrical  entertainments,  to 
eschew  all  quarrelling  and  contention,  not 
to  take  up  arms  except  in  defence  of  the 
Church  or  their  native  land,  and  to  take 
no  unnecessary  oaths.  An  immense  num- 
ber of  persons,  anxious  to  sanctify  their 
life  in  the  world,  joined  the  order;  among 
these  in  the  thirteenth  century  were  St. 
liouis  of  France  and  St.  Elizabeth  of 
Hungary.  Many  tertiaries  in  course  of 
time,  as  cii-curastances  permitted,  desired 
to  take  solemn  vows  and  live  in  com- 
munity, while  still  conforming  to  the  rule 
of  the  Third  Order.  Thus  arose  various 
congregations  of  tertiary  monks  and  nuns 
— ^in  Lombardy,  Sicily,  Dalmatia,  France, 
Spain,  and  I^ortugal.  One  of  these  con- 
gregations alune,  the  Sisters  of  St.  Eliza- 
beth, reckoned  in  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  135  convents  and  nearly 
4,000  members.  The  regular  tertiaries 
were  in  some  cases  invested  by  the  Holy 
See  with  independent  jurisdiction ;  more 
cottmonly  they  were  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Observant  or  Conventual 
Franciscans.  The  double  aspect  of  the 
Third  Order  was  noticed  by  Benedict  XHI. 
in  the   bull  "Paterna  sedis,"  where  he 


speaks  of  it  as  "  a  true  and  proper  order, 
uniting  in  one  seculars  scattered  all  over 
the  world  and  regulars  living  in  com- 
munity;" adding  that  it  is  to  be  distin- 
guished from  all  confraternities  as  having 
i  its  own  rule,  approved  by  the  Holy  See, 
novitiate,  profession,  and  a  habit  of  deter- 
minate form  and  material.  St.  Elzear 
and  his  wife,  St.  Delphina,  St.  Roch,  St. 
Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  St.  ]^ridgit  of 
Sweden,  St.  Rose  of  Viterbo,  and  Anne 
of  A  ustria,  were  all  members  of  the  Third 
Order  of  St.  Francis.  In  a  rescript  of 
recent  date  (1883)  Pope  Leo  XIII.  very 
warmly  recommended  this  order  to  the 
careful  attention  of  the  faithful  in  every 
part  of  Christendom,  as  one  most  suit- 
able to  be  embraced  by  seculars  who 
sincerely  desire  to  live  nearer  to  God, 

The  Dominicans  also  had  their  Third 
Order,  founded  by  St.  Dominic  himself,  in 
what  year  is  uncertain.  These  Penitents 
bound  themselves  to  labour  for  the  re- 
covery and  presei-vation  of  Church  pro- 
perty. The  glorious  St.  Catherine  of 
Sienna  was  for  the  greater  part  of  her 
life  a  member  of  the  Third  Order  of  St. 
Dominic ;  St.  Rose  of  Lima  also  belonged 
to  it.  The  Augustinian  Hermits  estab- 
lished a  Third  Order  at  the  beginning 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  example 
was  followed  by  the  Minims  (1501),  the 
Servites,  the  Carmelites,  and  the  Trap- 
pists. 

There  are  in  England  at  the  present 
time  nine  convents  of  Dominican,  and 
four  of  Franciscan,  Sisters  of  the  Third 
Order. 

TESTAMEM-T.      [See  WiLL.] 

TEUTOia-ic      Ksrics-BTS.       [See 

INIissiONS,  Thirteenth  Century.'] 

THZLATisrss.  This  congregation  of 
"  Regular  Clerks,"  the  first  that  had  been 
so  designated,  derived  its  name  from 
Theate,  or  Chieti,  of  which  John  Peter 
Caratfa,  one  of  its  founders,  was  bishop. 
I'he  idea  of  its  institution  arose  in  the 
mind  of  St.  pajetan,  a  native  of  Vicenza, 
who  having  made  his  legal  studies  with 
great  distinction  at  Padua,  was  appointed 

frotonotary  apostolic  in  the  Roman  Curia, 
le  became  a  fervent  member  of  the  con- 
fraternity of  the  Divine  Love ;  and 
thirsting  more  and  more  for  the  salvation 
of  souls,  he  resigned  his  office,  and  took 
holy  orders.  Family  affairs  caused  him 
to  return  to  Vicenza,  whence  he  proceeded 
to  "Venice,  and  laboured  there  for  a  con- 
siderable time.  On  the  advice  of  his  con- 
fessor he  again  fixed  his  abode  at  Rome. 
The  reform  of  the  lives  of  Christians,  ajid 


THEATINES 

especially  of  the  irregularities  too  common 
at  that  time  among  the  clergy,  presented 
itself  to  him  as  the  object  to  which  God 
willed  him  to  devote  his  life.  Meeting 
with  Bishop  Caratfa,  who  at  the  time  was 
thinking  of  renouncing  his  preferments 
and  joining  the  order  of  Camaldoli,  St. 
Cajetan  persuaded  him  to  take  part  in 
the  hply  enterprise  which  he  had  matured. 
Two  other  men  of  piety  and  experience, 
Paul  Consiglieri  and  Boniface  de  Colle, 
joined  thern ;  and  these  four,  renouncing 
whatever  benefices  they  had,  founded  the 
Theatine  congregation  in  1524.  It  was 
approved  by  Clement  VII.  the  same  year, 
in  a  brief  which  permitted  them  to  take 
the  three  ordinary  vows,  elect  a  superior, 
receive  new  members,  and  frame  statutes, 
imparting  to  them  at  the  same  time  the 
privileges  of  the  canons  of  St.  John 
Lateran.  They  embraced  a  more  than 
Franciscan  poverty,  for  they  bound  them- 
selves not  only  to  have  no  property  or 
rents,  but  to  abstain  from  asking  tor  alms, 
being  persuaded  that  the  providence  of 
God  and  the  unsolicited  charity  of  the 
faithful  would  sufficiently  supply  their 
wants.  Caraffa  was  elected  the  first 
superior;  at  the  end  of  three  years  he  was 
succeeded  by  St.  Cajetan.  By  degrees 
the  value  of  their  services  was  recognised 
and  their  numbers  increased.  St.  Cajetan 
died  in  1547  ;  Caraffa,  having  been  ele- 
vated to  the  cardinalate  in  1536,  was 
elected  Pope  in  1555,  and  took  the  title  of 
Paul  IV.  The  congregation  received 
many  favours  and  made  signal  progr3SS 
during  his  pontificate.  Besides  numerous 
houses  in  Italy,  they  established  them- 
selves in  Spain,  Poland,  and  Bavaria; 
with  the  aid  of  Cardinal  Mazarin  they 
opened  a  house  at  Paris.  The  learned 
Cardinal  Thomassi  and  Father  Ventura 
belonged  to  this  congregation,  which  at 
the  present  day  appears  not  to  bo  found 
out  of  Italy.  The  Theatine  nuns  were 
founded  by  the  B.  Ursula  Benincasa,  who, 
having  btien  suspected  of  being  a  visionary 
and  a  deluded  extatica,  was  declared  by 
St.  Philip  Neri  to  be  a  soul  truly  en- 
lightened by  God;  she  died  in  1618. 
(Helyot.) 

TKSOBORE    OF    MEOPSTTESTZA. 

[See  Nestoki ANisM ;  Ephesus  ;  and  Three 
Chapters.]  ^ 

THEOBOXIET.  [See  Ephestjs; 
Chaixedon  ;  and  Three  Chapters.] 

TKEOXiOGzcii.li  vzRTirss.  [See 
Faith,  Hope,  Charity.] 

TKEOZ.OGTrS,TREOX>OGAXi.  [See 
CAJsroif     Theologian.]       A   correction, 


ST.  THOMAS,  CHRISTIANS  OF  793 

however,  is  required  in  that  article ;  the 
Council  of  Trent  (sess.  v.  De  Ref  c.  1), 
while  decreeing  that  lecturers  on  theology 
and  Holy  Scripture  should  be  attached  to 
all  cathedral  and  collegiate  churches 
existing  in  populous  and  important  places, 
did  not  insist  on  their  being  members  of 
the  chapter.  But  in  practice  such  lecture- 
ships are  nearly  always  held  by  canons  of 
the  chapter. 

TBEOZ.OGT.        [See       Dogmatic, 
Moral,  Mystical  Theology.] 

THEOPASCKZTE.    [SeeTRISAGIOK 

and  Monophysite.] 

THOMAS,  St7,  CHRZSTIAVJS  OF. 

A  name  given  to  Christians  on  the  Malabar 
Coast  who  were  once  all  Nestorians,  then 
all,  nominally  at  least,  Catholics,  at  pre- 
sent partly  Catholic,  partly  Jacobite  or 
Monophysite.  The  name  is  supposed  to 
come  from  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle,  who, 
according  to  their  legendary  account,  led 
them  to  Christian  belief;  others  explain  it 
as  referring  to  a  Thomas  of  Cananes,^  who 
is  said  to  have  come  to  the  Malabar  Coast 
with  authority  from  Eustathius  of  An- 
tioch.  Assemani,  however  ("Bibliothec. 
Orient,"  torn.  iii.  p.  2,  p.  443),  puts  this 
latter  Thomas  four  and  a  half  centuries 
after  Eustathius.  Be  their  origin  as  it 
may,  the  Christians  of  Malabar  (MaXe,  evSa 
TO  Trenepi  yivcTai)  are  mentioned  by  Cosmaa 
Indico-pleustes  ("  Topograph.  Christ." 
iii.  p.  169;  xi.  p.  445,  ed.  Migne),  and 
at  that  time — viz.  a.I).  522 — they  were  in 
communion  with  the  Nestorian  patriarch, 
for  Cosmas  says  they  had  a  bishop  ordained 
in  Persia.  King  Alfred  is  be\ieved  to  have 
sent  the  Bishop  Swithelm  of  Sherborne  on 
an  embassy  to  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas  in 
India  (Turner "s  "  Anglo-Saxons,"  vol. 
ii.  p.  145  seq.).  Marco  Polo  in  the 
thirteenth  century  speaks  of  them,  and 
Vasco  di  Gama  in  1498,  or  at  all  events 
on  his  second  arrival  in  1502,  found  them 
numbering  200,000  souls  (Howard). 
They  were  Nestorians,  using  the  Syriac 
language  and  the  three  Nestorian  liturgies, 
with  a  fourth,  that  of  Diodorus  (Howard). 
The  Portuguese  endeavoured  by  very 
cruel  means  to  unite  them  to  the  Church, 
and  did  produce  an  external  submission. 
In  1599  Menezes,  archbishop  of  Goa, 
summoned  them  to  a  synod  at  Diamper, 
a  few  miles  S.E.  of  Cochin.  They  were 
allowed  to  retain  their  chief  Syriac  liturgy, 
that  of  SS.  Adeus  and  Maris,  but  striking 
alterations  were  made  after  the  Roman 
pattern — e.ff.  the  elevation  of  the  host  was 

1  So  Howard.    Assemani  calls  him  Cana. 


704  ST.  THOMAS,  CHRISTIANS  OF 

introduced,  and  the  invocation  common  to 
all  Eastern  liturgies  was  placed  before  the 
■words  of  institution.  At  this  council 
Papal  supremacy  was  solemnly  accepted, 
all  allegiance  to  the  Nestorian  patriarch 
renounced,  and  Nestorius  anathematised. 

1'he  episcopal  see  was  moved  from 
Angalamale  to  Cranganore  on  the  coast, 
so  as  to  make  it  more  accessible  to  the 
Portuguese.*  Menezes  ordered  their  books 
to  be  burnt  or  in  certain  cases  expurgated, 
and  he  did  his  work  so  thoroughly  that 
HO  one  has  succeeded  in  finding  a  copy  of 
their  liturgy  as  it  was  before  the  Roman 
alterations/  Four  Portuguese  or  Spanish 
bishops  in  succession  were  set  over  them, 
the  first  of  them  being  Francis  Roz,  a 
Jesuit. 

These  poor  people  cared  very  little 
about  Nestorius,  whom  they  had  not  seen, 
but  they  hated  the  Portuguese,  whom 
they  had.  No  sooner  did  the  Portuguese 
settlements  pass  into  the  hands  of  the 
Dutch,  who  expelled  the  Jesuits,  than 
about  luilf  the  Malabar  churches  ceased  to 
be  Catholic.  At  this  time,  in  1 655,  after 
fruitless  endeavours  to  get  a  bisLop  from 
Cairo,  they  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  visit 
from  the  Jacobite  ^  Gregory  of  Jerusalem, 
who  consecrated  a  native  metropolitan. 
They  adopted  the  Syriac  liturgy  of  St. 
James  from  the  Monophysites.  To  j  udge 
from  a  very  interesting  tract  by  Philipos,  a 
schismatic  chorepiscopus  of  Malabar,  trans- 
lated and  publislied  in  18G9  by  his  friend 
the  Rev.  G.  B.  Howard,  thej'  have  adopted 
the  Monophysite  tenets,  the  opposite  ex- 
treme from  their  old  error,  in  good  earnest. 
In  many  ways,  however,  the  tract  of  this 
chorepiscopus  witnesses  to  Catholic  doc- 
trine. Its  statements  on  the  sacrifice  of 
the  Mass,  the  real  presence,  obligatory 
confession,  extreme  unction,  prayer  to  the 
8aints«nd  for  the  dead,  are  entirely  Catholic. 
The  Schismatics  refused  in  1 806  to  enter 
into  communion  with  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land on  account  of  the  uncertainty  of  An- 
glican ordinations  (Howard,  p.  157).  The 
Metropolitan  has  civil  as  well  as  eccle- 
siastical authority.  He  elects  and  con- 
secrates his  coadj  utor  and  successor.  The 
clergy  are  married  ;  they  say  Matins  and 
Vespers  daily  in  the  church,  but  are  free 
to  follow  secular  trades.  Silbemagl  gives 
(l.D.  1865)  their  number  as  70,0U0! 

1  Mr.  H^)wari  is  at  a  loss  to  know  the 
authority  fur  th(»  statement  that  a  Jacobite 
bishop  went  to  India  in  696.  The  authority 
is  Keuaudot,  Hint.  Patriarch  Alex.  The 
whole  matter  is  discu.'jsed  by  Assemani,  Bihti- 
oihec.  iv.  P.  2,  p.  451  sey.,  who  arj^uos  that 
Ethiopia,  not  India  in  our  sense,  is  meant. 


THREE  CHAPTERS 

The  united  Christians  of  St.  Thomas 
numbering  about  90,000,  are  subject  to 
the  Vicar-Apostolic  of  Verapoli.  They 
have  ^i39  priests,  182  inferior  cleiics,  114 
parishes  with  167  churches,  and  a  clerical 
seminary.  They  use  the  Syriac  liturgy, 
which  chey  inherited  from  tbe  Xestorians, 
and  hence  are  reciioned  as  belonjring  to 
the  Chaldean  rite.  (Assemani, "  Bibliothec. 
Orient."  iv.  P.  2 ;  Silbernagl,  "  Kirc.hen 
des  Orients "  ;  the  Rev.  G.  B.  Howard 
(an  Anglican  clergyman),  "  The  Christians 
of  St.  Thomas  and  their  Liturgies,"  186-1 ; 
"  The  Syrian  Christians  of  Malabar,"  by 
Edavalikel  Philipos,  chorepiscopus,  &c.,  at 
Travancore,  edited  by  G.  B,  Howard, 
1869.) 

THonzzsivc.  [See  Dogmatic  Theo- 
logy; also  Scotists.] 

THRBS  CHAPTERS.  The  con- 
demnation of  the  three  chapters  '  means 
the  condemnation  of  (1)  Theodore  of 
Mopsuestia,  his  person,  and  his  writings, 
(2)  of  Theodoret's  writings  against  Cyril 
and  the  Ephesine  Council,  (3)  of  a  letter 
from  Ibas  to  Maris  the  Persian,  also 
against  Cyril  and  the  Council.  Theodore 
anticipated  the  heresy  of  Nestorius.  Ibas 
and  Theodoret  were  indeed  restored  at 
Chalcedon,  but  only  after  they  had  given 
orthodox  explanations  and  shov/n  that  they 
were  free  from  Nestorianism.  Hence,  it 
was  quite  possible  to  condemn  the  Nestorian 
or  semi-Nest orian  error  of  the  "three 
chapters  "  without  falling  into  the  oppo- 
site error  of  Eutychianism  and  rejecting 
the  definitions  of  Chalcedon.  The  Emperor 
Justinian  was  led  chiefly  by  Theodore 
Ascidrts,  arcb  bishop  of  Caesarea,  and  by 
Theodora  his  empress,  to  believe  that  the 
condemnation  of  the  three  chapters  would 
serve  to  reconcile  the  Monofshysites  in 
Egypt,  and  strengthen  the  unity  of  tho 
Eastern  Empire,  in  fact,  the  Severian 
Monophysites  hnd  raised  objections  to  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  on  the  ground  that 
there  Ibas  and  Theodoret  had  been 
declared  orthodox.  (jNIansi,  viii.  829.) 
Accordingly,  in  o44  an  edict  of  Justinian 
condemned  tlie  three  chnpter.s,  and  at  the 
same  time  maintained  with  Pope  Leo  the 
orthodox  doctrine  that  there  are  two 
natures  in  Christ.  This  edict  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  four  Eastern  Patriarclis, 
but  opposed  in  Africa,  where  Facundusof 
Iftrraiane  led  the  opposition,  in  Illyria, 

'  Properly  speakinfj,  the  Kf^aXmoL  are  the 
propositions  contaiiiinjf  the  condemnation,  not 
the  con  lemned  matter.  But  ii\  l«t<r  imperial 
edicts,  the  Acts  of  the  Fifth  Coiuicil,  and  Papal 
letters,  the  term  ahvays  has  the  meaning  givea 
in  the  text.     Uefele,  Concil.  ii.  p.  800. 


THREE  CHAPTERS 

Dalmatia,  and  by  Pope  Vigilius,  who 
was  summoned  that  same  year  to  Con- 
stantinople. 

There  the  Pope  changed  his  mind, 
and  in  his  "  Judicatum"  of  548  anathema- 
tised the  three  chapters  (Mansi,  ix.  181.)^ 
This  "  Judicatum"  excited  great  opposition 
in  the  West,  particularly  in  Africa,  where 
Pope  Vigilius  was  excommunicated  in  a 
Council  of  Carthage,  a.d.  550  (Hefele,  ii. 
p.  831).  Besides  Facundus,  the  Africans 
Fulgentius,  Ferraiidus,  and  the  deacon 
Liberatus  ("  Breviar.  causae  Nestor,  et 
Eutych.")  wrote  in  defence  of  the  three 
chapters.  That  same  year  Vigilius  with- 
drew his"  Judicatum"  (Mansi,ix.  153),  and 
agreed  to  let  the  matter  rest  till  a 
council  could  meet.  But,  probably  in 
551,  Justinian,  without  waiting  for  the 
council,  published  another  edict  against 
the  chapters  {ofxoKoyla  Kara  tS)v  rpiSiv 
Ke(})aXato}v,  Mansi,  ix.  537-582),  and  the 
Pope,  who  would  not  approve  it,  was 
subjected  to  cruel  outrage,  and  at  last 
fled  to  the  Church  of  St.  Euphemia  at 
Chalcedon.  In  the  negotiations  between 
Pope  and  Emperor,  the  former  gave  and 
then  withdrew  his  consent  to  the  meeting 
of  a  council  from  which  the  Africans  were 
to  be  excluded.  The  council  (see  Con- 
stantinople) met  in  553,  and  to  it,  on 
May  14,  553,  Vigilius  sent  his  "  Consti- 
tutum,"  in  which  he  censured  sixty 
propositions  of  Theodore,  but  strictly  for- 
bade any  personal  condemnation  of  him, 
or  any  censure  of  the  writings  of  Ibas 
and  Theodoret  (Mansi,  ix.  61-106).  The 
council  did  precisely  what  the  Pope  had 
forbidden,  and  on  December  8,  553,  the 
latter  declared  in  a  letter  to  Eutychius  of 
Constantinople  that  "  Christ  had  removed 
the  darkness  from  his  mind,"  that  "  it 
was  no  shame  to  admit  and  retract  error  " 
after  the  example  of  St.  Augustine,  and 
accordingly  he  condemned  the  three 
chapters,  just  as  the  council  had  done 
(Mansi,  ix.  413-20).  He  repeated  the 
same  decision  in  his  second  "  Consti- 
tutum  "  of  February  23,  554,  which  ends 
with  an  anathema  of  the  three  cliapters 
and  those  who  defend  them  (Mansi,  457- 
488).  Vigilius  died  on  his  way  home  at 
Syracuse  in  554  or  January  655.  His 
successor,  Pelagius  I.,  also  approved  the 
acts  of  the  Fifth  Council,  which,  how- 
ever, was  bitterly  opposed  in  Asia,  North 
Italy,  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Britain.  The 
Africans,  except  a  few  who  were  exiled 

1  Only  ft-agments  of  this  document  remain 
in  their  authenticity.  See  Hefele,  Concil.  ii. 
p.  821,  note. 


THURIBLES 


795 


or  imprisoned,  gave  way  in  559.  Milan 
was  in  formal  schism  till  the  publication 
of  the  "  Henoticon "  by  Justin  II.  in 
571.  It  was  in  Istria  that  the  schism 
was  most  obstinate.  In  607  the  Bishop 
of  Aquileia-Grado  and  those  of  his 
suffragans  who  were  in  the  imperial 
territory  were  reunited  to  the  Church. 
On  the  other  hand,  those  suffragan  bishops 
who  were  subject  to  the  Lombard  king  or 
to  the  Duke  of  Friuli  set  up  a  schismati- 
cal  patriarchate  at  Old  Aquileia.  Soon 
after  the  Popes  granted  the  title  of 
Patriarch  to  the  Bishop  of  Aquileia- 
Grado.  The  schism  continued  till  the 
Council  of  Aquileia  in  700.  After  the 
union  the  two  Bishops  of  Old  Aquileia 
and  Aquileia-Grado  were  both  allowed  to 
retain  the  title  of  Patriarch.  The  Patri- 
archate of  Grado  was  transferred  to 
Venice  in  1451,  and  still  continues.  The 
Patriarchs  of  Old  Aquileia,  after  itsdestruc- 
tion,  transferred  their  see  to  Udine,  and 
the  title  was  abolished  by  Benedict 
XIV.  in  1751  at  the  reauest  of  Austria 
(Hefele,  ii.  p.  923). 

(Chiefly  from  Hefele,  "  Concil."  vol.  ii. 
Ballerini,  "  De  Primat."  cap.  xv.  §  x.  38, 
argues  that  Vigilius  did  not  issue  contray 
dictory  definitions  on  the  faith,  but  simply 
changed  his  mind  on  a  matter  of  expedi- 
ency, and  this  of  course  is  the  only  theory 
consistent  with  the  definitions  of  the  Vati- 
can Council  Bossuet  [''  D(§f.  Cler.  Gall." 
P.  iii.  lib.  vii.  cap.  xx.], though  he  urges  the 
history  of  Vigilius  as  an  argument  against 
Papal  infallibility,  still  allows  that  the 
Pope  and  his  opponents  "  de  summa  fidei 
facile  consentiebant ;  "  adding,  however, 
"  omnino  ad  fidei  causam  quaestio  per- 
tinebat."  The  attempt  of  Vincenzi  ["  VigiL 
Orig.  Justin.  Triumph,  in  Syn.  V.  Homae," 
1865]  to  deny  the  most  patent  facts  and 
treat  some  of  the  chief  documents  as 
forgeries,  is  unworthy  of  serious  notice.) 

THURXBIiES  {Ovfiiarrjpiov,  thimiama- 
terium,  thuribulum) ,  must  be  as  old  as  the 
use  of  incense  in  the  Church  [see  that 
article"!,  and  Anastasius  in  his  Life  of 
Sylvester  (n.  36),  says  Constantine  pre- 
sented two  thuribles  of  pure  gold,  weigh- 
ing thirty  pounds,  to  the  Lateran  Church, 
besides  one  of  gold  set  with  gems  for  the 
baptistery.  Evagrius  ("  H.  E."  vi.  21) 
mentions  a  thurible  sent  by  Chosroes  to 
the  shrine  of  St.  Sergius.  But  thuribles 
in  their  present  form — i.e.  with  chains 
attached — do  not  occur,  according  to 
Martigny  ("Diet,  des  Antiq.  Chr6t."  art. 
Encensoir)y  before  the  twelfth  century. 

Our  word  "boat"  for  the  vessel  ia^ 


796 


TIARA 


which  the  incense  is  carried  answers  to 
the  Low  Latin  navicula,  which  had  the 
same  meaning  (Ducange,  suh  voc),  and 
to  the  French  navette ;  Ital.  naviceUa. 

TIARA.  A  cylindrical  head-dress 
pointed  at  the  top  and  surrounded  with 
three  crowns,  which  the  Pope  wears  as  a 
symbol  of  sovereignty.  The  word  (Ttdpa) 
occurs  in  the  classics'to  denote  the  Persian 
head-dress,  particularly  that  of  the  "  great 
king."  In  the  Vulgate  it  is  a  synonym 
of  cidaris  and  mitra,  and  is  used  for  the 
tui'han  of  the  high  priest  (n5.5VP'  Exod. 
xxviii.  4),  or  of  the  common  priest  (nylJl?' 
ib.  40.)  Till  late  in  the  middle  ages  tiara 
was  a  synonym  of  mitra,  a  bishop's 
mitre,  regnum  being  the  word  for  crown 
(Ducange,  suh  voc). 

The  whole  history  of  the  Papal  Tiara 
is  uncertain.  Nicolas  I.  (858-867)  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  to  unite  the 
princely  crown  with  the  mitre,  though  the 
Bollandists  think  this  was  done  before 
his  time  (Bollandists,  "  Thesaur."  vol.  ii. 
p.  823,  quoted  by  Hefele).  The  common 
statement  that  Boniface  VIII.  (about  1300) 
added  the  second  crown  is  false,  for  Hefele 
^hows  that  Innocent  III.  is  represented 
wearing  the  second  crown  in  a  painting 
older  than  the  time  of  Boniface.  Urban 
V.  (1362-70)  is  supposed  to  have  added 
the  third  crown.  The  tiara  is  placed  on 
the  Pope's  head  at  his  coronation  by  the 
second  cardinal  deacon  in  the  loggia  of 
St.  Peter's  with  the  words,  "  Receive  the 
tiara  adorned  with  three  crowns,  and 
know  that  thou  art  Father  of  princes  and 
kings.  Ruler  of  the  world.  Vicar  of  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  At  ceremonies 
of  a  purely  spiritual  character  the  Pope 
wears  the  mitre,  not  the  tiara.  (Hefele, 
'*  Beitrage,"  vol.  ii.  p.  236  seq.) 

TITHES.  Tithes  are  commonly  de- 
fined as  "  the  tenth  part  of  all  fruits  and 
profits  justly  acquired,  owed  to  God  in 
recognition  of  his  supreme  dominion  over 
man,  and  to  be  paid  to  the  ministers  of 
the  Church."  They  were  paid  by  Abram 
(Gen.  xiv.),  vowed  by  Jacob  (Gen.  xxviii.), 
and  regulated  by  the  Mosaic  law  (Exod. 
xxii. ;  Lev.  xxvii. ;  Numb,  xviii.).  In  the 
early  Christian  ages  the  free-will  offerings 
of  the  faithful  supplied  what  was  neces- 
sary both  for  the  Divine  worship  and  the 
support  of  the  clergy ;  but  as  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Western  nations  pioceeded,  a 
more  permanent  provision  was  seen  to  be 
necessary.  In  a  canon  of  the  Second 
Council  of  Macon  (685)  occurs  the  first 
express  mention  of  the  Christian  obliga- 


TITHES 

tion  of  paying  tithes.*  They  began  to  be 
generally  rendered  in  the  eighth  century, 
not  earlier.  In  855,  Ethelwulf,  king  of 
Wessex,  father  of  Alfred,  "  assigned  the 
tenth  part  of  his  land  all  over  his  king- 
dom for  the  love  of  God  and  his  own 
everlasting  weal."^  The  tithe  of  the 
produce,  not  the  tenth  part  of  the  land 
itself,  is  certainly  here  intended.  Many 
authors,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant, 
have  imagined  that  the  proportion  itself 
of  1  in  10  was  fixed  by  a  Divine  pre- 
cept for  ever  as  that  part  of  our  sub- 
stance which  God  requires  to  be  devoted 
to  Him  ;  and  mystical  reasons  have  been 
invented  to  account  for  this.  This  belief 
is  now  less  commonly  held.  Cardinal 
Soglia  speaks  of  the  tithe  as  "  a  certain 
part,  not  the  tenth  part ;  for  it  is  some- 
times greater,  sometimes  smaller,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  different  places."  ^ 

Tithes  are  of  two  kinds,  prsedial  and 
personal.  Prsedial  are  those  receivable  in 
respect  of  the  annual  crops,  corn,  wine, 
oil,  fruit,  &c.,  and  of  the  increase  of  cattle, 
including  milk  and  cheese.  These  last  are 
called  by  some  "  mixed  "  tithes,  but  the 
distinction  appears  to  be  unnecessary. 
Great  tithes  are  of  corn,  wine,  and  oil ; 
small  tithes,  of  vegetables  and  fruits. 
Personal  tithes  are  receivable  in  respect 
of  the  profits  of  trade  and  industry. 
Property  acquired  on  the  title  of  gift,  be- 
quest, or  inheritance  is  not  itself  tithe- 
able  ;  but  its  annual  increase,  so  far  as  it 
is  produced  by  nature  or  human  industry, 
is  so. 

Tithes  were  originally  paid  to  the 
bishops,  but  with  the  erection  of  separate 
benefices  the  right  to  them  passed  to  the 
parish  priests,  in  whom  it  is  now  vested 
by  the  common  law  of  the  Church.  Prae- 
dial  tithes  are  due  to  the  parish  in  which 
the  farm  lies,  or  in  which  the  animals  are 
ordinarily  fed  ;  personal,  to  that  in  which 
the  tithe-payer  is  bound  to  receive  sacra- 
ments. 

Exemption  from  tithe  may  be  obtained 
by  Papal  privilege,  by  prescription,  by 
custom,  or  by  convention.  The  Popes  in 
former  times  often  granted  the  tithes  of 
certain  places  or  districts  to  princes  or 
nobles  who  had  rendered  eminent  services 
to  the  Church,  and  allowed  them  to  trans- 
mit the  same  to  their  successors.  Bishops 
used  to  grant  tithes  to  laymen  for  similar 
reasons;  but  this  was  restrained  by  the 
Thu-d  Council  of  Lateran  (1179),  which 

1  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccl.  xxxiv. 

2  Sax.  Chron. 

5  Inst.  Can.,  vol.  ii.  8. 


TITLE  TO  ORDERS 

ordered  that  no  alienation  of  tithe  he  made 
hy  a  bishop  without  the  consent  of  the 
Popo.  Prescription  can  only  confer  ex- 
emption, as  against  a  parish  church,  if  it 
he  proved  to  have  existed  forty  years, 
and  to  rest  on  some  title,  or  if — without 
a  title — it  can  he  shown  to  he  immemorial. 
Against  other  churches  (monasteries,  chap- 
ters, &c.),  a  shorter  prescription  is  suffi- 
cient. [Prescription.]  Custom  differs 
from  prescription  in  that  it  ailects  places 
or  countries,  while  prescription  affects  in- 
dividuals. By  custom,  "  personal  and 
mixed  tithes  have  almost  everywhere  he- 
come  obsolete,  and  praedial  also,  in  many 
places,  especially  where  competent  revenues 
of  a  different  kind  have  been  assigned  to 
the  parish  churches."  On  the  other  hand, 
"  the  law  of  tithes  can  never  be  abrogated 
by  prescription  or  custom,  if  the  minister 
of  the  church  have  no  suitable  and  suffi- 
cient provision  from  other  sources;  be- 
cause then  the  natural  and  Divine  law,' 
which  can  neither  be  abrogated  nor  anti- 
quated, commands  that  the  tithe  be 
paid." 2  (Spelman,  "Of  Tythes,"  Eng. 
Works,  1723 ;  Ferraris,  Decimee ;  Soglia, 
"  Inst.  Can.") 

TZTl^E  TO  ORBSRS.  According  to 
the  ancient  law,  no  secular  cleric  could  be 
admitted  to  holy  orders  except  titvlo  bene- 
ficii\  that  is,  he  was  required  to  show 
that  he  had  been  nominated  to  a  benefice 
(of  which  he  would  have  undisputed  pos- 
session) sufficient  for  his  decent  main- 
tenance (Cone.  Tr.  xxi.  De  Ref.  c.  2). 
The  same  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
which  lays  down  this*  general  principle 
names  two  other  titles  to  ordination  as 
exceptionally  admissible — that  which  con- 
sists in  the  possession  of  sufficient  private 
property  {titulua  patrimonii),  and  that 
which  depends  on  a  guarantee  to  the  or- 
dinand  by  some  solvent  person  or  persons 
of  an  annual  sum  sufficient  to  maintain 
him,  in  the  event  of  the  failure  or  with- 
drawal of  ecclesiastical  resources  (titulus 
pensionis).  A  fourth  title  to  orders  [tititr- 
lus  paupertatis)  was,  and  is,  the  poverty 
professed  by  those  who  have  taken  solemn 
vows  in  any  religious  order;  since  this 
poverty  (as  was  shown  in  the  article 
Religious  Profession),  while  it  debars 
the  professed  from  possessing  any  private 
income,  guarantees  to  him  a  maintenance 
for  life  on  the  part  of  the  religious  house  or 
order  of  which  he  is  a  member.  Benefices 
having  now  ceased  to  exist  over  a  large  part 

1  Namely,    that    "  they    who    preach    the 
gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel." 

2  Soglia,  vol.  ii.  12. 


TITULI 


797 


of  Europe,  one  of  the  other  titles  noticed 
by  the  Council  is  now,  under  the  name  of 
"  titulus  mensaB,"  generally  required  in 
German  countries.  The  titulus'  mensis  is 
"  the  legal  undertaking  of  a  third  person 
to  provide  for  the  sufficient  maintenance 
of  a  clerk  in  major  orders,  in  case  of,  and 
during,  his  incapacity  to  discharge  hia 
functions."     (Wetzer  and  Welte.) 

Again,  the  pupils  of  certain  seminaries 
— as  of  the  College  of  Propaganda  at 
Rome  — and  candidates  for  orders  where 
the  Catholic  Church  is  circumstanced 
as  in  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the 
U.  S.,  may  be  ordained  titulo  seminarii^ 
or  missionis.  The  acceptance  of  this  last- 
named  title  imposes  on  the  bishop  the 
responsibility  of  providing  for  the  support 
of  the  ordinand  if  he  shall  become  in- 
capable of  discharging  his  functions, 
whether  it  be  without  fault  (emeritus), 
or  through  his  own  fault  (demeritus), 
(Ferraris,  Titulus,  §  31  ;  Wetzer  and 
Welte.) 

TZTXTIiAR   BISHOP,      f^ee  BiSHOP 

IN  Partieus  IjiFiDELiuM.]  The  political 
condition  of  the  eastern  and  southern 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  has  for  some 
time  been  such  as  to  allow  of  the  existence 
of  flourishing  Christian  communities  in 
many  places  where  formerly  Mussulman 
bigotry  would  have  rendered  it  impossible. 
These  countries  are  no  longer  "  partes  in- 
fideliura,"  in  the  full  sense  of  the  words. 
His  Holiness  Leo  XIII.  has  therefore,  by 
a  recent  decision,  substituted  the  phrase 
"  Titular  Bishop  "  for  "  Bishop  in  Partibus 
Infidelium." 

TZTTTIiAB     OP     CHURCH.        [See 

Patron  Saint.] 

TZTlTlil.  A  name  given  to  the 
parish  churches  of  Rome,  as  distinct  on 
the  one  hand  from  the  patriarchal  churches 
such  as  St.  John  Lateran,  St.  Peter's,  St. 
Mary  Major,  St.  Laurence  in  Agro  Verano, 
St.  Paul's,  which  belonged  especially  to 
the  Pope,  and  on  the  other  from  the  Dia- 
conia  and  Oratories.  Each  titular  church 
was  under  a  cardinal  presbyter,  had  a  dis- 
trict attached  to  it,  and  a  font  for  baptism 
in  case  of  necessity.  A  Roman  synod 
under  Pope  Symmachus,  in  499,  enu- 
merates thirty  tituli  served  by  sixty-six 
priests.  (Mabillon,  "  Comm.  in  Ord. 
Rom."  c.  3.) 

Baronius  (An.  112,  n.  6)  supposes  the 
name  to  be  derived  from  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  which  "  title  "  marked  them  as  be- 
longing to  Clirist.  Bingham  ("  Autiq." 
vii.  1,  10),  with  far  greater  probability, 
explains  the  name  from  the  fact  that  these 


798 


TONSURE 


churches  gave  a  "  title  of  cure  or  denomi- 
nation ■'  to  the  presbyters  who  were  set 
over  them. 

TOsrsiTRE.  The  shaving  of  the 
crown  in  a  circle,  which  is  a  distinguish- 
ing mark  of  clerics.  Among  some  of  the 
monastic  orders  and  friars  the  tonsure 
leaves  only  a  circle  of  hair  round  the 
head ;  the  tonsure  of  secular  clerks,  on 
the  other  band,  is  small.  The  first  tonsure 
is  made  hy  the  bishop,  in  a  form  prescribed 
by  the  Poutitical,  and  the  person  receiving 
it  is  thereby  admitted  to  the  state  and  privi- 
leges of  a  cleric.  (See  Clehical  State.) 
The  bishop  may  confer  it  at  any  place  or 
time.  Mitred  abbots  may  give  it  to  their 
own  subjects ;  cardinal  priests  to  the 
clergy  of  their  titles,  and  it  may  also  be 
conferred  by  other  priests  with  special 
privileges. 

The  clerical  tonsure,  it  is  scarcely  ne- 
cessary to  say,  was  unknown  in  the  first 
ages  of  the  Church.  Christians  were 
simply  ex];ected  to  avoid  vanity  in  dress- 
ing their  hair  (Tertull.  "  De  Cult.  Fem." 
ii.  l),or  at  most  to  keep  it  short  (*'  Const. 
Apost."  i.  3).  Ascetics  and  clergymen 
were  thus  naturally  led  to  make  a  point 
of  cutting  their  hair  close.  Jerome  ("  In 
Ezech."  xliv.)  deprecates  eccentricity  in 
this  respect,  and  expresses  his  dislike  both 
of  long  hair  and  shaven  heads.  The  so- 
called  Fourth  Council  of  Carthage  (c.  44) 
simply  forbids  clerics  to  wear  long  hair : 
*'  nee  comam  nutriat,  nee  barbam." 

We  have,  however,  clear  proof  that 
the  clerical  tonsure  was  familiar  at  least 
in  Gaul  during  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth 
and  in  the  sixth  century.  For  Sidonius 
ApoUinaris  (lib.iv.  Ep.  13)  says  the  bishop 
Germanic  us  had  his  hair  cut  "  in  the  shape 
pf  a  wheel "  ("  in  rotse  speciem  "),  and  St. 
Gregory  of  Tours  ("  Vit.  Fatr."  17)  re- 
lates that  Nicetius  was  miraculously  de- 
signated from  birth  for  the  clerical  state, 
being  born  with  a  fringe  of  hair  like  a 
**  corona  clerici.'' 

The  Fourth  Council  of  Toledo  (a.T). 
633,  c.  41)  requires  all  clerics  to  shave 
their  heHd!*,  leaving  only  a  rim  of  hair 
■behind,  and  reprobates  the  fashion  of 
Xnaking  only  a  small  tonsure,  prevalent 
l^mong  heretics. 

Writers  of  the  seventh  and  eig'ith 
centuries  distinguish  three  lands  of  ton- 
sure. (I)  The  lloraan  tonsure,  known  as 
St.  Peters,  which  colisisted  in  shaving 
the  who'e  head,  leaving  only  a  circle  of 
hair.  It  prevailed  in  France  aud  Spain 
(indr  supra)  and  in  Rome  (Joann.  Diac. 
"  Vit.  Greg.  Magn."  iv.  83).    It  was  only 


TRACT 

late  in  the  middle  ages  that  this  tonsure 

was  lessened,  and  the  present  distinction 
between  the  tonsure  of  clerics  and  ot 
monks  or  friars  arose.  Chardon  shows 
that  the  large  clerical  tonsure  continued, 
at  least  in  some  places,  down  even  to  tha 
fifteenth  century.  But  as  early  as  1240 
a  synod  of  Worcester  (AVilkins,  '*  Concil."' 
tom.  i.  p.  670)  refers  to  a  difference  of 
size  in  tonsures,  the  tonsure  being  in- 
creased in  size  with  each  step  "in  the 
sacred  ministry.  (2)  The  tonsure  of  St. 
Paul,  usual  among  the  Easterns,  was  en- 
tire. When  the  Greek  Theodore  came  to 
the  see  of  Canterbury  in  668,  he  liad  to 
wait  four  months  and  let  his  hair  grow 
that  he  might  receive  the  Poman  tonsure. 
(3)  The  Celtic  tonsure,  called  St.  John's, 
and  by  its  Anglo-Saxon  enemies  that  of 
Simon  Magus,  consisted  in  shaving  the 
bead  in  front  of  a  line  drawn  from  ear  to 
ear.  It  was  adopted  by  the  British  and 
Irish  Churches  aud  the  disciples  of  St. 
Columbanus  on  the  Continent.  No  ques- 
tion on  the  comparative  merits  of  the 
Roman  and  Celtic  tonsures  was  raised  by 
St.  Augustine  either  at  the  Oak  or  at 
Bangor ;  but  the  matter  became  the 
subject  of  violent  controversy  in  the 
seventh  and  eighth  centuries — e.(/.  at  the 
Council  of  AVhitby,  a.d.  663.  (Bede, 
"H.  Augl."iii.  25,26.) 

Even  after  the  tonsure  was  introduced 
it  was  never  given  separately,  but  always 
with  the  order  of  reader.  Nobody  could 
belong  to  the  clerical  state  vvi.hout  at 
least  a  minor  order,  and  children  dedi- 
cated to  God  A\ere  not  simply  tonsured, 
but  made  readers,  since  nothing  short 
of  ordination  to  some  grade  of  the  ercle- 
siastical  ministry  placed  a  person  m  the 
clerical  state.  (Isidore,  "  Erclesiast.  Oif.'' 
ii.  1 .)  Then  fiom  the  seventh  century, 
according  to  Chardon,  children  were  ton- 
sured without  ordination ;  and  in  an 
ancient  Ordo  Romanus  there  is  an  office 
"  ad  puerum  tonsurandum  ;  "  and  lastly, 
very  much  later,  adults  anxious  to  be  free 
from  the  secular  courts,  &c.,  were  ton- 
sured without  any  ordination.  This  last 
custom  w  as  of  course  an  abuse. 

It  was  only  gradually  that  the  riirht 
to  tonsure  was  limited  to  hishops,  abbots, 
&c.  Till  the  tenth  century  it  was  given 
by  simple  priests,  or  even  by  laymen  to 
e.ich  other.  (Mabillon,  "Annal.  Benedict." 
Pnef.  ad.  Sacc.  iii.,  quoted  by  Chardon.) 
(Chiefly  from  Chardon,  "  Hist,  des  Sacr.*' 
tom.  V.  p.  45  seq.) 

T^ACT.  Verses  of  Scripture  said 
after  the  Gradual  (not  ^'  a  form  which  the 


TRADITION 

Gradual  assumes,"  as  Hammond  supposes, 
*'  Aucient  Liturgies,"  p.  385),  instead  of 
the  Alleluia  in  all  M asses  from  Soptua- 
gesima  till  Holy  Saturday.  Le  Brun 
("  Explic.  de  la  Messe,"  torn.  i.  p.  205) 
says  the  name  meant  something-  sung 
"  tractim  " — i.e.  without  break  or  inter- 
ruption of  other  voices,  aa  in  responsories 
and  antiphons — by  the  cantor  alone,  and 
that  the  theory  of  Duvandns — viz.  tliat 
the  tract  is  something  sung  traciim,  i.e. 
in  a  slow  or  sad  voice — arose  by  mistake 
in  the  tenth  century. 

TRADZTIOur  (TrapaSoo-tff)  means 
properly  the  act  of  handing  down,  and 
thus  the  doctrine  so  handed  down.  In 
its  widest  sense  it  includes  all  truths  or 
supposed  truths  handed  down  from  one 
generation  to  another;  and  in  all  societies 
which  have  no  literature  tradition  is, 
with  all  its  manifold  imperfections,  the 
great  bond  between  the  present  and  the 
past,  and  one  of  the  great  distinguishing 
marks  between  man  and  the  brutes, 
which  latter  have  no  tradition,  and  there- 
fore no  history.  Among  the  Hebrews,  as 
among  all  other  nations,  tradition  was  the 
only  history  till  an  historical  literature 
arose,  but  among  the  later  Jews  the  word 
assumed  another  and  a  much  more  re- 
stricted sense.  The  early  Hebrew  tra- 
dition arose  naturally  before  there  was 
any  written  law  or  history  ;  the  latter 
Jewish  tradition  interpreted  the  written 
law  and  added  to  it.^  To  a  certain 
extent  such  a  tradition  arose  of  necessity, 
for  the  Pentateuch  is  a  ''  Corpus  Juris," 
and  no  system  of  law  can  remain  absolutely 
unchanged.  Additions  and  alterations 
are  inevitable,  as  the  conditions  of  society 
change  in  the  course  of  ages,  and  the 
Rabbinical  traditions  were  as  defensible 
as  the  "  fictions  "  of  the  Roman  lawyers. 
The  danger,  however,  lay  in  tliis,  that  the 
law  of  Moses  determined  the  relation  of 
man  to  God,  the  relation  of  love  and 
kindness  between  man  and  man,  and  in 
such  a  sphere  the  legal  spirit  is  sure  to 
be  dangerous  and  even  pernicious.  Hence 
the  charge  whi^  Christ  makes  against 
the  Pharisees,  "  Ye  have  made  void  the 
law  of  God  by  your  tradition."  They 
used  the  same  "fictions"  which  lawyers 
employ  to  preserve  the  letter  of  a  law 
which  can  no  longer  be  really  observed, 

^  The  Halakah  is  legal  (from  "]")n,  to  go)  ; 
the  Haggadah  (from  '^>ir{^  to  relate)  legen- 
dary ;  the  Kabbala  (from  p^p,  to  receive)  mys- 
tical ;  the  Massora  (from  "iDJ^,  to  deliver),  is 
textual  tradition.  The  last  of  these  has  a 
very  real  ralue. 


TRADITION 


799 


in  treating  of  God's  eternal  law.  Again, 
just  as  a  human  legislator  rightly  and 
necessarily  contents  himself  with  regu- 
lating the  external  actions  of  man,  so 
the  Jewish  Scribes  were  npt  to  make 
much  of  outward  things,  little  compara- 
tively of  justice  and  mercy  and  truth. 
But  we  do  not  mean  to  discuss  the 
merits  and  demerits  or  the  unhistorical* 
character  of  Jewish  tradition  here.  We 
will  only  add  that  Josephus  uses  the 
same  word,  izapaboa-is,  which  was  adopted 
in  the  N.  T.  and  in  ecclesiastical  writers. 
The  Pharisees,  he  says  ("Antiq."  xiii.  10, 
6),  imposed  many  '^enactments"  {voiiifid) 
on  the  people,  not  to  be  found  in  the 
written  law  ;  the  Sadducees,  on  the  other 
hand,  rejected  the  "  tradition  of  the 
Fathers "  {to.  ck  Trapadocrfcos  naTepiov), 
Jewish  tradition  in  the  strict  sense  never 
invaded  the  Church.  In  the  Judaising 
homilies  which  go  under  the  name  of 
Clement  a  false  tradition  is  exalted  at 
the  expense  of  the  Scriptural  text,  which 
is  said  to  have  been  corrupted  by  irre- 
ligious interpretations.  (Clem.  Hom.  ii. 
.'38-30.)  But  this,  of  course,  is  quite 
opposed  to  the  Ral)binical  idea  of  tradi- 
tion. In  the  Clementine  Recognitions,  on 
the  other  hand,  tradition  is  only  put  for- 
ward as  determining  the  sense  of  Scrip- 
ture (''  Recog.,"  1,  21,  cf.  ii.  45),  a  notion 
which  is  neither  Rabbinical  nor  heretical, 
but  Catholic. 

This  brings  us  naturally  to  speak  of 
tradition  in  the  Church.  *  So  far  from 
setting  tradition,  as  such,  aside,  Christ 
left  his  Church  with  no  written  books, 
and  with  nothing  but  tradition  to  guide 
it.  St.  Paul  insists  on  the  necessity 
of  holding  to  the  Christian  tradition. 
(1  Cor.  xi.  2  ;  2  Thess.  ii.  15.)  Even  when 
the  Scriptures  of  the  N.  T.  were  written 
tradition  did  not  fall  out  of  sight,  for  the 
early  Christians  were  well  aware  thMt  it 
was  tradition  which  settled  the  canon  of 
Scripture,  and  they  were  not  unreasonable 
enough  to  reject  tradition  for  Scripture, 
since  the  authority  of  Scripture  itself 
was  based  on  tradition.  They  knew 
very  well  that  many  barbarous  nations 
furnished  converts  to  the  faith  although 
they  had  no  translations  of  the  Bible  as 
yet  in  their  own  languages,  and  could 

1  The  common  account  is  given  in  Pirk« 
Avnth,  ad  init.  "  Moses  received  the  law  (i.e, 
tlie  secret  and  oral  law,  the  piD  pVll^  n"1in* 
See  Buxtorf,  Lex.  sub  voc.  TD?3)»  from  Sinai, 

and  delivered  it  to  Joshua,  and  Joshua  to  the 
elders,  and  the  elders  to  the  prophets,  and  the 
prophets  to  the  men  of  the  great  synagogue.** 


800 


TRADITION 


TRADITION 


not  therefore  learn  the  truth  from  it. 
They  were  convinced,  moreover,  that 
though  human  tradition  is  in  its  own 
nature  shifting  and  uncertain,  the  Holy- 
Spirit  preserved  the  tradition  of  truth 
in  the  Church.  Add  to  all  this  the 
obscurity  of  Scripture,  the  fact  that  it  is 
a  collection  of  books  which  never  pro- 
fesses to  contain  the  sum  of  Christian 
truth,  and  the  appeal  of  the  Fathers  to 
tradition  becomes  quite  intelligible. 
Hence  Heresippus  (apud  Euseb.  "  H.  E.," 
iii.  32),  appeals  to  the  "  wholesome  canon 
of  saving  preaching ;  "  Irenseus  and  Cle- 
ment of  Alexandria  to  the  "  canon  of  the 
truth  "  ("  Adv.  H^r."  i.  9,  4,  ii.  27,  1 ; 
Clem.  Al.  *'  Strom."  iv.  1,  p.  564,  ed.  Pot- 
ter), and  the  "Canon  of  the  Church  "  (ib. 
i.  19,  p.  375  0-  The  latter  will  have  doubt- 
ful questions  decided  by  an  appeal  to  the 
Apostolic  churches,  and  considers  that 
tradition  would  have  been  a  sufficient 
guide,  even  if  the  Church  had  been  left 
without  any  Scriptures  at  all  (iii.  4,  1). 
Just  in  the  same  way  TertuUian  invokes 
the  decision  of  the  Apostolic  churches 
("  Praescr."  17  et  passim),  and  ("  De 
Corona,"  3)  asserts  the  decisive  authority 
of  unwritten  tradition,  in  favour,  it  is 
true,  of  matters  of  custom  and  ritual,  but 
of  custom  and  ritual  which  involved 
questions  of  doctrine,  such,  e.g.,  as  "  ob- 
lations for  the  dead."  TertulUan  speaks 
for  Africa  and  Rome,  Irenseus  for  Asia 
Minor  and  Gaul.  Origen,  the  gTeat  repre- 
sentative of  the  early  Alexandrian  chui-ch, 
holds  the  same  language.  Since,  he  says 
("  De  Princip."  §  2),  there  are  differences 
among  Christians,  "let  the  ecclesiastical 
teaching  handed  down  by  order  of  suc- 
cession from  the  Apostles,  and  abiding 
till  now  in  the  churches,  be  observed  ; 
that  only  is  to  be  believed  the  truth 
which  no  way  differs  from  ecclesiastical 
and  Apostolic  tradition." 

The  following  are  some  of  the  testi- 
monies of  later  Fathers  :  "  It  is  enough," 
says  Gregory  Nyssen  ("  Contr.  Eunom.," 
iv. ;  "  0pp."  vol.  ii.  col.  653  in  Migne's 
reprint),  "  for  the  demonstration  of  our 
position  to  have  the  tradition  which 
comes  to  us  from  the  Fathers  transmitted 
as  an  inheritance  by  succession  from  the 
Apostles  through  the  saints  that  followed 
theui."  St.  Basil  ("  De  Spir.  S."  §  66)  : 
"  Of  the  doctrines  and  decrees  {Krjpvy- 
fidrayp  =  canons  and  decrees  on  discipline, 

*  Clement  has  also  tbe  idea  of  a  secret  and 
esoteric  tradition  which  is  a  very  different  thing, 
•nd  has  its  true  analogon  in  Judaism.  Strom. 
Ti.  7,  p.  771.    See  also  Euseb.  H,  E.  ii.  1. 


j  &c.),  we  have  some  from  written  teach- 
ing ;  others  we  have  received,  apportioned 
to  us  from  the  tradition  of  the  Apostles 
in  a  mysterious  manner,  both  of  which 
(i.e.  Scripture  and  tradition)  have  the 
same  force."  St.  Chrysostom  ("  In  2 
Thess."  hom.  iv.  §  14),  after  saying  that 
the  Apostles  did  not  hand  down  all  by 
epistles,  but  much  also  without  writing 
(ttoXXo  Koi  dypdcfiios),  adds :  "  The  one  and 
the  other  are  worthy  of  belief,  so  that  we 
consider  the  tradition  of  the  Church  also 
worthy  of  belief.  It  is  a  tradition :  ask 
no  more."  St.  Epiphanius  ("  Haer."  Ixi.  6) : 
"  We  mtist  also  use  tradition,  since  all 
cannot  be  got  from  the  divine  Scripture, 
wherefore  the  divine  Apostles  handed 
down  some  things  in  writings,  others  in 
tradition."  So,  much  later,  St.  John  of 
Damascus  ("De  Fid.  Orthodox."  iv.  16) 
supports  the  received  doctrine  on  images 
by  a  reference  to  "  unwritten  tradition." 
We  have  passed  over  one  Greek  Father, 
St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  because  he  attri- 
butes an  exaggerated  importance  to  tra- 
dition, and  speaks  as  if  the  tradition  of 
the  Church  had  added  new  truths,  not 
clearly  taught  even  by  the  Apostles.  The 
N.  T.,  he  thinks  (Orat.  xxxi.  §  26), 
only  hinted  at  (viredfi^e)  the  divinitv  of 
the  Holy  Ghost :  "  Now  the  Holy  Ghost 
dwells  with  us  (e/xTroXtrei/erai),  making 
the  manifestation  of  himself  more  plain." 
If  we  turn  to  the  later  Fathers  of  the 
Latin  Church,  we  meet  with  the  same 
appreciation  of  tradition.  St.  Augustine, 
treating  of  the  dispute  about  the  validity 
of  heretical  baptism  ("Contr.  Bapt. 
Donat."  ii.  7),  writes  :  "  I  believe  it  (i.e. 
the  Roman  rule  of  accepting  such  bap- 
tism as  valid)  comes  from  tradition  of 
the  Apostles,  like  many  things  which  are 
not  found  in  their  letters,  nor  in  earlier 
councils,  and  yet  because  observed  by  the 
whole  Church  are  believed  to  have  been 
handed  down  and  commended  by  no 
others  than  by  them  "  (the  Apostles ;  see 
also  ib.  iv.  24,  v.  23).  Vincent,  in  his  first 
"  Commonitorium  "  (cap.  2),  the  classical 
work  on  the  subject,  mrgues  for  the 
necessity  of  tradition  from  the  fact  that 
the  Bible  may  be  understood  in  many 
different  ways,  although  the  canon  of 
Scripture  is  perfect,  and  "  in  itself  suffi- 
cient, and  more  than  sufficient,  for  all." 
Here  the  reader  may  observe  a  diff'ereuce. 
Other  Fathers,  and  especially  Basil,  Gre- 
gory Nazianzen,  Epiphanius,  Chrysostom, 
look  on  Scripture  and  tradition  as  two 
co-oixiinate  authorities,  each  divine.  To 
Vincent  the  authority  is  single,  tradition 


TRADITION 

not  completing  but  merely  determining 
tlio  sense  of  Scripture.  Cardinal  New- 
man ("  Via  Media,"  i.  p.  327),  points  out 
that  even  modem  "  Catholic  contro- 
versialists, while  insisting  that  they  need 
not  prove  their  doctrine  from  Scripture, 
always  do  so  prove  it."  In  other  words, 
they  would  have  no  objection  to  admit  that 
all  Catholic  doctrine  is  in  some  implicit 
way  contained  in  Scripture,  and  to  grant 
with  Vincent  the  sufficiency  of  Scripture 
illustrated  by  tradition.  There  is,  on  the 
contrary,  a  radical  difference  between  the 
Catholic  belief  on  the  necessity  of  tra- 
dition and  the  opinion  of  Protestants  pure 
and  simple  that  no  doctrine  can  be  an 
article  of  faith  unless  it  can  be  clearly 
deduced  without  the  aid  of  tradition 
from  the  sacred  text.  Of  such  a  theory 
there  is  no  trace  in  antiquity,  except 
perhaps  that  Stephen  Gobaras  the  Tri- 
theist  ("Phot.  Bibliothec."  Cod.  132), 
laboured  to  set  Father  against  Father, 
apparently  with  the  view  of  sapping  the 
aiithority  of  tradition.  Therefore  the 
Council  of  Trent  (sess.  iv.  De  Canon 
Script.),  when  it  teaches  that  the  truth 
of  Christ  is  contained  partly  in  the  Bible, 
partly  in  unwritten  tradition  received  by 
the  Apostles  from  Christ  or  from  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  entrusted  by  them  to 
the  Church,  that  Scripture  and  tradition 
(the  latter  of  course  only  when  proved 
Apostolic)  are  to  be  reverenced  alike, 
follows  the  express  teaching  of  many  of 
the  earliest  and  greatest  Fathers,  the 
spirit  of  all.  The  advocate  of  private 
judgment,  on  the  other  hand,  is  com- 
mitted to  the  conclusion  that  the  Church 
was  left  for  a  generation  without  any 
true  and  complete  rule  of  faith,  that  when 
this  rule  was  given  nobody,  not  even  the 
holiest  and  wisest,  understood  its  purpose 
or  use,  and  that  when  after  fifteen  cen- 
turies this  use  was  understood,  the  rule  1 
intended  to  secure  unity,  in  faith  became 
the  most  fertile  source  of  strife  and 
division. 

In  conclusion,  the  difficulties  which 
arise  from  the  statements  of  some  Fathers 
who  seem  to  make  Scripture  the  sole 
guide  are  only  apparent.  St.  Augustine 
("De  Doctr.  Christ."  ii.  9)  no  doubt 
allows  that  the  things  "openly  stated  in 
Scripture "  contain  the  whole  sum  of 
faith  and  morals.  We  have  seen  already 
what  St.  Augustine  thought  of  tradition, 
and  in  this  place  he  adds,  "  namely,  faith 
and  hope,"  meaning  that  a  Christian  may 
find  in  the  Bible  all  that  he  needs  to 
know  explicitly  in  order  to  be  saved,  a 

3 


TRADITIONALISM 


801 


fact  which  is  undeniable.  OptatuA 
(*' Schism.  Donat."  v.  3)  is  contrasting 
Scripture,  not  with  Apostolic,  but  with 
human  tradition.  St.  Cyril  of  Alex- 
andria (Oat.  IV.  17)  tells  his  catechumens 
that  he  will  have  them  believe  nothing 
he  tells  them  except  he  can  prove  it  out 
of  Scripture.  But  (1)  he  refers  to  the 
articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  which 
can  certainly  be  proved  from  the  Bible  ; 
(2)  he  is  contrasting  Scripture,  not  with 
tradition,  but  with  "  probabilities,"  "  in- 
genious arguments  "  (Koycov  KaraaKevais) , 
"  inventions  "  of  his  own  (evpeaiXoyiais). 
TRADZTZOM-AIilSAZ.  A  system 
of  philosophy  in  which  intellectual  cogni- 
tion, so  far  as  the  human  mind  is  con- 
cerned, is  reduced  to  belief  in  truth 
communicated  by  revelation  from  God, 
and  received  by  traditional  instruction 
through  the  medium  of  language,  which 
was  originally  itself  a  supernatural  gift. 
This  system  is  also  called  Fideism,  and  is 
a  reaction  from  the  extreme  of  rational- 
ism into  an  opposite  extreme  of  anti- 
rationalism.  De  Bonald  (f  1840)  is 
regarded  as  its  author.  In  its  strictest 
form  tbis  system  reduces  the  intellect  to 
a  merely  receptive  faculty,  capable  of 
acquiring  knowledge  by  instruction, 
which  comes  originally  from  God  by  a 
primitive  revelation  given  to  the  first 
progenitors  of  the  human  race.  In  its 
modijBed  and  milder  form  it  restricts  the 
absolute  necessity  of  a  traditional  instruc- 
tion derived  from  revelation  to  meta- 
physical, religious,  and  moral  truth, 
admitting  the  capacity  of  the  human 
mind  to  discover  other  intellectual  truths 
by  its  innate  power.  M.  Bonnetty  was 
the  most  conspicuous  advocate  of  this 
modified  traditionalism,  which  for  a 
time  obtained  numerous  adherents  among 
Catholics,  especially  in  France  and  Bel- 
gium. It  has  been  partially  adopted  by 
some  advocates  of  ontologism  and  com- 
bined with  that  philosophical  theory. 
There  are,  besides,  other  thinkers  and 
writers  whose  tendency  is  to  minimise 
the  rational,  and  elevate  towards  the 
maximum  the  traditional  element  in  the 
highest  departments  of  human  knowledge, 
but  who  cannot  be  classed  as  advocates 
of  traditionalism  properly  so  called.  The 
best  Catholic  theologians  and  philoso- 
phers have  always  recognised  the  moral 
and  practical  need  of  revelation  and  tra- 
ditional instruction,  for  the  easy  acquisi- 
tion of  complete  and  certain  knowledge 
of  the  highest  truths  within  the  scope  of 
the    natural    intelligence    and    rational 


802 


TEADITIONALISM 


TRANSLATION  OF  FEASTS 


feculty  of  maD,  by  men  in  general.  The 
reason  of  this  need  is  accidental,  extrinsic, 
and  to  be  ascribed  to  tlie  actual  condition 
and  environment  of  mankind  in  its  pre- 
sent state.  The  specific  difference  which 
places  the  system  of  traditionalism  in 
opposition  to  this  common  doctrine  con- 
sists in  this :  to  wit,  that  it  makes  this 
need  to  be  a  physical  necessity  arising 
from  the  intrinsic  essence  and  nature  of 
the  human  intellect.  The  former  doc- 
trine has  been  explicitly  formulated  and 
promulgated  by  the  Council  of  the  Vati- 
can in  the  Constitution  "  Dei  Filius,"  with 
an  exclusion  of  the  latter  opinion.  This 
is  a  condemnation  of  traditionalism 
proper.  It  had  been  already  condemned 
by  a  decree  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Index  bearing  the  date  of  June  11,  I860, 
and  approved  by  his  Holiness  Pius  IX., 
which  set  forth  four  theses  to  be  sub- 
scribed by  M.  Bonnetty.  These  theses 
are  the  contradictories  of  several  pro- 
positions extracted  from  his  writings.  It 
may  suffice  to  cite  the  second  and  third: 

II.  Ratiocination  can  prove  with  cer- 
titude the  existence  of  God,  the  spiritu- 
ality of  the  soul,  the  liberty  of  man. 
Faith  is  posterior  to  Revelation,  and  can- 
not therefore  suitably  be  alleged  for 
proving  the  existence  of  God  against  an 
atheist,  or  for  proving  the  spirituality 
and  liberty  of  the  rational  soul  against 
a  follower  of  naturalism  and  fatalism. 

III.  The  use  of  reason  precedes  Faith 
and  conducts  man  to  it,  by  the  aid  of 
Revelation  and  of  Grace. 

The  judgments  of  the  supreme  autho- 
rity in  the  Church  have  been  submitted 
to  with  docility  by  those  Catholics  who 
had  adopted  the  theory  of  traditionalism, 
and  the  controversy  respecting  this  mat- 
ter has  come  to  an  end.  For  a  very  full 
historical  and  doctrinal  exposition  of  the 
main  points  in  this  controversy  see  the 
works  of  Cardinal  Dechamps,  vol.  vii. 
"  Opuscules." 

TRASzTZoxr       or      zxrsT&ir- 

MEM'TS.     [See  Order.] 

TRA]>ITORZ:s.  A  name  given  to 
Christians  who  in  the  persecution  of  Dio- 
cletian gave  up  to  the  officers  of  the  law 
"the  Holy  Scriptures  or  the  vessels  of 
the  Lord,  or  the  names  of  their  brethren  " 
(Concil.  1  Arel.  A.p.  314,  c.  13).  The 
first  edict  of  Diocletian,  a.d.  303,  ordered 
the  churches  and  the  sacred  books  of  the 
Christians  to  be  burnt.  Hence  the  sur- 
render of  sacred  books  (to  be  burnt),  and 
of  vessels  {ad  Jiscuni).  The  edict  also 
deprived  Christians  of  honours  and  civil 


rights,  and  made  them,  if  slaves,  inca- 
pable of  freedom.  Hence  perhaps  bishops, 
&c.,  were  asked  for  the  list  of  their  flocks, 
though  others  think  that  the  traditio 
nominum  was  a  consequence  of  Diocle- 
tian's second  edict,  condemning  all  eccle- 
siastics to  prison,  and  requiring  them  to 
sacritice.  The  canon  already  quoted 
orders  the  deposition  of  all  clerical  tra- 
ditores,  but  allowed  persons  ordained  by 
traditores  to  remain  in  oHice.  [See  Dona- 
TIST8.] 

TRADITCXANTISIVX.      [See   SoUL.] 

TRATrSFIGURATIOnr,  FEAST 
OP  if]  ctyia  fiera^opcfyooais  tov  K.  I.  X.). 
With  the  Greeks,  who,  like  the  Latins, 
keep  it  on  August  6,  it  is  one  of  the 
twelve  greater  feasts  which  come  next 
after  Easter  in  dignity  (Daniel,  "  Cod. 
Lit."  iv.  p.  239).  It  is  mentioned  in  the 
Constitution  of  Manuel  Comnenus,  and, 
of  course,  in  the  Menologies  (Thomassin, 
"  Trait6  des  Festes,"  p.  406). 

In  the  West  its  institution  is  com- 
monly attributed  to  Calixtus  III.  (1455^ 
58).  But  Thomassin  (/oe.  cit.)  shows 
that  the  feast  is  mentioned  in  the  Mar- 
ty rology  of  Vandelbert  (said  to  have 
lived  about  850) ;  by  Ildefonsus  in  845, 
who  says  it  was  kept  the  sixth  day  be- 
fore the  Calends  of  August,  and  was 
among  the  chief  solemnities ;  and  by 
Peter  the  Venerable  in  the  Statutes  of 
Clugny.  Gregory  IX.  (see  Bened.  XIV. 
"  De  Fest.'')  speaks  of  it  as  celebrated  on 
the  present  day — viz.  August  6.  Calixtus, 
however,  promoted  the  observance,  in 
order  to  obtain  the  help  of  God  against 
the  Turks,  by  granting  indulgences.  He 
also  instituted  an  Office  for  the  day, 
which  was  afterwards  altered,  in  the 
hymns  and  lessons  of  the  two  lirst  noc- 
turns,  by  Pius  V.  (Gavant.  "  De  Fest. 
Aug."  §  7,  10,  6.) 

TRAirSZiATZOXa-  OF  FEASTS. 
Some  account  of  the  rules  on  this  matter 
will  be  found  in  the  article  on  Feasts. 
But  while  this  work  has  been  in  progress, 
an  important  change  has  been  made  by 
the  present  Pope  in  the  Apostolic  Letters, 
"  NuUo  unquara  tempore,"  July  28,  1882. 
By  the  new  rule,  mere  doubles  ("  festa 
duplicia  minora "),  unless  feasts  of  the 
doctors  of  the  Church,  and  semi-doubles, 
if  the  celebration  on  the  proper  days  is 
impeded  by  the  concurrence  of  a  gi'eater 
feast,  or  of  a  Sunday,  are  not  transferred. 
Instead,  they  are  commemorated  on 
the  day  itself  at  Lauds  and  Vespers,  and 
the  ninth  lesson  at  Matins  is  compo.<ied 
of  the  two  or  three  lessons  which  give 


TRANSUBSTANTIATION 


TRAPPISTS 


803 


tlie  history  of  the  saint.  If  the  solem- 
nity of  the  day  does  not  admit  such  a 
mode  of  commemorating  the  excluded 
feast,  then  all  notice  of  the  latter  is 
omitted  during  that  year,  according  to 
the  rule  already  provided  for  simple  feasts 
*'  In  Rubric,  lit.  ix.  n.  x.,  lit.  x.  n.  viii." 
TRAIO'SirBSTAirTIATXOir.    [See 

Eucharist.] 

TRAPPZSTS.  A  branch  of  the 
Cistercian  order;  see  that  article.  The 
founder,  Armand  Jean  le  Bouthillier  de 
Ranc6,  born  in  1626,  was  of  a  noble 
family.  According  to  an  abuse  common 
in  that  age,  the  child,  being  destined  to 
be  a  priest,  was  loaded  by  his  father  with 
preferment  from  his  early  years.  Though 
only  ten  or  eleven,  he  was  commendatory 
abbot  of  La  Trappe  and  two  other  abbeys, 
prior  of  two  priories,  and  canon  of  Notre 
l)ame  at  Paris ;  his  ecclesiastical  income 
was  from  16,0C0  to  20,000  livres.  He 
was  ordained  priest  in  1651  by  his  uncle, 
the  Archbishop  of  Tours,  who.=e  coadjutor 
he  hoped  one  day  to  become.  His  youth  ful 
worldliness  was  gradually  shaken  by  a 
series  of  striking  incidents ;  the  death  of 
a  cousin,  a  remarkable  escape  fi-om  death, 
a  disappointment  to  his  ambition  in  the 
assembly  of  the  clergy,  were  among  the 
occasions  of  his  entering  into  himself, 
and  recognising  the  nothingness  of  all  for 
which  he  had  hitherto  lived.  In  V'GO  he 
resigned  all  his  benefices  except  the  abbacy 
of  La  Trappe  ;  disposed  of  his  patrimony 
for  300,000  livres ;  and  gave  the  greater 
part  of  the  money  to  the  Hotel  Dieu,  or 
great  hospital  at  Paris.  He  then  repaired 
to  La  Trappe,  and  told  the  monks  that 
they  would  thenceforth  have  to  live  by 
the  rule  of  what  was  called  the  ''  Strict 
Observance  "  of  the  Cistercian  order.  La 
Trappe  was  an  ancient  monastery  lying 
in  the  heart  of  La  Perclie,  not  far  from 
S^z,  founded  as  a  Cistercian  house  in 
1140  by  Rotrou,  count  of  Perche.  It 
euflfered  much  during  the  long  wars  with 
England,  but  its  discipline  was  still  more 
fatally  injured  in  later  times  by  the  system 
of  commendation,  which  gave  the  name 
and  emoluments  of  abbot  to  some  non- 
resident layman  or  ecclesiastic.  When  de 
Ranc(5  came  there  in  1662,  the  ?tate  of 
things  was  deplorable;  the  monks  had 
ceased  to  live  in  community,  and  if  they 
met  at  all  it  was  for  pleasure  parties; 
the  buildings  were  going  to  ruin,  and 
persons  from  without  were  suffered  to 
live  in  them.  With  much  difficulty  de 
Ranc6  succeeded  in  bringing  from  a 
neighbouring  monastery  some  monks  of 


8f2 


the  Strict  Observance,  and  in  restoring 
regularity  at  La  Trappe.  Still  he  was  not 
satisfied  ;  an  ideal  had  been  for  some  time 
floating  before  his  eyes  in  which  were 
blended  the  union  with  God  through 
contemplation  and  prayer,  bodily  morti- 
fication, and  severance  from  causes  of 
distraction.  The  final  result  was  the 
discipline  of  La  Trappe,  of  which  we 
take  an  abridged  account  from  H(5lyot. 
"  In  summer  the  religious  go  to  rest  at 
eight,  in  winter  at  seven.  They  get  up  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  night  to  go  to  Matins, 
which  usually  last  till  half-past  four,  be- 
cau.se  they  add  the  Office  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  to  the  regular  Office,  and  between 
the  two  make  half  an  hours  meditation. 
.  .  .  After  Matins,  in  summer  time,  they 
may  go  and  rest  in  their  cells  till  Prime ; 
in  winter  they  go  into  a  common  room 
near  the  stove,  where  each  reads  to  him- 
self. .  .  .  At  half-past  five  they  say  Prime, 
and  then  go  to  chapter,"  which  usually 
takes  up  half  an  hour.  "  At  seven  they 
go  to  work ;  the  cowl  is  put  off,  and  the 
under  garment  tucked  up ;  some  dig, 
others  riddle,  others  carry  stones, — each 
according  to  the  task  assigned  to  him,  for 
tliey  are  not  free  to  choose  the  kind  of 
work  which  they  like  best.  The  abbot 
himself  works,  and  often  takes  up  the 
most  abject  sort  of  employment."  Their 
indoor  employments,  when  the  weather 
does  not  allow  of  outdoor  labour,  include 
carpentry,  joinery,  copying,  binding, 
sweeping,  and  many  other  useful  toils. 
"  When  they  have  worked  an  hour  and  a 
half  they  go  to  office ;  Tierce  is  said,  fol- 
lowed by  Mass ;  then  Sext ;  after  which 
an  interval  of  reading  in  their  own  cells 
is  allowed.'"  None  is  said  at  half-past 
eleven ;  on  fast  days  a  little  later.  Then 
they  go  to  the  refectory,  a  very  large 
room  with  a  long  row  of  tables  on  each 
side.  The  abbot's  table  is  laid  for  six^ 
guests  are  entertained  at  it  if  they  oH'er 
themselves,  but  this  does  not  often  happen. 
There  are  no  table-cloths,  but  the  tables 
are  kept  very  clean.  Each  monk  has  his 
napkin,  his  mug,  his  knife,  his  wooden 
fork  and  spoon,  which  remain  always  in 
the  same  place.  The  repast  consists  of 
coarse  brown  bread,  some  vegetable  soup 
made  without  butter  or  oil,  a  mess  of  car- 
rots or  lentils,  two  apples  or  pears,  and 
a  little  cider.  "  At  or  about  one  o'clock 
they  return  to  work.  .  .  .  This  second 
period  of  work  lasts  from  an  hour  and 
a  half  to  two  hours.  The  recall  being 
sounded,  every  monk  takes  oft"  liis 
*  sabots,'  puts   away  his  tools,   puts   on 


804 


TRAPPISTS 


l^is  cowl,  and  p:oes  into  his  cell,  -where  he 
reads  and  meditates  till  Vespers,  at  four 
o'clock."  At  five  a  collation,  consisting' 
of  dry  bread  and  some  fruit,  with  a  little 
cider,  is  taken  in  the  refectory.  After 
collation  there  is  a  short  interval  in  the 
cells ;  then  the  monks  go  to  chapter  and 
listen  to  spiritual  reading  till  six,  when 
Compline  is  said.  At  seven  a  hell  rings 
and  they  go  to  their  dormitories;  they 
sleep  on  straw  paillasses,  and  in  their 
ordinary  dress.  Probably  the  most  try- 
ing part  of  all  the  discipline  is  the  silence, 
no  monk  being  allowed  to  speak  to  his 
brother  on  any  occasion.  The  abbot  and 
the  guest-master  are  the  only  persons  in 
the  convent  who  are  permitted  to  speak 
to  strangers. 

The  monks  of  La  Trappe  for  the  most 
part  resisted  the  sophistries  of  Jansenism. 
After  the  suppression  in  1790  an  ener- 
getic monk  named  Dom  Augustin  suc- 
ceeded in  finding  a  retreat  for  himself 
and  a  score  of  his  brethren  in  the  can- 
ton Fribourg,  where  they  occupied  the 
monastery  of  Yal  Sainte.  From  this 
centre  Trappist  filiations  spread  into 
Spain,  Belgium,  Piedmont,  England, 
and  Ireland.  Mount  St.  Bernard  in  Lei- 
cestershire and  the  Trappistine^  con- 
vent of  Stapehill  in  Dorset  are  their 
houses  in  England;  in  Ireland  they 
have  monasteries  at  Mount  Melleray 
and  Roscrea.  (Helyot.)  In  1805  some 
monks  from  Clairvaux  came  to  the 
U.  S.,  but  did  not  remain,  going  hence 
to  Tracadie,  ISTova  Scotia.  In  1848  a 
colony  came  from  Mt.  Melleray  Abbey 
in  Ireland,  and  founded  the  Abbey  of  La 
Trappe  at  Gethsemani,  Kentucky,  and 
still  later  JTew  Melleray  Abbey,  12  miles 
from  Dubuque,  Iowa,  was  established. 

TRSiLSITRE   OF    MERITS. 

Indulgences.] 

TRESTT,     couxrczz.    OP.       The 

general  councils  of  the  fifteenth  century 
succeeded  on  the  whole  in  one  of  the 
principal  objects  for  which  they  were 
convened,  that  of  restoring  or  maintain- 
ing the  unity  of  Christendom.  At  Con- 
stance the  great  schism  was  closed ;  at 
Basle  the  difficulty  with  the  Hussites  was 
arranged;  at  Ferrara-Florence  East  and 
West  were  momentarily  reunited.  [See 
Constance,  Basle,  Councils  of.]  Hence 
it  was  natural,  that  when  religious  dis- 
sension and  disturbance  broke  out  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  a  general  council 
should  be  confidently  looked  to  as  the 

^  The  Trappistine  nuns  were  instituted  bv 
Dom  Augustin  (f  1827). 


[See 


TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF 

remedy.  And  yet,  as  Pallavicini  remarks,' 
the  remembrance  that  the  Nicene  Council 
did  not  put  down  Arianism,  nor  that  of 
Chalcedon  Eutychianism,  with  other  like 
instances,  might  have  served  to  moderate 
expectation  and  check  disappointment,  if 
it  should  prove  that  the  great  (Ecumenical 
Council  of  the  sixteenth  century,  though 
inferior  in  no  respect  to  any,  even  the 
very  greatest  of  its  predecessors,  never- 
theless, far  from  suppressing  Protestant- 
ism, ushered  in  a  long  period  of  strife 
between  Catholics  and  the  various  hete- 
rodox bodies  in  every  land — a  strife  of 
which  the  end  appears  to  be  still  distant. 

When  Leo  X.  by  the  bull  "  Exsurge 
Domine  "  (1520;  condemned  the  doctrine 
of  Luther,  the  latter  appealed  from  the 
judgment  of  the  Pope  to  that  of  a  general 
council.  The  Diet  of  Spires  (1529)  in- 
sisted on  the  convocation  of  a  council, 
and  the  Recess  of  Augsburg  (IS^^iO),  while 
forbidding  religious  innovation,  promised 
that  the  case  of  the  reforming  party  should 
be  laid  before  the  council,'  wliich  the 
Emperor  would  induce  the  Pope  to  con- 
vene. With  most  of  the  Protestant 
leaders  this  appeal  was  merely  a  device 
of  controversy.  Luther  wrote  to  Me- 
lanchthon:  *' We  must  admit  the  council 
in  this  sense,  that  our  doctrine  is  true 
apart  from  the  council,  that  the  angels  in 
heaven  can  change  no  part  of  it,  and  that 
the  angel  who  should  attempt  to  do  so 
ought  to  be  put  under  anathema  and 
excommunicated;  much  more  then  is  it 
inadmissible  that  theEmperor,  the  bishops, 
or  the  Pope  should  judge  of  it."^ 

During  the  troubled  pontificate  of 
Clement  VII.  (1523-1534)  it  was  im- 
possible to  hold  the  council;  but  Paul 
III.  (Farnese)  from  the  time  that  he  was 
elected  Pope  bent  all  his  energies  to  this 
end.  He  issued  letters  to  the  bishops  and 
the  sovereigns  in  1537,  proposing  Mantua 
as  the  place  of  meeting.  Various  difficulties 
arose,  especially  on  the  part  of  the  Pro- 
testants; and  after  long  negotiation  it 
was  agreed  between  Charles  V.  and  the 
Pope  that  the  place  of  meeting  should  be 
Trent,  the  ancient  Tridentum,  an  imperial 
and  episcopal  city  on  the  Adige,  where 
Italy  borders  upon  Germany,  so  that  the 
Protestants  could  not  say  that  the  council, 
being  held  in  an  Italian  city,  would  of 
necessity  be  unduly  influenced  by  the 
Pope.  The  Papal  legates  were  at  Trent 
in   1542,  but  the   war  which  had  just 

*  Hi$foria,  Apparatus. 

*  Art.  "  Trent,"  by  Udinck,  in  Wetzer  and 
VVelte. 


TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF 

"broken  out  between  France  and  tlie 
Empire  rendered  any  large  gathering  of 
bishops  impossible.  The  Treaty  of 
Crespy(1544)  restored  peace  to  Europe, 
and  the  Pope  immediately  announced  his 
intention  of  holding  the  Council.  The 
Emperor  gave  his  consent,  and  his  brother 
Ferdinand,  meeting  the  German  Pro- 
testant Princes  at  the  Diet  of  Worms 
(May  1545),  endeavoured  to  induce  them 
to  accede  to  the  general  desire  of  Chris- 
tendom. But  they  pleaded  that  the  Pope, 
by  whom  the  Council  was  convened,  and 
who  would  preside  in  it  through  his 
legates,  had  already  pronounced  against 
them,  80  that  they  would  only  go  to 
Trent  to  hear  their  own  condemnation 
pronounced.  Yet  how  could  they  expect 
that  the  Pope  and  the  Catholics  would 
leave  the  authority  of  the  see  of  Peter  an 
open  question?  To  do  so  would  have 
been  tantamount  to  admitting  that  the 
Protestants  had  been  justified  in  sepa- 
rating themselves  from  the  unity  of  the 
Church.  It  was  therefore  clear  from  the 
first  that  no  considerable  body  of  Pro- 
testants would  submit  to  the  council; 
still  the  Pope  hoped,  and  with  good 
reason,  that  the  firmer  definition  of  Ca- 
tholic doctrine,  and  the  reform  of  dis- 
cipline, which  might  be  expected  from 
the  deliberations  of  the  synod,  would 
strengthen  the  position  of  all  the  Catholic 
rulers  of  states,  and  help  them  to  arrest 
or  undo  innovation,  whereever  the  mis- 
chief had  not  grown  to  an  incurable 
height. 

The  first  session  was  held  on  December 
13,  1545.  The  Pope  was  represented  by 
three  legates,  the  Cardinals  Del  Monte 
(afterwards  Julius  III.),  Cervino,  and 
Reginald  Pole.  There  were  present  four 
ai'chbishops,  twenty-two  bishops,  five 
generals  of  orders,  and  envoys  from  the 
Empen^r  and  the  King  of  the  Romans. 
The  Prince-Bishop  of  Trent  named  Count 
Sigismund  von  Arco  guardian  of  the 
council ;  its  secretary  was  the  able 
Angelo  Massarelli.  Cardinal  del  Monte, 
addressing  the  assembly^  said:  "Is  it 
your  will,  for  the  praise  and  glory  of 
the  undivided  Trinity,  Father,  Son,  and 
H'?ly  Ghost,  for  the  increase  and  exalta- 
tion of  the  faith  and  religion  of  Christ, 
for  the  extirpation  of  heresies,  the  peace 
and  union  of  the  Church,  the  reformation 
of  the  Christian  clergy  and  people,  and 
the  putting  down  and  extinction  of  the 
enemies  of  the  Christian  name,  to  decree 
and  declare,  that  the  sacred  General 
Council  of  Trent  begins  and  has  begun?  " 


TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF       806 

The  Fathers  answered,  "  Placet ^  The 
next  session  was  fixed  for  January  7, 
1646. 

Three  points  of  great  importance  were 
settled  soon  after  the  opening  of  the 
Council.  First,  that  the  bishops  should 
vote,  as  in  the  ancient  synods,  individu- 
ally, and  not,  as  had  been  done  at  Con- 
stance, by  nations.  Secondly,  that  the 
work  of  the  definition  of  doctrine,  and 
that  of  the  reformation  of  discipline, 
should  be  carried  on  simultaneously. 
Thirdly,  that  the  style  of  the  conciliar 
decrees  should  bear  the  impress  of  the 
Papal  authority  and  presidency  from  the 
outset.  Several  bishops  desired  that,  as 
at  Constance,  the  Council  should  describe 
itself  as  "representing  the  universal 
Church."  To  this  the  legates  would  not 
consent,  and  it  was  determined  that  the 
style  should  run  thus.  "  The  sacrosanct 
Synod  of  Trent,  legitimately  gathered 
together  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  three 
legates  of  the  Apostolic  See  therein  pre- 
siding .  .  .  decrees,"  &c. 

In  the  second  session  the  Council 
regulated  various  matters  of  procedure. 
In  the  third  (Feb.  4,  1546),  the  Fathers 
present  expressed  their  adhesion  to  the 
Creed  of  Nicaea  and  Constaatiuople,  and 
caused  it  to  be  recited  before  them.  New 
arrivals  gradually  added  to  their  numbers, 
and  at  the  fourth  session  (April  8,  1546), 
the  important  decree  on  Scripture  and 
tradition,  rendered  signally  opportune  by 
the  irrational  or  fanatical  opinions  on 
the  subject  which  the  Protestant  press 
had  been  pouring  forth  for  many  years, 
was  brought  forward  and  adopted.  It 
declared  that  the  truth  and  teaching  of 
Christ  were  contained  "  in  the  written 
word  and  in  unwritten  traditions "  (m 
lihris  scriptis  et  sine  scripto  traditionibus), 
defined  the  canon  of  Scripture  as  embrac- 
ing all  those  books,  and  those  only,  which 
we  find  in  the  Latin  Vulgate  and  the 
Douay  Bible,  and  ordained  that  the  Vul- 
gate translation  should  be  accepted  every- 
where as  "  authentic."  In  the  fifth  ses- 
sion (June  17,  1546),  at  which  nine  arch- 
bishops and  fifty  bisliops  were  present, 
the  doctrine  of  Original  Sin  was  defined, 
an  important  part  having  been  taken  in 
the  previous  discussions  by  the  Jesuits 
Laynez  and  Saliueron,  who  had  come  to 
the  Council  as  papal  theologians.  The 
usual  method  of  procedure  was  this :  the 
projects  of  decrees  on  doctrine  or  disci- 
pline, proposed  by  the  legates,  were  dis- 
cussed point  by  point  in  private  con- 
I'erences    of   theologians    and    canonistai 


806       TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF 

and  moulded  into  sbape  ;  they  were  then 
laid  before  general  congregations,  in 
which  each  bishop  had  the  right  of  speak- 
ing to  them  in  his  turn,  and  their  form 
was  finally  settled;  lastly,  they  were 
adopted  and  promulgated  in  public  ses- 
sion. After  a  long  interval,  in  the  course 
of  which  the  disturbed  state  of  Germany 
nearly  led  to  a  prorogation  of  the  Coun- 
cil, the  celebrated  decree  on  Justification, 
prepared  in  numberless  conferences  and  a 
long  series  of  general  congregations,  was 
adopted  at  the  sLxth  session  (Jan.  13, 
1547).  By  this  decree  the  Lutheran 
errors,  that  man  is  justified  by  faith  only, 
and  that  his  justice  consists  in  the  impu- 
tation to  him  of  the  merits  of  Christ, 
were  solidly  confuted  and  demolislied. 
It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  records 
of  no  former  general  council  contain  a 
theological  statement  which  for  complete- 
ness, depth,  and  solidity  of  view,  for  care- 
ful and  precise  expression,  and  for  general 
impressiveness  and  cogency,  surpasses  this 
Tri dentine  decree.  Thirty-three  canons, 
sanctioned  by  anathemas,  were  appended 
to  it,  in  the  twenty-third  of  which  the 
Council  condemns  the  tenet  that  man  can 
avoid  all,  even  venial,  sins  throughout  his 
life. "  unless  by  special  Di\  ine  privilege,  as 
the  Church  holds  concerning  the  Blessed 
Yirfrin,"  thus  paving  tlie  way  for  the 
definition  of  the  absolute  sinlessness  of 
our  Lady  promulgated  at  Rome  three 
hundred  years  afterwards.  The  decree 
on  reform  passed  at  this  session  renewed 
the  ancient  canons  requiring  the  re- 
sidence of  bishops,  and  enacted  new  rules 
to  the  same  end.' 

The  doctrine  of  Justification  having 
been  unanimously  defined,  the  means  by 
which  the  soul  receives  grace,  or  recovers 
it  when  forfeited,  presented  themselves 
for  consideration.  Accordingly,  in  the 
seventh  session  (March  3,  1647),  the  pre- 
vailing errors  on  the  doctrine  of  the 
Sacraments  in  general  were  condemned 
in  thirfeen  canons;  fourteen  others 
guarded  and  elucidated  the  doctrine  of 
ilo\y  Baptism,  three  that  of  Confirmation. 
The  necessity  of  intention  on  the  part  of 
the  priest,  at  least  to  do  what  the  Church 
does  in  a  sacrament,  was  asserted  in  the 
eleventh  canon,  "  De  Sacramentis  in 
Genere."    [See  Sacraments,]    A  decree 

*  Before  this  session  it  was  long  debated 
whether  the  residence  of  bishops  was  otili^iitory 
jure  div  no  or  jure  ecclesiasticn.  As  the  obliga- 
tion was  the  same  in  liiher  case,  tlie  Pope  was 
of  opinion  that  the  question  need  not  be  de- 
cided. 


TRENT,  COUNCIL  OP 

of  reform  in  fifteen  chapters  was  also 
adopted. 

An  epidemic  now  broke  out  at  Trent ; 
a  bishop  and  the  general  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans died  of  it ;  and  the  alarm  was  so 
great  that  ten  or  twelve  bishops  abrin- 
doned  the  Council  and  went  home.  The 
legates  deemed  it  expedient  to  transfer 
the  assembly  to  Bologna,  and  this  view 
was  adopted  by  the  majority  of  the 
bishops ;  a  minority,  being  chiefly  those 
who  were  devoted  to  the  Emperor,  voted 
for  remaining  at  Trent.  Charles  V.  was 
strongly  opposed  to  the  removal  of  the 
Council,  and  rejj-arded  the  alleged  epide- 
mic as  a  mere  pretext;  from  that  time 
there  was  no  more  cordiality  between 
liim  and  the  Pope.  There  was  much 
danger  of  a  schism,  for  the  imperial 
bishops  would  not  leave  Trent ;  but  the 
danger  was  averted  by  the  prudence  of 
the  Pope,  who,  though  the  labours  in 
conference  and  congregation  went  steadily 
forward  at  Bologna,  would  allow  nothing 
to  be  published  while  the  circumstances 
were  so  critical.  Sessions  viii  ix.  x.  re- 
late merely  to  this  business  of  the  trans- 
lation. On  September  14,  1547,  in  a 
general  congregation  held  at  Bologna,  the 
next  session,  which  was  to  have  been  on 
the  following  day,  was  postponed  sine 
die.  In  the  following  INIay  the  Emperor 
published  the  Interim  (a  system  of  doc- 
trine substantially  Catholic,  but  contain- 
ing several  important  concessions  to  the 
Protestants),  which  was  to  be  observed 
in  ail  the  German  States  until  the  General 
Council  hed  completed  its  work. 

Paul  IIL  died  in  Nov.  l/>49.  His 
successor,  Julius  III.,  lost  no  time  in  re- 
calling the  bishops  to  Trent,  and  the 
second  period  of  the  Council  commenced 
with  the  eleventh  session,  held  on  May 

I,  1551,  under  the  presidency  of  the 
legate,  Card.  Cresceuzio.  The  Council 
was  formally  resumed,  and  the  next 
session  fixed  for  September  1,  on  which 
day  the  business  was  further  postponed 
to  October  11,  with  an  intimation  that 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  would 
then  be  treated  of.     In  session  xiii.  (Oct. 

II,  1551),  a  decree  on  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment of  the  altar  in  eight  chapters,  with 
eleven  canons  appended  to  it,  was  adopted. 
The  orthodox  and  prlmitivo  belief  as  to 
the  naUire  of  the  gift  of  his  body  and 
blood  left  by  Je«us  Christ  to  his  Church 
was  re-stated,  and  the  C(Mmcil  (chap,  iv.) 
adopted  the  term  *'  transubstnntiation," 
as  fitly  expressing  the  chanjje  wliich  takes 
place  in  the  elements  upon  consecration* 


TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF 

The  Protestants,  though  their  various 
sects,  propounded  doctrines  of  every  shade 
on  the  Eiich  Tif^tic  gilt,  naturally  all  fell 
short  in  their  definitions  of  the  stupendous 
reality  ;  and  this  decree  has  consequently 
furnished  ever  since  a  ready  touchstone 
to  distinguish  truth  and  error.  In  Eng- 
land, down  to  the  date  of  Catholic  eman- 
cipation, no  one  could  sit  in  ParliMment 
without  tirst  signing  a  declaration  against 
transubstantiation. 

The  Council  also  resolved  in  the 
thirteenth  session  to  postpone  the  discus- 
sion on  lour  points  of  Eucharistic  doc- 
trine,' on  which  it  was  understood  the 
German  Protestants  desired  to  be  heard, 
to  January  25,  1662,  and  meantime  to 
pubhsh  a  safe-conduct,  pledging  the  public 
faith  that  all  persons  of  the  German 
nation,  of  what  status  or  rank  soever, 
should  be  free  to  come  to  the  Council, 
coufer  with  the  Fathers  there,  and  leave 
it  again,  without  molestation  or  inter- 
ference of'  any  kind. 

In  the  fourteenth  session  (Nov.  25, 
1551).  the  doctrine  of  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance  and  that  of  Extreme  Unction 
were  defined.  A  decree  of  reform  was 
also  passed  in  thirteen  chapters. 

By  the  middle  of  January,  1552,  a 
considerable  number  of  deputies  from 
Protestant  states  and  cities  had  come  to 
Trent,  and  they  were  received  by  the 
Council  in  a  general  congregation  on  the 
24th  itist.  Their  demands,  presented  in 
writing,  were  found  to  be  of  an  imprac- 
ticable character.  One  was  that  their 
theologians  should  have  an  equal  consul- 
tative and  deliberative  voice  in  the  Coun- 
cil with  the  bishops ;  but  to  grant  this 
would  have  been  to  revolutionise  what 
had  been  the  unbroken  ecclesiastical 
practice  from  the  time  of  the  Apostles. 
A  new  safe-conduct,  expressed  in  more 
ample  terms,  was  read  at  the  fifteenth 
session.  But  there  was  no  other  fruit  of 
all  these  negotiations  with  the  Protes- 
tants, ex(!ept  to  prove  the  earnest  desire 
of  the  Pope  and  the  bishops  to  leave  the 
breakers  of  Church  unity  without  excuse. 

At  the  fifteenth  session  (January  25, 
1552)  the  business  which  had  been 
announced  was  postponed  to  March  19. 
But  before  that  day  Maurice  of  Saxony 
had  commenced  his  march  from  Thuringia, 
Germany  was  full  of  confusion  and  alarm, 
and  at  the  sixteenth  session  (April  28, 
1552)   the    Fathers    present    adopted   a 

1  Three  of  these  related  to  receiving  under 
both  spc'cies,  and  the  fourth  to  the  communion 
»f  infants. 


TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF       807 

decree  suspending  the  Council  for  two 
years.  In  M  ay  the  Emperor  was  nearly 
surprised  by  Maurice  at  Innspruck;  not 
long  aftervi^arils,  disheartened  and  weary 
of  Ufe,  he  abdicated  the  throne,  and 
retired  to  the  monastery  of  San  Yuste. 
Thus  ended  the  second  period  of  the 
Council. 

Paul  IV.  (Carafta),  who  sat  in  the 
chair  of  Peter  between  1555  and  1559, 
took  no  step  to  reassemble  the  Council; 
but  on  the  accession  of  Pius  IV.  (Medici), 
it  was  evident  that  the  Church  had 
received  a  ruler  whose  energy  in  her 
cause  no  difficulties  could  tire,  no  resis- 
tance overcome.  He  published  a  bull  on 
November  29,  1560,  convening  "  a  sacred 
general  and  oecumenical  council  "  to  meet 
at  Trent  on  Easter  Day,  1561.  It  was 
not  expressly  said  in  the  bull  that  this 
was  a  continuation  of  the  former  Council. 
That  it  should  ultimately  so  be  deemed 
was  the  firm  resolution  of  the  Pope,  and 
in  this  he  was  altogether  supported  by 
Spanish  opinion.  But  the  King  of  France 
and  the  Emperor  Ferdinand,  fearing  to 
exasperate  their  Protestant  subjects, 
whose  opinions  had  been  condemned  in 
the  former  sessions,  were  unwilling  to 
consent  to  the  present  Council's  being 
regarded  as  a  continuation  of  the  last ; 
they  wished  it  to  appear  that  all  debated 
questions  were  still  open,  and  might  be 
discussed  de  novo.  Pius  made  two  dis- 
tinct efibrts  to  interest  Queen  Elizabeth 
in  the  Council.  Of  the  first  we  have  sp<  lien 
in  a  former  article  [English  CathomcsJ; 
the  second  was  made  in  1561,  when  the 
Abbot  Martinenghi  was  sent  to  Belgium, 
and  application  made  on  his  behalf  for 
leave  to  cross  to  England  and  lay  before  the 
Queen  the  Pope's  entreaty  that  she  would 
join  the  Council.  The  reply  *  to  the 
application  was  an  absolute  refusal,  based 
upon  grounds  some  of  which  were  flimsy- 
enough,  but  such  on  the  whole  as  the 
logic  of  the  Anglican  position  .required. 
The  real  drift  of  the  document  was,  that 
England  had  done  with  the  Pope,  and 
therefore  it  was  useless,  and  might  be 
mischievous,  for  her  rulers  to  %onfer  with 
his  emissaries  on  any  subject  whatever. 
Mr.  Froude  thinks  this  attitude  very 
grand  ;  Catholics  may  allow  that — assum- 
ing for  a  moment  the  Protestant  conten- 
tion as  to  the  Papacy  to  have  been  true — 
it  w^as  consistent  and  sagacious.  But 
what  if  England,  in  rejecting  the  Papacy, 
was  rejecting  an  integral  part  of  Chris- 

I      1  See  it  in  Dodd  (ed.  Tierney),  ii.  cccxxiL 


808       TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF 

tianity  ?  In  that  case  these  proceedings 
were  no  matter  of  {rratulation,  and  even- 
tually could  not  but  lead  to  evil  results. 

But  in  spite  of  the  hostility  of  the 
Enprlish  Government,  England  was  not 
entirely  unrepresented  at  the  Council. 
At  some  of  the  earlier  sessions  Cardinal 
Pole,  late  Bishop  of  Worcester,  had  been 
present;  now,  in  1562,  Thomas  Goldwell, 
bishop  of  St.  A-saph,  proceeding  to  Trent 
after  his  deprivation  by  Elizabeth,  de- 
fined with  the  assembled  Fathers  that 
ancient  Catholic '  faith  which  his  coun- 
trymen had  recei\'ed  more  than  eight 
hundred  years  before.  Ireland  was  re- 
presented by  three  bishops,  Thomas 
O'Herlaghy  of  Ross,  Eugene  OTlart  of 
Achonry,  and  Donald  McCongail  of  Ra- 
phoe.  Mary  of  Scotland  wrote  a  Latin 
letter  ^  in  1563,  to  the  "  Sacrosanct  Synod 
of  Trent,"  in  which  she  referred  the 
Fathers  to  her  uncle,  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorraine,  for  an  explanation  of  her  posi- 
tion. The  Cardinal  spoke  on  the  matter 
at  considerable  length,'^  unfolding  the 
ruinous  state  of  religion  in  Scotland,  and 
showing  that  the  few  Catholic  bishops 
could  not  be  spared  from  their  task  of 
watching  over  the  feeble  relics  of  Catho- 
licity. The  Council  replied  ^  in  terms  of 
feeling  and  lofty  courtesy.  They  accepted 
the  Queen's  excuses,  condoled  with  her 
on  the  state  of  her  kingdom,  admitted  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  as  her  envoy  and 
representative,  and  declared  that  among 
the  princes  and  riders  who  in  those  evil 
times  had  been  bold  in  the  cause  of  the 
Church  of  God,  "  assuredly  the  illustrious 
name  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scotland,  would 
be  commended  to  the  undying  remem- 
brance of  mankind." 

The  Council  was  re-opened  in  the 
seventeenth  session  (January  18,  1562) 
by  the  Papal  legates,  Cardinal  Gonzaga 
of  Mantua  and  four  others,  and  immedi- 
ately adjourned  to  February  26.  On  that 
day  a  decree  was  adopted  relating  to  the 
censorship  of  books  ;  a  committee  was 
appointed;  ultimately  the  matter  was 
referred  to  the  Pope ;  and  the  result  was 
seen  at  last  in  the  erection  of  the  Sacred 
Congregation  of  the  Index  [Index,  &c.]. 
A  fresh  safe-conduct,  addressed  not  to 
the  German  nation  only,  but  to  all  those, 
whether  nations  or  individuals,  "who 
have  not  communion  with    us    in  the 

1  Le  Plat,  vi.  48. 

2  See  the  abstract  of  his  speech  in  the  diary 
of  Mendoza,  a  Spanish  bishop  (Dollinger, 
Sammlung,  &c.) 

3  Le  Plat,  loc.  at. 


TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF 

things  which  are  of  faith,"  guaranteeing 
their  safety,  and  entreating  them  to  come 
to  Trent,  was  soon  afterwards  published. 

Sessions  nineteen  and  twenty  were . 
formal  only.  In  the  twenty-first  (July  16, 
1562),  the  four  questions  on  Eucharisiic 
doctrine,  postponed  at  the  thirteenth 
session,  were  dealt  with.  In  the  twenty- 
second  (Septeuiber  17, 1562),  the  doctrine 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  was  defined 
in  nine  chapters ;  things  to  be  observed  or 
avoided  in  the  celebration  of  the  same 
were  noted ;  and  the  demand  for  the  con- 
cession of  the  chalice  to  the  laity  (on 
which  Ferdinand,  pressed  by  his  Bohe- 
mian and  Hungarian  subjects,  and  also 
the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  had  much  insisted), 
was  referred  to  the  judgment  of  the  Pope. 

Disciplinary  questions  of  great  diffi- 
culty and  complexity,  the  satisfactory 
settlement  of  which  required  an.  active 
and  patient  interchange  of  views  among 
the  bishops  and  theologians  of  various 
countries,  caused  the  next  session  to  be 
deferred  till  July,  1563.^  In  the  previous 
Miirch  the  Cardinal  of  Mantua  died,  and 
was  succeeded  as  legate  by  the  able  Car- 
dinal Morone,  under  whose  prudent  man- 
agement the  remaining  deliberations  of 
the  Council  were  swiftly  and  successfully 
carried  through. 

In  January  1563,  the  Anglican  bishops 
had  met  in  convocation  at  London, 
and  adopted  a  code  of  Thirty-nine 
Articles  to  regulate  the  religious  belief 
and  practice  of  the  English  people.  It 
can  hardly  be  doubted  that  these  articles 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Fathers  of 
Trent,  and  that  several  statements  con- 
tained in  them  were  included  among  the 
"  errores  nostri  temporis,"  against  which 

I  About  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Car- 
dinal of  Lorraine  and  the  French  prelate*^  (Nov. 
1562),  stormy  discussions  took  place  on  the 
'"urif'diction  of  bishops ;  did  it  come  imme- 
diately from  God,  or  from  God  through  the 
Pope .'  The  Spanish  bishops  p:enerally  held 
the  former  opinion.  Mendoza's  speech  is  inte- 
resting (Dollinger,  ii.  98).  That  episcopal 
order  was  jure  divino,  all,  he  said,  M-ere  agreed  ; 
on  the  second  point,  relating  to  jurisdiction, 
"  my  view  is  that  we  receive  it  from  the  Su- 
preme Pontiff."  Next  day  the  Spanish  Bishop 
of  Guadix  spoke  vehemently  on  the  other 
side ;  Cardinal  Simoneta  said  he  wondered  at 
the  speaker's  language  ;  there  was  great  ex- 
citement. The  Archbishop  of  Granada  took 
part  with  the  Bishop  of  Guadix,  and  protested 
airainst  hi.-*  being  interrupted.  But  many 
bishops,  with  whom  was  the  Cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine, thought  that  at  a  time  when  the  Protes- 
tants were  denying  the  authority  of  bishops 
alti^gether,  the  point  in  dispute  might  stand 
over ;  and  this  view  at  last  prevailed. 


TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF 

the  dogmatic  decree  of  the  twenty-third 
session  (the  first  held  after  the  pubhca- 
tion  of  the  London  symbol)  was  espe- 
cially directed.  Thus  the  twenty-fifth 
ai'ticle  denies  "  Orders  "  to  be  a  "  sacra- 
ment of  the  Gospel,"  and  classes  it  among 
"  those  five  commonly  called  sacraments/' 
which  "  have  grown  partly  of  the  corrupt 
following  of  the  Apostles,  partly  are 
states  of  life  allowed  in  the  Scriptures." 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Council  defines : 
"  If  any  one  shall  say  that  Orders  or 
sacred  ordination  is  not  truly  and  pro- 
perly a  sacrament  instituted  by  Christ 
the  Lord  ....  let  him  be  anathema." 
A  similar  opposition  of  view  will  come 
luider  our  notice  in  other  instances. 

The  decree  of  Reformation  in  eighteen 
chapters,  adopted  at  the  twenty-third 
session,  contained  a  number  ot  important 
provisions  on  the  residence  of  bishops 
and  priests,  on  ordinations,  on  the  qualifi- 
cations for  the  priesthood,  and  on  the 
erection  of  seminaries  for  the  training  of 
clergy. 

At  the  twenty-fourth  session  (No- 
vember 11,  1563),  the  doctrine  of  Chris- 
tian marriage  was  defined,  and  anathema 
pronounced  on  whoever  should  deny  it  to 
be  truly  and  properly  a  sacrament.  Here 
again  the  conciliar  decree  is  in  precise 
contradiction  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Anglican  bishops  in  their  twenty-fifth 
article.  A  decree  in  ten  chapters  on  the 
reformation  of  marriage  was  added. 

In  the  twenty-fifth  and  last  session 
(December  3  and  4,  1503),  the  Council 
adopted  decrees  on  Purgatory,  on  the  In- 
vocation, Veneration,  and  Relics  of  Saints 
and  Holy  Images,  and  on  Indulgences. 
The  Anglican  twenty-second  article,  by  a 
singular  choice  of  words,  describes  the 
doctrine  of  the  Holy  See  on  these  various, 
and,  in  part,  dissimilar  subjects  as  "  a  fond 
thing  vainly  invented."  The  Council 
states  what  is  necessary  to  be  believed 
upon  them  all,  neither  confining  the 
liberty  of  theologians  by  an  over-precise- 
ness  of  definition  nor  leaving  any  essen- 
tial point  obscure.  In  the  section  on 
Holy  Images,  reference  is  naturally  made 
to  the  decrees  of  the  Second  Council  of 
Niosea  against  the  Iconoclasts.  A  number 
of  important  regulations  affecting  the 
religious  orders  were  embodied  in  the 
decree  "  De  Regularibus  et  Monialibus  " 
(on  the  regular  clergy  and  nuns). 

Since  the  commencement  of  the  third 
period  of  the  Council,  the  opposition  of 
the  Emperor  and  the  King  of  France  to 
the  view  that  it  was  a  continuation  of  the 


TRENT,  COUNCIL  OF       809 

former  Council  had  gradually  become 
weaker,  and  now  the  fact  of  continuity 
was  assumed  without  disguise,  and  agreed 
to  by  all.  The  Fathers,  arrived  at  the 
termination  of  their  labours,  agreed  to 
request  the  confirmation  of  the  Council  in 
all  its  three  phases  from  the  Supreme 
Pontiff*.  This  confirmation  w^as  given  on 
January  26,  1564.  It  was  also  deter- 
mined that  all  the  decrees  of  the  Council 
which  affected  ecclesiastical  discipline  and 
modified  positive  law  should  be  consi- 
dered as  coming  into  force  oh  May  1, 
1564. 

Besides  the  ambassadors,  the  names  of 
nine  cardinals,  three  patriarchs,  thirty- 
three  archbishops,  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  bishops,  eight  abbots,  eight  gene- 
rals of  orders,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty 
theologians  and  canonists,  were  hiscribed 
on  the  attendance-roll  of  the  Council,  as 
having  been  present  at  one  or  more  of  the 
sessions.  As  regards  nationality,  the 
Italian  prelates,  numbering  187,  consti- 
tuted more  than  half  the  Council. 

Among  the  prelates  at  Trent  distin- 
guished for  their  virtue  and  learning  were 
the  Cardinals  del  Monte,  Cervini,  and  Seri- 
pandi,  Bartholomew  de  Martyribus,  arch- 
bishop of  Braga,  Paulus  Jovius,  bishop  of 
Nocera,  Diego  Covarruvias,  bishop  of 
Segovia,  Vida,  bishop  of  Alba,  and  Lipo- 
mani,  bishop  of  Modon.  Among  the 
more  eminent  theologians  were  Peter  de 
Soto  and  Melchior  Cano,  Dominicans, 
Salmeron,  Laynez,  Le  Jay,  and  Turriani, 
Jesuits,  Michael  Baius,  Jansenius,  Rami- 
rez, Fernandez,  &c.,  «fcc.  The  counsel  of 
his  holy  nephew,  St.  Charles  Borromeo, 
was  a  source  of  strength  and  enlighten- 
ment to  Pius  IV.  during  the  whole  third 
period  of  the  Council. 

(The  voluminous  literature  of  the 
Council  is  well  given  in  Cardinal  Hergen- 
rother's  "Handbuch  derallgem.  Kirchen- 
geschichte,"  iii.  460.  Among  the  most 
important  sources  are,  Sforza  Pallavicini,^ 
"  History,  &c."  in  Italian,  1656,  in  Latin, 
Antwerp,  1673;  Le  Plat,  "  Monumenta, 
i^'c,"  Louvain,  1786;  Theiner,  "Diary  of 
Angelo  MassarelU,"  1874;  Mendham, 
"Acta  ConcHii  Trid."  1842;  Dollinger, 
"Samralung  von  Urkunden,  «&;c."  1876. 
The  histories  of  Raynaldus,  Gieseler, 
Menzel,  Alzog,  and  Rohrbacher,  and  the 
critical  work  of  Brischar,  may   also  be 

^  Pallavichii,  a  Jesuit,  and  afterwards 
cardinal,  wrote  his  history  expressly  to  con- 
fute Sarpi ;  he  had  access  to  all  the  sources 
of  information  contained  in  the  Romau  ar- 
chives. 


810  TRICERION  AND  DICERION 

consulted.  Paul  Sarpi's  ^  "  History  of 
the  Council  of  Trent,  first  publislied  in 
Italian  at  London  in  1G19,  under  the 
feigned  name  of  Pietro  Soave  Polano  [an 
anagram  of  "•  Paolo  Sarpi  Veneto  '  ], 
translated  into  French  by  Courayer,  173G, 
is  quite  unworthy  of  trust.) 

The  martyr  Edmund  Campion  (fl-'iBO) 
wrote  in  the  following  terms  of  tlie 
Council  of  Trent :  "  The  Synod  of  Trent, 
the  older  it  waxeth,  the  more  it  will 
flourish.  Good  God !  what  variety  of 
nations !  what  choice  of  bishops  of  the 
whole  world,  what  splendour  of  kings 
and  commonwealths,  what  marrow  of 
theologues,  what  sanctity,  what  weep- 
ings, what  fasts,  what  academical  flowers, 
what  lantfUrtges,  what  subtilties,  what 
labour,  what  infinite  reading,  what  riches 
of  virtues  and  studies,  did  fill  up  that 
majestical  sacred  place  1 "  (Quoted  in 
Brent  s  English  version  of  Sarpi's  history, 
Lond.  1640.) 

TRICERION-  AZTB  BICERIOIT. 
Candlesticks  with  three  and  two  lights 
signifying  respectively  the  Trinity  and  two 
natures  of  Christ,  used  by  Greek  bishops 
in  blessing  the  people.  [Daniel,  "  Thesaur. 
Liturg."'  tom.  iv.  p.  382.] 

TRUriTARIAirs.  This  order  was 
founded  at  Rome  in  1198  by  St.  John  of 
Matha,  a  native  of  Provence,  and  an  aged 
French  hermit,  Felix  of  Valois,  in  order 
to  redeem  Christian  captives  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  infidels.  Affairs  in  the 
East  had  taken  an  unfortunate  turn; 
Jerusalem  had  fallen  into  Saladin's 
hands,  and  great  numbers  of  Christian 
soldiers  were  in  captivity,  which,  with 
Mahommedans,  was  equivalent  to  sla- 
very. The  dangers  of  every  kind  which 
beset  these  unfortunates  were  what 
moved  the  holy  founder  to  make  a  great 
organised  effort  for  their  relief.  The 
order  was  sanctioned  by  Innocent  III.  ; 
the  rule  was  that  of  St.  Austin  with  par- 
ticular statutes ;  the  diet  was  of  great 
austerity  ;  the  habit,  at  least  in  France, 
was  a  soutane  and  scapular  of  white  serge, 
with  a  red  and  blue  cross  on  the  right 
breast.  The  first  monastery  was  at 
Cerfrcy,  in  France ;  this  continued  to  be 
the  mother  house  till  the  French  Revolu- 

1  Sarpi  was  a  Servite  friar  and  theologian 
to  the  repulilic  of  Venice  ;  but  under  the  frock 
and  outwnrl  demeanour  of  a  reli;;i  us  secretly 
intrit^ued  to  introduce  Prote.-<tantism  into  the 
Ropul'lic.  Palavifiiii  gives  a  list  of  361  falsi- 
fications or  niisreprescntati 'na  of  fact  in  his 
history,  of  which  Bossuet  wrote  that  it  was  the 
■work  not  so  much  of  the  historian  as  of  the 
open  enemy  of  the  Council. 


TRINITARIANS 

tion.  Tlie  work  was  begun  with  great 
energy ;  John  the  Englishman  and  Wil- 
liam the  Scot,  two  of  the  earliest  fol- 
lowers of  St.  John,  were  sent  to  Mori^cco, 
where  they  .negotiated  (1200)  the  ran- 
som of  186  captives,  and  restored  them 
to  their  friends.  It  was  a  fundamental 
rule  of  the  order  that  at  least  one-third 
of  its  revenues  should  be  set  apart  for  the 
work  of  redemption.  At  Tunis,  a  short 
time  after  the  success  in  Morocco,  the 
saint,  having  redeemed  120  captives, 
embarked  with  them  in  a  ship  bound  for 
Ostia.  Some  Mahommedans  boarded  the 
vessel,  took  away  the  rudder,  and  tore 
the  sails  to  ribands :  but  St.  John  is  said 
to  have  hung  his  cloak  and  those  of  his 
companions  from  the  yard,  and  to  have 
obtained  by  prayer  such  effectual  aid 
from  heaven,  that  the  vessel  was  wafted 
after  a  few  days  into  the  harbour  of 
Ostia. 

The  Trinitarians  had  at  one  time  as 
many  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  houses. 
It  was  estimated  in  the  seventeenth 
century  that  since  its  foundation  the 
order  had  rescued  30,720  Christian  cap- 
tives. 

St.  John  of  Matha  died  in  1213. 
Five  years  later,  t!ie  military  order  of 
Our  Ijady  of  Mercy  for  the  redemption  of 
captives,  commonly  called  the  Order  of 
Mercy,  was  founded  at  Barcelona  by 
James  I.,  king  of  Arragon,  and  St.  Peter 
Nolasco,  with  the  same  general  object  as 
that  pursued  by  the  Trinitarians.  This 
oi-der,  alter  a  time,  while  adhering  to  the 
rule  of  St.  Austin  which  it  had  originally 
embraced,  elected  a  priest  for  its  superior 
and  put  off*  its  military  character.  The 
religious  beloniiing  to  it  threw  themselves 
with  great  ardour  into  the  mission  work 
in  America.  One  of  them,  F.  Solorzano, 
was  confessor  to  Columbus  and  almoner 
of  the  fleet  in  the  memorable  voyag«  of 
1402  ;  Ilenryon  calls  him  "  the  first  apostle 
of  the  New  World."  ^ 

At  the  dissolution  there  were  eleven 
Trinitarian  houses  in  England,  five  in 
Scotland,'^  and  one  (Adare,  co.  Limerick) 
in  Ireland.     Though  in  fact  regular  ca- 

»  Hist.  Gen.  de.t  Mssinns  Cath.  I.  i.  c.  32. 
2  Doninfi:ton  (Berks)         Werhind  (Devon.) 
Kston  (Wilts)  Worcester 

Hounslow 

Knarchb  irousrh  In  Scntlatid: 

Modenden  (Kent)  Aberdeen 

Tlielesfi.rd  (Warw.)  Dornoch 

Thusfield  (Oxf.)  Fail 

Totness  (Little)  Peebles 

WalkuoU        (North-        Scotland's  Wett 
umberland; 


TRINITY,  FEAST  OF 

nons,  these  religious  were  often  called 
in  England  Red,  or  Maturin  friars,  from 
tlio  colour  of  the  cross  on  the  habit, 
and  because  they  had  a  famous  house 
at  Paris  built  near  the  chapel  of  St. 
Maturin. 

A  reformation  made  by  Father  Juan 
Baptista  was  approved  by  the  Holy  See 
in  1599,  and  resulted  in  the  erection  of 
the  congregation  of  "Discalced  Trinita- 
rians" in  Spain.  Their  houses,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  unre formed  portion  of 
the  order,  were  suppressed  in  Spain  in  the 
reign  of  the  late  Queen,  Isabella  11. 

(H^lyot;  HeDryon;  Latomy,  "Hist, 
de  la  Fondation  de  I'Ordre  de  N.  D.  de  la 
Mercy,"  1618;  Tanner;  M.  Walcott, 
"  Scoti-moaasticon.") 

TRXXriTT,  THAST  OP.  A  decre- 
tal attributed  to  Alexander  III.  in  the 
"  Corpus  Juris,"  but  really  of  Alexander  II., 
informs  us  that  some  churches  kept  this 
feast  on  the  Sunday  after  Pentecost,  others 
on  the  Sunday  before  Advent,  while 
'the  Roman  Church  did  not  keep  it  at  all, 
since  every  day  the  Trinity  was  praised 
and  worshipped.  Very  early  in  the  tenth 
century  the  feast  was  kept  at  Liege,  in 
the  twelfth  the  Abbot  Rupert  speaks  of  it 
as  generally  observed,  and  in  1334  John 
XXII.  ordered  its  observance  by  the  whole 
Church  on  the  Sunday  next  after  Pente- 
cost.   (Benedict  XIV.'  "  De  Fest.") 

TRIM-ITV,  KOXiY.  The  mystery  of 
the  Trinity  consists  in  this,  that  God  being 
numerically  and  individually  one,  exists  in 
three  Persons,  or,  in  other  words,  that 
the  Divine  essence,  which  is  one  and  the 
same  in  the  strictest  and  most  absolute 
sense,  exists  in  three  Persons  really  dis- 
tinct from  each  other,  and  yet  each  really 
identical  with  the  same  Divine  essence. 
The  Father  is  unbegotten,  the  Son  be- 
gotten, the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from 
Ihe  Father  and  Son.  Each  Person  is 
really  distinct  from  the  other,  each  is 
the  true,  eternal  God,  and  yet  there  is 
only  oue  God.  We  can  understand  how 
three  individual  men  are  distinct  from 
each  other  and  yet  possess  humanity 
in  common.  The  unity  of  the  three 
Divine  Persons  is  altogether  different. 
Wlien  we  speak  of  them  as  one  God,  we 
mean  not  only  that  each  is  God,  but  that 
each  is  one  and  the  same  God,  and  herein 
is  the  mystery,  incomprehensible  to  any 
created  intelligence.  The  word  Trinity 
(rpias)  first  occurs  in  Theophilus  of 
Antioch  ("Ad.  Autol."  ii.  15),  who 
wrote  about  180,  but  the  doctrine  which 
the  word  expresses  appears  in  the  New, 


TRINITY,  HOLY 


811 


and  hsLA  its  roots  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. 

(A)  The  Doctrine  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment.— (a)  Catholics,  from  the  Fathers 
downwards,  full  of  faith  in  the  Holy 
Trinity,  and  knowing  that  the  author  of  the 
New  Testament  is  also  the  author  of  the 
Old,  have  naturally  been  prepared  to  find 
traces  of  the  doctrine  in  the  ancient 
Scriptures  and  have  often  satisfied  them- 
selves that  such  traces  exist  in  cases 
where  scholarship  proves  the  possibility 
or  even  the  correctness  of  another  inter- 
pretation. In  what  follows,  we  have  kept 
constantly  in  view  the  least  an  adversary 
must  admit,  the  least  which  grammatical 
and  historical  consid^erations  require  us  to 
see  in  any  particular  text. 

Passages  there  are,  quoted  by  the 
Fathers,  in  which  God  speaks  of  Him- 
self in  the  plural.  Such  are  Gen.  i.  26, 
iii.  22,  xi.  7  ;  Is.  vi.  8.  In  the  first  two 
the  Fathers  generally  see  an  allusion  to 
the  Trinity,  most  of  them  do  so  in  the 
third,  a  few  only  in  the  fourth,  which  is 
generally  understood  as  addressed  to  the 
seraphim  who  are  mentioned  in  the  con- 
text (references  in  Petavius,  "  De  Trin." 
ii.  7).  Let  us  take  the  first  passage  from 
Genesis,  the  strongest,  as  Petavius  thinks, 
among  them  all.  "  And  God  said,  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image."  The  New 
Testament  gives  no  exposition  of  the 
words.  The  oldest  explanation  is  found 
in  Philo,  and  adopted  in  the  Targum  of 
Pseudo- Jonathan,  which  paraphrases  the 
words  thus:  "  Jehovah  said  to  the  angels, 
ministering  before  Him,  who  were  created 
on  the  second  day  of  the  creation  of  the 
world,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image." 
This  view  has  met  with  the  approval  of 
some  modern  scholars,  but  there  is  no 
mention  of  angels  in  the  context,  and  the 
notion  of  angelic  agency  in  creation  is 
Babylonian  and  Persian,  but  not  Biblical. 
Another  very  ]()opular  view  in  modern 
times  is  that  God  uses  the  plural,  just  as 
kings  do,  as  a  mark  of  dignity  (the  so- 
called  plural  of  majesty),  but  it  is  only 
late  in  Jewish  history  that  such  a  form 
of  speech  occurs,  and  then  it  is  used  by 
Persian  and  Greek  rulers  (Esdr.  iv.  18 ; 
1  Mace.  X.  19).  Nor  can  the  plural  be 
regarded  as  merely  indicating  the  way  in 
which  God  summons  Himself  to  energy, 
for  the  use  of  the  language  is  against  this 
(Gen.  ii.  18;  Is.  xxxiii.  10).  The  most 
recent  explanation  is  that  of  Dillmann  {ad 
loc),  who  thinks  that  God,  in  the  solemn 
moment  of  man's  creation,  addresses  Him- 
self as  the  complex  of  Divine  energies  and 


812 


TRINITY,  HOLY 


powers.  Akin  to  the  arguments  drawn 
from  the  above  texts  is  that  from  the 
fact  that  the  Hebrew  word  for  God  is 
phiral,  while  it  is  usually  construed  with  a 
singular  verb.  The  real  origin  of  this 
plural  form  ia  obscure,  but  anyhow 
Petavins  most  rightly  refuses  to  see  in 
it  any  allusion  to  a  plurality  of  Divine 
Persons.  The  word  for  a  human  master 
is  also  often  plural,  and  the  same  plural 
form  of  the  word  God  with  a  singular 
verb  is  used  of  Dagon  (Jud.  xvi.  23). 
Lastly,  under  this  head  we  may  mention 
the  "*Holy,  holy,  holy"  of  Is.  vi.,  the 
triple  blessing  in  Num.  vi.  24,  and  the 
apparent  distinction  between  God  and 
God  in  Gen.  xix.  24  :  ''  And  Jehova 
rained  on  Sodom  and  Gomorrhah  sulphur 
and  lire  from  Jehova  from  the  heavens." 
The  first  two  places  may  only  show  that 
three,  like  seven  and  teu,  was  a  favourit-e 
(cf.  Jer.  viii.  4)  and  perhaps  a  sacred 
number  among  the  Hebrews ;  in  Gen.  xix. 
24,  the  repetition  of  the  words  "  from 
Jehova "  is  perhaps  merely  an  old  and 
emphatic  equivalent  for  from  "  Himself." 
Its  meaning  is  much  the  same  as  that  of 
the  words  which  follow  it — viz.  from 
"the  heavens,"  just  as  €k  Aibs  =  €^ 
ovpavoi). 

{(B)  The  so-called  Theophanies. — God, 
whom  no  man  can  see  and  live,  is  repre- 
sented as  appearing  to  the  Patriarchs 
without  indication  of  time  or  mode,  Gen. 
xii.  7,  xxvi.  2,  xxxv.  9,  by  night,  xxvi.  24 : 
*'  the  word  of  Jehova "'  is  said  to  have 
come  in  a  vision,  xv.  1.  God  spake  to 
Adam  (Gen.  iii.  8,  but  it  is  not  said  that  He 
appeared),  and  an  angel  ("JJ^i^D  "  legatus," 
but  properly  "  legatio  "),  who  appears  in 
God's  name  is  alternately  distinguished 
from  and  identified  with  God  Himself 
(see,  e.g.y  Gen.  xvi.  7  seq.,  xviii.,  xxxi. 
11  8eq.\  Jud.  vi.  11  seq.;  Zach.  i.  19). 
The  LXX  (see  Keil  on  Genesis,  p.  128), 
regarded  these  cases  as  apparitions  of  a 
created  angel,  and  it  appears  to  us  that 
the  view  is  confirmed  by  various  passages 
in  the  New  Testament  {e.g.  Acts  vii.  30  ; 
ef.  Heb.  ii.  2,  3 ;  Gal.  iii.  19 ;  Acts  vii. 
68).  In  the  early  church  Scripture  was 
interpreted  in  another  way,  and  the 
Fathers,  down  to  St.  Augustine's  time 
(references  in  Petav.  "  Be  Trin."  viii.  2), 
believed  that  "the  angel  of  the  Lord" 
was  the  Word  of  God,  taking  the  form 
of  an  angel,  and  alleged  such  appari- 
tions as  a  powerful  argument  against 
Jews  and  heretics  for  a  distinction  of 
Persons    in    God.      The    interpretation, 


TRINITY,  HOLY 

however,  was  used  by  Arians  to  prove  9 
difference  of  nature  between  Father  and 
Son,  the  former  being  invisible,  the  latter 
visible.  St.  Augustine's  view  is  expressed 
in  his  treatise  on  the  Trinity,  and  finally 
prevailed.  He  argues  that  God  in  any 
Person  cannot  be  seen  corporeally,  and 
that  a  creature,  such  as  the  angel  who 
appeared  to  Abraham,  <fcc.,  might  repre- 
sent any  one  of  the  three  Persons. 
(Augustine,  "  De  Trin."  ii.  18;  cf. 
Hieron.  "  In  Gal.  iii.  19,"  who  regards  the 
appearances  as  of  created  angels  repre- 
senting the  Mediator.)  This,  as  it  seems 
to  us,  is  the  reasonable  view,  or  rather, 
we  should  prefer  to  say  that  the  angel 
represents  God,  quite  independently  of 
his  existence  in  one  or  more  Persons. 
At  the  same  time,  we  may  fairly  look  on 
such  apparitions  as  preparing  the  way  for 
a  belief  in  the  Incarnation,  especially 
when  we  remember  that  the  "angel  of 
Jehova  "  is  a  title  given  to  the  Messias 
(Mai.  iii.  2).  Again,  the  angel  who  led 
the  Israelites  is  called  the  angel  of  God's 
"  face  or  presence  "  (Is.  Ixiii.  9),  which  has 
a  resemblance,  though  a  very  imperfect 
one,  to  the  New  Testament  doctrine  that 
God  is  manifested  in  Christ.  So  under- 
stood, the  Theophanies  would  have  an 
indirect  connection  with  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity. 

(y)  Word,  Wisdom,  Spirit. — The  per- 
sonification of  God's  word  and  wisdom  in 
the  Old  Testament  brings  us  far  closer 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  Even  in 
Gen.  i.  God  is  represented  as  creating  by 
his  spoken  command,  and  in  Ps.  xxxiii.  6 
the  creative  energy  of  God  is  summed  up 
in  a  single  term — viz.  his  word :  "  By 
the  word  of  Jehova  were  the  heavens 
made"  (cf.  Ps.  cvii.  20,  cxlvii.  16). 
Elsewhere  we  meet  with  another  form  of 
the  same  idea — viz.  the  wisdom  of  God, 
which  is  personified  *  in  ,Tob  xxviii.  12  scq. ; 
Prov.  viii.  ix.  ;  Ecclus.  i.  1-10,  xxiv.  8 ; 
Bciruch  iii.  27-iv.  4.  In  tlie  Alexanduan 
13ook  of  Wisdom  we  get  beyond  mere 
personification,  and  a  real  personal  exist- 
ence Ls  attributed  to  Wisdom  (vii.  7-xi.). 
This  Wisdom  is  "  the  effulgence  of  eternal 
light,"  "  the  image  of  God's  goodness," 
the  spirit  in  her  is  "  intelligent,  holy,  only- 
begotten  "  (vii.  22).  On  the  other  hand, 
though  the  book  speaks  of  God's  "Al- 
mighty word  "  (xvii.  6)  "  leaping  down 

'  It  is,  of  course,  hard  to  draw  a  clear  line 
between  poetical  personification  and  doctrinal 
statement  of  hypostatical  existence.  The 
beautiful  passaj^e  in  Job,  and  the  reflection  ol 
it  in  Baruch,  are  clear  instances  of  the  former. 


TRINITY,  HOLY 

from  his  royal  throne  "  to  take  vengeance 
on  the  Eg}^tian3,  this  seems  to  be  no 
more  than  a  figure  of  speech,  and  the 
conception  of  the  Word  of  God  falls  into 
the  background  behind  that  of  Wisdom. 
It  is  often  difficult  to  decide  whether  the 
attributes  ascribed  to  Wisdom  answer 
most  closely  to  those  of  the  Aoyos  in  the 
New  Testament,  or  to  those  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  On  the  one  hand,  it  is  through 
her  that  all  things  are  made ;  on  the 
other,  she  dwells  in  the  hearts  of  the  just. 
It  can  hardly  be  said  that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment certainly  expresses  the  hypostati- 
cal  existence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  natural 
a''  it  is  for  a  believer  in  the  Catholic  doc- 
trine to  interpret  various  passages  of  the 
Old  Testament  in  this  way.  The  Spirit 
of  God  worlcs  in  nature  ;  it  endows  men 
with  skill  of  various  kinds  (Exod.  xxxi. 
3-6),  and  particularly  with  moral  vir- 
tues, whence  it  is  called  the  Holy  Spirit 
{Vs.  li.  13)  ;  it  is  to  rest  specially  on 
the  Messias  and  the  people  of  the  Mes- 
sianic period  (Is.  xi.  2  seq.,  xxxii.  lo, 
xliv.  3;  Ezech.  xxxix.  29;  Joel  iii.  1, 
2).  There  is  indeed  one  passage  in  the 
Vulgate  which  expressly  attributes  hypo- 
static existence  to  the  Spirit  of  God — 
viz.  Is.  xlviii.  16:  "The  Lord  God  and 
his  Spirit  have  sent  me"  (Is.  xlviii.  16: 
"Dorainus  Deus  misit  me  et  Spiritus 
ejus").  But  in  the  Hebrew  "Spirit"  may 
be,  and  probably  is,  the  accusative.  "  1'he 
Lord  God  hath  sent  me  and  his  Spirit " 
— i.e.  His  Spirit  to  dwell  in  and  guide 
me. 

(S)  In  a  few  passages  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ascribes  Divine  attributes  to  the 
Messias,  and  this,  as  the  Messias  is  sent 
by  and  is  distinct  from  God  (the  Father), 
implies  a  duality  of  Persons  in  God. 
Some  places  (jften  adduced,  although  their 
true  sense  and  reference  to  our  Lord  are 
certain  to  us  from  the  light  of  the  New 
Testament,  are  scarcely  conclusive  in  and 
by  themselves.  Thus  in  Ps.  ii.  7,"  Thou  art 
my  son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee,"  the 
sonship  does  not  of  itself  imply  divinity. 
Israel  collectively  was  God's  first-born 
(Exod.  iv.  23),  and  Solomon  as  king  of 
Israel  was  the  Son  of  God  (2  Sam.  vii. 
14 :  "I  shall  be  to  him  for  a  Father  and 
he  shall  be  to  me  for  a  son,")  and  the 
"day"  might  well  be  the  day  of  corona- 
tion j  for  the  Hebrew  Bible  never  speaks  of 
a  mere  private  individual  as  a  child  of 
God.  Sonship  belongs  to  the  people 
collectively  or  to  their  representative. 
In  Ps.  ex.  i.,  "  Jehovah  said  to  my  Lord, 
Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand,"  the   word 


TRINITY,  HOLY 


818 


translated  Lord  (''^hX,  not  '>21^)  is  simply 
the  common  term  for  any  lord  or  master 
(1  Sam.xxii.  12) ;  andinlOhron.  xxix.23, 
we  read,  "  Solomon  sat  on  the  throne  of 
Jehovah,  as  kin^."  In  Ps.  xlv.  7, 8,  "  Thy 
throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever,"  the 
interpretation  of  the  Hebrew  words,  on 
mere  philological  gi'ounds,  and  apart  from 
New  Testament  authority,  is  very  doubt- 
ful. "  Thy  divine  throAe  "  is  a  rendering 
to  which  there  is  no  grammatical  objec- 
tion, and  certainly  the  Psalm  in  its 
natural  and  literal  meaning  seems  to 
celebrate  a  royal  marriage  of  the  ordinary 
kind.  "  This  is  the  name  which  they 
shall  call  him,  Jehova-[is]-our-justice," 
says  .Teremias  (xxiii.  6),  speaking  of  the 
Messias.  Such  a  name  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  divinity,  and  we  must  re- 
member that  the  prophet  says  the  city  of 
Jerusalem  will  be  called  by  the  very  same 
name.  "And  this  is  the  name  which 
they  shall  call  her  [ph  fem.  not  masc. 

as  in  Vulg.],  Jehovah-[is]-our-justice." 
In  Mic.  V.  1,  where  the  origin  of 
Messias  from  Bethlehem  is  predicted, 
the  Vulgate  has  "his  going  forth  is 
from  the  beginning,  from  the  days  of 
eternity."  It  would  be  at  least  equally 
fair  to  translate,  "  from  of  old,  from 
ancient  days,"'  for  the  word  which  an- 
swers to  "  initium  "  in  the  Vulgate  is  used 
by  Micheas  (vii.  20)  of  the  oath  made  to 
the  Patriarchs,  in  Isaias  (xxiii.  7^  of  the 
Tyrian  commerce,  and  the  word  trans- 
lated "  eternity"  is  used  of  the  ruined  walla 
of  Jerus-tlem  at  the  time  of  the  exile 
(Is.  Iviii.  12).  There  is  nothing  which 
compels  us  to  see  more  in  the  words  than 
a  statement  that  the  Messiah  would  spring 
from  the  ancient  house  of  David.  Much 
more  weight  must  be  given  to  Is.  ix.  6, 6: 
"  A  child  is  born  to  us,  a  son  is  given  to 
us,  and  the  princedom  is  on  his  shoulder, 
and  they  have  called  his  name — Wonder- 
ful-Counsellor, God-the-Mighty,  Father- 
for-ever,  Prince-of-Peace."  "God  the 
mighty  one,"  though  not  an  absolutely 
certain,  is  still  the  most  probable  render- 
ing (x.  21,  to  which  Gesenius,  ad  he. 
appeals  for  his  rendering  "  Strong  hero, 
tells  quite  the  other  way;  cf.,  however, 
Ezech.  xxxii.  21).  The  force  of  the 
phrase  is  quite  lost  in  the  Septuagint 
(where,  however,  it  w^aa  interpolated — 
^eof  laxvpos  ;  See  Field,  "  Orig.  Hexapl." 
vol.  ii,  p.  448),  as  well  as  in  the  other 
Greek  versions  (Aquila,  Symmachus, 
Theodotion,  Field,  loc.  cit.),  and  this  may 
account  for  its  not  being  quoted  in  the 


814 


TRINITY,  HOLY 


New  Testament.  It  is  true  that  such  an 
expression  does  not  mean  as  much  in  the 
Old  Testament,  where  the  name  of  God  is 
used  tar  more  freely  (see,  e.<7.,Zach.  xii,  8, 
"  the  house  of  David  will  be  as  God,"  and 
Chron.  loc.  cit.),  as  it  would  in  the  New, 
though  it  is  of  course  very  startling  and 
remarkable.  In  the  Book  of  Daniel  the 
language  falls  far  short  of  the  strength 
and  sublimity  which  characterise  Isaias. 
But  the  doctrine  on  the  personality  of  the 
Messias  is,  as  we  should  expect,  more 
definite  and  full.  The  seer  beholds  one 
"  like  the  Son  of  man  "  brought  before  the 
ancient  of  davs,  who  gives  him  eternal  do- 
minion over  the  earth  (Dan.  vii.  13  aeq.). 
Here,  the  pre-existence  and  superhuman 
personality  of  the  Messias  are  clearly  taught. 

To  sum  up.  Here  and  there  the  Old 
Testament  clearly  and  by  itself  indicates 
portions  of  the  doctrine,  in  more  the  New 
Testament  helps  us  to  discover  certain  or 
probable  traces  of  it  in  the  Old,  while  it 
IS  generally  held  by  Catholic  divines  that 
some  favoured  saints  of  the  old  law  had  a 
knowledge  more  or  less  complete  of  the 
mystery. 

(B)  Ancient  Jewish  Tradition. — We 
have  seen  how  the  conception  of  the 
Divine  Wisdom  stands  out  in  the  Old 
Testament,  while  the  "Word  of  God" 
is  scarcely  more  than  a  metaphor,  and 
the  idea  remains  undeveloped.  But  in 
the  Targums  or  Ohaldee  translations  and 
paraphrases  of  the  Old  Testament  the 
"word  of  Jehovah'*  is  very  prominent, 
and  tills  a  definite  position.  The  oldest 
of  the  Targums — that  of  Onkelos,  on  the 
Pentateuch — cannot  be  earlier  than  the 
latter  half  of  the  first  century  after 
Christ,  and  that  of  Jonathan,  on  the  Pro- 
phets, belongs  to  about  the  same  time. 
But  it  is  admitted  by  all,  even  by 
scholars  who  put  these  Targums  much 
later,  that  they  preserve  a  very  old  exe- 
getical  and  theological  tradition ;  and 
this  is  the  case  to  a  certain  extent  even 
with  those  which,  like  that  of  the  Pseudo- 
Jonathan  on  the  Pentateuch,  were  com- 
piled in  the  seventh  century  of  our  era  or 
even  later.  In  the  Targums  the  Word 
of  Jehovah  or  of  God  ^  appears  in  the 
main  for  two  reasons.     First,  anthropo- 

^  "^n  Snp^P  generally,  K"i:|3T  in  the 
Jenisalem  Tarpim  (Jor.  ii.)  The  Peshito  has 
ad'.ipted  a  third  Semitic  word  to  express  the 

Aoyo?  of  St.  John — viz.  j/\\Vn.     It  is  worth 

noticing  that  this  Syriac  term  can  only  mean 
*' word,'"  so  that  the  authors  of  this  early  ver- 
•ion  show  what  sense  they  attached  to  Ao-yos. 


TRINITY,  HOLY 

morphical  expressions  used  in  the  Hebrew 
of  God  are  applied  in  the  Targu-ns  to  his 
word.  Thus  for  "  they  heard  the  voice 
of  Jehova  walking  in  the  garden"  (Gen. 
iii.  8),  the  Targura  of  Onkelos  hns  "  the 
voice  of  the  word  of  God  ;  "  for  *'  Jehova 
smelt  a  sweet  savour,  and  said,"  &c.  (Gen. 
viii.  21),  "Jehova  received  his  offering 
with  favour,  and  said  by  his  word  ;  "  for 
"God  came  to  Balaam  by  night,  and 
said,"  &c.,  "  the  word  Irom  before  Jehova 
came  to  Balaam,"  &c. ;  and  where  God  is 
said  to  have  "  repented,"  the  Targuujs 
qualify  the  expression,  "  God  repented  in 
his  word  (Onk.  Gen.  vi.  6 ;  Jon.  1  Sam. 
XV.  11).  Next,  the  "Word"  represents 
God,  and  is  the  instrument  through  which 
He  acts  in  relation  to  the  world.  "  I  by 
my  word  made  the  earth  "  (Jon.  Is.  xlv. 
12)  ;  "Israel  is  redeemed  by  the  word  of 
Jehova"  (Jon.  Is.  xlvi.  17,  for  "Israel 
is  saved  in  Jehova) ; "  "  I  will  place 
my  word  for  thee  there "  (Onk.  Exod. 
XXV.  22,  instead  of  "  I  will  make  myself 
known  to  thee  there").  We  see  no  proof 
that  personal  existence  was  attributed  to 
this  "  Word,"  ^  and  it  was  certainly  not 
identified  either  with  the  "  angel  of  the 
face  "  or  with  the  Messias  (Jon.  Is.  ix.  5, 
6  ;  Is.  Ixiii.  8,  9 ;  Onk.  Gen.  xvi.  7).  In 
later  Jewish  theology  the  "  Word  "  falls 
into  the  background,  and  is  replaced  by 
the  "  Shechinah  "  (mo:?^),  which  denotes 
the  presence  of  God  among  his  people. 
It  manifested  itself  specially  in  the 
Temple,  but  if  ten  persons  pray  together, 
if  even  a  man  and  his  wife  live  piously, 
the  Shechinah  is  in  their  midst  (Tnlniudi- 
cal  references  in  Levy,  sub  voc).  Pro- 
minent, too,  is  the  "  Mitatron  "  (fnDtJ^p. 
perhaps  from  fifra  rvpavvov  or  /xfra  6f>ovov)f 
the  "  angel  of  the  presence,"  whose  name 
is  like  that  of  God.  (With  reference  to 
Exod.  xxiii.  21:  the  numeral  value  of  the 
letters  is  equal,  omitting  the  ">,  to  those  in 
the  name  of  God.) 

The  theology  of  the  Word  is  much 
more  complete  in  PhUo,  who  was  born 
about  20  B.C.  His  position  differed 
widely  from  that  of  the  Targuujists. 
Til o ugh  he  knew  some  Hebrew,  he 
used  the  LXX,  not  the  original  text,  and 
he  was  deeply  imbued  with  Greek  philo- 
sophy. The  notions  of  Heraclitus,  Plato, 
and  the  Stoics,  as  well  as  of  Jewish 
tradition,  contribute  to  his  conception  of 
the  Word.     This  Word,  or  Aoyoy,  is  the 

1  Weber's  reforfnces  to  the  Tarp^um  on  the 
Prophets  in  proof  that  the  "  Word  "  waa  the 
object  of  prayer  are  false. 


TRINITY,  HOLY 

"idea  of  ideas"  ("De  Migrat.  Abr."tom. 
i.  p.  452,  ed.  Mangey)  ;  through  him  the 
world  was  made  ("  De  Monarch."  lib.  ii. 
torn.  ii.  p.  225) ;  he  is  the  image  of  God 
and   the    brightness   which    reflects    his 
essence   ("De  Somn."  lib.  i.  torn.   1,  p. 
656)  ;  he  is  God,  yet  distinct   from  the 
Supreme  God  {Qeos,  but  not  6  Qeos,  "  De 
Somn."  lib.  i.  tom.  i.  655)  ;  he  is  also  the 
"  oldest  "  or  "  supreme   angel "   {Trpea-^v- 
rarov  ciyyeXov,  "  De  Oonfus.  Ling."  tom.  i. 
p.  427);  "the  first- begotten  Son"("De 
Agricult."  tom.  i.  p.  308)  ;  "high-priest" 
(6  dpxcfpevs  Xoyos,   "De   Gigant."  tom. 
i.  p.  653).     "The  ASyos  of  Philo,"  says 
Siegfried    ("Philo    von   Alexandria,"   p. 
223),  "is  a  thesaurus   of  all   that  had 
been   thought  out  in  the  0.  T.    and  in 
Palestinian  Judaism  on  the  '  face  of  God,' 
the   *  angel  of  Jehovah,'  '  Wisdom,'  the 
'  Word,'  the  '  Name,'  on  aocpia  among  the 
Alexandrian  Jews,  on  the  Aoyor  among 
the  (creeks."    It  has  been  asked  whether 
the  ''  Word  "  of  Philo  was  personal,  and 
the     question     has     received     opposite 
answers.      The   truth   seems  to   be  that 
Philo  often  and  distinctly  affirms  the  per- 
sonality of  the  Word,  but  that  his  lan- 
guage on  the  point  is  not  consistent  with 
itself.     His  theory  requires  him  to  believe 
in  a  personal  Word,  for  he  postulates  the 
existence  of  the  Logos  on  this  ground — 
that  the  Supreme  God   could  not  come 
into  immediate  contact  with  matter,  and 
here,  plainly,  the  conception  of  the  Word 
as    a    mere   attribute   would    not    have 
availed.  This  account  of  the  matter  seems 
to  bfe  now  generally  accepted  by  scholars 
(see   Soulier,  "  Doctrine   du   Logos   chez 
Philon,"  where  there  is  a  complete  i-esumi 
of    opinions).      Most   certainly,  near   as 
Philo  comes  to  the  language  of  the  fourth 
Gospel,  he  would  have   utterly  rejected 
the  idea  of  an  incarnate  Word.     Nothing 
could  be  more  opposed  to  his  whole  view 
of  matter,  and  he  does  not  even  "  place 
the  Logos  in  connection  with  the  Messiah" 
(Westcott,  on  St.  John,  p.  xvii.) 

(C)  The  Trinity  in  the  NeW  Testa- 
ment.— The  absolute  unity  of  God  was 
and  is  the  great  article  of  Israel's  faith, 
and  it  is  asserted  with  equal  emphasis 
throughout  the  New  Testament  (Rom. 
xvi.  27;  1  Tim.  vi.  15  seq.\  John  xvii.  3). 
If,  then,  the  New  Testament  teaches  the 
real,  distinct,  and  divine  personality  of 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  this 
comes  to  teaching  the  Catholic  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity. 

1.  The  San  or  Word  of  God.— The 
first  three  Gospels  and  the  Acts  describe 


TRINITY,  HOLY 


815 


Jesus  as  the  "  Son  of  God,"  a  title  which 
primarily   implies    his    Messianic    office. 
Because  He  is  the  Christ,  death  cannot 
bind   Him    (Acts   ii.    24)  ;    He   is  "  the 
prince  of  life"  (iii.  15).     After  his  resur- 
rection. He  "  receives  all  power  in  heaven 
and  earth"  (Matt,  xxviii.  18).     Nowhere, 
however,  is  his  pre-existence,  much  lees 
his  eternal  generation,  asserted  in  terms, 
but  Christ  in  the  Synoptic  Gospels  cer- 
tainly claims  attributes  which  can  hardly  be 
less  than  divine  (see,  particularly,  Matt.  xL 
27).  In  the  earlier  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  his 
pre-existence  is  clearly  afiirmed.  Through 
Him  "  are  all  things  "   ( I  Cor.  viii.   6) ; 
He  is  "the  image  of  God"  (2  Cor.  iv. 
4);  He  is  "the   Lord"   (1    Cor.   xii.  3; 
Rom.  x.  9);  He  is  absolutely  sinless  (2 
Cor.  V.  21)  ;  He  is  "  the^  Spirit ']  (2  Cor. 
iii.  17) — i.e.  the  Holy  Spirit  is  his  Spirit, 
the  living  principle  of  his  working  and 
indwelling.     In  Rom.  ix.  5,  as  commonly 
translated,  we  have  the  strongest  state- 
ment of  Christ's  divinity  in  St.  Paul,  and, 
indeed,  in  the  N.  T. :    "  Whose   are  the 
Fathers,  and  from   whom  is   the   Christ 
according  to  the  flesh,  who  is  the  God 
over  all  blessed  for  ever.     Amen."     We 
cannot  enter  on  a  discussion  of  the  render- 
ing here.     In  any  case,  the  text  cannot 
be  conclusively  urged   against  an  oppo- 
nent.    There  is  no  reason  in  grammar  or 
in  the  context  which  forbids  us  to  trans- 
late, "  God,  who  is  over  all,  be  blessed  for 
ever.     Amen  " — a  doxology  suddenly  in- 
troduced, but  quite  in  St.  Paul's  manner 
(Gal.  i.  5;  cf.  Rom.  i.  25 ;  2  Cor.  xi.  31). 
In  the  Apocalypse  we  find  the  term 
"Logos"   peculiar   in    the    N.T.  to  the 
Joannic   writings    (xix.    13,  "  Word  of 
God ; "  not,  however,  6  Xoyos,  as  in  the  ' 
Gospel).     He  is  the  "beginning  of  the 
creation    of   God"  (iii.  14),  though  this 
phrase  seems  to  imply  priority  in  dignity 
rather  than  in  existence.^     He  is  "  Al'^ha 
and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end  '* 
(xxi,  6),  the  same  phrase  which  is  used 
(i.    11)    of    the    "Almighty."     In    the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  the  *'  Logos  "  is 
not   used  as  a  personal   name,  but   the 
ideas  prominent  in  the  Book  of  Wisdom 
recur  here,  are   applied   to    Christ,  and 
united  to  the  doctrine  of  his  generation 
as  the  Son  of  God  before  the  world  was 
made.      Thus,  Wisdom  (vii.   26)  is  the 
"  effulgence  (dnavyaa-ixa)  of  eternal  light,** 
"  the  unstained  mirror  of  the  working  of 
God,"  and  "the  image  of  his  goodness;" 
and  so  (Heb.  i.)  the  Son  is  the  "  efM- 

1  See  Job.  xl.  19. 


816 


TRINITY,  HOLY 


gence  "  {diravyaa-fjui)  of  Qod's  glory,  the 
"  stamp "  or  expressed  image  of  "  his 
Buhstance."  As  Wisdom  is  the  "arti- 
ficer of  all  things"  (Sap.  vii.  21),  so 
through  the  Son  all  things  were  made, 
and  He  upholds  all  things  by  the  "  word 
of  his  power"  (prjuari,  not  Xoyo)).  Not 
only  is  the  Son,  because  Son,  raised  above 
the  anjrels,  but  He  is  addressed  as  God  (v. 
8),  and  the  description  of  God's  majesty 
(Ps.  cii.  26-2 -<)  is  applied  to  Him.  Some- 
what similar  is  the  aspect  which  the  doc- 
trine assumes  in  the  later  Pauline  Epis- 
tles, particularly  in  that  to  the  Colossiaus, 
in  which  Christ  is  "the  centre  of  the 
universe,  of  the  spiritual  and  corporeal 
world  "  (the  words  are  Hilgenfeld's). 
The  Pastoral  Epistles  occupy  themselves 
chiefly  with  discipline  and  morals,  and 
supply  little  matter  for  our  pui'pose.  In 
Titus  ii.  13 — "  the  manifestation  of  the 
glory  of  the  great  God  and  [of]  our 
Saviour, Christ  Jesus'* — a  Unitarian  could 
not  be  expected  to  admit  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  called  "  the  great  God,''  for  the 
words  will  certainly  bear  the  interpreta- 
tion, "  the  manifestation  of  the  glory  of 
the  great  God  and  the  manifestation  ol 
the  ^lory  of  our  Saviour,"  &c. — viz.  at 
the  second  coming.  In  1  Tim.  iii.  16,  6y, 
not  Gfos-,  is  the  true  reading.  (So  Lach- 
mann,  Tischendorf,  Tregelles,  Westcott 
and  Hort.  Even  Scrivener — "  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Criticism  of  the  N.  T."  p.  656 
— considers  it  "  highly  probable  "  that 
"Geoy  of  the  more  recent  many  must 
yield  place  to  os  of  the  ancient  few.") 

The  divinity  and  distinct  existence  of 
the  Word  are  most  clearly  taught  in  St. 
John's  Gospel.  The  Word  (absolutely 
only  in  i.  1  and  i.  14)  existed  before 
all  time ;  "  in  the  beginning,"  before 
things  were  made.  He  was.  This  ex- 
istence was  a  personal  one,  for  the  Word 
is  no  mere  attribute,  like  the  reason 
or  wisdom  of  God,  but  was  npos  rbv 
0(6u — i.e.  in  active  communication  with 
God.  (For  the  ibrce  of  npos  compare 
Marc»  vi.  3,  ix.  19  ;  Matt.  xiii.  66,  xxvi. 
65 ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  6 ;  Gal.  i.  18,  iv.  18.) 
As  the  spoken  word  is  distinct  from 
him  who  utters  it,  so  was  the  Word 
distinct  from  God  the  Father  (6  0eos). 
Yet  in  nature  or  essence  He  is  one  with 
the  Father— "the  Word  was  God" 
(6fo?) ;  "  all  things  came  into  being 
through  Him,"  and  this  without  any  ex- 
ception. And  the  continuance  of  things, 
no  less  than  their  origin,  depends  on  Him 
— "That  which  was  made  was  life  in 
Him."    As  He  is  the  Word  or  perfect 


TRINITY,  HOLY 

expression  of  God  the  Father's  being- 
before  creation,  so,  after  it,  He  is  the 
source  of  all  spiritual  illumination  (i.  9)  ; 
and  lastly,  He  "  became  flesh  and  taber- 
nacled among  us,"  replacing  the  partial 
revelations  of  the  past  by  one  which  was 
full  and  perfect.  He  is  Son  as  well  as 
Word,  but  his  sonship  is  difierent  from 
that  which  is  common  to  believers.  He  is 
Son  in  the  strict  sense,  with  the  same 
nature  as  his  Father ;  whence  He  is  "  the 
only-begotten  from  the  Father,"  "the 
only-begotten  Son"  (or,  perhaps,  "the 
only-begotten  God;"  so  Westcott  and 
Hort,  i.  14,  iii.  16, 18 ;  see  also  1  John  iv. 
9).  He  and  the  Father  "  are  one "  (x. 
30) ;  to  have  seen  Him  is  to  have  seen 
the  Father  (xiv.  9).  All  that  had  been 
previously  revealed  in  the  Bible,  all 
the  results  of  extra-biblical  speculation  in 
the  Jewish  Church,  are  here  combined — 
the  "  Word  "  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  and  of 
the  Targums;  the  \6yos  or  "reason"  of 
Philo,  the  creative  Wisdom  of  Proverbs, 
and  the  Deutero-Canonical  books.  And 
the  Bible,  in  one  of  its  latest  books,  is 
the  exposition  of  an  idea  which  can  be 
traced  back  to  the  words  with  which  the 
Bible,  as  we  have  it,  begins :  "  In  the  be- 
ginning God  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  and  God  said,  Let  there  be  light, 
and  there  was  light." 

2.  T/te  Spirit  of  God. — On  the  whole, 
the  New  Testament,  like  the  Old,  speaks 
of  tlie  Spirit  as  a  divine  energy  or  power 
particularly  in  the  heart  of  man.  The 
Spirit  rests  on  Christ,  and  is  a  power  within 
Him  distinct  from  Himself  (Matt.  iii.  16, 
xii.  28;  Luc.  iv.  1-14;  John  i.  32), 
having  first  caused  his  miraculous  con- 
ception (Luc.  i.  &c.)  The  Spirit  is  im- 
parted to  Christ's  disciples,  the  citizens  of 
the  Messianic  kingdom,  and  is  their  guide. 
(1  Pet.  i.  12  ;  Acts  ii.  4  seq.,  xv.  28 ;  cf.  v. 
2.)  This  divine  Spirit  is  clearly  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Spirit  or  conscience 
of  man  (Rom.  viii.  16),  and  the  authority 
of  the  Spirit  is  identified  with  that  of 
God  Himself  (Matt.  xii.  31 ;  Acts  v.  3,  9; 
1  Cor.  iii.  16  ;  but  cf.  Exod.  xvi.  8 ;  1  Thess. 
iv.  8.)  But  is  a  personal  existence  clearly 
attributed  to  the  Spirit?  No  doubt,  all 
through  the  N.  T.  his  action  is  described 
as  personal.  He  speaks  (Marc.  xiii.  1 1  ; 
Acts  viii.  29),  bears  witness  (Rom.  viii. 
16  ;  1  John  v.  6),  searches  (1  Cor.  ii.  10), 
decides  (Acts  xv.  28),  helps  and  inter- 
cedes (Rom.  viii.  26),  apportions  the  gifts 
of  grace  (1  Cor.  xii.  11.)  Most  of  these 
places  furnish  no  cogent  proof  of  person- 
ality.    The  Spu'it    of   God    and  Christ 


TRINITY,  HOLY 

(Qal.  iv.  6)  may  be  said  to  do  what  He 
operates  through  man  ;  and  ag-ain,  we  must 
not  forget  that  the  N.  T.  personilies  mere 
attributes  such  as  love  (I  Cor.  xiii.  4), 
and  sin  (Rom.  vii.  11),  nay,  even 
abstract  and  lifeless  things,  such  a;?  the 
law  (Rom,  iii.  19),  the  water  and  the 
blood  (1  John  v.  8.)  However,  if  we 
look  well  to  the  last  passage  quoted  from 
St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  xii.  11),  we  find  that 
the  Spirit  is  distinguished  from  the  gifts 
of  the  Spirit,  and  that  personal  action  is 
predicated  of  Him.  "  All  these  things  one 
and  the  same  Spirit  worketh,  dividing 
to  each  separately,  as  He  [the  Spirit] 
wills."  Poetical  personification  would  be 
qiute  out  of  place  here,  and  Meyer  rightly 
treats  the  words  as  decisive.  In  the 
fourth  Gospel,  however,  this  personal 
existence  is  stated  more  fully  and  plainly 
(ch.  xiv.)  Even  the  author  of  the  article 
on  the  Trinity  in  Schenkel's  "  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible "  ("  Bibel-Lexicon,"  art. 
Dreieinigkeit),  though  he  writes  to  show 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  not 
Biblical,  admits  that  the  hypostatical 
existence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  taught 
here.  "  I  will  ask  the  Father  and  He 
will  give  you  another  advocate,  that  He 
may  be  with  you  for  ever,  the  Spirit 
of  truth  ....  I  will  not  leave  you 
orphans,  I  will  come  to  you"  (v.  IB- 
IS). "Advocate"  is  the  same  name 
given  in  1  John  to  Christ  Himself,  our 
advocate  with  the  Father,  and  in  each 
case  the  name  is  a  personal  one.  In 
essence  He  is  one  with  Christ,  so  that 
wheil  He  cornea,  Christ  comes  too.  But 
He  is  not,  as  the  writer  just  quoted  thinks, 
represented  as  one  in  person  with  the 
glorified  Christ ;  on  the  contrary.  He  is 
"  another  advocate." 

3.  Trinitarian  formulae  occur  through- 
out the  N.  T.  books.  Baptism  is  to  be 
given  '*  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit " 
(Matt,  xxviii.  19;  cf.  1  Cor.  i.  13-16,  x. 
2),  which  indicates  the  prevalent  idea  o;f 
baptism,  as  bringing  the  baptised  into 
relation  with  living  persons.  The  persons 
of  the  Trinity  are  further  mentioned  to- 
gether by  St.  Paul  (2  Cor.  xiii.  13)  and 
by  St.  Peter  (1  Ep.  i.  1-2).  Considering 
the  strict  Monotheism  of  the  ^s'.  T.,  such 
language  implies  the  divinity,  as  well  as 
the  personality,  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  and  they  are  sufficient  warrant  for 
refusing  to  believe  that  N.  T.  writers  did 
not  knew  the  doctrine,  because  they  did 
not,  like  S:.  John,  state  it  explicitly. 

(D.)   The  DevelojJinent  of  the  Doctrine 

3 


TRINITY,  HOLY 


817 


m  the  Church. — 1.  The  Scriptural  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  as  a  whole,  is  neither 
expanded  nor  reduced  to  system  in  the 
Apostolic  Fathers.  Clement  of  Rome 
follows  closely  the  language  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews.  Christ  is  the  "  sceptre 
of  God's  majesty"  (1  Ep.  46),  "the 
effulgence  of  his  majesty "  (36).  The 
Logos  is  not  used  as  a  personal  name  (see 
27,  and  cf.  Heb.  i.  3).  The  spurious  but 
early  epistle  of  Barnabas  speaks  of  Christ 
as  the  Son,  not  of  man,  but  of  God  (12). 
Ignatius,  on  the  other  hand,  is  familiar 
with  the  technical  sense  of  Logos.  Christ 
is  God's  "  word  proceeding  from  silence  "  * 
(Magnes.  8).  He  is  God  (Ephes.  1  and  7) ; 
He  is,  "  God  having  become  in  flesh " 
"  from  Mary  and  from  God,  first  im- 
passible, then  passible,"  &c.,  so  that  his 
divine  and  human  natures  are  distin- 
guished. Among  the  earliest  writers  gene- 
rally, "Spirit"  is  the  term  for  Christ's 
pre-existeut  nature  (Hermaa,"  Sim."  ix.  1  ; 
"2  Ep.  Clem."  9),  and  this  use,  which  may 
be  traced  back  even  to  the  0.  T.  (Is.  xxxi. 
3:  "  The  Egyptians  are  man  and  not  God, 
and  their  horses  flesh  and  not  Spirit "), 
survived  in  writers  much  later  than  the 
Apostolic  Fathers  (Theoph.  "  Ad  Autol." 
ii.  10;  Tertull.  "Adv.  Marc."  iii.  16). 

Passing  to  the  middle  of  the  second 
century  after  Christ  we  And  much  fidler 
statements,  and  an  approacli  to  a  definite 
theology  on  the  three  divine  persons. 
All  the  Fathers  between  the  Sub- Apostolic 
and  Nicene  age  are  permeated  by  the 
teaching  of  the  fourth  Gospel.  Justin 
Martyr  is  the  single  exception,  and  even 
he  is  familiar  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
Logos.  All  these  writers  recognise  the 
divinity  of  the  Word,  and  in  many  we 
meet  with  statements  that  the  Son  is  one 
in  substance  with  the  Father,  that  He  is 
in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  Him, 
that  there  are  three  divine  Persons,  each 
answering  to  the  idea  of  God.  Thus, 
Christ  is  said  to  be  God  by  Justin 
("Trypho."  126),  by  Tatian  ("Orat.  ad 
Grsec."  21,  p.  90),  by  Theophilus  ("  Ad 
Autol."  ii.  22,  p.  }'Z0).  Justin  speaks  of 
Christ  as  Son,  and  good  in  the  strict  sense 
(1  Apol.  23,  p.  60)  as  begotten  like  Are 
from  Are  ("Trypho."  128,  p.  432),  and 
Tatian  expresses  himself  in  like  manner 
("Orat.  ad  Gr^ec."  5,  ^  20);  Tertullian 
("  Adv.  Marc."  iv.  25/  asserts  Christ's 
equality  with  the  Father,  and  his  unity 
with  liim  in  substance  ("  Adv.  Prax."  2). 

^  This  is  the  correct  reading,  as  has  been 
shown  by  Bishop  Lightfoot,  Contemporary 
Review,  Feb.  1875,  p.  357  seq. 


818 


TRINITT,  HOLY 


Athenagoras  confesses  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  to  be  each  God  (Leg. 
10,  p.  44  seq.),  their  distinct  personal 
existence  and  their  union  in  power  ("  Leg." 
24,  p.  1 24).  Theie  early  Fathers  reconcile 
the  unity  of  God  with  the  Trinity  of 
persons  by  their  doctrine  of  the  monarchia 
or  priority  in  nature  of  God  the  Father. 
Just  as  in  later  theology  the  Father  is 
acknowledged  to  be  the  "  fountain  of  God- 
head "  {TTTjyrj  OeoTijros),  because  the  one 
divine  essence  is  communicated  from  Him 
to  the  Son  and  the  Spirit,  so  the  Aute- 
Nicene  Fathers  call  the  Father  "  the  God  " 
(6  Geos)  or  God  absolutely  (ovtcos  Qeos), 
the  Son  only  "  God  "  (Geos  without  the 
article.)  This  distinction  is  made  expli- 
citly by  Clement  of  Alexandria  ("  Strom." 
iii.  12,  p.  5J8;  "Quis  Dives,"  G,  p.  939), 
and  usually  observed  by  Justin,  though  in 
three  places  ("  Trypho."  56,  p.  184 ;  86, 
p.  300;  113,  p.  180),  as  the  text  now 
stands,  he  calls  Christ  6  Qeos.  Tertullian, 
writing  in  a  language  which  has  no 
article,  makes  an  equivalent  distinction. 
To  him  the  Father  is  ^'  ipse  Deus,"  the 
Son  "  hactenns  Deus,  quatenus  ex  ipsius 
Dei  substantia"  ("Adv.  Prax."  26). 

2.  But  in  two  ways  the  teaching  of 
many  Ante-Nicene  Fathers  was  imperfect 
and  inconsistent  with  itself.  First,  their 
belief  on  the  jjrincipatus  and  on  the 
Theophanies,  the  mediatorial  work  of 
Christ,  &c.,  led  them  to  speak  as  if  the 
nature  of  the  Son  were  inferior  to  that  of 
the  Father.  Justin,  e.g.,  describes  the 
Word  as  a  "  God  under  the  maker  of  the 
universe,"  as  "  a  God  different  in  number 
from  the  God  who  made  all "  ("  Trvpho." 
56,  p.  180,  p.  184).  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria attributes  to  the  Son  a  "  nature  most 
near  to  the  sole  Almighty "  Father 
("Strom."  vii.  2,  p.  831).  The  word 
<l)vaLs  cannot  be  pressed,  still  it  is  note- 
worthy that  in  the  passage  quoted  he  is 
exalting  the  Son's  sanctity,  which,  of 
course,  belongs  to  his  nature  in  the  proper 
sense.  Tertullian  ("  Adv.  Prax."  9)  de- 
claras  that  the  whole  substance  of  the 
divinity  is  in  the  Father,  a  "  portion  "  of 
it  only  in  the  Sob;  Origen,  that  the  Son 
is  worthy  of  m  "  secondary  honour " 
(jifirjs  devTcpevo^ps)  after  the  God  of  all 
(c.  Cels.  vii.  57)Bthat  He  is  "  different  in 
essence "  from  ^le  Father  (erfpos  kut 
ovaiav,  "  De  Orat."  15),  and  in  a  passage, 
which  can  scarcely  refer  to  Christ  as  man, 
that  the  Son  perhaps  foreknows  the  actions 
of  all  creatures. 

Next,  though  in  a  sense  the  Ante- 
Nicene  Fathers  generally  hold  the  eternity 


TRINITY,  HOLY 

of  the  Logos,  many  of  them  aflSrm  that 
his  generation  as  Son  happened  in  time. 
Logos  may  mean  either  reason  or  the 
Word.  Now  God,  of  course,  was  never 
without  Logos  or  intellect,  and  Theophilus 
("  Ad  Autol."  ii.  10,  p.  80  seq.,  ii.  '2-2,  p. 
118)  distinguishes  between  the  Adyos 
evdtddfTos,  the  immanent  reason  of  God, 
and  the  Aoyos  7rpo<popiK6s,  which  came 
forth  from  God,  as  a  spoken  word  at  the 
creation.  This  temporal  generation  of  tne 
Son  is  also  held  by  Justin  ("  2  Apol."'  6), 
Tatian  ("  Orat.  ad  Greec."  5,  p.  20  seq.), 
Hippolyt.  ("  Contr.  Noct."  10),  the  author 
of  the  "Philosophumena,'  (x.  32-33), 
Tertullian  ("  Adv.  Prax.**  ■  6,  "  Adv. 
Hermog."  3),  Novatian  ("  De  Trin."  30), 
Lactant.  ("  Instit."  ii.  9,  iv.  6).  On  the 
other  hand,  the  eternal  generation  of  the 
Son  was  maintained  by  Irenasus  ("Adv. 
Hser."  iv.  20,  3),  and,  as  Cardinal  Newman 
thinks,  by  the  Alexandrian  school.  Cer- 
tainly, this  is  true  of  Clem.  Al.  ("  Strom." 
vii.  1,  p.  829),  of  Origen  ("  De  Princip." 
iv.  28,  i.  2,  p.  2 ;  cf.  Athanas.  "  De  Decret. 
Syn.  Nicoen."  25),  if  the  Latin  translation 
of  Rulinus  and  the  quotation  of  Athanasius 
are  to  be  trusted.  Moreover,  we  have  a 
clear  statement  of  the  eternity  of  the  Son 
by  Dionysius,  bishop  of  Rome,  in  the 
middle  of  the  third  century  (Routh,  "  Rell. 
Sacr."  torn.  iii.  p.  375).  Enough  has  been 
said  in  previous  articles  on  the  Arian  and 
Sabellian  heresies.  Here,  however,  we 
may  remark  that  the  Catholic  doctrine 
unites  the  positive  elements  in  two  oppo- 
site systems,  each  of  which  errs,  not  by 
assertion,  but  by  denial.  Catholics  agree 
with  Sabellians  in  holding  that  the  Son  is 
consubstantial  with  the  Father,  and  with 
Arians  in  maintaining  that  He  is  a  dis- 
tinct person. 

3.  The  full  and  perfect  divinity  of  the 
Son  and  his  eternal  existence  were  defined 
once  and  for  all  in  the  Nicene  Creed.  True, 
the  eternity  of  his  Sonship  was  not  de- 
fined, and  for  many  years  after  the 
Council  a  few  even  of  the  orthodox  con- 
tinued to  deny  it.  Cardinal  Newman 
("  Tracts  Theological  and  Plistorical,"  p. 
242  seq.)  shows  that  this  was  the  case 
with  St.  Zeno  of  Verona  (consecrated 
362),  with  his  contemporary  Victorinus 
and,  for  a  time,  with  St.  Hilary.  But 
shortly  after  the  Arian  Councils  of  Seleucia 
and  Arimiuum  this  inconsistent  opinion 
died  out,  and  it  is  mentioned  indeed  by 
St.  Augustine,, but  only  mentioned  as  a 
heresy.     (See  Newman,  loc.  cit.) 

4.  The  Nicene  Creed  in  its  original 
form  ends  with  the  words,  "  and  [I  be- 


TRINITY,  HOLY 

lieve]  in  the  Holy  Spirit,"  and  the  very 
fact  that  belief  in  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
placed  on  the  same  level  with  belief  in 
the  Fathf^r  and  the  Son  implies  the 
divinity  of  all  three.  Indeed,  so  much 
is  involved  in  the  very  confession  of  a 
Trinitv,  as  St.  Athanasius  points  out 
("  Ep.'ad  Serap."  n.  2  ^).  This  inference, 
however,  was  not  pressed  home  by  the 
Council.  Some  even  of  those  who  were 
orthodox  on  the  divinity  of  the  Son 
feared  to  call  the  Holy  Ghost  God, 
partly  because  they  doubted  whether 
Scripture  justified  such  use  of  lanofuaire, 
partly  because  they  feared  seeming  to 
confess  three  Gods  (Greg.  Nazianz. 
Orat.  xxxi,  n.  1,  n.  13.)  St.  Gregory 
Nazianzen  believed  that  the  divinity  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  was  to  be  taught  gradu- 
ally, with  great  caution,  and  not  to  all 
(Orat.  xli.  n.  6),  and  he  defended 
St.  Basil  the  Great  for  his  prudent  reserve 
on  this  point.  Basil  believed  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  God,  but  did  not  at  the 
time  say  so  openly  in  set  terms  (Greg. 
Naz.  Ep.  Iviii.).  But  it  became  plain 
that  the  matter  could  not  rest  here.  The 
Serai-Arians,  who  thought  it  enough  to 
admit  the  Son's  likeness  to  the  Father, 
but  would  not  allow  the  second  Person 
to  be  equal  to  or  consubstantial  with  the 
first,  were  driven  by  the  force  of  logic  to 
make  the  Holy  Ghost  a  creature.  To 
them,  difference  in  order  implied  differ- 
ence in  nature,  and  hence,  if  the  second 
Person,  because  second,  was  only  like  the 
Father,  the  third,  because  third,  could 
not  be  even  like,  with  the  same  exclusive 
likeness  which  belonged  to  the  Son.  And 
60  Macedonius  admitted  that  "the  Son 
was  God,  both  in  all  things  and  in 
essence  like  the  Father,  but  he  declared 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  had  no  part  in  the 
same  prerogatives,  calling  Him  servant 
and  minister  "  (Sozomen,  "  H.  E."  iv.  27). 
The  true  divinity  of  the  third  Person  was 
asserted  at  a  Council  of  Alexandria  in 
362,  by  two  synods  at  Home  under  Pope 
Damasus,  and  finally  by  the  Council  of 
Constantinople  of  381,  in  a  decree  accepted 
by  the  whole  Church. 

5.  One  great  question  still  remained — 
viz.  the  nature  of  the  unity  in  essence 
between  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost.  The  heresy  of  Tritheism  was 
formally  maintained  by  John  Philoponus, 
a  commentator  on  Aristotle  and  a  Euty- 
chian,  about  the  year  360.  As  he  identi- 
fied hypostasis  or  person  with  individual 

1  Tloia  oZv  auTT)  OeoKoyia.  eK  Sr^fjitovpyov  koX  KrC<T- 
/iaro;  (TvyKeifievr)  ; 


TRINITY,  HOLY 


819 


nature,  he  argued  that,  as  in  Christ 
there  is  but  one  Person,  therefore  also 
one  nature  only,  and  that  as  in  the 
Trinity  there  are  three  Persons,  therefore 
also  tiiree  individunl  natures.  On  this 
view  the  unity  of  essence  is  specific,  not 
numerical,  and  the  three  Persons  are 
God,  only  so  far  as  three  individual 
human  beings  are  each  man.  Such  a 
theor}--  overthrows  the  unity  of  God, 
which  is  a  primary  truth  of  religion, 
and  it  contradicts  the  n€pix<iipT)cnv 
or  inhesion  of  one  Divine  Person  in 
another,  wliich  our  Lord  teaches  when 
He  says  that  the  Father  is  in  Him,  and 
He  in  the  Father.  Petavius  discusses 
the  history  of  opinion  on  the  point  with 
that  fulness  of  learning,  acuteness,  and 
impartiality  which  are  his  characteristic 
gifts,  and  we  can  only  give  his  conclu- 
sions here.  Many  Fathers  in  their  contest 
with  Arians,  who  held  a  specific  differ- 
ence, wrote  as  if  they  believed  merely  in 
a  specific  unity  of  the  Divine  Persons. 
Of  this  Tritheistic  theory,  "certain 
seeds,"  says  Petavius,  "  may  seem  to 
have  been  cast  in  the  old  Fathers,  not 
only  in  such  as  lived  before  Arius,  but 
also  in  those  who  lived  in  the  very  midst 
of  the  Arian  controversy"  (Petav.  "De 
Trin."  lib.  iv,  cap.  13;  see  also  cap.  9,  and 
14-16).  The  same  Tritheistic  error 
wa3  revived  in  the  West  by  the  Abbot 
Joachim  and  condemned  by  the  Fourth 
Lateran  Council  (cap.  2,  Def.  contr.  Abb. 
Joachim)  in  1215.  The  Council  defines 
the  distinction  of  the  Persons  from  each 
other  and  the  absolute  identityof  each  with 
the  one  "  individual  essence  "  of  God. 
Another  theological  principle  is  involved 
in  the  Lateran  definition.  The  Council 
speaks  of  the  Incarnation  as  effected  "  by 
the  whole  Trinity  in  common."  Of  course, 
the  second  Person  only  was  incarnate, 
but  all  works  exterior  to  the  Trinity  it- 
self are  effected  by  the  three  Persons. 
They  are  distinct  only  in  virtue  of  their 
relations  to  each  other.  The  Father 
alone  generates,  the  Father  and  Son 
alone  breathe  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  aU 
three  have  one  single  nature,  and  there- 
fore one  indivisible  operation  with  re- 
spect to  the  outer  world.  We  do  indeed 
appropriate  certain  external  actions  to  one 
of  the  Persons.  We  speak,  e.ff.,  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  as  the  sanctifier  because  that 
work  of  love  is  attributed  with  special 
fitness  to  him  who  proceeds  from  the 
mutual  love  of  the  Father  and  Son.  In 
reality  the  renewal  of  man's  heart  is  he 
work  of  all  three  Persoms  equally.      It 


3g2 


8'20 


TRINITY,  HOLY 


cannot,  however,  be  said  tliat  all  three 
Persons  are  sent,  because  mission  consists 
in  the  procession  of  one  Person  from 
another  with  the  production  of  a  temporal 
effect,  visible  or  invisible  ^"  processio  cum 
habitudine  seu  connatione  temporalis  efiec- 
tus;"  Suarez,  ''De  Trin."  lib.  xii.  De  Mis- 
sione).  All  three  Persons  enter  a  soul 
which  loves  God,  but  the  second  and  third 
Persons  alone  are  sent,  because  they  come 
by  an  impulse  which  is  one  with  the 
nature  which  they  receive,  the  Son  from 
the  Father,  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the 
Father  and  Son.  Suarez  {loc.  cit.)  limits 
mission  to  cases  where  a  supernatural 
effect  is  produced,  because  in  these  only 
God  is  present  in  a  new  way,  so  present 
that  He  would  be  there  even  if  not  already 
there  by  his  omnipresence. 

(E)  The  Trinity  and  Natural  Reason. 
— All  Catholic  theologians  are  agreed  that 
the  existence  of  the  Trinity  cannot  be 
proved  by  reason,  and  although  they  add 
that  the  doctrine  is  above,  but  not  con- 
trary to  reason,  still  Billuart  at  least 
("De  Trin."  Prooem.  a.  4)  admits  that 
we  cannot  prove  "  positively  and  evi- 
dently" that  the  doctrine  does  not  in- 
volve a  contradiction.  The  obvious 
objection  presents  itself  that  we  cannot 
believe  what  is  absolutely  unintelligible, 
and  again  it  may  be  said  that  a  revelation 
which  tells  us  nothing  of  God's  character 
brings  us  no  closer  to  Him,  in  no  way 
affects  uur  own  life,  is  not  a  revelation  at 
all. 

We  reply,  that  each  single  proposition 
held  by  Catholics  concerning  the  Trinity 
is  quite  intelligible,  and  may,  therefore,  be 
the  object  of  real  assent,  little  as  we  can 
understand  the  consistency  of  these  propo- 
sitions with  each  other.  Further,  it  is 
easy  to  see  that  the  long  contest  on  the 
Godhead  of  the  Son  and  the  Spirit  had 
a  most  important  meaning.  Given,  that 
the  Son  was  the  object  of  worship,  then 
unless  his  unity  of  essence  with  the 
Father  had  been  established,  Christianity, 
instead  of  perfecting  the  Jewish  revela- 
tion, would  have  been  a  relapse  into 
polytheism.  As  it  was,  the  Trinitarian 
doctrine  was  a  safeguard  to  the  belief  in 
the  one  God  ;  it  revealed  an  inner  and 
eternal  life  of  God  which  made  all  Pan- 
theistic confusion  between  the  life  of 
God  and  the  life  of  the  world,  all  repre- 
sentations of  God,  as  the  soul  of  the 
world,  a  sheer  impossibility.  Moreover, 
every  other  article  of  the  Christian  belief 
is  affected  by  the  faith  in  the  Trinity. 
it  is  one  thing  to  regard  our  Lord  as  the 


TRISAGION 

most  perfect  of  human  teachers  or  even 
of  creatures,  quite  another  to  adore  Him 
as  the  God-man.  The  daily  life  of  Chris- 
tians assumed  a  new  sanctity  when  they 
came  to  believe  that  every  good  impulse 
within  them  came  from  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,  that  their  very  bodies  are  his 
temple.  Nor  is  it  without  a  special  sig- 
nificance that  God  proclaims  Himself  as 
the  Father  of  individual  souls,  that  He 
teaches  us  to  address  Him  as  our  Father 
in  heaven,  just  when  He  reveals  Him- 
self as  the  Father  from  all  eternity  of 
om-  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

TRISAG-XOZfl-.  ("  O  holy  God,  holy 
and  strong,  holy  and  immortal,  have 
mercy  on  us ;  "  ayios  6  6(os,  dyios  laxvpos, 
ay  LOS  addvaros,  iXirjdov  i)fxas).  a  brief  hymn 
so  named  from  the  triple  ascription  of 
holiness  to  God.  It  is  sung  in  the  liturgy 
of  Constantinople  in  the  Mass  at  the 
little  entrance — i.e.  when  the  book  of  the 
Gospels  is  solemnly  carried  from  the  pro- 
thesis  to  the  altar.  It  occurs  more  than 
once  in  the  Syriac  liturgy,  and  probably  is 
identical  with  the  "ajus"  mentioned  in 
the  *'  Expositio  Brevis  "  attributed  to  St. 
Germanus.  This  "  ajus  "  was  sung  in  the 
Gallican  rite  before  the  Old  Testament 
lesson  and  before  and  after  the  Gospel. 
In  our  liturgy  the  Trisagion  is  said  by  the 
celebrant  at  the  "  adoration  "  of  the  Cross 
by  the  people  on  Good  Friday.  (Hammond, 
"Ancient  Lit."  p.  381.)  It  is  also  said  in 
the  ferial  prayers  at  Pidme  for  penitential 
days. 

'J'he  legendary  account  of  its  origin  is 
given  by  St.  John  of  Damascus  ("  De  Fid. 
Orthodox,"  iii.  10).  He  says  Proclus, 
bishop  of  Constantinople  in  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century,  was  leading  the  prayers 
during  a  tempest,  when  a  boy  was  caught  up 
into  the  air  {crwefir)  apTrayrjvat)  and  taught 
the  Trisagion  by  the  angels.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  fifth  century  Peter  the 
Fuller  inserted  the  clause,  "who  wast 
cruciiied  for  us"  (Hefele,  "  Concil."  ii.  p. 
668),  in  the  interest  of  the  Monophysite 
heresy,  though  the  addition  was  capable 
of  a,  good  sense  and  was  defended  by 
some  Catholics  (Petav.  "  De  Incarnat." 
V.  4).  Calendius,  who  replaced  Peter 
the  Fuller  at  Antioch,  added  the  other 
words  "  O  King  Christ,"  so  as  to  remote 
the  heretical  taint.  But  the  addition  was 
generally  rejected  in  the  West,  and  in  the 
East  except  among  the  Monophysites,  who 
made  it  a  watchword  and  were  thence 
called  Theopaschites.  It  was  bitterly  op- 
posed by  the  monks  called  Accemetae  [see 
the  article],  who,  however,  fell  inU.>  the 


TROPE,  TROPASION 

hercsj'  at  the  opposite  pole — i.e.  Nesto- 
rianism.  The  additioD  was  also  rejected 
"by  Acacius  in  a  avvohos  ivhr)fiovaa  at 
Constantinople,  a.d.  478  (Ilefele,  ii.  p. 
603),  and  by  the  Synod  in  Triillo  (c.  81). 
Gregory  Vll.  ordered  the  Armenians 
who  were  reunited  to  the  Church  to 
abandon  it  as  an  occasion  of  scandal,  and 
the  prohibition  was  repeated  by  Propa- 
cjanda  in  1635  (Benedict  XtV.  "  De 
Test."  cccxxx). 

TROP£,  TROPASZOZr,  &C.  In 
the  Latin  Church  tropes  were  verses  sung 
at  High  Mass,  before  or  after  and  some- 
times in  the  middle  of  the  Introit.  They 
w^ere  introduced  as  early  at  least  as  1000 
by  the  monks,  hut  entirely  removed  at 
the  revision  of  the  Missal  under  Pius  V. 
The  Troperion,  Troparion,  Troper,  &c.,  i.e. 
the  hook  containing  the  tropes,  is  often 
mentioned  in  Church  inventories,  thoiigh 
the  w^ord  seems  to  have  been  also  used 
for  Sequentialis  or  Book  of  Sequences. 
The  Bodleian  contains  a  tine  MS.  Trope- 
rium.  After  Kyries  and  hymns  written 
on  the  first  few  pages  comes  the  title 
*'  Incipiunt  Tropi  de  adventu  Domini 
N(»8tri  Jesu  Christi."  Then  follow  the 
other  parts  of  the  liturgy  which  were 
sung.  (Maskell,  ''  Mon.  llit."  I.  p.  xliii. 
aeq.) 

In  the  Greek  Church  rpmrdptov  is 
the  generic  name  for  the  short  hymns 
with  which  the  Offices  of  that  Church 
abound.  (Neale, "  Introduction  to  History 
of  Holy  Eastern  Church,"  p.  832,  note 

TZLUI.Z.O,    coiria-ciXi     iw.     The 

word  "  trull  us  ^^rpovWoi,  rpovWa)  is  base 
Greek  for  SoXos,  or  dome,  and  the  Council 
in  Trullo  takes  its  name  from  the  domical 
hall  in  the  imperial  palace  at  Constanti- 
nople which  was  the  place  of  meeting.  It 
is  also  known  as  nevdeKTr],  or  "quinisexta," 
because  it  was  regarded  as  a  supplement 
to  the  f)  fth  and  sixth  councils,  which  passed 
no  disciplinary  decrees.  It  was  convoked 
by  Justinian  II.  in  692,  and  its  decrees 
were  subscribed  by  the  Eastern  Patriarchs, 
and  by  other  bishops  and  episcopal 
proxies  (211  in  all,  but  all  Easterns).  In 
some  of  the  102  canons  on  discipline 
which  the  Council  parsed,  the  enmity 
against  Rome  and  the  West  which  at  last 
led  to  the  schism  clearly  betrays  itself. 
Thus  (c.  2),  85  apostolic  canons  are  ad- 
mitted as  authentic,  though  corrupted  by 
heretics,  whereas  Rome  only  accepted  50  ; 
and  in  a  long  list  of  canonical  authorities 
there  is  no  reference  to  Papal  decrees  or 
to  any  Western  council  except  Sardica, 


TUNIC 


821 


and  a  synod  of  Cyprian,  the  latter  being 
evidently  mentioned  only  out  ot  opposi- 
tion to  Rome.  In  canon  13,  priests  and 
deacons  are  allowed  to  continue  in  the 
married  state,  and  the  rule  of  Rome  is 
contrasted  with  that  of  the  Apostolic 
canons.  Canon  55  strictly  forbids  the 
Roman  custom  of  fasting  on  the  Satur- 
days of  Lent ;  can.  36  renews  in  defiance  of 
Rome  the  28th  canon  of  Chalcedon  on  the 
patriarchal  rank  of  Constantinople ;  ^ 
canon  67  condemns  the  eating  of  blood, 
permitted  long  before  in  the  West,  as  un- 
scriptural.  Pope  Sergius  I.  naturally  re- 
fused to  accept  these  decrees,  and  an  in- 
surrection prevented  Justinian  from  forc- 
ing him  to  subscribe  them.  John  VIII. 
accepted  the  TruUan  canons,  so  far  as 
they  are  consistent  with  sound  morals 
and  "  earlier  canons  and  decrees  "  of  the 
Popes.  Hadrian  I.  looked  on  the  Coun- 
cil in  Trullo  as  a  continuation  of  the 
Sixth  General  Council,  and  accepted  the 
canons  ''  which  w^ere  promulgated  law- 
fully and  by  Divine  help "  in  the  first 
six  councils,  including  that  in  Trullo 
(Mansi,  xii.  982).  Hefele  ("Concil." 
iii.  p.  348)  takes  the  clause  as  qualify- 
ing the  Papal  acceptance.  To  the  schis- 
matic Greeks  the  Council  in  Trullo  is  a 
continuation  of  the  sixth  and  therefore 
oecumenical. 

Tl7X»zc  (tunica  or  tunicella).  A 
vestment  proper  to  sub-deacons,  who  are 
clothed  in  it  by  the  bishop  at  ordination, 
and  exactly  like  the  dalmatic,  except  that, 
according  to  Gavantus  ("  Thesaur."  P.  1, 
tit.  xix.),  it  is  rather  smaller.  Even  this 
distinction  is  not,  so  far  as  we  know, 
generally  observed.  It  is  also  worn  by 
bishops  under  the  dalmatic  when  they 
pontificate.  Gregory  the  Great  (I45.  ix. 
12)  says  one  of  his  predecessors  had 
given  the  sub-deacons  linen  tunics,  and 
that  some  other  churches  had  adopted  this 
usage,  but  he  himself  had  restored  the 
old  fashion,  and  left  his  sub-deacons  with- 
out any  special  vestment.  There  is  no 
notice  of  the  tunicella  in  the  Gregorian 
Sacra nientarv.  But  the  first  (§  6)  and 
the  fifth  (§  1)  of  the  Roman  Ordines  dis- 
tinguish between  a  greater  and  less  dal- 
matic, and  the  latter  probably  is  our 
tunicle.  Amalarius  expresslv  marks 
("  Eccles  Offic."  ii.  21,  22)  the  difference 
between  dalmatic  and  tunicle,  and  tells 
us  that  some  bishops  wore  one,  some 
the  other,  some,  as  now,  both.  He  says 
the    tunic   was   also  called   ''  subucula," 

^  It  is  to  "enjoy  the  same  privileges"  as 
old  Rome. 


822 


TYPE 


UNITED  GREEKS 


and  was,  when  worn  as  an  episcopal 
vestment,  purple  {Jujacinthina).  Hou- 
orius  of  Autun  calls  the  tunicle  ("  Gem- 
ma,"   i.    229)    "subtile,"    and    "tunica 


stricta"  (i.e.  narrow);  Innocent  III.  ("De 
Altar.  Myster."  i.  39  and  65),  "  tunica 
poderes." 

TVPE.      [See  MONOTHELITESj. 


U 


ITBIQITITARZilM-S.  Ubiquity,  or 
omnipresence,  is  a  natural  property  of 
God,  and  the  Apollinarists  and  Euty- 
cbians,  who  confused  the  two  natures  in 
Christ,  taught  that  Christ,  as  man,  was 
omnipresen  t.  Some  taught  that  this  con- 
fusion, by  which  divine  attributes  be- 
came proper  to  Christ  as  man,  took  place 
at  the  incarnation,  others  only  after  his 
death  and  resui-rection.  This  theory  is,  of 
course,  directly  contrary  to  the  deHnition 
of  Chalcedon  (Petav.  "De  Incarn."  x.  7). 

The  Eutychian  doctrine  on  the  omni- 
presence of  Christ's  body  was  revived  by 
Luther  in  his  controversy  with  the 
Zwinglians.  The  latter  denied  that  God 
Himself  could  cause  a  body  to  exist  in 
more  than  one  place  at  the  same  time  ; 
Luther,  in  a  sermon  of  1527  ("Quod 
Verba  Stent"),  and  m  the  "  Confessio 
Major"  of  1528,  replied  that  Christ's 
body  was  not  only  in  lieaven  and  in  the 
Eucharist,  but  everywhere,  and  this  of 
necessity.  The  humanity,  he  argued,  is 
united  to  the  divinity  ;  the  latter  is  omni- 
present, therefore  the  former  also.  Again, 
Christ  as  man  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God ; 
God's  right  hand  is  everywliere,  therefore 
also  Christ  as  man  (I^ossuet,  "  Hist,  des 
Variations,''  liv.  ii.  n.  xliii.).  Not  only 
Calvinists  and  Zwinglians,  but  Melanch- 
thon  opposed  this  doctrine.  He  pointed 
out  that  it  led  to  a  confusion  of  the 
two  natures,  and  also  to  a  denial  of  that 
very  mystery  of  the  Real  Presence  which 
it  was  intended  to  support.  Christ  would 
not  be  more  truly  present  in  the  Eucharist 
than  in  any  piece  of  wood  or  stone  (Bos- 
suet,  loc.  cit.  viii.  n.  xxxvii.).  The  belief 
in  the  ubiquity,  however,  became  a  mark 
of  the  Lutheran  orthodoxy,  and  was  in- 
serted in  the  famous  "  Formula  of  Con- 
cord," A.D.  1677,^  although  the  doctrine 

'  But  this  concordiejiformel  was  not  received 
amon'Z  all  the  Lutherans.  It  was  drawn  up  by 
Andrea,  chancellor  of  Ttibinyen,  assisted  by 
Chemnitz.  Strange  to  r,ay,  the  second  part  of 
this  Concordia,  known  as  solida  declaratin,  pro- 
fesses to  be  a  mere  repetition  and  expiauation 
of  the  Coufession  of  Augsburg. 


had  been  silently  omitted  in  the  Augsburg 
Confession,  a.d.  15;i0  (Bossuet,  ib.  n. 
xlvi.). 

XTlTAIlTZAXOUS       COXTSSNT       OF 

FATHERS.  [See  Bible  and  Tradi- 
tion.] 

irxriG-Bia-ZTU-s.  [See  Jansenism.] 
VSrXTEB  GREEKS.  The  name 
includes  all  who  follow  the  Greek  rite 
and*,  at  the  same  time,  acknowledge  the 
authority  of  the  Pope — i.e.  the  United 
Melchites  in  the  East;  the  liuthenian 
Catholics,  who  use  the  Greek  liturgy  iu  a 
Slavonic  version  ;  the  Greek  Catholics  of 
Italy,  and  the  Catholics  of  the  Greco- 
Roumaic  rite  in  Hungary  and  Siben- 
biirgeu.  Of  the  Melchites  and  Ruthenians 
an  account  has  been  given  already. 

(1)  The  Greeks  in  Italy.  —  Many 
Greeks  came  thither  from  Albania  about 
1468,  and  the  Greek  settlements  became 
more  and  more  numerous  after  Soliman 
(1538-40)  drove  the  Venetians  from  the 
Archipelago;  after  the  conquest  of  Cyprus 
by  Selim'll.  in  1571;  and  after  1718, 
when  Venice  lost  the  last  remnant  of  her 
possessions  in  the  Morea.  Tn  the  eighteenth 
century  there  were  about  100,000  Greeks 
in  Italy,  especially  in  Calabria  and  Sicily, 
and  they  obtained  various  privileges  from 
Leo  X.,  Paul  III,,  and  Julius  III.  Pius 
IV.  withdrew  these  concessions  in  1564, 
and  placed  them  under  Latin  bishops, 
allowing  them,  however,  to  retain  their 
rites.  Their  position  was  hnally  deter- 
mined bv  the  bull  of  Benedict  XIV., 
"Etsi  Pastoralis'  (May  26,  1742).  Ac- 
cording to  the  rules  there  laid  down, 
they  have  their  own  clergy,  who  may 
marry  when  in  minor  orders  and  continue 
in  the  married  state  after  they  are  priests. 
They  are  forbidden,  however,  under  pain 
of  deposition,  to  contract  a  second  mar- 
riage. They  have  three  seminaiies — viz. 
the  Greek  College  of  St.  Athanasius  at 
Rome,  erected  in  1577  by  Giegory  XIII.  j 
the  College  at  Palermo,  erected  in  1715  ; 
the  College  of  S.  lienedetto  di  Uliano, 
in  the  Calabrian  dioceee  of  Bisignano, 
erected  by  Clement  XII.  in    1732,  and 


UNITED  GREEKS 


UNIVERSITY 


823 


transferred  to  the  Basilian  monastery  of 
St.  Adrian  in  1820.  Each  college  has_  a 
bishop  of  the  Greek  rite  residing  in  it, 
for  the  ordination  of  candidates;  and 
those  at  Palermo  and  in  the  semiuary  of 
S.  Benedetto  have  to  visit  the  Greek 
churches  and  see  that  the  rite  is  duly 
ohserved.  Otherwise,  the  Greeks  in 
Italy  are  entirely  subject  to  the  bishop  of 
the  diocese  in  which  they  live.  This 
bishop,  however,  must  appoint  a  Greek 
as  well  as  a  Latin  vicar-general ;  and  the 
Metropolitan  must  appoint  a  Greek  judge, 
if  Greek  cases  come  to  the  Metropolitan 
court  of  appeal.  Silbernngl  estimates 
the  number  of  Greeks  in  Italy  at  80,000, 
of  whom  25,000  nre  in  Calabria.  They 
have  66  churches,  144  priests.  There  are 
colonies  at  Ancooa,  Leghorn,  Pianino  in 
the  diocese  of  Aquapendeute,  Naples, 
Villabadessa  in  the  diocese  of  Atrie 
Penue,  Barlelta  in  the  diocese  of  Trani, 
Lecce,  Cargese  in  the  Corsican  diocese  of 
Ajaccio.  Further,  in  Calabria  the  diocese 
of  Cassano  has  eight  colonies,  Rossano 
five,  Bisignona  two,  Anglona  four. 
Sicily  has  Greek  colonies  at  Palermo, 
where  there  is  also  a  Basilian  monastery 
founded  in  1600,  at  Monreale,  Girgenti, 
Contessa,  and  Messina. 

(2)  Greco-Roumaic  Church. — In  the 
thirteenth  century  many  lloumanians 
belonging  to  the  Greek  schismatic  church 
found  a  refuge  in  Siebenbiirgen  and 
Hungary.  In  1690  a  few  conversions 
were  made,  with  the  help  of  the  Je.^uits, 
by  the  iuipeiial  commissary  TuUus  Miglio, 
when'  two  priors  of  Greeic  monasteries 
and  six  parish  priests  abjured  the  schism 
in  the  Jesuit  church  at  Fiinl'kircben. 
Nine  years  later,  the  efforts  of  Cardinal 
Kolonitsch  and  of  the  Jesuits  Hevenes 
and  Barany  were  rewarded  with  much 
greater  success.  The  Greek  bishop  of 
Siebenbiirgen,  Theophilus  II.,  became 
Catholic  ;  and  on  February  1 6,  169i>,  the 
diploma  of  union  from  the  Emperor 
Leopold  I.  was  solemnly  read  at  the 
Landtag.  The  united  Greeks  of  Hungary 
and  iSiebenbiirgen  uuuiber  about  900,000, 
and  form  an  ecclesiastical  province.  The 
Archbishop  of  Fcgaras  (see  erected, 
1721  :  made  head  of  a  province,  1850)  is 
Metropolitan:  his  sutfragans  are  the 
Bishops  of  GroszM'ardein  (erected,  1776), 
Lugos  (erected  in  1850),  and  Szamos- 
Ujvar  (erected  about  1865).  The  secular 
priests  are  married.  There  is  a  clerical 
seminary  and  a  small  Basilian  monastery 
at  iialasfalva.  [Silbernagl,  "  Kirchen 
des  Orituts."] 


ITWIVESISITY.  The  Museum  of 
the  Ptolemies  (on  which  see  (Cardinal 
Newman's  sketch  in  the  "  OlHce  and 
Work  of  Universities  "),  the  philosophic 
schools  of  Athens,  the  institute  of  Gon- 
disapor  under  the  Abasside  Caliphs,  and 
perhaps  Cordova  under  the  Moors,  were 
all  eminent  examples  of  schools  for  the 
higher  education,  existing  apart  from 
Christianity.  With  regard  to  the  matter 
of  instruction,  the  universities  of  modern 
times,  in  which  "arts"  hold  the  chief 
place,  stand  in  a  direct  line  with  the 
Roman  imperial  schools.  On  the  other 
hand,  their  historical  institution,  ma- 
chinery, and  terminology  are  C^hristian, 
and  are  traceable  to  the  activity  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  in  the  middle  ages. 

A  great  medical  school  arose  at 
Salerno  in  the  eleventh  century,  but 
Dollinger  seems  to  be  hardly  justified  in 
describing  it  as  a  university.^  'I'he  first 
institution  in  Europe  to  deserve  that  name 
was  undoubtedly  the  School  of  Paris, 
which  .passed  through  the  stag'^s  of 
"  High  School "  and  "Studium  Generale," 
and,  favoured  by  its  situation  at  the 
capital  and  the  patronage  of  the  bishops 
of  the  see,  became,  towards  the  <^nd  of 
the  eleventh  century,  the  University  of 
Paris.  That  it  was  ecclesiastical  in  its 
origin  is  manifest.  It  grew  up  out  of  a 
concourse  of  able  men,  attracted  to  Paris 
partly  by  the  encouragement  and  protec- 
tion which  they  received  from  the  au- 
thorities, partly  by  the  intellectual  sym- 
pathy which  they  were  sure  to  tind 
among  an  increasing  body  of  students  of 
mixed  nationalities.^  These  men  could 
not  lecture  until  licensed  by  the  (chan- 
cellor of  the  diocese,  who  thus  yradualiy 
came  to  be  considered  the  Chancellor 
of  the  university  also.  By  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century,  instead  of  the  Chancellor 
licensing  any  one  whom  he  chose  at  his 
own  discretion,  we  tind  the  teachers  in 
the  schools  recommending  to  him  those  of 
their  pupils  whom  they  judge  tit  to  receive 
the  license.  By  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  the  prestige  and  privileges  of  the 
university  continually  increasing,  the 
Chancellor's  right  to  license  has  disap- 
peared ;  that  right  is  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  Faculties,  and  is  given  upon  examina- 
tion. 

1  P.  1  ;  seeendftf  art. 

2  Ordericus  Vitalis  speaks  of  Normans  being 
sent  for  instruction  to  the  "  schools  of  France  " 
(Paris  is  prob;ibly  meant),  thougii  he  does  not 
distinctly  name  the  University. — Ecd.  Hist. 
viii.  17. ' 


824 


UNIVERSITY 


Rep'arded  from  the  intellectual  side, 
the  university,  when  its  organisation  was 
complete,  consisted  of  four  groups  of 
teachers  and  students — viz.  the  JFaculties^ 
of  Arts,  Theology,  Jurisprudence,  and 
Medicine.  Arts  had  the  pre-eminence  ; 
the  university  was  always  said  to  "  have 
its  foundation  in  arts ; "  for  these  were 
the  branches  of  learning  and  science 
which  were  the  development  and  con- 
tinuation of  the  old  Trivium  and  Quad- 
rivium.  The  Masters  of  Arts,  strictly 
speaking,  were  the  ''  Universitas  ;  "  the 
teachers  in  the  other  faculties  were  long 
regarded  as  more  or  less  outsiders.  At 
the  same  time,  the  theological  school, 
especially  aft^r  it  took  into  itself  the 
study  of  canou  law,  rapidly  attained  to  a 
world-wide  celebrity.  The  professorial, 
campaigns  of  the  great  lecturers  of  the 
tweltth  century — Abelard,  St.  Bernard, 
William  of  Ohampeaux,  Saint  Amour, 
Roscelin,  &c. — are  the  very  romance  of 
education.  The  Church  encouraged  the 
free  play  of  mind,  which,  as  such,  can 
never  be  otherwise  than  favourable  to 
her ;  at  the  same  time,  she  watched  care- 
fully that  no  heretical  teaching  should 
mar  the  soundness  of  that  foundation  of 
Catholic  faith  without  which  neither 
university  nor  any  other  teaching  is  of 
much  value.  The  Popes  were  la-vash  of 
privileges  to  the  rising  institute  :  Gregory 
IX.  gave  to  the  teachers  {magistri, 
doctores)  the  right  of  scholastic  legisla- 
tion— i.e.  of  settling  all  that  concerned 
the  manner  and  time  of  lecturing; 
another  Pope  authorised  Paris  masters  to 
open  a  school  anywhere.  So  great  was 
the  fame  of  the  theological  school  that, 
according  to  Thomassin,'^  several  universi- 
ties were  erected  under  Papal  sanction 
without  a  theoloifical  faculty,  on  the 
understanding  that  students  who  wished 
to  proceed  in  that  branch  should  go  to 
Paris.  As  the  Church  of  Rheims  was 
esteemed  a  model  of  discipline  for  other 
Churches,  so  the  University  of  Paris  was 
regarded  as  the  model  and  rule  for  other 
universities  in  learning.  For  two  cen- 
turies, sa^s  Bollinger,  Germany  sought 
learning  at  Paris  or  Bologna.  The  efforts 
of  a  rival  school  set  up  in  the  abbey  of 
Ste.  Genevieve,  which  was  outside  of  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  see  of  Paris  and 
appointed  its  owu  ch^cellor  to  license 
teachers,  served  eventually  to  enhance 
the  glory  of  the  one  great  university,  in 

'  "  Faculty "  probably    meant    ability  to 
teach. 

2  II.  i.  101. 


UNIVERSITY 

which  the  singular  phenomenon  of  Uoo 
chancellors,  preserved  to  the  end  of  ita 
existence,  survived  as  the  only  monument 
of  a  once  formidable  opposition.  The 
degree  of  Bachelor  (the  origin  of  the 
word  is  doubtlul)  grew  out  of  the 
scholastic  disputations.  That  of  Master 
originally  depended  on  the  license  to 
teach  given  by  the  Chancellor.  When 
this  came  to  be  given  by  the  teachers 
themselves,  it  became  an  honour — a 
dignity — a  degree  ;  and  many  competed 
for  it  who  had  no  intention  of  opening  a 
school.  A  jyileus  or  hat  was  conferred,  as 
the  symbol  of  admission  inter  magistros. 
From  the  circumstance  that  a  body  of 
masters  was  thus  gradually  formed  who 
did  not  teach  arose  the  distinction 
between  Regentes  and  non-Regentes. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  the 
University  of  Paris  from  the  intellectual 
side.  But  the  aggregation  of  large  num- 
bers of  students  presented  an  important 
disciplinary  problem  also,  and  to  this  we 
must  devote  a  few  words.  "  Outside  the 
lecture-room  the  scholars  fell  into  clans, 
based  on  community  of  language  and 
manners,  and  technically  called  'na- 
tions.'"^ These  assumed  spontaneously 
an  independent  organisation.  Each  of 
the  four  nations  at  Paris — tlie  French, 
the  Picards,  the  Normans,  and  the  English 
— elected  a  Proctor  as  its  ruler  and  repre- 
sentative ;  collectively  they  chose  a  Rec- 
tor, who  was  head  of  the  whole  "  Corpus 
Scholarium,"  and  in  time  appears  as  the 
ruler  of  the  teaching  body  as  well  as  of 
the  "  nations."  The  student's  life  outside 
the  lecture-room  was  the  aftair  partlj'  of 
the  Rector  and  Proctors,  partly  of  the 
authorities  of  the  various  colleges — if  he 
happened  to  belong  to  one  of  them — of 
the  Sorbonne  [SoRBO]srNE],  of  Navarre, 
Des  Dix-IIuit,  of  St.  Thomas  of  the 
Louvre,  Des  Bernardins,  of  Cluny,  of 
Pr^montre,  of  Bayeux,  &c.,  &c. — which, 
in  course  of  time,  were  founded  within 
the  university.  But  the  Popes,  "  even  in 
the  fullest  power  of  the  universities,'"^ 
claimed  to  and  did  interfere  if  the  interests 
of  morality  and  order  demanded  it. 

The  Univei-sities  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge were  founded  in  imitation  of  that 
of  Paris,  and  arose  not  long  afterwards. 
The  schools  of  Oxford  began  to  be  largely 
frequented  in  the  reign  of  Stephen. 
About  1134,  Robert  Pullus  or  Pulleyn, 
educated  at  Paris,  is  said  to  have  lecJLured 
on  Scripture.  In  the  conflict  of  jurisdic- 
tion between  Henry  of  Blois,  bishop  of 

1  Huber,  i.  24.  »  Ibid.  i.  87. 


UNIVERSITY 

V^nchester,  the  Papal  Legate,  and  Arch- 
bishop Theodore,  difliciilt  questions  of 
law  were  involved,  and  a  general  wish 
arose  that  the  learning  of  the  gi-eat 
Italian  jurists  should  he  made  available 
in  England.  The  Lombard  Vacarius  was 
summoned  over,  and  "  taught  law  at 
Oxford,"  1  about  1149.  The  place  was  cen- 
tral, relatively  to  the  then  distribution  of 
the  population ;  it  was  also  neutral  ground 
— a  long  way  both  Irom  Canterbury  and 
Winchester.  The  students  were  divided 
into  two  "  nations,"  the  Northeni  and  the 
Southern  English,  each  with  its  proctor ; 
hence  the  discipline  of  Oxford  is  to  this 
day  in  the  hands  of  two  proctors.  The 
supreme  authority  in  the  university  was 
the  Chancellor,  originally  appointed  by 
the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  whose  diocese 
Oxford  was  situated  ;  afterwards  elected 
by  the  Masters  and  confirmed  by  tlie 
Bishop.  In  the  thirteenth  century  both 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  were  in  high 
repute  ;  Paris  and  Bologna  also  were  at 
the  height  of  their  prosperity.  At 
Bologna,  in  1262,  there  were  20,000 
students  i'^  at  Oxford,  in  1231,  there  are 
said  (a  Wood)  to  have  been  30,000. 
Halls  (hospitia,  aulcs)  presided  over  by 
masters  of  arts,  provided  the  necessary 
accommodation.  The  first  collegiate 
foundation  within  Oxford  (''  University  '") 
dates  from  1249;  the  oldest  collegiate 
buildings  ("Merton'')  from  about  1270. 
Gradually  the  great  majority  of  the 
students  were  drawn  within  the  colleges, 
in  which  discipline  was  more  easily 
maintained. 

Germany  came  into  the  field  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  Charles  IV.,  taking 
Paris  for  his  model,  founded  the  Uni- 
versity of  Prague  in  1348 ;  that  of 
Vienna  dates  from  1365.  Salamanca  in 
Spain  and  Coimbra  in  Portugal  were 
founded  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Nine 
universities  were  founded  in  Germany  in 
the  course  of  the  fifteenth  century,  besides 
five  already  existing.  In  this  central 
land,  owing  to  the  plurality  of  independent 
states,  the  solicitudes  which  beset  a 
unified  ambitious  nationality,  such  as 
France  or  England,  were  absent ;  and  it 
fell  to  Teutonic  thinkers,  pondering 
deeply  on  the  philosophy  of  the  matter, 
to  develop  the  modern  notion  of  a  uni- 
versity, as  a  place  where  all  sciences  and 
all  liberal  arts  are  prosecuted  and  taught, 

1  Gervase  of  Cant.  (Rolls  ed.),  ii.  387  ; 
Robert  de  Monte,  a.  1149  (Migne,  Fair.  vol. 
160). 

»  DSllinger,  p.  2. 


URSULINES 


825 


with  the  aid  of  the  best  appliances,  by 
the  most  competent  persons  anywhere  to 
be  found ;  ^  the  learners  being  all  those 
students,  and  no  others,  who  willingly 
come  to  the  professors  to  be  taught.  If 
to  this  notion  the  conception  of  the  pas- 
toral oversight  of  the  Catholic  Church  be 
added  as  a  postulate,  nothing  will  be 
wanting  to  our  idealof  a  perfect  Academe. 

The  Revolution  destroyed  the  University 
of  Paris ;  in  its  place,  the  first  Napoleon 
erected  the  huge  examining  machine 
which  he  called  the  **  University  of 
France." 

(Thomassin ;  Huber, .  the  "  English 
Universities,"  ed.  by  F.  Newman,  1843 ; 
h  Wood,  "  Hist,  and  Antia.  of  the  Univ. 
of  Oxford,"  ed.  by  Gutch,  1792 ;  Bulseus, 
''Hist.  Univ.  Parisiensis,"  1665;  Bol- 
linger, "  Die  Universitaten  sonst  und 
jetzt,"  E.  T.  1867.) 

TTxa-z.z:AVsiux:D  bread.  [See 
Altar  Breads  and  Eucharist.] 

iTRBAxrzsTS.     [See  Poor  Clares.] 

URBZ  BT  ORBI.  [See  PROMULGA- 
TION.] 

VRSUIiZM'BS.  This  teaching  order 
was  founded  by  St.  Angela  Merici,  of 
Brescia,  in  1537.  Angela  was  born  at 
Desenzano,  on  the  lake  of  Garda,  in  1470. 
Her  life  was  one  long  endeavour  after 
perfection :  she  joined  the  third  order  of 
St.  Francis,  practised  the  greatest  aus- 
terities, made  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem 
and  Rome,  and  on  her  return  settled  at 
Brescia,  where  she  obtained  a  great  in- 
fluence among  the  piously  disposed  of  her 
own  sex,  and  gradually  matured  the  plan 
of  a  new  institute.  She  seems  to  have 
desired  a  freedom  of  action  and  of  move- 
ment for  herself  and  her  associates,  which 
would  not  have  been  compatible  with 
enclosure  and  solemn  vows.  A  fervent 
company  of  seventy-three  women  met 
together  in  the  kitchen  of  Angela's  house, 
at  Brescia,  in  1537 ;  the  objects  of  their 
institution — nursing  the  sick,  teaching 
young  girls,  and  sanctifying  their  own 
lives — were  known  to  them  all ;  the  rules 
by  which  Angela  endeavoured  to  conciliate 
a  certain  community  of  work  and  wor- 
ship with  the  routine  of  domestic  life 
in  the  world  were  considered  and  ap- 
proved ;  and  she  was  elected  superior — • 
foundress  she  would  not  be  called — of  the 
"  Company  of  St.  Ursula."     A  young  girl 

1  The  professoriate  of  the  University  of 
Berlin,  founded  in  1810,  would  have  consisted 
of  foreificners  in  tJie  proportion  of  two  to  one  if 
all  the  invitations  sent  out  had  been  accepted 
(DbUinger,  p.  16). 


820 


URSULINES 


URSULINES 


migbt  join  the  company  from  twelve 
years  and  upwards ;  at  entrance  each 
was  to  express  the  firm  resolution  of 
living  cliastely  in  the  society,  without 
taking  the  vow  of  chastity ;  they  were  to 
hear  Mass  daily;  on  the  first  Friday  in 
each  mouth  they  were  to  meet  iu  some 
church  in  the  city  previously  fixed  upon, 
and  all  receive  communion ;  on  the  last 
Sunday  of  the  mouth  they  were  to 
assemble  in  the  oratory  belonging  to  the 
company  to  hear  the  rule  read ;  their 
dress  was  to  be  always  plain  iu  texture, 
and  sober  iu  hue  and  make,  but  a  costume 
was  not  at  first  adopted.  St.  Angela 
died  in  1540.  A  bull  of  Paul  III.  (15'44) 
confirmed  her  foundation  under  the  title 
which  she  had  given  to  it.  The  work  of 
teaching  was  from  the  first  the  distinctive 
employment  of  the  society ;  and  as  their 
success  and  popularity  increased,  the  need 
of  greater  stability  than  was  lurnished  by 
the  original  rule  would  naturally  be  felt. 
A  uniform  costume,  with  a  leathern 
girdle,  was  introduced  soon  after  the 
appearance  of  the  Papal  bull.  St.  Charles 
Borromeo  brought  the  Ursulines  to  Milan 
in  15(38,  and  favoured  them  in  everyway, 
advising  all  his  sufiragan  bishops  to  intro- 
duce them  in  all  the  large  towns  in  the 
North  of  Italy.  In  the  Milanese  alone 
there  were  eighteen  Ursuline  houses  at 
the  death  of  St.  Charles.  The  excellent 
C^sar  de  Bus  assisted  a  lady  of  Avignon, 
Fran9oise  de  Bermont,  to  establish  there 
a  colony  of  Ursulines,  on  the  original 
plan,  in  1594.  Fran9oise  was  a  person 
of  great  energy ;  she  travelled  from  city 
to  city  in  the  South  of  France,  and 
planted  Ursulines  at  Aix,  Marseilles,  and 
Lyons.  She  adhered  to  the  design  of  St. 
Angela,  except  that,  in  olDedience  to  a 
suggestion  of  Cesar  de  Bus,  she  substi- 
tuted the  common  life  for  dispersion  in 
various  homes.  The  conversion  of  the 
society  into  a  religious  order  was  chiefly 
the  work  of  a  French  lady,  Mme.  de  Ste.- 
Beuve,  who  built  and  endcnved  a  monas- 
tery for  Ursulines  in  the  Rue  St.  Jacques 
at  Paris  in  IGIO,  and  obtained  from  Paul 
v.,  two  years  later,  a  buU,  by  which  her 
foundation  was  subjected  to  the  rule  of 
St.  Austin,  under  the  invocation  of  St. 
Ursula ;  the  nuns  were  to  be  strictly 
enclosed ;  they  were  to  take  solemn  vows ; 
and  were  to  add  a  fourth,  tliat  of  instruct- 
ing the  young.  This  was  the  comiuence- 
ment  of  the  Ursuline  congregation  of 
Paris,  which  soon  numbered  forty-five 
houses.  The  followers  of  St.  Angela  who 
preferred   still  to  abide  by  her  original 


plan,  were  called  "  congregated "  Ursu- 
lines—  Ursulines  congi-eyees ;  but  the 
''  religious "  Ursulines,  who  oK-^erved 
enclosure  and  took  solemn  vows,  appear 
to  have  better  suited  the  prevalent  mode 
of  thought  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  they  were  multiplied  in  every  direc- 
tion. 

Several  distinct  congregations,  each 
numbering  many  convents,  were  formed. 
Of  the  congregation  of  Paris  we  have 
spoken  ;  that  of  Bordeaux  was  founded 
in  1006  by  the  Cardinal-Archbishop  de 
Sourdis,  with  the  aid  of  Mother  Madeleine 
de  la  Croix,  and  approved  by  the  Holy 
See  in  1618 ;  before  long  it  had  eighty- 
nine  afiiliated  hou-es.  The  congregation 
of  Dijon  (1619)  owed  its  existence  to  the 
zeal  of  Fran^oise  de  Xaintonge  ;  the  vows 
in  it  were  simple  not  solemn,  and  a 
fourth  vow,  of  perseverance  iu  the  society, 
was  taken.  The  congregation  of  Lyons, 
of  which  the  commencement  was  the 
house  founded  by  Fran^oise  de  Bermont 
in  1610  for  Ursulines  congreyees,  ndipted 
enclosure  and  solemn  vows  in  1620. 
Mention  is  also  made  of  a  congregation  of 
Tulle,  and  another  of  Aries,  founded 
about  the  same  time.  The  order  was  in- 
troduced into  Canada,  through  the  zealous 
exertions  of  Mme.  de  la  Peltrie,  in  16."j9. 
The  site  at  Quebec  which  they  still 
occupy  was  soon  obtained  for  them,  and 
till  1850  might  be  seen  witliin  the  con- 
vent precinct  a  venerable  ash  tree,  sole 
relic  of  the  ancient  fore.-*t,  under  which 
the  first  Ursulines  used  to  teach  the 
catechism  to  little  Indian  children. 
Having  belonged  to  different  congrega- 
tions in  Europe,  the  Ursulines  ot  Quebec 
had  for  some  years  no  determinate  consti- 
tution, but  in  1682  thev  afiiiiated  them- 
selves to  the  congregation  of  Paris.  Ttie 
services  rendered  by  this  community, 
during  the  two  centuries  and  a  half  of  its 
existence,  in  preserving  a  religious  spirit 
among  the  French  population  and  hu- 
manizing and  instructing  the  Indians  and 
half  castes,  are  beyond  all  estimation.  In 
the  chapel  of  their  convent  may  be  seen 
the  tomb  of  the  brave  Marquis  de  Mont- 
calm, slain  in  the  unequal  combat  on  the 
heights  of  Abraham  (1759),  which  de- 
cided the  fate  of  Canada. 

The  Irish  Ursulines  ewe  their  estab- 
lishment at  Cork  in  1771  to  Miss  Nano 
Nagle,  the  foundress  of  the  Presentation 
Order  (see  that  article).  They  regard 
themselves  as  a  fihation  of  the  convent 
St.  Jacques  at  Paris,  because  all  but  one 
of  those  who  founded  the  house  at  Cork 


USURY 

were  trained  there ;  that  one  was  Mrs. 
Kelly,  a  professed  nun  of  the  Ursuline 
convent  of  Dieppe,  who,  accompanying 
her  countrywomen  to  Cork,  governed  the 
new  monastery  for  four  years.   (Helyot.) 

The  earliest  Ursuline  settlement  in 
North  America  was  that  of  Quebec  in 
1639.  In  1818  two  American  ladies 
from  the  convent  at  Three  Rivers  estab- 
lished Mt.  St.  Benedict's  Convent  at 
Boston,  which,  to  the  disgrace  of  that 
city,  was  burnt  down  by  an  anti-Catho- 
lic mob  in  1834.  The  oldest  Ursuline 
community  in  the  U.  S.  is  that  of  New 
Orleans,  dating  from  1727.  In  1844  a 
colony  from  France  settled  at  St.  Mar- 
tin's, Ohio,  and  later  others  at  St.  Louis, 
and  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Numerous  filia- 
tions from  all  these  have  been  made. 

TTSUXtY*.  Usury,  in  its  wider  signifi- 
cation, means  all  gain  made  by  lending. 
This  is  a  sense  which  usury  often  has  in 
the  classics,  and  so  understood  usury 
occurs  whenever  a  man  lends  capital  at 
interest.  Now,  however,  usury  signifies 
unjust  gain  on  a  loan,  unjust  because  not 
justified  by  the  loss,  risk,  Sec,  of  the 
lender  or  the  advantage  to  the  borrower,! 
or  because  the  amount  of  gain  is  exorbi- 
tant. In  this  latter  case  usury  is  for- 
bidden both  by  the  natural  law  and  by 
the  Bible.  It  is  always  unjust,  and  its 
wickedness  is  aggravated  when  advantage 
is  taken  of  the  needs  of  the  poor  to  secure 
usurious  interest.  But  we  shall  see  pre- 
sently that  both  in  the  Old  Testament  and 
for  a  long  time  in  Christian  legislation 
little  distinction  was  made  between  the 
two  kinds  of  interest.  The  laws  of  the 
Old  Testament  on  the  subject  had  a  most 
important  influence  on  Christian  feeling, 
so  that  something  must  be  said  about  the 
former  here. 

(1)  Usury  in  the  Bible. — Public  loans 
and  the  humane  spirit  of  the  law  in 
Christian  nations  have  taught  us  to  draw 
a  clear  line  between  lawful  and  usurious 
interest ;  but  in  the  ancient  world,  as  it  is 
in  the  East  at  this  day,  interest  was 
always  usurious.  The  Egyptian  con- 
tented itself  with  prohibiting  interest 
which  was  more  than  cent,  per  cent. 
(Diodor.  Sic.  i.  79) ;  the  laws  of 
Menu  permitted  an  interest  of  18  or 
even  24  per  cent,  (see  the  reference  in 
Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  article  Usury), 
and  12   per  cent,  is,  or  was   till   quite 

1  I.e.  the  ordinary  worth  which  money  has 
to  the  borrower  ;  for  it  is,  of  course,  unjust  to 
take  advantage  of  the  borrower's  necessitj  in 
order  to  exact  exceptional  interest. 


USURY 


827 


lately,  a  minimum  rate  in  the  East. 
Partly,  no  doubt,  for  this  reason,  partly 
because  in  an  agricultural  nation  like 
Israel  loans  were  only  asked  by  those 
whose  need  put  them  at  the  creditor's 
mercy,  partly  to  encourage  kindness 
towards  the  poor,  the  Mosaic  law  pro- 
hibits lending  at  interest.  The  most 
ancient  code  (Exod.  xxi.-xxxiii.)  pro- 
hibits lending  at  interest  i"?]^:)  to  poor 
Hebrews.  Deut.  xxiii.  20  forbids  in- 
terest to  be  taken  from  Hebrews  gene- 
rally ;  Levit.  xxv.  35-37  repeats  the  pre- 
cept of  Exodus,  forbidding  also  interest 
in  kind  (H^^ID,  also  n^^np).  Lending 
at  interest  generally  is  reprobated  in  the 
strongest  terms  in  Ps.  xv.  5,  Prov. 
xxviii.  8.  Nehemias,  after  the  exile, 
restored  the  observance  of  the  law 
against  taking  interest  from  Hebrews, 
and  made  the  usurers  restore  the  "  hun- 
dredth part"  of  the  money  {i.e,  "  ce»- 
tesimse  usurse,"  I  per  cent,  a  month  =  12  per 
cent,  a  year;  2  Esdr.  v.  11).  The  New 
Testament  gives  no  definite  rule  on  the 
subject,  though  of  course  the  spirit  of 
Christ's  w^ords,  "  Give  to  him  that  asketh 
thee"  (Matt.  v.  42)  excludes  lending  at 
interest. 

(2)  Usury  in  the  Church. — The  money- 
lenders trade  presented  much  the  same 
aspect  in  the  Roman  State  as  in  the  old 
Eastern  world.  Loans  were  still  usually 
made  to  the  needy  who  could  not  protect 
themselves.  The  "usura  centesiraa  ''  (12 
per  cent.)  was  under  the  later  Republic 
and  the  Empire  the  legal  rate  of  interest, 
which  was  due  every  month  {i.e.  1  per  cent, 
a  month),  so  that  Ovid  very  naturally  calls 
the  Calends  "  swift,"  and  Horace  "  sad." 
This  accounts  for  the  feeling  of  the  Church 
on  the  matter  down  to  modern  times. 

(a)  The  leathers  are  unanimous  in  re- 
garding all  interest  as  usury,  and,  there- 
fore, as  a  species  of  robbery.  Their 
general  opinion  was  that  the  prohibitions 
in  the  Old  Testament  bound  Christians,, 
and  that  in  a  more  stringent  form,  since 
the  taking  of  interest  from  strangers  had 
only  been  tolerated  among  the  Jews  for 
the  hardness  of  their  hearts.  Tertullian 
("Adv.  Marc."  iv.  24,  25),  Cvprian 
("  Testimon.''  iii.  48),  Ambrose  '("De 
Tobia  "  throughout,  see  especially  14  and 
15),  Basil  (in  Ps.  xiv),  Jerome  (in  cap. 
xviii.  Ezech.),  Chrysostom  (in  Matt. 
Horn.  Ivi.  al.  Ivii),'  Augustine  ("De 
Bapt.  contr.  Donat."  iv.  9,  in  Ps.  xxxvi),, 
Theodoret  (in  Ps.  xiv.  5),  in  their  con- 
demnation of  interest  appeal,  or  at  least 


828 


USURY 


add  a  reference  to  the  Old  Testament.^ 
Other  Fathers,  probably  from  mere 
accident  and  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  omit 
any  such  appeal — e.g.  Apollonius  (apiid 
Euseb.  "H.  E."  v.  18),  Commodian 
"Adv.  Gent.  Deos,"  65),  Lactantius 
"Inst."  vi.  18),  Epiphanius  (in  the 
"  Exposit.  Fid."  at  the  end  of  the  "  Haer." 
n.  24),  Augustine  (Ep.  153).^  These 
passages  are  all  explicit.  Tertullian,  e.g. 
("  foeneris  sc.  redundantiam  quod  est 
usura  "),  Ambrose  ("  quodcunque  sorti 
accidit"),  Jerome  ("usuram  appellari  et 
superabundantiam  quicquid  illud  est,  si 
ab  eo  quod  dederit,  plus  acceperint "), 
define  usury  as  taking  interest ;  the  word 
Epiphanius  employs  isToKoKr]y\ria,  "taking 
interest : "  "  it  is  unjust,"  says  Lactantius, 
"  to  take  more  than  one  gave." 

(/3)  Concilia?'  and  Papal  Laics. — From 
early  times  the  clerg)^  were  forbidden, 
under  penalty,  to  take  interest.  So  Canon. 
Apost.  44,  Council  of  Aries  a.d.  314  (c. 
12),  of  Nicaea  (c.  17),  Laodicea  (c.  4), 
Leo  I.  (Ep.  5,  "Ad  Episc.  Campan."), 
Council  in  Trullo  (c.  10).  Not  that  taldng 
interest  was  considered  by  these  authori- 
ties permissible  in  laymen ;  such  a  thing, 
says  Leo,  is  lamentable  in  the  case  of 
any  Christian,  and  so  of  course  specially 
reprehensible  in  clergymen.  The  mediae  val 
canon  law  extended  the  penalties  to  lay- 
men. Thus  the  Second  Lateran  Council, 
A.D.  1139  (c.  13,  lib.  V.  Decret.  tit.  19, 
c.  3,  of.  c.  7),  condemns  usurers  to  ex- 
communication and  deprives  them  of 
Christian  burial.  Clement  V.  in  the 
Council  of  Vienna  (Clem.  lib.  v.  tit.  5, 
De  Usuris,  c.  Ex  gravi)  declares  it  heresy 
to  maintain  pertinaciously  that  usury  is 
no  sin.  It  is  plain  from  St.  Thomas 
(2  2ndae  qu.  Ixxviii.)  that  all  taking  of 
.interest  was  still  regarded  as  usury. 
Further,  Alexander  III.  (lib.  v.  Decret. 
tit.  19,  c.  6)  decides  a  case  proposed  by 
the  Bishop  of  Genoa.  The  merchants  of 
that  city  used  to  sell  spice  above  the 
market  value,  agreeing  to  wait  a  stated 
time  for  payment.  The  Pope  replies  that 
such  a  contract,  unless  there  was  some 
doubt  whether  the  market  price  might 
not  rise  or  fall  in  the  meantime,  though 
not  strictly  speaking  usurious,'^  was 
ainful 

(y)    The  Modei'n    Viexo. — It  became 

I  Qem.  Al.  (ii.  18  p.  473)  explains  the 
word  *'  brother,"  from  whom  interest  may  not 
be  taken,  as  meanins;  not  only  one  of  the  same 
kin,  but  any  one  who  "  shares  in  the  same  doc- 
trine." 

'  Because  there  was  no  formal  loan. 


USURY 

more  and  more  evident  that  commerce 
could  not  exist  without  a  rate  of  interest, 
and  reflection  showed  many  just  grounds 
on  which  a  moderate  rate  could  be 
exacted.  Such  are  the  risk  to  the  lender, 
the  loss  to  which  he  is  put  by  the  want 
of  capital  with  which  he  might  trade,  the 
fruit  which  the  money  yields,  &c.  The 
law  can  remove  many  of  the  danjrers  oi 
usury  by  fixing  a  legal  rate,  and  the  poor 
are  now  just  the  persons  who  would  suifer 
most,  were  all  interest  prohibited.  It  was 
long,  however,  before  opinion  adapted 
itself  to  new  circumstances.  Luther  con- 
sistently, and  Melanchthon  with  some 
hesitation,  stood  where  the  Fathers  and 
canonists  had  Mood  before  them.  (See  the 
quotations  in  Herzog,  art.  Wucher.) 
Bossuet  represents  Calvin  as  the  first 
theologian  who  propounded,  the  modern 
distinction  between  interest  and  usury, 
and  this  seems  to  be  true,  so  far  at  least 
as  wiiting  goes,  though,  according  to 
Funk  ("Zins  und  Wucher,"  p.  104),  Eck 
and  Hoogstraten  had  defended  the  same 
distiuction  at  Bologna.  Bossuet  himself 
maintains  the  old  doctrine  as  of  faith 
("  Traite  de  I'Usure  "  in  vol.  xxxi.  of  the 
last  edition  of  his  works),  and  this  though 
he  was  fully  aware  of  the  arguments  on 
the  other  side.  He  rejects  as  sinful  the 
charge  of  interest  on  the  general  ground 
that  the  lender  could  have  used  the 
capital  he  lends  in  trade,  though,  very 
inconsistently,  he  allows  interest  to  be 
charged  if  the  lender  has  foregone  a 
particular  and  definite  gain,^  which  he 
had  in  prospect.  Benedict  XIV.  in  his 
encyclical  to  the  Italian  bishops,  "  Vix 
Pervenit,"  a.d.  1745,  condemned  the  doc- 
trine that  interest  might  be  taken,  merely 
on  the  ground  of  loan,  however  low  the 
rate  of  interest,  and  although  the  borrower 
might  be  ever  so  rich  and  have  profited  by 
using  the  money  in  trade,  though  he 
leaves  the  questions  about  the  accidental 
or  extrinsic  reasons  for  taking  interest, 
the  risk,  loss  of  profit,  kc,  quite  un- 
settled. Farther,  this  Pope,  according  to 
Ballerini  (loc.  cit.  p.  015),  allowed  books 
defending  the  modern  view  to  be  dedicated 
to  him.  Keen  controversy  on  the  point 
among  Catholics  had  arisen  during  that 
ceijtury,  and  the  work  of  the  famous 
Scipio'^Mafiei  (1675-1755)  on  the  laxer 


1  The  older  theologians— e..^.  St.  Thomas  (at 
least,  in  his  work,  "  De  Malo "")  and  Scotus — 
would  not  admit  even  this  excuse  for  interest, 
if  the  loan  was  voluntary  and  repaid  at  the 
time  agreeil  upon.  (See  Ballerini's  Gury,  2nd 
ed.  vol,  i.  p.  698.) 


USURY 


VALDENSES 


829 


ade  ("  deir  impiego  dell  danaro  ")  had 
attracted  great  attention.  In  1830  the 
Congregation  of  the  Holy  Office,  with  the 
approval  of  Pius  VIII.,  decided  that  those 
who  regarded  the  fact  that  the  law  fixed 
a  certain  rate  of  interest  as  in  itself  a  suffi- 
cient reason  for  taking  it,  were  "  not  to  be 
disturbed."  This  principle  is  now  accepted 
throughout  the  Church,  though  the  Holy 
See  has  given  no  positive  decision  on  the 
matter.  Even  the  laws  restraining  the 
clergy  from  taking  interest  are  entirely 
obsolete.  Gury  accepts  the  position  toler- 
ated in  the  decree  of  the  Sacred  Congrega- 
tion, and  argues  that  the  State  has  power 
in  certain  cases  to  transfer  the  property  of 
one  subject  to  another.  No  doubt.  But 
where  is  there  the  faintest  proof  that  the 
State  means  to  exercise  this  power  in  the 
case,  and  to  transfer  the  interest  from  the 
pocket  of  the  borrower  to  that  of  the 
lender  .^  We  may  add  that  the  Fathers, 
in  the  places  quoted  above,  expressly 
deny  that  the  State-law  makes  usury 
lawfid.  Ballerini, rejecting Gury's explana- 
tion, argues  that  the  words  "  loan " 
(mutuum),  &c.,  imply  spontaneous  liber- 
ality, but  that  interest  may  be  taken  if 


there  has  been  a  previous  contract  to  that 
effect.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  answer 
that  the  Fathers  and  Schoolmen  meant 
much  more  than  a  truism  like  this — viz. 
that  a  man  must  not  require  interest  if  he 
professes  to  lend  without  it.  Later  on, 
Gury  (ii.  p.  611)  seems  to  give  the  true 
reason.  The  ancient  world  believed  that 
money  was  barren,  and  the  Schoolmen 
inherited  this  principle  from  Aristotle. 
Experiences  proves  that  money,  far  from 
being  barren,  "produces  fruit  and  multi- 
plies of  itself"  ("  fructum  producit  et 
multiplicatur  per  se,"  Gury,  loc.  cit.),  and 
a  man  may  justly  take  5  per  cent,  for 
money  which  is  well  worth  that  to  the 
merchant,  bank,  railway  company,  &c., 
who  receive  the  loan. 

(Herzog,  "Encycl.  fur  Prot.  Theol." 
art.  Wucher,  gives  useful  citations  from 
the  Reformers.  Smith  and  Cheetham, 
Funk's  work  "  Zins  und  Wucher,"  Hefele, 
"  Beitrage  "  and  "  Concil."  vol.  i.,  have  also 
been  used.  But  for  exhaustive  learning 
and  clear  statements  of  the  points  at 
issue  we  have  seen  nothing  comparable  to 
Bossuet's  "  Traits  de  I'Usure.") 


V 


VAIiBENSES,    or  VAITDOZS.     It 

does  not  fall  within  the  plan  of  the 
present  work  to  give  even  an  outline  of 
the  long  and  varied  history  of  this  sect ; 
but  since  it  exists  now,  and  has  been 
undoubtedly  in  being  since  the  twelfth 
century — since,  moreover,  it  now  professes 
Protestant  doctrine,  and  is  regarded  with 
the  strongest  favour  and  interest  by 
English  Protestants,  who  commonly  be- 
lieve that  it  can  trace  its  origin  to 
primitive  if  not  even  to  Apostolic  times — ■. 
it  is  necessary  to  examine  with  some 
minuteness  the  nature  of  the  evidence 
bearing  on  two  questions,  (1)  when  did  it 
arise  ?  (2)  what  kind  of  tenets  did  it 
originally  profess  ? 

(a)  At  the  Council  of  Verona,  held  in 
1184,  Lucius  HI.  condemned  those  who 
falsely  called  themselves  the  "  humbled  " 
or  the  "  poor  men  of  Lyons,"  with  several 
other  heretical  sects.  The  first  on  the  list 
of  errors  attributed  to  the  condemned,  or 
some  of  them,  was  that  they  presumed 
to  preach  in  public  without  mission  or 
authority  from  Pope  or  Bishop. 


Writing  to  the  Archbishop  of  Aix 
and  his  suffragans  in  1 198  (Migne, "  Patrol." 
vol.  214),  Innocent  III.  requests  him  and 
them  to  assist  Rainier,  the  commissioner 
whom  he  is  sending  to  Provence,  in  his 
efforts  to  put  down  the  heretics  in  those 
parts,  "  qui  Valdenses  Catari  et  Paterini 
dicuntur,"  and  by  other  names.  This 
seems  to  be  the  earliest  occurrence  of  the 
name  in  ecclesiastical  history.  The  com- 
mon characteristic  of  all  these  sects  is 
stated  to  be,  that  they  "reject  the 
authority  of  the  Roman  Church." 

Bernard,  abbot  of  Font-Cauld,  wrote 
a  special  treatise,  apparently  about  1200, 
"  against  the  sect  of  the  Valdenses."  He 
says^  nothing  as  to  their  founder,  but 
playing  upon  their  name  derives  it  "  a 
yalle  densa,"  from  the  thicket  of  errors 
in  which  they  were  entangled.  Dis- 
obedience to  ecclesiastical  authority  is  the 
first  and  principal  fault  imputed  to  them, 
but  they  are  also  charged  with  allowing 
women  to  preach,  with  a  systematic 
desertion  of  the  churches,  and  with  re- 
jecting prayers   and   other  ministrations 


830 


VALDENSES 


VALDENSES 


for  the  dead.  (See  this  tract  in  Migne, 
ToL  210.) 

Alanus  de  Insuli?,  a  celebrated  theo- 
log'ian,  in  a  work  which  must  have  been 
"written  before  120:^,  ^  attacks  heretics 
generally,  the  Valdenses,  the  Jews,  and 
the  '^  Pagans  or  Mahometans."  In  the 
book  devoted  to  the  Vrildenses  he  says 
that  they  are  so  called  "from  their  heresi- 
arch,  who  was  named  Waldus,  who,  led 
by  his  own  spirit,  not  sent  by  God,  in- 
vented a  new  sect,  so  that  he  presumed  to 
preach  without  the  authority  of  any 
prelate,  without  divine  inspiration,  with- 
out science,  and  without  learning."  "  They 
assert,"  he  says,  "  that  no  one  is  bound  to 
obey  any  one  but  God." 

Ounrad,  elected  abbot  of  Ursperg  in 
1215,  when  about  to  describe  in  his 
Chronicle  the  rise  of  the  Franciscans  and 
Dominicans,  contrasts  with  these  orders 
the  "  Poor  Men  of  Lyons "  and  the 
'^  Humiliati."  Both  these  sects,  he  says, 
arose  in  Italy.  He  thinks  ("  ut  puto  ") 
that  the  founder  of  the  Poor  Men  was  one 
Bernhard,  whom,  attended  by  his  followers, 
he  had  himself  seen  soliciting  approbation 
for  Ids  institute  at  the  Papal  court.  Bern- 
hard  alleged  that  they  imitated  the  life  of 
the  Apostles,  having  no  property  or  fixed 
abodes,  and  that  all  their  peculiar  prac- 
tices, among  others  that  of  nnen  and 
women  travelling  about  in  company,  had 
"descended  from  the  Apostles."  But  the 
Pope,  apprehending  that  some  of  their 
customs  were  superstitious,  and  others 
inexpedient,  refused  to  confirm  them. 
Such  is  Conrad's  account.  It  seems  likely 
that  his  memory  misled  him,  and  that  he 
confounded  Bernard,  the  archbishop  of 
Narbonne,  an  active  opponent  of  the 
Vaudois  in  the  last  years  of  the  twelfth 
century,  with  the  real  founder  of  the 
8ect.2  ^ 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  "  Pauperes 
de  Lugduno"  of  Conrad  of  Ursperg  and 
the  Council  of  Verona  are  identical  with 
the  "  Valdenses"  of  Innocent  III.,  Alanus, 
and  Bernard.  This  identity  is  expressly 
stated  by  Rainier  Sacho,  a  somewhat 
later  authority,  and  it  became  the  general 
belief.  Thus  in  a  tract  by  an  unknown 
Carthusian  monk  (printed  by  Martene),^ 
written  about  1440,  with  the  title  "  Be 

1  See  the  *'  Notitia "  prefixed  to  Migne's 
reprint  of  the  -works  of  Alanus  (  Patrol,  vol. 
204). 

2  From  somft  similar  confusion,  Philippe  de 
Comines,  descrihing  tlic  visit  of  St.  Francis  de 
Paulo  to  the  c^nirt  of  Louis  XL,  uniformly 
calls  the  saint,  "  linbert." 

*  Ampllss.  Coll.  ^  ol.  vi.  p.  56. 


Religionum  Origine,"  this  sect  is  called 
"  Valdensiura  htieresis  seu  paupernm  de 
Lugduno."  The  early  evidence  all  points 
to  the  rise  of  the  sect  as  having  taken 
place  about  thirty  years  before  the  end  of 
the  twelfth  century.  Their  claim  to  great 
antiquity  is  indeed  noticed  by  Conrad,  but 
it  seems  easy  of  explanation.  If  tho 
living  authority  of  the  CUiurch  was  to  be 
resisted,  it  could  only  be  done  by  inducing 
the  belief  that  their  tenets  were  apostolic, 
"  ab  apostolis  descendisse."  The  passages 
Acts  ii.  44  and  1  Cor.  iv.  11  and  ix,  6 
probably  led  to  conscious  imitation  on  the 
part  of  the  Valdenses,  and  from  such 
imitation  to  the  assertion  that  their 
customs  had  come  down  from  the  Apostles 
the  step  was  not  great. 

Rainier  Sacho,  a  Dominican,  who  died 
in  1:?60,  and  in  his  capacity  of  inquisitor 
must  have  had  great  opportunities  for 
obtaining  exact  information,  gives  the 
following  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
Vaudois.'  Peter  Valdo,  a  rich  merchant 
of  Lyons,  about  1160,  shocked  and  stunned 
by  tiie  sudden  death  of  a  friend,  resolved 
to  strip  himself  of  his  wealth,  and  both 
practise  and  preach  an  Apostolical  poverty. 
Followers  soon  gathered  round  him,  and 
they  were  variously  named  "  Valdenses," 
"  Pauperes  de  Lugduno,"  "  Leonists "'  ( from 
the  city),  and  "  Insabatati"  (from  ihemhots 
or  wooden  sandals  which  thnv  wore). 
Valdo  caused  portions  of  the  Bible  to  be 
translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue  ;  these 
he  used  himself  in  preachinjr,  and  caused 
others  to  use;  and  when  the  clergy  re- 
monstrated he  paid  no  heed  to  their 
admonitions.  A  rapid  development  of 
sectarian  tenets  was  the  natural  conse- 
quence of  this  first  resistance.  Rainier 
divides  the  errors  of  the  Valdenses  into 
three  classes — against  the  Church  and  the 
clergy,  against  the  sacraments,  against 
sacramentals.  Under  the  first  head  they 
taught  that  the  Church  of  Rome  was  not 
the  Church  of  Christ,  but,  rather,  the 
harlot  mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse ;  that 
it  had  become  corrupt  in  the  time  of  Pope 
Sylvester,  when  the  poison  of  temporalities 
first  infected  it ;  ^  that  scarce  any  but  them- 
selves held  the  true  Gospel  doctrine ;  that 
the  Pope  is  the  author  of  all  errors ;  that 
tithes  ought  not  to  be  paid,  and  the  Church 
should  not  possess  property ;  and  that  all 
members  of  the  Church  are  equal.     Under 

^  We  take  his  narrative  as  excerpted  by 
Dupin.  Aiitfurs  Eccles.  ssec.  xiii.  ch.  9. 

-  The  Vaudois  evidently  brlieved  the  fig- 
ment of  the  Donation  of  Constantine.  (See 
States  of  the  Chukch.) 


VALDENSES 

the  second  head,  they  found  fault  -with 
all  the  sacraments  of  the  Ohuvch ;  as  to 
Baptism,  they  said  tliat  the  washing  of 
infants  was  of  no  f.Tail  to  them,  and  they 
rejected  manyof  thb  ceremonies  proper  to 
the  rite.     Oontirmation  they  set  aside;  as 
to  the  Eucharist,  they  held  that  priests  in 
mortal  sin  could  not  consecrate,  and  fell 
into  ii  variety  of  other  errors  which  we  have 
not  space  to  enumerate.     As  to  Penance, 
they  said  that  a  bad  priest  could  not  ab- 
solve, but  that  a  good  layman  could.   With 
regard  to  Marriage,  they  set  at  nouyht  the 
impediments  established  by  the  Church, 
and  acknowledged  no  spiritual  atlinity  as 
resulting  from  the  sacrament.     They  dis- 
approved of  the  sacrament  of   Extreme 
Unction,  because  it  was  only  given  to  the 
rich.     VVhat  respect  they  would  have  for 
the  sacrament  of  Holy  Orders  is  apparent 
from  what  has   been  already  said.     All 
lavmen,  thay  held,  were  entitled  to  preach, 
and  women  also.*    Whatever  was  not  in  the 
Scriptures  they  held  to  be  fabulous.    They 
bf'lieved  in  no   saints  but  the  Apostles. 
With  regard  to  the  third  head,  that  of 
Sa.cramentals,  they  made  a  clean  sweep  of 
all  the  beautiful  and  touching  ceremonies 
— all  the  salutary  institutes — with  which 
the  Church  had  surrounded   the  life  of 
Cnristians  here  below.      No  festivals,  no 
fa?t-daya,    no    holy-water,   no   lights,   no 
ornaments,    no    incense,    no    images,   no 
chanting;  to  hear  a  Valdensian  ranter  at 
uncertain  times  seems  to   have  appeared 
to  these  poor  sectaries  the  sum  of  all  the 
support   and   delectation    that    the    soul 
could- possibly  require.     They  held  that  it 
.-was  unlawful  to  swear.     "  They  condemn 
all  princes  and  judges,  being  persuaded 
that  it  is  not  lawful  to  punish  malefactors. 
Lastlv,   they  condemn   the   ecclesiastical 
judgments."- 

Severe  measures  of  repression  were 
used  against  the  Vaudois  from  time  to 
time,  but  failed  to  extirpate  them.  A 
letter  from  a  Franciscan  inquisitor  to  the 
Council  of  Basle,^  dated  in  1432,  states 
that  although  the  writer  had  "  made  great 
executions  on  many  heretics "  within  the 
past  two  years,  the  sect  still  flourished  on 
both  sides  of  the  Alps,  that  he  had  several 
relapsed  heretics  in  prison,  both  at  Yverdun 
and  at  Briancon,  and  that  these  had  re- 
vealed to  him  the  existence  of  more  than 

J  From  this  account  it  would  appear  that 
Milman's  statement,  that  "they  rejected  the 
seven  sacraments,  except  Baptism  and  the  Eu- 
charist," which,  if  true,  would  assimilate  them 
cIo&hIv  to  the  Anfilicans,  is  not  very  accurate 
(^Latin  Christianity,  v.  395). 

2  Martene,  Ampliss.  Coll.  viii.  162. 


VALDENSES 


sai 


five  hundred  others.  At  the  Reformation 
some  of  the  Protestant  leaders,  who  per- 
ceived the  use  that  might  be  made  in  con- 
troversy of  the  alleged  existence  of  a  sect 
which  had  maintained  a  "  pure  "  religion 
and  resisted  the  authority  of  Rome  for 
many  centuries,  made  overtures  to  the 
Vaudois,  and  in  1530  their  deputies, 
Masson  and  Morel,  met  (Ecolampadius 
and  Bucer  ai  Basle.  According  to  Uupiu, 
these  last  engaged  the  deputies  to  renounce 
some  of  the  more  extravagant  of  their 
tenets — e.(/.  that  a  Christian  mi'^rht  not 
lawfully  swear,  that  ministers  might  not 
hold  property,  and  that  the  ministrations 
of  wicked  pastors  were  invalid ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  hold  with  the  Protest- 
ants, that  the  Body  of  Christ  was  not  in 
the  Eucharist,  and  that  confession  of  sins 
was  unnecessary.  But  the  complete 
adoption  by  the  Vaudois  of  Protestant 
doctrine  is  said  not  to  have  taken  place 
till  about  1630. 

Such  is  the  view  which  authentic 
history  presents  of  the  rise  of  the  Vaudois 
and  of  their  original  doctrines.  The 
modern  popular  view,  which  represents 
them  as  a  race  of  primitive  manners  and 
simple  piety,  dwelling  in  remote  Alpine 
vallevs,  and  clingino-  to  a  Scriptural  and 
Protestant  religion,  handed  down  from  the 
first  ages,  in  the  teeth  of  continual  perse- 
cution, appears  to  be  founded  in  great 
part  on  a  falsification.  Soon  after  the 
Reformation  broke  out,  "their  whole 
history,  and  a  part  of  their  written  docu- 
ments, were  subjected  to  a  process  of 
re-casting—just  as  already  some  older 
writings  had  been  re-fashioned  in  a 
Hussite  sense,  owing  to  contact  with  the 
circle  of  Hussite  sects."  ^  For  particulars 
of  this  falsification  {"  Fdhchumf'^),  we 
must  refer  the  reader  to  the  Protestant 
writer  just  quoted,  who  states  that  no 
existing  Vaudois  MS.  is  of  date  earlier 
than  the  fifteenth  century,  although  many 
were  made  to  appear  to  have  been  written 
in  the  twelfth. 

In  1655  the  Duke  of  Savoy  sent  troops 
against  the  Vaudois  of  Angrogna  and  the 
neighbouring  valleys,  who  were  said  to 
have  spre  id  themselves  outside  the  limits 
to  which  they  were  confin^-d  by  treaty. 
Great  excesses  were  reported,  and  were 
denounced  by  the  indignant  Muse  of  Mil- 
ton in  the  well-known  sonnet  besrinning, 
"  Avenge,  O  Lord,  thy  laughtered  saints." 
Cromwell  interposed  vigorously,  and  the 
Duke  was  obliged  to  grant  the  Vaudois 
favourable  terms.  At  the  present  day 
1  Herzog,  p.  398. 


832 


VANNE,  ST. 


they  are  said  to  number  about  20,000 ;  a 
large  place  of  worship  was  built  for  them 
at  Turin,  chieiiv  by  English  money,  in 
1863. 

(Fieury;  Innocent  III.  "  Epist."  in 
Migne,  vol.  214;  Alanus  de  Insiilis,  in 
Migne,  vol.  204;  Bernardua  Abbas 
Fontis  Calidi,  in  Migne,  vol.  210; 
*'  Chronicon  Urspergense  "  ;  Rainerius, 
"  Summa  de  Catharis  et  Leonistis " ; 
Martene, "  Amplissima  Oollectio" ;  Dupin, 
"  Auteurs  Ecclesiastiques  " ;  Herzog,  *'  Die 
romauischen  Waldenser,"  1858;  Jane  L. 
Williams,  "  Short  History  of  the  Walden- 
sian  Church,"  with  preface  by  Dr.  Gilby, 
1855 ;  Milman,  "  Latin  Christianity,"  v. ; 
Moliler,  "  Kirchengeschichte,"  ii.  Q27.) 

VAirUTE,  ST.,  COlO-GRSGATXOXr 

or.  [See  Benedictines;  MauPwIsts.j 
This  congregation,  of  which  the  famous 
commentator  Calmet  was  the  chief  literary 
ornament,  was  in  a  flourishing  state  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution.  Its 
houses  were  then  suppressed,  and  it  has 
not  since  been  revived. 

VATiCAif  coustczIm  This  Coun- 
cil met  on  December  8, 1869,  and  is  not 
yet  concluded.  No  general  council  had 
been  he^d  for  three  hundred  years,  and  tbe 
author  of  the  article  on  Trent  in  Herzog's 
"  Encyclopaedia,"  writing  only  about  seven 
years  before  the  bishops  met  in  the  Aula 
of  the  Vatican,  speaks  of  another  general 
council  as  a  moral  impossibihty.  Yet,  it 
^  is  easy  enough  to  see  that  the  events  of 
half  a  century  had  been  preparing  the  way 
for  the  General  Council  of  1869.  The  in- 
terference of  statesmen  with  the  freedom 
of  the  Church  had  turned  the  law  (Con- 
cil.  Trid.  sess.  xxiv.  "  De  Reform."  c.  2) 
which  requires  provincial  synods  to  be 
held  every  three  years  into  a  dead  letter. 
The  same  cause  would  also  have  proved 
an  obstacle,  and  probably  an  insuperable 
one,  to  great  assemblies  of  the  bishops  at 
Rome.  But  the  revolution  which  stripped 
the  Church  of  her  wealth  certainly  left 
her  freer  in  action.  The  first  Provincial 
Synod  which  had  been  known  for  long, 
assembled  at  Tuam  in  1817,  and  its  de- 
crees were  confirmed  at  Rome.  It  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  National  Synod  of  Hungary, 
helrd  at'Pressburg  in  1822.  But  it  was 
from  the  United  States  that  the  revival 
of  Provincial  Councils  really  came.  There 
were  Provincial  Svnods  of  Baltimore  in 
1829,  1833,  1837,  1840,  1843,  1846,  and 
1849.  Pius  IX.  early  in  his  Pontificate 
urged  the  observance  of  the  Church's  law 
upon  the  bishops.  Soon,  no  fewer  than 
twenty  provincial  councils  had  assembled 


VATICAN  COUNCIL 

in  France  ;  Austria  and  Hungary  followed 
the  example  in  1858  (Synods  of  \ienna 
and  Grau),  Holland  in  1865  (Synod  of 
Utrecht),  and  numerous  synods  were  held 
in  Germany,  in  England,  just  after  the 
hierarchy  had  been  restored,  in  Ireland, 
in  Australia,  and  in  South  America  (Quito 
and  New  Granada).  Even  the  Catholics 
of  the  Oriental  rites  were  affected  by  the 
movement.  Syrians,  Maronites,  Arme- 
nians, met  in  council,  and  the  last  Council 
of  the  Armenians  at  Constantinople  in 
1869  deserves  special  notice.  In  Italy,  on 
the  other  hand,  political  troubles  made 
the  number  of  provincial  councils  very 
small.  Nor  was  this  revival  of  synodical 
action  the  only  preparation  for  a  general 
council.  Pius  IX.  had  three  times  seen  a 
vast  number  of  bishops  gathered  round 
him — viz.  at  the  definition  of  the  Im- 
maculate Conception,  at  the  canonisation 
of  the  Japanese  martyrs,  on  the  eighteenth 
centenary  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul.  Since  the  Second  Lateran 
Council  of  1139,  Rome  had  never  witnessed 
such  an  assembly  of  bishops  as  this  last 
one.  Nor  was  it  simply  the  fact  of  these 
unions  which  led  the  way  to  the  General 
Council  in  the  Vatican.  It  is  evident  now 
that  the  chief  definition  of  this  Council — 
viz.  that  of  the  Papal  Infallibility,  came 
as  the  result  of  forces  which  had  been 
long  at  work.  The  French  universities 
had  disappeared  in  the  storms  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  Galilean  principles  were  dying 
out  in  France  itself.  In  Italy,  Spain,  and 
Portugal,  where,  owing  to  the  influence  of 
the  Governments,  Gallicanism  had  found, 
even  late  in  the  last  century,  such  represen- 
tatives as  Tamburini,  Bishop  Solari,  Fon- 
tani,  Palmieri,  Degola,  Bishop  Clement 
of  Barcelona,  &c,,  it  was  now  wholly  ex- 
tinct. Man}"^  of  the  provincial  councils 
and  the  bishops  in  their  assemblies  at 
Rome  had  held  language  which  showed 
that  a  proposal  to  deflne  the  Pope's  in- 
fallibility would  meet  with  no  opposition 
among  the  majority.  With  the  German 
Catholics  it  was  otherwise.  There  many 
of  the  clergy  were  still  educated  at 
"  mixed  "  universities — many  of  the  Ca- 
tholic professors  had  already  manifested 
their  distrust  of  the  "Romaa"  theo- 
logy, and  some  of  them  had  come  into 
collision  with  the  Roman  Congregations. 
They  clung,  in  the  supposed  interests  of 
science,  to  methods  diflerent  from  those 
which  prevailed  at  Ilome.  And  even  in 
France  there  was  a  party,  small  in  num- 
bers, but  strong  in  talent  and  character, 
which  was  tvttached  to  liberal  principles 


VATICAN  COUNCIL 


VATICAN  COUNCIL 


833 


in  politics  and  distrustful  of  Koman  inter- 
ference in  such  matters.  They  had  fought 
the  Church's  battle  for  freedom  of  instruc- 
tion, and  they  were  unwilling  to  admit 
that  the  appeal  they  had  made  to  the 
principles  of  freedom  and  toleration  was 
after  all  only  an  aryumentum  ad  hominem. 
Ultramontanism  then  prevailed  through- 
out the  Church,  but  it  was  opposed  by 
a  small  band  of  Catholic  "  liberals "  in 
France,  and  by  a  number  of  learned  men 
in  Germany.  The  former  advocated  the 
interests  of  freedom,  as  they  understood 
it ;  the  latter,  those  of  philosophy,  history, 
and  theology,  as  they  understood  them. 
There  were,  besides,  Catholic  statesmen  in 
both  countries  who  saw  danger  to  the 
State  in  a  definition  of  Papal  infallibility. 
Pius  IX.  first  imparted  his  idea  of 
convoking  a  General  Council  to  the  car- 
dinals of  the  Congregation  of  Rites  in 
December  1864 ;  and  shortly  afterwards 
lie  consulted  all  the  cardinals  who  re- 
sided in  Rome  on  the  matter.  They  were 
requested  to  submit  to  the  Pope  their 
opinions,  in  writing,  on  the  opportuneness 
of  such  a  convocation,  and  the  subjects 
"wHich,  supposing  the  Council  opportune, 
ought  to  be  discussed.  Nineteen  advised 
the  convocation,  two  were  against  it, 
one  was  doubtful.  In  March  1865,  five 
cardinals  (Patrizi,  Reisach,  Panebianco, 
Bizarri,  Caterini)  were  appomted  to  con- 
sider the  votes  sent  in,  and  these,  with 
the  addition  of  some  other  cardinals  and 
of  consul  tors,  were  formed  into  a  Congre- 
gation of  Direction  (Cecconi,  "  Storia  del 
Concil.  Vatic."  lib.  i.  cap,  1).  In  April 
and  May  a  circular  was  addressed  to 
thirty-six  bishops,  begging  their  opinion 
on  the  subjects  to  be  treated  {ih.  Doc. 
iii.),  and  letters  were  also  addressed  to 
the  Nuncios  at  the  various  Courts,  asking 
them  to  find  theologians  fit  to  act  as  con- 
suitors  in  the  preliminary  congregations 
(ih.  Doc.  iv.).  Next  year,  in  February 
and  March,  certain  Oriental  bishops  and 
bishops  of  the  Greek  rite  in  the  A-ustrian 
Empire,  were  also  consulted  (ih.  Doc. 
vi.  and  vii.).  AU  these  consultations 
were  made  in  the  strictest  confidence.  On 
June  4,  1 867,^  Cardinal  Caterini  wrote  to 
all  the  bishops  present  for  the  centenary 
of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul.  He  added  a  list  of  seventeen 
questions  on  points  of  discipline,  and  in- 
vited suggestions  on  other  matters  (ih. 
Doc.  ix.). 

1  So  Schneemann,  Kanonen  und  Beschliisse 
des  Vatikan.  Conc'ds,  Einleit.  p.  xv.  The  date 
in  Cecconi — viz.  June  6, 1866 — must  be  a  slip. 

3 


At  last,  in  the  same  mouth,  the  Pope 
announced  in  a  public  Consistory  of  some 
500  bishops  his  intention  of  convoking  the 
Council  (ih.  Doc.  x.),  and  by  a  bull  of 
June  29,  1869  (ih.  Doc.  xxxvi.),  the 
Council  was  summoned  to  meet  at  Rome 
on  December  8, 1869.  Meantime,  in  Sep- 
tember of  the  previous  year,  "  all  bishops 
of  the  churches  of  Oriental  rite  not  in 
communion  with  the  Apostolic  See  "  (ih. 
Doc.  xxxvii.),  and  all  "  Protestants  and 
non-Catholics "  (ih.  Doc.  xxxviii.),  were 
invited  to  attend.  There  was  some 
thoujrht  of  addressing  a  similar  invitation 
to  the  Jansenist  bishops  in  Holland,  but 
it  was  resolved  not  to  do  so  (ih.  vol.  i. 
p.  \1Q  seq.).  It  was  intended  that  these 
Oriental  bishops  should  be  allowed  no 
part  in  the  Council  till  they  professed  the 
Catholic  Roman  faith  whole  and  entire ; 
and  it  was  explained  in  a  letter  to  Arch- 
bishop, now  Cardinal,  Manning  that  the 
Protestants  were  only  invited  to  attend 
that  they  might  be  referred  to  "  expe- 
rienced men,"  and  have  their  difficulties 
solved.  No  effect  followed  from  these 
letters  to  Orientals  and  Protestants,  ex- 
cept a  few  protests  (Friedrich, "  Geschichte 
des  Vatikan  Concils,"  i.  p.  723  seq.). 
Besides  the  Commission  of  General  Direc- 
tion, mentioned  already,  the  Pope  nomi- 
nated six  special  commissions — for  Cere- 
monial, the  Relations  of  Church  acd  State, 
the  Churches  and  Missions  of  the  East, 
the  Religious  Orders,  Dogmatic  Theology 
and  Discipline.  Each  consisted  of  a  car- 
dinal president,  and  of  consultors  from  all 
parts  of  the  world.  Vercellone,  Theiner, 
Tarquini,  Franzelin,  Schrader,  Perrone, 
Gibert,  Freppel,  Hefele,  Haneberg,  Her- 
genrother,  Alzog,  Molitor,  Moufang,  Het- 
linger,  Feijje,  were  among  the  consultors. 
Dr.  (now  Cardinal)  Newman  was  asked 
to  be  a  consultor,  but  declined  on  ac- 
count of  bad  health.  It  was  the  duty 
of  these  special  congregations  to  prepare 
"  schemata  " — i.e.  draughts  of  canons  and 
decrees  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Fathers.  Their  members  were  bound  to 
absolute  secrecy. 

Till  the  Council  met  nothing  was  said 
by  any  one  in  authority  of  any  intention 
to  define  Papal  infallibility.  But  atten- 
tion was  roused  by  statements  in  the 
French  correspondence  of  the  "  Civiltri," 
February  6,  1869  (reprinted  in  Cecconi, 
Doc.  cxl.).  In  this  Jesuit  organ,  published 
at  Rome,  and  believed  by  many  to  possess 
very  high  authority  in  the  Roman  Court, 
it  was  stated  that  the  Council  would 
probably  set  its  seal  to  the  condemnations 


834 


VATICAN  COUNCIL 


VATICAN  COUNCCL 


of  tlie  Syllabus ;  that  the  bishops  would 
define  the  Pope's  infallibility  by  acclama- 
tion, and  that  the  corporal  assumption  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  into  heaven  would  be 
made  an  article  of  faith.  This  was  the 
occasion  soon  after  of  the  famous  articles 
in  the  Augsburg  "  Allgemeine  Zeitung," 
which  afterwards  appeared  in  the  form  of 
a  book  entitled  "  Janus."  It  professed  to 
be  written  from  a  Catholic  point  of  view, 
but  was  in  reality  a  bitter  attack  on  the 
Papacy.  In  April  1869  Prince  Hoheulohe, 
Foreign  Minister  in  Bavaria,  sent  a  circular 
to  the  European  Governments  warning 
them  of  the  political  dangers  which  the 
Council  might  cause  (Friedrich,  ih.  i. 
p.  774),  and  in  September  a  large  majority 
of  the  German  bishops  assembled  at 
Fulda  laid  before  Pius  IX.  tlieir  fears 
as  to  the  consequences  in  Germany  should 
Papal  infallibility  be  defined.  This  docu- 
ment was  undoubtedly  despatched  to  the 
Pope,  but  Cecconi,  after  laborious  search, 
could  not  find  it  in  the  Roman  archives 
(Cecconi,  part  i.  vol.  ii.  sect.  i.  p.  479). 

The  time  of  convocation  was  drawing, 
near,  and  Pius  IX.  in  a  brief  "  Multiplices 
inter,"  November  27,  1869  (th.  Doc.  lii), 
arranged  the  order^  of  business  at  the 
Council.  The  preparatory  commissions 
had  done  their  work,  and  were  to  be  re- 
placed by  new  ones.  The  Pope  appointed 
five  cardinal-presidents ;  viz.  Keisach 
(who  died  shortly  afterwards  and  was  re- 
placed by  De  Angelis),  De  Luca,  Bizzari, 
Bilio,  Capalti,  a  secretary — viz.  Bishop 
Fessler  of  St.  Polten,  and  a  deputation  of 
members  of  the  Council,  who  were  to 
examine  proposals  made  by  the  bishops. 
Four  other  deputations  for  Dogma,  Disci- 
pline, Religious  Orders  and  Oriental  Rites, 
were  to  be  chosen  by  the  Fathers  of  the 
Council,  but  each  was  to  be  placed  under 
a  cardinal-president  nominated  by  the 
Pope  himself.  The  schemata  drawn  up  by 
the  preparatory  commissions  were  to  be 
printed  and  distributed  to  the  Fathers. 
The  bishops  might  send  proposals  to  be 
examined  by  the  directive  deputation. 
These  new  schemata  or  proposals,  if  ap- 
proved by  it,  were  also  to  be  printed  and 
circulated  among  the  bishops  some  days 
before  the  discussion  on  them  began. 
Bishops  who  wished  to  speak  on  any 
subject  must  notify  their  intention  at 
least  a  day  before.  They  were  to  do  so 
in  order  of  rank,  and,  after  they  had 
ended,  others  might  obtain  leave  to  speak 
from  the  presidents.  If  there  was  no 
prospect  of  agre^^ment,  schemata,  accord- 
ing to  their  subject-matter,  were   to  be 


referred  to  the  special  commissions  for 
revisal,  and  then  voted  upon  in  general 
congregation.  Finally,  the  canon  or  decree 
was  to  be  read  in  the  Popes  name  in 
solemn  session,  the  Fathers  were  to 
answer  "  Placet  "  or  "  Nou  placet ; "  the 
Pope  was  to  announce  the  result,  and,  in 
case  of  acceptance  by  the  Council,  to  con- 
firm its  decision  by  Apostolic  authdrity. 
The  Council  opened  on  December  8,  1869. 
There  were  719  members  present,  and  by 
March  of  the  following  year  as  many  as 
764.  Of  these  120  were  archbishops  or 
bishops  in  partibus  injidelium,  now  called 
titular  prelrites,  and  52  were  abbots, 
generals  of  orders,  &c.  (Ftom  the  lists  in 
Schneemann.) 

Much  time  was  spent  in  discussions  on 
discipline,  the  preparation  of  a  Short 
Catechism,  &c.,  which  have  issued  as  yet 
in  no  definite  result.  The  work  acturtlly 
finished  consists  of  two  Constitutions — one, 
"  De  b'ide  Catholica,"  made  up  of  chapters 
and  canons  on  the  primary  truths  of 
natural  religion,  on  revelation,  on  faith, 
and  the  connection  between  faith  and 
reason  ;  the  other  "  De  Ecclesia  Christ!," 
treating  chiefly  of  the  primacy  of  t^e 
Roman  See,  and  defining  the  Pope's  imme- 
diate authority  over  all  Christians.  The 
former  constitution  passed  with  compara- 
tively little  difficulty.  It  was  unanimously 
accepted  by  the  QQ7  Fathers  present,  and 
confirmed  by  the  Pope  in  the  third  public 
session,  April  24,  1870. 

Ver}-  different  was  the  fate  of  the 
second  constitution.  We  have  seen  that 
nothing  had  been  said,  at  least  publicly 
and  by  authority,  before  the  Council  met, 
of  any  intention  to  define  the  Pope's 
infallibility,  and  Cecconi  (lib.  i.  cap.  i.) 
assures  us  that  of  the  cardinals  first  con- 
sulted by  the  Pope — i.e.  in  1864 — two  only 
even  mentioned  the  subject.  Scarcely, 
however,  had  the  Council  met  when  a 
"  postulatum  "  representing  the  views  of 
the  great  majority  of  the  Fathers  begged 
that  the  question  should  be  proposed  for 
decision.  On  the  other  hand,  in  January 
1870,  forty-five  German  and  Austrian 
bishops,  thirty- two  French,  joined  by  three 
Portuguese  and  four  Orientals,  twenty- 
seven  from  nations  of  English  speech, 
seventeen  Orientals,  seven  Italians,  begged 
the  Pope  to  prevent  the  discussion. 
(Original  texts  in  Friedrich,  "  Docuraenta 
ad  Illustrandum  Concil.  Vatic."  Abth.  i. 
pp.  460,  251,  254,  256.)  At  the  same 
time,  outside  the  Council,  a  protest  was 
made  by  Dr.  DoUinger  as  well  as  by  the 
French  Minister  Daru  and  the  Austrian 


VATICAN  COUNCIL 

Ton  Beust,  supported  by  the  Bavarian, 
Portuguese,  Prussian  and  Eng-lisb  Cabinets. 
Arclibishops  Decliamps  of  Maliues,  Man- 
ning of  Westminster,  Spaldinpr  of  Balti- 
more, and  Bishop  Martin  of  Paderborn, 
were  prominent  on  the  side  of  the  majority : 
while  the  learned  Hefele,  who  was  pro- 
moted to  the  bishopric  of  liottenburg  in 
November  1869,  Strossmayer,  bishop  of 
Biakovar  in  Slavonia,  Cardinal  Rauscher, 
archbishop  of  Vienna,  Darboy,  arch- 
bishop of  Paris,  Dupanloup,  bishop  of 
Orleans,  Maret,  bishop  in  pnrtibus,  Ken- 
rick,  archbishop  of  St,  Louis  in  the 
United  States,  Clitlbrd,  bishop  of  Clifton, 
were  strenuous  supporters  of  the  opposi- 
tion. 

New  complications  arose  from  a  docu- 
ment issued  by  the  cardinal-presidents  at 
the  wish  of  the  Pope  on  February  20, 
1870.  Complaints  were  made  of  the  way 
in  which  the  discussions  were  protracted, 
and  accordingly  new  arrangements  were 
devised.  In  the  discussion  on  any  amended 
schema  no  one  was  to  take  part  without 
giving  notice  beforehand  of  that  particular 
portion  of  the  said  schema  on  which  he 
meant  to  address  the  Council,  Further, 
at  the  request  of  any  ten  Fathers,  the 
presidents  might  ask  the  Council  if  they 
desired  the  discussion  to  proceed,  and  if  a 
majority  said  no,  they  might  close  it 
there  and  then.  This  led  more  than  a 
hundred  prelates  to  protest,  in  a  document 
addressed  to  the  presidents,  that  by  these 
regulations  "  the  freedom  of  the  Council 
might  seem  in  several  respects  to  be  im- 
paired, nay,  destroyed"  ("minui  imo 
tolli  posse  videatur").  They  implored 
that  nothing  should  be  defined  except 
with  the  moral  unanimity  of  the  Fathers, 
and  appealed  to  the  example  of  Pius  IV. 
at  the  Council  of  Trent.  Otherwise  they 
feared  that  "the  character  of  the  OEcu- 
menical  Council  might  be  exposed  to 
doubt  ("cecumenici  concilii  character  in 
dubium  vocari  possit."  Text  in  Friedrich, 
Abth.  i.  p.  258  seg.)  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  the  whole  discussion 
was  extended  over  seven  weeks.  The 
points  at  issue  must  have  been  perfectly 
familiar  to  those  with  whom  the  decision 
lay,  and  the  majority  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  tolerate  a  protracted  discussion 
which  had  no  real  influence  on  opinion, 
and  only  served  to  impede  definition. 

Early  in  May  the  schema  "  De  Ec- 
clesia,"  with  the  added  clauses  on  Papal 
infallibility,  was  laid  before  the  Council, 
and  the  conciliar  discussion  upon  it  began. 
On  July  13,  it  was  voted  upon  in  general 

3 


VATICAN  COUNCIL        835 

congregation ;  of  the  Fathers  present  451 
said  "Placet,"  sixty-two  ."  Placet  juxta 
modum" — i.e.  they  were  ready  to  accept 
the  Constitution  with  modificati- ns,  but 
not  as  it  stood  ;  eighty-eight  said  "  Non 
placet,"  seventy  did  not  vote  at  all.  In 
the  last  general  congregation  the  Fathers 
protested  against  the  calumnies  of  the 
press,  especially  against  the  report  that 
the  Council  was  not  free.  In  a  letter  to 
the  Pope  fifty-five  bishops  declared  that 
their  mind  was  unaltered,  but  that  they 
meant  to  absent  themselves  from  the  public 
session.  This  was  held  on  July  18.  The 
bull  "Pastor  ^ternus,"  co'itaining  the 
Constitution  "  Ue  Ecdesia"  and  the  defi- 
nition of  Papal  infallibility,  was  read. 
Thereupon  535  ans-wered  "  Placet,"  the 
two  others — viz.  Bishop  Riccio  of  Ajaccio 
and  Bishop  Fitzgerald  of  Little  Rock — 
"  Non  placet."  The  POpe  then  confirmed 
the  decree  by  Apostolic  authority.  On 
that  same  day  Napoleon  III,  declared  war 
against  Prussia.  On  September  20  the 
Italians  possessed  themselves  of  Rome, 
and  by  a  brief  of  October  20  the  Pope 
prorogued  the  Council.  It  has  never 
been  reassembled. 

In  the  articles  on  Faith  and  on  the 
Pope,  we  have  said  something  on  the 
meaning  of  the  Vatican  decrees,  and  in 
that  on  Old  Catholics  we  have  spoken 
of  the  opposition  made  to  them.  No 
single  bishop  refused  assent,  and  for  that 
and  other  reasons  a  schism  of  any  con- 
siderable magnitude  was  impossible. 

(The  histories  of  the  Council  by  Cecconi 
and  Friedrich  resemble  in  more  points 
than  one  those  of  the  Tridentine  Council 
by  Pallavicino  and  Sarpi,  with  this  notable 
difference  that  Sarpi  wrote  before  Palla- 
vicino, while  Friedrich  takes  care  to  write 
after  Cecconi,  and  to  use  his  materials. 
Neither  historian  has  reached  the  actual 
assembly  of  the  Council.  Cecconi  has 
access  to  the  Vatican  archives,  so  that 
his  work  [first  part  published  1873]  will 
always  be  indispensable.  But  it  has 
already  exceeded  3,000  pages  large  octavo ; 
it  is  filled  with  much  irrelevant  matter, 
is  badly  written  and  badly  arranged. 
Friedrich's  first  volume  [1877]  is  well 
arranged  and  interesting,  and  does  not, 
so  far  as  we  can  test  it,  alter  the  facts ; 
but  it  is  disfigured  by  a  vehement  invec- 
tive against  the  Roman  Court  and  Ultra- 
montauism  in  general.  For  the  actual 
history  of  the  Council  Friedrich's  collec- 
tion of  documents  [1871]  v^'as  useful  but 
incomplete,  and  has  been  replaced  by  the 
fuller  collections  of  Bishop  Martin  [1873] 


h2 


836 


VEIL 


I 


and  the  Protestant  Friedberg  [1871].  The 
Jesuit  Father  Schneeman  [187 J]  has  pre- 
fixed a  short  history  of  the  Coimcil  to  his 
edition  of  its  decrees,  and  there  is  another 
brief  history  by  the  learned  Protestant 
Frommann  [1872].) 

VEIIi  (velum,  a  covering).  Pagan 
customs  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  veil 
Ciinnot  here  be  considered,  but  we  shall 
endeavour  to  give  some  account  of  the 
various  kinds  of  veil  lecognised  in  the 
Cathohc  ritual  for  covering  either  things 
or  persons.  Three  Eucharistic  veils  were 
in  use  in  the  ancient  Eastern  Church,  the 
paten  veil  for  covering  the  bread  before 
consecration,  the  chalice  veil,  and  a  very 
thin  transparent  veil  for  covering  both 
paten  and  chalice.  The  offertory  veil 
(qfertorium)  was  used,  according  to  the 
ritual  of  the  Church  of  Sarum,^  in  various 

arts  of  the  ceremonial  of  High  Mass. 

t  seems  to  be  the  same  as  the  super- 
humeral  veil  with  which  the  sub-deacon 
now  covers  the  chalice  at  High  Mass,  and 
which  is  also  used  at  Benediction  [Bene- 
diction OF  THE  Blessed  Sacrament]. 
Magri  (quoted  in  Morone),  says  that  in 
Spanish  churches  from  the  first  day  of 
Lent  a  veil  is  drawn  before  t)3e  high 
altar  while  the  hours  are  recited,  and 
during  Mass  on  ferias ;  it  is  withdrawn  at 
the  Gospel  and  the  elevation  of  the  host. 
On  Wednesday  in  Holy  Week,  when  in 
the  "  Passion "  the  words  occur  "  et 
velum  templi  scissum  est,"  the  veil  is 
withdrawn  and  no  more  used. 

The  nuptial  veil  or  Jiammeum,  as 
is  well  known.  Was  in  use  among  the 
Romans.  St.  Ambrose  speaks  of  a  veil 
{pallium)  stretched  over  the  heads  of  the 
bride  and  bridegroom  during  the  cele- 
bration of  marriage,  with  a  mystical 
significance.'^  The  priest  oificiates  with 
veiled  head  in  several  Oriental  rites — 
Coptic,  of  St.  Anthony,  Abyssinian, 
Maronite. 

In  Maskell's  "Monumenta  Ritualia" 
is  printed  a  form'  for  the  "Order  of 
Consecration  of  Nuns "  according  to  the 
use  of  Sarum,  from  which  we  shall 
extract  what  relates  to  the  ritual  of  the 
veil.  On  the  day  of  profession,  the 
novices,  clad  in  white,  each  bearing  on 
the  right  arm  the  "  habite  that  the  re- 
lygyon  and  profesyon  requireth,  wyth  the 
veyie,  ryng,  and  scroll  of  hir  profesyon 

1  See  the  Consuetudinary  of  Sarum,  recently 
edited  in  the  Rolls  series  with  ft  translation,  in 
the  Replster  of  St.  Osmuiid,  vol.  i.  p.  150  seq. 

*  Morone. 

»  Vol.  ii.  p.  308. 


VEIL 

attached  upon  the  sayd  habite,  and  in 
hir  left  hande  beryug  a  taper  wythoute 
lyght,"  go  in  procession  from  the  place 
where  they  were  arrayed  towards  the 
western  door  of  the  choir,  with  loolvs 
bent  on  the  ground,  singing  the  respond 
"Audivi  vocem,  &c."  Passing  through 
the  choir  and  going  up  to  the  altar,  they 
lay  their  veils,  rings,  and  scrolls  on  the 
right  end  of  it.  They  then  make  the 
vow  of  chastity,  and  after  receiving  the 
habit  from  the  bishop  return  whence 
they  came.  After  the  Credo  the  virgins 
return  to  the  western  door  of  the  choir, 
l^aring  lighted  tapers  in  their  right  hands. 
The  rite  proceeds ;  after  the  Litanies  each 
makes  her  profession  before  the  bishop 
and  abbess,  and  signs  her  scroll  of  pro- 
fession with  a  cross.  After  the  psalm 
"  Domine,  quis  habitabit,"  during  which 
the  virgins  prostrate  themselves,  they 
rise  and  go  with  the  bishop  to  the  right 
end  of  the  altar,  and  taking  their  veils 
therefrom,  hold  them  in  their  hands,  with 
their  faces  turned  towards  the  bishop. 
He,  standing  in  his  place,  blesses  the  veils 
in  the  virgins'  hands,  ''with  orysons." 
The  first  of  these  prayers  is,  "  We  sup- 
pliantly  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,  that  in 
Thy  clemency  a  blessing  may  come  down 
upon  these  veils  which  are  about  to  be 
placed  on  the  heads  of  Thy  handmaidens, 
so  tliat  they  may  be  blessed,  and  conse- 
crated, and  spotless,  and  holy  for  these 
Thy  handmaidens.  Through."'  The 
second,  "  O  God,  Creator  of  things  visible 
and  invisible,  be  mercifully  present  with 
us,  and  vouchsafe  to  bless  and  sanctify 
with  the  streams  of  Thy  grace  these  veils 
which  are  the  type  of  holiness  and  the 
sign  of  humility ;  may  Thy  servants 
deserve  through  Thy  gift  to  take  and  hal- 
low them  in  heart  and  body.  Through." 
Every  virgin,  before  the  bishop  puts  the 
veil  upon  her  head,  kisses  his  hand. 
Being  veiled,  she  sings,  "  The  Lord  hath 
clothed  me  with  a  garment  ^  w^oven  of 
gold,  and  with  immense  jewels  hath  he 
adorned  me."  The  ritual  of  the  ring 
succeeds,  followed  by  the  **  long  bene- 
diction," during  which  the  virgins  lie 
prostrate.  Before  their  "  houselling  " 
the  bishop  draws  down  their  veils  over 
their  eyes.  After  their  communion  each 
gives  up  her  taper  to  the  bishop,  after 
kissing  his  hand,  and  he  gives  to  them 
all  his    benediction.     Then    the    abbess 

'  Cyclade.  Cy<fas  is  "  a  kind  of  trarment, 
named  from  its  roundness,  drawn  in  above  and 
full  below."  (See  Ducauj^e.  who  cites  "circum- 
textum  roseo  velauieu  acantho,"  ^n.  i.  649.) 


VENI,  CREATOR 

pulls  their  veils  down  beneath  their 
chins,  and  so  they  remain  for  three  days. 
On  the  third  day,  after  they  have  com- 
municated, the  abhe^s  lilts  up  their  veils, 
and  from  that  time  "  they  shall  were  and 
goo  and  cumme  as  other  of  the  convent 
doth."  (Morone/*  Dizion.  Eccl.";  Maskell, 
^'Monum.  Ritualia,"  1846;  Smith  and 
Cheetham.) 

VEM-?:,  CREATOR.    [See  Hymns.] 
VEsriAX.  SIN.    [See  Sin.] 

VEXJZ,  SAXrCTS  SPXRITVS.    [See 

Hymns  ;  also  Seqi  ences,] 

vsRozo'ZCA.  [See  Christ,  Personal 

Appearance  oe.] 

VESPERS,     [See  Breviary.] 
V£SSEX.s,  SACRED.     [See  Cha- 
lice ;  Paten  ;  Pyx,  &c,] 

VEST»IEUTS.  (1)  Their  Dis- 
tinctive Character. — It  was  the  common 
belief  in  the  middle  ages  that  the  vest- 
ments used  by  the  Church  at  Mass  and 
other  services  were  derived  from  the 
Jewish  temple,  though  Walafrid  Strabo 
had  a  better  notion  of  the  historical  aspect 
of  the  question,  and  affirmed  ("  De  Keb. 
Eccles."c.  24)  that  Christian  priests  in  the 
early  ages  officiated  in  the  common  dress  of 
daily  life.  Strabo's  view  (with  a  moditi- 
cation  to  be  mentioned  presently)  is  con- 
firmed, to  use  the  words  of  Dr.  Rock, 
"  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  writers 
who  have  bestowed  much  laborious  re- 
search upon  the  investigation  of  this  sub- 
ject "  ("  Hierurgia,"  p.  414).  No  quota- 
tion can  be  adduced  from  any  author  of 
the  first  five  centuries  which  so  much  as 
alludes  to  any  difl'erence  in  form  between 
the  dress  of  priests  at  the  altar  and  of 
laymen  in  common  life.  True,  St.  John 
(Polycrat.  apud  Euseb.  "II.  E."  iii.  31, 
V.  "JA ;  Hieron.  <'  Vir.  Illustr."  45)  and 
St.  James  (Epiphan.  "  Haer."  Ixxviii.  14) 
are  said  to  have  worn  the  "shining  plate  " 
(jriraXov,  lamina  =  yi)S)  of  the  Jewish 
high  priest ;  but  even  were  we  prepared  to 
accept  these  testimonies  as  literal  state- 
ments of  fact,  they  would  not  atfect  the 
question,  for  no  such  ornament  has  ever 
found  a  place  in  the  Church,  and  the  mitre, 
which  comes  nearest  to  this  "  plate,"  was 
unknown,  as  has  been  already  proved,  for 
centuries  after  the  Apostolic  age.  But 
the  strongest  proof  will  be  found  in  the 
articles  on  the  particular  vestments. 
There  it  has  been  shown  that  the  eccle- 
sical  vestments  had  their  origin  in  the 
ordinary  dress  of  the  Roman  empire.^     It 

1  The  alb  and  girdle,  which  are  really  most 
like  Jewish  vestments,  liad  a  purely  secular 
oxii^m  i  and  the  alb  is  tirst  mai-ked  as  a  Church 


VESTMENTS 


837 


was  after  the  fall  of  the  empire  that  the 
fashion  in  ordinary  attire  underwent  a 
revolution,  and  the  garb  once  common  to 
all'  became  peculiar  to  the  servants  of  the 
altars,  till  at  last  the  very  memory  of  its 
original  use  was  obscured.  This  obscura- 
tion was,  as  we  should  expect,  gradual. 
Walafrid  Strabo,  as  we  have  said,  in  the 
ninth  century  understood  the  true  state  of 
the  case,  and  another  writer  of  the  same  age 
— viz.  Anastasius  ("In  Vit.  S.  Step'iani," 
cf.  Baron.  "  Annal."  ad  ann.  200,  n.  6) — 
was  not  wholly  ignorant  of  it,  for  he  says 
of  Pope  Stephen:  "He  ordained  that 
priests  and  Levites  should  not  use  the 
consecrated  vestments  in  common  life,  but 
only  in  the  Church." 

Long,  however,  before  the  ecclesiastical 
vestments  were  distinguished  by  their 
form  from  those  in  common  use  certain 
garments  were  reserved  for  the  officiating 
clergy,  and,  though  these  were  identical 
in  form  with  the  ordinary  garb,  they  were 
often  no  doubt  of  costlier  material.  The 
Apostolic  Constitutions  (viii.  12)  describe 
the  bishop  as  clothed  in  a  "  shining  vest- 
Uient "  {XufiTrpav  eaOrjra  ^fTfvdvs),  and  we 
may  perhaps  take  this  as  evidence  for  the 
practice  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  or  begin- 
ninff  of  the  tifth  century.  A  little  earlier 
Jerome  ("In  Ezech."  xliv.  17),  speaking 
of  the  vestments  of  the  Jewish  priests, 
adds:  "  Thence  we  learn  that  we  should 
not  enter  the  holy  of  holies  with  common 
attire  or  in  any  sort  of  dirty  dress,  such  as 
will  do  for  daily  life,  but  that  we  should 
with  clean  conscience  and  in  clean  attire 
handle  the  mysteries  of  the  Lord."  It  is 
not  easy  to  decide  how  far  this  passage  is 
to  be  taken  literally.^  Anyhow,  we  learn 
from  Theodoret  ("  H.  E."  ii.  23)  that 
Constantine  gave  Macarius,  bishop  of 
Jerusalem,  "a  sacred  dress"  (Upav 
aToXrjv)  "  of  gold  thread  " — i.e.  a  dress  of 
the  common  form  but  of  very  costly 
material  and  intended  exclusively  for  use 
in  church.  It  is  very  uncertain  when  the 
blessing  of  ecclesiastical  vestments  was 
introduced,  but  we  find  a  form  for  that 
purpose,  very  like  the  one  now  used,  in 
the  Gregorian  Sacramentary.  (See  the 
reprint  in   Migne,   "Patrol."  Ixxviii.   p. 

dress  by  enactments  which  forbid  clerics  to  use 
the  same  alb  in  common  life  and  in  church. 
Jerome  (Ep,  64)  gives  Fabiola  an  elaborate 
account  of  the  Jewish  vestments,  but  never 
alludes  to  the  use  of  analogous  vestments  in 
church. 

1  It  is  clear,  however,  from  the  passage 
quoted  further  on  in  this  article,  that  Jerome 
was  familiar  with  the  use  of  special  vestments 
by  the  clergy  in  church. 


838 


VESTMENTS 


167.)  The  CouncU  of  Poitiers,  a.d.  1100, 
can.  4  (Maasi,  xx.  Il2'd)  forbids  any 
one  not  a  bishop  to  give  this  blessintr, 
and  Innocent  III.  ("  Altar  Mvst.'»  i.  9) 
lays  down  the  sa'.ne  rule.  It  is  still  in 
force,  though  bishops  constantly  delegate 
the  power  to  simple  priests. 

At  first  the  vestments  were  of  one 
colour — viz.  white.  Thus,  when  Pelagius 
alleged  that  all  splendour  in  dress  was 
irreligious,  Jerome  ("  Adv.  Pelag."  i.  n.  99) 
charges  him  with  exaggeration,  and  asks 
■what  harm  there  was  in  wearing  "a 
tunic  particularly  clean  "  (tunicam  mun- 
diorem),  what  objection  could  be  made, 
"if  bishop,  priest,  and  deacon,  and  the 
rest  of  the  clergy  appeared  at  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacrifice  in  white  array" 
(cand'da  veste  processerit.)  So  Gregory 
of  Tours  ("  De  Gloria  Conf."  c.  20)  de- 
scribes the  band  of  "  priests  and  Levites  in 
white  vestments."  Black  was  sometimes 
used  in  sign  of  mourning  (Theodore  Lector. 
lib.  1,  excerpt  quoted  by  Hefele).  Even 
Pseudo-Alcuin,  in  the  tenth  or  eleventh 
century,  knows  only  of  white  vestments, 
except  that  he  speaks  of  the  scarlet  stripes 
on  the  deacon's  dalmatic  ("  Divin.  Offic." 
c.  40),  and  of  the  use  of  black  vestments 
during  the  litany  and  procession  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Purification  (c.  7).  Inno- 
cent III.  is  the  first  to  mention  four 
colours — viz.  white,  which  the  Roman 
Church  employs  on  feasts  of  confessors, 
TJrgins,  and  on  joyful  solemnities  gene- 
rally ;  red,  used  on  the  feasts  of  martyrs, 
of  the  cross  (though  then  perhaps  white 
is  to  be  preferred),  and  on  Whitsunday,  by 
some  also  on  All  Saints,  but  not  by  the 
Curia  Romana,  in  which  white  is  the 
colour  ;  black,  used  in  penitential  seasons 
and  Masses  for  the  dead  ;  green,  used  on 
common  days,  because  "  midwaj'  between 
black  and  white."  He  regards  violet, 
which  is  now  the  penitential  colour,  as  a 
mere  variety  of  black,  and  says  the  former 
was  used  on  Holy  Innocents  and  Laetare 
Sunday.  So  scarlet  and  saffron-yellow 
(coccineiis  et  croceus)  are  varieties  of  red 
and  green.  Rose-coloured  vestments,  he 
says,  were  sometimes  used  on  feasts  of 
martyrs,  and  yellow  ones  on  feasts  of 
confessors  ("  Altar.  Myst."  i.  65).  At 
present  yellow  counts  as  white,  and  rose- 
coloured  vestments  are  only  used  at 
solemn  Mass  on  the  third  Sunday  in 
Advent  and  fourth  in  Lent. 

lUshops,  when  they  celebrate  ponti- 
fically,  take  their  vestments  from  the  altar, 
simple  priests  put  them  on  in  the  sacristy. 
But  this  distinction  is  probably  not  very 


VESTMENTS 

ancient,  for  even  in  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries  it  was  the  common 
custom  for  priests,  at  least  in  England,  to 
vest  in  the  sanctuary.  (Maskell,  "  Ancient 
Liturgy  of  the.  Church  of  England,"  p. 
219).  The  present  law  on  the  use  of 
vestments  at  Mass  is  very  strict,  and  many 
theologians  (see  Benedict  XIV.  "  De 
Miss."  iii.  7,  1)  believe  that  no  cause 
whatever  will  excuse  a  priest  from  ob- 
serving it.  (The  chief  recent  authorities 
are  Bock,  "Gesch.  der  Liturg.  Gewiinder"; 
Hefele,  in  his  "  Beitrage,"  ii.  p.  150  soq. ; 
Wharton  Marriott,  "  Vestiarium  Chris- 
tian um.") 

VESTMEUTS,  G^SEK  AITB 
OHIENTAIm.  Something  has  been  said 
on  this  subject  already  in  the  account 
given  of  the  various  vestments  used  in  the 
Latin  Church,  but  it;  may  be  convenient 
to  give  a  separate  article  on  the  vestments 
of  the  Greeks  and  Orientals. 

1.  Vestments  ivorn  by  the  Deacon. — In 
preparing  to  officiate  at  Mass,  the  first 
vestment  which  he  puts  on  is  the  (rroixapLov 
or  aTLxdptov.  It  answers  to  our  alb,  ex- 
cept that  it  is  not  bound  by  a  girdle.  It 
used  to  be  of  linen  and  always  white,  but 
now  it  is  often  made  of  silk.  It  takes  its 
name  from  the  stripes  (cttlxoi)  with  which 
it  is  adorned.  In  Lent,  except  on  the 
Annunciation  and  Holy  Saturday,  it  is  of 
purple  colour.  It  is  used  by  all  the 
Orientals.  The  Syrians  call  it  Kutino 
/IXjuZq^  =  x*''"«»'>  and  that  again  is  really 

a  Semitic  word,  cf.  n/nb),  and  the  Copts, 
according  to  Daniel,  labot  or  tounink.  It 
is  also  worn  by  readers  and  sub-deacons. 
In  form  it  has  come  to  resemble  our  dal- 
matic, though  worn,  like  the  alb,  imme- 
diately over  the  cassock.  Next  comes 
the  oipapiov  or  stole  (see  under  that  word), 
the  distinctive  badge  of  deacons,  and 
lastly  the  emfxaviKia,  a  barbarous  com- 
pound of  eVi  and  manus.  They  stretch 
from  the  wrist  to  the  elbow,  leaving  the 
hand  free.  They  are  first  mentioned  by 
Balsamon  in  the  twelfth  centurv,  and 
have  apparently  been  adopted  by  the 
Syrians. 

The  priest  puts  on  the  (Troix<^pkov,  then 
the  imrpaxrikiov,  which  is  a  stole  broader 
than  the  deacon's  and  joined  in  front, 
next  the  (covr)  or  girdle,  the  eTrip-aviKia, 
the  vTroyovdrtov  or  emyovaTiop,  a  square 
piece  of  cloth  which  hangs  from  the  girdle 
and  is  really  proper  to  bishops,  archi- 
mandrites and  other  dignitaries,  such  as 
protosyncelli,  protopopes,  &c.,  but  is  in 
matter  of  fact  worn  by  very  many  priests. 


VESTMENTS 

Over  all  he  puts  the  chasuhle  ((fxXaviov, 
(f)€\oivr]s,  (paivoXiov)  in  shape  much  like  one 
of  our  Gothic  chasubles.^ 

Bishops  also  use  the  above  vestments. 
But  thnir  crroixiipiov  is  marked  with  white 
and  red  stripes,  and  they  have  a  picture  of 
Christ  on  their  (Tnyovdnop  and  emixavLKia. 
Theirchasubleis  marked  with  many  crosses 
and  called  TroXva-ravpiov.  The  (tukkos, 
which  has  sleeves,  and,  to  judge  from  the 
woodcut  in  Daniel,  resembles  a  dalmatic 
in  shape,  was  at  first  worn  by  metro- 
politans only  instead  of  the  chasuble,  and 
by  tliem  never  except  on  the  three  great 
festivals.  From  the  time  of  Alexius 
Commenus  it  became  the  habitual  sub- 
stitute for  the  chasublewith  metropolitans, 
and  now  it  is  worn  in  Russia  by  all 
bishops.  Lastly,  the  bishop  takes  the 
ci)fio(f)6piou,  a  sort  of  pallium  made  of  wool, 
which  is  hung  on  the  shoulders  and  falls 
over  the  back.  At  some  of  the  functions, 
but  not  at  Mass,  bishops  wear  a  monastic 
cloak  called  p,av8iias.  The  word  which  is 
said  by  Ilesychiiis  and  Eustathius  to  be  of 
Persian  origin  occurs  in  the  LXX  {e.f/. 
Judges  iii.  16),  and  a  MS.  Greek  lexicon 
quoted  by  Sclilausner  explains  it  as  a 
"  sort  of  upper  garment  and  the  cloak  of 
monks  '  (ft'Sos  Iparlov  Kal  to  twv  p.ova)(a>v 
rrdWiov)  The  mitre  (Kidapis)  is  never 
worn  in  the  sanctuary  except  by  the 
Patriarch  of  Alexandria.  Greek  bishops 
have  no  ring,  but  they  wear  a  pectoi  al 
cross  (to  navciyiov)  and  use  a  pnstoral 
staff'  (TruT^pTJa-a-av),  which,  however,  is 
much  shorter  than  those  customary  in  the 
West  and  niuoh  less  ornate. 

(Ohiedy  from  Daniel,  "  Cod.  Liturg." 
torn.  iv.  p.  375  seq.) 

VZATICirivI.  Holy  Communion 
given  to  those  in  danger  of  death.  Such 
persons  are  allowed  to  receive  the  Com- 
munion, even  if  they  are  not  fasting,  and 
they  may  do  so  again  and  again  in  the 
same  illness,  if  circumstances  render  it 
expedient.  Viaticum  is  given  by  the 
parish  priest,  or  by  another  priest  deputed 
by  him.  The  priest,  wearinj^:  surplice  and 
stole,  carries  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in 
procession ;  lights  are  borne  in  fr^nt, 
and  a  bell  is  rung  to  excite  the  devotion 
of  the  faithful.  In  the  U.  S.  it  is,  of 
course,  impossible  to  carry  out  all  this 
ceremonial.     A  special  form  is  used  in 

1  The  Greeks  have  no  chanjjje  of  colours  f(ir 
the  feasts.  The  (fceA.uicioi'  of  tlie  priest  and  the 
o-Toixaptof  of  the  deacon  are  blank  »t  Mas  es  of 
the  Dead,  and  purple,  as  we  have  seen,  is  used 
in  Lent,  (it  eat  feasts  are  marked  by  the  splen- 
dour of  the  vestineute* 


VIATICUM 


839 


administering  the  Sacrament — viz.  *•  lle- 
ceive,  brother  [or  sister],  the  viaticum  of 
the  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  May 
He  guard  from  the  malignant  foe,  and  lead 
thee  to  eternal  lite !  "  xlfterwards,  the  priest 
cleanses  his  hng-ers  in  a  little  water,  which 
the  sick  man  drinks. 

(1)  T/ie  Oru/in  of  the  iV7??ne.— The 
word 'Wiaticum  "  came  into  Church  use 
as  a  translation  of  the  Greek  ic^ohnv. 
This  latter  word  means  provision  for  a 
journey ;  then,  metaphorically,  provision 
for  the  journey  of  life  (Clem.  Hom.  Ep.  i. 
2 ;  Dionys.  Corinth,  apud  Euseb.  "  H.  E." 
iv.  23).  Next  the  meiaphor  was  extended 
to  the  provision  for  the  last  journey  — viz. 
from  this  world  to  the  next — and  so  it 
occurs  as  an  epithet  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion given  to  the  dyin/  in  the  Council 
of  Nicaea  (can.  13).  There  the  Eucliarist 
is  said  to  be  the  "  last  and  most  necessary 
Vlrtticum  "  (tov  TfKevraiov  Kai  dvayKuiordTov 
fcfindiov).  Innocent  I.  (''  Ad  Exsuper,  "  ; 
Mansi,  "  Concil.'  iii.  J  030)  employs  the 
Latin  word  "  viaticum "  in  the  same 
sense,  and  so  does  the  First  Council  of 
Orange,  a.d.  441  (can.  3  ;  Mansi,  vi.  437), 
with  an  evident  allusion  to  the  cnnon  of 
Niceea.  Thus  it  became  a  technical  term 
for  Communion  >riven  to  the  dying.  (So 
Council  of  Agde,  a.d.  606,  can.  15; 
Mansi,  viii.  327;  Bede,  '' H.  E.'  iv.  14; 
Amalar.  "  Eccl.  Offic."iii.  36.)  But  even 
late  in  the  middle  ages  the  word  had  not 
acquired  its  present  fixed  and  exclusive 
sense.  The  Council  of  Vaison,  a.d.  442 
(can.  2;  Mansi,  vi.  453),  speaks  uf  tlie 
viaticum,  meaning,  probably,  the  absolu- 
tion and  commuuion  of  the  dying;  and 
in  the  Council  of  Gerunda,  a.d.  517 
(can.  9;  Mansi,  vii.  550),  it  certainly 
includes  absolution.  Aubespine,  indeed, 
in  his  note  (ad  loc.  554),  takes  it  to 
mean  simply  reconciliation  and  absolu- 
tion granted  to  dying  penitents — the 
"■  benediciio  beatiHca,"  as  the  Council  of 
Barcelona,  a.d.  541  (can.  9;  Mansi,  ix. 
110),  calls  it.  Hence  the  so-called  Fourth 
Council  of  Carthage  (can.  78 ;  Mansi,  iii. 
957)  has  the  expression  "  Viaticum  Eu- 
charistise,''  to  distinguish  it  from  "  viati- 
cum "  in  the  other  sense.  The  term  was 
also  applied  to  the  Eucharist  generally,  ae 
our  support  in  our  earthly  pi  grim;ige ; 
and  we  tiud  it  so  employed  not  only  in 
the  liturgy  of  St.  Mart  {ecjiodiop,  Ham- 
mond, p.  191),  but  even  in  a  synod  of 
Durham  early  in  the  thirteenth  century 
(Wiikins,  '*  Concil."  i.  p.  678). 

(2)  Viaticum  in  One  or  Two  Kmds. — 
In  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  we  have 


840 


VIATICUM 


clear  instances  of  viaticum  given  under 
the  form  of  bread  only  (Dionys.  Alex. 
apud  Euseb.  "  H.  E."  vi.  44 :  the  contem- 
porary Life  of  St.  Ambrose,  by  Paulinas, 
n.  47).  There  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt  about  these  cases,  and  Bossuet 
("  Communion  sous  les  deux  especes,"'  P.  1, 
n.  2)  seems  to  be  quite  right  in  taldng 
can.  76  of  the  Fourth  Council  of  Car- 
thage as  evidence  that  Communion  was 
given  to  dying  persons  who  were  unable 
to  swallow  the  Host  in  the  form  of  wine 
("  infandatur  ori  ejus  Eucharistia,"  Mansi, 
iii.  957).  StUl,  C'hardon  ("  H.  des  Sacr." 
torn.  ii.  Euchar.  ch.  v.  a.  2)  considers, 
and  with  reason,  that  the  rule  was  to  give 
viaticum  under  both  kinds,  so  long  as 
those  in  health  received  Communion  in 
this  way.  (^hvysostom's  letter  to  Innocent 
(Mansi,*  iii.  lUa9)  shows  that  the  Eucharist 
under  the  form  of  wine  was  reserved  for 
the  sick.  He  complains  that  the  soldiers 
spilt  the  precious  blood  on  Holy  Saturday, 
and  this  cannot  have  been  in  the  chalice  at 
ISIass ;  for  women,  he  says,  were  waiting 
for  baptism,  w^hich  preceded  the  Mass  of 
Holy  Saturday.  The  Eleventh  Council  of 
Toledo,  A.D.  075  (capit.  11),  the  direction 
in  the  Gregorian  Sacramentary  ("  oratio 
ad  visitandum  infirmum "),  and  three 
forms  for  administering  viaticum  given 
from  ancient  MSS.  by  Menard  in  his  notes 
on  this  Sacramentary,  all  assume  that 
the  dying  man  will  receive  both  kinds. 
The  same  thing  follows  from  Bede's  "  Life 
of  St.  Cuthbert "  (cap.  39). 

(3)  The  Minister  of  Viaticum. — In  the 
early  days  of  persecution  it  was  some- 
times carried  to  the  sick  by  laymen 
(Euseb.  "  H.  E."  vi.  44).  The  practice 
apparently  continued  long  after,  when  it 
had  become  a  mere  abuse.  For  Leo  IV. 
(847-56)  strictly  forbids  priests  to  send  it 
by  laymen  or  women  (Mansi,  xiv.  891). 
About  the  same  time,  we  find  Hincmar 
of  Rheims  requiring  his  deans  to  ask 
whether  the  priests  gave  Communion  to 
the  sick  with  their  own  hands,  and  not 
through  anyone  they  could  get  to  do  it 
for  them  ("  per  se,  non  per  quemlibet,'' 
Hincmar,  0pp.  ed.  Sirmond,  p.  716 ;  in 
Miijne's  reprint,  p.  779).  The  (Council  of 
Ansa,  near  Lyons,  a.d.  990  (Mansi,  xix. 
101)  permits  no  one  except  priests  to 
give  viaticum.  Deacons,  however — at 
least,  in  some  places — continued  to  do  so. 
This  is  proved,  according  to  Cbardon,  by 
the  old  statutes  of  the  Carthusians ;  and 
a  Council  of  Westminster,  a.d.  1138 
(can.  2;  Wilkins,  i.  p.  415),  puts  priestvS 
and  deacons  precisely  on  the  same  level  in 


VICAR-APOSTOLIC 

this  respect  ("per  sacerdotem  aut  dia- 
conum  aut  necessitate  instante  per  quem- 
libet"). 

(4)  Rites  and  Ceremonies,  Sfc. — No 
special  legislation,  so  far  as  we  know, 
exempted  the  dying  from  the  rule  of 
fasting  before  Communion.  But  history 
witnesses  to  the  anxiety  of  the  Church  in 
all  ages  that  the  dying  should  communi- 
cate, and  we  may  fairly  assume  that  the 
present  rule  was  in  force  from  the  be- 
ginning. The  ceremonies,  much  as  we 
have  ihem  now — e.^.  the  wearing^  of  the 
stole,  the  cross  and  lights  in  the  proces- 
sion, the  carrying  of  the  pyx,  the  bell — 
are  prescribed  in  the  Constitutions  of  St. 
Edmund  of  Canterbury,  a.d.  1236;  in  the 
Council  of  Durham,  to  which  we  have 
already  referred ;  and  in  a  provincial 
council  of  Scotland  in  the  time  of  the 
Scotch  King  Alexander  II.  (Wilkins, 
"  Concil."  i.  pp.  579,  615,  637).  On  the 
other  hand,  we  doubt  if  the  special  form 
in  which  viaticum  is  now  given  was 
usual  in  the  middle  ages — *'  Accipe,  frater, 
Viaticum,"  &c.  The  Gregorian  Sacra- 
mentary simply  says  :  "  Then  let  him  [the 
priest]  give  Communion  with  the  body 
and  blood  of  the  Lord ; "  and  the  Salis- 
bury ]\lanual — i.e.  Ritual — of  1543  (re- 
printed in  Maskell,  "  Monument.  Rit." 
vol.  i.)  has  merely  a  Rubric  to  the  same 
effect.  The  three  forms  given  by  Menard 
from  old  MSS.,  and  also  a  fourth  from  a 
Soissons  Manual  printed  only  eighty  years 
before  his  time,  woidd  be  suitable  for 
ordinary  Communion.  However,  a 
Bangor  Pontifical  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury contains  the  form  as  we  now  use  it — • 
"  Accipe,  frater,  Viaticum  corporis  Domini 
nostri  Jesu  Christi,"&c.  (Maskell,  loc.  cit, 
p.  81).  Viaticum,  in  the  modern  Church,  is 
given  before  Extreme  Unction.  In  the 
middle  ages  the  reverse  order  obtained, 
as  Menard  (loc.  cit.  p.  536)  proves  by  a 
multitude  of  authorities,  and  such  was 
the  order  followed  in  the  English  use  till 
Queen  Mary's  time.  The  importance  of 
receiving  the  Communion  while  the  mind 
is  still  clear  and  calm  is  the  reason  given 
by  theologians  ( Juenin,  "  De  Sacram."  p. 
688)  for  the  order  now  laid  dovm  in  the 
Roman  Ritual. 

VZCiL1l-A.POSTOZ.ZC.  By  this 
was  formerly  meant  either  a  bishop  or 
archbishop,  generally  of  some  remote  see, 
to  whom  the  Roman  Pontiff  delegated  a 
portion  of  his  jurisdiction ;  or  an  eccle- 
siastic, not  necessarily  a  bishop,  who, 
acting  under  a  Papal  brief,  or  in  virtue 
of  instructions  received  from  the  Sacred 


VICAR  FORANE 


VTCAR-GENERAL 


841 


Congregation  of  Bishops  and  Regulars, 
was  commissioned  to  exercise  the  episco- 
pal jurisdiction  (except  in  certain  special 
cases)  in  a  diocese  where  the  ordinary, 
from  whatever  cause,  was  incapacitated 
from  its  full  and  efiicient  discharge.  At 
the  present  day,  vicars-apostolic  are  nearly 
always  titular  bishops  [see  that  article], 
and  are  stationed  either  in  countries 
where  episcopal  sees  have  not  yet  been 
established,  or  in  those  where  the  succes- 
sion has  been  interrupted.  On  the  vicars- 
apostolic  sent  to  England  by  the  Ploly 
See  for  this  latter  cause,  see  English 
Catholics.  The  Gerarchia  Gattolica  for 
1883  specifies  one  hundred  and  twelve 
apostolic  vicariates  now  in  being.  Of 
these,  nine  are  in  Europe ;  sixty-four  (out 
of  which  twenty-four  are  in  China  alone) 
in  Asia  ;  fourteen  in  Africa  ;  sixteen  in 
America  ;  and  nine  in  Oceania. 

VICAR  FORilSirx:  {foraneus  =  qui 
forts  est ;  one  exercising  authority  at  a 
distance  from  the  place  where  the  bishop 
resides).  A  vicar  forane  is  either  a  dig- 
nitary or,  at  least,  if  possible,  a  parish 
priest,  who  is  appointed  by  the  bishop  to 
exercise  a  limited  jurisdiction  in  a  par- 
ticular town  or  district  of  his  diocese. 
An  appeal  lies  from  his  decision  to  the 
bishop,  who  can  also  remove  him  at 
pleasure.  "  The  chief  part  of  the  ofHce 
of  a  vicar  forane  is  to  report  to  the 
bishop  on  the  lives  of  the  clergy  within 
his  district,  and  to  inquire  into  any  charges 
brought  against  them:  to  promote  the 
observance  of  the  synodal  constitutions 
and  the  decrees  of  tlie  bishop;  to  preside 
at  local  conferences,  in  which  moral  or 
liturgical  questions  are  treated  of;  and  to 
give  notice  to  the  bishop  of  anything 
contrary  to  faith  and  good  morals,  or 
tending  to  impair  the  Divine  worship,  the 
reverence  due  to  churches,  the  observance 
of  holidays,  and  the  maintenance  of  eccle- 
siastical discipline,  which  may  occur 
within  his  district ;  finally,  to  decide 
civil  causes  of  slight  importance  "  (Soglia, 
*'Instit.  Canon.'  ii.  §  71).  The  four- 
teenth decree  of  the  first  Council  of 
Westminster,  on  Vicars  Forane,  is  in 
general  agreement  with  the  above,  but 
adds  that  it  is  their  duty  to  "  take 
care  of  sick  priests,  to  watch  over  the 
administration  of  Church  property,  and 
to  see  that  sacred  buildings  be  kept  in 
repair."  The  council  treats  the  title 
'•  Vicar  Forane  "  as  equivalent  to  "  Rural 
Dean."  There  are  vicars  forane  in 
many  Irish  dioceses,  but  almost  their 
sole  function  is  to  grant  episcopal  dis- 


pensations for  the  non-publication  of 
banns.     (Ferraris,  Vicarius  Foraneus.) 

VZCAK-GEsrSRAI..  This  oihcial 
has  succeeded  to  much  of  the  power 
formerly  exercised  in  a  diocese  by  the 
archdeacon  [Archdeacon].  In  the  canon 
law  he  is  styled  indifferently  "  officialis  " 
and  "  vicarius  generalis  "  and  the  common 
use  of  the  term  in  Italy  is  conformable  to 
thLs  state  of  the  law.  In  Transalpine 
countries  the  name  of  "  official "  is  com- 
monly given  to  the  ecclesiastic  adminis- 
tering the  contentious  jinnsdiction  of  the 
bishop,  and  that  of  "  vicar-general "  to 
him  who  exercises  his  voluntary/  juris- 
diction [Jijriseiction]. 

The  origin  of  the  office  is  supposed  to 
be  traceable  in  a  Papal  Constitution, 
promulgated  in  the  P^'ourth  Lateran 
Council,  by  which  Innocent  III.  author- 
ised the  appointment  by  any  bishop  who 
was  overburdened  by  the  weight  of  his 
episcopal  duties  of  an  ecclesiastic  to 
assist  him  in  performing  them.  Yet 
since  no  allusion  to  such  an  oflfice  occurs 
in  the  Decretals,  compiled  some  years 
later  under  Gregory  IX.,  it  would 
seem  that  the  permission  granted  at  the 
Lateran  Council  was  not  for  some  time 
much  acted  upon.  However,  before  the 
end  of  the  thirteenth  century  vicars- 
general  had  become  oommon,  and  the 
"  Sext  "  of  Boniface  VIII.  minutely  regu- 
lates their  functions. 

A  bishop  is  not  obliged  to  appoint  a 
vicar-general  if  the  circumstances  of  the 
diocese  are  such  that  he  is  able  to  dis- 
charge all  his  episcopal  duties  without 
assistance ;  and  this  is  in  fact  the  case  in 
several  English  and  Scottish  dioceses  at 
the  present  time.  (3n  the  other  hand,  the 
bishop  may,  if  he  pleases,  appoint  two  or 
more  vicars-general,  either  assigning  to 
each  jurisdiction  over  a  certain  district, 
or  giving  to  one  the  contentious,  to  an- 
other the  voluntary  jurisdiction,  or, 
thirdly,  making  over  to  them  joint  and 
full  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  diocese 
in  solidum.  The  person  appointed  must 
be  a  clerk,  not  a  layman,  but  the  law 
does  not  require  that  he  should  be  in 
holy  orders ;  the  modern  practice  of  the 
Curia,  however,  obliges  him  to  have  a 
doctors  or  some  other  degree  in  canon 
law.  No  one  having  cure  of  souls,  nor 
any  regular  belonging  to  a  mendicant 
order,  can  be  appointed  to  the  office.  A 
regular  canon  or  a  monk  may  be  a  vicar- 
general,  if  certain  conditions  be  fulfilled. 
It  is  held  to  be  desirable  that,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  office  should  be  committed 


842 


VICE-CHANCELLOR 


VIENNE 


to  an  ecclesiastic  belonging  to  another 
diocese. 

In  matters  of  jurisdiction  the  vicar  is 
regarded  as  the  ordinary,  and  his  tribunal 
is  identical  with  that  of  the  bishop,  so 
that  there  is  no  appeal  from  the  one  to 
the  other.  But  lie  is  bound  to  keep  care- 
fully within  the  limits  of  his  commission  ; 
thus  he  may  not  do  any  of  those  things 
which  come  under  the  definition  of 
"Pontificalia,"  and  belong  to  the  epis- 
copal order,  such  as  making  the  holy 
oiJs,  consecratiug  churches,  altars,  cha- 
lices, iS:c.  Nor  may  he  decide  anything 
without  a  special  mandate,  which  it  may 
be  reasonably  presumt-d  the  bishop  could 
not  have  intended  to  entrust  to  him  by 
his  general  commission.  For  instance, 
although  his  commission  warrants  him  to 
do  all  formal  acts  required  in  the  insti- 
tution of  ecclesiastics  to  benefices,  offices, 
or  dignities,  it  does  not  authorise  him  to 
confer  any  of  these  ;  to  do  so  lawfully  he 
must  have  a  special  mandate.  He  can- 
not summon  a  synod,  nor  convoke  the 
chapter,  nor  visit  the  diocese ;  "  and 
generally,  in  business  of  an  arduous  and 
weighty  nature,  he  cannot  act  without 
cousulting  the  bishop."  '  The  powers  of 
a  vicar-general  cease  and  determine — (1) 
when  his  commission  is  cancelled  by  the 
bishop  ;  (2)  upon  his  death  or  resignation  ; 
(3)  when,  Irom  whatever  cause,  the 
bishops  own  jurisdiction  in  the  diocese 
ceases.  (Soglia,  "Instit.  Canon."  ii.  §§ 
69,  70.) 

VXCS-CBAirCEIiXiOR.    [See  CuBIA. 

Roman  A.] 

VZSXTXrs.  The  Fifteenth  General 
Council  was  opened  by  Clement  V.  at 
Vienne,  in  the  Dauphiue,  on  October  16, 
1311.  Great  uncertainty  prevails  as  to 
the  number  of  members  present,  and  the 
number  of  bishops  and  mitred  abbots 
present  is  variously  estimated  at  114  ,and 
300.  The  Pope  in  his  uddress  at  the 
opening  gives  three  reasons  for  the  assem- 
bling of  the  Council — viz.  the  affair  of  the 
Templars,  the  rescue  of  the  Holy  Land, 
the  reform  of  abuses  in  the  Church. 

The  investigation  of  the  charges 
against  the  Templars  took  a  long  time, 
and  nearly  six  months  passed  between  the 
first  and  second  sessions.  The  order,  as 
has  been  already  said  in  a  previous 
article,  was  suppressed  by  a  Papal  bull, 
but  no  definite  judgment  was  passed  on 
the  crimes  laid  to  the  charge  of  its 
members.  The  French  king,  Philip  the 
Fair,  did  not  succeed  in  obtaining  the 
»  SogUa. 


condemnation  of  Pope  Boniface  VTIL, 
but  a  decree  of  Clement  in  1307  had 
annulled  the  excommunications,  inter- 
dicts, &c.,  issued  by  liouiface  against 
Philip  and  his  supporters,  and  secured 
them  from  any  prejudice  in  the  future. 

The  rest  of  the  decrees  of  the  Council 
were  partly  dogmatic,  partly  disciplinary. 
John  Peter  de  Oliva,  a  Franciscan  (born 
in  Provence  1247,  died  1297^,  belonged 
to  the  "  Spiritual "  party  in  his  order, 
was  an  admirer  of  the  abbot  Joachim, 
the  author  of  the  "  Eternal  Gospel,"  and 
himself  wrote  a  fantastical  commentary  on 
the  Apocalypse.  It  was  with  reference 
to  him  that  the  Pope  in  Council  con- 
demned the  opinions  that  the  soul  is  not 
"  in  itself  and  essentially  the  form  of  the 
human  body,"  and  that  Christ  was  still 
living  when  his  body  was  pierced  with 
the  lance,  and  declared  it  the  more  pro- 
bable view  that  sanctifying  grace  and 
the  virtues  are  infused  into  the  souls  of 
chi'dren  at  baptism.  The  immoral 
Quietism  of  the  Beguards  and  Beguines 
was  also  reprobated,  particularly  their 
doctrine  that  man  may  become  absolutely 
perfect,  and  attain  perfect  beatitude  in 
this  life  ;  that  a  perfect  man  is  free  from 
subjection  to  the  ecclesiastical  or  civil 
law,  and  may  commit  the  ^rrossest  offences 
against  the  moral  law  without  sin. 

The  following  were  the  chief  disci- 
plinary decrees.^  The  "  black  "  monks 
and  the  nuns  were  forbidden  to  indulge 
in  luxurious  and  worldly  habits  {e.g. 
hunting,  attending  the  courts  ot  princes, 
wearing  silk  or  jewellery,  being  present 
at  balls,  &c.)  An  attempt,  not  altogether 
successful,  was  made  to  heal  the  schism 
in  the  Franciscan  order  caused  by  the 
"  Spirituals."  The  clerics,  who  were 
rectors  of  hospitals,  were  reproved  for 
neglecting  the  poor  and  enriching  them- 
selves from  the  funds  entrusted  to  them. 
For  the  future  such  institutions  were 
to  be  placed  under  good  and  prudent 
men,^vho  were  to  submit  their  accounts 
to  the  ordinary.  This,  says  Fleury,  was 
the  origin  of  the  lay  administrators  of 
hospitals,  established  "to  the  shame  of 
the  clergy."    Many  secular  prelates  were 

1  A  memoir,  drawn  up  at  the  Pope's  re- 
quest by  William  Durand,  bishop  of  Mende, 
gives  an  appalliiif?  jiicture  of  the  state  of  the 
ChurcJi.  He  mentions  particularly  the  want 
of  all  observan'.e  in  monastic  orders,  the  ira- 
mor  lity  of  the  monks  and  clergy,  the  venalit/ 
of  the  Roman  C.-urt,  the  way  in  which  heiipfices 
were  kept  vacant,  &c.  He  pleads  for  reform  in 
the  Curia  and  among  the  cler.  y,  and  propose* 
that  priests  should  be  allowed  to  marry. 


VIGILS 

anxious  that  the  exemptions  granted  to 
relig'ious  orders  should  be  withdrawn. 
This  was  not  done,  but  religious  were 
forbidden  under  pain  of  excommunica- 
tion to  give  Extreme  Unction,  Holy 
Communion,  or  the  nuptial  benediction 
without  express  leave  from  the  parish 
priest.  They  were  also  forbidden  to  be- 
guile lay  people  from  attending  the  ser*- 
vices  in  the  parish  church.  Regulations 
were  made  on  clerical  decorum,  and  on 
the  age  for  orders.  A  sub-deacon  must 
be  at  least  in  his  eighteenth,  a  deacon  in 
bis  twentieth,  a  priest  in  his  twenty-fifth 
year.  I'he  bull  of  Urban  IV.  instituting 
the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi  was  repeated 
and  confirmed.  Steps  were  taken  to 
promote  the  study  of  the  Oriental  lan- 
guages, a  measure  which  Raymond  Lully 
bad  desii-ed  long  before.  Chairs  of 
Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and  Arabic  were  to  be 
established  in  the  Roman  Court  and  in 
the  Universities  of  Paris,  Oxford,  Bo- 
logna, and  Salamanca.  Lastly,  a  crusade 
was  proclaimed  for  the  recovery  of  the 
Holy  Land ;  the  Kings  of  England, 
France,  and  Navarre  promised  to  take 
part  in  it,  and  a  tithe  was  to  be  levied 
for  six  years  to  defray  the  expense.  The 
third  and  last  session  ended  on  May  6, 
1312.  (Fleury,  "  H.  E."  liv.  xci. ;  Hefele, 
*'  Concil."  vol.  vi.) 

VZCZX.S.  Originally  the  watch  kept 
on  the  night  before  a  feast,  and  then,  from 
the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century  (Probst, 
"  Brevier,  und  Brevier-Gebet,"  p.  176), 
the  day  and  the  night  preceding  a  feast. 

(1)  The  practice  of  spending  the  night 
in  public  prayer  is  probably  older  than 
Christianity,  for  Eusebius  ("  H.  E."  ii. 
17)  attributes  it  to  the  Therapeutse  or 
Alexandrian  Essenes.  In  Acts  xx.  7  we 
have  an  instance  of  devotional  exercises 
continued  at  least  till  midqight.  Vigils 
are  mentioned  by  TertuUian  ("  Ad  Uxor." 
lib.  ii.  5),^  and  the  vigil  maintained  till 
"  cock-crow "  on  Holy  Saturday  is  pre- 
scribed in  the  Apostolic  Constitutions  (v. 
19).  Chrysostom  speaks  of  the  observance 
of  vigils  as  a  proof  of  piety  (Horn.  iv.  in 
iUud  "  Vidi  Dominum,"  torn.  vi.  p.  120 
in  Migne:  t'Se  neurjTai  eK  fieaovvKriwu 
fi^XP'-  '''^^  r]iJ.€pa^  Trapafievovras,  ffKine 
navvvxi^ds) ;  and  Socrates  ("  II.  E."  vi. 
8)  refers  to  the  nocturnal  hymns  and  vigils 
of  Catholics  and  Arians  at  Constantinople 
m  the  saint's  time.  We  learn  from  Basil 
(in  Ps.  cxiv.)  that  vigils  were  held  before 

1  There  is,  however,  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  he  is  alluding  to  vigils  in  the  strict  sense 
— *.«.  to  public  prayer  at  night. 


VIGILS 


843 


the  feasts  of  martyrs,  and  it  appears  from 
Theodoret  ("  H.  E."  ii.  10)  and  Socrates 
that  such  vigils  were  the  usual  preludes 
to  Mass  on  Saturday  and  on  Sunday,  or 
other  feasts.  Jerome  (Ep.  cix.  and  "Adv. 
Vigilant."  n.  9  ;  cf.  Ep.  cxlvii.)  defends 
the  custom  against  Vigil antius,  admitting, 
however,  the  grave  immorality  by  which 
they  were  sometimes  accompanied.  It 
was  probably  these  and  other  abuses 
which  led  to  the  discontinuance  of  the 
devotion.  Gautier,  bishop  of  Poitiers, 
prohibited  vigils  within  his  diocese  in 
1280,  and  it  seems  from  the  language 
of  the  Papal  legates  at  the  Council  of 
Valladolid  in  1322  that  the  old  use  was 
dying  out.  St.  Charles  forbade  the  keep- 
ing of  any  vigil  except  that  before 
Christmas,  and  at  present  the  Matins 
and  Lauds  and  the  midnight  Mass  before 
that  feast  are  the  only  relics  of  the  old 
custom.     (See  Thomassin.) 

(2)  The  Fast  on  the  Viffils.— The 
statement  in  Smith  and  Cheetham  that 
"  the  observance  of  a  vigil  by  fasting 
came  to  be  usual  not  later  than  the  ninth 
century"  is  inaccurate,  or  at  least  mis- 
leading. Holy  Saturday  was  kept  as  a 
fast  from  very  early  times  (see  "  Const, 
Apost."  V.  18 ;  also  Holy  Week  and 
Lent)  ;  and  Augustine  (Ep.  Ixv.)  con- 
sidered it  a  crime  'to  break  the  fast  on 
the  vigil  of  Christmas  in  those  churches 
where  it  was  observed.  But  it  was  in  the 
middle  ages  that  the  obligation  of  fasting 
was  extended  to  vigils  generally.  Peter 
Damian  (Opusc.  Iv.  "  De  Vigil,"  al.  Ep. 
lib.  vi.  35)  insists  that  the  vigils  of  the 
birth  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  St.  Philip 
and  St.  James,  St.  James  the  Greater,  St. 
Bartholomew,  of  Christmas,  Easter,  Pente- 
cost, and  the  Assumption,  are  fasting  days. 
Nay,  he  even  contends  that  the  law  of 
fasting  binds  on  the  vigil  of  the  Epiphany, 
because  there  is  a  Mass  for  the  vigil  m 
the  Gregorian  Sacramentary.  Lanfranc, 
on  the  other  hand,  excepts  this  last  vigil 
("Decret.  pro  Ord.  S.  Benedict";  Migne, 
'*  Patrol."  cl.  p.  451),  and  this  is  the  rule 
which  has  actually  prevailed.  Innocent 
HI.,  writing  to  the  Archbishop  of  Braga, 
says  the  Roman  Church  fasted  on  the 
vigils  of  all  the  Apostles,  except  on  that 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  (excepted  be- 
cause of  Christmas),  and  St.  Philip  and 
St.  James,  excepted  because  of  Easter. 
This  letter  has  been  incorporated  in  the 
canon  law  ('*  Decret."  lib.  v.  tit.  xlvi. 
cap.  2,  "Consilium  Nostrum").  Such. 
is  the  present  law  of  the  Church,  apart 
from  indult  or  dispensation,  with  regard 


844 


VIGILS 


to  the  vigils  of  the  Apostles.  On  March 
9,  1777,  Pius  VI.  exempted  English  Cath- 
olics from  the  obligation  of  fasting  on 
all  vigils  except  those  of  the  Assumption, 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul  and  All  Saints,  sub- 
stituting the  fast  on  the  Wednesdays  and 
Fridays  of  Advent.  (See  the  new  edition 
of  the  Provincial  Councils  of  Westminster, 
p.  199.)  Fasting  is  also  obligatory  by  the 
Church  law  on  the  vigils  of  Christmas 
and  the  Assumption,  and  by  custom  which 
has  the  force  of  law  on  the  vigils  of  Pen- 
tecost, the  Nativity  of  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, St.  Lawrence,  and  All  Saints.  (Mera- 
tus,  s.  3,  c.  7,  n.  1.) 

(3)  The  Mass  and  Office  of  Vigils ; 
their  Translation,  Src — The  Office  used  to 
be  identical  with  that  of  the  Feria  till 
Pius  V.  introduced  the  Gospel  from  the 
Mass  of  the  Vigil  with  a  homily  ap- 
pended. (Gavant.  s.  3,  c.  7,  n.  5.)  Pro- 
bably Corpus  Christi  has  no  vigil,  because 
introduced  after  vigils  in  the  original  sense 
had  fallen  into  disuse.  Greater  vigils — i.e. 
those  of  Christmas,  Epiphany,  and  Pente- 
cost— are  celebrated  with  semi-double  ; 
that  of  Christmas  from  Lauds  onwards 
with  double  rite.  If  a  feast  with  a  vigil 
falls  on  Monday,  the  vigil  and  fast  are 
kept  on  Saturday.^  This  rule  is  laid 
down  by  Innocent  III.  {loc.  cit.),  but  was 
evidently  not  yet  established  shortly  before 
under  Alexander  III.  ('•  Decret."  lib.  v.  tit. 
xl.  cap.  14,  *'  Qusesivit  a  nobis.'')  (From 
various  sources, chiefly  Thomassin, "  Traite 
des  Jeunes,"  P.  I.  ch.  xviii. ;  P.  II.  ch.  xiv.) 

VZirCEIS-T  OF  PAirXi,  ST., 
SOCZBTT  OP.  This  society,  which 
exists  for  the  purpose  of  helping  the  poor, 
was  founded  at  Paris  just  fifty  years  ago. 
At  that  time  a  number  of  Catholic 
students,  attending  lectures  in  Paris, 
were  brought  into  contact  with  students 
of  various  ways  of  thinking — Materialists, 
Deists,  St.-Simoniaus,  Fourierists,  &c. — 
with  whom  they  discussed  subjects 
of  common  interest  in  a  **  Conference 
d'Histoire,"  or  historical  club.  One  of 
thevSe  Catholic  students  was  the  well- 
knowTi  writer  Frederic  Ozanam.  The 
free-thinkers  were  wont  to  allow  that 
Christianity  had  certainly  accomplished 
great  things,  but  they  maintained  that  its 
ancient  spirit  had  ned,  and  that  great 
practical  enterprises  could  no  longer  owe 
to  it  either  their  inspiration  or  their 
vitality.  "What  do  you  rfo  ?  "  they  asked 
of  the  Catholics;  "you  are  full  of  talk 
and  theory,  but  there  it  ends."    The  taunt 

1  This  does  not  apply  to  the  Mass  and  Office 
for  the  vigils  of  Christmas  and  Epiphanj. 


VINCENT  OF  PAUL,   ST. 

sank  into  the  mind  of  Ozanam  and  others; 
they  meditated,  prayed,  exchanged  ideas ; 
at  last,  at  a  meeting  attended  by  five  or 
six  friends,  after  much  had  been  said  as  to 
the  benefit  which  works  of  charity  would 
confer  both  on  themselves  and  on  the 
poor,  some  one  (it  was  never  ascertained 
who)  cried  out,  "  Let  us  found  a  Confer- 
ence of  Charity."  This  was  in  the  spring 
of  1833.  But  the  particular  mode  of 
commencing  their  operations  was  a  matter 
of  difficulty.  It  was  decided  to  go  to 
Sister  Rosalie,  who  at  that  time  was 
superior  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Vincent  of 
Paid,  and  obtain  from  her  the  addresses  of 
some  poor  families,  whom  the  members  of 
the  new  conference  could  visit.  This  was 
done,  and  M.  Bailly,  an  excellent  layman, 
who  was  in  intimate  relations  with  many 
of  the  Paris  clergy,  was  aoked  to  be  their 
president.  He  accepted  the  post,  and 
provided  the  conference  with  rooms  to 
meet  in.  Eight  young  students — Ozanam, 
Letaillandier,  Devaux,  Lamache,  Lallier, 
Clav6,  and  two  others— held  the  first 
conference  in  May  1833.  The  orders  for 
relief  to  be  given  to  the  poor  who  were 
visited  were  in  the  first  place  purchased 
by  the  members  from  Sister  Rosalie.  The 
conference  chose  St.  Vincent  of  Paul  for 
its  patron.  Bailly  was  a  parishioner  of 
the  cx\r€  of  St.  Etienne  du  Mont,  M. 
Faudet,  who  sanctioned  and  favoured  the 
new  work  among  the  poor  of  the  parish. 
After  a  time  rules  for  the  conduct  of 
meetings  and  the  administration  of  re- 
lief, with  appropriate  "  considerations " 
attached  to  them,  were  drawn  up  by 
M.  Bailly  and  adopted.  The  objects  of 
the  new  institute  were  stated  to  be — (1) 
"  to  encourage  its  members,  by  example 
and  counsel,  in  the  practice  of  a  Christian 
life  *,  (2)  to  visit  the  poor  and  assist  them 
when  in  distress,  as  far  as  our  means  will 
permit,  afibrding  them  also  rehgious  con- 
solations .  .  .  ;  (3)  to  apply  ourselves, 
according  to  our  abilities  and  the  time 
which  we  can  spare,  to  the  elementary 
and  Christian  instruction  of  poor  children, 
whether  free  or  imprisoned  .  .  .  ;  (4)  to 
distribute  moral  and  religious  books  ; 
(5)  to  be  willing  to  undertake  any  other 
sort  of  charitable  work  to  which  our  re- 
sources may  be  adequate,  and  which  will 
not  oppose  the  chief  end  of  the  society." 
In  1835,  the  conference  having  been 
joined  by  many  new  members,  the  ques- 
tion of  dividing  it  into  sections,  which 
should  serve  as  new  centres  whence  the 
work  of  charity  among  the  swarming  poor 
of  Paris  might  be  carried  on  more  eft'ectu- 


VINCENT  OF  PAUL,  ST. 

ally  than  before,  came  on  for  discussion. 
The  division  was  warmly  opposed  by 
many ;  at  last,  however,  it  was  resolved 
upon,  and  thus  a  step  was  taken  which 
facilitated  and  foreshowed  the  ultimate 
extension  of  the  labours  of  the  society  to 
other  cities  and  other  lands.  The  new 
sections  themselves  were  after  a  time  called 
"  Conferences,"  and  the  aggregate  of  the 
conferences  formed  the  "  Society  of  St. 
Vincent  of  Paul." 

The  movement  originated  among  lay- 
men, and  the  administration  of  the  society 
has  always  been  in  lay  hands,  but  in 
union  with  and  subordination  to  the 
clergy.  Its  lay  character  is  said  to  have 
much  favoured  its  extension  at  the  parti- 
cular time  when  it  arose,  when  it  was 
enough  for  a  society  or  enterprise  of  any 
kind  to  have  an  ecclesiastic  at  his  head,  to 
be  denounced  in  the  press  and  the  salons 
as  an  "ceuvre  j^suitique." 

The  members  devote  themselves  to 
visiting  and  relieving  the  poor,  and  in 
order  to  do  this  effectually,  many  special 
works  of  charity  have  been  organised  by 
it.  Among  these  are  libraries,  clothing 
depots,  creches,  boarding  out  with  farmers, 
visits  to  prisons  and  hospitals,  and  finding 
work  for  labourers  and  women  out  of 
employ.  On  urgent  occasions  the  society 
will  grant  extraordinary  help ;  thus  it 
sent  money  for  the  relief  of  the  terrible 
Irish  distress  in  1847  and  1848. 

Soon  after  the  division  of  the  first 
conference,  the  presidents  of  the  different 
conferences  began  the  practice  of  meeting 
in  council  from  time  to  time :  thus  was 
formed  .  the  "  council-general."  Other 
councils — c.  centraux,  c.  supei-ieurs — arose 
as  they  were  required.  In  1853  the 
members  of  the  Paris  conferences  were 
2,000  in  number,  having  6,000  families 
inscribed  on  their  visiting  lists.  The 
society  had  even  at  that  time  spread  to 
England,  Ireland,  Spain,  Belgium,  America, 
and  Palestine.  Indulgences  were  granted 
to  it  in  very  ample  terms  by  Popes  Gre- 
gory XVI.  and  Pius  IX.  The  last  named 
Pope,  in  1853,  gave  to  the  society  Card. 
Fornari  as  its  Cardinal  Protector. 

Under  the  Second  Empire,  the  Count 
de  Persigny,  in  a  circular  letter  to  the 
prefects,  brought  charges  against  the 
administration  of  the  society,  the  drift  of 
which  was  that  under  the  pretence  of 
charity,  its  organisation  was  being  used  to 
promote  political  objects.  The  Govern- 
ment required  that,  the  society  should 
accept  Cardinal  Morlot  as  the  official 
head  of  the  General  Council  \  otherwise  it 


VISITATIO  LIMINUM 


846 


was  to  be  suppressed.  The  society  de- 
clined to  accede  to  this  proposal,  and  the 
General  Council  was  consequently  sus- 
pended ;  the  local  conferences  carried  on 
their  operations  as  usual. 

In  1876  the  number  of  conferences, 
established  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  was 
nearly  6,000.  In  1877  more  than  seven 
millions  of  francs  were  expended  by  it  in 
the  relief  of  distress.  ("  Vie  de  Frederic 
Ozanam,"  1879  ;  "  Manual  of  the  Society 
of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,"  1867.) 

vlRTxrE.  [See  Faith  ;  Hope; 
Charity.] 

VISIT  TO  THE  BIiESSEB 
SACRiLMEXTT.  The  daily  visit  to  a 
church  in  order  to  engage  in  silent  prayer 
before  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  is  a  practice 
common  in  all  religious  houses,  and  asceti- 
cal  writers  recommend  the  custom  to  per- 
sons living  in  the  world.  This  devotion, 
natural  as  it  is  on  Catholic  principles,  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  familiar  to  Chris- 
tians in  the  early  or  even  the  middle  ages. 
Fr.  Bridgett,  in  his  learned  work  on  the 
"■  History  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in 
Great  Britain  "  (vol.  ii.  p.  239),  does  pro- 
duce instances — e.g.  from  the  earlier  part 
of  the  middle  ages — of  prayer  made  before 
the  altar  at  a  time  when,  evidently,  no 
service  was  going  on  ;  but  there  is  no  ex- 
press reference  to  the  Holy  Eucharist. 

VISITATIO  X.I»XIXrUM  APOSTO- 
IiORVM.  That  it  was  a  duty  incumbent 
on  a  Catholic  bishop  to  visit  from  time  to 
time  the  tombs  of  the  Apostles  Peter  and 
Paul  at  Eome,  in  order  to  honour  the 
institution  of  Christ  in  the  person  of  his 
Vicar,  to  strengthen  his  own  communion 
and  that  of  his  flock  with  the  living  centre 
of  Christianity,  and  to  report  the  state  of 
his  diocese  to  the  Supreme  Pastor  and 
Ruler,  was  a  conviction  which  had  been 
growing  in  force  for  centuries,  and  had 
found  continuous  practical  expression  in 
those  innumerable  visits  of  bishops  to 
Rome  which  the  annals  of  the  Church 
record.  Leo  III.  (Ep,  i.)  ordained  that 
bishops  should  visit  the  limina  Aposto- 
lorum,  but  without  prescribing  anything  as 
to  the  time.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the 
practice  assumed  the  form  of  a  positive 
law.  Sixtus  V.  by  the  Constitution  "  Ro- 
manus  Pontifex"  (1585)  ordained  that 
the  bishops  of  Italy,  the  islands  in  the 
Adriatic,  and  the  neighbouring  parts  of 
Greece,  should  be  bound  to  visit  the 
limina  Apostolm'um  once  in  three  years ; 
the  bishops  of  France,  Spain,  England, 
Germany,  and  other  countries  within  the 
North  and  Baltic  Seas,  as  also  of  the 


846     VISITATION,  EPISCOPAL 

iidands  in  the  Mediterranean,  once  in  four 
years  ;  all  other  bit^hops  in  Europe  and 
those  of  Africa,  once  in  five  years ;  and 
all  Asiatic  and  American  bishops,  once  in 
ten  years.  The  visit  was  to  be  made 
either  in  person,  or,  if  a  legitimate  hin- 
drance intervened,  by  a  suitable  proctor 
or  representative. 

What  was  a  visit  of  duty  for  a  bishop 
was  a  pious  pilgrimage  for  a  clerk  or 
layman,  and  so  orond  a  work,  that  by  th^ 
gound  Catholic  feeling  of  ancient  times  it 
was  almost  raised  to  the  level  of  a  duty. 
Benedict  Biscop,  the  founder  of  the 
monast^ies  of  Wearmouth  and  Jarrow 
in  tlie  seventh  century,  visited  Rome  six 
dittereut  times.  Ordericus  Vitalis  (t about 
1142),  after  describing  the  martyrdoms  cf 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul  under  Nero,  says  : 
*"  Rome,  the  capital  of  the  world,  glories 
in  having  for  her  patrons  such  exalted 
fiaints,  to  whose  temples  the  faithful 
resort  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  in 
order  that  by  the  assistance  of  these 
powerful  advocates  they  may  be  protected 
from  all  their  adversaries  and  all  hostile 
inHuences."^  (Ferraris,  "Lim.  Ap."; 
Sog^iM,  ii.  §  63.) 

VISZTATZpir,  EPZSCOPAXi.  To 
visit  his  diocese,  and  ascertain  the  state 
and  progress  of  religion  in  every  part  of 
it,  is  of  course  one  of  the  main  portions 
of  that  "  oversight "  which  belongs  to  the 
bishop's  office.  The  Council  of  Trent  ^ 
prescribed  that  all  bishops,  either  in 
person  or  by  their  vicar-generals  or 
vlsito  s,  should,  if  the  size  of  the  diocese 
rer.dered  the  annual  visitation  of  the 
whole  of  it  impossible,  at  least  visit  every 
part  at  intervals  not  exceeding  two  years. 
The  aim  of  such  visitations  is  described 
as  comprehending  the  maintenance  of 
Bound  doctrine,  the  expulsion  of  heresy, 
the  reformation  of  morals,  the  right 
an-angement  of  whatever  relates  both  to 
persons  and  things  ecclesiastical,  and  the 
encouragement  of  the  faithful,  by  preach- 
ing and  other  means,  to  lead  religious 
and  peaceful  lives.  The  visitor,  whether 
the  bishop  or  his  deputy,  is  counselled  to 
eschew  vain  pomp  and  show,  and  to 
accept  no  fees  or  gratifications  for  any 
service  connected  with  the  visitation 
except  such  as  are  expressly  authorised 
by  law.  All  thnt  the  visitor  can  claim  is 
board  and  lodging,  or  (if  such  be  the 
local  custom)  the  equivalent  thereof  in 
money.  But  if  it  be  the  custom  of  the 
place  or  province  to  give  nothing  at  all, 

»  Eccl.  Hist.  ed.  Bohn,  book  ii.  ch.  8. 
'  Sefts.  xxiv.  c.  8,  De  lief. 


VISITATION,  ORDER  OF  THE 

not  even  board,  tc  visitors,  that  custom 
must,  be  respected. 

Bishops  may  in  their  own  right,  and 
a^so  as  delegates  of  the  Apostolic  See, 
visit  the  chapters  of  cathedral  and  col- 
legiate churches  within  their  dioceses, 
and  correct  what  may  be  found  amiss  in 
them.^  In  the  decree  on  seminaries  (sess. 
xxiii.  c.  18,  De  Ref.),  it  is  assumed  that 
these  institutions  will  be  frequently 
visited  by  the  bishops.  Benetices  with 
cure  of  souls,  which  are  annexed  to 
churches,  monasteries,  cS:c.,  as  part  of 
their  endowment,  should  be  annually 
visited  by  the  bishop,  who  should  take 
care  that  the  vicars  administering  them 
be  reasonably  remunerated  out  of  the 
revenues.^  When  the  members  of  a 
regular  community  (except  the  monastery 
of  Oluny  and  the  houses  in  which  the 
heads  of  orders  have  their  ordinary  prin- 
cipal residence)  have  the  care  of  the 
souls  of  secular  persons,  other  than  their 
own  servants  and  dependents,  they  are 
subject  to  the  visitation  and  control  of 
the  bishop  of  the  diocese.^  As  delegates 
of  the  Apostolic  See,  bishops  are  em- 
powered to  visit — (1)  monasteries  and 
benefices  held  in  commendam,  (2)  hos- 
pitals, colleges,  confraternities,  schools, 
inants-de-piete,  and  "pia  loca"  in  gene- 
ral, (3)  churches  in  mdlitcs  diocen,  or 
"  peculiar,"  provided  that  the  cathedral 
of  the  bishop  so  visiting  be  the  nearest  to 
the  place  ;  if  that  is  a  doubtful  point, 
the  right  of  visit  belongs  to  the  bishop 
who  has  been  elected  to  it  by  the  prelate 
of  the  peculiar  in  a  provincial  council. 
The  results  of  an  e;  iscopal  visitation  are 
to  be  reported  to  the  Sacred  Congregation 
of  the  Council.  (Soglia,  lib.  ii.  §  63^ 
Ferraris,  Visitntio.) 

VISZTATZOZr,  ORDER  OF  TBS. 
This  order  was  tounded  at  Annecy  in 
1610  by  the  holy  widow  Jane  Frances, 
Mme.  de  Chantal  (who  was  canonised  in 
1767),  under  the  direction  of  St.  Francis 
de  Sales,  then  bishop  of  Geneva.  It  was 
designed  by  the  bishop  to  be  open  to 
widows  and  ladies  of  weak  nealth  as 
well  as  to  the  young  and  robust ;  hence 
but  ievi^  corporal  austerities  were  required 
by  the  rule,  and  at  first  there  was  no 
enclosure,  so  that  the  religious  could  freely 
visit  the  sick  and  needy  in  their  own 
homes.  On  the  other  hand,  the  employment 
of  time  and  the  regulation  of  the  thoughts 
were  provided  for  in  the  rule  with  great 

'  Sess.  vi.  c.  4,  De  Ref. 
3  S.  83.  vii.  c  7,  De  Kk-i. 
5  Sess.  XXV.  c.  11,  De  Keg.  et  Moo. 


VOCATION 


VOWS 


84r 


minuteness.  St  Francis  did  not  wish 
the  religious  to  be  exempt  from  the  juris- 
diction of  the  bishops,  and  therefore  he 
would  not  consent  to  the  appointment  of 
a  superior  for  the  whole  order.  The  rule 
of  enclosure  was  adopted  in  1618.  A 
few  of  their  convents— «.</.  Blois  and 
Troves — resisted  the  bull  *'  Unigenitus  " 
[Ja  xsexism]  ,  but  the  great  majority- 
showed  an  excellent  spirit.  About  1863 
the  order  "still  numbered  a  hundred 
houses,  divided  between  Italy,  France, 
Switzerland,  Austria,  Poland,  Syria, 
and  North  America,  with  about  3,000 
members."  ^  The  Ven,  Marie  Margue- 
rite d'Alacoque,  so  well  known  in  con- 
nection with  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred 
Heart,  belonged  to  this  order.  In  1814 
a  voluntary  society,  popularly  known  as 
"the  Pious  Ladies,"  existing  in  George- 
town, D.  0.,  Since  1799,  assumed  the 
vows  of  Visitation  nuns  and  thus  form- 
ed the  first  community  in  the  U.  S., 
where  there  are  now  twenty  convents. 

VOCATZOir.  In  its  more  restricted 
and  special  sense  vocation  is  taken  for 
that  "  disposition  of  Divine  Providence  " 
whereby  persons  are  invited  to  serve  Grod 
in  some  special  state — e.g.  as  ecclesiastics 
or  religious.  The  ecclesiastical  vocation 
is  manifested  by  the  pious  desires  of  the 
heart,  by  innocence  of  life,  by  the  sincere 
love  of  Christ,  by  pure  zeal  for  God's 
glory  and  the  salvation  of  souls.  That 
to  the  religious  state,  or  the  perfect  prac- 
tice of  the  evangelical  counsels,  comes  to 
Fouls  with  a  certain  pressing  invitation, 
with  "a  strong  de*ire  of  self-sacrifice  and 
a  clear  perception  of  worldly  vanity,  with 
a  certain  attractiveness  for  intimacy  with 
Christ  and  for  the  exaltation  of  his  holy 
Name.  But  it  is  given  differently  to 
different  persons,  and  prepares  them 
"  powerfully  "  though  "  sweetly  "  for  the 
practice  of  solid  virtue.  "  If  thou  wouldst 
be  perfect,"  said  our  Lord,  "  go  sell  what 
thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor,  .  .  .  . 
and  come,  follow  Me." 

VOTIVE  WEASS.  [See  Mass.] 
vovrs,  A  vow  is  a  deliberate 
promise  made  to  God  in  regard  to  some- 
thing possessing  superior  goodness.  To 
be  valid  it  must  proceed  from  the  free, 
deliberate  will  of  one  who  by  age  and 
social  position  is  capable  of  contracting  a 
solemn  obligation.  It  is  to  God  alone 
that  a  vow  is  taken,  and  because,  in  a 
special  manner,  it  belongs  immediately  to 
God's  service,  it  is  an  act  of  religion,  or 
of  divine  worship.  To  vow  to  a  saint 
1  Herzog,  Real-ll^ncyklopMie. 


means,  in  the  mind  of  Catholics,  to  vow- 
to  God  in  honour  of  a  saint:  just  as  to 
dedicate  a  church  to  a  saint  simply 
implies  to  dedicate  it  to  God  in  the 
saint's  honour.  What  is  illicit  or  alto- 
gether indifferent,  or  imperfect,  or  im- 
possible cannot  be  the  subject-matter  of 
a  vow  ;  in  the  circumstances  in  which  it 
is  taken  it  must  always  turn  on  "  the 
greater  good  " — "  de  bono  meliori."  The 
vow  gives  to  the  actions  which  it  covers 
a  special  merit — a  merit  which  St. 
Thomas  derives  from  a  threefold  source. 
First,  since  a  vow  appertains  to  religion, 
or  the  order  of  divine  worship,  it  com- 
municates its  character  to  acts  of  other 
virtues  practised  under  its  control,  or 
elevates  tliem  to  the  rank,  as  it  were,  of 
sacrifice.  To  ohey  duly  is  a  virtuous 
act,  but  to  obey  in  virtue  of  a  vow  is  to 
perform  an  act  which  is  invested  with 
the  character  of  worship.  Secondly, 
because  the  offering  made  to  God  by  the 
performance  of  virtuous  actions  under  the 
obligation  of  a  vow  is  a  much  greater 
offering  than  the  performance  of  the 
same  without  that  obligation.  In  the 
latter  case  the  bare  action  is  offered ;  in 
the  former  not  only  the  action  but  the 
faculty  from  which  it  proceeds;  or,  to 
use  the  comparison  given  by  St.  Anselm, 
in  one  instance  you  offer  the  fruit,  in  the 
other  not  only  the  fruit  but  the  tree  hIso. 
Thirdly,  because  by  a  vow  the  will  is 
bound  to  a  virtuous  line  of  action,  receiv- 
ing stability  therein  not  only  for  the 
present  but  for  the  future.  Thus,  by 
being  immovably  allied  to  the  good  by 
the  force  of  a  vow,  the  will  is  strengthened 
to  tend  to  the  perfection  of  virtue.  One 
can,  however,  through  perversity,  break 
through  the  obligation  of  his  vow ;  but 
by  the  requirements  of  the  same  he  mci'if 
not  do  so — that  is,  he  has  the  physical 
but  not  the  moral  power  of  violating  the 
law  which  he  has  imposed  on  himself. 
But  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  an 
action  done  without  the  obligation  may- 
be and  constrintly  is  more  holy  and 
pleasing  to  God  than  a  corresponding 
action  done  under  vow,  because  the 
former  may  proceed  from  a  more  intense 
L»ve  of  God.  It  is  on  this  that  the  in- 
trinsic perfection  of  our  deeds  depends. 
And  an  act' on  which  is  vowed  is  more 
perfect  than  one  not  so  vowed,  only,  if 
other  things  are  equal. 

It  is  true  that  by  vows  the  will  is 
limited  in  its  sphere  of  action  ;  by  its 
promise  to  God  its  scope  is  bounded  by  a 
certain  special  law.     Still,  for  all  that,  it 


848 


VOWS 


vows 


is  none  the  less  free,  since  true  freedom 
exists  only  within  the  range  of  the 
vu-tuous.  "The  Blessed"  are  free, 
though  irrevocably  confirmed  in  glory; 
God,  who  by  his  nature  is  infinitely 
just,  is  free  ;  and  man  under  vows  is  free 
"  by  the  freedom  with  which  Christ  has 
made  us  free."  Vows  certainly  do  not 
exempt  those  who  take  them  from  sinning 
against  them;  but  to  say  that  on  that 
account  they  ought  not  to  take  them  is 
equivalent  to  saying  that,  as  a  rule,  one 
ought  not  to  undertake  what  is  good  in 
itself,  lest  through  his  own  fault  he 
should  violate  his  purpose ;  or,  for  in- 
stance, that  he  ought  not  to  go  to  Mass 
on  Sunday,  lest  some  accident  might 
befall  him  by  the  way. 

From  the  earliest  times  vows  have 
been  taken.  Under  the  old  law  they  are 
spoken  of,  among  other  passages,  in 
Genesis  xxviii.,  Leviticus  xxvii.,  and 
Deuteronomy  xxiii.  Christ  could  not 
have  bound  Himself  by  vow,  according 
to  St.  Thomas,  because  He  was  God,  and 
because  his  human  will  was  confirmed 
in  goodness.  The  Apostles  are  supposed 
by  many  to  have  vowed  whatever  belongs 
to  the  state  of  perfection  when,  after 
having  left  all,  they  followed  Christ.  It 
is  also  said  of  St.  Paul  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  that  he  bad  a  vow  ;  and,  again, 
that  the  four  men  whom  he  took  into  th^ 
temple  to  be  purified  "  had  a  vow  on 
them."  As  to  the  special  vows  of  religious 
life,  or  "  the  evangelical  counsels,"  as  they 
are  called,  their  substance  or  subject- 
matter  was  marked  out  by  our  Lord  Him- 
self. These  have  been  observed,  at  least 
partially,  by  individuals  or  communities 
since  the  Apostolic  age,  and  form  the  basis 
and  substance  of  the  religious  state.  Vows 
are  of  divine  institution,  but  the  forms 
under  which  they  are  to  be  taken  in 
different  religious  bodies  are  determined 
by  the  legislation  of  the  Church.  She 
admits  vows,  temporal  or  perpetual,  con- 
ditional or  absolute,  simple  or  solemn. 
Vows  are  solemn  because  they  have  been 
instituted  as  such  and  have  been  accepted 
as  such  by  the    Church.^    Their    obli- 

.  •  TheologlAns  are  much  divided  on  the 
essential  nature  of  the  distinction  between 
solemn  and  simple  vows.  It  has,  of  course, 
nothing  to  do  with  the  public  or  private 
manner  in  which  the  vow  is  made,  or  the  cere- 
monies which  accompany  the  making  of  it.  A 
solemn  vow  implies  an  absolute  and  irrevocable 
Borrender,  and  the  acceptance  of  it  by  lawful 
authority.  Whereas  a  simple  vow  makes 
marriage  unlawful  and  deprives  the  person  who 
has  m«Se  it  of  the  right  to  use  his  property,  a 


gations  are  more  stringent  and  their 
privileges  greater  than  those  of  simple 
vows  and  form  one  of  the  special  charac- 
teristics of  a  religious  order.  According 
to  the  law  enacted  by  Pope  Pius  IX.  in 
1857,  only  simple  vows  are  to  be  taken 
after  the  noviceship  in  all  religious  orders, 
and  that  for  the  term  of  at  least  three 
years ;  after  which  time,  if  superiors 
should  sanction  it,  their  subjects  are  en- 
titled to  take  solemn  vows.  In  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  according  to  its  consti- 
tutions, the  noviceship  being  ended,  simple 
vows,  with  the  approbation  of  superiors, 
are  taken  by  its  members,  and  after  trials 
of  many  years,  either  three  public  but 
simple  vows  or  four  solemn  vows  are  to 
be  taken  by  the  same  members  as  their 
superiors  shall  decide.  In  a  few  convents 
of  the  Visitation  order  in  the  United  States, 
nuns,  after  having  lived  duly  under  simple 
vows  during  five  years,  are  admitted  to 
the  profession  of  solemn  vows.  The 
members  of  all  other  religious  com- 
munities in  the  United  States  take  only 
simple  vows.  When  the  subject-matt-er 
of  vows,  or  the  reason  for  which  they 
were  taken,  or  the  possibility  of  fulfilling 
them  ceases  to  exist,  they  cease  to  be 
binding.  Their  obligation  also  is  can- 
celled by  a  dispensation  of  the  Church. 
To  her  has  been  granted  by  Christ  tiie 
power  of  binding  and  loosing  by  the 
words,  "  Whatsoever  you  shall  bind  upon 
earth  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven,  and 
whatever  you  shall  loose  upon  earth  shall 
be  loosed  also  in  heaven."  To  the  Pope, 
therefore,  as  vicar  of  Christ,  belongs  the 
supreme  authority  through  the  whole 
Church  of  dispensing  from  vows  for  legi- 
timate reasons;  and  under  him  bishops 
and  religious  superiors  having  quasi- 
episcopal  jurisdiction  have  the  power  of 
dispensing,  on  just  grounds,  from  the 
vows  of  those  who  are  under  their 
spiritual  care.  What  has  been  said  of  the 
dispensation  of  vows  may,  according  to 
due  measure,  be  said  also  of  the  com- 
mutation of  them.  For  dispensations 
from  solemn  vows  recourse  is  to  be  had 
to  the  Pope  ;  for  dispensations  from  simple 
vows,  in  religious  congregations  whose 
rule  has  received  Papal  sanction — from 
vows  of  chastity,  vows  of  entering  re- 
ligion, and  vows  of  pilgrimage  to  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  the  li.nina  Apostolorum, 

solemn  vow  makes  marriage  invalid  and  takes 
awny  all  dominion  over  property.  The  vows 
which  Jesuits  make  at  th*'  end  of  the  novitiate 
annul  marriage,  but  are  not  irrevocably  accepted 
by  the  superiors,  and  therefore  are  nut  solemn. 


\T^LQATE 


VULGATE 


849 


or  St.  James  of  Oompostella — application 
is  likewise  to  be  made  to  the  Holy  See  or 
to  a  superior  specially  delegated  by  it  for 
that  purpose.  Vows  talieii  in  religious 
associations  which  have  received  only 
episcopal  approbation  may  be  dispensed 
from  by  episcopal  authority. 

VUIiGATE.  The  name  is  now  com- 
monly given  to  the  Latin  version  of  the 
Bible,  authorised  by  the  Catholic  Church. 
In  this  version  all  the  books  found  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible  were  translated  by  Jerome 
from  the  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  originals, 
except  the  Psalter,  which  belongs  to  an 
Old  Latin  version  revised  by  Jerome. 
Judith  and  Tobias  were  freely  translated 
by  Jerome  from  the  Chaldee  (this Chaldee, 
however,  being  merely  the  version  of 
Hebrew  originals  now  lost ;  see  Neubauer, 
"  Book  of  Tobias,"  p.  xvi.).  In  the  rest  of 
the  Old  Testament  books,  and  m  the 
deutero-canonical  portions  of  Esther  and 
Daniel,  we  have  the  Old  Latin  translation 
unaltered ;  the  New  Testament  consists  of 
the  old  Latin  text  revised  by  Jei'ome  from 
the  Greek.  It  was  only  very  slowly  that 
this  composite  work  supplanted  the  Old 
Latin  which  had  preceded  it,  and  became 
known  as  the  Vulgate  or  common  edition. 
It  was  the  Old  Latin  which,  till  the 
seventh  century,  was  recognised  as  the 
Vulgate ;  and  not  till  the  thirteenth, 
according  to  Kaulen  ("Ge^chichte  der 
Vulgata,"  p.  22),  was  the  present  use 
of  the  word  firmly  fixed.^  Jerome  him- 
self employs  the  term  (1)  of  the  LXX 
in  contrast  with  the  Hebrew  (Hieron.  "  In 
Is."  .XV.  20,  XXX.  22 ;  Osee  vii.  13)  ;  (2) 
of  the  LXX  in  the  kolvt}  i'Kboais — i.e.  the 
corrupt  and  current  text,  as  opposed  to 
the  critical  text  in  Origen's  "  Hexapla  " 
(Hieron.  Ep.  cvi.  §  2)  ;  sometimes  (3)  of 
the  Old  Latin  version  as  made  directly 
from  the  LXX  (Hieron.  <'  In  Is."  xiv.  29)  ; 
(4)  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  Old 
Latin  (Hieron.  "In  Matt."  xiii.  35). 

(A)  The  Old  Latin  Versioyi,  or  Versions, 
the  Itda,  ^c. — This  part  of  the  subject  is 
involved  in  no  little  obscurity,  and  the 
Tery  fact  that  the  most  eminent  scholars 
difier  on  essential  points  proves  that  as 
yet  no  certainty  has  been  reached.  The 
critics  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  believed  that  several  translations 
of  the  LXX  and  New  Testament  into 
Latin  were  made  in  very  early  times, 

^  Kaulen  is  no  doubt  right.  Roger  Bacon 
(d.  1284)  uses  "  Vulgata  "  for  the  Old  Latin. 
(See  the  long  extract  from  a  MS.  of  Roger 
Bacon  in  Hody,  De  Bibl.  Text.  lib.  iii.  P.  ii. 
ch.  11.)  M 


and  that  one  of  these  was  known  as  the 
"Vulgata"  or  "Communis,"  because 
generally  received,  and  again  as  the 
Italian  version  or  Itala,  from  the  place 
of  its  origin.  (So  Simon,  "  Hist.  Crit. 
V.  T."  liv.  ii.  ch.  II,  a.d.  1680;  Hody, 
"  De  Bibliorum  textibus  originalibus, 
versiouibus  Graecis  et  Latina  Vulgata." 
p.  342,  A.p.  1705 ;  Mill,  "  Prolegom.  in 
N.T."  p.  xli.  A.D.  1707.)  An  epoch  was  made 
in  the  criticism  of  the  history  by  AVise- 
man.  (Two  letters  on  some  parts  of  the 
controversy  concerning  1  John  v.  7.)  ^ 
He  maintained  that  the  Latin  Church 
before  Jerome  had  only  one  translation 
of  the  Bible ;  that  this  version  arose  not 
in  Home  or  Italy,  but  in  North  Africa  ; 
that  it  underwent  many  recensions  or 
revisions,  of  which  the  best  and  most 
famous  was  called  by  St.  Augustine  from 
the  place  where  it  was  made,  "  Itala ;  " 
that  the  saint  became  acquainted  with  it 
at  Milan  and  used  it  in  his  works.  Every 
part  of  this  theory  was  received  with 
extraordinary  favour.  It  was  adopted  by 
Lachmann,  Tischendorf,  Tregelles,  and 
manv  others.  Westcott  (article  Vulgate 
in  Smith's  "Dictionary  of  the  Bible") 
considered  its  truth  demonstrated,  and 
Reinkens  ("Hilarius  von  Poitiers,"  a.d, 
1864)  thought  some  courage  was  necessary 
to  oppose  such  a  strong  consent  of  scholars. 
I  We  shall  see,  however,  that  the  number 
of  dissentient  voices  has  increased  of  late, 
and  some  of  those  who  are  best  qualified 
to  judge  reject  the  whole  of  Wiseman's 
arguments  and  conclusions.  We  will  take 
the  points  one  by  one. 

(a)  Wei-e  there  several  Old  Latin 
Versions  of  the  lohole  Bible  current  in  the 
early  Church  f  We  say  of  the  whole 
Bible,  for  it  is,  we  believe,  admitted  that 
there  was  more  than  one  version  of  Tobias, 
Maccabees  I  and  2,  and  of  Baruch.  The 
most  recent  authority — viz.  Fritzsche 
fPlitt  und  Herzog,  "Encycl.  fiir  Prot, 
TheoV^  iivt.Latein.Bibelubersefz.) — follows 
Wiseman  and  Westcott,  '  and  answers  in 
the  negative.  Reii.kens  (op.  cit.  p.  343) 
believes  in  several  independent  versions  ; 
so  does  a  very  eminent  authority-^ viz, 
Ziegler  ('^Lateinische  Bibeliibersetzungen 
von  Hieron."  a.d,  1879,  pp.  4-18) ;  so  do 

1  The  edition  before  us  is  that  of  Rome, 
1835.  But  the  letters  had  appeared  previously 
in  the  Catholic  Magazine.  They  are  reprinted 
in  the  Cardinal'y  Essays. 

2  Add  Vercellone  ( Dissertazioni  Accade- 
miche,  p.  19,  Roma,  1864),  who  at  least  be- 
lieves in  one  version,  "  ricevuta  e  sanzionata 
per  1'  uso  pubblico  della  Chiesa  "  "  nei  primi 
tempi  della  Chiesa." 


3i 


850 


VULGATE 


Ronscli  ("Itala  und  Vulgata "  ad  init. 
A.D.  1875),  and  Kaulen  ("  Einleit.  in  die 
H.  Schrift,"  a.d.  1876),  while  the  tone  in 
Westcott  and  Hort's  New  Testament 
(**Introd."  p.  79,  a.d.  1881)  is  much  less 
confident  than  that  of  Dr.  Westcott  in 
Smith's  Dictionary. 

This  divergence  of  opinion  among 
scholars  is  quite  intelligible  considering 
the  uncertainty  of  the  tradition.  Tertul- 
lian  ("Monog."o)  mentions  and  censures 
a  rendering  of  1  Cor.  vii.  89,  "  si  dormierit 
vir  ejus,"  as  current  in  his  time  {"  in 
usum  exiit "),  and  again  he  rejects  (*'  Adv. 
Prax."  5)  the  customary  translation  ("  in 
usu  est  nostrorum  ")  of  the  Greek  \6yos  by 
*'Sermo,"  for  which  he  substitutes  "ratio.*' 
This  seems  to  show  that  the  African  Church 
about  200  A.D.  had  one  received  text, 
though  the  possible  existence  of  several 
translations  is  not  excluded.  He  speaks 
("  Adv.  Marc."  ii.  9)  of  a  translation  of 
the  word  ttvotjv  (Gen.  ii.)  as  given  by  some 
("quidam  en  imde  Grseco  interpretantes": 
cf.  V.  4,  "  duae  ostensiones,  sicut  invenimus 
interpretatum  ")  ;  but  this  need  not  carry 
us  further  than  the  fact  that  one  Latin 
version  was  in  various  places  emended 
from  the  Greek,  which  is  admitted  on  all 
hands.  Jerome  clearly  believed  in  many 
types  of  text,  many  revisions  of  the  same 
version  ("tot  exemplaria  quot  codices." 
Prsef.  in  Jos.  and  so  Prsef.  in  iv.  Evang. 
ad  Damas.),  but  not  in  many  independent 
versions.  His  commentary  on  Jonas  ii. 
5  is  decisive  on  this  point  ("  Hoo  quod 
in  Greeco  dicitur  apa  et  habet  vulgata 
editio  putas,  interpretari  potest  igitur"), 
considering  that  nothing  can  be  produced 
from  him  on  the  other  side.^  Cassiodorus 
("De  Inst.  Div.  Lit."  14)  is  explicit. 
"This  text  [of  the  New  Testament], 
varied  by  the  trafislation  of  many  .... 
was  left  emended  and  arranged  by  the 
diligent  care  of  the  Father  Jerome." 
This  can  only  mean  that  there  was  one 
text  which  appeared  in  many  recensions, 
because  so  many  tried  their  hand  at  re- 
translating particular  passages  from  the 
Greek,  while  they  left  Ihe  version,  as  a 
whole,  in  its  original  state.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  seems  to  be  no  reasonable 
doubt  that  St.  Augustine  attributed  the 
variety  of  texts  to  the  effect  of  indepen- 
dent t'ranslationo.  Thus,  he  says  ("  Doctr. 
Christ."  ii.  11) :  "  Those  who  turned  the 
Bible  from   Hebrew  into  Greek  can  be 

1  We  say  this  advisedly,  after  careful  con- 
sideration of  Ziegler's  references  and  arguments 
to  establish  Jerome's  belief  m  a  multiplicity  of 
versions. 


VULGATE 

counted,  but  the  Latin  translators  sfe 
innumerable,  for  in  the  earliest  days  of 
the  faith  every  one  who  got  a  Greek  MS. 
into  his  hands,  and  thought  he  had  some 
little  acquaintance  with  each  tongue, 
ventured  to  translate."  The  force  of  this 
testimony  is  broken  if  we  accept  Wise- 
man's explanation  of  "  interpretari,"  "  in- 
terpres,"  as  meaning  "  revise,"  "  reviser," 
of  the  same  version.  But  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  Greek  translators  and  the  Latin 
"  interpretes  "  is  fatal  to  Wiseman's  view. 
Besides,  Augustine  ("  Doct.  Christ."  ii. 
14,  15)  expressly  distinguishes  between 
translation  and  mere  emendation.  "  The 
skill  of  those  who  desire  to  know  the 
divine  Scriptures  must  be  on  the  watch, 
that  MSS.  not  emended  may  give  place 
to  such  as  are  emended,  provided  they 
come  from  one  class  of  translation'* 
("emendatis  non  emendati  cedant,  ex 
uno  duntaxat  interpretationis  genere 
yenientes ; "  so  "  Retract."  i.  7,  2  and  3 : 
"  ejusdem  interpretationis  alii  codices," 
"codices  eJLisdem  interpretationis.")  For 
a  more  complete  discussion  we  must  refer 
to  Ziegler  (p.  6.) 

In  ancient  then,  as  in  modern  times, 
we  find  authority  ranged  against  authority, 
and  the  proper  appeal  is  to  the  MSS.  of 
the  Old  Latin.  Here  it  is  only  specialists 
versed  in  the  examination  of  MSS.  and 
their  texts  who  can  claim  to  be  heard. 
But  probably  Fritzsche,  wiih  whom 
W^estcott  and  Hort  are  in  accord,  is  right 
in  the  account  he  gives.  In  spite,  he  says, 
of  differences  which  can  only  be  explained 
by  independent  translation  of  single  verses, 
nay,  of  "  smaller  and  greater  sections,'' 
still  the  fact  that  the  most  discordant 
MSS.  fall  back  again  into  unity  justifies 
the  belief  in  one  single  "  Vetus  Latina," 
which  is  the  common  basis  of  all  the 
recensions.  The  differences  he  noticed 
may  well  have  led  Augustine,  who  was 
no  critic,  to  think  there  had  been  many 
independent  versions;  and,  in  fact,  the 
instances  of  difference  which  he  gives  are 
mere  variants  quite  consister.t  with  funda- 
mental unity.  (See  August.  "  Doctr. 
Christ."  ii.  12 ;  "  Quaest.  in  Heptateuch," 
iii.  25.) 

(i3)  W/iere  did  the  Old  Latin  Version 
(supposing  that  there  was  one  only  or  one 
commonly  received)  arise?  Here,  too, 
no  certain  answer  can  be  given.  Wise- 
man tried  to  establish  a  theory  suggested 
by  Eichhorn  ("  Einleit.  N.  T."  vol.  iv. 
p*  355  scq.) — viz.  that  the  "  Vetus  Latina  " 
arose  in  North  Africa.  "VN'^estcott  and 
Hort    (ii.    p.    7S),  Konsch    ("Itala    u. 


VULGATE 


VULGATE 


851 


Vulgat."  ad  init.),  Fritzsche  still  main- 
tain this  position,  but  it  has  been 
abandoned  by  Gams  ("  Kirchengeschichte 
von  Span! en,"  i.  p.  86  seq.),  Reinkens, 
("Hilarius  von  Poitiers,"  335),  Kaulen, 
("Geschichte  der  Vulgat."  109  seq.). 
Greek  no  doubt  was  the  otficial  language  of 
the  early  Roman  Oburch.  Clement,  Cains 
(eirc.  210),  Hippolytus,  wrote  in  that 
tongue ;  and  Pope  Victor  and  the  Senator 
Apollonius  are  the  only  Latin  authors, 
prior  to  Teituilian  whom  Jerome  ("  Vir. 
Illustr."  53)  names.  This  supplies  a  prob- 
able argument  for  African  origin,  since  in 
Africa  Greek  certainly  had  not  the  same 
currency  as  in  Home.  But  it  is  quite 
another  question  whether  Greek,  even  at 
Rome,  was  the  popular  language,  and 
whether  the  poor  to  whom  the  Gospel 
was  preached  would  not  require  a  Latin 
version  as  nuich  as  the  Christians  at 
Carthage.  The  inscriptions  even  at 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  are  almost 
without  exception  in  Latin,  and  De 
Rossi's  collection  of  Christian  inscriptions 
in  the  Lateran  Museum  leads  to  the  same 
conclusion  (Ziegler,  p.  23).  Wiseman 
tried  to  show  thnt  the  Old  Latin  and  the 
vulgate  of  tlie  New  Testament — t.e.  the 
Old  Latin  or  an  Old  Latin  version  revised 
by  Jerome — is  full  of  "  Africanisms,"  and 
this,  if  true,  would  settle  the  question. 
But  Gams  (p.  86-100)  has  simply  annihi- 
lated this  argument.  He  has  shown  that 
every  supposed  Africanism  can  be  met 
with  parallels  from  Christian  and  heathen 
writers  who  had  nothing  to  do  with 
Africa.  To  accept  Wiseman's  instances, 
we  must  suppose  that  the  Latin  version 
of  Irenseus,  the  Muratorian  fragment,  the 
Latin  version  of  Hermas,  were  made  in 
Africa ;  and  even  this  gratuitous  assump- 
tion would  not  suffice.  The  linguistic 
peculiarities  of  the  Old  Latin  and  Vulgate 
belong  partly  to  the  decadence  of  Latin, 
partly  to  the  ".lingua  rustica,"  or  vulgar 
language.  Even  Ronsch,  who  still  ap- 
peals to  this  theory  of  Africanisms, 
admits  that  these  "  Africanisms "  were 
common  to  the  language  of  South  Italy, 
and  this  amounts  to  a  surrender  of  the 
argument. 

(y)  As  to  the  date  and  authorsJtip  of  I 
the  earliest  Latin  version,  we  can  only  say 
that  most  of  the  New  Testament  books  ! 
must  have  existed  at  the  close  of  the 
second  century,  and  that  the  version 
came  from  many  authors.  The  latter 
point  was  established  long  ago  by  Mill 
("  Proleg."  2  seq.) 

(8)    WJiat    is  meant   hy   the    Italaf 

3i 


The  word  as  a  technical  term  occurs  once 
only  in  Patristic  literature — viz.  in  August. 
"Doctr.  Christ."  ii.  14,  15.  "Among 
translations  let  the  Italian  be  preferred 
to  the  rest,  for  it  sticks  closer  to  the 
words  and  gives  a  clear  sense."  St. 
Augustine  must  mean  some  version  of 
Italian  origin,  for  we  cannot  think  Ott's 
suggestion  that  "Itala"  means  simply 
the  Latin  version  in  the  use  of  the 
African  Churcb  or  that  of  Ronsch ;  it 
was  written  in  "the  popular  provincial 
dialect  of  Italy :  therefore  the  name 
'Itala,'"  even  plausible.  "Itala"  then 
must  mean  either  a  translation  or  the 
revision  of  a  translation  made  in  North 
Italy,  and  most  likely  St.  Augustine 
made  acquaintance  with  it  at  Milan, 
brought  it  to  Africa,  and  used  it  in  his 
works.  Scholars  believe  it  a  translation 
or  a  recension,  according  to  the  views  they 
take  on  the  previous  questions.  Fritzsche 
and  (with  some  hesitation)  Westcott 
and  Hort  hold  it  to  have  been  a  recen- 
sion of  the  original  African  work.  The 
two  last,  indeed,  regard  it  as  a  revision  of 
a  revision,  for  they  distinguish  between 
the  Old  Latin  of  African  origin,  a  revi- 
sion of  this  current  in  Europe,  and  a 
revision  of  this  European  text  made  from 
Greek  MSS.  and  also  with  a  desire  to 
improve  the  style.  This  last,  currentfrom 
about  350,  they  call  the  Itala.  They  think 
itsurvives in /(Cod.  Brixian.,vi.  Ssec, Gos- 
pels) and.<7  (Cod.  Monacen8.,Ssec.  vi..  Frag- 
ments of  Gospels),  and  in  St.  Augustine's 
quotations.  Ziegler,  on  the  other  hand, 
distinguishes  between  the  version  of  Tertul- 
lian  (for  the  divergence  of  this  author 
from  all  known  authorities  see  Hilgenfeld, 
"Einleit.  Nov.  Test."  p.  798),  that  of 
most  African  writers — viz.  Cyprian,  Lac- 
tantius  (educated  in  Africa),  Commodian, 
Firmicus,  Matemus,  Primasius,  that  re- 
presented by  Augustine,  the  Italian 
Fathers  and  the  Friesingen  Fraarments 
of  the  Pauline  Epistles. 

(B)  The  Vulyafeinthe  Modern  Sense. — 
1.  Jei'omes  Lnhours  :  (a)  In  Reoising  the 
Old  Latin. — Pope  Damasus  requested 
Jerome  to  revise  the  Latin  version  of  the 
New  Testament,  then  in  terrible  confusion, 
and  in  a.d.  383  the  Gospels,  so  revised, 
made  their  appearance.  He  tells  us  ("  Prsef. 
ad  Dam.")  that  he  corrected  the  errors  of 
scribes,  false  emendations  and  false  transla- 
tions ;  that  he  used  for  this  purpose  Old 
Greek  MSS.,  but  left  the  faults  of  the 
old  version  untouched  if  they  did  not 
affect  the  sense.  To  the  rest  of  his  revi- 
sion of  the  New  Testament  he  has  left  no 
2 


852^ 


VULGATE 


VULGATE 


preface,  probably  because  so  much  revi- 
sion was  not  needed  (see  Westcott  iu 
Smith).  In  the  same  year  he  made  a 
cursory  revision  of  the  Psalter  from  the 
LXX.  This  revision  is  known  as  the 
Roman  Psalter,  because  used  in  the 
Koman  Church  till  the  time  of  St.  Pius  V. 
It  is  still  retained  at  St.  Peter's,  and  in  the 
Ambrosian  rite,  in  the  invitatory  Psalm 
at  matins  in  our  own  Breviary,  and  in 
some  portions  of  the  Missal  {e.g.  in  the 
Tract  for  first  Sunday  in  Lent;  Kaulen, 
'*  Vulg.''  p.  160).  ^  Soon  after,  retiring  to 
Bethlehem  in  387,  Jerome  made  a  more 
careful  revision  of  the  Psalter  from  the 
Hexaplar  text  (the  Roman  had  been  made 
from  the  koivI}.  See  Jerome's  "  Prsef.  in 
Psalm."  with  Vallarsi's  note).  This  revi- 
sion is  the  one  in  present  use.  It  is  known 
.  as  the  Galilean  Psalter,  because,  as  it  is  said, 
introduced  into  Gaul  by  Gregory  of  Tours 
(Walafr.  Strabo,  "  De  Reb.  Eccles."  i. 
25).  He  then  proceeded  to  revise  all  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  which  he 
recognised  as  canonical  {i.e.  all  except  the 
deuterocanonical  ones.  See  "  Prjef.  ad 
Salo'm.  Libr.").  It  is  certain  tliat  this 
revision  was  completed  (Hieron.  in  Tit. 
ii.  Ep.  Ixxi.  5,  clii.  19,  "Adv.  Ruf.'"  ii. 
.25),  but  great  part  of  it  seems  to  have 
been  lost  in  Jerome's  own  time  (Ep.  cxxxiv. 
2),  and  besides  the  two  revisions  of  the 
Psalter  the  book  of  Job  alone  is  extant. 
But  wo  have  also  the  prefaces  to  Job, 
Prov.,  Cant,  Paralip.,  Eccles.  (Kaulen,  p. 
163),  and  much  may  be  restored  from 
Jerome's  commentaries  on  the  Prophets, 
particularly  on  the  Minor  Prophets  and 
on  Ecclesiastes  (Hody,  p.  354  seq.').- 

Qi)  Translation  from  the  Mehrew. — 
Jerome  began  to  learn  Hebrew  when  forty- 
live,  under  a  converted  Jew,  as  a  remedj' 
against  sensual  temptation  (Ep.  cxxv. 
V2).  He  speaks  ("  Praef.  ad  Job,"  and  "  In 
Habac."  ii.  15)  of  a  Jew  of  Lydda  whom 
he  hired  at  great  cost,  and  (Ep.  Ixxxiv. 
3)  of  a  certain  Baraninas  who  came  to 
him  by  night  for  fear  of  his  brother  Jews. 
It  is  this  Baraninas  who  in  the  silly  joke 
of  Rufinus  ("  Apol."  li.  12)  appears  as 
Barabbas.  Thus  prepared,  Jerome  began 
to  translate  from  the  Hebrew.  The  four 
books  of  Kings  were  published  first. 
Then  followed  the  book  of  Job,  the 
Prophets,  and  the  version  of  the  Psalter 
from  the  "  Hebrew  truth."  This  last,  of 
which  the  best  edition  is  the  recent  one 
by  Lagarde,  has  never  been  admitted  to 
public  "use.  Illness  interrupted  Jerome's 
1  It  was  used  till  1808  at  Venice  in  the 
chapel  of  the  Doge  (Kaulen,  Vulg.  he.  cit.). 


labour,  but  in  393  he  resumed  it  again. 
aad  translated  the  three  books  of  Solomon, 
Esdras,  Paralipom.  and  Genesis  appeared 
between  394  and  396 ;  early  in  404  the  rest 
of  the  Pentateuch  had  been  published ;  in 
404  and  405  Josue,  Judges,  Ruth,  Esther, 
with  the  deuterocanonical  portions  of 
Daniel  and  Esther,  and  the  books  of 
Tobias  and  Judith.^  No  attempt  was  made 
to  translate  or  even  to  revise  Wisdom, 
Ecclesiastic  us  or  Macca))ees  (Kaulen,  p. 
168  seq. ;  but  see  also  Westcott  in  the 
"Bible  Dictionary  "). 

2,  Aeception  of  the  Vulgate  in  the 
Church. — Jerome  at  first  met  with  little 
gratitude.  He  had  his  own  reward,  for 
he  had  lived  "  to  pluck  sweet  fruit  from 
the  bitter  root "  of  Hebrew  study,  which 
he  again  and  again  had  given  up  in 
despair  and  begun  afresh  "  in  eagerness 
to  learn"  (Ep.  cxxv.  12).  But  that  for 
a  time  was  all.  He  was  attacked  by 
those  who  mistake  ignorance  for  piety — 
nay,  a  letter  was  forged  in  his  name  to 
the  effect  that  he  had  been  induced  to 
pervert  the  Sciiptures  by  the  Jews 
("  Adv.  Rufin."  ii.  25).  Even  Augus- 
tine objected  to  Jerome's  translating  from 
the  Hebrew,  because  it  was  impossible 
to  improve  on  the  LXX  (August.  Ep. 
xxviii,  2),  and  because  of  the  discord  a 
new  translation  would  cause  (I'^p.  Ixxi.). 
He  admits  that  the  Jews  (who  were  the 
only  persons  capable  of  judging)  testified 
to  Jerome's  accuracy,  but  adds  that  he 
himself  keeps  to  the  prevailintr  belief  in 
the  inspiration  of  the  LXX  ("  De  Cir. 
Dei,"  xviii.  43).  But  gradually  scholar- 
ship prevailed  against  prejudice.  Cassian 
("  Collat."  xxiii.  9)  quotes  the  Vulgate 
of  Job  as  the  "  emendatior  translatio," 
and  in  the  fifth  century  it  was  adopted 
by  Eucherius  of  Lyons,Vincent  of  Lerins, 
Sedulius,  Claudianus  Mamertus,  and 
Faustus  Rhegensis  (Hody,  p.  397  seq.'), 
though  the  Old  Latin  held  its  ground  in 
Africa  and  Britain  (Hody,  ih.).  In  the 
sixth  century  the  Vulgate  was  coming 
into  general  use.  Cassiodoriis  ("  Inst. 
Div.  Lit."'  12)  strongly  prefers  it  to  the 
old  version,  though  at  a  later  date  St. 
Gregory  the  Great  ("  Praef.  ad  Job,"  5) 
spealis  of  "  the  Apostolic  see "  as  using 
both.  In  the  severfth  eenturv  St.  Isidore 
of  Seville  ("  Eccles.  Offic."  i.  12)  says  "all 
the  churches  "  used  the  Vulirate,  which 
must  have  been  true  at  least  of  Spain. 
Early  in    tlie    ninth    century    Rabauus 

1  We  take  thPi»e  conjectural  dates  from 
Westcott,  -with  whom,  however,  neither  Kaulen 
nor  Fritzsche  entirely  agrees. 


VULGATE 


VULGATE 


853 


Maurus  ("  Cler.  Inst."  ii.  64)  says  the 
same  thint^,  almost  in  the  words  of  Isidore ; 
and  Walafrid  Strabo,  the  disciple  of 
Rabanus,  writes  ("  Praef.  in  Gloss,  or- 
dinar."),  "the  whole  Roman  Church  now 
everywhere  uses  this  translation "  {i.e. 
Jerome's).  The  Council  of  Trent  in  a 
decree  which  we  shall  have  to  examine 
further  on,  declared  the  Vul<j:ate  to  be  the 
authentic  version  of  the  Church,  and  in 
doing  so  appealed  with  good  right  to  the 
long  use  of  ages. 

3.  Biston/  of  the  Text.— The  text  of 
this  composite  work  which  we  call  the 
Vulgate  was  exposed  to  special  danger  of 
corruption.  Side  by  side  with  it  stood 
the  Old  Latin  used  for  a  long  time  after 
Jerome's  death  in  many  churches,  familiar 
to  the  scribes,  and  standing  in  the  most 
curious  relations  to  our  Vulgate — in  some 
books  identical  with  it ;  in  others  difter- 
ing  to  a  sliglit  extent ;  in  others  offering 
an  independent  translation.  Hence 
"  mixed  texts  "  arose  in  which  the  Vulgate 
and  Old  Latin  were  confused,  when  they 
should  have  been  kept  distinct.  In  802 
Alcuin  revised  the  text  with  marked 
success  from  ancient  Vulgate  MSS.,  but 
without  consulting  the  Greek  (Porson  to 
Travis,  p.  145).  Subsequent  revisions 
were  made  by  Theodulf  of  Orleans  (787- 
821) ;  Lanfranc,  afterwards  archbishop  of 
Canterbury  (d.  ]  089)  ;  the  Cistercian 
abbot  Stephen  II.  (1109),  and  Cardinal 
Nicolaus  (1150).  After  that,  different 
corporations  issued  "  Correctoria,"  in 
which  various  readings  were  mentioned 
and  discussed.  Such  were  the  "  Oorrecto- 
rium  Parisiense"  falso  called  "  Senonense," 
because  approved  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Sens),  the  Correctorium  of  the  Domini- 
cans drawn  up  by  Hugo  a  S.  Caro  about 
1240,  and  shortly  after  replaced  by  an- 
other, and  that  of  the  Franciscans. 

The  first  printed  book  was  a  copv  of 
the  Vulgate  (Mayence,  about  1450),  and 
after  1470  a  number  of  editions  appeared, 
professing  to  be  emended  from  the  origi- 
nal texts  (Kaulen,  p.  311).  In  1516 
Erasmus  revised  the  Vulgate  New  Testa- 
ment, which  he  altered  partly  to  bring 
the  text  into  harmony  with  his  own 
Greek  text,  which  was  of  little  value, 
and  partly  from  a  desire  to  improve  the 
style.  The  really  critical  work  of  giving 
a  purer  Vulgate  text  from  old  MSS.  was 
undertaken  by  Gumelli  (Paris  1504).  the 
Dominican  Castellaer  (Venice,  1511), 
Laridius  (Cologne,  1530).  None  of  these 
editions  are  of  much  account,  but  valuable 
contributions  to  the  restoration  of  a  criti- 


cal text  were  made  by  Cardinal  Ximenes  in 
the  Complutensian  Poly  glott  ( 1502-1517), 
and  by  R.  Stephens  (1528,  many  subse- 
quent editions).  The  Theological  Faculty 
of  Louvain  entrusted  the  task  of  a  new 
critical  revision  to  Henten,  of  Malines, 
and  his  first  edition,  based  on  that  of 
Stephens  in  1540  and  a  collation  of 
Latin  MSS.,  was  published  in  1547. 
After  Henten's  death,  in  1566,  the  Lou- 
vain theologians  resolved  to  issue  a 
correct  edition  of  the  Vulgate,  answering 
to  the  requirements  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  ("•  Vulgata  editio  quam  emeuda- 
tissima  imprimatur  ").  With  the  help  of 
the  Antwerp  printer  Plantinus,  and  under 
the  guidance  of  one  of  their  own  mem- 
bers, Lucas  Brugensis  (i.e.  of  Bruges),  a 
great  quantity  of  MSS.  were  collated ; 
but  their  text  of  1574  is  identical  with 
that  of  Henten  (1547),  except  that  they 
had  added  to  the  number  of  marginal 
readings.  We  must  also  mention  a  Lyons 
Vulgate  of  1545,  which  gives  valuable 
and  ancient  teadings,  though  without 
naming  the  sources. 

Meantime,  commissions  had  set  to 
work  in  Rome  at  the  preparation  of  an 
official  text,  and  in  1590  Sixtus  V.  issued 
an  edition,  prefixing  to  it  the  constitu- 
tion "  ^ternus  ille,"  in  which  he  ordered 
it  to  be  used  in  all  discussions  public  and 
private,  and  to  be  received  as  "  true, 
lawful,  authentic  and  unquestioned." 
Unfortunately,  the  Pope  revised  the 
work  of  the  commission  with  his  own 
hand,  and  on  principles  different  fj-om 
theirs;  he  called  needless  attei  tion  to 
typographical  errors,  by  pasting  them 
over  with  pieces  of  paper;  and  nobody 
was  satisfied  with  the  result.^  In  1592 
the  definitive  edition  known  as  the 
Clementine  saw  the  light.  The  printer's 
work  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Clementine 
was  worse  done  than  in  the  Siytine  Bible, 
but  it  had  this  merit,  that  it  leturned  to 
the  text  fixed  by  the-  Roman  commissions 
(Kaulen,  "  Einleit."  p.  126).  It  was  not 
a  perfect  text  of  the  Vulgate.  The 
preface  disclaims  any  such  exaggerated 
praise — nay,  admits  that  imperfections 
had  been  left  "  of  set  purpose,"  lest 
offence  should  be  given  to  the  people,  as 
well  as  for  other  reasons.  But  the  Cle- 
mentine editors  rightly  claim  to  have 
supplied  a  purer  text  than  any  hitherto 
known,  and  Vercellone  ('•'  Dissertaz."  iv.) 

1  Sixtus  was  himself  a  scholar,  and  a  more 
favourable  judgment  of  his  edition  will  be  found 
in  a  masterly  treatise  by  Mr.  Lavi',  prefixed  to 
the  last  edition  of  Haydock's  Bible. 


854 


VULGATE 


VULGATE 


has  shown  that  it  is  the  fruit  of  long-  and 
well-directed  toil  and  of  jrreat  oppor- 
tunitiHS.  The  work  of  correction  was 
continued  for  about  forty  years  with  few 
interruptions.  The  most  eminent  men 
from  all  countries  were  summoned  to 
take  part  in  the  revision :  among  them 
Sirlet,  Oaralfa,  Bellarmin,  Morinus  (a 
critic  who  has  had  few  equals),  Allen, 
Turrianus,  Toletus,  S«l  (the  famous  Por- 
tuguese commentator),  Agellius,  whose 
commentary  on  the  Psalms  is  still  es- 
teemed, eispecially  for  its  critical  remarks 
on  the  Alexandrine  and  Vuljrate  texts. 
They  used  the  Codex  Amiatinus  (A) 
written  about  641  ;  the  codex  PauUinus 
(0),  a  ninth-century  copy  of  Alcuin's 
recension  ;  the  Vallicellianus  (D),  a  MS. 
of  the  same  type  but  rather  older ;  the 
Ottobonianus  (E,  Ssec.  viii.,  imperfect 
at  the  beginning,  and  ending  with  Judges 
xiii.  20);  besides  a  number  of  Vatican 
MSS.  Further,  they  had  collations  of 
the  Toletanus  (B,  Stec.  viii.  according 
to  Westcott,  later  according  to  Ver- 
cellone)  and  of  another  Spanish  MS. 
from  Leon.  They  had  the  benefit  of 
French  readings  in  the  Stephanie  edition 
of  1540  and  collations  of  sixty  Belgian 
MSS.  made  by  Plantinus ;  and  they  un- 
derstood the  weight  due  to  ancient  au-* 
thorities.  Vercellone  tells  us  they  "  pre- 
ferred to  every  codex "  that  known  as 
the  "Amiatinus,"  the  Queen  of  Vulgate 
MSS.^  Still  there  were  precious  MSS., 
like  the  Fuldensis  of  the  New  Testament 
(a.d.  546),  unknown  to  them  ;  and  textual 
criticism  has  advanced  a  long  way  since 
their  time.  Valuable  contributions  to  the 
formation  of  a  better  text  have  been  made 
by  Vercellone  ("  Variae  Lectiones "), 
and  a  distinguished  scholar,  the  Rev. 
John  Wordsworth,  has  put  forth  the 
prospectus  of  a  new  critical  edition  of 
the  Vulgate  New  Testament. 

4.  7%e  Ci'itical  Value  of  the  Vvlgafe 
and  its  Merits  as  a  Translation. — The 
latter  point  is  of  course  quite  distinct 
from  the  former.  The  LXX  is  a  very 
imperfect  translation,  but  its  critical  value 
is  very  great.  We  have  no  Hebrew  MSS. 
older  than  the  ninth  century,  and  those 
we  have  represent  one  single  type  of  text, 
fixed  by  the  Masorets  or  "  holders  of  tra- 
dition," who  did  not  finish  their  work  till 

1  Mr.  Law  draws  attention  to  the  verdict  of 
Ranke  {Codex  Fv.'dens.  p.  562).  one  of  the 
hiffhest  authorities  on  the  Latin  Bible,  a  d  him- 
self a  Protestant.  Rankc  rejects  as  undoubtedly 
erroneous  the  opinion  of  thi  se  who  think  the 
authorised  revision  of  the  Vulgate  uncritical. 


eight  centuries  after  Christ,  and  preserved 
with  superstitious  care  ever  since.  Again, 
the  earlier  Hebrew  writing  simply  gavo 
the  consonants  of  each  word,  and  the  vowel 
points  are  an  invention  not  completed  till 
the  seventh  century  of  our  era.  We  have, 
indeed,  a  collection  of  various  readings  in 
our  Hebrew  Bibles,  but  as  a  rule  they  are 
of  httle  interest,  and  the  diligent  labours 
of  Kennicott  and  De  Rossi  at  the  end  of 
the  last  and  the  beginning  of  this  century 
prove  how  scanty  is  the  harvest  which  can 
be  reaped  from  the  most  exhaustive  colla- 
tion of  existing  Hebrew  MSS.  Most 
welcome,  then,  is  the  light  which  comes  to 
us  from  times  far  before  the  fixing  of  the 
Masoretic  text.  We  tind  important  varia- 
tions in  that  Hebrew  Pentateuch  which  the 
Samaritans  received  from  the  Jews  about 
430,  while  the  I^ok  of  Jubilees,  a  Hebrew 
work  written  shortly  before  the  tinal 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  agrees  in  some 
of  the  numbers  assigned  to  the  age  of  the 
Patriarchs,  and  in  other  readings  with  the 
Samaritan  edition  of  the  Pentateuch. 
But  the  LXX  oftei-s  the  fullest  and  most 
valuable  evidence  now  accessible  on  the 
early  state  of  the  Hebrew  text.  The 
Pentateuch  was  translated  about  280,  and 
the  rest  of  the  version  some  time  before 
133  B.C.,  and  we  find  ourselves  carried 
back  at  once  to  a  text  differing  in  im- 
portant respects  from  that  of  our  Hebrew 
Bibles.  It  is  not  only  that  we  meet  with 
various  readings,  often  strongly  com- 
mended by  internal  evidence,  but  we  tind 
certain  sections  present  in  the  Greek  and 
wanting  in  the  Hebrew,  or  vice  versa. 
These  diilerences  are  most  striking  in  the 
books  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  in  Pi-overbs 
and  in  Jeremias,  in  the  last  of  which  no 
less  than  2,700  words  of  the  Hebrew  have 
nothing  answering  to  them  in  the  Greek. 
The  Vulgate  of  the  Old  Testament,  so  far 
as  it  is  Jerome's  work,  possesses  no  such 
interest  as  this.  His  text  is  far  nearer 
that  of  the  Masoretic,  and  many  scholars 
have  denied  it  any  independent  value.  It 
is  as  close  to  the  Masoretic  text,  says 
Eichhoru,  as  any  Spanish  MS.  from  a 
modern  synagogue ;  and  Wellhausen,  in 
his  edition  of  Bleek's  Introduction,  says 
much  the  same  thing,  in  a  more  guarded 
way.  The  true  state  of  the  case  seems  to 
be  put  by  Nowack  {'^  Bedjutung  des 
Hieron.  fiir  die  A.  T.  Crttik,"  1875),  and 
the  following  is  a  summary  of  his  judg- 
ment. Jerome  had  before  him  a  text 
with  the  words  divided  much  as  in  our 
modern  Hebrew  Bibles  ;  it  was,  however, 
destitute    of   vowel    points    or  diacritio 


VULGATE 


VULGATE 


855 


marks.  Ilia  vocalisation,  compared  with 
tliat  of  other  versions,  was  the  nearest  of 
all  to  the  Masoretic,  and  his  consonant 
text  very  near  to  it  on  the  whole  ;  for  it 
presents  no  great  omissions  or  additions 
like  those  of  the  LXX.  Still,  many  of 
his  readings  are  "  indispensable  for  a  cor- 
rect understanding  of  the  text,"  especially 
those  which  are  peculiar  to  him,  or  only 
common  to  the  Chaldee  and  Syriac  ver- 
sions. The  case  stands  very  dill'erently 
with  the  Vulgate  text  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Here  we  have  to  deal  with  two 
distinct  elements :  the  Old  Latin,  which 
forms  the  suljstratiim,  and  the  corrections 
due  to  Jerome.  The  Ltter  carry  us  back 
to  the  fourth  century,  when  Jerome  lived, 
and  beyond  that,  since  he  consulted  MSS. 
which  were  old  even  then.^  Hence,  as 
we  have  no  MS.  of  the  New  Testament 
prior  to  the  fourth  century,  and  only  two 
at  most  which  belong  to  it,  the  value  of 
tlie  Vulgate  for  critical  purposes  may  he 
easily  seen.  "  It  represents,"  says  Dr. 
"Westcott,  "  the  received  Greek  text  of  the 
fourth  century,  and  so  far  claims  a  re- 
spect (speaking  rouglily)  due  to  a  first- 
class  Greek  MS."  Jerome  supplements 
*'  the  original  testimony  of  Greek  MSS. 
by  an  independent  witness."  When 
identical  with  the  Old  Latin,  the  Vulgate, 
says  the  same  scholur,  has  "  a  more 
venerable  authority,"  for  this  translation 
was  "  fixed  and  current  more  than  a 
century  before  the  transcription  of  the 
oldest  Greek  MS.  Thus  it  is  a  witness  to 
a  text  more  ancient  and  cceteris  paribus 
more  valuable  than  is  represented  by  any 
other  authority,  unless  the  Peshito  in  its 
present  form  be  excepted."  This  value  is 
much  increased  by  the  fact  that  the  ex- 
tremely literal  character  of  the  Old  Latin 
enables  us  as  a  rule  to  restore  with  con- 
fidence the  Greek  text  which  the  trans- 
lators rf'ad,  and  though  the  Old  Latin  w^as 
marred  by  interpolations,  the  corruptions 
proceeded  according  to  a  different  law 
from  those  of  Greek  MSS.,  so  that  "  the 
two  authorities  nmtually  correct  each 
other." 

We  turn  next  to  the  merits  of  the 
Vulgate  as  a  translation.  It  is  admitted 
on  all  hands  that  Jerome's  version  from  the 
Hebrew  is  a  masterly  work,  and  that  there 
is  nothing  like  it  or  near  it  in  antiquity. 
A  perfect  work  it  could  not  be,  and  this 
for   the    very   reasons   which    may   well 

1  It  has  Deeii  often  said  that  Jerome  con- 
sulte.l  by  preference  Greek  MSS.  with  a  text 
reseiiibliu^  that  of  the  Old  Latin.  Mr  Law 
has  i^hown  that  this  statement  is  grouudle<is. 


increase  admiration  of  the  measure  of 
success  which  Jerome  actually  reached. 
Few  advantages  were  open  to  him  which 
H  re  denied  to  modern  scholars.  Hebrew 
had  ceased  for  centuries  to  be  a  living 
tongue,  and  Jerome,  moreover,  had  to  learn 
it  orally  :  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a 
Hebrew  grammar,  or  a  dictionary,  or  a 
concordance.  The  comparative  philoli)gy 
of  the  Semitic  languages,  often  the  only 
key  to  the  meaning  of  Hebrew  words,  is 
the  creation  of  modern  times  ;  and  Jerome 
knew  no  other  Semitic  language  except 
Chaldee,  and  that  very  im  perfectly 
("  Praef.  ad  Job  ").  He  made  many  mis- 
takes now  impossible  to  a  tyro  of  average 
intelligence  who  has  learnt  the  elements 
in  a  good  grammar.  For  instance,  he 
believed  Hebrew  to  be  the  mother  of  all 
languages  (Kieron.  Ep.  xviii.),  whereas 
it  is  generally  agreed  that  Arabic  on  the 
whole  comes  nearer  the  primitive  form 
even  of  the  Semitic  tongues ;  that  the 
truttural  y  was  a  vowel  (in  Osee  ii. 
16,  17);  that  the  noun  p*]^  was  an  ad- 
jective meaning  "just"  (in  Is.  i.  21) ;  he 
confuses  ISjy,  "  dust,"  with  lDft5,  '*  ashes  " 
("Qu9est.inGen."ii.l4);  nnn,  a  "  sword," 
with  IIV  a  "raven"  (in  Zeph,  ii.  15). 
His  version  tells  the  same  tale  as  his 
commentaries.  He  had  no  idea  of  the 
elementary  rules  on  the  construct  state 
(Jer.  xxxiii.  4;  Ez.  xl.  14;  Osee  x.  4, 
xiv.  3;  Ezech.  xxi.  77)  ;  he  makes  a  plur. 
masc.  agree  with  a  sing,  fem,  (Jer.  xi.  15), 
breaks  other  simple  laws  of  concord  and 
construction  (Ez.  xlviii.  10;  Is.  xli.  7; 
Zach.  iv.  \'2 ;  Zeph.  i.  2)  ;  misunderstands 
the  force  of  tenses  (Jer.  xliv.  25  ;  Ez.  xi. 
16 ;  Joel  iv.  4)  ;  shows  his  ignorance  of 
syntax  (Jud.  viii.  5  ;  Eccles.  ii.  3).  As  a 
natural  consequence  of  all  this,  he  very 
often  misses  the  sense  in  difficult  places. 
We  have  no  room  for  instances,  which 
would  need  explanation  to  those  who 
have  no  acquaintance  with  Hebrew  ;  while 
those  who  are  Hebrew  scholars  will  find 
them  easily  enough  if  they  turn,  ej/.,  to 
Job  or  the  harder  parts  of  the  Prophets. 
We  can  only  explain  the  excellence  of  the 
Vulgate  from  the  fidelity  of  Jewish 
exegetical  tradition,  and  the  honest  in- 
dustry with  which  Jerome  used  it.  No 
admiration  can  be  too  great  for  .Jerome's 
courage  and  independence,  bis  thirst  for 
learning,  his  outspoken  candour,  liis  con- 
tempt for  the  ignorant  bigotry  which  he 
fought  and  conquered ;  but  they  know  little 
of  his  spirit  who,  blind  to  the  progress  of 
Hebrew  learning,  use  tbe  very  argumenti 


856 


VULGATE 


against  modern  philology  which  were 
employed  against  Jerome  by  the  advocates 
of  the'LXX.  Little  need  bo  said  on  the 
translation  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is 
close  and  literal,  and  executed  when 
Greek  was  a  living  tongue  ;  and  even  its 
faults  arise  "  most  commonly  from  a 
serAnle  adherence  to  the  exact  words  of 
the  original "  (Westcott). 

5.  The  Aut^hmity  of  the  Vulgate  in  the 
Church. — The  Council  of  Trent,  "con- 
sidering that  no  small  profit  would'accrue 
to  the  Church  of  God  if  it  be  made 
known  which  of  all  the  Latin  editions  of 
the  sacred  books  in  actual  circulation  is 
to  be  esteemed  authentic,  ordains  and 
declares  that  the  same  {hcec  ipsa)  old  and 
Vulgate  edition  which  has  been  approved 
by  the  long  use  of  so  many  ages  in  the 
Church  itself,  is  to  be  held  for  authentic 
in  public  readings,  discourses  and  dis- 
putes, and  that  nobody  may  dare  or  pre- 
sume to  reject  it  on  any  pretence."  A 
little  earlier  it  had  anathematised  those 
who  knowinirly  refuse  to  accept  the 
canonical  books  "  with  all  their  parts,  as 
they  have  been  accustomed  to  be  read  in 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  are  contained  in 
the  old  Latin  Vulgate"  (Concil.  Trid. 
Sess.  iv.,  Decret.  de  Canon.  Script.,  De- 
cret.  de  Edit,  et  Us.  Sacr.  Libr.).  We 
shall  begin  by  explaining  what  the  coun- 
cil does  not  mean,  and  we  shall  dis- 
tinguish points  in  our  interpretation  now 
at  least  universally  admitted  from  those 
on  which  there  is  still  difference  of 
opinion. 

First,  then,  no  particular  edition  of  the 
Vulgate  is  declared  to  be  authentic ;  and 
as  a  matter  of  fact  neither  the  Sixtine  nor 
Clementine,  nor  any  other  authoritative 
edition,  existed  at  the  time  of  the  decree. 
The  Sixtine  edition  by  implication,  and  the 
Clementine  expressly,  admit  that  they  are 
not  perfect ;  and  if,  says  Cardinal  Franze- 
lin  {'"  De  Traditione  et  Scriptura,"  p. 
470),  we  can  show  that  a  text  of  what- 
ever kind,  though  found  in  the  Clemen- 
tine edition,  is  no  part  of  the  old  Vul- 
gate, that  text  is  not  declared  authentic 
by  the  council.  Hence  a  Catholic  is 
perfectly  free  to  reject  the  text  of  the 
"three  witnesses"  (John  t.  7)  on  this 
among  other  grounds,  that  it  formed  no 
part  of  the  primitive  Vulgate.  "In 
fact,"  says  Kaulen,  an  author  of  unques- 
tioned orthodoxy,  "the  passage  occurs 
neither  in  the  oldest  MSS.  of  the  original, 
nor  in  the  old  versions,  nor  in  the  Fathers 
before  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  and  is 
only  to  be  regarded  as  commentary  on  v. 


VULGATE 

8,  venerable  on  account  of  its  diffusion  in 
the  Church  '"  ("  Einleit."  p.  36).  Vercel- 
lone,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  goes  much 
further  than  Kaulen.  Franzelin  ("  De 
Deo  Trino,"Thes.iv  )and  Scheeben("  Dog- 
mitik,"  p.  757)  insist  on  the  necessity  of 
accepting  the  text,  because  in  any  case  it 
is  part  of  the  Vulgate  as  received  for 
many  centuries  in  the  Church.  We  reply 
that  the  council  does  not  require  us  to 
acknowledge  as  authentic  any  text  simply 
because  received  for  many  centuries.  The 
Fathers  of  Trent  only  bid  us  receive  the 
Vulgate  version  which  in  matter  of  fact, 
and  with  substantial  identity  of  form,  has 
been  approved  by  the  long  use  of  the 
Church.*  Besides,  Pallavicino  ("  Istoria 
del  Concil.  di  Trento."  vi.  17,  n.  5)  takes 
the  "  long  use  of  Hges"  to  mean  from  St. 
Gregory's  time;  and  we  have  good  ground 
ior  thinking  that  the  text  in  question  was 
no  part  of  the  Vulgate  even  then,  for 
it  is  wanting  in  the  two  oldest  MSS. 
(Amiatinus  and  Fuldeusis),  written 
about  545,  and  in  Alcuin's  reputed  copies 
at  Rome  {prima  manu),  and  at  London 
(Scrivener,  p.  562). 

Next,  no  comparison  is  made  between 
the  Vulgate  and  versions  in  other  langua- 
ges—f?.//.  the  Peshito — much  less  between 
the  Vulgate  and  the  originals.  The  coun- 
cil compares  the  Vulgate  with  other  Latin 
vei-sions,  and  pronounces  the  former  au- 
thentic. 

Thirdly,  the  Vuloate  even  in  its  purest 
form  is  not  declared  to  be  perfect.  Such 
perfection  was.  indeed,  attributed  to  it  by 
some  Post-Tridentine  theologians,  but  was 
utterly  denied  by  many  Catholic  scholars 
at  the  time  (Hody,  p."^509  seq.),  and  now 
probably  would  be  affirmed  by  nobody. 
Franzelin  sets  this  exairgerated  view 
aside  as  little  better  than  fanatical.'^ 

Fourthly,  Fi-anzelin  admits  the  law- 
fulness of  "  holding  that  texts  directly 
intended  to  teach"  dogmatic  truth  may 
have  been  omitted  in  the  Vulgate ;  and 
again  that  even  when  such  texts  are  given, 
considerable  alterations  may  have  been 
made  in  their  form.  For  example,  he  grants 

1  The  council  regarded  the  version  as  the 
species  of  Avhich  particular  copies  were  the 
individuals,  and  approved  the  former  only 
(Letter  of  the  Cardinal  di  S.  Croce,  apud  Ver- 
cellone,  p.  85);  and  desired  that  the  Vulgate 
should  be  corrected  from  the  most  ancient 
texts  (ih.  p.  80).  This  settles  the  question  of 
John  v.  7. 

-  He  shows  (De  Tradit  et  Script,  p.  501) 
that  a  decree  of  the  Consfregation  of  the  Coun- 
cil (Jan.  17,  1576),  which  misled  many  theo- 
logians, is  of  no  authority. 


VULGATE 


VULGATE 


857 


that  we  are  at  liberty  in  Gen.  iii.  15  to 
reject  the  Vulgate  (or  supposed  Vulgate) 
readintr,  <'  she  shall  crush  thy  head,"  as  an 
error,  for  "  he  shall  crush  thy  head  "  •,  and 
similarly,  that  we  may  deny  the  correct- 
ness of  the  rendering  "  ante  luciferum  " 
(Ps.  cix.  3),  "fundetur"  (Luc.  xxii.  20), 
"  in  quo  omnes  peccaverunt "  (Rom.  v. 
12),  "omnes  quidem  resurgemus"  (1  Cor. 
XV.  21). 

Here,  however,  Franzelin  (as  also 
Scheeben  and  others)  makes  two  reserva- 
tions. He  argues  that  the  decree  of 
Trent  requires  us  to  believe  that  the  Vul- 
gate is  accurate  substantially  (quoad  sub- 
stantiani)  in  texts  "  which  are  in  them- 
selves {i.e.  directly  and  in  their  primary 
intention)  testimonies  concerning  matters 
of  faith  and  morals."  We  confess  that 
we  are  quite  unable  to  see  any  sufficient 
ground  for  this  part  of  his  thesis.  No 
such  distinction  is  made  by  the  council. 
It  is  not  even  hinted  at  in  the  important 
correspondence  on  the  sense  of  the  decree 
between  the  Papal  legates  and  the  Con- 
gregation at  Rome,  printed  by  Vercellone 
("  Bissertaz."  p.  79  seq.).  We  can  tind  no 
trace  of  it  in  the  elaborate  collection  of 
Catholic  theological  opinions  in  Hody  ;  ^ 
while  Vercellone's  opinion  is  supported  by 
Vega  and  Didacus,  both  of  whom  were  at 
the  council,  as  well  as  by  Ruggerius  and 
Natalis  Alexander  (Hody,  pp.  511,  620, 
522,  545).  The  distinction  which  allows 
us  to  reject  such  a  reading  as,  e.g.,  "  She 
shall  bruise  thy  head,"  and  binds  us 
to  accept  such  a  verse  as,  e.g.,  "  This 
kind  goeth  not  forth  save  by  prayer  and 
fasting  "  (Marc.  ix.  218),  is  surely  a  very 
subtle  one.  To  determine  what  texts  are 
directly  and  primarily  dogmatic,  and  then 
what  changes  will  affect  only  the  mode  in 
which  the  doctrine  is  presented,  leaves 
immense  scope  for  private  judgment. 
Had  the  council  meant  to  limit  criticism, 
it  w^ould  surely  have  expressed  itself  more 
clearly.  Be  this  at  it  may,  it  is  certain 
that  the  question  is  an  open  one.  Vercel- 
lone, who  was  probably  the  greatest  of 
all  authorities  on  the  Vulgate,  published 
his  treatise  "  On  the  Authenticity  of  the 
Single  Parts  of  the  Vulgate  Bible  "  ("  Sulla 
Autenticita  delle  Singole  Parti  della  Bib- 

^  1  e.  none  of  the  theologians  make  Fran- 
zelin's  distinction  between  the  substance  of  a 
dogmatic  text  and  the  mode  of  its  presentation. 
Hody  divides  Catholic  theologians  into  two 
classes:  (1)  those  who  " contend  for  the  trans- 
lation against  the  original"  ;  (2)  those  who 
hold  that  the  Vulgate  was  declared  authentic 
"  quia  nullum  continet  in  fide  et  moribus  per- 
niciosum  errorem  "  (pp.  510,  511). 


bia  Volgata")  at  Rome  in  18G6.  Thi^ 
dissertation  appeared  with  the  imprimatur 
of  the  Master  of  the  Sacred  Palace,  and 
in  no  way  lessened  the  high  reputation  ot 
its  author.  He  holds  that  there  may  be 
an  error  of  translation  even  in  passages 
which  the  Fathers  and  the  Church  herself 
have  regarded  as  dogmatic,  and  he  rejects 
by  anticipation  the  whole  of  Franzelin's 
distinction.  Besides  the  reasons  given 
he  urges  that  it  would  need  a  series  of 
miracles  to  preserve  a  text  pure  in  the 
hands  of  copyists  from  all  eircr  in  dog- 
matic texts,  and  the  very  same  reasons 
which  plead  for  an  inniiaculate  translation 
also  plead  for  a  perfect  preservation  of  the 
text ;  he  points  out  that  we  have  no 
right  to  expect  such  a  miracle,  since  the 
versions  received  for  centuries  in  the  East 
and  West  contain  many  variations  in 
passages  considered  to  be  dogmatic,  with 
some  faults  of  omission  and  addition ; 
while  all  theologians  admit  that  councils 
may  err  in  the  texts  they  allege  in  proof 
of  their  definitions,  although  the  defini- 
tions themselves  are  exempt  from  error. 
Franzelin's  second  reservation  concerns 
sections  like  INlark  xvi.  9-20;  John  vii. 
5.3 — viii.  11  ;  John  v.  4.  Many  Protestant 
critics  have  rejected  them  as  interpola- 
tions, but  Franzelin  is  of  opinion  that 
they  must  be  accepted  by  Catholics  on 
the  authority  of  the  council  which  sets 
its  seal  to  the  books  of  the  Bible,  as  con- 
tained in  the  Vulgate,  "with  all  their 
parts."  The  judgment  of  Vercellone  is 
diametrically  opposite.  He  believes  that 
the  words  '*  cum  omnibus  suis  partibus" 
refer  simply  "  to  those  deuterocanonical 
portions  which  were  disputed  by  the 
heretics  of  tlmt  age,  such  as  the  additions 
to  DaDLiel-'-aird  Esther."  If  criticism 
showed  these  sections  to  be  apocryphal  he 
"  would  have  no  difhculty  in  accepting  its 
conclusions,"  and  "  would  not  believe 
them  contrary  to  the  decree  of  Trent" 
(p.  46). 

What,  then,  is  the  meaning  of  the 
council  ?  It  teaches  that  the  Vulgate 
contains  nothing  contrary  to  true  faith 
and  sound  morals.  This  was  the  great 
point  present  to  the  mind  of  the  Fathers. 
They  were  unwilling,  the  legates  write, 
to  abstain  from  a  formal  approval  of  the 
Vulgate,  "  which  was  never  suspected  of 
heresy,  that  being  the  chief  thing  in  the 
sacred  books  "  (Vercellone,  loc.  cit.  p.  16). 
But  this  is  not  all.  The  Vulgate  is 
"authentic  ":  in  other  words,  the  council 
assures  us  that  the  books  in  that  version 
"  are  in  substance  entire  and  incorrupt, 


058 


VULGATE 


and  therefore  to  be  received  by  us  as 
divine "  {ib.  p.  37).  We  may  admit 
in  the  Vulgate  all  defects  which  may 
exist  -'in  any  book  whatever  without 
destroying  its  substantial  integrity  "  (p. 
3G).  To  be  more  precise :  the  Church 
has  never  in  any  age  or  in  any  place  mis- 
taken a  counterfeit  for  the  written  AVord 
of  God.  *' Therefore,  all  those  innu- 
merable variations  which  occur  between 
the  modern  Latin  Vulgate  and  the  old 
Latin  version  lawfully  employed  for  so 
many  centuries  in  the  Western  Church 
do  not  destroy  the  substantial  integrity 
of  the  Bible.  Nor  is  this  integrity  de- 
stroyed by  all  those  variations  which  are 
found  if  we  confront  our  copies  of  the 
modern  Vulgate  with  the  ancient  copies 
of  the  Greek  Church,  or  with  those  of 
the  Syrians,  Armenians,  Copts,  or  other 
Catholics  in  any  part  of  the  Church.  .  .  . 
From  a  theological  point  of  view  (doff- 
ma^.icamente) ,  all  the  versions  employed  by 
lawful  iiuthority  in  the  Church  are  equal " 
(p.  33).  If  wetake  the  decree  in  this,  as 
we  believe,  its  true  sense,  no  defence  ot  it 
is  so  much  as  needed.  A  Catholic  is  not 
at  liberty  to  say  with  Calvin  (Hody,  p. 
551)  that  there  are  scarcely  three  verses 
in  the  Vulgate  without  some  striking 
blunder,  but  a  statement  of  this  kind  is 
contrary  to  sober  criticism  as  well  as  to 
the  Tridentine  decree.     "  An  authorised 


WAR 

edition,"  says  Westcott  (p.  1705),  "be* 
came  a  necessity  for  the  Roman  Church, 
and  however  gravely  later  theologians 
may  have  erred  in  explaining  the  policy 
or  intentions  of  the  Tridentine  Fathers  on 
this  point,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  .  .  . 
the  principle  of  their  decision — the  prefer- 
ence, that  is,  of  the  oldest  Latin  text  to 
any  later  Latin  version — was  substantially 
right."    (See  also  Scrivener,  p.  311.) 

Little  need  be  said  on  the  pubUc  use 
of  the  Vulgate,  which  is  of  course  a  mere 
matter  of  discipline.  Catholic  scholars 
may,"  and  often  do,  translate  from  the 
original,  and  Vercellone  has  made  valuable 
collections  of  various  readings  in  the  Vul- 
gate text.  But  it  is  not  lawful  to  use  any 
except  the  Clementine  edition  in  church, 
or  to  print  any  other  text  of  the  Vulgate, 
or  even  to  insert  variDus  readings  in  the 
margin  (Preface  to  the  Clementine  edition, 
ad  Jin.)]  though  there  is  no  objection  to 
placing  them  at  the  foot  of  the  page. 

(The  chief  authorities  have  been  named 
in  the  course  of  the  article,  except  Van 
Ess,  "  Pragmatisch-kritische  Gescliichte 
der  Vulgata,"  Tiibingen,  1824;  Brunati, 
"  De  Nomine,  Auctore,  Emendatoribus 
et  Authentia  Vulgatge,"  Vienna,  1837. 
General  readers  will  find  the  best  account 
of  the  A^ulgate  in  Mr.  Law's  treatise  quoted 
above.) 


W 


"WAR.  The  resort  to ,  force  on  the 
part  of  two  or  more  nations  which  cannot 
settle  their  diHerences  by  peaceful  methods. 
The  word  "nation"  implies  that  war 
must  be  carried  on  by  the  people  of  a 
country  regarded  as  a  whole,  and  repre- 
sented by  its  Government,  not  by  any 
section  of  the  papulation  acting  for  itself. 
That  concentrated  and  organised  force  of 
political  society  which  is  behind  the 
tribunal  of  the  ma^strate,  and  executes 
the  sent^^nce  of  the  judge,  in  war  is  turned 
outward,  and  applied  to  the  overcoming 
of  the  corresponding  force  exerted  by  the 
hostile  nation. 

There  have  been  sects,  notably  the 
Quakers,  which  have  denied  altogether 
the  lawfulness  of  war,  partly  becaus^e  they 
believed  it  to  be  prt)hibited  by  Cliriat 
(Matt.  v.  39,  &c.),  partly  on  huraanit»rian 
grounds.     On  the  Scriptural  ground  they 


are  easily  refuted ;  the  case  of  the  soldiers 
instructed  in  their  duties  by  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  and  that  of  the  military  men 
whom  Christ  and  his  Apostles  loved  and 
familiarly  con /ersed  with,  without  a  word 
to  imply  that  their  calling  was  unlawful, 
sufficiently  prove  the  point.  They  are  on 
stronger  ground  when  they  point  to  the 
frightful  evils  of  every  kind  which  war 
unchains  upon  a  community,  and  the  more 
so  in  proportion  to  its  civilisation ;  and 
when  they  urge  that  war  should  be  put 
an  end  to  by  a  general  agreement  among 
nations  to  resort  to  arbitration,  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  go  a  long  way  with  them. 
There  have  been,  however,  and  there 
probably  will  be  again,  many  disputes 
between  nations  which  they  would  under 
no  circumstances  submit  to  arbitration; 
and  in  these  cases,  if  negotiation  has 
failed,  and  there  be,  on  one  side  or  on 


WAB 

both,  great  exasperation,  war  must  in- 
eA'itably  ensue.  But  the  voice  of  morality, 
enlightened  by  religion,  is  not  thereby 
silenced ;  it  claims  to  define,  both  what 
wars  may  bo  justly  undertaken,  and  how 
they  should  be  conducted.  On  these  sub- 
jects there  is  a  tolerably  general  consensus 
of  opinion  as  to  a  number  of  important 
points  among  theologians,  canonists,  and 
publicists. 

a.  The  question  what  wars  are  just 
resolves  itself  into  two  inquiries — what  is 
just  for  the  State,  and  what  is  just  for  the 
individual.  A  State  may  justly  declare 
war  in  order  to  recover  territory  of  which 
it  has  been  unjustly  deprived,  or  to  re- 
assert its  authority  over  subjects  who  have 
declared  themselves  independent,  or  to 
punish  gross  and  wanton  insults  to  its 
citizens  while  invested  with  a  public 
capacity,  and  for  several  other  causes. 
The  canonists  hold  that  a  State  may  law- 
fully make  war  upon  a  heretic  people, 
which  is  actively  spreading  heresy,  and 
stirring  up  dissension  and  rebellion  within 
its  own  subject  provinces  ;  or  upon  a  pagan 
people,  which  prevents  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  and  refuses  free  passage  to 
missioners  who  desire  to  carry  the  light 
of  faith  to  countries  beyond.  When  the 
justice  of  a  war  is  doubtful,  Grotius  ("  De 
Jure  Belli  et  Pacis,"  c.  23,  cited  in  Fer- 
raris) urges  that,  considering  the  evils 
wJiich  war  entails,  particularly  upon  in- 
nocent persons.  Governments  ought  to 
piefer  to  remain  at  peace;  and  this  is 
probably  now  the  general  opinion.  It  is 
no  just  cause  of  war  that  a  State  desires 
to  rule  over  its  neighbour,  or  to  enlarge 
its  dominions,  or  add  t^  its  wealth  or 
power,  or  to  preserve  a  certain  balance  of 
force  and  prevent  another  nation  from  be- 
coming dangerously  powerful,  unless  the 
aggrandisement  feared  tend  manifestly 
and  indisputably  to  the  subjugation  of 
other  nations. 

The  subjects  and  citizens  of  a  Govern- 
ment declaring  war  are  safe  in  obejdng  it, 
and  taking  up  arms  in  its  behalf,  unless 
they  are  certain  that  its  cause  is  unjust. 
"In  doubtful  matters  we  ought  always 
to  obey,  .  .  .  because,  though  the  ruler 
may  sin  in  commanding,  the  subject  does 
not  sin  in  obeying"  (Glossa  on  St.  Au- 
gustine, quoted  by  Ferraris).  But  a 
foreign  auxiliary,  enlisting  himself  volun- 
tarily in  the  service  of  a  nation  at  war,  is 
bound  to  satisfy  himself  beforehand  that 
its  cause  is  just.  If  a  soldier  is  certain 
that  the  cause  in  which  his  Government 
is  lighting  is  unjust,  he  ought  to  obtain 


WASHING  OF  HANDS        859 

his  discharge  as  soon  as  he  can,  and  in 
the  meantime  to  abstain,  so  far  as  possible, 
from  acts  of  hostility. 

/3.  As  to  the  manner  of  conducting 
war,  opinion  formerly  tended  to  harsher 
conclusions  than  those  now  commonly 
received.  All  movable  property  used  to 
be  looked  upon  as  the  lawful  spoil  of  the 
soldiers  of  an  invading  force.  "  Quafc  ab 
hostibus  capimus,  jure  gentium  statim 
nostra  hunt  — "  The  things  which  we  take 
from  our  enemies,  by  the  law  of  nations 
immediately  become  our  own  "  (Ferraris, 
art.  iii.  §  34).  Animals  used  for  ploughing, 
and  seed  corn,  were  excepted  from  this 
right  of  spoil  enjoyed  by  conquerors.  At 
the  present  day,  among  civilised  nations, 
privat3  property  on  land  is  held  to  be 
exempt  from  spoliation  in  time  of  war. 
The  invading  general  requisitions  the 
authorities  of  the  towns  and  villages 
which  he  occupies  for  such  supplies  as  he 
may  require,  with  or  without  payment; 
and,  if  these  requisitions  be  complied  with, 
it. is  held  to  be  his  duty  to  restrain  his 
soldiers  from  every  species  of  plunder. 
Private  property  at  sea  is  still  subject  to 
be  seized,  and  converted  to  the  use  of  the 
captors. 

The  duties  of  a  soldier  in  war  towards 
the  State  which  he  serves  and  the  general 
who  commands  him  comprehend  faithful 
service,  courage,  and  prompt  obedience. 
Hence  desertion,  cowardice,  and  breaches 
of  discipline,  are  in  a  soldier  grievous 
sins. 

Ambush,  stratagem,  and  deceit  are 
lawful  in  time  of  war,  for  those  whose 
lives  are  in  continual  peril  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  abstain  from  any  practice  against 
their  enemies  which  might  tend  to  lessen 
that  peril.  In  practice,  the  resort  to  such 
means  is  limited  in  some  degree  by  the 
code  of  militarj'-  honour.  'Ihe  use  of 
poisoned  weapons  and  explosive  bullets  is 
generally  c  mdemned,  as  causing  a  great 
increase  of  suffering  to  those  wounded  by 
them,  without  any  corresponding  military 
advantage.     (Ferraris,  Bellum.) 

'WASHXN-G  OP  FEET.     [See  HoLT 

Week.] 

-WASHIXTG  OF  HANDS  BEFORE 
AITB  AFTER  MASS.  A  rubric  of  the 
Roman  Missal  directs  the  celebrating  priest 
to  wash  his  hands  in  the  .sacristy  before  he 
puts  on  his  vestments.  The  Jewish  priests 
used  to  wash  their  hands  and  feet  before 
they  officiated  at  the  altar  (Ex.  xxx.  18- 
21 ;  2  Paralip.  iv.  2,  6),  and  in  such  pas- 
sages as  Ps.  xxvi.  6,  and  Ixxiii.  13,  there 
is  an  allusion  to  the  ethical  meaning  of 


860 


WHITE  FRIARS 


this  rite.  The  early  Christians  adopted 
a  similar  usage ;  only  with  them  the  pre- 
liminary lustration  before  prayer  was  com- 
mon to  all  the  laity.  Many  of  the  Fathers 
testify  to  the  prevalence  of  this  custom. 
(See,  e.g.,  Euseb.  "  H.E."  x.  4. ;  Chrysost. 
Hom.  iii.  "In  Epist.  ad  Ephes.";  and 
Caesar.  Serm.  51,  numbered  229  in  Ap- 
pendix iv.  to  St.  Augustine.)  In  later 
times  this  preliminary  ablution  was  pre- 
scribed for  priests  only.  It  is  also  usual 
for  priests  to  wash  their  fingers  in  the 
sacristy  after  Mass  when  they  have  taken 
oflf  their  vestments. 

Quite  distinct  from  either  of  these 
washings  is  the  washing  of  the  priest's 
hands  after  the  offertory,  and  again  after 
Communion.  (For  these  see  Lavabo; 
Ablution  :  Purification-.) 

-WHITS  FRZARS.  [See  Car- 
melites.] 

-WHITS  GARivcSN-T.  [See  Bap- 
tism, and  Low  SujfDAT.] 

-WHIT-SUWDA-JT.  The  common 
name  in  England  for  Pentecost.  Mr. 
Skeat  ("Etymological  Dictionary/'  sm6 
roc.)  shows  that  the  derivation  is  plain 
and  certain.  It  descends  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  "  hwita  Sunnandaeg,"  and  means 
"  White  Sunday."  It  is  more  difficult  to 
say  why  the  name  was  given,  but  probably 
the  author  just  quoted  is  right  in  his 
suggestion  that  it  refers  to  the  white  robe 
of  baptism.  Easter  and  Pentecost  were 
for  many  ages  the  times  at  which  baptism 
was  administered,  and  in  cold  climates, 
like  our  own,  Pentecost  would  be  pre- 
ferred to  Easter  for  the  reception  of  bap- 
tism, which,  in  those  days,  was  given  by 
immersion.  If  this  explanation  is  correct, 
:Our  name  for  Pentecost  would  resemble 
the  Latin  title  for  Low  Sunday,  viz. 
•*'T)ominica  in  Albis." 

"WlXiIi.  The  ancient  definition  of  a 
will  or  testament  by  the  Roman  jurists 
was  "  the  lawful  sentence  of  our  will  con- 
cerning that  which  a  person  wishes  to  be 
done  after  his  death."  Many  writers  hold 
that  the  words  "  with  the  institution  of 
an  heir  "  should  be  added  to  the  definition, 
because  such  institution  is  "  of  the  essence 
of  the  testament "  (Ferraris).  The  business 
of  will-making,  in  England  at  least,  is 
now  regulated  in  all  its  parts  by  the 
statute-law;  and  those  desiring  informa- 
tion respecting  it  can  find  what  they  seek 
in  the  ordinary  law-books,  or,  which  is 
the  safer  course,  obtain  it  from  their 
lawyer.  All  that  will  be  here  attempted 
is  (1)  to  point  out  some  special  circum- 
stancea  about  the  wills  of  Christiana  which 


WILL 

the  history  of  primitive  times  brings  to 
our  knowledge  ;  (2)  to  advert  generally  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  subject  was  re- 
garded in  the  middle  ages ;  (."i)  to  specify 
some  of  the  principal  features  of  the 
modern  canon  law  in  regard  to  testamen- 
tary disposition. 

(1)  After  the  conversion  of  Constan- 
tine  the  imperial  law  (Cod.  Theod.  16, 
2,  4)  sanctioned  and  facilitated  the  be- 
quest of  property  of  all  kinds  to  the 
Church.  Such  property  became  the  patri- 
mony of  the  Church  and  the  poor,  and 
could  not  thereafter  be  the  subject  of  a 
will,  except  so  far  as  a  man  might  desire, 
and  be  entitled,  to  point  out  its  future  dis- 
pensers.^ Clerics,  therefore,  of  aH  grades, 
could  not  dispose  by  will  of  any  prjoperty, 
movable  or  immovable,  which  they  had 
become  possessed  of  in  virtue  of  their 
office.  Justinian,  in  the  Code,  allows 
bishops  to  bequeath  property  which  they 
possessed  before,  or  which  they  had  in- 
herited since,  their  consecration;  every- 
thing else  they  could  only  leave  to  the 
Church.  This  law  was  enforced  by 
Gregory  the  Great  in  several  remarkable 
instances.  Justinian,  also,  while  allowing 
secular  priests  to  make  wills  (Nov.  76, 
1),  withheld  the  right  altogetlier  from 
monks.  The  power  of  testamentary  dis- 
position was  frequently  taken  from  and 
restored  to  heretics  in  the  imperial  legisla- 
tion. A  constitution  of  Valentinian  (370) 
forbade  women  to  bequeath  property  to 
ecclesiastical  persons. 

k.  remarkable  anecdote  is  told  by 
Possidius  of  St.  Augustine.  A  certain 
Januarius,  who  had  joined  the  congrega- 
tion of  clerks  which  the  saint  had  insti- 
tuted in  his  house  at  Hippo,  bequeathed 
his  money  to  the  Church,  disinheriting 
liis  two  children.  St.  Augustine  refused 
the  bequest :  first,  because  his  religious  had 
renounced  the  power  of  willing  when  they 
joined  the  congregation ;  secondly,  because 
of  the  wrong  done  to  the  children.  He 
sent  for  the  heirs,  and  arranged  for  the 
division  of  the  money  between  them. 
Satyrus  left  all  his  property  to  his  brother, 
St.  Ambrose,  with  a  verbal  request  that  he 
would  give  to  the  poor  as  much  of  it  as 
he  thought  right.  St.  Ambrose  gave  it 
all  to  the  poor.  The  saint  made  no  will, 
having  stripped  himself  of  everything  at 
the  time  of  his  ordination,  when  be  mada 
over  his  lands  to  the  Church,  reserving  the 
usufruct,  or  annual  profits  of  them,  to  hi« 
sister  for  her  life. 

»  Thomassin,  VtU  et  Nova  Disc,  iii,  2,3t. 


wn.L 

(2)  During  the  middle  ages,  the  prac- 
tice of  devising  land  and  other  property 
for  religious  purposes  {ad pias  causa s)  was 
Btill  largely  resorted  to.  In  countries 
where  the  society  was  feudal,  tlie  kings 
and  superior  lords,  finding  that  the  accu- 
mulation of  lands  held  by  the  Church 
deprived  them  of  various  incidental  ad- 
vantages (such  as  reliefs,  wardships,  and 
escheats)  which  they  derived  from  the 
same  lands  while  in  lay  tenure,  commenced 
to  legislate  against  such  accumulation, 
whether  effected  by  grant  or  will.  Hence 
arose  the  laws  of  Mortmain,  forbidding 
any  further  conveyance  of  lands  to  the 
Church.'  These  laws,  however,  in  Eng- 
land, could  be  evaded  by  means  of  a 
Licence  in  Mortmain  granted  by  the  Crown. 
A  practice  also  arose  of  bequeathing  lands 
to  certain  persons  as  the  legal  owners,  to 
the  use  of  certain  other  persons — a  re- 
ligious community,  for  instance;  and,  in 
tbe.se  cases,  the  Court  of  Chancery  re- 
p,-arded  the  beneficial  ownership  as  belong- 
ing to  those  to  whom  the  use  was  devised. 
This  practice — long  before  uses  were  turned 
into  possession — was  prevented  from  being 
of  any  benefit  to  the  Church  by  the  statute 
of  1392,  which  enacted  that  uses  should 
be  subject  to  the  statutes  of  Mortmain, 
and  liable  to  be  forfeited  on  any  infringe- 
ment thereof,  equally  with  the  lands  them- 
selves.^ Licences  in  Mortmain  ceased  to 
be  given  after  the  Reformation,  and  the 
statute  of  23  Henry  VIII.  (1532)  declared 
that  all  grants  of  lands,  on  trust  for  parish 
churches  or  other  institutions  "  erected 
and  made  of  devotion,"  if  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  should  be  deemed  null  and 
void.  This  statute  was  held  to  cut  off 
grants  to  superstitious  uses ;  those  to  chari- 
table uses  were  still  valid.  But  the  Mort- 
main Act  of  1736  (9  George  II.  c.  36) 
enacted  that  any  grant  to  a  charitable 
use  should  be  by  a  deed  executed  at  least 
twelve  months  before  the  donor's  death, 
enrolled  in  the  Court  of  Chancery  within 
six  months  after  execution,  and  taking 
effect  immediately  upon  enrolment. 

(3)  With  regard  to  wills  in  modern 
times,  the  general  rule  has  been  (Ferraris, 
Test.  art.  i.  §40)  to  follow  the  pre- 
scriptions of  the  civil  law,  in  ecclesiasti- 
cal no  less  than  in  secular  courts,  in  all 
countries  belonging  to  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire ;  in  countries  subject  to  the  Roman 
Pontiff,  the  canon  law  was  followed.  Tlie 
civil  law  requires  that  a  will  be  attested 
by  seven  witnesses,  all  males.  If  the 
testator  is  unable  to   sign  it,  an  eighth 

1  Stephen's  Commentaries,  Part  I.  ch.  xv. 


WILL 


881 


witness  is  required,  who  signs  in  his  name. 
The  canon  law  only  requires  attestation 
by  two  good  witnesses  {idonei  testes)  and 
the^  parish  priest.  In  the  absence  of  the 
parish  priest,  there  must  be  four  witnesses. 
According  to  the  rigour  of  the  law,  clerks 
without  the  consent  of  the  bishops,  and 
religious  without  the  consent  of  their 
superior,  cannot  witness  wills.  But  cus- 
tom has  sanctioned  their  acting  without 
consent,  and  they  frequently  do  so. 

If  executed  without  the  required  form- 
alities, and  not  afterwards  validated  in 
one  of  the  ways  pointed  out  by  the  im- 
perial legislation,  a  will  ad  causas  pro~ 
fanas,  according  both  to  the  civil  and  the 
canon  law,  is  null;  and  a  celebrated 
question  has  arisen,  whether,  if  the  in- 
tention of  the  testator  be  clear,  the  nullity 
of  the  will  for  want  ot  form  should  be 
extended  to  the/brMm  conscientife  as  well 
as  the  forum  externum.  Much  has  been 
written  on  both  sides ;  an  abstrjict  of  the 
arguments  may  be  seen  in  Ferraris  (art.  i. 
44-57). 

Privileged  wills  {testamenta  pi-tvile- 
giata)  are  those  which  are  held  in  canon 
law  to  be  valid  although  the  forms  re- 
quired by  the  civil  law '  have  not  been 
complied  with.  Such  are  those  ad  pias/ 
causas,  those  of  soldiers  made  on  a  cam- 
paign, those  of  peasants,  &c.  A  testamen- 
tum  ad  piias  causas  is  a  will  in  which  a 
religious  purpose  or  destination  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  heir — such  as  the  support 
of  a  church  or  convent,  an  almshouse,  a 
school,  &c.  This  is  held  to  be  ^did,  even 
without  witnesses,  if  written  and  signed 
in  the  known  hand  of  the  testator ;  other- 
wise, it  requires  two  witnesses. 

Anyone  can  make  a  will  who  is  not 
prohibited  by  natural  or  positive  law. 
Persons  so  disqualified,  are — infants  under 
seven  years,  madmen  (although  a  wiU 
made  in  a  lucid  interval  is  valid),  idiots, 
spendthrifts  _  interdicted  by  the  courts, 
slaves,  captives,  convicts,  suicides,  &c. 
This  is  merely  a  general  statement ;  ex- 
ceptional circumstances  occur  in  the  case 
of  most  of  the  classes  enumerated  above, 
under  which  a  will  can  be  validly  made. 
Professed  regulars  cannot  make  a  will,  be- 
cause they  cannot,  as  individuals,  own 
property  [Profession,  Rel.]  ;  neverthe- 
less they  can  interpret  and  declare  a  testa- 
mentar}'-  disposition  made  previously  to 
profession.  Secular  clerks  of  all  grades 
can  devise  their  patrimonial  and  quasi- 
patrimonial,  or  individual,  property,  as 
freely  as  laymen.^ 

1  Ferraris,  art.  iii.  26. 


862      WITCHCRAFT,  WITCH 

All  reo-ulars  (except  Franciscans)  can, 
with  the  licence  of  their  superior,  act  as 
testamentary  executors.  Even  if  they 
have  not  such  licence,  their  executorial 
acts,  though  not  licit,  are  valid.  They 
are  bound  to  render  an  account  of  their 
administration  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese. 

A  will  is  said  to  be  "  ambulatory,"  and 
can  at  any  time  be  revoked  or  changed 
down  to  the  last  day  of  life. 

(Ferraris,  Testamentum  ;  Soglia,  lib.  iii. 
§50;  Smith  and  Cheetham ;  Stephen's 
**Comraenfaries,'  1868.) 

"WITCHCRAFT,  VTITCH  (Anglo- 
Saxon,  loiccancrceft,  loicce  ;  probably  d  ^n- 
nected  with  Old  High  German  wihan, 
German  iveihm).  W^itcbcraft  has  been 
deiiued  (Berjrier,  "  Diet.  Theol.")  as  "  the 
art  of  doing  things  wonderful,  and  ap- 
parently supernatural,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  God.'"  Perhaps  a  more  exact 
delinition  would  be  "a  power,  real  or 
supposed,  of  producing,  in  concert  with 
an  evil  spirit,  effects  beyond  the  reach  of 
natural  means  and  operations." 

Those  who  deny  the  existence  of  evil 
spirits,  and  maintain  that  all  the  cases  of 
demoniacal  possession  mentioned  in  the 
Bible  and  recorded  elsewhere  are  merely 
cases  of  disease,  are  of  course  still  less 
inclined  to  admit  the  reality  of  witch- 
craft. Imagination,  morbid  fancy,  terror 
of  the  unknown,  private  spite,  knavery, 
crediUity,  and  hallucination,  sufficiently 
account,  in  their  eyes,  for  all  of  which 
witches  have  ever  been  accused,  or  have 
accused  themselves.  The  former  opinion 
— namely,  that  any  commerce  between 
human  beings  and  evil  spirits  is  imaginary 
and  impossible — i^  repugnant  to  Scripture 
and  the,  at  least  implicit,  teaching  of  the 
Church,  and  cannot  be  held  by  Catholics. 
But  it  does  not  follow  that  because  we 
believe  that  cbsemon  is  a  fact,  and  that 
human  beings  can  and  do  come  under  the 
influence  of  evil  spirits,  we  should  there- 
fore adijiit  the  reality  of  any  such  leairues 
or  compacts  with  the  devil  as  the  records 
of  witchcraft  assume.  Perrone,  indeed, 
describes  as  "  rash "  the  denial  of  the 
common  opinion  that  dealings  and  com- 

gicts  with  the  devil  actually  take  place. ^ 
ut  other  Catholic  theologians  (see  the 
article  Maf/ie  in  Wetzer  and  Welte)  take 
a  diiierent  view,  and  argue  that,  just  as 
the  belief  in  the  Sabbaths  or  nightly 
meetings  of  the  witches,  though  once 
universally  held,  has  been  so  dissipated 
by  rellection  and  experience  that  Perrone 
himself  does  not  admit  it,  so  the  tendency 
1  Frcelectionea,  iv.  60. 


WITCHCRAF1\  WITCH 

of  sound  opinion  is  to  the  extirpation  of 
the  view  that  the  phenomena  of  witch- 
craft imply,  or  ever  implied,  an  actual 
diabolic  compact. 

Without  troubling  ourselves  with  the 
sagts  and  lamia  of  Roman  antiquity,  let 
us  consider  the  popular  notions  about 
witches  and  their  power  which  prevailed 
in  Europe  till  quite  recent  times,  and  still 
are  harboured  in  many  weak  and  ill-taught 
minds.  It  used  to  be  believed  that  witches 
wei-e  of  three  kinds — black,  white,  and 
grey :  the  first  could  only  hurt ;  the 
second  only  help ;  the  tliii-d.  could  both 
help  and  hurt.  Their  power  came  to 
them  in  virtue  of  a  cornpact  with  the 
devil,  by  which  they  bartered  their  souls 
for  some  earthly  object  of  desire.  The 
witch  was  thouiJfht  to  be  usually  "  a  de- 
crepit, superannuated  old  woman,  who  is 
tempted  by  a  man  in  black  to  sign  a  con- 
tract to  become  his,  both  soul  and  body." 
He  gives  her  a  piece  of  money,  and  she 
delivers  to  him  a  slip  of  parchment,  on 
which  her  name  is  signed  with  her  blood. 
An  imp  or  familiar,  often  in  the  form  of  a 
cat,  is  given  to  her,  and  the  bargain  is 
concluded.  From  this  time  the  witch 
bore  the  devil's  mark  on  some  part  of  her 
body.*  Whether  the  witch  were  the 
devil's  instrument,  or  the  devil  hers,  was 
a  point  not  quite  settled ;  but  in  either 
case  she  deserved  to  be  burned. 

Reginald  Scot,  who  lived  at  a  time 
when  there  were  as  many  as  seventeen  or 
eighteen  reputed  witches  in  many  an 
Enu-lish  vilhige,  describes  the  way  in 
which  the  character  of  witch  came  to  be 
assigned  to  a  woman.  A  morose  old 
woman,  who  has  lost  her  children  and 
friends,  lives  alone  in  a  but ;  she  begs  food 
and  other  things  of  her  neighbours ;  some- 
times she  meets  with  a  refusal,  resenting 
which  she  uses  bad  language,  and  wishes 
some  harm  may  come  to  the  refuser. 
After  a  time,  some  altercation  of  this 
kind  has  taken  place  between  her  and 
many  families  in  the  parish.  To  some 
members  of  these,  mishaps  are  sure  to 
happen — sudden  seizures  of  illness,  mur- 
rain among  the  cattle,  failure  of  crops, 
»fcc.  The  cause  is  unknown;  one  must 
therefore  be  invented ;  the  curses  of  the 

1  Margnret  Flower,  executed  at  TJncoln  in 
1618  for  be-VN'itchin'r  Lord  Kos>-e,  son  of  the  Karl 
of  Rutland,  and  other  persona,  canfes'^ed  tliat 
she  had  two  fanuliar  spirits  suck  in  ij  en  her — the 
one  white,  the  other  black  spotted.  When  she 
first  entertained  them  she  promised  thj-m  her 
soul,  and  they  covenanted  to  do  all  thinj^fa 
which  fhe  commanded  them  (Brand,  Popular 
Antiquities^  ii.  3b7). 


WTTCnCRAFT,  WITOH 

old  woman  are  remembered,  and  the  whole 
thing  is  clear — she  has  bewitched  them. 
Even  the  doctors,  says  Scot,  if  they  tind 
a  case  defy  their  art,  olten  encourage  the 
superstitious  belief,  for  insciticp  pallium 
venejicium  et  incanfatio  ("  witchcraft  and 
euciiautment  are  the  cloak  of  ignorance  "). 
•  True  religion  supports  the  mind  under 
misfortune,  ascribing  every  event  to  the 
will  or  the  permission  of  God,  who  does 
nothing  except  in  love.  But  when  the 
Christianity  professed  is  but  skin  deep, 
and  temporal  gain  or  loss  is  the  engrossing 
object  of  our  hope  or  fear,  an  ignorant 
age  resorts  to  witchcraft,  whether  to 
explain  ill-lack,  or  to  find  a  short  cut  to 
prosperity,  "If  any  adversitie,  greefe, 
sicknesse,  losse  of  children,  corne,  cattell, 
or  libertie,  happen  unto  them,  by  and  by 
they  exclaim©  upon  witches."  i^o  writes 
Reginald  Scot,  and  illustrates  what  he 
says  by  relating  what  had  happened 
within  his  own  knowledge.  The  Kev.  J. 
Ferrall,  vicar  of  Brenchley  in  Kent, 
charged  Margaret  Symons,  one  of  his 
parishioners,  with  having  bewitched  his 
son,  and  caused  him  to  fall  seriously  ill. 
The  woman's  dog  had  barked  at  the  boy 
as  he  ^yas  passing  her  house  ;  about  this  a 
quarrel  had  arisen,  and  angry  words  been 
exchanged.  When  his  son,  soon  after- 
wards, fell  ill,  the  reverend  gentleman, 
confirmed  in  his  opinioti  hy  the  other  witches 
living  in  the  village,  thought  Margaret 
Symons  must  have  cast  a  spell  upon  him. 
The  words  printed  in  italics  illustrate  a 
fact  which  witch-trials  abundantly  teach 
— viz.  that  the  belief  in  wit<?hcraft  tends 
to  establish  and  extend  itself  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  the  reputed  witches. 
The  boy  was  said  to  have  been  cured  of 
his  illness  by  another  Brenchley  witch ! 
and  Margaret  Symons,  we  may  hope, 
escaped. 

As  by  degrees  the  theory  of  witch- 
craft, arranging  itself  round  two  principal 
points — the  league  with  the  devil  and  the 
nightly  meetings  or  Sabbaths — became 
more  definite,  the  catalogue  of  mischiefs, 
rogueries,  and  portentous  events  of  all 
kinds,  which  the  witches  were  believed 
capable  of  causing,  was  continually  on 
the  increase.  If  a  German  jurisconsult, 
in  a  "dissertatio  juridica,"  were  at  the 
present  day  to  write  as  the  learned  Wal- 
burger  of  Anhalt  wrote  in  1670,  he 
would  be  set  down  as  insane.  But.  at  the 
time,  Walburger  was  considered  to  write 
on  the  conservative,  safe,  and  orthodox 
side.  In  his  belief,  witches  can  and  do 
cause  disease  (p.  30)  ;  and  lay  snares  to 


WITCHCRAFT,  WITCH      863 

kill  unbaptised  infants  (p.  35)  fo?  the 
gratification  of  their  master  the  devil; 
they  kill  their  own  children,  and  ofior 
them  to  the  devil  in  sacrifice  (p.  36) ; 
cause  wet-nurses  and  nursing-mothers  to 
lose  their  milk  (i6,)  ;  and  kill  great  num- 
bers of  children,  after  bringing  them  into 
the  world  as  midwives,  by  running  long 
needles  into  their  heads.  In  the  previous 
century  a  German  count  had  "  dedicated 
to  the  fiames"  [Vulcano  compeer avit?)  eight 
witches,  who  had  killed,  between  them, 
one  hundred  and  forty  infants.  Two 
witches  were  detected,  one  summer  night, 
boiling  an  infant  in  a  cauldron ;  had  they 
not  been  interrupted,  they  said,  a  strong 
frost  would  have  been  caused  by  the 
mighty  spell  they  were  brewing,  which 
would  have  destroyed  aU  the  crops.  One 
of  the  abominations  of  which,  m  Wal- 
burger's  opinion,  witches  were  most  fre- 
quently guilty,  was  that  of  "nodatio"; 
the  coarse  and  grotesque  details  in  con- 
nection with  this  charge  may  be  seeu 
in  Ghirlandus,  Bodin,  and  Delrio,  as  well 
as  in  the  present  tract.  Witches  are  in 
the  habit  of  killing  animals,  usually  by 
poison  ;  of  drying  up  cows,  causing  abor- 
tion, preventing  butter  from  coming  and 
beer  from  workhig,  and  diverting,  witJi 
the  aid  of  the  devil,  the  milk  from  cows 
belonging  to  other  women  into  their  own 
milk-pails.  The  Satanic  Sabbaths,  Wal- 
burger tells  us,  are  organised  by  the  devil 
with  peculiar  care.  The  judge  Remigiiis, 
he  says,  condemned  800  persons  to  death 
in  Lorraine  for  the  crime  of  attending 
these  meetings,  all  of  whom  testified  that 
they  really  took  place.  The  witches  ride 
to  them  on  broomsticks,  reeds,  goats, 
bulls,  horses,  or  dogs — the  transporting 
power  being  supplied  by  the  devil.  In 
Germany  the  Blocksberg  is  a  favourite 
place  of  meeting. 

Great  though  the  power  of  the  witch 
was  believed  to  be,  the  popular  imagina- 
tion imposed  limits  upon  it,  and  invented 
antidotes  against  their  spells.  At  Christ- 
mastide  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem  restrained 
the  powers  of  hell : — 

"  then  no  planet  strikes. 
No  fairy  takes,  nor  witch  hath  power  to  charm. 
So  hallow'd  and  so  gracious  is  the  time." 
I  {Hamlet,  Act  I.) 

j  If  one  could  succeed  in  drawing  the 
'  witch's  blood,  her  spells  were  defeated 
!  (Brand,  ii.  378).  Herb  Paris  was  thought 
!  an  excellent  preservative ;  vervain  and 
;  dill  were  also  recommended  ;  people  used 
i  to  hang  up  these  things  at  their  doors. 
i  It  was  also  believed  that  there  were  in- 


864      WITCHCRAFT,  WITCH 

fallible  means  of  proving  witchcraft 
against  a  witch  who  declared  herself 
innocent.  Of  these  the  one  first  resorted 
to  was  to  search  for  the  devil's  mark  ;  this 
being  found,  according  to  Scot,^  the  judge 
might  sentence  her  to  death  at  once.  A 
mole,  or  wart,  or  birth-mark,  found  on 
the  unhappy  woman  must  often  have 
sealed  her  doom.  Another  method  was 
to  weigh  the  witch  against  the  church 
Bible ;  if  the  latter  were  the  heaviest, 
she  was  guilty.  Another  was  to  make 
her  say  the  Lord's  Prayer,  it  being  be- 
lieved that  no  witch  could  repeat  it  to  the 
end  without  a  mistake.  Another  was  to 
cross-tie  her,  (right  thumb  to  left  toe,  left 
thumb  to  right  toe),  and  throw  her  into 
a  pond  or  river :  if  guilty  she  could  not 
smk  ;  if  she  did  sink,  this  proof  of  her 
innocence  unluckily  came  too  late.  A 
notorious  witch-finder  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  Matthew  Hopkins,  was  famous 
for  applying  all  these  tests ;  he  "  hanged, 
in  one  year,  no  less  than  sixty  reputed 
witches  in  his  own  county  of  Essex."  ^ 

What  are  we  to  say  to  all  this  ?  That 
confessions  of  being  in  league  with  the 
devil,  and  of  attendance  at  the  Sabbaths, 
were  sometimes  extorted  by  torture  is 
midoubted ;  and  such  confessions  few 
persons  would  now  hesitate  to  pronounce 
worthless.  But  it  is  no  less  certain  that  in 
numberless  instances  the  witches  volun- 
tarily accused  themselves  of  the  greatest 
monstrosities  and  crimes  imaginable.  Shall 
we  believe,  on  their  own  word,  that  they 
went  where  they  said  they  went,  made 
the  covenants  which  they  said  they  made, 
saw  what  thes-  said  they  saw  ?  To  resist 
belief  in  their  asseverations  must  have 
been  for  a  long  time  extremely  difficult, 
especially  when  judges  and  advocates 
came  to  the  investigation  with  a  fixed 
conviction  that  witchcraft  was  a  real 
crime.  But  experience  must  have  kept 
continually  adding  to  the  mass  of  dis- 
proved assertions  and  detected  impostures ; 
80  that  at  last  it  seemed  more  reasonable 
to  trace  the  enormities  with  which  these 
miserable  creatures  charged  themselves 
to  their  own  crazy  and  turbid  imagination 
than  to  suppose  them  to  have  an  objective 
existence.  To  say  this  is  not  to  deny  that 
the  evil  spirit  has  anything  to  do  with 
witchcraft.  Many  recorded  cases  are 
apparently  inexplicable,  unless  we  suppose 
a  demoniacal  agency  to  have  been  at  work. 
The  fact  of  obsession,  and  the  remedv 
of  exorcism,  remain  unshaken ;  but  the 

1  Quoted  in  Bnind,  ii.  381. 
a  Brand,  iL  385. 


WITCHCRAFT,  WITCH 

crime  of  witchcraft,  consisting  in  a  dis- 
tinct and  conscious  bargain  with  tlie 
evil  one  in  order  to  obtain  unlawful 
power,  would  appear  to  rest  on  no  secure 
foundation.^ 

The  history  of  juridical  and  theologi-* 
cal  opinion  is  very  curious,  and  was 
admirably  traced  by  Tartarotti  in  the  last 
century.  From  the  introduction  to  his 
work,  "  Del  Congresso  Notturno,"  most  of 
the  details  in  the  following  sketch  are 
taken.  The  first  among  mediaeval  writers 
to  notice  the  witches'  Sabbath  was 
Regino,  abbot  of  Prume,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  tenth  century;  he  speaks  of 
"wicked  women,"  who  say  that  they 
attend  great  meetings  by  night  "with 
Diana,  the  goddess  of  the  pagans,"  and 
do  her  bidding.  Diana  (Hecate,  Trivia) 
was  the  goddess  of  the  ways  {viaru7n  dea), 
and  therefore  supposed  to  preside  at  a 
meeting  of  her  votaries  gathered  from 
every  quarter."  A  century  later,  Bur- 
chard,  bishop  of  Worms,  speaks  of  women 
who  believed  themselves  to  ride  to  the 
meetings  on  different  beasts.  A  Council 
of  Treves  (1310)  forbade  any  woman  to 
pretend  that  she  rode  by  night  with 
Diana  or  with  Herodiana — "  haec  enim 
dsemoniaca  illusio  est.'  By  Herodiana 
was  meant  the  daughter  of  Herodias, 
whose  skiU  in  dancing  was  supposed  to 
be  displayed  at  these  Satanical  assemblies. 
From  the  fifteenth  century  date  the 
systematic  severities  of  the  Inquisition 
for  witchcraft  {processus  de  crimine  MaguSj 
Hexenprocesse).  Dominican  writers  of 
that  age — Nider,  Jaquerio,  Sprenger, 
Institor,  »S:c. — defended  the  process,  and 
asserted  the  reality  of  what  the  witches 
confessed  ;  but  the  Franciscans  Cassini 
and  Spina  took  the  opposite  view.  Cassini 
wrote  a  treatise  to  prove  that  the  witches 
did  not  really  ride  to  the  Sabbata,  but  in 
ecstasy  believed  that  they  did  so.  Sprenger 
and  Institor  were  the  joint  authors  of  the 
celebrated  work  "  Malleus  Maleficarum," 
which  is  full  of  the  most  startling  and 
horrible  stories.  After  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century  the  number  of  those 
who  opposed  the  popular  belief  grew 
rapidly.  The  work  of  Wierus,  a  Cleves 
physician,  on  the  "  Pseudomonarchia  Dae- 
monum,"  which  appeared  about  that  time, 

1  Scot  wrote  of  the  supposed  covenant,  three 
centuries  ago  :  "  Let  any  wise  or  honest  man 
tell  nie  that  either  he  hath  beene  a  partie  or  a 
ivitnesse,  and  I  will  believe  him"  (Disc,  of 
Witchcraft,  p.  45). 

^  Hecate  is  iiurcduced  by  Shakspere  in  the 
Fourth  Act  of  Macbeih. 


WITCHCRAFT,  WITCH 

made  a  great  sensation.     Against  Wierus 
— besides    several    Catholic    writers,    as 
Tanner    and    Layman — the    Protestants 
Daneus,  Hemming,  T.  Erastus,  and  Bodin 
appeared.      Bodin,  author  of  "Demono- 
mania,"     was     a     French     jurisconsult. 
Wierus    declared    that    the    Protestants 
"believed  in  the  Sabbata  more  firmly  than 
the  Catholics  themselves.    Reginald  Scot, 
evidently  a  humane  and  enlightened  man, 
published  his  "  Disco verie  of  Witchcraft," 
in  which    he    takes    the    same    line   as 
Wierus,  in  1684;  but,  being  in  English, 
the  work  appears  to  have  been  unknown 
on  the  Continent.    Nicholas  Remigio,  the 
Lorraine  judge  mentioned  above, published 
his  "  Dsemonolatria  "  in  1595.     Towards 
1600    appeared  the  ponderous  work   of 
Martin  Delrio,  a  Jesuit,  "  Disquisitiones 
Magicse,"  in  which  the  revelations  of  the 
witches  are  still  treated  seriously.     This 
became  everywhere  a  work  of  authority 
in  the  courts,  so  that  Thomasius  says  that 
Protestant    jurisconsults  "all   but   cojjy 
bim  out  word  for  word."     James  I.,  in 
his  "  Demonology,"  took    the  same  side. 
The    first  great    shock   to   the   received 
system  came  through  the  publication  of  a 
work  by  the  Jesuit,  Frederic  Spee,  "Cautio 
Criminalis  circa  Processus  contra  Sagas," 
1631.      Father   Spee   had   attended   the 
execution   of    many  persons   condemned 
for  witchcraft  in  the  dioceses  of  Wiirzburg 
and  Bamberg,  and  had  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  many  of  them  were  entirely 
innocent.      Yet,  so  strong  at  that  time 
was  the  general  opinion  on  the  other  side, 
that  Father  Spee  did  not  attach  his  name 
to  his  work,  nor  did  he  express  disbelief 
in   the    Sabbata   or   midnight   meetings, 
nor  propose  to  abandon  the  process ;  he 
simply  pleaded  for  more  caution  and  cir- 
cumspection.^     Leibnitz  ^  tells  us   that 
this  work  produced  a  strong  impression  on 
the  mind  of  Schonborn,  afterwards  Elec- 
tor of  Mayence,  and  through  him  on  other 
German  princes. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  Father  Spee,  a  crowd 
of  writers  all  through  the  seventeenth 
century,  both  Protestants  and  Catholics, 
defended  the  process,  and  the  assumptions 
on  which  it  rested.  Among  these  were 
Carpzovius,  Crusius,  Ghirlandus,  Meric 
Casaubon,  and  Glanvile.  The  Lutheran 
Thomasius  published  an  able  tract  (1701), 

1  He  mentions  an  accusation  brought  by 
several  witches  against  a  certain  regular  of 
having  been  present  at  their  meeting  at  a  particu- 
lar hour ;  but  at  that  hour  the  regular  was  in 
choir  singing  the  divine  office,  as  all  his  brother 
monks  attested. 

2  Theodicea,  1739,  p.  724. 


WYCLIFFITES 


865 


*'  Theses  de  Crimine  Magise,"  on  the  other 
side.  In  the  eighteenth  century  the  mis- 
trust of  the  process  grew  stronger  and 
stronger.  In  England  the  Act  9  Geo.  11. 
(1736)  abolished  all  prosecutions  for 
witchcraft  and  sorcery ;  pretensions  of 
the  kind  were  from  that  time  treated  as 
charlatanerie  and  imposture,  and,  if  at- 
tended by  attempts  to  gain  money,  were 
punished.  Maria  Theresa  abolished  witch- 
trials  in  Austria  in  1766.  The  last  execu- 
tion of  witches  in  Great  Britain  appears 
to  have  been  in  Scotland  in  1727,  when  a 
woman  was  burnt  on  the  charge  of  having 
ridden  her  own  daughter  to  the  meetings, 
the  said  daughter  having  been  transformed 
into  a  pony  and  shod  by  the  devil !  ^  At 
Tring  in  Hertfordshire,  in  1751,  an  old 
man  and  his  wife,  being  suspected  of 
witchcraft,  were  beaten,  ducked,  and 
otherwise  ill-used  by  a  mob  until  they 
expired.  The  latest  instances  of  witch- 
burning  in  Europe  appear  to  have  been 
at  Glarus  in  1782,  and  Posen  in  1793. 

(Scot,  "Disco verie  of  Witchcraft," 
1584;  Chambers'  Encyclop.  vol.  x. ; 
Brand,  "On  Popular  Antiquities,"  1813; 
Bergier,  "Diet.  Th6ol."  (Migne);  Heigen- 
rother,  "  Kirchengeschichte  "  ;  Perrone, 
"De  Deo  Creatore;"  Tartarotti,  "Del 
Congresso  Notturno  delle  Lamie,"  1749 ; 
Thomasius,  "  De  Crimine  Magise,"  1701 ; 
Walburger,  "  De  Lamiis,"  1670.) 

-WORSHIP.  [See  Latria  •  Dulea  ; 
Images,  &c.] 

IXTREATH.  [See  Mareiage.] 
WYCXiIFFXTSS.  John  Wyclif,  or 
Wyclilie,  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  born 
about  1324,  studied  in  the  University  of 
Oxford,  where  he  was  for  a  long  time  a 
fellow  of  Merton  College,  then  a  great 
seminary  of  learned  men,  and  afterwards 
became  master  of  Balliol  College  and 
warden  of  Canterbury  Hall.  He  was  a 
proficient  in  the  scholastic  divinity  of  his 
day,  and  also  betook  himself  zealously  to 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  The  Domini- 
cans, Franciscans,  Carmelites,  and  Augus- 
tinians,  all  had  at  this  time  flourisbinar 
houses  at  Oxford,  and  were  the  object  of 
considerable  ill-will  to  a  large  body  of 
masters  and  doctors  belonging  to  the 
secular  clergy,  chiefly  because  they  were 
said  to  attract  promising  students  from 
the  colleges,  and  induce  them  by  various 
means  to  enter  one  of  their  convents. 
The  Franciscans  were  accustomed  to 
lecture  on  the  excellence  of  poverty,  and 
to  dwell  in  their  sermons  on  the  fact  that 

^  Chambers'  Dom.  Ann.  of  Scotland,  iiL 
541. 


fi66 


WYOLTFFITES 


WYCLIFFTTES 


Christ  and  His  Apostles  lived  chiefly  by 
alms.  Fitzralpli,  archbishop  of  Armagh, 
maintained  that  the  poverty  of  Christ 
was  not,  like  that  of  the  friars,  voluntary. 
On  all  the  controverted  matters  he  took  a 
decided  part  against  the  friars,  and  Wyclif 
and  others  joined  him.  In  1366  Wyclif 
wrote  a  tract  to  justify  the  king  (Edward 
III.)  in  refusing  to  pay,  on  the  demand 
of  Urban  V.,  the  arrears  of  the  tribute 
granted  by  King  John  to  the  Holy  See. 
Some  years  after  this,  being  made  doctor 
in  theology,  he  began  pertinaciously  to 
attack  the  friars,  declaring  that  their  mul- 
tiplication impoverished  the  realm,  that 
their  letters  of  fraternity  were  a  delusion, 
that  they  introduced  many  superstitious 
practices,  estranged  the  laity  from  their 
parochial  clergy,  were  avaricious,  abetted 
wars,  &c. ;  also  that  they  taught  novel 
doctrines  on  the  sacrament  of  the  Altar. 
Wyclif  developed  about  the  same  time 
opinions  similar  to  those  which  had  been 
put  forward  earlier  in  the  .  century  by 
Marsilius  of  Padua,  to  the  effect  that  the 
clergy  ought  to  have  no  coercive  jurisdic- 
tion, and  that  no  temporal  penalty  of  any 
kind  ought  to  be  inflicted  except  with 
the  sanction  of  the  civil  power.  To 
these  he  added,  that  lay  lords  had  full 
power  to  take  away  temporal  possessions 
from  the  clergy  if  they  judged  that  a  bad 
use  was  made  of  them,  and  that  no  one 
was  bound  to  pay  tithes  or  oft'erings  to 
parish  priests  whose  lives  were  not 
editying.  The  Pope  (Gregory  XL)  heard 
of  this  teaching,  and  addressed  letters 
(1376)  to  Edward  III.,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  the  Bishop  of  London, 
and  the  University  of  Oxford,  urging  that 
Wyclif  should  be  arrested  and  put  on  his 
trial.  Some  cause  of  delay  arose,  and  it 
was  not  till  February  137*8  that  Wyclif 
appeared  to  answer  for  his  doctrine  before 
Bishop  Courtenay  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 
An  immense  crowd  thronged  the  cathedral 
and  its  approaches.  The  Duke  of  Lancas- 
ter, who  was  present,  was  at  this  time 
rather  favourably  inclined  towards  Wyclif; 
high  words  passed  between  him  and  the 
bishop;  the  people,  imagining  that  an 
outrage  was  being  oflered  to  their  bishop 
in  his  own  cathedral,  became  angry  and 
clamorous ;  and  the  assembly  was  broken 
up  in  concision.  Soon  afterwards  another 
assembly  was  held  at  Lambeth  before  the 
archbishop,  to  which  Wyclif  was  cited. 
He  handed  in  a  paper  in  Latin,  explain- 
ing his  teaching  on  the  connection  be- 
tween dominion  (or  ownership)  and  grace, 
on  the  jurisdiction  in  temporals  claimed 


for  the  Church,  on  the  effects  of  ex- 
communication, and  similar  questions.* 
This  paper  is  full  of  scholastic  subtleties 
and  distinctions,  so  that  it  is  diflicult  in 
many  places  to  catch  Wyclif  s  real  meant 
ing.  The  judges  decided  that  it  was  no- 
satisfactory,  and  the  archbishop  inhibited 
him  from  lecturing  or  publishing  any  more 
on  the  subjects  in  dispute.  Wyclif  then 
(April  1378)  presented  a  paper  in  Eng- 
lish— or  a  paper  was  presented  for  him — 
to  the  Parliament,  which  is  palpably 
more  anti-Papal  and  insurgent  in  tone 
than  the  statement  presented  to  the  arch- 
bishop, though  it  follows  generally  the 
same  line.  About  this  time  Gregory  XI. 
died,  and  the  proceedings  against  Wyclif 
■were  dropped. 

In  1378-9  Wyclif  appears  to  have 
been  actively  engaged  on  the  translation 
of  the  Vulgate  Bible  into  English.  It  is 
not  known  what  proportion  of  either  of 
the  two  versions  which  have  been  printed 
(Oxford  University  Press,  1850)  actually 
came  from  his  pen,  but  there  seems  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  first  impulse 
came  from  him,  and  that  he  had  an 
important  share  in  the  actual  execu- 
tion. 

In  1381  Wyclif  lectured  on  the 
Eucharist,  and  was  led  on  by  his  bitter 
antagonism  to  the  theologians  of  the 
mendicant  orders  to  the  enunciation  of 
views  which  scandalised  the  Church  and 
the  university,  and  were  formally  con- 
demned by  both.  In  brief,  he  propounded 
the  tenet  of  consubstantiation.  "Right 
as  hit  is  heresye,"  he  said,  "to  trowe 
that  Crist  is  a  spiryt  and  no  body,  so  hit 
is  heresye  to  trowe  that  this  sacrament  is 
God's  body  and  no  bred  ;  for  hit  is  bothe 
togedir."  "^ "  So  again,  in  the  "  Trialogus,"  * 
written  probably  in  1383,  to  quote  one 
among  many  similar  passages,  he  says 
that  the  whole  Church  militant,  "since 
the  time  of  the  promulgation  of  the 
Gospel,  has  rightly  believed  that  this 
sacrament  or  consecrated  host  is  natur- 
ally real  bread "  {vei-us  p(mis),  "  and 
sacramentally  the  body  of  Christ."  The 
chancellor,  William  de  Berton,  convened 
a  court  ot  twelve  doctors  in  the  schools 
of  the  Augustinian  convent,  who  adopted 
a  definition  in  which,  Wyclif  not  being 
named,  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  tran- 
substantiation  is  formally  asserted. 
Wyclif,    who    was    present,    put   in    a 

1  This  tract  begins  "Protestor  publice," 
(See  Lewis's  Life  of  Wyclif,  p.  59.) 

2  Select  Eiiglhh  Works,  iii.  502. 
5  Book  I V.'c.  27,  ed.  Lechler. 


WYCLIFFITES 


WYCLIFFITES 


867 


document  known  as  his  "  Confession."  * 
in  which,  under  cover  of  a  cloud  of  words 
and  copious  extracts  from  the  Fathers, 
he  tried  to  vindicate  the  soundness  of 
his  Eucharistic  teaching.  Soon  after 
this,  the  terrible  rising  of  the  Commons 
(in  the  summer  of  1381)  turned  away 
men's  thoughts  for  a  time  from  every 
other  subject.  Sudbury,  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  was  murdered.  The  new 
archbishop  (Oourtenay)  lost  no  time  in 
following  up  the  proceedings  against 
Wyclif.  He  convened  a  council  at  the 
Black  Friars  in  London,  which  met  in 
May  1382,  and  condemned  twenty-four 
propositions  extracted  from  the  reformer's 
writings.  Of  these  ten  were  declared  to 
be  heretical,  and  fourteen  erroneous.  The 
first  of  the  ten  was,  "  That  the  substance 
of  material  bread  and  wine  remains  after 
consecration  in  the  sacrament  of  the 
Altar."  The  fourteen  erroneous  conclu- 
sions belonged  either  to  the  peculiar 
politico- ecclesiastical  system  which  Wy- 
clif, following  the  Vaudois,  had  built  up 
in  various  treatises,  or  were  strong 
opinions  suggested  by  his  animosity  to- 
wards the  friars.  The  Pope's  confirma- 
tion of  the  proceedings  of  the  council 
was  soon  obtained,  and  the  archbishop 
then  took  very  energetic  steps  to  repress 
the  teaching  of  the  condemned  opinions 
both  in  the  university  and  the  country. 
Wyclif  was  obliged  to  leave  Oxford  and 
retire  to  his  living  of  Ijutterworth  ;  that 
no  other  severity  was  used  towards  him 
seems  to  have  been  owing  to  the  state  of 
his  health,  for  about  the  end  of  1382  he 
was  stricken  with  paralysis.  During  the 
two  remaining  years  of  his  life  his  lite- 
rary activity  must  have  been  prodiurious; 
the  great  bulk  of  his  English  works  (of 
which  the  three  volumes  printed  by  the 
Clarendon  Press,  with  tlie  supplementary 
volume  edited  by  Mr.  Matthew,  are  far 
from  exhausting  the  list)  were  produced 
in  this  period.     According  to  Gascoyne, 

1  It  begins  "  Saepe  conf  ssus  sum,"  and  may 
be  read  in  Lewis's  Life,  p,  3'^3  ;  Fascic.  Zizan. 
p.  116 ;  aiid  Vaughan's  Life,  ii.  245, 


(Lewis,  336)  he  had  another  paralytic 
stroke  on  December  2S,  1384,  and  died 
on  the  last  day  of  the  year. 

It  is  not  known  in  what  part  of  his 
career  Wyclif  founded  the  institution  of 
the  "  Poor  Priests,"  whom  he  sent  to 
various  parts  of  the  country  to  propagate 
what  he  conceived  to  be  the  Gospel,  and 
declaim  against  ecclesiastical  abuses. 
Among  these  men,  Herford,  Repyngdon, 
Patrington,  Swinderby,  and  Purvey,  were 
conspicuous.  They  and  their  followers 
were  called  Lollards,  and  that  they  were 
numerous  might  be  inferred,  even  if  there 
were  not  abundant  direct  evidence,  from 
the  chance  allusion  to  them  in  Chaucer's 
"Canterbury  Tales."  ^  To  Courtenay 
Arundel  succeeded,  and  to  Arundel 
Chicheley ;  and  all  three — but  especially 
Chicheley,  who  established  in  1416  a 
regular  inquisition  of  heresy  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exterminating  the  sect — used 
strenuous  measures  of  repression  against 
the  Wycliffites,  In  this  the  princes  of 
the  House  of  Lancaster,  the  weakness  of 
whose  title  to  the  crown  disposed  them 
to  court  the  good  will  of  the  hierarchy, 
zealously  aided  them.  In  1396  twelve 
delegates  appointed  by  the  university 
picked  out  two  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
propositions  from  Wyclifs  works  as 
deserving  of  censure.  In  1411  a  council 
held  at  London  by  Archbishop  Arundel, 
attended  by  thirteen  bishops  and  thirty 
doctors,  condemned  forty- five  Wyclitfite 
errors.  The  Council  of  Constance,  among 
the  theologians  attending  which  was  the 
great  Carmelite  Thomas  of  Waldon, 
enumerated  the  forty-five  propositions 
just  mentioned,  and  declared  that  many 
of  them  were  notoriously  heretical,  others 
erroneous,  others  scandalous  and  blasphe- 
mous, some  offensive  to  pious  ears,  and 
some  rash  and  seditious.  At  the  same 
time  \Vyclifs"  Dialogus  "  and  "  Trialoa-us  " 
were  condemned  by  name ;  others  of  his 
writings  were  reprobated  in  general  terms. 

1  '* '  I  smell  a  Idler  in  the  wind,'  quoth,  he  ** 
(Prol.  to  Shipman's  Tale), 


3k2 


'S>       OP  THE^^ 

UNI? 


ERSITr 


'd^lFQ-B.'^y 


APPENDIX 


[Arttclrs  Omitted.] 


AXTTZ-POPES.  In  the  first  twelve 
centuries  of  her  existence  the  Church  Avas 
disturbed  some  twenty-five  times  by  rival 
claimants  of  the  Papacy.  The  strife  thus 
originated  was  always  an  occasion  of 
scandal,  sometimes  of  violence  and  blood- 
shed, but  in  most  cases  it  was  easy  for 
men  of  honest  will  to  distinguish  between 
the  true  Pope  and  the  Anti-Pope  or  false 
claimant.  It  was  very  ditterent  in  the 
great  schism  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
For  forty  years  two  and  even  three  pre- 
tenders to  the  Papacy  claimed  the  allegi- 
ance of  Catholics :  whole  countries, 
learned  men  and  canonised  saints,  ranged 
themselves  on  difi'erent  sides,  and  even 
now  it  is  not  perhaps  absolutely  certain 
who  was  Pope  and  who  Anti-Pope. 

It  is  usually  said  that  Novatian,  who 
became  the  leader  of  a  schismatical  party 
at  Rome  in  251,  was  the  first  Anti-Pope, 
but  Dollinger  ("  Hippolytus  and  Oallis- 
tus,"  Engl.  Tr.  p.  91  seq.)  argues  with 
weighty  reasons  that  he  was  anticipated 
thirty  years  before  by  Hippolytus,  the  sup- 
posed author  of  the  "  Philosophumena." 
In  the  election  of  Felix  II.  (a.d.  355-6) 
a  new  element  appears  which  was  often 
to  manifest  itself  again — viz.  the  influence 
of  the  court.  The  Arian  Emperor  Con- 
stantius,  after  removing  Pope  Liberius 
from  liome,  compelled  three  disreputable 
bishops  {Karaa-KOTTovs '  ov  yap  av  tis  dnoi 
fTTiaKOTTovs)  "  to  cstablish  as  bishop 
in  the  palace  a  certain  Felix,  who  was 
worthy  of  them."  So  Athanasi us  writes 
("  Ad  Monach.  et  Hist.  Arian."  75)  only 
three  years  after  the  event,  and  we  can 
scarcely  doubt  that  his  account  is  accurate 
in  the  main.  It  is  accepted,  e.(/.,  by 
Natalis  Alexander  (Diss,  xxxii.  a.  3  in 
S{3ec.  iv.),  Helele  ("  Concil."  i.  p.  661), 
and    many  other    Catholic    authorities. 


But  Felix  is  commemorated  as  a  saint  in 
the  Latin  Church  on  July  29,  and  Pagi 
("In  Annal.  Baron."  ad  ann.  357,  n.  3, 
j  ad  357,  n.  16  seq.)  tries  to  show  that  he 
was  no  Arian  intruder,  but  succeeded 
Liberius  upon  Ms  resignation.  After 
Felix,  we  meet  with  no  more  heretical 
Anti-Popes,  although  Laurentius  (498) 
was  supported  by  the  Byzantine  Court  in 
the  belief  that  he  would  approve  the 
Henoticon  of  the  Emperor  Zeno. 

Indeed,  for  many  centuries  Anti- 
Popes  were  upheld  simply  by  factions 
among  the  clergy  and  people,  who  had 
the  power  of  election.  Thus  Eulalius 
(418  19)  was  supported  by  a  minority  of 
clergy  and  people,  and  by  the  Prefect 
Symmachus ;  he  was  finally  expelled  by 
the  Emperor  Honorius  (Fleury, ''  H.  E." 
xxiv.  7  seq.)  Laurentius  (498)  had  a 
party  of  the  people  and  Festus  the  pa- 
trician on  his  side  ;  tlie  case  was  decided 
against  him  by  the  Arian  king  Theodoric 
(lb.  XXX.  48).  Dioscorus  (530)  was 
raised  by  popular  faction  and  died  a 
month  afterwards  (ib.  xxxii.  21).  Pascal 
(687-692)  gained  a  party  among  the 
people  and  the  favour  of  John  Exarch  of 
Ravenna  by  bribery  {ib.  xl.  39).  The 
tumultuous  mob  which  chose  John  (844) 
abandoned  him  almost  immediately  (ib. 
xlviii.  15).  The  deputies  of  the  Emperor 
Lothair  and  the  arms  of  the  Frankish 
soldiers  enabled  the  usurper  Anastasius 
to  defy  the  true  Pope  Benedict  III.  for  a 
brief  space  in  865^  (ib.  xlix.   26).     A 

1  At  this  time  the  fabulous  Pope  Joan  is 
said  to  have  reigned.  The  story  first  appeared 
in  a  book  by  the  French  Dominican  Stepiien  de 
Bourbon  (d.  1261)  ;  then  in  early  MSS.  of  the 
liistory  of  Martinus  Polonus,  also  a  Dominican 
(d.  1219).  The  work  of  Polonus  was  the  popu- 
lar history  of  the  middle  ages,  and  obtained 


870 


ANTI-POPES 


new  complication  occurred  in  964.  Bene- 
dict V.  does  not  deserve  to  be  called  an 
Anti-Pope.  He  was  duly  elected  by  the 
Roman  people.  But  the  Romans  had 
sworn  in  the  previous  year  that  they 
would  not  proceed  to  elect  a  Pope  except 
with  the  Emperor's  consent  and  according 
to  his  wishes.  Benedict  was  degraded 
and  humbly  confessed  his  sin  (Hefele, 
*'  Concil."  p.  619  seq.)  In  the  two  follow- 
ing centuries  we  find  a  number  of  Anti- 
Popes  raised  to  this  bad  eminence  by  the 
violence  of  popular  and  Biironial  factions 
in  the  darkest  age  of  the  Church's  history. 
Such  were  Franco,  a  deacon  of  the  Roman 
Church,  who  tooli  the  title  of  Boniface 
VII.  and  usurped  the  Roman  bishopric 
in  975  and  again  in  984  (Fleury,  Ivi.  36, 
Ivii.  12.)  ;  John  XVI.  (Philogathus),  who 
won  his  place  by  bribery  in  997  (ib.  Ivii. 
49)  ;  a  certain  Gregory  who  headed  a 
party  after  a  contested  election  in  1012 
(ib.  Iviii.  35).  It  was  believed  tiU  quite 
lately  that  the  Church  in  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  century  was  distracted  for 
the  first  time  by  the  claims  of  three  rival 
Popes.  The  recent  investigntions  of 
Steindorff  have  .shown  this  supposition 
to  be  inaccurate,  and  his  conclusions  are 
accepted  by  Hefele  in  his  second  edition. 
The  following  seem  to  be  the  facts  of 
the  case.  In  1033  the  Count  of  Tuseulum 
raised  his  son,  a  boy  of  twelve,  to  the 
Papal  throne.  He  called  himself  Bene- 
dict IX.  In  1044  this  "devil  on  the 
chair  of  Peter"  was  overthrown  in  a 
popular  uproar,  and  Silvester  HI.,  not 
without  simony,  succeeded  to  his  place. 
He  in  turn,  after  the  lapse  of  a  year, 
resigned  in  favour  of  Gregory  VI.,  an 
excellent  man,  though  apparently  he 
bribed  Benedict  to  resign.  Although 
therefore  there  were  not  three  rival 
Popes,  still  there  were  three  parties  in 
the  Roman  Church  and  some  reason  to 
fear  that  a  triple  schism  might  arise.  It 
Was  this  fear  which  induced  the  German 
Kinsr  Henry  IH.  to  interfere.  A  council 
of  Sutri  deposed  Gregory  and  Silvester, 
Benedict  was  deposed  the  same  year  in  a 

tiniversal  belief  for  the  le<rend.      It  found  a 

Elace  in  the  Mirabilia  Urbis  Rnm<B.  a  sort  of 
andbook  for  stranf,'ers  visiting  Kome.  Nay, 
acquif'soence  in  the  fable  induced  John  XX.  to 
style  himself  ''John  XXI."  It  was  not  till  the 
fifteenth  century  that  doubts  arose,  and  the 
Calvinist  Blonde]  {Joanna  Papissa,  Amstelo- 
dam.  1657)  first  demonstrated  the  unhistorical 
character  of  the  legend.  He  was  followed  by 
Leibnitz  {Flares  Sparsi  in  tumu/um  PapigscB, 
GoettiniT.  1758),  and  by  nearly  all  historians 
since.     (DoUinger,  Papstfalitln,  1  seq.) 


ANTI-POPES 

synod  of  Rome,  and  Suidger  of  Bamberg, 
at  the  recommendation  of  the  king,  was 
canonically  elected.  He  took  the  title  of 
Clement  II.  (Hefele,  "  Concil."  iv.  p. 
706  seq.) 

The  election  of  the  Anti-Pope  Cada- 
laus  (the  name  is  spelt  in  many  ways), 
known  as  Honorius  II.,  has  greater  and 
wider  interest,  connected,  as  it  is,  with 
the  general  history  of  the  Church.  The 
party  of  reform  chose  Alexander  II. 
Beatrice  of  Canossa  was  zealous  in  his 
cause,  and  he  was  acknowledged  as  true 
Pope  in  1062  at  a  synod  of  Aujrsburg. 
But  many  feared  the  strong  measures  a 
good  Pope  might  take  against  the  simony 
and  concubinage  prevalent  among  the 
clergy.  The  Lombard  bishops  were  de- 
termined to  have  a  Pope  who  came  from 
the  Paradise  of  Italy  {i.e.  Lombardy), 
and  who  would  have  patience  with 
human  weakness.  A  powerful  party  at 
Rome  was  at  one  vpith  them,  at  least  on 
the  latter  point.  Thus  it  came  to  pass 
that  Cadalaus,  bishop  of  Parma,  a  man  of 
licenticus  life,  was  chosen  Pope  at  a 
council  of  Basle  by  the  Lombard  prelates 
and  Ronirin  deputies  in  1061,  took  the 
title  of  Honorius  II.,  and  was  invested 
by  the  young  King  Henry  IV.  with  the 
insignia  of  the  Papacy  just  twenty-eiiht 
days  after  the  cardinal  bishops  had 
elected  Alexander  II.  The  schism  was  a 
formidable  one.  The  German  court 
abandoned  thecause  of  Cadalaus  at  the 
synod  of  Augsburg,  but  he  found  favour 
ever  after  that  with  the  Empress  Asrnes 
and  with  the  king,  and  he  had  money 
and  arms  at  his  command.  He  died  in 
1072  (Hefele,  "Concil."  iv.  p.  870  seq.). 

Next  comes  a  series  of  Anti-Popes  in 
the  long  strife  between  the  Empire  and 
the  Papacy.  Guibert  of  Ravenna,  the 
favourite  of  Henry  IV.,  was  recogfnised  by 
the  Ghibelline  party  as  Clement  HI. ;  he 
was  followed  by  the  Anti-Popes  Theo 
doric  and  Albert.  In  like  manner  Bur- 
din  us  of  Braga,  under  the  Emperor  Henry 
v.,  became  the  Anti-Pope  Gregory  VIII. 
(Hergenrother,  "  Kirchengeschichte,"  i.  p. 
767).  Anacletus  II.,  a  son  of  Peter  Leone 
and  of  Jewish  family,  was  chosen  by  a 
party  among  the  cardinals  in  1 130,  but  by 
means  of  simony.  His  opponent,  Innocent 
II.,  won  the  allegiance  of  the  Catholic 
world  as  a  whole,  but  Anacletus  was 
upheld  by  the  Normans  in  Calabria,  by 
the  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  and  others.  After 
his  death  in  1138,  his  party  transferred 
their  homage  to  another  Anti-Pope,  Victor 
IV.     {lb.    771-3).      Once    more    under 


ANTI-POPES 


ANTI-POPES 


871 


Frederic  I.,  the  war  betwepn  tlie  Imperial 
and  Papil  parties  called  new  Anti-Popes 
into  existence.  The  first  of  these,  also 
called  Victor  IV.,  had  won  the  v^tes  of 
the  Ghibelline  majority  among  the  car- 
dinals. He  was  acknowledged  by  a  synod 
of  Pavia  in  1160,  and  the  true  Pope, 
Alexander  HI.,  took  refuge  in  France. 
Another  Anti-Pope,  Paschal  III.  (Guido 
Clemens),  followed  in  1164,  and  another 
Calixtus  III.  (John  de  Struma),  in  1168. 
Frederic  ceased  to  maintain  the  schism 
after  the  peace  of  Venice  in  1177,  and  the 
Anti-Pope  himself  submitted  to  Alex- 
ander III.  Some  of  the  Barons  tried  to 
continue  the  schism  by  declaring  Lando 
Siterio  Pope,  but  the  attempt  failed 
utterly  and  at  once,  and  Pope  Alex- 
anderj  who  died  in  1181,  had  seen  the  fall 
of  no  less  than  four  pretenders  to  the 
Papacy. 

For  about  two  centuries  no  Anti-Pope 
disturbed  the  Church's  peace,  but  in  1378 
the  » lection  of  Urban  VI.  occasioned  a 
schism  rightly  called  the  great,  since  it 
was  the  most  grievous  ever  known. 
Gregory  XI.  had  just  brought  the  "  Baby- 
lonish captivity  "  of  Avignon  to  an  end. 
It  is  said  that,  as  he  received  the  sacra- 
ments of  the '  dying,  he  warned  others 
against  certain  persons  who  advanced 
ideas  of  their  own  as  divine  inspirations, 
lamented  the  step  they  had  induced  him 
to  take,  and  expressed  his  dread  of  the 
consequences  to  the  Church.  There  were 
sixteen  cardinals  present  at  Rome,  of 
•whom  eleven  were  Frenchmen,  four 
Italians,  and  one  Peter  de  Luna,  a 
Spanin.rd.  Gregory,  a  few  dnys  before 
his  death,  had  empowered  them  to  hold  a 
conclave  at  any  place  and  without  waiting 
for  their  colleagues  (llaynald.  ad  ann. 
1378,  n.  2).  On  April  7,  1378,  they 
assembled  in  the  Vatican.  Their  task 
was  far  from  easy.  It  would  have  been 
natural  for  them  to  elect  a  Frenchman, 
but  on  the  other  hand,  the  liomans  ear- 
nestly demanded  a  Roman  or  at  least  an 
Italian  Pope.  On  April  8,  Bartholomew 
of  Prignano,  archbishop  of  Bari,  was 
elected,  and  he  was  crowned  on  Easter 
Sunday  under  the  title  of  Urban  VI. 
French  contemporary  writers  with  scarcely 
an  exception  represent  the  cardinals 
as  constrained  by  violence.  They  were 
told  by  the  populace  that  they  must  elect 
an  Italian  or  die;  nor  were  signs  wanting 
that  the  Roman  mob  meant  to  keep  their 
word.  There  are,  however,  very  strong 
reasons  for  refusing  belief  to  these  French 
accounts.     Dietrich  of  Niem,  a  German 


and  an  official  in  the  Papal  court  at  the 
time,  assures  us  that  the  election  Avas  per- 
fectly free,  that  the  people  did  indeed  beg 
the  cardinals  to  promote  an  Italian,  but 
used  no  force  or  threats,  and  that  the 
tumult  did  not  occur  till  the  election  was 
over.  Dietrich  must  have  known  the 
truth,  and  there  is  eveiy  ground  to  think 
he  t'^ld  it,  for  he  was  by  no  means  an 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  Pope  Urban.  The 
testimony  of  St.  Catharine  of  Sweden, 
given  at  length  by  Raynaldus  (ad  ann. 
1379,  n.  20)  is  to  the  same  effect.  She 
was  present  in  Rome  at  the  time,  and 
talked  over  the  matter  with  many  of  the 
cardinals.  But  the  most  conclusive 
document  is  the  letter  also  given  in  full 
by  Raynaldus  (ad  ann.  1378,  n.  19), 
which  the  sixteen  electors  addressed  on 
April  19  to  their  brother-cardinals  at 
Avignon.  They  declare  that  they  had 
chosen  Urban  freely  and  unanimously, 
and  we  know  that  they  acknowledged 
him  for  several  months  without  a  pro- 
test. 

However,  Urban 's  harshness  and  im- 
prudence alienated  the  Sacred  College, 
and  in  August  of  that  same  yeiir  the 
French  cardinals  declared  that  the  election 
had  been  constrained,  and  renounced  all 
allegiance  to  Urban,  whom  they  called 
"  an  apostate  "  and  ''  an  accursed  Anti- 
Christ"  (Raynald.  ad  ann.  1378, 
n.  48  seg.)  They  persuaded  three  out  of 
the  four  Italian  cardinals  to  join  them  at 
Fondi,  where,  on  September  20,  the  Car- 
dinal of  Geneva  was  elected,  and  became 
Clement  VII.  Urban  found  himself 
deserted  by  every  cardinal,  for  the  fdurth 
Italian  member  of  the  college  (Tebaldeschi) 
was  dnad.  All  the  cardinals  at  Avignon 
accepted  Clement,  who  soon  after  estab- 
lished himself,  and  was  acknowledged 
Pope  in  France,  Lorraine,  Savoy,  Scot- 
land, Naples,  and  Spain.  The  rest  of  the 
Catholic  world  belonged  to  the  obedience 
of  Urban.  Catharine  of  Siena  was  eager 
in  the  cause  of  Urban,  St.  Vincent 
Ferrar  equally  so  for  the  Popes  of  the 
other  line.  Urban  was  followed  bv  Boni- 
face IX.  (1389-1404);  Innocent  VIL 
(1404-6);  Gregory  XII.  1406-9.  On 
Clement's  death  in  1394,  he  was  replaced 
bv  the  famous  Peter  de  Luna,  Benedict 
XIIL 

The  Council  of  Pisa  in  1409  tried  to 
remove  the  scandul  of  a  double  line  of 
Popes  anathematising  each  other  and 
dividing  the  allegiance  of  Christendom. 
In  Session  XV.  both  Popes  were  deposed, 
and  in  the  nineteenth,  Alexander  V.  was 


872 


ANTI-POPES 


elected.  For  a  time  this  made  mattera 
worf^e,  for  neither  Gregory  nor  Benedict 
admitted  the  validity  of  the  sentence,  so 
that  there  were  now  three  claimants  of 
the  Papacy — viz.  Gregory  XII.,  Benedict 
XIII.  and  Alexander  V.  Still.  Alex- 
ander's successor,  John  XXIII.  was 
accepted  hy  the  Emperor  Sigismiind,  and 
by  the  greater  part  of  the  Church. 

Anoth3r  attempt  at  peace  was  made 
by  the  Council  of  Constance.  It 
annulled  the  pretensions  of  all  three 
Popes.  Of  these,  Gregory  resigned  wil- 
lingly. John  was  deposed  in  Session XII., 
May  1415,  and  Benedict  XIII.  in  Session 
XXVII.,  two  years  later.  Martin  V.  was 
then  chosen  Pope  by  the  twenty-three 
cardinals  and  six  deputies  from  each  of 
the  four  nations  into  which  the  council 
was  divided. 

Here  the  schism  virtually  ended,  and 
Martin  V.  ruled  over  all  Catholics. 
Nevertheless,  Benedict  XIII.  held  out  at 
the  Castle  of  Peniscola,  on  the  Catalonian 
coast.  He  had  received  the  deputies  who 
brought  him  the  sentence  of  deposition 
with  solemn  protest ;  he  maintained  to 
the  last  that  the  little  church  of  his 
obedience  was  the  ark  of  salvation,  and 
that  he  himself  was  the  centre  of  unity. 
With  his  last  breath  in  1423  he  bade  his 
cardinals  provide  for  the  election  of  a  suc- 
cessor, which  they  did  by  promoting  the 
Canon  Munoz^  as  Clement  VII.  He, 
however,  resigned  the  tiara  in  1429,  and 
allowed  his  cardinals  to  elect  "  Otto 
Oolonna,  known  in  his  obedience  as  Martin 
V."  Munoz  became  Bishop  of  the  Ba- 
learic Isles. 

Amadeus,  Count  and  afterwards  first 
Duke  of  Savoy  and  Count  of  Geneva,  was 
the  last  of  the  Anti-Popes.  He  was 
chosen  by  the  Council  of  Basle,  then  schisr 
matical,  in  1 439,  and  crowned  at  Basle  in  the 
following  year.  He  submitted  in  1449  to 
Pope  Nicolas  V.,  who  made  him  cardinal 
and  perpetual  vicar  of  the  Holy  See  in 
the  territories  of  Savoy,  Basle,  Strasburg, 
&c.     He  died  at  Ripaille  in  1451. 

ARMEXrZATO'  CHRZSTZAITS.  The 
native  legends  recount  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  to  the  Armenian  nation  by 
Thaddeus,  one  of  the  seventy  disciples, 
but  the  conversion  of  the  Armenian 
people  as  a  whole  was  brought  about  by 
their  great  apostle,  Gregory  the  Illumi- 

1  There  were  only  four  "  cardinals "  in 
Benedict's  obedience.  Three  chose  MuHoz ;  a 
fourth  elected  himself,  and  brk  the  title 
"  Benedict  XIV."  He  was  defended  by  the 
Count  of  Armagnac. 


ARMENIAN  CHRISTIANS 

nator,  whose  efforts  were  supported  by 
King  Tiridates  HI.,  just   at   the  begin- 
ning of  the  fourth  century.     It  is  clear 
from  Eusebius  ("  H.  E."  ix.  8)  that  the 
work  of  conversion  was  very  rapid.     Gre- 
gory established  the  chief  see  at  Etch- 
miazin,  near  Mount  Ararat :  he  and  his 
ancestors  were  consecrated  by  the  Metro- 
politan of   Cassarea  in  Cappadocia,  and 
the  title  they  took — viz.  Catholicos  —sig- 
nified that  they  were  the  general  procu- 
rators and  representatives  of  the  see  of 
Caesarea  in  Armenia  (Le  Quien.  "Oriens 
c;hristianus,''   i.    1355).      Early    in    the 
fifth  century  the  golden  age  of  Armenian 
literature  began.      Isaac  the  Great  and 
Mesrob   (both    Catholics)    invented    the 
Armenian    alphabet   and   translated  the 
Bible    from    the     Syriac    Peshitto   into 
Armenian,   afterwards    improving    their 
work  by  collating  it  with  good  MSS.  of 
the  LXX  (Hexaplar  text)  and  the  Greek 
New    Testament.     The   work  of    trans- 
lating Fathers,  as  well  as  works  of  Aris- 
totle, Philo,  Porphyry,  S:c.,  from  Greek 
and  Syriac  was  carried  on  with  great  zeal. 
This  literary  activity  was  accompanied  by 
other  changes   of  a   very  different  kind. 
The  brave  Armenian  nation  had  preserved 
its   independence,  but   in   390   Armenia 
was  divided  between  the  Byzantine  and 
Persian  empires,  and  East  Armenia,  the 
larger    and    more   fruitful  part    of    the 
country,  fell  to  the  portion  of  the  latter 
Power.     In   430   the   very  shadow  of  a 
national  monarchy  disappeared,  and  ever 
since  the  Armenians  have  been  subject  in 
succession  to  Persians,  Arabs,  Turks,  and 
Russians.     They  were  scattered  far  and 
wide  by  the  Mongol  invaders,  and  their 
unity,  like  that  of  the  Jews,  has  consisted 
in  the  common  bond  of  race,  language, 
literature,  and  religion.     After  the  Per- 
sian conquest  the   Armenian    catholicos 
became  independent  of  Caesarea,  and  this 
change  was  followed  by  another  of  much 
greater  moment.    The  opposition  of  the 
Armenians  to  the  Council  of  Chalcedon, 
mainly  due   to  the   mission   of  Samuel, 
whom  the  Syrian  Archimandrite  Barsu- 
mas  sent  to  the  Armenian  church,  was 
clearly  displayed  in  the  synod  of  Vagars- 
hiabad,  a.d.  491.    The  schism  was  con- 
summated at  the  Synod  of  Dovin  in  696 
(see   Hefele,  "  Concil."   ii.  p.    717,   2nd 
ed.,  where  the  statements  of  Pagi,  Mansi, 
&c..  are  corrected  from  the  National  His- 
tory published  at  Venice  in  1785),  and 
has   endured   ever   since,   though   Greek 
influence  induced  the  Iberian  and  Colch- 
ian  bishops  to  sever  themselves  from  the 


AHMENIAN   CHRISTIANS 

Armenian  catholicos.  True,  a  union 
between  the  Armenians  and  the  orthodox 
Greeks  was  effected  at  a  council  of  Char- 
num  (the  modern  Ezeroun)  in  632,  but  it 
did  not  last  long.  The  Armenians  held 
fast  to  the  Monophysite  doctrine — viz. 
that  in  Christ  there  was  but  one  nature — 
and  external  differences  increased  the 
opposition  between  them  and  the  Greeks. 
Some  of  these,  such  as  the  addition  of  the 
words  "  Who  wast  crucified  for  us  "  in 
the  Trisagion,  and  probably  the  use  of 
pure  wine,  without  the  addition  of  any 
water,  in  the  Mass,  were  connected  with 
their  theological  views.  Besides  this, 
they  maintained  the  old  Eastern  custom 
of  celebrating  Christ's  birth  and  his  epi- 
phany on  one  day — viz.  January  6.  They 
use  leavened  bread  at  the  altar,  eat  lac- 
ticinia  in  Lent  (Syn.  in  Trull,  can.  32, 
56).  They  were  also  charged  b^  the 
Greeks  with  making  the  priesthood  into  a 
caste,  and  only  ordaining  sons  of  priests 
(ib.  can.  32)  ;  and  further,  with  a  semi- 
Jewish  practice  of  cooking  flesh  in  the 
sanctuary  and  giving  portions  of  it  to  the 
priests  (ib.  can.  99). 

The  catholicos  lives  at  Etchniazin, 
which  has  belonged  since  1828  to  Russia. 
He  is  chosen  from  the  metropolitans  by 
the  synod,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Armenian  bishops  and  of  all  Armenians 
present  at  the  place,  and  the  election 
must  be  confirmed  by  the  Czar.  He  is 
enthroned  in  his  cathedral  by  the  Metro- 
politan of  Siunic.  It  is  his  office  to 
watch  over  religion  and  discipline;  he 
consecrates  the  chrism  for  his  bishops, 
which  he  does  only  once  in  seven  years, 
and  he  can  convene  a  national  council. 
In  matters  of  importance  he  must  consult 
his  synod.  He  is  Bishop  of  Ararat.  His 
distinctive  dress  consists  in  a  silk  veil, 
with  gold  fringes,  which  covers  his  head 
and  shoulders,  and  is  called  koffh,  and  in 
a  pallium  folded  five  times  over  his  breast. 
The  patriarchal  cross  and  torch  are  car- 
ried before  him,  and  he  uses  everywhere 
the  staff  of  the  vartabed  or  doctor.  He 
is  chiefly  supported  by  a  poll-tax  on 
all  adults  within  his  diocese,  contribu- 
tions, stole-fees,  &c.  from  the  revenues  of 
the  monastery  at  Etchniazin,  and  the 
gifts  of  pilgrims  to  the  shrine  of  St. 
Gregory.  There  are  twelve  archbishops 
and  bishops,  four  vartabeds  or  doctors, 
sixty  monks  in  priest's  orders,  and  600 
other  monks  in  the  great  monastery  just 
mentioned.  The  archbishops,  bishops, 
and  archimandrites  residing  there  form 
hia  synod.     Deputies  from  the  Armenian 


ARMENIAN  CHRISTIANS     873 

nat  on  are  added  to  their  number  at  the 
election  of  a  patriarch. 

Next  come  the  patriarchs,  who  are 
now  almost  independent  of  the  catho- 
licos. The  patriarchal  sees  arose  from 
the  constant  change  of  the  chief  see 
during  the  disasters  of  the  nation,  and  also 
from  the  dispersion  of  the  Armenians  after 
the  Mongol  invasion  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  The  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople (bishopric  since  1307,  title  of  patri- 
arch since  1481)  holds  the  first  rank 
amongst  the  patriarchs,  and  is  only  in- 
ferior in  name  to  the  catholicos.  He  ia 
chosen  by  the  Armenians,  lay  as  well  as 
clerical,  at  Constantinople,  and  gets  his 
berat  from  thy  Porte.  He  can  conse- 
crate the  holy  oil,  and  can  appoint  and 
consecrate  metropolitan  bishops  through- 
out the  Turkish  dominions  except  at  Jeru- 
salem. The  church  property  is  under  his 
control,  but  he  must  administer  it  with 
the  advice  of  a  synod  of  twenty  lay 
members  chosen  by  the  Porte.  He  has 
also  a  synod  of  ecclesiastics  for  spiritual 
matters.  He  has  secular  jurisdiction 
over  the  members  of  his  church,  and  he 
represents  not  only  the  Armenians  but 
also  the  Syrian  Jacobites  before  the 
Turkish  Government.  The  Patriarch  of 
Sis  (title  granted  1441)  is  supposed  to  be 
chosen  by  the  twelve  neighbouring 
bishops,  who,  however,  really  follow  the 
popular  choice,  which  takes  place  under 
the  influence  of  the  Turkish  Government. 
His  jurisdiction  extends  over  Lesser 
Armenia,  Cappadocia,  and  Cilicia.  He 
receives  the  holy  oil  from  the  catholicos. 
The  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  (title  since 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century)  ia 
chosen  by  his  suffragan  bishops,  with  the 
consent  of  the  clergy.  He  has  very 
limited  power,  for  he  leaves  the  conse- 
cration of  bishops  and  of  the  holy  oil  to 
the  catholicos,  and  he  can  be  called  to 
the  court  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople. The  Patriarch  of  the  island  of 
Aghtamar  (1114)  has  little  power,  and 
his  jurisdiction  scarcely  extends  beyond 
the  shores  of  the  lake  of  Van.  He  ia 
chiefly  maintained  by  the  monastery  on 
the  island. 

The  metropolitans,  according  to  the 
canons,  are  empowered  to  consecrate 
their  suffragans  and  the  holy  oils,  but 
these  rights  are  now  reserved  to  the 
catholicos,  or  else  to  the  patriarch,  and 
the  metropolitans  only  differ  from  other 
bishops  by  wearing  a  gold  mitre,  a 
triple  pallium,  a  longer  staff",  and  anarchie- 
piscopal    imyopdriov,  which  the    Anne- 


874    ARMENIAN  CHRISTIANS 


ARMENIAN  CHRISTIANS 


nians  call  goncher,  suspended  from  the 
girdle.  A  monk  cannot,  except  bv  dispen- 
sation, become  a  bishop,  and  the  bishops 
are  usually  chosen  from  the  unmarried 
vartabeds  or  doctors.  The  patriarch  may 
nominate,  but  usually  the  bishops  are 
chosen  by  the  clergy  and  fathers  of 
families.  The  election  is  confirmed,  and 
the  bishop  consecrated  by  the  catholicos 
or  patrinrch.  The  rite  of  consecration 
closely  resembles  that  of  the  Greeks,  but 
the  Armenians  anoint  the  head  and 
thumbs  of  the  elect  with  chrism,  and  he 
receives  a  ring  as  one  of  his  insignia. 
Bishops  also  wear  a  mitre^  like  that  of 
the  Latins,  and  they  do  not  use  the  aaKKos 
of  the  Greeks  (see  Vestments  op  the 
Greeks).  The  bishop  appoints  the  chor- 
episcopi;  convents,  schools,  hospitals, 
&c.,  are  subject  to  him ;  no  altars  may  be 
set  up  or  relics  exposed  for  veneration 
without  his  leave. 

The  prie.-ts  are  divided  into  two 
classes,  that  of  the  vartabeds  or  doctors, 
who  are  again  suljdivided  into  many 
grades  and  who  remain  unmarried,  and 
the  parish  priests.  The  former  are  far 
more  highly  esteemed.  A  staiF  is  the 
mark  of  their  office,  and  their  chief  duty 
consists  in  preaching.  They  live  by  col- 
lections made  after  the  sermon.  The  ordi- 
nary clergy  are  married,  taken  from  the 
humbler  classes  and  trained  either  by  a 
parish  priest  or  at  a  monastery.  The 
Armenians  have  the  same  minor  orders 
as  the  Latins,  and,  like  them,  they  reckon 
tke  subdiaconate  among  the  greater 
orders.  A  priest  is  elected  by  the  people, 
who,  however,  invariably  accept  the  can- 
didate proposed  by  the  lay  administrator 
of  the  church  property ;  he  must  then 
be  approved  by  the  bishop.  The  priestly 
vestments  are  alb,  girdle,  maniple,  stole, 
chasuble ;  but  the}'  also  have  a  collar  of 
gold  or  silver  stuff  called  vagas,  from 
which  a  sort  of  metal  amice  is  suspended, 
with  the  figures  of  the  twelve  Apostles 
upon  it,  and  they  wear  a  high  cap 
with  gold  or  silver  crosses.  The  priest 
says  jNIass  with  covered  head  till  the 
Trisagion,  when  he  removes  his  cap, 
amice,  and  sandals.  Priests  live  by  stole- 
feas  and  by  ofterings  in  kind  at  Epi- 
phany and  Easter.  They  also  get 
subsidies  from  the  fund  for  pious  uses. 
But  they  Hre  very  poor,  and  generally 
have  to  follow  some  trade. 

The  Armenian  monks  follow  the  rule 
of  St.  Basil,  but  their  fasts  are  stricter 

1  Introduced  in  1084  (Neale,  Eastern 
Church,  i.  313). 


than  those  of  the  Greek  religious.  They 
have  many  monasteries,  and  at  least  one 
large  convent  of  nuns — viz.  on  Mount 
Sion,  Silbernairl  enumerates  between 
sixty  and  seventy  dioceses,  of  which 
fourteen  are  in  Russia,  five  in .  Persia 
(including  the  see  of  the  Armenian 
Bishop  of  Calcutta),  the  rest  in  the 
Turkisii  territory.  He  estimates  the 
number  of  schismatic  Armenians  in  Tur- 
kev  at  2,400,000,  of  whom  400,000  are  in 
Turkey  in  Europe.  There  are  600,000 
in  the  Russian  Empire.  Add  to  these 
the  Armenians  in  other  lands,  especially 
Egypt  and  the  principalities  of  the 
Danube,  \in  which  last  the  chief  settle- 
ment of  the  Armenians  was  made  in 
1-342,  and  we  may  calculate  the  whole 
number  as  about  three  millions. 

United  Armenians — Some  of  the 
Armenians  in  Cilicia  were  united  with 
the  Catholic  Church  by  Latin  mission- 
aries sent  there  by  John  XXII.  But 
much  more  was  done  by  Jesuit  mission- 
aries and  the  Mechitarists  among  the 
Armenians  scattered  from  the  fourteenth 
century  onwards  throughout  other  coun- 
tries, and  at  present  there  are  about 
100,000  Catholics  of  the  Armenian  rite. 

In  1742,  Ifenedict  XIV.  appointed  a 
patriarch  for  the  Armenians  in  Cilicia 
and  the  Lesser  Armenia.  In  1830  Pius 
VIII.  nominated  a  primate  at  Constanti- 
nople for  the  Armenians  in  European 
Turkey;  and  owing  to  the  progress  of 
Catholicism  in  the  nation,  Pius  IX.  in 
1850  empowered  the  Primate  Anthony 
Hassun  to  erect  six  sufiragan  dioceses. 
The  Pope  himself  nominated  the  bishops, 
and  a  schism  seemed  likely  to  ensue.  In 
1868  Ilassun  was  chosen  patriarch  by 
the  bishops  of  the  Cilician  patriarchate. 
Pius  IX.  confirmed  the  election,  united 
the  patriarchal  and  primatial  dignities, 
tiansferred  the  patriarchal  residence  to 
Galata,  near  Constantinople,  provided  for 
the  election  of  the  patriarch  by  the  Idshops 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  laity,  and  regulated 
the  affairs  of  the  Armenian  church  bv  the 
bull  "  Reversurus,"  of  July  12,  1867. 
Some  Armenians  thought  the  rights  of 
the  nation  injured  by  this  bull,  and  a 
formal  schism  arose  in  1870;  more  than 
thirty-five  of  the  clergy  and  many  of  the 
laity  were  excommunicated  by  the  Pope. 
The  schism,  however,  won  al)out  4,000 
adherents;  a  schismatical  patriarch  was 
elected,  and  most  of  the  church  buildings 
and  goods  passed  into  their  hands.  They 
repudiated  the  decrees  of  the  Vatican 
Council.     In  1879  the  scbismacical  patzi- 


ARMENIAN  CHRISTIANS 

arcli  Kuppelian  made  his  submission  to 
Leo  XIII.  Many  of  the  clergy  and  laity 
followed  his  example,  and  Mousi^nor 
HassuQ  was  acknowledged  as  patriarch 
hy  the  Porte  till  he  was  made  cardinal  in 
1880,  and  replaced  by  Monsignor  Azarian. 
At  present  seventeen  dioceses  are  subject 
to  the  Armenian  Patriarch.  He  has  no 
authority  over  Armenians  in  Russia  and 
Austria.  Russia  has  many  Armenian 
inhabitants  in  the  Crimea,  Kasan,  and 
the  Ukraine.  Pius  VH.  sent  them  a 
vicar-apostolic  in  1809,  and  the  Concordat 
of  1847  provided  for  the  erection  of  Ar- 
menian bishoprics  at  Cherson  and  Kami- 
niek.  This  arrangement,  however,  owing 
to  the  troubles  with  th«  Russian  Govern- 
ment, has  not  been  carried  out.  Austria 
has  about  14,000  United  Armenians. 
Tliose  in  Siebenbiirgen,  who  came  there 
in  1671,  and  continued  for  a  time  Mono- 
physites,  are  under  the  Latin  bishops. 
The  aiclihishopric  of  Lemberg  was 
erected  for  the  Armenians  of  Gallicia  in 
1635 ;  and  Pius  VIL,  by  a  brief  in  1819, 
agreed  that  the  emperor  should  nominate 
one  of  three  candidates  proposed  by  the 
Armenian  people.  The  Armenians  who 
settled  in  Hungary  after  the  capture  of 
Belgrade  by  the  Turks  in  1521  are 
placed  under  the  Mechitarist  monks. 

The  Armenian  monks  belong  to  the 
order  of  St.  Anthony.  The  Mechitarists 
have  been  described  in  a  separate  article. 
(Chiefly  from  Silbernagl,  "  Kirchen  des 
Orients,"  with  the  addition  of  the  facts 
regarding  the  recent  schism  from  Hergeu- 
rothers  article  in  the  "  Kirchenlexikon," 
edited  by  Kaulen). 

BETROTRAib.     [See  Espousals.] 

CRAI.DEAIU        RITE,        CKRIS- 

TZAirs  OP, — The  name  Chaldeans  in 
ecclesiastical  use  signifies  the  Catholics 
who  belong  to  the  church  formed  by 
conversions  from  Nestorianism.  Assemani 
("  Bibliothec.  Orient."  torn.  iii.  p.  410  seg.) 
distinguishes  between  particular  conver- 
sions—  i.e.  conversions  of  individual 
bishops  and  their  dioceses  and  general 
conversions — i.e.  unions  effected  with  a 
large  section  of  the  Nestorians  which  led 
to  the  recognition  of  a  Catholic  patriarch. 
Under  the  former  head  he  mentions — (1) 
the  conversion  of  the  Bishop  Sahaduna 
and  the  Gamarseans,  a.d.  630  ;  (2)  that  of 
Timothy  of  Tarsus,  metropolitan  of  the 
Nestorians  in  Cyprus,  and  of  his  subjects, 
A..D.  1445 :  (3)  that  of  the  Nestorians  on 
the  Malabar  Coast ;  (4)  that  of  the  Chris- 
tians of  St.  John,  called  Sabseans  by  the 
Carmelite  Fathers,  in  Bassora,  circ.  a.d. 


CHALDEAN  RITE 


875 


1630.  The  story  of  the  third  of  these 
conversions  has  been  given  in  the  article 
on  the  Christians  of  St.  Tdomas.  We 
doubt  the  accuracy  of  Assemani's  state- 
ment about  the  Sabaeaus,  whose  history 
has  been  recently  investigated  by  Chwol- 
son.*  The  third  case  is  interesting  from 
its  connection  with  the  Council  of  Flo- 
rence. Timothy  was  converted  by  An- 
drew, archbishop  of  Rhodes  (Colopensis), 
whom  Eugenius  IV.  sent  to  Cyprus. 
The  union  was  effected  in  the  second 
session  of  the  continuation  of  the  council 
in  the  Lateran,  August7, 1445.  Eugenius, 
in  his  buU  containing  the  decree  of  union, 
forbids  any  one  to  call  the  Chaldeans  here- 
tics. So  that  here  we  have  a  formal  re- 
cognition of  the  name  "Chaldean."* 
("  Hefele,  Concil.'"  vii.  p.  815  seg.) 

Assemani  enumerates  the  following 
"  general  conversions."  (1)  In  1247  Asa, 
"  Vicar  of  the  East" — i.e.  representative 
of  the  patriarch  in  China  and  Eastern 
Tartary — under  the  Nestorian  Patriarch 
Sabarjesu  (1226-56),  made  a  profession 
of  Catholic  belief  to  Innocent  IV.  It  was 
subscribed  by  the  Archbishop  of  Nisibis, 
two  other  archbishops,  and  three  bishops. 
(2)  The  Patriarch  Jaballaha  was  recon- 
ciled under  Benedict  XI.,  a.d.  1304.  (3)  A 
dispute  about  the  succession  to  the  patri- 
archate between  Sulaka  and  Shimoom  led 
to  the  reconciliation  of  the  former  under 
Julius  HI.,  A.D.  1552.  (4)  The  Patriarch 
Elias  became  Catholic  under  Paul  V., 
A.D.  1616.  None  of  these  conversions  had 
any  wide  or  lasting  influence.     (5)  The 

*  See,  especially,  his  criticism  of  Assemani 
(Z>/e  Ssnhler  und  der  Sabismus,  vol.  i.  p.  48). 

2  "  Meshihaya."  which  simply  means  "  fol- 
lower of  the  Messias  " — i.e.  Christian — is  now 
used  as  a  distinctive  name  for  the  Chaldean 
Catholics,  as  opposed  to  the  Nestorians  of  the 
same  rite.    Tlie  word  (\\  I^  >  ^  Vr>  «* Meshi- 


chojo")  frequently  occurs  in  Syriac  literature  as 
a  general  name  for  Christian.  (Pavne,  Smith, 
Thesaur.  Syr.  col.  2242.)  The  Greek  word 
Xpio-Tiai'b?  has  heen  adopted  in  the  Syriac  lan- 
f2;uage,  and  occurs  constantly  not  only  in  the 
Pesliitto,  but  also  in  late  authors,  e.g.  in  the 
chronicles  of  Barhebraeus.  The  reader  must  not 
suppose  that  the  name  Chaldean  has  anything 
to  do  with  the  Chaldee  language.  The  Catho- 
lics of  the  Syrian  and  Chaldean  rites  agree  in 
the  use  of  the  Syriac  tongue  in  the  liturg}-,  the 
former,  however,  u'-ing  the  Western  or  Jacobite, 
the  latter,  the  Eastern  or  ^Nestorian,  dialect. 
The  differences  between  the  dialects,  which  are 
slight  and  chiefly  aflPect  the  pronunciation  of, 
the  vowels,  are  noted  in  all.  the  recent  gram- 
mars. Martin  {  Syro-Chaldaicse  Institvtiones,-^. 
60)  gives  a  transcription  of  the  Nicene  Creed 
in  Koman  characters,  as  he  heard  it  pronounced 
by  a  Chaldean  priest. 


876 


CHALDEAN  RITE 


CHALDEAN  RITE 


conversion  of  tlie  Nestorians  at  DiarTseldr 
led  Innocent  XI.  to  establish  a  new  Chal- 
dean patriarchate  in  that  city.  Joseph  I. 
was  the  first  patriarch ;  the  last  died  in 
1828.  (Badger,  "The  Nestorians  and 
their  Rituals,''  vol.  i.  p.  150.) 

Here  Assemani's  narrative  ends,  hut 
since  his  great  work  was  published  at 
Rome  (1719-28)  the  most  important  ac- 
cession of  Nestorians  to  the  Church  has 
taken  place.  There  had  been  since  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  a  schism 
between  the  Nestorians  themselves,  and 
the^  had  two  patriai-chs,  one  residing  at 
Kochanes  in  Central  Koordistan,  the  other 
at  Mosul,  or  Alkosh.  Elias,  the  patriarch 
at  the  latter  place,  on  his  death  in  1778, 
left  two  nephews,  Hanna  (=John,  the 
name  he  took  at  ordination,  his  own  name 
being  Hormuzd)  and  Jeshuyan.  Both 
were  already  metropolitans,  both  became 
Catholics,  and  both  were  candidates  for 
the  patriarchate.  The  latter  had  scarcely 
reached  the  object  of  his  ambition  when  he 
relapsed  into  I^estorianisra.  John,  who  re- 
mained Catholic,  claimed  the  patriarchate 
in  his  place,  A.D.  1782.  He  had  bitter  dis- 
putes, not  only  with  hisNestovian  relatives, 
but  also  with  the  Carmelite  missionaries 
and  the  Patriarch  Joseph,  who  still  exer- 
cised jurisdiction  at  Diarbeldr.  It  was 
not  till  the  close  of  the  last  century  that 
he  was  recognised  by  Rome  as  the  spiritual 
head  of  all  the  Chaldeans,  and  allowed  to 
use  the  patriarchal  seal  and  exercise 
patriarchal  functions,  and  he  then  took 
the  name  Elias.  He  only  received  the 
pallium  shortly  before  his  death  at  Bagdad 
m  1841.  He  must  have  been  bishop  for 
more  than  sixty-three  years ;  but  itappears 
from  his  autobiography,  translated  by 
Badger,  that  he  was  consecrated  metro- 
politan at  the  age  of  sixteen.  This  last 
conversion  to  the  Church  embraced  most 
of  the  Nestorians  in  the  plains  by  the 
Tigris.  Badger,  writing  in  1 852,  estimates 
the  number  of  Catholics  belonging  to  the 
Chaldean  rite  at  20,000,  thinly  scattered 
through  the  vast  territory  which  extends 
from  Diarbekir  to  the  frontiers  of  Persia, 
and  from  Tyari  to  Bagdad.  The  Ohal- 
>  deans,  says  Badger  (i.  p.  176),  are  supe- 
rior to  their  Nestorian  countrymen  "■  in 
civilisation,  general  intelligence,  and  eccle- 
siastical order."  This  is  important  testi- 
mony, coming,  as  it  does,  from  an  author 
who  had  extraordinary  opportunities  of 
judging  correctly,  and  who  writes  with 
passionate  vehemence  against  everything 
Catholic. 

Rome  utterly  abolished  the  hereditary 


succession  to  the  patriarchate  which  had 
long  prevailed  among  the  Nestorians,  and 
John  was  forbidden  to  make  any  of  his 
relations  bishops,  but  it  was  difficult  to 
root  out  this  abuse.  A  nephew  of  the 
Patriarch  John  actually  became  Nestorian 
for  a  few  months,  in  1834,  that  he  might 
be  consecrated  metropolitan  by  the  Nesto- 
rian patriarch  and  succeed  his  uncle,  who 
is  said  to  have  approved  of  this  proceed- 
ing. The  devotion  to  the  old  patriarchal 
house  nearly  led  to  a  schism,  which  was 
fomented  by  a  Nestorian  patriarch,  Shi- 
moom,  who  fled  from  the  Kurds  to  Mosul. 
Great  discontent  was  caused  in  1843  by 
an  attempt  of  the  Patriarch  Zeiya  to  make 
the  Chaldeans  keep  Easter  according  to 
the  Latin  reckoning.  This  patriarch  was 
himself  cited  before  the  Holy  Office  on  a 
charge  of  embezzlement,  and  resigned  in 
1846.  The  next  patriarch,  Joseph  Audu, 
came  into  conflict  with  Rome  on  account 
of  hisclaimsto  exercise  jurisdiction  overthe 
Chaldeans  in  India,  and  because  of  his  un- 
canonical  ordinations.  He  was  forbidden 
to  consecrate  bishops  witliout  leave  from 
Rome.  He  refused  to  accept  the  decrees 
of  the  Vatican  Council,  which  he  attended, 
and  renounced  communion  with  Rome. 
A  Capuchin,  Bishop  Fanciulli,  was  sent 
as  apostolic  visitor  to  Mosul,  and  the 
patriarch  made  a  qualified  submission  in 
July  1672.  Soon  after  the  patriarch  re- 
newed the  schism,  induced  some  of  the 
bishops  and  nobles  to  join  him,  and  conse- 
crated bishops  in  defiance  of  the  Pope. 
The  revolt  was  fostered  by  the  Turkish 
Government.  The  patriarch  made  his  final 
submission  in  January  1877. 

According  to  the  ordinary  law  the 
patriarch — unless  Rome  has  previously 
appointed  a  coadjutor  with  right  of  suc- 
cession— is  chosen  by  the  bishops.  I.'he 
election,  if  canonical,  is  confirmed  at  Rome. 
He  is  subject  not  only  to  Propaganda  but 
to  the  Latin  Archbishop  of  Bagdad,  as 
apostolic  visitor.  He  resides  at  Alkosh 
and  Mosul. 

The  metropolitans  and  bishopp,  who 
are  chosen  from  the  monks,  are  nominated 
and  consecrated  by  the  Patriarch.  The 
metropolitan  Sees  are  Amedia,  Mosul 
(both  immediately  subject  to  the  pa- 
triarch), Kerkuk, ' Seert  Gehanan.  The 
episcopal  sees  are  Akra,  Diarbekir,  Gezir, 
Mardin,  Salmas,  Zaku.  The  secular  priests 
are  usually  married,  and  partly  support 
themselves  by  manual  labour.  The  monks 
belong  to  the  order  of  St.  Anthony,  and 
there  are  two  monasteries — a  very  ancient 
one,  that  of  Rabban  Hormuzd,  at  Alkosh, 


CHALDEAN  RITE 

which  in  1843  had  an  abbot  and  four 
monks,  and  a  small  one  founded  in  modern 
times,  and  with  scarcely  any  religious,  that 
of  Mar  Yurgis  (=  St.  George),  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Tigris,  a  few  miles  above 
Mosul.  The  monks  live  apart  in  cells 
which  are  mostly  in  the  rock.  They 
abstain  from  wine  and  spirits  and  from 
flesh,  except  on  Christmas  Day  and  Easter 
Sunday. 

Bickell  ("Conspectus  rei  Syrorum 
Litterarise,"  Miinster,  1871,  §§  vii.-x.) 
mentions  the  following  printed  editions 
of  liturgical  books  of  the  Chaldean  rite : 
"  Missale  Chaldaicum,  et  Decret.  S.  Con- 
gregat.  de  PropagandaFide,"  Romge,  1767 ; 
"Psalterium  Chaldaicum  in  Hsum  nationis 
Chald.,"  Romee,  1842 ;  "  Breviarium  Chal- 
daicum in  usum  nationis  Cliald,  a  Jose- 
pho  Gunel,  secundo  editum,"  Romge,  1865. 
He  also  gives  the  titles  of  four  liturgical 
books  of  the  Chaldean  rite,  but  intended 
for  the  church  of  Malabar — viz.  "  Ordo 
Ckaldaicus  Missse  B.  Apost.  juxta  ritum 
Eccles.  Malabar."  Romae,  1774;  "Ordo 
Chaldaicus  Rituura  et  Lectionura  juxta 
morera  Eccles.  Malabar."  Rompe,  1776 ; 
"  Ordo  Chaldaicus  Miuisterii  Sacrament. 
SS.  quae  perficiuutur  a  Saeerdot.  juxta 
morem  Eccles.  Malabar."  Romae,  1845; 
"Ordo  Baptism.  Adultorum  juxta  ritum 
Eccles.  Malabar.  Chaldseorum."  Romae, 
1859.  In  three  instances  there  is  an  ex- 
ceptional use  of  the  word  Chaldee  instead 
ol  Syriac  in  the  title  of  books  meant  for 
the  Maronites — viz,  "  Missale  Chaldaicum 
juxta  ritum  Eccles.  Nationis  Maronita- 
rum,""Rom«,  1592;  "Officium  Defunc- 
torum  ad  usum  Maronitarum  Gregorii 
XIII.  impensa  Chaldaicis  characteribus 
impressum,"  Romas,  1585,  vol.  ii. ;  "Bre- 
viarii  Chaldaici  aestiva  pars  "  (the  former 
part,  printed  ten  years  earlier,  is  entitled 
simnly,  "  Offic.  Sanctorum  juxta  ritum 
Eccles.  Maronit.  pars  hiemalis "),  Romse, 
1666. 

(Assemani  has  been  our  authority  for 
the  history  down  to  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  then  Badger,  carefully  com- 
pared with  Silbernagl's  "Kirche'n  des 
Orients ; "  and  for  the  events  of  the  last 
few  years,  Hergenrother,  "  Kirchenge- 
schichte,"  vol.  ii.  p.  1009  seq.) 

COMB.  The  liturgical  use  of  the 
comb  is,  so  far  as  we  know,  mentioned 
once  only  in  our  present  books — viz.  in 
the  Pontifical,  where  the  rubrics  for  the 
consecration  of  a  bishop  require  an  "ivory 
comb "  to  be  provided.  But  Ducange 
(ad  voc.  "  Pecten  ")  shows  that  its  use  was 
once  far  more  general.     "  It  was,"  he  says, 


PLAIN  CTIANI 


877 


"counted  among  the  sacred  instruments, 
and  was  used  by  priests  and  clerics  for 
combing  their  hair  before  they  went  [from 
the  sacristy]  into  the  church."  Thus 
Ducange  quotes  a  will  of  Count  Everard, 
A.D.  837,  leaving  a  comb  among  the  other 
"ornaments  of  his  chapel."  So  in  the 
will  of  Bishop  Riculfus,  a.d.  915,  a  charter 
of  1231,  a  charter  of  John,  bishop  of  Capua, 
A.D.  ^1301.  Mr.  Maskell  ("Mon.  Rit."  ii. 
p.  256)  gives  other  examples — e.g.  from  an 
inventory  of  St.  Paul's,  London,  a.d.  1296 
— and  he  quotes  a  rubric  from  the  Ponti- 
fical of  Archbishop  Bainbridge  of  York, 
which  directs  the  bishop,  when  about  to 
say  Mass,  to  comb  his  hair  after  putting 
on  his  sandals,  and  before  he  assumes  the 
amice.  The  combing  of  the  bishop's  hair 
was  as  much  a  part  ot  the  ceremonials  as 
putting  on  his  mitre,  and  was  done  by  the 
deacon  or  subdeacon,  sometimes  by  both 
(Mabillon, "  Museum  Italicum,"  ii.  p.  292). 

GZ.OVES  (ckirothbca:).  a 
bishop's  gloves  are  blessed  and  put  on  his 
hands  at  his  consecration  by  the  consecra- 
tor.  Episcopal  gloves  are  mentioned  by 
Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  Honorius  of  Autun 
("Gemma  Animse,"  i.  215),  and  Inno- 
cent III.,  but  not  by  the  older  writers, 
Amalarius,  Rabanus  Maurus,  or  even 
Pseudo-Alcuin,  so  that  they  must  have 
been  introduced  about  the  eleventh  century 
(Hefele,"  Beitrage,'-  ii.  p.  222).  There  is, 
according  to  Mr.  Maskell  ("  Mon.  Rit."  ii. 
p.  286).  no  allusion  to  the  solemn  investing 
of  the  bishop  with  gloves  in  the  most  an- 
cient Ordinals,  or  in  the  Sarum  Pontifical, 
or  in  Winch  ester,  Bang  or,  and  Exeter  M  SS., 
and  he  concludes  that  the  rite  was  of  late 
introduction  in  the  English  Church. 

_  PZSCZia'A.  The  word  which  signified 
originally  "■  a  fish-pond  "  came  to  mean  in 
classical  writers  of  the  silver  age  a  basin, 
or  bath.  In  the  early  Latin  Church  it 
was  employed  as  an  equivalent  for  KoXvfx- 
^r]6pa,  the  Greek  word  for  the  baptismal 
font.  In  the  middle  ages  it  was  the 
common  term  for  the  small  niche  in  the 
wall  on  the  Epistle  side  of  the  altar 
containing  a  perforated  basin  of  stone, 
through  which  the  water  used  in  washing 
the  priest's  hands  was  poured.  Earlier  in 
the  middle  ages  the  ablutions  were  also 
poured  down  the  piscina.  Examples  of 
mediaeval  piscinae  abound  in  old  Englidi 
churches.  They  are  sometimes  to  be  seen 
in  modern  Catholic  churches. 

PZiAlir   CHAIO-T^    {cantus  Jlrmus), 

1  It  -fras  intended  to  substitute  this  article 
for  that  in  the  body  of  the  work  ;  and  this  will 
be  ultimately  done ;   but  for  the  present    the 


878 


PLAIN  CHANT 


PLAIN  CHANT 


known  also  as  Gregorian,  or  Roman,  or 
Choral  On  ant,  is  the  distinctive  song  of 
the  Church.  It  has  been  defined  to  be  a 
grave,  diatonic,  unison  melody,  set  to  the 
rhythm  of  the  words,  without  strictly 
measured  time,  and  used  by  the  Church 
m  her  sacred  function^  ( Haberl's  "  Majris- 
ter  Ohor.ilis,"  translated  by  Donnelly, 
Ratisbon,  1877 1.  This  is  perhaps  as  jrood 
a  definition  as  can  be  a-signed  to  a  subject 
which,  from  its  free  spiritual  nature,  is 
hardly  detinable,  however  much  we  may 
describe  certain  of  its  leading  characters, 
its  structure  and  purpose.  It  is,  in 
brief,  the  Church's  song,  the  interpreter 
in  melody  of  her  spiritual  prayer.  And 
as  prayer  is  an  utterance  by  the  believing 
heart  of  the  word  of  faith,  according  to 
the  maxim  lex  supplicandi  lex  credendi,  so 
the  chant,  wbich  is  the  more  solemn  mode 
of  liturgical  prayer,  owes  to  the  faith  its 
creation,  its  power,  and  just  inter pretaf ion. 
Only  when  imbued  with  the  faith  will  the 
human  mind  delight  in  it,  and  in  propor- 
tion as  it  rids  itself  of  the  just  govern- 
ment of  the  faith  will  it  discard  it. 

Its  leading  characteristics  concern  (1) 
Melody;  ( 2  j  Tone  or  Mode ;  (3)  Rhythm. 

(Ij  The  Church  authorises  in  her 
liturjry  no  other  music  than  pure  melodv, 
which  it  assigns  respectively  to  the  ofll- 
ciant,  to  the  cantors,  and  to  the  choir. 
This  last  consists  of  a  trained  body  of 
clerics,  or  of  youths  or  men  habited  as 
clerics,  occupying  the  choir  or  presby- 
terium,  and  having  an  integral  part  iu  all 
soleujn  rites  and  functions.  The  choir,  as 
a  part  ot  the  edifice,  is  normally  in  front 
of  the  altar  and  in  face  of  the  people,  Hnd 
those  who  occujiy  it  are  divided  into  two 
parts  for  alternate  singing,  one  occupying 
the  Epistle  side,  the  other  the  Gospel  side. 
In  the  act  of  singing  the  alternate  choirs 
face  each  oth«-r,  and  both  by  position  and 
training  Hre  the  leaders  of  the  congrega- 
tion. Whether  the  two  choirs  sing  alter- 
nately or  simultaneously,  they  sing  always 
in  unison  or  at  the  same  pitch.  Voices 
differing  in  pitch  but  singing  concordautly, 
however  beautiful  the  eHect,  are  in  so  far 
departing  from  the  strict  ecclesiastical 
chant;  and  even  the  accompaniment  of  the 
organ  does  not  enter  into  the  Church's 
conception  of  lier  song,  or  of  ritual 
solemnity.  To  restrict  the  free  melody  of 
the  choir  by  harmonic  chords,  whether  of 
the  voice  or  orgnn,  however  powerful  on 
the  feelings  the  effect  may  be,  has  in  her 

original  article  will  be  allowed  to  stand, 
because  to  cancel  it  would  have  involved  too 
great  a  dislocation  of  type. 


I  conception  some  element  of  incongruity 
with  the  just  ideal  of  spiritual  worship; 
and  whatever  toleration  or  tacit  apuroval 
she  extends  to  instrumental  or  vocal  har- 
monies is  subject  to  the  condition  that 
fier  own  chant  is  not  thereby  despoiled 
of  its  supremacy  of  place  and  hont)ur. 
As  to  the  character  of  her  melody,  it  is  at 
the  same  time  recitative  and  meditative. 
It  recites  the  word  of  the  text  and  lue'ii- 
tates  upon  it.  Sometimes  it  proceeds 
with  great  despatch,  as  in  the  psalms  and 
sequences,  assigning  for  the  most  part  one 
note  to  eacli  syllable ;  at  others,  as  in  her 
aiitiphons,  it  lingers  upon  the  word,  pour- 
ing out  its  meaning  in  rich  melodies, 
based  rhythmically  upon  its  syllables. 
In  tiiis  way  the  Church  preserves  the 
balance  of  her  offices,  accommodating  lier- 
self  to  the  time  and  the  spirit  of  the  timej 
now,  according  to  her  spiritual  mood, 
dwelling  on  the  sacred  word  in  sustained 
meditation,  now  cai'ried  forward  in  a 
rapid  current  of  melodious  praise.  In  her 
offices  there  is  never  indecent  hurry, 
never  loss  of  time. 

(2)  Tone  or  Mode.— In  its  tones  the 
ecclesiastical  chant  is  distinguished  by 
great  variety  and  adaptability.  It  was 
created  for  the  purpose  of  being  the 
veljirle  of  the  Church's  manifold  prayer — 
manifold  in  the  spiritual  affections  of  her 
soul.  Spiritual  adoration,  thanksgiving, 
supplication,  sorrow,  joy,  peace,  hope, 
triumph-  such  triumph,  that  is,  asis  just 
in  this  valley  of  tears — find  in  her  tones 
the  apparatus  provided  for  their  solemn 
expression.  But  however  varied  the 
tones,  she  is  very  simple  and  constant  in 
her  mode  of  using  them.  AVhen  once 
she  has  determined  the  tone  which  is 
suited  to  the  mood  of  her  spirit,  she 
delivers  the  whole  antiphon,  psalm, 
hymn,  or  other  form  of  prayer,  in  that 
tone.  The  melody  accommodates  itself, 
indeed,  to  the  word  and  phrase,  but  is 
always  restrained  by  the  tone  from  any 
mere  word-painting,  or  distraction  of  her 
spirit  from  its  leading  aHection.  Compare 
with  this  the  absence  of  any  predominant 
tone  in  many  of  the  compositions  of 
figured  music,  and  the  intentii^n  and 
practice  of  the  Church  will  be  the  more 
apparent.  In  the  "  Gloria,"  for  instance, 
the  Church  conceives  of  it  as  one  whole^ 
as  one  act  of  praise ;  in  the  "  Credo  "  it 
conceives  of  it  as  one  act  of  faith.  The 
mode  once  determined,  the  song  of  praise 
or  faith  hastens  on  in  its  first  intention 
with  grave  beauty  and  undeviating  path 
to  its  accomplishment.    But  in  many  of 


PLAIN  CHANT 


PLAIN  CHANT 


879 


the  figured  compositions  on  the  same  | 
themes  the  "  Gloria  "  and  "  Credo  "  are 
divided  into  parts  so  differently  conceived, 
with  such  an  absence  of  unity  of  tone,  or 
such  a  blankness  of  tone,  that  no  incon- 
gruity would  be  felt,  or  indeed  is  felt,  in 
piecing  together  a  "  Gloria  "  or  "  Credo  " 
from  different  authors.  This  is  foreign 
to  the  Church's  spirit.  She  is  various  in 
her  tones,  but  constancy  to  a  tone  once 
chosen  is  a  leading  feature  of  her  chant. 

(3)  Hhythjn.— The  rhythm  of  the 
chant  is  the  rhythm  of  eloquence — free, 
and  not  to  be  reduced  to  any  artificial 
measure.  There  is  a  rhythm  which  is 
natural  to  the  human  voice.  The  accent 
of  words  is  the  outcome  of  it,  and  the 
charm  of  eloquence  depends  on  it.  Even 
the  measured  numbers  of  poetry  are  no 
substitute  for  it ;  tor  poetry  itsell,  to  be 
eluquently  declaimed,  must  forget  its  own 
measures  to  some  degree,  and  yield  itself 
to  the  natural  accent,  phrasing,  and 
intonation  of  the  speaker.  Were  any  one, 
in  declaiming  the  verses  of  a  poet,  to  make 
the  measures  of  the  syllables  prominent 
instead  of  following  the  rhythm  of  voice 
suggested  by  the  sense,  he  would  be  en- 
slaving the  poetic  idea  to  mere  numbers 
— turning  the  master  into  the  slave.  It 
is  this  rhythm  of  eloquent  pronunciation, 
depending  on  the  accent  of  th^  word,  the 
balance  of  its  syllables,  the  phrasing  ol" 
the  sentence,  and  the  adjustment  of  sen- 
tences into  one  delivery  of  the  whole 
intention  of  the  soul,  v/hich  is  the  basis 
of  the  rhythm  of  the  chant.  The  longer 
meditative  melodies  are  assigned  to  the 
accented  syllables — as  is  just,  for  on  them 
is  delivered  the  force  of  the  word.  The 
very  derivation  of  the  word  "  accent "  {ad 
=  "to,"  and  cantus  =  "chant")  teaches 
how  just  this  is.  It  is  the  syllable  on 
which  falls  the  rhythmical  ictus  or  stroke 
of  the  voice,  which  is  inseparable  fiom 
speech,  and  grows  in  intensity  and  musical 
quality  as  the  voice  is  raised  into  elo- 
quence. The  rhythm  of  phrase  is  pre- 
served in  plain  chant  by  accommodatmg 
the  separate  breathings  of  the  voice  to  the 
phrasing  of  the  sentence,  the  end  of  the 
sentence  being  indicated  by  the  pause  of 
the  melody  on  the  final  or  one  of  the  chief 
continals,  while  the  close  of  the  whole 
chant,  according  to  a  fixed  canon,  carries 
the  voice  back  to  its  final  or  fundamental 
note.  By  all  this'  it  is  by  no  means 
implied  that  vocal  sound  has  not  a  natural 
rhythm  of  its  own.  As  soon  as  the  voice 
is  kindled  into  the  melody  of  song  it  is 
rhythmical,  even  though  no   intelligible 


word  is  uttered,  the  rhythm  then  depend- 
ing on  the  rise  and  fall  and  turns  of  the 
melody,  the  puL'^ation  of  the  breath,  and 
the  guidance  of  that  sense  of  numbers 
which  is  ours  by  natural  gift.  Hence  the 
prolonged  pneumata  or  melodious  breaths, 
which  for  the  most  part  hang  upon  the 
accented  syllable,  must  be  rhythmically 
rendered.  Sometimes  these  neumes  or 
breathings  are  hung  to  the  last  syllable, 
when  they  do  not  so  much  lend  force  to 
the  word  as  express  the  lingermjr  delight 
of  the  soul  once  attuned  to  a  divine 
thought.  Wherever  they  occur,  they 
must  be  interpreted  rhythmically. 

Structure. — The  modes  or  tones  are  all 
founded  on  the  diatonic  scale,  or  natural 
succession  of  seven  notes  completed  by 
the  octave.  It  consists  of  two  totracliords 
or  semes  of  four  notes,  placed  one  above 
the  other  at  the  interval  of  a  tone,  each 
comprising  two  full  tones  and  a  half-tone, 
so  that  the  whole  scale  comprises  five  tones 
and  two  semitones.  According  to  this  use 
of  the  term,  "tone"  no  longer  signifies 
a  mode  of  chant,  but  simply  one  full  step 
of  the  voice  up  or  down  the  natural  scale 
or  ladder  of  sound,  which  scale,  because 
it  proceeds  chieHy  by  tones,  is  called 
"  diatonic,"  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
highly  embellished  or  chromatic  scale, 
which  proceeds  by  semitones.  Calling 
tlie  seven  different  notes  by  the  names 
ordinarily  in  use,  the  diatonic  scale  may 
therefore  be  represented  th  ua:  do  ...  . 
re  ....  mi  ..  fa  ....  sol  ...  .  la 
.  .  .  .  &i  .  .  do.  But  whereas  the  natural 
octave  or  succession  of  eight  notes  begins 
with  do,  the  first  mode  or  tone  of  the 
Church  begins  on  re,  and  consists  of  the 
octave  from  re  to  re',  and  we  have  only 
to  sing  this  scale  from  ?-e  to  re,  keeping 
the  half  tone  between  mi  and  fa  and  si 
and  do,  to  discover  something  of  the  prac- 
tical meaning  of  an  ecclesiastical  mode. 
It  will  be  at  once  apparent  that  the  posi- 
tion of  the  semitones  in  the  octave  of 
sound  has  a  determining  power  upon  it« 
character.  It  is  this  relative  position  of 
the  semitones  which  is  the  first  constituent 
cause  of  tone  or  mode. 

The  octave  of  s?ound,  moreover, 
divides  itself  naturally  into  a  perfect  fifth 
(three  tones  and  a  half)  and  a  perfect 
fourth  (two  tones  and  a  half),  and  the 
ob.-ervance  of  this  is  the  second  con- 
stituent cause  of  mode.  The  first  mode 
has  its  fifth  from  re  to  la,  and  its  fourth 
I  from  la  to  re,  being  constructed  thus :  rt 
\  ....  mi  ..  fa  ....  sol  ....  la,  la 
\  .  .  »  »  si  .  .  do  .  .  .  .  re.     In  this 


880 


PLAIN   CHANT 


PLAIN  CHANT 


re  is  the  fundamental  note,  and  because  a 
csomplete  descant  within  the  mode  natu- 
rally ends  on  it,  it  is  called  the  final. 

The  note  second  in  importance  to  the 
final,  but  bearing  more  of  the  burden  of 
the  melody,  is  the  dominant  or  ruling 
note.  In  the  authentic  modes  it  is  the 
fifth  above  the  final,  and  in  the  first  mode 
is  therefore  In.  On  this  note  all  mere 
recitation  is  made,  and  it  may  on  this 
account  be  called  the  reciting  note.  It  is 
prominent  in  the  modulation  of  the 
melody,  and  in  its  power  is  found  the 
third  constituent  of  mode.  There  are 
also  confiual  notes,  on  which  by  prefer- 
ence each  mode  finishes  the  different 
phrasings  of  the  melody,  and  these,  there- 
fore, are  a  fourth  constituent  of  mode. 

The  second  tone  is  closely  related  to 
the  first,  but  with  a  very  distinct  cha- 
racter. It  is  constructed  on  the  same  final 
re,  by  reversing  the  relation  as  to  pitch 
of  the  fifth  and  fourth,  and  changhig  the 
dominant  to  the  third  below  the  domi- 
nant of  the  first.  It  is  therefore  con- 
structed thus  :  la  ....  si ..  do  .  .  .  . 
re,  re  ....  mi  ..  fa  ....  sol  .  .  .  . 
la,  and  has  for  its  dominant  fa.  The 
close  relation  between  the  first  and 
second  modes  is  at  once  apparent.  How- 
ever different  in  character,  they  form  an 
allied  pair,  and  transition  from  one  to  the 
other  is  natural.  Sometimes  a  chant 
comprises  both,  using  the  fourth  above  as 
■well  as  the  fourth  below  the  fifth,  and  is 
then  said  to  be  in  the  mixed  tone  of  the 
first  and  second.  This  will  suffice  to 
show  what  is  the  construction  of  all  the 
modes,  or  tones,  for  they  run  in  pairs, 
similarly  formed  and  allied,  both  as  re- 
gards final,  dominant,  and  the  relation  as 
to  pitch  of  the  fifth  and  fourth.  For  just 
as  the  first  and  second  are  constructed 
on  re,  the  third  and  fourth  are  con- 
structed on  mi,  the  fifth  and  sixth  on  fa, 
the  seventh  and  eighth  on  sol.  These  four 
pairs,  of  which  the  first  of  each  is  called  the 
authentic,  the  second  the  plagal,  make  up 
the  eight  grand  tones  of  the  Church. 
The  others — namely  the  ninth  and  tenth 
constructed  on  la,  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  on  si  (existing  perhaps  only 
theoretically  because  their  fifth  and 
fourth  are  not  perfect),  and  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  on  do — are  of  later  intro- 
duction. 

Let  this  suffice  about  the  structure  of 
the  modes.  It  must  not  be  supposed, 
however,  that  the  full  character  of  plain 
diant  is  to  be  learnt  by  the  study  of  its 
stoucture  alone.     The  mode  of  treatment 


of  the  several  tones  has  been  handed 
down  in  the  Church  from  time  imme- 
morial in  melodies  which  have  sprung 
from  the  minds  of  samts,  not  idly  exer- 
cising themselves  in  songs,  but  singing 
from  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Notation. — The  next  point  to  be  con- 
sidered is  notation.  The  admirable  sys- 
tem of  writing  music  now  in  use  was 
originated  in  the  study  of  plain  chant. 
By  a  happy  invention  the  ladder  or  scale 
of  sound  is  represented  to  the  eye  by 
a  pictorial  ladder  of  four  rounds  or  steps, 
which  are  indefinitely  prolonged.  The 
three  spaces  enclosed  make  with  the  four 
parallel  lines  seven  grades,  corresponding 
in  number  to  the  seven  different  notes  of 
the  octave,  and  if  any  one  of  these  is 
defined  by  having  assigiied  to  it  the  pitch 
and  name  of  one  of  the  sounds  of  the 
octave,  forthwith  all  the  rest  have  re- 
ceived their  pitch  and  name.  This  is 
done  by  means  of  two  signs,  called  clefs — 
(i.e.keys) — namely  fe  and  ^  fe,  the  former 

of  which  represents  f?o,  the  latter /«.  It 
is  evident  that  the  ground  for  selecting 
for  indication  these  two  sounds,  and 
leaving  the  rest  to  be  inferred  from  them, 
is  that  they  point  out  the  semitones,  the 
position  of  which  is  the  distinguishing 
character  of  the  modes.  They  are  used 
one  at  a  time,  according  as  it  is  more 
convenient  to  the  mode  to  point  out  the 
upper  or  loAver  semitone;  and  they  are 
sufficient  for  this  purpose  without  any 
other  sign,  because  they  may  be  affixed  to 
one  or  another  line  according  to  the  com- 
pass of  the  melody.  When  the  repre- 
sentative power  of  the  grades  of  the 
ladder  or  stave  has  been  thus  determined, 
the  succession  of  notes  in  the  melody  can 
be  indicated  by  setting  each  note  in  its 
own  grade. 

The  signs  of  these  notes  are  three :  a 
square  note  ■,  which  is  called  the  hrevis, 
breve,  or  short  note ;  a  square  note  with 
a  tail  ■!,  which  is  called  longa,  or  the  long 

note,  and  a  diamond-shaped  note  ♦,  which 
is  called  the  semibrevis,  or  semibreve.  They 
have  no  measured  value  ;  the  sense  of  the 
words  and  the  spirit  of  the  office  and  the 
season,  or  other  reasons,  now  suggesting 
that  the  current  of  the  melody  should  be 
brisk,  now  prolonged.  They  have  only  a 
relative  value,  and  that  not  so  fixed  as  to 
be  measurable.  The  only  law  that  can 
be  given  is  that  the  breve  has  the  value 
its  own  syllable  has  when  rhetorically 
pronounced  ;  that  the  long  note  is  longer 
than  the  breve,  and  the  semibreve  shorter. 


PLAIN  CHANT 

This  last  is  especially  used  in  the  de- 
scending series  of  short  notes,  called 
passing  notes,  which  bind  together  the 
ditferent  limhs  of  the  prolonged  breath- 
ings or  neumes.  These  are  the  only 
notes  used ;  but  besides  these  a  very 
valuable  aid  is  given  to  the  singer  by 
writing  compactly  together  the  notes 
which  belong  to  one  syllable,  and  another 
by  marking  off  the  phrases  of  the  melody 
by  perpendicular  bars. 

History. — To  know  the  history  of  the 
chant  is  a  powerful  help  to  understand  its 
value. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  believe  that 
there  is  a  continuity  of  song  from  the 
liturgy  of  the  Church  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  that  of  the  New.  The  Apostles 
sang  the  psalms,  both  as  members  of  the 
Jewish  Church  and  founders  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  with  the  text  the 
chant  must  have  been  preserved.  As, 
moreover,  the  psalms  are  bound  up  with 
every  part  of  the  liturgy  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  we  may  safely  argue  that  the 
ancient  psalm  chants  are  interwoven  in 
its  melodies.  Moreover,  psalms  and 
antiphons  make  up  the  greater  part 
of  liturgical  song,  forming  a  consider- 
able part  even  of  the  chant  of  the  Mass, 
and  as  they  form  one  whole,  it  would 
seem  that  the  highly  modulated  anti- 
phon  is  second  in  order  of  origin  to  the 
simpler  melodies  of  the  psalms. 

As  soon  as  the  Church  was  free  from 
the  Roman  persecutions,  we  find  her 
occupipd  in  establishing  due  form  and 
imiforraity  in  the  liturgy.  Pope  Dama- 
sus  (366-384)  ordained  that  the  psalms 
should  be  chanted  by  alternate  choirs, 
and  that  to  each  should  be  added  the 
Gloria  Patri.  St.  Ambrose,  bishop  of 
Milan  (374-397),  shares  with  St.  Gregory 
the  glory  of  being  the  founder  of  the 
system  of  Church  melody.  To  him  are 
due  the  four  authentic  modes,  which  he 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  liturgy  from 
the  system  of  tetrachords  used  by  the 
Greeks.  To  him  also  is  due  a  mode  of 
chanting  known  in  history  as  the  Am- 
brosian  Chant,  to  which  St.  Augustine 
alludes  in  his"  Confessions."  "  The  hymns 
and  songs  O  my  God,  and  the  sweet 
chant  of  Thy  Church  stirred  and  pene- 
trated my  being.  The  voices  streamed 
upon  my  ears  and  caused  truth  to  flow 
into  my  heart;  from  whose  fount  the 
feelings  came  welling  up.  I  ended  at 
last  in  a  flood  of  tears."  But  it  is  St. 
Gregory  the  Great,  Pope  from  a.d. 
590    to   604,   who   is    regarded    as  the 


PLAIN  CHANT 


881 


3l 


author  of  the  system  of  ecclesiastical 
chant.  He  so  developed  and  perfected  it, 
that  from  his  time  it  has  borne  the  name 
Gregorian.  To  him  is  ascribed  the 
discovery  of  the  octave  as  the  naturally 
complete  succession  of  sounds.  Of  the 
fifteen  notes  used  by  the  Greeks  as  the 
basis  of  their  system  of  tetrachords,  he 
saw  that  after  the  first  seven  they  were 
only  repetitions  of  the  preceding  at  a 
higher  pitch,  and  by  calling  these  seven 
by  the  first  seven  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
repeating  the  letters  for  the  next  seven, 
he  fixed  for  ever  the  true  groundwork  of 
all  music.  He  perfected  the  work  of  St. 
Ambrose  by  adding  to  each  of  the  authen- 
tic modes  the  allied  mode  which  runs 
side  by  side  with  it,  and  is  therefore 
called  plagal.  He  adopted  a  simplified 
manner  of  notation,  consisting  of  dots, 
curves,  strokes,  and  combinations  of 
them,  placed  above  the  words  at  various 
distances,  called  Neumata  or  Nota  Ho- 
mann.  To  us  the  system  is  exceedingly 
complex,  no  less  than  twenty-eight  of 
these  easily  confounded  signs  being 
enumerated  and  explained  in  "  Die 
Sangerschule  S.  Gallons "  (Einsiedeln, 
1858),  taken  from  the  famous  MS.  at 
S.  Gall,  reputed  to  be  a  copy  of  St. 
Gregory's  "Antiphonarium " ;  and  onlv  a 
persistent  tradition  and  constant  teaching 
could  have  preserved  the  Gregorian 
chants  till  the  advent  of  a  better  nota- 
tion. This  "  Antiphonarium "  was  St. 
Gregorys  great  work  in  this  field.  It 
was  the  first  publication  under  the 
authority  of  Rome  of  the  Catholic 
liturgical  chant,  and  was  chained  to  the 
altar  of  St.  Peter's,  that  it  might  be 
referred  to  on  all  occasions  as  the  true 
exemplar. ^  It  consisted  of  a  collection  of 
the  existing  chants,  corrected  and  im- 
proved by  St.  Gregory,  many  new  ones 
of  his  own  inspiration,  and  the  method  of 
using  them.  John  the  Deacon,  writing 
in  the  ninth  century,  tells  us  that  St. 
Gregory  "  examined  the  tones,  measures, 
moods,  and  notes  most  suitable  to  the 
majesty  of  the  Church,  and  formed  that 
ecclesiastical  music,  so  grave  and  edifying, 
which  at  present  is  called  Gregorian." 
It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighth  and 
beginning  of  the  ninth  century  that  the 
modes  founded  on  la  and  do  were  intro- 
duced. Charlemagne,  who  laboured  for 
the  difixision  of  the  Roman  chant 
throughout  the  "West,  would  not  at  first 
admit  of  them,  but  after  questioning 
and  discussion  they  obtained  a  liturgical 
place.     With  these  the  system  of  Gre- 


882 


PLAIN  CHANT 


gorian  Chant  was  complete  as  we  now 
have  it.  But  in  spite  of  the  constancy  of 
traditional  teaching,  the  notation  was  too 
indefinite  to  preserve  it  in  its  integrity, 
and  the  sense  of  this  gradually  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  stave.  The  introduction 
of  one  line  is  due  to  Hucbald,  a  Flemish 
monk  of  St.  Amand,  who  died  about 
930  A.D.  A  second  was  shortly  added, 
perhaps  indeed  by  the  same  hand.  Of 
these  one  represented/a,  and  was  colom-ed 
red,  the  other  do,  and  was  coloured 
yellow.  How  much  these  would  faeiii- 
tate  the  interpretation  of  the  neumata  of 
St.  Gregory  is  apparent.  But  it  was 
reserved  for  Guido  d'Arezzo,  a  Benedic- 
tine monk  of  the  convent  of  Pomposa, 
near  Ravenna,  to  perfect  the  notation. 
He  framed  the  stave  of  four  lines  with 
its  moveable  clefs  as  we  have  it  now,  and 
proved  the  immense  utility  of  the  inven- 
tion by  teaching  Pope  John  XIX.  (1024- 
1033),  to  sing  a  chant  before  unknown 
to  him  in  one  lesson.  He  also  has  the 
credit  of  having  originated  our  present 
names  for  the  firs':  six  notes  of  the  octave, 
namely  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la.  Si  was 
added  afterwards,  and  some  countries, 
following  the  Italians,  have  substituted 
do  for  ut.  These  names  are  taken  from 
the  Vesper  hymn  of  the  Feast  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist. 

Ut  queant  laxis,  re^jonare  fibris 
MivR  geslorum/amuli  tuorum, 
Sol\Q  poUuti  lahn  reatum, 
iSancte  Juanues, 

being  the  first  syllables  of  the  words, 
commencing  each  half-verse  and  rising  in 
pitch  gradually  according  to  the  natural 
ascent  of  the  octave. 

Guido,  however,  departed  from  the 
principles  of  the  tetrachord  and  octave  for 
a  system  of  hexachords,  or  series  of  six 
notes,  using  for  his  system  the  variable 
character  of  si  before  explained,  and 
introducing  a  note  lower  than  the  A  of 
the  preceding  system.  This  note  he 
called  gamma,  and  as  it  represented  ut 
in  his  hexachord  sy^em  of  mutations, 
the  word  Gamut  arose.  His  system 
happily  did  not  endure,  but  after  St. 
Gregory  there  is  no  name  in  higher 
honour  for  services  rendered  to  the  chant 
than  that  of  Guido  d'Arezzo.  From  his 
time  there  was  no  fear  that  the  Gregorian 
melodies  would  pass  into  oblivion  by 
forgetfulness,  because  the  pitch  of  each 
note  could  be  precisely  written  down, 
whatever  their  shape.  The  shape  of  the 
notes  now  in  use  ia  of  later  origin.     This, 


PLAIN  CHANT 

in  brief,  is  the  history  of  the  chant  till 
the  time  when  it  was  complete  in  struc- 
tural development,  notation,  and  theory. 
Thenceforward  the  spirit  of  the  legislation 
of  the  Church  in  respect  of  it  has  been  to 
preserve  it  in  its  integrity.  By  the  six- 
teenth century  it  had  shared  in  the 
common  relaxation  and  disfigurement,  the 
causes  of  the  evil  being  (1)  the  use  of 
measured  rhythm,  depending  on  the  beat 
of  hand  or  foot ;  (2)  the  introduction  of 
counterpoint  or  harmony  with  its  seduc- 
tive beauty;  (3)  the  mingling  in  the 
liturgy  of  popular  worldly  music,  both 
vocal  and  instrumental.  In  these  ways 
its  melodic  simplicity  and  spiritual  power 
were  diminished,  and  the  Church  as- 
sembled at  Trent,  for  the  purpose  among 
others  of  the  refoi-mation  of  discipline, 
was  sensible  of  the  need  of  it  in  her 
chant.  The  necessary  genius  was  pro- 
vided by  Providence  in  Palestrina  and 
his  pupil  Guidetti,  and  in  1582  appeared 
the  first  printed  monument  of  this  work  of 
reform— namely,  the  " Directorium  Chori" 
of  Guidetti.  Its  greatest  monument,  the 
"Graduale  Romanum,"  printed  by  com- 
mand of  Paul  V.  at  the  Medicsean  press 
in  1614,  is  an  abiding  memorial  of  Pales- 
trina's  Christian  fame,  though  issued 
twenty  years  after  his  death.  To  him 
belongs  the  double  glory  of  restoruig  the 
chant  to  its  former  grand  and  sim',»le 
beauty,  and  of  exhibiting  contrapuntal 
or  harmonised  music  as  the  vehicle  of 
Christian  tiiought  in  such  marvellous 
power  as  to  secure  for  it  toleration  in  the 
liturgy.  In  the  liturgical  reform  set  on 
foot  by  Pius  IX.  for  the  establishment  of 
uniformity  in  the  Roman  chant,  and 
being  continued  under  the  present 
Supreme  Pontiff*  Leo  XIII.,  the  com- 
mission to  whom  the  work  of  revision 
was  assigned  republished  after  matured 
labours  the  Medicaean  edition  of  the 
"  Gradual,"  adding  the  chants  of  the 
new  offices  instituted  since  its  first 
issue.  These  new  chants  are  due  to 
the  Rev.  Francis  Xavier  Haberl,  Master 
of  the  Cathedral  Choir  of  Ratisbon. 
The  printer  deputed  by  the  Holy 
See  is  Pustet  of  Ratisbon,  who,  acting 
under  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites 
and  the  aforesaid  commission,  has  almost 
completed  the  publication  of  the  many 
different  books  of  the  chant.  It  is 
an  immense  work,  admirably  executed 
under  high  commendations  from  Pius 
IX.  and  Leo  XIII.  (See  Decree  of 
the  Sacred  Congregation,  April  10, 
1883) 


PLAIN  CHANT 

It  remains  to  distinguish  plain  chant 
from  modern  fig-ured  music. 

The  Church's  duty  is  to  reform  and 
spiritualise  the  natural  faculties,  the 
musical  as  much  as  any  other.  The  dis- 
covery of  the  natural  octave  belongs  to 
her,  but  her  use  of  it  is  most  significant. 
The  most  natural  succession  of  notes  is  in 
her  thirteenth  tone,  but  this  is  the  last 
she  adopted,  and  then  only  with  reluc- 
tance, and  the  affection  for  this  tone 
marks  the  transition  of  the  musical  art 
to  the  modern  secular  style,  in  which 
this  tone  is  almost  exclusively  used.  It 
is  the  major  mode  of  modern  music.  Its 
minor  mode,  which  is  used  integrally 
only  in  the  descending  scale,  is  the  ninth 
tone  of  the  Church,  whic4i  again  was 
admitted  to  liturgical  rank  only  with 
reluctance.  And  it  would  seem  that  a 
divine  instinct  was  the  cause  of  her 
misgiving,  for  the  work  she  continually 
has  in  hand  to  keep  the  liturgical  chant 
pure  is  owing  to  the  intrusion  into  the 
choir  of  a  music  repugnant  to  her  spirit, 
but  springing  out  of  these  latest  of  her 
toMes. 

But  the  chief  difference  of  modern 
or  figured  music  from  plain  chant  lies  in 
the  rhvthm.  It  is  called  Cantus  mensura- 
bills,  because  the  rhythm  of  the  word 
is  abandoned  for  an  external  standard 
capable  of  exact  measurement.  The 
regular  beat  of  the  hand  or  foot  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  free  pulsations  of  the 
intelligent  and  eloquent  voice  ;  and,  speak- 
ing for  the  present  only  of  melody,  it  is 
clear  .that  this  means  a  subordination  of 
the  word  to  a  music  conceived  indepen- 
dently of  it.  The  bars  no  longer  point 
out  the  pauses  suited  to  the  eloquent 
pronunciation  of  the  word,  but  indicate 
the  close  of  one  set  of  beats.  In  conse- 
quence, not  only  the  melody  but  the  word 
sung  is  made  subservient  to  an  external 
standard,  and  the  singer  must  give  his 
first  attention  to  this  instead  of  following 
his  inward  sense.  Hence  it  would  be 
repugnant  to  the  lowest  Catholic  intelli- 
gence that  a  priest  in  the  Mass,  when  he 
should  be  in  the  highest  mood  of  prayer, 
should  sing  a  music  thus  reducible  to  a 
measure  of  beats.  And  even  in  secular 
music  it  is  recognised  that  the  highest 
exponents  of  the  author's  mind  must 
exercise  a  certain  freedom  of  interpre- 
tation as  to  measure.  Music,  indeed, 
founded  on  an  external  standard  cannot 
be  distinctly  spiritual.  But  it  may  be 
sentimental  and  imaginative,  and  herein 
lies    its    distinctive  difference.      In    its 


PLAIN  CHANT 


883 


influence  over  the  sensible  feelings,  and 
in  the  appeal  it  makes  to  the  imagination 
is  its  power,  and  by  this  should  be 
estimated  its  due  place  in  the  liturgy. 
While,  for  instance,  the  Church,  with 
directness  of  aim,  makes  a  spiritual  act 
of  faith  in  the  crucifixion,  passion,  death, 
and  burial  of  our  Lord,  merely  fixing  the 
tone  and  building  the  melody  on  the 
rhythm  of  the  word,  figured  music 
makes  elaborate  pictures  in  music  of  the 
sadness,  darkness,  horror,  or  other  sensible 
adjunct  of  the  scene  of  the  crucifixion. 
How  far  and  in  what  way  the  sentiment 
and  imagination  may  be  justly  used  in 
music  for  religious  purposes  is  matter  for 
discussion.  But  arguing  from  our  Lord's 
use  of  them  in  speech,  it  seems  sound  to 
conclude  that  they  are  at  best  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  spiritual,  and  that  adequate 
interpretation  of  the  word  of  faith,  which 
is  essentially  spiritual,  cannot  be  made 
through  them. 

That  constituent  of  figured  music  on 
which  its  title  Jigured  depends,  is  the  use 
of  counterpoint  or  harmony.  This  has  a 
powerful  eff'ect  upon  the  sentiment,  and 
certainly  has  not  the  same  repugnance  to 
the  spiritual  as  the  measured  beat  has. 
But  it  must,  unless  it  were  of  the  simplest 
kind,  restrict  the  free  course  of  the  melody 
by  the  necessity  of  allowing  other  voices 
of  differing  sound  to  keep  up  concordantly 
with  it,  and  the  Church  shows  no  dispo- 
sition to  admit  that  it  is  any  help  to  the 
interpretation  of  her  spiritual  word. 
Even  to  a  skilled  organist,  where  there  is 
only  question  of  instrumental  harmonies, 
it  is  no  easy  task  to  accompany  the  chant 
when  rendered  with  free  and  intelligent 
delivery  by  a  trained  choir,  and  to  en- 
deavour to  harmonise  throughout  is  only 
to  oppress  the  voice  and  hamper  the 
melody. 

To  listen  to  Rome,  in  music  as  in 
other  matters,  would  be  for  the  advance- 
ment of  art.  She  is  the  Magistra  Fideij 
and  therefore  she  is  the  source  and 
mistress  of  the  chant,  which  is  the  inter- 
pretative song  of  the  word  of  faith. 
Through  the  exercise  of  this  function  she 
has  become  the  founder  of  the  art  of  song 
and  the  science  of  music.  How  studious 
she  has  be^n  of  the  chant,  how  carefully 
she  has  estimated  its  tones  and  properties, 
noted  the  force  of  different  intervals, 
classiKed  the  various  melodious  turns  of 
the  voice,  discriminated  what  is  effeminate 
and  trivial  in  song  from  what  is  worthy 
and  just,  and  how  in  labouring  to  give 
expression  to  her  spiritual  mind  she 
l2 


884 


PURIFICATION 


PURIFICATION  OF  B.  V.  M. 


founded  the  natural  science  of  music,  and 
tlie  art  of  song,  becomes  the  more  ap- 
parent the  deeper  we  investigate ;  while 
it  is  at  the  same  time  impressed  upon  the 
mind  that  the  main  cause  of  the  aber- 
rations in  ecclesiastical  chant  which  call 
for  repeated  monitions  from  popes  and 
bishops  is,  that  the  science  of  it  has  been 
allowed  to  fall  into  decay  in  proportion 
as  figured  music  has  become  diffused. 
Of  necessity,  some  training  in  this  music 
is  received  by  every  one  in  civilised 
countries.  Our  choirs  are  usually  made 
up  of  elements  whose  very  qualification 
is  that  they  have  some  knowledge  of  it. 
What  more  natural  than  that  they  should 
sing  what  they  know,  and  like  what  they 
can  do?  Herein  is  their  standard  of 
judgment,  and  they  are  thereby  unfitted 
and  indisposed  to  render  the  spiritual 
chant  of  the  Church.  When,  in  music  as 
in  faith,  the  word  of  Rome  is  held  de- 
cisive and  forthwith  obeyed,  there  will  be 
in  it  progress  and  expansion  without 
decay. 

PVRXFZCATZOIO',  as  distinct  from 
ablution,  is  the  pouring  of  wine  into  the 
chalice  after  the  priest's  communion,  the 
wine  being  drunk  by  the  priest.  This 
purification  is  not  of  ancient  date. 
"  Liturgical  writers,"  says  Le  Brun  ("  Ex- 
plication de  la  Messe/'  P.  v.  a.  9,  §  3), 
"  down  to  the  treatise  on  the  mysteries  by 
Cardinal  Lothair,  afterwards  Pope,  under 
the  name  of  Innocent  III.,  at  the  end  of 
the  twelfth  century,  simply  note  that  the 
priest  washes  his  hands,  that  the  water 
"was  thrown  into  a  clean  and  decent  place, 
called  the  piscina,  and  that  [the  water] 
used  to  wash  the  chalice  was  thrown  into 
the  same  place."  But  Innocent  III.,  fifteen 
or  sixteen  years  after  writing  his  treatise 
**Pe  Mysteriis,"  laid  it  down  that  the 
priest  should  always  use  wine  to  purify 
the  chalice,  and  drink  it,  unless  he  was 
going  to  say  another  Mass. 

PUaZFICATIOir  OF  THE 

BX.SSS&I>  VIRGIIU-.  The  Levitical 
law  (Lev.  xii.  2  seq.)  declared  women 
unclean  for  seven  days  after  the  birth  of 
a  male  child  ;  it  excluded  them  from  the 
sanctuary  for  thirty-three  days  more  ;  on 
the  fortieth  they  had  to  appear  in  the 
temple  and  to  offer  a  lamb  one  year  old 
for  a  holocaust  and  a  young  pigeon  or 
turtle-dove  as  a  sin-offering.  In  the  case 
of  the  poor  it  was  enough  to  offer  two 
turtle-doves  or  young  pigeons,  one  as  a 
holocaust  and  the  other  as  a  sin-offering. 
The  Blessed  Virgin  was  not  bound  by  this 
law,  since  the  child  born  of  her  was  con- 


ceived by  the  Holy  Ghost  (see  Levit.  xii.  2 
and  St.  Thomas  "  Summa,"  11.  xxxvii.  4). 
But  her  divine  Son  subjected  himself  to 
the  burdens  of  the  law  that  He  might  set 
His  seal  to  its  divine  origin,  remove  occa- 
sion of  cavil,  and  leave  us  an  example  of 
humility,  and  similar  motives  no  doubt 
induced  the  Virgin  herself  to  undergo  the 
rite  of  purification.  It  is  this  event  which 
the  Church  celebrates  in  the  feast  which 
bears  that  name,  and  is  kept  for  a  reason 
virtually  given  already  on  the  fortieth  day 
after  Christmas,  i.e.  February  2.  If, 
however,  we  turn  to  the  Mass  for  the  day, 
we  find  no  less  prominence  given  to  two 
other  events  which  were  simultaneous  with 
the  purification.  Candles  are  blessed  and 
carried  in  procession  to  remind  us  how  the 
holy  old  man  Simeon  met  our  Lord,  took 
Him  in  his  arms,  and  declared  Him  the  light 
of  the  Gentiles  and  the  glory  of  Israel.  Next, 
in  the  collect,  epistle,  and  the  gospel  there 
are  marked  references  to  the  fact  that  our 
Lord  was  at  the  same  time  presented  in 
the  temple  before  God  and  redeemed  with 
five  holy  shekels  (Luc.  xii.  22,  cf.  Exod. 
xiii.  2 ;  Num.  viii.  10,  xviii.  16).  Indeed, 
these  two  latter  incidents  are  more  pro- 
minent in  the  Mass  and  office  than  that  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin's  purification,  and  it  is 
noteworthy  that  the  preface  in  the  Mass 
is  the  same  as  that  of  Christmas,  not  the 
one  which  is  proper  to  the  feasts  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  The  Greeks  number  the 
festival  amongst  those  of  our  Lord,  and 
call  it  vTrairrrj,  VTrairavrr],  i.e.  the  meeting 
of  Christ  with  Simeon  and  Anna.  The 
old  Latin  title  "  occursus  "  "  obviatio  " 
points  in  the  same  direction.  So  Bedo 
calls  it  "Oblatio  Christi  ad  templum,"  and 
in  the  Ambrosian  rite  it  is  still  reckoned 
among  the  solemnities  of  our  Lord's  life 
On  the  other  hand,  the  name  in  the  Roman 
Missal  and  Breviary,  viz.  "  Purificatio 
B.V.M.,"  stamps  it  as  a  feast  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  The  English  name  Candlemas 
refers,  of  course,  to  the  candles  blessed 
and  carried  in  procession  before  Mass. 

We  have  the  first  certain  traces  of  the 
observance  in  the  East.  No  Father  of 
the  first  five  centuries  mentions  it,  for  the 
homily  of  Methodius  on  the  feast  is  pro- 
bably due  to  Methodius  of  Constantinople 
in  the  ninth  century,  and  in  any  case  is 
certainly  not  by  Methodius  of  Tyre,  who 
lived  at  the  end  of  the  third.  Similar 
homilies  attributed  to  Cyril  of  Jerusalem, 
Amphilochius  and  Gregory  Nyssen  are 
admitted  on  all  hands  to  be  spurious.  In 
the  year  543,  says  Fleury  ('^H.  E."  liv. 
xxxm.  7),  "they  began  to  celebrate  at 


PURIFICATION  OF  B.  V.  M. 

Constantinople  the  feast  of  the  Purification, 
named  by  the  Greeks  Hypapante,"  and  he 
refers  to  the  notes  of  Baronius  on  the 
martyrology  for  February  2.  Fleury's 
statement  is  undoubtedly  accurate.  But 
there  is  nothing  incredible  in  that  of 
Cedrenus  that  there  was  a  local  cele- 
bration at  Antioch  begun  under  the 
Emperor  Justin  in  526,  while  Tillemont 
("Mem."  torn.  1,  note  7  on  the  life  of 
Christ)  infers  from  a  passage  in  the  life  of 
the  abbot  Theodosius  that  the  day  was 
kept  in  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  as  early 
as  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century.  We 
cannot  say  for  certain  when  it  was  intro- 
duced in  the  West,  and  the  conjecture  of 
Baronius  that  Pope  Gelasius,  who  abolished 
the  heathen  festival  of  the  Lupercaliainthe 
mouth  of  February,  persuaded  the  people  to 
accept  the  feast  of  the  Purification  instead, 
is  only  a  conjecture  and  not  a  very  pro- 
bable one.  Be  that  as  it  may,  we  have 
evidence  that  the  feast  was  known  to 
Bede  ("Be  Puit.  Temp."  cap.  13),  who 
died  in  735.  It  is,  moreover,  mentioned 
in  the  sacramentary  of  St.  Gregory  and  in 
the  capitularies  of  Charlemagne  (in  the 
latter  under  the  modern  title,  Purificatio 
S.  Mariae ;  see  Thomassin,  "  Ti-aite  des 
Festes,"  liv.  ii.  ch.  11),  and  after  that  time 
it  was  clearly  recognised  everywhere. 
The  candles  borne  in  procession  and  held 
in  the  hand  at  Mass  are  spoken  of  by 
Bede,  loc.  cit.,  and  by  St.  P]ligius  (^'Ilom. 
ii.  in  die  Purificationis  S.  Mariae  "),  who 
was  bishop  of  Noyon  from  640-648.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  does  not  seem  possible 
to  trace  the  rite  for  the  blessing  of  the 
candles  beyond  the  eleventh  century. 

ROTA  ROlVIAM-ii..  A  tribunal 
within  the  Curia  Romana,  "  formerly  the 
supreme  court  of  justice  in  the  Church, 
and  the  universal  court  of  appeal."  ^     It 

1  Wetzer  and  Welte,  art.  "  Curia  Eomana." 


EOTA  ROMA^^A 


886 


was  instituted  by  John  XXU.  in  1326,  and 
re<rulated  by  Sixtus  IV.  and  Benedict 
XIV.  It  is  of  less  importance  now  than 
formerly,  because  the  spiritual  causes 
of  foreign  countries,  which  used  to  be 
brought  before  it,  are  now  usually  tried 
and  settled  on  the  spot  by  judges  dele- 
gated by  the  Holy  See.     [Delkgation".] 

The  assembled  court,  or  Plenum,  of 
the  Rota,  consists  of  twelve  members, 
called  Auditors,  presided  over  by  a  Bean. 
It  is  divided  into  two  colleges  or  senates. 
One  of  these  was,  before  1870,  the  court 
of  second  instance  for  civil  suits  which 
had  been  originally  tried  in  the  local 
courts  of  Rome,  Perugia,  Spoleto,  and 
other  towns  of  the  ecclesiastical  state. 
The  other  was  the  court  of  third  instance, 
that  is,  of  final  appeal,  for  suits  coming 
from — 1.  The  appeal  courts  (second  in- 
stance) of  the  Papal  States ;  2.  All  spiri- 
tual courts,  in  the  secular  affairs  belonging 
to  their  competence ;  3.  The  Rota  itself, 
deciding  in  the  second  instance. 

The  explanation  of  the  name  is  said 
to  be  (Bucange)  that  the  marble  floor  of 
the  chamber  in  which  the  Rota  used  to 
sit  was  designed  so  as  to  exhibit  the 
appearance  of  a  wheel. 

The  Auditor,-',  in  Pleno,  sit  in  a  fixed 
order  on  either  hand  of  the  Dean,  the 
junior  member.  No.  12,  being  exactly 
opposite  him.  In  any  case  coming  before 
the  Rota  on  appeal,  the  appealing  party 
can  select  any  auditor  at  discretion,  to  be 
the  "  Referendary  "  or  presiding  judge. 
The  Referendary  so  chosen,  and  the  four 
auditors  sitting  next  to  him  in  Pleno,  on 
the  left  hand,  form  the  senate  for  the 
trial  of  the  case.  The  "  Decisions  of  the 
Rota,"  owing  to  their  importance  as  pre- 
cedents, have  been  frequently  published, 
(Wetzer  and  Welte.) 


A.PFENDIX  B. 


ALBXIAN       BROTHERS,       OR 

C£jIjIiIT£IS.  During  the  fearful  plague 
wliich  raged  all  over  Europe  at  one  time 
in  the  fourteenth  century  this  brother- 
hood was  organized  by  Louis  de  Bour- 
bon, Prince-Bishop  of  Liege,  for  the 
care  of  hospitals  for  men.  The  first 
rules  for  the  government  of  the  Alexian 
Brothers,  drawn  up  in  1469,  were  ap- 
proved by  successive  popes,  and  again 
confirmed,  with  all  the  privileges  hither- 
to accorded  the  Brothers,  by  Pope  Pius 
IX.  in  1870.  The  Alexian  Brothers 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1867,  and 
the  following  year  opened  a  hospital  in 
Chicago,  which  was  destroyed  in  the 
great  conflagration  of  1871,  but  re- 
built the  next  year.  In  1869  the  Bro- 
thers opened  a  fine  hospital  in  St.  Louis, 
to  which  they  added  a  department  for 
the  insane  in  1879.  In  1880  the  founda- 
tions were  laid  in  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  of 
another  hospital,  to  be  finished  and 
opened  for  use  in  1884.  The  Alexian 
Brothers  have  pay  and  free  patients  in 
their  hospitals,  all  the  income  from 
those  who  pay  being  used  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  indigent  patients,  the 
Brothers  depending  altogether  on  the 
charity  of  the  public  for  the  support 
of  their  institutions.  Patients  of  all 
creeds  or  none  are  received  alike,  for 
the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  every- 
thing that  sanitary  science  or  the  skill 
of  physicians  and  surgeons  of  repute 
can  do  is  made  use  of  for  the  cure  or 
relief  of  disease  or  physical  injuries. 
The  American  novitiate  of  this  excel- 
lent comnmnity  is  attached  to  the 
Alexian  Hospital  in  Chicago. 

BASIL  (ST.),  PRIESTS  OP,  OR 
BASILIANS.  This  society  has  no 
connection  or  relation  whatever  with 
the  ancient  rule  of  St.  Basil  or  its 
monks.  It  originated  in  the  year  1800 
with  Archbishop  Davian,  of  Vienne,  in 
France,  who  established  it  to  carry  on 
preparatory  colleges  and  seminaries  for 
the  education  of  young  men  for  the 


priesthood.  Its  first  house  was  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Basil,  among  the  mountains 
of  the  Vivarais,  whence  its  name.  For 
a  number  of  years  it  was  a  free  associa- 
tion until  Mgr.  Guibert,  then  Bishop  of 
Viviers,  with  the  help  of  its  superiors, 
devised  a  new  constitution,  which  was 
approved  by  the -Holy  See.  Its  mem- 
bers take  the  four  solemn  vows  of 
poverty,  chastity,  obedience,  and  sta- 
bility. The  mother-house  of  the  Basi- 
lians  is  at  Annonay  (Ardeche),  France, 
and  they  have  houses  in  France,  Eng- 
land, Africa,  and  two  in  Canada,  St. 
Michael's  College,  Toronto,  and  As- 
sumption College,  Sandwich. 

CHARITY  (IRISH),  SISTERS  OF. 
This  sisterhood  was  founded  in  Dublin 
in  1815,  Avith  the  approbation  and  as- 
sistance of  Archbishop  Murray,  by  Mary 
Frances  Aikenhead,  who,  in  company 
Avith  another  Irish  lady,  had  made  her 
novitiate  at  the  York  convent  of  the 
Institute  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  order 
to  fit  herself  for  the  religious  life  and 
for  the  organization  of  the  new  society. 
It  differs  in  several  respects  from  the 
French  Sisters  of  Charity,  these  last 
following  the  rule  drawn  up  for  them 
by  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  while  the  Irish 
sisterhood  follows  a  modification  of  the 
rule  of  St.  Ignatius.  It  has  many 
houses,  orphanages,  asylums,  hospitals, 
schools,  etc.,  in  Ireland  and  in  the 
British  colonies. 

CHARITY,  SISTERS  OF,OF  THE 
BLESSED  VIRGIN  MARY.  In  the 
year  1833,  the  year  before  the  Holy 
See's  approbation  of  the  Irish  Sisters 
of  Charity,  five  young  ladies,  who  had 
found  difficulties  in  an  attempt  to  live 
in  community  in  Dublin,  came  to  the 
United  States  by  the  advice  of  their 
spiritual  director  and  reached  Philadel- 
phia, where  they  fell  to  the  charge  of 
Father  T.  J.  Donaghoe.  He  employed 
them  in  his  parish  schools  of  St. 
Michael's.  Eecruits  soon  joined  the 
new    community,   which    lived    under 


SISTEES  or  CIIAEITY. 


OANOKS  or  HOLY  CROSS.    887 


very  simple  rules,  aiming  above  all  at 
perfection  in  observing  tlie  Ten  Com- 
mandments of  God  and  the  Command- 
ments of  the  Clim-ch.  In  1834  the  Sis- 
ters were  tlianked  by  the  City  Council  of 
Philadelphia  for  their  devotion  to  the 
victims  of  the  cliolera.  But  the  very 
same  year  a  bitter  anti- Catholic  agita- 
tion was  begun  by  many  Protestant 
clergymen,  some  of  them  of  Yale  and 
Princeton.  This  was  aggravated  by 
the  Eev.  Lyman  Beecher,  whose  incen- 
diary sermons  brought  about  the  de- 
struction of  the  Ursuline  Convent  in 
Boston  that  year.  This  all  culminated 
in  the  Native- American  excitement  of 
1844,  when  an  anti-Catholic  mob  in 
Philadelphia  marched  with  fifes  and 
drums  upon  St.  Michael's  Church  and 
gave  it  and  the  Sisters'  house  to  the 
flames.  Nor  did  their  cruel  bigotry  end 
there,  as  is  well  known.  Fortunately, 
however,  the  Sisters,  though  they  still 
held  the  right  to  the  house,  had  six 
months  before  left  Philadelphia  for 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  on  the. invitation  of 
Bishop  Loras.  With  the  money  grudg- 
ingly paid  them  by  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, for  the  work  of  its  mob,  the  Sis- 
ters erected  St.  Josepli's  Convent  and 
a  novitiate  on  the  prairie  eight  miles 
from  Dubuque,  and  in  Dubuque  itself 
they  found  immediate  employment 
nursing  cholera  patients.  But  all  their 
buildings  were  again  burnt  down  by  an 
incendiary.  Yet  the  Sisters  persevered 
under  the  advice  of  Father  Donaghoe, 
their  founder,  who  had  accompanied 
them  to  Iowa,  and  who  remained  as 
their  spiritual  adviser  until  his  death  in 
1869.  The  constitution  of  the  sister- 
hood, having  undergone  some  necessary 
revision,  was  approved  by  the  Holy 
See  in  1875.  The  Sisters  of  Charity 
B.  V.  M.  now  have  charge  of  boarding 
and  parish  schools  in  tlie  dioceses  of 
Dubuque,  Davenport,  Chicago,  Peoria, 
and  La  Crosse.  The  mother-li.ouse  and 
novitiate  remain,  where  first  established, 
at  St.  Joseph's,  near  Dubuque. 

CHARITY,  SISTERS  OF,  .OF 
NAZARETH.  A  sisterhood  whose  ob- 
jects are  similar  to  those  of  the  Sisters 
of  Charity  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul— the 
charge  of  hospitals,  asylums,  refuges, 
etc.,  as  well  as  of  parish  and  boarding 
schools.  Its  mother-house  and  novi- 
tiate is  near  Bardstown,  Ky.,  where  the 
sisterhood  was  founded  in  1812  by  Fa- 
ther John    Baptist   David,  afterwards 


bishop  of  Bardstown,  a  see  later  trans- 
ferred to  Louisville.  The  communities 
of  these  Sisters  are  all  south  of  the  Ohio 
Eiver,  along  the  east  of  the  Mississippi. 
During  the  Civil  War  these  Sisters,  as 
well  as  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Yin- 
cent  de  Paul  and  the  Sisters  of  Mercy 
and  others,  displayed  an  heroic  charity, 
in  the  hospitals  and  on  the  battle-field, 
on  both  the  Federal  and  Confederate 
sides. 

CHARITY,  SISTERS  OF  CHRIS- 
TIAN. This  useful  sisterhood  began 
in  a  community  established  in  1849  at 
Paderborn,  Germany,  by  Pauline  Von 
Mallinckrodt,  a  sister  of  the  distin- 
guished Catholic  statesman,  Hermann 
Von  Mallinckrodt.  At  first  its  object 
was  the  care  and  instruction  of  little 
children  of  the  working  class  while 
their  mothers  were  at  work,  but  after- 
wards its  scope  was  widened  so  as  to 
include  most  of  the  many  labors  of 
charity  engaged  in  by  the  generality  of 
modern  sisterhoods.  Tlie  first  house 
of  the  Sisters  of  Christian  Charity  in 
the  United  States  was  opened  in  1873, 
in  New  Orleans,  by  Mother  Pauline 
herself,  who  the  same  year  established 
the  mother-house  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can province  at  Wilkesbarre,  Pa.  The 
mother-house  of  the  South  American 
province  is  at  Valparaiso,  Chili,  where 
the  Sisters  since  1875  have  flourishing 
communities,  as  well  as  in  Germany, 
Belgium,  and  Bohemia.  In  the  United 
States  there  are  communities  in  Penn- 
sylvania, New  York,  New  Jersey,  Iowa, 
Minnesota,  Missouri,  and  Louisiana,  en- 
gaged in  the  care  of  hospitals  and  or- 
phanages, or  in  the  work  of  parish  and 
boarding  schools. 

HOLY  CROSS,  CANONS  REGU- 
LAR OF  THE.  These  canons  live 
in  community  and  follow  the  rule  of 
St.  Augustine.  They  are  not  numerous 
now,  and  are  to  be  found  in  the  Aus- 
trian empire  chiefly  and  in  the  Eoman 
state.  There  seems  to  have  been  a 
house  of  these  canons  opened  near  Mil- 
waukee about  1850,  but  no  trace  of 
their  existence  anywhere  now  in  the 
United  States  is  to  be  found.  They 
were  formerly  known  as  "  Canons  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,"  because  they  origi- 
nated in  the  community  of  priests  which 
was  formed  about  the  fourth  century 
near  that  shrine,  and  held  their  place 
even  under  Moslem  sway  until  driven 
out  with  other  Christians  in  the  thir- 


888 


LORETTO  NUN'S. 


teenth  century.  They  wear  a  iDlack 
habit  with  a  double  red  cross,  and  are 
subject  to  a  master-general,  who  resides 
at  Eome. 

HOLY  CROSS,  CONGR3E3GA- 
TION  OF  THE.  In  1793  Father  Du- 
Jarie  organized  a  community  of  brothers 
at  Le  Mans,  in  France,  in  aid  of  primary 
education,  Avhicli  had  been  suffering 
from  the  disorders  of  the  time.  They 
were  called  "  Brothers  of  St.  Joseph." 
In  1837  it  was  thought  best  to  admit 
priests  to  the  society,  which  now  ■  as- 
sumed the  name  of  the  "Holy  Cross," 
and  in  its  present  form  was  approved 
in  1857  by  the  Holy  See.  The  con- 
gregation consists  of  priests  and  lay 
brothers,  all  engaged  in  teaching,  or  in 
the  necessary  manual  or  other  labor 
connected  with  the  maintenance  of 
schools  and  colleges,  though  the  priests 
are  sometimes  occupied  in  parish  work 
also.  In  1841  Father  Sorin,  with  six 
others  of  the  congregation,  arrived  from 
France  and  established  themselves  in 
Indiana,  where  the  mother-house  now 
is  at  the  University  of  Notre  Dame. 
The  congregation  has  charge  of  high- 
schools  and  parish-schools  in  several 
States  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

HOLY  CROSS,  SISTERS  OP 
THE.  This  sisterhood,  which  now 
numbers  seven  hundred  members  in  the 
United  States,  has  its  American  mother- 
house  at  Notre  Dame,  Ind.,  and  was  or- 
ganized in  France  in  1834,  to  work  in  har- 
mony with  the  above-named  congrega- 
tion. It  was  introduced  into  the  United 
States  in  1843,  and  its  constitution  was 
approved  by  the  Holy  See  in  1857.  It 
is  engaged  in  teaching  in  parish  and 
boarding  schools,  and  is  most  numerous 
in  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  in  the  diocese 
of  Baltimore. 

LORETTO  NUNS;  OR,  SISTERS 
OF  THE  INSTITUTE  OF  THE 
B.  V.  M.  This  society  originated  with 
some  pious  English  ladies,  exiles  from 
their  country  on  account  of  their  re- 
ligion, who  formed  themselves  into  a 
community  at  Munich,  Bavaria,  about 
1631.  The  "English  Virgins,"  as  they 
were  popularly  called,  were  not  finally 
approved  by  the  Holy  See  until  1703. 
In  1669  a  colony  of  these  Sisters. re- 
turned to  England  and  opened  a  con- 
vent in  London,  but  on  account  of  the 
persecution  they  lived  with  great  cau- 
tion against  any  surprise  from  those 
who  were  seeking  out  ijriests  and  nuns, 


.      SISTERS  OF  NOTRE  DAME. 

and  after  a  while  removed  to  York, 
where,  in  spite  of  many  annoyances 
and  dangers,  the  community  has  re- 
mained till  now.  The  outbreak  of  the 
French  Revolution  caused  a  reaction 
among  the  ruling  classes  of  England 
in  favor  of  toleration  of  Catholics, 
and  then  the  Sisters  ventured,  for  the 
first  time  in  England,  to  wear  the  re- 
ligious habit  openly.  An  off-shoot, 
"Loretto  Abbey,"  was  founded  in  1821 
at  Rathfarnham,  in  Ireland,  and  from 
this  Irish  mother-house  numerous  colo- 
nies have  gone  out,  founding  convents 
in  most  of  the  British  colonies,  includ- 
ing Canada.  The  Sisters  are  principal- 
ly devoted  to  the  care  of  boarding- 
schools. 

LORETTO,  SISTERS  OF;  OR, 
FRIENDS  OF  MARY  AT  THE 
FOOT  OF  THE  CROSS.  A  sister- 
hood founded  in  Kentucky  in  1812  by 
Father  Charles  Nerinckx,  one  of  the 
pioneer  priests  of  that  region.  The 
object  of  the  society,  which  now  num- 
bers about  five  hundred  members,  is  the 
instruction  of  girls,  both  in  parish  and 
boarding  schools.  The  mother-house 
is  at  Loretto,  Marion  Co.,  Ky.,  and 
there  are  convents  and  schools  of  these 
Sisters  in  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Alabama, 
Colorado,  and  New  Mexico. 

MERCY,  FATHERS  OF.  The 
name  of  a  society  of  missionary  priests 
founded  in  France  in  1806  by  Father  | 
Jean  Baptiste  Rauzan.  The  society 
was  introduced  into  the  United  States 
in  1842,  when  it  took  charge  of  the 
French  Church  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul 
in  New  York  City,  which  it  has  kept 
ever  since.  The  novitiate  of  the  so- 
ciety is  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y,,  where  it 
has  also  charge  of  a  parish  church. 
The  work  of  the  society  in  the  United 
States  has  so  far  been  limited  to  these 
two  sister  cities. 

NOTRE  DAME,  SCHOOL  SIS- 
TERS OF.  This  sisterhood  was  estab- 
lished in  France  in  1598  by  the  Venerable 
Peter  Fourrier  for  the  education  of 
girls.  It  was  broken  up  during  the 
French  Revolution,  but  was  revived  in 
the  diocese  of  Ratisbon,  in  Bavaria,  in 
1833  by  Father  Sebastian,  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  bishop.  The  sisterhood 
follows  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine,  with 
certain  modifications  suited  to  their 
special  work  and  to  the  times.  In  1847 
a  small  colony  of  the  Sisters  arrived  in 
the   United  States  from    Bavaria  and 


MIS.  OF  THE  PRECIOUS  BLOOD. 

was  settled  in  Milwaukee,  where  now 
is  the  mother-house  of  the  Western 
Province.  The  mother-house  of  the 
Eastern  Province  of  the  United  States 
is  at  Govanstown,  Md.  The  school  dis- 
cipline of  these  Sisters  is  excellent,  and 
they  have  charge  of  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  schools,  mainly  in 
the  northern  Mississippi  valley  and  in 
Baltimore  and  its  vicinity. 

PRECIOUS  BLOOD,  MISSION- 
ARIES OF  THE.  This  congregation 
was  founded  in  Italy  in  1814  by  Father 
Gaspar  del  Bufalo  and  was  approved 
by  the  Holy  See  in  1820.  Its  object 
primarily  is  preaching  missions,  and  es- 
pecially in  poor  or  neglected  localities. 
It  is  under  a  director-general  who  re- 
sides at  Rome.  In  1844  a  colony  ar- 
rived in  the  United  States  and  opened 
its  first  house  at  Norwalk,  Ohio.  The 
mother-house  of  the  American  province 
is  at  Carthagena,  Ohio,  to  which  is 
attached  a  theological  seminary  for  the 
education  of  scholastics  of  the  congre- 
gation only.  They  have  charge  of 
parishes,  and  have  altogether  about 
twenty  houses,  principally  in  Ohio,  In- 
diana, Missouri,  and  Tennessee. 

PRECIOUS  BLOOD,  SISTERS 
OP  THE.  This  sisterhood,  organized 
in  dependence  on  the  above  congre- 
gation, is  occupied  chiefly  with  primary 
instruction.  It  was  introduced  into  the 
United  States  in  1844.  The  American 
province  contains  about  five  hundred 
members,  with  about  twenty  convents, 
in  the  same  localities  generally  as  those 
mentioned  in  the  previous  article.  The 
mother-house  of  the  American  province 
is  at  Maria  Stein,  Mercer  Co.,  Ohio. 

SACRED  HEART  OP  MARY, 
SISTERS  OP.  A  congregation  which 
devotes  itself,  according  to  circum- 
stances, to  any  of  the  works  of  Chris- 
tian charity,  orphanages,  industrial 
schools,  asylums  for  deaf-mutes,  parish 
and  boarding  schools,  etc.  It  was 
founded  in  1848,  at  Beziers  in  France, 
and  was  soon  after  introduced  into  the 
United  States,  its  first  establishment, 
now  its  mother-house,  being  at  Ford- 
ham,  in  New  York  City,  and  its  next 
settlements  being  at  Cleveland  and  Buf- 
falo, to  which  three  dioceses  it  seems 
to  be  still  limited  in  the  United  States. 
Its  rule  is  that  of  St.  Augustine,  and,  in 
addition  to  the  ordinary  three  vows,  a 
vow  of  zeal  is  taken.  The  habit  is 
blue  for  the  choir  Sisters  and  black  for 
the  lay  Sisters. 


SOC.  OF  SACRED  HEART.    889 

SACRED  HEART,  RELIGIOUS 
OP  THE  SOCIETY  OP  THE.  This 
admirable  society,  remarkable  for  its 
rapid  growth  and  still  more  for  its  great 
services  in  the  cause  of  Christian  edu- 
cation, dates  its  origin  from  the  first 
year  of  this  century.  In  the  midst  of 
the  darkness  which  the  Revolution  of 
1789  had  spread  over  France  this  in- 
stitute arose,  like  a  divine  light,  to 
guide  the  daughters  of  the  highest  ranks 
of  European  society  in  the  paths  of 
Christian  virtue  and  to  fill  their  minds 
with  Christian  knowledge.  The  name 
of  the  institute  was  chosen  as  a  ten- 
der and  touching  reparation  for  the 
blasphemies  which  French  infidelity 
had  heaped  upon  the  Sacred  Humanity, 
and  to  quicken  and  strengthen  in  the 
hearts  of  its  pupils  the  faith  of  cen- 
turies that  from  that  Sacred  Humanity 
comes  the  knowledge  that  elevates, 
blesses,  and  saves  the  world.  In  imita- 
tion of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  ruling, 
distinctive  spirit  of  this  community, 
now  known  and  deservedly  praised  in 
every  quarter  of  the  globe,  is  generous 
self-devotion  to  the  great  work  of 
Christian  education.  The  little  band  of 
four  persons  whom  the  founder.  Fa- 
ther Varin,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
gathered  to  relay  the  foundations  of 
higher  Christian  education  in  France, 
has  grown  and  multiplied  like  the  mus- 
tard-seed of  the  Gospel ;  God  has  won- 
derfully prospered  their  handiwork. 
The  early  conviction  of  the  first  supe- 
rioress, Madame  Barat — now  numbered 
among  the  beatified  of  the  Church — 
that  the  Society  of  the  Sacred  Heai't 
was  destined,  for  God's  glory,  to  em- 
brace the  universe,  has  been  realized. 
It  now  counts,  according  to  the  latest 
catalogue,  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
houses  and  five  thousand  members.  In 
all  the  great  cities  of  Europe — Paris, 
Rome,  Amiens,  Beauvais,  Lyons,  Turin, 
Florence,  Vienna,  Brussels,  London,  Dub- 
lin, and  many  other  places — these  Ladies 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  have  established 
large,  magnificent  schools  and  are  ren- 
dering incalculable  services  to  religion. 
The  first  school  of  this  society  in  this 
country  was  opened  at  St.  Michael's,  near  , 
N'ew  Orleans,  in  1818.  From  this  parent  j 
root  have  sprung  three  vicariates  in  the  j 
United  States,  embracing  twenty-four  ' 
houses;  the  vicariate  of  Canada,  em- 
bracing four  convents ;  the  vicariate  of 
South  America,  numbering  seven  acade- 
mies.    The  province  of  New   Orleans    j 


890 


SULPICIANS. 


has  lately  opened  a  promising  school  in 
the  city  of  Mexico.  Three  years  ago 
the  convent  at  South  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
sent  a  heroic  band  across  the  Pacific  to 
educate  the  children  of  the  settlers  of 
New  Zealand.  The  academies  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  at  Manhattanville,  ISTew 
York  City,  Philadelphia,  Torresdale,  Pa., 
Eochester,  Boston,  Cincinnati,  Detroit, 
Kenwood  near  Albany,  St.  Louis, 
Chicago,  Omaha,  St.  Charles,  Xew  Or- 
leans, United  States ;  Montreal  and 
London,  Canada,  have  won  for  them- 
selves an  enviable  reputation.  The 
great,  unsurpassed  merits  of  their  re- 
ligious and  intellectual  training  are 
everyAvhere  recognized. 

SULPICIANS.  The  name  given  to 
a  society  of  priests  who  devote  them- 
selves to  the  care  of  theological 
seminaries  and  preparatory  theological 
schools.  In  1640  the  island  of  Mon- 
treal was  ceded  to  Father  Jean  Jacques 
Olier,  parish-priest  of  St.  Sulpice,  Paris, 
and  founder  of  the  seminary  attached 
to  that  church.  This  famous  grant  was 
confirmed  in  spirit  in  1663  by  a  con- 
tract which  transferred  Montreal  with 
all  its  seigniorial  rights  to  the  new 
seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  then  founded 
there  and  still  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous institutions  of  Montreal.  So 
that  the  Sulpicians  are  no  strangers  in 
North  America.  The  mother-seminary 
of  St.  Sulpice,  Paris,  was  formally 
opened  in  1642,  and  from  that  day  to 
this  has  been  illustrious  for  its  brilliant 
course  of  studies  and  for  the  learning 
and  piety  of  its  graduates.  It  has 
served  also  as  a  model  for  diocesan 
seminaries  everywhere.  In  1791  some 
Sulpicians  from  the  great  Paris  es- 
tablishment arrived  in  Baltimore  and 
opened  a  seminary,  since  dignified  as 
*'  St.  Mary's  University."  This  and  its 
preparatory  annex,  St.  Charles'  College, 
Ellicott  City,  are  the  only  foundations  of 
the  Sulpicians  in  the  United  States. 
[Sjee  Seminary.] 

VIATEUR  (ST.),  PAROCHIAL 
CLERICS  OR  CATECHISTS  OF. 
This  congregation  was  founded  in  1828 


c        XAVERIAN  BROTHERS. 

by  Very  Rev.  Jean-Louis-Marie-Joseph 
Querbes,  parish-priest  of  Vourles,  near 
Lyons,  France.  Gregory  XVI.  soleumly 
erected  it  a  congregation  by  a  rescript 
dated  May  31,  1839.  The  end  of  the 
institute  is  both  the  primary  and  higher 
education  of  youth  and  the  service  of 
the  altar.  The  members,  either  priests 
or  Brothers,  take  the  three  vows  of 
religiom  Brothers  duly  qualified  may 
be  promoted  to  Sacred  Orders.  Lay 
Brothers  are  employed  in  the  temporal 
care  of  the  different  houses. 

In  1847  tlie  Clerics  of  St.  Viateur, 
at  the  invitation  of  Rt.  Rev.  Ignatius 
Bourget,  Bishop  of  Montreal,  proceed- 
ed to  Canada  and  opened  a  novitiate  at 
Joliette,  P.  Q.  They  now  direct  in  that 
province  about  thirty  houses,  among 
which  are :  Joliette  College,  Bourget 
College  at  Rigaud,  and  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  Institution  at  Mile-End,  Montreal. 
In  1864  the  Canada  Province  establish- 
ed a  school  at  Bourbonnais  Grove,  111., 
where  now  stands  St.  Viateur's  College. 
In  1882  the  new  province  of  Bour- 
bonnais was  erected  and  a  novitiate  was 
immediately  opened  at  the  same  place 
for  the  United  States.  In  1883  a  de- 
tachment of  priests  and  Brothers  of  this 
congregation  started  from  Joliette  to 
Baker  City,  Oregon,  and  now  form  a 
distinct  province  for  the  far  West. — St. 
Viateur^s  College^  Bourhonnau  Orove^ 
Kanlcakee  Co.,  Ill,  is  under  the  direc- 
4ion  of  the  Congregation  of  St.  Viateur. 
It  was  founded  in  1869,  chartered  in 
1874.  It  comprises  the  commercial, 
classical,  philosophical,  and  theologi- 
cal courses. 

XAVIER  (ST.),  BROTHERS  OF; 
OR,  XAVERIAN  BROTHERS.  A 
congregation  of  teaching  Brothers 
founded  in  1839  in  Belgium,  at  Bruges, 
and  first  introduced  into  the  United 
States  in  1854,  when  they  were  estab- 
lished at  Louisville,  Ky.,  where  the 
Brothers  have  charge  of  a  high-school 
and  of  several  parish-schools,  as  also  in 
Baltimore.  The  novitiate  and  mother- 
house  is  now  at  Carrollton,  Md. 


.AJPPENDIX  O. 


ABBAdOMrmS.  The  abbacomites 
or  abbates  milites,  count  abbots  or  noble 
abbots,  were  lay  intruders,  to  whom 
courts  gave  abbacies  for  pecuniary  pro- 
fit. Thus  Bernard,  the  youngest  of 
Charles  Martel's  six  sons,  was  lay  abbot 
of  Skhin  or  St.  Quentin.  Sons,  daugh- 
ters, wives,  &c.,  were  thus  benefited 
before  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  who, 
however,  effected  a  reform  and  made 
monasteries  the  seats  of  schools  and 
literature.  In  later  days  other  princes, 
claiming  the  right  of  investiture,  rein- 
troduced similar  abuses ;  secular  priests 
were  often  made  comnundatory  abbots% 

ABSTINENTS.  A  name  given  to 
the  Encratites,  or  Manichees,  because  of 
their  professed  abstinence  from  wine, 
marriage,  etc 

AGNOETiS  [addendum].  Besides 
those  mentioned  in  the  text,  the  dis- 
ciples of  Theophranius  of  Gappadocia, 
about  370,  bore  that  name.  He  taught 
that  God  did  not  know  everything, 
and  that  he  could  acquire  knowledge. 
This  error  was  revived  by  the  Socinians. 

AIiTAR-CARDS.  As  mentioned 
under  Altae,  the  rubric  requires  that  an 
altar-cai'd  be  placed  in  the  centre  under 
the  crucifix;  custom  has  introduced  two 
others,  one  on  each  side,  the  object  of 
all  three  being  to  aid  the  priest's 
memory,  should  it  fail  at  any  time 
during  the  celebration  of  Mass,  though 
he  is  expected  to  have  the  prayers 
committed  to  memory.  The  centre 
card  contains  the  "  Gloria  in  excelsis," 
the  "  Credo,"  the  Offertory  prayers, 
the  "Qui  pridie,"  or  beginning  of  the 
Canon,  the  form  of  consecration,  the 
prayers  before  Communion,  and  the 
"Placeat,"  or  last  prayer.  That  at  the 
Epistle  side  contains  the  prayer  said 
while  putting  the  water  into  the  chalice, 
and  the  "Lavabo,"  said  at  the  washing 
of  the  fingers.  The  one  at  the  Gospel 
side  contains  the  Gospel  of  St.  John. 

ANTEPENDIUM.  As  mentioned 
uifder  Altae,  a  "pallium,"  or  frontal, 
varying  in  color  according  to  the  se^pon, 
is  to  be  placed  on  the  altar.     The  rubric 


especially  requires  this  when  the  altar 
is  not  entirely  of  stone,  and  the  cloth  is 
generally  known  as  antependium,  from 
arde^  before,  and  peiidere^  to  hang. 

ANTISTES.  A  title  frequently  ap- 
plied in  ecclesiastical  history,  and  in 
the  prayers  of  the  Church,  to  a  prelate 
or  bishop. 

BAPTISM  OP  BELLS.  [See 
Bells.] 

BIRETTA.  Another  form  of  Bee- 
RETTA  (q.  V.)  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
the  cap  which  the  ancient  Irish  bard 
wore  was  c^Wo^hirredh. 

OALOTB  OR  CALOTTE.  Th© 
French  name  for  the  Zuchetto  (q.  v.), 
very  commonly  used  in  English. 

CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  THE.  I.  Colo- 
nial Period  (1500-1775). — Although 
some  writers  have  thought  it  probable 
that  the  o^orth  American  continent  was 
first  discovered  by  Irish  navigators,  no 
authentic  evidence  of  the  fact  has  been 
adduced.  The  first  Europeans  who  ai*e 
known  to  have  touched  the  shores  of 
New  England  were  Lief  Ericson  and 
Bjorn,  who  wintered  in  a  fertile  country 
where  they  found  wild  vines  growing 
and  which  they  called  Vinland.  There, 
on  the  shortest  day,  the  sun  remained 
nine  hours  above  the  horizon,  a  fact  in- 
dicating the  latitude  of  Rhode  Island, 
or  the  4:1st  parallel.  This  same  country 
of  Vinland  was  visited  in  1120  by  Eric, 
Bishop  of  Garda,  in  Greenland,  who 
may  therefore  be  called  the  forerunner 
by  five  centuries  of  our  earliest  apostles. 
In  June,  1497,  Giovanni  Cabot,  a  Vene- 
tian, discovered  Labrador,  and  followed 
the  coast  from  Cape  Breton  to  Virginia,, 
at  the  very  same  time  that  the  Floren- 
tine pilot  and  cosmographer,  Ameriga. 
Vespucci,  was  landing  on  the  coast  of' 
Honduras  and  exploring  the  continent: 
as  far  eastward,  at  least,  as  Florida.* 


*  This  much  miist  be  admitted  from  tbfr  car©., 
ful  study  of  Bartolozzi  and  others,  who  have 
written  about  Vespucci.  English  and  American 
historians,  poisoned  by  Herrera,  do  great  IB  justice 
to  the  illustrious  Floreutine^ 


892        CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


m  THE  U.  S. 


In  1498  Sebastian  Cabot,  the  son  of  the 
former,  also  sailed  along  our  shores 
from  iJ^ewfoimdland  to  Cape  Hatteras. 
The  Peninsula  of  Florida,  so  called  by 
the  Spanish  adventurer  Ponce  de  Leon, 
who  landed  among  its  flowery  ever- 
glades on  Easter  Sunday,  1512,  was  to 
have  had  later  the  first  missionary 
bishop  expressly  consecrated  for  the 
present  territory  of  the  United  States. 
This  was  Juan  Juarez,  a  Franciscan 
monk,  who,  with  several  of  his  brethren, 
accompanied  Panfilo  de  Narvaez  in  1528 
on  an  expedition  to  the  mainland.  Bi- 
shop Juarez  and  his  brethren  perished 
together  with  Narvaez  and  his  men, 
almost  the  sole  survivor  being  Cabeza 
de  Vaca,  who  was  the  first  to  cross  the 
continent  to  the  Pacific.  His  arrival 
among  the  Spaniards  of  Sonora  im- 
pelled a  Friar  Marco,  of  Nice,  in  1539, 
to  attempt  an  unsuccessful  expedition 
to  evangelize  the  tribes  of  the  interior. 
The  repeated  attempts  at  conquest,  col- 
onization, or  missionary  establishment 
made  in  Florida  and  the  adjoining  coasts 
to  the  east  and  west,  up  to  1542,  were 
rendered  abortive  or  disastrous  by  the 
spirit  of  greed  and  cruelty  which  ani- 
mated the  adventurers.  They  were 
only  seeking  for  gold  and  slaves ;  every- 
where they  provoked  the  vengeful  hos- 
tility of  the  native  tribes.  As  in  the 
islands  of  the  Caribbean  Sea,  so  on  the 
continent  itself,  the  missionaries  were 
most  frequently  powerless  to  quell  the 
inhumanity  of  the  Europeans,  whose 
unchristian  conduct  thus  rendered  bar- 
ren the  zeal  of  priest  and  prelate. 
Vasquez  de  Ayllon,  in  1525,  searched 
the  coasts  of  the  Carolinas  and  Maryland, 
pushing  inland  in  quest  of  imaginary 
treasures,  and  perished  with  three- 
fourths  of  his  600  followers.  Another 
adventurer,  Gomez,  about  the  same 
time  sought  in  vain  along  these  same 
shores  a  passage  to  the  East  Indies,  and 
bore  away  with  him  for  sole  prize  a 
cargo  of  slaves.  De  Soto,  with  a 
thousand  men,  traversed  the  territory 
extending  from  Tampa  Bay  to  Memphis 
on  the  Mississippi,  "  searching  for  gold 
and  pearls,  and  everywhere  outraging 
and  pillaging  the  Indians"  (1539),  dying 
miserably  in  1542,  and  being  buried  in 
the  waters  of  the  great  river.  These 
men,  and  many  others,  were  only  the 
imitators  of  the  Portuguese,  Caspar 
Cortereal,  who  in  1501  explored  our 
coast  as  far  northward  as  the  Gulf  of 


St.  Lawrence,  called  the  northernmost 
shore  Labrador,  seizing  and  carrying 
away  the  natives  into  slavery.  Such 
Avas  not  the  spirit  of  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus. Undeterred  by  the  fate  of  Bi- 
shop Juarez  and  his  Franciscans,  and 
by  the  fruitless  fatigues  of  the  mission- 
aries who  had  accompanied  De  Soto, 
the  Dominicans,  in  1549,  resolved  to 
make  another  effort  toward  colonizing, 
or,  rather,  evangelizing,  Florida.  Philip 
II.  placed  a  ship  at  their  disposal,  and,  at 
their  instance,  had  a  royal  decree  issued 
in  Havana  releasing  from  servitude  all 
natives  of  Florida.  It  was  in  vain. 
The  evil  fame  of  the  Spaniards  was*  too 
well  founded  in  the  peninsula.  On 
landing  at  Appalachee  Bay  Father 
Luis  Cancer,  the  apostle  of  Vera  Paz, 
was  seized  with  his  one  companion  and 
put  to  death.  Nine  years  before,  in 
1540,  the  Franciscan,  Father  Marco 
of  Nice,  with  four  of  his  brethren,  set 
out  from  Mexico  with  an  expedition 
under  Vasquez  de  Coronado  to  explore 
the  "  Seven  Cities  of  Cibola  "  in  New 
Mexico,  found  these  to  be  poor  Indian 
villages,  and  returned.  Two  of  the 
Franciscans,  Father  John  de  Padilla  and 
Brother  John  of  the  Cross,  remained,  in 
the  hope  of  converting  the  inhabitants. 
It  was  at  the  head-waters  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  in  the  present  diocese  of  Santa 
Fe.  The  two  heroic  men  directed  their 
steps  toward  the  village  of  Quivira, 
offering  up  their  lives  for  the  souls  of 
the  Indians.  They  were  pierced  with 
arrows  and  fell  there,  the  Proto- 
Martyrs  of  the  Church  in  the  United 
States.  Three  other  Franciscan  Fathers 
in  1580  also  bedewed  with  their  blood 
the  soil  of  New  Mexico:  they  were, 
Juan  de  Santa  Maria,  Augustin  Rodri- 
guez, and  Francisco  Lopez. — The  expe- 
ditions fitted  out  by  France  to  explore 
the  northern  part  of  our  continent 
were  guided  by  nobler  motives,  and  pro- 
ductive of  more  glorious  results  to  re- 
ligion and  civilization.  The  Florentine 
Verrazzani  under  the  French  flag,  in 
1523,  carefully  explored  our  coast-line, 
from  Maine  to  the  Carolinas,  in  search 
of  the  passage  to  the  East  Indies,  whjch 
had.  been  the  aim  of  Columbus  and  his 
successors  to  flnd.  Verrazzani  pro- 
claimed anew  what  Vespucci  had  assert- 
ed and  proved  before,  that  America  w^s 
a  continent  distinct  from  Asia.  In 
1534  Jacques  Carta er,  a  Frenchman, 
was  sent  by  his  king  to  utiHze  the  dis- 


CATHOLIC  CHUKCH 

coveries  of  Verrazzani.  He  explored 
Newfoundland;  returned  and  reported 
favorably ;  and,  in  1535,  was  sent  out 
for  the  double  purpose  of  establishing  a 
trading  colony  and  converting  the  native 
tribes.  Ascending  the  St.  Lawrence, 
he  built  a  small  fort  at  Sillery,  near 
Quebec  (Stad^cona),  and  pushed  up  the 
river  as  far  as  Hochelaga,  an  Indian 
village  on  the  site  of  modern  Montreal. 
In  1541  Cartier  came  a  third  time  to 
Quebec.  This  little  colony  languished 
till  1608,  when  Samuel  Champlain,  the 
real  founder  of  Quebec,  gave  it  a  firm 
basis,  and  enabled  it  to  become  the  first 
great  centre  of  Catholicity  and  mission- 
ary enterprise  for  the  vast  regions  of 
the  Gulf,  the  valley  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, the  basin  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and 
the  territories  drained  by  the  Missouri 
and  Mississippi.  In  1605  Champlain, 
acting  under  Sieur  de  Monts,  founded 
Port  Royal  in  Acadie  (afterward  called 
Nova  Scotia),  which  was  increased  and 
made  more  secure  in  1610,  when  the 
Jesuits  arrived  there.  The  Marchioness 
de  Guercheville,  who  purchased  De 
Monts'  patent,  became  the  proprietor  of 
all  New  France,  and  under  her,  in  1612, 
the  Jesuits  founded  the  mission  of  St. 
Saviour  on  Mount  Desert,  on  the  coast 
of  Maine.  This  was  destroyed  soon 
afterward  by  the  English  Virginians 
under  Captain  Argall,  who  killed  one  of 
the  missionaries,  a  lay  brother  named 
Gabriel  du  Thet.  His  is  the  first  blood 
shed,  for  the  faith  on  the  soil  of  New 
England.  Meanwhile  Champlain  had 
explored  northern  New  York,  and  dis- 
covered (July,  1609)  the  lake  which 
bears  his  name;  the  brethren  of  Ga- 
briel du  Thet  pushing  indefatigably 
their  missionary  enterprise  among  the 
native  populations  of  Maine,  New 
Brunswick,  New  York,  Ohio,  Michigan, 
Illinois,  and  Wisconsin;  and  planting 
everywhere  the  seeds  of  the  rich  harvest 
we  are  at  present  reaping.  Not  till  1 620 
did  the  Puritan  Separatists  land  in 
Massachusetts.  In  September,  1609, 
Heinrich  Hudson  entered  New  York 
Bay;  in  1613  the  Dutch  built  a  tempor- 
ary fort  on  Manhattan  Island,  and  in 
1614  founded  Fort  Nassau  on  the  site 
of  the  present  city  of  Albany. — On 
April  26,  1607,  three  small  vessels,  under 
Christopher  Newport,  entered  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  and  on  May  13,  on  the 
James  River,  was  laid  the  foundation 
of  Jamestown,  the  first  permanent  En- 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


893 


glish  settlement  in  Virginia  and  in 
America.  But  long  before  the  arrival 
of  these  colonists,  in  1570,  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  in  Florida  were  enticed  to 
visit  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake  by 
the  representations  of  a  young  Virgin- 
ian chief,  carried  into  captivity  by 
Spanish  adventurers,  and  who  had  been 
converted  and  adopted  by  the  mission- 
aries. He  spoke  of  his  father's  country 
as  the  kingdom  of  Axacan  (Ahacdn); 
and  eight  Jesuits,  headed  by  Father 
Segura,  vice-provincial  of  Florida,  set 
out  with  the  young  chief,  whom  they 
had  named  Don  Luis  de  Velascoe,  Lord 
of  Vasallos,  and  with  several  Indian 
youths,  who  had  been  educated  in  the 
Jesuit  college  at  Havana.  "  They 
penetrated  into  the  interior,  guided  by 
Vasallos,  and,  after  a  painful  march  of 
several  months,  they  approached  the 
realm  of  Axacan.  At  last  their  guide 
started  on,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to  pre- 
pare his  tribe  to  receive  the  missionaries. 
But  after  forsaking  the  Jesuits  amid  the 
trackless  forests,  where  they  endured  aU 
the  horrors  of  famine,  the  traitor  re- 
turned at  the  head  of  a  party  of  armed 
men,  and  butchered  his  benefactors  at 
the  foot  of  a  rustic  altar,  where  they 
had  daily  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice  for 
the  salvation  of  his  tribe.  The  blood  of 
martyrs  is  the  seed  of  Christians;  and 
such  is  the  first  triumph  of  the  Faith  on 
the  banks  of  the  Chesapeake."  * — Such, 
then,  was  the  consecration  given  to  the 
soil  on  which  the  Church  of  Mary- 
land was  destined  to  rise  to  so  proud, 
so  wide,  so  blessed  a  pre-eminence! 
Even  so  the  churches  of  the  central  and 
westernmost  States  of  the  Union,  like 
those  of  the  South  and  the  East,  were 
to  have  their  foundations  laid  in  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs.  The  heroic  Isaac 
Jogues,  Ren6  Goupil,  and  John  Baptist 
Lalande  gave  their  lives  and  their  blood 
to  establish  Christianity  in  the  Diocese 
of  Albany:  their  memory  and  virtues 
are  the  inheritance  of  all  the  churches 
of  New  York.  Their  no  less  saintly 
brothers,  Breboeuf  andLallemand,  belong 
to  all  Canada  and  the  Northern  States. 
And  the  blood  of  Sebastian  Rasles  is 
ever  pleading    for    the   spread  of  the 

♦John  Gilmary  Shea,  LL.D.,  "New  Histoiy 

of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States,"  pp. 
23,  24.  We  are  indebted  to  our  indefatigaDle 
Catholic  historian  for  mosc  of  the  information 
contained  in  this  article.  Mr.  J.  R.  G.  Hassard'a 
"  History  of  the  Uniced  States  "  has  also  furnished 
precious  data. 


894        CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


Faith  in  New  England. — A  little  over 
half  a  century  after  the  death  of  Father 
Segura  and  his  companions— on  March 
25,  ]  024 — the  Maryland  Pilgrims,  in  the 
Ark  and  Dove^  sailed  up  Chesapeake  Bay, 
landed  on  the  hanks  of  the  Potomac, 
and  the  Jesuit  Father  Andrew  White 
offered  up  the  same  Divine  Sacrifice 
which  Segura  had  been  wont  to  cele- 
brate in  the  wilderness,  on  the  altar  at 
whose  foot  he  and  his  brethren  were 
massacred.  The  first  settlement  was 
St.  Mary's,  the  Catholics  taking  formal 
possession  of  the  country  two  days  after 
landing,  March  27,  1634.  Three  years 
later  the  first  legislature  of  Maryland 
met,  and  the  Jesuit  fathers  were  invited 
to  sit  in  it.  They,  however,  in  strict 
obedience  to  the  peremptory  rules  of 
their  order,  declined,  and  "desired  to 
be  excused  from  giving  voices  in  this 
assembly."*  From  the  very  beginning 
the  Indians  were  the  objects  of  these 
devoted  missionaries'  loving  care,  and 
repaid  them  by  surrendering  their  souls 
to  such  apostles.  They  lived  in  perfect 
trust  and  harmony  with  the  settlers  at 
St.  Mary's,  while  the  little  band  of 
priests  evangelized  successfully  the  sur- 
rounding tribes.  In  1689  Father  White 
took  up  his  abode  among  the  Piscata- 
ways,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  pre- 
sent city  of  Washington,  and  soon 
numbered  130  converts  in  his  flock, 
among  them  the  Piscataway  chief  and 
Ms  family,  with  the  young  queen  of  the 
Potopacos  and  her  principal  tribesmen. 
Lord  Baltimore  proclaimed  perfect  re- 
ligious liberty  to  all  Christians  within 
Maryland,  "at  a  time  when,  in  fact, 
toleration  was  not  considered  in  any 
part  of  the  Protestant  world  to  be  due 
to  the  Catholics."  f  Thus,  says  Ban- 
croft, "religious  liberty  obtained  a 
home,  its  only  home  in  the  wide  world, 
at  the  humble  village  which  bore  the 
name  of  St.  Mary's."  J  In  1652  the 
English  Commonwealth  sent  out  com- 
missioners, who,  with  the  aid  of  the 
Puritan  refugees  so  hospitably  received 
in  Maryland,  deposed,  in  1655,  the  Pro- 
testant governor  appointed  by  Calvert, 
and  established  a  government,  one  of 
whose  first  acts   was    to   exclude    all 


.  *  IJozman'8  "  Maryland,"  i.  p.  83  ;  as  Dr.  Shea 
reraarka.  tlicse  are  "  the  precise  terms  of  the 
minutes  of  the  Assembly,  January  25,  1637,  pre- 
served in  the  archives  at  Annapolis." 

t  •'  Religion  in  America,"  by  Rev.  Dr.  Baird, 
p.  62. 

X  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  i.  274. 


"  papists  and  prelatists  "  from  the  bene- 
fit of  the  statute  of  toleration,  and  to 
declare  that  no  Catholic  should  sit  in 
the  Assembly  or  vote  for  members  of 
it.*  A  civil  war  ensued  and  a  dual 
government.  •  On  the  restoration  of 
Charles  II.,  Philip  Calvert  became 
governor,  and  the  statute  of  toleration 
was  revived  in  its  full^t  extent.  In 
1689  the  Puritan  Coode  rose  in  arms, 
organized  an  "Association  in  arms  for 
the  defence  of  the  Protestant  religion," 
captured  St.  Mary's  and  abolished  the 
authority  of  Lord  Baltimore.  In  1691 
the  king  revoked  Baltimore's  patent, 
made  the  Church  of  England  the  estab- 
lished religion  of  Maryland,  and  dis- 
franchised the  Catholics  and  compelled 
them  to  pay  tithes  for  the  support  of 
the  Protestant  Establishment.  In  1704 
"An  act  to  prevent  the  increase  of 
Popery  in  the  Province  "  forbade  priests 
or  bifeliops  to  say  Mass,  or  to  exercise 
any  functions  of  their  ministry.  It 
forbade  Catholics  to  teach,  and  enabled 
a  Catholic  child,  by  bt;Coming  a  Pro- 
testant, to  demand  and  obtain  from  its 
parents  its  proportion  of  its  patrimony, 
as  though  these  were  dead.  Catholic 
families  could  only  hear  Mass  within 
the  secrecy  of  their  own  homes.  This 
was  the  only  privilege  which  made  their 
lot  better  than  that  of  Irish  or  English 
Catholics  at  home.  And  the  exercise 
of  the  Catholic  religion  and  worship 
continued  for  the  next  seventy  years  to  be 
subject  to  all  these  restraints  in  the 
land  which  Catholicism  had  made  the 
home  of  the  free  I  Every  Catholic  was 
taxed  twice  as  much  as  his  Protestant 
neighbor.  It  was  intolerable.  In  1752 
Daniel  Carroll,  father  of  the  first  Bishop 
of  Baltimore,  went  to  France  to  nego- 
tiate for  the  migration  to  Louisiana  of 
the  Maryland  Cathohcs.  He  did  not 
succeed  with  the  wretched  French 
government  of  the  day.  To  obtain  a 
liberal  education  Catholics  had  to  cross 
the  seas  to  the  Continent  of  Europe, 
while  the  penal  laws  prevented  their 
numbers  from  being  increased  by  immi- 
grants from  the  mother-country.  This 
persecuting  legislation  was  only  modi- 
fied in  1774  at  the  approach  of  the 
struggle  for  independence.  But  the* 
bitter  spirit  which  dictated  it  lasted  all 
through  the  war,  and  survived  it  on 
both  sides  of  the  Potomac,  a  Cathohc 

*  Hassard,  p.  82. 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

priest  being  treated  as  a  wolf  if  recog- 
nized travelling  through  the  country.* 
In  1755-56  the  -icadians  to  the  number 
of  7,000,  in  defiance  of  the  sworn  faith 
of  treaties,  and  for  the  sole  reason  that 
they  were  Catholics,  were   torn  from 
their    homes    on    the   Bay  of  Fundy, 
forced   on   board   British   vessels,    and 
scattered    along    our     sea-coast    from 
Boston  to  the  Carolinas.     In  October, 
1774,  our  Congress,  in  an  address  to  the 
people   of    Great   Britain,    complained 
that   the  Metropolitan  Government  in 
the   "Quebec   Act"   had   granted   the 
French   Catholics  of    Canada    full  re- 
ligious liberty.     "  Nor  can  we  suppress 
our   astonishment,"   it  is   said  therein, 
"  that  a  British  Parliament  should  ever 
consent  to   establish  in  that  country  a 
religion  that  has  deluged  your  island  in 
blood,  and  dispersed  impiety,  bigotry, 
persecution,     murder,     and     rebellion 
through    every    part    of    the    world." 
Nevertheless,  in  1776  the  Province  of 
Maryland,  in  article  33  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Rights,   granted   Catholics  full 
toleration  and  religious  equality.     "  At 
the  moment  when  Catholics  thus  ob- 
tained a  tardy  Justice,  there  were  in  the 
whole  extent  of  Maryland  twenty  Jesuits, 
or  rather  ex-Jesuits,  for  the  Society  had 
been  suppressed  some  years  before.    But 
the  Fathers  continued  to  live,  as  far  as 
possible,   in  the  same  way  as  though 
their  order  subsisted  in  all  its  perfec- 
tion." t     Their  voluntarily  chosen  Supe- 
rior, Father  Lewis,  was  vicar-general  of 
the  -Vicar- Apostolic    of    the    London 
District,  and  thus  exercised  jurisdiction 
over    all    priests    within    the    United 
States.     Not  till  after  1776  were  Catho- 
lics permitted  to  have  any  kind  of  a 
house   of    public   worship.     "  In   1774 
Baltimore   was   only   a  station  visited 
once  a  month   by  a  father  from  the 
farm  at  White  Marsh.     Mass  was  said 
in  a  room  in  the  presence  of  some  forty 
Catholics,    mostly  French  people,  who 
had  been  barbarously  and  treacherously 
dragged  off  from  Acadia  or  Nova  Scotia 
in  1756.     The  priest  took  with  him  his 
vestments  and  altar  plate,  for  the  city 
where  many  councils  have  since  been 
held    did    not    then    possess    even    a 
chalice  !  "  J     In  1783  Maryland  counted 
about  16,000  Catholics,  countryfolk  for 
the  most  part.      In  the  other  twelve 
States  there  were,  probably,  some  1,500 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


895 


*  Shea,  p.  37. 


t  Ibid. 


t  Ibid. 


in  all,  not  including  the  French  settlers 
along  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi.     The 
white  population  of  the  Western  Terri- 
tory surrendered  by  the  Treaty  of  1783 
numbered  about  4,000  souls. — The  his- 
tory of  Catholicism  in  Virginia,  Penn- 
sylvania, New  York,  and  ^ew  England, 
during  this  period,  is  not  without  in- 
terest and  instruction.     In  Virginia  the 
Jesuits    Pierre    Biard    and    Ennemond 
Masse,  carried  away  into  captivity  from 
the  Mission  of   St.    Saviour  in   Maine 
(1614),   barely   escaped  being  hanged, 
drawn,    and   quartered   at  Jamestown. 
The  tierce  spirit  of  intolerance  and  per- 
secution  which   prevailed    among    the 
Episcopalians  of  Virginia  till  after  the 
War  of    Independence  was   only    sur- 
passed or  equalled  by  that  which  ruled 
men's  souls  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 
Sir  George  Calvert,  because  he  was  a 
Catholic,  was  peremptorily  ordered  out 
of   Virginia.       In  1645    the   Maryland 
priests  seized  by  the  Protestant  insur- 
gents  were   sent  in  chains  to  James- 
town, where  one  of  them  died  in  prison 
in   1646.      Meanwhile    there   were    in 
Virginia  a  large  number  of  Catholics — 
Irish  men  and  women  sent  there  by  the 
home  government  as  slaves  or  indented 
apprentices.      After   1641,  as  we  may- 
see  in   Cromwell's    State    Documents, 
from  50,000  to  100,000  Irish  Catholics 
were  forcibly  deported  to  America  ;  the 
majority  were  sold  to  the  planters  of 
Barbadoes  and  Jamaica ;  the  others,  in 
great  number,  to  the  colonists  of  Vir- 
ginia,  the   women  and  children  being 
doomed  to  servitude  there,  and  the  men 
being  "  pressed  "  into  Cromwell's  navy. 
In   1652    "the   Commissioners   of    the 
Commonwealth"  ordered  numbers    of 
Irishwomen   to  be   sold   to  merchants 
and  shipped  to  Virginia,  where  many 
of  them  perished   beneath   the  heavy 
yoke  of  slavery.     Later  still  other  ship- 
loads of  unfortunate  Irish  were  sent  out 
to  forced  labor  there,  with  the  privilege, 
however,  of  redeeming  themselves  after 
a  certain   period.      These  were  called 
"  Redemptioners."     Such  as  could  thus 
get  back  their  freedom  were  forthwith 
sent  out  of  the  colony,  no  free  Catholic 
being  then  tolerated.     The  oppressive 
laws  of  Virginia  against  Catholics,  en- 
acted periodically  and  alw^ays  with  in- 
creased rigor,  continued  to  be  in  force 
during  the    17th   and   18th    centuries, 
down  to  1776, — It  was  far  otherwise 
in  Pennsylvania.      William  Penn  and 


896        CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


m  THE  U.  S. 


George  Fox  had  no  sympathy  for  per- 
secution. The  Convention  of  Chester 
in  January,  1683,  enacted  that  no  Chris- 
tian should  be  excluded  from  office. 
The  clause  inserted  in  Penn's  Charter 
by  the  Protestant  Bishop  of  London 
secured  Episcopalianism  the  exclusive 
privileges  of  a  state  religion.  Never- 
theless the  Quakers  always  tolerated 
Catholics.  In  1686  Penn  speaks  of 
*'an  old  priest"  as  residing  in  Phila- 
delphia. A  wooden  chapel  existed  there 
at  that  time,  and  Penn  in  1708  writes 
from  England  to  Governor  Logan  that 
people  in  London  complain  that  he 
(Logan)  "suffers  public  Mass  in  a 
scandalous  manner."  In  1736  a  second 
chapel  was  built  in  the  city  ;  and  a  few^ 
miles  from  it,  in  1729,  another  chapel 
was  built  by  a  young  Irish  lady  named 
Elizabeth  >[cGawley.  In  1730  the 
Jesuit  Father,  Josiah  Greaton,  took 
charge  of  Philadelphia,  found  a  little 
band  of  Catholics  there,  and  in  1733 
erected  the  little  chapel  of  St.  Joseph. 
The  flock  thenceforward  increased,  and 
St.  Joseph's  was  soon  enlarged.  To 
Greaton,  dead  in  1750,  succeeded  Father 
Eobert  Harding  and  the  saintly  Father 
Ferdinand  Farmer  (Steenmeyer),  who 
founded  St.  Mary's  Church.  Con- 
jointly with  the  latter  labored  Father 
Eobert  Molyneux.  In  1741  the  arrival 
of  German  immigrants  necessitated  the 
coming  of  two  German  Jesuits.  In 
1745  Father  Theodore  Schneider  built 
a  church  at  Goshenhoppen,  which  he 
made  the  centre  of  a  wide  and  fruitful 
apostolate.  In  1741  Father  William 
Wapeler  founded  the  missions  of  Cone- 
wago  and  Lancaster.  The  latter,  in  1751, 
fell  to  the  care  of  Father  Farmer,  who 
resided  there  till  1758.  In  1784  Lan- 
caster numbered  700  communicants. 
The  Jesuits,  before  and  after  their 
suppression  in  1773,  devoted  their  lives 
and  their  means  to  the  cultivation  of 
this  vast  field.— New  Jersey,  to  which 
Fathers  Farmer  and  Harding  extended 
their  labors,  is  known  to  have  had  a 
congregation  of  German  Catholics  at 
Macoupin.  An  Irish  priest,  a  Mr. 
Langrey,  is  said  to  have  first  minis- 
tered to  them.  Their  first  regular 
apostle  w^as,  however.  Father  Farmer, 
philosopher,  astronomer,  and  saint — 
who  also  ministered  to  Catholics  at 
Geiger's,  Charlottenburg,  Long  Pond, 
Mount  Hope,  Ringwood,  and  Hun- 
terdon.— The    Dutch     Calvinists    who 


founded,  under  the  name  of  New 
Amsterdam,  the  city  afterwards  called 
New  York,  had  a  greater  respect  for 
religious  liberty  than  their  English  suc- 
cessors. In  1642  Father  Jogues,  after 
having  been  kindly  nursed  and  his 
wounds  dressed  at  Fort  Orange 
(Albany),  by  the  generous  Dutch  min- 
ister. Dominie  John  Megapolensis,  was 
forwarded  to  New  Amsterdam,  honor- 
ably and  hospitably  received  by  Gover- 
nor Kieft,  and  given  a  passage  on  the 
first  ship  bound  to  a  European  port. 
While  in  New  Amsterdam  he  heard 
the  confessions  of  two  Catholics,  one  of 
whom  was  an  Irishman,  who  had  borne 
the  yoke  in  Virginia.  How  well  the 
poor  exile  from  Erin  must  have  been 
consoled  and  strengthened  in  the  faith 
by  the  sight  of  the  martyr's  bleeding 
and  maimed  feet,  and  of  the  mutilated 
hands  lifted  over  him  in  blessing!  Such 
were  the  first  Catholic  ministrations  in 
what  is  to-day  the  largest  Cathohc  city 
in  Christendom.  Two  years  later,  in 
1644,  another  Jesuit,  Father  Bressani,  a 
Roman  by  birth,  underwent  at  the 
hands  of  the  Mohawks  the  same  atro- 
cious tortures  inflicted  on  F.  Jogues, 
and  was,  like  him,  rescued  by  the  Dutch 
and  sent  to  France.  Father  Le  Moyne, 
another  illustrious  Jesuit  missionary, 
visited  Manhattan  about  the  same  time, 
to  minister  to  the  French  sailors  and  to 
comfort  the  scattered  Catholic  residents. 
In  1683  a  Catholic,  Colonel  Thomas 
Dongan,  became  governor  of  tlie  now 
English  colony  for  the  Duke  of  York 
(soon  to  be  King  James  II.)  Under 
him  the  first  New  York  legislature 
assembled,  and  on  October  13,  1683, 
enacted  a  charter  of  liberties,  declaring 
that  "  no  person  or  persons,  which  pro- 
fess faith  in  God  by  Jesus  Christ,  shall 
at  any  time  be  any  ways  molested, 
punished,  disquieted,  or  called  in  ques- 
tion for  any  difference  of  opinion,  or 
matter  of  religious  concernment,  who 
do  not  actually  disturb  tlie  civil  peace 
of  the  province."  In  1691,  after  the 
downfall  of  the  Stuarts,  this  Charter  of 
Liberties  was  superseded  by  a  Bill  of 
Rights,  which  expressly  excluded  Catho- 
lics from  all  and  any  of  its  privileges. 
Three  Jesuits  labored  in  New  York 
during  this  brief  interval  of  religious 
freedom :  Fathers  Thomas  Harvey, 
Henry  Harrison,  and  Charles  Gage. 
They  opened  a  school  for  Latin,  and 
had  some  pupils.     Father  Harvey  ven- 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


897 


tured  to  return  after  1G89,  and  seems  to 
have  only  gone  back  to  Maryland  in 
1719.  In  1696  there  were  only  seven 
Papists  in  Is'ew  York.  In  1700  it  was 
enacted  that  any  priest  found  in  the 
province  after  the  ensuing  month  of 
ITovember  "shall  be  adjudged  to  suffer 
perpetual  imprisonment."  If  he  escaped 
and  were  retaken,  death  was  the  pen- 
alty. In  1701  a  law  was  passed  ex- 
cluding all  Catholics  from  office  and 
depriving  them  of  the  right  to  vote. 
In  1741  came  the  famous  scare  about  a 
"negro  plot,"  or  conspiracy  to  burn 
down  the  city.  "  The  terrible  cry  of 
Popery  was  raised,  which  struck  terror 
to  the  hearts  of  all,  and  led  to  the  sacri- 
fice of  an  amiable  and  interesting  clergy- 
man, of  whose  innocence  there  can 
scarcely  remain  a  doubt,  so  absurd  was 
the  charge  against  him,  and  so  feebly 
was  it  supported."*  This  was  Mr.  John 
Ury,  the  son  of  a  secretary  of  the  South 
Sea  Company,  who,  if  he  was  indeed  a 
priest,  heroically  held  his  peace  about 
his  quality,  lest  he  should  compromise 
any  of  his  persecuted  flock ;  and  if  he 
were  not,  he  had  no  chance  of  a  fair 
trial  or  a  just  verdict  from  the  fanatical 
public.  He  was  hung  August  29,  1741. 
11  negroes  were  burned  at  the  stake, 
18  hung,  and  50  transported  to  the 
West  Indies. — In  the  northern  and 
western  portions  of  the  province  of 
N"ew  York,  as  hinted  above,  the  Jesuit 
missionaries,  a  century  before  the  death 
of  John  Ury,  had  been  sowing  the  good 
seed  in  tears  and  blood.  Father  Jogues, 
during  his  terrible  captivity,  had  per- 
formed 70  baptisms.  He  had  seen  his 
loved  companion  and  catechist,  Rene 
Goupil,  dying  under  the  long  series  of 
Mohawk  tortures;  and,  restored  to 
France,  the  glorious  apostle  yearned  to 
be  back  where  his  brother-martyr  re- 
posed and  where  so  many  souls  created 
in  God's  image  needed  regeneration. 
He  returned  to  Canada  in  1645,  helped 
to  negotiate  a  peace  between  Huron  and 
Mohawk,  and  begged  to  be  sent  among 
the  Five  Nations.  This  time  he  was 
accompanied  by  Father  John  Lalande ; 
and,  going  straight  to  the  scene  of  his 
former  sufferings,  he  was  seized  as  a 
rare  prize,  perishing  with  his  fellow- 
apostle  the  day  after  their  arrival. 
Their  bodies  were  cast'  into  Caughna- 
waga  Creek.    They  cut  off  Jogues'  head 

*  "American  Criminal  Trials,"  by  Peleg  W, 
Chandler,  i.  222,  quoted  by  Dr.  Shea. 


and  planted  it  on  a  pole  in  the  village, 
October  18,  1646.  Near  the  spot  on 
which  this  precious  blood  was  shed 
now  rises  the  church  of  St.  Mary's, 
Schenectady,  together  with  the  fair  city 
of  that  name — not  the  only  city  in  that 
region  which  marks  the  site  of  a  Jesuit 
mission  and  recalls  the  apostolic  labors 
of  the  brethren  of  Isaac  Jogues.  To 
Father  Bressani,  whose  sufferings  among 
the  Iroquois  have  been  already  men- 
tioned, we  owe  the  history  of  the  Huron 
mission,  on  which  the  martyr  labored 
five  years  after  his  return  to  Canada. 
He  painted  the  sublime  charity  and  un- 
shaken firmness  at  the  stake  of  Breboeuf, 
Lalomand,  Daniel,  Chabaud,  M6nard — 
men  worthy  of  the  age  of  Christ's  own 
apostles.  November  18,  1655,  wit- 
nessed tt»e  beginning,  among  the  Onon- 
daga Iroquois,  of  the  chapel  of  St. 
Mary,  the  first  church  ever  built  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  It  arose  on  the 
shore  of  Lake  Onondaga,  where  is  now 
the  city  of  Syracuse.  The  savages 
cheerfully  wrought  with  Fathers  Claude 
Dablon  and  Pierre  Chaumonot.  The 
Cayugas,  Oneidas,  and  Senecas  soon 
called  in  missionaries,  while  the  nume- 
rous Huron  captives,  all  Catholics, 
scattered  among  the  Five  Nations, 
helped  on  the  work  of  Christianizing 
them.  The  man  who  most  successfully 
continued  the  work  of  Jogues  among 
the  Iroquois  was  Father  Simon  Le 
Moyne,  who,  from  1655  to  1661,  braved 
all  mannerof  danger  to  sustain  the  faith 
of  the  Huron  captives,  was  made  a 
captive  fiimself,  and,  restored  to  liberty, 
returned  to  the  field  of  suffering.  The 
Onondaga  chief,  Garacontieh,  who  was 
a  Christian,  befriended  him  and  second- 
ed his  efforts.  In  July,  1667,  the  Mo- 
hawks at  length  seemed  to  accept  the 
missionaries.  But  not  till  1668  did  the 
work  of  conversion  begin  in  earnest, 
and  then  the  Mohawks  surpassed  in 
fervor  all  the  other  tribes.  In  1673 
their  two  principal  Mohawk  villages, 
Caughnawaga  and  Tinniontoguen,  were 
constituted  regular  parishes,  with  schools 
for  the  young,  and  graduated  courses  of 
instruction  for  all.  Then  came  the 
English  domination,  and  the  narrow 
policy  of  Governor  Dongan  marred  all 
the  fruit  of  such  heroic  and  persevering 
toil.  One  mighty  obstacle  to  the  con- 
version of  the  entire  body  of  Iroquois, 
only  a  minority  of  whom  dared  to  pro- 
fess  Christianity,   was    their    dreadful 


898        CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

immorality.  That,  together  with  the 
abuse  of  alcoholic  liquors,  taught  them 
and  fostered  by  the  Dutch  traders, 
caused  the  periodical  outbursts  of 
sanguinary  ferocity  which  blotted  out 
in  a  day  the  spiritual  fruit  of  years 
of  apostolic  devotion.  The  mission- 
aries, to  preserve  from  utter  moral  ruin 
the  converts  made  among  the  Six 
Nations,  resolved  to  transfer  them  to 
French  territory.  In  1 669  was  founded, 
in  pursuance  of  that  pm-pose,  the 
Iroquois  colony  of  St.  Francis  Xavier 
des  Pr6s,  at  La  Prairie,  near  Montreal. 
In  1676  this  mission,  or  "Reduction," 
was  transferred  higher  up  the  St.  Law- 
rence,, to  Caughnawaga  or  Sault  St. 
Louis,  where  the  descendants  of  the 
Christian  Iroquois  still  maintain  the 
faith  of  their  fathers.  There  lived  and 
died  Catherine  Tehgawita,  the  sweetest 
flower  of  sanctity  which  ever  sprung 
from  the  soil  of  New  York.  In  1687  the 
Canadian  governor-general.  Marquis  de 
DenonviUe,  treacherously  seized  and  sent 
over  to  work  in  the  French  galleys  a 
number  of  Iroquois  warriors.  This, 
added  to  the  unchristian  policy  of  the 
English  governor  of  New  York,  caused 
the  Iroquois  to  fly  to  arms.  The  mis- 
sionaries barely  escaped  with  their  lives, 
and  all  hopes  of  continuing  their  labors 
seemed  at  an  end.  In  1697  their  hopes 
revived  with  peace.  In  1701  deputa- 
tions from  the  Senecas  and  Onondagas 
recalled  the  Jesuits ;  but  the  intrigues  of 
Abraham  Schuyler  frustrated  their  de- 
signs.— The  colonial  period  jn  New 
England  offers  the  same  features  of 
heroic  missionary  enterprise  and  suffer- 
ing which  we  have  just  seen  in  New 
York.  After  the  destruction  of  the 
Jesuit  mission  at  Mount  Desert,  the 
first  successful  attempts  at  converting 
the  savages  were  made  in  1642  by  the 
Capuchins,  who  established  missionary 
posts  and  erected  chapels  along  the 
Kennebec  and  Penobscot.  The  Jesuit 
Gabriel  Druillettes  about  the  same  time 
succeeded  in  converting  the  Indians  of 
the  upper  Kennebec.  .  The  first  Catho- 
lics in  the  settlements  at  Plymouth  and 
Massachusetts  Bay  were  Irish  Catholics 
sent  over  and  sold  to  the  planters  as 
indentured  servants.  The  Jesuits  Ga- 
briel Druillettes  and  John  Pierron 
visited— the  first,  Boston,  Plymouth, 
and  New  Haven,  in  1650  and  1651 ;  the 
second,  all  New  England,  New  York, 
and  Pennsylvania,  in  1670.     The  deso- 


IN  THE  H.  S. 

lating  and  savage  wars  carried  on  by  the 
Canadian  French  and  the  English  colo- 
nists of  New  England  enlisted  the 
Indians  on  both  sides,  and  religioua 
fanaticism  on  the  part  of  the  latter 
added  fresh  fuel  to  national  animosity. 
As  in  the  missions  of  Northern  New 
York,  so  in  those  of  Maine,  the  spiritual 
harvest  again  and  again  disappeared  in 
the  whirlwind  of  men's  unholy  passions. 
As  conspicuous  in  Maine  as  Father 
Jogues  among  the  Six  Nations  was 
Father  Sebastian  Rasles,  who  had 
founded  a  flourishing  establishment  at 
Norridgewock,  on  the  Kennebec.  For 
thirty  years  he  devoted  himself  to  his 
flock  of  converts,  employing  every 
means  to  civilize  and  elevate  them. 
The  dictionary  of  their  language,  which 
he  had  carefully  compiled,  was  found  in 
his  ruined  home  and  is  preserved  at 
Harvard  College.  The  village  of  Nor- 
ridgewock, burned  by  the  New-Eng- 
landers  in  1705,  was  rebuilt  by  Rasles 
and  his  converts.  The  Massachusetts 
people,  deeming  the  missionary  to  be 
the  chief  upholder  of  French  influence 
among  the  Indians,  after  vainly  urging 
these  to  expel  him  and  accept  one  of 
their  preachers  in  his  stead,  at  length, 
in  1722,  attacked  Norridgewock  stealth- 
ily and  plundered  his  house,  while  he 
escaped  to  the  woods.  They  returned 
with  a  body  of  Mohawk  warriors  in 
August,  1724,  surprised  and  surrounded 
the  village,  and  poured  into  it  a  mur- 
derous fire.  Rasles,  knowing  that  they 
were  only  seeking  his  life,  went  forth 
to  meet  them  and  plead  for  his  flock. 
He  was  shot  down  at  the  foot  of  the 
mission  cross.  His  church  was  burned, 
30  of  his  Indians  killed,  and  the  rest 
driven  to  the  woods.  To  this  day  his 
dear  Abenakis  are  Catholics.  In  1755 
two  thousand  Acadians  were  landed  in 
Massachusetts  and  scattered  through 
the  colony.  The  adults  were  allowed 
no  spiritual  ministrations  of  their  own. 
Children  were  pitilessly  taken  from 
their  parents  and  brought  up  Protest- 
ants. In  1756  a  band  of  Acadians,  who 
had  escaped  from  the  South,  and  who 
were  travelling  back  to  their  old  home, 
were  seized  by  the  Massachusetts 
authorities  and  scattered  throughout  the 
colony.  A  fe.w  only  managed,  from 
time  to  time,  to  elude  their  unfeeling 
masters;  they  founded  the  settlement 
of  Madawaska.  Every  year  Guy 
Fawkes'  Day  was  celebrated  through- 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


m  THE  U.  S. 


899 


out  New  England,  the  pope  being 
burned  in  effigy.  This  custom  was  first 
checked  by  Washington  in  the  begin- 
ning of  tlie  War  of  Independence.  He 
also  asked  and  obtained  the  assistance 
of  the  Catholic  Indians,  who  were  led 
by  Orano.  N'ot  till  the  arrival  in 
Boston  Bay  of  the  French  fleet  under 
D'Estaijig,  in  1778,  was  a  Catholic 
service  tolerated  in  any  New  England 
city.  At  the  close  of  the  war  a  modest 
congregation  of  Frenchmen,  Spaniards, 
and  about  thirty  Irishmen  were  allowed 
to  worship  at  Boston  in  the  old  Hugue- 
not Church,  which  thenceforward  was 
called  Holy  Cross.  —  Passing  to  the 
Northwest,  we  find  converted  Wyan- 
dots  settling  at  Sandusky  in  1740-41 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Jesuits. 
"With  the  downfall  of  the  French  power 
and  the  withdrawal  of  the  missionaries 
faith  died  out  in  the  descendants  of 
these  converts.  Along  the  Wabash  a 
French  post  was  established  in  1730  by 
Bissot,  Sieur  de  Vincennes,  who  gave 
his  name  to  the  place.  In  1749  the 
Jesuit  Meurin  there  founded  the  mission 
of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  Another  arose 
near  the  present  Lafayette,  under  the 
care  of  Father  Du  Jaunay.  When 
France  suppressed  the  Jesuits  the  mis- 
sionaries withdrew,  till  1769,  when  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec  sent  thither  the  Rev. 
Pierre  Gibault,  who  cared  for  both 
missions  and  extended  his  labors  across 
the  Mississippi.  All  along  the  shores 
of  the  Great  Lakes — at  Kiskakon  (the 
present  Fort  Wayne),  at  Chicago,  at 
Detroit,  and  elsewhere — the  apostleship 
of  the  French  missionaries  bore  glorious 
fruit  in  the  colonial  times.  There  was 
a  priest  with  a  church  at  Kiskakon  in 
1749,  and  others  had  been  there  before 
him.  The  State  of  Illinois,  the  Indian 
tribe  from  which  it  takes  its  name,  and 
the  neighboring  Mississippi,  all  remind 
us  of  the  Jesuit  Marquette  and  his 
brethren.  Marquette  sailed  down  the 
great  river  in  the  summer  of  1673,  re- 
turning by  the  Illinois  River,  and  preach- 
ed the  faith  to  the  Kaskaskia  Indians, 
near  the  present  Utica.  In  1674  he 
spent  the  winter,  sick  in  body,  in  a  rude 
cabin  on  the  site  of  the  modern  Chicago, 
and  died'  on  his  way  to  Michilimackinac. 
His  brethren  did  not  let  his  work  perish. 
The  Recollect  Franciscans  in  1678  came 
to  these  wildernesses  with  La  Salle, 
and  Father  Gabriel  de  la  Ribourde  shed 
his  blood  there  as  a  promise  of  the 


future.  The  Parochial  Register  of 
Father  Jacques  Gravier  of  1688,  among 
the  Illinois,  still  exists.  In  1698  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec  created  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  into  a  distinct  mission 
under  secular  priests.  Numerous  flour- 
ishing missions  arose.  Rev.  Mr.  Gibault 
at  the  first  outbreak  of  the  War  of 
Independence  advised  his  people  to 
join  the  Americans,  thereby  securing 
the  great  West  to  the  United  States. — 
But  to  the  martyred  Isaac  Jogues  and 
his  brother-Jesuit  Charles  Raymbault 
belongs  the  glory  of  having  first  planted 
the  Cross  in  the  West,  in  1642,  and  on 
the  soil  of  Michigan.  They  announced 
in  that  year  the  Gospel  to  the  Chii)pe- 
ways  of  Sault  Sainte- Marie.  In  1660 
Ren6  Menard,  another  Jesuit,  founded  the 
mission  of  Keweenaw,  on  Lake  Superior, 
and  was  killed  in  1661,  while  striving 
to  bring  spiritual  succor  to  the  Ilurons 
on  Black  River.  In  1671  the  converts 
made  by  his  successors  at  Chegorinegon 
and  Sault  Sainte-Marie  took  refuge 
from  the  Iroquois  at  Michilimackinac, 
where  Father  Marquette  built  tliem  a 
fort,  and  began  the  mission  of  St. 
Ignatius.  This  was  the  cradle  of  the 
Western  Church.  In  1688  Fort  St. 
Joseph,  at  Detroit,  beheld  a  number  of 
Canadian  families  within  its  walls, 
accompanied  by  the  Jesuit  Vaillant  and 
a  Recollect,  De  Chasle.  In  1706  he 
was  murdered  by  roving  Indians  outside 
the  fort  while  reciting  the  breviary 
oflice.  This  colony  lived  and  prospered 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  war  and 
revolution.  Detroit  was  held  by  the 
English  during  the  War  of  Indepen- 
dence, passing  to  the  United  States  in 
1805. — In  1750  some  French  settlers 
from  Illinois  crossed  the  Mississippi  and 
founded  Sainte-Genevieve,  on  Gabourie 
Creek,  Mo.  St.  Charles  was  founded  in 
1762.  February  15,  1764,  Pierre  Liguest 
Laclede  founded  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 
Founders  and  colonists  were  all  Catho- 
lics, ministered  to  by  the  Illinois  mis- 
sionaries. Father  Meurin  being  the  first 
to  say  Mass  in  St.  Louis.  The  Rev. 
Pierre  Gibault  built,  in  1770,  a  small 
log-chapel  on  a  square  ^iven  by  Laclfede, 
and  on  which  stands  the  present  cathe- 
dral of  St.  Louis. 

II.  National  Period  (1775-1884). 
— Father  John  Carroll  was  clothed  with 
the  powers  of  Prefect  Apostolic  June 
9,  1784,  was  elected  Bishop  of  Balti- 
more   by  his    brother-missionaries    in 


900        CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


May,  1789,  their  choice  being  ratified 
by  the  Holy  See  November  6  of  the 
same  year.  He  was  consecrated  at 
Lulworth  Castle,  England,  August  15, 

1790.  Before  leaving  England  he  con- 
cluded an  arrangement  with  the  Society 
of  St.  Sulpice,  stipulating  that  a  colony 
of  Sulpicians  should  forthwith  open  a 
seminary  near  the  cathedral  of  Balti- 
more. Four  priests,  headed  by  Rev.  F. 
C.  Nagot,  and  five  seminarians  arrived, 
in  consequence,   at  Baltimore  in  July, 

1791,  the  forerunners  of  the  glorious 
cohort  of  apostolic  men  who  were  soon 
to  come  to  us  from  France,  driven  from 
their  country  by  the  great  revolutionai-y 
storm.  The  almost  sinmltaneous  found- 
ation of  the  Seminary  of  Baltimore  and 
the  College  of  Georgetown  was  a  hope- 
ful augury  of  the  increase  of  the 
American  Church.  In  November,  1791, 
the  first  synod  was  convened  in  Balti- 
more by  Bishop  Carroll,  20  clergymen 
being  present.  A  petition  was  for- 
warded by  the  assembly  to  the  Holy 
See,  requesting  the  erection  of  several 
bishopricks  within  the  vast  territory  of 
the  new  Republic.  In  1800  Father 
Leonard  Neale  was  appointed  and  con- 
secrated coadjutor  to  Bishop  Carroll. 
On  May  25,  1803,  Bishops  Carroll  and 
Neale  wrote  to  beg  of  Father  Grueber, 
general  of  the  Jesuits  then  residing  in 
Russia,  the  pri^ilege  for  themselves  and 
their  brethren  in  the  United  States, 
once  members  of  the  Society,  to  be  re- 
admitted to  membership.  This  was 
granted,  and  the  permission  was  fol- 
lowed up  by  sending  nine  other  Jesuits 
from  Europe  to  recruit  the  thinned 
ranks  of  the  American  laborers.  On 
July  9,  1793,  53  vessels  with  1,000  white 
fugitives  from  San  Domingo,  and  600 
colored  people,  arrived  at  Baltimore, 
increasing  considerably  the  Catholic 
population.  Other  swarms  of  refugees 
continued  to  land  there  and  at  other 
ports,  so  that  in  1807  New  York  con- 
tained 14,000  Catholics,  "  a  large  part  of 
whom  were  refugees  from  San  Domingo 
and  other  islands."  In  1790  Father 
Charles  Neale  brought  with  him  from 
Belgium  four  Theresian  Carmelites,  and 
built  them  a  house  near  Port  Tobacco. 
In  1792  the  Poor  Clares  settled  in 
Georgetown.  In  1805  the  Poor  Clares 
returned  to  Europe,  and  in  that  same 
year  Miss  Alice  Lalor  with  her  "  Pious 
Ladies,"  soon  to  become  Visitation 
Nuns,    occupied    their    convent.      On 


January  1,  1809,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Bayley- 
Seton,  with  four  associates,  founded 
the  first  house  of  the  American  Sisters 
of  Charity  at  Emmittsburg.  Before  the 
death  of  the  foundress  her  community 
numbered  50  members.  In  1806  Bi- 
shop Carroll  laid  the  corner-stone  of 
three  churches  in  the  single  city  of 
Baltimore;  in  1808  his  diocese  con- 
tained 68  priests  and  80  churches.— 
April  8,  1808,  Baltimore  became  a 
metropolitan  see,  with  four  sufi'ragan 
sees  at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston, 
and  Bardstown,  the  Right  Reverends 
Luke  Concanen  (Order  of  St.  Dominic), 
Michael  Egan  (Order  of  St.  Francis), 
John  Cheverus,  and  Benedict  Flaget  (a 
Sulpician)  being  consecrated  to  the  new 
sees.  Archbishop  Carroll  died  Decem- 
ber 3, 1815,  at  the  age  of  eighty.  Of  the 
four  suffragan  bishops  Dr.  Concanen 
never  reached  New  York.  On  Novem- 
ber 6,  1814,  the  Dominican  John  Con- 
nolly was  consecrated,  at  Rome,  Bishop 
of  New  York,  setting  out  for  his  see  in 
the  following  January,  and  arriving 
there  in  the  beginning  of  1816.  He 
found  his  diocese,  comprising  the  entire 
State  of  New  York  with  half  of  New 
Jersey,  ministered  to  by  three  Jesuits,  one 
secular  priest.  Rev.  Mr.  Carberry.  The 
Jesuits  were  Anthony  Kohlmann,  who 
had  governed  the  diocese  as  vicar- 
general  during  its  widowhood,  Bene- 
dict Fenwick,  and  Peter  Malon.  New 
York  City  possessed  two  churches,  and 
Albany  another.  Fathers  Kohlmann 
and  Fenwick  having  been  recalled  by 
their  superiors  and  Rev.  Mr.  Carberry 
having  gone  to  Norfolk,  Va.,  Bishop 
Connolly  remained  alone  with  Father 
Malon  and  Rev.  Michael  O'Gorman, 
who  was  soon  sent  to  care  for  the 
Catholics  of  Albany.  With  the  diffi- 
culties of  providing  for  the  spiritual 
needa  of  the  new  diocese  came  the 
famous  "Trustee"  difficulty,  laymen 
taking  on  themselves  to  hold  the  church 
property  as  if  absolutely  their  own,  and 
treating  bishop  and  clergymen  as  if 
these  were  their  salaried  servants,  to  be 
called  in  and  dismissed  at  will.  Unhap- 
pily, a  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  who  came  from 
Ireland  in  1818  at  the  call  of  the 
trustees  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  not  only 
countenanced  this  anti-Catholic  spirit, 
but  intrigued  to  have  himself  appointed 
bishop  in  place  of  Dr.  Connolly,  and 
sought  to  win  over  Protestants  by 
accommodating  to  their  prejudices  the 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


m  THE  u.  s. 


901 


doctrines  of  the  Church.  He  soon  dis- 
appeared, and  many  conversions  con- 
soled the  Catholics  ;  but  they  were  not 
effected  by  the  spirit  of  compromise. 
In  three  years  the  arrival  of  some  10,000 
Catholic  emigrants  doubled  the  numbers 
of  the  city  flocks.  In  1819  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Erie  Canal  drew  Catholic 
laborers  to  Central  New  York,  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  numerous  congrega- 
tions. The  bishop  established  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  near  his  cathedral. 
The  churches  of  St.  John  at  Utica  and 
St.  Patrick's  in  Rochester  were  founded. 
Rev.  Mr.  Bulger  had  charge  of  what  is 
now  the  dioceses  of  Newark  and  Tren- 
ton ;  the  labors  of  Revs.  Michael  Car- 
roll and  John  Farnan  comprised  the 
present  dioceses  of  Albany  and  Ogdens- 
burgh  ;  those  of  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly  the 
actual  diocese  of  Buffalo.  In  the  pre- 
sent diocese  of  Brooklyn  Rev.  John 
Shanahan  began  to  labor  in  1823.  The 
bishop  died  Feb.  6,  1825,  laboring  to  the 
last  like  an  ordinary  priest. — His  succes- 
sor. Right  Rev.  John  Dubois,  consecrat- 
ed Oct.  29,  1826,  was  one  of  the  most 
devoted  and  indefatigable  of  the  many 
apostolic  priests  sent  to  us  by  the  French 
Revolution.  He  came  to  Norfolk,  Va., 
with  letters  of  introduction  from  La- 
fayette, became  an  inmate  in  the  family 
of  the  future  President,  James  Monroe, 
and  was  the  first  Catholic  priest  who 
openly  officiated  in  Virginia.  He  found- 
ed the  College  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  at 
Emmittsburg,  and  was  known  and  be- 
loved everywhere.  New  York  City 
then  contained  35,000  Catholics,  and 
the  entire  diocese  150,000 — with  8 
churches  and  18  priests.  The  "  Trustee  " 
interest  arrayed  itself  against  Dr.  Du- 
bois from  the  very  beginning,  and  be- 
cause his  "nationality  "  was  not  that  of 
the  great  number  of  his  diocesans.  He 
struggled  heroically  against  this  evil 
spirit.  With  money  obtained  from  the 
French  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  he  pushed  forward  the  build- 
ing of  a  church  in  Albany  and  redeem- 
ed the  imperilled  church  of  Newark. 
In  1837  he  purchased  Christ  Church, 
in  Ann  Street,  and  gave  a  resident 
pastor  to  Brooklyn.  May  29,  1833,  he 
laid  the  corner-stone  of  a  college  at 
Nyack.  This  aroused  the  bigotry  of 
the  sectarians,  and  the  new  college 
was  destroyed  by  fire.  Another  was 
built  in  distant  Lafargeville,  but  its 
remoteness    compelled    the   bishop  to 


close  it.  These  foundations  gave  rise 
to  spirited  public  discussions,  in  which 
Very  Rev.  Dr.  Power,  Very  Rev.  Felix 
Varela,  Rev.  Mr.  Schneller,  and  Rev. 
Thos.  C.  Levins  bore  a.  conspicuous 
part  in  defence  of  the  truth.  Mean- 
while the  Catholic  population  continued 
to  be  largely  increased  by  emigrants 
from  Germany,  who  formed  flourishing 
congregations  in  New  York,  Brooklyn, 
and  in  the  interior  of  the  State.  In 
1837  the  Right  Rev.  John  Hughes,  of 
St.  John's  Church,  Philadelphia,  was 
appointed  coadjutor  to  Dr.  Dubois,  at 
whose  death,  December  20,  1842,  the 
diocese  of  New  York  counted  seven 
churches  in  the  city,  eleven  in  other 
parts  of  the  State,  with  four  in  New 
Jersey ;  a  staff  of  fifty  clergymen,  and  a 
Catholic  population  of  about  200,000. 
Although  his  efforts  toward  founding  a 
college  had  failed,  he  had  left  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  in  possession  of 
flourishing  school^  in  New  York  and 
Albany,  and  of  orphan  asylums  in 
these  same  cities  and  Brooklyn  and 
Utica.  Sixteen  of  his  priests  had  been 
ordained  by  himself. — In  the  new  dio- 
cese of  Boston,  placed  under  the  care 
of  John  Lefevre  Cheverus,  everything 
had  to  be  created.  In  1790  the  little 
flock  worshipping  in  the  old  Huguenot 
Church  (Holy  Cross)  numbered  100 
souls,  under  Rev.  John  Thayer,  a  con- 
vert and  a  distinguished  controversial- 
ist. In  1792  Bishop  Carroll  sent  to 
his  assistance  Rev.  Francis  Matignon,  a 
French  priest;  and  to  the  Penobscot 
Indians,  who  solicited  missionaries,  was 
sent  about  the  same  time  Rev.  Mr. 
Ciquard.  Rev.  Mr.  Matignon  was  soon 
joined  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cheverus,  the  future 
bishop;  and  these  noble  priests  ex- 
tended their  labors  eastward  to  the 
borders  of  Maine,  leaving  in  town  and 
country  names  held  in  veneration  even 
by  Protestants.  Not  without  opposi- 
tion or  danger  did  the  missionaries 
seek  out  the  stray  sheep  over  this  im- 
mense field.  The  Church  of  the  Holy 
Cross,  built  on  Franklin  Square,  was 
consecrated  by  Bishop  Carroll  Sep- 
tember 29,  1803.  It  became  Bishop 
Cheverus'  cathedral  in  1808.  Under 
the  impulse  of  his  apostolic  zeal  new 
churches  arose  at  Salem,  New  Bedford, 
and  South  Boston ;  at  Damariscotta  and 
Whitefield,  Maine;  and  at  Claremont, 
New  Hampshire,  where  Rev.  Virgil 
Barber,   a  convert,   was  pastor.     July 


902        CATHOLIC  CHUECH 


m  THE  U.  S. 


17,  1826,  a  colony  of  Ursulines  from 
Ireland  was  established  at  Charlestown, 
after  having  been  for  some  time  near 
the  cathedral  in  Bosfon.  But  before 
that,  and  in  1823,  Bishop  Cheverus  was 
recalled  to  his  native  country  and  ap- 
pointed Bishop  of  Montauban.  Novem- 
ber 21,  1825,  Eight  Eev.  Benedict  Fen- 
wick  was  consecrated  as  his  successor, 
and  at  once  founded  a  seminary  for  the 
education  of  priests  —  the  two  first 
pupils  being  ordained  in  December,  1827. 
In  1828  they  began  to  erect  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Charlestown.  In  1832  three 
Sisters  of  Charity  came  to  Boston,  the 
parents  of  that  numerous  family  who 
have  since  founded  all  over  New  Eng- 
land orphanages,  schools,  and  hospitals. 
In  1834  Bishop  Fenwick  had  churches 
at  Waltham,  Lowell,  Sandwich,  and 
Taunton,  in  Massachusetts ;  at  Hartford 
and  New  Haven,  in  Connecticut;  at 
Dover,  New  Hampshire ;  at  Burlington 
and  Pittsford,  Vermont.  In  Maine 
churches  were  built  at  Portland  and 
Eastport,  and  an  additional  one  among 
the  Indians.  In  that  year  Boston 
diocese  had  a  Catholic  population  of 
25,000,  with  21  churches  and  25  priests. 
Then  occurred  in  Massachusetts  a  fan- 
atical anti-Catholic  crusade,  which  ex- 
tended itself  to  New  York,  and  which 
in  Boston  culminated  (August  11,  1834) 
in  the  burning  of  Charlestown  Ursuline 
Convent — one  of  the  nuns  dying  of 
fright  amid  the  conflagration  and  dis- 
order. It  is  an  outrage  and  a  wrong 
which  remain  unatoned  for.  In  1842 
was  celebrated  the  first  diocesan  synod. 
In  1843  Bishop  Fenwick  founded  the 
College  of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Worcester. 
In  1844  the  diocese  of  Hartford  was 
created. 

See  of  Philadelphia  (1810-1829). — 
Eight  Eev.  Michael  Egan,  the  first 
bishop  of  Philadelphia,  was  consecrated 
October  28,  1810.  He  was  an  Irish 
Observantine,  learned,  pious,  devoted  to 
his  duty,  but  too  gentle  to  battle  with 
Trusteeism,  which  claimed  to  have  a 
voice  in  the  nomination  of  pastors,  and 
met  with  countenance  from  two  priests, 
the  Harolds,  uncle  and  nephew.  To  the 
Orphan  Asylum,  founded  by  pious  lay 
people  in  1797,  Bishop  Egan  in  1814 
called  Mother  Seton's  Sisters  of  Charity. 
Thus  arose  the  first  establishment  of 
beneficence  in  the  diocese  of  Phila- 
delphia, at  present  so  blessed  witli  noble 
institutions    of    every  kind.     The  bi- 


shop's career  was  shortened  by  the 
trustee  troubles.  From  1814  tilf  1820 
no  priest  worthy  of  the  episcopal  oflSce 
could  be  induced  to  accept  the  succes- 
sion of  Bishop  Egan,  so  uncathohc  was 
the  spirit  manifested  by  the  Philadel- 
phia trustees.  In  1820  Eight  Eev. 
Henry  Conwell,  vicar-general  of  Ar- 
magh, accepted  the  trust,  all  uncon- 
scious of  the  difiiculties  and  trials  in 
store  for  him.  The  Eev.  Michael  Ho- 
gan,  illiterate,  ignorant  of  theology  and 
canon  law,  impatient  of  control,  and 
passionately  fond  ofi^' popularity,  had 
been  temporarily  appointed  pastor  of 
St.  Mary's.  When  the  new  bishop 
wished  to  remove  him  he  identified 
himself  with  the  trustees,  and  although 
repeatedly  excommunicated,  and  with 
an  interdict  on  the  church,  he  braved 
both  the  episcopal  and  papal  author- 
ity till  his  death,  in  1851.  Long  before 
that,  however,  he  left  Philadelphia  for 
the  South,  entered  into  secular  avoca- 
tions, wrote  scandalous  works  against 
the  Church,  and  died  unrepentant.  On 
Hogan's  departure  the  schismatical 
trustees  found  an  accomplice  and  in- 
strument in  Eev.  Thaddeus  O'Malley, 
who  carried  their  cause  to  Eome,  was 
worsted  there,  and  in  July,  1825,  re- 
tired to  a  monastery  humbled  and  re- 
pentant. In  October,  1826,  the  bishop, 
weary  of  the  scandalous  contest,  un- 
wisely signed  a  compromise  with  the 
trustees.  They,  emboldened,  soon  pub- 
lished a  protest,  declaring  "that  they 
will  claim  at  Eome  that  in  future  no 
bishop  shall  be  named  without  the 
recommendation  and  approbation  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  of  the  diocese."  On 
April  30,  1827,  the  Sacred  College  of 
Cardinals  in  general  assembly  declared 
the  compromise  null  and  void ;  the 
decision  was  promulgated  and  acquiesced 
in  by  Bishop  Conwell,  but  the  trustees 
and  their  abettors  remained  unmoved. 
On  March  9,  1828,  the  Holy  See  ap- 
pointed Eev.  Wm.  Mathews,  of  Wash- 
ington, administrator  of  Philadelphia, 
summoned  Bishop  Conwell  to  Eome, 
and  commanded  the  refractory  Domini- 
cans at  St.  Mary's,  Harold  and  Eyan,  to 
leave  the  city  and  diocese.  In  1829  the 
illustrious  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick  was 
appointed  coadjutor  bishop  and  ad- 
ministrator of  Philadelphia.  —  When 
Benedict  Joseph  Flaget  was  appointed 
in  1808  to  the  fourth  of  the  new  sees 
asked  for  by  the  Council  of  Baltimore, 


i 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

Bardstown,  his  diocese  comprised  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee,  with  temporary 
jurisdiction  over  Ohio  and  the  adjoin- 
ing States  from  Pennsylvania  to  the 
Mississippi.  Bardstown  was  founded 
between  1775  and  1780  by  Catholic 
emigrants  from  Maryland,  led  by  William 
Coomes,  a  Marylander,  and  Dr.  Hart,  an 
Irishman,  the  latter  giving  up  his  farm  to 
the  Church,  and  Mrs.  Coomes  opening  the 
first  school  in  Kentucky.  Later  came, 
also  from  Maryland,  the  Haydens  and 
Lancasters.  They  were  a  race  of  gener- 
ous and  fervent  believers.  In  1787  the 
Capuchin  Charles  Whelan  headed  an 
emigrant  party  to  Kentucky  and  labored 
there  till  1789.  Then  appeared  Rev. 
William  de  Rohan,  who  erected  a  log- 
chapel  at  Holy  Cross;  then,  in  1793, 
Mr.  Barrieres,  sent  by  Bishop  Carroll 
as  vicar-general,  accompanied  by  Rev. 
Stephen  Badm,  the  lirst  priest  ordained 
within  the  limits  of  the  original  thirteen 
United  States,  and  who  was  the  apostle 
of  Kentucky  down  to  our  own  days.  In 
1805  he  was  given  for  fellow-laborer 
Charles  Nerinckx,  one  of  the  saintly 
names  of  the  early  American  priest- 
hood, and  the  founder  of  the  Nuns  of 
Loretto.  In  1807  Rev.  Edward  Fen- 
wick,  O.P.,  founded  the  convent  of  St. 
Rose  for  a  community  of  English  Domi- 
nican Nuns.  Bishop  Flaget  reached 
his  see  June  9,  1811,  accompanied  by 
two  priests  and  three  seminarians. 
Rev.  Mr.  David  at  once  founded  a 
seminary  and  established  a  house  of 
Sisters -of  Charity.  St.  Mary's  College 
was  founded  in  1821  by  Rev.  Wm. 
Byrne,  and  St.  Joseph's  by  Rev.  G.  A. 
M.  Elder.  The  apostolic  Sulpician 
Elaget,  made  bishop  in  what  was  a  new 
world,  knew  no  -limits  to  his  zeal 
and  his  labors.  In  the  then  roadless 
and  almost  pathless  West  he  travelled 
1,000  miles  on  his  lirst  pastoral  visita- 
tion, pushing  as  far  as  St.  Louis!  In 
1817  his  friend  Mr.  David  was  conse- 
crated as  his  coadjutor.  In  August, 
1819,  he  consecrated  the  cathedral  of 
Bardstown.  In  1821  the  see  of  Cincin- 
nati was  created.  Such  were  the  be- 
ginnings of  the  Church  in  the  Great 
West. 

The  Growth  of  the  Church  in  the  West 
and  South. — Beginning  with  Louisiana, 
we  need  only  say  that  no  permanent 
settlement  was  made  at  or  near  the 
mouths  of  the  Mississippi  till  the  succes- 
sive expeditions  of  Marquette  and  Joliet, 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


903 


of  La  Salle,  and  of  Iberville  had  aroused 
public  interest  in  Quebec  and  in  France, 
attracting  to  the  vast  regions  thus  laid 
open  the  spirit  of  commercial  enter- 
prise and  religious  zeal.  La  Salle  plant- 
ed the  cross  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  in  1682,  the  first  Mass  being 
said  there  by  the  Recollect  Z6nobe 
Membre.  In  1699  Iberville  built  the 
first  fort  at  Biloxi.  Missionaries — 
Recollects,  Jesuits,  and  secular  priests — 
began  to  labor  there  and  at  Mobile; 
but  the  class  of  settlers  were  anything 
but  fervent  Christians,  and  the  civil 
authorities  did  not  encourage  the  labors 
of  the  missionary.  In  1718  New  Or- 
leans was  founded.  It  was  visited  by 
the  Jesuit  historian,  Charlevoix,  in 
1721,  who  found  things  in  a  sad  state. 
The  colony  was  under  the  control  of 
the  Company  of  the  Indies;  and  in 
spirituals  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  The  entire 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  was  divided 
into  three  missionary  provinces,  con- 
tided  to  the  Capuchins,  Carmelites,  and 
Jesuits.  In  1726  the  latter  were  given 
in  charge  all  the  Indian  tribes  of  this  * 
vast  region,  and  a  central  residence  was 
appointed  for  them  at  New  Orleans, 
their  superior  acting  as  vicar-general 
of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  and  the  Capu- 
chin fathers  continuing  to  minister  to 
the  French  settlers.  In  1726  tiourish- 
ing  missions  were  inaugurated  among 
the  Arkansas,  Oumas,  Choctaws,  Alba- 
mons,  Yazoos,  Coroas,  and  other  Indian 
tribes.  The  Ursuline  Nuns  also  found- 
ed (1727)  a  house  in  New  Orleans. 
In  this  same  year  (1727),  however,  the 
French  commandant  at  Natchez  so 
irritated  the  Indians  that  these  arose 
and  massacred  the  French.  The  devot- 
ed Jesuit  Du  Poisson  perished  while 
succoring  the  sick ;  and  soon  afterward 
the  Yazoos  imitated  the  Natchez  and 
shot  their  missionary.  Father  Sorrel. 
In  1787,  the  Spaniards  being  masters 
of  Louisiana,  three  Irish  priests  from 
Salamanca  were  sent  to  Natchez,  and  a 
church  was  built  there  for  them.  They 
were  withdrawn  when  the  Spanish 
rule  ceased,  the  Catholics  there  having 
no  regular  priestly  ministrations  till 
1819.  In  1763  the  Jesuit  missions  in 
Louisiana  were  suppressed,  and  the 
French  authorities  there  ordered  the 
property  of  the  Jesuits  to  be  sold  at 
auction;  the  plate  and  vestments  in 
their  churches  at  New  Orleans  were 


904 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


IN  THE  U.  8. 


given  to  the  Capuchins.  In  the  Illinois 
country  the  king's  agents  seized  all  that 
belonged  to  the  missionaries,  and  levelled 
their  chapels  to  the  ground.  The  spirit 
of  impiety  was  preluding  the  great 
Revolution  of  1789,  and  the  suppres- 
sions of  1880.  In  1776  the  Coadjutor 
Bishop  of  Santiago,  Cuba,  visited  Xew 
Orleans,  bringing  with  him  several  of 
his  brother-Capuchins,  This  drew  to 
Louisiana  numbers  of  the  exiled  Aca- 
dians  living  in  San  Domingo.  Several 
parishes  were  immediately  organized. 
September  12,  1798,  Louisiana  was 
created  a  diocese  by  the  Holy  See, 
Don  Luis  Penalver  being  appointed  to 
the  new  see.  His  administration  was 
a  new  birth  for  Catholicity  in  the 
colony.  In  1802  he  was  succeeded  by 
Right  Rev.  Francisco  Porro,  who  was 
never  consecrated.  In  1803  Louisiana, 
become  shortly  before  a  French  posses- 
sion, was  purchased  by  the  United 
States;  its  spiritual  government  was 
handed  over  to  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore ; 
but  the  trustees  of  the  city  churches 
4  created  a  schism,  which  lasted  for 
many  years.  On  September  24,  1815, 
Right  Rev.  Wm.  Dubourg  was  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  and  his 
appeals  to  his  countrymen  in  France  led 
to  the  creation  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Faith,  to  whose 
generous  aid  every  one  of  our  American 
churches  is  indebted.  Bishop  Dubourg 
brought  with  him  in  1817  to  Louisiana 
five  priests  and  twenty-six  seminarians. 
The  trustees  prevented  his  being  re- 
ceived and  acknowledged  as  bishop  in 
the  city.  St.  Louis,  then  the  central 
settlement  in  "Upper  Louisiana,"  be- 
came for  a  time  his  residence.  In  1824 
he  was  allowed  to  take  possession  of 
his  see,  leaving  Bishop  Rosati  as  co- 
adjutor in  St.  Louis.  In  1827  St.  Louis 
itself  was  created  an  episcopal  see,  and 
to  it  Dr.  Rosati  was  transferred  from 
New  Orleans,  which  he  had  governed 
since  1824.  In  1829  Leo  de  Neckere, 
one  of  the  seminarians  brought  in  1817 
by  Bishop  Dubourg,  succeeded  Bishop 
Rosati  in  New  Orleans,  filling  with  the 
light  of  his  sanctity  and  his  good  works 
his  brief  career  of  four  years.  Dying 
September  4,  1833,  he  left  in  his  dio- 
cese 22  priests,  27  churches,  and 
a  Catholic  population  estimated  at 
150,000,  a  large  and  widely  scattered 
flock  for  so  small  a  band  of  pastors. 
The  Sisters  of  Charity  had  a  free  school, 


an  orphan  asylum,  and  an  hospital ;  the 
Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  had  two 
academies,  and  a  college  was  begun 
near  the  city.  The  good  work  was 
carried  steadily  on  by  the  successor 
designated  to  the  Holy  See  by  the  dying 
De  Neckere— the  Right  Rev.  Antoine 
Blanc.  In  1838  he  founded  a  diocesan 
seminary,  and  entrusted  it  to  the  Lazar- 
ists.  The  Redemptorists  also  sent 
German  fathers  for  the  German  immi- 
grants. The  schismatic  trustees  all 
through  these  years  had  maintained 
their  assumptions  and  found  unworthy 
priests  to  be  their  instruments.  Their 
charter  gave  a  voice  in  the  election  of 
the  board  to  all.  Catholics  or  not,  who 
were  pew-holders.  At  one  time  their 
president  was  a  Freemason,  and  grand- 
master of  the  sect ;  they  attempted  to 
have  a  Masonic  vault  in  the  consecrated 
cemetery ;  and  would  permit  no  priest 
to  officiate  in  their  churches  who  recog- 
nized Bishop  Blanc.  But  the  Church 
outlived  the  men  and  their  principles. 
In  1844  thirty-seven  priests  surrounded 
the  bishop  in  diocesan  synod.  In  the 
new  parishes  springing  up  on  every 
side  a  better  spirit  prevailed,  and  a 
sounder  organization.  In  1850,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  recommendation  of  the 
Seventh  Council  of  Baltimore,  New  Or- 
leans became  a  metropolitan  see,  July 
19,  1850.  On  January  20,  1856,  Arch- 
bishop Blanc  held  his  first  provincial 
council,  in  which  were  his  four  suffra- 
gans. Bishops  Portier  of  Mobile,  Odin  of 
Galveston,  Byrne  of  Little  Rock,  and 
Martin  of  Natchitoches,  with  their 
theologians,  the  oflicers  of  the  council, 
5  superiors  of  religious,  and  a  numerous 
body  of  clergymen.  In  the  city  of  New 
Orleans  there  were  then  21  churches  and 
1  chapel ;  51  churches  and  chapels  in  the 
west  of  the  diocese.  The  clergy  num- 
bered 100  priests— among  the  regulars 
being  Jesuits,  Redemptorists,  Lazarists, 
and  the  Priests  of  the  Holy  Cross,  whose 
lay  brothers  and  school  sisters  rendered 
invaluable  service  to  education.  The 
Ursulines,  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  and  the  Sisters  of  Chai-ity  had 
also  increased  their  numbers  and  good 
works.  The  Lazarist  apostle  of  Texas, 
John  M.  Odin,  who  succeeded  Archbi- 
shop Blanc,  transferred  from  Galveston 
in  1861,  was  doomed  during  the  civil  war 
to  drink  a  deep  cup  of  bitterness.  He 
was  too  well  accustomed  to  devotion 
and  heroic  self-sacrifice  not  to  inspire 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

all  around  him — clergy  and  religious 
communities — with  the  same  spirit. 
Tlie  war  over,  the  last  years  of  the 
long  missionary  career  were  given  witli- 
out  stint  to  rebuilding  what  the  war 
had  cast  down.  He  died,  during  the 
Vatican  Council,  in  the  home  of  his 
childhood  in  France.  Napoleon  J. 
Perch6,  his  coadjutor  and  successor,  was 
a  distinguished  publicist,  who  inherited 
the  episcopal  virtues  of  Dr.  Odin.  He 
died  in  December,  1.883,  after  having 
beheld  a  large  increase  in  his  clergy,  his 
flock,  and  the  noble  institutions  which 
are  the  nurseries  of  piety,  education, 
and  charity.  His  successor.  Most  Rev. 
F.  X.  Leray,  finds  himself,  in  1884,  at 
the  head  of  a  clergy  numbering  162 
priests  and  10  clerical  students,  with  a 
flock  of  250,000  souls,  94  churches,  34 
chapels  and  stations,  a  theological  semi- 
nary, 2  flourishing  colleges  directed  by 
the  Jesuits,  36  female  academies  and 
parochial  schools,  15  academies  for  boys, 
and  free  schools  with  an  aggregate  of 
9,000  pupils,  besides  1,400  orphans 
cared  for  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  17 
hospitals  and  orphan  asylums,  16  chari- 
table institutions,  and  34  convents. 
Surely  the  barren  and  unblessed  soil  in 
which  Bishop  Dubourg  seemed  to  labor 
in  vain  has  borne  a  wonderful  and  most 
blessed  harvest.  So  has  it  been  in  every 
one  of  the  dioceses  formerly  dependent 
of  New  Orleans. — Natchez,  created  an 
episcopal  see  in  1837,  had  for  its  first 
bishop  a  Sulpician,  and  a  native  of  Balti- 
more, ■  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Chanche.  He 
had  everything  to  create.  He  found, 
on  his  arrival,  not  one  church  or  one 
priest ;  but,  being  a  man  of  God  even 
much  more  than  a  man  of  learning,  he 
toiled  obscurely  and  heroically,  hoping 
against  hope,  and  at  his  death,  in  1852, 
he  left  11  churches  and  10  priests. 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde,  his  successor, 
obtained  a  further  supply  of  good 
priests,  built  schools,  introduced  the 
Brothers  of  Christian  Instruction,  push- 
ed on  the  erection  of  a  cathedral,  and 
was  about  founding  a  college  when  he 
was  cut  off  by  yellow  fever  in  Novem- 
ber, 1855.  Another  native  of  Balti- 
more, Right  Rev.  Dr.  Elder,  was  sent 
in  1857  to  continue  these  arduous 
labors.  The  great  civil  war  came  to 
disturb  these,  and  the  bishop,  refusing 
to  acknowledge  the  right  of  the  Federal 
commander  to  prescribe  public  prayers 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


905 


prison.  Nothing,  however,  could  pre- 
vent him,  his  clergy,  or  his  nuns  from 
bestowing  on  sick,  wounded,  and  needy 
of  every  class  their  heroic  services.  In 
1880,  when  Bishop  Elder  was  appointed 
Coadjutor  of  Cincinnati,  he  left  his  dio- 
cese in  possession  of  41  churches,  33 
priests,  and  upwards  of  12,000  Catho- 
lics, together  with  numerous  and  fiour- 
ishing  institutions  of  learning  and  bene- 
ficence. Two  years  in  succession  the 
terrible  yellow  fever  spread  death  and 
desolation  everywhere.  But  priests 
and  nuns  met  it  with  undaunted  devo- 
tion.— The  dioceses  of  Natchitoches  and 
Mobile  properly  belong  to  the  Church 
of  Louisiana.  The  former,  comprising 
the  northern  part  of  the  State,  was 
erected  in  1853,  with  Right  Rev.  Augus- 
tus Martin  as  bishop.  It  contained 
then  a  Catholic  population  of  25,000, 
with  7  churches  and  4  priests.  Dr. 
Martin  died  in  1875,  leaving  16  churches 
or  chapels,  with  16  priests.  The  second 
bishop,  Dr.  Leray,  before  becoming 
Archbishop  of  New  Orleans,  increased 
the  number  of  priests  to  18,  with  22 
churches,  4  chapels,  4  academies  for 
young  ladies,  9  parochial  schools  for 
white,  2  for  colored  children,  and  30,000 
Catholics.  Mobile  was  in  colonial  times 
the  most  important  French  settlement 
on  the  Gulf.  In  1703  this  settlement 
was  canonically  erected  into  a  parish 
dependent  on  the  Seminary  of  Quebec, 
and  ministered  to  by  two  priests  sent 
by  the  seminary.  The  Carmelites  and 
Jesuits  had  charge  of  the  Indian  mis- 
sions till  1763,  when  the  Jesuits  were 
withdrawn,  the  colony  fell  into  English 
hands,  and  Catholicity  disappeared.  In 
1825  Alabama  ancf  Florida  became  a 
vicariate-apostolic  under  Right  Rev. 
Michael  Portier,  with  three  priests  to 
assist  him.  The  single  small  church  in 
Mobile  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  October, 
1827.  Two  years  afterward  Mobile 
became  an  episcopal  see,  the  bishop 
having  meanwhile  obtained  several 
priests  from  Europe,  founded  the  Col- 
lege of  Spring  Hill  for  the  Jesuits,  and 
labored  with  his  missionaries  to  prepare 
the  way  for  building  churches.  Not 
till  1835  had  the  bishop  secured  himself 
a  residence;  he  then  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  his  cathedral,  completing  and 
dedicating  it  in  1850.  At  that  time 
there  were  7  other  churches  in  the 
diocese,  with  11,000  Catholics.  The 
second  bishop,  Dr.  Quinlan,  succeeded 


906        CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


in  1859,  and  died  in  March,  1883,  leaving 
in  his  diocese  20  secular  and  23  regular 
priests,  36  churches,  13  convents  and 
academies,  18  parochial  schools,  with  1 
great  college. — Florida,  as  we  have  seen, 
passed  through  strange  and  disastrous 
changes  since  the  first  Spanish  adven- 
turers ^discovered  it  and  the  first  mis- 
sionaries perished  on  its  shores.  Within 
the  last  century  it  passed  from  the 
hands  of  the  English  into  that  of  Spain 
(1783),  and  was  then  acquired  by  the 
United  States.  In  1823  Florida  was 
made  a  portion  of  the  vicariate-apostolic 
of  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  In  1850 
East  Florida  was  incorporated  with  the 
new  diocese  of  Savannah;  in  1857 
Florida  was  made  a  vicariate-apostolic, 
with  Bishop  Verot  resident  at  St. 
Augustine.  This  energetic  prelate  erect- 
ed churches  at  Mandarin,  St.  John's 
Bar,  Tallahassee,  Tampa,  and  Key  West. 
Sisters  of  Mercy  and  Brothers  of  the 
Christian  Schools  were  called  in  for  the 
work  of  education.  Six  priests  were 
obtained  from  Europe.  In  1861  Bishop 
Verot  was  transferred  to  Savannah,  and 
Florida  was  ravaged  by  our  great  civil 
war.  In  1870  Pius  IX.  created  the  see 
of  St.  Augustine,  and  Bishop  V6rot 
asked  to  return  to  it  and  build  up  the 
ruins  left  by  war,  and  succeeded,  before 
he  ended  his  apostolic  labors  in  June, 
1876,  in  bequeathing  to  his  diocese  19 
churches,  with  70  missions  well  attend- 
ed, and  6  self-supporting  academies 
under  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  and  the 
Sisters  of  the  Holy  Names.  In  1884, 
under  Right  Rev.  John  Moore,  D.D., 
the  diocese  of  St.  Augustine  is  at  the 
beginning  of  a  new,  era  of  prosperity 
and  progress. — The*  sees  of  Charleston 
and  Savannah  are  too  closely  connected 
historically  not  to  be  mentioned  to- 
gether here.  In  1793  there  were  small 
congregations  of  Catholic  Irishmen  at 
Augusta  and  Savannah,  ministered  to 
by  a  French  priest.  Abbe  Le  Moine. 
The  Augustinian,  Robert  Brown,  was 
pastor  of  Augusta  about  1810,  and  built 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  remain- 
ing in  charge  till  the  end  of  1824. 
Bishop  England,  who  had  found  but 
one  priest  in  all  Georgia,  'sent  clergy- 
men to  the  principal  stations.  In  1832 
Savannah  counted  500  Catholics.  The 
tide  of  European  immigration  was  not 
directed  to  Georgia,  and  the  increase 
even  in  the  few  Irish  congregations  was 
slow   and    uncertain.     The  diocese   of 


Savannah,  erected  in  1850,  and  compris- 
ing Georgia  and  East  Florida,  only  con- 
tained about  5,500  Catholics.  Bishop 
Gartland  went  to  Europe  to  solicit  help, 
enlarged  his  cathedral,  and  founded  an 
orphan  asylum  at  Savannah,  a  Convent 
of  Mercy  at  Augusta,  and  several  free 
schools.  In  1854  both  he  and  Bishop 
Barron — the  latter  invalided  by  his 
labors  in  Liberia — perished,  victims  of 
their  devotion  to  the  plague-stricken, 
together  with  two  Sisters  of  Mercy. 
Right  Rev.  John  Barry,  who  took  up 
this  undesirable  succession,  also  suc- 
cumbed to  ill  health  in  1859.  Bishop 
V6rot,  consecrated  amid  the  turmoil  of 
civil  war  in  1861,  saw  several  of  his  few 
churches  destroyed  and  their  congrega- 
tions dispersed  or  discouraged.  The 
war  ended,  the  energetic  bishop  sought 
aid  everywhere  towards  repairing  the 
ruin ;  established  new  schools,  called  in 
the  IJrsulines,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  from 
Ireland,  and  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  altered  political 
and  social  condition.  Bishop  Ignatius 
Persico,  who  took  charge  of  the  diocese 
in  1870,  could  only  labor  a  brief  period. 
Then  came  the  present  bishop.  Dr. 
Gross,  finding  his  flock  composed  of 
20,000  Catholics,  with  12  priests.  He 
called  in  the  Jesuits  and  Benedictines — 
the  former  establishing  schools  at  Au- 
gusta, the  latter  devoting  then*  care 
to  the  colored  people  in  Savannah. 
A  college  was  also  founded  at  Macon  in 
1874.  In  1884  the  diocese  counts  25,000 
Catholics,  30  churches,  40  chapels  and 
stations,  and  27  priests. — The  shores  of 
South  Carolina  had  Spanish  settlements 
at  an  early  period,  at  St.  Helena,  on 
Port  Royal,  in  1566 ;  and  in  1569  the 
Jesuits  began  their  missionary  labors 
there  among  the  Indians.  The  Span- 
iards, however,  withdrew  as  the  English 
advanced  along  the  coast.  Neither 
Carolina  nor  Georgia  tolerated  Catho- 
hcs.  The  Acadians  were  compelled  to 
depart  in  1756.  In  1775  two  men,  dis- 
covered to  be  Irish  and  Catholics,  were 
tarred,  feathered,  and  expelled.  Caro- 
lina, however,  was  forced  to  forego  her 
illiberal  temper.  In  1790  an  old 
Methodist  church  was  purchased  by  the 
little  Catholic  congregation  in  Charles- 
ton and  called  St.  Mary's  Church.  The 
little  flock,  in  spite  of  many  vicissitudes, 
went  on  slowly  increasing  till  1820, 
when  Charleston  became  an  episcopal 
see  under  the  eloquent  Bishop  England, 


CATHOLIC  CHUECH 

styled  in  liis  day  "the  light  of  the 
American  hierarchy."  Ho  secured  the 
instruction  of  young  girls  by  founding, 
in  1829,  the  Congregation  of  Sisters  of 
our  Lady  of  Mercy,  who  have  become 
very  dear  to  the  Carolinians.  In  1834 
also  came  a  colony  of  Ursuline  Nuns. 
Both  Charleston  and  Columbia,  the 
capital,  were  thus  put  in  possession  of 
churches  and  academies.  He  establish- 
ed a  newspaper  to  diffuse  knowledge  and 
refute  error,  as  well  as  literary  societies. 
On  a  field  which  promised,  compara- 
tively, but  little  increase  the  great 
bishop  and  great  scholar  bestowed  untir- 
ing labor.  In  1835  he  established  a 
seminary.  In  1838  his  cathedral  was 
destroyed  by  the  flumes ;  but  the  bishop 
set  about  rebuilding  it.  In  1842  Bishop 
England  died,  leaving  in  his  diocese  20 
priests,  with  17  churches,  44  stations,  2 
convents  with  academies,  an  hospital, 
an  orphan  asylum,  and  2  free  schools, 
with  a  Catholic  population  of  10,000. 
His  two  immediate  successors.  Bishops 
Keynolds  and  Lynch,  inherited  his  elo- 
quence and  learning.  But  as  slavery 
left  no  room  in  the  Southern  States 
for  free  labor,  emigrants  from  Europe 
were  diverted  toward  the  free  States; 
and  there  alone  was  witnessed  the 
wonderful  growth  of  Catholicity.  The 
great  civil  war,  which  had  its  beginning 
in  Charleston,  seemed  to  have  given  the 
death-blow  to  Catholic  institutions, 
already  overburdened  with  debt,  and 
languishing  through  want  of  the  in- 
dustrial activity  which  prevailed  else- 
where. The  cathedral,  rebuilt  by  Bishop 
Eeynolds,  was  greatly  injured  during 
the  bombardment  of  the  city,  and  the 
churches  at  Sumter  and  Beaufort  were 
burned.  At  Columbia  church,  convent, 
and  college  were  blotted  out.  Bishop 
Lynch  spent  his  remaining  years  in  col- 
lecting alms  to  rebuild  these  ruins. — 
North  Carolina,  a  vicariate-apostolic 
since  1868,  is  at  present  under  the  care 
of  the  Bisliop  of  Charleston.  It  has  a 
scattered  population  of  2,183,  with  20 
churches  and  chapels,  24  missionary 
stations,  9  priests,  a  Benedictine  monas- 
tery, 2  female  academies  and  a  college. 
With  a*  fertile  country  open  to  free 
labor  and  to  immigration,  the  future  is 
not  without  its  bright  hopes  of  increase 
and  progress. —The  see  of  Richmond, 
established  in  1821,  was  subject  to  the 
same  laws  of  slow  increase  in  its  Catho- 
lic population  which  governed  all  the 


IK  THE  U.  S. 


9or 


slave  States  in  the  Union.  In  1830 
Archbishop  Whitfield  visited  Virginia, 
found  four  priests  in  the  whole  State, 
with  a  little  wooden  chapel  at  Rich- 
mond ;  a  more  decent  chapel  in  Norfolk, 
with  a  congregation  of  600  persons.  In 
1838  there  were  9,000  Catholics  in  the 
State,  with  8  churches,  under  Right 
Rev.  Richard  Whelan  as  bishop.  In 
1855,  under  Bishop  McGill — after  the 
erection  of  the  diocese  of  Wheeling — 
that  of  Richmond  alone  numbered  some 
9,000  Catholics,  10  priests,  and  11 
churches.  In  1884,  under  Right  Rev. 
John  J.  Keane,  there  are  25  priests  and 
14  seminarians,  35  churches,  24  chapels, 
2  convents,  4  academies,  32  parish 
schools,  2  orphanages  with  schools,  and 
18,000  Catholics. — At  the  present  writ- 
ing, also,  Rt.  Rev.  John  Joseph  Kain, 
Bishop  of  Wheeling,  has  in  his  mission 
31  priests,  62  churches  and  8  chapels, 
4  convents,  1  select  school  for  boys,  6 
academies  for  young  ladies,  28  parish 
schools,  an  orphanage,  an  hospital,  and 
18,000  Catholics  in  all. 

Returning  to  Baltimore,  the  increase 
from  the  death  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  in 
1815,  down  to  1884  is  a  wonderful  story 
in  itself,  and  only  surpassed  by  the  far 
more  wonderful  development  of  the 
Church  in  the  free  States.  For  slavery, 
so  long  as  it  lasted  in  Maryland  as  else- 
where, was  an  insuperable  obstacle  to 
that  increase  of  the  Catholic  population 
due  to  emigrants  from  Europe,  or  the 
movement  of  free  laborers  from  one 
State  to  another.  Under  the  successive 
administrations  of  Archbishops  Neale 
(d.  1817),  Mar^chal  (d.  1828),  Whitfield 
(d.  1834),  Eccleston  (d.  1851),  and 
Kenrick  (d.  1863)  there  was  a  steady 
progress  in  everything  which  regarded 
religion.  Gradually  and  by  the  in- 
herent force  of  circumstances  each 
State  became  a  separate  diocese,  the 
larger  States  themselves  becoming 
each  an  ecclesiastical  province,  with 
metropolitan  and  suffragan  sees.  As 
the  mighty  tide  of  emigration  from  the 
British  Islands  and  Germany,  in  par- 
ticular, set  in,  the  Catholic  churches 
along  the  Atlantic  sea- board  were  inad- 
equate to  contain  the  multitude  of 
worshippers,  while  the  living  stream 
pouring  inland  toward  the  north  and 
the  west  caused  civilization  to  spread 
with  marvellous  rapidity,  and  with  the 
multiplication  of  new  States,  Territories, 
cities,  and  townships  the  need  of  mis- 


908 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


m  THE  U.  S. 


sionaries,  churches,  and  Catholic  insti- 
tutions of  all  kinds  also  mnltiplied  in  a 
manner  to  baffle  the  calculations  of  the 
wisest  and  the  efforts  of  the  most 
zealous.  We  can  only  follow  the  rapid 
movement  of  this  inflow  and  increase — 
indicating,  as  we  pass  along,  the  prin- 
cipal results.  On  May  9,  1852,  the 
episcopate  of  the  United  States  met  in 
National  Council  at  Baltimore,  under 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  transferred  to  the 
metropolitan  see  from  Philadelphia  in 
the  preceding  year,  and  appointed 
apostolic  delegate.  Six  archbishops 
and  twenty-six  bishops  were  in  attend- 
ance. It  was  a  wonderful  growth  in 
half  a  century.  The  acts  of  the  council 
were  solemnly  approved  by  the  Holy 
See  in  July,  1853,  and  the  creation 
of  the  sees  of  Erie,  Brooklyn,  New- 
ark, Burlington,  Portland,  Covington, 
Quincy,  and  Natchitoches  was  decreed. 
And  in  California,  a  new  empire  not 
yet  mentioned  in  this  summary,  an- 
other ecclesiastical  province  arose. 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  already  famed  as 
a  theologian  and  publicist,  &howed  at 
Baltimore  the  great  qualities  and  virtues 
which  had  won  such  reverence  and 
admiration  in  Philadelphia.  Loving 
intensely  his  adopted  country,  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war  of  secession  filled 
him  with  a  grief  which  preyed  visibly 
upon  his  health.  He  died  when  the 
clouds  of  war  were  darkest.  He  had  a 
worthy  successor  in  Archbishop  Spald- 
ing, an  able  controversialist  and  an 
eloquent  w'riter,  whose  place  was  filled 
in  1872  by  the  first  bishop  of  New^ark, 
James  Roosevelt  Bayley.  After  him, 
in  1877,  came  the  young  Bishop  of 
Richmond,  James  Gibbons — now  the 
ninth  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  Recal- 
ling to  mind  John  Carroll  and  his  little 
band  of  aged  ex- Jesuits  in  1783,  let  us 
simply  state  that  in  1884,  at  the  end  of 
a  century,  the  Catholic  Church  of 
Baltimore,  founded  by  them,  has  a 
Catholic  population  of  210,000  souls, 
with  269  priests  secular  and  regular, 
339  churches,  besides  35  chapels  and 
stations,  28  ecclesiastical  and  male  in- 
stitutions, 30  female  religious  institu- 
tions, 8  female  colleges,  19  female 
academies,  86  jjarish  schools,  with  a 
population  of  17,000  pupils  in  both 
primary,  intermediate,  and  secondary 
schools.  From  such  fruits  judge  we 
the  illustrious  line  of  archbishops. — In 
Philadelphia,    created    a  metropolitan 


see  in  1875,  with  James  Frederick  Wood 
as  archbishop,  the  same  marvellous  re- 
sults are  to  be  noted.  Tlie  flock  which 
Bishops  Egau  and  Conwell  had 
struggled  so  hard  to  preser\'e  against 
schismatical  "  Trusteeisra  "  grew  under 
the  great  Kenrick  and  his  successors  so 
as  to  outstrip  Baltimore  itself.  Arch- 
bishop Wood's  admirable  management 
saved  the  churches  and  institutions  of 
the  diocese  from  all  pecuniary  em- 
barrassment. And  now,  in  July,  1884, 
when  Archbishop  Ryan  comes  from 
St.  Louis  to  fill  the  vacant  chair  of  that 
venerable  man,  he  finds  a  flock  of 
300,000  Catholics,  with  184  churches, 
53  chapels,  260  priests,  100  seminarians, 
1,020  religious  women,  22,000  children 
in  the  parochial  schools,  2,100  young 
ladies  in  the  female  academies,  and 
everything  bright  with  the  rich  prom- 
ises of  the  future.  Besides,  and  out- 
side of  the  metropolis,  Pennsylvania  is 
dotted  over  with  the  flourishing  dioceses 

of   SCRANTON,   HaRRISBUEG,  PITTSBURGH 

and  Allegheny,  and  Erie,  each  with  its 
own  separate  and  independent  institu- 
tions, its  increasing  population,  and  the 
hope  founded  on  the  untold  possibilities 
of  a  new,  rich,  and  progressive  country. 
Pittsburgh.,  created  an  episcopal  see  in 
1843,  had  for  first  bishop  Right  Rev. 
Michael  O'Connor,  one  of  those  scholarly 
men  worthy  to  rank  Avith  the  Carrolls, 
Englands,  and  Kenricks.  The  city  itself 
is  a  great  industrial  centre,  attracting  a 
laboring  population.  Dr.  O'Connor  and 
his  two  successors  have  profited  of  every 
advantage  to  forward  the  spiritual  and 
intellectual  condition  of  their  people. 
In  1884  the  united  dioceses  of  Pittsburgh 
and  Allegheny  possess  150,000  Catho- 
lics, 130  churches,  44  chapels,  84  regular 
and  105  secular  priests,  656  religious  of 
both  sexes,  8  monasteries,  87  convents, 
3  colleges  for  boys  with  570  pupils,  5 
academies  for  young  ladies  with  845 
pupils,  62  parochial  schools  with  an 
attendance  of  16,552,  3  orphanages  with 
444  inmates,  and  3  hospitals. — Scran- 
toTiy  erected  into  a  see  in  1868,  under 
Right  Rev.  Wm.  O'Hara,  is  also  a  great 
industrial  centre.  It  has  a  Catholic 
population  of  57,000  souls,  66  priests, 
70  churches,  12  convents,  9  academies, 
14  parochial  schools. — Harrishurg,  tlie 
capital  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  counties 
which  make  up  the  diocese,  contain 
only  a  Catholic  population  of  25,000. 
But  their  needs  are  admirably  provided 


CATHOLIC  CHUECH 


m  THE  U.  S. 


909 


for.  There  are  altogether  49  priests, 
with  a  seminary  and  9  seminarians,  51. 
churches,  24  chapels  and  stations,  8 
academies,  23  parish  schools  with  about 
3,300  pupils,  and  2  orphan  asylums. 
Lancaster  and  Conewago,  the  two  great 
centres  of  missionary  labor  in  the  last 
century,  are  comprised  within  the  limits 
of  this  diocese,  one  of  the  loveliest 
regions  in  America. — Eeie,  situated  on 
the  lake  of  that  name  at  the  northern 
extremity  of  Pennsylvania,  possesses  a 
Cathohc  population  of  45,000,  with  67 
priests,  165  religious  of  both  sexes,  84 
churches,  11  chapels,  2  monasteries,  14 
convents,  4  young  ladies'  academies,  28 
parish  schools,  2  orphanage  schools, 
5, 937  scholars  in  daily  attendance.  Such 
is  the  condition  of  Catholicity  in  the 
great  State  of  Pennsylvania,  standing 
with  its  six  dioceses  between  the  At- 
lantic and  the  great  Lakes,  separating 
the  Eastern  from  the  nearest  Western 
States.  Ere  glancing  at  these,  let  us 
complete  our  survey  of  ifew  York  and 
New  England. 

The  Churches  of  New  Yorlc  State  from 
1842  to  1884. — It  required  the  genius, 
the  eloquence,  the  indomitable  courage 
of  Bishop  Hughes  to  put  down  trustee- 
ism,  and  to  set  the  question  of  free 
Catholic  education  in  its  true  light 
before  the  popular  mind  in  America. 
This  was  only  one  of  the  priceless 
services  rendered  by  that  great  prelate 
to  the  Church  in  the  United  States.  To 
provide  for  the  wants  of  his  vast  and 
ever-growing  flock  he  called  in  the  aid 
of  the  religious  orders  of  men  and 
women,  Jesuits,  Redemptorists,  Fran- 
ciscans, Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
Sisters  of  Charity,  Sisters  of  Mercy, 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  and  others.  Under 
him  arose  St.  John's  College,  Fordhara, 
St.  Francis  Xavier's  in- New  York  City, 
Manhattan  College,  the  academies  and 
parish  schools  directed  by  the  Christian 
Brothers,  the  orphanages,  hospitals,  and 
other  beneficent  institutions,  which 
have  been  unfailing  sources  of  spiritual 
blessing.  His  own  great  name,  become 
a  national  glory,  threw  a  bright  halo  on 
his  church  and  the  entire  State  during 
well  nigh  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He 
saw  the  diocese  over  which  he  was 
placed  in  1842  become  an  ecclesiastical 
province,  with  suffragan  sees  in  Brook- 
lyn, Newark,  Albany,  Buffalo,  and 
Rochester.  The  elevation  to  the  car- 
dinalate  of  his  own  chosen  coadjutor, 


and  afterward  his  successor,  was  an 
homage  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious 
dead  as  well  as  the  just  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  merits  of  the  living.  John 
McCloskey  completed  what  John 
Hughes  had  planned  and  begun.  Both 
Albany  and  New  York  show  the 
abundant  fruits  of  his  husbandry.  In 
1884  New  York  diocese  has  a  Catholic 
population  of  at  least  600,000  souls,  a 
clergy  numbering  265  secular  priests 
and  118  regulars  with  76  seminarians, 
254  brothers,  1,701  religious  women,  4 
colleges  with  1,085  students,  22  young 
ladies'  academies  with  2,316  pupils,  6 
academies  for  boys  with  676  pupils,  55 
male  parish  schools  with  an  attendance 
of  15,583,  60  girls'  schools  with  19,225; 
10  orphanage  schools  aggregating  2,047" 
pupils,  10  industrial  and  reform  schools 
with  an  aggregate  of  5,300 — in  all  a 
student  population  ,of  46,262 ;  33  bene- 
ficent institutions  with  10,966  inmates; 
173  churches,  54  chapels,  and  38  stations 
regularly  visited.  Such  is  the  fruitful 
field  on  which  America's  first  cardinal  can 
rest  his  eyes  after  fifty  years  of  priestly 
labor!— Across  the  bay  of  New  York, 
Brooklyn  with  her  diocese  offers  a  no 
less  consoling  spectacle.  Its  first  bishop, 
John  Loughlin,  in  1884,  after  31  years 
of  toil,  has  a  Catholic  population  of 
205,000,  156  priests,  89  churches,  37 
chapels  and  stations,  2  colleges,  a  theo- 
logical seminary,  18  academies  and 
select  schools,  76  parish  schools,  16 
asylums,  and  4  hospitals.  What  will  it 
be  twenty-five  years  hence? — On  the 
New  Jersey  shore  is  the  diocese  of 
Newark,  from  which  was  formed,  in 
1881,  that  of  Trenton.  When,  in  1880, 
its  young  bishop  became  Coadjutor- 
Archbishop  of  New  York,  the  church 
of  New  Jersey  was  one  of  the  best 
regulated  in  America,  thanks  to  the 
intelligent  zeal  and  devotedness  of  its 
two  first  bishops  and  their  clergy.  In 
1884  Newark  numbers  150  priests 
regular  and  secular,  30  seminarians,  27 
brothers,  713  sisters,  86  churches,  3 
monasteries,  8  convents,  3  colleges,  17 
academies  for  young  ladies,  62  parochial 
schools,  4  industrial  schools  and  re- 
formatories— a  total  aggregate  of  stu- 
dents numbering  22,124;  5  orphanages, 
4  hospitals,  3  asylums,  with  6,784  in- 
mates, and  a  total  Catholic  population 
of  150,000  souls.  The  sister  diocese  of 
Trenton  possesses  already  65  priests,  16 
seminarians,  133  religious  of  both  sexes, 


910 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


m  THE  U.  S. 


81  churches,  35  convents,  6  academies 
with  229  j)Ui)ils,  24  parochial  schools 
with  4,71)8  scholars,  and  a  Catholic 
population  of  45,000. — If  we  examine 
the  northern  part  of  New  York  iState, 
the  field  of  the  ancient  Jesuit  missions, 
we  lind  the  diocese  of  Albany  realizing 
the  prophetic  vision  of  the  martyred 
Jogiies.  There  are  125  churches  with 
resident  pastors,  and  50  churches  with- 
out pastors  resident;  30  chapels,  4 
churches  in  course  of  erection,  191 
priests,  27  seminarians,  4  a(^ademies  for 
boys  and  4  for  girls,  1 1  select  schools, 
11  orpliau  asylums,  4  homes  for  the 
ftged,  4  hospitals,  6  religious  communi- 
ties of  men  and  11  of  women,  with  a 
Cathohc  population  of  160,000.— Bor- 
dering on  Canada  is  the  diocese  of 
Ogdexsbukg,  erected  in  1872,  and 
already  counting  63,000  Catholics,  73 
priests,  93  cliurches,  3  chapels,  1,406 
pupils  in  its  Catholic  schools. —  Koches- 
TER,  created  an  episcopal  see  in  1868, 
with  ivight  liev.  Bernard  J.  McQuaid 
as  bishop,  soon  gave  evidence  of  his 
zeal  for  religion  and  education.  His 
parochial  schools  number  no  less  than 
7,600  pupils  on  a  total  Catholic  popula- 
tion of  about  65,000.  There  is  in  Roches 
ter  a  jjreparatory  seminary  with  16 
ecclesiastical  students,  3  academies  for 
young  ladies,  70  priests,  81  churches, 
an  hospital,  and  4  orphan  asylums.— - 
Bfffalo,  created  an  episcopal  see  in 
1847,  had  for  its  first  bishop  the  Lazarist 
John  Timon,  horn  in  Missouri,  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Church  of  Texas, 
a:nd  well  known  throughout  the  West 
as  a  missionary.  The  city  of  Buffalo  is 
bnilt  on  tlie  site  of  a  French  fort,  de- 
niolislied  in  1688,  a  cross  18  feet  high 
being  left  amid  the  mined  ramparts, 
and  near  the  spot  on  which  is  now  the 
cathedral  of  Buffalo.  It  bore  the  in- 
scription ChriduH  vincAt^  ChHstvs  regnat^ 
VhriMuH  imqterat:  "Christ  is  victorious, 
Christ  reigns,  Christ  rules  with  supreme 
command!"  In  1822  Bishop  Dubois 
celebrated  Mass  here  in  the  court-house 
for  seven  or  eight  hundred  Catholics, 
French  Canadians,  Swiss,  and  Irish.  In 
1834  Rev.  Nicholas  Mertz  and  Rev. 
Bernard  O'Reilly  were  the  only  priests 
within  tiie  present  limits  of  the  diocese. 
Bishop  Timon,  at  his  arrival  in  Buffalo, 
found  16  priests,  3  churches  in  Buffalo, 
4  in  Rochester,  with  churches  or  stations 
in  every  county.  In  1856  the  diocese 
<K)ntaiued  120  churches  and  chapels,  100 


other  stations,  78  priests  regular  and 
secular,  among  the  former  being  Jesuits, 
Redemptoi'ists,  Oblates,  and  Francis- 
cans; a  theological  seminary,  5  orjjhan 
asylums,  besides  asylums  and  schools 
under  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  St.  Josei)h, 
St.  Bridget,  and  Notre  Dame.  In  1857 
the  Lazarists  founded  the  semmary  and 
college  of  Our  Lady  of  Angels.  In 
1868  the  diocese  was  divided,  and 
Steplien  Vincent  Ryan,  a  Lazarist  like 
Bishop  Timon,  succeeded  him,  and  most 
worthily  fills  his  place.  Buffalo  became 
under  him  the  headquarters  of  a  Jesuit 
mission  for  the  German  populations 
far  and  near,  with  the  flourishing  Col- 
lege of  B.  Peter  Canisius.  The  present 
Catholic  population  is  100,000,  with  102 
secular  priests  and  74  regulars,  176  in 
all;  42  of  whom  are  devoted  to  the 
education  of  youth.  There  are  145 
churches  and  chapels,  9  religious  houses 
for  men,  44  for  women,  4  colleges,  8 
academies  for  young  ladies,  and  11 
charitable  institutions. 

The  Church  in  New  England  in 
1884. — Boston  was  made  an  archiepis- 
copal  see  in  1875,  with  suffragans  at 
Springfield,  Mass. ;  Providence,  R.  I. ; 
Portland,  Me. ;  Hartford,  Ct. ;  Burling- 
ton, Vt.,  and  in  1884  the  new  see  of 
Manchester,  N.  IL,  was  added.  The 
first  Archbishop  of  Boston,  Most  Rev. 
John  J.  Williams,  has  under  him  a  flock 
of  320,000  Catholics,  with  300  priests, 
80  seminarians,  167  churches,  14  chapeis 
and  stations,  2  colleges  conducted  by 
the  Jesuits,  4  female  academies,  17  con- 
vents, 10  orphan  asylums,  7  hospitals, 
40  parochial  or  free  schools. — Port- 
land, erected  in  1855,  contains  50 
churches,  52  priests,  and  a  Catholic 
population  of  about  50,000.  The  new- 
diocese  of  Manchester  has  37  priests, 
with  38  churches  and  chapels,  and  a 
Catholic  population  of  about  40,000. 
The  educational  and  charitable  institu- 
tions in  both  are  flourishing,  and  under 
the  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  the 
Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Notre 
Dame,  the  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross, 
the  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Name,  and  the 
Sisters  of  Charity.  There  are  also  in 
Maine  six  schools  for  Indian  children 
conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  and 
the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd.— 
Providence,  erected  in  1872,  possesses 
90  secular  and  3  regular  priests,  30 
seminarians,  238  members  of  religious 
orders    of    women,    63     churches,    16 


J 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

chapels,  14  convents,  a  high-school  for 
hoys,  academies  for  young  ladies  with 
700  pupils,  8,500  boys  and  5,500  girls 
in  the  parochial  schools,  besides  225  in 
the  orphanage  schools,  and  a  Catho- 
Hc  population  of  156,000.— Hartford, 
which  comprises  the  State  of  Connecti- 
cut, has  a  Catholic  population  of  about 
175,000,  with  about  140  priests  and 
55  seminarians,  114  churches,  28  cha- 
pels, 24  convents,  and  1  monastery, 
13,012  pupils  of  both  sexes  in  its  67 
academies  and  parochial  schools,  3 
orphanages,  3  asylums,  and  a  home  for 
the  aged  and  destitute. — Burlixgtoj^, 
on  Lake  Champlain,  embraces  the  State 
of  Vermont.  It  is  still  under  its  first 
bishop,  consecrated  in  1853.  Being 
situated  on  the  Canadian  frontier,  and 
somewhat  outside  of  the  path  followed 
by  immigration,  its  Catholic  population 
does  not  increase  rapidly.  It  numbers 
at  present  35,000  souls,  with  37  priests 
and  18  seminarians,  71  churches,  11 
convents,  3  female  academies  with  233 
pupils,  15  parochial  schools  with  2,846 
pupils,  and  an  orphanage  for  girls  and 
bovs.  Such  is  the  Catholic  New  Eng- 
land of  1884. 

The  Church  in  the  West. — Provin^ce 
OF  CixciNXATi :  "VVe  saw  how  the 
apostolic  Bishop  Flaget  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Church  in  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  and  all  along  the  Ohio.  The 
rise  and  growth  of  the  churches  of 
Ohio  and  those  immediately  adjoining 
that  State  is  one  of  the  most  wonder- 
ful chapters  in  our  ecclesiastical  history. 
Passing  over  the  sad  vicissitudes  of  the 
early  Jesuit  missions  in  Ohio,  let  us  say 
that  Bishop  Flaget  said  Mass  at  the 
house  of  a  family  named  Dittoe,  near 
Somerset,  Ohio,  m  October,  1812,  Peter 
Dittoe  having  given  there  320  acres  of 
land  for  a  church.  In  1818  Father  N". 
D.  Young,  O.P.  (who  died  in  1878), 
there  blessed  the  log  chapel  of  St. 
Joseph.  A  Dominican  convent  soon 
afterward  arose  there,  and  congrega- 
tions sprang  up  at  Somerset,  Lancaster, 
Zanesville,  St.  Barnabas,  Rehobosh,  and 
St.  Patrick's.  To  the  See  of  Cincin- 
nati, erected  in  1821,  was  appointed 
and  consecrated  Bishop  Edward  Fen- 
wick,  who  on  taking  possession  hired 
a  house  and  sent  out  for  his  first  meal. 
He  estimated  the  Catholic  population 
of  Ohio  at  8,000,  with  2,000  Indians  on 
Seneca  River,  and  10,000  or  12,000  in 
Michigan.     He  bought  a  lot,  put  up  a 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


911 


wooden  chapel  of  30  feet  by  55  for  his " 
cathedral,  and  went  to  Europe  to  obtain 
means.  He  succeeded,  returned,  had  a 
more  substantial  cathedral  to  dedicate 
in  1826;  visited  his  diocese,  doing  the 
work  of  a  missionary  and  apostle,  suc- 
cumbing to  the  cholera  in  the  very 
midst  of  his  labors,  September  26,  1832, 
He  was  a  far-seeing  man;  he  estab- 
lished in  Cincinnati  the  Athenaeum  for 
young  men,  which  developed  under  his 
successor  into  St.  Xavier's  College,  and 
founded  in  1831  the  Catholic  Tele- 
graphy now  the  oldest  of  our  Catholio 
papers.  For  the  education  of  women 
and  the  care  of  the  indigent  and  infirm 
lie  obtained  colonies  of  Sisters  of 
Charity,  Sisters  of  St.  Dominic,  and 
Poor  Clares.  In  1833  John  B.  Purceli 
took  up  his  burden  and  his  cross, 
dying  July  4,  1883,  after  half  a  century 
of  episcopal  labor.  He  witnessed  la 
tlie  interval  the  birth  and  growth  of  the 
mighty  West.  No  more  venerable  or 
conspicuous  figure  appeared  there  than 
this  scholarly  man,  who  united  the 
simplicity  of  a  child  and  the  poverty  of 
a  monk  to  the  piety  and  zeal  of  an 
apostle.  The  cloud  which  settled  on 
the  last  years  of  his  long  and  laborious 
career  only  made  him  an  object  of 
deeper  and  more  touching  affection  to 
the  Catholic  community.  Many  of  the 
priests  he  had  trained  at  Emmittsburg 
joined  him  in  Cincinnati.  He  was  in 
Ohio  what  Archbishop  Hughes  was  in 
New  York,  the  defender  of  Catholio 
principles  against  all  foes.  The  great 
religious  orders  were  called  in  to  help 
in  the  great  work  of  the  apostleship ;  in 
1836  he  built  a  second  church  in  Cin- 
cinnati, and  before  the  close  of  1837 
there  were  in  the  diocese  32  churches 
and  stations,  21  priests,  a  seminary,  a 
college,  a  female  academy,  and  aii 
orphan  asylum.  In  1840  the  Jesuits 
inaugurated  St.  Xavier's  College,  and 
the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  de  Namur, 
the  best  middle-class  educators  in  all 
Europe,  were  encouraged  to  open  aca-* 
demies  and  schools.  The  large  Catho- 
lic German  population  was  tenderly 
cared  for  by  the  good  shepherd.  Their 
children  became  the  special  charge  of 
the  Brothers  of  Mary.  In  1850  Cincin- 
nati became  an  archiepiscopal  see ;  in 
1851  the  provincial  seminary  of  Mount 
St.  Mary's  of  the  West  was  solemnly 
opened.  In  1855  was  held  the  first 
provincial    council,    attended    by    fivie 


&12        CATHOLIC  CHUECH 


m  THE  U.  S. 


Biifiragan  bishops,  one  being  absent ; 
there  were  also  ])resent  tlie  superiors 
of  five  religious  orders.  Another  coun- 
cil assembled  in  1858.  And  so  the  see 
of  Cincinnati,  like  the  sacred  fig-tree 
of  India,  sent  forth  its  stately  offshoots 
to  cover  the  land  and  to  feed  souls  with 
the  grace  of  Christ.  In  1878  Cincin- 
nati possessed,  besides  the  catliedral, 
44  churches,  and  within  the  territory 
of  the  diocese,  curtailed  by  the  erection 
of  so  many  sees,  were  150  churches; 
regular  priests  of  7  different  orders; 
religious  women  of  8  different  orders ; 
and  nearly  120  secular  priests.  In  1884 
Archbishop  Elder,  on  whose  shoulders 
was  laid  his  venerated  friend's  heavy 
responsibility,  counts  in  his  diocese  163 
churches,  82  chapels,  130  secular  priests, 
84  regulars,  378  men  in  religious  com- 
munities, 1,130  women;  2  seminaries, 
S  hospitals,  a  House  of  Mercy  for  young 
women,  2  houses  of  the  Good  Shepherd ; 
22,186  pupils  in  schools  of  every  degree, 
and  a  Catholic  population  of  180,000 
souls.  Altogether  the  ten  dioceses 
which  at  present  are  comprised  in  the 
Province  of  Cincinnati  contain  an  esti- 
mated population  of  nearly  a  million 
of  souls  (931,455).  Of  these  suffragan 
sees  two  only  belong  to  Ohio — Cleve- 
land and  Columbus.  Their  history  is 
more  intimately  connected  with  the 
growth  of  the  State  itself  and  the  devel- 
opment of  Cincinnati. — Cleveland,  by 
its  splendid  position  on  Lake  Erie,  can 
look  forward  to  a  great  future  ;  it  lies 
on  what  must  soon  be  the  great  path- 
way of  commerce  across  the  continent. 
Sandusky,  near  at  hand,  contained  the 
oldest  Catholic  church  in  Ohio,  the 
chapel  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries. 
Thanks  to  Bishop  Purcell's  intelligent 
zeal,  when,  in  1847,  the  first  Bishop  of 
Cleveland,  Dr.  Amad6e  Rappe,  took 
possession  of  his  see,  he  found  it  in 
possession  of  33  churches,  with  16 
priests.  The  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame 
had  a  flourishing  academy  at  Toledo; 
and  the  Fathers  and  Sisters  of  the 
Precious  Blood  formed  nurseries  of 
Catholic  piety  and  apostolic  spirit. 
The  new  bishop  had  soon  founded  a 
seminary  and  a  college,  a  female  aca- 
demy under  the  Ursuline  Nuns,  an 
orphanage  under  the  Sisters  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Mary,  a  charity  hospital 
mider  the  Augustinian  Nuns.  He  was 
indefatigable  in  visiting  every  point  of 
Ills  diocese,  and  in  providing  for  the 


wants  of  the  people;  in  twenty-three 
years  from  his  arrival  he  had  i00,000 
Catholics,  160  churches,  107  priests,  a 
school  in  every  parish  ;  Jesuits,  Francis- 
cans, Brothers  of  Mary,  Gray  Nuns, 
Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  the  Little 
Sisters  of  the  Poor,  together  with  the 
communities  aheady  named,  were  all 
shai'ing  in  the  good  work.  In  1872 
Right  Rev.  Richard  Gilmour  inherited 
this  apostleship,  and  urged  forward 
every  sacred  interest  of  his  flock.  In 
1883  the  diocese  has  165,000  Catholics, 
217  churches,  21  chapels,  151  secular 
and  28  regular  priests,  40  seminarians, 
125  parochial  schools  with  an  average 
attendance  of  23,000,  a  seminary,  6 
female  academies,  5  hospitals,  8  orphan- 
ages, 3  homes  for  the  aged,  and  2  re- 
formatories.—Columbus,  the  capital  of 
the  State,  is  no  less  favored  or  pros- 
perous in  proportion  to  its  Catholic 
population  of  48,000.  The  two  Ken- 
tuckian  sees  of  Louisville  and  Coving- 
ton have  already  been  mentioned  in 
connection  with  Bishop  Flaget's  early 
labors. — The  diocese  of  Louisville  pos- 
sessed in  1883  150,000  Catholics,  138 
priests,  107  churches,  22  chapels,  2 
seminaries,  2  colleges,  and  2  institutes 
for  boys,  25  young  ladies'  academies, 
128  pai'ochial  schools,  and  numerous 
establishments  of  charity  and  benefi- 
cence.—Covington,  which  might  pass 
for  a  suburb  of  Cincinnati,  has  a  Catho- 
lic population  of  43,000,  with  a  nu- 
merous clergy  and  flourishing  institu- 
tions of  every  kind. — Nashville,  in 
Tennessee,  another  portion  of  Bishop 
Flaget's  missionary  field,  became  an 
episcopal  see  in  1837.  The  Dominican, 
Richard  Pius  Miles,  its  first  bishop, 
found  in  the  State  about  100  Catholic 
families  without  a  church  or  a  priest. 
He  and  his  coadjutor  and  brother- 
Dominican,  Bishop  Whelan,  labored 
courageously  in  this  moral  wilderness. 
It  is  a  most  touching  story.  Priest 
after  priest  came  to  help  them  till,  in 
1844,  Bishop  Miles  was  emboldened  to 
begin  a  cathedral.  "When  he  died  in 
May,  1859,  he  had  13  priests,  14 
churches,  convents  of  Dominican  friars 
and  nuns.  Sisters  of  Charity,  academies, 
and  parish  schools.  In  1861  came  the 
dvil  war  with  its  destruction  and  dis- 
persions. Bishop  Whelan  resigned  in 
May,  1863.  Bishop  Feehan,  who  suc- 
ceeded him  in  1865,  needed  no  little 
courage  to  undertake  the  work  of  re- 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

storatioii.  In  1866  he  could  only  count 
in  Tennessee  12  churches  and  15  priests. 
In  1878  the  diocese  had  already  29 
churches,  33  priests,  Christian  Brothers, 
Dominican  Sisters,  Sisters  of  Mercy, 
Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  of  St. 
Joseph,  and  of  the  Precious  Blood,  with 
2,500  children  in  Catholic  schools.  In 
that  same  year  the  yellow  fever  deso- 
lated Memphis,  and  before  the  end  of 
September  9  priests  and  13  Sisters  had 
perished  in  ministering  to  the  plague- 
stricken  !  In  1879  the  scourge  returned, 
and  the  same  miracles  of  devotion  were 
renewed.  Surely  such  a  land  must  have 
a  great  blessing. — In  Indiana  the  sees 
of  Vincennes  and  Fort  Wayne  belong  to 
the  province  of  Cincinnati.  Vincennes, 
created  in  1834,  had  for  its  first  bishop 
the  saintly  Simon  Gabriel  Brute,  one  of 
those  gems  given  by  France  to  the 
crown  of  the  young  Church  of  tlie 
United  States.  His  diocese  embraced 
Indiana  and  Western  Illinois.  A  plain 
brick  church  at  Vincennes,  unplastered 
within,  without  sanctuary  or  sacristy, 
euch  was  his  cathedral.  St.  Peter's 
and  St.  Mary's  in  Daviess  County  were 
attended  by  Rev.  S.  P.  Lalumiere,  and 
St.  Paul's  in  New  Alsace  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Ferneding.  The  bishop  set  to  work; 
he  and  Mr.  Lalumifere  explored  the 
diocese  in  different  directions  to  look 
up  the  stray  sheep.  Dr.  Brute  gave  con- 
firmation at  Chicago,  visited  the  Catho- 
lic Indians  under  Chikakos  on  the  Tip- 
pecanoe, said  Mass  at  Logansport,  and 
found  twenty  Catholics  at  Terre  Haute. 
He  sent  to  Fort  Wayne,  where  they 
were  building  a  church,  Rev.  Mr.  Ruff, 
the  first  priest  ordained  for  his  diocese ; 
hastened  to  Europe  to  obtain  assistance, 
and  with  the  alms  thus  solicited  estab- 
lished a  seminary,  an  orphan  asylum,  free 
schools,  completed  his  modest  cathedral, 
and  helped  toward  erecting  a  number 
of  churches.  He  had  brought  with  him 
from  Europe  some  twenty  priests  and 
seminarians.  To  the  latter  he  taught 
theology,  while  fulfilling  the  duties  of 
missionary  and  bishop.  In  1839  this 
apostolic  life  ended  all  too  suddenly, 
every  one  feeling  that  a  saint  was  taken 
away.  Even  then  his  diocese  possessed 
23  churches  and  6  more  in  course  of 
erection;  24  priests  were  on  the  mis- 
sion ;  the  Eudist  Fathers  were  in  charge 
of  a  seminary  and  college,  and  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  had  a  select  academy 
and  free  schools.     Under  his  successor 


m  THE  U.  S. 


918 


the  Fathers  of  the  Holy  Cross  came 
from  Le  Mans,  founding,  besides  several 
other  missionary  establishments,  Notre 
Dame.  Bishop  after  bishop  increased 
the  number  of  missionaries,  churches, 
religious  houses,  schools,  and  beneficent 
institutions.  In  1844  the  see  of  Chicago 
was  erected;  in  1857  Fort  Wayne  be- 
came a  separate  diocese.  In  1878  the 
diocese  of  Vincennes,  thus  limited,  was 
placed  under  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Chatard, 
who  in  1884  has  under  him  on  the 
mission  92  secular  priests,  37  regulars, 
160  churches,  20  chapels,  30  clerical 
students,  5  religious  orders  of  men,  8  of 
women,  5  orphan  asylums,  and  3  liospi- 
tals.  There  are  Catholic  schools  at- 
tached to  every  congregation,  the  aver- 
age number  of  pupils  in  all  being  20,000, 
out  of  an  estimated  Catholic  population 
of  80,000.  So  prospers  the  good  work 
begun  by  Bishop  Brut^. — The  diocese 
of  FoET  Wayne  vies  in  prosperity  with 
its  sister-diocese.  It  is  especially  bless- 
ed in  the  work  of  education.  Right 
Rev.  Dr.  Luers,  the  first  bishop,  found 
only  20  churches,  very  poor  for  the 
most  part,  in  his  diocese,  11  secular 
priests,  and  3  Fathers  of  the  Holy  Cross. 
He  stimulated  the  zeal  of  his  Catholics 
everywhere,  and  new  and  better  church 
edifices,  together  with  a  handsome 
Gothic  cathedral,  soon  arose  to  reward 
their  generosity.  Untiring  to  promote 
holiness  of  life  among  clergy  and  people, 
Dr.  Luers  died  in  1871.  Under  his  suc- 
cessor. Bishop  Dwenger,  the  growth  of 
religion  has  been  extraordinary.  With 
a  Catholic  population  of  85,000  he  has 
63  secular  and  39  regular  priests,  24 
seminarians,  120  churches,  17  chapels, 
a  university  (Notre  Dame),  7  academies 
for  young  ladies,  59  parochial  schools 
with  7,181  pupils. — Chicago,  where 
Marquette  first  built  a  log  hut  for  his 
temporary  winter  abode,  is  now  an 
arehiepiscopal  see,  the  great  commer- 
cial metropolis  of  the  West  growing  in 
spite  of  the  repeated  destruction  wrought 
by  flood  and  flaTue,  so  as  to  promise 
to  become  in  importance  second  only 
to  New  York.  All  this  country  is  only 
a  part  of  the  vast  field  of  French  mis- 
sionary labor.  It  was  comprised  with- 
in the  limits  assigned  by  the  Holy  See 
to  the  first  diocese  of  Baltimore.  In 
1834  Rev.  Mr.  St.  Cyr  was  the  only 
priest  there,  and  he  belonged  to  the 
bishop  of  St.  Louis.  When  Right  Rev. 
Wm.  Quarter  arrived  in  Chicago  from 


914        CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

New  York  in  1844  he  found  only  two 
churclies,  one  a  frame  building,  the 
other  a  new  brick  church,  unplastered, 
with  rough  board  doors,  and  a  debt 
of  $5,000.  Only  15  of  the  23  priests 
then  laboring  in  Illinois  belonged  to 
him,  and  the  others  were  recalled  by 
their  own  bishops.  The  vicissitudes 
through  which  the  Church  of  Chicago 
passed,  under  Bishop  Quarter  and  his 
three  immediate  successors,  must  not 
be  dwelt  upon  here.  The  bishops 
struggled  heroically  to  meet  the  ever- 
increasing  needs  of  the  emigrants  arriv- 
ing from  Europe  and  all  parts  of  the 
Union.  In  1870  the  diocese  of  Chicago, 
it  was  estimated,  contained  400,000 
Catholics.  To  minister  to  these  there 
were  142  priests,  30  of  whom  were 
regulars.  The  city  itself  contained  26 
churches  ;  the  churches  outside  the  city 
numbered  175.  The  Jesuits  were  pre- 
paring to  open  a  college  at  Chicago; 
the  Fathers  of  St.  Viateur  had  opened 
one  at  Bourbonnais  Grove ;  the  Brothers 
of  the  Christian  Schools  had  an  aca- 
demy at  La  Salle  ;  the  Alexian  Brothers 
had  a  large  hospital  in  Chicago.  Then 
there  were  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  the  Sisters  of  the  Cfongregation 
of  Notre  Dame,  the  Sisters  of  Loretto, 
all  with  flourishing  academies,  and  three 
other  Sisterhoods  devoted  to  teaching 
or  charity.  50  parish  schools  were  in 
operation.  The  Sisters  of  Mercy,  the 
Sisters  of  the  Good  Sheplierd,  and  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  had  each  a  large 
establishment  in  the  city.  Then  the 
city  was  swept  by  fire,  and  most  of 
these  institutions  were  blotted  out. 
Yet  in  1883,  under  the  first  archbishop. 
Dr.  Feehan,  so  tried  himself  at  Memphis 
in  1878-79,  all  seems  to  have  once  more 
arisen  from  its  ashes.  The  clergy  com- 
prises 164  secular  priests,  62  regulars, 
31  seminarians,  184  churches,  2  colleges, 
18  academies  for  young  ladies,  24  con- 
vents, 26,868  children  in  the  Catholic 
schools,  and  a  Catholic  population  of 
255,000. 

The  Church  in  Michigan. — The  sees 
of  Detroit  and  Grand  Rapids  are  suffra- 
gans of  Cincinnati  for  the  present.  To 
what  has  already  been  said  about  the 
early  missionary  settlements  at  Detroit 
we  can  only  add  that  in  1883  the  dio- 
cese contained  100,455  Catholics,  78 
churches,  104  priests,  witli  16  semi- 
narians, a  college,  4  academies,  42  par- 
ochial   schools  with  9,832  pupils  in- 


IN  THE  U.  S. 

scribed,  7  asylums,  and  1  hospital. 
The  diocese  of  Grand  Rapids  counts 
44  priests,  42  churches  with  resident 
pastors,  25  mission  churches  with  Sun- 
day services,  19  with  week-day  services, 
making  130  churches  in  all;  20  par- 
ochial schools  with  4,000  pupils,  an 
orphan  asylum  and  2  hospitals,  and  12 
religious  communities. 

The  two  suffragan  sees  of  Altoi!? 
and  Peoria,  detached  from  the  original 
diocese  of  Chicago,  contain,  respec- 
tively, 156,000  and  95,000  Catholics, 
admirably  provided  with  all  the  sources 
of  Catholic  life.  Alton  possesses  190 
churches,  131  secular  priests  and  38 
regulars,  2  monasteries,  2  colleges,  9 
academies  for  young  ladies,  11,000 
pupils  in  100  parochial  schools,  3 
orphanages  with  their  schools  and  11 
hospitals.  Peoria,  on  the  other  hand, 
has  157  churches,  105  priests,  8  aca- 
demies, 38  parochial  schools  with  6,200 
pupils. 

Province  of  MikcauJcee.— This  pro- 
vince, comprising  Wisconsin,  Northern 
Michigan,  and  the  Territories  of  Min- 
nesota and  Dakota,  is  also  a  portion  of 
the  great  field  once  entrusted  to  the 
bishops  of  Quebec.  From  1669  to  the 
suppression  of  the  Jesuits  in  France, 
1763,  Wisconsin  was  the  seat  of  flour- 
ishing Jesuit  missions,  founded  by  the 
intrepid  Father  Claude  Allouez.  A 
silver  monstrance  given,  in  1686,  by  a 
French  trader  to  the  Church  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier  in  Green  Bay  is  still 
in  existence.  The  aggregate  Catholic 
population  of  the  province  was  in  1883 
548,700  souls,  distributed  as  follows: 
Milwaukee,  210,000 ;  Green  Bay,  68,200; 
Marquette  and  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  30,000; 
La  Crosse,  54,000;  St.  Paul,  130,000; 
Dakota  Territory,  25,000 ;  and  Northern 
Minnesota,  31,000.  The  other  statisti- 
cal details  are  in  themselves  a  revela- 
tion prophetic  of  a  mighty  future  for 
religion,  if  man  will  only  second  the 
designs  of  Providence.  Thus  in  the 
diocese  of  Milwaukee  there  are  already 
264  churches  built,  with  18  chapels,  199 
priests  secular  and  regular  ;  a  seminary, 
a  normal  school,  5  female  academies, 
12  religious  communities,  13  charitable 
institutions. — In  the  diocese  of  Green 
Bay  there  are  111  churches  with  15 
chapels,  82  priests,  40  parochial  schools 
with  4,502  pupils.  There  are  also 
1,200  Catholic  Indians.  In  the  diocese 
of  St,  Paul  there  are  147  priests  in  all, 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

with  195  chnrches,  6  religious  orders  of 
men,  14  of  women,  5  asylums  and  pro- 
tectorates, 10  female  academies  and 
boarding-schools. — In  that  of  La  Crosse 
are  71  priests  and  21  seminarians,  119 
churches  with  5  chapels,  a  college  with 
80  students,  an  academy  for  young 
ladies  with  90  pupils,  100  parochial 
schools  with  4,700  pupils,  and  an 
Indian  Catholic  population  of  1,500. — 
In  the  diocese  of  Marquette  and  Sault 
Sainte-Marie  are  36  churches  with  6 
chapels,  32  priests,  6  female  convents, 
3  academies  for  young  ladies,  1,200 
pupils  in  the  parochial  schools,  and 
about  2,000  Cathohc  Indians  and  half- 
breeds. — In  the  vicariate-apostolic  of 
Northern  Minnesota  are  56  priests  and 
7  seminarians,  73  churches  and  6  chapels, 
a  monastery,  8  convents,  a  seminary,  a 
college,  an  academy  for  young  ladies, 
and  1,500  Catholic  Indians. — In  that  of 
Dakota  are  45  priests  and  9  seminari- 
ans, 82  churches,  4  convents,  4  young 
ladies'  academies,  12  parochial  schools 
with  710  pupils,  6  Indian  schools  with 
270  pupils. 

The  Province  of  St.  Louis.— In  1876, 
August  27,  the  Catholics  of  St.  Louis 
celebrated  the  centennial  anniversary 
of  the  foundation  of  their  cathedral 
church.  We  left  Bishop  Dubourg  in 
the  city  with  two  priests.  He  soon 
afterwards  obtained  a  colony  of  Jesuits 
under  Father  Charles  Van  Quicken- 
borne,  who  founded  a  novitiate  at 
Florissant,  a  church  at  St.  Charles,  and 
a  little  later  the  university  in  St.  Louis. 
The  Jesuits  with  the  Lazarists  formed 
two  nurseries  of  learned  and  apostolic 
men.  In  1827  St.  Louis  became  an 
episcopal  see  embracing  Missouri, 
Western  Illinois,  Arkansas,  and  the 
then  Western  Territory  to  the  Pacific. 
Bishop  Rosati  called  in  the  Ladies  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  and  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph.  In  1841  Right  Rev.  Peter  R. 
Kenrick  took  charge  of  the  diocese. 
St.  Louis  became  thenceforward  for  the 
regions  beyond  the  Mississippi  as  active 
an  intellectual,  religious,  and  civilizing 
centre  as  Cincinnati  was  for  the  region 
between  the  Alleghanies,  the  Ohio,  and 
the  Great  Lakes.  From  St.  Louis  the 
Jesuits  planned  and  extended  the  mis- 
sionary excursions  which  brought  so 
many  of  the  Indian  tribes  on  both  sides 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  into  the  pale 
of  the  Church,  and  which  would  have 
kept  them  in  peace,  while  advancing  in 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


915 


the  arts  of  civilized  life,  if  General 
Grant's  baneful  administration  had  not 
interfered  with  their  advancement., 
When  the  civil  war  began  the  diocese 
of  St.  Louis,  after  having  been  parti- 
tioned into  so  many  others,  still  con- 
tained 70  churches  with  120  priests.  At 
St.  Louis,  Florissant,  Cape  Girardeau, 
St.  Charles,  Carondelet,  Weston,  St. 
Genevieve,  St.  Joseph,  Washington,  and 
New  Westphalia  were  great  institu- 
tions, nurseries  for  the  apostolate  of 
education  and  charity.  The  calamities 
of  the  great  war  checked  without  alto- 
gether stopping  all  this  moral  progress. 
In  1868  the  northwestern  portion  of 
Missouri  was  erected  into  the  diocese 
of  St.  Joseph.  In  1876  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  numbered  150,000  Catholics.  The 
coadjutor  bishop,  Patrick  John  Ryan, 
contributed  not  a  little  to  the  progress 
of  intellectual  culture  and  the  spread  of 
piety,  because  himself  a  true  priest  as 
well  as  a  distinguished  scholar  and  elo- 
quent pulpit  orator.  In  1884,  as  these 
lines  are  written,  the  telegraph  brings 
the  news  of  his  promotion  to  the  see  of 
Philadelphia.  The  venerable  Archbi- 
shop Kenrick  meanwhile  has  the  con- 
solation of  seeing  the  200,000  Catholics 
composing  his  tlock  in  possession  of 
260  priests,  40  seminarians,  1,295  re- 
ligious of  both  sexes,  193  churches,  23 
chapels,  6  monasteries,  91  conventual 
houses,  a  seminary,  4  colleges  with  760 
pupils,  15  female  academies  with  901 
pupils,  88  parochial  schools  for  both 
sexes  with  an  average  attendance  of 
23,527,  4  industrial  schools  and  reform- 
atories with  450  inmates,  5  orphanages, 
6  hospitals,  4  asylums. — Of  the  five 
suffragan  sees,  Davenport  and  Dubuque 
are  in  Iowa;  Leavenworth  in  Kansas; 
Kansas  City  and  St.  Joseph  in  Missouri ; 
besides  these,  there  is  the  vicariate- 
apostolic  of  Nebraska.  The  sees  of 
Kansas  City  and  St.  Joseph  are  united 
at  present  under  Right  Rev.  John 
Joseph  Hogan,  titular  bishop  of  the 
former.  Their  aggregate  Catholic  popu- 
lation is  40,000,  with  74  priests,  75 
churches,  60  missionary  stations,  2 
monasteries,  15  convents  with  female 
academies  and  schools,  a  college,  and 
5  parochial  schools  under  lay  teach- 
ers.— In  Iowa,  Davenport,  erected  iu 
1881,  has  already  a  Catholic  population 
of  40,000,  with  84  priests,  21  ecclesi- 
astical students,  and  120  churches. 
Dubuque,  created  in  1837,  has  a  Catho- 


916        CATHOLIC  CHUKCH 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


lie  population  of  60,000,  140  secular 
priests  and  7  regulars,  430  members  of 
religious  orders,  a  seminary  with  40 
seminarians,  145  churches,  90  chapels, 
a  monastery,  20  convents,  a  college,  8 
academies  for  young  ladies  with  1,080 
pupils,  54  parochial  schools,  with  a 
total  aggregate  of  7,611  in  all  educa- 
tional establishments. — The  diocese  of 
Leavenworth  would  deserve  a  more 
lengthy  notice.  The  Second  Council 
of  Baltimore,  in  1833,  asked  and  ob- 
tained from  the  Holy  See  that  the 
Indian  missions  should  be  assigned  to 
the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  Jesuits,  in 
consequence,  entered  with  ardor  on  the 
labor  of  evangelizing  them ;  but  the 
civil  and  military  administrations  and 
the  Jealousy  of  the  Protestant  sects 
thwarted  all  their  designs  for  systematic 
work.  In  1850  these  missions,  which 
had  till  then  been  under  the  see  of  St. 
Louis,  were  made  a  vicariate-apostolic 
under  the  Jesuit  missionary  Eight  Eev. 
J.  B.  Miege.  The  Indian  Catholics  at 
the  time  numbered,  it  was  thought, 
over  5,000.  Soon  the  Indian  Territory 
was  invaded  by  a  white  population, 
most  hostile  to  Catholics.  Bishop 
Mi6ge  called  in  the  Benedictines  to 
help  him.  Irish  and  Catholic  German 
emigrants  also  formed  settlements. 
Churches  and  schools  arose.  The  ad- 
mission of  Kansas  as  a  State  was  the 
occasion  of  sanguinary  struggles.  Then 
came  the  civil  war.  From  1860  to 
1863  the  churches  in  the  diocese  in- 
creased from  16  to  25.  Some  of  the 
Indians — the  Potawatamies  —  became 
citizens  and  farmers;  the  Osages  re- 
fused to  give  up  their  tribal  organization, 
and  with  others  were  removed  to  the 
Indian  Territory.  This  was  a  sad  blow 
to  the  missions,  as  settlers  occupied  the 
lands  thus  vacated.  In  1875  Bishop 
Hi^ge  resigned,  leaving  the  former 
mission  territory  a  State  of  the  Union, 
with  40,000  Catholics,  59  priests,  78 
churches  and  chapels.  In  1877  the  see 
of  Leavenworth  was  created,  with  the 
Benedictine  Dom  Louis  M.  Fink  as 
bishop.  The  Indians  had  dwindled  to 
a  few  hundred.  In  1883  the  Catholic 
population  numbers  80,000,  with  99 
priests  and  24  seminarians,  with  164 
churches  and  chapels,  3  colleges,  3  aca- 
demies, 35  parochial  schools  and  some 
3,500  scholars.  —The  vicariate-apostolic 
of  Nebraska  is  a  part  of  the  former 
"  Indian  Territory  "  east  of  the  Rocky 


Mountains,  and  was,  therefore,  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  Bishop  Mi6ge.  In 
1855  a  Catholic  Church  was  built  at 
Omaha  before  any  Protestant  congrega- 
tion had  been  formed.  In  1857  the 
Holy  See  made  it  a  separate  vicariate, 
joining  to  it  Dakota,  Montana,  and 
Wyoming.  In  1859  Right  Rev.  James 
O'Gorman  was  appointed  over  it  in 
place  of  Dr.  Mi^ge.  In  1868  Montana 
was  made  a  distinct  vicariate ;  but  re- 
mained till  1879  under  Dr.  O'Gorman. 
Right  Rev.  Bishop  O'Connor,  his  suc- 
cessor, has  in  his  vicariate  53,240  Catho- 
lics, 73  priests,  22  ecclesiastical  students, 
a  Jesuit  college  with  220  pupils,  6  aca- 
demies with  310  pupils,  17  parochial 
schools  with  1,305  pupils. — The  vicari- 
ate-apostolic of  Montana,  created  1883, 
has  about  10,000  Catholics,  a  great 
portion  of  whom  are  Indians,  under  the 
care  of  the  Jesuits — Pend  d'Oreilles 
and  Flatheads — with  boarding-schools 
and  day-schools.  There  are  17  priests, 
19  churches  and  chapels,  3  academies, 
4  parochial  schools. — In  the  vicariate- 
apostolic  of  Northern  Minnesota,  as 
well  as  in  the  present  Indian  Territory, 
the  Benedictines  have  entered  into  the 
inheritance  of  the  devoted  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries. The  sons  of  St.  Benedict 
have  founded  in  Stearns  County,  in 
Northern  Minnesota,  a  flourishing  mon- 
astery of  their  order  together  with  St. 
John's  University,  which  already  counts 
19  seminarians,  153  students,  with  a 
staif  of  21  professors.  Connected  with 
these  nurseries  of  learning  and  the 
apostolic  spirit  is  St.  Benedict's  Con- 
vent and  Female  Academy,  directed  by 
Benedictine  Nuns,  who  already  number 
in  their  community  155  members,  count- 
ing professed,  novices,  postulants,  etc. 
On  this  mother-house  16  other  establish- 
ments depend.  In  the  academy,  the  two 
select  schools,  11  district  schools,  and  9 
parochial  schools  the  Sisters  educate 
about  2,000  pupils.  Besides  the  33  Bene- 
dictine priests  at  work  in  the  vicariate 
there  are  23  secular  priests  on  the 
mission,  with  a  white  Catholic  popula- 
tion of  30,000  souls  and  1,500  Catholic 
Indians. — While  the  Minnesota  vicariate 
is  thus  zealously  cultivated  by  the 
German  Benedictines  under  the  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  Seidenbush,  O.S.B,,  the 
Indian  Territory  has  been  intrusted  to 
the  French  Benedictines  of  the  Primi- 
tive Observance,  who,  under  Right 
Rev.  Isidore  Robot,  minister  to  3,180 


OATHOLIO  CHURCH 

Catholic  Indians  and  600  white  Catho- 
lics. 

The  Pacific  States. — Passing  west- 
ward to  the  Pacific,  we  come  upon  a 
field  of  modem  missionary  labor  which 
recalls  the  venerated  names  of  men 
most  of  whom  have,  not  long  since, 
passed  to  their  reward,  leaving  a  few 
survivors  behind  as  links  between  two 
successive  eras.  Catholic  Iroquois  In- 
dians from  Montreal  were  the  first  to 
make  the  faith  known  to  the  idolatrous 
Indian  tribes  of  Idaho,  during  the  first 
half  of  the  present  century.  In  1830 
some  Flatheads  came  to  St.  Louis  to 
seek  for  missionaries,  dying  there  after 
having  received  baptism.  In  1832  one 
of  these  same  Catholic  Iroquois  set  out 
for  St.  Louis  to  renew  the  demand 
for  missionaries,  was  killed  by  the 
Sioux  on  iiis  return,  giving  his  blood  as 
the  seed  of  a  new  and  plentiful  harvest 
of  souls.  In  1839  two  other  Iroquois, 
undismayed  by  the  fate  of  their  brother, 
appeared  on  the  same  errand  at  St. 
Louis.  Bishop  Rosati  welcomed  them, 
confirmed  them,  and  sent  them  away 
with  a  promise  soon  to  be  fulfilled.  In 
1840  the  Jesuit  Peter  John  de  Sraet,  a 
Belgian,  set  out  for  the  Flathead  terri- 
tory, where  he  soon  had  600  Christian 
converts  among  the  tribesmen  and  their 
neighbors,  the  Pend  d'Oreilles.  He  and 
his  companions,  the  Frenchman  Nicolas 
Point  and  the  Italian  Gregory  Men- 
garini,  are  the  parents  of  the  Indian 
church  in  these  then  inaccessible 
regions.  The  work  progressed,  the 
harvest  increased  wonderfully,  and  in 
1843  the  indefatigable  De  Smet  arrived 
from  Belgium,  after  passing  round  Cape 
Horn,  and  landed  at  Vancouver  with 
Fathers  Accolti,  Nobili,  Ravalli,  Yer- 
cruysse,  and  Huybrechts,  accompanied 
by  a  colony  of  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame. 
In  Idaho,  as  well  as  in  the  adjoining 
territories  of  Montana  and  Minnesota, 
De  Smet's  untiring  zeal  thenceforward 
kept  the  good  work  progressing.  In 
1868  Idaho  was  created  a  vicariate.  At 
the  latest  date  it  had  a  total  Catholic 
population  of  2,300,  with  5  Jesuit 
priests  and  2  seculars,  with  an  aca- 
demy, a  boarding-school,  and  2  day- 
schools  for  Indian  children. — The  his- 
tory of  the  Church  in  Oregon  cannot 
be  separated  from  that  of  Idaho.  The 
mission  of  Oregon  was  erected  in  1838 
by  the  then  Bishop  of  Quebec,  who 
sent  Very  Rev.   F.   N.   Blanchet  and 


m  THE  U.  S. 


917 


Rev.  Modest  Demers  to  take  charge  of 
it.  November  25,  in  that  year,  the  first 
solemn  Mass  of  thanksgiving  was  offered 
up  at  Fort  Vancouver.  In  1842  the 
Revs.  Antoine  Langlois  and  Jean  Bap- 
tiste  Bolduc  came  from  Quebec  round 
Cape  Horn  to  join  the  missionaries. — 
Oregox  was  created  a  vicariate-apostolic 
in  1843;  in  1846  it  was  made  an  ecclesi- 
astical province  with  the  metropolitan 
see  at  Oregon  City,  and  suffragans  at 
Walla  Walla  and  Vancouver's  Island. 
Jesuits,  Oblates,  secular  priests,  Sisters 
of  Notre  Dame  and  of  the  Holy  Names, 
and  the  Sisters  of  Providence  came  to 
labor  in  the  distant  field.  In  1862  the 
archbishop  changed  his  residence  to 
Portland.  In  1850  the  district  of 
Nesqually  was  made  a  diocese,  and  to 
this  the  bishop  of  AValla  Walla  was 
transferred.  In  1883  the  archdiocese 
contained  a  Catholic  population  of 
10,000,  with  29  priests,  25  churches  and 
chapels,  71  sisters,  and  10  female 
schools.  That  of  Nesqually,  with  a 
Catholic  population  of  about  13,000, 
has  23  priests,  30  churches  and  chapels, 
65  Sisters  of  Charity,  2  colleges,  7 
schools  for  boys  and  8  for  girls. — The 
diocese  of  Vancouver's  Island,  which 
also  comprises  the  Territory  of  Alaska, 
has  a  Catholic  population  of  5,400,  with 
11  priests,  male  and  female  schools 
under  the  Sisters  of  St.  Ann,  and  a 
college. 

In  the  ecclesiastical  province  of  San 
Francisco  the  first  missionaries  (1601) 
were  Carmelite  monks.  In  1642  the 
Jesuits  began  their  labors  in  Lower  or 
Southern  California.  They  were  suc- 
ceeded, at  the  suppression  of  their 
Society,  by  the  Franciscans.  The 
superior  of  the  latter,  the  celebrated 
Father  Juniper  Serra,  founded  a  mis- 
sion at  San  Diego  in  1769,  and  at  Mon- 
terey in  1770;  at  San  Antonio  in  1771, 
at  Mount  Carmel,  San  Gabriel,  and  San 
Luis  Obispo  in  1772.  On  June  27, 
1776,  was  founded  the  mission  of  San 
Francisco,  and  on  January  6,  the  next 
year,  that  of  Santa  Clara.  "At  each 
of  these  missions,"  says  Dr.  Shea,  "a 
fine  church  and  buildings  were  erected ; 
the  Indians  were  collected,  instructed, 
and  baptized.  They  were  trained  to 
agriculture  and  the  various  trades,  and 
became  industrious  and  skilful.  Each 
mission  was  a  little  community,  man- 
aged by  the  missionaries,  who,  remain- 
ing poor    themselves,   prepared    their 


918 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


IN  THE  U.  S. 


converts  to  be  self-supporting,  and  made 
their  tribe  rich  in  well-cultivated  and 
well-stocked  farms.  Father  Serra  died 
in  August,  1774,  leaving  10,000  Catholic 
Indians  in  his  missions.  A  fund  created 
under  tlie  Jesuits,  by  generous  bene- 
factors, and  known  as  the  Pious  Fund  of 
California,  helped  Serra  and  his  brethren 
to  carry  out  their  missionary  work. 
Fathers  Francis  Palon  and  Lazven  took 
up  and  extended  it  down  to  1803,  when 
the  last  named  died.  The  revolutionary 
period  in  France  and  Spain  gave  up 
Mexico  to  the  government  of  irreligious 
men,  who  thwarted  or  stopped  altogether 
the  labor  of  the  missionaries.  In  1833  a 
decree  of  the  Mexican  Cortes  dissolved 
the  missions  ;  their  property  was  seized 
by  the  revolutionary  leaders  in  California, 
and  the  missionaries  were,  literally,  left 
to  starve.  In  1840  the  Two  Californias 
were  erected  into  a  diocese  under  Father 
Francisco  Garcia-Diego  as  bishop.  He 
had  his  residence  at  Santa  Burbara.  He 
found  the  Catholic  Indians  reduced  from 
30,000  to  4,000.  In  1844,  the  revenues 
of  the  Pious  Fund  being  withheld  by  the 
Mexican  government,  Bishop  Garcia- 
Diego  obtained  a  grant  of  35,000  acres  of 
land,  enabling  him  to  establish  a  college 
at  Santa  Inez.  In  1848,  in  consequence 
of  the  discovery  of  gold,  California,  now 
ceded  to  the  United  States,  was  overrun 
by  im?nigrants.  There  was  no  chapel 
within  three  miles  of  San  Francisco. 
From  Oi-egon  came  the  Canadians,  Revs. 
J.  B.  Brouillet  andE.  Langlois,  with  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  Accolti  and  Nobili.  A 
lot  of  land  with  a  shanty  was  purchased 
by  subscription  witliin  the  present  limits 
ofthe  city.  This  poor  wooden  building 
was  the  first  church  edifice  in  San 
Francisco  ;  in  it  the  first  Mass  was  cele- 
brated June  17,  1849.  Mr.  Langlois  was 
appointed  vicar-general,  and  with  his 
companion  attended  to  the  spiritual 
wants  of  the  ever-increasing  crowd  of 
Catholics.  In  1850  the  Very  Rev.  Joseph 
S.  Alemany,  O.P.,  at  the  time  provincial 
of  the  Dominicans  in  Ohio,  was  appointed 
Bishop  of  Monterey.  With  him  came 
the  Friars  Preachers  and  Dominican 
Nuns.  Soon  afterwards  arrived  the 
Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  the  Presentation 
Nuns,  and  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  from 
Ireland  (1854).  In  1853  the  southern 
part  of  the  State  became  the  diocese  of 
Monterey  ;  a  new  see  being  created  at 
San  Francisco,  to  which  Dr.  Alemany 
was  promoted  with  the  rank  of  arch- 
bishop.— In  1861  tlie  northern  part  of 
the  State  v/as  erected  into  the  vicariate- 
apostolic  of  Marysville  ;  in  1868  it  be- 
came the  diocese  of  Grass  Valley.     In 


1883  the  diocese  of  San  Francisco  had  a 
Catholic  population  of  about  200,  OCK), 
with  128  churches,  25  chapels  and  sta-- 
tions,  75  regular  and  100  secular  priests, 
a  seminary,  6  colleges,  18  academies,  and 
a  generous  proportion  of  charitable  insti- 
tutions. The  diocese  of  Grass  Valley 
has  31  priests,  35  churcRes,  a  Catholic 
population  of  from  7,000  to  10,000,  with 
numerous  and  prosperous  literary  insti- 
tutions.— In  the  diocese  of  Monterey  and 
Los  Angeles  the  increase  of  Catholicism 
has  been  no  less  consoling.  There  are 
34  churclies,  16  chapels  and  36  stations, 
47  priests,  2  flourishing  literary  institu- 
tions, parochial  tschools,  convents,  orphan- 
ages, a  Catholic  population  of  28,000,  of 
whom  3,500  are  Indians. 

Following  again  eastward  the  great 
southern  path  of  travel  toward  the  At- 
lantic, we  traverse  two  vicariates-apostolic 
and  an  ecclesiastical  province  formed  out 
of  another  portion  of  the  old  Catholic 
missionary  field.  The  vicariate-apostolic 
of  Arizona  embraces  many  of  the  mis- 
sions which  had  risen  to  such  a  pitch  of 
prosperity  under  the  Jesuits  previous  to 
their  suppression,  some  of  their  beautiful 
churches  still  standing  desolate  in  the 
wilderness.  The  country  is  now  evan- 
gelized by  16  priests,  aided  by  45  nuns  ; 
there  are  some  35  churches  and  chapels, 
7  convents,  6  academies,  6  parish  schools, 
2  hospil;als,  a  total  Catholic  population 
of  31,000,  1,000  of  whom  are  Indians. 
At  Isleta  a  little  band  of  three  Jesuits 
are  laboring  to  build  up  a  small  corner  of 
the  vast  ruin  caused  by  the  Spanish 
statesmen  of  the  last  century.  Further 
eastward,  in  the  vicariate-apostolic  of 
Colorado,  is  a  Catholic  population  of 
about  46,000,  under  a  bishop  who  has 
spent  his  life  there.  He  has  some  43 
priests,  32  churches  and  50  chapels,  and 
6  convents.  There  are  6  academies  for 
young  ladies  with  500  pupils,  17  parochial 
schools  with  1,150  pupils,  and  6  hospitals. 

New  Mexico,  at  whose  early  missions 
and  martyrs  we  glanced  while  describing 
the  Colonial  Period,  had  in  1645  no  less 
than  25  missions  among  the  Irdian 
pueblos,  without  counting  the  churches 
belonging  to  the  Spanish  settlements. 
An  unwise  rigor  employed  in  suppressing 
by  open  force  certain  inveterate  pagan 
superstitions,  and  acts  of  injustice  and 
oppression  committed  by  the  Spanish 
officials,  caused  a  genei-al  uprising  of 
the  Indians  in  1680.  Twenty-one  mis- 
sionaries and  lay  brothers  were  massacred, 
and  the  surviving  Spaniards  abandoned 
the  province  ;  the  convents  and  churches 
having  been  burned  to  the  ground,  and 
all  outward  signs  of  the  Christian  religion 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  THE  U.  S. 

blotted  out.  In  1692  the  country  was 
reconquered,  the  Spaniards  returned,  and 
the  missions  were  in  part  restored.  In 
1798  the  Franciscans  had  there  18  fathers 
with  24  missions.  In  1805  there  were  26 
fathers  and  30  missions.  With  the  Mex- 
ican Revolution  came  decline,  neglect, 
and  the  death  of  religion.  In  1850  New 
Mexico,  having  become  a  territory  of  the 
United  States,  was  created  a  vicariate- 
apostolic.  Under  the  administration  of 
General  Grant  the  labors  of  our  mission- 
aries among  the  Indians  of  New  Mexico, 
as  elsevvliere,  were  sadly  thwarted  by  the 
government  policy.  The  pueblo  schools 
were  neglected,  the  missions  given  over, 
first  to  a  sect  called  Christians,  and  then 
to  the  Presbyterians.  We  have  just 
sketched  the  condition  of  Arizona  and 
Colorado.  In  the  archdiocese  of  Santa 
Fe,  established  in  1850,  there  is  a  Catho- 
lic population  of  126,000,  with  34  parish 
churches  and  203  chapels  regularly  at- 
tended,' 56  priests,  6  convents,  4  colleges, 
and  12,000  Pueblo  Indians.  The  Jesuits 
have  sent  thither  a  numerous  colony  of 
able  men,  who  have  founded  Las  Vegas 
College,  publish  the  Revista  Gntolica; 
have,  besides,  a  select  family  school  at 
Albuquerque  and  a  flourishing  mission  at 
La  Junta.  The  Sisters  of  Loretto  have 
a  convent  and  academy  at  Santa  F6,  with 
5  well-attended  schools  in  the  pueblos  ; 
the  Sisters  of  Charity  and  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy  have  also  schools  and  institutions 
of  beneficence.  There  are  two  large 
scliools  under  the  Christian  Brothers  ; 
and  a  very  favorable  opening  now  pre- 
sents itself  for  missionary  work  among 
the  Apache  Indians. — The  great  State  of 
Texas  "ought  with  time  to  see  within  its 
borders  one  of  the  most  glorious  ecclesi- 
astical provinces  in  the  United  States,  if 
the  hemic  self-sacrifice  of  its  early  mis- 
sionaries, and  the  scarcely  less  heroic 
devotion  of  those  of  the  present  century, 
afford  ground  to  prognosticate  of  the 
future.  In  1685  La  Salle,  passing  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  landed  at 
Matagorda  Bay,  and  there  built  Fort 
St.  Louis.  Two  Sulpicians  and  three 
Recollects  were  with  him.  One  of  each 
order  accompanied  La  Salle  in  January, 
1687,  when  he  set  out  to  explore  the  in- 
terior. They  never  returned.  The  others 
with  the  party  left  behind  in  the  fort 
were  soon  afterward  massacred  by  the 
Indians.  Conspicuous  among  the  JPran- 
ciscan  missicmaries  who  subsequently 
aided  in  colonizing  Texas  and  Christian- 
izing its  native  tribes  was  the  saintly 
Father  Antonio  Margil,  who  in  1715 
came  with  4  fathers  and  3  lay  brothers  of 
his  order,  from  the  missionary  college  of 


CHRISTEN. 


919 


Guadalupe,  together  with  5  others  from 
Queretaro.  They  settled  on  the  Salinas, 
a  branch  of  the  Rio  Grande.  Amid  much 
hardship  he  succeeded  in  founding  7 
missions,  which  were  soon  broken  up  by 
a  war  with  France.  Several  missions 
perished  by  sword  and  fire.  About  1730 
the  mission  of  San  Antonio,  which  had  a 
fine  church,  with  a  parish,  became  a 
centre  around  which  other  missions  were 
grouped.  Among  the  Apaches  also  mis- 
sions were  founded.  But  the  misconduct, 
of  the  Spanish  officers  caused  the  Apaches 
to  abandon  them.  In  1758  there  was  a 
massacre  of  the  missionaries.  Good  and 
ill  success  alternated  down  to  1794,  when 
the  missions  were  secularized,  in  lb29 
the  establishment  of  Mexican  indepen- 
dence attracted  to  Nueces  soTne  Irish  colo- 
nists with  two  priests.  Then  came  the 
Texan  war  for  independence.  In  1840 
Very  Rev.  John  Timon,  a  Lazarist,  was 
appointed  vicar-apostolic,  tie  sent  his 
subordinate.  Rev.  John  Odin,  to  Texas 
in  his  place,  and  joined  him  in  December 
of  that  year.  He  visited  all  the  old  mis- 
sion sites,  collecting  the  Catholics,  and 
securing  ground  for  building  churches. 
To  the  Texan  Legislature  he  also  applied 
himself,  demanding,  and  not  without 
success,  the  restoration  of  the  former 
property  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Odin  became  vicar-apostolic  of 
Texas  in  1842,  and  fixed  his  residence  at 
San  Antonio.  He  had  then  four  priests 
in  all  Texas.  In  1861,  on  his  promotion 
to  New  Orleans,  he  had  29  secular  priests, 
13  religious,  50  churches,  a  college,  4 
academies,  and  several  schools.  In  1847 
the  vicar-apostolic  of  Texas  became  Bish- 
op of  Galveston.  In  1873  the  diocese 
was  divided  by  the  erection  of  the  see  of 
San  Antonio.  At  the  present  writing 
the  Bishop  of  Galveston  is  aided  in  his 
labor  by  43  priests.  The  diocese  has  a 
Catholic  population  of  35,000,  with  50 
churches  and  chapels,  12  academies  for 
young  ladies,  1  college,  and  2  charitable 
institutions.  The  diocese  of  San  Antonio 
has  a  Catholic  population  of  56,000,  with 
46  priests,  50  churches  and  8  chapels,  8 
female  academies.  2  colleges,  and  25  pa- 
rochial schools.  The  vicariate-apostolic  of 
Brownsville,  with  a  Mexican  population 
of  37,500,  has  only  2,500  Catholics  be- 
longing to  other  nationalities.  The  Ob- 
late Fathers  have  a  college  at  Brownsville. 
The  Ursulines,  Sisters  of  Mercy,  and 
Sisters  of  the  Incarnate  Word  have  also 
academies  and  schools  There  are  12 
cl)urches,  12  chapels,  and  21  priests. 

OHBISTBN.  This  word,  familiarly 
used  instead  of  baptize,  is  derived  pro- 
bably from  the  fact  that  m  baptism  the 


920 


CONCELEBRATION. 


child  is  made  a  member  of  Christ's 
Church  and  receives  his  Christian  name. 

CONOELEBRATION.  Under  the 
head  of  Eucharist  and  the  subdivision 
ministraiion,  it  will  be  found  that  in  early 
days  the  bishop  in  conjunction  with  his 
presbytery  celebi-ated  Mass.  Until  about 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  it 
was  customary  for  several  priests  to  unite 
in  offering  the  same  Mass,  concelebrate, 
on  the  more  solemn  festivals  of  the  year. 
The  custom  still  prevails  in  the  Oriental 
Churches,  but  the  oidy  vestige  of  it  in 
the  Latin  Church  is  found  in  the  Masses 
said  by  priests  on  the  day  of  their  ordi- 
nation and  by  bishops  on  the  day  of  their 
consecration.  The  whole  subject  is  dis- 
cussed in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  Fa- 
ther O'Brien's  "  History  of  the  Mass." 

CRUCIFIX,  JANSENISTIC.  Even 
in  symbolic  art  Jansenism  expressed  its 
false  doctrine.  Jansenistic  crucifixes  are 
those  in  which  the  arras  of  our  Lord  are 
only  partially  extended,  or  thrown  up- 
wards, Jansenism  teaching  that  Christ 
did  not  die  for  all,  but  only  for  the  good. 

DEO  GRATIAS.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  Epistle  in  the  Mass  the  server 
says  and  the  choir  sings  "  Deo  gratias," 
Thanks  be  to  God,  as  an  evidence  of  the 
gratitude  we  owe  God  for  the  spiritual 
nourishment  of  His  sacred  words.  It  is 
also  the  response  to  the  •'  Ite,  missa  est," 
and  is  said  or  sung  after  the  Gospel  of 
St.  John.  In  ancient  times  it  was  one  of 
the  principal  salutations  among  Chris- 
tians when  thev  met. 

DIAOONATB  OR  DEACON- 
SHIP.  The  office  or  rank  of  a  deacon, 
diaconus  being  the  Latin  for  deacon. 

DOM.  A  title  applied  to  the  Bene- 
dictine monks,  as  Dom  Gueranger,  etc. 
It  is  a  contraction  of  dominus,  first  ap- 
plied to  the  pope,  latterly  to  bishops, 
and  finally  to  monks  of  various  orders. 
Benedictine  nuns  were  similarly  called 
Domna,  whence  the  modern  dame. 

.  ECCLESIASTIC.  A  person  hold- 
ing any  office  in  the  sacred  mhiistry  of 
the  Church  {ecdesia). 

GAUDETE  SUNDAY.  The  third 
Sunday  of  Advent,  so  called  from  the 
first  word  of  the  Introit,  Gaudete,  **  re- 
joice." On  this  day  cardinals  are  re- 
quired to  wear  paie-rose  dresses. 

INVOCABIT  SUNDAY.  The  first 
Sunday  of  Lent,  so  called  from  the  first 
word  of  the  Inti-oit. 

LADY-DAY.  The  feast  of  the  An- 
nunciation (q.  V.) 

LAMMAS-DAY.  This  name  ap- 
plied to  the  feast  of  St.  Peter  in  Chains, 
August  1,  is  by  some  supposed  to  be  de- 
rived from  an  Anglo-Saxon  word  sig- 


MONSTRANCE. 

nifying  "contribution,"  Brande  says  : 
"Some  suppose  it  is  called  Lammas-day, 
gtiasi  lamb-masse,  because  on  that  day 
the  tenants  that  held  lands  of  the  Ca- 
thedral Church  at  York  were  bound  by 
their  tenure  to  bring  a  live  Iamb  into  the 
church  at  High  Mass  on  that  day."  It 
seems  rather  to  be  from  hlaef-messe, 
"loaf-Mass,"  the  Saxons  making  offer- 
ings of  loaves  of  new  wheat  on  the  feast. 

LECTERN,  LECTURN,  OR 
LETTERN.  The  reading-desk,  called 
also  pulpitum  or  ambo  (q.  v.),  but  most 
frequently  ledorum.  It  was  made  of 
wood,  stone,  or  metal,  often  in  the  shape 
of  an  eagle,  whose  outspread  wings 
formed  the  stand  for  the  volume  to  rest 
upon. 

LUNETTE.  A  circular  crystal  case, 
fitting  into  an  apeiture  in  the  mon- 
strance, in  w^hich  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
is  placed  for  exposition. 

MADONNA  [Italian,  "My  Lady"]. 
A  name  given  to  representations  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  in  art,  and  occasionally 
used  as  an  invocation  in  devotions  to  her. 

MAUNDY  THURSDAY  [Adden- 
dum]. The  name  of  Maundy,  Maun  day, 
or  Mandate,  is  also  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  the  maunds,  or  baskets  of  gifts, 
which  it  was  an  ancient  custom  of  Chris- 
tians to  present  one  to  another,  in  token 
of  the  mutual  affection  which  our  Lord 
urged,  and  as  a  remembrancer  of  Christ's 
inestimable  gift  of  His  precious  body  and 
blood. 

MINOR  ORDERS.  The  inferior 
ranks  of  the  sacred  ministry — door-keep- 
ers, lectors,  exorcists,  and  acolytes — are 
said  to  be  in  minor  orders.  In  the  Greek 
Church  there  are  only  two  minor  orders, 
lector  and  subdeacon.  Originally,  when 
a  man  became  a  clerk,  he  was  irrevocably 
attached  to  the  service  of  the  Church 
(Con.  Chalced.,  can.  7),  but  since  the 
thirteenth  century  the  Latin  Church  al- 
lows simple  clerks,  below  the  dignity  of 
subdeacon,  to  quit  the  ecclesiastical  pro- 
fession if  they  so  desire. 

MONSTRANCE.  From  the  Latin 
monstrare,  "to  show%"  the  vessel  in  which 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  exposed  at 
benediction  or  carried  in  procession.  It 
has  a  large  stem  and  base  like  a  chalice, 
and  the  upper  portion  is  generally- 
fashioned  to  represent  rays  issuing  from 
the  host  as  a  central  sun.  At  first,  and 
even  now,  it  was  constructed  like  the 
turrets  in  which  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
was  anciently  exposed,  and  various  other 
designs  are  employed.  When  Fenelon  s 
quietism  was  condemned  by  the  Holy 
See  he  had  a  splendid  ostensorium  made, 
the    lower    part    of    which    represented 


NAVE. 

angels  trampling  on  bad  books,  one  of 
which  bore  the  title  of  Feneion's  own 
work,  "Maxims  of  the  Saints."  The 
origin  of  the  monstrance  is  traced  back 
to  the  institution  of  the  festival  of  Cor- 
pus Christi  (q.  v.)  It  is  also  called  Os- 
TENSOBiUM,  from  the  Latin  ostendere,  and 
often,  incorrectly,  Remonstrance. 

NAVE.  That  portion  of  the  Church 
reserved  for  the  laity.  Though  the  name 
is  said  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
comparison  of  a  church  to  a  ship  [See 
Church],  and  the  use  of  the  correspond- 
ing words  in  Prencli  and  other  languages 
seem  to  justify  this  derivation,  yet  many 
make  it  to  be  from  va6<i,  a  temple.  It 
was  variously  called  oratorium  laicii, 
kHKX.rj6ia,  and  quadratum  populi.  In 
English  it  was  sometimes  called  nef. 

OBLATE  SISTERS  [Colored]. 
This  order  of  colored  nuns  was  founded 
on  June  5,  1829,  with  the  approval  of 
Archbishop  Whitfield,  of  Baltimore,  by 
Father  Joubert,  a  native  of  France,  born 
in  1777  and  emigrated  with  his  family 
to  San  Domingo  in  1801 ;  he  came  to 
Baltimore  in  1804  atid  joined  the  Sulpi- 
eiaiis.  To  overcome  a  feeling  of  re- 
venge occasioned  by  the  murder  of  his 
parents  by  the  negroes  during  the  revolt 
in  San  Domingo,  this  pious  Sulpician 
spent  his  fortune  and  the  last  years  of  his 
life  in  founding  this  community.  On 
October  2,  1831,  the  order  was  approved 
of  by  Gregory  XVI.,  who  affiliated  them 
to  the  Oblates  of  St.  Francis  of  Rome. 
The  first  three  members  were  natives  of 
San  Domingo,  The  object  of  the  sister- 
hood is  the  spiritual  and  temporal  wel- 
fare of  the  colored  race.  They  endeavor 
to  promote  this  especially  by  educating 
colored  children  and  improving  their 
morals.  They  keep  orphans,  if  their 
means  allow.  They  visit  the  sick  also, 
as  far  as  rules  and  time  permit.  The 
St.  Louis  branch  was  established  October 
13,  1880,  by  the  Rev.  Father  Panken, 
S.J.,  with  the  approval  of  the  Most  Rev. 
P.  R.  Kenrick,  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis. 

PARISH.  In  the  fourtl;i  century 
priests  were  first  given  charge  of  particu- 
lar districts.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  parochial  system,  which,  however, 
does  not  obtain  in  the  United  States, 
where,  strictly  speaking,  a  ''  parish  "  is  a 
"  mission,"  and  a  "pastor  "a  "rector," 
and  the  bishop  is  the  only  parish  priest. 
In  countries  where  the  canons  of  the 
Church  in  this  matter  are  in  full  force  the 
parish  priest  alone  can  administer  the  sac- 
raments to  his  own  flock ;  no  other  can 
lawfully  administer  them  without  permis- 
sion. But  any  priest  may  be  authorized 
by  the  Pope  as  supreme  pastor,   or  the 


SABAOTH. 


921 


bishop  of  the  diocese,  who  has  the  rights 
of  a  pastor  in  all  parts  of  it,  to  adminis- 
ter sacraments  independently  of  the  par- 
ish priest.  The  regulars,  in  exercise  of 
privileges  given  them  by  the  Holy  See, 
hear  confessions  and  administer  the  floly 
Eucharist  in  their  churches ;  these  privi- 
leges (St.  Lig.  lib.  vi.  n.  239,  240)  do  not 
extend  to  other  sacraments  or  to  the  Eu- 
charist in  case  of  paschal  communion  or 
the  Viaticum. 

FREDELLA.  The  highest  step  of 
the  sanctuary,  on  which  the  altar  stands. 

QUADRAGESIMA.     [See  Lent.] 

QUARANTINE.  A  period  of  forty 
days.  Indulgences  of  seven  years  and 
seven  quaraiitmes  are  often  granted  for 
certain  devotions. 

QUASIMODO.  [See  Low  Sunday.] 
It  is  of  such  importance  that  no  other 
feast  is  allowed  to  be  celebrated  on  that 
day. 

QUATBR  TENSES.  An  old  En- 
glish name  for  the  Ember  Days  (q.  v.), 
and  of  the  same  significance  as  the 
Latin,  French,  and  other  names. 

REGINA  CCELI.  An  anthem  in 
honor  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  beginning 
with  these  words,  and  after  each  of  whose 
four  clauses  the  Alleluia  is  repeated, 
which  is  said  at  the  end  of  the  offices  of 
the  Breviary  during  the  Easter  season. 
Pope  Benedict  XIV.,  confirming  on  April 
20,  1743,  the  indulgences  granted  to  the 
recitation  of  the  "Angelus,"  ordered 
that  the  "Regina  Coeli"  with  its  verses 
and  prayers  should  be  said  standing,  in- 
stead, during  the  Paschal  season.  An 
ancient  tradition  relates  that  in  the  days 
of  St.  Gregory  the  Great  a  plague  broke 
out  in  Rome.  The  Pope  oi-dered  all  the 
people  to  march  in  procession,  carrying 
the  picture  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  painted 
by  St.  Luke.  As  the  crowds  went  to- 
wards St.  Peter's  and  reached  the  bridge 
across  the  Tiber,  a  multitude  of  angels 
were  seen  above  the  picture  singing^he 
first  three  lines  of  the  anthem.  The 
Pontiff  cried  out,  ' '  Ora  pro  nobis  Deum, 
Alleluia,"  completing  the  anthem,  and 
the  angel  of  the  plague  was  seen  sheath- 
ing his  sword  above  Adrian's  mausoleum, 
which  thenceforth  was  known  as  the  cas- 
tle of  Sant'  x\ngelo. 

REMINISCERE  SUNDAY.  The 
second  Sunday  of  Lent,  so  named  from 
the  first  word  of  the  Introit. 

RORATE  SUNDAY.  The  fourth 
Sunday  in  Advent,  named  from  the  word 
Rorate,  "rain  down,"  with  which  the 
Mass  begins.  '  It  is  also  called  Canite 
tuba,  the  first  words  of  the  first  response 
of  matins. 

SABAOTH.    This  word,  retained  in 


922     SANCTUARY,  RIGHT  OF. 

the  Sanctus,  is  often  confounded  with 
Sabbatli,  but  has  an  entirely  different 
signilicance,  being  from  tsdbd,  hosts. 
[See  Sanctus.] 

SANCTUARY,  THE  RIGHT  OF. 
Tliis  was  a  privilege  attached  to  certain 
places  whereby  persons  accused  of  crime 
who  Hed  thither  were  temporarily  pro- 
tected from  arrest  or  molestation  and  en- 
abled to  prepare  for  their  tlefence.  The 
Christian  Church  received  the  right  of 
as\lum  as  a  heritage  from  the  chosen 
people,  who,  from  the  earliest  times,  had 
their  cities  of  refuge.  Tlje  book  of  Deu- 
teronomy records  that  ''Moses  set  aside 
three  cities  beyond  the  Jordan  at  the 
east  side,  that  any  one  might  flee  to  them 
who  should  kill  his  neighbor  unwillingly 
and  was  not  his  enemy  a  day  or  two  be- 
fore, and  that  he  migiit  escape  to  some 
one  of  these  cities — Bosor  in  the  wilder- 
ness, which  is  situate  in  the  plains  of 
the  tribe  of  Ruben;  and  Raraoth  in  Ga- 
laad,  which  is  in  the  tribe  of  Gad;  and 
Golan  in  Basan,  which  is  in  the  tribe  of 
Manasses."  This  he  did  in  accordance 
with  the  directions  given  him  by  God,  as 
mentioned  in  the  book  of  Numbers  in 
these  words  :  "But  if  by  chance-medley, 
and  without  hatred  and  enmity,  he  do 
any  of  these  things  [strike  another  with 
iron,  stone,  wood,  or  his  iiand,  and  kill 
him],  and  this  be  proved  in  the  hearing  of 
the  people,  and  the  cause  be  debated  be- 
tween him  that  struck  and  the  next  of 
kin,  the  innocent  shall  be  delivered  from 
the  hand  of  the  revenger,  and  shall  be 
brought  back  by  sentence  into  the  city 
to  which  he  had  fled,  and  he  shall  abide 
there  until  the  death  of  the  high-priest 
that  is  anointed  with  the  holy  oil.  If 
the  murderer  be  found  withtmt  the  limits 
of  the  cities  that  are  appointed  for  the 
banished,  and  be  struck  by  him  that  is 
the  avenger  of  blood,  he  shall  not  be 
guilty  that  killed  him,  for  the  fugitive 
ought  to  have  stayed  in  the  city  until  the 
death  of  the  high-priest  ;  and  after  he  is 
dead,  then  shall  the  manslayer  return  to 
his  own  country," 

In  a  limited  sense  the  right  of  sanc- 
tuary liad  place  among  the  customs  of 
the  first  Christians.  They  referred  all 
the  difficulties  that  arose  among  them- 
selves to  the  rulers  of  the  Church,  and 
criminals  who  were  in  danger  of  detec- 
tion and  punishment  rushed  to  the  bish- 
ops for  intercession  with  those  whom  they 
had  wronged.  This  practice  of  begging 
the  clergy  to  plead  for  mercy  and  to  act 
as  the  guardians  of  the  accused  gradual- 
ly became  such  a  common  and  well-es- 
tablished custom  that  it  claimed  recogni- 
tion from  the  civil  power  and  regulation 


SANCTUARY,  RIGHT  OP 

from  canon  law.  It  began  to  be  public- 
ly acknowledged  as  a  riglit  about  the  time 
of  Constantine.  The  earliest  statute  ex- 
tant concerning  it  was  enacted  in  the 
year  893  in  the  reign  of  Theodosius  ; 
and  this  was  put  in  the  code,  not  as 
touching  a  novelty,  but  as  giving  form 
aiid  limitations  to  a  practice  already  long 
in  vogue.  That  it  had  existed  previous- 
ly is  evident  from  an  incident  related  by 
St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzen  in  his  "  Life 
of  St.  Basil,"  wherein  he  shielded  a  widow 
who  had  lied  to  the  altar  for  refuge  from 
the  pursuit  of  the  governor  of  Pontus. 
A  similar  circumstance  is  narrated  by 
Paulinus  in  his  biography  of  St.  Am- 
brose, to  the  credit  of  that  ornament  of 
the  episcopacy  ;  and  in  one  of  the  lat- 
ter's  epistles,  written  to  Valentinian  the 
Younger,  lie  declined  to  turn  over  to  the 
Arians  a  church  in  Milan,  saying  that  he 
could  not  obey,  but  would  rather  suffer 
imprisonment  or  death,  if  his  refusal 
must  be  punished,  and  that  in  this  case 
he  would  not  fly  to  the  altar  to  save  hnn- 
self  from  the  emperor's  displeasure. 

At  first  only  the  interiors  of  churches 
were  sanctuaries.  The  altar  especially 
was  sacred  ;  hence  ancient^  writers  fre- 
quently referred  to  it  as  advXvi  rpd- 
Ttn^a — the  table  from  which  no  one  could 
be  taken  away.  But  in  the  time  of  Theo- 
dosius the  boundary  of  the  refuges  was 
enlarged  and  made  to  include  all  the  sur- 
roundings of  the  church  that  were  ec- 
clesiastical propejty — the  baptisteries, 
the  dwellings  of  the  clergy,  the  gardens, 
the  cloisters,  and  the  cemeteries,  and 
also  the  statues  of  the  emperors  and  the 
imperial  standard  in  the  camp ;  and, 
later  on,  schools,  monasteries,  hospitals, 
and  crosses  erected  on  the  public  high- 
roads were  privileged  places. 

The  right  of  sanctuary  was  not  in- 
tended to  promote  the  commission  of 
crime  nor  to  protect  the  guilty  from  con- 
dign punishment.  It  was  designed  to 
save  offentlers  from  the  infliction  of  pri- 
vate vengeance,  to  offer  the  innocent  and 
the  defenceless  a  shelter  from  the  evil 
designs  of  powerful  oppressors,  to  en- 
able even  the  guilty  to  have  the  means 
to  prepare  for  trial,  and  to  afford  the 
clergy  opportunity  to  intercede  for  those 
delinquents  whom  they  judged  to  be 
worthy  of  mercy. 

The  usual  period  of  protection  ac- 
corded to  those  who  sought  refuge  in  the 
sanctuaries  was  thirty  days.  In  En- 
gland, however,  by  a  statute  passed  in 
the  reign  of  King  Alfred,  only  five  days 
were  allowed,  while  within  "the  shelter 
of  the  altar  the  refugees  were  looked 
upon  as  the  wards  of  the  Church,  which, 


SANCTUARY,  RIGHT  OF. 

even  from  the  first,  had  in  its  legislation 
the  germ  of  the  principle  that  now  ob- 
tains throughout  the  civilized  world — 
that  an  accused  party  is  to  be  supposed 
innocent  until  his  guilt  is  proved  ;  ac- 
cordingly, if  they  were  unable  to  provide 
for  their  own  support,  their  wants  were 
supplied  by  the  bishop  out  of  the  reve- 
nues he  possessed  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  poor. 

Like  all  human  institutions,  the  right 
of  sanctuary  was  liable  to  abuse,  and 
malefactors  of  high  as  well  as  of  low  de- 
gree endeavored  to  avail  themselves  of 
its  benefits  and  to  pervert  its  purposes  to 
save  themselves  from  the  consequences 
of  their  own  misdeeds.  Theodosius  the 
Great  put  a  check  on  one  class  of  rogues 
by  decreeing  that  public  debtors  should 
not  enjoy  the  privilege  of  asylum,  and 
that  it  the  clergy  concealed  any  man 
who  had  embezzled  or  squandered  the 
funds  of  the  state  the  bishop  should  be 
required  to  pay  the  full  amount  of  money 
that  had  been  misappropriated  by  the 
fugitive  from  justice.  Baronius  states 
that,  in  compliance  with  this  enactment, 
St.  Austin  was  held  responsible  for  the 
defalcation  of  one  Fastius,  who  had  fled 
to  the  altar  for  protection,  and  that 
the  prelate  took  up  a  collection  in  church 
to  save  him  from  torture  and  to  satisfy 
his  creditors.  He  had  not  the  heart, 
he  tells  us  himself  in  his  215th  epistle, 
to  see  the  poor  man  suffer  according  to 
the  barbarous  penalties  of  that  age,  es- 
pecially as  he  had  appealed  to  the  Church 
to  save  him  from  the  cruelties  that  were 
about  to  be  inflicted  upon  him.  In  pri- 
vate cases,  however,  the  right  of  refuge 
was  permitted  in  order  that  insolvent 
debtors  might  have  time  to  raise  the 
money  they  owed  or  to  arrange  with  their 
'creditors  to  compound  their  obligations. 
Jews,  however,  and  even  those  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  converts,  were  allowed  no 
favors  in  pecuniary  transactions,  al- 
though in  all  other  cases  they,  too,  had 
the  right  of  asylum.  Heretics  and  apos- 
tates were  excluded  from  the  advantages 
of  the  privilege.  Slaves  who  fled  from 
their  owners  were  granted  one  day's  rest 
and  entertainment,  after  which  notice  of 
their  whereabouts  was  sent  to  their  mas- 
ters, who  could  reclaim  them  on  promise 
of  forgiveness  for  their  faults,  provided 
these  were  venial. 

Not  long  after  Arcadius  began  to  rule 
the  empire  the  right  of  sanctuary  was, 
at  the  solicitation  of  Eutropius,  chief  of 
the  eunuchs,  completely  abolished.  St. 
Chrysostom  appealed  to  the  emperor  to 
revoke  this  decision,  and  the  bishops  of 
Africa  sent  a  deputation  to  plead  for  its 


SANCTUARY,  RIGHT  OF.    933 

abrogation.  Their  intercession  was  effi- 
cacious— the  right  of  sanctuary  was  re- 
stored within  a  year  of  its  annulment. 
It  is  a  striking  commentary  on  the  muta- 
bility of  human  affairs  that,  after  the  pri- 
vilege was  done  away  with,  Eutropius 
was  the  first  man  to  need  it  ;  for  shortly 
afterwards  he  fell  ui»der  the  emperor's 
displeasure,  and  having  nowhere  to  hide 
himself  until  the  wrath  of  his  liege  had 
been  appeased,  and  liaving  no  one  to 
make  supplication  for  him,  he  was  ordered 
to  be  executed.  Then  did  the  magna- 
nimity of  Chiysostom  display  its  might. 
He  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  disgraced  fa- 
vorite. In  a  glowing  address  he  touched 
the  hearts  of  the  people  and  prevailed 
upon  them  not  only  to  forgive  the  eunuch 
his  trespasses  against  them  in  abridging 
their  liberties,  but  also  to  carry  their 
charity  so  far  as  to  approach  the  imperial 
throne  and  petition  Arcadius  to  spare  his 
life.  The  emperor,  moved  t(^  compassion, 
mitigated  the  sentence  of  condemnation 
from  death  to  banishment  for  life. 

One  condition  to  the  right  of  sanc- 
tuary was  ordained  by  Theodosius  the 
Younger — that  no  one  should  take  wea- 
pons with  him  to  the  refuge,  or,  having 
them  about  him  at  the  time  of  his  flight, 
should  refuse,  at  the  request  of  the  clergy, 
to  lay  them  aside.  To  tliis  condition  two 
others  were  subsequently  added — that  the 
fugitives  should  go  quietly  to  the  asylums 
and  not  by  outcries  strive  to  raise  a  tu- 
mult, and  that  they  should  neither  eat 
nor  lodge  within  the  churches.  Justinian 
restricted  the  right  of  sanctuary,  and  ex- 
cluded from  its  benefits  murderers,  adul- 
terers, and  violators  of  virgins.  It  mat- 
tered not  who  they  were  nor  where  they 
were  found;  they  were  to  be  apprehended 
without  delay,  and  tried  with  the  utmost 
expedition  consistent  with  justice.  Even 
if  they  had  sought  safety  in  an  asylum 
and  were  on  the  very  steps  of  the  altar, 
they  were  to  be  seized  ;  and  if  they  of- 
fered resistance  and  could  not  be  captur- 
ed alive  they  were  to  be  slain  where  they 
stood.  This  law  forces  into  bold  reliei' 
the  true  object  of  the  right  of  sanctuary. 
It  was  not  for  the  worst  enemies  of  so- 
ciety, nor  was  it  to  screen  the  guilty  from 
proper  chastisement  ;  it  was  primarily 
accepted  as  clearing  the  way  for  the  ex- 
ei-cise  of  works  of  mercy  by  the  clergy 
and  as  offering  a  temporary  place  of  se- 
curity for  the  innocent,  the  helpless,  and 
the  injured. 

The  right  of  sanctuary  had  place 
wherever  the  Church  obtained  a  foothold, 
until  all  over  Christendom  it  was  recog- 
nized and  established.  In  the  troublous 
days  which  ended  with  the  Middle  Ages, 


924 


SEDILIA. 


when  might  was  too  often  right  with  our  I 
rude  forefathers,  when  the  law  was  for  { 
the  strong  against  the  weak,  when  villain 
and  vassal  had  no  claim  which  the  feudal 
lordlings  respected,  when  the  virtue  of 
virgins,  prized  above  price,  was  in  peril, 
when  the  clash  of  arras  decided  questions 
of  law  and  of  fact — in  that  age  of  iron 
the  Church  used  the  right  of  sanctuary  to 
protect  the  poor,  to  upliold  purity,  to 
defend  the  guiltless,  to  brave  the  wicked 
in  high  places,  and  to  obtain  even  for  the 
most  debased  wretches  a  fair  hearing  and 
a  just  verdict.  Almost  imperceptibly, 
however,  the  right  of  sanctuary  fell  into 
disuse.  It  became  a  nuisance.  It  often 
took  the  clergy  away  from  more  impor- 
tant functions  and  kept  them  too  much  in 
affairs  that  had  little  to  do  with  their  mis- 
sion. It  impeded  the  course  of  justice. 
•The  wicked,  wherever  they  could,  per- 
verted it  to  their  own  base  designs. 
Notorious  evil-doers  sought  protection 
through  it,  and  influential  rascals  made 
it  serve  as  absolution  and  satisfaction  for 
crimes,  even  for  those  heinous  offences 
with  which  it  was  expressly  prohibited 
from  dealing.  Its  restrictions  were  vio- 
lated so  far  that  Polydore  Vergil  could 
complain  that  everywhere,  but  especially 
in  England,  the  asylums  sheltered  male- 
factors of  the  worst  breed,  even  those 
guilty  of  treason  and  such  like  enormities. 
So  finally,  without  any  concerted  action 
on  the  part  of  all  the  authorities  son- 
cerned,  but  with  the  approval  of  popes 
and  princes,  the  right  of  sanctuary  be- 
came a  thing  of  the  past. 

SEDILIA.  The  seats  in  the  sanc- 
tuary occupied  by  the  priest  and  his 
ministers. 

SEE  {sedes,  seat).  The  place  whence 
a  bishop  derives  his  title,  and  the  whole 
extent  of  his  jurisdiction. 

SEmOVElTDE.  The  three  days 
following  Quinquagesima  Sunday.  They 
are  so  named  from  the  old  Saxon  shrive, 
"to  go  to  confession,"  for  English  Ca- 
tholics were  thus  wont  to  prepare  for 
Lent.     [See  Carxival.] 

SPONSORS.  "Sponsores,"  "Fide- 
jussores,"  "Susceptores,"  or  "Offerentes," 
mentioned  by  Tertullian.  "Lib.  de  Bapt.," 
St.  Basil,  Epist.  cxxviii.,  and  by  St,  Augus- 
tine, are  the  persons  who,  according  to  the 
practice  of  the  Church,  assist  at  the  solemn 
administration  of  baptism,  to  make  profes- 
sion of  Christian  faith  in  the  name  of  the 
baptized.  In  later  times  they  were  called 
"Patrini"— in  English  "Godfathers" 
and  "Godmothers."  "Gossips"  wag 
the  old  Saxon  name  by  which  they  were 
known.  They  assist  at  the  baptism  of 
adults,  but  the  latter  are  required  to  an- 


SPONSORS. 

swer  the  questions  put  to  them  by  the 
priest.  According  to  the  decree  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  two  sponsors  at  most 
are  permitted — a  male  and  a  female 
(Sess.  xxiv.  "De Reform.")  The  sponsors 
in  baptism  contract  a  spiritual  relation- 
ship to  the  person  baptized  which  is  an 
impediment  to  matrimony  with  that  per- 
son; hence,  not  to  widen  the  circle  of 
this  spiritual  relationship,  the  number  of 
sponsors  is  kept  at  tw^o.  According  to 
St.  Alphonsus,  if  a  greater  number  be 
named  the  priest  may  permit  them  to  be 
present,  and  even  to  touch  the  child,  pro- 
vided he  designates  from  their  number 
two  who  are  the  real  sponsors.  Theo- 
logians generally  are  satisfied  that  the 
person  acting  as  sponsor  should  have  been 
baptized  and  have  attained  the  use  of 
reason,  being  at  least  seven  years  old.  A 
procurator  may  be  deputed  to  act  as 
sponsor  for  another  ;  the  sponsor  or  his 
deputy  must  physically  hold  or  touch  the 
child  while  it  is  receiving  the  sacra- 
ment, or  take  it,  after  baptism,  froni  the 
hands  of  the  priest.  The  Catechism  of 
the  Council  of  Trent  quotes  St.  Augus- 
tine on  the  duties  of  sponsors  :  "  They 
[the  sponsors]  ought  to  admonish  them 
to  observe  chastity,  love  justice,  cherish 
charity  ;  and,  above  all,  they  should  teach 
them  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the 
Ten  Commandments,  and  the  first  rudi- 
ments of  the  Christian  religion  "  ("'  Serm. 
163,  De  Temp.'')  "Theologians,  how- 
ever, commonly  teach,"  says  O'Kane,  in 
"  Notes  on  the  Rubrics,"  "  with  St.  Thom- 
as, that  sponsors  are  bound  to  fulfil  these 
duties  only  when  there  is  reason  to  think 
that  they  are  neglected  by  the  parents  or 
others  on  whom  they  naturally  devolve  in 
the  first  instance;  and  hence,  generally 
speaking,  sponsors  need  have  no  anxiety 
about  the  discliarge  of  these  duties 
towards  the  children  of  Christian  pa- 
rents." A  Protestant  sponsor  alone  can 
not  be  admitted  to  act  ;  but  if  one  spon- 
sor is  a  Catholic,  the  other  might  be  per- 
mitted to  act  as  a  witness,  or  the  priest, 
provided  a  heretic  is  presented  as  spon- 
sor, may  omit  having  a  sponsor  (Lacroix, 
1.  c.)  *  Members  of  the  secular  clergy,  ex- 
cept when  they  are  excluded  by  diocesan 
or  provincial  synods,  may  act  as  sponsors. 
Sponsors  contract  a  spiritual  relation- 
ship with  the  child  baptized  and  its  pa- 
rents which  is  an  impediment  to  mar- 
riage between  the  godfather  and  the 
child  or  its  mother,  and  between  the 
godmother  and  the  child  or  its  father. 
Such  a  marriage  would  be  no  marriage  at 
all,  unless  a  dispensation  had  been  ob- 
tained; but  no  spiritual  relationship  is 
contracted    between   the    sponsors,   knd 


TRUCE  OF  GOD., 

consequently  no  impediment  exists  (Car- 
riere,  "De  Matrimonio").  Sponsors,  if 
admitted  in  private  baptism,  contract  no 
impediment  ;  but  a  baptism  in  a  private 
house  with  all  the  ceremonies  is  not  a  pri- 
vate baptism,  according  to  high  authori- 
ties. 

THEOLOGUS,  OR  THEOLOGAL 
[Addendum].  Canon  xviii.  of  the  Third 
Council  of  the  Lateran  (1179)  provided 
that  each  metropolitan  church  should 
have  such  an  official  to  give  free  instruc- 
tion. He  was  to  have  the  revenues  of 
a  benefice,  though  not  a  canon,  and  could 
be  removed  at  any  time,  if  he  did  not 
give  satisfaction.  The  Fourth  Council 
of  the  Lateran  (1215)  extended  the  pri- 
vilege to  cathedral  churches,  and  canons 
X.  and  xi.  of  that  council  laid  down  fur- 
ther regulations  for  the  office. 

THEOPHANY.  1.  [See  Trinity.] 
2.  Another  name  for  the  Epiphany. 

TRANSEPT.  In  architecture  the 
part  of  a  church  which  forms  the  short 
arms  of  the  cross  on  which  the  plan  is 
laid.  It  extends  on  the  north  and  south 
side  of  the  area  between  the  nave  and 
the  choir. 

TRUCE  OF  GOD  (Lat.  treuga  Dei, 
or  treua  Dei,  from  German  Treue,  faith). 
An  institution  of  the  Middle  Ages,  de- 
signed to  mitigate  the  violence  of  private 
war  by  prohibiting  hostilities  from  Thurs- 
day evening  to  Sunday  evening  of  each 
week,  also  during  the  entire  season  of 
Advent  and  Lent,  and  on  certain  festival 
days.  Respect  was  shown  to  Thursday 
as  the  day  of  Christ's  ascension ;  to  Fri- 
day as  that  of  His  Passion ;  to  Saturday 
because  on  that  day  He  lay  in  the  grave ; 


TWELFTH  DAY. 


935 


and  to  Sunday  because  it  was  the  day  of 
His  resurrection.  The  truce  was  first 
proposed  in  the  Council  of  Charroux  in 
989.  St.  Odo,  or  Odon,  sixth  abbot  of 
Cluni,  and  Blessed  Richard,  abbot  of  St. 
Vannes,  did  much  to  extend  it  among  the 
Neustrfans.  A  synod  at  Roussillon  in 
1027  ordered  that  it  should  be  observed 
from  the  nones  of  Saturday  to  prime  of 
Monday.  After  the  great  famine  of 
1028-30  the  bishops' of  Aquitaine  pro- 
claimed a  universal  peace,  but  were  un- 
able to  enforce  it,  and  then  limited  it  to 
certain  days.  The  right  of  sanctuary 
was  denied  to  violators  of  it.  Soon  the 
regulation  spread  all  over  France.  In 
1041  the  bishops  of  Aquitaine  ordered 
that  no  private  feuds  should  be  prose- 
cuted from  sunset  on  Wednesday  to  sun- 
rise on  the  following  Monday,  and  this 
the  Council  of  Clermont  extended  to  the 
time  from  Advent  to  the  Epiphany,  from 
Lent  to  the  octave  of  Pentecost,  and  after- 
wards to  the  feasts  and  vigils  of  the  Bless- 
ed Virgin,  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  of  Sts. 
Peter  and  Paul,  and  All  Saints.  In  1042 
England  and  Italy  adopted  it.  At  the 
Council  of  Rheims  in  1119  Calixtus  II.  re- 
newed the  truce  of  God  for  the  above- 
named  seasons,  pronouncing  excommuni- 
cation against  violators,  and  commanding 
that,  unless  they  or  their  children  made 
satisfaction,  they  should  be  deprived  of 
Christian  burial.  The  Second  and  Third 
Councils  of  Lateran  (1139  and  1179)  con- 
firmed the  truce,  and  gradually  the  ne- 
cessity for  it  wore  away. 

TWELFTH  DAY.  Another  name 
for  the  Epiphany,  it  being  the  twelfth 
day  after  Christmas. 


LIST   OF   AUTIOLES. 


PAGB 

Abbess 1 

Abbey  •• 1 

Abbot 1 

Abbreviators 4 

Abjuration  of  Heresy     .    .    4 

Ablution 4 

Abrahamite.  •  •  •  •  •  4 
Abraxas    •••••••4 

Absolution 5 

Abstinence    ......    6 

Abyssinian  Church   ...    7 

Accident 8 

Acclamation  .....  8 
Accommodated  sense ...    8 

Acephali 8 

Acoemetai .......    8 

Acolyte  .......    9 

Acts  of  the  Martyrs  ...  9 
Action     .......  10 

Adam 10 

Adamites 11 

Adoption 11 

Adoptionism 11 

Adoration  of  tbe  Cross    .  .  12 

Adultery 12 

Advent  of  Christ    .    .    .  .  12 

„      Season  of.    .    .    ,12 

Advocatus  Ecclesiae    ,    .  .  13 

„  Dei,  Diaboli    .  14 

Aeon 14 

Aetius,  Aetians    ....  14 

Affinity 14 

African  Church    •    .    .    ,15 

,,       Councils   .    .    .  .  16 

Agape 16 

Age,  Canonical 17 

Agnoetae 17 

Agnus  Dei     .    .*    .    .    .  .  17 

Alb 18 

Albigenses 18 

Alexandria,  Church  of .    .19 

„  School  of    .  .  19 

Allegorical  Sense .    .    .    ,19 

Alleluia 20 

All  Saints 20 

All  Souls'  Day 20 

Alms 20 

Almoner 20 

Alogi  ........  21 

Altar 21 

Altar-breads 23 

Altar-cloths 23 

Altar,  stripping  of    •    •    •  23 


PAGB 

Ambo ►  .  23 

Ambrosian  Chant     •    •    »  23 
Liturgy   ...  23 

Arccn  . 23 

Amice 24 

Anagnostes  .,«••.  24 
Anagogical  •  «  *  •  •  .  24 
Anaphora    .••••.  24 

Anathema 24 

Angel 24 

Angels,  Feast  of  . .  .  .  .  26 
„  Evil  .....  26 
Angel  Guardians  .  .  .  .  26 
Angelus  .  ,  .  •:  .  •  .26 
Anglican  Church  .  •  .  .  27 
„  Orders  ....  30 
Animals,  Lower     .    .    .  .  30 

Annates 31 

Anniversary  ......  32 

Annunciation,  the    ...  32 

Anomoeans 33 

Anthem 33 

Anthony,  St.,  Order  of  .  .  33 
Anthropomorphites   ,    ,    .  33 

Antichrist 33 

Antidicomaxianites  ...  34 
Antioch     .......  34 

Antiphon 36 

Antiphonary 37 

Antipopes  (Appendix),    ,  869 

Apociisiarius 87 

Apocrypha    ......  37 

Apollinarians  .....  39 

Apologist 39 

Apostacy 40 

Apostle' 40 

Apostles'  Creed  ....  41 
Apostles,  Feasts  of  ...  41 
Apostolic  Canons  .  ,  ,  ,  41 
Apostolical  Constitutions  ,  43 
Apostolic  Fathers  ...  43 
Apostolici .......  43 

Apostolicus 43 

Appeal 44 

Appellants  ,..*.,  44' 
Approbation  ......  44 

Apse 45 

Aquarii     .......46 

Archangel 46 

Archbishop    .    .    .    ...  46 

Archdeacon  ......  46 

Arches,  Court  of  .  .  ,  .  48 
Archimandrite  •    •    •    •    •  47 


VMKH 

Archives   ..•••••  47 

Archpriest 47 

Aristotle  ..•••••  61 

Arius,  Arians 48 

Aries,  Councils  of  .    .    .  .  61 

Armenian  Chriatians(Ap.)  872 

Ascension,  the      ....  61 

„         Feast  of  .    .    .62 

Ascetae 62 

Ascetical  Theology  •  •  «  68 
Ash  Wednesday     .    •    ,  ,  68 

Asperges .64 

Aspersion  ...«•••  64 
Assumption,  the  •    •    •    •  64 

Astrology  ...••••64 

Asylum  .......  66 

Athanasian  Creed  •    .    •  .  66 

Atonement 66 

Attributes  of  God  .  •  .  ,  66 
Attrition      ..••••  66 

Audians 66 

Augustinian  canons ...  56 
„  hermits  .    .  .  56 

Aureole •    .  67 

Autocephali  ......  67 

Auto-da-F^ 67 

Auxiliary  Bishop   .    •    .  .  67 
Ave  Maria  ......  67 

Azymites 67 

Baccanarists  .    ;    •    •  .  68 

Baius 68 

Baldacchino  ..;•••  69 
Banner    .,..••.69 

Banns 69 

Baptism 60 

Baptismal  name     .    .    .  .  64 

,,         water  ....  64 

Baptism  of  ships    ....  64 

B<iptistery 64 

Barefooted  Friars  .    .    •  .  64 

Barlaam 64 

Bamabites     ......  64 

Basilians     ......  66 

Basilica .  66 

Basilidians 67 

^asle,  Council  of  •  •  .  .  67 
Beatification  .....  68 
Beatific  Vision  .    •    .    •  •  71 

Beatitude ,72 

Beguines,  Beghards  •  •  •  78 
Bella  ..••••••  78 


928 

PAGE 

Benedicamus  Domino .    ,  .  74 

Benedictines 74 

Benediction  (I'ite  of )  .    ,  .  76 

Benedictionale 77 

Benefice 77 

Benefit  of  clergy  ....  77 

Berengarius 78 

BeiTetta  .......  79 

Bethlehemites  ...  #79 
Betrothal  (Appendix) .    .  875 

Bible 79 

Biblia  Paupenim    .    .    .  .  82 

Bigamy 82 

Bishop .  82 

„  inpartibus  ...  87 
Bishops,  suffragan    ...  88 

„      titular 88 

Black  Friars 88 

Blasphemy 88 

Blessing .  89 

Blood 90 

Bohemian  brethren  ...  90 

BoUandists 91 

Bolaena,  Mass  of  .    .    .    .91 

Boni  Homines 92 

Bowing 92 

Brasses      .    . 92 

Breviarr 92 

Bridal  Wreath 95 

Bridgittines 95 

Brief 95 

Bolgarians 95 

Bull 95 

„  In  Coena  Domini    .    .  96 

Bullarium 96 

Burial 96 

Burse .  96 

By  the  Grace  of  God  and 

Favour,  &c. .    .    .    .    .  96 


C^REM03iriAI,E  Ep.  ...  97 
Caeremoniarius.    ....  97 

Caesarians 97 

Cagots 97 

Calatrava,  order  of     .    .  .  97 

Calendar,  ecclesiastical .    .  98 

„        Julian-Gregorian  99 

Calixtines 99 

Calvarians 99 

Calvin,  Calvinism  .    .    .  100 

Camaldoli 101 

Camera  .1 102 

Cancelli 102 

Candles 102 

Candlemas  ......  102 

Canon    (member     of     a 

chapter 102 

Canon  Law 103 

Canon  of  the  Mass  .    ,    .107 

„        Scripture    .    .  .  107 

Canon  Penitentiary     .    .113 

„  Theologian  .  .  .  113 
Canon,  privilege  of  the  .113 
Canoness    ......  113 

Canonisation 113 

Cantate  Sunday      ...  114 

Cantor 115 

Capital  Punishmemt    .    .115 

Capital  Sins 116 

Capitulary 116 

Cappa  Magna 116 


LIST  OF  ARTICLES. 

PAGE 

Capuchins  ......  116 

Cardinal 118 

Cardinal-legate  ....  120 

„       Protector    .    .  .  120 

Cannelites 120 

Carnival 122 

Carthusians 122 

Cassock 124 

Casuistry 124 

Casus 124 

„    reservati    ,    •    .    .124 

Catacombs 124 

Catafalque 128 

Catechism 128 

Catechist 129 

Catechumens 129 

Cathari 129 

Cathedra,  Ex 129 

Cathedral ISO 

„  schools  ....  130 
Cathedraticum    ....  130 

Catholic       131 

Catholicus 131 

Celebrant 132 

Celestinian  Hermits    .    .  132 

Celestinians 132 

Celibacv 132 

CeU  ." 134 

Cemetery 134 

Censure 135 

Ceremony  ...*..  135 

Oerinthians 136 

Cessatio  a  divinis  .  .  .  136 
Chalcedon,  Council  of  .  .  136 
Chaldean  rite  (Appendix)  875 

Chaldeans 139 

Chalice 139 

Chalice-veU 140 

Chancel 140 

Chancellor,  Episcopal  ..140 
Chancery  „  .  .  141 

„  Papal     .    .    .141 

Chant 141 

Chantrv 141 

Chaplain 141 

Chapter,  cathedral  .    .  .  142 

„      conventual     .    .  143 

Chapter-house 144 

Chapters,  the  Three    .    .  144 

Character 144 

Charitv 144 

„  '  Works  of  .  .  .  144 
Chartophylax  ....  147 
Chartreux    ,.,...  147 

Chasuble 147 

Cherubim 148 

Chilia-sm 149 

Chivalry 149 

Choir 151 

Choral  Vicars 151 

Choraules  ......  151 

Chorepisctpus 151 

Chorister    ......  152 

Chrism 152 

Christ 152 

„  appearance  of.  .  .  166 
Christian  Brothers  .    .    .159 

„  „        Irish  .  160 

„        doctrine     .    .  .  158 

„  name  .  .  .  .161 
Christians  .  ,  .  .  .  .  158 
Christmas  day    .    .    •    .161 


FAOI 

Church  books 162 

Church  history  ....  162 
„       of  Christ ;  Catho- 
lic Church 167 

Church  (a  building)  .  .  178 
Church  property  ....  181 
Churching  of  women  .    .  184 

Churchyard 184 

Ciborium 184 

Circumcelliones  ....  184 
Circumcision,  feast  of      .  185 

Cistercians 186 

Civil  Law 188 

„    Marriage      .    .    .  .  189 

Clandestine 189 

Clares 189 

Clausura 189 

Clergy     .......  189 

Clerici  Vagantes     .    .    .  190 

Clerk 190 

Clinical  Baptism      .    .    .  191 

Cloister 192 

Clunv 192 

Coadjutor 193 

Coat,  the  Holy  ....  193 
Codex  Canonum  (2)      .  .  194 

Coenobite 194 

Coccnate 194 

Collation  (2) 194 

Collect 194 

College 195 

„      English    .    .    .  .  195 

„       Irish 195 

„      Roman     ....  195 
„      Scotch     ....  195 
Collegiate  Church     .    .  .  195 
Comb  (Appendix)  .    .    .  877 
Commandments  of  G^d.  .  195 
„  of  the  Church  197 

Commemorations  ....  197 
Commemoration     in  -the 

Mass 198 

Commenda 198 

Commendation  ....  198 
Commendatory  Letters    .  198 

Commissar}' 199 

Common 199 

Common  Life,  Brothers  of 

the •    .  199 

Commun.     Idiom.     .     .  .  199 

Commimion 199 

„         (Liturgical)  .  202 
of  Saints  .    .  202 

Compline 203 

Conception     .....  203 

Conclave 203 

Concomitance      ....  204 

Concordat 204 

Concupiscence     ....  205 

Concursus 206 

Conferences 206 

Confession 206 

„       (Martyr's  tomb)  207 

Confessional 207 

Confessor  (2)      ....  208 

Confirmation 208 

Confiteor,  the      ....  210 

Confraternity 211 

Congreg.  de  Auxiliis    .    .  211 

Congregations,  Religious  .211 

„  Roman     .  212 

„  (Councils)  213 


LIST   OF  ARTICLES. 


929 


PAGE 

Congruism 214 

Consanguinity       ....  214 

Conscience 215 

Consecration 216 

„  of  altars.    .  216 

„  „   bishops    .  217 

„  „  chalice  & 

paten 217 

Consecration  of  churches  .  217 

Consistory 217 

Constance,  Council  of  .  .217 
Constantinople.  See  of  .  .  219 
Councils  of  221 
Constitutional  clergy  .  .  221 
Consubstantial  ....  223 
Consubstantiation  .  .  .  224 
Contemplation     ....  224 

Contrition 224 

Convent     .     .    .    .     .     .224 

Conversion 224 

Convocation 225 

Cope 225 

Copts     .    .    .    .    .    .    .226 

Cprdeliers 226 

Coronation  (2)    .     .     .     .  22t; 

Corporal 226 

Corpus  Christi     ....  227 

„      Juris 227 

Cotta 227 

Council 227 

Cowl 200 

Creation 231 

Credence 231 

Creed 232 

Crib 235 

Crosier 287 

Cross 235 

Crucifix 237 

Crvpt 238 

Culdees 238 

Cultus 238 

Curate 239 

Cure  of  souls 239 

Curia  Romana      ....  239 

Curialia 243 

Custom 243 

Custos 244 

Cycle 244 


Dalmatic 246 

Dataria 246 

Deacon 247 

Deaconess  ......  249 

Dead,  Mass  for  the    .    .  .  249 
Dean  (2)    ....      249-50 

Deans,  Rural 250 

Decalogue 250 

Declaration 250 

Decretals 250 

Decretist 251 

Decretum  .    .    .    .    .    .251 

Dedication 251 

Defender  of  the  Faith  .    .  252 

'Defensor  ecciesife  ....  253 

„        matrimonii     .    .  253 

Degradation 253 

Degrees 254 

Delegation 255 

Denunciation 256 

Deposing  Power    ....  257 
Deposition 258 


PAGE 

Deposition,  Bull  of   .    .  .  258 
Descent  into  Hell    .     .     .259 

Desecration 259 

"  Deus  in  adjutorium  "     .  260 

Devil 260 

Devolution 260 

Devotion,  Feasts  of  .    .  .  261 

Diaconicum 261 

Dies  Irse 261 

Diniissorials 262 

Diocese 262 

Dionysins  ......  263 

Diptychs 264 

Director!  urn 265 

Discalced 265 

Discipline 265 

„        of  the  Secret  .  .  265 
Dispensation  .....  207 

Divorce 268 

DocetsB 268 

Doctor  Angelicus ....  269 
„    Ecclesise  ....  269 

Dogma 260 

Dogmatic  Theology     .     .  275 
Dolours  of  the  B.  V.  M.   .  275 

Domicile 275 

Domine,  non  sum  dignus.  276 
Dominical  letter  ....  276 

Dominicans 276 

Dominus  vobiscum    .     .  .  279 
Donation  of  Constantine  .  279 

Donatists 279 

Douay  Bible 280 

Double     .......  281 

Dove 281 

Doxology 282 

Dreams 282 

Duelling 283 

Dulia     .     • 283 

Dying,  Prayers  for    .    .  .  283 


Easter 283 

Ebionites 285 

Ecstacy.     ......  285 

Ecthesis 286 

Education 286 

Election 287 

Elevation 287 

Ember  Days 288 

Embolismus 288 

Eminence 288 

Empire,Holv  Roman  .    .  288 

Enclosure    '. 289 

Kncratites 290 

Encyclical 290 

End  (2) 290 

Endow'ment 290 

Energuraen  ...'..  291 
English  Catholics  .  .  .  291 
.     „        College  ....  302 

Epact 304 

Eparchy 304 

Ephesus,  Council  of  .    .  .  304 

Epigonation 306 

Epiphany 307 

Episcopacy 307 

Kpistle 307 

EpistoliB 307 

Era 308 

Espousal 309 

Espousals  of  the  B.  V.  M.  309 


PA  OB 

Establishment,  Church     .  310 

Eucharist 311 

Euohology 321 

Eudists 322 

Eulogies 322 

Eunomians 323 

Eusebians 323 

Eustathians 323 

Eutychians  ......  324 

Evaugeliarium    ....  324 

Evangelical  counsels     ,  .  324 

Evangelists 325 

Evening  Prayer    ....  325 
Evil,  origin  of     ,    ,    ,     .  325 

Ex  Cathedra 3^7 

Exaltation 327 

Examination  (2)  .     .     .  .  327 

Exarch 327 

Excommunication     .     .  .  327 

Execration 328 

Exemption  .    .    .    .    .  .  328 

Exequatur  ....  329 

Exercises 329 

Exorcism        330 

Expectative 330 

Exposition  of  the  Blessed 

Sacrament 331 

Extravagants 331 

Extreme  Unction    .    .    .  332 

Fabric 334 

Faith 335 

Faithful,  the 337 

Faldstool 337 

False  Decretals     ....  337 

Familiar 339 

Fan 339 

Fast  ........  340 

Father,  title  of     ....  342 

Fathers  of  the  Clmrch     .  342 

Fear  of  God 343 

Feasts 343 

Febronianism 344 

Feria 346 

Feudum 347 

Feuillants 347 

Filioque 347 

Final  Perseverance  .    .    .  347 
Finding  of  Cross  .    .    .  .  347 

First  Fruits 347 

Fistula 347 

Flagellants 348 

Flectamus  genua ....  348 
Florence,  Council  of    .    .  348 

Forty  Hours 350 

Forum  Ecclesiasticum.     .  3r;0 

Foundation '.353 

France,  Church  of  .    .     .  3nG 

Franciscans 354 

Frankfort,  Council  of  .     .  357 

Franks 357 

Fraternal  correction     .     .  357 

Fraticelli 357 

Free  Will 358 

Freemasonry 358 

Friar 361 

Frontal    ...,,..  361 
Funeral 361 


Galileo    .    .    . 
Galilean  liturgies . 


.  366 
.  861 


930 

PAGB 

Gnllicanism 866 

Gangra,  Council  of  .    .  .  368 

Gehenna 368 

General  (of  an  Order)  ,  .  368 
General  confession  .    ,    .  369 

Genuflexion 369 

G4i08t 369 

„     the  Holy    .    .    .  .  370 

Gilds 370 

Girdle 371 

Glebe 371 

Gloria  (2) '.  371 

Glossa 371 

Glossator 372 

Gloves  (Appendix).    ,    .  877 

Gnoi>ticism 372 

God 377 

Golden  Number  ....  380 

„      Rose 380 

Good  Friday 380 

Good  works 380 

Gospel 380 

Gothic  liturgies    .    .    .  .  381 

Goths 381 

Gottschalk 381 

Grace 381 

Grace  at  meals      ....  386 

Gradual 386 

Gradual  psalms     ....  386 

Greek  Church      .     .     .     .388 

Gregorian  music  ....  392 

„         sacramentary  .  392 

Oremiale 392 

Greyfriars 392 

Guardian 392 

Gyrovagi 392 


Halo 393 

Heart  of  Jesus    ....  393 
Heart  of  Mary .    .    .    .  .  594 

Heaven 394 

HeU 395 

Henoticon 400 

Heresy 400 

Hermesianism     ....  401 

Hermits 401 

Hesychasta 401 

Hierarchy 402 

Holiness 403 

Holy  water 403 

„    week 403 

Homicide 406 

Homily 407 

HDmoousion 408 

Honorary  Canons    ,    ,    .  408 
Honorius,  Pope    ....  408 

Hospital 411 

Hospitallers 412 

Host 414 

Hcusel 415 

Hozanna 415 

Humeral  Teil 415 

Hussites  .•«....  415 

Hymn 416 

Hypostatic  Union     .    .  .  422 


Iconoclasts 422 

Iconostasis 424 

Idolatry 424 

Ignorance 424 


LIST  OF  ARTICLES. 

PAGE 

Image  of  God      ....  425 

Images 426 

Immaculate  Conception    .  427 
„  feast  of     .  432 

Immortality 432 

Immoveable  feasts  .    .    .  432 

Immunity 432 

Impediments  of  marriage  434 
Imposition  of  hands  .     .  .  436 

Incarnation 437 

Incense 437 

Inclusi 438 

Index  (books) 438 

Indiction 440 

Indulgence 440 

Indult 445 

Infallibility 445 

Infidel 445 

Innocents,  Holy   ....  445 

Inquisition 446 

,,  Spanish    .    .  .  447 

Inspiration  of  Scripture   .448 

Installation 450 

Institute  of  the  B.  V.  M. .  451 
Intercalary  j'ear  ....  453 

Interdict 453 

Interstices 454 

Introit 454 

Invitatorium 465 

Irish  Church 455 

„    College 462 

Ite,  Missa  est 463 

Itinerary      ......  463 


Jacobins 

Jacobite  Christians  .    .    . 

Jansenism 

„        in  Holland  .    . 

Januarius,  St 

Jerocymites 

Jerusalem   (patriarchate) 

Jesuats 

Jesuitesses  .    

Jesuits  .,.,,.. 

Jesus 

Jews,    Church    laws    re- 
specting     

John  of  God,  St.,  Order  of 
John  St.,  Order  of     .    .  . 

Joseph,  St 

„        „  Orders  of   .    . 

Jubilee 

Judgment,  general  .    ,    . 
„  particular    .  . 

Judica  psalm 

Judicatum 

Judices  Synodales  .  .  . 
Judicium  Dei  .  .  .  .  . 
Jurisdiction    .    .    ,    .    . 

Jus  Spolii 

Justice  ...  .  .  , 
Justification     .    ,    ,    .  , 


463 
463 
464 
470 
471 
472 
473 
474 
474 
474 


483 
485 
485 
485 
486 
487 
488 
489 
491 
491 
491 
491 
492 
493 
494 
494 


Kings,  &c.,  prarers  for  .  496 
Kiss  .  .  .  .*  .  .  .  .  497 
Kyrie  eleisou 498 


LABAr.rM 499 

Lacticiuia 499 


PACT 

Lgetare  Snnday     ....  499 
Lamps    .......  500 

Lance  (2) 500 

Language  of  the  Church  .  500 

Lapsi 502 

Last  Day 503 

„    things ,  504 

Lateran  Church  and  coun- 
cils   504 

Latin 505 

Latria 505 

Latrocinium 505 

Lauds 506 

Laura 506 

Laus  tibi,  Christe    .    .    .  506 

Lavabo 506 

Law 506 

Lay  Brothers  .    .    .    .  .  507 
„    Communion      .    .    .  507 

Layman 607 

Lazarists 608 

Lection 508 

Lectionary 509 

Lector 510 

Legate 510 

Legend,  Golden    ....  511 
Legitimation  .    .    .    ,    .511 

Lent 512 

Lesson,  see  Lection 

Libellatici       514 

Libelli  pacis 514 

Liber (5)     ....      514-5 

Libera  nos  (2) 515 

Liberius 515 

Libraries 617 

Light  of  Glory   ....  618 
Liguori    ,    ,.    ,         .  .  518 

Limbo 518 

Litanies 619 

Literse  (2) 620 

Little  Oftice  of  the  B.  V. 

M 520 

Liturgies 621 

Loci  Theologici    ....  629 

Logothete 530 

Loreto  530 

Low  Sunday 534 

Luther,  Lutheranism    .  .  534 
Lyons,  Councils  of  .    .    .  539 


Macabees,  Feast  of    .    .  540 

Macedonians 540 

Magisterium 541 

Major  Orders 541 

Manichees  ......  541 

Maniple 541 

Mansus 542 

Mantelletta 542 

Manual 543 

Marcionites 543 

Maronites 543 

Marriage    ......  544 

Martyr 552 

Maityrology  .....  653 

Mary 553 

„    Feasts  of    ....  559 

„    Name  of 651 

„    Office  of     ....  561 

Mass 561 

Master  (2) 566 

Matricula 566 


PAGK 

Maundy  Thursday  ,    ,    ,566 

Matriculation 566 

Maurists  ...*••  566 
May    ........  567 

Mechitarists 568 

Mediator 568 

Meditation 569 

Melchites 670 

Meletian  Schism      .    .    .  571 

Memento 571 

Memoria 571 

Menology     , 672 

Mental  prayer 569 

„      reservation    .    .  .  571 

Merer 572 

Mero.y,  Order  of  .    .    .  .  810 

Merit     .    .• 572 

Metropolitan 575 

Military  Orders  ....  576 

Millennium 578 

Minims 578 

Minister 680 

Ministers  of  the  Sick    .    .580 
Minorites     ......  680 

Miracles     ,•.,..  680 

Missal 584 

Mission  (2)  .  .  .  .  584-5 
Missions,  popular     .    ,  .  585 

„        to  the  heathen    .  585 

Mitre 594 

Mixed  marriages  ....  695 

Molinism 596 

Molinos 596 

Monasteiy.    .....  696 

Monk 596 

Monophysites      ....  597 

Monothelites 698 

Montanists 699 

Moral  Theology    .    .    .  .  600 

Mortal  sin 604 

Mozzetta 604 

Mundatory 604 

Mystical  sense  ....  604 
„       theology    ,    .    .605 


Name  (3) 606 

Natale 606 

National  Synod    ....  606 
Nativity  of  the  B.  V.  M. .  606 

Necrology 606 

Neophyte 607 

Nestorians 607 

Nicene  councils    ....  609 

Nimbus 609 

Nocturn 609 

Nomination 610 

Nomocanon 610 

None 610 

Novatianism 610 

Novice 611 

Nun 611 

Nuncio 613 

Oath 614 

Obedience 614 

Oblates 615 

Oblati  (2) 615 

Octave 615 

Octavarium    •    •    •    .    .  615 


LIST  OF  ARTICLES. 

PAGE 

Offertory 615 

Oils,  holy 616 

Old  Catholics 616 

Omophorion 617 

Ontologism  ......  617 

Opus  operatam   .    .    •    .618 

Orarium 619 

Orate,  fratres 619 

Orat(«-v  (building)   .    .  .  619 

Oratory,  French .    .    .    .619 

„      of  St.  Philip  Neri  620 

Order,  Holy 621 

Orders,  Religious    •    •    .  627 

Ordinary,  the 629 

Ordination 629 

Ordo  Komanus     •    •    .  .  630 

Organ 630 

Origen 632 

Original  sin 632 

Orthodox  Church  .  .  ,  634 
Ostiarius    .«••••  634 

Palea 635 

Palla 636 

Pallium 635 

Palm  Sunday 636 

Parabolani 637 

Paraclete 637 

Paradise 637 

Parasceve    ......  637 

Paschal  candle    ....  638 

„       controversy      .  .  638 
„        precept ....  638 

Passion  Sunday    ....  638 

Passionists      .    .    .    •    •  638 

Pastor 639 

Paten .  639 

Pater  Noster 639 

Paterines 639 

Patriarch 640 

Patritnony  of  St.  Peter    .  640 

Patripassians 640 

Patron,  Patronage  ...  640 
Patrons  of  churches  .  .  .  641 
Paul  of  Samosata    .    .    .642 

Paulicians 642 

Paulists 642 

Pax     ........  642 

Pax  vobis 643 

Pectoral  cross 643 

Peculium  clerici  ....  643 

Pelagianism 643 

Penance 644 

Penitential  discipline    .  .  649 
„  psalms .     .    .  653 

Pensions •  .  654 

Pentecost  ......  654 

Persecutions 655 

Person    : 656 

Peter's  chains 656 

Peter's  pence  .     .    .    . '  .  657 

Petrobrusians 658 

Philosophy 658 

Photinus 661 

Photius  ...'....  661 

Piarists 661 

Picpirs,  Congr.  of    .    .    .661 

Pilgrim 661 

Fisa,  Council  of  ...  .  663 
Piscina  (Appendix)  .  .  877 
Pistoia,  Synod  of.    ,    .  .  663i 


931 

Txqm 
Placet  Reginra  ....  664 
Plain  Chant  (Appendix)  877 

Pluralities 666 

Pontifical 666' 

Poor  Clares 667' 

Poor  Men  of  Lyons     .    .  667 

Pope 667 

Porteforium 680 

Porduncula 680 

Port  Royal 680 

Possession 680 

Post  Comraimion    •    •    .  680 

Postil 681 

Poverty 681' 

Power  of  Keys 681 

Pragmatic  Sanction     •    .  681' 

Prayer     681 

Preachers  (friars)    .    ,    .681 
Preaching.    ,    ,    ,    ,    .  .  681 

Preadamiies 682 

Prebend 682 

Precious  Blood    ....  682 

Preconise 683 

Predestination    .    .    .    .683 

Preface 684 

Prelate 6&4 

Premonstratensians  .    .  .  684 

Premunire 686 

Presbytera 686 

Presbyterians,  Scottish    .  686 

Presbytery 691 

Prescription 691 

Presentation  (Order)    .  .  691 
Priests,  Christian    .    .    .  691  • 

Primate 693 

Primicerius    ;    ....  693 

Prior 693 

Priscillianists      ....  694 
Private  Masses      ....  6^ 

Privation 694 

Privilege 6H 

Privileged  altar  ....  695 

Probabilism 695. 

Procession 696 

,,  double    .    .  .  696 

Procurator 698 

Profession  of  faith    .    ..698 

„         Religious    .    .  698 

Promotion  per  saltum    .  .  699 

Promulgation     ....  699 

Propaganda 700 

Property 700 

Prophecy 700 

Propositions,  condemned .  70u 

Protestant 701 

Proton  otary 701 

Protopresbyter     ....  701 

Province 701 

Provincial    ......  702 

Provision 702 

Provost 702 

Prymer 706 

Pseudo  Isidore 702 

Pulpit 702 

Purgatory 702 

Purification  (Appendix) 

„  feast  of  the  884 

(Appendix) 884 

Purifier 707 

Pyx 707 


932 


LIST  OF  ARTICLES. 


QU^STORES     . 

Quietism .    .    . 
Quinquagesima 


PAGE 

.  707 

.  707 
.  708 


Reason  akd  Faith  .  .  .  708 
Reception  into  the  Church  708 
Recluse .    .    .    .    .    .    .709 

Recollects 709 

Reconciliation     ....  709 

Rector i .  .  709 

Redemptorists     ....  710 

Refectory 711 

Reformation,  the  .  .  .711 
Refreshment  Sunday    .  .  713 

Regalia 713 

Regeneration 713 

Regioiiarius    .    •    •    •    .  713 

Regulars 714 

Relics 714 

Religions 715 

Re-ordination 715 

Requiem 715 

Reservation  (2)  .    .    .    715-6 

Reserved  cases 717 

Residence 718 

Resignation 718 

Responsories 719 

Resurrection 719 

of  Christ.    .  721 

Retreat 721 

Revelation 721 

Rigorism 721 

Ring 721 

Rituale 721 

Rochet 721 

Rogation  Davs  .  .  .  .  721 
Rome     .    .  '.         ...  722 

Rood-beam 722 

Rosary 722 

Rosminians 723 

Rota  Romana  (Appendix)  885 

Rubrics 724 

Rule 724 

Rural  Deans 725 

Russian  Church  ....  725 
Ruthenian  Catholics    .    .  729 


Sabbath 730 

Sabellianism 730 

Sacramentals   .    .    .    .  ,  731 

Sacramentary" 732 

Sacraments  of  nature    .  .  732 

„    of  the  Gospel  .    .  733 

Sacrd  Cceur  (Order)  .    .  .  740 

Sacred  Heart 740 

Sacristy   .    .    .    i    .    .  .  740 
Saints,  intercession  and  in- 
vocation of 740 

Salt 742 

Salve  Regina 742 

Sanctuary 743 

Sanctus 743 

Sandals 743 

Samm  Use    .....  743 

Satan 744 

Saturday    ......  744 

Scapular 744 

Schism 745 

Sc1iolasticu8     •    .    .    .  .  746 
Schools  .......  746 


PARK 

Scientia  Media  .  ,  .  .  749 
Scotch  College    ....  749 

Scotism 749 

Scottish  Catholics    .    .    .  752 

Scrutiny 755 

Seal  of  Confession  .    .    .  755 

„   „  Altar 756 

Secret 756 

Secular  clergy  ,  .  .  .* .  757 
Secularisation     .    .    .    .757 

Semiarians 758 

Semidouble 758 

Seminary 758 

St-mipclagianism     .    .    .  759 

Separation 761 

Sequence 761 

Seraphic  Doctor   ....  760 

Servites 760 

Seven  Dolours 792 

„    Gifts  of  the  Holy 

Spirit 762 

Sexagesima.    .....  762 

Sext  (2) 762 

Simple     .    .    . '  .    .    .  .  762 

Sin 762 

Sion,  Notre  Dame  de  .  .  764 
Sisterhoods     ......  764 

Slavery 766 

Society  (Faithf.  Comp.)  .  769 
Somascha,  Clerks  of  .    .  .  769 

Sorbonne 769 

Soul 770 

Spiritualism 772 

States  of  the  Church     .  .  772 

Stations 775 

„     of  the  Cross  .    .  .  776 

Stigmata 776 

Stole 777 

Stole-fees 778 

Subdeacons 778 

Subdelegate 779 

Suffragan 779 

Suicide  .......  779 

Sund;iy 780 

Supremacy,  Royal  .  .  .  784 
Suppression  of  monasteries  785 

Surplice 780 

Suspension 787 

Svnaxis 788 

Syncellus 788 

Syndic 788 

Synod 788 

„     Holy 788 

Synodal  Examiners  ,  .  788 
Sj'ntagma  Canonum .  .  .  788 
Svrian  Catholics ....  789 


Tabkrnacle 790 

Taborites 790 

Tantum  Ergo 790 

Te  Deum 790 

Templars 790 

Temptation 792 

„        of  Christ .    .  .  792 
Tempus  clausum     .    .    .  792 

Teresians 792 

Tertiaries 792 

Testament 792 

Teutonic  Knights    .    .    .  792 

Theatines 792 

Theodore  of  Mopsuestia    .  793 


VAom 

Theodoret 793 

Theological  Virtues  .  .  793 
Theologus,  Theologal.   .  .  793 

Tlieology 793 

Theopaschite 793 

Thomas,  St.,  Christians  of  793 

Thomism 794 

Three  Chapters     ....  794 

Thuribles 795 

Tiara 796 

Tithes 796 

Title  to  Orders      .    .    .  .  797 

Titular  Bishop     ....  797 

„      of  Church      .    .  .  797 

Tituli 797 

Tonsure 798 

Tract 798 

Tradition     .    .     .    .    .  .  799 

Traditionalism    ....  801 

Tradition  of  instniments  .  802 

Traditores 802 

Traducianism 802 

Transfiguration  ....  802 
Translation  of  Feasts  .  .  802 
Transubstanliation    .    .  .  802 

Trappists 802 

Treasure  of  merits  .  .  .  804 
Trent,  Council  of    .    .    .  804 

Tricerion 810 

Trinitarians 810 

Trinitv,  Feast  of  .  .  ..811 
Trinity,  Holy     .    .    .    .811 

Trisagion S^O 

Trope 8'.'1 

Trullo,  council  in  .    .    .  .  821 

Tunic 821 

Type 822 


Ubiquitarians  .    .         .  822 
Unanimous  consent  .    .  .  822 

Unigenitus 822 

United  Greeks 822 

University 823 

Unleavened  Bread    .    .  .  825 

Urbanists 825 

Urbi  et  Orbi    ...       .  820 

Ursulines 825 

Usury 827 


Yaldensks,  Vaudois  .  .  829 
Vanne,  St.,  Congr.  of .  .  .  832 
Vatican  Council ....  88"2 

Veil '  .  .  836 

Veni  Creator 837 

„    Sancte  Spiritns    .  .  837 

Venial  Sin 837 

Veronica 837 

Vespers 837 

Vessels,  sacred 837 

Vestments 837 

„      Greek  and  Orien- 833 

tal 839 

Viaticum  .....  840 
Vicar  Apostolic     .    .    ,     841 

„    Forane  ....        841 

„     (iencral 842 

Vice  Chancellor  ....  842 
Vienne,  Council  of  .  .  .  843 
Vigils 843 


Vincent  of  Paul,  St.,  So- 
ciety of 844 

Virtue 845 

Visit  to  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment     845 

Visitatio  Lim.  Apost.  .     .  845 

Visitation,  episcopal    .    .  846 

Order  of  the    .  846 


LIST  OF  ARTICLES. 

PAGE 

Vocation 847 

Votive  Mass 847 

Vows 847 

Vulgate 849 


War 

Washing  of  hands    . 
„    feet    . 


933 

PAGK 

White  Friars    .    ,         .  .  860 
White  garment  .    ,         .860 

Whit-Sundav 860 

Will ...  * 860 

Witchcraft,  Witch    .    .  .  862 

858  j  Worship 865 

'~>9    Wreath 865 

860    Wycliffites 866 


APPENDIX    "B. 


PAGE 

Alexian  Brothers,  or  Cellites 886 

Basil  (St.),  Priests  of,  or  Basilians  .     .     .  886 

Charity,  Irish  Sisters  of 886 

„       Sisters  of,  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 

Mary 886 

„       Sisters  of,  of  Nazareth   ....  887 

,,       Sisters  of  Christian 887 

Holy  Cross,  Canons  Regular  of  the  .    .    .  887 

„        „      Congregation  of  the  ....  888 

„        „      Sisters  of  the 888 

Loretto  Nuns 888 


PAGE 

Loretto,  Sisters  of 888 

Mercy,  Fathers  of 888 

Notre  Dame,  School  Sisters  of  ....  888 
Precious  Blood,  Missionaries  of  the      .     .  889 

„  „       Sisters  of  the      ....  889 

Sacred  Heart,  Religious  of  the  Soc.  of  the  889 

„        „      of  Mary,  Sisters  of      .    .    .889 

Sulpicians 890 

Viateur  (St.),  Parochial  Clerics  or  Cate- 

chists  of 890 

Xavier  (St.),  Brothers  of,  or  Xaverians  .  890 


APPEISTDIX    "0. 


a  r\  -)•) 


Ahbacomites 891 

Abstineuts 891 

AgnoetfiB 891 

Altar-Cards 891 

Antependiura 891 

Antistes 891 

Baptism  of  Bells 891 

Birotta 891 

Calote  or  Calotte 891 

Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States,  The  891 

Christen ' 919 

Concelebration 920 

Crucifix,  Jansenistic 920 

Deo  Gratias  .....' 920 

Diaconate  or  Deaeonship 920 

Dom 920 

Ecclesiastic 920 

Gaudete  Sunday 920 

Invocabit  Sunday 920 

Lady-Day 920 

Lammas-Day 920 

Lectern,  Lecturn,  or  Lcttern  .     .     .     .     .920 

Lunette 920 

Madonna 920 

Maundy  Thursday 920 


MinofTJrders ^920 

Monstrance ....  1920,^ 

Nave 92L 

Oblate  Sisters 921 

Parish 921 

Predella 921 

Quadragesima 921 

Quarantine 921 

Quasimodo 921 

Quater  Tenses 921 

ReginaCoeli 921 

Eeminiscere  Sunday 921 

Borate  Sunday 921 

Sabaoth 921 

Sanctuary,  The  Eicht  of 922 

Sedilia 924 

See 924 

Shrovetide 924 

Sponsors 924 

Theologus,  or  Theologal 925 

Theophany 925 

Transept 925 

Truce  of  God 925 

Twelfth  Day 925 


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